Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  The Senate on Friday granted former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon a furlough.

In a statement, Faeldon thanked Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (SBRC) chair Richard Gordon for approving the request.

"Maraming salamat po SBRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon for your decency and compassion," Faeldon said.

Faeldon has been in Senate detention since September 10 after refusing a summons to appear at the inquiry on alleged corruption at the Customs bureau and the P6.4-billion drug smuggling from China.

Faeldon said he will now be able to witness the birth of his youngest child, be examined by his cardiologist, and have his oath-taking as deputy administrator of the Office of the Civil Defense.

The former Customs Commissioner earlier slammed Gordon for denying his requests and for allegedly inflicting "cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment" on him.

RELATED: Faeldon accuses Gordon of 'cruel, degrading, inhuman punishment'

He added Gordon was taking orders from Sen. Panfilo Lacson whom he described as "the cement-smuggler senator."

Faeldon has linked Lacson and his son Panfilo Lacson Jr. to smuggling cement into the country, allegations the senator has denied.

Gordon responded by calling the allegations "preposterous," saying Faeldon's requests were denied due to security risks.

RELATED: Gordon: Faeldon's requests denied because of security, flight risks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.Kilifi county youths insist on inclusivity in the county administration. The Kilifi youths have urged the county boss Governor Amason Kingi to look for ways of having youth working for the county.Speaking at the youth congress at Titanic Hotel in Kilifi, the Youth leaders mentioned of inclusivity in the county as a difficult task. They vowed to stop all operations in the county if the county government will continue sidelining them.This comes after the Kilifi MCAs passed a bill on the 70 percent of jobs given to locals. The youths are strategizing on how to make their voices heard in the county.Last week of 2017, Kilifi professionals met Mnarani club to execute ways of investing and helping the county government in its goals. They also looked at ways of making sure the county resources will be well distributed.Another group of Politicians also gathered under green movement led by the wiper senatorial candidate Chigiri Dunga had another separate meeting to outline forces that will drive development in the county. Kilifi county is known as among the poorest counties in Kenya.Polk County is home to a large Haitian immigrant population who are upset with President Trump for his alleged vulgar remark about Haitian migration during a DACA meeting at the White House on Thursday.

RELATED STORY: Trump allegedly describes Haiti, African countries with swear word

Community leader: Haitians own, operate multiple businesses in Winter Haven

Haiti government: Trump's comment "a racist view"

"I'm thinking he has problems with Haitians, he has problems with Africans, said Pierre Fraycien Francois, 35. "Mr. Trump should apologize.

Francois said he moved to Winter Haven 11 years ago from Haiti and is the President of the Haitian Youth Association of Polk County. The community leader points out that Haitians own and operate a fashion store, barber shop, restaurant and grocery store in Winter Haven.

The reason why were not taking that from you, going back, because you are the President of an immigrant country, he said. We participate in this immigrant country. You cannot tell us to go back because were part of this country.

Luron Bellezy, 33, said he moved to Polk County from Haiti two years ago. Bellezy said President Trumps alleged racist comment brought him to tears.

I cry a little bit because somebody disrespect my country. Somebody disrespect my personality, my Haitian people, he said. We do want the President to apologize to the Haitians because we dont deserve that we come here and we work hard.

President Trump sent out a tweet on Friday denying he said anything derogatory about Haitians during that DACA meeting. Senator Richard Durbin, who attended that same meeting, said Mr. Trumps denial is false. Durbin said the President used the hate filled words repeatedly.

The Haiti government also weighed in calling the Presidents migration comment a racist view of the Haitian community.

I know Trump has been using those racism words so many times and Im not surprised, Francois said. We're not an s-hole country."A special remembrance was held for fallen military members on Saturday.

Field of Honor Ceremony remembers fallen heroes

Two local Gold Star parents were honored

Ceremony held 4 times a year at Veterans Memorial Park

Families gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Tampa to remember soldiers recently killed in action. In addition, they also honored two local Gold Star parents.



One of them, Charles Rubado, lost his son Charlie in Afghanistan in 2005.



Its difficult. You miss him every day, Rubado said.



Charlie was an Army Lieutenant and was just 23-years-old. All these years later, he is remembered again.





Its important to us, just having people remember. Its our desire to not have people forget, Rubado said.



Rubado was honored Sunday, along with Barbara Wade. She lost her son Maurice Tucker, who was killed during an accident while he was stationed in Alaska in 2016. He was 31.



To me, its an honor to be recognized. Its just overwhelming, Wade said.





The two Gold Star parents received banners from the Blue Star Moms of Tampa Bay.



It was a Field of Honor Ceremony, a show of support between military families.



Its let them know their child will never be forgotten, said Donna Kistel, who is with the local Blue Star group. It is our duty to remember our children who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.



The ceremony also remembered the names of those killed in the last few months in the war on terror. The Field of Honor is held four times a year at Veterans Memorial Park. It's held by the Veterans Council of Hillsborough County.

A Spring Hill man was arrested in Pinellas County Friday night in connection to a triple murder in Kentucky.

Spring Hill man charged in Kentucky triple murder

Cruz Olivo accused of killing a man, two women in Louisville

Olivo fled with 3-year-old daughter to Florida

Olivo arrested in Pinellas County at US 19 and Ulmerton

Cruz Olivo, 46, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

Olivo was taken into custody around 10:15 p.m. Jan. 12, after deputies stopped his vehicle at US 19 North and Ulmerton Road.

Olivo is accused of killing a man and two women inside a home in Louisville, Kentucky. Officials said Olivo fled the scene with his 3-year-old daughter. Two juveniles were also found inside the home unharmed, the report stated.

The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department has been working with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and authorities in Hernando County to locate Olivo, who had a warrant out for his arrest.

When Olivo was arrested, officials said he was wearing a ballistic vest and had an AK47 assault rifle on the passenger seat.

Officials also said his 3-year-old daughter was found safe in Hernando County.

Olivo was transported to the Pinellas County Jail on the LMPD warrant and will be charged by LMPD with three counts of murder and one county of tampering with physical evidence.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  Citing national security, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has declined to comply with a Supreme Court directive to submit documents related to the drug war.

In a 14-page motion for reconsideration dated December 18, the OSG said the documents, including the drug watchlist and list of high-valued target arrests, contain information and other sensitive matters that "in the long run will have undeniable effect on national security."

"It could spell the success or failure of follow-up operations of police and other law enforcement bodies, aside from endangering the lives of those on the list as well as those already in custody," Solicitor General Jose Calida explained.

During the December 5, 2017 oral arguments on the petitions against war on drugs, the High Court directed the OSG to submit within 60 days documents including the following:

List of persons killed in legitimate police operations from July 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017

List of deaths under investigation from July 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017

List of Chinese and Fil-Chinese drug lords who have been neutralized

List of drugs involved whether shabu, cocaine, marijuana, opioids, etc.

Comparative tables in index crimes

Statistics of internal cleansing within the police force

Drug watchlists in affected areas

List of warrants and warrantless arrests in High Value Target (HVT) police operations

List of cases under investigation under Internal Affairs Service

The OSG said the right to information, with its companion right of access to official records, is not absolute.

The Constitution provides that the people's right to know is limited to "matters of public concern," it pointed out.

"Their submission would not only compromise ongoing police anti-drug operations but likewise put at risk the lives of informants who provide such information," Calida said.

The OSG also said the Supreme Court order might set a dangerous precedent for pending and future Amparo petitions.

The writ of amparo is "a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity."

It argued this would open the floodgates for the filing of baseless cases that "aim at nothing other than engaging in fishing expeditions."

"Moreover, Amparo petitions may be utilized and manipulated by drug syndicates themselves to discover the amount of confidential information that the government has against them," it noted.

Calida further said in requiring the submission of documents, the Supreme Court has "ventured into unwarranted factual inquiries," adding that it is not a trier of facts.

"In resolving constitutional issues, it is not allowed to received and weigh evidence," Calida said of the High Court.Legendary oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is closing his hedge fund, saying oil trading has lost its luster.

Instead, the onetime Texas oil wildcatter wrote in a LinkedIn post that he wants to invest in personal passions like promoting unbridled entrepreneurship and philanthropic and political endeavors.

Pickens, 89, also cited his health in the post, writing, Im still recovering from a series of strokes I suffered late last year, and a major fall over the summer. He added, Its time to start making new plans and setting new priorities.

Though he achieved much of his fame for corporate takeover bids in the 1970s and 1980s, Pickens earned much of his wealth in the energy futures market after turning 75 in 2003, making billions through his Dallas-based BP Capital LLC by correctly betting on rising prices for oil and natural gas.

Pickens joins a number of big-name hedge fund managers who have closed their doors in the past year. Andy Hall, the trader known as God, shut his main fund in August after it slumped almost 30 percent in the first half of last year.

Hard decade

John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital, Hutchin Hill Capitals Neil Chriss and Eric Mindich of Eton Park Capital Management have also called it quits. While the number of hedge funds shutting operations declined last year, there were still 66 more firms closing than starting, Eurekahedge data show.

Pickens was managing more than $4 billion at the start of 2008 before one of his funds was almost completely wiped out and a second plunged 64 percent. Undaunted, he sought out new investors the next year for new hedge funds that invested in stocks and futures. As of the end of 2016, BP Capital Fund Advisors had about $335.1 million under management.

All the funds have been shuttered and the money returned to investors, other than investments Pickens specifically listed in his LinkedIn post, Jay Rosser, his spokesman, said in an email. Pickens said he will continue to be an owner and investor in the TriLine Index Solutions energy index series and the BP Capital TwinLine Energy Fund.

Energy volatility

Pickens probably fell victim to diminished volatility in energy markets, according to Rob Thummel, who helps manage $16 billion in energy assets at Tortoise Capital Advisors LLC. Its a sign that oil volatility is probably not coming back for a while, and thats what traders are looking for, Thummel said by phone. Its not as lucrative.

In the latest Forbes Magazine listing, Pickenss net worth is listed at $950 million in 2013, reflecting losses from the 2008 financial crisis, hundreds of millions Pickens spent on philanthropy (including about $500 million to Oklahoma State University, his alma mater) and investments in wind energy, part of his plan to end U.S. dependence on Middle East oil.

In December, Pickens put his 65,000 acre (26,305 hectares) Mesa Vista Ranch in the Texas Panhandle up for sale, with an asking price of $250 million, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Pickens was probably known best as a corporate raider in the 1980s before he became a billionaire energy investor and television pitchman for wind and natural gas.

Theres no one, probably other than Warren Buffett, whos seen and actually lived through all these cycles in oil, Thummel said.Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzman are bringing their record-breaking rivalry back to the Houston area.

The pair's Versus World Tour returns March 9 to Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. Tickets are $109.95-$500 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 19 via Ticketmaster.

DIVA TO DIVA: The parallel careers of Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzman

Trevi and Guzman are Mexican rock icons who have led parallel careers marked by anthemic hits, adoring crowds and fits of controversy. They've both retained their edges and their draws as live entertainers for almost three decades.

The Versus World Tour made its first stop here in July at Smart Financial Centre, At the time, I called it "an empowering celebration of music, gender and culture."

Don't miss it this time around. Trevi and Guzman onstage together is truly a historic event.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  Mayon Volcano spewed ash in a "steam-driven eruption" on Saturday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.

The phreatic or steam-driven explosion started at 5:06 p.m. and was ongoing as of 6 p.m., PHIVOLCS Director Renato Solidum told CNN Philippines.

He said Mayon remains under Alert Level 1 and residents of Albay are advised to exercise caution.

"The main danger will be the ash fall so people should cover their mouths and noses with wet clothes or handerchief or even mask," Solidum said.

Ash fall has been reported in the towns of Camalig and Guinobatan in Albay.

Netizens reported hearing rumbling sounds and smelling sulfur in towns near the volcano.

Grabe ang abo ni ibinuga ni mayon. pic.twitter.com/rZxyMHMQNa

 Takehiko Sato (@officialdnjr) January 13, 2018

Amoy pulbura!!! Nagrerelease ang mayon ng sulfur

 K I R K (@kirkthomasnuyda) January 13, 2018

Provincial disaster officials in Albay ordered the immediate evacuation of residents in 16 barangays at the foot of the volcano.

Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office Head Cedric Daep announced the barangays are from the municipalities of Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Malilipot, Tabaco City and Ligao City.

Evacuees will be staying at public elementary schools designated by the local government units in corresponding towns or cities.

PHIVOLCS also advised civil aviation authorities against flying close to the volcano's summit as ash can be hazardous to the aircraft.

This is a developing story. Please refresh page for updates.



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.A plan by Frances luxury goods firm Kering to give up control of Puma, focusing solely on catwalk and luxury brands such as Stella McCartney and Saint Laurent, sent the German sportswear outfitter plummeting as much as 16%.

The plan, under which Kering will distribute 70% of the shares of Puma to its investors, will leave Kering founder Francois Pinaults holding company Artemis with about 29% of Puma.

Kerings decision disappointed some Puma investors, who had hoped that the French company would find a buyer willing to pay a premium for the shares.

This exit scenario is not the best one for Pumas minority shareholders, Cedric Lecasble, an analyst at Raymond James in Paris, wrote in a report.

A straightforward disposal of Puma at a premium might have been partly priced in by the market.

Also, Kering shareholders may decide to sell the Puma shares they receive in the spinoff, pressuring the stock in the short term, he said.

Kering, which has Gucci on its portfolio, follows rivals in cleaning up its portfolio after LVMH sold Donna Karan and Hermes International divested Leica.

The decision to spin Puma off is evidence of a lack of acquisition opportunities in luxury goods in the near term, Mr Lecasble said.

Kering bought Puma in 2007 as part of a push into sport and lifestyle brands that also saw the group acquire skateboarding brand Volcom. The contemplated distribution of Puma shares to our shareholders would be a significant milestone in the history of the group, Kering chairman Francois-Henri Pinault, the son of Francois Pinault said.

- BloombergSetting up a specialist division to tackle white- collar crime would be an enormous task and an extraordinary challenge, the office responsible for monitoring corporate compliance has said, writes Padraig Hoare.

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) was responding after the Central Bank said this week it would support the setting up of a specialist division in light of understandable public concern around white-collar crime and the banking crash.

The Central Bank had issued its views following the publication of paper by the Law Reform Commission on regulatory enforcement and corporate offences, which said a dedicated unit would allow for more effective investigation and prosecution of white-collar offences.

The Central Bank declined to say what role the ODCE would have in any new unit but did say co-operation between various agencies would be welcome.

However, the ODCE said that while it would be generally supportive of any measures to more effectively tackle white collar crime, it was difficult to offer a definitive view of what the Central Bank envisaged.

It said there already existed a number of statutory bodies with the power to conduct criminal investigations into white collar crime, including the Central Bank itself.

An ODCE statement said: The centralisation of some or all aspects of the investigation of white-collar crime into a single body or unit would require the transfer of very significant responsibilities from a wide range of bodies.

Given the breadth and complexity of the various legislative codes involved, the remit of any resulting entity would be enormous. Consequently, maintaining the levels of specialist knowledge required to effectively investigate and enforce each aspect of such a broad remit would present an extraordinary challenge for a single investigative agency.

The ODCE said setting up such a division could be very costly.

The programme required to amend the various codes of legislation would be likely to be both complex and highly resource intensive and as such would likely require a significant cost-benefit analysis, it said.

Before more radical proposals for reform in the area of white-collar crime are adopted, the ODCE said, there must first be an understanding of what that term potentially encompasses and of the potential implications of such proposals.

It said: The term white collar crime would generally be understood to include criminal offences under a range of legislative codes including for example the companies acts, the taxes acts, criminal justice legislation on theft and fraud, anti-money laundering legislation, competition law, financial services legislation  including, amongst others, the Central Bank and insurance acts as well as legislation relating to regulated securities markets  and legislation relating to bribery and corruption.

On a broader interpretation, the ODCE said the term white-collar crime extends to health and safety law and to legislation governing standards in public office.

It said the prosecution of serious offences could only be initiated by the Director of Public Prosecutions

(DPP).

Thus responsibility for prosecution of serious crime  including white-collar crime  already resides in a single body.Page Content



Briefing on the future of Cohesion Policy beyond 2020



Tuesday 30 January 2018, 11.15  12.45



at the European Committee of the Regions

room JDE 52

Rue Belliard 99-101

Cohesion policy is the main European investment policy to achieve the EU Treaty objective of economic, social and territorial cohesion. In doing so, cohesion policy has a clear added value in creating jobs, sustainable growth and modern infrastructure, overcoming structural barriers, boosting human capital and improving the quality of life for all citizens across the EU.

Within the context of the ongoing debate on the future of cohesion policy beyond 2020, numerous important actors have already expressed their view on this important matter. The position of Italy on cohesion policy post 2020 was recently adopted on 9 November 2017. The European Committee of the Regions took its position with the adoption of its opinion on "The future of Cohesion Policy beyond 2020" on 11 May 2017, which was prepared by rapporteur Michael Schneider, State Secretary and Representative of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt to the Federal Government.

The briefing session will provide an opportunity to present both the position of the Italian Government and the European Committee of the Regions and to discuss them with an interested audience in Brussels. This forms part of the activities of the European Committee of the Regions promoting the #CohesionAlliance for a strong, effective and more visible cohesion policy beyond 2020.

Agenda:

Introduction by:



Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the European Committee of the Regions

Enzo Bianco, Chair of the Italian Delegation at the European Committee of the Regions

"Italy's position on post-2020 cohesion policy" Prof. Claudio De Vincenti , Minister for Territorial Cohesion and Southern Italy, Republic of Italy

"The views of the Italian regions towards the future of cohesion policy" Ms. Catiuscia Marini , Coordinator of the Committee on European Affairs of the Italian Conference of Regions

"The views of the European Committee of the Regions on the future of cohesion policy" Dr. Michael Schneider , CoR rapporteur on "The future of Cohesion Policy beyond 2020"

Discussion with the Participants

Interpretation will be provided in Italian, German and English

Link to webstreaming: https://livestream.com/corlive1/events/8024461Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has called for closer Anglo-Irish relations.

In a speech on Brexit in Killarney, Mrs Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and Ireland in phase two of discussions on the UK's split from Europe.

And she suggested leaders across the island of Ireland should work together for the benefit of everyone.

The DUP chief said she planned to raise the prospect of enhancing Anglo-Irish relations, under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, when she meets Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

"Maintaining Northern Ireland's economic and political status as an integral part of the United Kingdom is absolutely crucial to me and my party," she said.

"To think anything else would be as foolish as believing that the Taoiseach or the Tanaiste desired anything other than Irish unity.

"But while we will always battle for our own national interests, we must also battle for our mutual interests.

"And our mutual interests will not end on the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. The United Kingdom may be leaving the EU but the common interests that we share across the British Isles will remain."

Mrs Foster made the call at the Killarney Economic Conference in Co Kerry where the issues around Brexit were explored in a two-day conference.

Her suggestions about deepening ties and mutual respect mark a significant departure from the fallout which marked relations between the DUP and the Irish Government towards the end of last year amid both the fractious finish to phase one of the Brexit negotiations and the Irish border question and Mr Coveney's aspirations for a united Ireland.

The DUP suggested Anglo-Irish relations could be deepened through the British-Irish Council, which was set up as part the Good Friday Agreement to improve cooperation between the UK and Ireland in areas such as transport, the environment and energy.

"The UK exiting the European Union ought not to become a barrier to continued co-operation on issues of ongoing mutual interest," she said.

"It especially shouldn't become a barrier when the infrastructure - in the guise of the British-Irish Council - already exists that can allow us to continue to work together as closely as ever on issues of shared interest."

Mrs Foster gave the example of the Nordic Council, which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland as a means for developing Anglo-Irish relations. She noted that some of the Nordic countries are in the European Union and Eurozone, while others are not.

"Change should not be allowed to weaken the relationships so painstakingly put together across these British Isles," the DUP leader said.

"As challenging as finding a suitable solution might seem, there is no good reason why our own issues on this island should present any threat to the progress we've made.

"I value the relationships we have developed too much to do anything that would jeopardise them.

"But, whether we voted to leave or voted to remain, whether we are citizens of the United Kingdom or citizens of Ireland, we must accept the reality of the referendum result, refrain from the continued re-fighting of the referendum, and seek the sensible, mutually beneficial outcomes from the complex negotiation process ahead that will serve us all well."

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin hheld talks with the DUP leader Arlene Foster earlier today.

"The continued absence of an Executive and Assembly is extremely damaging to Northern Ireland in the context of the Brexit negotiations," he said.

Mr Martin agreed with Mrs Foster's criticism of "megaphone diplomacy" in the heat of Brexit negotiations.

"We need far more considered discussions and engagements. One always has to respect the postion of those you are negotiating with," he said.

"Some of what has gone on has been, in my view, damaging enough in terms of articulating positons too freely in public, to be frank, in advance of negotiations being complete. It's not the way to do business."

Mr Martin added: "I detect from Arlene Foster a clear commitment to the restoration of the Assembly and Executive and a belief that it's the right thing for Northern Ireland.

"In terms of Brexit... I think the focus needs to be on very practical and constructive engagement to mitigate the damage that in my opinion Brexit will do to trade and jobs between north and south and east and west."The Cabinet next week will try to reach a collective decision on whether or not abortion should be allowed unrestricted up to 12 weeks for pregnancies, writes Juno McEnroe.

While a number of ministers have yet to declare their position on the recommendations to liberalise the abortion laws, some Cabinet members believe a majority will support changes.

Next Tuesdays meeting is expected to pick up the discussion and debate among ministers on the abortion recommendations. There is a strong expectation that, in the days following the meeting, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will take a position on the reports recommendations. But he may not make it know publicly for a week or two, government sources say.

At least seven Cabinet members have publicly said they support repeal of the Eighth Amendment. Some have said they favour allowing unrestricted abortions in line with committee recommendations  up to 12 weeks.

A Cabinet source said: Its [the meeting] about trying to get a collective decision. The majority [of ministers] will support the committee.

However, Mr Varadkar has said there are concerns about the extent of the Oireachtas committee recommendations which went further than many people and politicians expected.

Three options were laid out to the Cabinet last week over its response to the report recommendations and plans for a referendum later this year. They included doing nothing, agreeing to the recommendations, or offer their own solution on addressing concerns about the Eighth Amendment.

Many ministers and TDs are nervous about publicly expressing an opinion, or stating, their position on the issues. It is unclear if any further options have been considered by the Department of Health or the Taoiseach, beyond the recommendations made by the Oireachtas committee.

A Government spokeswoman said it was unlikely other options would be considered and did not dismiss a suggestion that the 12-week rule was the only show in town.

Other parties are also expected to have their own meetings and discussion on the report and referendum, when the Dail resumes next week, including Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, and Labour.

This story originally appeared in the Irish Examiner.The Irish-Syria Solidarity Movement is demonstrating outside the Russian Embassy in Dublin this afternoon over new attacks on Syrians in rebel-held areas.

Ghouta and Idlib have come under repeated air-attack, despite being part of a de-escalation zone announced by Syrian's main allies, Russia and Iran.

The UN and the International Red Cross have both warned that scores of civilians have been killed or injured, with over 500 people waiting for emergency evacuations.

Spokesperson Michael Lenehan said the group is calling on the Irish Government to make the strongest possible representations both to the Russian and Iranian governments.

"The situation for those people is particularly dire. In Ghouta, they've had starvation seizes going there for years but there was always some supplies getting through by smuggling and so on," he said.

"Now those routes have been taken away. Now we see the children who are being starved to death. There's dozens, as far as I am aware, who are dying of starvation and being deprived of medical care," he added.

They will march at 2pm.The South-East is mobilizing in the run-up to the referendum campaign to repeal the Eigth Amendment.

A 'Stand for Choice' is being launched today at the Club House Hotel in Kilkenny between 3 and 5pm.Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has said he has some regrets about his time representing US President Donald Trump, writes Cillian Sherlock.

"There's definitely cases that I've looked at that I could have done better. Sure I have some regrets in that sense, that I could have done some things better - but not on a macro sense," he said.

Speaking on RTE's The Late Late Show, Mr Spicer described his six-month tenure, in which he was responsible for defending and explaining the controversial politician's statements and actions during the Muslim travel ban and beginnings of the Russian collusion probe, as "demanding and intense".

"It felt a lot longer - like six dog years. Every day was an eternity," he said.

He said there were many aspects of the job he liked, including explaining policy on behalf of the American government, meeting the Pope and discussing his Irish heritage with then Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

"Every day was an eternity. It's a very demanding job" - @seanspicer on working in Donald Trump's White House #latelate pic.twitter.com/SwQmVjrnbw  The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 12, 2018

Communications expert Spicer was on the charm offensive from out the outset.

"Can I answer the sweepstakes question? I could use the 15,000. That's one question I can definitely answer," he joked at the top of the interview.

Throughout the interview, he played up his Irish heritage and Catholic ideology.

His jokes and measured openness swayed some viewers but did not land well with everyone - with mixed reaction visible on Twitter.

Would've liked to hear Tubridy talk to @seanspicer more about his own path through the Republican Party to the White House! Fair play to him for admitting to his gaffes while press sec! Plenty to read in the book!! #LateLateShow  Dec Brennan (@DecB1) January 13, 2018

Sean Spicer is a liar, a sycophant, and is absolutely, totally shameless. #LateLateShow #spicer  Uinsionn (@UinsionnMac) January 13, 2018

Entertaining interview with Sean Spicer. Much warmer and funnier than expected! #LateLateShow #LateLate  Donna Martin (@DonnaMartin03) January 12, 2018

@seanspicer got an easy ride on the #LateLateShow No matter how much he plays up the twinkly-eyed, "Catholic", Paddy-at-heart act, he should understand that he is scorned by the majority of Irish people for his role in and continued defense of the indefensible #Trump admin  Cormac Lambe  (@Humpy_Gussy) January 13, 2018

Is it bad that i think Sean Spicer is not that bad a person #LateLateShow #RTE  Michael Kennedy (@m86kennedy) January 12, 2018

Mr Spicer offered a measured take on the "very polarising" US President, who he said added "an element of excitement" to the job.

"He's very straightforward. You know where you stand with him at all times - good or bad. There's no beating around the bush. He has very strong beliefs," he said.

"He's definitely a disruptor. He's not part of the status quo by any means. There's no question - love him or hate him, agree or disagree with his policies - things have changed," he said.

However, he said he did not always completely support everything Trump said.

"When you are someone's spokesperson you are not there to make policy," he said.

He said he will still "absolutely" vote for Trump, who he says he is still in contact with, in 2020.

"No question about it, absolutely. I've been a Republican my whole life," he added.

He suggested journalist Michael Wolff's new book Fire and Fury was largely discredited.

The book

Read More:

Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy questioned the former White House Press Secretary on the latest in what has been a year of scandals from the Oval Office.

"When you look at the news today and it is reported that

Read More:

"I didn't know you could say that on television in Ireland," Spicer said, somewhat defusing the energy of the question.

"Isn't it disgraceful?" Tubridy asked.

In usual form, he raised dispute over the validity of the question - before bringing his Irish heritage into the conversation.

"As an Irish-American, someone who understands the trials and tribulations that so many Irish folks had coming to America. I'm very proud of America's history, welcoming immigrants...

"I would say that America is a great country that welcomes people who want to come and pursue the American dream and make it better. Immigrants have made [America] what it is," he said.

Pressed then by Tubridy on implied hypocrisy over the border wall issue, he said he agreed with the policy 90%.

"One of the things about the wall is it's also about human trafficking and drug trafficking. We need a strong border," Mr Spicer added.

He said it did not mean America would have no immigration.

"Every country needs to protect its borders. There's a difference. We're not talking about shutting down immigration, we're making sure it is safe and legal," he added.

He said Republicans and Democrats have already paid for border control issues in the past.

Tubridy turned the focus to the infamous Access Hollywood tape, a video, recorded in 2005, in which Donald Trump reportedly says: "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."

Tubridy asked Spicer if he, as a husband, father, and "devout Catholic", had any reservations being a mouthpiece for Trump.

Clarifying he was a "practising Catholic", he said he did not agree with the comments made on the tape.

.@SeanSpicer on @RealDonaldTrump's comments about women, revealed during the presidential campaign, and why he believes the president deserves forgiveness on them #latelate pic.twitter.com/kxULKO7XEp  The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 12, 2018

"I think we've all said or done things we regret. The president, then candidate, expressed remorse.

"As a Catholic, we're all thought about forgiveness. If we're going to ask for forgiveness for ourselves, sometimes we make mistakes - we're also thought to give forgiveness," he said.

"You've got to be willing to give forgiveness," he added.

Tubridy questioned some of the standout moments in Spicer's roughly six-month stint representing Trump, including the disputed size of the inauguration crowd.

He said he regretted the style of response.

"I wish we could have come out and focused on the agenda and the issues," he said, without making clear reference to the crowd size.

He said Trump was told repeatedly by the mainstream media that he would never accomplish the milestones on the campaign trail towards being nominated, let alone win the election.

"To wake up the morning after your inauguration and have people go 'Well, it wasn't even that big' - it's like, at some point you have to throw your hands up and go 'what do I have to do?'," he added.

The interview then turned to a moment last year when Spicer, whilst discussing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said: "Someone as despicable as Hitler didn't even sink to using Chemical weapons".

He faced immediate criticism for the comments and apologised.

"That was deeply painful for me," he said.

"My goal was to describe how heinous the actions Assad was doing were," he said.

He said it was a sincere and genuine mistake, especially considering it was the first day of Passover.

On a lighter note, the pair discussed American actor and comedian Melissa McCarthy's famous Saturday Night Live impression of Mr Spicer.

"The first one was funny, but like so many Saturday Night Live skits they don't know when to end and, frankly, got a bit mean. That's where Saturday Night Live have started to cross a line," he said.

Sean Spicer appeared on the show to plug his upcoming book, The Briefing, which will be available to pre-order on Amazon.Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called the military's investigation into the deaths of Rohingya Muslims found in a mass grave a "positive indication", according to reports.

A state-run newspaper reported that Ms Suu Kyi said: "It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible."An offshoot of Islamic State has claimed it carried out the October attack in Niger that killed four US soldiers and four Nigerien troops.

The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported that the self-professed IS affiliate Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi claimed responsibility for the October 4 attack about 120 miles north of Niger's capital, Niamey.Update 3.50pm: A US senator has rejected Donald Trump's effort to distance himself from claims that he used vulgar language to describe African countries, claiming the president "said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly".

The president has been accused of questioning why the US should accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa, during a meeting on immigration.

He said on Twitter today that his language during the meeting was "tough" but insisted: "This was not the language used."

But Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the Oval Office meeting, said "shitholes" was "the exact word used by the president not just once but repeatedly".

He added: "When the question was asked about Haitians ... he said, 'Haitians? Do we need more Hatians?'"

Mr Trump's contemptuous description of an entire continent startled legislators at a meeting about a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the conversation, and immediately revived charges that the president is racist.

The White House did not deny his remark but issued a statement saying Mr Trump supports immigration policies that welcome "those who can contribute to our society".

Earlier: Latest: Donald Trump denies referring to 'shithole countries' in Africa

Update 3pm: Donald Trump has today denied reports that he used bluntly vulgar language to question why the US should accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa.

The US president tweeted: "The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used."

His contemptuous description of an entire continent startled legislators at a meeting about a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the Oval Office conversation, and immediately revived charges that the president is racist.

The White House did not deny his remark but issued a statement saying Mr Trump supports immigration policies that welcome "those who can contribute to our society".

Today, Mr Trump also tweeted: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country," and claimed: "I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians."

He denied suggestions in a report in the Washington Post that he had said "take them out", in reference to Haitians.

Mr Trump said the bipartisan immigration proposal is "a big step backwards" because it does not fund a wall along the Mexican border, and claimed it would force the US "to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly".

He added: "I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs."

His comments came after two senators presented details of the bipartisan compromise that would extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, and also strengthen border protections.

The lawmakers had hoped he would back the accord, an agreement among six senators evenly split among Republicans and Democrats, ending a bitter dispute over protecting the "Dreamers".

But the White House later rejected it, plunging the issue back into uncertainty eight days before a deadline that threatens a government shutdown.

Earlier: 'Shocking and shameful': UN and African Union condemn Donald Trump's alleged 'shithole countries' comment

The UN human rights office has said Donald Trump's reported use of an expletive to describe Africa and other countries could "potentially damage and disrupt the lives of many people".

Speaking in the Oval Office, President Trump questioned why the US should permit more immigrants from "shithole countries" after senators discussed revamping rules affecting entrants from Africa and Haiti, sources said.

Repeating the term attributed to the president a day earlier, Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert Colville said: "You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes'."

He said the comments, if confirmed, were "shocking and shameful" and added: "I'm sorry, but there's no other word one can use but racist."

He said Mr Trump's reported comment could endanger lives by potentially fanning xenophobia: "It legitimises the targeting of people based on who they are.

"This isn't just a story about vulgar language, it's about opening the door to humanity's worst side."

He added that the reported comments "go against the universal values the world has been striving so hard to establish since World War Two and the Holocaust".

Africans also criticised Mr Trump after his reported outburst.

The African Union continental body said it was "frankly alarmed".

"Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice," AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said.

"This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity."

African governments quickly found themselves in an awkward position. As top recipients of US aid, some hesitated to jeopardise it by criticising Mr Trump, especially as his administration has sought to slash foreign assistance.

"Unless it was specifically said about South Sudan, we have nothing to say," said South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny.

But South Africa's ruling African National Congress called the comments "extremely offensive".

Deputy secretary general Jesse Duarte said developing countries do have difficulties but the US has millions of people out of work or without health care, and "we would not deign to make comments as derogatory".

Yet while official government channels held fire, African media outlets and the continent's young, increasingly connected population were not being shy.

"Well, that is the perfect definition of racism. That is all I have to say," Kenyan entrepreneur Wangui Muraguri said in Nairobi.

"Casual Friday at the White House is soon to include hoods and tiki torches at this rate," South African media outlet Daily Maverick wrote.

Many on the world's second most populous continent reached for their smartphones, long-practiced in defending the vast and varied region from easy stereotypes.

While 40% of the world's poor live in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Monetary Fund, the region also has billionaires, reality shows and a growing middle class.

Some quickly decided to own Mr Trump's apparently vulgar language or throw it back in his face.

Good morning from the greatest most beautiful shithole country in the world!!!  Leanne Manas (@LeanneManas) January 12, 2018

In Kenya, east Africa's economic hub, political activist Boniface Mwangi pleaded: "Please don't confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent."

Mr Trump's reported comments highlighted months of concerns about his lack of focus on Africa, including empty ambassadorial posts in key countries like South Africa, Egypt, Congo and Somalia.

A list maintained by the Washington-based American Foreign Service Association says eight posts are vacant.

Mr Trump has expressed negative opinions about the continent in the past.

"Every penny of the 7 billion dollars going to Africa as per Obama will be stolen - corruption is rampant!" he tweeted in 2013.

"He has not only insulted Africans, he has also insulted African-Americans," said Sylvester Odion Akhaine, associate professor of international relations at Lagos State University in Nigeria.

"Internationally, such language will deepen the isolation of the United States, a country that is already losing its global prestige."A private detective accused of exploiting the hunt for Madeleine McCann to fund his lavish lifestyle has been found dead.

Kevin Halligen, 56, gained notoriety when his firm Oakley International was used by the toddler's parents to help search for their missing daughter.

His Washington-based company received about 300,000 of cash donated by the public after Madeleine vanished from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three.

He was later forced to deny claims the money was actually siphoned off to pay for first-class travel, luxury hotel suites, a chauffeur and a mansion in Virginia, US.

Adrian Gatton, a TV director and investigative journalist, who made a documentary with Halligen in 2014 for Channel 5 - The McCanns and the Conman - and who knew Halligen well, confirmed to the Press Association that he died last Monday, having sunk into alcohol addiction.

He said: "Although his death is certainly not foul play, as has been suggested, there are certainly a lot of people who wished him ill. But he was also unique.

"I knew chapter and verse about his life and career, but my interest was really to try and get to the bottom of why he did what he did.

"My understanding is that he was found dead on Monday night. There was blood around the house, probably caused by previous falls when he was either drunk or blacking out.

"Halligen was increasingly shambolic and these blood stains hadn't been cleared up.

"His house was full of empty drink bottles. A lot of people wished him ill but his death is almost certainly related to alcoholism."

Surrey Police said the death was currently being treated as "unexplained".

A spokesman said: "We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died.

"The death is being treated as unexplained and a file will be passed to the coroner's office in due course."

The McCanns used his firm for around six months to look for their missing daughter.

The 500,000 contract saw the firm hire private detectives, set up a hotline and process information.

The McCanns terminated the arrangement without paying the full fees because Halligen, from Surrey, apparently failed to fulfil certain agreements.

He was then extradited to the US in 2012 to face charges over an unrelated 1.3 million con, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013.

Dutch company Trafigura were targeted in the scam, being told by Halligen that he needed funds to secure the release of two business executives who were arrested in the Ivory Coast.

In an interview for a 2014 Channel 5 documentary, Halligen denied claims he misused money raised to find Madeleine.

He said: "It is gross distortion of what was actually happening.

"The print media in particular took this line that really nothing was being done, I was living the high life on the proceeds of the McCann case.

"Trust me, I didn't buy so much as a new suit. The money, all of it, is fully accountable."

- PA and Digital deskBritish radio presenter John Humphrys' controversial off-air comments about the equal pay row at the BBC, which he has defended as "jokey", can be heard in a leaked recording.

The broadcasting veteran is heard to say he could hand over more than the entire salary of his colleague North America editor Jon Sopel, and still be "left with more than anybody else".

The recording of a conversation between Humphrys and Sopel, before Monday's BBC Radio 4 Today programme, heard them discussing Carrie Gracie who had announced just hours earlier that she had quit as the BBC's China editor in protest at unequal pay.

In a BBC pay disclosure last year Humphrys was listed as having a salary of between 600,000 and 649,999, making him the BBC's highest-paid news presenter.

North America editor Jon Sopel was listed as having a salary of between 200,000 and 249,999, while Gracie revealed she had been earning 135,000 before the BBC offered her a 45,000 rise, which she rejected.

Gracie's resignation came as she accused the corporation of a "secretive and illegal pay culture" and called for men and women at the corporation to be paid the same.

In the conversation, a recording of which has been obtained by Buzzfeed News, Mr Humphrys asked his colleague how much of his salary he would be prepared to "hand over" to keep Ms Gracie.

He is heard saying: "And I could save you the trouble because I could volunteer that I've handed over already more than you f***ing earn, but I'm still left with more than anybody else, and that seems to me to be entirely just. Something like that would do it, do you think?"

If you cannot see the Facebook post above, click here.

He adds: "Dear God. She's actually suggested that you should lose money. You know that, don't you? You've read the thing properly, have you?"

In an open letter, Gracie said she had left her post to "speak out publicly on a crisis of trust at the BBC", adding she simply wanted the corporation to "abide by the law and value men and women equally".

Mr Humphrys told ITV News he backed equal pay, stating: "We are in habit, Jon and I, of winding each other up and the purpose of this jokey - I emphasise jokey - exchange was a bit of mutual mickey-taking, and that is all it was.

"It was not meant for any other ears than Jon's, although there happened to be a producer in the studio at the time, a woman as it happens, who thought it was very funny,

"I had no idea, neither did John, neither did anybody else, including the producer, that it was being recorded somewhere in the bowels of the BBC and somebody chose to leak it. And that, er, yeah, was mildly annoying.

"I was being sarcastic. It was a joke on me, rather than a joke on Jon. It was a jocular exchange. It did not represent my views - exactly the opposite. It was meant to be a bit satirical, 'yeah well, you, Sopel, you're not worth tuppence', you know, it was that sort of exchange.

"And if people took it - took a different message from it, it could only be because they didn't appreciate that it was a joke. But then they weren't ever meant to hear it, do you see?"

A BBC spokeswoman said of the controversy: "This was an ill-advised off-air conversation which the presenter regrets.

"The BBC is committed to getting its pay structures right and, as we have said, we are conducting a comprehensive analysis of presenter pay."

A Downing Street spokesman said: "I think the Prime Minister is very clear that tackling injustices like the gender pay gap is part of building a country that works for everyone and she has said she wants to see women paid equally with men and it's important the BBC continues to take this seriously and carries on publishing figures in the future so we can see the progress they are making."

- PA and Digital deskIn the middle of a busy intersection across the street from Humayuns Tomb in Delhi is an octagonal monument topped by a dome  some estimates say six million people pass by it every year. Not many, however, know what the structure is, when it was built, what its history is or even its name.

A painstaking effort is now on to pull this very visible monument in the heart of Delhi out of anonymity. For the time being, the ancient 70-foot-tall building is veiled by a green curtain. Large screens with recreations of what the structure possibly looked like originally and will ...Dear Reader,

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Digital EditorJustice Kurian Joseph, one of the four senior judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, on Saturday expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved.

Joseph said that they acted solely in the interest of judiciary and justice, a day after he and the three other judges took the unprecedented step of addressing a press conference.

He rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their actions will bring in more transparency in the administration of the

"Stood up for justice and judiciary.... That is what we said there (in New Delhi) yesterday (Friday). Nothing beyond that," Justice Joseph said in Malayalam when local television news channels approached him at his ancestral home in Kalady near here seeking his reaction on yesterday's development.

"An issue has come to attention. It will certainly be solved since it has come to the attention," he told reporters.

Justice Joseph said the judges had acted only to "enhance the trust of the people in judiciary."



The four senior-most judges of the -- justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- had on Friday called a press conference in New Delhi and said the situation in the top court was "not in order" and many "less than desirable" things have taken place.

Unless this institution is preserved, "democracy will not survive in this country," they had said.

Justice Chelameswar, the second senior judge after the Chief Justice of India, had said "sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months".

Chelameswar said they had met CJI Dipak Misra on Friday morning and "raised issues affecting the institution".

He also said that the four judges had written a letter to CJI Dipak Misra some time ago, raising important issues.An Army jawan was killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, the Army said.

Pakistan Army troops initiated unprovoked firing on Indian posts from across the border in the Sunderbani sector, prompting the Indian troops guarding the LoC to retaliate strongly and effectively, an Army spokesman said.

Lance Naik Yogesh Muralidhar Bhadane, 22, from Khalane village of Dhule district in Maharashtra, was critically injured in the firing and later succumbed to his injuries. Bhadane is survived by his wife.

The incident comes just days after a BSF head constable was killed after Pakistani forces "sniped" from across the International Border in Samba district.

In retaliation, the BSF destroyed two Pakistani mortar positions. It also foiled an infiltration bid by gunning down a Pakistani intruder along the IB near Nikowal Border Out Post (BoP) in Arnia sector.

An army personnel was also killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district on December 31 last year.

Sepoy Jagsir Singh, 32, was killed when he was shot by Paksitani troops from across the border along the LoC in Rajouri district on the last day of 2017, the year which recorded the highest number of ceasefire violations in the past decade resulting in the death of 35 people, including 19 Army personnel and four BSF men.

India shares a 3,323-km border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

On December 23, an Army major and three soldiers were killed along the LoC in Rajouri and in retaliatory action, Indian troops killed three Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir two days later.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a former Director of Andhra Bank in its ongoing money laundering probe in the alleged Rs 50 billion bank fraud case involving Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech, an official said on Saturday.

Anup Prakash Garg was arrested after day-long questioning on Friday under charges of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the official said.

Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had named Garg in their criminal cases as an accused. The ED initiated a money laundering probe in the case taking cognisance of CBI FIR in the case.

The ED said it found during probe that "certain entries" in a diary seized by the Income Tax Department in 2011 showed various cash payments amounting to Rs 15.2 million made to one "Garg, Director, Andhra Bank" between 2008-2009 by the Sandesara brothers.

"Various cash payments were made to Garg, as reflected in the said entries, on the instructions of Sandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of several benami companies of the Sandesara brothers," it said.

The financial probe agency alleged Garg of infusing several crores of rupees of his unaccounted cash in various companies through many Kolkata-based bogus shell companies with the help of cash or cheque entry operators in Kolkata to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.

In November last year, the ED arrested a Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan in connection with the case.

The CBI had booked Sterling Biotech, its directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case.

had taken loans of over Rs 50 billion from a consortium of banks led by Andhra Bank which had turned into non-performing assets. A total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 53.83 billion as on December 31, 2016, alleged the CBI FIR.Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday termed the press conference of the four judges as 'ill planned' and added that the allegations made by them were not substantial.

"If they had to come for a press conference, then they should have said something substantial. Just creating doubts in the minds of people will not serve the interest of the judiciary. I think this was not properly planned," SCBA president Vikas Singh told ANI.

He further opined, "If at all they had anything substantial to say, they should have thought it over first rather than just suggesting something and leaving it to the minds of the people to keep guessing. All of the wild guesses will go all over the country and all kinds of things will be said about the "

In wake of the allegations made by the four senior judges against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, the SCBA will be holding a meeting today, and will later address the press as well.

Yesterday, in the press conference, Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar questioned the conduct of the CJI, saying that their efforts have failed in convincing the latter to take steps to protect the institution.

The ambiguous allegations by the judges had prompted media persons to ask if it related to the case of CBI Judge Loya's death, to which Justice Gogoi replied in the affirmative, albeit hesitantly.

Singh, however, said that Justice Loya wasn't mentioned by either of them, "They haven't said anything about Justice Loya either in the letter or the press conference. I don't know how this justice Loya issue is coming up for discussion in this matter at all.

(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.)Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari said on Saturday that the army should concentrate on its own job and not meddle with the state's education system.

The minister's remark came a day after chief General Bipin Rawat said the students in the schools of Jammu and Kashmir were being taught two maps -- one of India and the other of J&K.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function, Bukhari said on Saturday: "Rather than meddling with the education sector, the army should concentrate on its own duty."

The minister expressed displeasure, saying that everyone was trying to pass comments on the education sector and this was not acceptable.

He said dealing with the education sector should be left to those who were assigned the responsibility to do so.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, ahead of the Army Day, General Rawat said the education system in Jammu and Kashmir needed to be overhauled to check radicalisation, and also called for checks on madrasas and mosques.At least six persons were injured today in an attack by a leopard, which entered a residential area in Nanipada in suburban Mulund here, police said.

The leopard was spotted at 7.15am in Nanipada, which is surrounded by hills and forest, a senior police official said.

It attacked and injured six persons. A team of police and forest officials was rushed to the area, he said.

"Police and forest teams are on the spot, the area was cordoned off and efforts to catch the leopard are on," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-VII, Akhilesh Singh.The government's mandatory biometric identification project Aadhaar could lead to millions of people being denied access to essential services and benefits in violation of their human rights while also raising serious concerns about violations of the right to privacy, Amnesty International India and Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

They said the government should order an independent investigation of the concerns raised about Aadhaar, and cease targeting journalists and researchers who expose vulnerabilities in security, privacy, and protection of data.

Last week, the Tribune newspaper reported that unrestricted access to the personal details of people enrolled in Aadhaar could be purchased for Rs 500 from racketeers. The UIDAI responded by filing a criminal complaint, naming the reporter and the newspaper, prompting widespread condemnation by civil society groups.

In a joint statement, the two organisations said that according to the August 2017 Supreme Court ruling, right to privacy was part of the constitutional right to life and personal liberty and is also protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is party.

"The government's push for mandatory enrolment and its efforts to link the Aadhaar number to a wide range of services raises grave concerns that it could disproportionately interfere with the right to privacy for millions of people.

"It has also prompted fears of increased state surveillance, with the convergence of various databases making it easier for the government to track all information about specific individuals, and to target dissent.

"These fears are heightened by the absence of laws to protect privacy and data protection in India, and the lack of adequate judicial or parliamentary oversight over the activities of intelligence agencies," it added.

Amnesty International India's executive director Aakar Patel said: "Making an Aadhaar card a prerequisite to access essential services and benefits can obstruct access to several constitutional rights, including the rights of people to food, health care, education and social security."

"The government has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that nobody is denied their rights simply because they don't have an Aadhaar card," he added.

The Aadhaar project is run by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which collects personal and biometric data such as fingerprints, facial photographs, and iris scans, and issues 12-digit individualized identity numbers. Aadhaar was initially meant to be voluntary, aimed at eliminating fraud in government welfare programs and giving people a form of identification.

However, the Aadhaar Act of 2016 and subsequent notifications and licensing agreements increased the scope of the project, making Aadhaar enrolment mandatory for people to access a range of essential services and benefits including government subsidies, pensions and scholarships. It has also been linked to services such as banking, insurance, telephone, and the Internet.

Amnesty and HRW said that shops providing subsidized food grains as part of the government's public distribution system to poor people have denied supplies to eligible families because they did not have an Aadhaar number, or because they had not linked it to their ration cards, or because the authentication of their biometrics such as fingerprints failed, citing cases in Rajasthan and other places.

"In some states, children without Aadhaar cards have been denied free meals in government schools, while others have been denied enrollment in government schools despite the Right to Education Act guaranteeing free and compulsory education to all children ages 6 to 14," it said.

"It is ironic that a 12-digit number aimed to end corruption and help the poor has become the very reason many have been deprived of fundamental rights," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"There are legitimate concerns about privacy, surveillance, or just misuse of personal information, and the government should address these problems instead of coercing people to enrol and link existing services to Aadhaar," she said.Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four judges who revolted against Chief Justice Dipak Misra, on Saturday said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and there are only problems in procedure they had objected to.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Kurian told reporters, a day after he and three other senior judges, in an unprecedented event, called a press conference to say the administration in the top court was not in order.

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, Joseph said: "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."A 22-year-old NRI, working as a software engineer for Google on contract basis, has been arrested for allegedly molesting a US woman in a five-star hotel in New Delhi, police said on Friday.

Police said Anmol Singh Kharbanda met and struck a conversation with the 52-year-old woman at the hotel bar around 10 p.m. on January 8.

"Kharbanda, a California-based Non-Resident Indian, met the victim in the lounge and introduced himself to her. He offered her drinks and a smoke in his hotel room," Additional Commissioner of Police B.K Singh told IANS.

"Kharbanda took her to his room and groped her. She pushed him away and ran out," Singh said.

The shocked victim, staying in another room of the hotel, locked herself in for the entire night. The next day, she went away for a meeting in Jaipur and returned in the evening.

After her return from Jaipur, she complained against Kharbanda to the Chanakyapuri police station and hotel security.

"We registered an FIR under Sections 354 and 328 of the Indian Penal Code and got her statement recorded before the City Magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC," the officer added.

Unaware of the legal action against him, Kharbanda was busy in his official work. He visited the Gurugram office (Google head office in India).

"When he returned to the hotel room on January 9 night, the hotel security informed the police and he was arrested," the ACP added.

He has since been sent to judicial custody..

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during 142nd birth anniversary celebration of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Patna.

The chief minister was unharmed.

An unfazed Kumar, who went on to address a public meeting in Dumraon block, said, "Some people feel disturbed over my commitment to progress of the state. They try to mislead and provoke others but people should not get perturbed over such minor happenings".

An official accompanying the chief minister told PTI over phone that some people had hurled stones at the cavalcade but it did not hamper the movement of the carcade.

He said the cavalcade moved ahead for the village where the chief minister launched 168 schemes worth Rs 272 crore before addressing public meeting.

It was not immediately known who were the persons who indulged in stone-pelting and what was their grouse.

The chief minister said, "My purpose is not to run government from the state capital but to assess ground realities and progress of development schemes so that basic amenities like roads, clean water and power reach every village, in fact, every locality, in the state. If anybody is trying to mislead people about my mission, the reality will speak for itself and the mission would never get derailed".

He also spoke at length about his mission of ban on sale and consumption of alcohol and the drive against dowry and child marriage as also measures being taken by the government for skill development of the youths so that they got better job opportunities.

The CM told security personnel deployed at the venue of the public meeting "do not worry about any protests. If some people want to raise slogans and show black flags."



Kumar has been criss-crossing the state as part of "Vikas Samiksha Yatra" to take stock of implementation of developmental programmes at the grassroot.Two senior officers of ONGC are feared to have been killed along with three others in a helicopter crash off Mumbai on Saturday.

A Pawan Hans helicopter, which was heading to ONGC's north field with seven people on board, went missing off the Mumbai coast, official sources said.

Speaking on the matter, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Navy & Coast Guard are on their job. I am also going to Mumbai to coordinate things. I will discuss it with Defense Minister. She is also cooperating & has instructed Navy & Coast Guard to look into the issue extensively".

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 AM, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board, they said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 AM, the sources said. Search operations are on, they added.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being press into service.

The Indian Coast Guard has tweeted about the identification recovered from the debris.

Two bodies out of five recovered at sea near debris of ill feted @ONGC_ Aircraft identified by the cards in wallet @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/yG8dQ0t6Nx  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) January 13, 2018

The President of India has expressed his condolence regarding the incident.In an ideal world, Mayur Datar, chief data strategist, Flipkart, wants his companys app to understand every need of the users even before they know it. Be it buying a pen or a refrigerator, Datar wants his app to figure out everything starting from what the customer requires to how much loan would that person need to buy the same.

This is exactly what Datar hopes to achieve in 2018. Knowing very well that the fast maturing e-commerce segment in India is making a gradual shift from just discounting to a more dynamic and receptive shopping experience, Flipkart, and their ...In the coming six months, Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) will be putting up at least 1,600 acres of unused land, mainly in Kolkata and Haldia, under the bidding process for a 30-year old lease.

It will ensure that the port authorities use up nearly the entire free landholding to generate more revenue. Currently, KoPT has more than 10,000 acres of land across West Bengal and uses over 43 per cent for its own operations while another 3,400 acres have been put under lease. "In the next six months, we will be putting 80-90 plots each having an acreage of 17-20 acres under the ...Olga Beach: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the Olga Beach in Israel on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

Strengthening cooperation in key areas of trade and defence, including a possible inking of a multi-million dollar Israeli anti-tank missiles deal, is on the table during the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Sunday, with its envoy today terming Indo- Israel ties as irreversible.

Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon also downplayed India's stand at the United Nations General Assembly over the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in place of Tel Aviv, saying New Delhi's view "cannot influence" Indo-Israel ties.

India, last month, had joined 127 other countries to vote in the United Nations General Assembly in favour of a resolution opposing the recent decision of US President Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Netanyahu will be on a six-day visit to India starting Sunday, during which he will hold comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During his stay, he will also visit Gujarat and Mumbai.

Without going into the contours of a possible agreement for Israeli Spike missiles, Carmon said the Spike project is an example of "Israeli engaging in Make in India" because it can be implemented through partnership between an Israeli company and Indian company.

In November, the defence ministry had decided to retract the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. Now, it is learnt that the government is considering buying the missiles through G- to-G route.

Carmon said apart from top Israeli officials, a delegation of 130 businessmen will accompany Netanyahu during his visit.

(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.)Indian Overseas Bank Officers' Association (IOBOA), the officers' trade union in IOB, has extended support to the management decision of balance sheet management by setting off the accumulated loss with the share premium amount.

The move is aimed at giving out a fair, true and clearer picture of bank's balance sheet, which will infuse confidence in the minds of investors, it said. "The move will also benefit the customer and it is shortening the time limit for dividend declaration by the bank as we are able to see the light at the end of the Tunnel with regard to ...Serving the unnerved should be our motto: Vice President





The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu has said that serving the unnerved should be the motto of working people like doctors and civil servants. Inaugurating a medical camp at Swarna Bharat Trust in Nellore today, he stressed on the need to help the poorest of the poor.

The Vice President said that everyone must draw inspiration from the life of Swami Vivekananda and imbibe qualities like him to serve the society and country at large.

Talking on the importance of the Makar Sankranti festival, the Vice President said all festivals of our country send the message of humanism, living together and promoting good deeds. We must leave all the bad things behind and embrace the good things from the past to make a better tomorrow.

Later the Vice President met with people from nearby villages who came to wish him on Sankranti. Shri M Venkaiah Naidu also interacted with farmers and several other representatives of the Nellore district and exchanged pleasantries.Vice President greets the people on the occasion of Makar Sankranti and Pongal festivals





The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu has greeted the people on the occasion of Makar Sankranti and Pongal festivals. In a message, the Vice President said this festival celebrated with different names all over the country, is a celebration of a positive transformation in peoples lives.

Following is the text of the Vice Presidents message :

I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all our citizens on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti and Pongal.

Dedicated to the Sun God, Makar Sankranti symbolizes Uttarayan or the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun. Celebrated with different names all over the country, the festivals of Makar Sankranti and Pongal symbolize the happiness that comes with good harvest and is a celebration of a positive transformation in peoples lives. Makar Sankranti Festival is also an occasion to revitalize our lives through prayers and reverence for rivers and all living beings. On this day lakhs of people take holy dip in the sacred rivers.

May these festivals usher in prosperity, tranquility and happiness in our country."Jeff Bezos rubbed elbows last weekend with Halle Berry, Chris Hemsworth and other Hollywood celebrities at an after-party for the Golden Globes. In December, he walked the red carpet, along with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, at a screening of The Post in Washington. On Friday, Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, made public their $33 million donation to a nonprofit that provides college scholarships to so-called Dreamers, young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. In October, he received an award for a donation to a marriage equality campaign. Jennifer Cast, ...A week after the release of a book depicting him as not intelligent enough and not mentally fit to be trusted as commander-in-chief, Donald Trump has done it again.

On the same day he cancelled a visit to London to open the new US embassy there, a move many interpreted as an attempt to avoid embarrassing protests, he embarrassed himself further by demanding to know why the US deigns to accept immigrants from shithole countries. Before this latest outburst, the White House had spent a week trying in vain to rise above the account of Michael Wolffs Fire and Fury, ...At least 16 suspects, including eight Afghan refugees, were arrested during large-scale raids in different parts of Pakistan.

The Express Tribune reported that the Frontier Corps (FC) arrested the suspects, days after a suicide bomber killed seven people near the Balochistan provincial assembly in Quetta.

"Balochistan FC conducted intelligence-based operations in Sambaza, Sibbi, Hazar Ganji areas," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

"Weapons and ammunition including grenades, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), rockets and explosives have been recovered," the ISPR added.

Around seven people, including five Balochistan Constabulary personnel, were killed after a bomber struck a security forces truck in Quetta.

The attack took place in the city's busy intersection of GPO Chowk, located in a high-security zone, not far from the provincial assembly. The suicide attack was later claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The Pakistan Army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a military offensive against the 'latent threat of terrorism', in February last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Taliban has criticised the United States' decision to send 700 more troops into Afghanistan for training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces in counter-terrorism operations in the country.

The Khaama press agency reported that the US military officials had announced the sending of more US troops to Afghanistan to advise and assist the Afghan security forces during the counter-terrorism operations.

The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement, "If the US failed to win a war with a hundred thousand troops, it will not win with a few hundred. Deployment of 700 Special Operations Forces (SOF) is a propaganda effort because the US and its allies are compelled to periodically reinvigorate spirits of their morale lacking troops."

Earlier reports had emerged that the US President Donald Trump was planning to send the US troops in Afghanistan after he unveiled his administration's new strategy to tackle terrorism in South Asia in August last year.

Trump has vowed to continue the US mission in Afghanistan and has reaffirmed his support to the Afghan government and the Afghan national defence and security forces.

According to the US officials, the new strategy will be implemented in a bid to force the Taliban to opt for reconciliation.

The recent comments by the Taliban comes a day after insurgents and the US-special forces clashed with each other in Achin district of Nangarhar province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's Frontier Corps personnel on Saturday arrested at least eight Afghanistan nationals during the ongoing counter-terrorism operations being conducted by the force in restive Balochistan province.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, said the Afghan nationals have been held for staying illegally and several weapons and ammunition have also been recovered from them.

"FC Balochistan conducted IBOs in Sambaza, Sibbi, Hazar Ganji areas. 16 suspects arrested including 8 illegal Afghan refugees. Weapons and ammunition including grenades, IEDs, rockets, explosive recovered," a statement by the ISPR read.

According to the Pakistan officials, counter-terrorism operations have been underway in Balochistan and other parts of the tribal regions of the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)South Africa suffered a mini collapse at the end of Day 1 of the second Test at the SuperSport Park here on Saturday as they were reduced to 269/6.

Having won the toss and opting to bat first, the Proteas got off to a decent start with openers Dean Elgar (31) and Aiden Markram (94) tackling the Indian bowlers well.

Markram who was dismissed six runs shy of his third century became the second-fastest South African to score 500 runs after five test matches. First is legendary Barry Richards.

Hashim Amla (82) consolidated South Africa's innings along with Markram and kept the scoreboard ticking until the latter fell at the team's score of 148.

Following Markram's wicket, A.B. de Villiers (20) chipped in and along with Amla took the team to 199 until the swashbuckling batsman was clean bowled by Ishant Sharma.

However, with Ravichandran Ashwin dismissing Quinton de Kock for a duck and Hardik Pandya chipping in with his top-hole fielding skills, the home team lost three quick wickets for just 23 runs.

Ashwin who took three wickets was the pick of the Indian bowlers.

Earlier, Indian made three changes to their playing XI.

Parthiv Patel replaced Wriddhiman Saha, who was out with a hamstring niggle.

KL Rahul and Ishant Sharma replaced Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, respectively.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's exclusion from the team was received was surprise by both the media and experts.

The hosts claimed a 72-run victory in the first Test match in Cape Town and lead the three-match series 1-0.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and state IT minister and his son Nara Lokesh on Saturday inaugurated eight IT companies in Tirupati.

Zoho Corporation, AGS Health, Exafluence, Naestech, YIIT, ANS, Ingenies, and Parikar, are the companies which the two leaders inaugurated.

Addressing on the occasion, the chief minister said Tirupati was a favourable destination for the growth of information and technology sector and IT hubs would also be developed in Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Tirupati, and Anantapur.

He also said that IT towers would be built in every district across the state.

"Visakhapatnam to Anantapur will be developed as Andhra Valley for future entrepreneurs. Today, you are talking about silicon valley, in future it will be Andhra valley," Naidu said.

"The state would train one crore IT literates by spending Rs. 250 crores," he added.

Zoho will provide employment to 5,000 people in the next three years with an investment of Rs. 300 crores.

Headquartered in the U.S., the company has over 6,000 employees spread across eight countries and over 30 million users utilise Zoho products for their businesses.

Moreover, the other seven companies which have begun operations today, aim to provide 1,080 jobs in the next one year and about 1,800 jobs in the next two years.

According to Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh was rolling out red carpet to IT companies coming forward to invest in the state. He believes that they have been able to create about 24 thousand IT jobs in the last three and a half years.

"We are bringing in several new policies to develop IT in the state. We are also encouraging latest technologies like fintech (financial technology), blockchain, crypto currencies and data analytics in a big way. Our aim is to create one lakh jobs in IT and two lakh jobs in electronics by 2019," Nara Lokesh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the Congress Party is confident of winning and serving a second term in office in the state.

The chief minister, along with Karnataka Congress-in-charge K.C. Venugopal and others arrived here this morning to meet Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the Congress President was happy with the progress of the party in the state, adding that all promises made by the government in 2013 have been successfully fulfilled.

"Rahul Gandhi was very happy to know that there is no anti-incumbency against our government, and all programmes that were mentioned in our manifesto have been completed. We are confident that the Congress party will win with a comfortable majority in Karnataka," he said.

Responding to his recent tussle with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over Hinduism and most-recently, the alleged killing of Hindus, Siddaramaiah claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has run out of issues to discuss, and hence are raising irrelevant ones.

"The BJP is raising irrelevant issues in Karnataka. Hindutva is the only issue they have. Yogi Adityanath and Amit Shah are also raising the same issue, and Narendra Modi may also raise the same in the future," he said.

Ahead of the assembly elections in Karnataka this year, a Siddaramaiah-led Congress delegation from Karnataka met Rahul Gandhi at his residence earlier in the day.

During the meeting that lasted over three hours, Gandhi reviewed and discussed the party's strategy in the state and also the progress of the measures implemented by them.

On a related note, Karnataka will go to polls in April this year.

Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Karnataka from February 10-12 for the first leg of the election campaign. He will be addressing meetings, interacting with various groups of intellectuals, farmers, women, and students, as per Karnataka Congress Chief Dr. G. Parameshwara.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least two students died after a boat with 40 school children on board capsized off the coast of Maharashtra's Dahanu town on Saturday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed deep condolences to the aggrieved families.

"Sad to know about capsizing of a boat carrying school children of K L Ponda High School, Dahanu at Dahanu Parnaka Beach. The search operation is still on with local police and administration," Fadnavis said.

"Injured are admitted to cottage hospital and Kamble hospital. Our deep condolences and thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones," he added.

President Ram Nath Kovind also offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

"Anguished to hear of boat carrying schoolchildren capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. State government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," the President tweeted.

Commandant Vijay Kumar, Coast Guard, said the boat might have capsized due to imbalance.

"With the coordinated effort of all agencies and local fishermen, 32 students were rescued, two pronounced dead and one unidentified body was found," he said.

The boat capsized 20 nautical miles off the Dahanu coast at about 11:30 am today.

Dahanu is in Maharashtra's Palghar district and is about 110 kilometres from Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday joined the 'Ahinsa Yatra' (peace walks) with Jain Muni Acharya Mahashraman in his Padyatra.

Muni Acharya Mahashraman, along with his disciples and followers, has crossed about 45000 km during his padyatra.

He has already visited three countries, where Odisha is the 19th state.

Padyatra or a journey on foot with a purpose is an ancient Jain tradition. According to the religious preaching, the main aim of a Muni's lifelong vow is to keep walking till the end of their life, carrying the message of peace and nonviolence far and wide and inspire the masses to live a good life.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four Rohingyas, including three children and a woman, were killed in a fire at an UN-run transit camp in southeastern Bangladesh's Ukhiya upazila near Cox's Bazar on Friday night.

Cox's Bazar's Additional Superintendent of Police Afruzul Haque Tutul said, "The fire, which broke out at around 3:30 am late on Friday, from a candle in their tent at the camp, also left three others injured.

Ukhiya's Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Nikaruzzaman confirmed the incident and said the tent was located along the Cox's Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Officials from the Red Crescent said that at least seven people were severely burnt in the fire and have been rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital where four of them died on Friday afternoon.

When they were rushed to a Red Crescent field hospital, the four of them succumbed to their injuries and the remaining three people are recovering.

Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar. They have been regarded by many majority Buddhists as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Also, they have been long persecuted by the Buddhists and the security forces.

As of December 2017, an estimated 6,55,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoid the persecution from the security forces that started in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August last year.

There are more than 3,00,000 Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, who fled in earlier waves of violence from the Myanmarese Government since the last three decades.

The United Nations has called the violence against civilians 'ethnic cleansing', but the Myanmarese Government rejected the claims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The committee appointed by the government last year to examine issues related to cryptocurrency has submitted its report and examining pros and cons, including launching of its own crypto currency, said a top legal affairs ministry official said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi earlier this week.

Addressing the second Global Summit on P2P Digital Asset System, organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), Anadee Nath Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, said the government is also looking into the allegations that people who had black money had diverted the same to cryptocurrencies in India during the period of demonetisation in 2016.

It was reported that during the period of demonetisation, lakhs of people had used illegal money in bitcoins and that was one of the main factors responsible for the sudden increase in the price of bitcoins. The government is also examining the use of black money, said Mr. Mishra.

There has been a phenomenal increase in recent times in the price of virtual currencies (VCs) including bitcoin, in India and globally. The VCs don't have intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price of bitcoin and other VCs, therefore, is a matter of mere speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices. There is real risk of investment bubble of the type in ponzi schemes which can result in sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers losing their hard earned money. Consumers need to be alert and extremely cautious as to avoid getting trapped in such ponzi schemes, said Mr. Mishra.

VCs are stored in digital/ electronic format, making them vulnerable to hacking, loss of password, malware attack etc. which may also result in permanent loss of money. As transactions of VCs are encrypted they are also likely being used to carry out illegal activities such as terror-funding, smuggling, drug trafficking and other money-laundering acts, added the additional secretary.

He said, there was report that people who couldn't convert their money use this channel to launder their illegal money and it could have been one of the reasons for sudden rise in the value of bitcoins. The Income Tax (IT) department has also carried out enquiries and notices have been given to numbers of people who have transacted in bitcoins and have been asked to make payment of taxes if they had made any profit out of it.

The policy of government of India is extreme cautious right now but we are actually calling it illegal but there is always difference between legality and tax availability, said Mr Mishra.

He also said that government wants digital technology but block chain technology should help businesses..technology is welcome. Lets people do in a legal way.

As the theme Speaker at the ASSOCHAM event, Mr. Subharansh Rai, Co-founder and COO of EthxPay, a Delhi based Bitcoin exchange, said, "Government should start recognising this sooner than later to dispel confusion related to government policy regarding status of crypto-currency in India."

"Neither the Government nor the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have officially clamped down the business of crypto-currency, but recently individual Bitcoin traders and exchanges appear to be bearing the brunt of a campaign that has already begun to impact crypto usage across the country as banks are choking bitcoin by blocking deposits and withdrawals. This should not happen till norms are in place," added Mr Rai.

Mr Augusto Montiel, Ambassador of Venezuela said, blockcahin technology can bring positive change in quality, efficiency and productivity. Blockchain technology enables a strong authentication process. He said, Venezuela is currently working on an oil-backed crypto currency called Petro.

He said that the Venezuelan government has investment worth 9.5 billion dollars of barrels of oil to back the new crypto currency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Estonia-based health-focused startup Healthureum on Saturday announced a Blockchain-based 360-degree ecosystem for administering medical care in a reliable and accurate manner.

With the help of Blockchain, it will be easier to track the transaction nodes between the key participants like drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacists, and medical representatives, thus securing the product information, combating the problem of counterfeit drugs, and contributing to overall drug traceability on the smooth road.

Healthureum's platform is designed on the Ethereum-based blockchain using smart contract to significantly improve efficiency and interoperability of healthcare services. Blockchain will help connect all hospitals on a global scale, thereby improving the rate at which information is shared between these institutions.

"India is one of the key markets for us and we will soon be launching token generation event, and will also announce new partnership and collaboration with various Indian health care professionals and stakeholders, respectively. Through blockchain, we can achieve decentralised healthcare, closing the gap between services: through transparency, security, and most importantly accountability," a spokesperson from Healthureum said.

Similar to Bitcoin and Ethreum, Healthureum is offering its own token HHEM for consumers, institutions and businesses to pay for the Healthureum services. This will allow token holders world-class infrastructure such as data transparency (patients will have full consolidation of their data accessible at any time) and real-time medical data in an instant. Patients will be able to receive video consultations for faster diagnosis from a certified consultant, with a quick and safe payment system.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iran has said that it will retaliate against the sanctions imposed by the United States on the head of its judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani.

Iran also refused to accept any changes to its 2015 nuclear deal with the powers.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump, a critic of the 2015 accord to prevent Iran developing nuclear arms, said that he would extend sanctions relief one last time to give Washington and its European allies a chance to fix the "terrible flaws".

However, the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over alleged human rights abuses.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state media, "The Trump regime's hostile action (against Larijani) crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community and is a violation of international law and will surely be answered by a serious reaction of the Islamic Republic".

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had earlier said on Twitter that Trump's decision undermined the multilateral agreement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir Minister Altaf Bukhari on Saturday hit back at army chief General Bipin Rawat for hinting that students in the valley were being radicalised in the schools.

"The army chief is a respected officer. I do not think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on This being a subject on state list, we know how to run our system," said Bukhari.

The minister also defended the presence of two maps in the classroom.

"There are two flags in the state. We have Jammu and Kashmir constitution and India's constitution as well. Every school has a state map as it is needed to teach about the state," Bukhari added.

General Rawat, while addressing the media, said the schools in Jammu and Kashmir were teaching students with two maps - one of India and another of the state.

"In the schools in Jammu and Kashmir, what teachers are teaching should not be taught. In schools, there can be seen two maps, one of India another of Jammu and Kashmir. Why do we need a separate map for the state? What does it teach the children?" General Rawat said in the press conference held in New Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For a brief period, the passengers of Mumbai-bound Jet Airways flight were left stranded at the Paris airport on Saturday due to "mandatory checks" undertaken by the local security authorities.

The passengers were reportedly made to deboard the flight just before the take-off as the security staff searched the plane.

The official statement from the airline stated only "mandatory checks" as the reason for the delay.

"Jet Airways flight 9W 123 from Paris to Mumbai of January 13, 2018 was rescheduled owing to mandatory checks at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport by local security authorities," the airline said in a statement.

Following the necessary checks, the flight with 344 guests and 15 crew members departed at 1253 hrs. local time (5:23 am IST).

According to the statement, guests were duly informed about the delay.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) on Saturday rejected Pakistan government's allegations of its links with the terrorist organisation (TTP) Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

JSMM Chairman Shafi Burfat, in a statement, said, "The rogue Pakistani state is trying to suppress JSMM's political agitation against CPEC by alleging its links with the terrorist TTP, which is highly condemned. JSMM strongly rejects the allegations of the puppet police officer on the bidding of Pakistan's military establishment."

"In a recent statement, the DIG Larkana Police on the bidding of Pakistan Military Establishment has foolishly attempted to portray JSMM as a terrorist organization conspiring with Islamic terrorist TTP to sabotage CPEC and carry out terrorist activities in Sindh, which is not only condemnable but a shameful act of the state," the statement added.

Burfat stated that it was not hidden that Pakistan government has been nurturing and sponsoring the religious extremism and providing safe havens to terror-groups like Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Taliban and others.

"DIG Larkana has alleged JSMM instead of the real culprit ISI which is the mother and proprietor of the entire enterprise of Global Jihadism in the region. Indeed, it's not the Sindhi secular political party JSMM but the Pakistani state instead that fosters the Taliban and uses them to sabotage the peace of the region," he said.

He further stated that Sindhi nationalist movement has always been in coherence with the Sindhi values of Sufism, secularism, religious tolerance, coexistence and peace, propagated by late G.M. Syed through his books.

"It is the caravan of enlightened modernist liberal conscious Sindhi people striving for the restoration of their historic national identity and national independence, embracing all the people of Sindh belonging to various diverse religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds," he added.

Burfat accused Pakistan of violating international laws and fundamental human rights by carrying out the atrocities in the form of abduction, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killing of secular Sindhi political activists.

"The Pakistani state is trying to confuse the Sindhi secular nationalist movement with religious extremism to blend it with the Islamic terrorists to persecute the secular Sindhi people with international impunity," he said.

He also appealed the international community, United Nations and other democratic countries of the to take serious notice of the atrocities of Pakistan against secular Sindhi people.

"The people of Sindh know it well that Sindhi nationalist movement, the ideology of Syed and JSMM are the synonyms to the of Sindh's national emancipation strongly opposing the theocratic existence of Pakistan, but not the religious terrorists as alleged by the stooges of the state," JSMM Chairman said.

"JSMMZ has always been protesting and condemning the religious extremism and terrorism on the regional as well as international forums through its actions and speech," Burfat added.

He further said that JSMM has vowed to continue its political struggle against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), religious extremist terrorism and national slavery despite all the nefarious designs and shameless tactics of the theocratic Pakistani state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive on a six-day visit to India, starting from Sunday.

Netanyahu will be accompanied by a 130-member delegation drawn from cyber, agriculture and defence sectors.

On the day of his arrival, he will call on by External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj.

The visiting dignitary, on Monday, will be given a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan which will be followed by the wreath laying at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.

Netanyahu will also meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and hold delegation level talks.

The two sides will sign agreements and also issue a joint press statement. The Israeli PM will call on President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day.

On Tuesday, the minister will leave for Agra and visit Taj Mahal in the city. On the same day, he will visit Delhi and participate in the Raisina Dialogue, where he is scheduled to deliver an inaugural speech.

Netanyahu will leave for Ahmedabad on the fourth day of his tour and visit Sabarmati Ashram. The minister will also attend an event at the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate).

The minister will later visit Centre of Excellence, Vadrad. On the same day the minister will leave for Mumbai.

On Thursday, Netanyahu will have a power Breakfast with Indian CEOs and attend a business seminar. He will also lay wreath at Taj Hotel Mumbai and pay a visit to Nariman House - Chabad Centre.

He will also reach out to Bollywood in an exclusive 'Shalom Bollywood' event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A former porn star, who reportedly received a $130,000 payment from United States President Donald Trump's lawyer shortly before the election, has quashed the allegations of receiving hush money.

As per a report in the Wall Street Journal, Trump organisation attorney Michael Cohen arranged the payment of $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, in October 2016.

In a letter, obtained and reviewed by Fox News, Clifford denied claims of any sexual encounter with Trump.

"I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false", she said. "My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more."

Clifford wrote in the letter that when she met Trump, he was "gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence."

"Rumours that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false", the letter further read. "If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn't be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true."

Meanwhile, Cohen also denied the reports, saying, "These rumours have circulated time and again since 2011". "President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms.Daniels".

Clifford, who has appeared in more than 150 adult films, was 27 when she met Trump in 2006.

A photo of the two together was also uploaded that year by Clifford on her MySpace account.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday greeted the nation on the occasion of the Punjabi folk festival of Lohri.

"Greetings and good wishes to the people of the country on Lohri. May the festival bring happiness, good health and prosperity to everyone's lives #PresidentKovind," Kovind wrote on Twitter.

President also posted another greeting in Hindi on the micro-blogging site.

Lohri, primarily celebrated in the Punjab region by Sikhs and Hindus, marks the end of the winter season.

Bonfire and folk songs are a major part of the celebration, and a Puja Parikrama around the bonfire is performed followed by the distribution of Prasad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nepal's CPN-Maoist Centre leader Agni Sapkota on Saturday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit Nepal in April.

At an event in Kathmandu, Sapkota said, "President Xi will visit Nepal in the second week of April 2018 as per schedule prepared by Chinese foreign ministry."

Sapkota said that the Tatopani border which is a major trading point between Nepal and China, is likely to reopen within three months after the formation of the new government.

The Tatopani border has been shut down since April 2015 earthquake.

The Himalayan Times quoted Agni Sapkota, as saying, "As per my conversation with Chinese authorities, we should address their security concerns. Tibet is a sensitive issue for China. We should address that and other concerns through appropriate diplomatic channel."

After the devastating earthquake in 2015 many tourist and small hotels has been shut down around the Tatopani border, resulting lose too many local entrepreneurs and laborers.

The Himalayan Times reported that many local entrepreneurs' demands for the reopening of the Nepal-China border at earliest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chief Minister Pema Khandu has appealed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to prioritise rail connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh in the ensuing Union General Budget 2018-19.

In separate letters to both ministers, Khandu expressed gratitude to the Centre for giving special impetus to rail and road connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh.

He informed that the Naharlagun Railway Station is currently having all the required amenities to start operations of new train services including the Rajdhani Express Train.

"Considering the ever increasing number of passengers availing the aforesaid train services and to cater the needs of passengers from different parts of the state, it is felt imperative that the following points may be included in the Budget Announcement of General Budget 2018-19:

1. Introduction of Rajdhani Express Train service from Naharlagun to New Delhi and vice versa.

2. Increase the frequency of Shatabdi Express running between Naharlagun-Guwahati from alternate days to daily service.

3. Increase the frequency of Naharlagun-New Delhi Super Fast Express from weekly to daily basis and it may be rechristened as "Arunachal Express".

4. Introduction of new Express Trains to and fro from Naharlagun to Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

5. Introduction of Goods Train from Naharlagun to Guwahati to boost trading of indigenous products and agri-horti produces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Angered by a "racist" advert of Swedish fashion retailer H&M, protesters from the South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) movement ransacked several stores in the Gauteng province of the country.

The protesters were also heard raising slogans against the fashion brand in the shopping centre.

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, the spokesman of EFF, said that the Swedish fashion group's apologies were too little and too late.

"The time of apologies for racism is over; there must be consequences to anti-black racism, period!" Ndlozi wrote on his Twitter.

Earlier this week, the Swedish fashion group caused widespread outrage with their latest promotional image, wherein a kid of African descent was seen sporting a hoodie with a controversial tagline - "Coolest monkey in the jungle".

The Swedish brand received serious flak for this, following which the company released a statement, "We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image". The image was pulled from the website following the controversy.

Several celebrities showed their discontent with the image on the social media platforms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)South Korea on Saturday announced that it will install artificial reefs near the western maritime border with North Korea, to prevent illegal fishing by Chinese ships.

The Yonhap news agency quoted the Incheon Metropolitan City provincial government saying that artificial reefs will be installed around the country's north-western islands in the Yellow Sea, located near the disputed maritime border of Northern Limit Line (NLL), which officially acts as the de facto maritime boundary between North and South Korea.

The South Korean government and Incheon provincial government have placed an order of about 800 artificial reefs, which range in size from 2 tons to 53.5 tons.

The artificial reefs are man-made underwater structures, which are almost similar to natural reefs for protecting marine resources. They are also effective in preventing illegal trawling.

Chinese ships have taken advantage of the rising tensions between the two Koreas. South Korean coastguards does not actively crack down on Chinese ships, near the NLL, since it could trigger an accidental clash with North Korea.

In July last year, North Korea condemned the decision of erecting artificial reef structures, as a part of Seoul's military provocations against Pyongyang's maritime demarcation line.

The decision of erecting man-made reefs near the NLL by South Korea, comes at a time when the two Koreas agreed to sit down and hold military talks, in what was the first time in two years, in order to solve their border tensions.

The rare high-level talks come amid the increasing tension between the two countries as South Korea seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker returning after allegedly transferring oil to North Korea a few days ago. American satellites had reportedly spotted Chinese ships, suspected of selling oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October.

North Korea is also under tough international sanctions imposed by the UN over the launch of three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other nuclear tests conducted in the last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Shiv Sena on Saturday lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led state government's functioning, asserting that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ministers are uncertain about the state treasury themselves.

In the editorial page of its mouthpiece 'Saamna', the party said, "Where at one place Eknath Khadse (BJP leader) asked the farmers to take care of themselves and not depend on the government, on the second hand, Babanrao Lonikar gave a bizarre statement by telling the people that the government is not giving him money to proceed with the development work,"

The party said three BJP leaders - Eknath Khadse, Babanrao Lonikar, Girish Bapat, have raised questions on the party's working capability.

The party's editorial, however, made it clear that the mentioned BJP leaders have no connection with Shiv Sena whatsoever.

"A few people think that Shiv Sena criticises the government, those who think that should listen to the comments made by BJP leaders. Eknath Khadse, Babanrao Lonikar and Girish Bapat have entertained people by giving out accidental comments," Shiv Sena added.

In a video that went viral on January 6, BJP minister Girish Bapat was heard saying that people should work vigorously towards getting their work done as the "government will change next year".

Talking about Lonikar's statement Shiv Sena bashed the BJP-led Maharashtra Government saying that when a state leader asserts that there is no money for development work, then it becomes a serious issue.

"Maharashtra Chief Minister is making and introducing development projects every day, claiming that the state treasury is enough to finish them, but ministers under Fadnavis are tuning a different tune," the party added.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday termed the press conference of the four Supreme Court judges as 'ill planned' and added that the allegations made by them were not substantial.

"If they had to come for a press conference, then they should have said something substantial. Just creating doubts in the minds of people will not serve the interest of the judiciary. I think this was not properly planned," SCBA president Vikas Singh told ANI.

He further opined, "If at all they had anything substantial to say, they should have thought it over first rather than just suggesting something and leaving it to the minds of the people to keep guessing. All of the wild guesses will go all over the country and all kinds of things will be said about the Supreme Court."

In wake of the allegations made by the four senior judges against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, the SCBA will be holding a meeting today, and will later address the press as well.

Yesterday, in the press conference, Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar questioned the conduct of the CJI, saying that their efforts have failed in convincing the latter to take steps to protect the institution.

The ambiguous allegations by the judges had prompted media persons to ask if it related to the case of CBI Judge Loya's death, to which Justice Gogoi replied in the affirmative, albeit hesitantly.

Singh, however, said that Justice Loya wasn't mentioned by either of them, "They haven't said anything about Justice Loya either in the letter or the press conference. I don't know how this justice Loya issue is coming up for discussion in this matter at all.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court will not be hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a probe into the alleged mysterious death of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge B H Loya on Monday.

The latest move unfolds as one of the apex court judges Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar is on leave.

On Friday, the top court asked the Maharashtra government to submit the postmortem report of the CBI judge, asserting that the "matter was very serious".

The apex court had earlier fixed the date of hearing on January 15.

Earlier on Thursday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, "sought an urgent hearing on the plea" for a probe into Justice Loya's death on December 1, 2014.

According to reports, Maharashtra-based journalist B R Lone had filed an independent plea seeking a fair probe into the mysterious death of Justice Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case - in which various police officers and the Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah were named as parties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said that the entire nation has their faith in the Supreme Court and so, its credibility needs to be restored.

"This is a very serious matter. This got a very grave reflection on the functioning of our democracy and also the character of our republic. If there is any problem then that needs to be resolved at the earliest. This responsibility lies not only with the judiciary but with the three organs of our democracy - the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The credibility of the highest court of our country in which people has immense faith needs to be restored", Yechury told ANI.

Yesterday, Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar, while addressing the media, appealed to the nation to save their institution if they wanted democracy in the country to survive.

Speaking on behalf of the four judges, Justice Chelameswar lamented over the corrosion and compromise taking place within the institution of the judiciary and especially within the portals of the Supreme Court.

The judges said that they have discharged a debt to the nation by issuing an appeal to the nation to save the institution.

They had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, expressing their concerns.

They also raised an issue over Judge B.H. Loya's death. The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge's postmortem report from the Maharashtra government asserting that the "matter is very serious."

The country's top court has posted the next hearing on the issue for Monday, 15 January.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After United States President Donald Trump cancelled his planned visit to London, Mayor Sadiq Khan on Friday said that the former "got the message" from Londoners.

Khan said that Trump's visit would have been hampered by mass protests as the U.S. President views are opposite of the city's value, reported the Independent.

While Trump had claimed that he called off the visit because he didn't want to open the new U.S. embassy in south London and termed the decision to move the building from Mayfair to Vauxhall as a "bad deal".

However, the opponents threatening of mass protests on Trump enters the country, is being cited as a major reason behind the cancellation of the latter's plan.

"It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city's values of inclusion, diversity, and tolerance", Khan said in a statement.

"His visit next month would, without doubt, have been met by mass peaceful protests", he added.

Kahn even questioned Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May's urgency to extend an invitation of a state visit to Trump in the first place.

"Let's hope that Donald Trump also revisits the pursuit of his divisive agenda."

Trump's visit to Britain is expected to be accompanied by a large demonstration anytime.

Last year, a petition to stop Trump from making an official state visit to Britain garnered over 1.8 million signatures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Haj Minister Mohsin Raza on Saturday issued a notice to Haj Committee Secretary R.P. Singh seeking clarification on Lucknow's Haj House being painted saffron a few days ago.

The Lucknow's Haj House made headlines on January 5 after the exterior walls were painted with saffron colour, which is considered sacred for Hindus and is also one of the colours of the flag of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Soon after an outcry, the boundary walls of the Haj House were repainted on January 6.

Singh had blamed the contractor for the incident while saying that an action would be taken against the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has accused his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah of killing Hindus, and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of instigating communal rift, thus taking the chief ministers' long-standing beef to a new level.

Taking a dig at Siddaramaiah's recent statement about him being a Hindu, the over-a-minute-long video, posted on BJP Uttar Pradesh's Twitter handle on Saturday, shows pictures of 12 Hindus, who were killed in the last two to three years in Karnataka.

The post added, "But when questioned by Yogi, he (Siddaramaiah) calls himself a Hindu."

The attack also took into fold Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his numerous temple visits during the Gujarat Assembly election, and his proclamation of being a Hindu, and accused him of using religion to create communal rift in the country.

"Had you worked even a speck in the last five years, then the 'Rajkunvar' of Congress need not have been making recipes," comes the remark in the video.

The video also highlighted the 1002 cases of farmers's suicide in Karnataka in the current fiscal year, corruption cases against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Earlier, Adityanath, while addressing a BJP rally in Bengaluru, accused Siddaramaiah of intermixing religion and politics, thus following the footsteps of Congress President Rahul Gandhi ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat.

He further questioned Siddaramaiah on why he was "endorsing beef eaters" if he was a Hindu, to which the latter promptly responded that Hindus did eat beef, and questioned Aditynaath's right to criticise the people's food habits.

Siddaramaiah also termed Adityanath's governance in Uttar Pradesh as 'Jungle Raj' and opined that the latter could "learn a lot" from him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 13 people died and 39 others were injured in a five-vehicle traffic accident on an expressway alongside the municipality of Grao Mogol in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, officials said.

The accident involved a car, a minibus, two vans and a truck with a load of paper that caught fire in the collision, officials at the region's Fire Department said, Efe reported.

Several of the injured are in serious condition and were taken to regional hospitals with the aid of a Military Police helicopter, while most of the 39 who were hurt are in good health and in no danger of death.

The accident occurred at kilometer 400 (mile 250) on the BR-251 Expressway and blocked traffic in both directions for four hours Saturday morning, according to Federal Highway Police who are investigating the causes of the accident.

The BR-251, known as the Julio Garcia Expressway, covers some 1,500 kilometers between the state of Bahia in the northeast and the west-central state of Mato Grosso, and goes through the nation's capital, Brasilia.

The area where the accident occurred is one of the busiest stretches on the expressway, which has problems of maintenance in some parts, chiefly in Mato Grosso, which even has some parts that are not paved.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 26 armed insurgents have been killed and 16 injured since Afghan security forces launched operations across the country over the past 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday morning.

"The joint Afghan security forces also detained three suspected militants and those among the killed militants were 13 Islamic State (IS) fighters," the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported.

They also seized weapons and defused several roadside bombs and landmines planted by the militants, the statement added.

Afghan security forces and the NATO-led coalition troops have beefed up security operations and airstrikes as Taliban militants and IS fighters are attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions during the winter in the mountainous country.

The militants responded by armed attacks and bombings.

On Friday night, five police personnel were killed and five others wounded after Taliban attacked police checkpoints in Imam Sahib district, Kunduz province, district administrative Chief Mahbubullah Sayyedi told Xinhua.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Seven people, including two women were killed and about 30 injured on Saturday, when a speeding state roadways Volvo bus fell into a dry culvert in Karnataka's Hassan district, said police.

"The incident occurred around 3.30 a.m. when the luxury bus fell into the culvert after crashing into the railings of a small bridge on the state highway 75 and plunged," Hassan district Deputy Superintendent of Police Shashidhar told IANS on phone.

The victims included the driver and conductor of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus and five passengers as it was going from Bengaluru to Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district on the west coast, about 320km away.

Of the 44 passengers, the 30 injured passengers were rushed to a state-run hospital at Hassan for treatment after they were extricated from the mangled bus.

"Though the cause of the accident is under investigation, a few passengers onboard the bus said the bus hit the railings after the driver lost its control when he dozed off at the wheel," said Shashidar.

The deceased were identified as T.D. Diana, 22, from Mangaluru and Sonia, 28 from Dharmasthala.

The five male victims were conductor Shivappa Chalavadi, 45, driver Laxman, 50, Biju from Belthangdi, Rajesh Prabhu, 26 from Dharmasthala and Gangadhar, 55, from Bengaluru.

"A case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the KSRTC and the bus company," added Shashidhar.

State Transport Minister H.M. Revanna expressed shock over the accident and announced Rs 3 lakh compensation to the kin of all the deceased.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Film: 'Angyaathavaasi'; Director: Trivikram Srinivas; Starring: Pavan Kalyan, Anu Emmanuel, Keerthy Suresh, Khushboo; Rating: *

If I was the producer-director of the French film "Largo Winch" I wouldn't even bother to acknowledge this alleged wannabe "Winch" in Telugu, let alone point out the similarities between the two films.

The French film is about an heir-apparent of a business empire returning to his family business after his father's murder. This Telugu ripoff is about....well, it's about Pavan Kalyan and his stardom. No more no less.

The stylised actor who apparently sends his billions of fans into an orgasmic swoon each time he narrows his eyes to convey the sarcastic impatience of a man who has plenty to do in life before he slips up, is to be seen in almost every frame of 'Angyaathavaasi', reducing stalwarts like Khushboo and Boman Irani to mere props perched in the populated plot to propel Pavan into perpetuity.

Pavan Kalyan plays the self-exiled son of the murdered entrepreneur Boman Irani's wounded wife Khusboo who sends a summon to her absentee son to come help rectify the wrongs in his father's empire. The hero's elaborate introduction has a kid running with a phone towards the hills where the hero is engaged in a furious fracas with ferocious fractions destined to lose the fight even before it begins.

When it is Rajinikanth or Pavan Kalyan the adversary is doomed even before the first punch. Rather than focus on the hero's efforts to clean out his dead father's empire, the plot allows the leading man to take over the show. Pavan Kalyan presides over the proceedings like an emperor in a medium-sized durbar of fawning supporters.

Everyone from the hero's mom(Khushboo) to his two heroines, is reduced to posturing and preening.Worse still the director Trivikram Srinivas seems to be in the mood to generate humour through Pavan's efforts to keep his dad's empire from falling apart.

As the intended humour and the torrent of repartees plays on, the films feels like the Towering Inferno without the fire. Or a Titanic where that sinking feeling is the audiences' collective hearts protesting against the sagging plot, creaky dramas and the stale smelly jokes, a lot of them aimed at the two heroines Keerthy Suresh and Anu Emmanuel who are portrayed as elegant airheads. Hence all their scenes with the super-hero of the proceedings are accompanied by guffaws and women-will-be-women rolling of the eyes.

What does all this have to do with Pavan Kalyan rescuing his father's empire from the corporate vampires? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The meandering screenplay rambles on with its pseudo-heroic rants unheedful of the damage it does to the central drama. The villainous caucus Murali Sharma and gang, hang around in conspiratorial huddles, trying to look sinister in contrast with Mr Kalyan's cool act.

Shouldn't an actor with Pavan Kalyan's clout be more careful of the projects he takes up? Fan expectations is a massive responsibility. They can't be served up a half-baked spurious remake of a French film with more space for the hero than decency permits.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bar Council of India (BCI) met here on Saturday and unanimously decided that a seven-member delegation of the bar would try to meet majority of Supreme Court judges on Sunday in an attempt to persuade them to resolve the crisis facing the highest judiciary at the earliest.

"We are ready to offer our mediation," BCI President Manan Misra told the media after the meeting in which resolutions were passed on the crisis triggered by the press conference of four judges attacking the Chief Justice of India on Friday.

Addressing the media after the meeting, he said the matter should not be politicised and should be resolved amicably.

Mishra said it was a family dispute and should be resolved within the judiciary. However, he felt the judges should not have gone to the media with their complaints.

Earlier, he said said it was "most unfortunate" that four senior judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court and that the issue should have been "sorted out internally".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)It is astonishing what adversity can do to you. It has been eight long, painful and mortifying months for filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, master of epic sagas like "Devdas" and "Bajirao Mastani -- which have formalised his place as the only true successor to epic filmmakers such as K. Asif, Mehboob Khan, V. Shantaram and Raj Kapoor, while making an insane amount of money for him.

For the past months, while Bhansali has been attacked physically and emotionally, he has possibly felt like none of the erstwhile movie moghuls did. In fact, he feels like he is being treated like a common criminal -- hounded, threatened, bullied and heckled for a crime whose nature he isn't aware of. Perhaps, he needs to read law books which say making films in this country can be damaging to a filmmaker's health.

The "Padmavati" -- now renamed "Padmaavat" -- crisis appears to have broken Bhansali physically and emotionally. I know that for months he hasn't been eating or sleeping properly. And he has started chain-smoking again. "It's Lataji's songs and cigarettes which have kept me going all these months," he told me. I kept quiet. I've no words of consolation for him.

To say Bhansali has been to hell and back would be an understatement. Living under constant threat and fear is like coping with a fatal disease, one which erodes your very soul. The threats from the fringe groups -- and I've been a witness to callers on his mobile phone who have shouted that they would do much worse than behead him -- is something that no outsider would understand, let alone empathise with.

The lack of real camaraderie within the film fraternity makes it worse for someone as private as Bhansali. He became more vulnerable to attack when the bullies realised he had no support system to buffer him from them. The post-midnight calls became even more abusive.

Also, there were open offers to "stop all protests" in exchange of fiscal favours. When Bhansali shut down his mobile phone, calls began to come to his home number, sometimes attended to by his old, ailing mother.

For him, the most important thing at that moment is to protect his mother. He stopped watching news channels at home -- and once the attacks gathered momentum, the security was beefed up. He also stayed back most of the time to protect his mother against the vilification visited upon her son. But then she would get a dose of the hate campaign against him by reading the morning Gujarati newspapers that she combed regularly.

The situation at Bhansali's home appears to be very depressing. At some point, he decided to give up the fight and stopped thinking about the fate of "Padmaavat". He left the marketing decisions to his producers Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, where the executives decided to release the film on January 25.

Bhansali has become a bystander in the drama of his own that's being played out in full public view. No one is sure how this bizarre narrative based on hearsay, political antipathy and debased views will pan out. Bhansali recently asked a friend: "Can the film release in the states that have threatened to ban it? Does the CBFC endorsement mean anything to those who want to stop my film at any cost?"

One question remains, though. Why do some people want "Padmaavat" stopped? A whim, an impulse or is it something deeper than you or I could understand?

I guess, like Jessica, we'll never know who wanted to kill "Padmavati".

(Subhash K. Jha can be reached at jhasubh@gmail.com)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP and Supreme Court lawyer Pinaki Mishra on Saturday said the entral government is trying to choke the judiciary to ensure it ceased to function.

"In last three years, there is a systematic interference by the union government in the judicial system. They are trying to choke it," said Mishra at the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet (TSBLM) here.

The BJD MP was responding to the recent development where four judges of the Supreme Court come out in open against the Chief Justice of India.

He said much taller people have manned these institutions.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said it's a matter of national concern and it should be resolved.

"If there is controversy, strife and differences within the institution, it's a matter of national concern. What happened is unfortunate and unprecedented. Therefore, it is in the interest of the integrity of the institution that the matter should be resolved," said Tiwari.

He said nobody is trying to score a political brownie point over the issue.

The last day of the literary festival began with conversation between senior journalists Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and Barkha Dutt. Malavika Bannerjee filled in with a conversation with the two guests on the integrity of television media nowadays.

Another session of the day saw a conversation between eminent actress and director Nandita Das and renowned actress Rasika Dugal with Tanaya Patnaik as the moderator. They talked about their upcoming Indian biographical historical period drama film, Manto.

Besides, the presence of short stories in Odia literature and the never-ending joy it provides the reader with were discussed among the Odia writers.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As the crisis triggered by the revolt of four Supreme Court judges lingered, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the rebel judges may meet on Sunday to resolve the problems raked up by them as two of the dissenting judges on Saturday sought to play down the issue.

Three of the four judges, who had attacked the Chief Justice at a press conference here on Friday, were away from the capital and are expected to return on Sunday afternoon. There was no official confirmation about reports that Justice Misra will be meeting with the rebel judges.

But indications were available that a resolution could be worked out from the remarks made by Justices Kurian Joseph and Ranjan Gogoi and Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, the government's highest law officer.

Justice Joseph said in Kochi that there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and the issues they had raised appeared to have been sorted out.

"We did this for a cause and I think (the) issues appear to have been sorted out. This was not against anyone nor are we having anything personal. It was meant to see that more transparency is there," said Justice Joseph.

He, however, did not elaborate.

Justice Joseph said the issues they had raised in an unprecedented press conference on Friday triggered no constitutional crisis.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected."

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, he said: "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."

In reply to a question on why they failed to brief the President of the issues, he said the President is only the appointing authority.

Ranjan Gogoi, who was in Kolkata for a meeting of legal services authorities, also ruled out any crisis hitting the top court. "There is no crisis," he said, but refused to make any further comments.

The Attorney General, meanwhile, expressed the hope that the problems in the top judiciary would be "settled" by Monday.

"Unity among Supreme Court judges will return by Monday. We hope the entire issue will be settled in the larger interest of the institution. Judges are persons of wisdom and statesmanship and experience. We hope they won't allow the issue to escalate," Venugopal said here.

Venugopal on Friday had said the judges could have avoided going public with their complaints against Justice Misra.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) met here on Saturday and unanimously decided that a seven-member delegation of the bar would try to meet majority of Supreme Court judges on Sunday in an attempt to persuade them to resolve the issue at the earliest.

"We are ready to offer our mediation," Manan Misra, BCI President, told the media after the meeting. He said the matter should not be politicised.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra was on Saturday morning seen driving to the residence of the Chief Justice. He was seen sitting inside his official car which returned from the gate of the Chief Justice's residence without entering the premises.

The Congress asked Modi to explain why he sent his aide to Justice Misra's residence.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg. (The) PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to (the) Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The revolt by Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur surfaced in a press conference in which they accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Senior BJP leader and former minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday said it was "our bounden duty to take note of what the judges have said and raise our voice for corrective action".

Sinha, who finds himself at variance with his party's stand and policies, said fear stopped people from speaking out.

"If four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter? It is a serious matter. If they say anything to the people of the country, it is our bounded duty to take note of that."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The track-laying commencement of the first phase of the China-built Matara-Kataragama railway extension project has started in Matara in Sri Lanka.

The first phase of the project includes constructing a railway service from Matara to Beliatta, in the south of the island country, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sri Lankan Minister for State Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said during the ceremony on Friday that the island nation was hoping to finish the first phase of the project in the coming months, which would benefit the public and tourists.

"On behalf of the President (Maithripala Sirisena) and the Sri Lankan government, I would like to thank the Chinese government for this historic event. The extension is a historic development which will hugely benefit the public transport sector as well as the country's tourism sector," Abeywardena said.

"Successive governments in the past have tried to implement this project. Due to the assistance of the Chinese government and the Chinese company, this project will soon be a reality," the minister added.

The Matara-Kataragama railway project was the first new railway line constructed in Sri Lanka since the island country gained independence in 1948.

The project, funded by the EXIM Bank of China on a concessional loan, was being constructed by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) in consultation with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau.

Vice President of CMC, Zhao Jun said the railway extension project, which was under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, was a key project closely related to the development of Sri Lanka, since in future, the railway would connect many industrial areas in the south of the country.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China will continue playing a constructive role in maintaining and implementing the Iran nuclear deal, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

Wang, who was on an official visit to Rwanda, held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. The two sides exchanged opinions on a statement regarding the Iran nuclear deal made by the US, Xinhua news agency reported.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a US withdrawal from the landmark pact unless US Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws".

Calling it "a last chance", Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal".

Continuing to maintain and implement the Iran nuclear deal is the responsibility of all parties concerned, and is the common wish of the international community, said Wang, adding that this will help uphold international non-proliferation regime, maintain regional peace and stability as well as solve other hot issues in the world.

Implementation of the deal hasn't been derailed, but will face some new complicating factors, said the minister.

He also called on Iran to stay calm and continue to fulfil obligations under the deal.

Trump has constantly criticised the pact inked between the six world powers -- China, Russia, Britain, France, the US and Germany -- and Iran in 2015, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the US President must sign a waiver suspending the US sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, US Department of Treasury on Friday said that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile programme, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More than 9.59 million people had been placed on a credit blacklist for defaulting by the end of 2017, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Defaulters have been restrained from purchasing more than 9.36 million plane tickets and 3.67 million high-speed train tickets by the end of 2017, the SPC said, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The SPC has cooperated with airlines and railway companies to bar the people who have defaulted from purchasing tickets, based on ID card information and their passports.

Moreover, the SPC has worked with banks to reject their loan and credit card applications.

Courts nationwide had frozen deposits totalling more than 180 billion yuan ($27.7 billion) owned by defaulters, the SPC said.

People on the blacklist are also restricted from serving as corporate representatives or executives.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he sent his Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra to Chief Justice Dipak Misra's residence here a day after four senior judges told the media that all was not well with the Supreme Court.

Nripendra Misra was seen on Saturday sitting in his car outside Justice Misra's residence in New Delhi.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The development came a day after Justice J. Chelameswar along with three other sitting senior Supreme Court judges took on Justice Misra over the allocation of benches, among other issues.

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they wrote to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

The four judges were Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.The Lahore High Court has issued notice to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for making an "anti-judiciary" remarks in an "inflammatory" speech in Sialkot.

Notice was also issued to the government and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Friday when the court heard a petition alleging that the Prime Minister had termed the Supreme Court's Panama Papers decision a "piece of trash".

Advocate Azhar Siddiqi filed the petition, arguing that Abbasi's remarks amounted to contempt of court, Dawn reported on Saturday.

Presenting his case in the court of Justice Shahid Kareem, the petitioner said that by making such an "inflammatory statement, the PM was trying to make the judiciary controversial".

He said ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had also openly criticised the apex court and its judges in their speeches, and tried to whip up public sentiment against the judiciary.

The petitioner said now Abbasi had also started raging against the apex court, in violation of the oath he took when he assumed the office of Prime Minister.

He requested the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against PM Abbasi and said that Pemra should be directed to stop news channels from airing the prime minister's speeches targeting the judiciary.

The court sought replies from Abbasi and his government by the next hearing scheduled for January 15.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An alert Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable saved the life of an 18-year-old girl who accidentally fell in Munak canal here on Saturday morning, an official said.

Pramod Kumar wasted no time after seeing the girl, identified as Lakshmi Pal, drowning in the canal which flows behind the CRPF's 55th Battalion camp in west Delhi's Bawana area around 11 a.m.

On "sentry duty" at a distance when the girl was drowning, he spotted her hand which was visible only as the canal was deep, Deputy Inspector General (CRPF) M. Dinakaran told IANS.

"Immediately the sentry alerted other personnel and jumped into the canal and with the help of Head Constable K.D. Sharma and Assistant Sub-Inspector K. C. Meena carried her to shore and administered first aid in the CRPF hospital," Dinakaran said.

The girl, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur and now residing in west Delhi's Narela, was taken to to Maharishi Balmiki government hospital in the area.

According to the CRPF, its officials rescued three civilians from drowning in 2017.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Cuba and the US held a closed-door meeting in Washington to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation as part of limited government contacts since US President Donald Trump set back bilateral relations last year.

According to Cuba's Foreign Ministry, delegations of both nations on Friday met in the US capital where they "shared views on the importance of cooperation in this area" and agreed to hold future technical meetings on the topic, Xinhua reported.

"This meeting falls within the context of the law enforcement dialogue, which was established by both sides in November 2015," said a release.

The Cuban delegation was composed of officials and representatives from the Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry as well as Communications Ministry.

Washington and Havana have reduced their cooperation meetings to a minimum after Trump decided to stop thawing ties between the two nations.

Relations have also been hampered by alleged "attacks" on US diplomats in the island nation which led to the partial closure of the US embassy in Havana and the expulsion of 15 Cuban diplomats in Washington.

Cuba Tuesday said the US allegation was unacceptable and only served to impose an accusation without evidence.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ace filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, who will be working with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan in his next film, on Saturday said he considers Deepika as one of the finest actors in the country at present while Irrfan is one of his favourites.

"I am really looking forward to working with Deepika, she is one of the finest actors right now and Irrfan has been one of my favourites. So I am really excited to work with them," Bhardwaj told IANS on the sidelines of a session on his new book of poems at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival here.

The filmmaker, who will be working for the first time with Deepika, said the script of the film was written well in advance and he is not at all sceptical about casting her in his next project despite the recent controversy surrounding her upcoming film "Padmaavat".

"This is a script I wrote two years back so I am really not sceptical about anything," he said.

The "Rangoon" director also welcomed the emergence of digital media in the country for its "good content" and said more such platforms are necessary to reach out to a larger audience.

"Of course it is a good trend. No matter how many platforms come up for the films, I feel there is always room for more. Also, they are coming up with such good content. Everyone is hooked on to some or the other show on Netflix. So the more the merrier," he said.

Bhardwaj, who is also a renowned music composer, said music is equally close to his heart.

About his emergence as a writer with his maiden book "Nude", a collection of poems, Bhardwaj said: "I will keep writing and I think in every two three years I will come up with a book of poems."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted raids on senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram's son Karti's properties, the party said "Raid Raj" has become the "DNA" of Modi government and it exposes its vendetta by using probe agencies as "captive puppets".

It said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was ruffled by a series of political, administrative and judicial reversals and was, therefore, using these raids to divert the attention of the country from its abject failures.

The party said Congress leaders would not be "cowed down or bow in face of such malicious and wilful attempts to browbeat, bulldoze or overawe".

"Hurriedly conducted ED raids at the Delhi and Chennai residences of former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram have once again exposed the continuing vicious vendetta unleashed by Modi government against Congress and other opposition leaders," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a statement.

"Stark truth is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are using agencies like ED and CBI as captive puppets to settle political scores and intimidate political opponents. In fact, 'Raid Raj' has become the 'DNA' of Modi government," he added.

With such "spiteful and hostile onslaught" to suppress the voice of opposition, the party's resolve to raise people's issues and hold the government and the Prime Minister accountable on policy and promises only became stronger, Surjewala said.

The Directorate on Saturday conducted raids on Karti Chidambaram's properties in Delhi and Chennai in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.

The raids were conducted at one location in Delhi and four in Chennai.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday searched the houses of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti in Delhi and Chennai in connection with a money laundering case with the senior Congress leader saying he had anticipated the probe agency would "do some drama to cover up their tracks".

The raids were conducted at one location in Delhi and four in Chennai, an ED official said.

The agency on Thursday issued fresh summons to Karti in the money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in getting foreign investment for INX Media in 2007. The ED had registered the case against the former Finance Minister's son in May 2017.

Chidambaram said the raids were a reaction to the notices sent out by the Supreme Court that heard Karti's appeal on Friday. The 46-year-old businessman had questioned the cases filed against him by the probe agencies, including the CBI.

The former minister said he had anticipated his house in Chennai will be searched again. "But in a comedy of errors they came to search the premises in Jor Bagh (in Delhi) and officers told me that they believed Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not. He lives in Chennai.

"I told them he is a resident of Chennai and I am the occupant of this house. In Chennai also they recovered nothing. In fact in the Chennai premises, they have conducted raids three times so far," Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi.

The former Finance Minister said the Supreme Court had issued notices to the ED in the cases filed by Karti on the ground that the agency had no jurisdiction over offences under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He said he had no objection to their conducting searches because they had warrants but questioned the ED's jurisdiction in the matter.

"The main ground in the cases is that there is no FIR in respect of a scheduled crime registered by any police agency, including the CBI or any other investigating agency. In the absence of a scheduled crime and there are no proceeds of the crime, the ED has no jurisdiction under PMLA.

"The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate (the case) under the PMLA. I recorded that. Obviously they found nothing. They searched bedroom, kitchen. They found nothing. Since they have to justify, they came here.

"They took away papers related to a statement made by the government in 2012-13 in the case and the background papers related to the case. They took away 13 loose sheets of paper. I have recorded that. They are photocopies of the statement made in parliament.

He said the ED officers who searched his house "were polite" and "were quite embarrassed and apologetic" as they found that Karti was not an occupant of the Delhi house.

Chidambaram said since the ED officials had the search warrant he did not raise any objections to the search.

The ED had in December conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

Karti is facing a probe for his alleged role in facilitating the FIPB's clearance for Mumbai-based INX Media when his father was the Union Finance Minister.

He is alleged to have received Rs 3.5 crore from INX media, now 9X Media, for helping it get the FIPB clearance.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An engineer working in a private construction company in Bengaluru was on Saturday shot dead by unidentified criminals in Bihar's Saran district, police said.

According to a district police official, Krishnmohan Tiwari, 40, a resident of Kolhua village in Saran, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne criminals near Devri village under Taraiya Police Station on Saturday evening.

"Tiwari was shot dead following heated exchanges with the criminals," the police official added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The mission of the European Union in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Friday expressed its concern after the recent arrests of Palestinian minors by Israeli authorities and the death of a teenager shot by Israeli forces.

In a statement, the mission said the EU was troubled about the circumstances of the recent arrests of Palestinian minors Ahed Tamimi and Fawzi Muhammad al-Juneidi, Efe reported.

The statement also expressed deep concern regarding, "the fatal shooting by Israeli security forces of another Palestinian minor, 17-year old Musaab al-Tamimi, during protests in the occupied West Bank on 3 January."

The case of Ahed, 16, who has been detained for almost four weeks, has taken on an international dimension after a video surfaced which showed her slapping two Israeli soldiers at the door of her house in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah.

A photograph of al-Juneidi, about the same age as Ahed, that showed him blindfolded, beaten and escorted by a score of soldiers during his arrest in Hebron on the charge of throwing stones, also has gone viral.

"The European Union and EU Missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah recall the importance of respecting and protecting the rights of the child, including and in particular during arrest, detention and judicial procedures," said the note.

On Thursday, two 16-year-old Palestinian children died in clashes with Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expediting the forest and environmental clearances for developmental projects "without due diligence" could lead to "damage to natural infrastructure" like forests, water bodies and loss of habitat, environmentalists said here on Saturday.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had on Friday said the government would expedite forest and environmental clearance issues that bog down strategic projects and that relaxations would be obtained to facilitate completion of projects in national interest.

"Expediting forest and environmental clearances without due diligence is like burning the lifeboats on a sinking Titanic. This will damage natural infrastructure," well-known environmentalist Bittu Sahgal told IANS at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2018.

"There is a gross misunderstanding of the people who want development of India. They think that the infrastructure made by human beings is the infrastructure. The truth is every pond, forest is the infrastructure.

"There is no point of destroying one infrastructure that sequestrates carbon, keeps flood in control, feeds people, and replacing it with cemented infrastructure which destroys those things which feed us. It seems to me it will not work."

Addressing a session "Green Alert", Sahgal said the entire "economic edifice" sits on a "bedrock of a stable ecology" and the rise Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is linked to good monsoon.

"The good monsoon facilitating higher GDP means the entire economy depends upon natural systems that work. But, the natural systems are being attacked," he said.

According to him, as people keep talking about commercial and an economic growth, country's "natural capital is being depleted at an alarming rate".

He accused economists and politicians of deluding the ecology and devaluing forests and natural resources.

Ravi Kant Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife & Chief Wildlife Warden, West Bengal, said: "Any developmental project within forests means loss of forests and habitat.

"For example, even development of a canal through a forest, which requires a small amount of a forest land, endangers the habitat (for wild animals) as they may not be able to cross the canal."

Emphasising on the need for "democratic equity" through restoring of ecosystems and equitable justice for distribution of resources, Sahgal said: "Our generation is colonising the younger generation as inter-generational colonisation."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fiat Chrysler (FCA) will invest more than $1 billion dollars in a Michigan truck plant and relocate its production of heavy duty pickups from Mexico to Michigan in 2020.

In a statement, the Italian-American auto maker confirmed the investment is aimed at modernising the Warren Truck Assembly Plant in the US State of Michigan.

The company will produce there the next-generation Ram Heavy Duty truck, which is to relocate from its current production location in Saltillo, Mexico, in 2020, Xinhua reported.

The FCA's decision was made in wake of President Donald Trump's threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or overhaul the deal. The passage of US tax reform legislation in 2017 has also prompted the action.

Trump hailed the decision of FCA, tweeting on Thursday night, "Chrysler is moving a massive plant from Mexico to Michigan, reversing a years long opposite trend. Thank you Chrysler, a very wise decision."

The Michigan plant will add 2,500 new US jobs to support production of heavy-duty truck, said FCA.

The company also confirmed that it will make a special bonus payment of 2,000 US dollars to some 60,000 FCA hourly and salaried employees in the US, excluding senior leadership, in the second quarter of this year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Five-month-old Yuan Meng, the first giant panda cub born in France, made its public debut on Saturday at the Beauval Zoo here in central France.

The male baby panda, born on August 4, appeared alongside its mother Huan Huan behind a glass wall in their lavish home adorned with Chinese lanterns and rockeries, amid cheers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The name "Yuan Meng", meaning "the realisation of a dream" in Chinese, was given to the baby panda in December at a ceremony attended by its "Godmother", France's First Lady Brigitte Macron.

A large group of fans were attracted to the zoo to get a first glimpse of the panda cub. Hundreds of people were seen queuing at the entrance around 9 a.m., an hour before the zoo opened.

Delphine Delord, chief of communication at the zoo, took the opportunity to brief the first visitors on the challenging reproduction process of pandas, and the protection of the endangered animals.

"We have been trying artificial insemination for years, and the birth of Yuan Meng was a success in the protection of pandas," Delord said.

Yuan Meng has grown from only 142 grams at birth to 11 kg over the past months, and is doing very well physically, she added.

Two Chinese zookeepers are currently staying in Beauval to train their French colleagues on how to take care of the baby panda.

The parents of Yuan Meng, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, arrived in France in January 2012 on a 10-year loan from China.

Since the couple's arrival, the number of visitors to the Beauval Zoo has doubled, and is expected to have reached 1.5 million in 2017, Delord told Xinhua.

"With the debut of Yuan Meng, we expect more visitors in 2018," she said.

There are fewer than 2,000 pandas living in the wild, while around 400 live in captivity, according to China's State Forestry Administration.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday seized foreign-made cigarettes worth Rs 65 lakh from a train in state capital Patna, police said.

"DRI sleuths seized foreign made cigarettes from North East Express train at Patliputra Railway Station," a police official said.

However, no arrest has been made so far in this connection.

According to police officials, the DRI team raided the train on a tip-off that a huge consignment of foreign made cigarettes was on way from Guwahati to Anand Vihar Railway Station in Delhi by North East Express train.

The DRI officials have identified two men behind this racket and are likely to arrest them soon.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Google has kicked out nearly 60 games, many of which were for children, from its Play Store after a security research firm found they were infected with a pornographic malware.

Researchers from Israel-based Check Point Software Technologies reported that the malware, dubbed as "AdultSwine", displayed pornographic images that looked like advertisements designed to prompt users to download fake security software.

The users were then encouraged to click on other links they would have to pay for, CNET reported on Saturday.

The tech giant acted immediately and kicked the apps out of Google Play Store.

"We have removed the apps from Play, disabled the developers' accounts and will continue to show strong warnings to anyone that has installed them. We appreciate Check Point's work to help keep users safe," Google was quoted as saying.

Google maintained that the issue does not exploit vulnerabilities in its Android security and that users' devices were not affected.

The affected apps have been downloaded between three to seven million times, the researchers citing Google Play data, said.

"Along with encouraging users to download scareware and pay for premium services, 'AdultSwine' also stole credentials," the Check Point researchers noted.

The malware did this by contacting the developers' Command and Control server once the app was downloaded, sending data about the infected device and receiving instructions on what to do next.

According to Check Point, the instructions included displaying the bogus ads, scaring users to install fake security apps and charging victims for services they did not request or receive.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Accepting that the country is going through a difficult time in terms of freedom of expression, eminent Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj on Saturday said it is a good time for artistes as art and creativity flourishes better whenever there are attempts to suppress it.

"The problems with freedom of speech has always been there. But I think it is a great time for the artists and creative people. The more we get suppressed the more we would flourish," Bhardwaj said on the sidelines of an event devoted to his new book of poems, "Nude" at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival here.

The filmmaker, who delivered critically-acclaimed films like "Omkara" and "Haider", and also has a verse on the issues of lynchings in recent times, said he would keep on expressing his opinions on social problems in the platform he thinks are appropriate.

"I will keep on expressing myself on those things in the medium I think is appropriate. If you know the right way, you can always say what you want to say," he said.

He also said the artists and the film industry would retaliate against the oppression and attack on freedom of speech when the time is right.

"If you want to hit someone you should wait for the right time to punch his face, there is no point punching in the air. So I think artistes will come out and raise their voice at the appropriate time. History is a proof that we have not been scared of anybody," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hamas and Islamic Jihad movement leaders has said that they won't attend the two-day meetings of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council scheduled for next week.

Qatar-based Musa Abu Maezooq, a member of Hamas politburo, tweeted that his Islamic group has decided not to join the meetings that will be held in Ramallah on Sunday and Monday.

One senior Islamic Jihad official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that his movement had officially informed the council of its intention not to join the meetings.

The two Islamic groups are not part of the Palestinian (National) Authority or the PLO, as they have been violently opposing the peace process and the Oslo peace accords signed between Israel and the PLO in 1993.

The Islamic Jihad official said his group and Hamas agreed that their participation in the meetings won't bring any benefits to the two groups and that the results of the council meetings will be less than expectations, Xinhua reported.

The upcoming PLO central council will discuss the consequences of the US President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Palestinian sources said the council will also discuss the internal Palestinian reconciliation between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, as well as Palestinian strategies toward the US and Israel policies over Jerusalem.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Determined not to let consumers of power in the agriculture sector suffer in the state, the power utilities of Haryana have decided to compensate farm feeders in the eventuality of any breakdown.

"Electricity is being supplied to all agriculture feeders in the state for eight hours. The decision to compensate them has been taken by giving priority to the agriculture sector so that circles where electricity is being supplied to tube-wells in three phases get supply for eight hours even if there is any breakdown.

"The loss of power supply in case of any breakdown will be made good by making cuts on other feeders," a spokesman of the Power Utilities said here on Saturday.

The spokesman said that directions had been issued in this regard to officers of the Uttar and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigams.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amidst the huge rush at the stalls of prominent publishing houses like Penguin and Harper Collins in English or Rajkamal Publications or Ved Prakashan in Hindi at the World Book Fair, regional publishers are battling to pull the crowds to their stalls.

This has seen the participation of more than 800 publishers. There are around 30 regional publishers, lower than previous years. But even on the seventh day of the annual event on Friday, the the stalls of the regional publishers wore an empty look.

"We have been putting our stall every year but this year it's a flop show for us. Despite being a book fair of international standards, there is no promotion of publishers who are coming from other states," Prabir Maishan of Paschim Banga Prakashak Sabha told IANS.

Even though Delhi is home to people coming from different communities, the publishers said they don't visit the book fair because they remain ignorant of the existence of regional publishers.

"You will find hoardings or promotion of big brands. They can afford to do so but we can't. This is a government sponsored event yet the organisers take no initiative to promote our stalls. The organiser's duty is just to hold this event; the rest they are not bothered about. Moreover, there is no shadow of demonitisation this time unlike last year, which was a major setback," Maishan added.

Vipin Babu of Kerala's National Book Stall also expressed his disappointment over the deserted scenario.

"There is quite a notable Malayali population living here but hardly anyone comes. It is more for the residents of the national capital. Only those who are frequent to the book fair are aware of the existence of our stalls," he said.

Niranjan of Navyug Publisher, that brings out books in Punjabi, said that though there is a huge Punjabi population residing in Delhi, they are loath to reading books in their mother tongue.

"Now-a-days, the younger generation is more into learning English; they are not even keen on learning Hindi so forget about Punjabi. Only the middleaged or senior people visit us but in very samll numbers," he stated.

Most of the regional stalls have been put up by representatives of state-run publishing houses or universities who have to pay comparatively than the private publishers.

"The organisers are increasing the rent of the stalls every year. The solo publishers cannot afford this. Forget profits, it even becomes difficult to make up the cost of the stall. Yesterday, we sold only one book for Rs 100. So, we cannot even think of making a profit," Pratap S, who didn't wish who he is representing, commented.

Even bibliophiles who came to the fair with much expectations expressed their disappointment over what was on offer.

"Ever since the book fair has turned into an annual affair, it has lost its appeal. It is more or less the same books I find every year. I was looking for some books in Sanskrit but was disappointed to see that only two stalls at the fair," Ved Prakash Mishra, a businessman, pointed out.

However, for some visitors, the regional stalls were quite a relief. For Shinjini Ghosh who came from Noida, the book fair gave her the chance to flip through the pages of some Bengali books.

"I don't get a chance to visit Kolkata very frequently and neither do I stay at CR Park. So here I came across books written by some of my favourite authors," she mentioned before buying a copy of Satyajit Ray's "Feluda".

The 26th World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan and organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) in association with ITPO, will end on January 14.

(Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a new twist to the ongoing controversy over release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie "Padmaavat", female members of Kshatriya community in Chittorgarh on Saturday threatened to perform "jauhar" (self-immolation) if the screening of the film is not stopped by the government.

In a Sarvasamaj meeting held in Chittaurgarh, the members decided to stage a phase-wise protest against the proposed release of film. The meeting was attended by around 500 people, out of which 100 females belonged to high-profile families of the city.

Speaking to IANS, spokesperson of Rajput Karni Sena Virendra Singh said on January 17, national highways and railway tracks across Chittorgarh would be blocked.

The film, already cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after five modifications and renamed from "Padmavati" to "Padmavat" and now titled "Padmaavat", is scheduled to release on January 25 across India. The Rajasthan government has, however, decided against releasing it in the state.

On Sunday, a delegation of the Sena will meet Rajnath Singh, who is scheduled to visit Udaipur, requesting him to stop the screening of the movie across India.

According to Virendra Singh, a representative board will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, who is scheduled to visit Pachpadra village in Barmer district for laying the foundation stone for a refinery project.

"A request will be made to him as well to stop the screening of the film," he said.

"But, if despite all these measures the film is released, the women of Kshatriya Samaj will perform jauhar on January 24 -- the day when the queen performed jauhar -- and at the same site," said Virendra Singh.

Chhittaurgarh Jauhar Smriti Sansthan general secretary Bhanwar Singh said that preparations were also being made to close the gates of the historical Chittorgarh fort once again.

Earlier, the Sena had planned a protest on January 25 and 26, but in the wake of Republic Day celebrations, the protest was rescheduled to January 17, Virendra Singh added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Renowned social theorist Ashis Nandy has said contradictions within the Bengali society such as the class struggle and imparity in the degree of creativity and knowledge were largely caused by the majority of Bengalis' defeat at the hand of "a few upper classes" in their fight for social, cultural and political leadership.

"Bengalis were most deeply captivated by the culture of colonialism. They considered the success of Bengali renaissance as a great achievement. But all the contributions which we are so proud of, came from the three upper castes while the rest of Bengal was not that much touched by it," Nandy said, discussing author Sudeep Chakravarti's new book on the Bengali community at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival here on Friday.

"Many of the contradictions within the Bengali society is a direct by-product of a majority of Bengali's defeat in the fight for social leadership, cultural leadership as well as political leadership," he pointed out.

Nandy said the introduction of British colonialism in Bengali culture nearly a century ahead of the rest of India, gave it an upper hand over a lot of other communities in the country in dominating the colonial system but at the same time it also created a rift with others as colonialism became an inseparable fabric of the Bengali society.

"There are three or four crucial elements in Bengali identity that explain not all the contradictions in their characteristics, but most of it. The first thing is, Bengal was basically a tribal society like Maharashtra and Guajrat. The Bramhinical influence in Bengal came in quiet late and the second thing is the impact of modern colonialism in this culture," Nandy noted.

"The process of colonialism started in Bengal at least a century ahead of the other parts of India. As a result, the Bengalis were first inducted to the colonial system and they dominated it and this colonial input became an indestructible nectar within the Bengali society," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio's is in talks to star in the currently untitled project about American criminal Charles Manson and the Manson Family murders directed by Quentin Tarantino.

The untitled project is based on the 1969 murder spree conducted by four members of the Manson Family, a cult led by Charles Manson.

The murders took place in the home of actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, who was killed when she was eight months pregnant, alongside four others. Charles and other members of his "family" were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1971.

The 43-year-old has been offered the role of "an aging actor in the story that is being kept under wraps but is a 'Pulp Fiction'-esque movie set in the 1969 Los Angeles during the summer of the Manson murders". The deal is expected to be sealed soon, reports deadline.com.

DiCaprio previously worked with Tarantino in Western slave-themed film "Django Unchained" (2012) which also earned rave reviews and several nominations at various awards shows.

The upcoming Manson film will potentially become a star-studded movie, as Margot Robbie, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Lawrence have reportedly been approached for roles in the film.

The movie is being developed at Sony Pictures, which has set August 9, 2019, as its release date to mark the 50th anniversary of the murder of Tate.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In what is claimed to be a breakthrough, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has nabbed seven Telangana-based Maoists living in from Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district, an official said here on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off that a Maoist cadre was reaching Kalyan in adjoining Thane district by train on Friday, an ATS team detained him for routine enquiries, but he could not provide satisfactory replies.

Thereafter, he was subjected to sustained questioning when he revealed that he and his colleagues from Mumbai's northern suburbs like Kamraj Nagar, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Vikhroli were members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist.

Immediately on learning this, the ATS formed several teams and searched the homes of his associates where they stumbled upon incriminating documents and subsequently arrested six more people.

They are aged between 30-50 years and mostly hail from different towns in Telangana like Karimnagar and Nalgonda, but presently living in suburban Mumbai.

The ATS said that Maoists have declared parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat as a 'Golden Corridor' for propagating their ideology and spread their movement in the industrial zones.

The main accused and his accomplices were working in the 'Golden Corridor' to spread their ideology and lure people to their organization, besides being in touch with Left Wing Extremist cadres in the forests.

All those nabbed - whose identity has not been revealed - have been booked under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Aact by Mumbai ATS and sent to police custody till January 16, while further investigations are underway, the official said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Odisha Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly attempting to rape his daughter-in-law and set her on fire.

The incident took place in Rairangpur town of Odisha's Mayurbhanj district. The accused has been identified as Gopal Khemka.

The police arrested Khemka from Jamshedpur after the father of the victim lodged a complaint, on the basis of which a case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the police, the person attempted to rape his daughter-in-law when no one else was at home and then set her ablaze after dousing her with kerosene in a bid to conceal his crime.

The woman sustained about 70 per cent injuries. Her husband also received burn injuries while trying to save her.

Both were initially admitted to a hospital in Rairangpur and later shifted to Tata Memorial Hospital in Jamshedpur as their condition deteriorated.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Diana Chan, who has won the ninth season of "MasterChef Australia", has described it as "the best culinary experience".

"My journey has been a whirlwind. I am grateful to 'MasterChef...' as it has given me a platform to go and do what I want to do, which is fantastic," Chan told IANS in a recorded response.

"There are so many projects coming to me. I am excited about it."

Malaysian-born Chan says she learnt a lot during the course of the show, which is aired in India on Star World and Star World HD.

"'MasterChef...' guides you along with the way. It is the best culinary experience which you will get. No chef in the world will get this kind of training in seven months. We work under a lot pressure, so we have to cope up with that and learn.

"I was amazed of how far I went. I never thought that I will win. But the main thing is that you get pushed and transform more."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More than 20 people, including civilians and security personnel, were injured during protests against the alleged electoral fraud in the Honduras, officials said.

The coalition Opposition Alliance against the Dictatorship, led by Salvador Nasralla, has alleged electoral fraud in the November 26, 2017 presidential elections which saw incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez declared the winner, Efe news reported.

The country's Secretariat of Security informed in a statement that 17 members of the security forces were hurt during the protests on Friday, which were initially peaceful, but culminated in a face-off between the protesters and the security forces close to the Presidential Palace.

Six civilians were also injured and admitted to the Hospital Escuela Universitario, said a hospital official, who added that none of the cases were serious and they would be discharged soon.

Thousands of people participated in the protests -- including Nasralla and former President Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed in a coup in 2009 -- and lawmaker Jari Dixon of the Liberty and Refoundation (Libre) party was also hurt as they turned violent.

Zelaya, who attempted to reach where the first security cordon was located, suffered the effects of the tear gas launched by the police and the military to disperse the protesters.

According to the Secretariat of Security, there were several incidents of vandalism, and businesses in the area were damaged.

Nasralla, who withdrew from the scene once the first round of tear gas was launched, said that those who have caused damage are infiltrators from the governing National Party of Honduras.

He does not recognize the result declared by the Supreme Electoral Court, which on December 17 declared Hernandez to be the victor, and assures that he was the winner.

Before the protests turned violent, Nasralla told reporters that Friday's protests were a rehearsal of what was going to happen from January 20, until the "dictator" resigns.

He added that with the support of the people, he will assume power on January 27, the date when Hernandez is officially scheduled to be inaugurated.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after nearly four weeks in space.

Dragon splashed down successfully about 10:37 a.m. EST (1537 GMT) west of Baja California, completing the second resupply mission to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a commercial spacecraft, SpaceX said via Twitter, Xinhua reported.

It carried approximately 4,100 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the ISS.

The spacecraft departed from the ISS at 4.58 a.m., after they used the robotic Canadarm2 to detach Dragon from the Harmony module of the orbiting lab.

After Dragon was released from ISS and its thrusters transported it a safe distance away from the station, SpaceX's flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, executed a deorbit burn command, blasting Dragon back into Earth's atmosphere.

The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach, California, where some cargo will be removed immediately for return to NASA, and then it will be prepared for a return trip to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for final processing, according to NASA.

NASA said a variety of technological and biological studies had returned with Dragon.

Hardware from the Made in Space Fiber Optics payload, which demonstrated manufacturing fiber optic filaments in a micro-gravity

The investigation pulled fiber optic wire from a heavy metal fluoride glass commonly used to make fiber optic glass.

Research indicates that the fiber pulled in micro-gravity may not crystallize as much, giving it better optical qualities than the silica used in most fiber optic wire. Results from this investigation could lead to the production of higher-quality fiber optic products both in space and on Earth.

Some payload samples were used to study a stress reaction in plants when experiencing reduced oxygen or hypoxia, which occurs for example, during times of soil flooding.

Such natural low oxygen events are sensed by plants and can lead to either changes in growth and development to aid in the plant' s survival, or in extreme cases, lead to significant losses in productivity and even death.

These spaceflight experiments may help provide molecular targets for manipulation to help make plants more tolerant of low oxygen conditions and so contribute to agriculturally important traits such as crop flood tolerance.

Mice from a NASA study are expected to return live to Earth for additional study. The investigation evaluated a new drug delivery device for administering continuous low doses, which could help counteract muscle wasting and prevent the need for daily or frequent drug administration.

A tiny capsule, implanted under the mouse's skin, delivers a constant, low dose of a drug via a silicone membrane, with channels as narrow as 1/50,000 the width of a human hair.

The drug, called formoterol, is a common therapy in asthma inhalers and for other lung diseases that relaxes muscles responsible for tightening a patient's airways. The low-dose delivery also could help avoid the known side effects of taking high doses long-term.

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft currently able to return cargo to Earth.

The spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida on Dec. 15 carrying about 4,800 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company's 13th commercial resupply mission to the station. It arrived at the station December 17.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police on Saturday released new CCTV footage of a person suspected to be involved in the kidnapping, rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Pakistan.

Dawn newspaper reported that the footage showed a bearded man bearing a resemblance to the abductor walking through a street where Zainab's house is situated in Kasur city of Punjab province.

The man is seen wearing a dark coloured cap and what looks like grey salwar kameez and a brown jacket.

Police, however, have said that the man is only a "person of interest" as of now.

On January 4, Zainab had left her house to go to her maternal aunt's nearby and is believed to have been abducted en route. On January 9, five days after she went missing, labourers found her body from a trash pile.

The new video will help police make headway in the case as it is clearer compared to an earlier footage, police say.

On Friday, police said that the results of DNA tests indicated the involvement of a culprit who is a suspect in at least seven similar cases that took place in the district over the past year, making him a serial killer.

A source in the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) told Dawn that the agency had received samples collected by Kasur police from the crime scene.

The samples were processed at the PFSA's DNA and Serology section where experts confirmed that the suspect had been involved in several similar crimes in the city.

The source explained that the agency had conducted tests of samples obtained from victims in seven similar cases from Kasur, and, according to available records, the results indicated involvement of the same person.

The Inspector General of Punjab Police had earlier told reporters that a Joint Investigation Team set up to probe the case had received the DNA test results and investigations were underway.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi along with party leaders from his state, Karnataka Chief Minister on Saturday claimed that there was no anti-incumbency feeling against his government and the party will win a comfortable majority in the Assembly elections due in a few months.

The Chief Minister refused to apologise for his alleged attack on the BJP calling them terrorists. He also trashed the BJP campaign and its President Amit Shah's description of his government as anti-Hindu, saying they had nothing to talk about "and are raising irrelevant issues".

"Rahul Gandhi is very happy with the functioning of the government. He is very happy that our government has no anti-incumbency. He is very happy to know that all promises made to the people in the (last election) manifesto have been fulfilled," told reporters here.

"We, senior leaders including the KPCC President and General Secretary in charge and secretaries, are confident that the Congress party will come back to power on its own with a comfortable majority."

Asked about the BJP's attack on him on Hindutva issues, said: "The BJP has no issues. They are raising irrelevant issues. (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath is also raising the same issue. Amit Shah is also raising the same issue. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi may also raise the same issue because they have no issues there."

To a question about his alleged attack on the BJP and its leaders as terrorists, he said: "I did not say terrorists. I have only said they spread hatred in the name of Hindutva. I said I am also a Hindu but a humane Hindu. Hindu dharma means humane Hindu and not hatred. That is Hindutva."

Asked if he would apologise for his remarks, he asked "why".

Rahul Gandhi had called him for the meeting along with senior leaders of the party including the Karanata Congress chief, working president, Malikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, K.H. Muniappa, Oscar Fernandes and party in charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal.

Venugopal told reporters that the leaders gave an assurance that they would all work united for the success of the party in the Assembly elections.

The meeting came in the wake of a verbal duel between Siddaramaiah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah. Karnataka is likely to witness election in April-May.

Siddaramaiah had called the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) "Hindutva extremists", while Shah had termed his government in Karnataka "anti-Hindu".

Gandhi had earlier warned his party leaders from making remarks which are unwarranted and personal.Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four Supreme Court judges who revolted against Chief Justice Dipak Misra, on Saturday said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and the issues they had raised appeared to have been sorted out.

"We did this for a cause and I think (the) issues appear to have been sorted out. This was not against anyone nor are we having anything personal. It was meant to see that more transparency is there," said Justice Joseph.

He, however, did not elaborate.

He was speaking to reporters gere a day after he and three other senior Supreme Court judges, in an unprecedented event, called a press conference in New Delhi and attacked the Chief Justice on various issues.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Joseph told reporters here.

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, he said: "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."

In reply to a question, on why they failed to brief the President of the issues, he said the President is only the appointing authority.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US won't conduct unilateral anti-terror operations in Pakistan depsite President Donald Trump suspending American military aid and criticising Islamabad for "lies and deceit", a top American military commander has assured the Army Chief, Gen Qamar Bajwa.

Pakistan Army's public affairs division Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has released the details of Gen Bajwa's recent contacts with the US leaders, Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

The army chief was contacted by Centcom Commander Gen Joseph Votel last week and an unnamed Senator to defuse tensions after Trump's New Year Day hostile tweet accusing Pakistan of lying and being deceitful towards the US.

The calls, according to the ISPR, were for discussing "Pak-US security cooperation post President Trump tweet".

Dawn said that the Centcom chief conveyed "three key messages" to the Army Chief. These included that "the problems in ties were temporary, there would be no unilateral action against Pakistan and that the US did not want a disruption in ties rather it wanted cooperation from Islamabad on areas of its concern".

Possibility of a unilateral action by the US was key concern in Islamabad, especially after a Pentagon report on Afghanistan last month mentioned "unilateral steps in areas of divergence".

The broader contours of Gen Bajwa's response shared with the US, as per the ISPR, included a commitment to continuing its operations against terrorism and an acknowledgment of the US concerns about the presence of Afghan militants.

"Pakistan is fully aware of US concerns on activities of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and we are already undertaking multiple actions through Operation Raddul Fasaad to deny any residual capacity to terrorists of all hue and colour for which return of Afghan refugees is an essential prerequisite," Gen Bajwa was quoted as having told Gen Votel.

He also told the American that that the "entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed" over the US statements, but insisted Pakistan would continue to support peace efforts in the region despite being made a "scapegoat".

--IANS

sar/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A street performer known as the "Naked Cowboy" of New York's Times Square has brought his act to the streets of this capital, where he is getting acquainted with the family of his Mexican-born wife.

Robert John Burck, clad in his trademark outfit of underwear, boots and hat with a guitar slung across his chest, is enjoying a warm welcome in Mexico City, where pedestrians stop to have their photos taken with him, Efe news reported on Friday.

"It's better than in New York, the people are very entertaining and the women very pretty," the 47-year-old American told Efe.

Chatting in "Spanglish," Burck said that his visit to the Aztec nation has increased his "love for the Mexicans".

Yet despite those sentiments, and his spouse's Mexican roots, Burck has been a supporter of US President Donald Trump's hard-line approach to immigration.

Burck's wife, Patricia Cruz, said the purpose of the trip was for her husband to meet her mother.

"He fell in love with Mexico," she told Efe.

Cruz, who came to the US as a teenager in 2003, was 25 when she and Burke wed in 2013.

The couple met in the New York coffee shop where Cruz was working as a waitress.

--IANS

pgh/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Libya's Higher Commission of Elections has announced that more than two million voters have registered to cast ballots in the 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been struggling for a democratic transition amid a tumultuous security situation and political division.

UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame in September 2017 proposed a roadmap aimed at ending the political crisis in Libya.

It included amendments to the current UN-sponsored political agreement as well as, calls for holding presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of 2018.

Women participants account for 41 per cent of the total number of registered voters till now, Xinhua quoted the poll panel as saying on Friday.

The polls would be held before September 30.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least four people were killed when a Pawan Hans helicopter with at least five top ONGC officials and two pilots on board crashed shortly after take-off from Juhu Airport here on Saturday morning, officials said.

A massive sea and aerial search operation launched by Indian Coast Guard and other agencies, had, till this evening, found four bodies besides some wreckage of the the crashed chopper and life-jackets.

Indian Coast Guard ship Agrim has recovered some bodies, including of an official identified as Pankaj Garg from the crash, while a search continues for the other missing.

The ONGC officers - all Deputy General Managers, have been identified as Sarvananan, V. K. Babu, Jose Anthony, Garg and P. Srinivasan, besides the Pawan Hans pilots whose identity is not known yet.

A Coast Guard official said parts of the debris of the chopper have been found near Uttan Beach in Thane district.

The Dauphin chopper took off at 10.20 a.m but just 15 minutes later, it suddenly lost contact with both the Mumbai ATC and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

At that time, it was reported to be flying around 55 km off the Mumbai shoreline, on a regular sortie to ferry the officers to the ONGC's Bombay High oilfields, around 175 km northwest from here.

Four Indian Navy ships inclduing waterjet fast attack craft INS Tarasa, a Boeing P8i and a Seaking helicopter joined the search operations, while the Coast Guard deployed five ships and two Dornier aircraft and two helicopters to the crash region for the search and rescue operation which continued this evening, said an official spokesperson.

A pall of gloom descended at Silver Square CHS in Kalina, Santacruz east where Garg, 50, had been living since 15 years with his wife, a minor daughter besides a grown-up daughter studying in an engineering college out of Maharashtra.

"He was a very nice person, a great human being with a helpful nature. We society members are shocked at this sudden tragedy," Joy Francis, the society's secretary told media persons this evening.

--IANS

qn/him/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chilean authorities are investigating a series of attacks and threatening incidents at churches in the Santiago metro area ahead of Pope Francis' three-day visit.

Members of the national police force's Police Special Operations Group (GOPE) were deployed to the municipality of Estacion Central after a bomb was found on Friday inside the Jesus Maestro church, the latest of five incidents, Efe news reported.

Although that home-made device did not detonate, the targeting of five churches in a short span has sparked concern among authorities three days before the pontiff's arrival.

Carabineros said a barrel of flammable liquid and pamphlets denouncing the Pope's visit, which is scheduled for January 15-18, also were found at the latest crime scene.

Three bombs exploded early on Friday in Catholic churches in the municipalities of Recoleta, Penalolen and Estacion Central, while a fourth was found outside a church in the capital.

"Pope Francis, the next bombs will be in your cassock," a pamphlet found in one of the churches read.

Prosecutors suspect the so-called Lautaro Youth Movement, which allegedly carried out similar attacks on political offices in November and December, in the lead-up to the December 17 presidential runoff, also is behind these latest incidents.

In an interview with Oasis radio, President Michelle Bachelet described the attacks as "very strange," while the Archdiocese of Santiago said they "run counter to the spirit of peace inspired by the pope's visit."

President-elect Sebastian Pinera also condemned the attacks on Twitter as driven by "hatred and intolerance" and urged Chileans to receive Pope Francis with joy and in peace.

Separately, members of the "Andha Chile" movement of mortgage debtors protested at the Apostolic Nunciature, where the pontiff will stay while in Santiago.

The pope, who was born in neighbouring Argentina, also will make stops in the northern Chilean city of Iquique and the southern city of Temuco during his visit.

--IANS

pgh/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pyongyang on Saturday proposed a fresh meeting with Seoul to discuss plans to send a music band to the Winter Olympics, scheduled to be held in the South Korea's PyeongChang city in February.

The Kim Jong-un regime added that it would later propose the dates for the meetings over its participation in the Winter Olympics, Efe news reported.

North Korea proposed the meeting be held on Monday in Panmungak, on the northern side of the militarized inter-Korean border, where it will send four art officials, Yonhap quoted South Korea's Unification Ministry as saying.

The Unification Ministry said it would send a response after studying the proposal from the North.

Pyongyang's proposal comes a day after Seoul offered to resume high-level talks, led by Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung on Monday to discuss the participation of North Korean athletes in the Winter Games.

During the meeting between the two Koreas on January 9, which was the first in more than two years, Pyongyang said it would send an official delegation, athletes, cheerleaders, an art troupe and taekwondo demonstration teams to PyeongChang.

However, both countries still need to work out the details, including how the North Korean group would travel to South, and its cost and expenditure, given the UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

Besides its commitment towards facilitating North Korea's participation at the winter event, the two countries also agreed during their last meeting to hold military-level talks but had not decided on a date.

--IANS

in/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Job creation, revamping of the education system and making India the global hub of health care are the three goals which has set for a "new, shining" Congress, as he told a convention of NRIs in Bahrain recently.

Since there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, it is too early to say whether his hope of being in a position to fulfil these promises will come true. But as far as the Congress is concerned, the objectives which he underlined denote a shift from the party's earlier policies which can be said to have led to its downfall in 2014.

The leitmotiv of those policies, which were the handiwork of the Left-leaning National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by then Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was populism, which cared little for either fiscal discipline or for being in tune with the economic reforms introduced in 1991 and continued by Manmohan Singh from 2004.

Nothing exemplified the absence of monetary restraint more than Sonia Gandhi's pet project of food security, which aimed at providing subsidised food to an estimated 67 per cent of the population at an annual cost of Rs 1.25 lakh crore. There were other such profligate initiatives as well, including the rural employment programme, which were ostensibly targeted at the poor.

But they didn't help the party. Instead, the voters turned from the lure of doles and freebies to the prospect of employment promised by Narendra Modi. The age of subsidies provided by a paternalistic, mai-baap ki sarkar was over.

If has understood this, it is all to the good. What his emphasis on job creation, etc., shows is a welcome change of focus from his mother's socialistic approach (which she appears to have learnt from Indira Gandhi) to an encouragement of free enterprise, which will boost growth, which was a dirty word for the NAC's Aruna Roy who lamented Manmohan Singh's preoccupation with economic development rather than with welfare measures.

It was the objection of crypto-communists like her which made the government of the time take its "foot off the accelerator of reforms", as former Finance Minister P Chidambaram subsequently regretted. The Congress is now paying the political cost of that mistake.

Rahul Gandhi's task, therefore, is to undo that lapse of judgement. But it will not be easy because his mother is not the only "socialist" in the party. The Congress has always been uneasy about the economic reforms as it believed that they benefited only the capitalists. Rahul's "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe against the Modi government is a reflection of that mindset.

Yet, if he is interested in reducing unemployment, there is no option for him but to enlist the support of the suited and booted private sector in order to increase its share of investment. He will also have to encourage foreign investment. As of now, the Congress chief has not been too forthcoming with his economic views, concerned as he is with countering the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) propaganda against his dynastic lineage and his party's supposedly pro-Muslim inclinations.

One reason why he may not have articulated his economic thinking with greater clarity is probably that the Congress will then have to come out virtually endorsing the BJP's pro-market line with an emphasis on industrial and infrastructural development.

Indeed, there is nowadays little difference in the outlook of the various parties on this score with the earlier focus on a controlled economy with the public sector being perched on the "commanding heights", to use Indira Gandhi's phrase, being replaced by a preference for an open market with the private sector playing a leading role.

From whatever little that Rahul has said so far on the economy, he seems to prefer small and medium industries rather than large ones, apparently because the former can generate more employment than the large, automated factories with their component of robots.

But as long as he steers the Congress away from its 1955 goal of ushering in a "socialistic pattern" of society, he will be a true inheritor of Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of an advanced country where dams -- standing for industries -- will be seen as the "temples of a new India".

For Nehru's great-grandson, the coming months will provide an opportunity to eradicate the party's two major mistakes which enabled the BJP to move from the margins of to centre-stage. These were, first, the Shah Bano episode in the mid-1980s which tended to substantiate the BJP's charge of Muslim appeasement against the Congress; and, secondly, the stalling of economic reforms in the last two years of the Manmohan Singh government which boosted Modi's prospects in 2014.

Even as Rahul's temple visits aim at robbing the BJP of its monopolistic claims on Hinduism, he will also have to pick up the pieces which the Congress foolishly let fall from its hands at a time when poverty was being reduced at the fastest-ever rate, as between 2005-06 and 2011-12, by reaffirming the party's commitment to economic reforms.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)

--IANS

amulya/sac



Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his election campaign in Karnataka from February 10-12, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday claiming that there was no anti-incumbency feeling against his government and the Congress will win a comfortable majority in the assembly polls due in a few months.

"He (Gandhi) will be addressing meetings and interacting with various groups of intellectuals, farmers, women and students during his visit to Karnataka," state Congress chief G. Parameshwara said.

Gandhi decided on the campaign after meeting with party leaders from his state, including Siddaramaiah, state party unit president G. Parameshwara, working president Dinesh Gundu Rao, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Veerappa Moily, K.H. Muniappa, Oscar Fernandes and party in charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal.

"We, senior leaders including the KPCC President and General Secretary in charge and secretaries, are confident that the Congress party will come back to power on its own with a comfortable majority," Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting here.

"Rahul Gandhi is very happy with the functioning of the government. He is very happy that our our government has no anti-incumbency. He is very happy to know that all promises made to the people in the (last election) manifesto have been fulfilled," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

The Chief Minister refused to apologize for his alleged attack on the BJP calling them terrorists. He also trashed the BJP campaign and its President Amit Shah's description of his government as anti-Hindu, saying they had nothing to talk about "and are raising irrelevant issues".

Asked about the BJP's attack on him on Hindutva issues, Siddaramaiah said: "The BJP has no issues. They are raising irrelevant issues. (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath is also raising the same issue. Amit Shah is also raising the same issue. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi may also raise the same issue because they have no issues there."

To a question about his alleged attack on the BJP and its leaders as terrorists, he said: "I did not say terrorists. I have only said they spread hatred in the name of Hindutva. I said I am also a Hindu but a humane Hindu. Hindu dharma means humane Hindu and not hatred. That is Hindutva."

Asked if he would apologise for his remarks as demanded by the BJP, he asked "why".

Venugopal said the leaders gave an assurance that they would all work united for the success of the party in the Assembly elections.

The meeting came in the wake of a verbal duel between Siddaramaiah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah. Karnataka is likely to witness election in April-May.

Siddaramaiah had called the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) "Hindutva extremists", while Shah had termed his government in Karnataka "anti-Hindu".

Gandhi had earlier warned his party leaders from making remarks which are unwarranted and personal.

--IANS

sid/sar/vsc/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday expressed "grave concern" over the sharp division among the top Supreme Court judges and urged for a Full Court hearing on the crisis while demanding that all PILs, including the one on the mysterious death of judge B.H. Loya, be referred to either the CJI or the judges in the collegium.

The SCBA executive committee held an emergent meeting and unanimously adopted two resolutions on the crisis facing the top judiciary.

In the first resolution, the SCBA said the differences that have been reported in the press conference by four senior judges of the Supreme Court and the other differences which are reflected in newspapers are of "grave concern and should be immediately considered by the Full Court of the Supreme Court".

The other resolution urged that all PILs, including the pending ones, should be either taken up by the Chief Justice of India or be assigned by him to the judges in the collegium.

"Even the matters listed on Monday, January 15, 2018 should also be transferred as per our request," the resolution said without referring to any particular case.

On Friday the Supreme Court posted the PIL seeking a probe into the death of special CBI judge Loya who was hearing the case relating to the alleged fake shootour of Sohrabuddin for Monday.

Addressing a press conference, SCBA President Vikas Singh said a Full Court reference is a private hearing and an in-house procedure to thrash out issues. "It will be a very good step to restore the credibility of this institution," he said.

Asked to comment on the judge Loya case, a reference to which was made by the judges in the press conference, Singh said they would not comment on any specific cases. However, he added it was not as if nothing was wrong. There must have been something obviously the judges felt, he said.

Singh said the SCBA would seek an appointment with the CJI and later with other judges in an attempt to resolve the issues.

--IANS

pk-gt-vsc/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 17-year-old girl in West Bengal's East Midnapore has appealed to the district authorities to allow her to kill herself as she has become pregnant after allegedly being raped by a man on the promise of marriage, police said on Saturday.

"We got intimation from District Magistrate's public grievance cell that a girl has sought permission to kill herself after being raped by a man of same village on the promise of marriage," Sutahata Police Station's Officer-in-charge Jaleswar Tewary told IANS.

She felt that it would be difficult for her to stay alive as an unwed mother, Tewary added.

Victim's mother alleged that while the accused was absconding, the accused's parents, who had earlier agreed to their marriage, were opposing the proposal now.

"A case was registered and accused's father has been arrested," the police officer said.

Earlier in the day, a West Bengal Human Rights Commission team also visited the victim's home at Sutahata and spoke to her and her family.

--IANS

bdc/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday said that balance of trade between India and China is "improving" in former's favour.

According to a report by PHD Chamber, current trends show a rise in India's exports to China.

"India has seen a major breakthrough in its exports to China during last few months whereas the surge in imports for Chinese products in Indian market is on deceleration," said Anil Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"India's exports to China grew by 72 per cent in October 2017 whereas growth of imports from China was only 4.2 per cent."

The report pointed out that exports to China are expected to improve further in the coming months.

"Despite substantial volume of imports from China, of lately, India's import growth from China shrunk from 65 per cent to 4 per cent during April - October 2017 whereas exports growth to China witnessed a surge from 40 per cent to 72 per cent during the same period," said Khaitan.

India's trade deficit with China has also eased from $4.92 billion in April 2017 to $4.6 billion in October 2017.

"The trade between India and China witnessed a tremendous jump from $ 2.71 billion in 2001 to around $ 70 billion in 2016," Khaitan said.

"Although China has been able to enhance its footprint in India to a greater extent over the past decade, the trend has seen a consistent reversal in the first half of 2017-18."

--IANS

rrb-rv/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, on Saturday said that admission by the country's Army that it has participated in crimes against the Rohingyas is a positive step.

Suu Kyi's statement comes after the country's Army, for the first time on Wednesday, admitted that it carried out extrajudicial killings of a group of Rohingyas, whose bodies had been discovered in a mass grave in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar.

The acknowledgment is an indication that the country is ready to own responsibility for any breaches in rule of law, said Suu Kyi, after meeting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kano, Efe news reported quoting the state media.

Soldiers and local residents from the majority Buddhist community had killed 10 members of the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority community, believing them to be members of the rebel Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, according to a statement released by the commission charged with investigating the crime.

The commission said the soldiers and civilians implicated have confessed and will be put on trial.

The killings took place on September 2, 2017 in the village of Inn Din, situated to the north of Sittwe, the capital of the state.

On August 25, the Myanmar Army had launched a military offensive after Rohingya rebels had mounted a series of attacks on multiple government posts.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid bin Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein had decribed the offensive -- that led to the exodus of around 650,000 Rohingyas to neighboring Bangladesh -- as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar does not consider the Rohingyas to be citizens, treating them mostly as Bangladeshi immigrants and imposing many restrictions on them, including on their freedom of movement within the country.

--IANS

him/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three female students drowned when a boat with at least 34 students on board capsized off the Dahanu coast in this Maharashtra district on Saturday morning, officials said.

A massive search and rescue operation was launched and by late evening, 31 students of the K.L. Ponda High School & Junior College were rescued from the Arabian Sea waters.

Bodies of all three girls were recovered and the deceased identified as Sonal Surti, Sanskriti Mayavanshi and Jahnvi Surti, all 17 years old and hailing from Ambedkar Nagar area of Dahanu, Palghar Superintendent of Police Manjunath Singe told IANS.

A massive search is underway to find any remaining unaccounted student amidst fears of casualty figures increasing in the incident that took place around 5 kms in the sea off the Parnaka Beach here.

The 34 students were out on an annual college picnic in a double-decked boat named 'Dahanu King' which topple, Singe added.

Even the lone boatman, Mahesh Ambre, who was injured in the incident, has been rescued and undergoing treatment in a Dahanu hospital.

According to an eyewitness account, the tragedy apparently happened when some students crowded on one side of the boat to click selfies, resulting in loss of balance and the vessel capsizing.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai this afternoon on a two-day visit, expressed grief over the boat tragedy in the state.

"Anguished to hear of boat carrying schoolchildren capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. The state government has rescued most of the passengers is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to the bereaved families," the President said in a tweet.

The boat is owned by Parth Ambire and Mahendra Ambire, who are being booked under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the tragedy.

The boat had been recently refurbished and hired out for joyrides in the seas, but it was not clear whether the student picknickers were given life-jackets or not, officials said.

The tragedy occurred during a low-tide, enabling the rescuers to reach the site quickly, and "save precious lives", said an ICG spokesperson.

Hundreds of parents of the victims crowded the Parnaka Beach, many wailing and crying to know the fate of their children since the tragedy occurred around 11.30 am.

The Indian Coast Guard from Maharashtra and Gujarat helped the local police and maritime authorities in the combined sea and air operations, besides the local fishing community.

The ICG diverted at least three ships and two aircraft to the site to rescue the victims, an official said.

--IANS

qn/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Yes. I will do my part to conserve household energy usage, even if I'm uncomfortable in my home.

No. It is too hot to conserve household energy usage.

I already conserve, even before ERCOT requested it.

Maybe, depending on the reason ERCOT provides and whether or not I am home during that time.

Vote

View ResultsTiE Hyderabad on Saturday announced the winners of TiE Young Entrepreneurs Award for 5th season.

The winners of the Business Plan Competition will fly to the International TyE Finals to be held in the US later this year.

The jury declared Pock & Lick as winners for their business plan of an edible popsicle holder that prevents dripping. 'Team Nurture' on the other hand won the runner up position for their plan - an unique nutrition bar to fulfill a "Gonna be mother's" daily nutritional supply. Each team comprised seven students from different schools

According to organisers, 43 students from 20 schools participated in the competition. Giving away the award, Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan appreciated the way schools and parents are encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit in kids.

The fifth season was initiated in August 2017 and the participants underwent a rigorous curriculum on entrepreneurship development with classroom sessions, mentoring and business plan competitions spanning till the end of December.

"We are amazed at the capabilities of these young kids. With TiE's structured training they can start their entrepreneurial journey and I am sure they will be quite successful," said Kali Prasad Gadiraju, President, TiE Hyderabad and Office Managing Partner, E&Y Hyderabad.

The jury included Ajit Rangnekar, Director General, Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad, Rekha Lahoti, CEO, Kalakriti India and Radha Rani, Executive Director, Visiontek, Linkwell Telesystems Pvt. Ltd.

--IANS

ms/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United States President on Saturday accused Democrats of squandering a chance to work out a legislative solution for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented migrants.

In remarks on Twitter, Donald Trump said he did not believe the opposition party truly wanted to negotiate a new arrangement for so-called Dreamers (undocumented migrants brought to the US illegally when they were children), 690,000 of whom are currently shielded from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, Efe reported.

Then-President Barack Obama created DACA by executive order in 2012, but Trump announced last year that he was discontinuing it and gave lawmakers until March 5 (when the program is set to expire) to come up with a permanent legislative solution for these young migrants, who otherwise could face deportation even though for many of them the US is the only country they have ever called home.

"The Democrats are all talk and no action. They are doing nothing to fix DACA. Great opportunity missed. Too bad!" the Republican wrote on Twitter.

He made the remarks two days after meeting at the White House with a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican senators who said they had reached an agreement in principle that would offer a path to citizenship for more than a million Dreamers.

The proposed bill also would provide $1.6 billion in funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border and eliminate the diversity visa lottery program (two key demands of Trump).

That latter program distributes 50,000 visas annually to individuals from countries that traditionally have not emigrated in large numbers to the US.

The senators proposed that 25,000 of those visas go to individuals - including people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan - whose temporary protected status is set to expire in the near future following recent moves by the Trump administration.

Those undocumented migrants initially were granted TPS, nearly 20 years ago in the case of Nicaraguans and Salvadorans, due to war or natural disaster in their homelands.

An international firestorm erupted this week when the Washington Post reported that Trump, when told about the proposed visa provision for TPS beneficiaries during the meeting, asked why the US should accept migrants from "shithole countries."

Trump, who met on Wednesday with the Norwegian prime minister, said the US instead should bring in more immigrants from countries like that highly developed Scandinavian nation.

The president on Friday said he used "tough" language during the meeting to refer to immigrants from impoverished, violence-plagued countries but denies using the crude slur attributed to him.

One of the Democratic senators at the meeting, Dick Durbin of Illinois, confirmed on Twitter that Trump used the term "shithole."

"In the course of his comments (Mr. Trump) said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist. I use those words advisedly," he said. "I cannot believe in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday."

Trump, whose administration has said it is seeking $18 billion for the first phase of wall construction, also slammed the DACA fix presented to him at the meeting with Democratic and GOP senators.

"The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards. Wall was not properly funded, Chain (migration) & (Diversity Visa) Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly," he wrote Friday on Twitter.

"I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs," he added.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Donald Trump paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, one of the principal advocates of the civil rights movement, at a time when the US President is facing accusations of racism for his alleged insult of Haiti, El Salvador and several African countries.

Trump refused to answer questions about the controversy during an event on Friday at the White House, when a reporter twice asked him, "Are you a racist?"

Tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was planned long before the controversy arose over Trump's remark, and came just before the annual holiday celebrated in the US in King's honour, which this year would be next Monday.

"Today, as we come together to honour Dr. King, we know that America is stronger, more just, and more free because of his life and work," Trump said, Efe news reported.

"Dr. King advocated for the world we still demand - where the sacred rights of all Americans are protected... and our limits and our opportunities are defined not by the colour of our skin, but by the content of our character," Trump said.

Trump then signed the proclamation declaring January 15 a holiday and ignored questions from reporters about his supposed insult he made Thursday during a meeting of senators in the White House.

Trump denied that he ever used the term "shithole countries" to describe Haiti, El Salvador and African nations, though he admitted using "tough" language in the meeting.

"Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out'. Made up by Dems," Trump said on his Twitter account.

Nonetheless, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was at the Thursday meeting on immigration in the White House, said on Friday that Trump "certainly did use that offensive term".

After Trump took to tweeting to deny the accusation, Durbin replied by saying: "It's not true. He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly."

--IANS

pgh/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Vulgar comments attributed to US President Donald Trump have caused outrage across Africa. Trump reportedly used the word "s**thole" to describe Haiti and El Salvador, as also African countries, while discussing immigration issues with US lawmakers on Thursday.

Speaking to Xinhua, Abebe Ayente, senior researcher at Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies (EFRSS), a local think tank, said the comments will further reduce the influence of US on the global stage.

Trump issued a statement on Friday denying the vulgar words attributed to him, though he admitted to having used strong language in the Thursday discussion.

Trump's alleged remarks have caused outrage across the world with officials in African, European, Latin American countries and UN expressing condemnation and summoning US diplomats in protest.

Ayene said the undiplomatic word used by the US President that shocked the diplomatic community across the globe will likely have a long-lasting impact.

The African Union (AU) issued a statement on Friday evening calling Trump's reported remarks outrageous and hurtful.

"While expressing shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes there's a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current administration. There is a serious need for dialogue between the US administration and the African countries," said the AU statement.

It further called for the US President to issue an apology for the hurtful remarks not only to Africans but people of African descent across the globe.

"The African Union condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology to not only Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe," it said.

Nevertheless, aware the US is still a powerful military and economic power, the AU statement called for continued strategic partnership with the US. But it emphasised that such a partnership should be based on mutual respect and accepted international principles of respect of basic human dignity.

AU Spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo pointed out the US role in the Atlantic slave trade as an example of how African countries, Trump described in contemptuous terms, were exploited in a shameful manner.

She added the purported statement was particularly unfortunate coming from a leader of country that describes itself as a global example of a successful migrant nation.

Botswana's government on Friday condemned Trump's reported disparaging remarks about developing countries, calling on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union and all other progressive nations across the world to strongly condemn the remarks.

In South Africa, a senior official of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said Trump was "extremely offensive" when he used the term "s**thole countries" to describe developing countries.

Developing countries do have difficulties, but they are not "s**thole countries", said ANC Deputy General Secretary Jessie Duarte, calling Trump's remarks "unfortunate".

"Ours is not a s**thole country, neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," said Duarte.

The US itself has its own problems such as unemployment among millions of people, inequality and non-access to healthcare for many poor people, Duarte said.

--IANS

him/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey would conduct military operations in Syria's Afrin if Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militants do not withdraw in a week.

Speaking in the eastern province of Elazig, Erdogan threatened the U.S.-backed YPG, saying Turkey would interfere "if the terrorists in Afrin do not surrender," Xinhua reported.

The President added that Turkey will act alone to protect its security against YPG militants even if the US continues its partnership with the group.

Ankara considers the YPG as a terror group and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in its own border.

During his speech, Erdogan stressed that Turkish forces "are destroying the western wing of this corridor with the Idlib operation," referring to the artillery operation launched on the same day.

According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency, Turkish artillery units on Saturday fired at least 36 times on PKK/PYD forces from Turkey's southern province Hatay and a Turkish Armed Forces observation point in Idlib.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two teenage girls were killed and six others were missing after a boat carrying 40 students for a picnic capsized off the Dahanu coast in Maharashtra on Saturday, an official said.

Hundreds of parents crowded the Parnaka Beach, wailing and crying as bodies of the two girls were fished out of the Arabian Sea after the tragedy struck the picnickers of the K.L. Ponda High School and Junior College.

Thirty-two of the children were rescued in a massive search and rescue operation, launched after the students fell into waters around five km in the sea off the beach.

A combined team of the Indian Coast Guard along with the police and maritime authorities were searching the remaining six students amidst fears of rising casualties.

The bodies of the two students recovered have been identified as Sonal Surti and Jahnvi Surti, both 17, from Ambedkar Nagar area of Dahanu, the official said.

The students were out on an annual picnic trip.

According to eyewitness accounts, the tragedy was apparently triggered when some students reportedly crowded on one side of the boat to click selfies, resulting in the loss of balance as the vessel capsized.

Officials, however, have declined to comment on this.

A combined sea and air operation was on and the local fishing community has also pitched in for the rescue operation.

The coast guard has diverted at least three ships and two aircraft to the site.

--IANS

qn/in/sar

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A US trade panel has voted to continue anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty probe against Chinese aluminium products despite Beijing's strong dissatisfaction with the move.

"There is a reasonable indication that a US industry is materially injured by imports of common alloy aluminium sheet from China... subsidised and sold in the US...," the US International Trade Commission (USITC) said on Friday.

As such, the US Commerce Department would continue its probe with its preliminary anti-subsidy duty determination due in February and on anti-dumping due in April, the USITC said.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) had expressed strong dissatisfaction with the "self-initiated" US Commerce Department's probe launched in November 2017.

It was the first time in 25 years that the US government had launched such investigations without a request from a US company or industry, Xinhua news agency said.

China would take all necessary measures to defend the rights of its own enterprises, Wang Hejum head of MOC said.

--IANS

in/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has briefed Angolan President Joao Lourenco on the recent political developments in Zimbabwe and assured him that the welfare and safety of former President Robert Mugabe are guaranteed.

Mnangagwa also assured Lourenco that general elections due this year will be held on schedule.

Citing a report of the state-run media New Ziana, Xinhua reported that Mnangagwa met Lourenco in Luanda, Angola. In an interview after the meeting, Mnangagwa said he explained to his counterpart the recent events in Zimbabwe.

"It was an excellent meeting, I came to Luanda to brief my senior, President Lourenco, about the transition that has taken place in Zimbabwe," Mnangagwa said.

Lourenco is also the current Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community's Organ for Politics, Defence and Security.

Mnangagwa said that the elections would be held as scheduled, effectively quashing claims that the new administration was seeking a postponement.

On the welfare of former President Mugabe, Mnangagwa said the new government was determined to preserve his rich legacy.

"We had this transition peacefully and the former President Mugabe is very safe, we will look after him, we will care for him. He is our founding father of the nation, he is our revolutionary icon and we are determined to preserve his legacy.

"Those criminals who (had) surrounded him, the transition has been able to remove them from positions of influence." Mnangagwa said.

Mnangagwa and Lourenco also discussed several bilateral issues, particularly economic and trade relations.

--IANS

pgh/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)I am delighted to address you, at this fifth round table of the Asean-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT). This fifth round table, is taking place at a very important juncture. In less than three weeks from now, India will host the Asean-India Commemorative Summit to mark the 25th anniversary of India-Asean relations. Your discussions today, are therefore, timely and opportune. It will provide useful inputs to our leaders, when they meet on January 25th in New Delhi for the Summit. It will be an honour and a prestige for us to host all the ten Asean Leaders as Guests of Honour for our Republic Day. Their presence in New Delhi on the Republic Day, will place India-Asean relations at centre stage, and at the heart of Indias Act East Policy.

I thank Foreign Minister of Indonesia H E Retno Marsudi for her active support and participation at todays event. I also take this opportunity to congratulate H E Mr Lim Jock Hoi on his appointment as the Secretary General of Asean and thank him for his presence today. Friends, Think tanks generate new ideas, in formulating public policy. They make significant contributions, in shaping the future discourse of our leadership. The AINTT, as an initiative, has successfully enabled our academic and our strategic communities in the region, to come together, on a common platform for exchange of views.

The last four rounds of the AINTT have made important contributions towards policy decisions by the Governments of Asean countries and India to further strengthen Asean-India relations. I expect this round of the AINTT, to build upon its past work. Today, representatives of think tanks from India and Asean countries will deliberate on maritime security, trade and investment, education and cultural heritage. These are important markers in our engagement with South East Asia, in enhancing our strategic ties with Asean across 3 Cs. These 3Cs are Commerce, Connectivity and Culture. Both India and Asean countries are maritime nations, with a rich and glorious history of maritime trade. We have energised our ancient links in a contemporary setting, to become a driving force in Asias resurgence. As a mature and responsible nation, one of Indias foreign policy interests, is to evolve a regional architecture based on the twin principles of shared security, and shared prosperity.

This was enunciated by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2015, in his vision of SAGAR. SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. It recognises the central role played by the seas and oceans around us in promoting sustainable economic progress in a secure and stable environment. The Indo Pacific region, is increasingly seen as a connectivity pathway - much of the worlds trade passes through these oceans. These waters must not only get better connected, but remain free from traditional and non-traditional threats, that impede free movement of people, goods and ideas. Respect for international law, notably UNCLOS, in ensuring this is, therefore imperative.

Friends, A deeper economic integration with the dynamic Asean region, is an important aspect of our Act East Policy. Asean is Indias 4th largest trading partner, accounting for 10.2 per cent of Indias total trade. India is Aseans 7th largest trading partner. Trade is back on track and registered an 8 per cent increase in 2016-17, as compared to the previous year. Investment flows have also remained robust. It is our continuous attempt to promote dialogue among Asean and Indian business and trade associations, to further enhance bilateral trade and investment. The establishment of a Project Development Fund will encourage Indian companies to develop manufacturing hubs in CLMV countries. Our offer of a US$1 billion Line of Credit is another important initiative to enhance physical and digital connectivity. In this context, I invite the scholars, academics and think tanks present here today to offer new ideas, for a greater integration of Asean Economic Community with India and identify collaborative opportunities in investment, trade and services sector.

Promoting greater collaboration among educational institutions, will contribute towards investing in the future of our relationship, especially where it involves the youth of our countries. We continue to offer scholarships to students from the region, for pursuit of higher education in India. I invite you all to discuss modalities for setting up a network of Universities among Asean countries and India, to intensify our cooperation in the education sector. The revival of Nalanda University in Rajgir, renowned as a centre for learning and Buddhist studies in ancient times, is yet another attempt to energise our civilisational links.

Our efforts are to recreate this knowledge hub. A Dharma Dhamma Conference will be organised next week, at the Nalanda University for which we have invited scholars from the entire region. We look forward to an active participation from the Asean countries at this Conference. While physical & digital connectivity initiatives are poised to seamlessly integrate us into a greater Indo-Asean community, our shared cultural heritage remains a strong emotional bond that already integrates us. We commenced our silver jubilee celebrations last year, with the second edition of the Conference on Cultural and Civilisational Links in January 2017. A potent symbol of our integration through the assimilation of our mythology and folklore, can be seen in the depiction of the epic, Ramayana. The various forms of Ramayana prevalent in the South East Asian region, be it Ramakien in Thailand, Pha Lak Pha Lam in Laos, Yama Zatddaw in Myanmar, Kakawin Ramayana in Indonesia or Hikayat Seri Rama in Malaysia, bear testimony to our historical connect. Various interpretations of Ramayana through performing arts are part of our shared tangible heritage. We will organise a Ramayana Festival in India, to showcase our cultural interpretations of Ramayana across the Asean countries and India. The similarities of Mudra (hand gestures) in our dance forms across Asean and India, will also be showcased during this Festival.

I urge the think tanks to strengthen consultations and suggest ways, to enhance maritime, commercial, educational and cultural cooperation. I look forward to new areas to be identified where both India and Asean can work together. With these words, I wish all success to the organisers for this event.

Edited excerpts from Foreign Minister Sushma Swarajs address to a meeting of ASEAN think tanks in Delhi, January 6With the fiasco in the Rajya Sabha over the bill banning triple talaq  where all parties barring the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) banded together to send the bill to a Parliamentary Select Committee for further discussion  you would have thought the BJP would have got anxious about not having alliance partners on the same page. But nothing of the sort.

The last meeting of the NDA was in April 2017, ahead of the election for the President of India where supposedly nothing about the election was discussed. Since then BJP has had no formal meeting with alliance partners though NDA ...Two ad hoc teachers (siksha mitra) were dismissed from their services after a class 1 student was allegedly raped by her seniors in a government school, the police said today.

The father of the girl on Thursday registered a complaint against three class 5 students of raping his daughter outside the school premises, they said.

Hearing girl's shrieks, the passer-by came to her help, but the accused managed to flee, they said.

The father of the victim alleged that he complained about the incident to the school principal, but he refused to take any action.

Meanwhile, the incident was highlighted in the local media, after which two ad hoc teachers were yesterday sacked.

The Department dismissed two shiksha mitras from their services and suspended another seven in the matter, Basic Shiksha Adhikari Ajit Kumar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three teenage girls died and 15 others were injured after a fire broke out during a religious event near Rajkot.

The incident took place at the "Rashtra Katha Shibir" (camp) in Pransla village of the district last night.

"The blaze erupted in the camp's women section and spread rapidly, killing three persons," District Collector Vikrant Pandey said.

A short-circuit may have led to the fire. An investigation was on to ascertain the cause, Pandey said.

A team of National Disaster Response Force and Fire Brigade personnel rescued several people from the site, Pandey added.

Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Antrip Sood said the deceased were teenage girls. About 15 people suffered burn injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the family of each of the deceased.

He expressed grief over the incident and directed the Rajkot Collector to order an inquiry into the fire, a government statement said today.

The camp was being organised by spiritual leader Swami Dharmabandhuji.

Dharmabandhuji, who has been conducting the shibir for the past 20 years, said he was pained by the tragedy, which happened on the last day of the 10-day event.

The event draws prominent personalities. This year, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani attended the camp.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three girls drowned and five were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized this morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

Three persons, including the owner of the boat, were arrested by Palghar police late this evening.

The police said 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing ones was continuing, with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

The bodies of the three girls -- Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi -- all aged 17, were recovered, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe told PTI.

All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

The private boat 'Dahanu Queen' was carrying 40 students of the Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am, Singe said.

"The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations," the SP said.

The accident spot is around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said. Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, police said.

The tragedy struck when some students apparently crowded on one side of the boat to click selfies, resulting in the vessel tilting on one side and capsizing, BJP MLA Manisha Chowdhary, who hails from Dahanu, told PTI.

Local fishermen, who saw the mishap, and some residents of Dahanu joined in the rescue efforts.

Singe said the owner of the boat Dhiraj Ambire, boatman Parth Ambire and helper Mahendra Ambire were arrested late this evening.

"The trio was booked under IPC sections 304 A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 280 (rash navigation of vessel), 282 (conveying person by water for hire in unsafe or overloaded vessel), 34 (common intention). The case was registered at Dahanu police station," Singe said.

"The accused did not take safety measures and took excess people on the boat," he added.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai today on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

"Anguished to hear of boat carrying school children capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. State government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," he tweeted.

The Coast Guard gave details about its rescue operation in a release here.

"On receiving the information, the Coast Guard Station at Dahanu immediately initiated search and rescue efforts whilst co-ordinating with local authorities. A Coast Guard boat based at Dahanu and a helicopter from Daman were released immediately for the rescue efforts," it said.

"A total of 32 precious lives were saved in the incident and they are being provided medical attention by local authorities," the release said.

However, there have been three casualties in the incident, it said.

"Search efforts are still continuing at the location in coordination with local authorities," the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Five members of a family were killed in a blast due to an LPG cylinder leak at a house in Vidhyadhar Nagar area in Jaipur early today, a police official said.

"The fire broke out on the ground floor and spread to the first floor. Three members of the family sleeping on the ground floor were charred to death, while two on the first floor died due to suffocation," Additional DCP Rajesh Meel said.

The deceased were identified as Mahendra Garg (75), Shaurya Garg (25), Animesh Garg (22), Apurva (24) and Arpita (20).

"Animesh and Shaurya were on the first floor and died due to suffocation," he said.

The fire has been extinguished, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police has arrested seven suspected Maoists, working for the Golden Corridor Committee, formed to spread their ideology in Maharashtra and Gujarat, officials said today.

According to an official, the arrests were made after raids were conducted in the eastern suburbs of the city late last night.

Banners related to the Bhima Koregaon event held recently to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune district were seized from two of the accused, sources said.

Violence had broken out during the Bhima-Koregaon battle's 200th anniversary celebrations.

According to sources, the ATS will probe if the arrested accused were involved in the violence in Mumbai and suburbs.

"Based on specific information in connection with the movements of members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), the Kalachowki unit of the ATS initially nabbed one suspect from the Kalyan railway station yesterday," the official said.

During interrogation, he revealed he and his colleagues from the Kamraj Nagar, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Vikhroli areas of suburban Mumbai were working for the CPI(Maoist).

After getting vital information, the ATS formed special teams and raids were carried out in Ramabai Nagar, Kamraj Nagar and Vikhroli, during which seven Maoists were arrested.

All the arrested persons were from Telangana and working for the CPI(Maoist), he said.

ATS sleuths seized incriminating documents related to the banned organisation, he added.

An offence under sections 20, 38, 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been registered at ATS Kalachowki and a probe is underway.

The arrested persons were produced before court, which sent them to ATS custody till January 16, the official said.

"Maoists have declared parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat as Golden Corridor for propagation of their ideology and spread of their movement in the industrial belt," he said.

During investigation, it came to light that the arrested main accused and his accomplices had been working for the Golden Corridor Committee and were in touch with Left Wing Extremism cadres from the forest divisions, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tasting little success in expanding its footprint at the national level, the Aam Aadmi Party has set its sights on the northeast, where Assembly polls are due in four states this year.

The five-year-old party will contest on all the seats in Nagaland, Meghalaya and on a few seats in Tripura, its leader Habung Payeng, looking after the northeastern affairs, said.

Later in the year, it also plans to contest polls in Mizoram.

The move comes following the party's attempts to make it big at the national level by contesting polls in Punjab and Goa.

It had also contested on 29 seats in Gujarat. However, except Punjab, where the party won 20 seats, it has not been able to make inroads in other states.

This year, the party also intends to contest polls in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also addressed a rally in Maharashtra yesterday, signalling that his party could also contest Assembly polls in Maharashtra, scheduled to be held in October next year.

Asked about the agenda, the party plans to contest on, Payeng said, "It is being finalised by the state units. We have decided to contest on all seats in Nagaland and Meghalaya and on a few seats in Tripura."



Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland, all have 60 Assembly seats. The three states are expected to go to polls in February-March.

Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was recently in the northeast to take stock of the party's strength in the region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Africans have reacted angrily after US President Donald Trump reportedly referred to their nations as "shithole countries", with many accusing the US president of racism and ignorance.

The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks yesterday, while a statement from ambassadors of all countries from the continent at the United Nations demanded a retraction and apology.

The African Group of UN ambassadors said it was "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media".

Ambassadors unanimously agreed the resolution after an emergency session to weigh Trump's remarks.

The comment was "clearly" racist, said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki.

"This is even more hurtful given the historical reality of just how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, and also terribly surprising as the United States remains a massively positive example as just how migration can give birth to a nation," Kalondo said.

He stressed the US was "much stronger than the sum total of one man".

Trump reportedly demanded to know why the United States should accept immigrants from "shithole countries", after lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

However he later tweeted: "this was not the language used".

The United Nations slammed the reported remarks as "shocking and shameful" and "racist".

"You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome," Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva.

Botswana summoned the US ambassador to the country to "clarify if Botswana is regarded as a 'shithole' country", according to a foreign ministry statement calling Trump's comments "irresponsible, reprehensible and racist".

Senegal followed suit with Foreign Minister Sidiki Kaba saying the government "firmly condemned the unacceptable remarks which undermine human dignity, especially of Africa and her diaspora".

Trump was widely derided last year after twice referring to Namibia as "Nambia".

Social media users across the continent posted images of modern skylines and beautiful nature from their countries with the hashtag "shithole".

Many Africans reminded the US of its historic role in the continent's woes.

"President Trump, One day, I'll take you to a 'shithole' country called Ghana," wrote Ghanaian Edmond Prime Sarpong on Facebook.

"First stop would be Osu Castle, Elmina Castle, and the over 40 Forts that detained about 30 million slaves, beaten and shipped out like sardine cans and then I will tell you the history of Africa and why people like you made that a 'shithole' continent."



Prominent Kenyan commentator Patrick Gathara told AFP that Trump's words were nothing new.

"This is no different from what Hollywood and Western media have been saying about Africa for decades. We have consistently been portrayed as shitty people from shitty countries."



Some acknowledged problems in their countries, but blamed this on their poor leaders as well as Western nations.

"Please don't confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent... Our motherland is the most blessed continent that has been raped by imperialists in collaboration with our shitty misleaders for generations," wrote Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi on Twitter.

In South Africa, the ruling African National Congress party declared "ours is not a shithole country" and described Trump as "extremely offensive".

Some Nigerians did not hold back, with many on Twitter saying their country was a "shithole", but that it was "our shithole" to criticise.

In Senegal's capital Dakar, administrator Idrissa Fall said "we cannot really say that he (Trump) is wrong".

"African countries, and sometimes our leaders, do not exactly deal with the problems of the worst-off, that's what makes people immigrate".

Even war-torn South Sudan weighed in, with President Salva Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny slamming the comments as "outrageous".

However Juba businesswoman Jenny Jore, 31, told AFP that Trump's remarks were "on point".

"It is thanks to our African leaders that we are insulted that way," she said.

The 54-nation UN African Group, which does not include Western Sahara, demanded a "retraction and an apology" from Trump, while thanking Americans "from all walks of life who have condemned the remarks".

Trump's latest comments provided ample fodder for talk- show hosts.

South African comedian Trevor Noah, star of "The Daily Show", described himself as an offended citizen of "South Shithole" and also criticised Trump's preferred choice of Norway for immigrants.

"He didn't just name a white country, he named the whitest -- so white they wear moon-screen," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Andhra Pradesh has agreed to release 3.33 tmc ft of water from the Krishna river to Tamil Nadu to meet the drinking water requirement of the Chennai city.

AP Water Resources Department Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar issued an order last night permitting the NTR Telugu Ganga Project chief engineer to release 3.33 tmc ft from Kandaleru reservoir to Poondi reservoir for supply to the Chennai city.

The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department chief engineer had written a letter last month to the AP government stating the present storage in the four reservoirs supplying water to Chennai was only 46 per cent because of less than average rainfall in the catchment areas during the north-east monsoon.

Hence, to meet the drinking water needs of the Chennai city immediately, the chief engineer requested that water from Kandaleru reservoir be released.

As per the Krishna River Management Board, Andhra Pradesh's share comes to 3.33 tmc ft of the total 5 tmc ft Krishna water to be supplied to the Tamil Nadu capital.

Accordingly, the state WRD Secretary issued orders for release of water immediately to meet the drinking water needs of the Chennai city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Several hundred anti-capitalist demonstrators marched in Switzerland's capital Bern today to protest against US President Donald Trump's planned visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

With placards reading "Eat the rich" and "Fight WEF, Trump, capitalism", the protesters also targeted the annual meeting of the world's political and business elite at a luxury Swiss ski resort.

Davos often draws small protests against its famous participants and global trade agenda, but with the surprise announcement this week that Trump will attend this year's January 22-26 meeting, Swiss authorities warned "a high potential for violence must be assumed" at demonstrations across the country.

However today's unauthorised protest, organised by a group called RJG, remained calm and without incident, Swiss agency ATS reported.

On its website, RJG said that "despite a strong police presence and significant provocations from civilian police, the protest was organised successfully".

"The World Economic Forum claims to be a platform for constructive solutions to global problems," the group said, "however it remains a meeting for the establishment to discuss a neoliberal agenda".

A petition headlined "Trump not welcome - stay out of Davos" started by another group, Campax, had gathered more than 12,880 signatures by today.

Another protest against Trump's arrival at Davos, the timing of which remains unclear, is planned for the evening of January 23 in Zurich.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Deep Truths Header

The Truth about Physical and Spiritual Israel and the Jews

Excerpts from "One Way!" written January 1971 by David Brandt Berg

Even after all these years, I was still under the delusion of that damnable doctrine of concision--part Works and part Grace--in the case of Israel!--Partly flesh, and partly spiritual, and part to the spiritual children the promises were going to be fulfilled. That damn doctrine had been so drilled into me by so many false prophets--among them the Scofield Bible--and my own fleshly desire to see a fleshly fulfillment--to satisfy the flesh! Being part-Jewish, my flesh still wanted to see the Jews partly saved by partly interpreted promises, partly because of their being Jews in the flesh! I wanted to see them saved spiritually, of course, and I knew they couldn't really be saved spiritually without accepting Jesus. But I still had that damnable doctrine of devils drilled into me by that damnable churchy Works religion--the Concision of the Scribes and Pharisees of Christianity--that the Jews were going to be saved in the flesh because they were flesh-and-blood Jews, because of the promises I thought God had made to flesh-and-blood Israel. Of course, I knew they could only be saved in the Spirit by the Spirit, but I still thought God was going to fulfill all those wonderful promises that he made to Israel--to a flesh-and-blood Israel--to the natural children of Abraham--the so-called Jews!--And that's not what he was talking about!

If you haven't got the truth, if you haven't got the right interpretation, but you sincerely desire to know the truth--you honestly want to know what is right--God sometimes has to take away from you what you think is right before He can show you the truth! He has to smash your idols!--And He's just smashing one of the biggest idols I ever had--The Jews! I almost worshipped them! I had idolized Israel--the LAND of Israel the carnal country! They were my own flesh and blood, and I was proud of them, and I bragged about them! And the Devil built me up for the biggest letdown I ever had! I had gotten so high on that misinterpretation, that false doctrine, that when the Lord just now yanked the rug out from underneath me, I was just left hanging in mid-air!--And I've just come crashing down--and I'm all broken up!--I'm absolutely shattered! The Lord had to let me land right here in Israel in pieces! I was whole when I landed here, but when I hit, God broke me! Thank God He did! For whosoever shall fall upon that rock shall be broken, but upon whom that rock shall fall, he shall be ground to powder. Thank God He didn't have to do that to me! He just let me land here and break, and He kept me here until I got a good dose of it! Otherwise, when I first discovered the horrible mistake we'd made, I would have turned tail and run, and gotten out of here as fast as I could, I was so sick of the situation--so sick of my own self and my own misunderstanding--my own mistake!--So sick of the so-called Jews--so sick of this carnal Israel!

They're more religiously system than the USA! I just wanted to get the Heaven out of here! I felt like I got landed in Hell, instead of the Heaven I was expecting! But the Lord just let the money dribble in--just barely enough to get by on, and never enough to leave the country. Then when we had enough money to leave, we didn't have the shots required by law in order to buy our ticket to leave, and when we got the shots, I still wanted to take a week or two to at least tour the country and see the sights!--And I got so sick I couldn't even get out of bed! Then yesterday, when the Lord healed me, and I felt so good and climbed the steps on Mount Carmel last night for a little exercise, and thought, "Wow! I'm feeling good enough now to get out and see Israel!"--And I promptly landed back in bed sick again! I don't even think the Lord wants me to go out and see the country. Maybe He knows the sight would make me even sicker! Sightseeing would make me even madder! It would be better to remember it as I've seen it in the Bible, or better to remember it even from the pictures I've seen of it when the Arabs had it, and the English had it, and when my grandfather visited here. It was more like the land of Jesus then, than it is now. It's more like the U.S. now--all these fancy new buildings and crowded highways and noisy vehicles and stinking, smoky, polluted air, and names changed, and the people changed, and the whole atmosphere and whole spirit changed! Feels horrible to me! I can hardly stand it! I just feel like I gotta get out of here--worse than I used to feel that I had to come! God gave me the desires of my heart, but sent leanness to my soul. He gave me what I wanted because I insisted. Now I can't stand the sight: It makes me sick to see what's happened to His land--not the rebuilding and the development and the blossoming as the rose--that's all beautiful, marvelous, wonderful!

There's no worse delusion than to discover you've been fooled--you've been had--you've been taken--that the great ten dollar bill you thought you had, turned out to be a phony, a fake, and a counterfeit!--That beautiful gold ring you bought in Mexico at such a bargain, or that gorgeous diamond, turned your finger green the next day! You thought you were getting a real bargain, and it fell apart by the time you got it home!

I had to come here (Israel) -- to be here -- I had to stick my nose in it to sense the spirit of it all--that it was phony, counterfeit--a gorgeous imitation of the real thing--that it was purely carnal, purely fleshly, purely self-righteous, pure works, with all glory to the arm of flesh! It has nothing to do with God or His Son Jesus, whom they don't even know! A fulfillment of prophecy? Yes! But a fulfillment of the promises to His Children? No! There's a tremendous difference that I never discerned before!

Prophecies are fulfilled about all kinds of people that god prophesies about--even the wicked--mere predictions of the future about what is going to happen, including what is happening here, and I'm now not too sure about some of those that we thought were being fulfilled here! I've got to study the Bible all over again to figure it out, now that the Lord has given us the key, which was there all the time--that Paul harped on all the time--but I really didn't want to hear it when it came to this particular situation: THE JEWS IN ISRAEL! But the promises of God are something else!--Promises of blessing and good and Salvation--these are made only to his real children--the spiritual children by Grace! Not of works, lest any man should boast, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord! I thought Paul was pretty rabid on the doctrine and kinda wore out the subject--that the Promises were not made to Abraham's children after the flesh--but the Children by Faith--after the Spirit--saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ, God's Only Son!

Sometimes i think even Paul weakened a little bit on the subject, because he himself was a flesh-and-blood Israelite of the Israelites, and because of his love for his Jewish brethren and his desire to see them saved--that somehow God was yet going to save them in spite of their sins!

He's not going to save them any more than anybody else! It's a lie! He doesn't love them any more than He does anybody else! For God is no respecter of persons--flesh-and-blood persons--flesh-and-blood Israel!

There's no such thing as a Jewish Christian, any more than there's such a thing as a Gentile Christian, or a black Christian, or a white Christian, or a male, or a female Christian. Neither is there any such thing as a bond Christian or a free Christian, for all are one in Christ Jesus! You are only a Christian--and that's all you are--and if you're a Christian, you're neither male nor female, bond nor free, Jew nor Gentile! YOU'RE ONLY A CHRISTIAN IN THE REALM OF THE SPIRIT! That's all you are in God's eyes--just a Christian! He doesn't see your color, your nationality, or your sex or any other damned fleshly characteristic! That's downright damnable devilish discrimination! God sees nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ and the blood-washed soul! I'm determined to see no man among you save Jesus only! It's only Jesus! That's the only difference God sees! You either belong to Jesus or you don't! To hell with all the rest of the differences, discriminations, and the prejudices! You're either saved or you're lost, either God's or the Devil's; you're either a Christian, or you're a Jew or any other damned unsaved person! You can't be both!

If you're a Christian, that's all God sees! He only sees Jesus! He only sees Jesus in you--that's all. It doesn't matter what color you are, or what sex you are or what social status you are, or what damned father you had!--He's your Father and you're His Son, and that's all that matters, because of Jesus! All glory be to Jesus!

And if you give the slightest bit, one infinitesimal, slight fraction of an iota of credit to the fact that you are Jew or anything else and that makes you little more Christian than somebody else, or a little more in line for God's blessing--you're deceived and a liar, because there is no such thing!

You're either a child of God or a child of the Devil! There's no kind of in-between class called Jews, that are just part-saved, and God's going to partly bless them and partly curse them just because they're Jews, so-called, the natural children of Abraham--Israel, so-called!

Just like some of these Jewish Christians I've met--just like I myself have felt for years, that somehow just because I'm a little bit Jewish after the flesh, somehow a little bit more Christian than other Christians--"I'm a very special kind of Christian. I'm a partly-Jewish Christian, so I'm bound to get the blessing of God one way or the other, a little bit more than you poor totally Gentiles!"

What a lie of the Devil! What is it the Scripture says anyhow? "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Even the 29th verse--"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Oh, Wow!--Begin with the whole Bible! This subject is almost without beginning or end, it's so big! But look at the 26th verse of the same chapter--Galatians 3: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Verse 27--"For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ." That doesn't mean water baptism, either. It means baptism by the Spirit--in His Spirit.

God has no flesh-and-blood children! There's no such thing! We Jews are not more special to God than any other child of God! He's not more partial to us--He's going to no more favour us than any other dear believer in Jesus! We haven't got the edge on anybody!

In fact, it would be easier to be a Jew and a Gentile at the same time than a Jew and a Christian. It's an absolute impossibility! Why even the Jews know that! They've been telling me that for years--the dear Jews I've been witnessing to for years. They couldn't understand how you could be both a Jew and a Christian! And they were right! Now I've got to go back and apologise to them!

And now that you're a Christian, you belong to Jesus! You are Jesus'!--A part of His Body! You're no longer Abraham's, Moses', or Elijah's--you're just Jesus', you're just His! You're just part of Him--nothing else! IT'S ALL JESUS!--NO JEW AT ALL--JUST JESUS! Neither Jew nor Greek--just Jesus! And if you still want to use that word "Jew," then be sure you apply it to all the saved in His Son--just those who love Jesus! They're the only Jews left!  Jesus is the only door and once you've gone through the door, boy, you're nothing but Jesus'. You might as well leave all the rest behind, because it doesn't mean a thing to God any more!

Up with Jesus!

Copyright  1997 by The Family International

Please also see: awaythemoon.com - Crash of the United States

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James Arendt

I was raised in the Hegewisch neighborhood on the southeast side of Chicago, Illinois, served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, and became a full-time missionary for Christ living 40 years in Japan, 3.5 years in Russia, and a few months in other countries such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China where I also served the King of Kings, Jesus, as an Ambassador for His Kingdom. I have been unemployed since March 2020 due to the pandemic. Pandemic assistance from the US government will be terminated from September, 2021. If you love Deep Truths, please consider sending a donation toward my support and ministry of sharing God's truth with the world. Thank you and God bless you! My Paypal ID: james.arendt@deeptruths.com Or you can click on the icon below:



I'm also the webmaster of I'm also the webmaster of jamesjpn.net . You can read my bio there.

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Add Comment Powered by CommenticsAnxiety may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease in older adults, according to a study that suggests an association between elevated amyloid beta levels and the worsening of anxiety symptoms.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition that causes the decline of cognitive function and the inability to carry out daily life activities.

Past studies have suggested depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms may be predictors of AD's progression during its "preclinical" phase, during which time brain deposits of fibrillar amyloid and pathological tau accumulate in a patient's brain.

This phase can occur more than a decade before a patient's onset of mild cognitive impairment.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US examined the association of brain amyloid beta and longitudinal measures of depression and depressive symptoms in cognitively normal, older adults.

Their findings, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that higher levels of amyloid beta may be associated with increasing symptoms of anxiety in these individuals.

These results support the theory that neuropsychiatric symptoms could be an early indicator of AD.

"Rather than just looking at depression as a total score, we looked at specific symptoms such as anxiety. When compared to other symptoms of depression such as sadness or loss of interest, anxiety symptoms increased over time in those with higher amyloid beta levels in the brain," said Nancy Donovan, from Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"This suggests that anxiety symptoms could be a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease prior to the onset of cognitive impairment," said Donovan.

"If further research substantiates anxiety as an early indicator, it would be important for not only identifying people early on with the disease, but also, treating it and potentially slowing or preventing the disease process early on," she said.

As anxiety is common in older people, rising anxiety symptoms may prove to be most useful as a risk marker in older adults with other genetic, biological or clinical indicators of high AD risk.

The researchers derived data from the Harvard Aging Brain Study, an observational study of older adult volunteers aimed at defining neurobiological and clinical changes in early Alzheimer's disease.

The participants included 270 community dwelling, cognitively normal men and women, between 62 and 90 years old, with no active psychiatric disorders.

Individuals also underwent baseline imaging scans commonly used in studies of Alzheimer's disease, and annual assessments with the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), an assessment used to detect depression in older adults.

The researchers calculated total GDS scores as well as scores for three clusters symptoms of depression: apathy- anhedonia, dysphoria, and anxiety. These scores were looked at over a span of five years.

From their research, they found that higher brain amyloid beta burden was associated with increasing anxiety symptoms over time in cognitively normal older adults.

The results suggest that worsening anxious-depressive symptoms may be an early predictor of elevated amyloid beta levels - and, in turn AD - and provide support for the hypothesis that emerging neuropsychiatric symptoms represent an early manifestation of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jammu and Kashmir government today hit back at Army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat over his remark that government schools in the state are spreading a "disinformation campaign" which is radicalising the youth, saying the Army's "meddling" in the state's affairs was unacceptable.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Rawat said each classroom in government schools in Jammu and Kashmir has a separate map of the state besides that of India which sowed the seeds of thought of some kind of "separate identity" among the children.

"I do not know what the Army chief has said or how he said it, but what I know is that our children are not going towards radicalisation," Minister for Syed Altaf Bukhari told reporters here.

"Everyone has his own domain. Those who have no link to are talking about it. It is not a fair comment and we do not accept it," Bukhari said.

The minister said the state's students and teachers were "very efficient", and "some have topped the IAS exam".

Bukhari said while the state's system may have shortcomings, there was no need for sermons about it from the Army.

"Those people who are not concerned with education tell us whether there should be one map or two maps in the schools. This is unacceptable," said Bukhari.

"This is a state subject. I do not think I will take any sermon from anybody. I have a boss, who is the chief minister (Mehbooba Mufti). If she finds any fault in the education system, we will do (address) it. She is the only one from whom we will take sermon," Bukhari said.

He said the Army should rather concentrate on its own job.

"Let him (Army chief) do his own job, I am doing mine and if the borders are protected, the incidents of violence will come down... perhaps they are not doing their job properly because of which we are suffering," he said.

The minister said India is a democratic country and the Army cannot have a control over everything.

"Perhaps he (Army chief) knows it and I know it very well," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India effected a dramatic turnaround by taking three wickets for five runs in the last hour to reduce South Africa to 269 for six at stumps on the opening day of the second Test here.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin snared three crucial wickets as the visitors fought back after the duo of Hashim Amla (82) and Aiden Markram (94) batted resolutely.

At the end of day's play, captain Faf du Plessis was unbeaten on 24 runs (77 balls, 3 fours) while Keshav Maharaj was batting on 10.

On a day when the Indian pacers failed to make much of a dent on an easy-paced wicket, Aswhin (3/90) emerged as the most successful bowler as he dismissed Markram (94), Dean Elgar (31) and Quinton de Kock (0).

The hosts were going strong with Amla (82) anchoring the Proteas innings after Markram, playing on his home ground, missed out on a well-deserved century by a whisker.

However, two run-outs and a wicket by Ashwin within 13 balls saw South Africa slump from 246/3 to 251/6 as India sought to wrest control of the match while somewhat masking a couple of questionable selections in the playing XI.

Post tea, Amla and AB de Villiers (20) took their third- wicket partnership to 51 runs. South Africa crossed 200 in the 64th over, but not before losing de Villiers as he played on off Ishant Sharma (1-32), who got just reward for his toiling spells.

Amla then put on 47 runs with du Plessis, and in doing so, scored his 36th Test half-century off 99 balls. It looked to be a dominant day for the hosts before a mini-collapse came by.

First, in the 81st over, Amla was run-out against the run of play, getting mixed up with du Plessis as he set off for a single but Hardik Pandya (0-37) found the target on the non- striker's end off his bowling.

Two balls later, Ashwin dismissed Quinton de Kock for a golden duck, caught at slip. Vernon Philander (0) was then run-out on the last ball of the 83rd over as he set off for a run even as du Plessis called no from the non-striker's end.

India took the new ball in the 87th over, but South Africa managed to avoid any further damage.

Earlier, Aiden Markram scored 94 runs as South Africa reached 182/2 at tea. The opener faced 150 balls and hit 15 fours.

Post lunch, Markram and Dean Elgar (31) took their opening stand to 85 runs. Ashwin got the breakthrough for India early in the session, albeit it was a lucky dismissal.

The shot from Elgar hit Murali Vijay in the mid-riff and lodged there, with the fielder acting quickly enough to catch it.

India then attacked Amla with short stuff as also attempting to lure him outside the off-stump. Jasprit Bumrah (0-57) was unimpressive in this spell, unable to find the right line to attack the batsmen.

Mohammed Shami (0-46) was haywire too, and India had to recall Ishant and Ashwin back into the attack. Meanwhile, Amla and Markram added 63 runs for the second wicket.

Markram's wicket came against the run of play. He asked for DRS review and was a tad unlucky as the edge was doubtful. But there wasn't sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field umpire's decision.

South Africa had crossed 100 in the 36th over, and their 150 came up in the 47th. Amla, batting on 30 then, was lucky to survive as Parthiv Patel dropped him off Ishant in the 51st over, the ball going down leg side after the batsman edged it.

In the morning, South Africa had reached 78 for no loss at lunch making first use of an easy day one pitch.

Elgar and Markram had started watchfully against the new-ball pairing of Bumrah and Shami, the latter conceding 23 runs off his four overs.

The new ball bowlers failed to create any chances, and Ishant came on as first-change in the 8th over. He immediately troubled Elgar and continued to do so throughout his first spell.

Pandya came on to bowl in the 13th over. By the 20th over, when Ashwin was introduced into the attack, India had used up all their frontline bowlers in just over an hour's play.

Ashwin too probed Elgar, and in the 24th over, had a caught-behind appeal turned down. India opted for DRS review but there was no edge.

The Proteas had crossed 50 in the 21st over. Meanwhile, Markram reached his second Test half-century off 81 balls, just before the break.

India made three changes to their eleven, with KL Rahul replacing Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma coming in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which attracted widespread criticism from former players.

Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out due to a strain and Parthiv Patel took his place in the team.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As part of austerity measures, Puducherry Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi today travelled in a state-run bus to a district in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu to see a farm project run by an NGO to protect the



Bedi has been undertaking visits in and out of Puducherry on weekends since she assumed office in May 2016.

Today, she visited a project run by Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) in Thazhuthali village in Villupuram district.

The SRISTI foundation project is located on the Puducherry-Mailam route in Villupuram district. The NGO promotes inclusive self-sustainable and eco-friendly projects.

The purpose of the visit is to see the project run by the NGO to protect the and encourage ecologically beneficial farming.

Bedi led a 20-member team, including officials from Raj Nivas, and block development officers, municipal commissioners, village level workers and an IAS officer.

An official source said the Lt. Governor's office engaged a bus of the Road Transport Corp. to travel to Thazhuthali.

Had the Lt Governor used official cars, it would have required up to 20 cars, the source said, adding Bedi travelled in the bus as part of austerity measure to conserve funds.

This is the second time Bedi visited the project. She had travelled in an official car during her previous trip.

"The vehicles of government departments are now dispensed with and all of us travelled in the bus as the Lt Governor is keen to ensure austerity measures," the official source told PTI.

Bedi wanted Puducherry government officials to acquaint themselves with the technologies adopted and innovative steps followed to promote eco-friendly farming in Thazhuthali village.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Some 20,000 people rallied today in Vienna against Austria's new conservative-far right coalition, over its hardline stances on immigration and social policy, police said.

Marchers descended on a central district housing several ministries to make known the views of a protesters' "New Year welcome committee" for the administration of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who became the world's youngest leader at 31 last month



Organisers said as many as 50,000 people answered their call to protest at the inclusion in the government of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party (FPOe), which holds six cabinet portfolios, including that of the vice-chancellor, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache.

"What I fear the most is that this type of government becomes the norm," said one demonstrator, 55-year-old Christa, while Tobias Grettica, a 47-year-old German, said he was worried "to see nationalism making inroads everywhere, not just in Austria."



People of all ages, including families, answered the call of leftist and anti-racist groups to turn out.

On a visit to France yesterday Kurz, whose country has the only government in Western Europe to feature the far right, appealed for understanding and insisted his team was "pro-European".

But today's marchers brandished slogans drawing parallels with the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, one reading "those who tolerate Kurz and Strache would have applauded 1938."



The coalition is the second time Austria has seen the FPOe, formed by former Nazis in the 1950s, enter the government fold after a first spell in 2000-2005. That first occasion brought widespread international opprobrium and a swathe of demonstrations at home.

FPOe Interior Minister Herbert Kickl sparked an outcry Thursday by saying the government wants to "concentrate" asylum-seekers, employing a word widely associated with Nazi camps, prompting the opposition Green Party to warn against the "language of National Socialism creeping into our way of thinking and feeling."



Strache also caused unease earlier this month by appearing to suggest that asylum-seekers should be kept in empty military barracks and subject to an evening curfew.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Bangladeshi national was arrested for allegedly blackmailing a city-based woman by uploading their intimate photographs taken when they were in a relationship, which broke a couple of months ago, police said today.

The Bangladeshi, who hails from Khulna district, was arrested from the vicinity of Central metro station in the city last night on the basis of the complaint by the woman, Kolkata Police Joint CP (Crime) Visal Garg said.

"Naba Kumar Debnath had introduced himself as Abhijit Debnath to the lady during their first meeting at Machlandapur railway station. Soon they developed a relationship and grew quite intimate," Garg said.

However, their relationship deteriorated when the complainant came to know that the accused was married with a family in Bangladesh.

"The accused was quite angry when the lady started avoiding him and he started uploading some intimate pictures he had taken with the lady during their relationship. He also uploaded nude photographs of the lady on a social networking account under the profile of Abhijit Debnath and started circulating those photographs through WhatsApp to the woman's relatives and friends," he said.

A team of Kolkata Police's cyber section worked on the profile of the person and found that Naba Kumar had recently come to the city from Bangladesh following which the arrest was made last night, Garg said.

One mobile phone, two SIM cards and one micro-SD card have been seized from the man's possession, he said.

The accused was produced before a city court and was remanded to police custody till January 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bar Council of India (BCI) today cautioned the political parties and leaders from taking an "undue advantage" of the situation, following a virtual revolt of four senior Supreme Court judges against the chief justice of India (CJI).

It said the four seniormost judges going public with their differences with the CJI had given an opportunity to the political parties and leaders to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.

Without taking any name, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said, "No political party or leader should take an undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference of the four senior Supreme Court judges."



The reference to political parties and leaders assumes significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances.

"I think the points raised by the four judges are extremely important. They have mentioned that there is a threat to democracy. It needs to be looked into carefully," Gandhi had said.

At an emergency meeting called by the BCI's governing body, comprising 17 members, a resolution was passed, saying a seven-member committee would meet all the apex court judges tomorrow (January 14), barring the five seniormost judges, to discuss the present crisis.

However, Mishra subsequently clarified that the members of the committee would also meet the four judges and, in the end, the CJI.

The BCI said it was of the view that such issues should not be made public.

"Whatever differences the judges have regarding the roster or allocation of cases, should be resolved through an in-house mechanism, without airing views in public," Mishra said.

He added that the BCI welcomed the government's decision not to get involved in the internal matters of the top court.

"The law minister has already said that the government will not interfere in the matter. The bar welcomes the decision," Mishra said, adding that as for the Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of judges to the higher courts, "it must be finalised at the earliest".

He said all these issues had to be sorted out through an in-house mechanism and that the matter should not to be politicised.

In an unprecedented move, four senior Supreme Court judges -- justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- had mounted a virtual revolt against CJI Dipak Misra at a press meet in Delhi yesterday, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, sending shockwaves across the judiciary and polity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Flight services in and out of this city suffered today following a thick cover of smoke due to 'Bhogi' festival celebrations, airport officials said.

Between 4-8 AM, both the incoming and the outgoing air traffic suffered, they said, adding the services were expected to resume after 9 AM.

As many as 18 arriving flights were diverted to Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports. They flew in from various destinations such as Kuwait, Sharjah and Delhi.

No flights took off during this period, resulting in delays and scores of passengers waiting at the airport.

Bhogi, celebrated ahead of the Tamil harvest festival Pongal tomorrow, involves burning of old articles in a symbolic gesture of bidding adieu to the old and welcoming the new.

Meanwhile, motorists plied their vehicles with their headlights on following the smoke cover which descended on the city and its neighbourhoods.

The government launches regular awareness campaigns ahead of Bhogi, aimed at smoke-free celebrations of the day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking a swipe at its estranged ally BJP, the Shiv Sena today said the Maharashtra government has been more in for loose talk and making controversial statements than doing actual work.

"After coming to power, the current government, rather than doing actual work, is more in the for making announcements and controversial statements. Currently, 'achhe din' are on for the people who can talk. Last three years of this government were spent on mere talking," the Sena said in an editorial in 'Saamana', its mouthpiece.

The party sought to know what the state got in the last three years apart from the bullet train.

"The government should have done work for people with as much perseverance as it is doing for the bullet train project," it said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that Maharashtra Water Supply and Sanitation minister Babanrao Lonikar had recently said the government is not providing money for development works.

It added that two other leaders -- former minister Eknath Khadse and Parliamentary Affairs minister Girish Bapat, have also raised question marks over the government's efficiency.

"One minister (Lonikar) says there is no money for development works, but the government continues to celebrate Diwali by borrowing money- be it Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train or Samruddhi Expressway. Isn't all this taking Maharashtra towards a financial disaster?" it asked.

The Sena taunted the chief minister saying Devendra Fadnavis announces new development works everyday, which makes everyone believe that the state coffers are overflowing with money.

"However, his ministers are saying something else. Girish Bapat has said whatever people want, they should seek it now because the government will change next year. The current situation is that the government does not have any money for the people," it said.

The Sena also said former cabinet minister Eknath Khadse has asked the people not to depend on the government for their works.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress leader Ashok Gehlot today accused the BJP government in Rajasthan of "misusing" government machinery ahead of the January 29 bypolls in the state.

"The government is misusing government machinery in bypolls in the state. Officers are being forced by the government," Gehlot told reporters here.

He alleged that the Raje government had "stalled" all the public welfare schemes and programmes and were "misleading" people.

Fifty-five candidates are in the fray for the bypolls to Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats and Mandalgarh Assembly constituency.

Gehlot was in the city to pay condolence to former chairman of Khadi board Bhawani Shankar Sharma who died some time back.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal BJP unit today organised rallies outside various police stations across the state in protest against the clashes between BJP and Trinamoool Congress (TMC) activists yesterday outside the saffron party's headquarters here.

"We have organised protest rallies outside various police stations across the state. This was our protest against the brutal attack on BJP workers yesterday," BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

BJP and Trinamoool Congress (TMC) activists yesterday clashed outside the saffron party's headquarters here and at another place in the city in which several workers of both the parties were injured, the police had said.

The attack outside the BJP headquarters prompted the party's West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh to demand Presidents Rule in the state alleging that law and order had gone for a toss.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Prakash Javadekar today said the BJP would win the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls and form the next government in the state.

"I am the party in-charge for Karnataka. We will win (the polls) in Karnataka as there is a complete anti-incumbency (against the ruling Congress) in the state and the BJP is getting a tremendous response there," he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.

"Currently, the BJP has governments in 19 states. With the victory in the upcoming elections in the north-eastern states of Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya, the tally will go up to 22. After the victory in Karnataka, the number of BJP-ruled states will go up to 23.

"The situation in the country will be like the BJP everywhere and the Congress nowhere," the Union human resources development minister said.

He alleged that instead of introspecting, the Congress was taking refuge in communalism and that it was hand in glove with Kerala's Popular Front of India (PFI), which he dubbed as a terror organisation.

Javadekar alleged that PFI workers had killed 24 BJP activists in Karnataka.

"Instead of booking them, the Siddaramaiah government is withdrawing the cases against these people. The Congress has withdrawn 155 cases lodged against 1,600 PFI workers. It is also engaged in alliance talks with PFI-affiliated political organisation, the Social Democratic Party of India," he said.

Javadekar alleged that as the Congress was becoming "irrelevant", it had started hobnobbing with "terror organisations" and "casteist outfits".

Accusing the Congress of indulging in "vote bank" politics, he said the Karnataka government celebrated the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan but did not celebrate Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary yesterday.

Claiming that the law-and-order situation had collapsed in the southern state, he said, "See the cases of scholar MM Kalburgi, journalist Gauri Lankesh and the 24 BJP workers. Not a single case has been cracked so far. Women are unsafe in the state. Farmers are in distress and are committing suicide every day."



"The Congress is losing the plot. The common man and farmers are angry in Karnataka and we are sure that we will clinch an unprecedented victory (in the upcoming polls)," he added.

Talking about the crisis in the Supreme Court, Javadekar said it was an internal issue of the judiciary and accused the Congress of "politicising" it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Preet Kaur Gill, Britain's first woman Sikh MP, has been elevated to the Shadow Cabinet by the Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Shadow Cabinet is the team of senior parliamentarians chosen by the Leader of the Opposition to mirror the Cabinet in Government.

Each member is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet. In this way, the Opposition seeks to present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting.

Gill, 44, won her Birmingham Edgbaston seat for the Labour party in the June 8 snap polls last year.

In July, she was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the British Parliament.

She was promoted to the post of shadow minister for international development in Corbyn's New Year reshuffle of what he brands as a "government-in-waiting".

"We had no Sikh MPs prior to this election. So, Sikhs had no representation and we had no female Sikh representation. Parliament must reflect the people it serves," Gill had said at the time of her election.

Since then, she has a busy tenure, being elected to the influential Home Affairs Select Committee the cross-party parliamentary panel that examines the workings of the UK Home Office. Gill is also the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs.

Her appointment was announced alongside that of Clive Lewis as shadow treasury minister. Lewis had resigned as the shadow business minister in February last year over wanting a vote against the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill and was one of 52 rebel MPs to defy Labour party orders to back the bill in a Parliament vote.

He was also accused in a sexual harassment scandal but cleared of wrongdoing by the party late last year.

Others who moved up to the frontbenches of the Opposition include Jack Dromey as the shadow minister for pensions and Karen Lee as shadow minister for fire.

"Pleased to make appointments to strengthen Labour's frontbench which is a government-in-waiting. I look forward to working with them holding the Tories to account, developing our policies to transform our country and preparing to form a government for the many, not the few," Corbyn said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Theresa May had announced a reshuffle of her top team earlier this year, leading to the appointment of three new Indian-origin MPs -- Rishi Sunak, Suella Fernandes and Shailesh Vara -- to junior ministerial posts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterRaman Singhwill be leading a delegation to Australia starting Sundaytowoo investors.

During the tour from January 14-24, Singh will be visitingMelbourne,Sydney,Perth,Brisbaneas well as other cities, where he will be holding meetings with industrial groups of Australia,officials said.

In a statement here, the chief minister said the visit was to attract investments in new sectors in the state which have immense possibilities.

These sectors include agriculture and food processing, defence-related materials manufacturing, information technology, electronics and electrical engineering, solar energy and others, the statement informed.

Investors will be apprised with the states industry-friendly policies as well as the availability of natural resources, he added.

"To fulfill the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modis "Make in India", Chhattisgarh government has been taking several steps to encourage "Make in Chhattisgarh" by bringing investments here and creating employment opportunities for youth," Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One of the youngest private lenders IDFC Bank and Warburg Pincus-backed non-banking financial company Capital First today announced a merger in an all-stock deal, creating a Rs 88,000-crore combined entity.

The boards of both companies, which met here today, fixed the share swap ratio at 139:10, which means IDFC Bank will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First.

On Friday, the share price of IDFC Bank closed at Rs 67.65, down 1.31 per cent, while that of Capital First at Rs 835.90, up 0.05 per cent, on the BSE.

The bank, in a statement said, the merger is pursuant to IDFC Bank's stated strategy of retailising its business to complete their transformation from a dedicated infrastructure financier to a well-diversified universal bank, and is also in line with Capital First's stated intention and strategy to convert itself into a universal bank.

"We believe this merger will be transformational for IDFC Bank. It will bring two tech savvy, culturally aligned platforms to come together to create a diversified and fast growing universal bank with a national footprint, in a manner that will be value accretive for all shareholders," IDFC Bank managing director and CEO Rajiv Lall said.

Commenting on the merger, Capital First chairman and managing director V Vaidyanathan said, "We are excited about this merger because IDFC Bank provides a perfect platform for continued growth of the combined franchise, supported by low- cost funding."



The merger is likely to be completed in the next two- three quarters.

Vaidyanathan will succeed Lall as managing director and CEO of the combined entity upon the completion of the merger, which is subject to regulatory approvals.

Lall will step into the role of non-executive chairman of IDFC Bank and guide the transition process. He will replace Veena Mankar as non-executive chairman, but the latter will remain on the board.

Capital First has a customer base of 3 million and a distribution network in 228 locations across the country. It's gross and net NPA stood at 1.63 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively as on September 2017.

Post-merger, the combined entity will have an AUM of Rs 88,000 crore.

The new entity will have a distribution network comprising 194 branches, 353 dedicated banking correspondent outlets, over 9,100 micro ATM points, and will be serving more than 5 million customers.

Currently, private equity firm Warburg Pincus holds 35.97 per cent in Capital First. The Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC owns 14 per cent, while Vaidyanathan holds 10.5 per cent in the company.

After the merger, Warburg Pincus's stake will come down to a little over 10 per cent, GIC's stake will slip to 5 per cent and Vaidyanathan's to 3.4 per cent.

Infrastructure lender IDFC, which entered the banking space in 2015, has been on the lookout to grow its retail portfolio.

Last July, IDFC Bank had entered into an agreement with Piramal Group-backed financial services major Shriram Group for a merger.

The deal was later called off in October as both the entities could not reach a common ground on the share swap ratio.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Authorities in northern China have demolished a Christian megachurch in a move denounced by a religious rights group as "Taliban-style persecution".

China's officially atheist Communist authorities are wary of any organised movements outside their control, including religious ones.

The huge evangelical Jindengtai ("Golden Lampstand") Church, painted grey and surmounted by turrets and a large red cross, was located in Linfen, Shanxi province.

Its demolition began on Tuesday under "a city-wide campaign to remove illegal buildings", the Global Times newspaper reported, quoting a local government official who wished to remain anonymous.

"A Christian offered his farmland to a local Christian association and they secretly built a church using the cover of building a warehouse," the official said.

The local housing department had stopped construction of the church in 2009 when it was almost complete, he added.

Several members of the Christian group were then jailed, according to the official.

A "multitude of military police were mobilised and engaged (in) the destruction by burying a large amount of explosives under the church," Bob Fu, president of the US- based religious rights group ChinaAid Association, told AFP today.

"It is like Taliban/ISIS style of persecution against a peaceful church," he said, adding that it had around 50,000 members.

The house of worship was "primarily destroyed because it refused to register" with the Communist authorities, Fu said.

Linfen police and city officials did not answer telephone calls by AFP.

Demolition of the church comes as authorities prepare to implement new, stricter regulations on religion which come into force on February 1 as part of a broader effort to put religious practice under the direct supervision of the state.

Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on civil society since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, tightening restrictions on freedom of speech and jailing hundreds of activists and lawyers.

Chinese citizens officially have freedom of belief under the constitution but the authorities tightly control religious groups and churches, which have to swear allegiance to state- controlled "patriotic" associations to avoid any foreign influence through religion.

In an annual report last year, the US State Department said that in 2016, China "physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups".

China has 5.7 million Catholics and 23 million Protestants, according to official statistics from 2014.

But the figures exclude a similar number of Catholics who adhere to the unofficial "underground" church loyal to the Vatican and tens of millions of members of unrecognised churches, mainly Protestant.

Unofficial Christian organisations are generally tolerated if their members remain discreet.

Authorities however routinely crack down on construction of unauthorised places of worship and dozens of churches have been demolished in recent years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fourteen Bangladeshi fishermen have been rescued by the Indian Coast Guard, after their trawler lost way and drifted towards Shankarpur in East Midnapore District due to a technical snag, police said today.

The fishermen had started from Bangladesh about two weeks back, but soon their trawler developed an engine malfunction and were left stranded in deep seas, a police officer said.

Coast guard officials located the trawler and rescued the fishermen yesterday, he said, adding all of them were brought to Digha Police Station.

"A report has been sent to the Bangladesh administration through official channels and we are awaiting further communication from them," the police officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Opposition Congress and BJP today sought urgent intervention of the union and state governments into the plea of a man, on a sit-in protest in front of the Secretariat here for over three years, demanding a CBI probe into the alleged custodial death of his brother.

Leaders of various political parties visited 29-year-old Sreejith, a native of nearby Parassala, in front of the administrative hub today after his story went viral on the social media.

He has been on a protest for the last 765 days here, seeking justice for his younger brother Sreejeev, who was taken into police custody in connection with a mobile phone theft on May 19, 2014 and died after two days at the government medical college here.

After visiting Sreejith, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, urging his intervention to end the strike as his health condition was deteriorating.

He also wanted the state government to recommend to the Centre tha a CBI probe be instituted into the death of Sreejith's brother.

Rajya Sabha MP and Vice Chairman of NDA in Kerala, Rajeev Chandrasekhar today wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking his urgent intervention by ordering the CBI probe.

"In the wake of the issue raising immense public interest on humanitarian grounds, I solicit your urgent intervention in the matter by way of expediting the CBI investigation and enquiry of the alleged custodial death of Sreejeev," he said.

BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan also visited Sreejith.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three people, including a couple, were arrested for allegedly duping a family of Rs 42 lakh, the police said today.

Jagtar Singh, his wife Anju and their relative Ashu allegedly cheated Manminder Singh on the pretext of sending him and his family to Canada, they said, adding the accused failed to do so.

The complainant claimed he had paid Rs 42 lakh to them in installments, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Czech President Milos Zeman appeared today to be heading for a run-off in a presidential election pitting the pro-Russian incumbent against a flock of liberal pro-European rivals.

Opinion surveys show the divisive 73-year-old ex- communist, who is also staunchly anti-Muslim and pro-Chinese, leading the pack of nine candidates ahead of Jiri Drahos, 68- year-old pro-European former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Although Zeman is in pole position as the country kicks off a final day of first-round voting today, the outspoken head of state is unlikely to win an outright majority. A run- off vote is expected on January 26-27.

Zeman was targeted by a bare-breasted anti-Kremlin protester who called him "Putin's slut" as he voted in Prague yesterday, a move experts said might boost his chances judging by an outpouring of sympathy for him on social media.

The topless protester from Ukraine's Femen group was overpowered by bodyguards and then arrested by police.

Security personnel also had to help a visibly rattled Zeman, who walks with a cane, to leave the room.

Prague voter Martin Sauta said he voted for Zeman as he has "the most consistent views", while his rivals are "completely shapeless".

But Prague wine bar owner Eva Simova, 53, told AFP that he was voting for Drahos: "He seems like an honest guy and what's more, I'm sick and tired of Zeman."



A recent poll for Czech Television showed Drahos winning a second round vote with 48.5 per cent support against 44 per cent for Zeman.

Zeman's rhetoric echoes populist-minded eastern EU leaders -- especially in Hungary and Poland -- at odds with Brussels over mandatory refugee quotas and various rules they see as attempts to limit national sovereignty.

He is also stridently anti-Muslim, having once called the 2015 migrant crisis "an organised invasion" of Europe and insisted Muslims were "impossible to integrate".

The country of 10.6 million people has received only 12 migrants under the EU quota system.

Drahos could not be more different. A mild-mannered liberal centrist whom critics have dubbed "wishy-washy", he has called for Prague to "play a more active role in the EU" and has backed the adoption of the euro currency.

After voting in Prague today, Drahos said that the future president "should work in the interest of the pro-Western orientation of the Czech Republic" in a clear dig at Zeman.

"The president should work to unite society. It's clear that not everyone can agree, but the current president doesn't unite people, he divides them," Drahos added.

Independent analyst Jiri Pehe said the vote highlights a "polarised" society.

"It is a clash between... the post-communist part of society represented by Zeman and the other part, say, modern, pro-Western, which simply doesn't want this president any more," he told AFP.

Zeman has the backing of embattled billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who said the incumbent "fights for our national interests" but called on him to "unite, not divide" Czechs.

Babis's populist ANO movement won last October's general elections with its anti-corruption and anti-euro campaign, but the Slovak-born tycoon facing police charges over EU funding fraud failed to woo coalition partners.

Tapped by Zeman for prime minister in December, Babis was forced to form a minority government which appears set to lose a parliamentary confidence vote on January 16.

Pehe said a victory for Zeman might "pave the way for a deeper alliance with Andrej Babis, which could lead to a change in some basic parameters of liberal democracy in the country."



But the situation could change dramatically if Drahos wins.

"Drahos has made it very clear that a prosecuted man should not be prime minister," Pehe said.

Zeman's other rivals include ex-gambler and songwriter Michal Horacek, and former right-wing premier Mirek Topolanek.

The CTK agency pegged turnout at 40 per cent after day one of voting.

Polling stations reopen at 0700 GMT today before closing at 1300.

Soon after that initial results will indicate which two candidates are likely to contest the expected run-off vote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court that it has finally completed formalities to acquire land for a new prison complex here, four years after it made the proposal.

As per an affidavit submitted in the high court by the Maharashtra government yesterday, the city collector will hand over around 52,000 sq mt plot at Mandale village near Mankhurd to the state by next month for the construction of the new prison.

The construction of the new prison was proposed by the Maharashtra government in 2014 to tackle overcrowding in the existing prisons in and around Mumbai.

As per the affidavit, the state home department, the revenue department, and other stakeholders met on January 3.

All formalities were completed during the meeting and the state revenue minister directed the city collector to hand over the 52,000 sq.m. plot within a month's time.

Appearing for the state, advocate Anil Sakhre informed the court that the Public Works Department had also been directed to appoint an architect and prepare the plan and estimates for the new construction.

In the meantime, Sakhre said, the state had already begun constructing "eight new barracks at the Yerwada Central Jail premises in Pune since the prison has sufficient space" for the same.

"All new construction at the Yerwada premises and the proposed site in Mankhurd will be done in line with the suggestions of the state's prison reforms committee," Sakhre said.

The affidavit was filed in compliance with a previous order of the high court.

In February 2017, a bench led by Justice AS Oka had directed the Maharashtra government to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge and experts as members to conduct a "scientific study on setting up a model prison with necessary infrastructure and steps to reduce overcrowding in jails."



Following the court's order at the time, the state had conducted an inspection, which revealed that the Arthur road jail in Mumbai and the Yerwada jail were severely overcrowded.

It had also revealed that the prisons across the state did not have adequate number of toilets and bathrooms, and that the male inmates often had to bathe in the open. In the women's cell too, there were inadequate number of toilets and bathrooms.

The inspection report had also said that these toilets were ill-maintained and dirty.

In the affidavit submitted on Friday, the state said that the central prisons in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Nagpur required around 200 additional toilets, bathrooms, and bathing platforms.

"We are carrying out repair work at the existing toilets and bathrooms. We will soon allocate funds for construction of new toilets and bathrooms too," Sakhre said.

The court has now directed the state to submit by February 12 a chart detailing all repair and construction work that is proposed or currently being undertaken, the cost for the same, and the time that will be taken to complete all such work.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A teenage domestic help, who was allegedly brutally assaulted by her employer, was rescued by the Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) from northwest Delhi's Model Town.

The DCW received a call on its helpline-181 yesterday about a girl being illegally confined to a house in Model Town.

A DCW team along with police men reached the house where the girl was allegedly being kept in illegal confinement, a DCW statement read.

The girl was rescued and her employer, a doctor, was arrested.

The girl belongs to Ranchi, Jharkhand. Members of a placement agency had brought her to Delhi.

She was "physically and mentally tortured, confined to the house and not paid any money", said the DCW.

The girl alleged her lady employer beat her up every day.

The employer poured hot water on her and branded with a hot iron, she alleged.

The doctor had even bitten her, the girl told police.

The girl was not given food for days, according to the DCW.

Police said they have arrested the employer and are looking for members of the placement agency who brought her from Ranchi to Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 50-year-old man died after he was hit by a BMW driven by a Delhi University student in North Campus, police said today.

The accused was arrested and later released on bail, they added.

The accident happened on January 10 and the accused was arrested the next day. The hit-and-run incident was captured on CCTV cameras.

A video of the incident rocketed the Internet. It shows the BMW flinging the pedestrian several feet in the air.

Abhinav Sahni, a student of Khalsa College, was behind the wheels. He was accompanied by his friends.

The BMW was coming from Kamla Nagar market, when it hit Shiv Nath, who was crossing the road.

Nath was flung several metres into the air.

He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said.

Sahni fled the spot in his car.

On the basis of the CCTV footage, the accused was identified and arrested on January 11.

Sahni told police Nath suddenly came in front of his vehicle and he could not apply brakes in time to save the pedestrian.

He said he fled the spot because he was scared.

In the video of the accident, Nath can be seen running while crossing the road. A few moments later, the red-coloured BMW hits him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today met Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and discussed issues of development cooperation between the two countries.

"EAM @SushmaSwaraj met with Mr Mangala Samaraweera, Finance Minister of Sri Lanka. Leaders discussed bilateral issues of developmental cooperation," MEA spokesperson Raveesh tweeted.

Sri Lanka is one of the major recipients of development credit given by India, with total commitment of around USD 2.63 billion, including USD 458 million as grants.

Under a line of credit of USD 167.4 million, the tsunami-damaged Colombo-Matara rail link has been repaired and upgraded.

Another line of credit of USD 800 million for track laying and supply of rolling stock to support construction of railway lines in northern Sri Lanka is already operational.

In October 2014, the Pallai-Jaffna reconstructed railway track and signal system was inaugurated thereby reconnecting Jaffna to Colombo by rail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a reference to the ED raids at multiple premises linked to Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav today claimed that this was an act to "divert the attention" of the people, following the Supreme Court judges' press meet yesterday.

"The BJP men are best in diverting the attention of the people. The judges had raised a serious matter yesterday and today they (government) raided someone's residence," he said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted searches at 10 premises linked to Karti Chidambaram in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

In an unprecedented move, four senior Supreme Court judges, at a press meet in Delhi, had mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice of India yesterday, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, sending shockwaves across the judiciary and polity.

Yadav alleged that the BJP had resorted to the same tactic during last month's Gujarat Assembly polls by raking up the "neech" issue.

During the Gujarat polls, Mani Shankar Aiyar, since suspended by the Congress, had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "neech aadmi" (lowly person) who did dirty politics, which was made a big issue by the BJP.

Questioning the ruling party about the fate of the "swadeshi andolan"



it had launched, Yadav said, "The BJP should clear its stand on the swadeshi andolan after allowing 100 per cent FDI (in the retail sector) and the GST rollout.

"The move (of allowing 100 per cent FDI in retail) and GST (Goods and Services Tax) will ruin the Indian industries and the BJP should come clean as regards what has it thought about it."



On the BJP painting the government offices and other buildings in Uttar Pradesh saffron, the former chief minister said, "They have insulted the colour by painting toilets saffron."Accusing the BJP of practising "caste-based politics", he said, "Everyone should remain alert of this party as it can rake up any issue any time for political gains.

"These forces are dividing the society and country on the basis of caste and religion and the youth should give them a befitting reply. Their false propaganda should be thwarted at all levels."



On the Yogi Adityanath-led state government holding a "Gorakhpur Mahotsava", the SP leader said he had no problem with it as the previous government, led by him, had also held a similar event at Saifai.

"But the Gorakhpur Mahotsava could not match up to the class of the Saifai event. I will request the chief minister to increase the budget. If he cannot even increase the budget for his native place, you can imagine what kind of a weak chief minister he is," Yadav said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A former Andhra Bank director, arrested in connection with a money laundering probe in an alleged Rs 5,000-crore bank fraud case involving a Gujarat- based pharma firm, was today sent to a two-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Ritu Singh sent Anup Prakash Garg, who was arrested by the ED last evening, after the agency said he was required for custodial interrogation.

The ED had sought a two-week custody of Garg.

This was the second arrest in the case after the agency had, in November last year, held Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan.

Garg has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He has been named as an accused in the case by the ED as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The ED had lodged the money laundering case after taking cognisance of an earlier FIR registered by the CBI.

The agency had said that during the probe, it came across "certain entries" in a diary seized by the Income Tax department in 2011, which showed various cash payments amounting to Rs 1.52 crore made to one "Mr Garg, Director, Andhra Bank" by the Sandesara brothers between 2008 and 2009.

It had said, "Various cash payments were made to Garg, as reflected in the said entries, on the instructions of the Sandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of several benami companies owned by them."



It had alleged that Garg infused several crores of his unaccounted money in various companies through several Kolkata-based bogus shell companies, with the help of cash or cheque entry operators in Kolkata, in order to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.

The CBI had booked the Sterling Biotech, its directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the case.

It had alleged that the company took loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which turned into non-performing assets.

The FIR had also alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A fire broke out on Saturday at the Mumbai airport's domestic terminal 1B here, officials said.

They said that the fire started at a ground floor conference hall and then spread to the first floor of a lounge near the airport's gate number 9.

An official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Disaster Control Room said that the fire started in the afternoon and fire brigade personnel have rushed to the site along with eight fire engines, six jetties and water jets.

The official said that there was no report of any casualty and the operation to douse the fire was on.Five wrestlers, who were returning from a local competition, were among six persons killed when a tractor rammed into their SUV at Sangli district in western Maharashtra early today, police said.

Seven persons were injured in the accident, they said.

The mishap occurred on the Kadegaon-Sangli road, when the wrestlers were returning from Aundh village after participating in the wrestling competition there. They were heading to Kundal in Sangli, a senior police official said.

A speeding tractor, which was coming from the opposite direction, rammed into their SUV, killing six persons including five wrestlers, he said.

The injured are being treated at a state-run hospital in Sangli, the officer said.

A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act was registered at the Chinchni-Vangi police station, he said, adding efforts were on to nab the tractor driver who fled from the accident spot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Following are the top highlights at 1800 hours today:



DEL1 MH-3RDLD-CHOPPER



Mumbai: A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven persons on- board, including five ONGC officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state- owned company's oil installation in the Arabian sea.

DEL7 BIZ-BULLION-CLOSE



New Delhi: Rising for the third straight day, gold prices jumped by Rs 100 to trade at a seven-week high of Rs 30,750 per 10 grams at the bullion market today amid a firm trend overseas and local buying push.

CAL1 BIZ-COINS-MINTS



Kolkata: The government has gone back on its decision to halt production of coins entirely and has asked all the four mints in the country to restart production, albeit at a slower pace, industry sources said today.

DCM22 BIZ-IDFC-CAPITAL FIRST



Mumbai: IDFC Bank and non-banking financial company Capital First today said they have received approval from their respective boards for a merger.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four persons, including three girl students, were killed after a truck rammed into their motorcycle in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, police said today.

The mishap occurred last evening near Gurda village under Kharsia police station limits when the students were returning home from school along with an acquaintance on his motorcycle, a local police official said.

The deceased were identified as Anita (10), Punita (9), Rupali (8) and Lochan Patel (52), all hailing from Gurda, he said.

The three students, who were studying in Chodha primary school, took lift from Patel to return home. When they were about to the reach the village, their motorcycle was knocked down by a speeding truck. All four died on the spot, the official said.

The truck driver has been arrested and his vehicle was seized, he said.

A case has been registered, the officer said adding a probe was on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Several teachers, including four women, today tonsured their heads demanding that the state government include them in the department as regular teachers.

Teachers from across the state had gathered at the BHEL Jamboorie ground where several of them tonsured their heads.

Azad Adhyapak Sangh's working president Shivraj Verma said the act by Shilpi Siwan (Mhow), Seema Kshirsagar (Alirajpur), Archana Sharma (Jabalpur) and Renuka Sagar (Raisen) was a first for their protest.

He said that the teachers had planned to "present" the chopped off hair to Sadhna Singh, wife of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but were prevented from reaching the CM's residence by the authorities.

"We don't know which department we belong to. The department says we are employees of local bodies. The local bodies say we are employees of the department. Over 2.88 lakh temporary teachers are caught in this situation for the past several years," Verma said.

The main demand of the protesters is that their services be brought under the education department and they be provided facilities given to government employees.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government has gone back on its decision to halt production of coins entirely, and has asked the four mints in the country to restart production, albeit at a slower pace, industry sources said on Saturday.

It has directed the state-run Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL)  which runs the four government mints in Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Noida  to work on a single shift, instead of the usual two, and keep minting coins of different denominations.

We have started minting of coins from yesterday (Friday). We have been asked to produce coins of all denominations, said Bijan Dey, vice-president, Calcutta Mint Employees Association.

The official said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given an indent of 7,712 million coin pieces to the government mints for 2017-18, of which 5,900 million units have already been produced.

The mints are expected to meet the target in the remaining two-and-a-half months of the current fiscal. The RBI picks up the coins and banknotes from the mints for distribution in the market.

The government had halted from January 9 owing to a glut in the market and lack of storage space. In its order, the government had asked SPMCIL to stop production and circulation coins with immediate effect and urged the mints to follow normal working hours without any overtime for staff for printing of banknotes only. The directive did not go down well with the mint workers, as the order would have affected their pay.

The official said representations were made to the Centre following which the government decided to restart production of coins.

Earlier, RBI sources had said that the calibration of needs to take place from time to time based on an assessment of the coins in circulation and storage space.

Production was stopped since there was no space with banks or the Reserve Bank of India to store the coins.

The SPMCIL notice, a copy of which is available with the PTI, had also said that as on January 8 this year, there was an inventory of 2,528 million pieces of circulation coins lying in the government mints which were not picked up by the RBI.The Madras High Court has directed police to grant permission and provide security to conduct a 'cock fight' at nearby Thiruvallur as part of an event from January 17 to 19 while imposing certain conditions.

Justice R Suresh Kumar gave the directive while passing orders on a petition from one M Munuswamy, seeking a direction to police to grant permission and protection to conduct 'cock fight' in Vilakkamampoodi Pudur village as part of centenary celebrations of late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran and birth anniversary celebrations of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

The petitioner submitted that he along with a group of persons constituted a committee, which conducts the birth anniversary celebrations of MGR every year.

As part of the function, they organise 'cock fights, which is the traditional sport during the temple festival, he said.

In recent years,pursuant to the court's directions,police granted permission in 2014,2015 and 2017. This year also they planned to organise a function to mark the birth centenary of MGR and birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa, he said.

They also proposed to conduct a 'cock fight' this year and sent representation to police, seeking permission. But there was no response, the petitioner said.

The judge made it clear the event should be supervised by the Superintendent of Police in the district as well as by the veterinary doctor of a nearby government veterinary hospital.

He also said that during the course of holding the 'cock fight', no injury should caused to the birds, they should not be intoxicated and knives, with their tips dipped in poisonous substances, should not be tied around the legs of the birds.

The veterinary doctor should ensure the safety of the birds before the actual start of the event, the judge added.

Other conditions imposed by the judge include one that the organiser should take precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident and no songs should be played praising communal leader(s) or having communal overtones.

The judge said these conditions should be strictly adhered to by the petitioner and his group on all three days. If any violation was reported, police were at liberty to take appropriate action against the petitioner and his group.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two men, including a telecom company employee, were held by the CISF at the IGI airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle in gold worth Rs 40 lakh by concealing it in a cigarette box.

The incident took place last evening when the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials detected that a man identified as Himanshu, PCO operator of Bharti-Airtel company, was roaming suspiciously in the baggage claim area of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, officials said today.

It was seen on the CCTV that the man received something from a passenger coming in from a Dubai flight.

The employee working in a store at the airport was intercepted and gold weighing 1.3 kg, concealed in a cigarette packet, was seized from his possession, they said.

The passenger, A K Kumawat, a resident of Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan was also apprehended and the two have been handed over to customs, the officials said.

The value of the seized gold is estimated to be Rs 40 lakh, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For first time in the national capital, the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology- Delhi will start a new M.Tech programme with specialisation in Artificial Intelligence from the academic year starting in July 2018.

"The programme will be research-oriented and focus on foundations and advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning," Mayank Vatsa, head of Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIIT-Delhi, told PTI.

Vatsa said it would be a first for Delhi.

The programme will prepare graduates to undertake industry careers involving innovation and problem solving using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies.

The course will be spread over four semesters and the intake would be 20 students.

"After the course, the students will be able to recognise and analyse problems related to AI applications, apply pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to solve real-world problems," Vatsa said.

IIIT-Delhi was created by the Delhi government through an Act - IIIT Delhi Act, 2007 - with the chancellor of the institute being the Lt. Governor of Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India can play a vibrant role in shaping the world order in the 21st century, Union minister M J Akbar said here today.

He ascribed the Indian challenge to the colonial powers almost a century ago as the start of the emergence of the present world order.

The Minister of State for External Affairs was speaking on 'India's Aspirations and Role in Emerging World Order' during a visit and interaction with the participant officers of Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC) at the College of Defence Management (CDM) here.

"The Indian challenge stands out, due to its own characteristic freedom struggle, based on its unique ideology of 'Satyagraha'. It coincided with the end of First World War and start of the crumble of empires.

"It led to the birth of a nation-state based on the will of the people rather than the will of the monarchs," an official release quoted him as saying.

He termed the cold war as the third world war and the fight against terrorism as the fourth one.

"The fourth world war against terrorism has taken the wars out of the control of the nation-state into the hands of non-state actors and radicals, who no longer believe in the concept of the nation-state, but believe in 'Faith-Based Spaces'," he said.

Indian Armed Forces are faced with the dilemma of fighting based on the rules of engagement with the new adversaries, who do not follow the same rules and it is for the future leaders (of the Forces) to be aware of it and be trained for it, he said.

"India can once again show to the world the path to deal with this new challenge of terrorism, and therefore be the harbinger of the new world order in the 21st century," Akbar added.

He also said India is going through an internal change and reforms at social and economic fronts, which is both exciting and disturbing.

"The changes once fructified will remove the shackles, which have kept India from its emergence to its true potential in the new world order," the release quoted him as saying.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iran today rejected any modification of its nuclear deal with world powers after US President Donald Trump demanded tough new measures to keep the agreement alive.

Iran "will not accept any amendments in this agreement, be it now or in the future, and it will not allow any other issues to be linked to the JCPOA", the foreign ministry said in a statement, using the 2015 deal's technical name.

It has the backing of all the partners to the agreement apart from the United States, with Russia warning Washington that withdrawing would be "a big miscalculation".

"We are gradually coming to the conclusion that an internal decision by the US to leave the JCPOA has already been made or is close to being made," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax agency.

"This could be one of Washington's big foreign policy mistakes," he added.

Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions yesterday - as required every few months to stay in the agreement - but demanded that European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

He said the new deal should curb Iran's missile programme and include permanent restrictions on Iran's nuclear plants, removing expiration dates due to kick in after a decade.

The other parties to the agreement - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union - have all said the deal is working and that Iran is complying fully with its commitments.

Britain and Germany said yesterday they had taken note of Trump's latest decision and would confer with France before responding.

On the streets of Tehran, many have grown cynical and exasperated by the endless pressure from the United States.

"It doesn't make any difference. We have been under US sanctions for the last 40 years," said Farshad Alyan, a 26- year-old law student.

"Two years ago when the JCPOA was signed we were so hopeful. We don't have that hope any more."



Iran argues that continued US sanctions on non-nuclear areas such as human rights and missile testing have effectively barred it from gaining many of the financial benefits expected from the deal.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Trump's aggressive stance on the deal and Iran generally have also violated the commitment to "refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation of trade and economic relations with Iran" in the accord.

"Trump has once again avoided the nuclear option on the nuclear deal. But the clear reluctance with which he has issued the sanctions waivers will continue to weigh on the business community," said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Europe-Iran Forum, a business network.

"However, if the 'adults in the room' prevailed this time and kept Trump from exiting the deal, there remains hope they will prevail in the end," he added.

Responding to Trump's speech late yesterday, Zarif tweeted: "Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance - just like Iran."



Today's statement from Iran's foreign ministry further criticised new sanctions on 14 individuals announced by the US Treasury yesterday over human rights issues and Iran's missile programme.

In particular, placing judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani on the sanctions list "crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community... and the government of the United States will bear responsibility for all the consequences of this hostile move".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Islamic State group Sahara offshoot is claiming it carried out the October attack in Niger that killed four US soldiers and four Nigerien troops.

The Mauritanian Nouakchott Agency reported yesterday that the self-professed IS affiliate Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi claimed responsibility for the October 4 attack about 200 kilometres north of Niger's capital, Niamey.

The agency has carried messages from the affiliate before, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites.

The agency says the extremists also claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday on a French military convoy, and for a series of attacks in Niger and border areas with Mali and Burkina Faso.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jammu and Kashmir government today said it has achieved a target of 75 per cent in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) by providing free LPG gas connections to 3.70 lakh below poverty line households in the state.

"Out of 4.90 lakh total eligible applicants, the government has provided free LPG gas connections to 3.70 lakh BPL households in the state," Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali said at a function in Rajouri district.

He said the state is proud to take lead over rest of the states in the country in implementation of PMUY with 75 per cent target achievement.

The function was organised by a private gas agency for distribution of free gas connections at koteranka.

As many as 510 gas connections were distributed.

The females from BPL households were provided with sets of chulha, cylinder, gas pipe, regulator and safety manual, an official spokesman said.

While deliberating on PMUY, the minister said the scheme was launched with a declared aim to safeguard the health of women and children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel



LPG, so that they do not have to compromise on their health in smoky kitchens or wander in unsafe areas for collecting firewood.

"The government is endeavouring to zero down the dependence on firewood, coal and dung-cakes as primary source of cooking fuel because smoke from burning such fuels causes alarming household pollution and adversely affect the health of women and children causing several respiratory diseases and disorders," he said.

He said the cent percent implementation of scheme would not only save many precious lives of females and children but relieve them from the drudgery of collecting firewood.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Jake Gyllenhaal said he first met his "Brokeback Mountain" co-star Heath Ledger while auditioning for Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!".

In an interview with GQ Australia, Gyllenhaal said that he and Ledger, who passed away at the age of 28 in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, became friends because of "mutual frustration" of not getting the part they auditioned for.

"I was auditioning for 'Moulin Rouge!'. Baz Luhrmann had chosen three actors. It was Ewan [McGregor], it was Heath, and me. And we auditioned with many different actresses, it was a long process. But I never met Heath, I only heard about him.

"When Ewan was cast, I finally met Heath and we sort of became friends before 'Brokeback Mountain' based on our mutual frustration," Gyllenhaal said.

The 37-year-old actor recalled a conversation where Ledger turned down the lead in Luhrmann's next.

"When 'Brokeback Mountain' came out and it got all the attention it did, I remember, a few months later, Heath called me and he was like, 'Hey mate, I got some for you'. I said, 'What?'



"He said, 'Baz just offered me his next movie. I just wanted you to know, I fucking turned it down!' So that was how much Heath loved me, you know. That was how I met him," Gyllenhaal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today joined people as they lit bonfires and distributed sweets to celebrate Lohri -- the festival which marks the end of biting winter chill in the region.

The Governor and First Lady Usha Vohra joined the officers, staff, and their families at a function at Raj Bhavan to celebrate Lohri, an official spokesman said.

"The governor and First Lady extended Lohri greetings and offered traditional nuts and sweets to all those assembled on the occasion," he said.

"They interacted with the children, families, and staff of the Governor's Secretariat and wished them good health and happiness," he added.

The Governor prayed for peace, harmony, progress, and prosperity in the state, the spokesman said.

State Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta celebrated Lohri with the prisoners of district jail in Amphalla here.

"He also inaugurated a retail outlet 'Sudhar Bikri Kendra' for the marketing and sale of products manufactured by prisoners near district jail," the spokesman said.

The outlet has a wide variety of products like candles, bed sheets, readymade garments, handicrafts, wooden furniture, cushion covers and other items made by the prisoners.

Gupta applauded the efforts of the jail administration and said that this initiative has been taken to meet the twin objectives of enabling prison inmates to earn livelihood while serving in jails and after completing their sentences and to project the reformation programmes run in the jails.

"The Speaker extended his warm wishes to the jail authorities, other staff and prisoners," the spokesman said.

BJP workers, led by its state president Sat Sharma, celebrated Lohri at party headquarters here, a spokesman said.

"The enthusiastic workers danced to the tunes of drum beats at party headquarter Trikuta Nagar here," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged Baltic NATO states to support pressure on North Korea, as he hammered home his hawkish message that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes pose a global threat.

Despite a recent cooling of tensions in the run-up to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, Shinzo Abe has insisted on "maximising pressure" on the North.

"We should work closely together to maintain and strengthen a rule of law-based international order on North Korea, which is now a threat to the global community", Abe told reporters in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

His Lithuanian counterpart Saulius Skvernelis voiced support as did Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis with whom Abe met earlier in the day in Latvia's capital Riga.

Briefing reporters, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Norio Maruyama said that although the threat posed by Pyongyang was "unprecedented", the full implementation of UN sanctions would have "a very strong effect on North Korea."



New UN sanctions passed against North Korea last month ban the supply of nearly 75 per cent of refined oil products to Pyongyang and cap crude deliveries among other measures.

Abe kicked off his visit in fellow Baltic eurozone state Estonia yesterday, where he also discussed deepening cybersecurity and economic ties.

Japan is keen to raise its profile in the region as China bolsters its ties there.

China is pushing its massive USD 1 trillion "One Belt, One Road" initiative, which seeks to build rail, maritime and road links from Asia to Europe and Africa in a revival of ancient Silk Road trading routes.

Today Abe will head to Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas to pay tribute to Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who saved 6,000 European Jews from the Holocaust by issuing visas to allow them to escape war-torn Lithuania.

Abe is the first sitting Japanese leader to visit the Baltic states and will also visit Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania before returning to Tokyo Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The JD(U) will contest the Nagaland assembly election due this year, a top party leader said but did not mention the number of seats for which it will put up candidates.

JD(U) secretary general K C Tyagi said that party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is very keen to campaign in Nagaland and is looking forward to it.

He did not elaborate to how many seats JD(U) will contest since the polling date is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.

The tenure of the present assembly ends on March 13.

The decision by the party to contest the poll in the north eastern state under the leadership of N S N Lotha, the JD(U) Nagaland convenor and former president of Naga Students Federation, was taken at a consultative meeting of JD(U) Nagaland here during the day, Tyagi said.

The JD(U) slogan of the election will be 'development for Naga people', Tyagi told a press conference here.

Although, sufficient fund had been granted by the central government to the successive governments yet the progress and developments on the ground are very dismal, he said and vowed that JD(U) would endeavor to fulfill its objective by bringing down the corruption to its lowest ebb.

If voted to power, JD(U) is determined to utilize the funds judiciously for all round development of Nagaland , he added.

Lotha claimed that some of the sitting legislator have contacted JD(U) seeking ticket but refused to divulge the names. A retired bureaucrat who had served as OSD to former chief minister Neiphiu Rio had formally joined the party and would be a contestant in the poll.

He said that the JD(U) would review its alliance with the Democratic Alliance Nagaland(DAN) which compromises NPF, BJP, NCP and JD(U).

Meanwhile, the JD(U) state unit will stage a sit-in at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in the last week of January to highlight the issues facing Nagaland in particular and the north east in general, party sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) today took strong exception to a PDP MLA's "Kashmiri militants are martyrs" remarks, and said the state's security was under threat due to glorification of separatists.

Earlier this week, PDP legislator Aijaz Ahmed Mir stoked a controversy when he described Kashmiri militants shot dead in encounters with security forces as "martyrs" and "brothers" and also cautioned against glorifying their killings.

"There was a near unanimity among different political parties regarding the imminent threat to the security of the state due to the glorification of subversives and separatists by the PDP-BJP alliance," JKNPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh said in a statement here.

Singh said despite the state-wide outrage over the remark, the BJP has remained "submissive" due to "the lust of power".

"The BJP leaders are making evasive, vague, and obscure statements only for the sake of public consumption and for ensuring damage control," he said.

Singh said the BJP was acting hypocritically as it spoke of zero tolerance against militancy "which has evaporated in thin air after they assumed power".

"Even as the government had made repeated statements in the parliament that national security is a priority for BJP and not the alliance in J&K," said Singh.

"Not only the glorification of secessionists but jobs and ex-gratia to next of kins of stone-pelters and appeasement of anti-nationals have exposed the myth of BJP's bravado and displayed the spineless BJP in its true colours," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Various lawyers' bodies today expressed "grave concern" over the differences arising between the CJI and four top judges of the Supreme Court and passed separate resolutions urging the senior judges to resolve the issue by in-house mechanism within the constitutional framework.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Associations (SCAORA) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) in close-door emergency meetings deliberated the situation arising out of the controversial press conference by four seniormost apex court judges yesterday.

While the SCBA and the SCAORA confined their deliberation to the judiciary, the BCI, the apex body regulating the lawyers, cautioned against politicising the crisis.

BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra without taking name of any leader, said, "No political party or leader should take undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges."



The reference of political parties and the leaders assumed significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances.

Mishra said a seven-member delegation led by him will tomorrow meet rest of the apex court judges to know their views about the situation and later they would consult with the four senior judges who held the presser. Thereafter the delegation would speak to the CJI and discuss the entire crisis.

The SCBA, which expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four seniormost judges with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, said the issue should be immediately considered by the full court of the apex court.

The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Besides CJI Misra, others in the collegium in accordance with seniority are -- justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

The four judges had in an unprecedented press conference yesterday mounted a virtual revolt against the CJI, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases.

SCBA president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that a resolution for the full court consideration was passed as it is a mechanism in which deliberations by all the judges of the top court takes place in-house and not in the open.

In a resolution, the SCAORA said it was "pained" by the events which, according to it, "tarnished" the reputation of the apex court.

"Executive Committee of SCAORA is concerned and pained with all the events which have tarnished the reputation and image of our esteemed institution.

"It urges stake holders to exercise restraint and requests them to resolve all issues internally and within the constitutional framework," the resolution said.

The SCBA resolution further said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five seniormost judges who were part of the collegium.

"The differences that have been reported in the press conference by the four senior judges of the Supreme Court and the other differences which are reflected in the newspapers are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the full court of the Supreme Court," Singh said while reading out the resolution.

"It is further unanimously resolved by the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association that all PIL matters including the pending PIL matters should be either taken up by the Chief Justice of India, or if he has to assign to any other bench, it should be assigned to the judges in the collegium. Even the matters listed on Monday i.e. January 15, 2018, should also be transferred as per our request," it said.

The SCBA president, who addressed the media after coming out of the over hour-long meeting of the executive committee, however, did not comment on whether the senior judges should have gone public with their grievances.

Singh said that if required, the SCBA would seek an appointment with the CJI and other judges to talk about the developments which were a matter of grave concern.

The four judges had yesterday said there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court and warned that they could destroy Indian democracy.

The press conference by the judges had left the judiciary and observers stunned, leaving uncertain how this open dissension in the hallowed institution would be resolved.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Liam Neeson has defended veteran actor Dustin Hoffman, saying that the campaign against sexual harassment in Hollywood is becoming "a bit of a witch hunt".

Hoffman has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women he worked with. The actor had offered an apology to the first woman, who interned on the set of his 1985 TV film "Death of a Salesman." In a statement, he said the behaviour was "not reflective of who I am." But he has not commented on the other accusations.

In an interview with an Irish talk show, Neeson said, "There is a bit of a witch hunt happening, too. There's some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl's knee or something, and suddenly they're being dropped from their program or something."



Neeson specifically spoke about the allegations against Garrison Keillor, who was fired last year from Minnesota Public Radio for "inappropriate behaviour".

He said he was "on the fence" in relation to some of the allegations that have emerged against Hoffman and appeared to dismiss breast groping as "childhood stuff".

"The Dustin Hoffman thing, I'm on the fence about that. Because when you're doing a play and you're with your family, other actors, technicians, you do silly things. You do silly things and it becomes kind of superstitious; if you don't do it every night you think its going to jinx the show.

"I think Dustin Hoffman was... I'm not saying I've done similar things like what he did. Apparently, he touched another girl's breast and stuff. But it's childhood stuff what he was doing," Neeson said.

Neeson, however, acknowledged that the wider movement against harassment was "healthy" as it is not just confined to show business.

"There is a movement happening. It's healthy and it's across every industry. The focus seems to be on Hollywood at the minute. But it's across every industry.

"I'm a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and a very proud one. And I get sent facts and figures and stuff. And if you read the stuff I've read about how female labourers are being treated in farms, ranches, and all the rest of it, it's chilling," Neeson said.

The "Taken" actor was slammed on Twitter for his comments.

"Liam Neeson: witch hunt is a term for false accusations against the vulnerable by the powerful, so it's not an accurate description of holding privileged men in power accountable for their actions. A witch hunt never ends. We just want men to stop abusing their power," wrote one of the users.

Another user wrote,"Liam Neeson on the 'Late Late' suggesting that Hoffman might simply rub a co-star's breasts in superstition before a performance. A grope for good luck as it were. 'Childhood stuff'. Yeah, if there's a line to be drawn Liam, I don't see it's there."



One of the users called on the women actors to stop working with Neeson.

"Don't work with Liam Neeson, ladies," she wrote.

"Oh God, Liam... it's not 'childhood stuff' when they were grown men, it's being lecherous, inappropriate creeps. I really like Liam, but just, no...," wrote another user.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the "necessary respect" of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the French leader to change the landmark accord.

A statement yesterday from the Elysee said Macron "remembers the importance of preserving the Iran nuclear deal and the necessary respect by all parties of their engagements regarding the accord".

Macron and Netanyahu spoke by phone yesterday after US President Donald Trump demanded that European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

In his conversation with Macron, the Israeli premier said that "Trump's remarks should be taken seriously, and whoever wants to keep the nuclear deal would be wise to fix it", a statement from Netanyahu's office read.

Netanyahu also told Macron the free world should "strongly condemn the five crimes of the Iranian regime", listing "efforts to obtain nuclear weapons... developing ballistic missiles... supporting terror... regional aggression" and "the cruel repression of Iranian citizens".

On Thursday, Macron told Trump that it was important for all signatories to respect the Iran nuclear agreement.

Tehran has rejected the notion of any modification of the 2015 nuclear deal, and has the backing of all of the partners to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union -- apart from the United States.

Israel says Iran is dedicated to its destruction and supports global terror, in addition to backing Palestinian Islamic militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah.

The Jewish state is also concerned that the nuclear deal -- which it opposed -- would not prevent Iran from eventually having nuclear weapons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 12-year-old boy was today critically injured by an unexploded bomb that went off near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Mohammad Iqbal (12), a resident of Shahpur, found the bomb in an open field near Qasba village around 11:45 am and started fiddling with it, causing the explosion, a police official said.

"The boy suffered critical injuries with both his hands blown up. He was rushed to hospital and his condition is stated to be 'critical'," an official said.

The bomb, apparently a mortar fired by Pakistan during cross-border shelling in the recent past, had remained unexploded and undetected, the official said.

The boy was playing in the field when he came across the bomb, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Mira Sorvino has penned an open letter to Dylan Farrow and apologised for working in Woody Allen's 1995 comedy "Mighty Aphrodite".

Sorvino had won an Oscar for her role as a prostitute in the film. She expressed regret for being part of the film and said she will never work with the director again.

"I confess that at the time I worked for Woody Allen I was a naive young actress.

"I swallowed the media's portrayal of your abuse allegations against your father as an outgrowth of a twisted custody battle between Mia Farrow and him, and did not look further into the situation, for which I am terribly sorry. For this I also owe an apology to Mia," Sorvino wrote in an essay for HuffPost.

Last month, in an op-ed published in a newspaper, Farrow had called out Hollywood stars including Kate Winslet, Blake Lively, and Greta Gerwig for working with Allen amid her accusations that the 82-year-old filmmaker molested her as a child in 1992



.

Sorvino said that her relationship with Allen on the film was "friendly, though not close, but in no way did he ever overstep his bounds with me".

"I never personally experienced what has now been described as inappropriate behaviour toward young girls. But this does not excuse my turning a blind eye to your story simply because I wanted desperately for it not to be so," she said.

Sorvino was one of the first women to come forward and accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment. She had said that the Hollywood producer blacklisted her after she rejected his advances.

"We are in a day and age when everything must be re- examined. This kind of abuse cannot be allowed to continue. If this means tearing down all the old gods, so be it. The cognitive dissonance, the denial and cowardice that spare us painful truths and prevent us from acting in defence of innocent victims while allowing 'beloved' individuals to continue their heinous behaviour must be jettisoned from the bottom of our souls.

"Even if you love someone, if you learn they may have committed these despicable acts, they must be exposed and condemned, and this exposure must have consequences. I will never work with him again," she wrote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today said his government had sought the Centre's help in providing relief to the 1,440 Myanmarese nationals who had taken shelter in the north-eastern state.

The Myanmarese people had crossed over to Mizoram in November last year, following clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army (AA) militants in the Chin state of that country.

Thanhawla said he had appealed to the Centre to provide assistance to the refugees, staying in three relief camps in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district since November 25.

He added that his government was making efforts to ensure that all the refugees returned to Myanmar.

Officials, however, said the Myanmarese nationals were refusing to return to their respective villages even after the Myanmar Army declared that peace was restored and all the AA rebels were flushed out of their camps.

While some of them were afraid of going back apprehending that a violent confrontation might erupt anytime between the government forces and militants, many preferred to settle down in Mizoram, they added.

The refugees, mostly Buddhists and Christians, were residents of Paletwa and surrounding villages in Myanmar.

After fleeing from home, they took shelter in Lawngtlai district's Laitlang, Zochachhuah, Hmangbuchhuah and Dumzautlang villages.

After stray bullets from Myanmar hit a house in Laitlang just ahead of Christmas, the refugees staying there were shifted to the other three villages, an official said.

All the refugees would be repatriated, officials in the Lawngtlai district administration said, adding that they did not want to use force on them on humanitarian grounds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch and GM Murali Karthikeyan will face off in the eighth round of the 16th Parsvnath Delhi International Open chess tournament here tomorrow.

Azerbaijan's Naiditsch overcame GM Ziaur Rehman, while Karthikeyan, a two-time former National champion, defeated Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh, rated 2547, to share the lead at 6.5 points after the seventh round.

Rehman had the white pieces in an original Reti-kind of an opening where the queens were traded off early in the middlegame to reach a rook vs. two minor pieces endgame.

Naiditsch was obviously pressing but it was more or less equal. Suddenly, for no clear reason, Rehman gave up his e- pawn after which it was the end for the Bangladeshi GM.

Double National Champion Karthikeyan also had an equal position with the black pieces out of a Kings Indian Defence opening against Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh, rated 2547.

Karthikeyan, too, ended up with rook vs two minor pieces, being Tran with his double knights and Karthikeyan with a knight and bishop. The other big difference was that White had 4 pawns on the kingside against Karthikeyan's three, while, Karthikeyan had two pawns on the queenside against Tran's one.

This classic 'queenside pawn majority' was exploited well by the Indian who pushed them forward while the Vietnamese wasted his time with king moves giving Karthikeyan a winning advantage. The Indian grandmaster won without much ado.

In the sixth round, Naiditsch, rated 2701, notched up a fine win over GM Vaibhav Suri, while Karthikeyan, rated 2580, beat IM Himal Gusain and GM Ziaur Rehman settled for a quick draw with GM Deep Sengupta, rated 2586.

The C-category with a massive 1257 players got underway today. The players fight for a total prize money of Rs. 25 lakhs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Narayana Hrudayalaya today said it has completed buyback of 71.4 per cent shareholding in Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI) from Ascension Health Ventures for USD 32.26 million.

The company earlier held 28.6 per cent stake in Health City Cayman Islands through its wholly owned subsidiary Narayana Cayman Holdings Ltd.

The funds for the buyback were transfered on January 3, 2018 and the buyback has been concluded on January 12, Narayana Hrudayalaya said in a BSE filing.

Consequent to this buyback HCCI has become a 100 per cent step-down subsidiary of the company, it added.

In an earlier filing to the bourses, Narayana Hrudayalaya had said it had entered into definitive agreement with Ascension Health Ventures LLC for the buyback of 71.4 per cent shareholding in Health City Cayman Islands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nearly 20 lakh devotees from different corner of the country as well countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh have gathered to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganga and Bay of Bengal on Makar Sankranti tomorrow.

"Last year around 15 lakh pilgrims had visited the Ganga Sagar. This year already we have crossed that mark and nearly 20,00,000 people are here. We have made all the arrangements for them so that they can have a memorable outing here," South 24 Parganas district magistrate Y. Ratnakara Rao told PTI today.

A thick blanket of security cover has been placed at the famous spot. The state government has deployed around 3,000 policemen and also pressed into service seven drones to keep a tab on the security as well as the safety of pilgrims taking a holy dip tomorrow.

In fact, for the first time the state government has equipped its officials with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted connectivity during the Ganga Sagar Mela.

"These satellite phones will ensure that communication is not hampered even if there is an earthquake or a tsunami, among other things," another senior official of the state government told PTI adding that 16 satellite phones has been given to the officers who will be on duty at critical locations.

Incidentally, the state government has come up with an innovative Sagar Sanjog Scheme, for providing real-time information regarding the movement of transport facilities for people and vehicles too.

The state government has also decided to cover over 100 km route from Babughat in Kolkata to the Sagar Island with 500 CCTVs as a part of its security coverage for the grand annual fair.

The state disaster management department would be getting live feed from the mela area to help effectively monitor the proceedings there.

As a part of the security arrangements, the state has also introduced a real-time monitoring system the Tirtha Sathi.

"Using the Tirtha Sathi senior administrative and police officers will be able to watch live footages of all the transit and other crucial points, relayed via CCTV cameras, on their mobile phones," Rao said.

Besides, 60 giant LED screens have been placed at different points through which pilgrims would be updated about the timings and fare tariffs of trains, buses and ferries, tide timings as well as safety precautions.

"These information will be provided in three languages Bengali, Hindi and English to facilitate the largest number of pilgrims," he said.

Talking more on the arrangements, Rao said that the carrying-capacity of barges plying from Lot 8 on the mainland to Kachuberia at the Sagar Island has been doubled this year.

Meanwhile, two battalion of the NDRF is deployed in Ganga Sagar to mitigate any eventuality during Mela.

"This year total 85 personnel of 2 BN NDRF are deployed at three different places. One team is deployed at Lot 8, one deployed at Kachuberia and one deployed at Sagar. Each team is well equipped with inflatable boats, deep diving sets , deep divers and flood rescue equipments," a release quoting battalion commandant Nishith Upadhyay said.

NDRF boats and deep divers are patrolling 24X7 at all three places inside water and keeping close eyes on pilgrims who are passing through and taking holy dip at Sagar.

It must be mentioned that the NDRF has established its control rooms at each places and maintaining close and continuous cooperation with local Mela administration there, it added.

In addition, the Coast Guard and the marine police and several security personnel have been deployed in the Sagar Island to manage the security of the several hundred thousands of pilgrims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu today emphasised the need for proper utilisation of mineral resources to improve the economic condition of the people.

Jharkhand has been blessed with abundance of mineral and natural resources but the state was still lagging behind because our people were not educated, unskilled. We are inviting people from outside as we are unable to utilise it in a proper manner, Murmu said



Inaugurating Jharkhand's first "Khadi Park" established by Jharkhand State Khadi and Gramudyog Board at Aamda in Seraikela-Kharswan district, the governor said proper utilisation of resources would help generate employment opportunities, improve the economic conditions of the people and also check migration.

Laying emphasis on education, the governor said our women were weak economically, socially and also not literate and we have to empower them by making the skilled and provide employment opportunities.

The governor also appreciated former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee for forming Self-help Group with an aim to make women self-reliant.

Speaking on the occasion, former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda described khadi as sustainable and livelihood mission that help to enhance the index of happiness of the people.

The chairman of the Khadi board, Sanjay Seth said the board has proposal to set up a Khadi Park at Dumka and a Khadi Plaza in Jamshedpur.

He said the board was also promoting bee-keeping and already trained around 500 persons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India needs investment to the tune of 300 billion dollars in the next 10 years to double its oil refining capacity, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

"Oil refining capacity in the country stands at over 247 million ton at present and demand for petro products, which is rising rapidly, will touch 600 million ton by the year 2040," Pradhan said, while inaugurating the 22nd Refining and Petrochemicals Technology Meet here.

Noting that the country has built a robust refining and petrochemicals sector over the years, the minister said several brownfield projects are already in the pipeline for creating capacities of around 142 million tons.

Pradhan said two major greenfield projects are all set to be launched to add 69 million ton of new refining capacities soon.

The Barmer Refinery in Rajasthan will be of 9 mtpa, while the West Coast Refinery and Petrochemicals will create 60 million ton capacity.

To achieve the target of 600 million ton capacity, it is necessary to add over 20 million ton almost every year, he said.

"I am confident that the country will march ahead to achieve the goal for which investment to the tune of 300 billion dollars in hydro-carbon sector will be required," the minister said.

Emphasising the need for a state-of-the-art refining and petrochemical industry, he said it is necessary to concentrate on research and development in the public sector.

"I expect much more because I know your capacities. We can do much better. There should also be healthy competition among oil refineries," Pradhan said, indicating that he was not satisfied with the R&D activities.

Asserting that the oil refinery sector will continue to grow despite challenges from increasing use of automation, digitisation, robotics, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, he said, "We believe in human intelligence and well-trained human resource".

Speaking at the three-day meet, Ambassador of Japan, Kenji Hiramatsu said his country would make an investment of 10 billion USD in the LNG sector in India, as cooperation and business ties between the two countries are expanding.

Referring to Odisha, Hiramatsu said cooperation between Odisha and Japan would be further strengthened in many areas.

Around 900 oil industry professionals from India and abroad are attending the event, being organised by the Centre for High Technology (CHT), a satellite organisation of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in association with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. The theme of the meet is 'Emerging Trends in Downstream Hydrocarbon Sector'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Scientists have discovered a previously unknown warning system that contributes to the body's immune system.

According to a study published in the journal PNAS, Mitochondria in the white blood cells secrete a web of DNA fibres that raises the alarm.

White blood cells are major components of the body's immune defence, and the research group has shown that several types of these cells react against small DNA fragments that are similar to the DNA from bacteria and viruses.

The white blood cells spray out a web consisting of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) strands.

Mitochondria are present in all cells and normally produce the energy needed by the cell, by burning sugar and fat to form water and carbon dioxide.

The web that the mitochondria release sends signals to the surrounding cells that the body is under attack, and cause other white blood cells to release a signal substance known as "interferon type 1". This substance helps the immune system to combat the infection.

"We show that the white blood cells in the immune system can release mtDNA outside the cells in an active process in response to infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses," said Bjorn Ingelsson, from the Linkoping University in Sweden.

"The discovery raises the possibility of further studies in which we will try to reduce the release of mtDNA, and in this way reduce the inflammation that it causes," said Ingelsson.

Other types of web formed by white blood cells in the immune system (known as "neutrophils") have been previously known.

These cells release meshes coated with antibacterial proteins. However, the formation of the newly discovered mtDNA webs differs fundamentally from that of the other types of web.

The researchers have shown that the mtDNA webs are activated within a couple of minutes, which is faster than the neutrophil-based meshes.

The latter also lack the signal function that the mtDNA webs have. Further, the mtDNA webs survive in the blood longer before being dissolved.

High levels of interferon type 1, the signal substance activated by the mtDNA webs, occur in several autoimmune diseases and several types of cancer.

The researchers believe that it may be possible to quantify the secreted mtDNA molecules and interpret the warning signals, and in this way understand these diseases better.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The descendants of Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the seventh and last Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad, urged the government today to hand over 277 acres of land in the city, which they claimed belonged to the royal family.

Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, grandson of Nizam VII, while talking to reporters here said that he has urged the district collector to include his and his family members' name in the properties and give their physical possession or provide compensation.

"On January 25, 1950, Sir Osman Ali Khan had submitted the list of all his immovable properties as per the agreement between the Central government and Nizams. We, his heirs, have all legal, lawful rights to share the properties in the name of our grandfather, Nizam VII," he said.

Currently, there are several government offices and other properties operating from these lands.

Replying to a question, he said that 277 acres land includes 160 acres in Himayat Bagh area and 94 acres in Ahmedbagh, while the rest of land lies in Navkhanda Palace area.

"We informed the collector that we have ample documents to prove that we are direct legitimate legal heirs," Khan said.

Other members of the royal family, including Nawab Habib Ali Khan, Nawab Karam Ali Khan, Iqbal Pasha, Shahjahan Feroz were also present at the press conference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Puducherry Welfare Minister M Kandasamytoday said he did not find anything unusual in the meeting by the leader of the opposition N Rangasamy (AINRC) with the Lt Governor Kiran Bedi.

"There is nothing unusual in the meeting between the two... and it could not be a matter of discussion or debate, the Congress leader told reporters here.

Rangasamy himself had explained that the purpose of the meeting yesterday by all the eight AINRC MLAs with the Lt Governor was only to convey new year and Pongal greetings to her, the minister said.

It was quite routine for any political leader to meet the Lt Governor, particularly to greet her on Pongal eve and also to convey new year greetings, Kandasamy said.

"I have also conveyed my greetings and wishes to Rangasamy over phone during the latter's birthday on August four last year. How can one take this as something unusual", he asked.

The AINRC leaders met the Lt Governor for the first time yesterday at Raj Nivas after the present Congress government headed by V Narayanasamy was formed in June 2016.

R Radhakrishnan, MP, of the party had also accompanied the MLAs during their meeting with the Lt Governor.

Bedi and the Congress government here have been at loggerheads over various issues ever since she assumed office in May 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Pakistan Army today warned India against any misadventure, asserting that the country's nuclear weapons were exclusively meant to foil any threat emanating from the east.

The Army's response came days after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's recent remark that the force was ready to call Pakistan's "nuclear bluff" and cross the border to carry out any operation if asked by the government.

"We will call the (nuclear) bluff of Pakistan. If we will have to really confront the Pakistanis, and a task is given to us, we are not going to say we cannot cross the border because they have nuclear weapons. We will have to call their nuclear bluff," Rawat said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor warned of response if India undertook any misadventure.

"Well, it's their choice. Should they wish to test our resolve they may try and see it for themselves," Ghafoor told state-run PTV.

He said General Rawat's comments were unbefitting of an army chief.

Asserting that India was not in a position to launch a conventional war after over nulcearisation, Ghafoor said Pakistan had credible nuclear capability exclusively meant to foil any threat emanating from the east.

"But we believe it's a weapon of deterrence not a choice. The only thing stopping them is our credible nuclear deterrence as there is no space of war between the two nuclear states," he said.

He alleged that India was using sub-conventional threat and state-sponsored terrorism to destabilise Pakistan but has failed to achieve its objectives so far.

General Rawat's remark had come in response to a question on possibility of Pakistan using its nuclear weapons in case the situation along the border deteriorated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pakistani intruder was shot dead by the Border Security Force along the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar sector when he crossed over to the Indian territory, an official said today.

The Ex-17 battalion of the BSF observed suspicious movement of an intruder at Border Outpost Rear Kakkar about 7:55 pm yesterday.

The troops warned the intruder.

"However, he kept on moving towards the border fence in aggressive posture. The BSF troops then opened fire and killed him," a BSF official said.

"About 600 Pakistani rupee was recovered from the intruder," he said.

The body of the intruder, about 30 years of age, was handed over to Pakistani Rangers in the evening, the official said.

Last year, in September, BSF had foiled an infiltration bid when it shot dead two armed Pakistani intruders along the Indo-Pak border in Ajnala here. In December, a Pakistani intruder was shot dead in Ajnala sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's ruling PML-N today suffered an embarrassing loss in Balochistan at the hands of its rival party whose member Abdul Quddus Bizenjo was elected as the southwestern state's new chief minister.

Bizenjo from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) is the former deputy speaker of the assembly and played role in the ouster of Zehri. His party had just five members in the house of 65.

Bizenjo secured 41 votes while his rival Syed Agha Liaquat Ali of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party got 13 votes, Radio Pakistan reported.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz despite having 21 members in the assembly could not create consensus on the leader of the house and several of its members voted for Bizenjo, the candidate of the rival party.

Bizenjo was sworn in as the chief minister and the oath was administered at Governor House. His cabinet took oath the same day, which was also administered by the Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai.

Balochistan's former Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Tuesday resigned from his post ahead of a no confidence motion against him in the provincial assembly, amid speculation of horse trading.

Balochistan Assembly Speaker Rahila Durrani announced Bizenjo's victory after the process of voting formally ended.

Bizenjo was elected as member in 2013 elections from Awaran region of Balochistan.

It augurs bad for the ruling party ahead of general election scheduled to be held after June.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pawan Hans helicopter with five ONGC personnel and two pilots on board today crashed off the city coast while heading to an oil rig at Mumbai High, and three bodies bodies have been found, a senior Coast Guard official said today.

The chopper Dauphin N3 had gone missing after taking off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.30 AM.

"The Coast Guard confirms that its ships picked up three bodies from the site of Pawan Hans helicopter crash off the Mumbai coast," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am. Five employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots were on board the chopper.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i was also pressed into service.

The Coast Guard had also diverted its ships to search the missing chopper.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official told PTI.

He said the DGCA will extend all necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

"IndiaCoastGuard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hrs," he said on twitter.

"So far resulted in 03 body recovery. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry (sic)," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven persons on-board, including five ONGC officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company's oil installation in the Arabian sea.

So far, four bodies have been recovered, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said in a statement to PTI.

Search operation is on for other missing persons.

The Pawan Hans helicopter with five ONGC officers, including three of the level of Deputy General Managers, went missing around 10.40 hours today.

ONGC, Coast Guard and Navy pressed helicopters and speed boats as soon as the information of the chopper going missing was received at the Juhu helibase.

ONGC has key oil and gas fields off the Mumbai coast and Pawan Hans helicopters routinely ferry company employees and officers to the oil installations that are situated as far as 160 kilometres from the coastline.

The field in the offshore include Mumbai High, the nation's largest oil field and Bassein fields, the largest gas field.

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history. In August 2003, Mi-172 helicopter crashed off Mumbai coast killing 27 company persons and pilot on-board.

"ONGC vessels and choppers along with the Coast Guard and Indian navy are combing the areas where the chopper has apparently crashed," the ONGC statement said.

"Identification of the bodies is in progress".

The chopper Dauphin N3 had gone missing after taking off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.30 AM.

The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am. Five employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots were on-board the chopper.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation, while surveillance aircraft P8i was also pressed into service.

The Coast Guard had also diverted its ships to search the missing chopper.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official said.

He said the DGCA will extend all necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents, involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

"IndiaCoastGuard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hrs," he said on twitter.

"So far resulted in 03 body recovery. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry (sic)," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven people on-board, including five ONGC officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company's oil installation in the Arabian sea.

So far, five bodies have been recovered, the Coast Guard and the Navy said in their statements.

Search operation is on for other missing persons.

The Pawan Hans helicopter with five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officers, including three of the level of Deputy General Managers, went missing around 10.40 hours today.

ONGC, Coast Guard and Navy pressed helicopters and speed boats as soon as the information of the chopper going missing was received at the Juhu helibase.

ONGC has key oil and gas fields off the Mumbai coast and Pawan Hans helicopters routinely ferry company employees and officers to the oil installations that are situated as far as 160 kilometres from the coastline.

The field in the offshore include Mumbai High, the nation's largest oil field and Bassein fields, the largest gas field.

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history. In August 2003, an Mi-172 helicopter crashed off the Mumbai coast killing 27 people and pilot on-board.

"ONGC vessels and choppers along with the Coast Guard and Indian Navy are combing the areas where the chopper has apparently crashed," the ONGC statement read.

"Identification of the bodies is in progress," it read.

The chopper Dauphin N3 went missing after taking off from the Juhu aerodrome.

The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am.

In a statement, the Coast Guard said, "Search teams from ICGS Agrim were able to locate and recover five bodies from water. The floating debris was also recovered by the ship.

The search operation for the remaining crew is continuing in coordination with other ships and aircraft from ONGC and the Indian Navy. The recovered bodies along with debris have been handed over to ONGC vessel at the crash site for further formalities, it said.

"At about 1120 Hrs on 13 January, Headquarters, Coast Guard Region (W) received information from ONGC about a helicopter with seven persons (two pilots and five passengers) missing in position about 22 Nm North West from Uttan Light (16-17 Nm from land). The location falls in the approach/return leg of route taken by ONGC helicopters while proceeding to oil rigs in Mumbai high area," it added.

"A Dornier aircraft was immediately launched from Coast Guard Air Station Daman and reached the area for search. Certain debris was reported by the aircraft. Further, Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Agrim, on patrolling off Mumbai was diverted to the crash site and reached the datum at about 1230 hrs.

"The ship also reported widespread debris in the area and began search for the missing passengers and crew from aircraft," it added.

Four more Coast Guard ships based at Mumbai (ICGS Samudra Prahari, ICGS Achook, ICGS C-154 and ICGS C-434) apart from ICGS Agrim were pressed into service and reached the datum to widen the search parameter.

Besides, another two Dornier aircraft were deployed from Coast Guard Air Station Daman to augment the search effort, it added.

A release from the Navy said, "The naval ships have recovered pieces of debris of the ill-fated helicopter and continue the search for two missing crew members. Five bodies have been recovered so far."



The Navy said the two Fast Interceptor Crafts, INS Tarasa and the frigate INS Teg of the Indian Navy joined the rescue effort with diving teams and a Chetak helicopter operating on board INS Teg joined the operation for survivors of the Pawan Hans helicopter.

"In addition, Seaking helicopters from INS Shikra and a Dornier recce aircraft from Porbandar have been operating through the day. A P8-I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft from INS Rajali near the East Coast has also arrived in the area to assist the search. INS Makar, a naval survey ship with the latest side-scan sonar and underwater cameras has also sailed from Karwar to augment the SAR effort," an naval release said.

An ONGC official said Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the bereaved families in the city this evening.

Of the five senior officials that the ONGC lost in the accident, two were living in Bandra Colony, one in Kalina, one in Vasai and one in Delhi, he said.

However, the ONGC refused to name the officials saying that all the bodies are yet to be identified by their families and two more bodies are yet to be recovered.

The bodies recovered so far have been sent to Cooper Hospital for post-mortem, the official added.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official said.

He said the DGCA will extend all the necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents, involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Pawan Hans Ltd said in a statement that the French-made Dauphin SA 365N3 helicopter met with an with an accident and the chopper crash is being probed by the aviation regulation DGCA.

"There were five passengers and two crew members on board. The search and rescue operations are in progress," it said.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

"IndiaCoastGuard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hrs," he said on Twitter.

"So far resulted in 03 body recovery. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pawan Hans helicopter, which was heading to ONGC's north field with seven persons onboard, went missing off the Mumbai coast today, official sources said.

The Indian Navy has deployed a frigate and a surveillance aircraft to locate the missing chopper while the Coast Guard said that "some debris has been located", but did not elaborate.

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 AM, with five ONGC employees and two pilots onboard, they said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 AM, the sources said.

Search operations are on, they added.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i has also been press into service.

The Coast Guard said that it has diverted ships which were at sea and also those sailing from Mumbai.

"A Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near Dahanu) have also been launched," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that "some debris has been located", but did not say if it belonged to the chopper.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kolkata Police has arrested one Bangladeshi national from the city for his alleged involvement in stealing two-wheelers.

Acting on a tip-off, Kolkata Police yesterday night arrested Samirul Mondal (28) of Basda village in Bangladesh's Satkhira district from Mirza Ghalib Street under the New Market police station area, a senior officer of the force said today.

"During his arrest he failed to produce any valid document to justify his entry into the country. We had earlier arrested Samirul previously in 2013 and he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment from where he had been repatriated," Kolkata Police Joint CP (Crime) Visal Garg said.

An amount of Rs 110 in Bangladeshi currency has been recovered from his possession, he added.

When produced at a city court, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till January 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind today arrived on a two-day visit to Maharashtra.

The president will inaugurate the "Economic Democracy Conclave" organised by the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in Bhayander near here at 10:30 am tomorrow, officials said.

The conclave aims to create a platform for young entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals, and provide them motivation, networking and mentoring, they said.

Later in the day at 12.30 pm, the president will visit the Global Vipassana Pagoda in suburban Borivali here, before returning to Delhi in the afternoon, the officials said.

Kovind was welcomed at the airport by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis this afternoon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Protests against the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez have turned violent with security forces firing tear gas and some marchers breaking windows and setting fires.

Video from yesterday's protests showed former President Manuel Zelaya being shoved by military police. Zelaya and defeated presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla also suffered the effects of tear gas.

Hernandez was awarded the electoral win weeks after the November vote and a disputed vote tally. The opposition alleged fraud and plans to continue protesting through Hernandez's swearing in on January 27.

Security forces and protesters were injured during the clash. Miguel Osorio, spokesman at the University School Hospital, says 10 people were treated there.

Hernandez blamed the opposition for the violence, noting that protesters had damaged the nearby Marriott hotel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The following are PTI's top stories at 9 pm:



STORIES ON THE WIRE:



DEL12CJI-PMO-MISRATV visuals show PM's principal secretary turning up at CJI's residenceNew Delhi: TV visuals today showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, a day after four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against the CJI, raising questions over "selective" case allocation.

DEL9



ED-KARTI-LD RAID



ED raids Karti, associates in money laundering case



New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted searches at ten premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, including the residence of his father and Congress leader P Chidambaram in Delhi, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

DEL14



MH-3RDLD-CHOPPER



Pawan Hans chopper crashes off Mumbai coast, 4 bodies found



Mumbai: A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven persons on- board, including five ONGC officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state- owned company's oil installation in the Arabian sea.

BOM22



MH-2NDLD BOAT



Three students drown, 32 rescued after boat capsizes



Mumbai: Three girls drowned and five were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized this morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

BOM1



MH-ACCIDENT-WRESTLERS



Five wrestlers among six killed in Maharashtra road accident



Mumbai: Five wrestlers, who were returning from a local competition, were among six persons killed when a tractor rammed into their SUV at Sangli district in western Maharashtra early today, police said.

DEL26



ED-LD CHIDAMBARAM



ED abusing power at behest of govt, won't bow down: Chidambaram



New Delhi: The Congress and its leader P Chidambaram today accused the government of "unleashing vicious vendetta" against the opposition after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at the residence of the former Union minister here in connection with with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

DEL20



RAHUL-CAMPAIGN-KARNATAKA



Rahul to launch 1st leg of K'taka poll campaign on Feb 10



New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10, the state unit chief of the party, G Parameshwara, said here today.

DEL13



POL-CJI-PM-CONG



Answer why 'special messenger' was sent to CJI: Cong to PM



New Delhi: Latching onto media reports that the prime minister's principal secretary turned up at the chief justice of India's residence, the Congress today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to the CJI.

CAL2



JUDGES-GOGOI



There is no crisis: Justice Ranjan Gogoi



Kolkata: Justice Ranjan Gogoi, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, today said "there is no crisis".

MDS6



JUDGES-LD KURIAN



No need for outside intervention: Justice Joseph



Kochi: Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's Chief Justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, today said there was no need for outside intervention to solve the problem.

CAL3



TR-MLA-DISQUALIFICATION



Tripura Speaker disqualifies MLA for Cong to BJP switch



Agartala: Tripura Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath has disqualified under the anti-defection law MLA Ratan Lal Nath who recently crossed over to the BJP from the Congress.

LEGAL



LGD5



SC-JUDGES-LD SCBA



SC full court should resolve differences among judges: SCBA



New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) today expressed "grave concern" over the differences of four seniormost judges with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and said the issue should be immediately considered by the full court of the apex court.

FOREIGN



FGN8



US-3RDLD INDIANGIRL



Sherin's foster father charged with her murder by US court



Houston: The Indian-American foster father of Sherin Mathews, a 3-year-old Indian girl whose body was found in a culvert near their suburban Dallas home in mysterious circumstances last October, was today indicted for capital murder by a grand jury.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab BJP will hold demonstration against the state government on January 16, party officials said today.

By holding protests, the BJP would try to remind people that they had been cheated by the Congress government which came into power by making false promises, the national secretary of the BJP, Tarun Chugh said.

"More than 300 farmers of the state have committed suicides in the state in the last 10 months," Chugh claimed.

He claimed that the Congress government had failed to deliver a single promise it made during the Assembly polls.

"They have nothing to show as they have not been able to deliver on anything," he said.

The BJP national secretary also accused the Congress leaders of attacking some members of the opposition.

"Congress leaders have been instrumental in provoking and backing their aides and supporters resulting into attacks on opposition in Amritsar, Mansa, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Nawanshahar and various other places," Chugh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Qatar said today that a second United Arab Emirates military jet had violated its airspace, prompting a new complaint to the United Nations.

The plane was travelling from the UAE to Bahrain on January 3 when it flew over Qatar's special economic zone "without prior authorisation", the foreign ministry said.

Yesterday Doha said it had lodged a protest at the United Nations about a UAE fighter jet violating its airspace on December 21.

In its new complaint, Qatar said the "repetition of this terrible incident" was evidence of the UAE violating international law.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash yesterday denied the accusation relating to the first incident and said Abu Dhabi would send an official response.

Tensions have escalated in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar in June, accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Riyadh's arch-rival, Iran.

They have banned all flights to and from Doha and cut off most trade links.

Qatar denies the allegations, arguing the bloc aims to incite regime change in Doha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A teenager in East Midnapore who is pregnant after being raped repeatedly by a fellow villager on the promise of marriage has filed a petition with the local court seeking permission to end her life.

The Sutahata police, which received a copy of the petition yesterday evening as a complaint by the girl, said today that she has appealed to the court for the permission as her life as an unwed mother would be extremely difficult in the rural society.

Following the complaint the man's father was arrested from their house today as the accused is absconding, the officer-in-charge of the police station said.

The man and his family had agreed to the marriage with the girl and therefore her earlier complaint had not been addressed, the police said.

A West Bengal Human Rights Commission team visited the 17-year-old in her home at Sutahata during the day and spoke to her and her family.

The girl's mother has also petitioned the court for permission to the family to end their lives in view of the ignominy.

Her family had informed their neighbours of her condition and with their intervention the man's family had agreed to their wedding on November 16 but went absconding with the entire family the day before, the police said quoting her complaint.

Though the rest of his family has returned, the man is still absconding.

The man was allegedly threatening her and her family over phone, the complaint added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Authorities today imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar to maintain law and order in view of a strike called by separatists against the death of a civilian allegedly in security forces action recently.

Restrictions have been imposed in seven police station areas of Srinagar, a police official said.

He said strict restrictions under Section 144 CrPc have been imposed in Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Rainawari, Khanyar and Safakadal police station areas of the city, while partial curbs were in force in Kralkhud and Maisuma areas.

The curbs have been imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order and to avoid any untoward incident, the official said.

He, however, said the restrictions shall not be applicable to government employees, universities, essential services like banks or individuals taking or invigilating examinations.

The separatists have called for the strike today in the wake of death of a civilian in Khudwani area of Kulgam district on Tuesday.

Khalid Dar (20) was killed allegedly in firing by security forces on protesters in Khudwani after an encounter in which a local Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed.

In a statement on January 10, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, appealed to the people to shutdown their offices, business establishments, transport and other activities for a day.

Meanwhile, normal life was affected elsewhere in the Kashmir Valley due to the strike.

Most of the shops, private offices, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut, while public transport was off the roads, the official said.

However, private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying in many areas where there were no restrictions.

Similar reports were received from other district headquarters of the Valley, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Saudi construction giant Binladin Group denied today any state takeover after its chairman was detained, but said some shares may have been transferred to the government.

The firm, which has been forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers due to financial problems, said it remained a private shareholding company and was undergoing restructuring.

International media this week reported Saudi Arabia's government had taken over the firm after chairman Bakr bin Laden was detained.

The Saudi Binladin Group "would like to confirm that it remains a private sector company owned by its shareholders", it said in a statement.

But some company shares may have been transferred to the government in a settlement of "outstanding dues", it added, without providing any details on the size of any such shares.

"Based on information available to the management, some of the shareholders may have agreed (to) a settlement that involves transferring some SBG shares to the government of Saudi Arabia against outstanding dues," it said.

The group's chairman was among dozens of high-profile political and business figures arrested two months ago in a crackdown on corruption ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi authorities said they were negotiating financial settlements with those detained that could earn state coffers about USD 100 billion.

Some of those jailed at the luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh have been released after agreeing to a settlement with the government.

But the chairman is among several other suspects who are still in detention. These also include Saudi billionaire prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Established in 1931, the Binladin Group is one of the most powerful companies in the oil-rich kingdom.

It belongs to the family of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in 2011.

The firm has encountered serious difficulties in the past few years.

It laid off around 77,000 foreign workers in 2016, after the government delayed payments due to a slump in oil revenues.

It also faced unprecedented scrutiny after one of its cranes working on a major expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, collapsed in 2015, killing at least 107 people.

The firm had been working for years on the multi-billion- dollar project to accommodate the increasing numbers of Muslim pilgrims to the site.

A Saudi court in October cleared the company of responsibility for the accident.

Today, the group said that its contracted work with the government would continue, especially at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and another mosque in the holy city of Medina.

It also said it had formed a committee to oversee its restructuring towards the firm "being profitable again".

Saudi Arabia has posted large budget deficits in the past four fiscal years and is projected to remain in the red until 2023 due to low oil prices.

The drop in oil revenues also led to the demise of Saudi Oger, a once-mighty construction firm linked to Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the chief justice, today expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved, while the apex court bar body said the matter should be considered by the full court.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the seniormost judges with CJI Dipak Misra.

The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to the four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body of lawyers, formed a seven-member team to meet the judges of the Supreme Court tomorrow to discuss the present crisis in the apex court.

It passed a resolution, saying no political party or leaders should take "undue advantage" of the situation arising out of the press conference by the top court judges.

In an unprecedented move, justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had launched a public attack against the CJI, listing a litany of problems, including the issue of assigning of cases.

Justice Joseph today said that they acted solely in the interest of the judiciary and justice.

He rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their action will bring more transparency in the administration of the Supreme Court.

"Stood up for justice and judiciary...That is what we said there (in New Delhi) yesterday. Nothing beyond that," Justice Joseph said in Malayalam when local television channels approached him at his ancestral home in Kalady near Kochi, seeking his reaction on yesterday's development.

"An issue has come to attention. It will certainly be solved since it has come to the attention," he said.

However, Justice Ranjan Gogoi told PTI in Kolkata, "There is no crisis." He made the remark on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis.

A day after the presser by the four judges, TV visuals today showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of the CJI.

The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence here. However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the prime minister was seen driving back.

After the visuals were aired, the Congress was quick to criticise the government.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that a resolution for the full court consideration was passed as it is a mechanism in which deliberations by all the judges of the top court takes place in-house and not in the open.

The SCBA resolution said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five seniormost judges who were part of the collegium.

The BCI cautioned the political parties and leaders from taking an "undue advantage" of the situation in the apex court.

It said the four seniormost judges going public with their differences with the CJI had given an opportunity to the political parties and leaders to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.

Without taking any name, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said, "No political party or leader should take an undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference of the four senior Supreme Court judges."



The reference to political parties and leaders assumes significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances.

At an emergency meeting called by the BCI's governing body, comprising 17 members, the resolution was passed, saying the seven-member committee would meet all the apex court judges tomorrow.

Mishra later said that the members of the committee would also meet the four judges and, in the end, the CJI.

The BCI said it was of the view that such issues should not be made public.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the chief justice, today said there was no need for an outside intervention to solve the issue, while the apex court bar body called for a full court consideration of the matter.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was also among the four judges, told PTI in Kolkata, "There is no crisis." He made the remark on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis in the top court.

Justice Joseph said the matter was not brought to the attention of the President of India as he has no constitutional responsibility over the Supreme Court or the judges of the apex court.

He said there was no constitutional lapse from the part of CJI but convention, practice and procedure has to be followed while carrying out his responsibility.

"We just brought that matter to his attention," he said at an event near Kochi.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four seniormost judges with CJI Dipak Misra.

The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to the four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body of lawyers, formed a seven-member team to meet the judges of the Supreme Court tomorrow to discuss the present crisis in the apex court.

It passed a resolution, saying no political party or leaders should take "undue advantage" of the situation arising out of the press conference by the top court judges.

In an unprecedented move, justices J Chelameswar, Gogoi, M B Lokur and Joseph, had launched a public attack against the CJI, listing a litany of problems, including the issue of assigning of cases.

"An issue was raised. Those concerned have listened to it. Such actions would not occur in future. So (I) believe that the issue has been settled," Justice Joseph told reporters on the sidelines of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Major Archiespicopal Status of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kakkanad near Kochi.

"There is no need for outside intervention to solve the matter because its is a matter (that) occurred within an institution. Necessary steps would be taken by the institution itself to sort it out," he said, when asked if an outside intervention was required to solve the matter.

Earlier, he rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their action will bring in more transparency in the administration of the Supreme Court.

"Stood up for justice and judiciary...That is what we said there (in New Delhi) yesterday. Nothing beyond that," Justice Joseph said in Malayalam when local television channels approached him at his ancestral home in Kalady near Kochi seeking his reaction on yesterday's development.

A day after the presser by the four judges, TV visuals today showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of the CJI.

The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence here. However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the prime minister was seen driving back.

After the visuals were aired, the Congress was quick to criticise the government.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that a resolution for the full court consideration was passed as it is a mechanism in which deliberations by all the judges of the top court takes place in-house and not in the open.

The SCBA resolution said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five seniormost judges who were part of the collegium.

The BCI cautioned the political parties and leaders from taking an "undue advantage" of the situation in the apex court.

It said the four seniormost judges going public with their differences with the CJI had given an opportunity to the political parties and leaders to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.

Without taking any name, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said, "No political party or leader should take an undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference of the four senior Supreme Court judges."



The reference to political parties and leaders assumes significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances.

At an emergency meeting called by the BCI's governing body, comprising 17 members, the resolution was passed, saying the seven-member committee would meet all the apex court judges tomorrow.

Mishra later said that the members of the committee would also meet the four judges and, in the end, the CJI.

The BCI said it was of the view that such issues should not be made public.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kerala Development Fund and Expatriates Chamber of Commerce are some systems to be set in motion by the government to tap investments of NRKs and ensure their support towards progress of the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here today.

Speaking at the concluding day of the two-day session of 'Loka Kerala Sabha',a new concept of the government,envisaging cooperation toward progress of the state, he said ECC would keep constant contact with diaspora businessman and facilitate their investments in the state.

Expatriates could invest a fixed amount in the Kerala Development Fund and the diaspora,on return to the state,would have the right to get a suitable job in one institution, he said.

Schemes would be put in place to attract NRKs investments to the state, he said, adding a single window system would be introduced.

NRKs participation would be ensured in development of the Kannur International Airport and the proposed Sabarimala airport, the Chief Minister said.

On the demand of expatriate businessman that frequent calls for hartals be avoided, Vijayan, a CPI(M) politburo member, said more discussions on the issue were needed.

Kerala was a state where even parties that hold protests against shutdown call for hartals, he said adding more discussions were needed on the issue of stopping hartals.

The meet also held discussions on various aspects, including problems faced by expatriates in various countries, issues faced by them on return to Kerala, role of diaspora in the cultural, education and health fields.

LKS would have an advisory role without the powers of a legislature and its purpose is to play a vital role in engineering meaningful cooperation and work toward Kerala's progressive development.

Besides, it would also act as a venue for NRKs to expound on their worries and problems and find a solution.

The sabha will have 351 members, including MLAs and MPs representing the state with 178 nominated members representing Kerala expatriates.

The Chief Minister is the leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, the deputy leader of the sabha, which will meet at least once in two years.

The Keralite expatriate community number around 24 lakh, mainly concentrated in the Gulf countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Security forces today defused an improvised explosive device (IED), weighing approximately five kilogrammes, on Srinagar-Baramulla highway, a police official said.

The IED was found in HMT area of Srinagar this morning, the official said.

The official said the area was cordoned off and traffic was diverted. A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot, which defused the explosive device, the official said.

Militants often trigger IED blasts to target security forces in the region. On January 6, four policemen were killed in an IED blast in Sopore township of north Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde today "wholly" condemned the action of four senior judges in going public over internal matters of the judiciary, saying it affected the reputation of the institution and may amount to contempt of court.

Questioning their action, he said internalmatters of the judiciary should not have been brought to thepublic for discussion, because neither the public, nor the government or the executive can give any relief to them.

"I wholly condemn the press meet yesterday held by the four judges of the Supreme Court.

"My complaint is these thingsshould not have been publicly discussed, consequent to whichthe reputation of the judiciary has been affected," he told PTI.

In an unprecedented move in the country's judicial history, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had held a press conference yesterday and mounted a virtual revolt against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, questioning him on the 'selective' allocation of cases and certain judicial orders passed by him.

Hegde, a former Lokayukta of Karnataka, said their action would not benefit anybody other than drawing public attention.

He said institutions like the judiciary survive on the confidence of the people.

"Once the confidence of the people is lost, the institution will be useless," he said.

Agreeing that the judges' intention was to'bring the muck out of the system, he disapproved of their approach as it would set a new precedent where judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court would start bringing theirdifferences into the public domain.

On whether their action was liable for impeachment,Hegde said he does not want to goto that extent, though he felt it can be possible, giventhe fact that a Calcutta High Court judge was impeached forcontempt of court.

He however, felt that their action may amount to contempt of court.

"Yes, it may amount to contempt of court but I amnot talking about that...I don't want to take the issue toanother direction. I am only questioning the action of the four judges who came out saying that the Chief Justice is being giving cases according to his whims and fancies.

"Yes, that is the jurisdiction given to him. And why not? That bench before which the case is posted does not have only person. There are two other judges there."



"That means you are suspecting the three judges. Let us not denigrate the institution," said Hegde.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has suggested to the Centre to set up fully government-funded universities for educational empowerment of Christians on the lines of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the Jamia Millia Islamia.

As part of its suggestions for a medium-term action plan to be implemented within seven years, the NCM also called for roping in educationists from the community to be given due representation in framing educational policies and be appointed on different expert committees.

"Christians should also be given universities for their communities, fully funded by the Government of India, like Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia University," the NCM said in its annual report for 2016-17.

The report is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the next session, sources said.

On being asked about the recommendation, NCM Chairman Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said, "Such a move will help ensure educational empowerment of Christians."



Rizvi said, like the AMU or the Jamia Millia Islamia, the university for Christians should impart education to students from other communities as well.

The NCM also said that the government should fully fund at least one university for Christians and it could do so in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.

According to the 2011 Census on the education level of different religious communities for age seven and above, the literacy rate of Christians was 74.34 per cent.

Muslims had the highest percentage of illiterates aged beyond seven years at 42.72, as per the census.

This percentage was 36.4 for Hindus, 32.49 for Sikhs and 28.17 for the Buddhists.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indian-American foster father of Sherin Mathews, a 3-year-old Indian girl whose body was found in a culvert near their suburban Dallas home in mysterious circumstances last October, was today indicted for capital murder by a grand jury.

The murder charge, which could carry the death penalty, was filed against Wesley Mathews, 37, after an autopsy in the death of the toddler adopted from an orphanage in Bihar showed that she died of "homicidal violence."



Sherin's foster mother, 35-year-old Sini Mathews, was also indicted on a charge of abandoning a child. The punishment for that ranges from two to 20 years in prison with a fine up to USD 10,000.

Authorities have not said what happened to Sherin, and court documents only allege that Mathews caused his daughter's death using a deadly weapon "by a manner and means unknown to the grand jury."



"We can't go into details, but based on that autopsy report, we were able to determine that we can seek capital murder for this case," Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a conference announcing the indictment.

Dallas County court records show Sherin's adoptive father also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence.

The fate of the couple's 4-year-old biological daughter is still being decided with another child protective services (CPS) hearing scheduled for the end of this month. They can either forfeit their parental rights, or the court will decide to schedule a civil trial to possibly terminate their rights.

Last month, the couple, hailing from Kerala, temporarily lost their rights to see their biological child, who has been placed with a family member in the Houston area.

Sherin went missing from her home in Richardson on October 7 and her body was found on October 22 in a culvert in suburban Dallas by a cadaver dog after an intense search. The toddler's body was identified days later using her dental records.

Initially, Wesley told police that he put her outside their home at 3 a.m. to discipline her for not drinking her milk.

His story changed after her body was found in a culvert, telling police that he "physically assisted" with pouring the milk down Sherin's throat and then moved her body after he realised she had choked and died.

Wesley also admitted to police that he removed Sherin's body from the home after changing his story multiple times on the events leading up to her death. Wesley and his wife Sini also left Sherin home alone the night before her disappearance, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson thanked Richardson Police Department for its work on the Sherin case.

She also hailed India's Consul-General in Houston Anupam Ray for his assistance in the case.

"...I also want to thank the Consul General of India, Anupam Ray, for his assistance as we move forward. Sadly, Sherin appears to be one of the many abused and neglected children in Texas. We are committed to continue our diligent and steadfast efforts to seek justice on their behalf," Johnson said.

The DA said it's now up to law enforcement to find justice for Sherin.

Both Consul General Anupam Ray and and deputy Consul Surendra Adhana were personally present at Dallas County courts when the indictments were announced by District Attorney Johnson. Trial dates will be decided by a Judge.

Ray, who has been in touch constantly with Johnson and her team of Prosecutors -- Michael Snipes and Erin Price - about this case, exuded confidence that justice would be delivered.

"Wesley and Sini will face trial. The prosecutors have and will pursue this case zealously so that justice is done. India has not forgotten this little child. May she rest in peace," Ray told PTI.

The Medical Examiner's office ruled last week the toddler died of "homicidal violence."



Prosecutors are not revealing what else they may know about how the little girl was killed.

"The evidence is still unfolding in this case. We don't want anything to jeopardise this case. We think that we have a great case, we plan to pursue this case vigorously, and we don't want anything to hamper it in any kind of way," Johnson said.

In a statement, Mitchell Nolte and Gregg Gibbs, attorneys for Sini Mathews, said, the indictments today confirmed that Sini had "nothing to do" with the tragic death of Sherin.

Wesley, arrested and charged with felony injury to a child, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. He is still in the Dallas County jail on a USD 1 million bond.

His wife Sini, is also in jail, held on a USD 100,000 bond for child endangerment/abandoning for allegedly leaving Sherin home alone while she, her husband, and their other daughter went to dinner on October 6, the night before Wesley reported Sherin missing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minster and Hazaribagh MP Jayant Sinha today said that he will pursue demands to begin daily inter city train services between Barkakana to Patna via Hazaribagh.

The demand for the train's route through Koderma and Gaya if met would provide express and fast train services to the people of Hazaribagh, he said.

The union minister asked the commercial railway manager of Dhanbad rail division to take up the matter seriously with the Railway Board.

This was announced at a press conference in which the Railway authorities and Sinha were present.

The CRM Imtiyaz Alim said that this demand was made last year when the rail link between Hazaribagh and Barkakana junction was inaugurated. But the Railways could not start the Barkakana-Hazaribagh- Patna inter city express due to poor turnout of passengers.

He said around 6000 railway passengers are travelling daily in two up and two down DMU passenger trains operating between Barkakana and Koderma via Hazaribagh town.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)To initiate the bright young minds to the rich and varied Indian classical art form, an international convention will be organised jointly by Spic Macay, IIT Kharagpur and The Bengal Chamber in June.

Students from different countries apart from various parts of India will be participating in the meet which will take place at the IIT Kharagpur campus from June 3 - 9, founder of the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among Youth (SPIC MACAY) Dr Kiran Seth told a press meet here today.

"The International meet will be part of our endeavour to promote classical arts among the present generation and let them know the unique and diverse cultural heritage of India," Seth said.

He said around 1500 delegates are expected to attend the convention.

Prof Abhijit Mukherjee from IIT KGP said at the press meet, "Our aim is to orient the students more to classical music and our rich culture."



Among the participants school students comprised 60-70 per cent, college and university students 15-25 per cent and SPIC MACAY volunteers about 10-20 per cent.

Prof Anandaroop Bhattacharya of IIT KGP said, "It is a great fortune and matter of pride for IIT KGP to host the SPIC MACAY. We have all the infrastructure to put things in place."



The Convention will include 15 concerts, two-three film screenings, apart from folk and puppetry performances by an estimated 250 artistes.

The Bengal Chamber President Indrajit Sen said "This is a project aimed at preserving and furthering all facets of India's rich culture and heritage.

SPIC MACAY, having got recognition from the Department of Culture and Youth Affairs, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, is working towards promoting classical arts through classical music, dance, folk art, handicrafts, photography, cinema and heritage tours within the country and outside. It has 15 chapters outside India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The SSB has arrested a Nepal national on charges of smuggling drugs and seized 10 kg of charas from him in Bihar's West Champaran district, an official said today.

A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) team on patrol duty stopped him from entering the country in an area under the Bhangaha police station late last night, SSB 44th Battalion, Commandant, Rajesh Kumar Tikkoo said.

They found that he was carrying charas worth Rs 2 crore in a bag and apprehended him, he said, adding that he was trying to smuggle the contraband on a motorcycle.

The man has been handed over to the police, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday held a review meeting with lenders and senior officials on the financial stress faced by some of the power projects, including that of Tata Power and Adani Group in Gujarat.

The high-level meeting was also attended by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, senior officials of power ministry, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar, among others, sources said.

It is to be noted that Tata Power last year offered to sell 51 per cent stake in its 4,000 MW Mundra power project for Re 1 to states like Gujarat, which gets electricity from it, to tide over the financial crisis facing this business. Besides, there were allegations that Adani Group charging exorbitant electricity tariff in Gujarat.

However, the company refuted the charges saying it sold power to the state at a "very attractive" price of Rs 2.65 per unit over the last four years.

Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL), the Tata Power unit which operates the Mundra project, wrote to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd offering to retain only 49 per cent stake and operate the project as a contractor provided the procurers buy all the power at higher tariffs.

In the letter, copies of which were marked to the principal secretary to the Prime Minister and Union power secretary, CGPL CEO Krishna Kumar Sharma said Mundra has accumulated losses of Rs 64.57 billion against a paid-up equity of Rs 60.83 billion.

It has an outstanding loan of Rs 101.59 billion and lenders have stopped further disbursal due to non-viability of the project, he wrote.

Tata had in February 2006 won a bid for the 4,000 MW Mundra project in Gujarat, quoting a price of Rs 2.26 for every unit of electricity generated. It had intended to fire the plan with coal imported from mines owned by the Tata Group in Indonesia.The government plans to give Rs 500 to Tuberculosis (TB) patients to help them buy nutritious food and compensate them for travel expenses until they are cured of the disease, a health ministry official has said.

Under the proposal, the money would be given to patients, who number around 25 lakh, irrespective of their income level.

The Expenditure Finance Committee has approved the proposal and sent it to the Mission Steering Group, the official said.

The initiative is part of the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination, with the health ministry aiming to eliminate TB by 2025.

"Around 25 lakh patients suffering from tuberculosis will soon be given Rs 500 per month, irrespective of their income level, as social support. A mechanism will be put in place to give the incentives to the patients on the basis of their Aadhaar number and medical documents," the official said.

According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 2.8 million cases of TB occur in India every year, out of which 1.7 million cases are reported.

"The health ministry aims to reduce incidences of TB by 90 per cent by 2025 and reduce mortality due to the disease by 95 per cent by 2030 under the Revised National TB Control Programme," the official said.

The ministry recently rolled out the daily drug regimen to combat the disease across the country.

Under the new treatment policy, patients are given fixed drug combinations - three or four drugs in a single pill - daily, instead of thrice a week (intermittent drug regimen).

Dosage is determined according to the patient's body weight. Previously, it was same for all adults, an official said.

"Also, children suffering from tuberculosis won't have to take the bitter tablets anymore as they will be replaced with easily-dissolvable and flavoured drugs," he said.

Since 1997, under the RNTCP, patients were being administered drugs thrice a week. The daily treatment regimen is likely to be more effective with lesser relapses and it is expected to reduce drug-resistance with greater compliance.

The WHO revised its TB management guidelines in 2010, recommending that the daily drug regimen be adopted under the RNTCP.

According to health ministry data, TB incidences were estimated to be 217 per lakh population in 2015, which reduced to 211 per lakh population in 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Justice Ranjan Gogoi, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, today said "there is no crisis".

"There is no crisis," he told PTI on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis.

Asked whether their act had amounted to a violation of discipline, Gogoi refused to comment, saying, "I have to catch a flight to Lucknow. I cannot talk."



The senior apex court judge was here to attend the eastern regional meet of the state legal services authorities.

In an unprecedented move, the four senior Supreme Court judges -- justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- had called a press conference in New Delhi yesterday and said the situation in the top court was "not in order" and that many "less than desirable" things had taken place.

Unless the institution was preserved, "Democracy will not survive in this country," they had stated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three persons were killed and two others injured when the car they were travelling on hit a road-side tree near Tikulia village, in Palamau district, police said today.

The incident occurred when the driver of the vehicle lost control over the vehicle and it hit a road-side tree yesterday night, killing three persons on the spot and injuring two others, the police said.

The injured were rushed to Sadar Hospital, Medininagar from where they were referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Science, Ranchi, the sources added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three girls drowned and five were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized this morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

Police said that 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing ones was continuing with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

The bodies of the three girls -- Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi -- all aged 17, were recovered, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe told PTI.

All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

The private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am, Singe said.

The students were on a picnic.

"The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations," the SP said.

The location is around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said. Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, the police said.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai today on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, has offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

"Anguished to hear of boat carrying school children capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. State government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and a host of other leaders today extended their greetings to the people on the occasion of the harvest festival of Pongal tomorrow.

Stating that the harvest festival brought joy and prosperity in abundance to families, Purohit said "let us resolve to keep up this glorious tradition of celebrating nature, our customs and the greatness of Tamil culture with gaiety and pride."



Purohit extended his "heartiest greetings and best wishes," for Pongal and Sankranthi.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami extended his greetings to the people, wishing them a prosperous life on the occasion.

The State government was providing Pongal gift pack to the people to celebrate with joy the harvest festival, that hails the contribution of farmers, he said.

The gift pack to ration card holders includes rice, sugar, cashew and raisins and is being distributed through PDS outlets.

Police personnel and Sri Lankan refugees are also eligible to get these gift packs.

Stating that Tamil Nadu government followed the footsteps of 'Amma,' the Chief Minsiter highligted several welfare schemes for farmers, including the Farmers Protection Scheme.

DMK Working President M K Stalin extended his greetings to the people and urged the cadres to hoist party flags on the occasion.

Rival AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran,BJP leader and Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan, State Secretaries of CPI and CPI (M) R Mutharasan and G Ramakrishnan were among other leaders who greeted the people on the occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tripura Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath has disqualified under the anti-defection law MLA Ratan Lal Nath who recently crossed over to the BJP from the Congress.

Nath, who was elected to the Assembly on a Congress ticket from Mohanpur constituency had joined the BJP on December 22 last year ahead of the state Assembly elections which are due in the first half of this year.

The Speaker told reporters here today that he disqualified Nath from the Assembly under the anti-defection law on the basis of a complaint lodged by Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Birajit Sinha.

The Speaker served notices to Sinha and Nath on January 1 after the TPCC chief's complaint and told them to be present in his chamber on January 8 to hear the complaint.

Nath then wrote a letter to the Speaker saying he was ill and wouldn't be able to attend the hearing. He also said that he was expelled from the Congress by the TPCC president and hence the anti-defection law would not be applicable on him.

"I had received a complaint from TPCC president for cancellation of membership of Nath and accordingly called Nath and Sinha to be present on January 8. Nath wanted time and I told him to appear before me yesterday (January 12) but he did not. Then I decided to expel him under the anti-defection Act," the Speaker said.

The term of the present 60-member Tripura House expires on March 14.

The Congress had 10 MLAs in the House after the 2013 Assembly election. Six of the Congress MLAs joined the Trinamool Congress and then switched over to the BJP.

Initially, the BJP had no MLAs in the House but the saffron party's strength rose to six after the switch-over. With Nath's joining the party, the strength increased to seven. However, Nath has now been disqualified.

The Congress is now left with two MLAs in the Assembly after one Congress MLA recently quite the party on his own.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump received his first medical checkup as president at Walter Reed military hospital today, undergoing a physical examination amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that he's mentally unfit.

Trump boarded Marine One at the medical facility in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, after about three hours at the hospital. Trump shook hands with his physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, and then waved before boarding his helicopter. Later in the day, the president was travelling to Florida for the weekend.

The fairly routine exam for previous presidents has taken on outsized importance in the age of Trump, given the tone of some of his tweets, comments attributed to some of his close advisers and Trump's recent slurring of words on national TV.

Some of the comments were published in a new book about Trump's first year, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by Michael Wolff, which White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has denounced as "complete fantasy" for portraying her 71-year-old boss as undisciplined and in over his head as president.

Trump himself has pushed back hard against any suggestion that he's mentally unfit, declaring himself "a very stable genius."



The examination was expected to last several hours and will measure things like Trump's blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, heart rate and weight.

The White House said Jackson, Trump's physician, was expected to release a brief statement on Friday after the exam and then provide a detailed readout of the exam on Tuesday and answer questions from reporters.

But conclusions about Trump's mental acuity aren't expected. The White House said Trump will not undergo a psychiatric exam.

Officials did not address a different type of screening: assessments of cognitive status that examine neurologic functions including memory. Cognitive assessments aren't routine in standard physicals, though they recently became covered in Medicare's annual wellness visits for seniors.

While the exams are not mandatory, modern presidents typically undergo them regularly and release a doctor's report declaring they are "fit for duty."



Two months before the November 2016 election, Trump released a five-paragraph letter from his longtime physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, who concluded that Trump "is in excellent physical health." A year earlier, Bornstein said in a December 2015 letter: "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."The 2016 letter put Trump's blood pressure and cholesterol measurements in the healthy range, though he uses a cholesterol-lowering statin medication. His EKG, chest X- ray, echocardiogram and blood sugar were normal.

The 6-foot-3 Trump weighed 107 kilograms, and his body mass index, or BMI, of 29.5 put him in the category of being overweight for his height.

Trump takes Crestor for his cholesterol, a low-dose aspirin for heart attack prevention, Propecia to treat male- pattern baldness and antibiotics for rosacea. The doctor's 2016 letter stated that Trump's testosterone level, 441.6, was in the normal range, as were his PSA reading for prostate abnormalities and tests of his liver and thyroid.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump today decided not to re-impose sanctions on Iran, keeping the 2015 landmark nuclear deal alive, even as his Administration announced another round of tough sanctions on 14 individuals and entities of the Islamic Republic.

In a background briefing, senior administration officials said this was Trump's "waiver" on Iran whose sanctions were lifted in 2015 under the landmark nuclear deal signed between th Islamic Republic and six world powers.

"The president will also make clear that this is the last such waiver he will issue," a senior administration official said.

"He intends to work with our European partners on some kind of follow-on agreement that enshrines certain triggers that the Iranian regime cannot exceed related to ballistic missiles, related to nuclear breakout period... to inspection and that would have no sunset clause," the official said.

"If the president can get that agreement that meets his objectives and that never expires, that as he said in his October Iran strategy speech that denies Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, but forever, not for 10 years or any other shorter period of time, he would be open to remaining in such a modified deal," said another administration official.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Issuing designations for 14 individuals and entities, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice.

"We are targeting the Iranian regime, including the head of Iran's judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest against their government," he said.

"We are also targeting Iran's ballistic missile programme and destabilising activities, which it continues to prioritise over the economic well-being of the Iranian people," Mnuchin said.

Among those included are Iran and China-based procurement network, Chinese national Shi Yuhua, two Iranian defence industry firm Helicopter Support and Renewal Company and Iran Aircraft Industries, Malaysia-based Green Wave Telecommunication and Iranian Motes Razavi, Iran's Supreme Council for Cyberspace and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organisation.

Senior administration officials alleged that over the past couple of weeks, Iran's malign activity has been in full display.

"This includes its human rights abuses and censorship of protesters, including those held in Iranian prisons, as well as their continued developments of threatening weapons systems," the official said.

The nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers - the US, UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

In turn, Iran would be allowed to lift all nuclear- related economical sanctions, freeing up tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen assets.

Trump declared in October that the agreement was "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into", and warned that within a few years Iran would be able to "sprint towards a rapid nuclear weapons breakout".

He accused Iran of committing "multiple violations" and promised to work with Congress to "address the deal's many serious flaws".

According to the senior administration official, Trump's decision is to waive once more the nuclear sanctions that the terms of the JCPOA require the US to waive in order to remain in the deal.

The official insisted that this would not entail direct negotiations with the Iranians.

This would be something the United States works out with our European partners only. It would be an agreement amongst the United States and our European partners to reimpose multilateral sanctions, should the Iranians surpass the new triggers that we would lay out," the official said.

Trump yesterday told reporters that he will soon take a decision whether or not to re-impose sanctions lifted under the Iran nuclear deal. Trump has already declared that he no longer considers the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers to be in the United States' national interest.

He, however, has continued to follow the example of his predecessor Barack Obama in regularly signing sanctions waivers so that US economic measures against Tehran do not "snap back."



The deadlines for a number of these waivers to be renewed will fall over the coming week, and Trump is obliged to decide whether or not to maintain sanctions relief.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two men were arrested for allegedly duping over 350 people on the pretext of providing them loans under government schemes, the police said today.

The accused, Sandeep (25) and Ayush Dixit alias Gaurav Kapoor (22) committed a fraud of approximately Rs 50 lakh, they said.

On November 23, a woman approached the Mayapuri police with a complaint that she had been duped.

The woman said that she had received a call on her cell phone from Aakash Jain, a fake identity used by the accused, and that she was offered a loan on easy terms and conditions by him.

Sandeep, along with Kapoor visited her house and asked her to submit her documents and demanded Rs 20,000 as processing fee, the police said, adding that the complainant agreed and provided them the documents and the cash.

On November 17, she received another call from the accused who informed her that her loan would be sanctioned the next day after she makes one more payment, they said.

She deposited Rs 55,000.

Later, when she tried to contact them, their phones were switched off.

Sandeep has a diploma in electronics and communication from Delhi University and has worked in power major and as an advisor to an insurance company.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More than 580 grams of gold worth about Rs 16.05 lakh was today seized from a man who arrived at the airport here from Dubai, an official said.

Two gold chains, totally weighing 582.780 gm, were seized from the passenger who arrived by an Emirates flight, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said.

Officers of the Air Intelligence Unit, Air Customs, Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, here, intercepted the passenger, a native of Thrissur, at the exit gate on suspicion.

The gold chains were recovered when he was searched, the official said.

Earlier this month, gold totally weighing 3.1 kg and valued at Rs 94 lakh were seized here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two Indian nationals have been arrested for their alleged involvement in printing counterfeit Nepalese rupee notes, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a special team of police caught Balbir Singh, 22, and Krishna Singh, 20, on Thursday from Bhimdutta Municipality of Far-Western region when they were printing counterfeit Nepalese rupee notes of denomination of Rs 1,000, police said.

Various chemicals and equipment used for printing fake bank notes were seized from their possession, the police said.

Balbir and Krishna were earlier printing fake Nepalese currency from India, police said, adding that further investigation in the matter is going on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two children drowned and six were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized this morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

Police said that 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing students was continuing with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

The bodies of Sonal Bhagwan Surati and Janhavi Harish Surati, both residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area, were recovered, Manjunath Singe, Superintendent of Police, Palghar told PTI.

Singe said that the private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am.

The students were on a picnic.

"The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircarft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations," Singe informed.

The location is around 20 miles off the Dahanu Coast, a spokesperson of Coast Guard said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing "balance of power" in the Security Council to make the world body more "democratic".

Speaking at a ceremony yesterday at which Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China from Ecuador, the UN Secretary-General called for a more democratic UN, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all its bodies.

"The centre of that is in the reform of the Security Council, it is in the revitalisation of the General Assembly, but one thing that I am strongly committed at the Secretariat level and that is one of the reasons of the management reform that we have proposed is to make sure that, at that the level of the Secretariat, that increased diversity and that balance of power is established," he said.

He expressed hope that the Group of 77 will be "attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives an effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic UN where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."



He said Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world but in a world where international relations have more justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)West Bengal currently tops the list of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2017, comprising 36 states and Union Territories.

The eastern state's 'implementation scorecard' stood at 86.18 per cent, the same as neighbouring Jharkhand, followed by Gujarat at 82.38 per cent, according to DIPP data.

The development comes as a shot in the arm for West Bengal, days before it hosts the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

The rankings, however, are based on implementation only and scores of feedback evaluation "have not" been considered, a communication issued by DIPP said.

In 2017, there were 103 new set of reforms (out of 405) focusing on central inspection system, online land allotment system, online single-window system for granting construction permits, and registration under Inter-State Migrant Workmen (RE&CS) Act, 1979 among others, it said.

BRAP 2017 also includes two new sectors -- healthcare and hospitality.

In 2016, West Bengal was at 15th position in the BRAP rankings.By Jonathan Saul, Gus Trompiz and Hallie GuLONDON/PARIS/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's COFCO International is in the throes of a staffing upheaval as the group pursues its professed ambition of sitting at the top table of global agricultural traders.But doubts persist among some in the industry over whether the trading firm will really challenge the existing four dominant players in grains, oilseeds and sugar. In the end, they suspect, it may prioritise securing strategic food supplies for China over commercial aims in an era of rising trade tensions.State-owned conglomerate China National ...By David Shepardson(Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has agreed to a settlement worth up to $232 million (C$290.5) with owners of vehicles in Canada affected by its diesel emissions-cheating scandal, the automaker said on Friday.The agreement provides for cash payments to owners of about 20,000 3.0-liter Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche diesel vehicles in Canada and is subject to court approval. The German automaker also agreed to pay a $2.5 million Canadian dollar civil penalty."This is an important milestone towards making things right for all of our customers with affected diesel vehicles in Canada," ...Who would you rather have in your fridge? Alexa, Cortana, or some as-yet unknown virtual assistant? Manufacturers of appliances and other products are considering factors such as ease of use and language support as they pick voice technology from what they view as a wide open battle between Alphabets Google, Amazon.com and others. Consumer demand is surging for the ability to summon music, order food and control lights by voice commands. Amazon.coms Alexa voice assistant is the early leader and could spur up to $12 billion in Amazon sales in 2020, Stifel, Nicolaus ...Ive gone gray, and its great. In an effort to break my smartphone addiction, Ive joined a small group of people turning their phone screens to grayscale  cutting out the colours and going with a range of shades from white to black. First popularised by the tech ethicist Tristan Harris, the goal of sticking to shades of gray is to make the glittering screen a little less stimulating. Ive been gray for a couple days, and its remarkable how well it has eased my twitchy phone checking, suggesting that one way to break phone attachment may be to, ...Anil Manibhai Naik's life revolves around L&T. He has always been willing to talk passionately about the company and its future. A hard taskmaster, Naik set high standards for his staff while at the helm and is the man behind L&Ts success story. Naik, now the non-executive Chairman of L&T, has added another feather to his crowded cap.

He's been conferred Business Todays Lifetime Achievement Award - a new category in our annual Best CEO awards.When Business Today met him at his corner office in Landmark building at Mumbais Andheri, Naik appeared keen on ceding the spotlight to his successor. "To know anything related to the current business of L&T, you will have to speak to S.N. Subrahmanyan (MD&CEO). My roles are different now", says Naik. Subrahmanyan took over in June 2017.

Our conversation with Naik revealed that even after spending more than 53 years with L&T, Naik is still thinking about L&T and its businesses. The 76-year-old devotes most of his time to the company that he regards as his 'temple'. He regards himself as the 'keeper' of that temple. His unflagging energy is now focussed on evolving a new strategic vision for L&T. It includes deciding the business areas L&T should enter and exit in the coming years and how to make the company ready for a future rooted in high-end, next generation technologies.

The target is to double the companys turnover by 2021. Then, he has taken on the task of training the next generation leaders for L&T. "I also spend time on my social work (Naik has pledged spending 75 percent of his earnings for charity) and taking care of my health, which I ignored while working almost 16 hours a day for the last 53 years," says the workaholic Chairman, who ensures most of his senior subordinates maintain a punishing schedule like him.Soon we realise, from the numerous calls he attends to, that AM Naik is still hands on at L&T and tracks where his key executives are, what they do and whom they are meeting. He always has been aggressive, assertive and authoritative both in business dealings and handling subordinates.

In fact, it was Naik who made the Rs 1.2 lakh crore L&T an engineering behemoth, currently operating in about 85 businesses. After he took over as its CEO and MD in 1999, Naik professionalised the company, brought in entrepreneurial aggression into an entity that was working more like a public sector company and made it a part of the various initiatives that independent India is proud of - from satellites, major airports, defence projects (from nuclear submarines to missiles) to moon or mars missions. He also ensured L&T became a multinational, with 35 percent of revenue coming from overseas business. Since 1999, L&T's revenues have grown 25 times and market capitalisation by 85 times. Almost all marquee infrastructure projects in India are now handled by L&T.

Whats more, Naik transformed an engineering company into a new age business conglomerate operating in diverse high end technology and engineering services, IT, finance, defence, infrastructure and of late, ship building, smart cities and water. "There may be specialist engineering companies in certain areas, but there is no company in the world which can do all that L&T does," says Naik with pride.Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, who closely knows Naik for the past 35 years, since he was a general manager with L&T, points out that some of AM Naik's best qualities are his engineering brain and passion to take L&T ahead of the competition. "I still remember that in the middle 80s, we had a Japanese compressor. It was a titanium and we had a problem. I called Mr Naik and he said I will fix it for you. Within six days, we fixed the problem in India," said Ambani recently at a function in Mumbai to launch Naiks biography, The Nationalist.

When L&T was confined to just a single engineering workshop facility at Powai in Mumbai, Naik had the vision to create new big engineering facilities to accommodate the needs of the future. In 1980s, he created the huge Hazira engineering complex, now spread over 755 acres in coastal Gujarat, and followed it up with a knowledge city in Vadodara. Currently L&T's facilities are spread across the country in different locations, with the latest available facilities and technologies, and have an imprint of his vision.Independent observers say Naik's stature has grown beyond even the Danish founders of the company - Henning Holck Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro - who founded L&T way back in 1938. That is mainly because Naik successfully fought hostile takeover attempts by two of India's leading corporate houses in early 2000s and made its employees the largest shareowners. For that, he floated an L&T Employees Welfare Trust, a way to ring-fence any future takeover attempts, which eventually helped many employees become millionaires through stock options.Such battles were not new to him, a natural leader and organiser.

At school, where his father was the headmaster, he had led an agitation of students to improve the quality of English education. Even the decision to quit his first job at Nestor Boilers in Mumbai after a year was a fallout of a revolt against the humiliation of a very senior colleague by the then promoters son. "In my career, I had fired thousands of non-performing employees, but I never insulted or humiliated them. Many of them still respect me and they could come up in life as they realised their mistakes," says Naik.Naik is a seasoned street-smart CEO. After joining L&T as a junior engineer at a salary of `670 in 1965, he soon became the most commanding voice in the company. He still maintains that there are not many CEOs in India who have such a cordial relationship with the staff, from top executives to foremen in the shopfloor of their factories.

Unlike most CEOs, who are afraid of speaking against the government, Naik is very often critical. "That is because my role model is my father who always told me to stand for virtue, values and what is right", says Naik.Also, unlike many Harvard or Wharton educated CEOs, who get the top job simply because they belong to the promoter clan, Naik had to fight his way to the top. He studied at a tribal area school in Gujarat and a nondescript engineering college, Birla Viswakarma Mahavidyalaya, Anand. In his first job interview itself, Naik was told to improve his crude English to survive. A hardworking Naik listened to audio tapes and rehearsed before the mirror to improve his English skills.

In the initial five years at L&T, his hardwork earned him a good salary and five promotions to become an assistant general manager. Then there was a phase when he was denied promotion for almost a decade as the company slipped into the hands of seniority conscious bureaucratic leaders. "I am not someone who bothered much about promotions or wealth and my ambition has always been to work for L&T", says Naik. Indeed, he would be known in history as the man who moulded the modern L&T.At a time when stock prices of most big players in the pharmaceutical industry have plummeted sharply on the bourses, Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma stands out - the `2,078-crore company has stood its ground despite ups and downs. Consider this: in the past three years, Sun Pharma, the biggest Indian pharma company, has seen its share price tumble from `827.2 to `578.8, taking its market cap down from `171,316.3 crore to `138,860 crore. Lupin's story is similar - its share price fell from `1,429.7 to `899.2 and market cap slipped from `64,223.8 crore to `40,644.1 crore.

Analysts often refer to how most companies are currently trading at less than 50 per cent of their peak share prices two years ago. However, Natco saw its share price move up from `299.5 to `998.9 - closer to the 52-week high of `1,080. One could argue that Natco's US business had a low base, unlike the other Indian players, but that it grew dramatically since then is what made the difference. Natco Pharma's prolific run led the jury to unanimously choose Chowdary V. Nannapaneni as the best CEO in two categories - pharma and healthcare and small companies.

So, what did Natco do right in this period? Analysts say it is Natco's ability to pick its battles and capitalise on the opportunities, steered by a nimble leadership structure that ensures quick decision-making. Nannapaneni, Chairman and Managing Director, believes that the company's strategy of identifying niche opportunities has paid off. He credits his team - led by his son, the over-six-ft-tall Rajeev Nannapaneni, who is the vice chairman and CEO of the company - for doing things right. Both analysts and industry folk see Rajeev, 40, as a professional with a sharp ability to spot opportunities and adept at keeping a pulse on the happenings within the sector.

Natco's product launches in the US and India had a big impact on its growth. One was the launch of the first generic version of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir oral capsules), used to treat influenza, for which Natco tied up with marketing partner Alvogen in the US. In India, it was among the first to launch the hepatitis C basket of products - the drug and its combinations - last year under a licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences. The launch of the generic version of Teva's drug Copaxone for multiple sclerosis in the US, with its partner Mylan, in the second half of 2017 was another major move.

Typically, Natco's strategy has been to work with a partner in markets like the US. The partners handle litigation costs and marketing and share the revenues in return. Alvogen, Mylan, Breckenridge Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's and Lupin are among its many partners. G.V. Prasad, Co-chairman and CEO of Dr Reddy's, says, "Natco is a smart company. It has been a partner and competitor. We can live with that."

Selective Strategy

Explaining the strategy for success in the past two to three years, Rajeev says, "We never go after scale or volume or multiple filings for marketing products in the US. The strategy has always been to do limited number of things, but all niche or hard-to-do generics." The company tries to either be the first in the market or launch a product that is linked to a tricky patent litigation or have a product that is based on tough chemistry and, therefore, hard to replicate. "Tamiflu is a case of patent litigation, hepatitis C was about technology and Copaxone generic is peptide chemistry with its very difficult characterisation challenges."

The Copaxone generic demonstrated its chemistry skills - the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) going into the drug is made by Natco. The drug is in two formats, 20 mg and 40 mg. For 20 mg, Natco makes both the API and the formulation, and for the 40 mg, it makes the API.

Analysts rate Natco's chemistry capabilities as noteworthy. Even in oncology, a key therapy area for the company, the focus has been more on chemistry than biotech. It has 350 employees in the R&D team out of the total 4,600 employees, up 30 per cent from about two years ago. It has raised `915 crore from qualified institutional investors (QIPs), most of which will be used on complex generics for the US market, which has a longer gestation period, and on Indian branded generics. In terms of therapeutic segments, the focus is on three areas - oncology, peptide chemistry-based therapy areas like drugs to deal with multiple sclerosis, applications in oncology and diabetes, and drugs for cardiology and diabetology. The QIP incidentally has brought promoter holding down from over 51 per cent to a little over 48 per cent.

How did the three product launches impact the company financially? "Three financial years ago, we were a `800-odd-crore company and became a `2,100-crore (total consolidated revenues) company in two financial years - the more-than-doubling of revenues can be largely attributed to these developments and our focus on doing a limited number of things," says Rajeev.

The company is also investing in hiring bright brains from outside the company - it has hired people from Mylan and Dr Reddy's - and also nurturing and promoting those in-house. Of the 10-member core team, seven have been with the company for 15-20 years.

Revenue Split

The company earns an equal amount of revenue - about 40 per cent - from the US and India, though the senior management admits there are avenues to grow the business further in India. "Two years ago, about 70 per cent of the resources were used for the US market and a bulk of the rest for India. Now it is 50:50."

The US market poses multiple challenges, the biggest being consolidation of customers. "This has led to price erosion in a lot of products, and unless you have a unique generic in the US, it has become very difficult to sell there. Plus, filings by Indian companies continue, leading to more competition. All of this is unlikely to change dramatically in the coming years, so it makes sense to focus on India," Rajeev says, quickly adding, "You should still do US because you cannot ignore the world's largest generic market, but you need to choose the battles you want to fight."

In India, the market is fairly competitive and that's the real challenge; but because it is a branded generic market, one needs to make smart products to be more financially stable. Pricing issues, in terms of price controls, and regulatory challenges are other hassles. But Natco is bullish on the India opportunity. "In hindsight, I think the industry, including us, made a mistake. We should have done more products in India than we actually did. We all ended up overdoing US and undervaluing India. This needs correction. India offers a lot of potential - it is a growing economy and the purchasing power is rising each day." Ask him on the approaches then for this market and he says it could include patent challenges and perhaps also options like seeking revocation of compulsory licences.

Journey So Far

It has not been a smooth ride for Natco. Nannapaneni was just 36 when, in 1981, he chose to return to India after working in the US in various pharmaceutical companies. He founded Natco with a small loan that he managed to secure and with support from family. But it was not until 2003 - 22 years since its founding - that Natco got global attention when it launched Veenat, the generic version of Swiss multinational Novartis AG's anti-cancer drug Glivec (or Gleevec, as it is referred to in the US) in India at one-tenth the cost of the listed price, and later in 2013 when it beat Novartis in its patent protection battle for the drug.

"Let the product be big and the rest will fall in place," says Nannapaneni, who takes fitness seriously and is up everyday at 4 am and in office at 8.40 am. He says it is pointless if the focus is only on making the company big. While he is around to mentor and guide, it is Rajeev who is seen as driving Natco's operations.Business Today is hosting the fifth edition of MindRush-India Today Group's annual flagship business event. The one-day conference is being held at St Regis, Mumbai today. Here are the highlights.

Highlight74:Life Achievement Award: A.M. Naik Executive Chairman of Larsen & Toubro#

Highlight73:Life Achievement Award: Yogesh Chander Deveshwar Chairman ITC#

Highlight72:Champion of Champions Award: Kenichi Ayukawa CEO Maruti Suzuki#

Highlight71:Best CEO for large company: Kenichi Ayukawa CEO Maruti Suzuki#

Highlight70:Best PSU in Banking: Mahesh Kumar Jain CEO Indian Bank#

Highlight69:Best CEO Pharmaceutical Sector: Rajeev Nannapaneni Vice Chairman & CEO Natco Pharma#

Highlight68:Best CEO in FMCG Sector: Varun Berry CEO Britannia Industries#

Highlight67:Best CEO Cement Sector: Yadupati Singhania CEO JK Cement#

Highlight66:Best CEO Banking Sector: Romesh Sobti CEO IndusInd Bank#

Highlight65:Business Today Best CEO's Awards Ceremony Begins#

Highlight64:India needs to develop farm to franchise model: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight63:Unlike China and Japan, India can't follow farm to factory model for economic growth. We have to develop our own model: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight62:The government has strengthened the creditors and that has brought down the cost of borrowings: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight61:Bankruptcy Bill has fundamentally changed the equation between debt and equity: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight60:Formalisation of the economy is the most transformational reform that we have accomplished: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight59:BJP government launched 3.0 reform and created very different economy: Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation#

Highlight58:Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, starts speaking at MindRush2018#

Highlight57:Robotics and Artificial Intelligence will change the industries in next few years: Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group#

Highlight56:The government is doing many policy changes. GST is only one. In today's world of constant disruption, there is no CEO who is facing challenges on the policy front: Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group#

Highlight55:Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group starts addressing MindRush2018#

Highlight54:Your attitude defines your altitude: Mark Inglis Mountaineer & Motivational Speaker#

Highlight53:ABOVE FAILURE & BEYOND SUCCESS- Mark Inglis Mountaineer & Motivational Speaker#

Highlight52:Universal Basic Income is not possible in India, because its cost would be equal to country's fiscal deficit: Soumya Kanti Ghosh Chief Economist, SBI#

Highlight51:Expect government to do away with taxes on dairy products: RS Sodhi MD, Amul#

Highlight50:Government should lower the corporate tax to 25 per cent: Ajit Ranade Chief Economist, Aditya Birla group#

Highlight49:SBI will soon release a report on job creation and findings of it are quite contrast to what has been called job-less growth: Soumya Kanti Ghosh Chief Economist, SBI#

Highlight48:Government should focus on jobs, rural growth,private sector investment, exports and solving NPA/banking issues: Ajit Ranade Chief Economist, Aditya Birla group#

Highlight47:Demonetisation helped mutual funds business multifolds: Nimesh Shah ICICI Pru Asset Management Company#

Highlight46:GST is a landmark reform and its benefits will reflect in next fiscal year: Ajit Ranade Chief Economist, Aditya Birla group#

Highlight45:Demonetisation helped Amul in a big way: RS Sodhi MD, Amul#

Highlight44:Life Post DEMO & GST- Union Budget: Any Scope for Good News?#

Highlight43:Learn from a personal transformation to make organisational transformation: Janmejaya Sinha Chairman, BCG#

Highlight42:Build a culture and make it last: Sunil Lulla MD & Chairman, Grey Worldwide#

Highlight41:Inaction is a sure death: Janmejaya Sinha Chairman, BCG#

Highlight40:When you can not predict or shape the future, you need to be agile: Janmejaya Sinha Chairman, BCG#

Highlight39:Leaders may think that they change organisation, but in fact they change people: Sunil Lulla MD & Chairman, Grey Worldwide#

Highlight38:Reinventing Organizations: Do you "Predict & Control" or "Sense & React"?#

Highlight37:Who we are is more important than what we do: Lisa Gill - Reimaginaire#

Highlight36:Good leaders empower, they don't micromanage: Lisa Gill - Reimaginaire#

Highlight35:No hierarchy, no bureaucracy isn't the answer to organizational issues: Lisa Gill- Reimaginaire#

Highlight34:Growth mindset is not just about being open minded but believing that people's intelligence could grow over time: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight33:In learning zone, when we want to focus on something we haven't mastered yet, we are bound to make mistakes: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight32:We have to reflect as leaders as to what message we send through our words and actions: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight31:I have grown over the years because I believed I can get better: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight30:Intellingence could be developed over time: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight29:Change has always happened and it will in future... but what has changed now is that the rate of change has accelerated: Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master#

Highlight28:Masterclass by Eduardo Briceno, Co-Founder, Mindset Works begins#

Highlight27:Collaborations is the key. Be it academia, corporate or the government: Rajkamal Vempati CHRO, Axis Bank#

Highlight26: In the long run, you will have to look at concepts like Universal Minimum Income: Abhinav Chopra, CHRO, Viacom 18#

Highlight25:We need to reimagine the world it is. Progression is not going to be linear. Solution is going to be exponential: Abhinav Chopra, CHRO, Viacom 18#

Highlight24: The government needs to skill people for new kind of jobs: Prakash Rao,Founding Member and Head of HCM PeopleStrong#

Highlight23:Each generation thinks it is smarter than the past and better than the future. I don't think that's going to change: SV Nathan, Group HR Head, Deloitte#

Highlight22:It's about giving flexibility to suit people's lifestyle How does the compensation structure allow that: Rajkamal Vempati, CHRO, Axis Bank#

Highlight21: We are talking about gig economy. How people are going to adapt is the question: Prakash Rao Founding Member and Head of HCM PeopleStrong#

Highlight20: Millenials are looking at experiences, not set roles: Amit Prakash Executive VP and Head HR, Marico Ltd#

Highlight19: Perfection is passe now. The word kids are using now is awesome: Abhinav Chopra, CHRO, Viacom 18#

Highlight18:The future of work is changing is every second at a fast pace. We are talking about gig economy. How people are going to adapt is the question: Prakash Rao Founding Member and Head of HCM PeopleStrong#

Highlight17: Business models are changing. The logic of the past doesn't apply any more: Abhinav Chopra, CHRO, Viacom 18#

Highlight16:We keep evaluating policies all the time. We audit our policies for relevance: SV Nathan, Group HR Head, Deloitte#

Highlight15:Earlier, it was fashionable to say I work from 7 in the morning till late in the night. That has changed: SV Nathan, Group HR Head, Deloitte#

Highlight14:This is abundance of career choices for the youngsters: Abhinav Chopra, CHRO, Viacom 18#

Highlight13:The workforce is changing. 85 percent of people are millenials, says Nathan#

Highlight12: A policy that held good about two years ago, not necessarly will hold good today. We keep changing HR policies according to situations, says SV Nathan, Group HR Head, Deloitte#

Highlight11: First session of BT MindRush 'May the force be with you begins'. The topic of discussion is How To Make Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millennials Work In One Frame#

Highlight10:Our theme for Mindrush this year is 'Rebrain or Rot', it is also the theme of the Business Today magazine. It is about re-learning in an ever-changing world, says Prosenjit Datta, Editor, Business Today magazine#

Highlight9:This is the first MindRush Business Today is holding in financial capital of India, says Business Today Editor Prosenjit Datta#

Highlight8:Among other prominent speakers is Mark Inglis: The only double amputee to scale Mt Everest#

Highlight7:Prominent speakers are Rajkamal Vempati, CHRO, Axis Bank, SV Nathan, Group HR Head, Deloitte, Sunil Lulla, MD and Chairman, Grey Worldwide and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation among others#

Highlight6:The theme of this year's MindRush is Rebrain or Rot#

Highlight5:Master Classes by experts like Eduardo Briceno - Mindset Master, Growth Mindset and Improvement Expert; Lisa Gill - Learning Disrupter; Incredible Mountain Ranger Mark Inglis among many others#

Highlight4:MindRush was introduced in 2013 to bring the Indian business community in closer contact with global thought leadership#

Highlight3:The business conclave is designed as a thought exchange platform and brings together a galaxy of international thought leaders and industry captains#

Highlight2:Its objective is to shape the industry agenda and engage politicians, business leaders, academicians and opinion makers to collaborate on finding solutions to challenges faced by the industry#

Highlight1:MindRush is a platform for young CEOs and senior executives, where they interact with global management gurus, top Indian thought leaders and executive icons.#As the exhilarating day of BT MindRush was coming to a close, it was time to honour the best corporate leaders. The chief guest at the event, Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, handed over the awards to the winners. Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, received the Champion of Champions award. He also received the award for the Best CEO (Large Companies) and Best CEO (Auto & Ancillaries).

IndusInd Bank Managing Director & CEO, Romesh Sobti, received the award for the Best CEO in banking, while Varun Berry, Managing Director, Britannia Industries, received the award for the Best CEO in the FMCG industry. The Best CEO (Super) award went to B. Ashok, Chairman, Indian Oil. The Best CEO (Medium) award went to Navin Agarwal, Executive Chairman, Vedanta, while V.C. Nannapaneni, Chairman & Managing Director, Natco Pharma, got the award for Best CEO (Small) and Best CEO (Pharma and Healthcare). Kapil Wadhawan, CEO of Dewan Housing Finance received the Best CEO award in Financial Services.

Speaking to the gathering, Sinha said, "We are witnessing reform 3.0," talking about formalisation of the economy with GST and demonetisation, the setting up of the Monetary Policy Committee, bankruptcy code, building of infrastructure and steps to increase social security, among other things. He said while the ground work has been done, the economy will have to be taken forward by businesses and leaders. "We in India have to develop our own model," he says.

"We cannot follow a 'farm to factory' model," he said, adding that instead we should look at a 'farm to franchise' model - India's swadeshi model. He said we should look at mass services, rather than mass manufacturing, talking about companies such as Ola, Flipkart and Rivigo.

In its fifth year now, BT MindRush has been a learning platform for the most distinguished minds of India Inc. Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, sounded off the importance of learning. "In today's world of constant disruptions, there is no CEO or business leader I know who is not learning continuously and who is not thinking constantly about the future," he said, adding, "In today's world, it is all about surviving by re-braining yourself."

"They can make or break an organisation," said Purie, talking about the importance of CEOs, adding, "Besides the operational aspects, they determine strategy and foresee the challenges which the company will have to face."

Purie expressed disappointment over the lack of women leaders in the Best CEO list this year but expressed hope for the next year.

Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award was received by A.M. Naik, Group Chairman, L&T. Dedicating the award to L&T, where he has spent over 53 years, Naik said, "L&T's growth is part of the larger narrative of the India growth story." He credited his learning to his formative years in a village in South Gujarat. "That is where I learnt the core principles which have moulded my character," he said adding his success mantra is passion, conviction, commitment and devotion.Friday, January 12, 2018 at 3:01PM

Based on the 2002 novel by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon is as Engadget puts it Netflixs spin on Blade Runner. And now we get to see what the show looks like ahead of its February 2 premiere. The science fiction series set over 300 years in the future promises a story about murder, love, sex, and betrayal. A rich man, played by James Purefoy, looks to have his own murder solved and so he resurrects hires Takeshi Kovacs (played by Joel Kinnaman), a soldier who was killed in action 250 years ago. And from what the trailer shows us, it looks like a massive production.news, latest-news

If you think summers are getting hotter, you're right. Just look at Australia's gas and coal power plants, which struggle to cope in the heat. Here's why extreme heat is the greatest threat to the security of eastern Australia's electricity supply. First, global warming means extreme heat events are the new normal for Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology says the number of days each year when Australia's average temperature is "extreme" is increasing. We're talking the types of days where parts of the Hume Highway literally melt in the heat. In 2013, there were 28 extreme-temperature days; before 1950, more than half the years had zero extreme days. Without the effects of global warming, the record-breaking February 2017 heatwave would be considered a one-in-500-year event. If global temperatures reach 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, possibly as early as 2050, summers this hot will become a one-in-five-year event. And with Australia's emissions rising for the third year in a row, the Coalition government isn't doing anything effective to address our contribution to global warming. So we can expect extremely hot days more frequently. Second, like polar bears, gas and coal-fired power stations don't cope well with the heat. Thermal electricity generation, including thermal coal and combined cycle gas, require cooling to function. In heatwaves, cooling obviously becomes difficult and many power stations fail to produce at their full capacity, or they "trip" and fail in part or in full. On January 7, when temperatures soared to 47.3 degrees in Penrith, the ageing Eraring coal-fired power station tripped, dropping about abound 275 megawatts in the space of 10 minutes  essentially at the same time everyone had their air-conditioners and fans turned to maximum. The Australia Institute monitors when gas and coal-fired power stations trip, often dropping hundreds of megawatts of power from the grid within minutes. The "gas and coal watch", on the institute's website, shows Victoria's Loy Yang A coal-fired power station tripped seven times in the past month. Queensland's Milmerran coal plant tripped on New Year's Day, dropping 155 megawatts, Tarong Power Station dropped 314 megawatts of generation on December 28, while Gladstone power plant tripped and lost 229 megawatts on Christmas Day. And it's not just ageing plants. Kogan Creek is Australia's second-newest coal power plant. and It broke down for the second time in a month on January 11, taking 700 megawatts off the grid. Kogan Creek is one of Australia's few supercritical coal-fired power plants  you know, those ultra-supercritical-expialidocious plants that the Minerals Council talks up regularly. It turns out they aren't so super in the heat. Last summer, Australia Institute research showed a full 14 per cent (3600 megawatts) of coal and gas generation failed during the February 2017 heatwave. In South Australia, 17 per cent of gas-powered generation was unavailable during the peak demand period that led to the blackouts on February 8. In NSW, 20 per cent of coal and gas generation failed to deliver during the peak demand period on February 10, leading to load shedding at Tomago aluminium smelter. In Queensland, 7 per cent of coal and gas generation was withdrawn in the four hours leading to peak demand on February 12, due to technical issues, mostly (and possibly entirely) due to the heat. We need a heat-resilient electricity grid. And consumers and business want a reliable grid that doesn't dramatically increase their power bills. Here's the good news: the best options aren't the most expensive. A heat-resilient grid means we need more demand management, where consumers are paid to turn off their pool filter and turn up the thermostat on their air-conditioner by a few degrees for a few hours during peak demand. It's way cheaper than building a new coal-fired power station. We need more storage. The world's biggest Tesla battery, attached to the Hornsdale windfarm in South Australia, spent its first month of operation showing off how quickly it can swoop in  we're talking milliseconds  to support the grid, including disturbances caused by the failure of a coal power unit almost 1000 kilometres away. Unsurprisingly, Victoria is now getting its own battery; other states surely won't be far behind. Bloomberg New Energy Finance found the price of lithium-ion batteries dropped 73 per cent between 2010 and 2016. And we need more renewable energy to take the pressure off. Australia is woefully behind on investing in large-scale solar generation, though we are catching up. The million-plus Australian households with rooftop solar play a crucial role in reducing underlying demand, as households draw power for their air-conditioners during heatwaves, instead of increasing the load on the already stretched grid. Solar not only significantly reduces peak demand, it delays the peak. On the day Eraring tripped in NSW, solar was providing more than 400 megawatts of electricity. Had there been no solar, peak demand would have been higher and the measured peak would have been reached more than 4 hours earlier in the day. The day before, renewable energy provided 36 per cent of Victoria's peak demand as the heatwave crossed that state. South Australia is building a 150-megawatta solar thermal power plant that can store and dispatch over 100 megawatts at full output for eight hours. Its dispatchable energy is two-thirds the price of the gas-peaking plants it competes against, and it produces bulk energy during the day. It beat all other tenders, including gas, to supply power to the South Australian government. During the February 2017 heatwaves, solar delayed reaching the critical peaks that led to blackouts and load shedding by several hours in all three states. On February 8, South Australia would have reached the critical threshold that led to blackouts four hours and 20 minutes earlier. In NSW on February 10, that point was delayed by 3 hours, and in Queensland two days later by more than five hours, also reducing the peak by 500 megawatts. Imagine the crisis that would have been experienced in all three states if all those demand thresholds had been crossed hours earlier and gone for hours longer. There is no doubt that solar saved the national energy market's bacon on those days, and will be increasingly critical as we enter a new era of unprecedented heatwaves. Luckily, while the cost of gas has exploded and with banks finding new coal plants unappealing, the cost of renewables and battery storage is falling fast. That's good news for consumers and business. However, the Coalition government wants to impose a reliability guarantee on retailers that would require them to buy "dispatchable" (i.e. gas and coal) as part of its draft national energy guarantee. But how much extra back-up will the government require for power from these unreliable clunkers that fail in the heat? The government should also require "heat-safe" back-up for coal and gas plants. If it doesn't, you could conclude that the guarantee is designed more to hobble renewable energy industry than guarantee the least-cost reliable low-emissions electricity grid. All this makes the South Australia's big battery, and the ACT's decision to go 100 per cent renewable by 2020 and build a battery of its our own, look extremely sensible. Gas and coal not only struggle in the heat, they worsen make global warming. On sunny days, batteries thrive and solar shines. It's a no-brainer. Ebony Bennett is deputy director of The Australia Institute. Twitter: @ebony_bennett

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Plans to update and build a new swimming pool in Batemans Bay has caused some local residents and the Eurobodalla Shire Council to bump heads. The council has applied for funding to develop an indoor, year-round aquatic centre which would replace the existing 50-metre outdoor pool at the Mackay Park Precinct with "multiple, purpose-built aquatic spaces, and an arts centre". The estimated $46 million project would see the 50-metre pool downsized to 25 metres. It will create space for a 10-metre warm water therapy pool and spa, free-form indoor leisure pool that includes learn-to-swim and toddler areas, water play splash pad, waterslides and a gym. But Maureen Searson, who is part of the Fight for Batemans Bay 50m Pool Community group, said the 25-metre pool would not meet the needs of the community. The council had not involved "frequent users" of the pool during the consultation process, she said. "Council did not involve the Batemans Bay Swimming Club, schools, Surf Life Saving Clubs, Eurocoast Triathlon Club or the Disability Trust during the consultation process to design the aquatic facility," Mrs Searson said. "The community will not be able to use the 25-metre in the same way as we use a 50-metre pool. "A 25-metre will not meet the needs of the whole community, for example [surf life-saving] clubs need a 50-metre pool for endurance training for ocean rescues." The closest alternative 50 metre pool is in Narooma, which will also be used by residents during construction at Batemans bay. Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes said the 50-year-old pool was nearing the end of its life and was not meeting the needs of the community. "For a long time, residents have expressed a desire for something better," Ms Innes said. "If council can source sufficient funds, we would demolish the old outdoor pool and build a modern indoor aquatic facility that everyone can benefit from. She said council had "engaged with the community and interested user groups from the outset, as far back as 2012". "We were aware at the start of this project that some members of the Batemans Bay community wanted a 50-metre pool," she said. "As part of the process to prepare a business case and concept, we obtained independent, professional advice that there is a limited market for lap swimming when compared to the strong demand for recreation, program and therapy pool space. "If we provided an indoor purpose built, eight-lane 25-metre pool for the training needs of swim club members and lap swimmers, we could also provide a warm water program pool and a leisure and learn-to-swim pool, meeting the needs of more community members." The current outdoor 50-metre pool is only open for about six months of the year. The council is seeking funds from the state and federal governments. Mrs Searson said when the council was seeking endorsement from the Batemans Bay Swimming Club and schools, it did not tell schools that the 50-metre pool was being replaced. "Once the swimming club and schools discovered the replacement of 50-metre capacity with a 25-metre pool their endorsement was withdrawn," she said. "We support the hydrotherapy, learn to swim, splash parks etc that are included in the aquatic centre plans so we are not saying that only the 50-metre pool matters but council needs to provide for the whole community which only 25-metre will not."

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/3a29526c-0c77-4b3c-af6f-7894413b5b21/r0_133_2000_1263_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgTo the editor:

My response is in reference to the opinion post Much accomplished in 2017 by Francis Rooney, Representative to the House. Rooney has voted for the new tax and jobs bill which will eventually be instrumental in forcing millions of Americans off their health care. The tax bill will really only benefit the wealthy. The middle class may see some benefit for lower taxes, but they are set to expire while taxes for the wealthy are permanent.

Rooney voted against the ACA, again forcing American workers to lose their health insurance.

Rooney accused the FBI of being complacent when the FBI works faithfully to keep us safe.

He has pledged 100 percent of his support to Trump, which means he supports interference in our government by Russia.

Rooney voted against a bill for corporate government transparency.

Rooney has his own interests at heart, certainly not those of Florida. The National Farmers Union scored Rooney at 0 percent. This man is not for Floridians.

Janet Reynolds

Cape CoralThe beaches of Aruba: crystal clear water, bright pink flamingos and offshore oil rigs in the distance.

Fort Myers Beach resident Megan Zelenak took a vacation to the tropical paradise in 2017, and doesnt want to see Lee Countys beaches plagued with the same machinery.

It was striking to be in a spot that was so beautiful with a stark contrast of all this happening around you, she said. You could stand there on the beach and you saw (rigs) off in the distance. You could smell it.

Florida was recently slated to be opened back up for offshore drilling, but political moves may prevent that from happening.

Two Florida legislators are taking action to ensure the horizons of the Gulf coast of Florida stay offshore-oil rig free.

Senator Bill Nelson (D) and District 19 Representative Francis Rooney (R.) have both filed bills that would protect the coast from offshore drilling.

These moves come within short succession of a series of decisions by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

The Trump administration announced plans in early January to roll back Obama-era regulations on off-shore drilling and to re-open many federal waters for drilling, according to Nelsons press release. Zinke published the plan, which included Florida, on Jan. 8. A day later he announced Florida would be off the table.

Nelson promptly filed bill S.2292 that would ban offshore drilling  and its not his first go-round fighting the controversial industry. In 2006, former senator Mel Martinez and Nelson co-sponsored a bill to ban drilling through 2022.

Zinke met with Governor Rick Scott before changing his mind about Florida. On Twitter, Nelson called the exchange a political stunt.

We still dont know what Sec. Zinke really means when he said offshore drilling was off the table for Florida, Nelsons Tweet from Thursday reads.

Nelsons new bill in the Senate is echoed in the House: Rooney introduced H.R. 4770, Protecting and Securing Floridas Coastline Act, Thursday.

Rooney said he wasnt aware Nelson was also introducing legislation.

Hopefully the House will pass my bill whether its my bill or his bill or anybodys bill, we have to keep offshore drilling out of the Gulf, he said.

H.R. 4770 asks for just what we need Rooney says, hoping that a narrow request specific to the eastern Gulf coast will garner more support than a complex one.

Rooney knows his way around the oil business, having served on the board of land and offshore drilling firm Helmerich & Payne, Inc., for years.

Bringing drilling to the coasts of Florida would present two huge risks, Rooney said: human error such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill out in the Gulf, and pipelines to shore that could also leak and spill.

The offshore industry would require onshore support in the form of tank farms, supply vessels, barges, and more, he said.

Those things are incompatible with residential development and tourism economy in southwest Florida, Rooney said.

Besides the environmental concerns, offshore drilling would have an adverse affect on Floridas military bases, which use the Gulf for testing and training missions.

In a statement Rooney expressed his gratitude for Scott and Zinke carving Florida out of the Administrations updated drilling plan, but in an interview he in-part agreed with Nelsons statement that the Floridas off the table status isnt defined, yet.

I dont think we totally know yet what it means, he said. We dont know if that includes stopping seismic testing  why would you need that if youre not going to do drilling? At the end of the day, a law needs to be passed (to ban it).

District 3 Lee County Commissioner Larry Kikers view on offshore drilling is a simple one: No.

Please dont do it. Please dont even consider it, Kiker said.

All he needed for affirmation was the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Spill  That should be plain-enough evidence for anybody.

The 2010 spill occurred many miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, dealing a serious blow to Florida tourism economy in its aftermath. Then-governor Charlie Crist launched an economic recovery fund to help businesses in tourism and hospitality pay for marketing to attract tourists to the state with BP ultimately paying out an $18.7 billion settlement to help mitigate quantified impacts. Five Gulf Coast states, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas received damages: $6.8 billion was earmarked for Louisiana, $3.25 billion for Florida, $2.3 billion for Alabama, $2.2 billion for Mississippi and $750 million Texas. Another $5.5 billion was levied in Clean Water Act penalties.

Even though Lee County didnt have oil wash up on its beaches, it filed an initial claim for $70 million for qualified losses such as a decrease in gas tax revenues, bed tax money, sales tax revenues as well as loss in revenue due to lower attendance at county facilities. The Lee County School District and the city of Sanibel, also filed claims, receiving $5.24 million, $2.5 million and $460,000, respectively.

Neither Fort Myers Beach nor the city of Cape Coral filed claims

Deepwater Horizons didnt even hit us, but we suffered the consequences, Kiker said. (With offshore drilling) Wed be bringing on the possibility of a disaster we cant recover from.

Zelenak, a former Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce employee and an employee at the Sea Gypsy Inn, doesnt want to see the risks posed to tourism from the endeavor which has serious consequences if something should go wrong. While she was at the Chamber, she was already getting negative feedback from tourists about the state of the water, she said.

I cant even imagine what it would be like with adding offshore drilling, Zelenak said. Its much more poignant to us because were already facing water issues. In Louisiana, it had a huge impact there. Its scary to think that could be the future for any of our coastal areas.

Eric Berglund, president of the Southwest Florida Economic Development Alliance, echoed Kikers opinion.

Someone could make the argument that drilling could bring a job boom, but Berglund said that would be an unlikely outcome in Southwest Florida.

Shallow coastal waters coupled with a lack of infrastructure would make the Lee County area a hard sell even if drilling were permitted. Theres no large port, like Tampa, and no maintenance or repair facilities, he said.

Since its not an industry that been here off our shores, it would essentially be a start-up here, Berglund said.

And, like Kiker, Berglund envisioned the blow another spill could have to the local economy if drilling were permitted.

We already have Lake Okeechobee and what that does to our beaches, I dont think anyone would want to add drilling to the mix, he said.If youre looking for a rad homologation special to add in your collection, then this fender-flared Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione would like to have a word with you.



The Alfa Romeo 75 -or Milano, depending on which side of the Atlantic you are- was the last mass-produced rear-driven model the company made before giving us the Giulia. What you see in the pictures is the rarest version of the 75 family, the Turbo Evoluzione, which was a limited run.

More specifically, this is #468 out of the 500 Turbo Evoluziones ever made, currently offered in auction by Bring A Trailer. The car was imported in the US from Italy back in 2013 and is currently showing 116,000km (around 72k miles) on the odometer.

The most obvious visual changes of the Turbo Evoluzione is, of course, the fiberglass bodykit, which includes new fenders, bumpers and side sills, along with matching red 15-inch alloy wheels and that wonderfully 80s black decals.

Power is provided by a turbocharged 1.8-liter engine that, on paper, puts out 155hp, the same as the regular 75 1.8 Turbo. However, the engine is believed to make closer to 170hp as it had unique valve timing, a dual fuel pump and a relocated air filter, not to mention the slightly smaller bore of the engine.

These limited edition Alfas came even with a different chassis code than the regular 75s and many of them were converted to race cars, so to find one in this condition in the U.S. is like finding a needle in a haystack.

PHOTO GALLERYFord is advising owners of certain Rangers to stop driving them and contact an authorized dealer to change the defective Takata airbags as soon as possible.



The action is part of a larger Takata airbag-related recall, which includes several automakers from across the globe, and involves around approximately 3,000 units of the 2006MY pickups.

According to the carmaker, the vehicles were put together at Twin Cities Assembly Plant from August 10 to December 15, 2005, and they include 2,712 examples in the United States and federalized territories, and 190 in Canada.

The recall represents Fords response to two fatalities caused by the driver airbag inflators supplied by Takata. The first one was reported in January 2016, and the second one happened last July. The automaker inspected the latter Ranger on December 27, confirming that the inflator ruptured resulting in a driver fatality, notifying the NHTSA shortly after.

Ford now says that parts are available to fix the specific vehicles, and dealers are ready to pick them up by themselves, free of charge, providing owners with a loaner car, if necessary.

PHOTO GALLERYKias doing things a little differently with the Stinger, and this includes more than showcasing the aggressive styling and powerful powertrain. The automaker recently announced that it would be offering four-dimension (4D) virtual reality test drives of the Stinger at the upcoming North American International Auto Show.



The automaker will have the Kia 4D Stinger Experience available for visitors of the auto show. Upon entering, the viewer is treated to a brief introduction, which outlines Kias six-year journey to develop the Stinger, before going on a virtual journey with the sedan. Participants will be able to choose one of three destinations: driving through Southern France, traveling on the Pacific Coast Highway, and spending some time at the Cadwell Park racetrack in the UK.

If youre wondering how the 4D aspect of the test drive works, five projectors will display the test drive onto three projection screens and the floor, which has been specially programmed. The modified suspension rig will provide participants with haptic feedback that will match whats going on in the screens.

The 4D experience, according to Kia, will give participants a realistic look at what the Stinger is capable of. Every twist and turn, every rush of acceleration and every braking run is experienced as if you, the driver, are in command, Saad Chehab, vice president of marketing communications for Kia Motors America, said.

For Stinger fans that wont be able to attend the Detroit Auto Show, the automaker is also offering virtual test drives that you can enjoy at home by visiting Jaunt.

Just like with the 4D experience at the auto show, visitors can choose from the same three locations  Cadwell Park, France, and California. Those with virtual reality equipment can download the Jaunt app to get the full effect of the test drives from their house. For the rest, the video offers a 360-degree look at the vehicle and the chosen location. Not as good as the 4D experience, but still quite interesting.

Photo GalleryHe explained in the video notes that he wanted to see whether the iPhone X can be used for cheap & fast facial motion capture for our vr game which is over run by wild and crazy immortal babies who all want to express themselves.

Strassburgers first test is a rough facial capture test using a work-in-progress rig from his upcoming vr project Bebylon: Battle Royale:

In a second test, Strassburger added eye tracking, head motion, and improved blendshapes, and also imported the recorded facial animation data from the iPhone X into Maya. In response to a Youtube commenter who asked how the facial data was extracted from the phone, Strassburger wrote:

Getting the data is pretty easy, I used Unity which has hooks into Apples ARKit and outputs 51 channels of blendshape data@ 60fps. I imported a WIP character head from our game (with the right blendshapes that ARkit is looking for), hooked the 51channels of data to it (So i can visualize the character while capturing), then wrote a way to record the data to a text file locally on the iPhone. (This could be easily streamed over USB but then you loose the mobility) From here, copy the file from the phone and run it through a converter I wrote to parse the text file into a Maya .anim format which imports nicely into Maya and drives the same blendshapes as Unity did. No need for a Maya plug-in!

For more on how Strassburger created the DIY helmet rig, see this piece at Upload VR.

In his most recent test, Strassburger combines the facial capture with full body capture using the Xsens bodysuit:

The quality of Strassburgers demos also suggest tantalizing possibilities beyond motion capture, especially in the realm of augmented reality. For instance, the ability to conduct real-time video chats as a convincing animated character doesnt seem to be too far off.

(h/t, Daniel Colon)Photo: Contributed - Michele Young The 'package' sits under a police vest on the steps of the RCMP detachment in Kamloops.

7:30 p.m. Update:

RCMP in Kamloops are reminding the public to leave questionable or suspicious items where they are found and not to touch them after a couple brought a package to the detachment.

The couple found the package in a rental property, the origin of the device or how long it had been at the property is not known.

According to Staff Sgt. Grant Learned once the item was removed from the couple's car, for closer examination, it was determined to be a type of incendiary and the area around the front steps of the Battle Street detachment were cordoned off.

"Pictures of the item were taken, police covered the item with ballistic material and kept it isolated adjacent to the couples car. The photos were transmitted to the RCMP Explosive Demolition Unit (EDU) in Vancouver," he says.

Bomb Technicians confirmed the photos were of an apparent incendiary device and directed that a safe zone of 30 feet be establish around the item. No evacuation was required. Kamloops Fire and Rescue attended and staged by the Detachment.

Two Technicians from the Explosive Demolition Unit in Vancouver arrived in Kamloops around 3 p.m. and deployed what is referred to as a 'water cannon', Learned explains.

"This equipment propels a very high pressure burst of water at an object causing it to split apart. This was done at approximately 3:30 p.m. this afternoon and the object was rendered safe."

Technicians confirmed the object contained a form of liquid accelerant.

4 p.m. Update: The device has been rendered safe by a member of the RCMP bomb squad.

Update -- 1:30 p.m.

Contrary to previous reports, the Kamloops RCMP detachment has not been evacuated, nor have any buildings in the area.

Sgt. Grant Learned has confirmed the package was found in a home and brought to the detachment by two women.

The RCMP bomb technicians are expected to be in Kamloops by 3 p.m.

A daycare located across the street from the detachment has not been evacuated, but parents have been asked to pick their children up from a side entrance.

Original story -- 12:50 p.m.

The Kamloops RCMP detachment has been evacuated because of a suspicious package.

According to reports, the area around Battle Street and St. Paul has been cordoned off and traffic is being rerouted.

An RCMP demolition team is also on route at this time.

RCMP say two woman found a suspicious package in the basement of a nearby rental home and brought it to the detachment.

Well provide more details once they become available.

Send photos and video to [email protected]I wanted to thank the two seniors who helped me dig out my car on Raymer avenue a few days ago!

They were walking by on the sidewalk, grabbed a shovel and went at it, they were amazing!

I would have had to call a tow truck if it wasn't for their help!

Stay amazing whoever you are!

Alicia Ferri

You could have the missing piece of the puzzle that will help the RCMP put someone behind bars. Here is a recent crime that Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers hope you can help solve by calling our anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637), keyword Ktown.

CRIME: THEFT OF SNOWBLOWER

DATE: January 4, 2018

RCMP FILE: 2018-616

During the night of January 2nd a snow blower went missing from a home on the 3000 block of Old Okanagan Highway. The green Yardworks snow blower (model 31BE5B3H515) with serial number 1T162T70208 is worth approximately $1200.00.

Photo: Crime Stoppers

If you know anything about this crime, or any other crime, call the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net. Your information will be kept confidential and could lead to a reward of up to $2000.00.Photo: Contributed

Kelowna's Kondola family are the new owners of the Westbank Shopping Centre. The family, which owns West Kelownas City Furniture, today announced they have closed a deal to buy the building.

The purchase means both the management and ownership of the centre will now be local.

According to a firm involved in the sale, the Kondola family plans to update the mall over the next few months, but "no major changes are planned at this point."

For more on the sale, including how much the centre sold for, check out the full story on Castanet's sister business news website, Okanagan Edge.Photo: Dave Ogilvie

A female hiker was rescued from a West Kelowna trail, Friday, after injuring her ankle.

The woman apparently slipped in snowy conditions on the beach trail off Sunnyside Road, about 2 p.m.

Firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene, and brought the woman to a waiting ambulance on an all-terrain stretcher.

She was taken to Kelowna General Hospital at 2:45 p.m. to be checked over.Photo: RCMP

Kamloops RCMP took a stash of firearms off the street Friday night.

The Kamloops Crime Reduction Unit and general duty members searched a residence on Royal Avenue and arrested four people, all well known to police.

Police seized the following items from the home:

Five firearms  shotguns and rifles

Two real-looking pellet guns

A large amount of ammunition related to the seized guns

25 grams fentanyl/heroin, 47 grams of methamphetamine and a quantity of MDMA

Large amount of stolen property, specifically tools and electronics

A stolen 1986 Chevrolet Corvette

A prolific offender has been held in custody and is facing a number of charges related to the search.

In the coming days, police will be sifting through the property seized, with the hope of returning the items to their rightful owners.Odessa police are have arrested the two suspects responsible for stabbing a man in the back Wednesday morning.

According to the Odessa Police Department, their officers responded to the 1400 block of South Texas around 10:30 a.m. for a call of a stabbing.

Investigation revealed that 18-year-old Armando Quinonez and 19-year-old Kristian Dutchover assaulted a family member, identified as 41-year-old Mario Macias.

Police say that Quinonez and Dutchover assaulted Macias with a beer bottle and stabbed him multiple times in the back before fleeing the scene.

Macias drove himself to Medical Center Hospital where he is listed in fair condition.We Have History



Chelsea have dominated recent encounters with Leicester, winning 12 of the past 14 meetings between the two teams in all competitions.

Last season the Foxes visit came in October 2016, a difficult time for Claudio Ranieris side, but a fortnight into the title-winning 13-game winning streak for the Blues. Leicesters previous visit had started with a Guard of Honour for the newly-crowned champions, but this time there was no such graciousness from the hosts.

Pressure in the opening few minutes culminated in Eden Hazard drilling a corner that Nemanja Matic flicked to Diego Costa. The striker, who had the better of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan all afternoon, side-footed into the net off Kasper Schmiechel.

With Hazard enjoying himself on the ball and former Fox NGolo Kante running midfield, a second seemed inevitable. Huth and team-mate Luis Hernandez made a mess of a ball down the middle and Pedro, lying on the ground, still had the wherewithal to play Hazard in. The Belgian impishly rounded Schmeichel and tapped the ball home.Access

Saul Niguez gets to work at Cobham | Chelsea Unseen

The Blues welcomed deadline day signing Saul Niguez to Cobham during the international break, and our new midfielder wasted no time in getting to work with his new teammates...The Eastern Washington University Downtown Student Gallery is now hosting the "Song of Silence: Embroidered Tapestries of Kyrgyz Nomads" exhibit. According to the gallery's website, embroideries known as the Tush Kyiz or wall-hangings were traditionally created by the nomadic women of Kyrgyzstan to commemorate weddings, celebrate national events, and show off their personal skill. Hung in the entryways of yurts, they were a functional, yet precious part of the homes in which they resided. The exhibit is open until Feb. 9 with hours of Monday-Friday from noon  5 p.m. There will also be a reception on Jan. 25 at 4:30  6 p.m.Voice of the People Recently four members of Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals approved to give an Iowa company special exceptions and variances to build a THIRD gas station at U.S. 6 and Indiana 149, on the northwest corner adjacent to Liberty Township. In this growing age of...

Voice of the People We havent betrayed the Afghan people; they betrayed us. Monday morning quarterbacks criticizing our government and military are nothing more than cheap shot malcontents. Id like to see or at least hear how, under these same circumstances, they could do better. Joel Sutlin Chesterton September...

Voice of the People Chesterton needs an Italian beef place like Portillios or Pops. Next to the new Aldi would be a great location. Please and thank you. Linda Williams Westville

Monitor childrens online activity to prevent exploitation Now that the new school year has begun and notwithstanding the increase of in-person classes, our children will likely continue to use their various devices with access to the internet. By doing so, they can unknowingly become the target of online human traffickers and predators,...After an invigorating day in high-country powder there's nothing like a glowing fireplace and a hot toddy to warm the soul. (Mark Reis/ Knight-Ridder Tribune)McDonald's has given a definite timeline to its aspirational goal of eliminating plastic and foam cups from its restaurants. By the end of this year, each soft-drink chalice will be made with fiber-based packaging from certified or recycled sources, according to the company's website. The same redesign is expected for all the brand's packaging by 2020.The concluding Mendelssohn Sixth String Quartet was also a work of some turbulence. First violin Judith van Driel said, In its time it was a shock to everybody who heard it. A shock from 1847, however, sounds mild to 21st-century ears, which may lead to exaggeration. This the Dudok did not do. And music that in all four movements expresses the grief of Mendelssohn having lost his sister emerged nobly from, again, the performers balance. This was not, it should be stressed, the kind of exposition in which many young players drain away feeling through analysis. If not the last word in extroversion, there was nonetheless electric quick playing and a tender sweetness in the final bars that proved especially poignant.It gets only darker from there. And yet somehow he takes the frequently hard experiences from his life  born in Mexico, raised in East Los Angeles, a father before he was 18 and in rehab before he turned 21  and turns them into punchlines. I had to stop doing cocaine, he said at one point, pausing for effect. Because my kids were noticing. Another pause. Dad, do that funny face you do! he mimics his son asking. OK, he says, with an impish look around. First bring me some money from Mommys purse.Visitors would have to pay to get into the museum, just as they do at the other lakefront museums, but the tower would be part of a campus where all the outdoor spaces and most of the interior ones would be open to the public. The tower, in other words, would not function like a commercial enterprise. Nor would its sculptural, slant-walled exterior resemble one.What happens to a nation when tens of millions of Americans feel as if they will have little, if anything, to say about their borders, and who stays and who goes, and who becomes a citizen and who votes?About 3:15 p.m. the next day, Herbert went to a store in the 1500 block of North Clybourn Avenue and got into an argument with employees before pulling out a stun gun and threatening them. She then grabbed merchandise and fled, said police.Goldstein, 42, one of eight candidates in the Democratic primary for attorney general, and several members of his campaign team were in the middle of taking publicity shots when the robbery occurred at about 3:25 p.m. Thursday in the 4600 block of North Albany Avenue in Albany Park. Three men in their early 20s approached Goldstein and the others from behind, according to Goldstein and Chicago police. One of the robbers pressed the barrel of a handgun against Goldsteins back and demanded the camera equipment and other personal belongings from the team, which included a professional photographer, according to police and Goldstein."We can't do this indefinitely. It was just a stopgap measure to get the shelter a little more space," she said. "We'd board them all if we could, forever, but that's not possible. We're trying to alleviate the pressure immediately. We succeeded in that, and the hard work continues in getting to rescues and convincing them to take dogs."Dodd added a man on the bus was threatening everybody in the back and pulled something out of his pants that may have been a weapon. According to Dodd, the man said he had a gun.Puleo was shot following an argument in the 1900 block of North Albany Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood, police said. He was struck in the head and taken to Norwegian American Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:22 p.m.Blanchards report stated that he interviewed key officials in the assessors office who were in a position to be intimately familiar with key facts the inspector general sought in his investigation. Their professed lack of actual knowledge in these areas strains the bounds of credibility, he wrote.Tests were conducted in nine homes both before and after windows were replaced, Everts said. More tests were done in a lab. Among the compounds detected was formaldehyde, which can cause a burning sensation in the eyes and has been linked to cancer in lab animals when breathed at high levels. But Amec found extremely low levels of the compound, which is used in many household products like paint and flooring, Everts said.Three people were killed when a car crashed into a pole, flipped and caught fire around 1:10 a.m. in the 3300 block of East 100th Street near the East Side neighborhood.In its statement, the board said it requested the follow-up bill after officials discovered that calculations for 178 districts were incorrect. If left unfixed, those schools would get less state money than lawmakers intended. The board said it asked Rauner to sign the bill, but on the last possible day, the governor issued an amendatory veto to SB 444 which has caused a disruption for the agency as it continues preparations to put in place the new funding formula.Kluppelberg was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole in the deaths of Elva Lupercio and her five children, ages 3 to 10. The man who initially implicated Kluppelberg later recanted, and Kluppelberg's attorneys alleged that authorities had concealed information about a woman who admitted setting a fire to a home on the same night about a block away. The woman, who was convicted of that arson, told officials she had been too drunk to remember whether she had set the fire blamed on Kluppelberg.The rule has always been seen as controversial, and the explosion of Internet sales means state and local governments have lost billions of dollars in tax revenue. They say that the ruling is unfair to them and to bricks-and-mortar retailers within their borders that have no choice but to collect the taxes.In December, for the first time in more than three decades, a warning siren sounded across Hawaii as officials tested a system that could alert residents that a nuclear missile launched by North Korea was headed their way. Hawaiians now watch TV ads to prepare them for the worst, warning them to get inside, stay inside if an attack seems imminent. Shades of the 1950s-60s duck-and-cover drills in American classrooms.The Jan. 8 commentary piece It's time for the Census Bureau to stop dividing America attacks racial and ethnic categories on the census. In the piece, Ward Connerly, founder of the American Civil Rights Institute, and Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, urge the Census Bureau to swap out those categories for questions on national origin (which are already included). They argue that its unsavory and divisive for the government to use classifications that have no basis in anthropology, biology or culture, and that we should eliminate them. Thats a nice sentiment, but its disingenuous to insist that the census ignore racial and ethnic constructs (and the inequality that accompanies them), when Americans themselves dont. As long as inequality persists among races, those census categories are necessary. How else would we know that Latinos earn less than their white counterparts, or that school segregation is on the rise?By the time the steam fire engines America and Little Giant arrived, the blaze that would become the Great Chicago Fire was well on its way to ravaging the city. But it was only a matter of days after the flames subsided that an enterprising real estate developer would start the process of rebuilding.That lack of follow up is one of the reasons some cities no longer even place the signs. The Illinois Department of Transportation, since 2011, has gone on record that they no longer place special needs signs."The beginning of the year is when a lot of recently passed legislation goes into effect," Kifowit said in a press release about the event. "I want our community to be aware of any new laws that may affect their lives as well as give me their feedback on proposed legislation for the upcoming session."So much about Heavens Gate had treated them as freaks and lemmings, said Ann Heppermann of Pineapple Street Media, which co-produced the podcast. From the beginning we wanted to understand the people and their loved ones as humans. That was one of the reasons we turned to Zeller as our academic consultant. We shared a similar viewpoint."All these boards get into these political squabbles, and if you could get four people who got mad at somebody or who wanted to seize power after an election, what would be the point of having an election if it could be undone?" he continued. "Offices would be changing left and right every month ... the whole point of an election is you voted for him, you're stuck with him."As seismic activity increased throughout the spring on what had been a longstanding dormant volcano, Johnston and the United States Geological Survey convinced authorities to close Mount St. Helens to the public. Just prior to this, Mount Baker, also in the Cascades range, had been closed off for fear it would erupt. That didn't happen, so the closing of Mount St. Helens was met with criticism and outrage, Holmes said.Testimony and other evidence presented indicated that Jones spends one or two nights each week at the South Holland address, where his current wife lives, but that most of his time is spent at the Calumet City address and that he has invested $25,000 remodeling the home for himself, his wife and their son to move into.Burke said she also was pleased that a Prescription Monitoring Program has been adopted in Illinois. It is designed to track prescriptions for opioids and other addictive drugs when they are filled, so that prescribers would catch "doctor shoppers" who are trying to fraudulently obtain multiple prescriptions for controlled substances. Doctor shoppers are considered people who see three or more prescribers and fill prescriptions at three or more pharmacies, according to the new law. It would also identify those doctors who are over-prescribing.While the Elgin facility would be run as a for-profit, Chinn claimed that his business already has provided more than $1 million in comped services at its existing operations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Arlington Heights. A bed in Elgin would be kept open for staff to decide if care could be provided to someone in need, he said."The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Food Drive is a great opportunity for the community to rally together and provide food to several local pantries that serve our Elgin residents," said Molly Center, communications specialist for the city. "Now in its 7th year, the food drive continues to collect and distribute more and more canned goods and household items, demonstrating the caring and compassionate community we are proud of here in Elgin."The online post states that "devastating news came to us declaring his body was the one found at the scene I come to you now with all the pain in my heart on behalf of his family and everyone that loved him to ask for help. ... Now we have a mother without his son and our main goal is to send him back so both his parents can see him one last time.""I'm not comfortable with somebody  and this isn't Erin," Lawlor said. "Aside from this particular concern, I have a problem with the chief judge, who raised his hand and said he was going to take an oath of office and execute the office of chief judge, telling me that something criminal has happened in our county and he's not willing to back that up with action."Second, we must keep alliance relations at the forefront in the Pacific, concerning not only North Korea but also China and other centers of tension and trouble. In the Atlantic region, emphasis on working together with other nations now comes naturally, and indeed is second nature to us.On Nov. 21, 1960, more than two years before his "I Have a Dream" speech, King addressed North Central students gathered in Pfeiffer Hall about the problems facing the black community and asked that blacks be treated as full citizens of the United States."Asking someone who is not a professional hotel accountant to figure out all of the taxes, who to pay them to and how much is a lot," said Ben Breit, Airbnb's Midwest spokesman. But when a municipality sets up an agreement with Airbnb to collect and remit the taxes, "it takes the responsibility away from hosts so they don't have to worry about this," he said.The second masked man then took money from the register and the cash drawer from behind the counter, police said. Both men then left the store and were last seen heading north on foot.During Washington's time in custody in December, union officials say, the councilman made comments to the staff "concerning the termination of their jobs, violated jail rules, abused phone privileges resulting in the restriction upon his access, maintained personal associations with person(s) who publicly blogged about and attempted to discredit some officers by name and made comments about his authority and voting history pertaining to raises and officers salaries," according to the letter sent to the council president.We have a statutory responsibility to fund the assessors office to a level that will allow it to accomplish its obligations to the public, Didech said. The board has significant discretion over what those levels of funding are, and I expect thats something we will be diligently looking at in the coming months.You are here: Business

China's imports of natural gas surged in 2017 as the government encourages use of cleaner energy.

Imports of natural gas rose 26.9 percent year on year to 68.6 million tonnes in 2017, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed.

In December alone, China imported 7.9 million tonnes of natural gas with total value of 19.8 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars).

The increase is the result of rising domestic demand, in part driven by environmental protection, according to Huang Songping of the GAC.

China is replacing coal-fired boilers with natural gas or electric boilers for winter heating in the north.

Over 4.7 million households in 28 cities have completed the conversion, 3.94 million of them switched in 2017.

The demand for natural gas has prompted state oil companies to look overseas for new gas sources. Sinopec will take the lead in exploration of liquified natural gas (LNG) in Alaska, according to a deal signed during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China last year.Shanghai will send 1.1 million tourists to Tibet in the next three years as part of an action plan to aid the development of the remote southwestern region.

The plan was signed by the Shanghai and Tibet tourism authorities on Friday. Shanghai has been supporting Tibet's Xigaze prefecture to improve tourism facilities over the past years, according to Xu Weiwan, head of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration. The cooperation will be further deepened this year, Xu added.

The Shanghai-Tibet partnership is part of a nationwide plan launched by the National Tourism Administration last December, which plans to send more than 20 million tourists to Tibet from 2018 to 2020.

The Yangtze River Delta cities including Shanghai have been a major source of tourists for Tibet, said Wang Songping, head of the Tibet Tourism Development Committee.

According to data from China's major telecom operators, over 5 million tourists from the Yangtze River Delta region visited Tibet every year on average, and the figure is projected to reach 7 million in 2018.You are here: China

A total of 104 suspects in telecom and online fraud cases have been returned to China from Laos, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

The suspects have been linked to more than 300 criminal cases, involving a total of over 30 million yuan (about US$4.65 million).

Chinese police sent a team to Laos in 2017 to work with local police. By the end of 2017, they destroyed six dens, arrested 104 suspects and confiscated equipment including bank cards and computers.

The suspects were found to have been masquerading as law enforcement officials to extort money from people in the provinces of Henan and Shaanxi through telephone calls, the ministry said.

The ministry said that such behavior severely damaged the image of police, prosecutors and court officials and infringed on people's property rights.Central China's Hunan Province recently released an action plan to improve the environment of Dongting Lake, the second-largest freshwater lake in China.

Dongting Lake, known as "the kidney of the Yangtze River," is one of the most important wetlands in China and the world. But water in the lake has been polluted and resources have been illegally exploited in recent years.

The province publicized the three-year plan (2018-2020) to tackle pollution by agriculture, households, industry and ships, regulate sand excavation, and restore wetlands.

The water quality of the lake is expected to reach grade III by 2020, meaning it can be drinked after treatment.

"The plan is very exciting. I believe that Dongting Lake will become clean and clear again," said Gao Dali, deputy head of the east Dongting Lake nature reserve.Beijing Central Business District (CBD) ranks ninth among all metropolitan central business districts around the world and the first in China, according to a report on the attractiveness of the major global CBDs released on the 2017 Annual Conference of World CBD Alliance.







The CBD will launch a connective mechanism to bridge the credit evaluation system and the building management system, which will enable regulations on business conduct and minimize financial risks for companies within the area, said the district's authorities at a meeting in Chaoyang District on Jan. 9.





In 2017, the science and technology service and the cultural creativity industry has accounted for 15 percent of the CBD's economic volume, with 6,000 new technology service companies registered in the business district.





The CBD will continue its strict regulation on the business conducts of the registered companies in 2018, said Guo Liang, deputy director of the Beijing CBD Administrative Committee. The business district has already built a credit evaluation system, embedding a credit risk assessment model, which enables the real-time evaluation of enterprises' risks.





It will also develop a smart building brand, explore new models of regional economic transformation and upgrading, and promote the quality and efficiency of industrial space in the future.





The CBD Administrative Committee will also work with the sub-district office, transport department and other sectors to explore new modes of regional traffic improvement. Meanwhile, the committee will better use the platforms, including the business association and business cultural activities, to improve the quality of human resources and attract more talents to the business district to contribute to the construction of Beijing as the center for international trade.







The overall economy of Asia-Pacific is making progress with a stable performance, a sign of further recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. The region remains a major world economic powerhouse.





Despite the end of high-speed growth, the Chinese economy, under the "new normal," will continue to be the most promising in the region, with an expected growth rate of 6.9 percent for 2018. Given a significant increase in consumption, investment and trade, the American economy is delivering an excellent performance with an expected growth rate of more than 3 percent. The ASEAN economy is growing steadily with an expected growth rate of over 5 percent. However, Japanese economic growth is expected to be slow, with a rate of about 1 percent.





Generally, the main drivers of growth in Asia-Pacific are rising investment and domestic demand as well as rebounding international trade.





Asia-Pacific economies are highly interdependent and interactive. The 2008 U.S. subprime crisis broke the industrial chain of the whole region, throwing almost every country into recession. Its influence was so powerful that the Chinese economy, though very resilient, shifted from a sustained period of high-speed growth to a more moderate medium-to-high rate.





In the aftermath of the crisis, the economy of East Asia entered a period of structural readjustment, characterized by improving the development environment, boosting internal driving force, promoting innovative industries and changing the export structure.





The adjustment now has considerable momentum, evidenced by deepening structural reform, accelerating investment in infrastructure and the rapid development of emerging sectors led by information technology. All these are building up energy to power sustainable development in the future.





The economies in Asia-Pacific are closely interconnected. Maintaining and promoting market openness is essential to future development and prosperity.





To this end, APEC members agreed to the Bogor Goals, a set of initiatives for realizing free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific, but the inaction of developed members created difficulties in achieving them. President Donald Trump's "America First" policy, opposition to regional openness and cooperation as well as emphasis on "Indo-Pacific" over "Asia-Pacific" also cast a shadow.





However, there is a bright side  APEC leaders reached consensus on enhancing openness and cooperation in the region, advancing the achievement of the Bogor Goals, promoting interconnectivity as well as advocating multi-lateral trade regime during their meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 6, 2017.





Joint Leaders' Statement on the Negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) stressed the importance of progressive openness, special and differential treatment for underdeveloped members as well as enhancing cooperation and development.





As a major country taking the world center stage, China is contributing to economic growth, openness and win-win cooperation of the entire region and the world as whole. The Belt and Road Initiative it proposed is developing into a platform for deepening a new type of cooperation, and the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity will strengthen the interdependence as well as identify interests and values between different countries.





Political and security outlook





There are many issues to worry about concerning the political and security situation in Asia-Pacific. Among them, the most disturbing is the Trump administration's policies and their potential long-term influence. The U.S. is trying to regain its old military advantage, based on which it will maintain its regional and global security layout, and expand its strategic deployment.





The U.S. containment policy toward China and the strategic competition between the two countries remain unchanged. However, with the joint efforts of both sides, Sino-U.S. relations have been generally stable under the principle of non-conflict, non-confrontation and win-win cooperation.





The South China Sea, once a source of regional tension, has become much quieter. The Philippines and Vietnam have changed their policies toward China, shelving disputes and pursuing bilateral cooperation. President Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam further enhanced the mutual consensus on cooperation. Thus, we have every reason to expect growing stability in the area and fresh progress in resolving issues.





In 2017, the DPRK conducted nuclear tests and ballistic missile tests, exacerbating tension in Northeast Asia. Trump's tough reaction increased the danger of war. Safeguarding the peace of the Korean Peninsula requires concerted efforts of all relevant parties.





China intends to maintain its determined opposition to the DPRK's nuclear program, and take due responsibility to implement U.N.-imposed sanctions. Meanwhile, as a close neighbor of the DPRK, China plays a special role in breaking the stand-off and preventing war, and it is necessary to have this influence fully exerted.





The China-Japan-ROK trilateral summit has resumed, marking a step forward in the development of Northeast Asia. All three countries have a new political environment: Xi Jinping was re-elected the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at the 19th CPC National Congress; Shinzo Abe started his fourth term as Japanese prime minister; Moon Jae-in was sworn in as new South Korean president after a regime change.





So, the development of Northeast Asia is bound to see a new phase if the three countries further enhance cooperation.





Asia-Pacific has entered a new period of development. Despite severe challenges, aspirations for peaceful development and mutually beneficial cooperation are the mainstream, and the multilayered cooperation mechanism is still operating.





In particular, China has become a central pillar of strength for openness, development and win-win cooperation. Therefore, the region has high chance to maintain peace, stability, cooperation and its position as a world economic powerhouse.





Zhang Yunling is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.





The article was translated by Zhang Liying. Its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.



 Flash

A U.S. trade panel voted Friday to continue anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty investigations against Chinese aluminum products despite China's strong dissatisfaction with the move.

"There is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value," said the United States International Trade Commission (USITC)in a statement.

As a result of the trade panel's affirmative determinations, the U.S. Commerce Department will continue its investigations against Chinese aluminum products, with its preliminary anti-subsidy duty determination due in February and its anti-dumping duty determinations due in April, according to the USITC.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) had expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. Commerce Department's probe against Chinese aluminum products, launched last November, using a rarely-used "self-initiation" tactic.

That marked the first time in the past 25 years that the U.S. government had launched such investigations without a request from a U.S. company or industry.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with the trade protectionism tendency shown in the U.S. move," said Wang Hejun, head of the MOC's trade remedy and investigation bureau, warning "it will hurt both Chinese and U.S. interests to artificially impede the normal order of bilateral aluminum trade."

Wang said he hopes the United States will abide by the consensus reached by Chinese and U.S. leaders on economic and trade cooperation and meet China halfway to support healthy and stable development of bilateral economic ties.

China will take necessary measures to defend the rights of its own enterprises, he said.

Cao Hui, a trade lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, an international law firm, told Xinhua that the problem with self-initiated cases is that the Commerce Department takes on the dual roles of the plaintiff and the arbiter, which might lead to a lack of impartiality in the investigations. Flash

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday lauded the role of the Group of 77 (G77) and China in promoting multilateralism and development, and fighting climate change.

"You have been a central pillar in the defense of multilateralism -- and these are not easy times for multilateralism, and you have been absolutely crucial in making sure that development remains in the centrality of the action of the United Nations," Guterres told a handover ceremony of the G77 chairmanship from Ecuador to Egypt.

The two largest economies of the G77 -- China and India -- are strongly committed to the leadership in climate action, said Guterres. "At a moment when others are failing, I see the largest economies of the Group of 77 and China to be assuming the leadership in climate action to make sure that we don't suffer the dramatic and devastating impacts of climate change."

He commended the G77's role in shaping the international debate on migration.

"We cannot accept (the fact) when so many people talk about human rights, the human rights of migrants are forgotten," Guterres told the ceremony.

The promotion of regular migration, of more opportunities for legal migration is in the center of any engagement of the international community, he said, adding that he counted on the G77 to be in the center of the debate that would lead to an agenda centered on people and on human dignity.

The United Nations is leading an initiative to formulate a global compact on migration.

He said the world body and the G77 share views on a more democratic United Nations. "I believe the Group of 77 will be particularly attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic United Nations, where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."

"The Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world, but also in a world where international relations have more justice," he said.

The G77 has been an extremely constructive and positive partner in discussions that led to General Assembly resolutions in relation to UN reform, he said.

The G77 has also played a very important role in avoiding a dramatic reduction in the UN budget and in preserving the development sector in budget negotiations, said the UN chief.

The G77 at the United Nations is a coalition of developing countries with an aim to promote its members' collective political and economic interests in the United Nations. China participates in the G77 but does not consider itself a member. All official statements are issued in the name of "the Group of 77 and China." Flash

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) offered to South Korea to hold talks about the dispatch of its art troupe to the 2018 Winter Olympics, Seoul's unification ministry said Saturday.

The DPRK proposed to South Korea holding a working-level dialogue on Jan. 15 in Tongilgak, a building controlled by the DPRK in the truce village of Panmunjom, to discuss the dispatch of its art troupe to the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics.

The proposal letter was sent to the South Korean side through the restored hotline of direct dialogue in Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

It was a counterproposal to South Korea's offer on Friday to hold working-level talks on Jan. 15 at the Peace House in the South Korean side of Panmunjom to discuss the dispatch of all delegations from the DPRK, including the art group.

The DPRK said it will notify South Korea of its proposed schedules for working-level dialogues about other issues such as the dispatch of athletes and cheering squads.

On Tuesday, the two Koreas held senior-level talks in Panmunjom, the first high-level dialogue between the two Koreas in about two years, agreeing that the DPRK will join the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in South Korea's eastern county of PyeongChang.Events coming up in the next few days

Tajik ambassador will host annual press conference

Parviz Davlatzoda, the Tajik ambassador to China, will hold the embassy's annual press conference in Beijing next Tuesday. The ambassador will talk about cooperation between China and the Central Asian country and projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. Tajikistan was one of the most important countries on the ancient Silk Road, and its government has shown great keenness to get more involved in the Belt and Road.The Inner Mongolia autonomous region recently joined Liaoning province in admitting falsities in its economic and budgetary data.

At an economic work conference earlier this month, the Inner Mongolia regional government said some of its lower-level governments have inflated their budgetary incomes by 53 billion yuan ($8.17 billion) and industrial output by 290 billion yuan. This prompted the Inner Mongolia statistics authority to trim the region's GDP for 2016, and the regional government to halt work on some railway projects and other government-subsidized programs, a Xinhua News Agency report said.

Liaoning province, too, was found to have fudged economic data during an inspection early last year. But the falsifying of economic data in Inner Mongolia was on a much larger scale, because compared with the 20-30 percent over-reporting of data in Liaoning, the industrial added value of Inner Mongolia was padded by 40 percent for 2016.QUITO/LONDON - Ecuador has granted citizenship to Julian Assange as part of its efforts to allow the Wiki-Leaks founder to leave the country's embassy in London, where he has been holed up for more than five years.

Ecuador made the move hours after the British government refused a request from the South American nation for Assange to be given diplomatic status, which could give him immunity from arrest should he try to leave the embassy.

After a year in which Ecuador's president has spoken out against Assange, Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said she hoped to find a solution to his dilemma.Iran has sentenced two Christians to eight years in prison each for organizing house church meetings and evangelizing. They were arrested in Shiraz in July last year and charged with "acting against national security."

On Dec. 28, Eskandar Rezaei and Soroush Saraei were handed eight-year prison sentences each for allegedly "acting against national security." Saraei, who was the pastor of the Church of Shiraz, was also charged with "forgery" for reportedly writing letters asking for the religious exemption for students from Islamic studies classes, the Pakistan Christian Post detailed.

Iranian authorities arrested Rezaei on July 6, 2017 at his home in Lar. The officials also seized hundreds of copies of the New Testament from the location and detained him at the Adel-Aabad prison in Shiraz.

Saraei, on the other hand, was arrested in the same month as Rezaei. However, he was initially detained at the intelligence headquarters before being moved to the prison in Shiraz.

The two Christians were freed on bail after a few months. After the court hearing in Shiraz in December, they were given seven-year sentences each.

Rezaei and Saraei are planning to appeal the jail sentences given to them.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Iran's foreign minister for sending out a Twitter message greeting everyone a "happy and peaceful Christmas." He called out the Islamic regime for its apparent hypocrisy, given that Christians are being persecuted in the country, the Christian Broadcasting Network reported.

In a recorded message posted on social media, Netanyahu wondered out loud how the Christians jailed for their faith would react to the Iranian minister's tweet. He slammed Iran for allegedly torturing believers who practice their religion while sending out a public Christmas greeting to its citizens.

At the end of his message, Netanyahu expressed solidarity with the persecuted Christians in Iran. The Israeli leader also said the rest of the world also stands with the suffering believers.A Christian school in Melbourne, Australia, has made a few changes to its uniform policy after a tribunal ruling in September found that it had discriminated against a Sikh boy by not allowing him to attend school because he wore a patka, which is a turban for children.

In September, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that Melton Christian College had discriminated against 5-year-old Sidhak Singh Arora by not allowing him to enter school wearing his patka. The school and the boy's parents later on issued a joint statement revealing that the uniform policy had been revised to provide medical or religious exemptions, thus allowing him to begin attending the school for the 2018 school year, The Sydney Morning Herald detailed.

"MCC regrets the difficulties that took place with respect to the enrolment and the family is grateful to the school for the amendments it has made to the uniform policy in order to welcome Sidhak to the school," the statement said.

Arora's parents had attempted to enroll him at MCC in 2016, but the boy had not been permitted to attend classes wearing the patka. Upon intervention by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, it was ruled that the two parties should negotiate and come up with a way to solve the issue.

The school previously argued that the "turban ban" was legal under the Equal Opportunity Act exemptions. However, VCAT found that the school's uniform policy was "openly discriminatory."

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the Nigerian Law School sparked outrage after it kept Muslim student Abdulsalam Fridaus Amasa from attending the bar ceremony because she had refused to remove her hijab. The school's decision was challenged by civil rights activists, who pointed to a previous court ruling which defended Muslim women's right to wear the headscarf, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Muslim lawyer and activist Ahmad Adetola-Kazeem called out the school for its alleged religious discrimination and said the school does not have a ban on hijabs. He added that the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria will hold a meeting to discuss the possible steps that they can take to address the issue.North Korea has once again ranked first in the 2018 World Watch List of the worst countries for Christians that was compiled by persecution watchdog Open Doors. It is the country's 16th time to hit the top spot on the list.

In the 26 years that Open Doors has been publishing its annual World Watch List, only Saudi Arabia and Somalia have made it to the top, aside from North Korea. The organization has warned Christians in Southeast Asia that the region will be the "next emerging perception hotbed" of persecution, The Express detailed.

"North Korea remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Believers are forced to worship in secret a if they are discovered they are taken to labour camps," Open Doors said in its latest report.

It added: "An estimated 70,000 Christians are believed to be in these camps. Last year, North Korea saw a further increase in the threat to Christians a the North Korean regime has been monitoring the border with China closely and raiding safe houses where Christian converts have sought refuge."

Speaking to Fox News in an interview, Open Doors USA's CEO David Curry highlighted the sharp rise in violence targeting Christian women in various parts of the world and said extremists were increasingly using this tactic. He emphasized the need to "raise the flag" because these incidents happen all the time.

The other countries that have made it to the top 10 of this year's Open Doors' list are Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Egypt, which ranked 17th, is notably rising fast on the list as the number of violent and deadly attacks targeting its Christian community increases.

Turkey has been ranked 31st on the list after civil rights crackdowns contributed to the increase of its persecution points. Africa, on the other hand, was also highlighted because of the rising threat of Islamic extremists and extreme violence against Christians in Nigeria.Pastors should not follow the examples set by the scribes and Pharisees of the Biblical times who led double lives because these people were harmful to the church, Pope Francis warned.

During his homily at the Domus Sanctae Marthae on Jan. 9, Pope Francis reflected on the reading from St. Mark in which the crowd was amazed at Jesus' teachings which were different from that of the scribes'. The pontiff said this authority can also be evident in today's pastors if they walk closely with God in prayer and to the people under them, Crux relayed.

"Jesus is clear in this: 'Do what they say' - they speak the truth - 'but not what they do,'" Pope Francis told the faithful. "It is awful to see pastors with double lives: it is a wound in the church."

In addition, Pope Francis said pastors who were far from God were "sick" and had lost hold of their authority. Because they say one thing and do a different one, they are unable to convey the message of God's salvation to other people.

Jesus compared leaders who lead double lives to "whitened sepulchers" that displayed beautiful teachings on the outside but were filthy deep inside. For this reason, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of drawing close to God always in prayer.

This was not the first time that the pope urged Christians to do away with living a double life. During a morning Mass in February last year, the pontiff warned against scandalizing "the little ones" by their double lives, the Vatican Radio reported.

Pope Francis called out Catholics who always attended Mass and were active in religious organizations but did not live a Christian life. If a person only lived like a believer on the outside, then it is better for him to be an atheist, the pontiff said.Police and other local officials in the city of Linfen in China's Shanxi province demolished a large Christian church on Jan. 9 and have forced the congregants to keep quiet about it, according to witnesses.

Speaking to Radio Free Asia's Cantonese Service, local witnesses said the efforts made by the Golden Lampstand Church members to stop the demolition failed on Tuesday as the local authorities and officials brought with them cranes and bulldozers to reduce the house of worship to rubble. A church member who spoke to the service over the phone said a large "anti-riot team" carried out the demolition and that he had been placed under house arrest after the incident.

According to Texas-based Christian human rights group ChinaAid, the Golden Lampstand Church had been experiencing pressure from the government since it was established in 2009. The state has reportedly launched a crackdown on house churches and other religious groups that are unsanctioned by the government, and some of the Shanxi church's leaders have been thrown in jail for participating in their religious activities.

On Sep. 13, 2009, ChinaAid said around 400 Shanxi officials assaulted parishioners who slept at the site where the Christian church was being constructed. After that, Pastor Yang Xuan was thrown in jail for more than three years, while his wife Yang Caizhen was sent to a re-education labor camp for two years, where she experienced being beaten up.

International rights groups said the Chinese government has been conducting surveillance and repeated raids on house churches, especially those located in rural areas. The U.S. State Department also released an annual report last year saying authorities in China have been tightening its crackdown on freedom of worship.

This past Christmas season, the ruling Communist Party called for a boycott on the holiday celebrations, fearing that locals were forgetting about their own culture in favor of "western opium." In the city of Hengyang, party members and their families were warned against participating in any Western religious activities, The Express reported.

The Shenyang Pharmaceutical University also forbade its students from celebrating Christmas in a bid to fight the "corrosion of Western religious culture." The school explained that the ban aimed to guide young people into being confident in their own culture.A pastor in Texas has been placed on leave from his church due in part to the recent sexual assault allegations against Minnesota megachurch minister Andy Savage, who was working in a church in Houston when the alleged incident happened.

After a woman named Jules Woodson came forward and accused Highpoint Church pastor Andy Savage of sexually assaulting her when she was still in her teenage years in 1998, the Memphis minister admitted that a sexual "incident" did happen at the time. However, he said he had told the church what happened before he was hired, WMC Action News 5 reported.

In an interview with WMC on Jan. 6, Woodson said she had grappled with the incident all her life. She also alleged that the leaders at the Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church --- which is now called Stonebridge Church --- covered up for Savage and never reported it to the authorities.

Pastor Larry Cotton, who had served as an associate pastor at Stonebridge from 1995 to 2010, has reportedly been put on leave in connection with the sexual assault allegations against Savage. Austin Stone Community Church's director of communications, John Yeng, explained that the move was appropriate as an investigation is still being conducted.

"In light of the seriousness of these accusations against Larry Cotton, we feel that due diligence is appropriate to ensure Larry's qualification for his current role of leadership," said Yeng in a statement. "In order to remove our potential bias from the situation, we have placed Larry on a leave of absence while an investigation by a third-party organization is undertaken. We will provide a full report to the church after its completion."

Savage, on the other hand, received a standing ovation from his Highpoint congregation after he confessed to what happened and asked forgiveness from Woodson. Nevertheless, Woodson said the apology did not change the alleged wrong that was done to her 20 years ago, CBS News said.

In a statement issued on Jan. 8, Stonebridge senior pastor Steve Bradley denied being part of the alleged cover-up on the incident. In fact, he said Savage was terminated after confessing about what happened and asking forgiveness from Woodson and her parents, among many others.Christians in Wales have been encouraged to participate in a 12-week consultation on a proposed ban on smacking, or the physical punishment of children, which had already been outlawed in Scotland since last year.

Speaking to Premier's News Hour in an interview, Alistair Thompson of the Be Reasonable campaign said there was no need to change the law. He added that it was acceptable to spank children gently in such a way that it would not leave a mark.

"There's been a lot of very emotive language used that changing law will stop assaulting children," Thompson told Premier. "Assaulting a child is already illegal. What is permissible at the moment is a gentle smack that can redden the skin temporarily but not leave any other mark."

In addition, Thompson said parents were the ones who knew best how to discipline their own children. He mentioned that the surveys revealed that a majority of families were not in favor of implementing the smacking ban.

For this reason, Thompson is calling on everyone to participate in the consultation over the proposed smacking ban. This way, they will be able to prevent the state from dictating how they should or should not discipline their children.

Meanwhile, Wales Online reported that the Welsh people were divided on the proposed smacking ban. The publication spoke to residents of Cardiff and found that while some think the measure is "ludicrous," there were others who thought it was important.

Janet Hopkins from Llanelli, who is not in favor of the smacking ban, said parents should be the ones in charge of their kids, not the government. Sandra Harries, meanwhile, said discipline should be taken in moderation, and noted that she and the others in her family turned out fine even though they experienced being spanked during their younger years.

Penny Bowers, who does not have children, thinks that children should not be spanked and instead be subjected to "more positive" forms of discipline. Howard Williams said the consultation was a good idea because the law on assault and discipline will finally be given clarity.Today vandals in Santiago, Chile, firebombed three Catholic churches just ahead of Pope Franciss scheduled visit to the South American nation on Monday.

Notes left at the scene warned that Pope Francis, the next bomb will be in your robe, and indicated members of the Mapuche indigenous group were responsible.

The Mapuche originate about seven hours south of the capital city, where radical members have burned down 27 Catholic and evangelical churches in the past three years.

Responsibility for the attacks is claimed by an extremist group called Weichan Auka Mapu. It leaves behind messages with demands, such as the release of Mapuche prisoners or the return of Mapuche land which it says was taken by the Chilean government in the 19th century.

A high percentage of Mapuches now identify as Christian: 55 percent are Catholic, and 32 percent are Protestant. But for others, Christians are still seen as invaders complicit in the governments actions.

Of the 20 churches burned down between 2015 and 2016, 12 were Catholic and 8 were Protestant. In 2017, a further 7 have been torched. These churches also served as schools, meeting places, and shelters for those fleeing natural disasters. Many belonged to the poorest sectors of the poorest region in Chile, and were attended by Mapuches themselves.

The leader of an Assemblies of God church burned down in July recalled the moment his attractive wooden churchbuilt 15 years ago using money raised by church memberswas reduced to ashes.

Juan Mella, who is also head of the local pastors council, said the event demonstrated an intolerance among the Mapuches.

Each human being can have their own views with regard to faith, spirituality, he said. We have never imposed our faith, but we have shared it with everyone because the Lord sent us to every nation, every tribe.

Abelino Apeleo, an Anglican bishop in Araucania and also an ethnic Mapuche, said the primary issue is ignorance on the part of some of his fellow Mapuches.

One sector of the Mapuche peoplethose with a more radical, violent attitudeblame the church for creating the problems of the Mapuches, he said. This is totally wrong. And of course we cannot support violence as a response.

The incident that has received the most publicity took place in June 2016, when masked men invaded a Sunday service at La Iglesia del Senor in Padre Las Casas, a city just south of the regional capital, Temuco. The incident became known as the Case of the Burned Church, and is the only one so far that has led to arrests.

A woman from the church, speaking anonymously, explained what happened that day.

I was inside with my children, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my brothers, she recalled. The vandals broke the windows and entered, firing their guns into the air, and then they threw us out. Then they came after us with large guns, machine guns, and they were wearing masks. They told us to leave or they would set us on fire as wellthe children and all.

The note the attackers left behind on that occasion read: Christianity: accomplice of the repression of the Mapuche people.

Four people were detained after the incident: Alfredo Tralcal and three brothersBenito, Pablo, and Ariel Trangol Galindo, who are being investigated for links with Weichan Auca Mapu.

The attacks have continued despite police efforts to find other possible perpetrators. In fact, after four more churches were burned down on September 20, many other congregations also received threats, forcing the police to station guards outside two Protestant churches in the region.

It isnt only the attacks on the churches, its the pamphlets they leave behind, on which they write their demands and also provide a context for their behavior, said Luis Torres, in charge of the prosecution of the four men.

However, Pamela Nahuelcheo, acting for the defense, has called into question the evidence against her clients.

It has been reported that the defendants were found at the place where the fire took place and were detained on the spot, she said. But that isnt true. They were actually arrested two and a half hours after the fire, seven kilometers away from the church. One of the police officers said they smelt strongly of petrol and this is why they were detained. But there have been complaints about the actions of the police officers, that they fired shots at my defendants and beat them. And that the backpack supposedly found on them was not theirs at all.

In this context and faced with overwhelming pressureincluding by the defendants, who had undertaken a four-month hunger strikethe government in October said the charges against the men should be changed to arson instead of terrorism.

There have been two further hearings since then.

It cant be normal to attack people attending a church service, Torres said. Children are attacked and thrown out of the church. They shoot at them to make them leave, and then the church is set on fire. If they didnt do it and werent running away, why were their clothes wet? Why were some of their clothes torn? Why did they have evidence on them that links them directly to the attack?

Local pastors continue to hope the situation will be resolved.

We know that God protects us, Mella said. And though our church was burned, we will rebuild it. And anyway, Jesus said, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Bishop Apeleo added, We will continue to bear witness to the gospel. We have to apply the teachings of Jesus: to forgive, to have mercy, and to love our enemies. At some point they may need our help, and we will be there for them.

The Pastors Council of Araucania released a statement, bemoaning the decision to change the charges against the men. Violence can never be justified, it said, whether by state or non-state actors.

The Council demanded that the government take charge of the very serious situation  [which] led to a service being stopped, preventing 15 peoplemostly women and childrenfrom continuing with their meeting. They were driven out violently from their own church, and then forced to watch as their place of worship was burned down in front of them.

It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that events such as these dont happen again, by ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice, as well as protecting the victims and ensuring their church is rebuilt.home World Missionary organization sees 'marked increase' in Jews converting to Christianity

Christian Witness to Israel (CWI), one of the world's oldest missionary organizations, has stated that there has been a notable rise in the number of Jews turning to Christ.

The organization, which focuses on exclusively trying to convert Jews to Christianity, will be commemorating its 175th anniversary this month in Oxford, and the event at St. Aldates church will celebrate what it describes as a "marked increase in the number of Jewish people coming to faith."

"Jewish people are not beyond the grasp of God's saving power. We are excited by a future where Jewish people love and embrace the Messiah who came to set them free," said CEO Joseph Steinberg, according to Christian Today.

"We want the Church to rediscover its confidence that Jesus saves a even Jewish people a and get behind our work so that the whole world may come to know God's saving power," he added.

The event, which will be held on Jan. 27, will celebrate CWI's work in the past including its 'House of Refuge' during the Holocaust as well as its present-day missionaries in Israel, France, Holland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the USA and the UK.

According to a statement from the charity, its international team of missionaries has reported 60 Jewish people coming to Christ in the last two years.

CWI's work has been regarded as controversial by some Christians, who believe that it is inappropriate to convert Jewish people to Christianity. In 2015, the Roman Catholic Church has renounced attempts to convert Jews.

Another evangelical group that focuses on drawing Jews toward Christ has recently commissioned a survey that found that one in five Jewish millennials believe that Jesus was God in human form.

The study, commissioned by Jews for Jesus and conducted by the Barna Group, revealed that 21 percent of Jewish millennials believe that Jesus was "God in human form who lived among people in the 1st century" while 28 percent "see him as a rabbi or spiritual leader, but not God."

Forty-two percent of 599 respondents said they celebrate Christmas and one-third believe that "God desires a personal relationship with us." A majority has said that one can still be Jewish while holding other faiths.

The survey, which has a margin of error of 2.5 percent, further revealed that only four percent of Jewish millennials would refrain from a serious relationship with a non-Jew, although 70 percent are committed to raising their children as Jewish.

According to the Jews for Jesus website, there are about 30,000 to 125,000 Jews across the globe who believe in Jesus.Two long-sleeved shirts, a sweater, a fleece jacket, two scarves and two pairs of socks.

That has been Karen Ericson's go-to outfit in her office in Des Moines, Iowa, in recent weeks.

"I am still shivering," the 39-year-old graphic designer said recently, estimating the temperature in the office was in the mid-60s while outside, the city hit 19 below zero. "Living in the Midwest, I'm well-trained to dress warmly and in layers, but this deep freeze has been difficult to endure, especially when I expect to be comfortable - or at least not shivering - inside."

As much of the nation muddled through bitter weather in recent weeks, office dwellers found they had to brave the cold when indoors. Many relied on winter parkas, gloves, blankets and space heaters just to work.

Dressed for Arctic success

"Today I've got two sweaters, a scarf, ear coverings, gloves and a blanket over my lap," Rebecca Miller, 27, an academic adviser at Tennessee State University in Nashville, said this month as temperatures barely ticked above 50 degrees in her office while outside it was 20 degrees or lower in the daytime. "But I'm still having a hard time working. I'm shaking cold, and it's hard to focus. The gloves make it hard to type, and the bulky layers make it difficult to move around."

Like thousands of other chilly Americans, she snapped selfies at her desk in attire usually reserved for the ski slopes and shared them on social media.

Office developments are built with centralized heating systems that make the buildings suitable for a range of uses over many years. The downside is they provide little climate control to individual tenants - sometimes purposely, said Khee Poh Lam, architecture professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Thermostats are often tucked into hard-to-reach spaces like false ceilings and air ducts so office tenants can't mess with them, Lam said. Other buildings have dummy units out in the open that do nothing except give workers the illusion of control.

Finding the right temperature to please everyone has been an elusive goal for office designers and builders, said Stefano Schiavon, architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-wrote a 2012 study that found roughly 40 percent of U.S. workers were satisfied with their office's temperature. Design standards call for an acceptability rate closer to 80 percent, he said.

The challenge isn't just confined to the winter. Chilly offices have long been the bane of women who complain air conditioning is cranked up in the summer to appease their male suit-wearing counterparts. And there are certainly many offices with overzealous furnaces that prompt workers to crack open windows even on the coldest days.

Comfort a moving target

Optimal temperature for office work is 72 to 79 degrees - or nearly 10 degrees more than what many buildings typically set their thermostats, said Alan Hedge, a design professor at Cornell University in New York who has researched how temperature affects productivity.

Schiavon suggested that companies, even those based in the draftiest old offices, can invest in safe, relatively inexpensive technology to keep workers warm and productive, like heated chairs, electric blankets and heated floor mats.

"The bottom line is that central heating won't work for everyone, even if designed right," he said. "We're very different people and need some sort of personalization of our environment."

Ericson, the Iowa resident, said the key to getting through the workday has been reminding herself the cold is only temporary.

"Every day that passes," she said, "is a day closer to spring."The advent of self-driving cars, the subject of so much fanfare over the last few years from automakers and technology companies, may be just around the corner - at least according to General Motors.

On Friday, GM submitted a petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking permission to begin operating fully autonomous cars - without steering wheels or pedals - in a commercial ride-hailing service next year.

The company said the vehicle, the Cruise AV, could be put into production on a standard assembly line once approval was granted by the federal government and states where the cars would operate.

Self-driving technology "is only going to have a big impact if we can deploy it at large scale," GM's chief financial officer, Dan Ammann, said in an interview. "We intend to launch a commercial ride-share service at commercial scale in 2019."

The cars would most likely be used initially in a ride service created by GM, rather than in a service run by an established company like Uber or Lyft, he said.

If approved, the Cruise AVs would probably appear first in San Francisco or Scottsdale, Ariz., where GM's self-driving subsidiary, Cruise Automation, is conducting tests. In San Francisco, the division has set up a ride-hailing service using about 50 Cruise AVs, although the cars are available only for some of its 250 employees, not public customers.

The Cruise AV is a version of the battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt. It is a four-passenger vehicle with an array of radar, cameras and laser sensors that are clustered on its roof and allow the car to navigate city streets.

Ammann said it was reasonable to assume that mass production of the self-driving model would take place at a factory in Orion Township, Mich., that already makes Cruise AV prototypes and the Bolt, though he said there were no firm plans.

Approval from the Transportation Department is expected to take several months, and then GM would need local clearance before it could provide rides in Cruise AVs to the public.Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., publisher of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, will keep an eye on Facebook's news-feed changes "for any signs that the weighting of news sites is politically motivated."

In a statement Friday, the publisher said it welcomed changes "that reward quality and confront clickbait" but said it was too soon to say how the revisions would affect publishers.Paint, new wheels and a variety of techniques are the tools used by imaginative vehicle owners to modify vehicles to reflect their personal taste.

As many as 115 examples of modified cars will be exhibited at the 60th annual San Francisco Chronicle International Show, which opens Nov. 18 at the Moscone Convention Center.

Starting in 2010, I wanted to supplement the new production cars in the show with the after-market and modified cars, said Scott Diamond, assistant show manager. But I quickly learned it was a tight-knit community and it was hard to get a foot in the door.

He found the key when he contacted John Liwanag, a Southern California transplant to the Bay Area, who had modified his 1997 Honda when he was only 19.

He was well connected with the people who had the cars that we wanted in the show, Diamond said. John is credited by many for importing what is known as the VIP style from Japan. It put him on the map of car modification.

However, the publicity-shy Liwanag claims he just created an online haven for the style.

John had some reservations in the beginning about getting involved with the car show, but still agreed to help us out, Diamond said.

Modified cars were first exhibited at the auto show in what was called the After-Market Alley.

Liwanag provided four modified vehicles that year, along with some race cars and a mixed bag of other vehicles. He brought in more vehicles for each of the next two years.

By that time, I wanted a bigger after-market space that would appeal to a younger demographic, Diamond said.

The plan was to give adventuresome vehicle owners something they would relate to and to introduce vehicles that differed from the manufacturers production vehicles to a wider audience, according to Diamond.

John asked me if he could make a proposal, Diamond said. I was kind of surprised, but excited that he wanted to get involved.

The modified car exhibit was moved five years ago to the Esplanade Ballroom. There is one little roadblock. The ballroom is on an upper level of the center. Cars must be transported to the ballroom one-by-one in the freight elevator. Liwanag directs traffic.

Dubbed the San Francisco Auto Salon, the larger exhibit space is an opportunity for Liwanag to create the kind of modified-car show of which he had always dreamed: An exhibit of the specialized cars that would reach folks that might not go to an after-market-only show.

It is not about winning trophies or getting publicity, Liwanag said. The show is an avenue for our cars to be seen outside our normal avenues and by a much larger audience. I am not surprised it became popular.

His own orange VIP was displayed in the 2016 show.

What surprises me is how it became almost prestigious for modified vehicle owners to display their cars, Liwanag said. The show became the place to be. People are coming and asking to be in it.

The biggest thing for them is the diversity of the cars and diversity of owners that may not see each other for months. Liang said. They get to interact and talk about cars.

This year Liwanag expects to get 60 modified imported cars for the exhibit and 40 domestics.

Sixty years ago, this was the Import Car Show, then the American vehicles joined us, said show Director Kevin Diamond. The Salons modified cars add a different dimension to the experience of the folks who come to the show.

The San Francisco Chronicle 60th annual International Auto Show

Pick up a copy of the International Auto Show guide in The Chronicle on Sunday.

Adult tickets are $10. Children 12-years and under are free when accompanied by an adult. For more information or to order tickets, visit www.sfautoshow.com.Authorities are searching for two male suspects after a teen was shot Friday evening in north Houston, according to Harris County Constable Precinct 4.

The shooting of the 14-year-old occurred in the 500 block of Northaire Drive, according to the constable's office.A man died after a shooting Friday in southwest Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

The shooting occurred around 4:35 p.m. in the 8900 block of Beechnut, police said.

He was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead.

It is unclear what led to the initial shooting.

This is a breaking news story. Check back here for developments.Residents in northwest Harris County were urged to stay indoors Friday afternoon as deputies searched for two possibly armed suspects, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The two male suspects fled on foot in the 10200 block of Wayward Wind Lane, the sheriff's office said.Two men were wounded early Saturday morning in a shooting outside a Richmond Avenue bar, Houston police said.

Jareath Francis, 38, and Keith Davidson, 34, were taken to a local hospital and are expected to survive, police said.

The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. in the parking lot outside of Capone's Oven and Bar in the 2300 block of Richmond Avenue, said Houston police Lt. Larry Crowson. Francis and Davidson were leaving the restaurant when an unknown suspect shot at Francis several times. Davidson was struck in the leg by a shot that missed Francis.

Crowson said the suspect has not been located or taken into custody. Anyone with information should contact the Houston Police Department's Major Assaults Unit at 713-308-3600.WASHINGTON - American Airlines is handing out $1,000 bonuses to its employees. So are Wal-Mart, AT&T, Bank of America and Nationwide Insurance. The same for Comcast, JetBlue Airways and US Bancorp.

Such announcements, coming from dozens of companies, have followed the passage of the Republican tax plan that President Donald Trump signed into law last month. The plan slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The companies say the bonuses they've announced are a way to share some of their bounty with their workers.

The bonuses are one-time payouts, not the permanent pay raises that Trump and congressional Republicans have said will eventually result from the corporate tax cuts. Over time, bonuses are far less valuable to employees than wage increases.

So far, most companies haven't said whether any permanent pay increases are in the works. Economists caution that the corporate income tax cut's effect on average pay, if any, might not become apparent for several years.

"As a worker, it's great to get a one-off bonus, but that doesn't guarantee anything for the next year," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont. "You'd rather have the raise, because next year you're working off the higher base."

Eventually, Stanley thinks the lower corporate tax rates will lead to worker pay raises. He expects companies over the next several years to use some of their windfalls to invest in equipment that would make workers more productive and lead to higher wages.

Other economists remain skeptical that workers stand to receive sharp wage increases. They note that the corporate tax cut will overwhelmingly benefit shareholders and company owners. That sentiment is one reason stock market indexes are setting new highs almost daily.

"The bulk of the corporate tax cuts should accrue to people who hold stock in companies," said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Workers benefit much more from a cut in taxes on ordinary income. In other words, better to get a direct cut than a spillover from cuts to others."

Beyond the worker bonuses that have been announced, typically for $1,000, about a dozen banks have said they will raise their minimum wages. A handful of mostly small companies, including Washington Federal Bank, have announced pay increases for most of their workforces. And a few, including Visa and Aflac, have said they will raise their contributions to their employees' retirement plans.

This past week, Houston-based Waste Management announced bonuses. It said it would hand out $2,000 for up to 34,000 employees.

In addition, U.S. workers will begin receiving more take-home pay, likely by next month, as lower tax rates for individuals under the Republican plan kick in.

The Communications Workers of America, a labor union, asked CEOs of large corporations to give workers the $4,000 average income gain that White House officials said would flow eventually from lower corporate taxes. AT&T, the first company to announce bonuses, said it chose the $1,000 bonus instead.

American Airlines, which also employs the communication union's members, similarly decided to bestow a $1,000 bonus. The union said it appreciated the gesture but asserted in a statement that the bonus "falls short of the permanent wage increase that working families were promised."

The White House has touted the announced bonuses as evidence that the corporate tax cut is benefiting workers, rather than just shareholders, and has dubbed the payouts a "Trump bonus."

"Businesses across America have already started to raise wages, and more than 100 companies have already given bonuses and other benefits to hundreds of thousands of workers as a result of these massive tax cuts," Trump said Monday in Nashville.

The conservative group Americans for Tax Reform, which backed the tax cut, has compiled a list of more than 100 companies that have announced some kind of financial benefit for employees resulting from the tax cut.

Only a few have announced any broad-based pay increases. One that has is Nephron Pharmaceuticals, based in West Columbia, S.C. Nephron said it would give a 5 percent raise to most of its 640 employees.

Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, said there are practical reasons why most companies would prefer bonuses over pay raises.

"It's a way for employers to benefit workers without being on the hook for a long-term pay increases," Chamberlain said.

In some cases, the companies are sharing only a sliver of their tax-cut windfalls. Bank of America's bonuses will cost it roughly $145 million - only about 4 percent of the $3.5 billion that Goldman Sachs estimates Bank of America will receive from the tax cut.

Likewise, KBW, an investment firm, estimates that Wells Fargo's commitments to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour and to boost its charitable contributions will equal about 5 percent of the additional profits the tax cut will provide Wells.

Most economists do expect paychecks to start rising faster for most workers this year but for a different reason: The unemployment rate is projected to fall further and could reach a five-decade low of 3.5 percent. A rate that low would likely force many companies to sharply raise pay to keep and attract the workers they need.

Economists like Stanley, who expects the corporate tax cut to lift wages over time, think it will happen indirectly as companies channel their tax savings into machinery, computers and software, making workers productive and leading to higher pay.

"These things aren't going to happen right away, but they will gradually follow through in the next several years," Stanley said.Legendary oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is closing his hedge fund, saying oil trading has lost its luster.

Instead, the onetime Texas oil wildcatter wrote Friday in a LinkedIn post that he wants to invest in "personal passions like promoting unbridled entrepreneurship and philanthropic and political endeavors."

Pickens, 89, also cited his health in the post, writing, "I'm still recovering from a series of strokes I suffered late last year, and a major fall over the summer." He added, "It's time to start making new plans and setting new priorities."

Though he achieved much of his fame for corporate takeover bids in the 1970s and 1980s, Pickens earned much of his wealth in the energy futures market after turning 75 in 2003, making billions through his Dallas-based BP Capital by correctly betting on rising prices for oil and natural gas.

Pickens joins a number of big-name hedge fund managers who have closed their doors in the past year.

Andy Hall, the trader known as "God," shut his main fund in August after it slumped almost 30 percent in the first half of last year.

John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital, Hutchin Hill Capital's Neil Chriss and Eric Mindich of Eton Park Capital Management have also called it quits. While the number of hedge funds shutting operations declined last year, there were still 66 more firms closing than starting, Eurekahedge data show.

Pickens was managing more than $4 billion at the start of 2008 before one of his funds was almost completely wiped out and a second plunged 64 percent. Undaunted, he sought out new investors the next year for new hedge funds that invested in stocks and futures.

As of the end of 2016, BP Capital Fund Advisors had about $335.1 million under management.

"All the funds have been shuttered and the money returned to investors," other than investments Pickens specifically listed in his LinkedIn post, according to Jay Rosser, his spokesman.

Pickens said he will continue to be an owner and investor in the TriLine Index Solutions energy index series and the BP Capital TwinLine Energy Fund.

Pickens probably fell victim to diminished volatility in energy markets, according to Rob Thummel, who helps manage $16 billion in energy assets at Tortoise Capital Advisors.

"It's a sign that oil volatility is probably not coming back for a while, and that's what traders are looking for," Thummel said. "It's not as lucrative."

In the latest Forbes Magazine listing, Pickens' net worth is listed at $950 million in 2013, reflecting losses from the 2008 financial crisis, hundreds of millions Pickens spent on philanthropy (including about $500 million to Oklahoma State University, his alma mater) and investments in wind energy, part of his plan to end U.S. dependence on Middle East oil.

In December, Pickens put his 65,000-acre Mesa Vista Ranch in the Texas Panhandle up for sale, with an asking price of $250 million, according to the Dallas Morning News. He also put his Dallas mansion on the market for $5.9 million.

Pickens expressed pleasure at how the fund fared, despite the highs and lows.

"It has been one hell of a roller coaster ride," he said in the statement. "I've seen oil prices bounce around from $10 a barrel up to $147, down to $26 and now appear to be inching up ever so slowly. I'm ecstatic that I've hung on long enough to see it all unfold. I've thrived and profited on the volatility in the energy space. But for me, personally, trading oil is not as intriguing to me as it once was."Showing some school spirit never hurt anyone...unless you are Diana Durkin, a 19-year-old from Houston who accidentally ticked off the TSA with her enthusiasm.

Durkin is a sophomore at Texas Tech University and has always loved having school pride.

After taking a semester off from school to help her family recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, she was excited to finally get a break and take a trip with her best friend before returning to school.

ON THE WAY UP: Where Texas schools rank on Forbes' list of Top colleges

"Taking a semester off from a University was a hard decision, but one that I needed to make," Durkin told Chron.com. "Texas Tech has such a huge place in my heart, and I am returning for the Spring 2018 semester and could not be more thrilled."

According to Durkin, fans of Texas Tech shout "guns up" to other alumni along with making a gun symbol with their hand as a way of bonding over their school.

While in the security line at Hobby Airport, Durkin noticed a person wearing a Texas Tech sweatshirt, and without thinking she excitedly threw up the gun symbol to him, which immediately got the TSA's attention.

"I throw my hand up in a gun shape...next thing I know, I am being tapped on the shoulder and asked to step out of line and be talked to," said Durkin. "They explained to me why they were pulling me aside, I apologized profusely, showed them my Texas Tech ID and complied with everything they asked me."

Durkin said she was terrified the whole time, thinking she was going to be sent to jail.

"I've never dealt with a situation like that before," she said. "I am so very fortunate it was not worse, though. They let me off with a warning and I made my plane on time. I know that for others the situation could have been much more serious. I feel very fortunate. The TSA officers know I meant no harm, by the end of it I think they were kinda laughing too!"

Take a look through the gallery to see where Texas Tech, other Texas colleges ranked among the richest schools in the world.

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.A 40-year-old man has been charged with assault after he was accused of grabbing two female Spring Branch students on their way to Northbrook High School, according to the Houston Police Department.

The arrest of Jose Luis Sanchez comes after two girls claimed a man attempted to abduct them on Wednesday while walking to school alone, according to a letter sent to parents by Spring Branch ISD officials.A Katy man is being held on a $1 million bond in Connecticut after a judge there designated him a fugitive from justice for his alleged role in a New Year's Day slaying in Stafford, authorities said Friday.

Giuseppe Briguglio, 19, was arrested about 10 p.m. January 11 at a home in Ansonia, Conn, about 10 miles northwest of New Haven. Also taken into custody at the scene was Jessica Lynn Musante, 17, who had recently lived in Sugar Land but was originally from the area, police in Connecticut said.

Briguglio and Musante were charged with murder in connection with the Jan. 1 shooting death of William James Outlaw, 22, of Missouri City, Stafford police said.

The victim was discovered shortly before 2 a.m. after police were called to investigate reports of gunfire at the Estates of Fountain Lake apartments, 10498 Fountain Lake Drive. A body in an apartment breezeway was later identified as Outlaw, Stafford police said.

Stafford police did not release information about a possible motive for the slaying but said their investigators along with Texas Rangers developed information that led to Briguglio and Musante being identified as possible suspects in the fatal shooting.

Police in Connecticut confirmed Musante is originally from Shelton, a town about five miles away from where she was eventually arrested along with Briguglio. It was officers from Musante's hometown who discovered a possible address where she could be found in Ansonia.

As Stafford investigators were securing arrest warrants in Fort Bend County for Briguglio and Musante, police in Ansonia were surrounding the home where they were found.

"We ordered the occupants out of the house over our (public address) system," said Lt. Patrick Lynch with the Ansonia Police Department. "There was no weapon recovered in the (Stafford homicide) and we weren't sure they were still armed."

Lynch said six people came out of the house: Briguglio, Musante and four people who lived there.

"There was no resistance. They were taken into custody," he said.

The people who lived in the house were related to one of Musante's friends. They were later released after police concluded they were unaware she and Briguglio were suspects in the Texas murder case, officials said.

"They were very cooperative. There was no indication they helped them in any way, shape or form," Lynch said.

Musante was identified as a suspect in the slaying by Stafford investigators. Ansonia police said she is considered a juvenile under Connecticut law and can't be named by them. Musante is currently in juvenile custody there.

Briguglio was arraigned Friday in court in Connecticut.

It wasn't immediately know whether Briguglio and Musante will fight extradition to Texas. Their bonds for the murder charge have been set at $250,000 and $100,000, officials said.For Woodlands resident David Olowokere, one of Nigeria's sons, having a master's degree in engineering just wasn't enough for his people back home. So he got a doctorate.

His wife, Shalewa Olowokere, a civil engineer, didn't stop at a bachelor's, either. She went for her master's.

The same obsession with education runs in the Udeh household in Sugar Land. Foluke Udeh and her husband, Nduka, both have master's degrees. Anything less, she reckons, would have amounted to failure.

"If you see an average Nigerian family, everybody has a college degree these days," said Udeh, 32, a physical therapist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. "But a post-graduate degree, that's like pride for the family."

Nigerian immigrants have the highest levels of education in this city and the nation, surpassing whites and Asians, according to Census data bolstered by an analysis of 13 annual Houston-area surveys conducted by Rice University.

Although they make up a tiny portion of the U.S. population, a whopping 17 percent of all Nigerians in this country held master's degrees while 4 percent had a doctorate, according to the 2006 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, 37 percent had bachelor's degrees.

In comparison

To put those numbers in perspective, 8 percent of the white population in the U.S. had master's degrees, according to the Census survey. And 1 percent held doctorates. About 19 percent of white residents had bachelor's degrees. Asians come closer to the Nigerians with 12 percent holding master's degrees and 3 percent having doctorates.

The Nigerian numbers are "strikingly high," said Roderick Harrison, demographer at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that specializes in researching black issues. "There is no doubt that these are highly educated professionals who are probably working in the petrochemical, medical and business sectors in Houston."

Harrison analyzed the census data for the Houston Chronicle.

Stephen Klineberg, a sociologist at Rice University who conducts the annual Houston Area Survey, suspects the percentage of Nigerian immigrants with post-graduate degrees is higher than Census data shows.

Of all the Nigerian immigrants he reached in his random phone surveys 1994 through 2007  45 households total  Klineberg said 40 percent of the Nigerians said they had post-graduate degrees.

"These are higher levels of educational attainment than were found in any other ... community," Klineberg said.

There are more than 12,000 Nigerians in Houston, according to the latest Census data, a figure sociologists and Nigerian community leaders say is a gross undercount. They believe the number to be closer to 100,000.

Staying in school

The reasons Nigerians have more post-graduate degrees than any other racial or ethnic group are largely due to Nigerian society's emphasis on mandatory and free education. Once immigrating to this country, practical matters of immigration laws get in the way.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 made it easier for Africans to enter the U.S., but mostly as students or highly skilled professionals  not through family sponsorships, Klineberg said.

So many Africans pursue higher levels of education as an unintended consequence of navigating the tricky minefield of immigration, said Amadu Jacky Kaba, an associate professor at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., who has done research on African immigrants in the U.S.

"In a way, it's a Catch-22  because of immigration laws you are forced to remain in school, but then the funny thing is you end up getting your doctorate at the age of 29," Kaba said. "If you stay in school, immigration will leave you alone."

Although Kaba, who teaches Africana Studies, is not from Nigeria (he is Liberian), he said he, too, found himself pursuing a master's and then a doctorate to remain in this country legally.

But not all Africans have to go this route. Some say their motivation is driven by their desire to overcome being a double minority: black and African.

Take Oluyinka Olutoye, 41, associate professor of pediatric surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He came to this country already as a medical doctor but decided to pursue his doctorate in anatomy to help set himself apart.

"Being black, you are already at a disadvantage," said Olutoye, whose wife, Toyin Olutoye, is an anesthesiologist at Baylor. "You really need to excel far above if you want to be considered for anything in this country."

Family expectations

All this talk of education creates high expectations for children of Nigerian immigrants. The eldest child of David Olowokere, chairman of the engineering technologies department at Texas Southern University, for example, is already working on her master's degree in public health in Atlanta; the middle child is pursuing a bachelor's in pre-medicine. His youngest, a son, attends The Woodlands High School. He already has aspirations to go into engineering, just like his parents, Olowokere beams.

"The goal is for them to do as good as us  if not better," he said.

Oluyinka Olutoye put it another way.

"The typical saying in a Nigerian household is that the best inheritance that a parent can give you is not jewelry or cash or material things, it is a good education," he said. "It is expected."

leslie.casimir@chron.comNearly a year after he was arrested, a West Texas man charged in the killing of Zuzu Verk was transferred to a jail roughly an hour from San Antonio to stand trial.

Robert Fabian was arrested and booked in Brewster County but a change of venue was granted and he will be tried on Caldwell County.

Fabian was taken into custody on Feb. 4, 2017, months after his girlfriend, Verk, went missing in Alpine where she studied at Sul Russ State University. Fabian was allegedly the last person to see Verk, on Oct. 11, 2016. Three days later, police searched Fabian's apartment and found his bed had no sheets or pillow cases and found a plastic painter's drop cloth purchased on Oct. 12, 2016, authorities said.

RELATED: Second suspect in the death of Zuzu Verk indicted on evidence tampering charge, police say

Verk remained missing until Feb. 3, 2017 when her remains were discovered in a shallow grave near Alpine, officials said.

Fabian was charged with murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in concealing a human corpse.

A person who answered the phone Friday at the Brewster County Sheriff's Office, where Fabian had been held, said Fabian was transferred to the Caldwell County Jail on Dec. 28, 2017.

CBS7 reported a judge granted a change of venue from Brewster to Caldwell County in December.

RELATED: Victim who was held captive in Stone Oak home shares photos, details of attack

The Caldwell County Jail and Caldwell County District Attorney's Office referred questions to other agencies.

The Texas Attorney General's Office could not comment on the case, but did say the order for transfer came from a Brewster County district court, according to Kayleigh Lovvorn, media specialist.

Kelsey Bradshaw is a digital reporter for mySA.com. | Read more of her stories here. | kbradshaw@express-news.net | Twitter: @kbrad5Hundreds of student art pieces will be on display Saturday at the Conroe High School 9th grade campus for a Western-themed art show and exhibit.

Dr. Robert Horton, who heads the Fine Arts department for the Conroe Independent School District, said the show is part of "the auspice of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo," which takes place in early March.

"We have 650 student art pieces that have been submitted from all 61 campuses," Horton said, referring to the collection on display at the ninth grade campus. "They are all on the theme of Western life and heritage."

The show is scheduled for Saturday at the Conroe High School ninth grade campus on Sgt. Ed Holcomb Boulevard North between 3 and 5 p.m. The pieces will be displayed on boards in the large gym of the school.

The student art pieces, which are created during the school day on campus, could be anything from landscapes to sculptures and can display people, scenery, livestock, Horton said, noting that it includes anything that involves Western life.

"The quality of the work by the students is exceptional," he said, adding that the generic theme is an intentional way of not stifling the children's creativity. "And the guidance they receive from their teachers is one of the keys."

Of the 650 pieces submitted, 25 high school pieces will be selected by judges for display at the Hayloft gallery at the Rodeo and the students will be eligible for a scholarship, Horton said.

Five pieces from elementary school and junior high school students will also be selected, he added.

The art will be on display throughout the entirety of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

About 135 school districts across Texas are part of the School Art Program for the rodeo. Last year, about 200,000 entries were submitted each year to the rodeo's program. Since 1965, more than 9.2 million entries have been recorded, according to information from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's website.

"This competition gives students to be successful in this very texas medium and it's thoroughly appreciated by the district and the community," Horton said.A son. A father. The end of an era.

A film that follows the journey of how one man repaired family ties before it was too late will soon be in The Woodlands.

Filmmakers from across the nation will soon be making their way to The Woodlands for the second annual Inspire Film Festival on Feb. 15-19. Among them is Jordan Melamed, director of "Futures Past."

Melamed's film covers the demise of shouting in the Chicago trade pits as everything became digitized.

"I started trading and fell in love with it so when I heard it was dying it hit me like a thunderbolt, and I had to make a film about it before it was gone," Melamed said.

Melamed began working in the Chicago trading pits as a teenager because of his father, Leo Melamed, who was the imperious chairman emeritus of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the man responsible for changing the way the world trades.

"I grew up in the business of shout and trade in the pits. I started working in high school and my father was chairman of the exchange. I think it was a right of passage for people in Chicago to go down there when they were young," Melamed said, describing the pits as a place of violence where men shout over one another to be heard and wave papers in the air above the crowd.

"Futures Past" was originally intended to strictly cover the end of an era as trading increasingly was conducted on computers. However, to fully tell the story of the demise of trading, Melamed was forced to conduct interviews with his father and conflicts quickly arose.

"The pit is a zero-sum game, which means that for every winner on a trade there is a loser," Melamed said. "It's the same thing with my father. Whenever the two of us are in the room there is only one winner."

Through the interviews with his father, Melamed was able to slowly bridge the gulf between them. What started as a project to capture the essence of the trading pits before they faded into history evolved into a personal journey to repair a broken relationship.

"There's such an extraordinary rush and competition," Melamed said of the open outcry trading. "I never experienced anything like it."

At the end of the day, though, the pits can leave one feeling empty and lonely, he added.

"What is meaningful about your life when all you've done is move money around?" he asked.

Melamed said that he discovered family and relationships are truly important, and that face-to-face communication is essential.

"The core message of the personal story is that there's an addition in family and there's an addition in relationships," he said. "It doesn't have to be a zero-sum game."

Sponsoring "Futures Past" at the film festival is Jess Bailey, of Bailey Law Firm in the Village of Grogan's Mill. Bailey, who is from Chicago, said the film resonates on a personal level because she went to the trade pits when she was younger, and she is excited to bring a small piece of her home town to The Woodlands.

"It's just a perfect combination for me to sponsor a film that's really where I from and to bring that here," she said.

Bailey added that she decided to sponsor the film because of its relevance-everything changes and many families that work in the same business often struggle in their relationships.

"It's an inspiring story about change and evolving and technology, and I thought it was a great story to tell. Also the family dynamics when you work in the same business-the challenges and the great opportunities you have, too."

Bailey Law Firm also sponsored the inaugural Inspire Film Festival last year. When asked why she supported an unproven entity, Bailey replied that "sometimes you see things and you know it's going to succeed."

"I was drawn into the idea of good feelings and good thoughts and sharing those stories," she said, adding that she has always been a strong supporter of the arts. "I'm looking forward to being a proud sponsor for many years to come."

Melamed said he looks forward to seeing the audience reactions to his film and to engaging with them after the showing.

"Thank you so much for supporting the film. When you sit in a room and work on something for a very long time there is nothing more meaningful than having an audience engage with it," he said.

The Inspire Film Festival is scheduled to run Feb. 15-19. Specific times for showings and ticket packages can be found on the website at inspirefilmfest.com. Thursday's event will be free and open to the public from 6:30-8:30 p.m., featuring seven short films.What began as a small project by two local teenagers with the hopes of collecting a box or two of donations turned into three car loads worth of items delivered to the Montgomery County Women's Center.

Two iSchool High sophomores, 15-year-old Courtney Brumley and 16-year-old Avery Palacios, are competing in a Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) competition later in January. The pair wanted to do something benefitting women, so they directed their focus toward domestic violence and decided to launch a donation drive for the Montgomery County Women's Center. The center provides a 24-hour hotline, safe shelter, crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy and legal services to survivors of family violence, sexual assault and stalking. The shelter can house up to 75 women and children each night. The iHigh School is a charter college preparatory high school on the campus of Lone Star College.

Brumley and Palacios decided to partner for the HOSA competition because it is the first time for both of them to enter. They are being mentored by two seniors who did a similar project last year.

"We had to pick a topic that was important to us and that was safety or health related," Palacios said. "We heard about the women's center and we were really drawn to it. It's a cause that we think is really important and isn't really talked about in the community and so we decided to do a donation drive."

They began collecting donations at their school and in a couple of neighborhoods on Dec. 1. Brumley's neighborhood of Woodforest went all out to help the teenagers with their project. While they had originally planned to collect donations through the end of December, the pair stopped after only two weeks because they had so many items thanks to the team at Woodforest, who collected more than $4,000 worth of donations.

Faith Pitman, marketing manager of the Woodforest Johnson Development Company, said that the community and development team were delighted to help when Brumley reached out to them.

"The passion that (Courtney) has-she was so excited about the organization, and so we thought 'Let's see what we can do,'" Pitman said.

Pitman reached out to the community explaining the project and asking for donations to support the women's center.

"It was just insane the amount of people that came back (to us) that knew someone who had been affected by domestic abuse," Pitman said of the response.

A team consultant also took a group to WalMart and spent $2,500 on toys and other requested items for the clinic. Pitman said the development company always wants to give back to its residents and that helping Brumley with her project was a great way to do that.

"Finding out later how old she was and knowing at that age how much she wanted to give and the difference that she wanted to make in peoples lives-we were just so impressed," Pitman added.

Brumley and Palacios both said they were overwhelmed by the generosity.

"We definitely wanted to raise awareness and we did a campus wide donation drive. We did it in two other neighborhoods. We totally did not think that we'd get as much as we did end up getting," Palacios said. "We wanted to make a difference but we didn't think that we could do that much, so it made it much more exciting when we were able to do so much."

Brumley said the pair could not have brought more than we did.

"We filled up (the center's) donation room completely and then we had stuff in the hallway, too," Brumley added.

Although winning the HOSA competition would be nice, both teens said that the competition is no longer a primary motivation.

"It's become more than just a competition. We got really passionate about it because we met with a lot of people who worked at the women's shelter or who are really into human rights, and so at this point we've met so many people that we're both really motivated to continue," Brumley said.

Palacios added that the effort is, "Something that's even bigger than we could have imagined or expected."

The project has helped both Brumley and Palacios expand their horizons. They said that everyone knows domestic violence and abuse happen, but they don't think of it happening in their own community.

"It's definitely just opened our eyes. It's kind of crazy that something (like domestic abuse) can be going on because I feel like we all just live in our safe little Woodlands," Palacios said.

Brumley said she agreed with Palacios about the misconception that abuse does not happen in wealthy areas.

"I feel like there's a stigma associated with it where everyone is really wealthy and everyone is really well off, and this kind of stuff just doesn't happen here. Well it does," Brumley said. "It was eye opening for us to see that. And I feel like it's also good for us to know because we're going into high school and college and it's good for us to know these things for ourselves. That way we can also share it with others."

Both have decided that they want to continue helping others throughout high school and moving forward toward their careers.

Brumley wants to be a pediatric surgeon. Although she doesn't yet know what university she wants to attend, she is taking steps toward her dream career.

"I do want to continue doing things with human rights and domestic violence because that's something I've become passionate about after doing this project," she said.

Likewise, Palacios doesn't know yet where she wants to go, but she wants to study psychology.

"I also agree with the human rights thing because it's just been so influential, this whole project that we've been doing," Palacios added.

Palacios was also recently named a Hollister Ambassador for the nationwide clothing store, one of only 24 in the United States. As an ambassador, she will be able to help various other organizations and continue doing works of altruism.

Brumley and Palacios will compete in the HOSA event locally Jan. 26-27. If they place high enough they will advance to state competition in April. Whatever happens, both teenagers said they are glad they were able to make such an impact and know they couldn't have done it without help.

"We'd really like to thank Woodforest, especially Faith Pitman," Brumley said. "She really took us under her wing and she did so much for us. She was talking to contractors and she was getting money coming in and she got all these guys to come with her to WalMart to throw children's stuff into their carts. Faith Pitman, absolutely we owe it all to her because she was the one who brought it all together. And then all the ladies at the Woodforest as well."Francisco Merlos is still haunted by the image of Geneva Gomez's lifeless body covered in blood - his ex-girlfriend's arms spread out as though she had been crucified, with a large crucifix on her chest, according to court documents.

In 2016 he had come to the North McKinley Avenue house in Oklahoma City to try to win her back two days after they broke up. Gomez's mother, Juanita, answered the door and let him in. Moments later, he saw the body.

"I can just see my girl laying in there, like with her arms out, the crucifix right here," he told Reuters Thursday. "You couldn't even recognize her face at all. Like that's not my girl, you know?"

On Thursday Juanita Gomez, 51, was found guilty of first-degree murder of her 33-year-old daughter - who died after the mother beat her and forced a crucifix down her throat because she believed her child was possessed.

The jury recommended a sentence of life in prison without parole, according to Oklahoma County court officials.

Associated Press

On Tuesday, Merlos testified that, after seeing Geneva Gomez's body, Juanita Gomez put him in a headlock as he tried to leave and mumbled about the "devil" and "money," according to the Oklahoman.

He then called Oklahoma City police, and officers found Geneva Gomez splayed on the floor with marks of severe trauma around her head and face, according to court documents. Emergency responders pronounced Geneva Gomez dead on the scene.

Juanita Gomez later told police she believed her daughter was possessed by the devil, and confessed to punching Geneva Gomez repeatedly and forcing a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat until blood spilled out of her daughter's mouth. After watching her daughter die, Juanita Gomez spread the body out in the shape of a cross. She told police she then tried to clean her daughter and other items in the house.

Police in court documents noted that Juanita Gomez's hands were swollen and her arms were bruised.

"Juanita stated these bruises were from her daughter fighting her attempts to rid Satan from her daughter's body," an Oklahoma City police investigator said in a 2016 court document.

Juanita Gomez had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. Court records show her defense attorneys planned to offer an insanity defense at trial, but a psychologist found Gomez was feigning memory problems to appear incompetent, the Oklahoman reported.

In his brief opening statement Tuesday, Juanita Gomez's attorney, Nick Southerland, asked jurors to pay close attention to the evidence presented in the case and "not just the accusations," the Oklahoman reported.Three Harris County hearing officers already facing a federal court order over their handling of bail bonds received a rare sanction from the state for failing to issue personal bonds for defendants to get out of jail.

The rebuke by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct cites hearing officers Joseph Licata III, Jill Wallace and Eric Hagstette with a public admonition and ordered them to take additional educational instruction.

The order from commission chair, Justice Douglas S. Lang, said the board took into consideration that the hearing officers testified on Dec. 7 in Austin that they had been told by Harris County criminal court judges they should not grant cash-free bonds or more affordable bond rates. They said they feared they would be fired if they didn't comply.

The findings were prompted by a landmark federal court ruling in April that the county's bail system was unfair to indigent defendants and a complaint by state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, to the state commission that oversees judicial ethics requesting it review the judge's findings.

Whitmire filed the complaint after a Houston Chronicle story exposed details from video recorded bail hearings, during which judicial officers appeared to ignore pleas from defendants seeking personal no-cash bonds. Some set high bonds because a person didn't call them "sir" or when they didn't like the demeanor of the defendant.

"These people have been arrested, but they're considered innocent," Whitmire said of the videos."The total non-judicial conduct ... and the rude bullying that took place on the tapes led to my complaint. We have to have zero tolerance for that."

He said, "I was shocked about how they treated somebody so vulnerable. I don't stand for that at all."

Whitmire said he was grateful the commission exposed the conduct of these officers.

"They're letting the public know some of the abuses that are happening in the basement of the criminal courthouse by our magistrates," he said.

Harris County employs five hearing officers who work around the clock, setting bond for people before they have a chance to make an initial appearance before a judge. Whitmire singled out the three officers based on their conduct in the videos.

The bond hearings held via videolink showed that many defendants in misdemeanor cases were never questioned about their ability to pay. Those who asked for personal bonds because of family hardships, jobs or other valid reasons were routinely denied and sometimes treated rudely. In one video, a judge doubled a bond after a female defendant said "yeah" instead of "yes."

In three terse 5-page rulings, the judicial commission ordered the three criminal law hearing officers to submit to four hours of additional education to be completed within 60 days.

In similarly worded statements, the commission concluded the officers "failed to comply with the law, and failed to maintain competence in the law, by strictly following directives not to issue personal bonds to defendants per the instructions of the judges in whose court the underlying cases were assigned."

By ignoring this duty, the commission said, the judges violated their "constitutional and statutory obligation to consider all legally available bonds, including personal recognizance bonds, for those individuals whose cases were assigned to courts who instructed him not to issue personal recognizance bonds."

The commission based its findings on a ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal in a 2016 class-action lawsuit in Houston by indigent misdemeanor defendants, including a young mother who was held for two days in jail because she couldn't post $2,500 bail after her arrest for driving with an invalid license.

Rosenthal found the county's bail practices violated the U.S. Constitution, saying indigent defendants didn't have equal access to gain their freedom because they couldn't afford it.

Rosenthal's injunction followed a contentious hearing that pitted county officials against one other. She ordered the county's judges to release indigent, low-level defendants within 24 hours if they don't have holds or other detainers. That ruling is on appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Harris County, which was in the process of reforming its risk assessments for bail, has spent more than $5 million defending itself against the suit. The county's lawyers argued on appeal that Rosenthal's order jeopardizes public safety and unfairly takes discretion out of the hands of judges.

Robert Soard, first assistant to County Attorney Vince Ryan, said he couldn't respond in detail to the commission's finding.

"We are in the process of reviewing the orders issued by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct as we are awaiting the ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of Judge Rosenthal's opinion," he said. "A ruling favorable to the County may have a significant impact on these orders."

The lawyers for the indigent defendants also said they were not prepared to comment on the sanctions.

But County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a longtime advocate of reforming the bail system, said he was gratified by the commission's findings.

"They recognized what I've been saying all along  that Harris County magistrates violated the law when they adhered to the county courts' strict bond schedule and refused to grant pretrial release simply because misdemeanor defendants were poor," he said. "This is further evidence that we must stop defending our two-tiered bail system that favors the wealthy, punishes the poor and undermines public safety."

He added, "Harris County must stop spending millions of taxpayer dollars fighting the lawsuit over its bail procedures and instead enact meaningful reforms that treat all people equally under the law."

Whitmire agreed.

"This just documents how broken the bail bond system is in Harris County," he said.WASHINGTON - American diplomats scrambled Friday to salvage their nation's bonds with Africa, Haiti and even the celebrated "special relationship" with Britain after President Donald Trump, in the span of a few hours, deeply offended much of the world with the most undiplomatic of remarks.

Trump's description of African nations as a "shithole" and other inflammatory comments became the latest and perhaps most direct test of whether America's global partnership can withstand its president's loose lips. In Washington and far-flung foreign capitals, U.S. officials launched into urgent cleanup mode.

As world leaders denounced the comments as racist, Trump's ambassadors to Botswana and Senegal were both summoned to explain his remark, as was the top U.S. diplomat in Haiti, where there is no ambassador, State Department officials said.

In addition to the Africa slur, Trump during a meeting Thursday with lawmakers questioned why the U.S. would need more Haitian immigrants.

President Jovenel Moise's government issued a strongly worded statement denouncing what it called a "racist" view of Haitian immigrants and people from African countries.

"The Haitian government condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks which, if proven, reflect a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States," it said.

The White House, too, was reeling from the fallout. Staffers fanned out to do television appearances in support of Trump and reached out to Republicans on Capitol Hill to coordinate damage control.

Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein, in charge of U.S. public diplomacy, said Trump has the right to "make whatever remark he chooses," calling it the benefit of being president. He said Trump's comments notwithstanding, it was diplomats' obligation to send the message to other countries that the United States cares "greatly about the people that are there."

More Information U.S. ambassador to Panama quits The U.S. ambassador to Panama resigned Friday, saying that he could no longer "faithfully" serve the president. Notice of John Feeley's resignation came a day after Trump referred to Caribbean and African nations as "shithole countries." Feeley's resignation marks the end of a 35-year career in public service as a Marine and diplomat. New York Daily News See More Collapse

"Will they have to work extra hard to send it today? Yes, they will, but that's OK," Goldstein said. "That's part of the responsibility that they have. It doesn't change what we do."

State Department officials said they were advising diplomats to prepare to get an earful and to focus on listening to and acknowledging those countries' concerns.

Rather than try to interpret or soften Trump's remarks, diplomats were encouraged to focus on specific areas where the two countries are cooperating - trade, for example - and to emphasize that those tangible aspects of the relationship transcend anything the president did or didn't say, said the officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

"I think you just have to take it. It's almost impossible for diplomats to say something that would make an African government feel better," said Grant Harris, who ran Africa policy at the White House under former President Barack Obama. "So you say the U.S. government is committed to being a strong partner and that actions speak louder than words.

"The problem is, for many other administrations, the actions spoke more loudly," Harris added.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.President Donald Trump has pledged to end the growing scourge of opioid abuse.

The presidents attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has paved the way for prosecuting the nascent marijuana industry legalized in a growing number of states.

But the dual federal efforts may be at odds, experts say, citing evidence that expanding access to marijuana could actually help combat the opioid epidemic.

Dr. Julia Arnsten, a professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said at a state Assembly hearing this week that states that have medical marijuana average a lower rate of opioid-related deaths than states without.

She pointed to one 2014 study by her colleague Dr. Marcus Bachhuber that showed those states saw about 25 percent fewer deaths in comparison. Arnsten noted the states with medical marijuana programs still had rising deaths due to opioids, but they rose at a slower rate. She added that those findings have since been confirmed by two subsequent studies conducted by different researchers.

Arnsten said that it would appear that patients in states where medical marijuana is available are opting to use that to relieve chronic or severe pain rather than relying on opioid painkillers.

Avoiding opioid medication in favor of medical marijuana lowers the risk of opioid overdose either because individuals do not progress to opioid use disorder, or they do not accidentally overdose on the opioids prescribed to them, Arnsten said at the Assembly hearing, which centered on whether to legalize recreational marijuana by passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, now in its third go-around in the state Legislature.

New York already has a medical marijuana program, which was authorized in 2014. However, the law restricts what it can be prescribed for to a specific list of conditions. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has introduced legislation that would eliminate that list, but it has failed to advance. Arnsten said that fully legalizing and regulating marijuana would expand access and lead to fewer opioid-related deaths.

According to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, New York had ranked fifth in the nation in terms of opioid-related deaths in 2016, the most recent year for which numbers are available. Thats over 3,500 deaths, nearly 1,000 more deaths than in 2015. Erie County, an area hit particularly hard by the epidemic, also saw its fourth straight year of increased deaths.

While further research is needed from states that have recently enacted legislation policies, there is reason to believe legalization and regulation of marijuana in New York will have a favorable impact on the opioid epidemic and on broader health outcomes, Arnsten said.

Marijuana not only provides an alternative to opioid painkillers, it is also far safer than even alcohol, according to Dr. Julia Holland of the the nonprofit group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, who said it relates to 125,000 deaths a year.

Cannabis doesnt kill, Holland said at the hearing. Unlike alcohol, which is neurotoxic, meaning it destroys brain matter over the long term, cannabis actually can protect against brain injury.  The vast majority of American adults are unharmed by the use of cannabis.

Sheriff Barry Virts, the incoming president of the New York State Sheriffs Association and one of the few naysayers at the hearing, said he feared legalization would worsen the opioid epidemic. But Holland rejected that view of marijuana as a so-called gateway drug, saying that the majority of people who use it do not go on to use other illicit drugs.

Dana Beal, a longtime marijuana advocate, said the drug can be used to treat substance abuse. He said marijuana is a frontline detox and works better than drugs like naloxone or methadone. However, Assemblyman Michael DenDekker said that currently he is not aware of any study that examines the efficacy of using medical marijuana as a treatment for substance abuse, adding that he would like documentation for people who just dont get it.

New York decriminalized the private possession of small amounts of marijuana in 1977. If the legislation debated at Thursdays hearing passes, the state would be the ninth in the country to allow legal, regulated marijuana use for adults.New York Republicans are split in their responses to Donald Trumps comments in which the president disparaged immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations while calling for more immigration from Norway. While some congressional Republicans from New York unequivocally criticized Trump, others have taken his vague semi-denials at face value.

Trump reportedly demanded to know why the U.S. allows so much immigration from the aforementioned shithole countries in a meeting with lawmakers about immigration policy on Thursday. He also allegedly asked why the country needed more immigrants from Haiti, and said to take them out. In response to the reports, Trump tweeted that his language was tough, but this was not the language used. The White House press office did not dispute the comments, which were reported by The Washington Post and attributed to multiple anonymous sources in the meeting. Sen. Dick Durbin, who was present at the meeting, later affirmed that Trump used this exact language.

City & State reached out to every member of the New York Republican congressional delegation, Republican gubernatorial candidate and Assemblyman Brian Kolb, and Republican state senators who represent Long Island, which has large Haitian and Salvadoran populations, to get their reactions.

Some lawmakers took a hard line against Trumps statement, while others were more forgiving. Rep. Peter King, who has been a strong supporter of Trump in the past, condemned his remarks. (King seems to have broken with Trump more frequently in recent weeks, having also spoken out against the presidents revocation of temporary protected status for Salvadorans and Trumps signature tax law.) Rep. Dan Donovan, who also opposed the Trump-supported tax plan on the grounds that it will harm New Yorkers, was more circumspect in his statement. Below are the responses from the lawmakers who replied:

Rep. Elise Stefanik (through a spokesperson):

Congresswoman Stefanik strongly believes the President's comments were wrong and contrary to our American ideals.

Rep. Chris Collins:

I was not in the meeting with the President and do not know what was said, although (I) have every reason to believe President Trump when he says he did not make those comments. I support the Presidents push for merit based immigration as well as resolving the DACA situation once and for all. We need to continue to work for a bipartisan solution to this problem and not be distracted by name calling and finger pointing.

Rep. Peter King:

"President Trumps comment regarding certain immigrant groups was clearly wrong. In particular the Salvadoran and Haitian communities make positive contributions to Long Island and America. As a grandson of immigrants I believe that immigrants add greatly to American life and culture."

Rep. Dan Donovan:

I wasnt there and the President denied using that language. All I can say is people from every nationality contribute across all industries, and two women from Trinidad and Ghana cared for my mother like she was their own.

Rep. Tom Reed:

Any alleged comments by the President in a(n) immigration meeting are best responded to by the the White House. Obviously, our hope is that we can focus on finding a solution to this issue. We must help the children involved and ensure that the security of our fellow citizens is achieved. It is time to get past the partisan gridlock in DC and solve the problem and I am more than willing to do just that.

Rep. John Faso (via Twitter):

President Trumps comments regarding Haiti and Africa are wrong and deeply offensive. This type of language is counterproductive and undermines the U.S. and our relations around the world.  John Faso (@RepJohnFaso) January 12, 2018

State Sen. Phil Boyle:

President Trump denies using that language. Whether he did or not, I have personally been to those places and found them to be beautiful and exciting.

State Sen. Kemp Hannon:

"Vulgarity and disrespect have no place in public comments."

Assemblyman Brian Kolb:

The comments  if accurate  regarding Haiti and Africa are wrong. These types of comments are disappointing and distracting from important work that needs to be done.

Editor's note: This story was updated to include state Sen. Kemp Hannon's response.Cookie Preferences Cookie List

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We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.Aggravated robbery, Snow Road: A Brook Park man, 27, was arrested Dec. 26 after he used a BB gun to rob Subway, 15007 Snow.

It happened at about 9:45 p.m. The man - wearing a mask attached to his sweatshirt - walked into Subway, pulled out a BB gun and pointed the gun at restaurant workers. He raced behind the counter and demanded money. The workers handed him cash, but police wouldn't say how much. No one was hurt.

The man ran outside. Subway workers and a witness immediately called police, who were nearby. Officers arrested the man as he was climbing into a Toyota Camry outside the restaurant. By that time, the man had thrown the BB gun onto the ground. Police spotted the gun near a wall.

Officers found hypodermic needles, a bottle containing an unknown liquid, a metal spoon and lighter in the man's possession.

Operating a vehicle under the influence, West 147th Street: A Brook Park man, 44, was arrested at about 4 p.m. Dec. 19 after he crashed his sport-utility vehicle into a utility pole.

The man wasn't hurt. When police arrived, the man was standing near his SUV. He claimed that he had not consumed alcohol.

Grand theft vehicle, Brookpark Road: A 2007 Acura TL was reported stolen at about 3:20 p.m. Jan. 2 from the parking lot of Crown Acura, 14080 Brookpark. The victim, a Crown Acura customer, said a dealership employee had left the keys in the vehicle.

Theft, Snow Road: A Cleveland man, 58, was arrested at about 1:55 p.m. Jan. 3 after he stole eight steaks from Giant Eagle, 14560 Snow.

A store security guard saw the man place the steaks inside his coat. The guard stopped the man as he was leaving the store and called police. The man was wanted in Erie County.

Theft, East Park Circle: Less than $100 in cash was stolen between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 29 from East Park Care Center, 8 East Park.

The victim was an employee of the retirement community. The money was taken from a purse, which had been left on a desk.

Possession of narcotic equipment, Almont Drive: A Strongsville woman, 28, overdosed on heroin at about noon Dec. 31 at a friend's house in Brook Park. She was taken to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.NEW YORK (AP) -- Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is closing dozens of Sam's Club warehouse stores across the country -- a move that seems sure to cost jobs -- on the same day it announced that it was boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers and handing out one-time bonuses to others.

The world's largest private employer said it was closing 63 Sam's Clubs over the next week, with some shut already. A company official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly said about 10 are being repurposed into e-commerce distribution centers. He said it was too early to say how many people would lose their jobs since some will be placed at other Walmart locations or be rehired to the e-commerce sites.

On Twitter, Sam's Club responded to people's queries by saying, "After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we've decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy."

Walmart had earlier cited tax legislation that will save it money in announcing the higher hourly wages, one-time bonuses and expanded parental benefits that will affect more than a million hourly workers in the U.S.

Rising wages reflect a generally tight labor market. The conversion of stores to e-commerce sites also illustrates how companies are trying to leverage their store locations to better compete against Amazon as shopping moves online.

Online retailers typically pay warehouse employees who pack and ship orders more than store jobs pay. Job postings at an Amazon warehouse in Ohio, for example, offer a starting pay of $14.50 an hour.

"This is about the evolution of retail," said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. "The rise of e-commerce is leading to higher wages."

Large employers also have been under pressure to boost benefits for workers because unemployment rates are at historic lows, allowing job seekers to be pickier.

But low unemployment has meant that retailers have had trouble attracting and keeping talented workers, experts said. Walmart employees previously started at $9 an hour, with a bump up to $10 after completing a training program. Target had raised its minimum hourly wage to $11 in October, and said it would raise wages to $15 by the end of 2020.

"They raised the minimum wage because they have to," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said. "The labor market is tight and getting tighter."

Many small and independent retailers struggle to find workers even when they try to pay well and offer benefits.

Laurie Rose, owners of Olde Naples Chocolate usually has six workers during the winter months, the busy season in the resort city of Naples, Florida. But right now, she has just three. The store pays $12 an hour and offers a 401(k) account after a staffer has worked for a year, but Rose realizes that may not be enough for many potential workers. Rose would like to pay more, but she'd have to raise her prices and fears that would turn away customers.

While many department store chains such as Macy's and Sears are struggling, retailers as a whole are still trying to hire. The retail industry is seeking to fill 711,000 open jobs, the highest on records dating back to 2001, according to government data. The longer those jobs go unfilled, the greater pressure on employers to offer higher wages.

Walmart, which reported annual revenue of nearly $486 billion in the previous fiscal year, said the wage increases will cost it an additional $300 million in the next fiscal year. The bonuses will cost it about $400 million in this fiscal year, which ends on Jan. 31.

"The wage increases will make a big difference to Walmart's lowest-paid associates, but do not yet match Target's commitment to raise pay to $15 an hour," said the Organization United for Respect at Walmart.

It joins dozens of other companies including American Airlines, AT&T and Bank of America that have announced $1,000 worker payouts following the passage of the Republican tax plan that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The companies say the bonuses they've announced are a way to share some of their bounty with their workers, though in some cases it's a very small percentage of their gains, and are less valuable to employees than permanent pay raises.

"Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said Thursday. President Donald Trump cheered the announcement with a tweet, saying, "Great news, as a result of our TAX CUTS & JOBS ACT!"

Walmart has invested $2.7 billion in higher wages and training for workers to lower turnover and make the shopping experience more appealing. It has done well and strengthened its hand in online retail as many other retailers have struggled.

The company said the wage increase benefits all hourly U.S. workers at its stores, including Sam's Club. Hourly employees at its websites, distribution centers and its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters, will benefit from the wage increase. The one-time bonus between $200 and $1,000 will be given to Walmart employees who won't receive a pay raise. The bonus is based on length of service, with workers with at least 20 years qualifying for $1,000. In all, Walmart employs 2.3 million people around the world, 1.5 million of which are in the U.S.

Parental leave has been another area in which retailers including Target and Ikea have been trying to offer better benefits. Walmart on Thursday promised full-time hourly U.S. employees 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave. Before, full-time hourly workers received 50 percent of their pay for leave. Salaried employees, who already had 10 weeks paid maternity leave, will receive more paid parental leave.

Maternal and paternal benefits can keep younger workers at the company longer, said Craig Rowley, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry Hay Group, a human resources consulting firm.

For the first time, Walmart also promised to help with adoptions, offering full-time hourly and salaried workers $5,000 per child that can be used for expenses such as adoption agency fees, translation fees and legal or court costs.

___

AP Business writers Michelle Chapman in Newark, New Jersey, Joyce Rosenberg in New York and Chris Rugaber in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee - An attorney representing The Plain Dealer and other media outlets clashed Friday with defense lawyers over the unsealing of transcripts of secretly recorded audiotapes that captured former Pilot Flying J executives making offensive racial slurs and ridiculing the Cleveland Browns and their fans.

The attorneys argued for nearly two hours, focusing on whether the public had a right to see transcripts of three portions of tapes played Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga. U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier said he would issue a ruling later, though he gave no time line.

A court clerk gave jurors transcripts of the taped portions. But Collier has refused to release those same transcripts to reporters, citing an objection from one of the defense attorneys in the trial.

"These were presented in open court,'' said Rick Hollow, the attorney representing The Plain Dealer, Gannett newspapers and television stations. "The jury heard and saw what was said. The public should get the same opportunity that the jury had.''

Without the transcripts, it is impossible to tell which of several executives made the slurs during an informal sales meeting in 2012. In one instance, prosecutors flashed a statement made by Mark Hazelwood, the former Pilot Flying J president, on a large television screen in the courtroom. Hazelwood repeated the lyrics to a country song, saying, "Where's my greasy n-----. Where's our greasy n-----?''

In the tapes, the men made fun of the Browns and the Oakland Raiders. The Browns went 5-11; the Raiders went 4-12 in 2012. The executives mocked the Dawg Pound as a cheering section and made several slurs about African Americans.

Hazelwood, and former sales employees Scott Wombold, Karen Mann and Heather Jones, are on trial, accused of conspiracy charges involving the fleecing of tens of millions of dollars from unsuspecting trucking companies.

Prosecutors played the portions of the three tapes to counter defense claims that Hazelwood was an outstanding executive with an upstanding character who would never seek to harm Pilot Flying J, the company owned by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. Haslam has not been charged, and he was not on the tapes.

Hollow, a Knoxville, Tennessee, attorney, urged Collier to release the transcripts, as well as sealed documents related to them. He told Collier that the issue goes far beyond the trial of the former Pilot Flying J employees. He said the issue is about the right of the press to report on an open trial and obtain something that is a matter public record.

"We don't want to have this pulled into an area of constitutional impropriety,'' Hollow told the judge. "If it is a matter of the court's record, it should be public.''

Defense lawyers fought back. They said reporters were permitted in the courtroom, and they were allowed to hear everything the jurors heard.

Attorney Cullen Wojcik, who represents Mann, said he fears the release of the transcripts could taint the jury. He cited the inflammatory and divisive nature of the tapes, which could prompt family and friends to reach out to jurors and improperly discuss the case with them.

He also cited vague death threats as another reason to prevent the release. He said someone had posted something on Twitter saying, "They should all die.'' He gave no other information about any other threats.

Wojcik appeared most concerned that the reputations of Mann and Jones would be irreparably harmed if the transcripts were released. He said neither of the women attended the Oct. 25, 2012, informal meeting at an executive's home in Rockwood, Tennessee, where the tapes were recorded, and the women's reputations should not be tarnished by something that they had no part in. An FBI informant secretly recorded the conversations.

To supplement his case, Wojcik filed a motion late Thursday that cited the federal trial of former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which involved extensive FBI wiretaps. In it, Wojcik referenced U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi's refusal to release certain exhibits for fear the recordings would influence the jury.

Hazelwood's attorney, Rusty Hardin, sought a mistrial over the playing of the tapes in court. He said he opposes the release of the transcripts while the trial is under way for fear of prejudicing the jury. Hardin said he would be open to the release after the trial is over, which, Collier said, could be in March.

Hollow said defense attorneys offered only speculative reasons for withholding the transcripts. He said there is a possibility of tainting jurors in any case that goes to trial.

"For whatever reason, they want to restrict public access on this case,'' he said after the hearing. "If I was in their shoes and [the tapes] appear to be as bad as they claim they are, I wouldn't want it out either.''One of our missions is to watch out for our community. We owe our readers an accounting of that work, and a pledge to continue that service. In this column, I'll provide both.

The death toll from opioids was one of 2017's biggest tragedies. A team of our reporters devoted most of this year to doing what we could to help.

Brie Zeltner explored innovative local intervention efforts and the challenges of recovery. Rachel Dissell revealed that some treatment regimens seem to be based as much on marketing as on science. And while we often treat opioids as an equally dire threat to everyone, Dissell reported that in Ohio, deaths have come disproportionately to blue-collar workers, who often suffer from chronic pain.

John Caniglia found that fantastically dangerous new drugs, such as fentanyl and carfentantyl, are responsible for many of our fatalities. Indeed, the drugs are so dangerous that dealers sometimes use human guinea pigs to test them and avoid killing too many of their customers.

Lynn Ischay showed the life-changing consequences of opioid overdoses, even among people who survive them.

We will continue to cover the opioid crisis. Drug deaths in Ohio soared by 506 percent since 1999, and are projected to rise another 70 percent between now and 2025.

Looking out for the safety of our most vulnerable neighbors is another part of our mission. Caniglia and Jo Ellen Corrigan did ground-breaking watchdog work regarding Ohio's nursing homes. They documented statewide issues of inadequate care, often caused by staffing shortages.

There's more to come this year, including examinations of safety problems and the challenges nursing staffs face on the job, as federal authorities continue to debate whether to loosen protections for nursing home residents.

Immigration was a divisive issue in 2017. Some readers saw undocumented immigrants as threats, or at least law breakers; others saw them as family, friends, and neighbors. Michael Sangiacomo chronicled the deportations of several working-class immigrants, and the impacts on their families. He tracked one man who was deported from Painesville to Mexico. There, the man had been kidnapped and tortured by members of a drug cartel, after American officials forced him to use a notoriously dangerous border crossing.

We owe many of you special thanks for stories like these, because your insights and experiences informed them and brought them to life.

We started reaching out regularly to readers in 2017, sharing our thoughts on potential stories and inviting people with relevant information to respond. We'll be doing more of that. Look for the Calling All Readers headline in print or on cleveland.com, or watch our Facebook page for updates and notices of new stories.

We've also been proud to publish powerful work by the staff of our sister company, cleveland.com. The Justice for All series has already produced reforms within the local criminal justice system, and the A Greater Cleveland series has persistently and compellingly illuminated the lives of some of Cleveland's hardest-working families.

Our education writer, Patrick O'Donnell, and cleveland.com's Peter Krouse, have each been exploring aspects of a big, bold, and expensive effort to help children in Cleveland public schools. It's called Say Yes to Education, it's got a mixed record in other communities, but done right, it might even improve Cleveland's economy. We'll continue to explore its potential in coming months.

We also looked after our readers' financial welfare.

Personal finance writer Teresa Dixon Murray stepped up after the huge data breach at Equifax, including one set of tips on what to do and another on what to avoid.

Utility reporter John Funk kept readers abreast of various proposals that would have bolstered the finances of First Energy, but could have cost local consumers billions. That issue's still percolating in Washington, and we'll keep an eye on the pot.

Zeltner did watchdog work on the federal program that serves people suffering from serious disabilities. She reported that some of them are dying while an overburdened, understaffed administrative system works slowly through their Social Security appeals. This year, we'll offer practical tips on how to deal with that system.

We continued to track progress during 2017 on several issues that we highlighted in past years. Those included:

Infant mortality. A coalition of government, private, and nonprofit actors has made

Lead poisoning of Cleveland's children. Two years after we put a spotlight on this issue,

Rape kits.

Use of taxpayer dollars. Steven Litt monitored the massive

We're planning to add some new areas of focus this year, and we'd appreciate your thoughts and experiences on any or all of them.

We want to explore how our suburbs are dealing with rapid social and economic change.

We'll be looking at best practices in Cleveland and around the world on building a path from school to work, especially for young people who won't be going straight to a four-year college. What can we learn, and how much good could that do our region?

We wonder about the fairness and efficiency of local property tax systems, both overall and on a property-by-property basis.

We want to write more about the impact of stress on the lives of local children. Sometimes, as with lead, the stresses are environmental. Sometimes they're psychological. They all have lasting impacts on our community.

We think it's worth taking a look at the state's foster care system, partly because of the strain caused by opioid deaths.

We know we need to keep a close eye on the local health care industry, both as a critical source for local growth and progress and as an important factor in the lives of our readers.

That's just our starter kit. We've learned through the years that the best insights lie with our readers. If you think we should be covering a local news story in greater depth, drop me a note.WASHINGTON - Without the federal Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Crystal Lett and her Columbus-area family wouldn't be able to afford the care her six-year-old son needs for Prader-Willi Syndrome, a complex genetic condition that affects many parts of the body.

Although Republicans and Democrats alike say they want to continue the program that insures roughly 9 million low- to moderate-income children nationwide, it ran out of money in September as Congress bickered over how it should be funded.

Children's health care advocates in Ohio want Congress to pass a long-term fix that won't throw state budgets off kilter or jeopardize insurance coverage for kids like Lett's son, Noble, when a temporary continuation of CHIP expires on Jan. 19.

"If Congress fails to reauthorize CHIP and kicks the can down the road, parents and children all across the state of Ohio will feel the impact," said Edward M. Barksdale Jr., the chief surgeon at UH/Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.

Nick Lashutka, President and CEO of the Ohio Children's Hospital Association, said approximately 53 percent of patients seen at Ohio's children's hospitals are on Medicaid and CHIP, and failure to reauthorize the program puts their health insurance at risk.

Without CHIP, the Letts might have to discontinue therapy services for their son or lose their house, Lett told reporters on Friday, a choice she said would be "impossible."

Failure to renew the program would also force Ohio to make difficult choices on how to cover the state's roughly 200,000 enrollees, said Greg Moody, who heads Gov. John Kasich's health transformation office. Moody said the state won't end the program or freeze enrollment, and would instead fund the program by moving money from elsewhere in the state budget. Each month the state does that would cost $15 million, said Moody.

Other states will run out of money at varying rates, and some will pare back their coverage," said Mark Wietecha, President and CEO of the Children's Hospital Association.

A new Congressional Budget Office estimate that says reauthorizing the program will save the government money has fed hopes that the program could be renewed as early as next week, either as an independent bill, or as part of a broader government funding measure.

Lashutka said the longer the impasse lasts, the more problems it will cause, especially in a state like Ohio, where so many hospitals see patients from other states who have CHIP as their health insurance.

"Our message is simple," said Lashutka. "Stop holding children hostage by failing to reauthorize CHIP. It is creating challenges for the state of Ohio and creating anxiety for our families."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Rail service has been restored on the red, blue and green lines between Tower City and East 55th Street, officials said Saturday morning.

Buses had replaced trains on the route since Thursday because of a water main break under the Lorain-Carnegie bridge, RTA spokeswoman Linda Krecic said.

Weather delays are happening on some bus routes, and services for other bus and rail routes are on or close to schedule, Krecic said.

Some communities have issued parking bans following the winter storm:

Brooklyn has placed an emergency snow ban and is asking that all vehicles be off the streets.

An emergency parking ban was put into place for the cities of Parma and Parma Heights Friday night and will continue until further notice.

The Ohio Department of Transportation announced that the speed limit on Interstate 90 is 60 mph between Ohio 44 and Ohio 528.

Saturday begins with a 50 mph speed limit on I-90 in #LakeCountyOH. Snow has slowed down in spots, but we'll still see bands through the early afternoon. pic.twitter.com/YsDNtzvXpe  ODOT Cleveland (@ODOT_Cleveland) January 13, 2018

Multiple flights scheduled to depart Cleveland Hopkins International Airport have been delayed.VERMILION, Ohio -- The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for western Lorain County and Erie County until Saturday as the Vermilion River's water levels rise.

Emergency management reported flooding about 3:30 p.m. on Riverside Drive near Vermilion Road which is near the Vermilion River, according to NWS. Rain combined with melting snow has caused the Vermilion River to rise.

City officials asked residents on Riverside Drive to move their cars to higher ground as a precaution.

Vermilion River's water levels are expected to continue to increase and will continue flooding on Riverside Drive, the NWS said.

Workers broke up most of the ice and there is a steady flow of water, Vermilion Mayor Jim Forthofer's administrative assistant Anne Maiden said.Before anyone scoffs at Dennis Kucinich's bid to become Ohio's next governor, a few sobering facts come to mind for those who assume that, if Kucinich does make May 8's Democratic primary ballot, his candidacy would be a side-show to the main event.

Other Democrats seeking to land the gubernatorial nomination in May are former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, of Columbus; Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill, of Chagrin Falls; former state Rep. Connie Pillich, of Cincinnati; and state Sen. Joseph Schiavoni, of suburban Youngstown. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who had also been running, endorsed Cordray Friday.

For all Kucinich's quirks and faults, he is more politically experienced than anyone else seeking to become Ohio's next governor. (Republican candidate Mike DeWine is a close runner-up in the campaign-experience department.)

Second, in American, and Ohio, politics these days, this is the era of the Rattled Cage. If you doubt that, then you've never heard of Donald Trump. The combination of immersive media and (very genuine) popular grievances mean that he or she who agitates best, may run best.

Finally, Kucinich has repeatedly rebounded from setbacks that would have doomed other Ohio politicians. Exhibit One: Cleveland's 1978 default, during Kucinich's mayoralty.

Here's the glass-half-empty on that: Kucinich fought the utilities and the banks. And the utilities and the banks won - as they almost always do.

But here's the glass-half-full: Kucinich fought the utilities and the banks - and that's something an Ohio politician almost never does, a fact brought home to Ohioans every month when they pay utility bills and bank fees. Maybe, in an era of voter insurgency, a Democrat who talks the Old Time Religion - a Democrat such as Kucinich - can attract a mega-church of fellow believers.

Kucinich's 1982 bid for that year's Democratic nomination for Ohio secretary of state is maybe telling. (To jump ahead, fellow Democrat Sherrod Brown won the nomination, and that November became secretary of state - and, 36 years later, he's U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.)

As close as 1982 was to Cleveland's default, Kucinich was hardly damaged goods. He, Brown and fellow Democrats (and Greater Clevelanders) Anthony O. Calabrese and Francis E. (Frank) Gaul competed for 1982's secretary of state nomination. Brown drew 34 percent of the statewide vote, Kucinich, 27 percent, Calabrese, 24 percent, and Gaul, 15 percent. And Kucinich led the four-candidate field in Lake, Lorain, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Stark, Fairfield and Athens counties. (In Cuyahoga County, Kucinich ran second to Gaul, with Brown third.)

True, on the consumer-protection front, Cordray has a resume that's hard to beat. And some of Kucinich's quirks and wrong-headed foreign policy statements over the years are plenty embarrassing. But Kucinich wouldn't be running for class president at a charm school. He'd be seeking votes in a state that is, at best, economically stagnant, and which has such shameful socio-economic attainments as this one:

The Columbus Dispatch reported Jan. 4 that "Ohio continues to have among the highest rates in the nation of black babies dying before their first birthday. Ohio ranked next to last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia with 13.46 deaths for every 1,000 live births to black mothers from 2013 to 2015. That's more than double the state's infant-mortality rate of 5.76 for babies born to white mothers during the same period, according to [federal] data." (Attention, right-to-life legislators.)

A week from now, Ohio's potential May primary ballot, Democratic as well as Republican, may yet again have been shifted.

The one certainty: If Dennis Kucinich remains part of the mix, Ohio Democrats will have an ... interesting ... spring.

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, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue)Baruch Stein is a freelance writer in Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM -- Without taking a position on Donald Trump's declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and stating his intention to move the American embassy in Israel to the city, the exaggerated reactions from certain parts of the world, including the U.N. General Assembly resolution passed on Dec. 21, are a display of hypocrisy.

In addition to its diplomatic engagement with Israel, the United States also conducts ongoing diplomatic activities with the Palestinians. State Department officials facilitate American government programs and activities in the territory already controlled by the Palestinian Authority. These include:

* Training for the Palestinian security forces and civil rescue services.

* Workshops and other programs to benefit Palestinian entrepreneurs.

* Infrastructure projects such as the November inauguration of water lines developed by the United States in the Yatta area.

* Several other forms of American aid to the Palestinian Authority.

These diplomats also facilitate the access of individuals living in territory already controlled by the Palestinian Authority to American government programs such as academic exchanges that provide foreign citizens access to American universities.

While the U.S. embassy currently located in Tel Aviv is directed toward Israel, the State Department officials who facilitate American diplomatic programs for the Palestinians in a manner akin to that of an embassy work out of a "consulate" already located in Jerusalem.

The U.N. General Assembly resolution passed on Dec. 21 takes the common position that recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital should only come pending a final Israeli-Palestinian agreement. The resolution invokes Security Council Resolution 478, which explicitly bans housing diplomatic missions in the city of Jerusalem.

The U.S. diplomatic presence based in Jerusalem targeting the Palestinians also violates the intention of 478, but while Trump's declaration has been met with hysteria, the longstanding policies of several countries housing diplomatic representatives to the Palestinians in Jerusalem have been received with an equally longstanding silence.

In fact, Turkey, one of the primary countries responsible for having advanced measures at the United Nations countering Trump's declaration, just proclaimed Jerusalem to be the Palestinian capital and announced its intention to inaugurate an official embassy to the Palestinians in the city, while its mission to Israel will remain in Tel Aviv.

While it is hard to view these as unbiased policies, the fact that the United States and several other countries house their diplomatic representatives to the Palestinians in West Jerusalem is even harder to reconcile, especially when dealing with countries claiming to be neutral brokers in the region.

It is often assumed that a final Israeli-Palestinian agreement will necessarily involve dividing the city roughly as it had been prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, with certain adjustments. Israel, it is assumed, will retain West Jerusalem as it had prior to the war. East Jerusalem, which had been under Jordanian control before the war, will serve as the Palestinian capital.

If the locations of diplomatic offices are to be taken as expressions of how various countries and diplomatic bodies believe the region should be divided, or as abstentions on the highly controversial matter, then that must be reflected with respect to both representatives to Israel and those to the Palestinian Authority.

Either remove all diplomatic personnel from Jerusalem or house both the diplomatic representatives to Israel and those to the Palestinian Authority in the same city.

Rather than expressing a principled position, much of the opposition to Trump's declaration reflects the failure of many in the world to recognize any Jewish connection to the territory that once was ancient Israel and the failure to accept the right of the Jewish people to a nation-state in their homeland.

This is the sentiment which has perpetuated the conflict between Jews and Muslims in the region since before Israel took control of East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank in 1967 and since before the modern Jewish state was founded in 1948.

The Middle East is a highly volatile region. Steps that may be interpreted as unnecessarily interfering in areas of conflict should be avoided, but if deference to a final agreement is to be considered credible, it must be applied not only regarding Israeli claims to the city, but to Palestinian claims as well.

Unfortunately, it seems many are more concerned about offending Palestinian sentiments than they are regarding Jewish ones. Those who are not yet ready to recognize any part of Jerusalem as Israel's capital should remember that the Palestinian capital is Ramallah.

After growing up in the United States, Baruch Stein now lives in Jerusalem.

********

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue).Jan. 12, 2018

 SpaceX has recalled the sale of souvenir mission patches from its first launch of 2018, providing a possible hint to the fate of its classified payload.



The spaceflight company pulled its Zuma mission patches from partner gift shops and online retailers on Friday (Jan. 12), several days after the embroidered emblems went on sale. Since 2015, SpaceX has allowed for third-party sales of its mission patches so long as the flight that the insignia represents was confirmed a success.



SpaceX recalled the sale of the Zuma mission patches in "consideration for their customer," a seller who goes by the handle "usafspace" on eBay posted Friday evening on the collectSPACE forums and on Reddit's SpaceX subsection.



The patches were also noted as missing from the pegs at the souvenir shop for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Museum Sands Space History Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they had been available for $7 each earlier in the week.







Mission patch artwork for SpaceX's launch of the Zuma classified payload on a Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 7, 2018. (SpaceX)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday (Jan. 7; 0100 GMT Jan. 8). The flight appeared from the ground to proceed as planned, with the rocket's first stage returning to a landing at the Cape, while the second stage proceeded with the classified payload on a path to low Earth orbit.



At the request of its customer  which is only known to be the U.S. government; no agency has claimed ownership of the "restricted payload"  SpaceX ceased status updates on Zuma's climb to orbit after separation of the first stage.



The next morning, however, reports began circulating that the Zuma payload had either been stranded in orbit or had fallen back to the Earth, dropping into the Indian or Pacific oceans. Some media, citing unnamed sources, suggested that Zuma had failed to separate from its payload adapter, a mount between Zuma and the Falcon 9 upper stage, that was provided by the U.S. government's contractor for the mission, Northrop Grumman.



Responding to the press and still limited by the clandestine nature of the mission, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell issued a statement that "after review of all data to date, the Falcon 9 did everything correctly on Sunday night."



"If we or others find otherwise based on further review, we will report it immediately," Shotwell said, noting in addition that SpaceX's upcoming launch schedule was unaffected.



SpaceX appeared to treat the launch as it has its previous successful missions, releasing launch imagery online and providing its retail partners with mission patches for sale.



By Friday night, almost 50 of the patches had been sold on eBay before the recall went into effect.







SpaceX withheld distributing its Dragon CRS-7 mission patches in 2015 after suffering its first Falcon 9 launch failure. (collectSPACE)Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Market Research Future Published in Cooked Research "Global Specialty Chemicals Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023" - Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast up to 2023.

DowDuPont Inc., BASF SE, Akzo Nobel, Bayer AG, Clariant AG, Evoniks Industries, Ashland Inc., Chembound Chemicals, Albemarle, Sinopec, SABIC, LyondellBasell Industries, .Chemtura Corporation, Croda International PLC, Eastman Chemical Company, A. Schulman plc, HB Fuller Company

Specialty Chemicals Market - Market Overview

Global Specialty Chemicals Market demand is witnessing significant growth, owing to increasing penetration in prominent end-use industries namely, personal care & cosmetics, surfactants, construction, electronics industries. Growing R&D activities in the aforementioned end use industries has led to growth of more sophisticated and application specific products demand. This in turn is positively influencing the consumption of Specialty Chemicals across the globe. Manufacturers are focusing on delivering products that are specific to certain applications.

In addition to this, increasing trend of sustainability in the end-use industries is driving the demand of specialty chemicals across the globe. For instance, increasing regulations on VOC containing coatings has led to increased consumption of specialty, water borne coatings.

Accrediting the colossal growth the Industrial Adhesive Market is witnessing currently and the potential the market is demonstrating to accrue pervasively further in the years to come; the Market Research Future has recently published a meticulous study report giving out the complete market insight up till 2023. According to which, continuing with the same trends the Global Industrial Adhesive Market is projected to perceive an outstanding growth by 2023 registering a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017  2023).

The prominent end use industries of the Specialty Chemicals comprises, construction, transportation, personal care & cosmetics, electronics, industrial & institutuional cleaners, paints & coatings, oil & gas, and others. Electronics and construction industries contribute to the significvanty share in the over all market. Rising focus on innovation in the end-use industries and aiming on innovation in terms of products and new applications in lectronics & end use industries is antcipated to created an additional demand for the specialty chemicals.

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However, relatively high cost of the Specialty Chemicals compared to the commodity chemicals, and technological complexity involved in the production process is estimated to be a major impediment in the global market growth.

Specialty Chemicals Market  Competitive Analysis

Specialty Chemicals Market is moderately fragmented and is prominent players existing in the market are the leading chemical companies. Specilaty chemicals market is a low volume, high value market and comprises higher profit margin products. Realizing the higher profit margings in the market, majority of commodity chemical companies have diversified their product folio into specialty products. The opprtunities in the Specialty Chemicals Market are decreasing, owing to the ever increasing competition in the sector. Thus, with time, manifacturers are investing in product innovation for newer applications in the end use industries.

Industry/ Innovation/ Related News

Sept 2017: BASF announced to expand its current production capacity of specialty amines at its production facility in China. The commencement of the production facility is estimated to start by 2019 end. The production capacity of the plant is anticipated to be 21,000 metric tons per year. By this development, the company has extended its product portfolio of specialty amines.

Sept 2017: BASF SE enetered an agreement acquire the Polyamide business of Solvay. The acquired business will be a part of BASFs performance material busness segment. The polyamide business comprises 12 production sites, 4 R&D locations and 10 technical centers. The acquistion of the portfolio will expand the companys specialty product portfolio and will strengthen its position as the gklobal specialty chemicals manufacturer.

Nov 2017: Evonik Industries, one of the leading specialty companies, has become a member of the 3M Company. The concentarte additve compounding business will be under the specialty additives for the plastic industry business segment of the company. By this move, the company is expanding its ability to cater for the plastic industry through its high profit business segment.

Oct 2017: Bostik, specialty adhesive company open to production facility for hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives for various end-use industruies. By the move, company aims to expand its foot-print in growth. Asia specialty chemicals market. Company already owns another production facility for adhesives in India. The local exports markets of India.

Access Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/specialty-chemicals-market-2026

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MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimal quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Applications, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enabling our clients to see more important questions.

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Market Synopsis of Protective Relays

Market Scenario

The Protective Relay Market is expected to register a CAGR of around 6% during the forecast period. Ongoing Substation Automation projects are expected to induce growth in the Protective Relay market. The growing need of Electric Power in developed as well as developing nations will result in an imminent growth in the Protective relay market.

Key Players

Some of the key players in the Protective Relay Market are

 General Electric (U.S.),

 Littelfuse Inc.(U.S.),

 Eaton Corporation Plc (U.S.),

 Beckwith Electric Co. Inc.(Ireland),

 ZIV Inc. (U.S.),

 Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (U.S.),

 Schneider Electric (France),

 Alstom Group (France),

 NR Electric (China),

 Cooper Industries (Ireland),

 ERL Phase Power Technologies Ltd. (Canada)

 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan).

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Segments

The Protective Relay Market can be categorized on the basis of Voltage as: High, Medium and Low. On the basis of Protection Mechanism it can be categorized as: Feeder, Transmission Line, Motor, Transformer, Generator, and Busbar. On the basis of End User it can be segmented as: Marine, Renewable, Utilities. On the basis of regions it can be segmented as North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa

Regional Analysis of Protective Relays

The growing transmission & distribution network across the globe, is one of the main reasons which is expected to contribute toward the growth of the Protective Relay Market. Asia-Pacific is currently housing the maximum number of transmission and distribution projects as a result of which it is one of the leading markets in this segment. Europe and North America are other regions which are expected to be highly lucrative for the players in the Protective Relay Market.

Study Objectives of Protective Relays Market

 To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Protective Relay market

 To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth

 To Analyze the Protective Relay market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.

 To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Middle East & Africa

 To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective

 To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by Type, EndUsers, Voltage Range and Regions

 To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market

 To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and new product developments in the global Protective Relay market

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comWe are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds..Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Organisation Commission, made the statement while hosting Tsutomu Takebe, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, in Hanoi on January 12th.

Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, who is also President of the Vietnam  Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group, informed the guest that the National Assembly of Vietnam will host the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) in Hanoi from January 18th-21st. He said he welcomes a delegation from the Japanese Lower House of Parliament to the event.

Pham Minh Chinh, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Organisation Commission (R) and Tsutomu Takebe, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance (Source: VNA)



He described 2018 - when the two nations celebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties - as a milestone in the bilateral relations with breakthroughs in all fields, including politics, economy, culture, education and people-to-people exchange.

The Government of Vietnam pledges to join hands with its Japanese counterpart to successfully develop the Vietnam  Japan University, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh said, hoping that the two countries will seek measures to accelerate the project.

For his part, Tsutomu Takebe said Japan is actively conducting practical activities to mark the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

The Japanese Lower House of Parliament will send a delegation to the APPF  26 in Vietnam, he said, expressing his belief that Vietnam will host the event successfully.

He also voiced his hope that the Vietnam  Japan University will receive the best support from the host country so that the project can be completed on schedule as committed by the two Governments./.BRIDGEPORT  When he waged his successful mayoral comeback campaign in 2015, Joe Ganim was the cops best friend.

Two years later, the returned mayors first attempt to reach a contract settlement with Bridgeports Finest is a failure.

The police union on Friday, without a contract since July 2016, rejected a new four-year pact, 152 votes to 133 votes, despite efforts by leadership this week to sell the deal as better than one imposed through state arbitration.

I knew it was going to be close, Sgt. Chuck Paris, the union president, said at City Hall, where his members spent the day casting ballots which were tallied by 6 p.m.

The proposed contract included salary increases in years two, three and four and placed time limits on the length officers could be placed on leave pending investigations, and on the investigations themselves.

The labor deal also made some modest attempts to curtail overtime  mainly reducing eight to four the mandatory hours an off-duty officer called on a day off has to be paid  but avoided more stringent overtime proposals and generally left existing benefits untouched.

Paris attributed the contracts failure to newer recruits frustration with the health plan.

Theyre paying 31 percent  over $200 a week, Paris said. Theyre lowest paid in the department and forced to pay the highest cost for health care. And, Paris noted, newer officers also do not enjoy post-retirement health care.

The police union had been pushing the Ganim administration to switch over to a state health care initiative that allegedly offered a better plan at a lower cost.

More News News Council resolution targets Ganim's police detail

Now, Paris said, the contract dispute heads back to arbitration before a state panel. The Ganim administration and the union had entered into arbitration last year, but, on their own, worked out the deal that was voted down Friday.

A Power Point presentation circulated to cops this week by parent union the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees warned that, if the proposal was rejected, the arbitration panel could impose a contract without a union vote.

The irony of Fridays results is that Ganim strongly courted and received the police unions backing in 2015 when, having been convicted of corruption in 2003 after running the city for 12 years, he wanted his old job back.

Ganim successfully defeated then-Mayor Bill Finch in that years Democratic primary before winning the general election, and did so by presenting himself as the law-and-order candidate who would restore manpower to the police department, bolster morale and reduce crime.

The last cop contract was approved in March 2015 after having been rejected by union members the prior May. At the time, police had been working under an expired contract for about three years and there was a contentious relationship with Finch and his police chief, Joseph Gaudett.

After returning to office in December 2015, Ganim followed through on a campaign promise to hire new cops  three classes of new officers have been filled so far. And he replaced Gaudett with Perez, the unions preferred choice, in March 2016.

Since then, however, the relationship between the police union and City Hall has soured because of clashes over cutting overtime and the contract talks. Last summer, Paris, who had frequently been at Ganims side on the campaign trail and when the mayor was back in office, said, Obviously, we put a lot of time and effort into helping the mayor get elected. We expected to have an open door to him and were hoping the negotiations would go smoothly. That has not been the case.

An ongoing contentious contract dispute between Ganim and law enforcement in Connecticuts largest city is also not necessarily a good thing for the mayors gubernatorial aspirations. He is running this year for governor and will eventually be courting labor unions like AFSCME, who provide particularly Democrats necessary campaign volunteers and resources during primaries and general elections.

A spokeperson for Ganim could not immediately be reached for comment about Fridays vote.Dont count your money at the table  sage advice for anyone with designs on being Connecticuts next governor.

With year-end campaign finance filings made public this week, numerous Republicans and Democrats have boasted that they have raised $250,000 from at least 2,500 contributors, qualifying them for public campaign financing under the states clean elections program.

But theres a big catch, only those on the primary ballot can get the $1.25 million. That wont be decided until at least the party conventions in May.

The way the Citizens Election Program is set up, some participating candidates may never make it to the convention. Just ask Middletowns mayor, Dan Drew, who spent more money than his exploratory and campaign committees took in during the past year. The Democrat abandoned his bid for governor Friday, serving as a lesson in frugality.

Im driving that home every day with my campaign, that were not going to spend a single dime more than is necessary to get my message out, said Dita Bhargava, a former vice chair of the Connecticut Democrats whose exploratory committee has raised $124,940 as of January 1.

The former Wall Street trader from Greenwich, who ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature in 2016, is exploring a run for governor.

I think people are definitely putting a positive spin on whatever numbers they have, she said. Were very cognizant of the math.

To limit the influence of special interests in state races, there is a $100 cap on individual donations that count toward public financing. The rules were borne out of the bribery scandal that led to the resignation and imprisonment of former Gov. John Rowland.

Steve Obsitnik, a Republican businessman from Westport, said he has more than enough to qualify, but he was coy about how much. State records note a $376,444 fundraising haul.

Im a CEO and I kind of watch my numbers, he said. Sometimes with competitors, less (information) is more.

No one wants a repeat of what happened to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton in 2014, when he got enough votes to be on the primary ballot but couldnt raise the qualifying funds on his own. He had been relying on pooling his money with his running mate, who ditched the ticket. This time, hes going it alone and he has $272,431 in the coffers so far.

I think delegates are going to be taking candidates who have gotten to that qualifying threshold more seriously, said Liz Kurantowicz, a former chief of staff for the Connecticut GOP and political consultant from Fairfield.

Jonathan Harris, the former consumer protection commissioner and former executive director of the Connecticut Democrats, said hell have the dough by the convention. So far, he has $233,199.

I do know a lot of times people will focus on flashy numbers, Harris said. Were about qualifying.

Republican Michael Handler, the city of Stamfords chief financial officer and a New Canaan resident, expressed confidence that the $209,784 hes raised has him well-positioned in the fundraising race.

We anticipate clearing the threshold well before the convention, said Handler, who previously worked for a hedge fund. The pace of fundraising can be a measure of how well a message resonates with voters, but the (spending) rate is also indicative of ones fiscal responsibility.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, a Democrat, has raised almost enough to qualify  $199,353  if he were allowed. As a convicted felon, however, he is not eligible for public financing.

More Information Campaign funds raised Republicans David Stemerman - $1.8M in personal funds Bob Stefanowski - $498,020 of which $350,000 personal funds Peter Lumaj - $521,293 Steve Obsitnik - $376,444 Dave Walker - $278,645 Mark Lauretti - $277,810 Mark Boughton - $272,431 Prasad Srinivasan - $256,909 Tim Herbst - $217,351 Mike Handler - $209,784 Toni Boucher* - $82,580 Democrats Dan Drew - $269,186 Jonathan Harris* - $233,199 Joe Ganim - $199,353 Susan Bysiewicz* - $146,350 Dita Bhargava* - $124,940 Luke Bronin* - $113,710 * still in the exploratory phase suspended campaign See More Collapse

In contrast to the majority of candidates, Republicans David Stemerman and Bob Stefanowski are eschewing public funding. Stemerman wired $1.8 million in personal funds to his campaign and Stefanowski kicked in $350,000 of his own money to go along with outside contributions.

They dont get a free ride either, Kurantowicz said. They have to show that they can compete with the candidates who are going to be relying on the states money.

With $6 million available to the winner of the Democratic and Republican primaries, which are held in August, thats sizable chunk of change.

If youre running outside the system you better have that cash on hand, Kurantowicz said.He met with reporters from Chinas major media agencies and newspapers like Xinhua, Peoples Daily, China Central Television, China National Radio and China Youth Daily, and representatives of Chinese press management agencies in Beijing on January 11th.

The ambassador used the occasion to brief the Chinese media on Vietnams major socio-economic achievements and big strides in the Vietnam-China relationship in 2017, as reflected through high-level meetings and visits of the two countries leaders.

Khoi highlighted the visits to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in January 2017 and President Tran Dai Quang in May 2017. Most recently, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam and attended at the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November 2017 attach to ties with Vietnam.

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi speaks at the meeting. (Source: VNA)



General Secretary and President Xi Jinpings selection of Vietnam as the first country to visit following the 19th National Congress of the CPC reflects the importance the Chinese Party and State, as well as Xi Jinping himself attach to the Vietnam-China relationship in particular and relations between China and its neighbouring countries in general, Ambassador Khoi said.

The diplomat noted that bilateral trade value has surpassed 100 billion USD and the number of tourists travelling between the two countries also saw strong growth, with 4 million Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam and 3 million Vietnamese holiday makers choosing China for their trip in 2017.

Mentioning the outstanding maritime dispute between the two countries, Ambassador Khoi stressed that both sides have showed their determination to maintain peace and stability at sea, adding that they had worked together with ASEAN member countries to approve the draft framework of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in 2017 and speed up negotiations to build an effective COC.

The ambassador also pointed to existing problems in bilateral trade and investment ties, but said that he believes that they will gradually be solved in the coming time.

He informed that that PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has invited his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang to pay an official visit to Vietnam and attend the Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit scheduled for March 2018 in Hanoi during their recent meeting in Cambodia.

The ambassador said he hopes that there will be more opportunities for Vietnamese and Chinese reporters to visit each others countries in order to help them obtain first hand and accurate information, contributing to enhancing mutual understanding as well as the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, for the sake of their people, and for peace, stability and cooperation in the region./.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Donald Trump has been a godsend to the Left, considering its historic hatred of America, says Peter Oborne

Donald Trump has been a godsend to the Left, considering its historic hatred of America. With his exhibitionist wealth, vulgarity, misogyny and racist views, he personifies what they see as the countrys worst values.

Now, his decision to pull out of his expected visit to Britain has given Labour a reason to celebrate.

Not just because their bogeyman wont defile this countrys streets, but because the issue has brought together the two sides of the Labour Party who have been waging a vicious civil war ever since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.

Yesterday, after the Mails Jack Doyle revealed Trumps decision, a truce occurred between the rival Blairites and Corbynistas.

For, between them, they claimed credit for having led vociferous opposition to his planned working visit, which reportedly led Trump to be concerned that demonstrations might be disruptive.

At first sight, it is easy to sympathise with Labours exultation.

Trump is a narcissistic and absurd figure. He is a racist, who retweeted videos posted by Britain First, a fascist organisation that all decent people condemn.

This week, he allegedly described immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and Africa as coming from s***hole countries  an utterly unacceptable comment from anyone, let alone the President of the United States of America.

Yet I believe that Labours hysterical opposition to Trumps visit here is equally contemptible.

Crucially, Trump is head of state of the most powerful nation in the world, which also happens to be our closest and most valued ally. Last summer, Frances President Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump. For all his liberal credentials, Macron recognised that this was in the French national interest.

In 1973, the British government hosted President Mobutu of Zaire, a homicidal dictator who embezzled up to 12 billion (left), two years ago they hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping

For their part, the notoriously volatile French people understood this and the visit passed with virtually no trouble at all.

The truth is that Labours hostility to Trump is hypocritical.

Over the years  including under Labour governments  far worse monsters have been given the red-carpet treatment.

The Labour leader attended the white tie and tails to attend a state banquet in President Xi's honour at Buckingham Palace

For example, in 1973, President Mobutu of Zaire, a homicidal dictator who embezzled up to 12 billion; in 1978, Romanias Communist head of state Nicolae Ceausescu, who was later executed by a firing squad following protests about his brutal regime; and, in 1994, the abominable president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Two years ago, it was the turn of President Xi Jinping of China  the ruler of a one-party state where dissidents are jailed, torture is normal and citizens are spied on.

Compared with Xi Jinping, Trump is a hand-wringing liberal.

Yet when the Chinese leader came to London, there were no mass street protests and Jeremy Corbyn wore white tie and tails to attend a state banquet in his honour at Buckingham Palace.

The Labour leader said he would raise human rights issues in private. Why couldnt he have tried to make a similar arrangement with Trump?

The fact is that realpolitik dictates that Britain needs a warm relationship with China. British jobs depend on it.

In a few months time, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Britain. However appalling Trumps behaviour, it pales into insignificance compared with that of the architect of the Saudis attack on the Yemen which has claimed more than 10,000 lives and led to mass starvation.

US President Donald Trump holds hands with British Prime Minister Theresa May as they walk the colonade of the White House in Washington DC last January, Trump has cancelled his trip to London

But, yet again, I recognise that British jobs depend on good relations with Saudi Arabia and understand why the Crown Prince should come to this country as an honoured guest.

There was also the visit two years ago of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had lunch with the Queen and a warm meeting with then PM David Cameron. And yet Modi had blood on his hands for having failed to stop anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in which at least 1,000 people died.

Again, his state visit was justified because Britain needs strong trading relations with India, which is expected soon to overtake Britain and France to become the worlds fifth-largest economy. Of all people, Londons Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, should have opposed Modis visit to Britain on account of his role in the Gujarat riots.

Yet Khan said he was against a ban  and himself visited Modis India last year.

Typical of Labours double standards, Khan revelled yesterday in the news of Trumps cancelled visit.

A persistent critic of Trump, he first crossed swords with him last year after the London Bridge terrorist attack when the U.S. president mocked Khans comments that there was no reason to be alarmed by armed police on the streets. Khan hit back by calling Trump ill-informed.

Wallowing in smug self-congratulation, Khan said yesterday that Trumps policies and actions are the polar opposite of our citys values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.

Also guilty of self-satisfied sanctimony is failed ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband.

In a few months time, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Britain

Two years ago, he welcomed Modis visit. I care very much about my relationship with India and my relationship with Prime Minister Modi, so I absolutely think that [Mr Modis visit] is a policy priority for me, he said beforehand.

Yesterday, he grandstanded his opposition to Trump. Retweeting Trumps explanation that his cancellation was because he disapproved of the bad commercial deal behind the new U.S. embassy in London, Miliband taunted: Nope its because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message.

What these Labour pygmies dont seem to realise is that Britains relationship with America helps bring jobs, prosperity and security to this country.

This is especially true of London  Sadiq Khans fiefdom. The Citys remarkable recent prosperity, in particular, is largely down to the presence of major American financial institutions.

Khans attacks on Trump are a classic example of virtue signalling. They ingratiate him to the Left and help burnish his credentials for a possible future bid to become Labour leader.

But, like his fellow Labour Trump-haters, hes showing contempt for those Britons whose livelihoods depend on a healthy economy and whose safety depends on shared intelligence-gathering with the Pentagon.

Too many Tories win our grandest honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is one of our grandest awards. In the gift of the Monarch, it is awarded only for nationally important service, under the motto In action faithful and in honour clear.

Last weekend, three more people were given this honour, including 85-year-old historian Antonia Fraser and broadcaster-novelist Melvyn Bragg.

However, if you look at the list of names of previous recipients, you will notice that it is top-heavy with Conservative politicians. Indeed, out of the 65 members of the Order, which was established in 1917 by George V, 16 are Tories, including ninth-raters such as the embittered former Chancellor George Osborne.

By contrast, there is only one Labour politician  Baroness Valerie Amos.

She, too, is not of the first rank  a little-known former leader of the House of Lords who later became the UNs Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator.

This imbalance between Labour and Tory is disgraceful. There have been plenty of Labour politicians who have given superb service in recent decades.

One thinks of Alan Johnson, Margaret Beckett, Tessa Jowell, Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown and many other decent people.

Whether or not you agree with their politics, they have given their country stout service.

Whoever chooses the membership of this order of chivalry has slipped up badly.

Last summer, the BBC was forced to reveal how much its top stars were paid. The result showed that the Corporation is a male chauvinist organisation which pays men far more than women.

The discrepancy between the salaries of North America editor Jon Sopel (up to 249,999) and Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen (up to 199,999)  both men  and China editor Carrie Gracie (135,000) was shocking.

But surely it is not right that Ms Gracie, was paid significantly more than Dame Barbara Woodward, the UK ambassador to China? Im a great admirer of the BBC. But it has been taking liberties with licence fee-payers money.

It urgently needs to bring the salaries of its male peacocks down to the level of the women  not the other way around.A man who hosted a full funeral when his two pet fish died has earned himself a legion of fans on social media.

Jeremy Milbern had a ceremony to pay his last respects to his dead fish, Tiffany and Tori, not sparing any expense as he lit candles and dressed up for the occasion.

His sister, Jaime Sue tweeted out the photos of the 25-year-old former Army recruit and Twitter went into ecstasies about the entire situation, prompting the pictures tp quickly go viral with over 40,000 likes and 10,000 retweets.

Fish funeral: Jeremy Milbern, 25, held a funeral for his two pet fish - much to the delight of the Twittersphere, which prompted the pictures of the ceremony to go viral

Hilarious: The Texas resident held a ceremony for his two pet fish, Tiffany and Tori, and his wife sent the photos to his sister, Jaime, who tweeted them

Jamie shared the photos of the funeral her brother hosted, which were sent to her by Jeremy's wife. 'My sister-in-law sends me these pictures of my brother giving their fish a full funeral...I'm in real tears right now,' she wrote in the viral tweet.

Every since Jamie posted the pictures, people think that Jeremy, who now studies at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, is the sweetest guy alive and are taking to twitter to share how much they love him and what he did for his fish.

Jeremy told BuzzFeed News, that the funeral was obviously a bit of a joke and he did it for the sole reason of making his wife happy. He shared, 'Any time I find an opportunity to get a laugh and smile out of her, I make sure to capitalize on it.'

Fancy: The former Army recruit's wife, McKenzie, took hilarious photos of Jeremy dressed up for the funeral

Sweet: Jeremy, who now studies at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, explained that he did the funeral to make his wife happy and get a laugh out of her

At the funeral, Jeremy dressed up in a fancy black suit and lit some candles to set the scene. He then placed each of his dead fish on a little piece of paper towel where they were laid to rest.

People just couldn't get enough of Jeremy's ceremony and one user, McKenzie, tweeted, 'Step 1: find the biggest dork you know. Step 2: marry him. Step 3: spend your whole life laughing.'

While Jamie's original tweet of the pictures got over 40,000 likes, it was McKenzie's post that really spiraled out of control, getting over 210,000 likes and over 62,000 retweets.

Viral: Jamie's original tweet of the pictures from the funeral got over 40,000 likes and almost 10,000 retweets

Dork: It was McKenzie's tweet (pictured) that really spiraled out of control, getting over 210,000 likes and over 62,000 retweets with people obsessing over the sweet sentiment

Adorable: People praised the sweet gesture and noted that they hope to one day find their own partner who will go to the same lengths to make them smile

Some of the comments from people said, 'Any dorks in the comments wanna get married?' 'If I don't marry someone like this I quit,' and 'I would expect nothing less from my husband.'

Meanwhile, one hilarious guy replied to the tweet saying, 'Yall crazy I respect bro dedication to his fishes cause I know Im gonna be this extra if my dog dies.'

Jeremy also shared to the outlet that he was shocked by how popular this turned out to be. He also said that while most of the comments were funny and positive, there were a lot of 'people going crazy over his 'dorkiness,' which is something 'he had never considered.'

As for which comment he though was the most hilarious, he said, 'I even saw one response that suggested "dorkiness" is the new trend of 2018, which I found to be rather humorous.'The foodie world has been competing - with often delicious results - to keep creating a burger that is more creative, imaginative, and tasty than the next.

But the newest Melbourne burger that everyone is talking about definitely isn't for the faint of heart.

That's because it's so hot, it contains a warning label.

Meet the Reaper, a creation from YOMG that has been dubbed the hottest burger in the city - literally.

The Reaper, made at restaurant YOMG, isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, it's the hottest burger in Melbourne

What actually makes the Reaper so hot is a sauce made with the Carolina Reaper - a chili which, according to the Guinness World Records, is the hottest in the world

The Reaper is made with a black bun dyed with squid ink, two Angus beef patties, double cheese, double maple glazed bacon, and onion jalapeno jam.

But what actually makes the Reaper so hot is the Carolina Reaper - a chili which, according to the Guinness World Records, is the hottest in the world.

When YOMG executive chef Jason Noone found out a Queensland supplier had the chili, he knew he wanted to incorporate it into a burger somehow.

'Jason and his team had experimented with a ghost chili sauce, which had a nice flavour but didn't have the kick that he was after,' YOMG spokesman Ryan Bova told Daily Mail Australia.

When YOMG executive chef Jason Noone found out a Queensland supplier had the chili, he knew he wanted to incorporate it into a burger somehow

The Reaper is made with a black bun dyed with squid ink, two angus beef patties double cheese, double maple glazed bacon, and onion jalapeno jam

'He then mixed this sauce with the Carolina Reaper chili, wanting to create the hottest possible burger that he could while maintaining flavour throughout.'

To amp up the chili's potential, the YOMG team split the seeds before cooking and then fry them for 'maximum heat extraction', Bova explained.

To amp up the chili's potential, the YOMG team split the seeds before cooking and then fry them for 'maximum heat extraction'

The sauce is the placed into a syringe - with the aforementioned warning label attached - so customers can inject it into the burger themselves.

YOMG's team also dye each bun with squid ink to make it jet black and 'really give it a dark vibe', Bova added.

While the Carolina Reaper has a score of 1,569,300 on the Scoville scale - which measures the spicy heat of food - there is fruit that can get to a total of 2.2million.

'There are new hybrid chilis being devloped, and Jason aims to create a hottest burger in the future when new fruits are available,' Bova said.

But for now the Reaper is enjoying surprising popularity despite its spicy kick, even becoming a permanent staple on the YOMG menu.

Bova said the restaurant has since sold more than 7,000 Reaper burgers, and seen just as many hilarious reactions.

'Eyes watering, heavy breathing, craving a pint of milk,' he recalled.

Thankfully YOMG has a frozen yoghurt bar, a quick way to soothe those singed taste buds.Playing instruments such as the drums or cymbals can help people recover from the debilitating effects of a stroke.

A pilot study  the first of its kind in the UK  has found that patients taking part in percussion sessions twice a week improved the function in their arms and hands.

The findings highlight how this therapy can potentially transform the care for tens of thousands people who suffer speech loss or other damage when the blood flow to their brain is cut off.

Dr Alexander Street, from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said instruments that produce sound from being hit or scraped enable patients with less severe impairments to re-learn essential tasks such as dressing.

A pilot study  the first of its kind in the UK  has found that patients taking part in percussion sessions twice a week improved the function in their arms and hands (stock image)

Gripping a drumstick involves the same movement as opening a jar, for example, said Dr Street, a music therapist at the Music for Health Research Centre.

The sound and vibration from playing also causes the hearing parts of the brain to connect more with the movement parts. It helps people build new pathways to replace those lost by stroke damage.

The advantage of percussion exercises is that they do not require musical expertise, and the strong repetitive beat improves learning by boosting brain focus. Strokes affect more than 150,000 people every year and cause more disability in adults than any other disease or condition.

Dr Streets research, published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, investigated the need for long-term support programmes for people leaving hospital or recovering.

Ten stroke patients, each with reduced function in one arm and weakness down one side of the body, were visited by a music therapist at home for six weeks for 30-minute percussion sessions.

Researchers measured any improvement by asking patients to pick up and then move objects. Those with the least physical impairment performed best in the movement tests.

Dr Street is now working with patients on acute care wards.

This separate study at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge suggests percussion therapy increases energy levels and mood among those taking part.

Music therapy in addition to medication is increasingly being recognised as beneficial for those suffering from depression, brain injuries and dementia.

Award-winning percussionist Ruairi Glasheen runs drumming workshops in London. Having worked with charities Age UK and Arts4Dementia to provide classes for patients with a range of conditions including Alzheimers, this month sees the launch of a new course specifically aimed at boosting mental health and wellbeing.

He said: Drumming is a powerful way to give your brain a full neurological workout.

The visual, auditory and motor centres of the brain work hard during a group drumming session  improving concentration, co-ordination and problem- solving skills. Its also really fun.

He points to emerging research that suggests the power of music and rhythm can increase dopamine levels in the brain, which makes it especially effective in the management of neurological disease.

But the effect is also psychological, he explained. A group drumming session is powerful and transformative. You feel energised and its hard to engage with much else.

Drumming is a way to feel connected to others without speaking. You dont need to be an extrovert, you dont need to be musical and you dont need to have played an instrument before. But you get to meet new people and also be part of creating an incredible shared experience.

To find out more about drumming for health visit www.ruairiglasheen.net/drummingHer snake-hipped boyfriend from Strictly, the saucy words that reduce her to giggles and that online abuse about her looks... it all adds up to a top-scoring interview with Rachel Riley and her Countdown co-stars

In the lounge of a north London townhouse studio, blonde Countdown presenter Rachel Riley is swinging on a Sixties-style chair and thinking naughty thoughts. Some of the words that pop up on the show have had terrible connotations, she smiles. But thats the beauty of Countdown.

Riley rattles through a quick list of choice expressions that have quickened the pulse of the daytime programmes producers and tickled the studio audience to the point of tears. Shes right: theyre rude.

Riley wasnt born when Countdown started, but she fondly remembers the programme in its previous 4.30pm slot

Last November, Rachel Riley clocked up 2,000 episodes of Countdown. For such an apparently relaxed show, she tells Event, it can be physically draining

It is fair to say that the Oxford-educated Essex girl with an upper-second-class honours degree in mathematics and, lest we forget, winner of 2017s Rear Of The Year, doesnt mind a little risque humour.

She regularly corpses on Channel 4s Countdown when, in a swirl of vowels and consonants, a contestant innocently arrives at an X-rated word, or worse, when a colleague allows a double-entendre to slip out.

Rileys Countdown co-presenter, former adviser to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, Nick Hewer, 73, is a repeat, albeit often unknowing, offender.

One of Hewers finer moments, when he observed that Riley was finding the sums too rudimentary, was a classic TV clanger.

As soon as Nick said, Poor old Rachel, shes sitting over there, gagging for a hard one, it was like, what do you do with that? Riley grimaces.

Rachel Riley with her dance partner  and now boyfriend  Pasha Kovalev on 2013s Strictly Come Dancing

Susie [Dent] offered a brilliant slang word that was short for blowfish, completely innocently, she hoots. She knows every single word and phrase in the English language, except if its got a remotely rude connotation. I dont know how she knows so much and so little at the same time.

Since 1992, Dent, 53, has reigned over Dictionary Corner with a shy smile and a ferocious etymological intellect.

She is, by trade, a lexicographer, or as the friskier faction of her following would have it, a sexicographer.

My job title is hard enough to pronounce, so any variation is very welcome, she says. Besides, its a lot better than Boozy Susie.

The biggest misconception about her profession, Dent asserts, is that were harmless drudges, as Samuel Johnson famously defined us, and that we sit over dusty volumes in dark libraries.

During her own Strictly stint, Riley underwent cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for her chronic nerves and discovered that she had a psychological issue with perfection

The truth is that todays dictionary compilers sit in hi-tech offices studying vast digital databases of language. Not only that, but our daily debates are a lot of fun: which swear word has the juiciest history, or how trumpery came to mean superficial nonsense.

Riley has helped to ensure that Countdowns team arent ever mistaken for drudges, as her own life has thrown up plenty of racy words. In 2013, she enrolled on Strictly Come Dancing, and did the paso doble, and other complex manoeuvres, with Siberian dancer Pasha Kovalev.

The burgeoning Russian romance burned with the passion of a smouldering rumba, and coincided with the break-up of Rileys short marriage. Prior to meeting Pasha, she was married to Jamie Gilbert, who she met at university when she was 19. They separated in 2013, having been married for 16 months.

Riley and Kovalev now co-habit in west London, while she remains good friends with Gilbert. Pasha, she says revealingly, is different, really different.

I was used to Essex boys growing up. Russian boys are a lot more gentlemanly and thoughtful. They will express their emotions a bit more. Even though you picture Russians as stoic, their language is really poetic.

She doesnt think there is a Strictly curse, where participants personal relationships disintegrate once they are in a professional dancers arms. She believes it serves as a magnifying glass that shows up pre-existing fault lines.

Her relationship with the Russian developed slowly after the couple were beaten in the Week Six dance-off by Abbey Clancy, who went on to win overall. Whenever were away or get the opportunity, Pasha takes me salsa dancing, she says. Weve been in Brazil, Colombia and France.

Riley has been learning Russian for three years and is hoping to visit his homeland this year. She also has a dash of Ukrainian blood.

Kovalev was obviously disappointed to leave this years Strictly so early with actress Chizzy Akudolu. I dont think anyone really expected them to go out first, Riley sighs. He thought their dancing was better.

During her own Strictly stint, Riley underwent cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for her chronic nerves and discovered that she had a psychological issue with perfection.

I didnt realise until I did CBT that I was a perfectionist, she elaborates. Whenever you do anything there are always going to be things that go wrong, its never going to be 100 per cent perfect. Because of how I was, Id focus on those bits and always see the negative in anything.

CBT really helped me and I would recommend it to anyone.

Countdown remains her comfort zone as the TV institution celebrates 35 years and over 6,500 episodes and heads towards its 80th series. To put it in a historical context, the Great British TV institution is exactly the same age as Prince William, and holding up just as heroically. The acclaimed game show first aired on November 1982 in the week that Motorola announced the first commercially available mobile phone, weighing in at a mighty 2lb, and Culture Clubs Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? was at No 1 in the charts.

Eighties dads would look at Boy George and wonder Is it a boy or a girl? but there were no such queries about Richard Whiteley.

The shows original host was nicknamed Twice Nightly Whiteley on account of presenting Countdown in addition to the Yorkshire magazine news programme Calendar later that same evening.

Decked out in a garish blazer and amusing necktie, he set the Countdown juggernaut in motion with a twinkle in his eye and his redoubtable lieutenant Carol Vorderman at his side for almost quarter of a century.

Whiteley died suddenly from pneumonia  which fans affectionately noted was a nine-letter word that used all the vowels  in 2005 aged 61.

Vorderman quit Countdown after a contractual disagreement in 2008. She has since pursued an interest in aviation and intends to fly solo around the world.

The Countdown team: Susie Dent, Nick Hewer and Rachel Riley

Des Lynam, Des OConnor, Jeff Stelling and now Hewer followed in Whiteleys wake, but none captured the charming essence of Countdown quite like him.

The shows winning formula of letters and numbers gradually became a cult success in post-Falklands, pre-teatime Britain.

We have people in who have watched it since day one, Riley says. They come in to celebrate their 90th birthday.

Riley wasnt born when Countdown started, but she fondly remembers the programme in its previous 4.30pm slot. Id come home from school and play against my little brother. Thats the good thing about Countdown, you can play at any level, any age.

The show now has a little brother of its own, the more mischievous Eight Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown, helmed by comic Jimmy Carr for the past five years. Thats the side of you that youd show your mates, smirks Riley. Whereas Countdown is the side of you youd show your family. You certainly get more grief on Eight Out Of Ten, but I like a bit of banter.

Rileys television job, she accepts, is primarily visual, yet she routinely experiences online abuse about her dress sense and body shape.

You can have your opinions and you can share them with your friends, she acknowledges evenly, but why would you go online to tell a stranger something random about their appearance? I dont get that.

I just ignore it, she shrugs. No one will say that in real life and if they did I wouldnt have much respect for them as a person.

While she has never been subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, she feels that many women, including herself, arent trained in how to deal with it properly.

Im quite British about things and tend to shy away. But thats not solving the problem.

Veteran anchor Anne Robinson recently suggested that women in TV were too fragile in dealing with inappropriate behaviour at work and needed to be more robust.

I dont think anyone should make a wide-ranging comment like that about everyone who works in TV, Riley argues. Its different generations and whats considered appropriate. Thankfully, its changing.

Riley turned 32 last week, although she hasnt, as yet, planned to have children.

All my friends are getting pregnant at the moment. she says. Thats good for them, but its currently not on my radar. I dont know about the future.

Riley regularly corpses on Channel 4s Countdown when, in a swirl of vowels and consonants, a contestant innocently arrives at an X-rated word

Last November, Riley clocked up 2,000 episodes of Countdown. For such an apparently relaxed show, it can be physically draining.

We film 15 shows every couple of weeks, she explains. So smiling for three days straight, your jaws ache.

But the contestants are so lovely. Id said I like Marmite at one stage and this one contestant came on and brought me this jar of Marmite hed kept from the Queens Jubilee.

So raise a cuppa to Countdowns 35 years of mid-afternoon magnificence  just dont mention the M-word. Famously, Susie Dent has a profound problem with the word moist.

Apparently a fifth of the nation hate this word, Dent points out, studiously avoiding its use. And its all about our psychological reactions to the thought of bodily functions. I cant even bring myself to use it for cake.

People on the show now apologise to Susie when those letters come up, says Hewer. They say, Im sorry, Susie, but Ive got moist. 

Upon hearing this, Riley rocks so violently that she all but falls out of her swinging seat onto the bare stone floor.

Could have died laughing there, the maths geek grins, having doubtless calculated the velocity at which she would have fallen. Thats how blonde I am.

Countdown is at 2.10pm, weekdays on Channel 4'I was always nervous, admits Melvyn Bragg, despite having interviewed some of the smartest and most impressive people on the planet during 40 years of The South Bank Show. I always am, even now.

Thats an incredible thing to hear from a legendary broadcaster who also happens to be Lord Bragg of Wigton in the County of Cumbria, and recently named as a Companion of Honour to Her Majesty. But the nerves before an interview are often so bad he flees to the toilet to pull himself together. Its a characteristic and I cant get over it. I go away on my own, usually to the loo for five minutes, sit down and say to myself, Oh come on! Out! 

In the early years of the South Bank Show Melvyn Bragg upset the establishment of the time by taking seriously so-called lowbrow subjects like pop music, comedy and film

Bragg, 77, seems so self-assured in the flesh as well as on screen, running his fingers through his famous hair that remains luxuriant even now. The anxious, nasal voice that impressionists loved to mimic in his early days is now commanding, as he unpacks the big ideas of history with academics on his Radio 4 show, In Our Time. But his nerves are racked before that too, surprisingly. You just suddenly think, Oh Christ, Id better get out of this room and be on my own for a while. But as [director] David Lean said to me about Sir Alec Guinness, Anybody who is any bloody good gets nervous. 

Bragg is a world-class name-dropper, with friends like Lord Puttnam, who appear on a documentary celebrating four decades of The South Bank Show, saying a lot of nice things, like calling him the David Attenborough of the arts. But he has earned that title (and the right to drop any name he chooses) after changing the way the arts are seen in this country, because The South Bank Show was revolutionary when it started in 1978.

Bragg upset the establishment of the time by taking so-called lowbrow subjects like pop music, comedy and film every bit as seriously as classical music or ballet. It was bumpy at first, admits the presenter, who started with Paul McCartney. Critics poured scorn but Bragg didnt give up. I was serious about saying there was genius to be found in the arts everywhere you looked, if you looked hard enough.

Does he not think weve gone too far and now take silly things like Celebrity Big Brother, for example, far too seriously? No, I dont, he says, flipping it round smartly. Are we taking silly things like classical music too seriously? I heard some music on Radio 3 the other day which was absolutely ridiculous. It was these people screaming. Classical music has its extremes like any other art form. Sometimes when I go to see the Turner Prize entries I think, What the hell? I dont think its all gone too far, there are silly edges at either end.

Then he tells a story about defending Big Brother in its early days to the Prince of Wales at a house party at Sandringham. So can we expect to see him on the show or maybe in the jungle? No! Of course not.

Melvyn Bragg with Tracy Emin in 2001. Bragg insists that all art forms have their extremes, and even high-brow art is no exception

An early South Bank Show episode featuring the great actor Sir Lawrence Olvier

Elizabeth Taylor is interviewed by Melvyn Bragg for an early episode of The South Bank Show

The son of a publican from Cumbria, Bragg has worked hard to become a mainstay of the establishment he once challenged, so he wont be risking his dignity like that. The South Bank Show put Macca alongside Herbert von Karajan, featured Ken Dodd as much as Ingmar Bergman, took Tracey Emin in her early days as seriously as Picasso. And its still coming up with surprises: Bragg and his team were the ones who, five years ago, brought the music made by the likes of Dizzee Rascal to a mainstream audience for the first time.

How does it feel for a man in his 70s to be the Godfather of Grime? Ha! Well, it was Archie Powell  then one of our young producers  who spotted it. They were just broadcasting from one tower block to another, from each others kitchens. They would never turn up on time but Archie persisted and made the film. Somehow or other, we hit the button. Grime is the dominant sound in pop now. Its huge.

As he sits in his office near the BBC, looking handsome in a black turtle-neck, I am reminded that The South Bank Show made Melvyn Bragg an unlikely sex symbol (Dont be ridiculous!). But there was a lot of interest in his love life. His first wife, the French viscountess Marie-Elisabeth Roche, killed herself in 1971, after they had separated. Their daughter Marie-Elsa, now a priest, has recently published a fine novel set in Cumbria and found herself going over those terrible days again in interviews. She was never keen on talking about her mother but they keep asking. Its painful for both of us, says Bragg.

He married the writer Cate Haste in 1973, but they have stopped living together after 43 years. Yeah, Cate and I separated a year last June and I got her a house in Hampstead, up on the hill. She also got the house in the Chilterns. I stayed in the house in Hampstead that Ive been living in for 40 years. Has the split been amicable? Well, its like everything else: it has its good times and its bad times. But we havent actually thrown the chair at each other. I mean, it was a generous settlement. Very. So its fine.

His new partner is Gabriel Clare-Hunt, 61. I live with Gabriel half the week, we go on holidays together, she came up to Cumbria for a fortnight this Christmas and met my friends and everyone up there and so on we go.

Bragg with first guest Paul McCartney, in 1978. For young artists from less privileged backgrounds, watching The South Bank Show has often been an education

Bragg has always felt himself to be a bit of an outsider. But he recently found out that none of this illustrious career would have happened at all if it had not been for one man. I only stayed at school after O-levels because my teacher, Mr James, went to see my parents three times to persuade them to let me stay. I saw him again recently, when he was aged 97, and he said, Stan and Ethel didnt want you to stay on at school. They were worried about the people youd meet in that sort of life. They were worried you wouldnt be able to cope with it. They took quite a bit of convincing. That was the first Id heard of it.

What would he have done instead?

Id have gone to the factory and worked in the office in the back. Or to the local government, then to night school as some of my friends did. Instead, he went up to Oxford on a scholarship then joined the BBC. The opportunities are not there now as they were then. We had a free run.

Working-class kids like him are squeezed out of the arts now, he says. I think the gates have closed. I feel it more and more when I listen to the radio, when I watch the television, the arts are closing down again. Its sad.

Whats changed? Lets talk in crude class terms. People of middle class have seen what a wonderful life it is in the arts and have moved in. Acting is one example, as seen in the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch. You go to Eton, with three theatres or whatever they have there, and proper people training you, so you come out at 17 or 18 way ahead of the pack. Instead of schools like that urging people to go into the civil service and do something serious, theyre saying, Why not? 

His top three encounters The best interview Braggs mesmerising encounter with the artist Francis Bacon, which won an Emmy in 1985. Bacon was rip-roaring drunk. They both were. Hed lined up the champagne bottles in his studio. This was 9.30 in the morning. He was high on the champagne and it was pretty good. Then we went on to a proper lunch with booze and did the interview in the corner. And we kept drinking. Bloody hell. We just went on and on. The one that got away Drinking didnt work with Samuel Beckett. I met him very near the beginning of The South Bank Show. He was very nice, very well-mannered. We met in the foyer of a hotel for a good long time and drank a bit, but in the end he said, I just wanted to say thank you very much I dont want to do this.  The trickiest subject It was my first season and the playwright Harold Pinter hung me out to dry. As Pinter gave one-word answers, Bragg flailed around. I wanted to say, Come on Harold! Then I watched it on screen and thought, Thats OK, it brings out a cruel side of Pinter that people wont have seen.  Advertisement

For young artists from less privileged backgrounds, watching The South Bank Show has often been an education, as Damon Albarn of Blur and the film director Amma Asante say in the new documentary. But the number of arts programmes being made elsewhere has fallen away dramatically, he says. We used to do 26 programmes a year at ITV  then it went down to four. Theyre basically pals progs [made by friends about each other]. Channel 4 is all over the place. Sometimes they do Grayson Perry, which is great, but they dont seem to do much else. The BBC seems to have shrunk rather than grown. Whats wrong with them?

There are six new episodes of The South Bank Show a year on Sky, and 30 South Bank Originals, taken from his archive of films. Does he have any remaining ambitions? I want the next novel to be the best I have ever written. Hes written over 35 books and been long-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times. What else? Ive not had many ambitions. That cant be true. It is. I didnt really want to leave Wigton. The first year I kept hitching a lift back as often as I could. I wanted to get to university to please Mr James, as much as anything.

Well, nerves or no nerves, Lord Bragg seems to have coped with the life his parents were afraid of. His old teacher must have been very pleased indeed.

The South Bank Show 40th Anniversary Special is on Sky Arts tonight at 9pmDarkest Hour Cert: PG 2hrs 5mins

Rating:

Gary Oldman is one of those actors you could walk past in the street and not recognise  he has a quiet, unshowy ordinariness that not only allows him to disappear into the parts he plays but also does a very good job of deflecting public attention.

As a result, if I try to conjure an image of what the off-duty Oldman looks like, I struggle.

But I do know that he looks absolutely nothing like Winston Churchill. And yet, for all bar the opening ten minutes of Darkest Hour, the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Harry Potter star gives such a convincing turn as Britains wartime hero that hes already scooped the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama and a Bafta nomination, and must stand a decent chance of repeating that success come Oscar time.

Gary Oldman gives such a convincing turn as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (above) that hes already scooped a Golden Globe and a Bafta nomination and looks set for Oscar glory

Yes, its a triumph for Kazuhiro Tsuji, the Japanese genius who made the prosthetics that turn the slender, thin-faced Oldman into the portly, round-cheeked Churchill  and, indeed, for the make-up skills of David Malinowksi and Lucy Sibbick, who started work at 3am each day to begin the three-and- a-half-hour transformation.

But its a career-defining triumph for Oldman, who doesnt have the eyes for the part or quite the expected voice  its those two things that trip you up for the first ten minutes  and yet he brings such an energy, intensity and, eventually, ferocity to the role that well before the end youve forgotten that any other actors have ever played the part.

Putting it succinctly, Oldman gives a performance rather than an impersonation and Darkest Hour is all the better for it.

The film has other good things going for it too including first class direction and an exquisitely judged performance from Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill (above with Oldman)

Mind you, it has other good things going for it, too  a taut, intelligent and cleverly structured screenplay by Anthony McCarten, who brought us The Theory Of Everything, top-drawer direction from Joe Wright, whose 2007 wartime drama, Atonement, comes repeatedly to mind, and a scene-stealing but exquisitely judged supporting performance from Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill.

It begins in May 1940 as the so-called phoney war comes to an abrupt end with Germanys invasion of France and the Low Countries.

With an ailing and politically weakened Neville Chamberlain under relentless attack in the House of Commons, a new prime minister is urgently needed, and there is only one man who can bring all the feuding political parties together.

But is the 65-year-old, hard-drinking, cigar-chomping Churchill  variously dismissed as either an actor in love with the sound of his own voice or a drunkard by opponents  up to the job?

It begins in May 1940 with Churchill's appointment as PM but he finds himself undermined by Chamberlain and Lord Halifax (played quite brilliantly by Stephen Dillane, above)

And with the prospect of real war, can even he resist the siren call of appeasement? Might jaw-jaw  beginning peace negotiations with Hitler  be better than war-war? This is the film that gives us a Churchill who genuinely isnt sure.

Last year, in the not terribly successful film Churchill, which dealt with the run-up to D-Day, Brian Cox brought us a Winnie haunted by the mistakes of his past (the disastrous invasion of Gallipoli in 1915 that cost the lives of more than 50,000 Allied servicemen), exhausted by four years of war and outmanoeuvred and generally bullied by an unholy alliance of Dwight Eisenhower and General Montgomery.

This time around  with events taking place four years earlier, of course  Churchills frailties are centre stage again but far more convincingly so.

To some extent, Darkest Hour is a near-perfect companion piece to Christopher Nolans Dunkirk (above, Lily James as Churchill's secretary Elizabeth Layton)

Hes undermined by Chamberlain and Lord Halifax (played quite brilliantly by Stephen Dillane), struggles to strike up a rapport with the King and is haunted not just by Gallipoli (the prospect of losing virtually the entire British Army at Dunkirk is almost too much to bear) but by his own doubts as to the best way forward.

If he has a plan at all its to keep buggering on, not bugger it up.

To some extent, Darkest Hour is a near-perfect companion piece to Christopher Nolans Dunkirk. If you watched that aghast by both the apparent lack of a plan and the fact that nobody seemed to know what was going on, Wrights film explains why.

They were too busy arguing in the Cabinet War Rooms: there was no plan. Until the moment Churchill stiffened the sinew and finally got a grip.

If you watched that aghast by both the apparent lack of a plan and the fact that nobody seemed to know what was going on, Wrights film explains why

Theres no doubt that Wright employs light, shade and cinematography to full dramatic effect, coming close to overdoing it at times.

But his only real false step comes in a scene where the great man, who we have learnt by now has never been on a bus, suddenly descends to the London Underground to canvas opinion from the great British public.

What? Cor blimey  it feels like a scene thats been inserted especially for gullible Americans.

But it didnt spoil my enjoyment of what eventually becomes a viscerally powerful film, or of Oldmans at times electrifying performance.

This might just be his finest hour.

SECOND SCREEN

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (15)

Rating:

Now heres a funny thing or possibly not. Let me try to explain.

The Golden Globes, which were handed out last weekend, are the only major awards to make a distinction between drama and musical or comedy, and Martin McDonaghs new film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, duly walked away with four of the coveted awards, including Best Motion Picture. All in the drama category.

Which is consistent but odd, for at the screening I attended people were laughing from beginning to end, albeit in a slightly uncomfortable way.

For my money its a comedy, but of the blacker-than-black variety, which is exactly what you expect from writer-director McDonagh, who has already brought us the wickedly funny In Bruges, about two hitmen languishing in Belgium after killing an innocent bystander, and the astonishing play The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, a blood-soaked tale of mad Irish terrorists that Im ashamed to say made me laugh until I cried.

Three Billboards isnt that funny, but it is clearly intended to make us laugh, as the award-winning but definitely larger-than-life performances from the likes of Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell make clear.

The reason why it might be punching above its weight at the moment is the emotive subject matter.

At a time when Hollywood couldnt be more sensitive about the sexual abuse meted out by powerful men, this is a film about the very worst sexual violence against women, with McDormand playing a grieving and furiously angry mother still mourning her pretty daughter, who was raped and murdered by an unknown attacker.

When the local police seem incapable of tracking down her daughters killer, Mildred (McDormand) rents three derelict advertising hoardings on the edge of her home town and covers them in posters taunting the police  and specifically Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson)  for their failure.

Still no arrests? asks one of the billboards. I thought this was when people would stop laughing but it wasnt. After a suitable pause, it soon returned.

McDormand, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress and must be favourite again at the Oscars, is excellent in a strong role perfect for these difficult times  the belligerent and boiler-suited Mildred, the very antithesis of Hollywood glamour, is definitely not a woman to take any nonsense from any man.

Rockwell, who won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a dim cop on a short and normally racist fuse, is funny but couldnt be accused of underplaying, while the somewhat overlooked Harrelson, as the police chief who unexpectedly turns out to be hiding not just a conscience but a tragic secret too, is quietly excellent. The denouement of his particular storyline is too dark even for me.

McDonaghs film is extremely well executed but its also long, tangled and any higher purpose is difficult to discern. Sometimes, however, just saying the right things at the right time is enough.Lumiere London

Various locations

Jan 18-21

A pair of animated lovers projected on to the facade of the Royal Academy of Arts, and mid-flight flamingos suspended above Chinatown are just two of the installations lighting up locations across London this week for the dazzling Lumiere festival. They join 38 other specially commissioned works by artists from across Europe to create a free nocturnal art show designed to dispel the January gloom.

Last year, the four-day extravaganza lured more than a million visitors into exploring the streets of the capital by night. Highlights of 2018s event include the return of French digital artist Patrice Warreners magnificent The Light Of The Spirit installation to Westminster Abbey, which sees the Great West Gate ablaze in jewel-like hues.

Highlights of 2018s event include the return of French digital artist Patrice Warreners magnificent The Light Of The Spirit installation to Westminster Abbey

Camille Gross and Leslie Epsteins fantastical station clock beamed on to the Hotel Cafe Royal might just force Piccadilly Circus into taking a pause for breath

Meanwhile, at Kings Cross Dutch artist Daan Roosegaardes ethereal seascape explores rising sea levels by using LED lights and lasers to immerse visitors in a virtual flood.

Camille Gross and Leslie Epsteins fantastical station clock beamed on to the Hotel Cafe Royal might just force Piccadilly Circus into taking a pause for breath, while illuminated seesaws in Mayfair let children convert playground antics into art.

IT'S A FACT Sixty bellringers were brought in for Lumiere Durham, where the ringing in the cathedral was accompanied by a synchronised light show. Advertisement

When the festival visited Durham in November (where Lumiere originally began eight years ago), one of the most moving sights was Australian-British artist Simeon Nelsons throbbing crimson globe, Cosmoscope. The science-themed sculpture has made the journey down south to glitter in a cafe-lined street near the British Museum.

Entre Les Rangs filled Durham Cathedrals cloisters with a mass of illuminated flowers resembling fields of wheat; this time, the stems shimmer in Kings Cross.

Circus Bijous pop-up Umbrella Project. Staging a coup in the capital is no easy feat but it doesnt faze Artichoke, the outdoor events company behind Lumiere

Staging a coup in the capital is no easy feat but it doesnt faze Artichoke, the outdoor events company behind Lumiere. After all, in 2006 it pulled off parading the enormous Sultans Elephant puppet through London. Still, executives will doubtless be praying for no repeats of last week, when a giant inflatable ball erected for the festival began swaying precariously in the wind, bringing Oxford Circus to a standstill.

lumiere-festival.comKiri

Wednesday, Channel 4

Rating:

McMafia

Sunday, BBC1

Rating:

Next Of Kin

Monday, ITV

Rating:

A new series by Jack Thorne (National Treasure) starring Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley and other terrific stuff) should be a cause for celebration, perhaps even bunting in the street, official stamps, children having the day off school so they can look back and say, I remember when that new thriller by Jack Thorne starring Sarah Lancashire first started. What a glorious day that was. But Kiri is not quite there. Yet.

Like National Treasure, which explored historic sex abuse, this is also a hot-potato drama. Here were concerned with interracial adoptions and the nature of social work, which is performed almost invisibly, becoming visible only when it all goes wrong and media witchhunts ensue. (As in the Victoria Climbie case, for example; youd think the social workers had killed her, not the aunt.)

Lancashire plays Miriam, a social worker who is irreverent, straight-talking, witty, warm, well liked by colleagues and clients and obviously good at her job. Her shtick is that she takes her farty dog with her everywhere because the farty dog has too many medical problems to be left at home alone.

Felicia Mukasa and Sarah Lancashire in Kiri. Lancashire plays Miriam, a social worker who is irreverent, straight-talking, witty and warm

You had to love the farty dog, and Miriams love for the farty dog, even though the dog playing the farty dog didnt look as if it had any serious medical issues at all. Not the best actor, that dog. Anyway, her own day goes horribly wrong when she arranges for Kiri, a little black girl in her charge, to visit her birth grandparents unsupervised, prior to being adopted by a white family.

As Miriam has understood it, the grandparents are estranged from their son, Kiris father, who has a violent criminal past. But the father enters the mix, Kiri goes missing and is then  please look away if you havent seen the first episode yet  found murdered on the common. Is it Miriams fault? Did she put Kiri into an unsafe environment? Did she allow her access to her grandparents so as to tick all the Leftie boxes?

The depiction of black men as always violent and criminal has been taken up elsewhere, but Thorne was caught between a rock and a hard place here. If hes writing about transracial adoption, and Kiri couldnt stay with her birth family, there had to be a reason, even if that reason turns out to be unfounded in some way. He just couldnt win. And there were moments that were brilliantly written, as when Miriam visited her nasty mother (played by Sue Johnston with a Baby Jane lipsticked mouth). But the seeds that, plot-wise, will inevitably play out later were just too noticeably planted.

For instance, Miriams drinking isnt going to go away, is it? The adoptive family have a birth son older than Kiri, who seems to have resented her, and thats not going to go away either, is it? And Kiris nosebleeds? Are they going to be insignificant? Lancashire is a powerhouse of a performer, even when speaking in the Bristol accent that makes her sound like Julie Burchill, and so is Lucian Msamati as the grandfather. You couldnt take your eyes off him. But the construction was so distracting and distancing you never felt fully immersed in the way that you did with either National Treasure or Happy Valley. I just couldnt quite believe it. So its not there. Yet.

Meanwhile, McMafia continues to exasperate with its hopeless female characters, who are either mothers or daughters or girlfriends or have been sex-trafficked. In other words, whereas the men are allowed to exist in their own right, the women are only allowed to exist in relation to the men, and are off wandering Prague and buying handbags while Daddy is otherwise occupied with smashing a policeman to death with an iron bar. (Does Natasha have no idea what her father is up to? Is she that dim?)

As for Alexs girlfriend, Rebecca (Juliet Rylance), theyve barely bothered to write her at all. She just exclaims great and perfect! all the time. And that chap who turned up, who said he was at Harvard with Alex? She couldnt see he was lying? When it was so obvious? Is she that dim? On the other hand, James Norton does seem to have some Poldarkian clause in his contract that means he must take his top off at least once per episode, so there is that. Happily.

And now, because I had to get all that off my chest, Ive run out of space for Next Of Kin, ITVs thriller about a normal British Muslim family who find themselves dealing with radicalisation and terrorism. It was strongly played, particularly by Archie Panjabi, but I ask you: the family gathers for a party to welcome home her characters brother, a doctor who has been doing charity work in Pakistan and phones to say hes on the way to the airport in Lahore. So why are they gathering now? The flight to London is 11 hours, minimum! And when the doorbell goes a couple of hours later, why would they think its him? Does he have a matter transporter? Just sayingJeff Fairburn deserves some credit for stoicism.

Amid a torrent of criticisms, high level departures from the board and barely suppressed anger from shareholders, he has shown determination to hang on to a bonus package that keeps on giving.

But the lottery-winning Persimmon boss, Britain's 131million man, should by now have seen the writing on the wall.

Instead of being viewed as a hero for quietly building the houses Britain needs, he is on his way to becoming a national pariah, bringing disgrace to the company he heads and the whole industry.

Bonus builder: Instead of being viewed as a hero for quietly building the houses Britain needs, Jeff Fairburn - Britain's 131m man is on his way to becoming a national pariah

Indeed, in spite of all his fighting talk about demand and supply and building for Britain, his claims for Persimmon do not wholly stand up to scrutiny.

Even with enormous subsidy that housebuilders have had from Help To Buy in the past year, York-based Persimmon still failed to overhaul the record numbers of houses it built in 2006, before the financial crisis, when there was no such scheme.

So what happens now? Slowly but surely big battalion investors have recognised that Fairburn's greedy payout is not just a problem for Persimmon but for their own reputations as guardians of governance.

Axa wisely voted against the deal in the first instance. Others that backed it at the time appear to have reservations and are putting pressure on the board with a view to finding a route out of the mess.

The legal niceties are complex, but it is in the interests of no one that the bonus package for Fairburn and other Persimmon top brass turns the company into a corporate pariah.

At its core, Persimmon is there for all stakeholders, and Fairburn cannot hold the housebuilder hostage.

Black Hawk up

There is something delightfully nostalgic about the Melrose bid for GKN. The late Lord Hanson, who helped nurture the skills of Melrose chairman Christopher Miller, would think the boy has done good.

Using old fashioned analytical tools he and his team spotted a mispriced stock needing some care and attention, offered a 24 per cent premium (involving a lot paper) and the shares have shot up.

Never mind that the 7billion price tag for the engineer takes it way beyond any deal Melrose has done before.

In Mike Turner, former chief executive of BAE and also chairman of Babcock, Melrose is challenging engineering royalty.

This is similar to the way that Hanson took on chemical royalty when it sought to buy ICI in the 1990s.

The GKN response looks to be appropriate. It has gifted the FTSE 100 its eighth woman chief executive in the shape of Anne Stevens, veteran of Ford and former director at Lockheed Martin.

She has spent months doing an audit of GKN plants in search of efficiency savings and cash generation.

The other response is to do the splits. A quick look at GKN turnover shows that with 37 per cent of it from aerospace and 45 per cent from car parts there is a natural separation.

Such a move is understood to have support from Vulcan Value Partners  one of the largest shareholders.

But it will not be easy, given the UK pension deficit estimated at 1.1billion and tax complications.

GKN is one of Britain's best-performing engineers and exporters over a long period. It has been knocked back by accounting trouble at its Alabama plant in the US, which makes parts for the Black Hawk helicopter, that will wipe as much as 130million of profit largely as a result of failing to thoroughly account for inventories.

It joins a select list of British companies, including aerospace group Cobham, Centrica and of course BP, that have found that doing business in the US is not always a bed of roses.

As much as one admires the way that Melrose delivers for investors, GKN has earned the chance to recharge batteries and get its mojo back.

Super iShares

BlackRock owes a huge thank you to the late Patti Dunn (founder of Barclays Global Investors), Bob Diamond and former Barclays chief executive John Varley.

In the panic to keep Barclays out of the hands of the Government in 2009, Barclays sold BGI, inventor of the iShare  pioneer of exchange traded funds (ETFs)  to BlackRock for just 8.2billion.

In the final quarter of 2017, Blackrock inflows were 76.3billion, fuelled by ETFs as the Dow soared. Wow.WHO IS IT? U+I Group is a property developer that specialises in regenerating buildings in major cities.

It has a 6billion portfolio of so-called mixed-use properties, which combine places to live and work.

It was created through a merger of Development Securities and Cathedral Group in 2014.

WHATS THE LATEST? In November, U+I sold four of its developments for a 6.7million profit.

The firm says the demand for mixed-use properties is on the rise which will help keep it on track to make 65million-70million this financial year.

Last year, it secured planning permission for a 130million regeneration project near Blackhorse Road Underground station in north London. It is deciding whether to sell the site or develop it itself.

WHO BACKS IT? Fidelity Worldwide Investment, J O Hambro Capital Management and Standard Life Aberdeen, which together own more than 30 per cent of the firms shares.

WHY SHOULD YOU INVEST? Experts say it looks undervalued as investors still avoid small property firms.

But its share price has risen by nearly 18 per cent over the past year and it pays a decent dividend of 2.95 per cent. It also has a healthy number of projects in the pipeline.

Ben Yearsley, of adviser Shore Financial Planning, says: What youve got here is a small British property company, which has been unloved since the Brexit vote.

But its a well-run business that is doing something a bit different and pays a dividend, which is good for investors seeking income.

AND WHY YOU SHOULDNT It made a 1.7million loss in the year to February 28, 2017, and its latest results show it made a 3.3million loss in the six months to August 31, 2017. However, it made a 26million profit in 2016.

What concerns experts, though, is the fact it has high levels of debt. At the end of August these had reached nearly 160million, which is nearly half of what the firm is worth.A predatory turnaround group has targeted one of Britain's leading engineering firms, prompting calls for ministers to intervene.

GKN, which dates back to the 18th century, has rejected an unsolicited 7billion approach from Melrose, slamming it as opportunistic and cheap.

It prompted the engineer to reveal plans to split its aerospace and cars divisions, as well as appointing interim chief Anne Stevens as full-time boss, which saw her become the FTSE 100's eighth female chief executive.

But Melrose is expected to push ahead with its interest despite opposition from the GKN board ahead of a deadline for a formal bid on February 9.

Wanted: GKN makes parts for fighter jets, including the F-35 (pictured), as well as Audi and BMW cars, Airbus planes, the Boeing 737 and Black Hawk helicopters

GKN employs 9,000 in the UK and makes parts for fighter jets, including the F-35, as well as Audi and BMW cars, Airbus planes, the Boeing 737 and Black Hawk helicopters.

Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader and ex-business secretary, said its takeover was a serious threat to UK industry.

He has written to Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, urging him to use whatever powers has to intervene.

Cable said: 'GKN is a massively important company  it's a leading British Tier 1 supplier to the car industry and it operates on long-term horizons.

'GKN stands for long-term investment in advanced manufacturing, whereas Melrose are in the business of short-term financial engineering. It's utterly and completely unsuitable for this industry.'

Tony Burke, the Unite union's assistant general secretary for manufacturing, said: 'If the bid isn't stopped it could lead to one of the UK's oldest engineering firms being asset stripped, with sites and divisions across the country being sold.

Unite will be working with all interested parties in halting this destructive predatory bid.'

GKN started life as the Dowlais Iron Co in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, in 1795. It supplied cannonballs to the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

The company is worth 5.7billion on the stock market but investors have become increasingly unhappy about missed profit and cash flow targets, with some calling for it to split apart its aero and car divisions.

Shares slumped around 10 per cent in October after it said profit would be only slightly above the 678million it made in 2016, below expectations of around 735million.

Incoming chief executive Kevin Cummings stepped down at the same time, with the company warning that the US aerospace division he headed would have to write-off up to 130million after a review of accounts.

Stevens, 69, who is credited with helping turn around car maker Ford's businesses in the US and Mexico, confirmed that GKN is planning to separate its automotive and aerospace divisions.

Melrose, which has a stock market value of around 4.2billion, believes management have been underperforming at GKN and can do better.

The proposed share-and-cash offer made on January 8 valued GKN at 405p ($5.48) per share, a 24 per cent premium to the closing price the day before.

Melrose specialises in buying engineering firms, revamping them and selling them on at a profit. It bought German utility maker Elster in August 2012 for about 1.8billion before selling it to US firm Honeywell for 3.3billion.

The firm also bought Loughborough-based manufacturer FKI in July 2008 before splitting it up and selling it in parts.

Cable added: 'In extremis the Government could acquire a minority stake in GKN to deter a hostile takeover. That is an extreme step and I would hope it would not come to that.'

A Melrose spokesman said: 'We believe there would be significant operational and commercial benefits arising from Melrose's ownership of GKN businesses, reversing a history of GKN not delivering on margin targets.'

The Department of Business said that it was monitoring the situation, but added: 'This is a commercial matter for the parties involved.'Online fashion retailer Boohoo dipped after the brother of one of its founders sold around 14.8m worth of shares.

Jalal Kamani, 57, brother of Mahmud Kamani, 53, sold 7.7m shares at around 191.2p each, according to filings.

The businessman is a member of the Kamani retail dynasty, which has spawned some of Britain's fastest-growing fashion websites such as Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.

He served as Boohoo's trading director until October 2015, when he resigned.

According to Boohoo's annual report, Jalal Kamani had held a 6.8 per cent stake, accounting for around 76.5m shares.

Yesterday Boohoo announced that his stake had fallen to 5.98 per cent, representing 68.8m shares.

Fashion disaster: Online fashion retailer Boohoo dipped 4.6% after Jalal Kamani brother of founder Mahmud Kamani sold around 14.8m worth of shares

While it is not clear whether Kamani sold down his stake in stages or all at once, the shortfall of 7.7m represents up to around 14.8million worth of shares, according to Thursday's closing price of 191.2p.

The sale comes after Boohoo co-founder Carol Kane, 51, sold 10million worth of shares in September and Mahmud Kamani and his siblings Rabia Kamani and Nurez Kamani sold 80.5million worth of shares in June.

On Thursday, Boohoo reported a 100 per cent increase in sales to 228million in the four months to the end of December and said it expects sales growth of 90 per cent for the full-year.

But yesterday its shares fell 4.6 per cent, or 8.75p, to 182.7p following news of the sell-off.

The FTSE 100 ended the week on yet another record high, finishing up 0.2 per cent, or 15.7 points higher, at 7778.64, while the FTSE 250 finished up 0.6 per cent, or 121.4 points, at 20859.35 points.

STOCK WATCH - LIGHTHOUSE Shares in financial advisory firm Lighthouse jumped after it said sales and profits for 2017 will exceed its targets. Lighthouse, which will release its full results next month, claims to be the financial adviser of choice for 'Middle Britain'  its customers include teachers, care workers, engineers and midwives. It also partners with a number of worker groups and unions, including Unite. Shares soared 13.7 per cent, or 2.7p, to 22.5p.

Signs that Bovis Homes had recovered from last year's faulty homes scandal sent shares higher.

The housebuilder jumped 1.4 per cent, or 16p, to 1165p after posting a bullish trading update and pencilling in a hefty rise in profit this year.

It said that strong customer demand, attractive mortgage rates and initiatives such as the Help To Buy scheme have helped drive sales.

Bovis completed 3,645 homes in 2017  a slowdown from 3,977 in 2016. It said the average selling price for its new-build homes increased by 7 per cent to 272,000 from 254,900 a year before, while the average selling price for its private homes increased to 334,000.

Bovis added that it had seen a 'significant' improvement in customer satisfaction.

Last year Bovis was rocked by a profit warning and a barrage of complaints from customers over shoddy workmanship.

It was forced to set aside 10.5million to deal with the scandal, which saw the abrupt departure of former boss David Ritchie after 18 years at the company  including eight as chief executive.

He was replaced by Greg Fitzgerald, 54, the former chief executive of Galliford Try, who was brought out of retirement in April to lead the builder to a turnaround.

Since his appointment, shares in Bovis have surged more than 25 per cent. Bovis's revival comes after rivals were hit by concerns over the British housing market.

Shares in Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey slumped after the pair issued trading updates earlier this week, amid anxiety over falling house prices, weak wage growth and the impact of Brexit on the economy.

Persimmon finished up 0.2 per cent, or 4p, at 2647p while Taylor Wimpey jumped 0.7 per cent, or 1.35p, to 197.85p.

Also up was packaging company Mondi, which jumped 1.1 per cent, or 21.5p, to 1923.5p after Investec gave it a 'buy' rating.

But Sirius Minerals fell 2.5 per cent, or 0.6p, to 23.3p after it said its D-Walling  a key step in the building of its 2.1billion potash mine in Whitby, North Yorkshire  was two months behind schedule.A report has emerged that in private, Donald Trump is defended his remarks about Haitians and African countries

President Donald Trump has privately defended his remarks disparaging Haitians and African countries, saying he was only expressing what many people think but won't say about immigrants from economically depressed countries.

That's according to a person who spoke to the president as criticism of his comments ricocheted around the globe.

Trump spent Thursday evening making a flurry of calls to friends and outside advisers to judge their reaction to the tempest, said the confidant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose a private conversation.

Trump wasn't apologetic about his inflammatory remarks and denied he was racist, instead, blaming the media for distorting his meaning, the confidant said.

During a bipartisan Oval Office immigration meeting Thursday, Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and 's***hole countries' in Africa.

Critics of the president, including some Republicans, spent Friday blasting the vulgar comments he made behind closed doors.

Trump has reportedly claimed that he is simply saying what people think but might be too afraid to say

Trump, pictured after signing a proclamation to honor Martin Luther King Jr day, has blamed the media for distorting his meaning, according to a source speaking to the Associated Press

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he 'said my piece' to Donald Trump after the president's comments about Africa and Haiti that have stirred such controversy. But Graham isn't confirming exactly what Trump said.

In a statement Friday, the South Carolina lawmaker said: 'Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him.' Graham also said diversity is 'our strength, not our weakness'.

Graham released his statement a day after an Oval Office immigration meeting at which Trump referred to African nations with a vulgar term.

Trump's words have prompted an uproar and were relayed by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois - who was at the session - and three others familiar with the meeting.

Durbin said he was the only Democrat among 12 people at Thursday's meeting, where he said Trump 'repeatedly' used the term 's***hole' to describe African countries.

He said Graham 'spoke up' and told Trump his own family's story of coming to the U.S.

Durbin also repeated his earlier account that Trump said the U.S. doesn't need more people from Haiti. He said he told Trump if he singled out Haitians it was 'clearly a racial decision'.

Trump said he did not denigrate Haitians.

Lindsey Graham attended the meeting where multiple people said Trump 'repeatedly' used the term 's***hole' to describe African countries. Graham, per reports, 'spoke up' against Trump when he uttered the phrase

Senator Dick Durbin said he was the only Democrat at the meeting where Trump uttered the offensive phrases

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan referred to Trump's comments as 'very unfortunate, unhelpful'

Two Republicans who were in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump say they 'do not recall' him talking about 's***hole' countries in Africa.

Georgia Senator David Perdue and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton issued a joint statement Friday.

They said: 'We do not recall the president saying these comments specifically.'

They added: 'But what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers.'

Trump's slur came as pro-immigration senators tried to pitch Trump on a deal to protect younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

The president said 'this was not the language used' after reports that he referred to 's***hole' African nations in a meeting.

The president tweeted Friday amid criticism over his comments during a White House meeting .

Trump said Friday: 'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!'

The president said a bipartisan immigration proposal is 'a big step backwards'. He tweets that it would force the U.S. 'to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly'.

Trump said the 'so-called bipartisan' deal 'was a big step backwards' because it doesn't fund a wall along the Mexican border.

He added: 'I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs.'

Donald Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg speak on January 10

People walk together in Miami, Florida on January 12 to mark the 8th anniversary of the massive earthquake in Haiti and to condemn Trump's statements

Jocelyne Pierre (center) participates in the commemoration in Miami

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said they plan to introduce a censure resolution against President Donald Trump over his 'bigoted fear mongering' about Haiti and Africa.

Democratic Representatives Cedric Richmond of Louisiana and Jerrold Nadler of New York said they were deeply troubled by Trump's comments referring to African nations as 's***hole' countries during an Oval Office meeting on immigration.

Senator John McCain, meanwhile, said all elected officials, including the president, must respect that people from all over the world have 'made America great'.

McCain said respecting all people 'is the essence of American patriotism'. He said rejecting that 'is to oppose the very idea of America'.

He did not specifically mention Trump or the profanity he used. He did employ a variant of Trump's campaign theme, 'Make America Great Again'.

Trump's vulgarity was described by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, who attended the White House meeting, and three others briefed on the session.

McCain is in Arizona being treated for brain cancer.

This January 9 photo shows, from left to right, Dick Durbin, Trump and Steny Hoyer (a Maryland Democrat) during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration policy

House Speaker Paul Ryan said that President Donald Trump's vulgar slur about Africa was 'very unfortunate, unhelpful'.

The State Department said American diplomats will have to work 'extra hard' to send the message that the United States cares about other countries after Trump's comment.

Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein said it's Trump's right to 'make whatever remark he chooses.' He said that's the benefit of being president.

But Goldstein said U.S. diplomats have an obligation to represent the U.S. throughout the world. He said Trump's remarks don't 'change what we do'.

Goldstein said the State Department is advising U.S. ambassadors to 'primarily listen' if summoned to explain Trump's comments to foreign leaders.

He said they'll tell foreign countries that the U.S. commitment to their nations 'hasn't wavered' and that the United States is honored to have diplomatic representation there.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, have donated $33million to a scholarship program for young 'dreamers' called TheDream.US.

The donation from Bezos, who is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth just shy of $100billion, will go towards funding 1,000 college scholarships.

And the money, the largest single donation the organization has ever received, comes as President Donald Trump is trying to end the Obama-era DACA program and after his remarks about immigrants from 's***hole countries'.

Jeff Bezos and his wife, Mackenzie (pictured together at right) have donated $33million to TheDream.US, a scholarship program that funds college tuition for high school graduates with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status

Donald Trump is seeking to phase out the Obama-era initiative. He has also come under fire for comments he made about people from 's***hole countries' coming to the U.S. The president has denied making the comment but has been contradicted by multiple people who were there when he made it

The scholarship program will fund U.S. high school graduates with a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, an Obama-era program protecting young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents - commonly known as Dreamers.

There are 2,850 students currently enrolled in different colleges as part of TheDream.US scholarship, which covers the cost of tuition, fees and books.

The Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos, reports that the scholarship has awarded more than $19million to more than 1,700 immigrants since 2014, when it began.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted the federal court system as 'broken and unfair' after a judge blocked his administration's move to end the DACA program.

And Trump has been on the defensive about his comment during an Oval Office meeting that people from 'high crime' or s***hole countries get to come' to the United States.

The president has denied making the 's***hole' comment.

Pictured is a photo from TheDream.US, which so far has provided scholarships to 2,850 students

'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,' Trump said.

'What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!' Trump tweeted Friday.

The president's latest comments were immediately contradicted by Illinois Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, who was in the Oval Office meeting and says Trump made the 'vile and vulgar' comments repeatedly.

Trump is attempting to phase out DACA by March and Democrats are currently fighting to preserve it.

Bezos' parents, Mike and Jackie Bezos, were among the early donors to TheDream.US. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pershing Square Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are also among the other major contributors to the program.Toronto police are investigating an attack on an 11-year-old girl whose hijab headcovering was repeatedly cut on her way to school on Friday.

An assailant, in two attempts within 10 minutes, cut Khawlah Noman's hijab using scissors while she was walking to school with her brother, a Toronto police spokesperson said.

'I felt confused, scared, terrified,' Noman, who is in 6th grade, told reporters at her school on Friday.

The attack is being investigated as a hate crime, authorities said, according to CNN.

Toronto police are investigating an attack on 11-year-old Khawlah Noman, whose hijab headcovering was repeatedly cut on her way to school on Friday

The hijab is a head covering worn by some Muslim women and girls. It covers the hair but not the face.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted a message of support to the young girl on Friday.

'My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning's cowardly attack on her in Toronto,,' he wrote.

'Canada is an open and welcoming country, and incidents like this cannot be tolerated.'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Friday, 'My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning's cowardly attack on her in Toronto;' Trudeau is seen here speaking in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, on December 15

Trudeau tweeted a message of support to Noman on Friday, saying, 'Canada is an open and welcoming country, and incidents like this cannot be tolerated'

The man suspected of perpetrating the attack is believed to stand 5 feet and 7 inches tall, with a thin build, between 20-30 years old.

'I screamed,' Noman said. 'The man just ran away. We followed this crowd of people to be safe. He came again. He continued cutting my hijab again.'

At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt, black pants, brown gloves, and had prescription glasses with black frames on his face, police said.

Police have not taken any suspects into custody following the incident.

Noman reported the incident at her school, after which school officials immediately notified her family and the police, the Toronto District School Board said.

'This is shocking to learn of this assault. And we'll be working closely with police to offer any assistance that we can,' Ryan Bird, a school board spokesperson, told CNN partner CBC.

'In the meantime, we're offering support to the impacted student and her family.'

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called the attack a 'cowardly act of hatred' that did not represent the province.

This news has heightened pressure on Canadian governments to take further action against attacks on Muslims.

Canada is now approaching the first anniversary of a deadly shooting in a Quebec City mosque that killed six people at prayer.

A French-Canadian university student has been charged as the sole suspect.

Noman (left) is seen here speaking to reporters at her school in Toronto on Friday

Noman is pictured, hugging her mother, Saina Samad (right), after talking to media at her school on Friday following being attacked by a man cutting her hijab on her way to class

Last month, a Quebec judge suspended a law banning people from wearing niqabs and other face coverings while giving or receiving public services.

Niqabs are another form of headcovering worn by some Muslim females, like the burka. The Niqabs also covers the face, as does the burka.

Researchers have documented an increase in far-right extremist activity in Canada, much of it targeting Muslims.

A survey conducted last year by Ontario's Human Rights Commission found that more people reported harboring 'very negative' feelings about Muslims than about any other group.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims has called on the federal government to declare January 29, the day of the mosque shooting, a day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia.

The government has not said whether it will do so.

Anna Mehler Paperny contributed to this report.Olga Cortez, 32, has been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and having a weapon on school grounds. She allegedly drew a knife on two 13-year-old boys who were bullying her son

A North Carolina mother is facing charges after police say she followed her son to school and drew a knife on two teenagers she thought were bullying him.

Olga Cortez, 32, followed her son's school bus to Coulwood Middle School on Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police told local media.

Cortez got into an argument with two 13-year-old boys who she believed were the bullies, police say.

She also apparently told school staff that she believed her son was being bullied and identified the bullies to staff.

Officials say one of the teens assaulted Cortez, who pulled out a knife and, officials say, 'began flailing it through the air,' WSOCTV reports.

School staff got control of Cortez, who put the knife back in her vehicle.

She has been charged in connection with an incident at Coulwood Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina Friday morning

The incident occurred around 8am and no one was injured, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Cortez has been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and having a weapon on school grounds, police say.

The two boys were charged with simple assault and public affray.

Cortez's son was also charged with public affray.

The school released a statement to parents that, per WCNC, read: 'Before school started, we went into self-contained mode due to police activity in the bus parking lot.

'CMPD responded and arrested a suspect. No students or staff were injured.'A deadly spider hiding in a Harry Potter costume bit a young boy while he was playing dress ups.

Seven-year-old Riley Schmidt was bitten by a funnel web spider earlier this week at a Southern Highlands house.

The school boy felt something sharp when he put his costume on, leaving him with a bitten finger, according to Sydney Morning Herald.

Deadly funnel web spider hiding in a Harry Potter costume bit a seven-year-old boy (pictured)

Seven-year-old Riley Schmidt (pictured with his mother Kayla) felt something sharp as the spider bit his finger when he was putting on his dress up costume earlier this week

After showing his parents the bite, they wrapped his hand in a compression bandage, caught the spider and called an ambulance.

'It started with his fingers and then the rest of his hand started to swell as well,' his mother Kayla told the publication.

The young boy was rushed to Bowral and District Hospital before being transferred to Randwick Children's Hospital.

Doctors, who were impressed by the quick thinking parents first aid skills, gave the seven-year-old anti-venom, taking about ten minutes to work.

The spider was taken to Taronga Zoo where it will be then transferred to a reptile park in Gosford to have its venom milked to create anti-venom.

While funnel web spiders are common in houses across the east coast of Australia, they are hardly seen.

Being bitten by the deadly spider can lead to someone experiencing nausea, sweating and muscle cramps.

If someone is bitten by the venomous spider, people are advised to apply pressure to the area and seek medical assistance.

The young boy was rushed to Bowral and District Hospital before being transferred to Randwick Children's Hospital (pictured) where he was treated with anti-venomA psychopathic killer who escaped from a Hawaii psychiatric hospital and flew to California was caught with two high-quality fake IDs, two cellphones and more than $6,000 in cash, court documents have revealed.

Randall Saito, 59, was extradited on Wednesday from California to Honolulu, where he is being held pending $500,000 bail in a stunningly sophisticated escape from Hawaii State Hospital in November.

Saito's escape 'was not a matter of happenstance or a crime of opportunity, but required detailed planning and considerable financial resources,' Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Kory Young said in a motion to keep him behind bars.

If Saito posts bail, he will be returned to Hawaii State Hospital, where he was committed after being acquitted by reason of insanity for the 1979 killing of Sandra Yamashiro.

Saito, described by state officials as a 'violent psychopath' who 'fits all the criteria of a classic serial killer', was diagnosed with sexual sadism and necrophilia after the slaying.

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Randall Saito, 59, was extradited on Wednesday from California to Honolulu. He is seen in an interview from November after his stunning escape to the mainland

At the time of his arrest Saito had more than $6,000 in cash and fake Washington state and Illinois driver's licenses (pictured) bearing his photos with different names, prosecutors said

Saito's movements on Sunday from 9am, when he broke out of the hospital, until 5.30pm, when he landed in California

Yamashiro was found killed in her car. Prosecutors said she was chosen at random, shot in the face with a pellet gun, then fatally stabbed.

Saito has claimed he fabricated mental illness to get into the hospital. But he said he regretted doing so.

Officials are still investigating how he was able to escape, including where he got the money and other supplies. If he returned to the hospital, it would be impossible to keep him away from potential witnesses, hospital Administrator William May wrote in a letter to the court.

Saito plotted his escape with a banned cellphone, prosecutors said in documents.

After walking out of the hospital, he called a taxi that took him to the airport, where he caught a chartered flight to Maui. He used an alias to arrange the flight and paid $1,445 cash for it, the motion said. He then took a commercial flight to San Jose, California.

When he was arrested in nearby Stockton three days after his escape, he had more than $6,000 in cash and fake Washington state and Illinois driver's licenses bearing his photos with different names, prosecutors said. The fake licenses contained convincing-looking holograms that are difficult to reproduce.

Saito stabbed and shot Sandra Yamashiro and left her body in her car at a mall (above)

Saito is pictured in the early 80s after being acquitted by way of insanity

'We do not know if defendant Saito has a cache of other fake IDs at his disposal,' Young wrote. 'We do not know if there are other secret sources of money he can tap into.'

Hospital surveillance footage shows Saito taping door locks for a lounge and retrieving a garbage bag from a combination-locked cabinet on the morning of his escape, according to a detective's affidavit.

He took clothes out of the bag and changed. He threw the bag with his old clothes in a dumpster and then opened a combination lock to get out of the hospital, the affidavit said.

It's not known how he knew the combination.

In the taxi, he had a backpack that he didn't have when he left the hospital grounds.

'Whether he was provided with the backpack by another individual, or if he had secreted the backpack somewhere off of the hospital grounds is unknown,' the prosecutor's motion said.

Hawaii Public Defender Jack Tonaki, whose office is representing Saito on the escape charge, said it's too early to comment on the allegations.

In November, Saito spoke to the media in a jail near Stockton, California before telling a judge he didn't want to go back to Hawaii.

He refused to say if anyone helped him escape, where he got the money to travel or how he acquired what he called 'a pretty good' fake ID.

Saito was carrying a large backpack when he got into the cab. He picked it up along the 1-mile walk from the hospital to the park and it contained a false passport and a phone

He insisted that he only escaped to demonstrate that he should be free and was no danger to society.

'I decided I needed to escape and prove that I'm on my own,' Saito told KGO-TV. 'That I can be out here and act appropriately. Even though I escaped to do it.'

He said that he 'couldn't believe' he made it as far as he did before police caught him, describing his four days on the run as 'surreal' after almost 40 decades in custody.

Saito told KGO he flew to San Jose because it was the cheapest ticket.

He said he used 'bogus' IDs featuring his photo and another person's name to get past the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

He wouldn't say who helped him in the escape by proving him with the money and identification cards.

When the fugitive landed in San Jose, he said it felt 'surreal' that he managed to pull off his daring escape.

Saito spent Monday in San Jose trying to buy a car, but could not find a good enough deal.

Saito, 59, is pictured wearing a bucket hat and orange jacket in the back of a cab he called to collect him from a park on Sunday 15 minutes after escaping from a mental hospital in Honolulu

Saito (pictured the day after escape) was described as a 'violent' and 'dangerous' sexual sadist

He then took a cab to Stockton, where his brother lives, but he said he did not meet with any family members because he did not want to embarrass them, and instead spent most of his time in his hotel room.

At one point, he took a cab to a local Walmart to buy a phone, but the device turned out to be defective, so he headed back to the store to try and exchange it but was unable to because he did not have a receipt.

When he came out of the store, his cab driver told him he needed to go to a gas station to fill his tank, and Saito said he started laughing because he knew then that police were onto him.

Sure enough, when he emerged from the gas station convenience store, officers were waiting to take him into custody.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office later said Saito's taxi driver had tipped them off and led them to the escapee.

Saito explained that the escape was an 'act of desperation' borne out of his desire to prove that he could exist in society without causing anyone harm.

This photo provided by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's office shows Saito being arrested Wednesday, after four days on the lam

'This was about buying myself time in the community to prove that I could be in the community without doing anything wrong,' he said.

He told the KGO reporter: 'I wanted more time... so it would have more validity,' he said, 'that I had all this time to do something bad, but I didn't.'

His plan was to stay as long as possible on the outside and build a 'track record,' so later he could go back to hospital officials in Hawaii and say, 'Look, I was out for a month, and no one was hurt by me.'

'I felt human during those four days. I want people in Stockton to know that I was not going to hurt anybody,' Saito said in another jailhouse interview with KCRA.

He said he regretted the 1979 murder that got him committed.

'I regret the murder. Let's just make that clear. I do have remorse about it. I am absolutely contrite. No one else can be more contrite than I. Because no one is more responsible. What do they want me to do? I can't turn back time,' Saito said.

He said he was a substance abuser for three years before the killing, indulging in alcohol, LSD and PCP.

'I was in bad shape. I was paranoid,' he said, adding that on the night of the killing he lost his grip on sanity and 'snapped.'

Saito described the mental health facility where he had been locked up for nearly four decades as 'hell in a handbasket' and alleged that 'patients' rights were being denied.'

He added: 'I don't want to be in the state hospital. I'm not safe there.'

Saito didn't have privileges to leave the hospital grounds without an escort. Repeated attempts by Saito to win such passes were rejected by the court.

In 1993, a court denied his application for conditional release on the grounds he was still a danger to society.

Court records from that case described how the 'manipulative' murderer had had sexual relationships with several hospital staffers.

In 2000, he appealed to be released but was refused. One judge in denying his plea for release said Saito 'fills all the criteria of a classic serial killer'.

Until 2003 however, he had been allowed to have supervised conjugal visits at the home of a loved one.Chris Matthews was caught on hot mic audio mocking Hillary Clinton and then joking that he should have brought along date rape drugs for his interview with the the former Secretary of State.

The Cut obtained the footage, which was taken on the set of his MSNBC show Hardball while he filmed from Iowa is January 2016 during the Democratic primary in that state between Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders.

'Can I have some of the queens waters? Precious waters?' asks Matthews at the top of the tape, putting on a posh accent as he is handed a bottle of water that had been set aisde for Clinton.

Then, as he waited for his water, Matthews joked: 'Wheres that Bill Cosby pill I brought with me?'

The first camera angle shows Matthew laughing hysterically to himself after he delivers the joke, but when a second camera angle is shown that looks out at his staff, all four individuals in the frame are visibly disgusted by the comment.

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&amp;gt;

Funny how?: Hot mic audio has emerged of Chris Matthews from an episode of his show Hardball that was taped in Iowa back in January 2016

Posh: 'Can I have some of the queens waters? Precious waters?' asks Matthews at the top of the tape, referring to his upcoming guest Hillary Clinton

More laughs: Then, as he waited for his water, Matthews joked: 'Wheres that Bill Cosby pill I brought with me?' (Clinton and Matthews above in March 2016)

'This was a terrible comment I made in poor taste during the height of the Bill Cosby headlines,' Matthews told the Cut after it obtained the video.

'I realize thats no excuse. I deeply regret it and Im sorry.'

Cosby's accusers, who at that point numbered over 60, were in the headlines as just seven days prior the actor was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Andrea Constand.

Those charges were filed by the Montgomery County District Attorney just two days before the statue of limitations ran out on the 12-year old case.

Many viewed the decision to charge Cosby as a watershed moment in prosecuting allegations of sexual assault, and for that reason few found much humor in the headlines.

As for Clinton, she has long been one of Matthew's favorite targets.

Clinton is 'witchy' and a 'sort of a Madame Defarge of the left' and Matthews wonders if troops would take orders from her because she is a female.

She has a 'cackle,' a 'scolding manner in terms of her public speaking,' and some men believed her voice is like 'fingernails on a blackboard' said Matthews over the years.

He has also referred to her as a 'she-devil' and credited her political success to her husband Bill's affairs by saying 'the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit.'When she went into labour at 23 weeks, Lisa Curtis was told her baby was too small to survive.

But not only did tiny Bodhi Gascoigne cling on to life despite weighing just 1lb 2oz, three months later he starred in a TV advert for Pampers nappies.

Now his proud mother wants to share his story to help others. She said: I was told there was no hope and simply handed a leaflet which basically said my baby would die.

Lisa Curtis wants to highlight her baby boy's miracle survival story

'I was devastated. So to go through all that and then not only does your baby survive, but end up on TV felt like a miracle.

Babies born before 24 weeks  the legal cut-off date for abortion in the UK  are not deemed viable.

Miss Curtis, 35, and her soldier boyfriend Shane, 36, from Skegness, Lincolnshire, were expecting their firstborn in May last year. So they decided to spend their last Christmas together without children at a luxury hotel.

But by Christmas Eve, Miss Curtis was struck by back pains that she now knows were the start of labour  17 weeks early. She went to hospital in Salisbury, Wiltshire  and was told to take paracetamol and rest. But after days in agony she returned and was finally told the baby was on its way.

Last March baby Bodhi was three months old when cameras filmed him in his incubator to promote Preemie Protection nappies for premature babies

Miss Curtis added: The nurse said sorry and started rubbing my hand... I then twigged that because I was not yet 24 weeks into pregnancy they classed my labour as a miscarriage.

A consultant explained that in the UK babies born before 24 weeks do not automatically receive medical help. The mother broke down when she was handed a leaflet explaining that her baby was too small to survive.

She was moved to Southampton Hospital, where doctors told her to prepare for the worst.

They were still treating me as if I was having a miscarriage and I was asked if I wanted my baby passed to me for a cuddle when he died and things like that. It was like a bad dream.

But as Bodhi entered the world on December 30 he gave a tiny cry  and doctors knew he was fighting. Despite a battle with the deadly infection sepsis he astonished doctors by growing stronger.

And when Miss Curtis was told an advert was being filmed at the hospital and that producers wanted to film Bodhi  she agreed. Last March he was three months old as cameras filmed him in his incubator to promote Preemie Protection nappies for premature babies. He was discharged in April  one month before his due date and shortly after the advert aired.

Miss Curtis added: I want to give hope. We were pretty much told there was none but look at him now. Hes a star.The open banking revolution that encourages customers to share their details in the hope of better deals on everything from broadband to gas bills puts them at risk from fraudsters, experts warned last night.

From today, current account holders will be able to give permission for their personal data to be shared with third parties.

This will enable firms such as broadband or energy providers to tailor deals to them by analysing their spending history.

The new rules form part of sweeping data sharing reforms, which are supposed to herald a new era of competition.

The open banking revolution that encourages customers to share their details in the hope of better deals on everything from broadband to gas bills puts them at risk from fraudsters, experts warned last night

However, a separate piece of legislation, called the Payment Services Directive, allows some companies who want access to a customers details to ask for their online username and password.

Major banks are said to have privately voiced concerns to City watchdogs that the reforms could leave millions of internet banking customers exposed.

A senior figure at one of the Big Five banks said: Were very concerned about scams. In practice customers arent going to check if a firm is properly authorised if they have a nice website, and could just hand over their details to fraudsters.

Under existing banking rules, current account customers are not allowed to share their details with anyone.

Banks are also barred from sharing information about customers payments. But with Open Banking, price comparison websites or energy firms could get access to accounts and then directly analyse a consumers spending on utilities and offer them better deals.

From today, current account holders will be able to give permission for their personal data to be shared with third parties. This will enable firms such as broadband or energy providers to tailor deals to them by analysing their spending history

The data sharing reforms will revolutionise the business of banks. First Direct and two other UK providers are already developing technology to sell gas, electricity, phone and broadband deals directly to their own customers, in response to the scheme. A spokesman for Open Banking said: Open Banking is designed to give customers even greater protections than they receive today.

Only third parties regulated by the FCA can use the open banking system. With Open Banking, you will never be asked to share your password with a third party.A bizarre flying object has confused drivers on the busy M1 highway in Queensland.

Dashcam footage shows the unique flying object soaring across the sky, right above a number of trucks and cars.

Appearing like a bird, many people took to social media with some suggesting it was a UFO.

A bizarre flying object has confused drivers on the busy M1 highway in Queensland (pictured)

Appearing like a bird, many people took to social media with some suggesting it was a UFO

Flying over the popular highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the hybrid boat plane continued to stun passers-by.

The sunshine state is a known to have many flying boats because of the number of aquatic landing strips in the area, according to 7 News.

According to some people on social media, the 'flying dingy' appeared more like a drone or an 'Aussie UFO'.

Other social media users suggested the flying boats be used as 'delivery drones' to deliver Uber Eats.

Amphibious Ultralight-Flying Boats have been touted as the future of transport, being the combination of a boat and plane.

The hang glider style wings are mounted on a boat which is powered by an engine, giving users a taste of the sky and sea.Getaway driver speeds the bandits off the garage forecourt in a white Mazda 3

Police are hunting two armed robbers and a getaway driver who held up a Brisbane service station in the early hours of Friday morning.

CCTV footage shows the bandits smashing the entrance doors and forcing their way into the Riverhills service station around 2:30am.

One of the men threatens the store attendant before striking him over the head with a machete.

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Police are hunting two armed robbers and a getaway car driver after they smashed and forced their way into a 7-Eleven service station (pictured)

One of the bandits threatened the attendant and hit him around the face with a machete (pictured)

The men arrive at the 7-Eleven service station in white Mazda 3 and reverse up to the door.

Wearing all black, two men get out of the back of the vehicle and start smashing the doors with hammers.

When they are unable to successfully smash through they kick and force their way in and try to smash their way through to the cash till.

One of the frustrated robbers hits the service station attendant around the head with a machete.

The attendant hands over the cash till and the pair dash for the door before jumping in the car.

The Mazda doesn't get very far - security camera footage shows one of the thieves running back inside to retrieve something he's forgot - but what the crook grabbed is unclear.

Police are urging anyone with information to come forward.Raging fever, aching muscles and a thumping headache... the symptoms are all too common at a time of year when thousands of Britons are struck down by the flu.

Since October, more than 3,800 people have been admitted to hospital with the influenza virus, and 85 people have died of it so far this winter. The latest victim was Bethany Walker, from Applecross in Scotland, an 18-year-old student who died last week after her flu turned into pneumonia.

The tragedy follows the spread of Australian flu, a particularly nasty strain of the virus which has gripped the UK after affecting 170,000 people on the other side of the world.

Bethany Walker, from Applecross in Scotland, died last week after her dose of the flu worsened and developed into pneumonia

And the situation is worsening: this week the number of flu cases presenting to GPs in England rose by 78 per cent.

So how can you avoid catching the flu? Is it too late to get the vaccine? And what medication should you be taking? In our comprehensive cut-out-and-keep guide, we answer all your flu-related questions.

What are the signs youre getting the flu?

If youve caught the flu, youll know pretty quickly. People often talk about a bad cold as a touch of the flu, says Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health specialist at Nottingham Trent University. But this is very different. You will feel seriously unwell.

Common symptoms include a high temperature, runny nose and cough, as well as pains and aches all over the body  rather than solely in your chest and head.

Youll get a very high fever that causes sweating and shaking, widespread muscle pains, diarrhoea and nausea, a nasty cough and sore throat, explains Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs.

Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health specialist at Nottingham Trent University said people with the flu become very ill with a high temperature, runny nose and a cough as well as aches and pains all over the body rather than solely in the head and chest

How do you catch it?

The most common way of catching the virus is person-to-person contact, most often in the form of germs spread via coughs and sneezes, which can live on the hands for 24 hours.

People with the flu can also spread it to others as far as six feet away, via droplets which enter the air when they cough, sneeze or talk.

These droplets land in the mouths or noses of others nearby or are inhaled directly into the lungs.

But Prof Dingwall says germs can also survive on hard surfaces  from train doors to escalator rails and shop counters  for 20 to 30 minutes. If you touch one of these and then touch your mouth or nose, you risk contracting the virus.

Whats The difference between a cold and flu?

The difference between influenza and the common cold (also caused by a virus, most likely the rhinovirus, responsible for 50 per cent of colds) is one of severity.

With a bad cold, you might expect your temperature to rise by a few tenths of a degree, but with the flu it could be a couple of degrees, explains Prof Dingwall. Youll feel a lot worse. Rather than being confined to your head and chest, your whole body will feel under attack.

Another difference is that the flu takes hold quickly, within a few hours, while symptoms of a cold can take longer to appear.

Why is the Aussie flu outbreak so bad?

Despite the name, Australia isnt actually responsible for the latest strain of flu  every year the virus mutates and it just happens that Australia experienced the newest version first.

Over there, it sparked the worst outbreak on record, with some hospitals reporting standing room only after being swamped by cases. Experts have since discovered Japanese flu, another strain, which has recently swept across Ireland.

Every year flu viruses change proteins on their surface to avoid detection by the bodys immune system, making them more deadly  so resistance is a bit more limited, explains Prof Dingwall. This year it isnt so bad as to threaten civilisation, but it is going to give us a bad winter.

According to experts it is still not too late to get the vaccination against the flu

Who is most at risk?

As with any strain of the flu, pregnant women, young children and those aged over 65 face the highest risk.

Those with long-term medical conditions  such as diabetes, or heart, lung, kidney or neurological diseases  are also in this category, as are those with weakened immune systems, such as chemotherapy patients.

Even if youve had the flu in the past, youre still at risk  although there is some evidence that resistance may improve if youve previously caught a similar virus.

How can I prevent it?

The most obvious prevention method is the flu jab, which contains small, deactivated and purified strains of the virus itself (normally grown in hens eggs), and works by stimulating your bodys immune system to make antibodies  proteins which fight off germs  to attack it.

If youre exposed to influenza after having the vaccine, your immune system will recognise the virus and immediately produce antibodies to fight it.

Although its impossible to protect yourself completely, Prof Dingwall says you can reduce your chances of catching or spreading flu by washing your hands often with warm soapy water. If youve been out shopping or commuted into work, wash your hands afterwards, he cautions.

Use tissues rather than handkerchiefs when you cough or sneeze, and bin them as quickly as possible, rather than keeping them in your pocket where germs can survive.

Elderly people are among the most at risk from the flu outbreak according to doctors

Is it too late to get the vaccine?

The vaccine is still worth getting, even at this stage of the winter, says Prof Dingwall. This applies particularly if youre in one of the vulnerable groups.

The official NHS advice is to get the vaccine before the end of March. It can take ten to 14 days for your immunity to build up after having the jab, so its worth getting it sooner rather than later.

GPs or pharmacies may offer the flu vaccine for free, or you can get it privately for as little as 20. Experts stress that there is no absolutely no risk of catching flu from the vaccine itself  you may get a sore arm and a slight temperature, but there is no live virus in the injection.

Should I keep going into work?

Offices are breeding grounds for viruses, so, if you think youve got the flu, taking a sick day is positively encouraged. This is essential if you work in a job with sick or vulnerable people, such as a hospital or nursing home. Youre actually at your most infectious in the four days before the symptoms take hold, explains Prof Dingwall. Its best to stay at home and tuck yourself up in bed. If youre struggling to get into work every day, youre likely to exhaust yourself  and it will take you longer to get over it.

Going into work with a dose of the flu is not a good idea as offices are a breeding ground for viruses and the effort of commuting on a daily basis will likely increase the recovery period

Should I go to the doctor or A&E?

Theres no need to go to your GP  or to hospital  unless your symptoms are particularly bad or dont show signs of improving after seven days.

If your temperature keeps rising or your joint paint or headache is getting unbearable, it might be time to seek medical assistance, particularly if youre in one of the at-risk groups, Prof Dingwall says.

But call 111 [the NHS non-emergency helpline] or the receptionist at your GP before dragging yourself in. Theyll be able to advise you over the phone. Pharmacists can also help  if you cant get to one yourself, send someone in your place.

Experts only advise calling 999 or going to A&E if you develop sudden chest pain, have difficulty breathing or start coughing up blood  which may be signs of pneumonia or chest infection.

Staying warm and drinking plenty of water is the best way of recovering from the flu

What medication should I be taking?

Doctors dont recommend antibiotics because they wont relieve your symptoms or speed up recovery. Instead, take what you would normally use for pain relief: paracetamol, aspirin or ibuprofen can all be effective.

Decongestant syrups, sprays or lozenges, including those containing menthol, may alleviate symptoms in your head, nose and chest, but wont do much to ease those aching limbs.

People in vulnerable groups may be prescribed Tamiflu  prescription-only tablets which fight the virus directly  but this is only effective in the first 48 hours, Prof Dingwall explains. Most people simply have to wait it out. Its not pleasant but it will go away eventually.

Are there any home remedies?

For a speedy recovery, the most effective remedy is taking care of yourself at home. Experts recommend resting, staying warm and drinking plenty of water to replenish fluids which may be lost through sweating.

Caffeine and alcohol  despite the old wives tales about hot toddies  are best avoided, as theyll stop you from sleeping.

And while they wont cure the flu, there are plenty of things you can try to soothe your symptoms: from gargling salt water (to ease a sore throat) to having a steamy shower (to clear the nasal passages) and drinking hot, citrusy drinks (to relieve stuffiness in the head).

How long does flu last?

A bout of the flu can knock a fit, healthy adult out of action for up to two weeks. The virus itself incubates for four days, then the symptoms develop  and you stop being infectious around five days after these take hold.

Dont worry if you feel tired for a few weeks afterwards  this is entirely normal.

And there is one upside: experts reckon adults only catch flu twice a decade, so youre over the worst for a while.Set in a beautiful blue ocean a world away from the UK, it might seem like the perfect escape.

And officials launched a glossy advertising campaign to lure new residents with the slogan: Live the dream, make the change, move to Pitcairn Island.

But despite the campaign there were only three applications to move there  and none of these people actually bothered to do so.

Following the failure of the website campaign, the South Pacific island  famed for the Mutiny on the Bounty  is being handed another 6.5million in British aid cash. The bailout is being provided over two years to cover costs including running a school, health centre and ferry service for the 41 inhabitants of Pitcairn.

Set in a beautiful blue ocean a world away from the UK, it might seem like the perfect escape. And officials launched a glossy advertising campaign to lure new residents with the slogan: Live the dream, make the change, move to Pitcairn Island

It had been hoped that increasing the number of working people would help to bring the island closer to self-sufficiency.

Newly published figures show Britain spent 3.5million of aid cash on Pitcairn in 2016/17, with 3million more earmarked for the current financial year. A further 11.6million was given in the previous four years.

In official documents, the Department for International Development said the money is needed because the able bodied population has declined to a critical level. Of the resident population, 26 are in paid employment with only eight of these aged under 50.

Dfid said: The island is belatedly promoting immigration and investing in tourism promotion in an effort to reverse population decline. In reality, the likelihood of a significant increase in population is low and the prognosis is very pessimistic. Dependency on HM Government will undoubtedly increase if there is not a positive change in population numbers and a reduction in dependency ratio.

Since 2015, the Governors Office has approved three immigration applications, but none of the applicants actually moved to Pitcairn, which is halfway between New Zealand and Peru.

Newly published figures show Britain spent 3.5million of aid cash on Pitcairn (pictured) in 2016/17, with 3million more earmarked for the current financial year. A further 11.6million was given in the previous four years

Residents of the island all receive either a government wage or pensions paid for by the UK, as well as child benefit. They pay no tax.

Pitcairn was colonised in 1790 by nine mutinous sailors from the crew of the Bounty led by Fletcher Christian. They arrived from Tahiti along with 18 Polynesians.

The overseas territory had supported itself through the sale of stamps and coins, but the UK stepped in when interest in collecting declined.

Aid is used to provide a doctor, nurse, policeman and teacher. A social worker has been paid for since a scandal in 2004 when six men, including the former mayor, faced charges including the rape of children as young as seven.

Britains annual aid budget is 13billion. The UK is one of only seven countries in the world to meet the target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid.

Dfid said the Government had legal obligations to support British citizens on Pitcairn and was helping ensure that their government can provide the essential public services needed to sustain their communities.The man charged with killing a huge crocodile in the Fitzroy River has faced court in Rockhamption charged with unlawfully taking a protected animal.

Luke Stephen Orchard, 31, was arrested after police executed two search warrants at his Etna Creek home and seized a number of firearms on December 21.

The male crocodile was found with multiple bullet wounds, including one fatal shot to the head, in late September 2017.

Luke Stephen Orchard, 31, fronted Rockhampton Magistrates Court early on Saturday morning

Luke Stephen Orchard, 31, has been charged over the fatal shooting of a 5.2 metre crocodile

According to 9NEWS, Mr Orchard is expected to enter a plea on February 16, when he will return to court.

If found guilty, he could face a hefty fine of $$28,383.75 - the maximum penalty for unlawfully killing a protected estuarine crocodile.

WA Today revealed in December that several bullets were pulled from the crocodile's body during a post-mortem examination, and given to the rural Major and Organised Crime Squad to assist their investigation.

Detectives will allege that a search of Mr Orchard's property turned up 'two Marlin 336 lever action 30-30 calibre rifles, a quantity of ammunition and a number of electronic devices'.

Queensland Department of Environment and Science operations director Michael said they take wildlife crime very seriously.

He also emphasised that estuarine crocodiles have been protected under the Nature Conservation Act since 1992, and that it is illegal in Queensland to kill them.

The 31-year-old suspect will front court in January and faces a maximum fine of over $28,000

The body of the huge reptile washed up in the Fitzroy River at Etna Creek on September 21st

While some residents believe that a crocodile cull is necessary, Koorana Saltwater Crocodile Farm owner John Lever said the killing of the crocodile created more problems than it solved.

'The crocodile was probably the alpha-male in the area and because it is now dead, there will be a scramble amongst the other males to take his place,' Mr Lever said.

'It will take two or three years to settle down and the crocs will be more dangerous during this time because they will be fighting for territory, females and food.'Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, has been arrested in connection with the death of Blaze Bernstein. Police say DNA links Woodward to the case

Authorities have arrested a friend in the killing of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who was buried in a shallow grave at a Southern California park.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach was arrested Friday on suspicion of murder, Orange County officials say.

Undersheriff Don Barnes says DNA evidence links Woodward to the crime. Details of Bernstein's death aren't being released.

Barnes says investigators are still trying to determine a motive. Woodward was the last person to see Blaze Bernstein alive, Barnes says.

Authorities say the suspect previously told them he had left Bernstein at the park to go see his girlfriend, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Woodward could remember neither the name nor address of his 'girlfriend', police said.

Woodward also had scratches on his hands, which police say he told them he had sustained while participating in a fight club.

Woodward also had dirt under his fingernails, which he told authorities was due to falling into a 'dirty puddle' while sparring.

Scroll down for video

Woodward, in a previous interview with police, said he had sustained scratches while participating in a fight club

The body of Bernstein (pictured), a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, was found on Tuesday at Borrego Ranch Park in Southern California. Bernstein was home for winter break when he went missing on January 2

Bernstein was visiting his family in Foothill Ranch during winter break from the Ivy League school when his high school friend Woodward picked him up on January 2 and drove with him to several places before winding up at Borrego Park in Lake Forest, 6ABC reports.

Bernstein's body was found in brush at the park on Tuesday after recent rains partially exposed it.

Woodward has asked for an attorney, authorities say.

During a meeting with authorities earlier this week, police say Woodward put his jacket over his hand so that his bare skin would not touch any part of the doors he opened and closed on his way out of the police station.

Authorities had previously said said they were investigating the death as a homicide.

Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes, left, takes a questions as District Attorney Tony Rackauckas looks on during a news conference about the death

Gideon and Jeanne Bernstein speak on January 10 during a news conference

Jeanne Bernstein tweeted about the news that an individual had been arrested in connection with her son's murder

'Nothing will bring back my son so we ask the world to please honor Blaze's memory by doing an act of kindness today - don't wait - do it now. Celebrate the goodness that still exists in this world in-spite of these acts of senseless evil. People are good and Blaze knew that,' Bernstein's mother Jeanne told the Los Angeles Times.

She tweeted, when hearing the news: 'Finally. My thoughts are: Revenge is empty. It will never bring back my son.

'My only hopes are that he will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone else again and that something meaningful can come from the senseless act of Blaze's murder.

'Now Do Good for Blaze Bernstein.'

Pictured is the park in which Bernstein was found. The Ivy League student was planning to major in psychology and later study medicine, his father said

Pictured is another view of the park. His father had said his son had a passion for cooking and was a creative writer

Woodward and Bernstein had attended the Orange County School of the Arts together.

When he was arrested, Woodward was wearing a shirt that read: 'Keep the peace.'

A woman who lived at the house where Woodward lived would not comment on the matter to the Los Angeles Times.

Bernstein, a sophomore, was planning to major in psychology and later study medicine, the Orange County Register reported his father, Gideon Bernstein, saying last week.

His dad said that he had a passion for cooking and was a creative writer. He had recently been named to the staff of Penn Appetit magazine at school.

A friend at school told WPVI that she had been communicating with Bernstein over break over ideas for the magazine for the next semester.A caretaker at a controversial academy trust was paid more than 100,000 in one year while it was being investigated over financial issues.

Brendan McShane earned a salary of around 60,000 as premises manager, which involved cleaning and maintenance at Durand Academy.

This is more than double the going rate of 24,000 to 30,000 for such a job.

Mr McShane also received a one-off payment of 39,000 last year in lieu of holiday not taken over his eight years of employment.

Brendan McShane earned a salary of around 60,000 as premises manager, which involved cleaning and maintenance at Durand Academy

In total he was paid between 100,000 and 105,000 in 2016-17, according to academy accounts.

The previous year, he received 75,000 to 80,000 and this year looks set to earn a similar sum.

In August, the Department for Education told Durand it would end funding from June 29 this year amid concerns about financial mismanagement.

Another academy trust is being sought to take over the south London school.

The latest revelation came as a shock to governors, many of whom are new after a change in management, a source told the Times Educational Supplement.

In August, the Department for Education told Durand it would end funding from June 29 this year amid concerns about financial mismanagement

The holiday payment to Mr McShane is understood to have been signed off by the schools former head teacher Mark McLaughlin, who left in August.

Mr McShane is a trustee of Durand Academy Trust (DAT) and a director of Durand Education Trust (DET), which owns the schools land and where Mr McLaughlin is also a director.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has previously demanded that no DAT director was also a director of DET.

Durand Academy Trust said: The payment was made for the holidays which Mr McShane was entitled to as per his employment contract.

A spokesman added it was seeking further advice on his DET directorship.

The DfE said: Following previous findings of financial mismanagement, Durand Academy Trusts funding agreement will be terminated on June 29 2018.

There have been serious concerns about the financial management and governance of the trust. We continue to have those concerns.A South Australian family found a heartwarming note left by firefighters who saved their home from a huge bushfire.

Charlie Crozier and his wife, Asha, were on holiday when they received a call from a friend saying there was smoke billowing from their farm.

They rushed back to their property near Sherwood, 220km southeast of Adelaide, to find their home damaged by fire but still intact.

Entering the house through a scorched front yard, the pair found a handwritten note on their kitchen bench.

'I didn't see a lot in the house, alarms were still going off and it was pretty smokey,' Mr Crozier told Daily Mail Australia.

A South Australian family found a heartwarming gesture amidst their return home to a huge blaze destroying their property (pictured)

Charlie Crozier told Daily Mail Australia he and his wife, Asha, found the handwritten letter (pictured) on their kitchen bench when they returned home

Pictured are the Crozier family (pictured are Charlie and Asha with daughters Edwina and Poppy), who were left a touching message by the firefighters who saved their home

'We were keeping an eye on the house to see nothing was alight internally and really just saw the note on the kitchen counter.'

The letter, written by CFS Kongal brigade captain Trevor Staude, apologised for the footprint marks that were left on the carpet after the fire crew saved the house.

'Sorry for the carpet marks. Kongal CFS members entered house with captain's permission. We are confident we saved this house. Thanks,' the handwritten letter read.

While it was a touching gesture, Mr Crozier said footprints were the least of their worries and they were forever indebted to the fire crew - who also received a carton of beer as a thanks.

'They are just size 10 ash footprints from fire boots, nothing that can't be cleaned out,' he said.

'Everything was happening so fast, they would have literally done what they needed to do and gone to the next asset.

'I think he used a few pieces of paper that day.'

Mr Crozier said he would be forever indebted to the fire crew who saved his house (pictured) the day the Sherwood bushfire tore through the property

The Sherwood bushfire in South Australia's southeast burnt through about 12,000 hectares of farmland with an estimated $2 million loss in damages, according to SBS News.

The fire, which was contained on Sunday, destroyed about 80 per cent of Mr Crozier's pastures, up to $30,000 worth of fencing and between 600 and 700 sheep.

Despite the blaze melting the down pipes and damaging the split system of their house, Mr Crozier told Daily Mail Australia the house survived.

'You can't go too much closer to losing your house I don't think,' he said.

The Sherwood bushfire in South Australia's southeast burnt through about 12,000 hectares of farmland with an estimated $2 million loss in damages

Livestock are pictured fleeing from the fire in South Australia

'[The fire] came within two metres of the house ... the two fire trucks parked on the front lawn and they basically would have had flames all around them too.'

While the community comes together to rebuild the region, Mr Crozier said the out pour of support isn't something that is noticed until devastation hits.

'It's just amazing, like everything everyone just pulls together ... I can't thank the community enough for what they've done,' he said.

'We've all been lucky there's been no loss of life or injury, definitely be a bit of trauma to work through and for the ones on the fire front it will take time to heal.'

Just five councils have applied for a government grant to pay for electric vehicle charging points, it emerged yesterday.

The fund was set up more than a year ago to build infrastructure for electric vehicles and means councils would have to cover just a quarter of the cost of installing a charge point on their streets.

However, only Portsmouth, Kensington and Chelsea in London, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering councils have used the scheme so far.

Just five councils have applied for a government grant to pay for electric vehicle charging points, it emerged yesterday

Fund to build infrastructure for electric vehicles means councils would have to cover just a quarter of the cost of installing a charge point on their streets. However, only Portsmouth, Kensington and Chelsea in London, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering councils have used the scheme so far

Some 150,000 has been allocated to two councils, Portsmouth and Kensington, while applications from the others are still being processed. The Department for Transport described the low uptake as extremely disappointing, and said drivers were being denied the opportunity to take advantage of the technology.

Roads minister Jesse Norman and business minister Claire Perry wrote to councils urging them to take advantage of the 4.5million fund.

But Martin Tett, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said councils cannot take on the role of replacing petrol stations and that it is the private sectors responsibility.Advertisement

Haitians have come together to mark the eighth anniversary of the devastating 2010 earthquake which claimed the lives of 230,000 people.

Haitian President Jovenel Moise attended a commemoration event in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday. He was joined by wife, Matine Moise, and other officials as they laid the first stone at the National Palace.

It comes after President Donald Trump allegedly called Haiti, countries in Africa and El Salvador 's******e countries' on Thursday.

Haitian President Jovenel Moise attended a commemoration event in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday. He was joined by wife, Matine Moise, and other officials as they laid the first stone at the National Palace at the capital

The catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country and killed 230,000 people would lead to the eventual temporary protected status that the Trump administration reneged

Haitian First Lady, Marine Moise, places the cement for the first stone of the reconstruction of the National Palace

Young people pose with checks of twenty-five thousand gourdes each, donated for the reconstruction of the National Palace. Haiti has struggled to cope in the eight years since the quake. It is by far the poorest country in the Americas, and rated 209th poorest country in the world, out of 230 in total, putting it below Afghanistan and Ethiopia

The catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country would lead to the eventual temporary protected status that the Trump administration reneged.

In addition, many Haitians take issue with the Clinton Foundation, alleging that they never saw any of the millions of dollars that were raised by the organization.

Haiti has struggled to cope in the eight years since the tragedy. It is by far the poorest country in the Americas, and rated 209th poorest country in the world, out of 230 in total, putting it below Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Unemployment is 40 per cent, and less than a third of the workforce have formal jobs, while the economy is still recovering from the latest massive natural disaster, Hurricane Matthew, which hit in 2016.

National police officers raise a Haitian national flag. Unemployment is 40 per cent, and less than a third of the workforce have formal jobs, while the economy is still recovering from the latest massive natural disaster, Hurricane Matthew, which hit in 2016

A man performs a voodoo ceremony before the start of a memorial service honoring the victims of the 2010 earthquake, at Titanye

Supporters of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise watch a memorial service honoring the victims of the 2010 earthquake. In addition, many Haitians take issue with the Clinton Foundation, alleging that they never saw any of the millions of dollars that were raised by the organization

An old picture of the palace is seen beside the country's president and first lady as they lay the first stone

Other statistics are also appalling: illiteracy is as high as 40 per cent, average per capita income has been estimated at $400 per person, and even though the country's debt was canceled in 2010, it has already reached more than $2 billion, mostly owed to Venezuela.

President Trump reportedly asked on Thursday why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "sh**hole countries" in Africa rather than places like Norway, as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation.

On Friday, he denied those remarks, adding while he had made some tough ones, he did not make those particular comments.

President Donald Trump on Friday denied making a widely condemned comment railing against accepting immigrants from 's***hole countries,' even as he admitted to using 'tough' language in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers.

'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,' Trump wrote, using unusually passive language in an effort to walk back the comment.

'What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!' Trump tweeted Friday.

This knoll overlooks the memorial site for the 2010 earthquake. Illiteracy in the country is as high as 40 per cent, average per capita income has been estimated at $400 per person, and even though the country's debt was canceled in 2010, it has already reached more than $2 billion, mostly owed to Venezuela

National police officers are pictured holding a flower wreath while waiting for the arrival of Haiti's Pesident Jovenel Moise

The president and his wife greet attendees at the ceremony on the eight anniversary of the devastating earthquake

Haitians perform a voodoo ceremony before the start of a memorial service honoring the victims of the 2010 earthquake, at Titanyen, a mass burial site north of Port-au-Prince

Haitian president Jovenel Moise speaks during the event in the nation's capital on FridayRussian trolls are planting fake news on Wikipedia to support lies they spread on social networks, senior MPs believe.

MPs holding an inquiry into fake news are concerned Russians are creating a treasure hunt trail of misinformation, it is understood.

Trolls are believed to be using automated technology to post on the online encyclopaedia first, then spreading the same lies elsewhere on the internet.

Russian trolls are planting fake news on Wikipedia to support lies they spread on social networks

It was claimed that when members of the public use Wikipedia for fact-checking they are then fed false information, which is corroborated with links below, and spread on Twitter.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee was briefed on the practice.

Last night a source close to the inquiry said: It seems not enough checks are being done by Wikipedia to make sure the content on there is not fake. It can also be revealed that committee members will fly to Washington in February as part of their inquiry.

Representatives from Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter will be quizzed at the British Embassy on what they are doing to combat fake news.

MPs holding an inquiry into fake news are concerned Russians are creating a treasure hunt trail of misinformation, it is understood

It will be the first time a select committee has held a session overseas broadcast live.

Last night committee chairman, Tory MP Damian Collins, said: We want to know what they can do to identify and act against sources of fake news. My concern is they are not doing enough to analyse what is going on.

Tory MP Damian Collins, said: We want to know what they can do to identify and act against sources of fake news. My concern is they are not doing enough to analyse what is going on'

The web giants have until January 18 to hand over details of the true extent of Russian meddling, including in the EU referendum.

Last year it emerged there was evidence of a troll factory in St Petersburg with hundreds of recruits churning out fake news and flooding the web with attacks on the West.

Intelligence sources believe there are more troll factories in the country, although the scale of the practice is unknown. This is largely because web giants are refusing to do their own checks into who is posting on their sites.

It is thought this could be as simple as using artificial technology to automatically search for email accounts based in Russia.

In November Theresa May said Russia was waging a campaign of cyber espionage and disruption.

A spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation said: 'Wikipedias open, transparent model is uniquely resistant to misinformation.

'Anyone can edit Wikipedia, to fix mistakes or expand articles, provided their contributions are neutral and based in reliable sources.

'Wikipedia is always improving, and this open model creates accountability and means that bias tends to be rooted out quickly, leading to a more balanced version of the facts over time.'Two young men and a teenage girl have been charged with attempted murder after assaulting a man so badly he needed facial reconstructive surgery.

Tasmania Police said on Friday a man had been taken into custody after the 48-year-old was assaulted in Prospect in Launceston on Wednesday morning.

On Saturday officers said they had charged a 23-year-old man from Waverley, an 18-year-old man from Prospect and a 17-year-old girl from Kings Meadows with aggravated robbery and attempted murder.

A 48-year-old was assaulted in Prospect in Launceston on Wednesday morning - the man's vehicle (pictured) was recovered from a lake in Waverley on Wednesday

The 1984 yellow single-cab Mazda utility was found after the man had been attacked

'Investigations are continuing in relation to other persons involved in these crimes,' police said in a statement early on Saturday.

The victim is in a serious condition, sedated, in the intensive care unit of the Launceston General Hospital, ABC reported.

His injuries include fractured eye sockets, ribs, nose and jaw, and will require facial reconstruction surgery.

The men, 23 and 18, and a Kings Meadows girl, 17, were taken into custody and have now been charged with aggravated robbery and attempted murder

The man's vehicle - a 1984 yellow single-cab Mazda utility, was recovered from a lake in Waverley on Wednesday.

Police said the three people are set to appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court later today.

Anyone with information about the assault is urged to contact Launceston CIB on 131 444 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.This is the dramatic moment debris from a Chinese satellite rocket crashed down in a fireball and exploded near houses.

Footage shows the booster from a Long March 3B rocket dropping from the sky and smashing into the Earth in Debao County, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south of China.

Flames could be seen as it came plummeting down and smashed into the ground on the horizon.

This is the dramatic moment debris from a Chinese rocket crashed down in a fireball and explodes among houses

Soldiers rushed to the scene where the white and red piece of debris was burning on a mud track.

It came hours after the country sent twin satellites into space on a single carrier rocket in a bid to boost location services in remote areas.

The BeiDou-3 navigation satellites were sent into space on the Long March-3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan Province, China.

Footage shows the booster from a Long March 3B rocket dropping from the sky and smashing into the Earth in Debao County, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south of ChinaThe recent acquisition of gay hookup app Grinder by a Chinese tech company has sparked fears that China's spymasters could gain access to millions of users' information.

Kunlun Group Limited bought Grindr last week at a rumored valuation of $400million, ousting founder Joel Simkhai as CEO in favor of Kunlun chairman Yahui Zhou.

Grindr, an eight-year-old company based in West Hollywood, California, has denied that Chinese intelligence services will be able to use information from the app to blackmail or otherwise influence targets.

'The Chinese government will not have access to your account,' Grindr said in a statement after the deal was announced last year.

'[Parent company] Beijing Kunlun is not owned by the Chinese government. This sale doesnt change how Grindr safeguards our user data.'

But some cybersecurity experts aren't so sure, and point out that the Chinese government is able to exert significant pressure and control on the country's private enterprises.

Billionaire Kunlun chairman Yahui Zhou has taken over as CEO at Grindr. Some fear that Chinese intelligence could access the gay hookup app's user data after the buyout

Grindr founder Joel Simkhai exited as CEO last week, despite previously saying he would remain on during the company's sale to Chinese gaming firm Kunlun

'Grindrs assurances notwithstanding... the risk to Grindr users that the Chinese government will know their secrets has just increased,' wrote Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin on Friday.

China has been known to aggressively target personal data of foreign civilians, with units of the People's Liberation Army believed to be dedicated to hacking.

In 2015, Chinese hackers reportedly cracked the US Office of Personnel Management and made off with the personal records of some 21.5million Americans.

China's spymasters are believed to be building massive databases of personal, financial and health information on Americans, to have handy in the event of future contact and potentially as leverage in blackmail scenarios.

That could make user info from Grindr, which caters to gay and bi men and is known as a marketplace for discreet homosexual hookups, a tantalizing source of information for Chinese intelligence.

Grindr's logo is seen. The company has millions of users around the world

The company remains based in the US however, and subject to American laws, Grindr vice president of marketing Peter Sloterdyk told the Post.

Sloterdyk said the company had never disclosed user information to the Chinese government and does not intend to do so, and has sophisticated technology in place to protect its users' privacy.

Kunlun first acquired a 61.5 per cent stake in Grindr last May, when it also announced plans to buy out the remaining 38.5 percent stake for $152million.

At the time, Grindr said that Simkhai would stay on as CEO after the tie-up. But the company announced on January 5 that the founder was out as billionaire Zhou took the reigns.

Grindr did not explain why Simkhai had departed in announcing the completion of the deal.Martin Luther King Jr.'s nephew called President Trump 'racially ignorant' but 'not a racist' after meeting with him privately before a MLK event in the Oval Office Friday.

Isaac Newton Farris Jr. told CNN that Trump addressed the controversy over reportedly calling Haiti, El Salvador and African countries 'sh**tholes' in a meeting on immigration in the Oval on Thursday.

Farris Jr. said Trump and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, the only African-American in Trump's Cabinet, were discussing the fallout from the vulgar remarks, when the president turned to him and said 'I am not the person that the media is making me out to be.'

President Trump enters the Roosevelt Room following a brief meeting with Martin Luther King Jr.'s nephew Isaac Newton Farris Jr. in the Oval Office on Friday

Farris Jr. recalled the president telling him Friday during a meeting where the reported vulgar comments were discussed that the president turned around and told him 'I am not the person that the media is making me out to be'

Farris Jr. said his uncle, Martin Luther King Jr. would have urged the president 'not to refer to African countries like that,' in response to Trump's reported 'sh**hole countries' comment

MLK's nephew also told CNN: 'I don't think that President Trump is a racist in the traditional sense as we know in this country.' However, he added: 'I think President Trump is racially ignorant and racially uninformed.'

Farris Jr. added his comments are just 'another example of him (Trump) speaking without knowing the facts.'

When asked how his uncle would have responded to Trump's comments on Thursday, Farris Jr. said he would have asked him 'not to refer to African countries like that.'

Trump has denied making the widely condemned comments in which he railed against immigrants from 's***hole countries,' although he has admitted to using 'tough' language in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers on Thursday.

Trump did not publicly address the controversy during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony held in the Roosevelt Room on Friday, but it wasn't because no one was asking about it.

'Mr. President, will you give an apology for the statement yesterday?' asked American Urban Radio Network White House Correspondent and CNN contributor April Ryan. 'Mr. President, are you a racist?' she asked in a second attempt.

The president ducked Ryan's questions as he said goodbye to his guests and rushed out of the room.

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday called the president's comments on immigration 'unhelpful.'

'I read those comments later last night, the first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful,' the Republican said at WisPolitics Luncheon in Milwaukee.

The president ducked questions on his alleged 's***hole' countries remarks today

Trump's alleged remarks, which he has disputed, were thrown back in his face at an ill-timed Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in the Roosevelt Room

'Mr. President, will you give an apology for the statement yesterday?' asked American Urban Radio Network correspondent and CNN contributor April Ryan

At the White House Friday morning, Trump signed a proclamation honoring the civil rights leader and delivered a short speech celebrating King's accomplishments.

Carson also spoke at the White House event. So did Pastor Issac Newton Farris, a nephew of the late Dr. King.

'If my uncle were here today, the first thing he would say is, "What are we or what are you doing for others?"' Farris said. 'We did not want the King holiday just to be a day of hero worship.'

Farris said as his nephew, 'I certainly think that he was one of the greatest Americans that we have produced. But it should not be a day of hero worship. And that's why the Congress agreed with my aunt, and also made it a day of service so that we, on that day - as a matter of fact, at the King Center, we refer to it as "a day on, not a day off."

Ryan also asked: 'Mr. President, are you a racist?'

'It's not a day to hang out in the park or pull out the barbeque grill. It's a day to do something to help someone else, and that can be as simple as delivering someone's trash or picking up the newspaper for that elderly person who can't get to the end of the driveway.'

Trump said in his remarks that King 'courageously' stood up civil rights.

'Through his bravery and sacrifice, Dr. King opened the eyes and lifted the conscience of our nation,' he said. 'He steered the hearts of our people to recognize the dignity written in every human soul.'

And in a moment of irony given his alleged remarks, Trump said, 'Today we celebrate Dr. King for standing up for self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created equal by God.'

'While Dr. King is no longer with us,' Trump said, 'his words and vision only grow stronger through time.'

Signing an MLK Day proclamation, Trump said, 'This is a great and important day... Congratulations to him and to everybody.'

The president did not respond to Ryan's questions. Pastor Darrell Scott, a participant in the event, shouted, 'no,' at her insteadChinese-made cameras installed at a US Army base in Missouri have been removed because of potential 'negative perception' surrounding the equipment.

The U.S. Army made the move following a report in The Wall Street Journal that noted most of the surveillance devices were made by a company partly owned by the Chinese government.

Beijing, the publication reported, owns 42 per cent of Hikvision, which provided the security gear at Fort Leonard Wood, located roughly 138 miles west of St. Louis.

Beijing, the publication reported, owns 42 per cent of Hikvision, who provided the security gear at Fort Leonard Wood, located roughly 138 miles west of St. Louis.

Hikvision is the world's largest manufacturer of security cameras, according to The Journal.

Col. Christopher Beck (pictured) said that the military does not believe the cameras posed a security risk

Col. Christopher Beck said that the military does not believe the cameras posed a security risk, but nevertheless made the decision to avoid 'any negative perceptions' surrounding the products.

Beck said the Hikvision cameras were not placed near security sensitive areas of Fort Leonard Wood, but instead used to surveil roads leading up to the base.

A spokeswoman for Hikvision said the corporation 'believes the products it builds and distributes around the world must meet the highest standards of not only quality but also security. We stand by our products and processes.'

The Hangzhou based company insisted that its equipment is not used to spy on behalf the Chinese government.

Hikvision added that it doesn't have access to cameras that have been purchased by customers and that the government has no influence in its day-to-day operations.

The Hangzhou based company insisted that its equipment is not used to spy on behalf the Chinese government.

Hikvision added that it doesn't have access to cameras that have been purchased by customers and that the government has no influence in its day-to-day operations

But cybersecurity experts aren't so sure, citing concerns about China's sophisticated spying capabilities.

They point out that the Chinese government is able to exert significant pressure and control the country's private enterprises in order to manipulate their utility.

China has been known to aggressively target personal data of foreign civilians, when units of the People's Liberation Army believed to be dedicated to hacking.

In 2015, Chinese hackers reportedly cracked the US Office of Personnel Management and made off with the personal records of some 21.5million Americans.

China's spymasters are believed to be building massive databases of personal, financial and health information on Americans, to have handy in the event of future contact and potentially as leverage in blackmail scenarios.A man has miraculously escaped with his life after his semi-trailer fell ten metres from an on-ramp on a Melbourne highway.

Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) crews rushed to the Dynon Road at West Melbourne on Friday afternoon to attend an incident involving a semi-trailer.

The vehicle plunged ten metres from the Bolte Bridge on-ramp, seriously injuring the driver and trapping him in the vehicle's cabin.

The Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade work to free the driver from his wrecked truck cabin

The driver miraculously survived the ten-metre plunge and was transported to the hospital

Despite his injuries, he survived and was cut free from the tangled wreck with the help of Ambulance Victoria before being transported to hospital.

'MFB remained on-scene until engineers determined that it was safe to remove the wreckage,' said a statement released on Saturday morning.

'Great work from our crews and those from Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria who assisted.'

Plenty of people took to Facebook to praise the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade and express their relief that the man lived to tell the tale.

'I am so glad he survived well done to our emergency crews,' wrote a commenter, adding, 'Thank you so much for staying at the scene.'

One praised the consistent work of the responders: 'How?! Glad driver survived, good work as per normal to emergency crews!' while another agreed that they'd done a 'great job' at 'what they do best'.

The vehicle plunged ten metres from the Bolte Bridge on-ramp, seriously injuring the driver

However, some took the opportunity to criticise the infrastructure that allowed such a tragedy to occur.

'Waiting for the day something like this happens on the off-ramp to the Westgate heading to the Burnley Tunnel,' wrote one pessimistic person.

'If this can happen on a "low speed"' on-ramp, the barriers aren't going to stop a truck at speed on an off-ramp.'Police are investigating the deaths of a man and woman in Sydney's inner west.

Officers say they discovered the bodies of the woman aged in her 20s and the man in his 30s at a Newtown unit on Friday afternoon after concerns were raised for the pair's welfare.

A friend of the couple called emergency services on Friday and police went to a unit on King St to check on the couple.

Police are investigating the deaths of a man and woman in Sydney's inner west

'At this stage we suspect it is a possible murder-suicide,' Marrickville Local Area Command Inspector Geoff Olsen told the Daily Telegraph.

A strikeforce has been established to investigate the circumstances of their deaths.

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.The competitive and cutthroat world of celebrity news coverage, media outlets are employing ever more daring techniques to get ahead.

But some Australian paparazzi have crossed to the line by illegally obtaining personal information from airlines carrying famous passengers, according to the Weekend Australian.

The paper claims that it was given screenshots of travel itineraries for Margot Robbie, Naomi Watts, Rebel Wilson, Keith Urban and one of Urban and Nicole Kidman's young daughters.

Margot Robbie (left) and Naomi Watts (right) have reportedly been targets of airline hackers

Paparazzi have allegedly illegally accessed the travel details of Aussie celebs like Rebel Wilson

'This is an issue that affects airlines around the world and Virgin Australia is currently working attractive with a number of other airlines to advocate for our system provider to improve its audit controls,' said a Virgin spokesperson on Saturday.

Wendy Day, who represents Nicole Kidman, said that is was 'extremely disturbing that clients and families were being tracked, especially considering 'the world we live in today'.

'It is absolutely horrific for anyone to have their children's safety endangered,' Ms Day added.

Other celebrity agents contacted by the publication said that the issue was well-known and wide-spread.

The global booking system, Sabre, appears to be the source of the bookings that were leaked - and it's used by airlines and travel agents in every corner of the globe.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said that the safety and security of of guests is their 'number one priority', while a Qantas spokesperson vowed to 'immediately' act upon any reported breaches.

As well as Sabre, computer experts have reportedly identified flaws in another airline booking system called Amadeus, which is the one used by Qantas, and claim that the flaws 'leave them vulnerable to being hacked'.

The database currently used are called 'global distribution systems' and are used to 'coordinate travel bookings between airlines, travel agents and online booking sites' and six-character Passenger Name Record (PRN) is generated every time a flight booking is made.

However, a German security firm called SR Labs discovered as far back as 2016 that PNR numbers are too easy to guess, making hacking private information a breeze.

Since SR published their findings, Amadeus has made modifications to restrict unauthorised access to stored information.

A spokesperson for the company said that extra security and 'an additional layer of authentication' had been implemented since the 2016 findings were published.

Virgin has likewise cracked down on improper usage and have placed restrictions on the number of employees with access to Sabre.

A Virgin spokesperson said the safety and security of of guests is their 'number one priority'

Meanwhile, airlines have also united to call for greater security, including fingerprinting to track who has had access to flight data.

Celebrities' travel itineraries can be a virtual goldmine once obtained - not only do they allow for the standard shots of famous people arriving at airports, but they also reveal details about their plans once they've landed.

The photos taken by Channel 9 of Carl Stefanovic kissing Jasmine Yarbourgh in Los Angeles sold for a rumoured $35,000.

But even season paparazzi have slammed the illegal practice, saying that 'rouge operators' who are 'flagrantly' breaking the law are 'bringing the sector into disrepute'.

This was highlighted when photographer and Sophie Monk fan Jayden Seyfarth logged into a self-serve check-in machine at Sydney Airport and accessed the boarding passes of the Bachelorette and her beau Stu Laundy.Investigation began last May, US authorities surprised to discover their reach

US crackdown on violent MS-13 drug gang confirm they have infiltrated Australia

Authorities in the US have confirmed the violent drug gang MS-13 with the motto 'kill, rape, control' is active in Australia.

The gang, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, is made up of machete-wielding 'cliques', with members reporting back to leaders in the central American nation of El Salvador.

New York's Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced 17 alleged members and associates of MS-13 have been indicted by a US grand jury on murder, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking charges.

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A major crackdown on MS-13 (pictured) confirms the gang's tentacles have infiltrated Australia

The investigation began in May, 2017, and US authorities were surprised to discover the gang's international reach.

'We uncovered a structured network of MS-13 operations in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, from within a Mississippi prison cell, and in countries around the globe including Mexico, Colombia, Korea, France, Australia, Peru, Egypt, Ecuador and Cuba,' Ms Singas said.

Ms Singas said she believes MS-13 members were in the countries she listed.

Carlos Tiberio Ramirez is one of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang leaders

'We were surprised to see some of those countries,' she said.

'The investigation definitely revealed MS-13 has expanded its reach internationally.'

Two alleged MS-13 members, David 'Risky' Guevara and Victor Lopez, are accused of brutally murdering 15-year-old Angel Soler last year in Nassau County.

The teenager's body was allegedly mutilated with a weapon consistent with a machete 'and cement was poured over his body'.

The investigation also led to the arrest in El Salvador of a MS-13 kingpin charged with 17 horrific murders.

'It is no secret that the MS-13's motto is kill, rape, and control,' Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York, said.

'When you look at the charges against these individuals today, it shows that they stay true to their ruthless ways, and will fund their gang activities by any means.'The infamous million dollar race day is back again this year and the punters did not disappoint.

Weird and wonderful fashion was everywhere to be seen at the 2018 Magic Millions Raceday with floral being a popular outfit choice.

From eye catching head pieces made of branches and flowers to extravagant floral arrangements, nothing was off limits.

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Incredible head pieces (pictured) were everywhere to be seen at the Magic Millions Raceday

Warm colours with fun frills seemed to be a popular choice among many racegoers Saturday

Florals appeared to be the flavour of the day at this year's races at the Gold Coast (pictured)

Race-goers did not disappoint with their over sized fascinators and head pieces

When people weren't choosing florals, they were opting for flirty feather head pieces (left)

Nature appeared to be the stem of inspiration for a large number of the bright and colourful fashion choices.

While some race-goers donned warm coloured frocks, others opted for polka dots and playful skirts.

But it wasn't just the women showing their pins in a dainty dress, with some men getting in on the action too.

One man was spotted wearing a white and red nursing dress with matching hat and boating shoes.

Another punter was spotted dressed as Snow White, not forgetting the red wedged heels and a number of dwarves.

Gold Coat's annual festival of racing is about fun fashion, so when race-goers weren't draped in flowers, they were flirting with feathers on their heads.

One punter was spotted wearing red and white nurse dress with matching hat and boat shoes

Another group were spotted recreating a scene from popular Disney movie, Snow White

Snow White (pictured) appeared to be enjoying a beverage alongside a number of dwarves

While Snow White opted for red wedged heels, the dwarves chose a comfy thong instead

Some race-goers wore polka dot frocks with unique head pieces that read 'love' (pictured)

As many chose bright and colourful head pieces to display at the million dollar races, one creative punter was spotted wearing a traditional Australian bush man's hat with corks dangling down.

More than $10 million is up for grabs at the Magic Million race day on Saturday throughout a range of events including the much loved Fashions on the Field.

Magic Millions carnival will continue until January 16 with everything from polo to horse auctions.

Many were seen donning bright and colourful outfits, perfect for the warm sunny weather

One race-goer looked elegant in a completely white outfit with splashes of gold throughout

More than $10 million is up for grabs at the Magic Million race day on Saturday (pictured)

Big, oversized bows on dresses and headpieces were a popular choice at this year's races

Some opted to wear bright dresses while others chose to wear dainty designs or long pleats

Magic Millions carnival continues until January 16 with everything from polo to horse auctionsA Cornell University student who appeared on Fox and Friends to voice her displeasure for a course critical of Donald Trump, claims she needed counseling following harassment.

Neetu Chandak wrote in an essay for The College Fix that her comments about the course last May brought about constant harassment that forced her into therapy.

'It is difficult to express conservative views as a college student without being called names, attacked personally, or even threatened by peers,' Chandak - now a senior - said in the essay.

Watch the latest video at <a href="http://www.foxnews.com">foxnews.com</a>

After appearing on Fox and Friends in May to criticize a course at Cornell University, Neetu Chandak claims she was harassed and needed therapy

The America Confronts the World course description states 'Donald Trump and Barak [sic] Obama give us two visions of America and of the world: xenophobic nationalism and pragmatic cosmopolitanism.'

It continues by stating that it will compare how the two have handled different things like race, religion and more. However it does not appear to actually pit one as being better than the other.

Chandak, who was crowned Miss Upstate New York's Outstanding Teen and Miss Seneca Falls in 2013 and 2016, felt that comparing and contrasting two different time-frames was 'ridiculous.'

'It is difficult to express conservative views as a college student without being called names, attacked personally, or even threatened by peers,' she said

Chandak, who was crowned Miss Upstate New York's Outstanding Teen and Miss Seneca Falls in 2013 and 2016, felt that comparing and contrasting two different time-frames was 'ridiculous'

'I had done the interview, not to show support or disagreement with any particular person, but to show the ridiculousness in comparing eight years of Obama's presidency to the first 100 days of Trump's term,' she said.

'While I expected disagreement from many Cornellians for my views, I was mentally and emotionally unprepared for the backlash, name calling, and threats to my physical safety.'

The woman adds that she was afraid to leave her apartment and go to class, even considering taking an online class.

The woman adds that she was afraid to leave her apartment and go to class, even considering taking an online class

The America Confronts the World course description states that 'Donald Trump and Barak [sic] Obama give us two visions of America and of the world: xenophobic nationalism and pragmatic cosmopolitanism'

'Considering that Cornell University's College Republicans president was physically assaulted right after Trump was elected  shoved to the ground and called a "racist b****"  threats around here are no joke,' she added.

The Cornell Sun even ran a story on the entire ordeal, quoting college Republicans that were skeptical of why Chandak went on the show, but she claims that wasn't the case.

'After talking to some people quoted by the Sun, I found that their quotes had been taken out of context and misused in a deceitful way to make it seem as though they were more opposed to what I said,' she added.

Chandak claims to have received Facebook messages from people wanting to 'hurt'

Chandak claims to have received Facebook messages detailing wanting to 'hurt' her while others called her 'hateful' and a 'bigot.'

'From my situation, many found it acceptable to be hateful toward me because they perceived me as hateful,' she said. 'What hypocrisy.'

She added: 'As somebody who has faced so much unpleasant behavior and words from others, one would think that I would support hate speech bans.

'However, I believe that banning hate speech suppresses those with unpopular ideas, like mine. Moreover, who determines the hateful rhetoric, and where do we draw the lines?'

Chandak concluded that conservatives on college campuses are facing 'condemnation.'

'I am not alone in my struggle,' she said.

'Many people holding views similar to mine will likely not express their beliefs in the classroom or on campus out of fear of facing the isolation and threats I faced. This becomes a disadvantage for college students as the entire point is to learn about various ideas.'Passages in Franco's 2013 novel are raising eyebrows after he was hit with allegations

James Franco's creepy musings about luring 'young girls' for sex in a 2013 book have resurfaced.

Franco's novel Actors Anonymous is a work of fiction, but contains passages narrated by an actor named 'James Franco' that are raising eyebrows after five women accused him of misconduct.

Through his attorney, the actor has denied the allegations that emerged in a Thursday expose from the Los Angeles Times.

Four of the accusers are former acting students of 39-year-old Franco, and claim the Oscar nominee pressured women both on set and in class to perform topless or even completely nude.

'Acting teachers are f**ked up,' Franco wrote in his book's preface, and so presumably in his own voice.

'They are unlike any other teachers because they deal with their students' emotions and bodies.'

Franco is seen signing copies of his book Actors Anonymous in 2013 in Los Angeles. Passages from the book about seducing and sleeping with 'young girls' have resurfaced

In one chapter narrated by the Franco character, he writes: 'Lots of actors like to screw the extras. It's pretty easy.'

'You can usually score with your acting partner after the first make-out scene,' he adds, noting that the technique works even if the woman is in a relationship.

'I had something going on with most of my female costars and worked up a routine so that I could see someone every night,' another passage reads.

Elsewhere in the book, the Franco character dishes on his strategies for luring 'young girls' from his fan base.

'One of my favorite approaches was to ask the young girls that requested to take a photo with me to email me a copy of the photo; that way I can give them my info very quickly in front of a crowd of fans and later work out a way to see them,' Franco writes.

'Usually this happens at an event, which means I am usually away from home, so I have girls all over the world.'

In the novel, the Franco character describes one such encounter with an 'okay-looking' girl in Toronto while promoting his film 127 Hours.

Riding High: Franco is seen wearing a 'Time's Up' pin at the Golden Globes on Sunday, days before a storm of allegations hit the actor

Sarah Tither-Kaplan was one of four of Franco's former acting students who came forward in a Thursday expose to accuse Franco of sexual misconduct and harassment

'The Toronto girl, Barbara, eventually came to New York to visit her grandmother,' Franco wrote.

'In the intervening months she had sent me plenty of photos of her body and especially her a** bent over in a G-string, so when she arrived at my Lower East Side apartment, I was ready and she was ready,' Franco wrote.

'Not only did she allow me to do everything I wanted to her, she let me film it on my phone.'

The novel's pickup strategy sounds similar to a real-life incident with a 17-year-old that Franco admitted to in 2014.

Lucy Clode, who was 17 at the time, had gone to see Franco on Broadway in Of Mice and Men, and posted a photo to Instagram of herself and the actor taken while he signed autographs that night.

Franco then reached out to Lucy and, after learning she was 17 which is the age of consent in New York, began to exchange a number of suggestive messages before asking her what hotel she was staying at in the city.

Franco's persistence was later revealed when Clode posted the exchange on her account, forcing the actor to apologize for his pursuit of the teen.A teenage boy has been charged with reckless wounding after a 16-year-old girl was allegedly shot in the forehead with a nail gun at Cowra on Friday night.

Police will allege that two teen girls were playing on the swings at River Park when the attacker went to a car park and took a nail gun from a vehicle.

He then allegedly pointed the weapon at the girl and fired, hitting her in the forehead. Her friends used a mobile phone to call for help from a public bathroom.

A teenage boy has allegedly shot a 16-year-old girl in the forehead with a nail gun at Cowra

Ambulance paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the girl for a puncture wound before transporting her to Cowra Hospital.

Police from the Canobolas Local Area command attended the park a short time later.

Detectives from Orange located the car, seized a nail gun for forensic examination and arrested the 15-year-old boy.

He was charged with conditional bail and will face Children's Court on February 7.Unsealed court documents have revealed that the girlfriend of the Las Vegas shooter told authorities they would probably find her fingerprints on bullets because she sometimes helped him load ammunition magazines.

Court documents unsealed on Friday revealed several new details into the investigation of Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people in the Mandalay Bay massacre on October 1.

His girlfriend Marilou Danley, 63, wasn't arrested when she returned to the US from the Philippines days after the shooting, and cooperated with investigators, an FBI agent told a judge in the documents.

The agent says in the October 3 search warrant application that there was no evidence at that time of 'criminal involvement' by Danley, but that investigators had not ruled out the possibility.

The document says Danley 'spontaneously' blurted out that her fingerprints might be found on spent ammunition while she was providing a DNA sample to authorities.

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Shooter Stephen Paddock's (left) girlfriend Marilou Danley (right) told investigators that her fingerprints might be on ammunition or casings because she'd helped

Investigators found 23 firearms, multiple 100-round magazines and huge quantities of ammunition in the Mandalay Bay room (pictured) after Paddock killed himself

Investigators also noticed that Danley, who was in the Philippines at the time, set her Facebook account to private at 12.30am Las Vegas time on October 2 and deleted the account by 2.46am.

The shooting occurred around 10pm on October 1, and Danley's named circulated on police radio in the aftermath as a person of interest, which may have spurred online vigilantes to harass her.

The documents didn't answer the key unanswered question: What motivated a 64-year-old high-stakes gambler to unleash gunfire from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort into an outdoor concert below before killing himself.

Las Vegas police Officer Aden Ocampo Gomez and FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault said Friday that they had no update about Paddock's motive. Both called it an ongoing investigation.

Also revealed in the documents was a bizarre email exchange that Paddock appeared to have faked with himself.

The documents said Paddock had received an email from a Gmail account in July encouraging him to try an AR-style rifle before buying one.

It said, 'we have huge selection' in the Las Vegas area.

Paddock was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. Two windows of the suit had been smashed out by gunfire

The deserted aftermath of the Route 91 Harvest Festival is seen two days after the shooting. Fifty-eight people died and hundreds were injured in the shooting

Paddock wrote back that he wanted to try several scopes and different types of ammunition. An email in response suggested trying a bump stock on the rifle with a 100-round magazine.

Paddock's email address and the Gmail address had similar names. Investigators say they suspect he may have been emailing himself, but couldn't figure out why.

Investigators have said that Paddock meticulously planned his attack and intentionally concealed his actions.

He modified semi-automatic rifles to shoot rapidly using bump stocks, set up cameras to watch for police outside his hotel room and wounded a security guard in the hotel hallway.

Investigators found no evidence that Paddock had help carrying out the attack.

Paddock's three-bedroom house in a retirement community in the city of Mesquite was searched twice - first by police and FBI agents in the hours immediately after Paddock was identified as the shooter.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later said that October 2 search found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially explosive materials.

The FBI returned to the house a week later for what officials called 'redocumenting and rechecking.'

Investigators stand outside the home of Stephen Paddock on October 2. The search found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially explosive materials, police said

Officers also raided Paddock's hotel suite where he opened fire and searched his vehicle after it was found parked in the casino parking structure.

Lombardo said several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, was found in the car.

Other searches were conducted at a house the gunman owned in Reno where agents found a red SUV. A neighbor reported that Paddock kept a safe the size of a refrigerator in the garage.

FBI agents also returned to that house, on October 10, after local police determined someone had broken in days earlier.

A Nevada judge is due to hear arguments Tuesday about whether Las Vegas police search warrant documents should remain sealed.Footage has emerged revealing the moment Jodi Arias claimed she was not behind the brutal murder of her ex-boyfriend in 2008.

Footage from Jodi Arias: An American Murder Mystery - first airing Sunday - shows police telling her they know she killed Travis Alexander.

Arias was 30 when she met Alexander and the two embarked on a whirlwind romance that only lasted a few months but continued after with numerous sexual encounters in 2006.

Footage from Jodi Arias: An American Murder Mystery - first airing Sunday - shows the moment police told her they knew she killed Travis Alexander

Even when Alexander began dating other women, the two regularly saw each other and Arias grew more and more jealous.

Alexander's body was found on June 9, 2008, in his Meza, Arizona home. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head, a slit throat and a plethora of stab wounds to his body.

'I just want to offer any assistance I might have. I was a really good friend of Travis',' Arias said during an early call with Mesa, Ariz. Detective Steve Flores.

'I just want to offer any assistance I might have. I was a really good friend of Travis',' Arias said during an early call with Mesa, Ariz. Detective Steve Flores

Arias was 30 when she met Alexander and the two embarked on a whirlwind romance

The romance only lasted a few months but continued after with numerous sexual encounters in 2006

Even when Alexander began dating other women, the two regularly saw each other and Arias grew more and more jealous

She was already being identified as a suspect by friends of Alexander.

'I heard that he passed away and I heard there was a lot of blood,' she added.

'I heard that his roommate found him or his friend found him or people were I'm sorry, it's odd. I'm just upset.'

And in an in-person meeting with Arias following additional phone calls, Detective Flores told the woman that her alibi trip from Yreka, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah, was questionable.

Flores had problems with the route Arias said she took during a trip and it was then that he told her that she had been at the house

'So, this trip took you a little over 48 hours. I have a problem with this trip,' Flores said.

'If you slept for 10 hours, it would still leave 18 some odd hours. That's when Travis was killed.'

And while Arias tries to assert that she wasn't near Meza, Arizona, the detective calls her out.

'You were at Travis' house, you guys had a sexual encounter, which there's pictures. And I know you know there's pictures, because I have them,' he said.

A camera had been found in Alexander's washing machine that revealed the two had had a sexual encounter the day of his murder and featured Arias naked in bed.

And the revelation was all that Flores needed.

'There's no doubt in my mind that you did this. None,' he said.

'So you can go until you are blue in the face and tell me you weren't there and you had nothing to do with it. I won't believe you.'

Arias would deny that she did the crime even at that moment.

'There's no reason for it,' she stated.

'There's no reason why. There's no reason I would ever want to hurt him.'

Flores then showed her photos that were believed to be gone but were found in the washing machine

'There's no reason why. There's no reason I would ever want to hurt him,' she stated

The clip ends with Flores reading Arias her Miranda Rights.

Arias was eventually found guilty of murder in a highly publicized trial detailing all the kinks and fetishes the two had been involved in.

She was sentenced to life in prison.

The three-day special starts on Sunday and will be shown exclusively on Investigation Discovery at 10pm Eastern.A Manhattan real estate broker is suing her lover's wife and her family for allegedly threatening to break her legs, disfigure her, and destroy her after they learned about the affair. She is seeking $5million in damages.

Alice Bahar, 37, met her lover, landlord Abraham Sanieoff, as an exclusive broker for one of his West Village rental properties. He pursued her, but Bahar says she initially told him 'No stay away from me. You're a married guy,' according to her attorney.

Eventually she relented and would share a love nest with him on Grove St. However, when his wife, Charlet Sanieoff, 35, found out, she reportedly went ballistic on her husband's mistress.

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Charlet Sanieoff, 35, reportedly went ballistic when she found out husband Abraham Sanieoff (pictured together, above) was having a full blown affair with Alice Bahar

Alice Bahar, 37, does not deny the affair, and says she originally said no to Abraham's advances

'What you have is a family affair where a husband cheats on his wife and then instead of the wife being angry at the husband, they go on the attack trying to destroy the woman he seduced,' Bahar's lawyer Robert Hantman told the New York Post.

'They had an affair, she admits that. The claim is that after the fact the wife found out about it and the wife sent the most threatening messages you can imagine,' Hantman said.

In the court filing is a voicemail from Charlet, in which she allegedly threatened Bahar with a hired thug that will do bodily harm if she didn't return jewelry Abraham gifted her.

The audio of that conversation was obtained by the Post in which Charlet allegedly says: 'Trust me when I tell you, you have 24 hours. One day, one day left to give me back every single gift.

'Write it down you dumb b**** ... If it's not in my hands in one day, one day I will give him the order to break both of your mother-f***ing legs... He'll just make it look like an accident. He'll just make it look like you fell down a flight of stairs. You can run, you can hide, my team is watching you.

'I got good news for you, you're not cut out for brokerage but Wh**** R Us is looking for you! You'll be their number one star. 24 hours! Mail them!'

In the February voicemail the spurned wife allegedly describes the alleged hired heavy as 'black, 6-foot-4, and 319 pounds'.

Bodily harm: Mistress Bahar says she was threatened by her lover's wife with a hired heavy

Charlet also allegedly called on her mother and her two brothers to continue to threaten Bahar.

They warned her 'they were going to destroy her life and do something to her face so she could never look the same,' the civil suit says.

Charlet was arrested by the NYPD in March over the messages. Bahar subsequently obtained a restraining order against her in July. The charges were dropped after the wife left her alone for six months.

But now Bahar wants to sue the couple for 'extreme mental and emotional distress.'

'Nothing was actually my fault,' Bahar added to The Post.

'I had to go through a difficult time because of these people. They never left me alone,' she said.

When the Post contacted Abraham Sanieoff, he said, 'Uhh. I have no comment.'This is the horrific moment a man is blown up by his own explosion as he tried to steal cash from an ATM in Scotland.

The extraordinary CCTV footage shows the would-be thief, who suffered 'life-threatening' injuries, being flung into the air as a ball of fire erupted from the cashpoint in Clydebank.

He sustained extensive injuries to his face and head as the attempted heist went horribly wrong, while an accomplice escaped unhurt.

The injured man, 51, was found unconscious and was said to be in a critical condition, according to the Daily Record.

CCTV footage shows the ATM in Clydebank, Scotland, exploding in a ball of flame, causing 'life-threatening' injuries to the would-be thief as he is flung into the air

He was treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital following the botched cashpoint raid outside a newsagents.

Police are on the search for the second man, who can be seen in the video collecting a bag and walking away from the scene as he leaves his injured colleague behind.

Debris from the destroyed ATM was said to be scattered as far as 25 yards away from the blast while nearby shop windows also suffered damage.

Witness Jamie Mac wrote on Twitter: 'I got lost dropping a mate off & saw smoke and flames coming from the Farmfoods cash machine.

'2 guys tried to fill the cash machine with gas and blew it and themselves up. 1 guy ran away the [other] has life-threatening injuries.'

Debris from the destroyed ATM was said to be scattered as far as 25 yards away from the blast while nearby shop windows also suffered damageVandals that have attacked three churches in Chile, leaving notes threatening Pope Francis ahead of the pontiff's visit to the country next week.

The vandals, whose identity is still unknown, attacked the churches in the nation's capital city Santiago and tossed pamphlets on the street as they fled.

Pamphlets left at one of the churches backed the cause of the indigenous Mapuche people, some of whom have been staging violent protests, and added: 'Pope Francis, the next bomb will be in your robe.'

Workmen begin repairs on the Santa Isabel de Hungria Church in Santiago, Chile, which came under attack over night

Deputy Interior Secretary Aleuy Mahmud, centre, leaving the church, past a door damaged in the firebomb attack

A workman at the blackened doorway of the Santa Isabel de Hungria Catholic Church

The Pope was warned that 'the next bomb will be in your robe' in pamphlets left at the one churches

The churches were hit with firebombs then sprayed with accelerant and at one, the doors were burned before firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Later in the day, police found barrels of flammable liquid at two other churches that had not been ignited. They were handled by the bomb squad without incident.

Chile's President President Michelle Bachelet described the incidents as 'very strange'.

'In a democracy, people can express themselves as long as they do it in a peaceful way,' she said.

Hugo Alcaman, president of ENAMA, a Mapuche group that encourages local businesses and advocates social change, condemned the attacks.

'We reject all types of violence, which we don't think is intelligent or effective,' said Alcaman.

No one has been arrested for the attacks, which caused no injuries, and the Vatican is yet to comment.

Francis, who hails from Argentina and is the first Latin American pope, arrives in Chile on Monday.

A Mass he has planned to hold on Tuesday in a Santiago park is expected to attract more than 500,000 people.

Pope Francis greets faithful during his weekly general audience in Nervi Hall at the Vatican

But protests on issues ranging from indigenous rights to the Church's ongoing sexual abuse scandal are expected.

Francis will celebrate Mass for the Mapuche in Araucania, southern Chile, on Wednesday and then break bread with a dozen or so indigenous people at a private lunch.

His visit comes as some radical Mapuche groups have been staging violent protests, occupying and burning farms, churches and lumber trucks to demand the return of their land.

Chile's largest indigenous group resisted conquest for 300 years, until military defeats in the late 19th century forced them into Araucania.

Many Mapuche there now live in poverty on the borders of timber company land or ranches owned by the descendants of the Europeans who colonised the area after the indigenous resistance was quelled.

Francis will also visit the south-central city of Temuco and Iquique, which is farther north, before heading to Peru, where he will stop in Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo.



Tributes have poured in for British actress Bella Emberg, who passed away yesterday aged 80.

Former co-star Russ Abbot led tributes to the comedy actress. He described Emberg, who appeared as Blunderwoman on The Russ Abbot Show, as a 'huge comedy talent' and 'a woman of immense warmth and generosity'.

Abbot joined former co-star Les Dennis and other prominent personalities including comedian Paul Chuckle paid tribute to the legendary actress.

Emberg had just recently finished filming for In The Long Run, a Sky One comedy show created by Idris Elba.

Former co-star Russ Abbot (right) led tributes to the comedy actress Bella Emberg (left). Pictured: Emberg as Blunderwoman, the comic sidekick of Abbot's Cooperman in the 1980s

Abbot, 70, said: 'It is with a heavy heart that I heard the news about Bella. She was my leading lady throughout most of my career.

'She was not only a great sport but a huge comedy talent. A genuinely funny woman, but most of all a woman of immense warmth and generosity. I count myself very lucky to have worked alongside her.

'She really was a one off. RIP Bella.'

Les Dennis, who appeared on The Russ Abbot Show, shared a picture of himself with Emberg on Twitter, saying he was 'so sad' to lose a 'funny, lovely friend'.

John Challis, who played Boycie from Only Fools and Horses, shared an image of Emberg, adding: 'Sad news. Goodbye to Bella Emberg.'

Paul Chuckle who performed in pantomime with Emberg, said he remembered her as 'the funniest fairy ever'.

Charlie Hanson, one of the producers for In The Long Run, said Emberg was a 'lovely and funny woman' and a 'brilliant' actress.

Les Dennis, who appeared on The Russ Abbot Show, shared a picture of himself with Emberg on Twitter, saying he was 'so sad' to lose a 'funny, lovely friend'.

Abbot and Emberg appeared alongside each other on The Russ Abbot show. He described Emberg as a 'genuinely funny woman, but most of all a woman of immense warmth and generosity'

During her 60 year career, Emberg appeared in several classic programmes including The Benny Hill Show, Doctor Who and Z Cars.

Yet it was her stint as Blunderwoman, the comic sidekick of Abbot's Cooperman in the 1980s, that she will be best remembered.

In an interview last year, she admitted despite the plaudits that came with the job, it also became a burden.

She said: 'Blunderwoman saved my career - and I still view her as a complete blessing.

'After it ended in 1996 I couldn't get work. I went for jobs and they'd say: 'We'd love to hire you but you're too well known with Russ'.'Boris Johnson and Theresa May have clashed over Donald Trump's cancelled UK visit in a row over the real reason he called off the trip.

Mr Trump claimed he pulled out of the visit because he disagreed with the decision to sell off the old building for 'peanuts'. But observers suggested he did not want to run the gauntlet of protests.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan was among those on the left who commented saying it was clear that Mr Trump had 'got the message that many Londoners' did not want him here.

It led to the Foreign Secretary suggesting that Mr Khan had scuppered the visit, branding him a 'puffed up, pompous popinjay'.

Theresa May, pictured today campaigning for MP Paul Scully left, and Boris Johnson, pictured right, have clashed over the real reason that Donald Trump cancelled his visit to London

Mr Trump (pictured) claimed he pulled out of the visit because he disagreed with the decision to sell off the old US embassy for 'peanuts'. But observers suggested he did not want to run the gauntlet of protests

But minutes before, a 10 Downing Street spokesman had insisted that Theresa May did not blame the London Mayor for the cancellation.

Mr Johnson tweeted at about 11am: 'The US is the biggest single investor in the UK  yet Khan & Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk.

'We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall.'

Then in a sharp contradiction to Mr Johnson's suggestions, a spokesman for Number 10 said the 'special relationship' had not been damaged by the Mayor's tweets.

He told The Times: 'No, the US and the UK are natural, resilient, strong partners and allies, and we do more together than any two countries in the world.'

Mr Khan had earlier said in a statement: 'It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans, but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city's values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.

'His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests.

'This just reinforces what a mistake it was for Theresa May to extend an invitation of a state visit in the first place.'

The Foreign Secretary suggested that Mr Khan had scuppered the visit, branding him a 'puffed up, pompous popinjay'

The row over the visit, which sparked headlines around the world, threatens a new crisis in Britain's relations with the Trump administration.

There is now no date for a visit by the President, who has been in office for a year.

One senior source suggested Mr Trump cancelled because he was unhappy about the arrangements and the scale of the visit.

But Mr Trump tweeted that he thought the US embassy's move from Grosvenor Square in London's prestigious Mayfair district to Nine Elms, south of the Thames, was a 'bad deal'.

He said: 'Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts', only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2billion. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon - NO!'

Despite Mr Trump publicly blaming predecessor Barack Obama, the US announced plans to move to the new site in October 2008 - when his fellow Republican George W Bush was in the White House.

Mr Trump tweeted overnight that he was 'not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts', only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2billion'

The reversal comes despite Mr Trump telling Theresa May, who was seen campaigning for Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully for the vote in the London local elections in May today, that he would come to Britain in the New Year last month.

Preparations were advanced for a 'working' visit to officially open the embassy, but the Mail understands this role will now be performed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Mr Trump was also scheduled to hold talks with Mrs May in No 10, with February 26 and 27 marked in the diary. Downing Street had hoped to confirm the dates this week.

The President was not due to meet the Queen until a full state visit at a later date, and a second source said the lack of 'bells and whistles' and royal involvement next month visit may have discouraged him.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, an ally of the US President, suggested that concerns about protests may have been the real reason for the visit's cancellation.

'It's disappointing - he has been to countries all over the world and yet he has not been to the one with whom he is closest,' Mr Farage said.

Officials have already moved into the 750million US embassy near Battersea Power Station in South London. The new building will open for business on January 16

The former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair, which Mr Trump has described as 'perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London'

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of supporting protests.

'Maybe, just maybe, Sadiq Khan, Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party planning mass protests, maybe those optics he didn't like the look of.'

Labour MP Chuka Umunna said it was 'very welcome he is not coming any more', adding: 'He runs counter to British values.'

It has also now emerged that Donald Trump faces the embarrassment of not being invited to the royal wedding this year.

The US President is notoriously sensitive to snubs and might have expected to be asked to attend Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day in May.

But a Royal Household source pointedly said: 'Although the guest list hasn't yet been announced, there is no reason he would be invited.'

The potential snub is a second setback to Mr Trump following the cancellation of a planned visit to Britain next month.A weatherboard home in Sydney's western suburbs is set to be the first piece of real estate in Australia purchased in Bitcoin.

The Mount Druitt property has been listed as Bitcoin buyer-friendly by Sky Property Blacktown director Riza Kamerakkas.

He estimates the property - which has garnered above average interest from buyers - will sell for more than $800,000, or 45 Bitcoin, 7 News reported.

A weatherboard home in Sydney's western suburbs (pictured) is set to be the first piece of real estate in Australia purchased in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin

The Mount Druitt property (pictured) has been listed as Bitcoin buyer-friendly by Sky Property Blacktown director Riza Kamerakkas

The property - which has garnered above average interest from buyers - is estimated to sell for more than $800,000, or 45 Bitcoin

'We are expecting quite good numbers though. We're already receiving two to three times more than what we usually get,' Mr Kamerakkas said.

'There are a lot of people who have Bitcoin wallets and are silent and no one knows who's got what, so we might be surprised.'

The decentralised digital currency has enjoyed a steady increase in value since Wednesday, and was trading at more than AUD$18,000 on Saturday night.

But cryptocurrencies are considered highly volatile - with Bitcoin peaking at $25,000, and crashing to $15,800 in the space of two weeks last month.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin buyer homes in Australia are set to take off amid the global craze.

A $1.5million home in Allambie Heights, in Sydney's north, and a $350,000 home in Junee, west of Canberra, can also be bought with Bitcoin, Daily Telegraph reported.

'We are expecting quite good numbers though. We're already receiving two to three times more than what we usually get,' Mr Kamerakkas said

Cryptocurrencies are considered highly volatile - with Bitcoin (stock image) peaking at $25,000, and crashing to $15,800 in the space of two weeks last month

A $1.5million home in Allambie Heights, in Sydney's north, and a $350,000 home in Junee, west of Canberra, can also be bought with Bitcoin (stock image)

Jason Horan - who is selling the Allambie Heights property - told the publication that asking for Bitcoin was 'a bit of a gamble'.

'But I think you've got to be in it to win it,' he said.

'With the house, I think it will open it up to more potential buyers like people overseas or people who have Bitcoin but cant get loans.'

Potential Bitcoin buyers are still faced with a catch, preventing them from purchasing a home entirely with the cryptocurrency.

While buyers can negotiate to buy a home in any currency, stamp duty can only be paid using Australian dollars.This is the stomach-churning moment a carpet python swallows a possum whole, just metres from a couple of stunned onlookers.

Two residents from Morningside, in Brisbane's east, captured footage of the three-metre-long carpet python devouring the possum as it hung upside down from a tree outside their window.

'Well, the possum's f***ed,' one man could be heard saying as he watched the snake widen its jaw in preparation for the feed.

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This is the stomach-churning moment a carpet python (left and right) swallows a live possum whole, just metres from a couple of stunned onlookers

Brisbane woman Courtney Hathway discovered the three-metre snake hanging from a tree outside her home on Wednesday night.

Ms Hathway, together with her brother and housemate, watched the confronting encounter in awe.

'Look at him go, that's f***ed,' they can be heard saying.

'It makes me so sad for the possum he'd be suffocating.'

After the encounter with the enormous reptile, Ms Hathway and her housemates decided to enlist the help of a professional snake catcher.

Taking to Facebook on Friday, Brisbane Snake Catchers described the footage as 'amazing'.

The snake catcher said he was called in to safely relocate the python for the welfare of Ms Hathway's small pets.The African group of ambassadors to the United Nations has issued an extraordinary statement condemning the 'outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks' by President Donald Trump and demanding a retraction and apology.

Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has shared the statement on Twitter, saying: 'Whoa. I've never seen a statement like this by African countries directed at the United States.'

The African ambassadors issued the statement late Friday following an emergency meeting after Trump used vulgar language to reject an immigration bill, asking why the US would take in more people from Haiti and 's***hole countries' in Africa.

Trump has denied using that language but others present say he did.

The African group of ambassadors to the United Nations has issued an extraordinary statement condemning the 'outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks' by President Donald Trump and demanding a retraction and apology

Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has shared the statement on Twitter, saying: 'Whoa. I've never seen a statement like this by African countries directed at the United States'

The new statement expresses concern over the Trump administration's apparent increasing denigration of Africa 'and people of color.'

Meanwhile, at least one more African leader spoke up on Saturday.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo called Trump's remark 'extremely unfortunate' and said that 'we will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful.'

Ghana is widely seen as a stable, peaceful country in an often turbulent region, and has close ties to the United States.

In 2009 Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, chose Ghana's capital Accra to set out his foreign policy goals for Africa in a speech in which he said he saw Africa 'as a fundamental part of our interconnected world'.

Africans were 'partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect,' he said.

Ghana's former president John Dramani Mahama, whom Akufo-Addo defeated in elections just a month after Trump's own win at the polls, on Twitter asked: 'Isn't Trump demonstrating that he's nothing but a racist and pursuing a policy of 'Make America White Again'?'

He also highlighted the contrast between Trump's praise for Africa last year when he met leaders from the continent on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo (seen in the above May 2017 stock photo) called Trump's remark 'extremely unfortunate' and said that 'we will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful'

'S***hole? Thought they said he was so impressed with us just last September?' Mahama tweeted under a mocked-up photograph of Trump being shown a map of Africa in which all the countries were labelled 'Nambia'.

Trump was widely derided last year after twice referring to Namibia as 'Nambia' at the September meeting.

Namibia on Saturday added its voice to the chorus of complaints, saying the president's language had 'no place in diplomatic discourse' and was 'contrary to the norms of civility and human progress'.

'The Africa we know and live in is one that is recovering economically and rising,' it added.

'The USA we know is one that was built with blood and sweat of African slaves and immigrants from all over.'

Ghana's former president John Dramani Mahama, whom Akufo-Addo defeated in elections just a month after Trump's own win at the polls, on Twitter highlighted the contrast between Trump's praise for Africa last year when he met leaders from the continent

Trump reportedly demanded to know why the US should accept immigrants from 's***hole countries', after lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

He has since denied using the reported language.

The 15-nation Caribbean Community meanwhile condemned Trump's use of 'repulsive language.'

CARICOM 'is deeply disturbed by reports about the use of derogatory and repulsive language by the President of the United States in respect of our member state, Haiti, and other developing countries,' the bloc's Guyana-based headquarters said in a statement.

Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to throw heat off his back after the scandal regarding his disparaging comments.

The Donald wrote on Saturday: 'Yesterday was a big day for the stock market. Jobs are coming back to America. Chrysler is coming back to the USA, from Mexico and many others will follow.

'Tax cut money to employees is pouring into our economy with many more companies announcing. American business is hot again!'Christoper John Lewis (pictured) tried to kill the Queen with a .22 rifle in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1981

A new report reveals how the government of New Zealand attempted to conceal just how close a young man came to assassinating the Queen during a diplomatic trip to the country in 1981.

As the Queen paraded in front of adoring crowds Christopher John Lewis, a 17-year-old local boy from Dunedin, took aim with a .22 rifle.

The Queen had stepped out of a Rolls-Royce to greet 3,500 well wishers when the deafening crack rang out across the crowd.

The shot flew past her head.

Lewis had missed and aside from a brief moment of distraction the parade continued, the crowd unaware of what had just almost occurred.

The young man from the nation's South Island had become obsessed with exterminating the Royal Family and, worryingly, the self-styled terrorist had come incredibly close to killing the British head of state.

In the aftermath shamed New Zealand police launched a cover-up operation to disguise the seriousness of the event, a new investigation reveals.

According to a former Dunedin police officer, Tom Lewis, who worked on the 1981 case, police tried to play down the the attack.

'You will never get a true file on that. It was reactivated, regurgitated, bits pulled off it, other false bits put on,' he said.

Tom Lewis said then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon feared the Royals would not return to New Zealand if word got out about just how close the rogue teenager had come to killing the Queen, reports Hamish McNeilly for the website The Stuff.

He revealed the teenager's original statement was later destroyed in an official cover-up.

The incident was swept under the carpet by New Zealand police who did not charge the teen with treason because the case was 'politically too hot to handle'

According to a former Dunedin police officer, Tom Lewis said then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon feared the Royals would not return to New Zealand if word got out

Murray Hanan, the would-be killer's former lawyer, said police decided not to charge the young man with treason - which in 1981 carried the death penalty - because they had received an order from 'up top'.

They believed it would draw undue attention to the event and cause deep embarrassment.

He said: 'The fact an attempted assassination of the Queen had taken place in New Zealand... it was too politically hot to handle. I think the government took the view that he is a bit nutty and has had a hard upbringing, so it won't be too harsh.'

Lewis later claimed in a draft autobiography (entitled 'Last Words') that he had been visited by top brass from Wellington during the interrogation process who told him never to speak about the event.

In the manuscript he sent to US publishers Howling At The Moon Productions he described how police threatened him.

'If I was ever to mention the events surrounding my interviews of the organisation ... they would make sure "I suffered a fate worse than death"', he wrote.

Lewis's charge was later downgraded to possession of a firearm in a public place and discharging it.

However, questions were asked of police at the time. In the hours after the shooting officers were questioned over what had occurred.

They told press the distinctive noise was just a council sign falling over.

Later, under questioning, another narrative emerged. They said someone had let off a fire cracker nearby.

Lewis (pictured) fired on the Queen from half a kilometre away, missing by just metres

Christopher Lewis was interviewed eight times by police after the incident.

The young man said he had been ordered to kill the Queen by an Englishman known as 'the Snowman' - of who he was immensely scared.

'The Snowman' had told Lewis about far right groups in Britain like the National Front and said he could take refuge in similar groups in new Zealand.

Two years later the same teenager attempted to overpower a guard and escape from a psychiatric ward where he was being held in order to murder Prince Charles, who was visiting the country in April with the Princess Diana and their young son, William.

Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, visit Auckland in New Zealand in 1983

His school career was marred with a number of expulsions: tipping over desks, playing with matches and showing porn to his classmates.

He left school for good at just 15.

By the tender age of 17 Lewis had a history of armed robbery, arson and animal cruelty.

His idols included Australian bandit Ned Kelly as well as cult leader Charles Manson - who ordered the murder of American actress and model Sharon Tate.

After the incident Lewis was sectioned and police found clippings of the Royal family in his grimy flat, as well as a detailed map of the Queen's route that day.

Written on the map were the words 'Operation = Ass QUEB' - assumed to to be the name he had given his 'mission'.

And in 1995 when the Queen returned, the New Zealand government sent the man on a tax-payer funded holiday to the Great Barrier Reef.

'I started to feel like royalty,' he wrote in his memoir.

When the Queen (pictured during her trip to new Zealand in 1995) returned the government sent Lewis on a beach holiday to ensure he would not launch another attempt

In 1995 when the Queen (pictured this year) returned, the New Zealand government sent Lewis, now 33, on a tax-payer funded holiday to the Great Barrier Reef

At 33, Lewis (pictured in 1996) killed himself in his shared cell at Mr Eden prisons in Auckland

They thought it safer to have him idling on a beach far from trouble. He was given free accommodation, spending money and a vehicle.

Lewis, however, was not under surveillance during this period.

He would later go on to kill himself in Mt Eden Prisons in Auckland in 1997 - at the age of just 33 - while awaiting the trial of a woman and the kidnapping of her child.

On the day he was found sat upright, dead in his cell, Lewis had previously been visited by his girlfriend.

She noticed nothing out of the ordinary apart from the fact Lewis turned down an offer to put money into his bank account.

Lewis's shared cell had an easel and paintbrushes, as well as TV and a typewriter in one corner, where he had begun working on his memoir.

At 3.15pm when a corrections officer opened the door to Lewis's cell he was found slumped in a metal chair 'in a lifeless state', reported the New Zealand Herald.

The guard initially though Lewis was asleep before he noticed the man's colour.

At 33, Christopher John Lewis, infamous for attempting to assassinate the Queen in Dunedin, was dead.The father of a man who was drinking 15 cans of energy drink a day has spoken of his heartbreak after his son committed suicide.

In the weeks leading up to his tragic death, Justin Bartholomew, from Newhaven, East Sussex, was consuming vast quantities of the high-caffeine and sugary drinks, something which his father Keiron believes played a huge role in his death.

Mr Bartholomew, 64, said: 'He was drinking 15 cans a day and that was just the ones we could see he was drinking.

'I said to him, "You've got to wean yourself off these".

'He just said, "Dad, I can't stop drinking them, I've tried. I can't just stop. It's like trying to stop smoking, I just can't".

Justin Bartholomew (pictured) had 15 cans of energy drink every day while he was depressed

His father Keiron Bartholomew spoke out about his son's death to raise awareness about the dangers of energy drinks

'My son was addicted to them.'

One can of an energy drink can contain as much as 160mg of caffeine, more than a double espresso and as many as 14 teaspoons of sugar.

The concoction, combined with depression, is what Mr Bartholomew believes led to Justin's suicide in August last year.

The 25-year-old's tragic demise was mentioned in Parliament by his MP Maria Caulfield this week as there are mounting calls to restrict the sales of the drinks to under 16s.

She said: 'Justin's family are convinced that the high-energy drinks he was taking, over 15 cans a day, increased his anxiety and contributed to his suicide.'

His father told the Mirror:'My son was drinking energy drinks, which accelerated his depression. It's a double-edged sword  energy drinks are bad for you because of the sugar and the caffeine.

'But, also, if you are drinking these drinks and you have depression, it is a lethal combination. I also believe that a total ban should also be considered.'

Justin slipped into depression after splitting from his wife. The pair were married for three months but following the break-up, he tried several times to take his own life.

His father described him as a 'sensitive lad' who was devastated by the break-up. It was around the time of his first wedding anniversary, in May 2016, when Justin was hospitalised and his energy drink consumption 'rocketed'.

Mr Bartholomew said: 'He was coming to work with a can of energy drink  cheap ones for about 35p a can.

Justin Bartholomew passed away in August last year

'To get value for money, he'd come in with bag-fulls of these drinks. It accelerated very quickly into addiction.

'His brother Daniel would look in the back of the van and see piles and piles of empty energy drink cans. We'd clear them out and the next day there would be more again.'

Sleepless nights and heart palpitations followed his energy drink addiction. Justin visited the doctor where he was told he had a heart rate equivalent to an 80-year-old man.

Justin self-medicated on energy drinks in the day, followed by alcohol at night, as part of a 'vicious cycle' which 'spiralled out of control'.

Mr Bartholomew added: 'Over three months he went from the normal Justin that I knew and loved, to heavily depressed. Depression is a dangerous thing, combined with energy drinks it was a lethal combination.'

Mr Bartholomew was due to marry his partner in Scotland when he received news of his son's death.

He said: 'It was the worst day of my life. He had his whole life in front of him.

'Justin was screaming out for help  and we couldn't help him. The drink made him into a different person. We want justice for Justin.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for detailsMelbourne's African community say they've been 'hammered' by weeks of political furore over youth crime, and that claims of 'gang' violence aren't helping.

Victorian multicultural commissioner Dr Mimmie Watts told a community meeting in Melbourne on Saturday that the media's treatment of the African community has been 'hard' over the last few weeks.

Dr Watts - herself a migrant from Cameroon - made the comments a day after community leaders met police to discuss a newly announced African-Australian task force aimed at tackling youth crime.

African leaders said they've been 'hammered' by weeks of political furore over youth crime at a community meeting held in Melbourne on Saturday. Pictured: Shadow minister for multicultural affairs Inga Peulich (centre) at the meeting

The forum's organiser Clyde Sharady (pictured) admitted there had been some 'bad behaviour' from community members, however claimed politicians were using the crimes for political gain

The issue is not a new one in Victoria, but debate has intensified over the past two weeks with a series of high-profile incidents and pointed commentary from the federal government.

People of African appearance have been linked to a spate of crimes, including riots, home invasions and armed robberies since early December.

Dr Watts acknowledged there were 'pockets of disengaged rascals' but objected to the term 'gang'.

'A gang is organised crime ... we have a group of disengaged youths who are out there doing some of the wrong things,' she said.

The forum's organiser Clyde Sharady admitted there had been some 'bad behaviour' from community members.

However he claimed politicians were using the crimes for political gain, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Victorian multicultural commissioner Dr Mimmie Watts told the meeting that the media's treatment of the African community has been 'hard' over the last few weeks. Pictured: African youths clash with police in Tarneit

People of African appearance have been linked to a spate of crimes, including riots, home invasions and armed robberies since early December. Pictured: African youths clash with police in Tarneit

Chief executive of youth support organisation iEmpower Abeselom Nega, said the community needed to take responsibility for the issue.

'I think, over the last few weeks, we have seen the effect of ... social disadvantage, disengaged young people creating havoc and creating significant problems,' he said.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner Andrew Crisp on Friday attempted to ease tensions and said Victoria was not facing a crime crisis.

'There is not a crisis in this state in relation to crime or the behaviour we're seeing of a relatively small number of people of African background,' he said.

'We've seen, sure, a spike in antisocial behaviour over summer, over the last few weeks, but this is not a crisis.'

Last week, home affairs minister Peter Dutton claimed people in Melbourne were afraid to go out for dinner at night because of African street gang violence. Pictured: African youths clash with police in Tarneit

The state government has hit back at claims by the opposition and federal coalition that Victoria's judiciary is soft on crime.

'They said there was no consequence for a young person who breaches a condition of their bail,' Victoria's attorney-general Martin Pakula said on Friday.

'We saw just last week that that was completely untrue - there was a young person who was bailed, he breached his bail by having a mobile phone with him against bail conditions and he was remanded.'

Last week, home affairs minister Peter Dutton claimed people in Melbourne were afraid to go out for dinner at night because of African street gang violence.

On Friday, he blamed 'civil libertarian' judges for youth crime, while the state's shadow attorney-general John Pesutto labelled the justice system a 'basket case'.

Victoria had 8726 young offenders in 2015-15, NSW 20,051, and Queensland 12,931, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show.

Victoria Police community engagement Inspector Stephen Mutton also revealed they are working to try and recruit more African Australians to the force.

'We need to have more African Australians wearing the uniform, we have to have that,' he said.A French woman who criticised the #MeToo movement has claimed that rape victims can enjoy the experience.

Brigitte Lahaie, a porn star-turned-agony aunt, caused an outcry by claiming on French television that some women have orgasms when they are raped.

She was disowned by other signatories in the '100 women' group, that includes film star Catherine Deneuve, who wrote an open letter condemning what they said was sexual 'puritanism' caused by the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Brigitte Lahaie, a porn star-turned-agony aunt, has caused an outcry with her comments that some women can enjoy rape

Along with actress Catherine Deneuve (pictured), Lahaie is a signatory to an open letter, condemning the #MeToo movement

The 62-year-old has apologised for causing offence saying she regretted 'my remarks were taken out of context' but repeated her view, The Times reported.

'What I meant to say - because I know matters of sexuality by heart - is that sometimes the body and the mind do not coincide,' she said.

Ms Lahaie, who gave relationship advice in a popular call-in programme for more than a decade, also claimed she had 'lynched' on social media adding: 'If that's the way the world works, then I apologise.'

Her comments came in a television debate with Caroline de Haas, one of a group of 30 feminists led who have themselves written a letter, condemning the '100 women'.

In her their exchanges, de Haas said: 'How do you give back to women the power of their bodies? It's simple  you stop the violence. After you have been the victim of rape you no longer have so much pleasure.'

Catherine Millet, the author of the best selling 'The Sexual Life of Catherine M', said women should just shout at men who harass them

Oscar-nominated Deneuve, 74, is best known internationally for playing a bored housewife who spends her afternoons as a prostitute in Luis Bunuel's classic 1967 film, 'Belle du Jour'.

She has made no secret of her annoyance at social media campaigns to shame men accused of harassing women.

'I don't think it is the right method to change things, it is excessive,' she said last year, referring to the #MeToo hashtag.

The letter, which was published in Le Monde, set off an international furore, with feminists in France and elsewhere attacking the signatories for defending men's freedom to pester and 'hit on' women.

Catherine Millet, 69, author of a bestselling memoir, and one of the movers behind the letter, has herself hit back, claiming the campaign to counter sexual harassment was casting women as 'victims and the fragile prey' of men.

The art critic and author of 'The Sexual Life of Catherine M', told French radio: 'We are not idiots.

Samantha Geimer said she 'agreed entirely' with Deneuve saying 'women need equality, respect and sexual freedom.

Geimer alleges she was raped by film director Roman Polanski when she was 13 but wants charges dropped

'Rape and sexual violence should be criminalised, but we cannot ban the least little gesture, dirty word or inappropriate behaviour. It's crazy, we're stopping flirting now.'

Millet, who has written graphically about her libertine lifestyle, said she was against a new tougher French law against sexual harassment.

All women need to do was to shout at men who rubbed up against them on the Paris metro, she insisted, adding that she no more troubled by a man's unwanted hand on her knee than by smoke from a cigar.

'It happened to me when I was younger but now unfortunately I am too old for it to happen. I would shout at them and forget it a minute later.'

Millet said several victims, including Samantha Geimer, who was raped by film director Roman Polanski when she was 13 but wants charges against him dropped, have since signed their letter.

Geimer said she 'agreed entirely' with Deneuve and the other signatories, tweeting that 'women need equality, respect and sexual freedom'.Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster has called for closer Anglo-Irish relations in a speech on Brexit.

Speaking in Killarney, Ireland, Mrs Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and the republic in phase two of discussions on the UK's split from the European Union.

And she called on unionists and republicans to work together for the benefit of everyone.

DUP leader Arlene Foster (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mrs Foster plans to raise the prospect of enhancing Anglo-Irish relations, under the auspices of the British-Irish Council when she meets Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

'Maintaining Northern Ireland's economic and political status as an integral part of the United Kingdom is absolutely crucial to me and my party,' she said.

'To think anything else would be as foolish as believing that the Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar) or the Tanaiste (Mr Coveney) desired anything other than Irish unity.

'But while we will always battle for our own national interests, we must also battle for our mutual interests.

Arlene Foster acknowledged that Leo Varadkar, right, and Simon Coveney, left, both desire a united Ireland

'And our mutual interests will not end on the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. The United Kingdom may be leaving the EU but the common interests that we share across the British Isles will remain.'

Mrs Foster made the call at the Killarney Economic Conference in County Kerry where the issues around Brexit were explored in a two-day conference.

Her suggestions about deepening ties and mutual respect mark a significant departure from the fallout which marred relations between the DUP and the Irish Government towards the end of last year amid both the fractious finish to phase one of the Brexit negotiations and the Irish border question and Mr Coveney's aspirations for a united Ireland.

The DUP suggested Anglo-Irish relations could be deepened through the British-Irish Council, which was set up as part the Good Friday Agreement to improve cooperation between the UK and Ireland in areas such as transport, the environment and energy.

'The UK exiting the European Union ought not to become a barrier to continued co-operation on issues of ongoing mutual interest,' she said.

'It especially shouldn't become a barrier when the infrastructure - in the guise of the British-Irish Council - already exists that can allow us to continue to work together as closely as ever on issues of shared interest.'

Arlene Foster said that Brexit must not become a barrier to the British and the Irish working together

Mrs Foster used the example of the Nordic Council, which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland to show how Anglo-Irish relation might be developed.

She noted that some of the Nordic countries are in the European Union and Eurozone, while others are not.

'Change should not be allowed to weaken the relationships so painstakingly put together across these British Isles,' she said.

'As challenging as finding a suitable solution might seem, there is no good reason why our own issues on this island should present any threat to the progress we've made.

'I value the relationships we have developed too much to do anything that would jeopardise them.

'But, whether we voted to leave or voted to remain, whether we are citizens of the United Kingdom or citizens of Ireland, we must accept the reality of the referendum result, refrain from the continued re-fighting of the referendum, and seek the sensible, mutually beneficial outcomes from the complex negotiation process ahead that will serve us all well.'Bitcoin investors looking to cash in on huge spikes in their cryptocurrencies to buy their own home could struggle to get on the property ladder.

Investors in digital currencies, some of which have increased nearly 1,500 per cent in the past 12 months, are being rejected by British mortgage lenders and brokers, with firms citing money-laundering and inability to trace the source of the money as primary concerns.

Cryptocurrencies, which are not regulated by central banks, are held digitally and allows owners to remain anonymous - making them an ideal currency for criminals.

Lenders are required to find out the origin of any money used in a deposit scheme, usually in the form of bank statements or a signed letter from a parent gifting money, but cryptocurrencies only identify users by a digital address.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are held digitally and allows owners to remain anonymous - making them an ideal currency for criminals (stock image)

The refusal to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of legitimate tender could hurt younger generations who deem it one of the only ways to get on the housing ladder.

Mark Stallard, a broker and principal at House and Holiday Home Mortgages, revealed that one public sector worker who made 40,000 from investing in digital currencies was refused a mortgage as he was unable to prove where he got obtained the money.

Mr Stallard said: 'The first mortgage lender I ran asked me what a cryptocurrency was. I rang two other lenders and they said they would not touch it.'

He added there were signs that a lot more people were obtaining money from cryptocurrencies but that lenders were reluctant to accept them.

A number of building societies have said they will not accept deposits derived from a cryptocurrency, while Santander, Nationwide and Aldermore said they had no policy.

Max Wilde, a professional who made a six-figure sum from cryptocurrencies, said it was 'crazy' that his deposit might be rejected.

He said: 'There seems to be a silent decision made by the banking sector that cryptocurriences are dodgy or illegal.'

Robert Sinclair, chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, a trade body for mortgage brokers, told the FT: 'The money-laundering aspect of cryptocurrency is the most complex issue here because it's hard to prove where the initial investment came from.'

The refusal to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of legitimate tender could hurt younger generations who deem it one of the only ways to get on the housing ladder (stock picture)

A number of building societies have said they will not accept deposits derived from a cryptocurrency, while Santander, Nationwide and Aldermore said they had no policy (stock image)

Lenders are required to find out the origin of any money used in a deposit scheme, usually in the form of bank statements or a signed letter from a parent gifting money (stock image)

Ray Boulger, from mortgage broker John Charcol, said it would be easier for someone to use their bitcoin-originated cash for a deposit if they waited six months before applying for a home loan.

He said: 'In practice, if you use money from your bank account for a deposit, lenders will typically ask to see three of six months' bank statements. So if you've had money in your account since then, the chances are it won't be a problem.'

In September last year, co-living pioneer The Collective announced they could accept Bitcoin as a deposit from prospective tenants.A Virginia mother whose child was abducted from a bus stop more than three decades ago has revealed her heartache as she appeals for new information to find her daughter.

When Eleanor Williams was 18 years old, her then three-and-a-half-month-old baby girl was kidnapped following, what she calls, a terrible mistake.

I blame myself every minute, right up to this minute. Its been 34 years, and its not something thats over. I deal with it every day, whether I talk about it or not  Its always on my mind,' Williams told the Washington Post. 'Its always: How could you be so stupid? Why? Why did you do it?

Eleanor Williams was 18 years old when her infant baby girl was kidnapped at a D.C. bus station by a stranger who asked to hold her daughter in December 1983

April Williams disappeared on December 2, 1983. The case still remains unsolved. Pictured is a baby photo of April

Williams said she was traveling from Virginia to Kansas with her infant daughter, April Nicole Williams.

It was December 2, 1983, two months after she graduated high school. She was going to meet a soldier her brother had set her up with, but she would never make it to her destination that day.

The now 52-year-old woman recalled how tired she was traveling on a bus for three hours with a young child.

While waiting for a connecting bus at the Trailways bus station in downtown Washington, DC, Williams said she was approached by 'Latoya', a woman she described as 'amiable and chatty'.

Latoya, who police believe may have lied about her name, gushed about how cute April was and asked Williams if she could hold her.

Williams said she hesitated, but didn't think it would be a problem since Latoya was sitting next to her.

She said Latoya, who may have been in her 20s, then commented that April needed a diaper change and offered to take the baby to the bathroom to do it because Williams looked exhausted.

Police said the suspect, who told Williams her name was Latoya, has dark complexion with spots on her face. Pictured if a sketch of what police believe Latoya looks like

April, seen in this age-progression photo, would be 34 years old. Police hope by making what happened public it may lead to more information on her disappearance

I was skeptical, like, Well  OK, I guess. Because I was tired,' she told the outlet from her Waterbury, Connecticut apartment.

'And I thought about it, but I had already said OK, and she had already got up and taken her to the bathroom.'

Williams said that was the last time she saw April or Latoya.

There were times when I was younger when I wanted to commit suicide, I just felt so bad and so guilty, she said. But my other kids were always my strength. Like, what would they do if anything happened to me?

In the days after April went missing, Williams said she was interrogated by detectives who wanted to know if she had sold her child.

Once they were satisfied with her story, she was sent back to Virginia but rumors that she had given up her daughter or was an unfit mother followed her.

'I just couldnt deal with everybody looking at me and talking about me and having something to say about my situation,' she said. 'It was always: 'She gave her baby away. People were always whispering that. Or: Shes just not fit to have a child. I mean, the way people are, theyre cruel. Theyre mean. Until something happens to them.'

Williams, who now has two other children, said that December day will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Commander Leslie Parsons with the D.C. police criminal investigations division told the Washington Post that there have been no solid leads on the case. She hopes that by getting the story in the media someone will come forward with information.

About the only thing we can do proactively at this point is put it out in the media. Hopefully someone will see it, and theyll call us,' she said.

The kidnapping happened at the Trailways bus station in Washington, DC. Pictured on the left is what Trailways looked like in 1983, on the right is a photo of the location where the station used to be

Williams said she is still haunted by what happened

One major issue investigators have come across with Williams' case is the lack of information on Latoya.

Police have said that the suspect could have lied about her name, and they don't have any actual photos of her.

In the past, they have offered up a brief description.

The suspect is described as (having)  a dark brown complexion and spots on her face,' investigators said. 'Her ears were pierced with two holes in each ear. She could go by Rene or Rene Latoya.

April, police said, has a small birthmark on the top of her left wrist in a straight line.

Im pretty sure this is the only cold-case kidnapping we have, the only stranger kidnapping, where we still have a victim out, Parsons said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST).President Donald Trump took to Twitter Saturday morning to throw heat off his back after the scandal regarding his reportedly disparaging comments about Haiti and other African countries.

The Donald wrote on Saturday: 'Yesterday was a big day for the stock market. Jobs are coming back to America. Chrysler is coming back to the USA, from Mexico and many others will follow.

'Tax cut money to employees is pouring into our economy with many more companies announcing. American business is hot again!'

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Saturday morning to throw heat off his back after the scandal regarding his reportedly disparaging comments about Haiti and other African countries when he reported that jobs were coming back to America

Trump also went after Democrats taking aim at a so-called immigration 'deal' announced by a group of senators the day before

He sent out one final tweet, invoking the slogan he used during his inauguration speech as he wrote: 'AMERICA FIRST!'

Trump also went after Democrats taking aim at a so-called immigration 'deal' announced by a group of senators the day before.

'The Democrats are all talk and no action. They are doing nothing to fix DACA. Great opportunity missed. Too bad!' he tweeted.

He then sent another tweet invoking the slogan he used during his inauguration speech as he wrote: 'AMERICA FIRST!'

About an hour later, he was back again. In a since deleted tweet, Trump wrote: 'Yesterday was another big day for jobs and the Stock Market. Chrysler coming back to U.S. (Michigan) from Mexico and many more companies paying out Tax Cut money to employees.

'If Dems won in November, Market would have TANKED! It was headed for disaster.'

On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler announced it would move production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020.

Fiat Chrysler said it would create 2,500 jobs at a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit and invest $1billion in the facility.

Vice President Mike Pence praised Fiat Chrysler's announcement. 'Manufacturing is back. Great announcement. Proof that this admin's AMERICA FIRST policies are WORKING!' Pence said in a Twitter posting.

In a since-deleted tweet, Trump praised the move of a Fiat Chrysler plant from Mexico to Michigan

Trump attacked the Democrats on the inability to pass a DACA measure once again.

'I don't believe the Democrats really want to see a deal on DACA. They are all talk and no action. This is the time but, day by day, they are blowing the one great opportunity they had. Too bad!'

Many believe that the comments were made because the president is trying to detract from the scandal that remained the focus for much of Friday.

During a bipartisan Oval Office immigration meeting Thursday, Trump reportedly questioned why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and 's***hole countries' in Africa.

Critics of the president, including some Republicans, spent Friday blasting the vulgar comments he made behind closed doors.

During a bipartisan Oval Office immigration meeting Thursday, Trump (pictured, Friday)reportedly questioned why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and 's***hole countries' in Africa

Trump's words have prompted an uproar and were relayed by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois - who was at the session - and three others familiar with the meeting.

Durbin said he was the only Democrat among 12 people at Thursday's meeting, where he said Trump 'repeatedly' used the term 's***hole' to describe African countries.

Trump said he did not denigrate Haitians.

On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler announced it would move production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020.

Fiat Chrysler said it would create 2,500 jobs at a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit and invest $1billion in the facility.

Vice President Mike Pence praised Fiat Chrysler's announcement. 'Manufacturing is back. Great announcement. Proof that this admin's AMERICA FIRST policies are WORKING!' Pence said in a Twitter posting.Police in Utah have released dash cam footage of an astonishing highway chase which saw officers shoot at a suspect's vehicle 75 times before he finally came to a stop.

The chase occurred in December last year and began when suspect Arturo Ray Gallemore-Jimenez, 37, opened fire on deputies on Interstate 15, about 60 miles north of Salt Lake City.

They had received reports that Jiminez shot out the window of the truck, claiming he'd left the keys inside.

When they pulled him over, Jiminez pulled out his gun and began shooting at police as he drove away.

Five officers shot back, blowing out his rear tears, but he continued and they gave chase.

Within minutes, several patrol cars were following him on the Interstate and other officers were setting up ahead in anticipation of the convoy and to block off exits.

Arturo Ray Gallemore-Jimenez, 37, was arrested after the chase. He was injured but survived and has been charged with attempted aggravated murder among other charges

They traveled at 30mph until a SWAT officer, who was stationed further up the highway, waiting for Jiminez's truck, who fired 27 shots from a semi-automatic machine gun.

During the chase, an innocent driver was injured by a bullet to the shoulder which was fired from a law enforcement agent's gun.

Sheriffs however stood by the chase on Friday and said that it would have been a 'nightmare' if Jiminez had been able to get off the highway and into a community.

'Had he gotten off the freeway into one of these areas it would have been a nightmare,' Salt Lake City, Sgt. Spencer Cannon told ABC News.

The incident began when officers pulled Jiminez over on Interstate 15 near Salt Lake City on December 20 after receiving reports that he was seen shooting out the window of his truck to get inside

The sheriff's deputy is seen reaching for his gun when Jiminez opens fire from the truck

As Jiminez speeds away, the sheriff's deputy continues to fire shots in the direction of his car

A chase ensued with several police cars surrounding Jiminez's white truck. Some sped ahead of him - he was traveling at only 30 mph with blown out tyres

A SWAT officer sped ahead of the 37-year-old and pulled over further up the highway to wait for him to pass. He fired 27 shots from a semi-automatic and finally brought the man to a stop

Jiminez then lost control of his truck and crashed off to the side of the highway where he was surrounded

When Jiminez first opened fire and fled, some of the officers followed him and some sped ahead to block off exits.

The SWAT officer who eventually brought him to a stop had been there when he first opened fire but broke away from the group to get ahead.

The driver is pictured in his DVLA photograph. His father later said he had a substance problem and was on his way to a rehab facility when the chase occurred. Police found marijuana and meth in his car

All 27 of the shots he fired hit Jiminez or his truck. Once he had come to a stop, officers surrounded the vehicle and arrested him.

He survived despite being injured and was arrested. Inside his car, police found marijuana and methamphetamine.

Once in custody in hospital, Jiminez confessed to shooting a man the previous day in Colorado.

He was charged with three counts of attempted aggravated murder, failure to respond to an officer, possession of firearms, possession of drugs, auto theft and driving with a suspended license.

The sheriff's officers were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into their use of their weapons but they have returned to work.Liam Neeson described himself as 'on the fence' about allegations facing Hoffman and warned of a witch hunt in Hollywood

Liam Neeson says that the Hollywood sexual harassment scandal has sparked 'a bit of a witch hunt' and described himself as 'on the fence' about allegations facing Dustin Hoffman.

His comments followed screen legend Catherine Deneuve saying men are being unfairly targeted by sexual misconduct allegations and should be free to make advances toward women.

Asked about the issue, the 65-year-old Taken star told Irish television's The Late Late Show on RTE 'there is a bit of a witch hunt happening'.

'There's some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl's knee or something and suddenly they're being dropped from their programme,' he added.

When his interviewer mentioned allegations facing Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, the actor appeared to take the scandals seriously, nodding his head with a serious expression.

Neeson also addressed actress Anna Graham Hunter's allegations that Hoffman groped her and made inappropriate comments when she was a 17-year-old intern on the set of the 1985 TV movie Death Of A Salesman.

'[When it comes] to the Dustin Hoffman thing, I'm on the fence about that,' he said.

When he was pressed further about the controversy, he said performers and support staff 'do silly things' while preparing for a show.

'When you're doing a play and you're with your family, other actors and technicians, you do silly things,' he said.

'You do silly things and it becomes superstitious. If you don't do it every night you think it's going to jinx the show.

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Liam Neeson, pictured left at the Irish premiere of The Commuter, told The Late Late Show that 'there is a bit of a witch hunt happening' and said alleged groping by Dustin Hoffman, right, was 'childhood stuff'

'I think Dustin Hoffman... I'm not saying I've done similar things like what he did. Apparently he touched a girl's breast and stuff, but it's childhood stuff.'

Playwright Cori Thomas accused Hoffman of exposing himself to her in a New York hotel room in 1980, when she was 16.

Neeson spoke out in support of the #MeToo campaign in which women responded to the sexual harassment and rape scandal engulfing Weinstein by sharing their personal traumas online

In response to Hunter's allegations, Hoffman issued a statement saying the incident 'is not reflective of who I am'.

On the Irish chat show, Neeson also defended US radio presenter and writer Garrison Keillor, who was dropped by Minnesota Public Radio last year over an allegation of 'inappropriate behaviour'.

I was reading recently about him, and he was listening to a sad story of a female friend of his, and the end of this, he put his hand to her back.

'She had a blouse on and it was her bare back.

'He immediately took his hand away and apologised. She said don't worry about it, forget about it. He emailed her because he was concerned. She said forget about it, don't worry about it.

Months later, he gets a call from a lawyer, saying he inappropriately touched this lady, and he was dropped from his programme.

Hollywood has been hit by a wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which alleged victims of sex abuse responded to by sharing experiences on Twitter using the hashtag #MeToo.

He closed the interview by praising the #MeToo campaign, saying: 'There is a movement happening and it's healthy and it's across every industry.

'The focus seems to be on Hollywood at the minute, but it's across every industry.'

The Irish actor's comments sparked criticism on Twitter, with @DrMMcMahonEP saying she was 'disappointed by Liam Neeson's comments'.

Liam Neeson said the #MeToo backlash against sexual harassment in Hollywood was 'healthy'

'Reinforcing the idea that inappropriately touching women was the norm and therefore OK,' she added. 'The reference to a "witch hunt" also irked me.'

Another user - @infinityonhi - speculated that the Star Wars actor's reputation lay in ruins, writing: 'I can't believe this Liam Neeson was a national treasure and now....he's over.'

But @RealSarahFlynn wrote: 'You mightn't like it but at least he's authentic and I don't think calling elements of it a witch hunt is that terribly untrue.'

And @ToastHawk1 added: 'Everybody is so quick to condemn Liam Neeson. It's a radical way of thinking, but what if he's right.

'Think of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare. People were falsely accused for others' personal gain. We can't instantly shun someone when they've only been accused.'

Neeson's comments came after stars wore black at the Golden Globes to protest against sexual misconduct in Hollywood.Just days after the tragic death of Amy 'Dolly' Everett, a young family friend has been targeted with a barrage of sickening messages from an online bully.

The father of a 15-year-old rodeo champion took to his Facebook page on Saturday to reveal some of the repulsive, abusive messages sent to his daughter, Katelyn Simpson.

'Why don't you just go cut your wrist until you bleed out, you'll do everyone a favour. Go do what Dolly did, it should've been you not her,' one message read.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Saturday, Katelyn's father Russell Simpson said 'when they mentioned Dolly, I just lost it'.

Scroll down for video

A father revealed the disgusting messages an online tormentor sent his daughter Katelyn Simpson, a national rodeo champion (pictured)

'Why don't you just go cut your wrist until you bleed out, you'll do everyone a favour. Go do what Dolly did, it should've been you not her,' one message read

'Because we know Dolly and her family, it's just heart-breaking. I don't know how to put it into words or describe the feeling, but it really knocked me,' the Darwin man said.

Amy 'Dolly' Everett, from Katherine in the Northern Territory, took her own life on January 3, after being 'overwhelmed' by cyber bullies.

Mr Simpson said the messages sent to his daughter in the wake of Dolly's tragic death were like a slap in the face.

Mr Simpson revealed his daughter Katelyn, who is a national rodeo champion, had been the subject of online bullying since she was about 12-years-old.

He said he didn't know the extent of the abuse until a concerned parent phoned him on Saturday.

'Katelyn begged people not to tell us because she thought she could handle it we only found out when a friend of hers' mother rang today and let us know what was going on,' he said.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, he revealed his daughter Katelyn (pictured), who is a national rodeo champion, had been the subject of online bullying since she was about 12-years-old

'Dreams come true just met Fallon Taylor': Katelyn Simpson (right) pictured with Fallon Taylor at Warwick for a rodeo competition

Russell Simpson, pictured with his wife Kathy, said he was devastated to discover the vile messages sent to his daughter on Snapchat

Mr Simpson discovered Katelyn was repeatedly trolled by a person she knew, masquerading as a 'fake account' on the messaging app, Snapchat.

Mr Simpson and his wife Kathy were shocked to discover just how vile the abuse was.

'Stop telling everyone you're a virgin, no one believes it,' one message read.

'Get some contacts or something, or get braces to fix up your grotty ass teeth and that over bite makes me want to kill myself.

'Also cut your hair, or do you want it long so all the boys can pull it? Seriously, fix yourself.'

'Winning Warwick rodeo was definitely a fluke, you aren't that good honey. So you should just continue f***ing all those bullriders that are way too old for you,' the bully said

Mr Simpson said Katelyn (pictured) was a strong young woman who was learning to deal with the online abuse she copped

The person went on to bully Katelyn about her success in rodeo, which has taken her all the way to the US to compete.

'Winning Warwick rodeo was definitely a fluke, you aren't that good honey. So you should just continue f***ing all those bullriders that are way too old for you,' the bully said.

Mr Simpson said he nor Katelyn knew who the bully was but vowed to find out.

He expected it was a teenage girl who knew Katelyn and was 'jealous' of her accomplishments in the sport, but feared it could even be 'a disillusioned parent'.

Mr Simpson said the messages were the end of the line for him, and he would not sit back and allow the abuse.

He said he was in the process of compiling all the messages to take to the police.

The Darwin father said Katelyn was strong and could deal with the abuse, but feared other children her age were more vulnerable.

Katelyn Simpson updated her profile picture on Facebook in support of Dolly Everett, who took her own life on January 3

'We know our daughter very well, and she's very strong. But a lot of these kids aren't as strong and I would hate to think it was happening to a friend and something terrible happened,' Mr Simpson said about Katelyn (pictured)

'We know our daughter very well, and she's very strong. But a lot of these kids aren't as strong and I would hate to think it was happening to a friend and something terrible happened,' he said.

While Katelyn put on a tough facade, Mr Simpson admitted he didn't know 'what was festering underneath'.

'We can only see what happens on the outside, but we don't know what's happening on the inside,' he said.

'I found my breaking point today, what's hers?'Mark Zuckerbergs decision to prioritize posts from family and friends over brand-driven content on Facebooks News Feed has cost him a small fortune, it was reported on Saturday.

The CEO of the worlds largest social media network lost $3.3billion off his net worth on Friday, Bloomberg News reported.

Facebook shares fell 4.5 percent on Friday after the closing bell on Wall Street.

Zuckerberg, who began the day worth $77.8billion, is now worth $74billion, according to Bloomberg.

That means Spanish retail billionaire Amancio Ortega has now leapfrogged Zuckerberg to take fourth place on the list of the worlds richest people.

Both Zuckerberg and Ortega have a ways to go to catch the worlds wealthiest human, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Mark Zuckerbergs decision to prioritize posts from family and friends over brand-driven content on Facebooks News Feed has cost him a small fortune

Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 4 per cent on Friday after Zuckerberg announced changes to the platform's centerpiece News Feed that he said would hit user engagement in the near term

The graph above shows the sharp decline of the price of Facebook stock on Friday

After the stock market closed on Friday, Bezos net worth reached $109billion, the most ever, according to Forbes.

Since the start of the new year, Bezos has pocketed $10billion in profit. Thats $1billion per day for Bezos, whose wealth is built on ownership of stock in Amazon.

Zuckerberg said on Thursday the company would change the filter for the News Feed to prioritize what friends and family share, while reducing the amount of non-advertising content from publishers and brands.

Pivotal Research Group said its analysis of Nielsen's digital consumption rates showed that usage was already falling prior to Zuckerberg's announcement, although from very high levels.

THE WORLD'S RICHEST PEOPLE: Jeff Bezos Wealth: $109billion Gains in 2018: $10.11billion The CEO and founder of Amazon.com is listed as the world's richest person with a net worth of $105billion. Thanks to a surge in Amazon's share price, the 53-year-old added $34.2 billion to his wealth in 2017 to round out a standout year for the tech and retail giant. The Seattle-based company has grown from its online retail roots to cloud computing, streaming video, artificial intelligence and more. Amazon's shares have recently been boosted by its acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods. The firm has also expanded its line-up of devices tapping into its digital assistant Alexa. Bill Gates Wealth: $92billion Gains in 2018: $190million The 61-year-old Microsoft founder had held the top spot on Bloomberg's rich list for four years until being overtaken by Bezos. He remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen in 1975. With his wife Melinda, he chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation. Most of his wealth now comes from other sources outside of Microsoft, with the mogul only owning a 2.5 per cent stake of the world's biggest software company  worth around $11 billion. Instead, Gates makes most of his money through his personal investment company Cascade Investment LLC, which he funds entirely himself. The company owns stakes in Canadian National Railway, Berkshire Hathaway, Deere & Co, Liberty Global, Waste Management, green energy technology firm Ecolab, and more. Warren Buffett Wealth: $90.1billion Gains in 2018: $4.84billion Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The 87-year-old billionaire has been the chairman and largest shareholder of the company since 1970. He has transformed Berkshire since 1965 from a failing textile company into a conglomerate with more than 90 businesses in such sectors as insurance, railroads, energy and retail, and well over $100billion of stocks. Amancio Ortega Wealth: $75.3billion Gains in 2018: $600million The Spanish business tycoon is the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group. The group is best known for its popular Zara fashion stores. His group is also the parent company of brands Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti. There is more than 2,200 Zara stores in 93 countries with the chain valued at roughly $11.3 billion. Mark Zuckerberg Wealth: $74billion Gains in 2018: $1.2billion Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg added a whopping $22.6 billion to his fortune in 2017, bringing his net worth to $72.6 billion. Zuckerberg began working on the social networking site in January 2004 when he was studying at Harvard. He famously dropped out of the Ivy League school to focus on creating the website. He took Facebook public in May 2012 and owns about 17 percent of stock. Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan have publicly pledged to give away 99 percent of their stock over their lifetime. Bernard Arnault Wealth: $67.6billion Gains in 2018: $-522million Bernard Arnault is Frances richest billionaire and the head of luxury goods group LVMH. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the world's largest maker of luxury goods. According to Bloomberg, he controls about half of LVMH, which had revenue of $41.6 billion in 2016, and sells products including Louis Vuitton leather goods, TAG Heuer watches and Dom Perignon champagne. Advertisement

A warning by Zuckerberg that people could spend less time on Facebook in the short term as a result of the changes sent the companys stock $8.40 lower to $179.37.

'We can speculate that the concerns reflected in Zuckerberg's post may very well have been driving these declines,' Pivotal's Brian Wieser wrote in a note.

The company has been criticized for algorithms that may have prioritized misleading news and misinformation in people's feeds, influencing the 2016 American presidential election as well as political discourse in many countries.

The company's Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the changes in a sweeping Facebook post

The company has for years prioritized material that its complex computer algorithms think people will engage with through comments, 'likes' or other ways of showing interest

While Facebook's advertising would be unaffected by the changes, the shift was likely to mean that the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement would go down in the short term, Facebook said.

It may also have an impact on major suppliers of news and other content.

John Ridding, the chief executive of the Financial Times, warned on Friday that the domination of online advertising revenue by search and social media platforms was putting pressure on media firms.

'The FT welcomes moves to recognize and support trusted and reliable news and analysis. But a sustainable solution to the challenges of the new information ecosystem requires further measures,' he said.

'In particular, a viable subscription model on platforms that enables publishers to build a direct relationship with readers and to manage the terms of access to their content.'

Posts from businesses, brands and media will be made less prominent in an effort to help users have 'more meaningful social interactions.'

HOW FACEBOOK WILL PRIORITIZE FRIENDS IN YOUR NEWS FEED Up until now, Facebook has prioritized material that its algorithms think people will engage with through comments, 'likes' or other ways of showing interest. But 33-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to change the focus to help users have 'more meaningful social interactions.' The move follows his resolution in 2018 to 'fix' the site. It is also in response to criticism that Facebook and its social media competitors reinforce users' views on social and political issues. Critics also say sites like Facebook lead to addictive viewing habits. Zuckerberg cited research that suggests reading 'passively' on social media was damaging for people's mental health, while interacting proactively with friends was positive. According to Adam Mosseri, Facebooks New Feed boss, in practice the change mean Posts from friends and family will get more prominence that video, news, and other content from formal Facebook pages, such as companies and celebrities

The number of comments on a post will count more than the number of Likes

Posts where people have spend the time to write lengthy comments will be prioritized over those with only short comments

While, news and video will still appear in News Feed, the number of friends sharing it will matter more than its overall popularity The shift could mean that the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement would go down in the short term. However, Zuckerberg said it would be better for users and for the business over the long term. Advertisement

Zuckerberg announced the changes in a sweeping Facebook post on Thursday, saying it was the first in a series of changes in the design of the world's largest social network.

Facebook has already started changing the way it filters posts and videos on its centerpiece News Feed to prioritize content from friends and family of the user.

For example, a family video clip posted by a spouse will be deemed more worthy of attention than a snippet from a star or favorite restaurant.

But experts claim this is just another money-making scheme for the site, pushing companies to buy more adverts to get user attention.

'As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,' Zuckerberg said in a post at his Facebook page.

'And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard - it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.'

The company has for years prioritized material that its complex computer algorithms think people will engage with through comments, 'likes' or other ways of showing interest.

Zuckerberg said that would no longer be the goal.

'I'm changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions,' Zuckerberg said.

The shift was likely to mean that the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement would go down in the short term.

However, Zuckerberg said it would be better for users and for the business over the long term.

Facebook and its social media competitors have been inundated by criticism that their products reinforce users' views on social and political issues and lead to addictive viewing habits, raising questions about possible regulation and the businesses' long-term viability.France's first panda cub Yuan Meng has made its debut public appearance in front of rapturous crowds at the zoo where it was born five months ago.

The adorable cub's name means 'making a dream come true' in Chinese.

He was introduced into its new enclosure in Beauval Zoo, south of Paris in France's Centre-Val de Loire region.

France's first panda cub Yuan Meng has made its debut public appearance

Adoring onlookers ringed the site to see the juvenile cub for the first time. Yuan Meng had been mostly hidden from view since its birth in August last year but left its den on Saturday for its first public appearance.

French first lady Brigitte Macron, considered the panda's 'godmother,' announced the little critter's name at a ceremony in December at the zoo.

The event was attended by Chinese officials - China has dispatched its national treasure to only about a dozen countries, using the animal as a symbol of close relations.

Adorable photos show Yuan Meng playing with its mother Huan Huan inside its new enclosure

Nine-year-old Huan Huan and her male partner Yuan Zi arrived at Beauval Zoo in January 2012 on a 10 year loan from China after intense negotiations between Paris and Beijing

Breeding pandas is notoriously difficult and this is the first time a cub has been born in France. Yuan Meng was born through artificial insemination.

The adorable five-month-old was watched by rapturous crowds

He was introduced into its new enclosure in Beauval Zoo, south of Paris in France's Centre-Val de Loire region, on Saturday

'We got up at 3:00 in the morning. My son absolutely wanted to see the cub,' said Delphine who had travelled from the Paris region.

'We felt we took part in a historic moment. It was very moving,' she said.

Zoo veterinarian Baptiste Mulot said the cub had been brought to the enclosure for short periods over the past 10 days to allow it familiarise it with the surroundings.

The tiny tot was seen playing with its mother Huan Huan who is on loan from China

The Chinese government has used pandas as a way of expressing their close relationship with another country

Panda reproduction, in captivity or in the wild, is notoriously difficult because the female panda is only in heat once a year for about 48 hours.

But the number of pandas worldwide has rebounded since the black-and-white bear was declared an endangered animal in the 1980s, thanks to efforts to protect it and its habitat.

Nine-year-old Huan Huan and her male partner Yuan Zi arrived at Beauval Zoo in January 2012 on a 10-year loan from China after intense negotiations between Paris and BeijingA violent ice addict who robbed a train passenger has won an appeal against a deportation order due to fears he could be killed in the Philippines.

The convicted criminal, 28, arrived in Australia with his mother and two sisters when he was six-years-old, but his permanent visa was revoked in 2015.

The man, known only as BHKM, claimed he could face extrajudicial killing if he was deported back to the Philippines, the Herald Sun reported.

For this reason, BHKM, who has spent the past five years in prison and immigration detention, was granted a protection visa by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia (AAT).

The man, known only as BHKM, claimed he could face extrajudicial killing from the Duterte regime (Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pictured) if he was deported back to the Philippines

The AAT heard BHKM, who has a history of violence and petty crime, first became addicted to ice when he was 17-years-old.

The tribunal also heard he was beaten by his mother's partner until he was 11 or 12.

The man's crimes include robbing a train passenger, smashing his head against a window and wounding someone in a street fight, the Herald Sun reported.

Speaking at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia, BHKM said he wanted to get a job and leave crime behind him.

His mother and sisters told the tribunal they saw BHKM work hard to turn his life around.

They said he began a methadone program behind bars and continued with his progress in immigration detention.

BHKM was granted refugee status by the migration and refugee division in April last year due to concerns he would be killed if sent back to the Philippines.

He feared for his life due to his history of drug use.

The Immigration Department refused to send him back to the Philippines on the basis that it would breach Australia's international obligations.

Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton (pictured) fought the decision

Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton fought the decision.

A delegate of Mr Dutton's argued the man was a danger to the community and refused his request for a protection visa.

AAT deputy president Brian Rayment overturned that decision.

'There is a reason to think that the risk of his reoffending is significantly lower than previously in his life,' Mr Rayment said.

Mr Rayment ruled the case should reassessed, arguing discretion should be used in favour of his protection visa.The blood-soaked body of a private detective who probed the disappearance of Maddie McCann has been found at his home in Surrey.

Mystery surrounds the death of Kevin Halligen, 56, who is said to have presented himself as a 'cloak-and-dagger, James Bond-style spy'. Police today confirmed to MailOnline today that a probe has been launched into the circumstances.

Halligen took over the private investigation into the McCann case in March 2008 but was later accused of conning the family fund out of 300,000.

It is believed he was found at the home he shared with his long-term girlfriend. There is no suggestion that she was involved in his death. Sources said the house was 'covered in blood'.

Kevin Halligen, 56, pictured, was found dead at his Surrey home. Police have launched an investigation into the death which is being treated as 'unexplained', a spokesman said

A spokesman for Surrey Police said today: 'We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, Guildford, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died.'

His death is being treated as unexplained but a source who knew the Dublin-born debt-ridden private eye say he was 'a boozer' and 'drink was inevitably his downfall.'

Former associates of Halligen described him as a heavy drinker. One ex-colleague told MailOnline: 'The house was covered in blood but apparently that was from Kevin falling down so much.

'His body is now in the morgue. The police are looking into it.'

Defence consultant Tim Craig-Harvey, a former associate of Halligen, wrote online: 'The lies and alcohol finally caught up with him.'

Another source told MailOnline: 'He died at his girlfriend's place near Guildford, a miserable pathetic death caused by alcohol.'

The McCanns hired Halligen's firm in a bid to boost the search for Maddie after failing to come up with any plausible leads one year after she went missing.

They agreed a 500,000 fee with Oakley International, which was described by a source close to the family as 'extremely secretive' but 'absolutely the best'.

Halligen took over the private investigation into the McCann case in March 2008 but was later accused of conning the family fund out of 300,000

Defence consultant Tim Craig-Harvey, a former associate of Halligen, wrote online: 'The lies and alcohol finally caught up with him'

Kate and Gerry McCann were initially impressed by Dublin-born Halligen, believing he 'was in a different league' to other private investigators.

He boasted of employing ex-FBI, CIA and Special forces officers while offering undercover surveillance and intelligence gathering in Portugal.

The detective even said he could provide satellite imagery and details of telephone traffic from the night Madeleine disappeared.

But within a year, questions began to emerge about Oakley and Halligen in particular.

Researchers claimed that the firm had not looked into hundreds of calls made to a special hotline - while specialists found that their bills were unpaid.

The promised satellite images also allegedly turned out to have been grabbed from Google Earth.

Kate and Gerry McCann were initially impressed by Dublin-born Halligen, believing he 'was in a different league' to other private investigators

Six months into the highly-paid assignment, the McCanns were growing increasingly concerned about Halligen.

A family friend said: 'He had this sense of cloak-and-dagger, acting as if he were a James Bond-style spy.

'The McCanns found him hard to deal with, because he was forever in another country and using different phones. He promised the earth but it came to nothing.'

The contract was terminated early after 300,000 had been paid to Halligen.

Kate recalled: Oakleys proposal and overall strategy were streets ahead of all the others wed considered and the company came highly recommended.

Initially Kate and heart doctor Gerry, 49, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were impressed with Halligens work with Kate writing: 'There is little doubt that progress was being made.'

The McCanns hired Halligen's firm in a bid to boost the search for Maddie (pictured) after failing to come up with any plausible leads one year after she went missing

But the couple later started to have grave concerns and decided to sack him in September 2008 terminating his 500,000 contract.

Kate recalled: 'It was quite acrimonious and unfortunately that was not the end of it.'

Several months later investigators sub contracted by Halligen cane forward demanding payment for his services which they hadnt received.

Kate said: 'We were upset that, although a lot of hard work had been done on Madeleines behalf, it seemed money provided by her fund might not ever have reached the people who had earned it.'

MailOnline understands that relations broke down after the detective's team discovered he was enjoying a lavish lifestyle, staying in the best hotels and eating at the top restaurants in London - all at the expense of the Find Madeleine fund.

Former doctor Kate, 49, now a medical worker previously told how the family had suffered 'a particularly bad experience' with Halligen, who she knew as Richard. She described the ordeal he put them through in her best seller 2011 book 'Madeleine'.

Colleagues said that far from being an expert in undercover operations, Halligen was 'out of his depth' with 'no experience of such investigations.'

There is no suggestion that any former associates are involved in the death of Kevin Halligen.

After being sacked from the McCann investigation in 2009, Halligen was arrested in the UK and extradited to America on fraud charges for an unrelated case

He pleaded guilty to defrauding Trafigura, based in the Netherlands, who had hired him to help free two company executives arrested in Ivory Coast in 2006.

He received about $12 million to provide 'security, intelligence and public relations'.

Trafigura gave Halligen an additional $2.1 million to 'hire lobbyists and influence officials in the United States on Trafigura's behalf'.

The next day, Halligen used nearly $1.7 million of that money to buy a large home with a swimming pool.

The Washington Post reported at the time: 'Owners of Washington restaurants remember him spending thousands on long, boozy days and evenings. He traveled everywhere in a chauffeured Lincoln.'

One restaurant owner said he and his staff called Halligen 'James Bond' because of his stories of spy derring-do and his habit of tossing around huge sums of cash.

It is believed he was found at the home of his long-term girlfriend, which is among the private Henley Park gated community (pictured) in Guildford

His fraud conviction carried a maximum of 20 years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines he would serve no more than 41 months.

As he had been in custody awaiting trial for 42 months, he was freed and deported, returning to his birthplace of Dublin.

In 2014, Kevin Halligen made a rare public appearance, agreeing to be interviewed for a Channel 5 documentary - The McCanns and The Conman.

He denied that he misused money raised to find Madeleine. Answering claims that he spent the money on first class travel, luxury hotel suites and a chauffeur, he said: 'It is gross distortion of what was actually happening.'

A source close to Kate and Gerry McCann said they had terminated their contract with Oakley international in September 2008 and had not had anything to do with Kevin Halligen since.

'Clearly this is now a matter for the police and the Coroner's office,' the insider said.

A close pal of Maddies parents said: 'The man was a fantasist. He promised lots of things that never happened.

'He even claimed McCann spoke Clarence Mitchell was working for MI5!'

'Kate and Gerry and Madeleines great uncle Brian Kennedy, who had brought him on board, were bitterny disappointed with him towards the end of his contract.

'They didnt need the extra grief, they already had enough. '

In the end they took issue and had to withhold his final payment. He just ran away from his debts around the world.

The hunt for Madeleine McCann continues, more than 10-and-a-half years after her disappearance.

A team from Scotland Yard has been probing the case since 2011 at a cost to the British taxpayer of more than 11.3million. Portuguese police have lead status in the investigation.

In October 2017, the Home Office allocated an extra 154,000 to Scotland Yard to pursue a 'critical line of inquiry' and extend the search to the end of March 2018.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann said today: 'They had no further association with Kevin Halligen after the termination of his Oakley International contract nine years ago and under these circumstances they will not be commenting now. Clearly this is a matter for the police and coroners office.Actor Sean Penn sounded off on President Donald Trump's reportedly calling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations 's***hole countries' during an bi-partisan meeting regarding immigration in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Penn's commentary was published in an op-ed piece for Time Magazine on Friday, on the 8th anniversary of the 2010 Haiti earthquake that left the country devastated, killing more than 300,000 people.

'President Trumps words describing the glorious people of Africa, El Salvador and Haiti is far worse than mere insensitivity or even nationalism,' the actor wrote.

'[...] President Donald Trump is an enemy of Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and every new child born. An enemy of mankind. He is indeed an enemy of the state.'

Sean Penn published an op-ed piece for Time Magazine on Friday, on the eighth anniversary of the 2010 Haiti earthquake that left the country devastated, slamming Donald Trump for his reported comments calling Haiti and other places 's***hole countries;' Penn is seen here at the SEAN PENN J/P HRO GALA: A Gala Dinner to Benefit J/P Haitian Relief Organization, in Los Angeles on January 6

'Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?' Trump said

Penn, who is the founder of the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, wrote his opinion piece in response to disparaging statements Trump is said to have made on Thursday.

Sources told the Washington Post that the President was frustrated during talks related to protection for people in the US under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and immigrants from other countries at the White House on Thursday.

'Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?' Trump said, referring to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, according to sources briefed on the meeting.

Trump then stated the US should instead have more immigrants from places like Norway, a country with residents largely of Germanic, fair-skinned descent, and Asian countries, the sources said.

Penn was outraged by what was reportedly said by the US President, particularly at his words directed at Haitians, and came to their defense; Penn is seen here at the SEAN PENN J/P HRO GALA: A Gala Dinner to Benefit J/P Haitian Relief Organization, in Los Angeles on January 6

Penn was outraged by what was reportedly said by the US President, particularly at his words directed at Haitians.

'On this pale blue dot Earth that we call home, the Haitian people are our neighbors, to whom our support is both the policy of a great America as it is a sacred duty,' he wrote.

Penn included facts and figures that show the kind of value people from Haiti bring to America.

'While Haitian immigrants typically arrive in the United States with lower levels of education and income than the general population, they sacrifice as parents to scrap and save and to ensure that their children can make the most of the opportunity to be here. They contribute. And there is no disputing the value they add to American society,' he wrote.

'Second-generation Haitian Americans earn bachelor degrees at a rate 50 percent higher than the general US population. Fourteen percent of second-generation Haitian Americans hold a masters degree, PhD or advanced professional degree.'

Penn then explained how the success of Haitian immigrants in the US picks up the slack for humanitarian relief needed by their Caribbean homeland, and how he views that as the type of American spirit the entire country should emulate.

'[Haitian immigrant] families send nearly 10 percent of their annual household income back to Haiti in remittances  meaning that the Haitian community in the US sends over $1.5 billion each year back to Haiti,' Penn wrote.

'That sum is significantly higher than any nation-state or international agency donates to the country. The contribution and spirit of these immigrants, as American citizens and as citizens who honor their homeland, may well be the greatest symbol of what makes America great  or at least of what can.'

Penn concluded his piece with words of admonishment for Trump and his administration, and the current highly-polarized state of affairs in America; Trump is seen here boarding Airforce One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on Friday

He concluded his piece with words of admonishment for Trump and his administration, and the current highly-polarized state of affairs in America.

'The solution to our current divisiveness does not live in the White House. We will find unity only when we recognize that in our current president we have elected, perhaps for the first time in our history, an enemy of compassion,' Penn wrote.

'Indeed, we can be unified not only with each other but with Africa, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, the Middle East and beyond if we recognize President Donald Trump is an enemy of Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and every new child born. An enemy of mankind. He is indeed an enemy of the state.'

On Friday, after public outrage swelled over his reported comments, Trump tweeted the following:

'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!'

Trump said his language was 'tough,' but not as reported; a Senator who was at the meeting, however, said that was a lie

Sources also told the Post that Trump insisted that Haitians be left out of any deal made concerning immigrants to recieve protections in the US.

'Why do we need more Haitians?' Trump reportedly said. 'Take them out.'

Later, the President addressed that comment specifically, also via social media:

'Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said "take them out." Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!'

Trump addressed reports that he said to 'Take them out,' regarding any references to Haitian immigrant protections in immigration policy deal talks on Thursday

Trump is seen here arriving to sign a proclamation to honor Martin Luther King, Jr day, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Friday

Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting, refuted Trump's tweets about his language in a statement released Friday.

But Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting, refuted Trump's tweets about his language in a statement released Friday.

'In the course of his comments, President Trump said things that were hate-filled, vile, and racist,' Durbin said.

'He used those words, and he used them repeatedly. I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.'

African nations also responded to Trump's reported words, in a joint statement drafted on Friday during an emergency session of the African group of Ambassadors to the United Nations.

The members said they were 'extremely appalled' and 'strongly condemn the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks attributed to the President of the United States of America as widely reported by the media.'

The statement went on to express their 'concern at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration towards Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of colour.'

The statement also expressed solidarity with 'the people of Haiti and others that have been similarly denigrated,' as well as gave 'thanks to the American people from all walks of life and backgrounds who have condemned the remarks.'

Penn's full op-ed for Time can be read here.Moby has claimed that members of the CIA asked him to share details of Trump's alleged collusion with Russia because he had a large number of social media followers.

The DJ made the claim during a radio interview on Friday where he was asked about an Instagram post he made in February last year, a month after Trump's inauguration.

In that post, Moby, 52, said that after speaking to 'friends who worked in DC', he could tell fans that Trump 'was being blackmailed by the Russian government, not just for being peed on by Russian hookers, but for much more nefarious things.'

The reference was to the 'dirty dossier' of inaccurate accusations that was compiled by a former British intelligence officer which included a reference to the president being urinated on by prostitutes during a trip to Moscow.

Moby claims he has friends in the CIA who asked him to share details of the Trump Russia dossier last year on social media to 'put the information out there'

Moby went on to say: 'The Trump administration is in collusion with the russian government, and has been since day one.

'I'm writing these things so that when/if these things happen there will be a public record beforehand.'

In his phone interview on Friday, he defended the post to Louisville station WFPK, and said the information was reliable and came from CIA insiders who were 'truly concerned' about the president.

'Through years of touring and spending time in DC and New York, I've managed to make a few friends in the intelligence community and I guess it was about a year ago we were having dinner and they were really concerned, partially based on this Fusion GPS report on Trump essentially being run as a Russian agent.

'These are some active and former CIA agents who were truly concerned.

'They were like, "This is the Manchurian Candidate, like [Putin] has a Russian agent as the President of the United States".

'So they passed on some information to me and they said, like, "Look, you have more of a social media following than any of us do, can you please post some of these things just in a way that  sort of put it out there."'

In February last year, Moby shared this Instagram post after speaking to the 'friends' about the dossier. It had already been published by BuzzFeed

On Friday, Moby said things would get 'a lot darker' and accused the Trumps of having ties to 'organized crime, sponsors of terrorism and Russian oligarchs'. He is pictured in June

The Manchurian Candidate is a 1959 fictional book which tells the story of a US politician who is brainwashed by Communists and controlled by them when he is in power. It was made into a film in 1962.

On Friday, Moby threatened that things would get 'a lot darker' and he accused Trump, his family and his businesses, of having ties to 'organized crime, sponsors of terrorism and Russian oligarchs'.

'It's really disturbing and it's going to get quite a lot darker. I guess we should all fasten our seatbelts and gold on.'

The dossier was produced by the Democrat-linked research firm Fusion GPS and former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.

It suggested that Trump was being blackmailed by the Russians over visits to Moscow which included the alleged prostitute encounter and claimed it was proof of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.

The dossier was compiled by a former MI6 agent Christopher Steele for the political research firm Fusion GPS on behalf of Trump's political opponents. It contained an unverified account of an encounter with Russian prostitutes

Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, who is mentioned in the report, sued BuzzFeed on Tuesday. BuzzFeed published the document in January 2017

All of the claims are unverfiied and have been hotly and repeatedly denied by the Trump campaign.

Last week, Michael Cohen, Trump's long-serving lawyer who is frequently mentioned in it, filed a lawsuit against BuzzFeed who were the first to publish it in full last year.

The dossier, despite being dubbed 'Fake News' by the president and political commentators because of its unsubstantiated allegations, has become part of ongoing senate judiciary committee investigations into Trump's alleged Russian involvement.

In August, Fusion GPS boss Glenn Simpson testified about it in front of the committee. He pleaded for his testimony, in which he claimed that a person had 'died' as a result of the dossier, to be made public but Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Committee,

On Tuesday, Dem. Sen. Diane Feinstein released it in full. She has since been slammed by the president who called her 'sneaky'.The French baguette, which is 'the envy of the whole world' should be listed as an UNESCO cultural treasure, says President Emmanuel Macron.

Bakers in the country were inspired by the sucess of Italy's Naples pizza being added to the list of Unesco's cultural treasures.

The President has come out in support of the campaign to have the 'french stick' protected by the UN's cultural body.

The bakers behind the application have said it's not just the recipe, which consists of wheat flour, water, yeast and salt, that needs conserving but the name and shape too.

President Emmanuel Macron (pictured) has backed the campaign to add french baguettes to the list of Unesco national cultural treasures

President Macron told a french radio station that french baguettes were the 'envy of the world'

President Macron told French radio that 'excellence and expertise must be preserved, and that is why it should be heritage-listed' after hosting a group of master bakers at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Concerns had previously been raised about mass-produced imitations of the national treasure.

Dominique Anract, president of the National Condederation of French Patisseries and Bakeries, told food website Atabula: 'When I see the quality of bread in supermarkets, it is impossible not to get angry.

'The bread is frozen, some of it comes from Romania or who knows where, nothing is carried out in accordance of the rules of the art.'

Although the traditional baguette has already been protected in France by law since 1993 by being on Unesco's list it will be protectected from globalisation.

The President hosted a group of master bakers at the Elysee Palace in Paris (pictured) before making the announcement that he backed the application

Unesco also have a list of protected locations known as World Heritage Sites but the cultural list featuring traditons, crafts, music, dance and food.

Already on the list are yoga, spanish flamenco and Tibetan Opera as well as Belgian beer culture.

The Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluate nominations from around the world.

France have already had some successful applications including Alecon lace-making to French-style equitation.

However the UK is one of few countries that has not signed up the system to protect it's heritage and has no entries on the list.Advertisement

Britain's dry and calm weekend of weather this weekend is expected to be brought to an abrupt halt as sub-zero temperatures and snow are forecast across large parts of the country.

Heading into Monday and Tuesday, the Met Office has issued an alert for snow and ice for all of Scotland and most of Northern Ireland as the calm weather of the weekend takes a turn for the worse.

Up to four inches could fall over those two days, with forecasters warning of blizzards and frequent lightning strikes, which could cause power cuts and mass travel disruption.

Temperatures around the country are expected to plummet following this week's relatively mild weather, with some parts of the country expected to be gripped by lows of -6C next week.

Patchy mist and cloudy conditions are expected for many tomorrow, although there will be sunny spells in south-west England throughout the day.

Into the afternoon, persistent rain will fall over western Scotland and Norther Ireland, with strong south-westerly winds helpings to bring some snow over the hills in the evening.

A cloudy and wet night is expected on Sunday night, with rain from Scotland moving south-eastwards, affecting virtually all regions by Monday morning. It is expected to be its heaviest in the western parts of Scotland and gradually getting lighter the further south into England the rain continues, although heavy bursts could occur.

Remote parts of Britain will be hit by freezing winds in Scotland and snow could even fall on higher grounds.

People pack out The Long Walk in Windsor Great Park on a cold dull afternoon in Windsor, Berkshire

People were seen walking in The Long Walk in Windsor, Berkshire, with temperatures below freezing after a night of clear cloudless skies

The Windsor Duck Tour takes people down the River Thames on a cold dull afternoon as one bystander takes a picture of the yellow boat

Your browser does not support the <code>iframe</code> HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.

Overnight temperatures could plummet to -3C across most areas, dipping lower on snow-covered mountain ranges.

Meteorological Office forecaster Emma Sharples said: Cold air is set to spread across the country overnight into Monday. On Monday night and through Tuesday in Scotland and Northern Ireland we have issued a weather warning of possible hail and snow, with up to four inches possible above 200 metres.

In England and Wales, we are looking at a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers with some hail, sleet and snow mixed in, which will continue towards the end of the week. Snow showers are most likely on the hills, mountains and moors but no major accumulations are likely.

A Met Office spokesperson said:'There could be power cuts and public transport delays come Monday and Tuesday.

'Mostly in the north, all of Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland will bare the brunt of it.'

In a warning issued by the Met Office, commuters in Scotland and Northern Ireland were told to expect frequent and heavy hail from Monday evening, continuing for much of the day on Tuesday.

Travel delays on roads are also to be expected, with a small chance of cancellations to public transport. There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.

In addition some roads and pavements may become icy, increasing the chance of injuries from slips and falls.

The Met Office warning read: 'Snow showers will be heaviest and most frequent across western Scotland. The largest accumulations of snow will be over high ground with over 10 cm building up above 200 metres.

'At low levels, accumulations of the order 2-5 cm will be more typical. Showers will also be accompanied by hail and lightning at times, particularly across northern and western Scotland.

'Here, there is potential for disruption to power supplies from frequent lightning strikes. Strong winds are also expected, with the potential for temporary blizzard conditions and drifting of lying snow, particularly over high ground.

Almost the whole of Northern Ireland, and the west of England, including Liverpool, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Bristol and parts of Devon will also be affected by thick fog.

James Madden, a forecaster for Exacta Weather, warned that snow will hit 'northern and western areas' next week.

He said: 'We are currently in the calm before the storm, there are now strong signals for a potent wintry blast to arrive early next week.

'Westerly winds will clash with colder air to deliver widespread and heavy snow showers across some large swathes of the country.

'The snow will initially hit many northern and western areas and persist over several days, before impacting many other parts of the country at times during next week.

'We have to go back a few years to the last time we experienced anything of this potency, this is looking like becoming a notable and lengthy spell of widespread cold and snowy weather.'

Meanwhile, motorists have been advised to allocate more time for their journeys this evening.

A spokesman for the Met Office added: 'Patchy fog is expected to reform in places this evening and overnight. Slower journey times are possible and there is a chance of delays to flights.'

People feed the ducks and swan by the River Thames in Windsor, Berkshire today on a cold dull afternoon

A woman was spotted pushing a pram on bitterly cold and frosty morning in Aberystwyth, Wales, on Thursday. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for fog, with very low visibility, for much of WalesIt will take more than a prayer to shut this lot up.

Neighbors of a New Mexico church say they are being driven crazy by loud ringing bells and the constant playing of 'Amazing Grace'.

Bernadette Hall-Cuaron, who lives in Albuquerque, says that it is only recently that the noise coming from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church - supposed to be heavenly - has become a living hell.

Hall-Cuaron told KOB4 that about two-and-a-half months ago, the church installed a new electronic bell system and it's only gotten worse since then.

Neighbors of a Our Lady of Guadalupe church (pictured) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, say tey are being driven crazy by loud ringing bells and the constant playing of 'Amazing Grace'.

Bernadette Hall-Cuaron, says the bells will ring about 20-25 times each time the bell sequence goes off and very loudly through the speakers on the roof (pictured)

Hall-Cuaron (pictured) said the pastor told her the bells are a call to prayer, but she believes they're having the opposite effect

'It's not just one bell. It rings about 20-25 times each time the bell sequence goes off,' Hall-Cuaron told the news station.

'The bells ring multiple times a day during the week, and play 'Amazing Grace' during the week, and then they run multiple times again during the weekend.'

Hall-Cuaron said speakers on the roof of the church blast the bells multiple times a day and can wake her up.

'Making it very hard to work from home, focus on your work, rest if you're not feeling well,' she said. 'And as far as I know, no one in the neighborhood was ever consulted to the installation and the volume of the bells being installed at the church.'

Hall-Cuaron said she's called the church to complain, but she's had no luck.

'And I spoke with the clerk, office manager, and the pastor and have gotten no help whatsoever,' she said.

'Since I called the church (pictured), they have added "Amazing Grace" every day. "Amazing Grace" rings off at 8 am every single day - a full verse,' Hall-Cuaron said

Pastor Rev Joe Vigil says hes responded to the complaints by lowering the volume and moved the bells from 6am to 8am but that the bells will not be turned off completely

Hall-Cuaron said the pastor told her the bells are a call to prayer, but she believes they're having the opposite effect.

'Because of the volume and frequency of the bells, this is not calling people to the church,' she said.

'It is keeping them from wanting to go to the church because it's so annoying.

'Since I called the church, they have added "Amazing Grace" every day. "Amazing Grace" rings off at 8 am every single day - a full verse.'

Pastor Rev Joe Vigil says hes responded to the complaints by lowering the volume and moved the bells from 6am to 8am but that the bells will not be turned off completely.

He also said he hears from others in the neighborhood who love the bells.Saudi Arabia's richest man has been moved from the hotel he was being detained in and thrown in jail after refusing to pay the government 728million.

Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was arrested two months ago in what the Saudi government called an 'anti-corruption sweep'.

His situation worsened earlier this week when he was moved from his restricted quarters at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton Hotel to the high security Al Ha'ir prison.

Prince Alwaleed's leverage to demand a trial or negotiate a deal is dwindling by the day.

Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (pictured) has been moved to Al Ha'ir prison after refusing to reportedly pay the Saudi government 728million

He has for the last two months been held at the Riyadh Ritz with 200 other princes and top officials.

That number dwindled after many former detainees capitulated to the new Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Alwaleed bin Talal was one of the few who held out.

He was hung upside down and beaten during this time.

He reportedly refused to pay the 728million bin Salman demanded from him, as well as declining to hand over control of some of his investment companies.

Prince bin Salman came to power last summer. Straight away he began his anti-corruption sweep, arresting members for the royal family as well as influential officials.

He has for the last two months been held at the Riyadh Ritz with 200 other princes and top officials

Prince bin Salman (pictured) came to power last summer. Straight away he began his anti-corruption sweep arrested members for the royal family as well as influential officials

He has since invested heavily in Saudi Arabia's military defences against Iran.

He also took moves to strengthen ties with the US and Israel, moving to purge to country of anti-Semitic and anti-American Islamic clerics.

The arrest and subsequent incarceration of the 200 princes and top officials - potential roadblocks to his power grab - came as part of his economic reforms.

Earlier this week the Saudi government seized the Binladen construction group and arrested some of the Bin Laden family - relatives of Osama Bin Laden.

Reuters reported the government took over managerial control and may also erase the 21billion in debt it owes to the company.

Prince bin Salman has so far avoided condemnation from allies in the Trump administration and elsewhere.A group of former nuclear launch officers have called President Donald Trump a 'danger to the country and the world' after his recent tweet to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declaring that his nuclear button is 'much bigger & more powerful'.

Members of Global Zero, an international nuclear disarmament advocacy group, sent a letter to Congress on Thursday asking it to step in and regulate Trump's power to use nuclear weapons.

The concerned officers questioned the president's 'temperament, judgement and indifference to expert advice' declaring that he 'poses a clear and present danger to the country and the world'.

'Every American president has absolute authority to order the first use of nuclear weapons,' the letter read. 'No one  not the secretary of defense, not the attorney general, not Congress  can veto that order. There are no reliable safeguards in place to contain this power.'

A group of former nuclear launch officers called President Donald Trump a 'clear and present danger to the county and the world' following his nuclear button tweet to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

Earlier this month, Trump told Kim Jong Un that his nuclear button was 'much bigger & more powerful' this his

The Twitter post came after Kim Jong Un said that his nuclear button remains on his desk at all time

The officers, who first 'sounded their alarm' about Trump in a letter sent to Congress shortly after his presidential win in 2016, said they felt an urgency to send another because Trump's Twitter post to Kim Jon Un was 'dangerous and risks catastrophic miscalculation'.

Earlier this month, Trump fired off a tweet about his 'powerful' nuclear button after Kim Jong Un made a comment that his button is always on his desk.

'Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button,' the president said in the January 2 tweet. 'But it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!'

The letter said Trump's threats of 'fire and fury' and to destroy Kim Jong Un's dictatorship 'undercut diplomatic efforts and increase the likelihood of stumbling into conflict'.

The former officers said Trump's (left) tweet to Kim Jong Un (right) was 'dangerous and risks catastrophic miscalculation'

They asked for some of the proposals submitted to Congress to be considered saying that they would regulate when and how Trump could 'order the first use of nuclear weapons'.

'Whether it's assigning the defense secretary and attorney general a role in certifying a launch order, requiring a Congressional Declaration of War before the first use of nuclear weapons, or ending the policy of nuclear first use entirely, any of these common-sense measures would reduce the risk we now face,' the group said.

They added: 'We and our nation cannot abide being hostages to the mood swings of a petulant and foolish commander-in-chief. No individual, especially Donald Trump, should hold the absolute power to destroy nations.'

The letter was signed by 17 former nuclear launch officers whose jobs were to fire missiles if the president ordered to do so.The BBC is facing new calls to sack presenter John Humphrys after a 'damning' recording of his gender pay gap conversation with Jon Sopel leaked online.

Earlier this week a transcript revealed that Mr Humphrys, who presents Radio 4's flagship Today programme, asked his colleague how much of his salary he would be prepared to 'hand over' as women claim greater pay.

The joke caused fury among the BBC's female stars and several threatened to quit - but now the newly leaked audio recording has shed new light on the tone of the conversation.

It had been suggested that North America editor Mr Sopel had been backed into a corner by his veteran colleague and did 'not want to have the conversation at all' - something which the newly released tape appears to confirm, as leaked by Buzzfeed.

The BBC's John Humphrys is facing an angry backlash after he appeared to mock its on-going gender pay row in an off-air chat with North America editor, Jon Sopel. Fellow Radio 4 presenter Jane Garvey said the comments show women 'exactly what we're up against'

Furious listeners on Twitter said that the exchange 'did not sound like a joke' after Mr Humphrys' claim that it was merely banter between two old colleagues.

Martin Sloan wrote: 'Wow. This comes over even worse than the transcript. Sopel clearly not enjoying the conversation. Hopefully this will finally lead to Humphrys being moved on from Today.'

Sarah O'Connell added: 'The way they are sniggering with each other (but they have the good fortune to be in the position to laugh at a woman who earns less for the same job). Sopel sounds uneasy.

'Still shows what women are up against behind closed doors - these are the type of men we ask for equal pay.'

Another added: 'This audio is damning. It is the kind of 'joking' your wildly out-of-touch grandparents might make about race or sexuality. You know it hides blind resentment. Humphrys should be off Today and out of the BBC.'

Carrie Gracie, who earned 135,000 a year, quit in protest at widespread 'pay discrimination'  turning down a 45,000 raise  and has moved to another role in the newsroom

BBC bosses were said to be 'deeply unimpressed' after the veteran broadcaster appeared to make light of Carrie Gracie's pay dispute.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'This was an ill-advised off air conversation which the presenter regrets. The BBC is committed to getting its pay structures right and, as we have said, we are conducting a comprehensive analysis of presenter pay.

'PwC are working with us on this to ensure an objective external assessment of how we have set pay in the past, what we need to do differently going forward, and what further action we need to take immediately. We will publish that in the coming weeks.'

Mr Humphrys was chatting off-air with his colleague when he teased him about his involvement in the story, asking: 'How much of your salary are you prepared to hand over to Carrie Gracie to keep her?'

In a conversation shortly before Humphrys jointly presented Monday's show with Miss Gracie, he admitted he took a pay cut shortly after the BBC rich list revealed he made up to 650,000 a year.

Referring to the cuts, the 74-year-old claimed to have 'handed over already more than you f***ing earn'.

'But I'm still left with more than anybody else and that seems to me entirely just.'

Miss Gracie (pictured) had accused the BBC of a 'secretive and illegal' pay culture and said she 'no longer trusts bosses to give me an accurate answer'

Humphrys continued: 'Oh dear God she's actually suggested you should lose money. You know that don't you?'

Miss Gracie, who earned 135,000 a year, quit in protest at widespread 'pay discrimination' - turning down a 45,000 raise - and has moved to another role in the newsroom.

BBC Director General Tony Hall is under increasing pressure to sort out the mess the corporation has got into over pay

Another presenter, Miriam O'Reilly, spoke out about the comments today after refusing to be interviewed by Humphrys about the issue on air because he was 'not impartial'.

Ms O'Reilly, who won a tribunal against the corporation in 2011, said she was stood down from speaking about the issue on the Today programme this morning.

She tweeted: 'I believe the person who made the decision to stand me down this morning was concerned I would mention the leaked tape on air.

'If Mr Humphrys was interviewing me I quite possibly would have - but why not - he would have done the same - it's called freedom of speech.'

She added: 'Aside from BBC pay discrimination, it's clear there is one rule for male presenters at the BBC and one for women.'

Miss Gracie, who earned 135,000 a year, quit in protest at widespread 'pay discrimination' - turning down a 45,000 raise - and has moved to another role in the newsroom.

She accused the BBC of a 'secretive and illegal' pay culture and said she 'no longer trusts bosses to give me an accurate answer'.

She said she had warned director-general Lord Hall last August that she would resign if the broadcaster did not pay men and women the same for the same jobs.An American nurse who fantasised about killing and eating a teenage girl and was in 2014 sentenced for nine years in Britain for sexual grooming has returned to America, U.S. media reports say.

Dale Bolinger, dubbed the 'Canterbury Cannibal' plotted to meet the girl with the intention of raping, killing and eventually eating her.

He bought an axe the day before he planned to meet the 14-year-old, called 'Eva', on the Dark Fetish Network website.

Photos of Dale Bolinger have been widely circulated in the U.S. media

Bolinger bought an ax the day before he planned to meet the 14-year-old, called 'Eva', on the Dark Fetish Network website.

Bolinger behaviour at his trial was described by the judge as 'abhorrent, shocking and dangerous'

Bolinger took a selfie of himself posing with an axe which he sent to the 14-year-old he wanted to have sex with, kill and eat

No show: The male nurse is alleged to have planned to meet the 14-year-old at Ashford International station, pictured, but she never arrived

Courtesy: KMTV

He also chatted online about beheading and eating girls. The judge at his trial said his behaviour was 'abhorrent, shocking and dangerous'.

Now people living in a Blair neighborhood of Nebraska are on high alert, with parents keeping a close eye on their children, following reports that Bolinger is living in the city.

It is not clear how Bolinger was able to return to the U.S. so soon after his conviction, although officials in Blair say he has served his time in Britain, has not committed any crimes in America and has registered as a sex offender as legally required.

A 6news report says that one of its reporters knocked on the door where Bolinger is staying and the man who answered said he is a friend of the family who are 'hosting him' for a short time 'until he can get back on his feet'.

Psychiatrists determined that Bolinger was not suffering from any form of mental illness

Families in Blair are now consulting lawyers to consider any legal options they now have, the station reported.

'This is a great neighbourhood and hopefully we can figure a way to get through this,' one concerned father said.

The Washington County Attorney and the sheriff's office are aware of his presence and are reported to be organising more patrols in this area.

Officials say Bolinger has the right to stay since he has served his time overseas.

A former friend of Bolinger said in 2014 that one day he invited her to his home in Brockley, south east London, and tried to suffocate her with a rag soaked in noxious dry-cleaning fluid as she sat in his lounge.

Urlene King said she had been friends with Bolinger for 17 years before the incident happened.

People living in the Blair neighborhood of Nebraska are on high alert following news of Bolinger's release

'I was sitting on the couch with my back to the door when he attacked me,' Ms King told the Daily Mirror. I couldn't breathe and began to feel all giddy - I thought he was trying to rape me.

'I finally broke free and said, 'What the f*** do you think you're doing?'

'He staggered back and said, 'Oh my God what have I done.' But he looked different, nothing like the Dale I knew.'

Bolinger, then of Davidson Road, Canterbury, confessed to having cannibalistic thoughts from the age of six but claimed his interest was all 'in fantasy'.

The former nurse at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate admitted 10 other charges, including administering a poison or noxious substance afterthe attack on Ms King.

He also pleaded guilty to making indecent pseudo photographs of children and seven counts of publishing an obscene article.

Denial: Bolinger is said to have told police his cannibalism fetish was 'less to do with sexual gratification and more to do with anger' during an police interview conducted when he was first arrested in February 2013

Psychiatrists determined that Bolinger was not suffering from any form of mental illness.

The American national, who was married for 34 years and had three children, was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order to stop him using the internet without permission.Guardsman Dean Rudman was last seen at All Bar One in Waterloo on Tuesday evening

A soldier last seen in the company of a young woman has gone missing following a night out in central London.

Guardsman Dean Rudman of the Scots Guards was last seen at the All Bar One pub in Waterloo on 21:40 on Tuesday, January 9.

It is believed the 29-year-old guardsman boarded a train to Guildford.

He has not been seen since.

Guardsman Rudman is normally based at Wellington Barracks in Westminster but has links to Canterbury and Durham.

He was last seen wearing dark trousers and a dark jacket. He is described as being of slim build with dark hair, and a moustache.

The Metropolitan Police said the disappearance is very much out of character and his friends, family and colleagues are very concerned.

Officers said he may be in the company of a white woman of slim build with long highlighted hair.

Anyone with information about Guardsman Rudman's disappearance is asked to contact Westminster Police on 07500 766 462 or contact charity Missing People on www.missingpeople.org.uk

If anyone has any information as to Dean's whereabouts, they are asked to call Westminster police on 07500 766462 or contact the charity Missing People viaA Civil Defense employee is set to be retrained after a shocking blunder on Saturday morning, when a mistaken alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile sent thousands fleeing for shelter.

The false alarm was caused by a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee who 'pushed the wrong buttons' during an internal drill timed to coincide with a shift handover at 8.07am. The all-clear phone alert was not sent until 38 minutes later.

Incredibly, officials said the employee who made the mistake wasn't aware of it until mobile phones in the command center began displaying the alert.

'This guy feels bad, right. He's not doing this on purpose - it was a mistake on his part and he feels terrible about it,' said EMA Administrator Vern Miyagi in a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Miyagi, a retired Army major general, said the employee had been with the agency for 'a while' and that he would be 'counseled and drilled so this never happens again' - but stopped short of saying whether there would be disciplinary measures.

Hawaii Governor David Ige apologized at the press conference: 'I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused. I, too, am extremely upset about this and am doing everything I can do to immediately improve our emergency management systems, procedures and staffing.'

Panicked Hawaiians ran for their lives and even lowered loved ones through manhole covers after receiving this alert at 8.07am local time: 'BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL'.

A similar message flashed up on local television networks and brought live sports games to a halt. Actor Jim Carrey, like many others, said he woke up thinking he had 'ten minutes to live'.

Residents of Hawaii are furiously asking why it took officials a whole 38 minutes to correct a missile threat warning that was sent out on Saturday morning, sparking panic across the state

EMA Administrator Vern Miyagi (left) and Hawaii Governor David Ige (right) apologized for the error at a press conference Saturday afternoon

Video appears to show a family taking shelter in the sewer through a manhole cover after a false alert of an inbound ballistic missile sparked panic in Hawaii on Saturday morning

Terror: People began to flee for their lives after the warning was sent that a ballistic missile was inbound to Hawaii

Actor Jim Carrey wrote that he woke up thinking that he had 'ten minutes to live'

Just got this text from a friend re: Hawaii:



My friends are in a fall out shelter in Hawaii due to the missile threat and hanging with Magic Johnson.



Get a false nuclear holocaust alarm, hang with a legend. Only in 2018...  pic.twitter.com/Lg0AwJUy5D  John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) January 13, 2018

On the H-3, a major highway north of Honolulu, vehicles sat empty after drivers left them to run to a nearby tunnel after the alert showed up, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Fearing a nuclear attack, terrified residents and tourists including basketball legend Magic Johnson flocked to shelters and into their garages.

TIMELINE OF HAWAII BALLISTIC MISSILE ALERT ERROR Officials have given the following timeline for the false alert on Saturday. Approx. 8.05am: A routine internal test during a shift change was initiated. This was a test that involved the Emergency Alert System, the Wireless Emergency Alert, but no warning sirens. 8.07am: A warning was erroneously triggered statewide by an employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA). 8.10am: State Adjutant Maj. Gen. Joe Logan validated with the US Pacific Command that there was no missile launch. Honolulu Police Department notified of the false alarm by HI-EMA. 8.13am: State Warning Point issues a cancellation of the Civil Danger Warning Message. This would have prevented the initial alert from being rebroadcast to phones that may not have received it yet. For instance, if a phone was not on at 8.07am, it would not receive the alert later on. 8.20am: HI-EMA issues public notification of cancellation via their Facebook and Twitter accounts. 8.24am: Governor Ige retweets HI-EMAs cancellation notice. 8.30am: Governor posts cancellation notification to his Facebook page. 8.45am: After getting authorization from FEMA Integral Public Alert and Warning System, HI-EMA issued a 'Civil Emergency Message' remotely, cancelling the false alert. Advertisement

Golfers in Honolulu for the US PGA Tour's Sony Open were also thrown into panic and confusion by the mistaken alert

'Under mattresses in the bathtub with my wife, baby and in laws,' tweeted American golfer John Peterson. 'Please lord let this bomb threat not be real.'

The mistake was corrected by government agencies on Twitter 12 minutes later but it took 38 minutes for another phone alert to be issued confirming to residents that it was a false alarm. Some say they never received a second phone alert at all.

Miyagi said that there was no template in the system for an alert retraction, and so the all-clear message had to be manually entered and activated, accounting for some of the delay.

The EMA administrator said that cooling tensions between North and South Korea should have been a signal to residents that the alert was mistaken, urging Hawaiians to 'keep informed on what's going on on the tension between the two countries and monitor that.'

'I deeply apologize for the trouble and heartbreak that we caused today,' said Miyagi. 'We've spent the last few months trying to get ahead of this whole threat, so that we could provide as much notification and preparation to the public. We made a mistake.'

Officials are suspending further drills until the incident is fully investigated.

State emergency managers have also already implemented a two-person verification for alerts and an automated all-clear signal that can be used in the future.

When it became clear on Saturday morning that the ballistic missile alert had been a false alarm, the public's panic turned to fury.

'Imagine this for 37 agonizing minutes before it is deemed a false alarm,' said one person.

Honolulu is seen on Saturday morning, when a false alert of an inbound ballistic missile sent residents running for shelter in terror

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted this out, 12 minutes after the threat was issued to confirm the error. This post was made at 8.20am local time, 1.20pm EST

Officials scrambled to notify citizens that there was no inbound ballistic missile threat, but it took 38 minutes to issue an all-clear phone alert because it had to be sent manually

Lawmakers slammed the mistake as 'inexcusable' and said 'the whole state was terrified'.

Another critic said the delay in phone alerts meant that only people with access to social media would have known it was a false alarm straight away.

'It took until 8.45am to state it was a false alarm. 37 minutes where anyone in Hawaii who doesn't sit on Twitter dot com all day thought their island might be incinerated.'

Governor David Ige apologized for the false alarm of an inbound ballistic missile

'Fire people. Fix it,' one outraged commentator said.

At the same time as the phone alert, an emergency alert was broadcast across radio and television networks.

The TV and radio alert told viewers and listeners: 'If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows.

'If you are driving, pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter.'

The second message, sent at 8.45am, said: 'There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm.'

Calls from frightened residents inundated Civil Defense immediately asking for more information or advice after the first alert was issued.

People who say they got through to the office were then told it was a mistake that was caused by an employee who 'pushed the wrong buttons' during a drill.

One woman called 911 in panic and said she was told by the operator that staff were performing a drill when 'someone pushed the wrong buttons'.

'Called 911...Operator said it's a drill of Civil Defense Emergency System but someone pushed the wrong buttons..

'No missile is headed toward the State of Hawaii REPEAT....NO MISSILE IS HEADED TOWARD THE STATE OF HAWAII.'

A Hawaii Civil Defense official is seen above on Saturday writing instructions for dispatchers fielding calls from terrified locals

Hawaii Civil Defense startled Hawaii residents early Saturday, by sending a Civil Defense alert via cellular phones that a nuclear missile was heading towards Hawaii and to take cover

FCC LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO FALSE HAWAII MISSILE ALERT Ajit Pai, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, confirmed that an investigation will be carried out The US Federal Communications Commission said on Saturday it was launching a full investigation into a false emergency alert that said a ballistic missile was headed for Hawaii, the chairman of the commission said. The alerts to Hawaii cellphone users were issued at about 8.07am local time, saying 'ballistic missile threat inbound' and urging residents to seek shelter immediately. The message also appeared on Hawaii television stations, according to news reports. The alert was officially canceled about 38 minutes later. The FCC has jurisdiction over the emergency alert system. Earlier this week, Pai said the FCC would vote at its January meeting to enhance the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts, which have been in place since 2012. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai posted on Twitter that the FCC was launching a full investigation and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the commission must find out what went wrong. 'Emergency alerts are meant to keep us and our families safe, not to create false panic. We must investigate and we must do better,' Rosenworcel wrote on Twitter. CNN reported Hawaiian Governor David Ige told reporters the mistake was the result of human error and someone at the state emergency management agency pushed the 'wrong button' during a shift change. Wireless carriers do not prepare or write the alerts but they run simultaneously on all networks. The FCC is working to better target alerts to impacted people and will vote this month on a proposal to 'more precisely target these alerts to affected communities.' Pai is proposing that providers 'deliver these alerts to match the geographic area specified by the officials sending the alert with no more overshoot than one-tenth of a mile,' he said in a statement earlier this week. Advertisement

Governor Ige confirmed as much when he spoke to CNN later in the morning.

'It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button,' he said.

The Civil Defense phone lines were consistently busy on Saturday and the Department of Defense has not responses to questions on the matter.

It is not clear yet whether the person responsible for the error will lose their job.

The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the error.

President Donald Trump was playing golf in West Palm Beach when the false missile alert went out.

The White House confirmed later in the day that Trump had been briefed on the mistake.

'The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise,' said spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.

Hawaii is within the range of the latest intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea has been testing. It, along with Alaska, are the most vulnerable states to a threat

Kim Jong Un has test launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles in the last year, some of which have the capacity to reach Hawaii

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted 12 minutes after the first phone alert was issued to say it was a false alarm.

The state's governor David Ige quickly retweeted the post as did other lawmakers.

They vowed to get to the bottom of how such a colossal error was made.

'There is nothing more important to Hawai'i than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process,' Senator Brian Schatz tweeted.

He went on: 'What happened today is totally inexcusable.

'The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.'

Terrified residents later described how they packed into their garages to take shelter and sent messages to each other to say: 'I love you'.

Videos circulated of children being dropped into storm drains for shelter though those are unconfirmed.

There were also unconfirmed reports of tourists being escorted into a 'bomb shelter' at Pearl Harbour.

Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz said the mistake was caused by 'human error'. They slammed it as being 'inexcusable' given the rising tensions between the US and North KoreaA California man who was accused of faking a hostage situation for a 'swatting' prank last month that resulted in an innocent 28-year-old Kansas man being shot dead has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Tyler Barriss made his first court appearance Friday in Kansas via a video from jail after he was extradited from Los Angeles.

In addition to manslaughter, the 25-year-old gamer was charged with making a false alarm and interference with a law enforcement officer.

Tyler Barriss was charged with involuntary manslaughter in court on Friday after making a fake 911 call in December for a 'swatting' prank that resulted in the death of a Kansas man

Andrew Finch, 28, was shot and killed by an officer after Barriss told a 911 dispatcher he was had shot his father and was holding his family hostage at gunpoint

The shooting happened on the 1000 block of McCormick Street in Wichita

His bond was set at $500,000.

Barriss called Wichita police on December 28 claiming that he had shot his father in the head and was holding his mother and brother at gunpoint.

He also claimed that he had poured gasoline inside the home and 'might just set it on fire'.

Finch, a father-of-two, was not the man Barriss was feuding with

He allegedly gave a 911 dispatcher the address of a home on West McCormick Street in Wichita, Kansas. The house belonged to Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father-of-two.

A SWAT team responded to the call, and Finch was shot dead as he opened the front door. Police have said that Finch moved his hand toward his waistband and an officer, fearing he was reaching for a gun, fired and killed him.

Finch's mother, Lisa Finch, has said that he was unarmed and called his death 'murder'.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said he is still reviewing whether charges will be filed against the officer. He's awaiting a final autopsy report.

Once he makes a determination that decision will be made public, he said following Barriss' hearing.

'There is no other situation quite like this to reference,' Bennett said. 'I am not going to stand right here and say I am not considering anything else. That would be untrue.'

Police said Barriss made the call following a dispute over a $2 bet in a Call of Duty tournament

An involuntary manslaughter charge carries a sentence of 31 to 136 months in prison. Pictured January 3 in court for his extradition hearing

Barriss (left) allegedly meant to give officers the address of the man he was fighting with. Finch (right) was the wrong person

The ongoing investigation is also trying to determine if other people were involved. Bennett said that involves a forensic analysis of machines, phones and computers.

Investigators believe Barriss made the bogus 911 call from Los Angeles after getting in a dispute over the online video game Call of Duty. It's believed that the bet was over $2.

As retaliation, Barriss gave police what he believed to be the address of the man he was feuding with. Finch was not involved in the dispute.

Before his arrest, Barriss is believed to have given an interview with DramaAlert, a YouTube channel, denying he's responsible for Finch's death.

Finch's mother Lisa Finch (pictured) said her son was not armed when the officer pulled the trigger and killed him

Finch's family is left mourning his loss. Pictured above is Francis Finch (left) Andrew Finch's nephew and Tawny Unruh (right), the mother of Andrew Finch's two children

'It's my personal belief that I didn't cause someone to die,' a man claiming to be Barriss said. 'Of course I was involved.'

'The call was made by me, but as far as the whole incident, you could point the finger at a few different people. You could point the finger at the cop that shot him, you could point the finger at the guy who made the call. You could point the finger at the person that gave the address.'

Bennett said in Kansas an involuntary manslaughter charge carries a sentence of 31 to 136 months, depending on the defendant's criminal past. Barriss has a history of making hoax 911 calls, police said.Iran has lifted its ban on the popular Telegram messaging app two weeks after more than 21 people were killed in anti-governments.

The country's semi-official ILNA news agency said that the service - which has some 40 million users in Iran - is now accessible once again through both wi-fi and mobile networks.

The Associated Press spoke on Saturday to residents from several cities across the country, including Shiraz, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Rasht and Oroumieh, who all confirmed that they now have access to the app.

Iran shut down social media in an attempt to stop unrest from spreading widely as deadly anti-government protests continue across the country earlier this month

Twelve people have been reported dead during a fourth straight night of protests in Iran, including reports of three people killed in the city of Isfahan

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (pictured) dismissed the violent country-wide protests as 'nothing', in a bid to downplay their significance

Protesters clashed with security forces pver the new year as they tried to storm a police station in Qahderijan, a town of 30,000 in the Isfahan region of central Iran

Iran shut down Telegram and the picture-sharing app Instagram during the protests in early January, saying rioters demanding cheaper food and more jobs were using them to spread unrest.

Soon afterwards the authorities restored access to Instagram but Telegram had remained banned.

In other developments, Iran on Saturday rejected any modification of its nuclear deal with world powers after US President Donald Trump demanded tough new measures to keep the agreement alive.

Iran 'will not accept any amendments in this agreement, be it now or in the future, and it will not allow any other issues to be linked to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)', the foreign ministry said in a statement, using the 2015 deal's technical name.

The deal is backed by all the partners to the agreement apart from the U.S. with Russia warning Washington on Saturday that withdrawing would be 'a big miscalculation'.

President Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions on Friday - as required every few months to stay in the agreement - but demanded that European partners work with Washington to 'fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw'.

The other parties to the agreement - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union - have all said the deal is working and that Iran is complying fully with its commitments.

Britain and Germany said Friday they had taken note of Mr Trump's latest decision and would confer with France before responding.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron that changing the nuclear deal would increase the chances of it remaining in place.

'Trump's remarks should be taken seriously, and whoever wants to keep the nuclear deal would be wise to fix it', a statement from Netanyahu's office read after the premier spoke to Macron by telephone.

Many Iranians access Telegram using virtual private networks (VPNs) and other tools and were able to bypass government filtering of the Internet, residents said.

But they said hundreds of companies using the app for their marketing and sales had been hard-hit by the social media restrictions, and President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying many people had lost their jobs.

Thousands of government supporters staged rallies in a backlash against the protests, which presented the biggest threat to the Islamic government since widespread unrest in 2009 over alleged election fraud.

Iran continues to impose restrictions on the internet and social media, with Facebook and Twitter still blocked.US Representative John Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, has said he will not attend the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump, in an interview on Friday.

'I cannot in all good conscious be in a room, with what he has said about so many Americans,' Lewis told NBC's Katie Tur, following Trump reportedly calling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations 's***hole countries' during a bi-partisan meeting regarding immigration in the Oval Office on Thursday.

'I just can't do it. I wouldn't be honest with myself,' he added, after saying racism 'must be in [Trump's] DNA.'

Lewis has represented Georgia in Congress for more than 30 years and marched alongside Dr Martin Luther King, Jr during the Civil Rights movement.

Scroll down for video...

US Representative John Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, has said he will not attend the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump, in an interview on Friday, after saying that 'racism must be in Trump's DNA'

The member of Congress had a hard time reconciling what Trump reportedly said on Thursday with a public ceremony honoring Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, on Friday.

'I think the words that he spoke, and the action that he took to honor Dr Martin Luther King, Jr are incompatible,' Lewis said.

'You cannot speak the words of tolerance of peace and love and nonviolence and then put down a group of people. A nation of people, because of the color of their skin, or what part of the world they may come from.'

Trump is seen here before signing a proclamation to honor Martin Luther King, Jr day, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Friday, which Lewis said did not make sense given Trump's reported comments from Thursday, disparaging Haiti, El Salvador and African nations

Sources told the Washington Post that the President was frustrated during talks related to protection for people in the US under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and immigrants from other countries at the White House on Thursday.

'Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?' Trump said, referring to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, according to sources briefed on the meeting.

Trump then stated the US should instead have more immigrants from places like Norway, a country with residents largely of Germanic, fair-skinned descent, and Asian countries, the sources said.

Lewis had a hard time reconciling what Trump reportedly said on Thursday with a public ceremony honoring Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (pictured), on Friday

Lewis discussed Trump's reported comments about Haiti, El Salvador and African nations with NBC's Katie Tur on Friday

Tur asked Lewis what he thought Dr King, Jr, might say to Trump, if he were here today.

Lewis said: 'He would say, "Mr President wake up. You need to do what is right. You need to be a little bit more human. You need to do what is fair, and respect the dignity and worth of every human being. And stop putting people down because of their race, their color or their nationality."'

On Friday, after public outrage swelled over his reported comments, Trump tweeted the following:

'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!'

Trump reportedly called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations 's***hole countries' on Thursday

On Friday, Trump denied calling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations 's***hole countries'

Trump addressed reports that he said to 'Take them out,' regarding any references to Haitian immigrant protections in immigration policy deal talks on Thursday

Sources also told the Post that Trump insisted that Haitians be left out of any deal made concerning immigrants to recieve protections in the US.

'Why do we need more Haitians?' Trump reportedly said. 'Take them out.'

Later, the President addressed that comment specifically, also via social media:

'Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said "take them out." Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!'

But Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting, refuted Trump's tweets about his language in a statement released Friday.

'In the course of his comments, President Trump said things that were hate-filled, vile, and racist,' Durbin said.

'He used those words, and he used them repeatedly. I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.'

Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting, refuted Trump's tweets about his language in a statement released Friday

Lewis had a lot to say about the exchange described to the Post, and by Durbin; Lewis is seen here in Washington, DC on October 4

Lewis had a lot to say about the exchange described to the Post, and by Durbin.

'It is unreal, it is unbelievable to hear the President of the United States of America saying something like this during this day and age,' Lewis said.

'We've come so far, we've made so much progress and sometimes I feel like Mr Trump is not really in tune with what the American people are all about.

'To redeem the soul of America, to create what Dr Martin Luther King, Jr called the beloved community.

'We are one people, we are one family, we all live in the same house. The American House.

'And I don't think language like this is in keeping with the future of our country or the future of the planet.'

Tur asked if Lewis thought Trump was racist.

'I think the words and his action tend to speak like one who knows something about being a racist. It must be in his DNA, in his makeup, but its frightening to have someone in te office of the President in 2018 speaking the way that he's speaking

'We've come too far, we've made too much progress, to go back, to fan the flames of racism and bigotry.'

Lewis then recounted words of inspiration from the leader of the Catholic church.

'When the Pope spoke to a joint session of Congress, he said, "We all are immigrants from some other place,"' Lewis said.

Republican Congress member Jim Renacci from Ohio said, 'I know a lot of the times he's saying what people are thinking. I always say judge the President after four years. Let's judge the President after what we've done. Let's not judge the President on what he says'

Tur then asked what Lewis thought about a statement made in support of Trump by Republican Congress member Jim Renacci, who represents Ohio in the House.

Renacci said: 'I know a lot of the times he's saying what people are thinking. I always say judge the President after four years. Let's judge the President after what we've done. Let's not judge the President on what he says.'

Tur asked Lewis if people believe that Trump is saying what people are thinking, if that makes his reported comments OK. Lewis responded, saying absolutely not.

'It is not OK. It is not right. It is not in keeping with the future of America,' Lewis said.

'We are people of color. We're black. We're white. We're Latino. We're Asian-American. We're Native American. We're Muslim. We're Christian. We're Jewish.

'And as Dr King said over and over again, "We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. If not, we will perish as fools."

Lewis quoted A. Philip Randolph (pictured), who said, 'Maybe our mothers and our fathers all came to this great land in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now;' Randolph is seen here in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln, the President who freed the slaves, in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963

'There was another Black leader by the name of A. Philip Randolph who spoke during the March on Washington in 2963. He said, "Maybe our mothers and our fathers all came to this great land in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now."

The President must be a leader, he must be a headlight, and not a tail light.'

Lewis said Democrats should not run their elections on impeaching Trump, but instead run for election and re-election on their records and on the message that Democrats want to unify this country.

'I think that voters will get the message that we want to create one America,' he said.Surveillance videos show the moment an 80-year-old woman bravely fought off a thief trying to steal her purse on Tuesday night.

The video, released by the NYPD, shows the woman entering an apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when suddenly a man follows her in, comes up from behind and grabs her purse.

As he is attempts to make a getaway she turns around and grabs the handle and starts pulling back.

Surveillance videos show the moment an 80-year-old woman bravely fought off a thief trying to steal her purse on Tuesday night

After a few seconds of tugging back and forth in the apartment building's door frame the woman falls to the ground

After a few seconds of tugging back and forth in the apartment building's door frame the woman falls to the ground.

She then screamed out, causing another resident to come out of his apartment to help.

The suspect continued attempting to take her purse until the man got closer, at which point he gave up and ran off.

A second man ran off with the suspect, and police say the man was standing outside the building as a lookout.

Authorities said that the two men and a third were part of a similar robbery last month, according to NBC New York.

She then screamed out, causing another resident to come out of his apartment to help. The suspect continued attempting to take her purse until the man got closer, at which point he gave up and ran off

Authorities said that the two men and a third were part of a similar robbery last month, according to NBC New York

Police have asked anyone with information about the suspects to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

The trio snatched the purse of a 23-year-old woman who tried to fight back but was eventually pushed to the ground.

They also took her headphones and $180 in cash, according to police.

Both women suffered minor injuries in their attacks, but nothing that required hospitalization.

Police have asked anyone with information about the suspects to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.Tourists heading to Cuba are being refused American dollars by Marks & Spencer because of US trade sanctions  even though Britain has no such restrictions in force.

Writer Colin Randall tried to exchange 175 for US currency at his local M&S branch on Friday but was turned down when he revealed he was visiting the communist island.

Mr Randall, 69, said: A supervisor said, It is US policy. I said youre a British company, I am British, Im going to Cuba, which is an independent country  what are you doing imposing Donald Trumps desires on me? 

Writer Colin Randall tried to exchange 175 for US currency at his local M&S branch on Friday but was turned down when he revealed he was visiting the communist island due to American trade sanctions imposed in the 1960s

Tourists and holidaymakers heading to Cuba are being refused American dollars by Marks & Spencer

Mr Randall and his wife Joelle, from Ealing, West London, have visited Cuba several times and found US dollars were warmly welcomed around the country.

America has imposed trade sanctions on Cuba since 1960.

Last night M&S Bank said: To prevent the violation of US sanctions on Cuba, many UK travel money providers do not supply US dollars to customers visiting Cuba.It was 99 days after Louis White was born that his mother Alison was allowed to swaddle him in a little blue coat and fleece hat and take him home from hospital.

As she left, a nurse instructed her to forget about the medical drama of his birth  two months early  and treat him as an ordinary boy.

Today Louis is, in many ways, a typical 21-year-old college student. He is obsessed with his mobile phone and lives his life through Facebook.

It was 99 days after Louis White was born that his mother Alison was allowed to swaddle him in a little blue coat and fleece hat and take him home from hospital

He loves music, funfair rides, throwing parties and making new friends. And no one is immune from his practical jokes.

But he can never be ordinary. For Louis is physically and mentally disabled, confined to a wheelchair or a walker, unable to take care of his own basic needs.

He is often gripped by compulsions and tics such as dialling 999 or, awkwardly, touching peoples groins by way of greeting. His fascinations include vacuum cleaners and maps.

The gap between Alisons hopes for her newborn son and the realities of his life are the subject of her brilliant new memoir, Letter To Louis.

I didnt want to be the mother of disabled child. I didnt want to be a carer, to lose my freedom forever

In it, she reveals with unflinching candour the impact of a disabled child on parents and siblings, on their careers, and their financial security.

In the book Alison, 52, says that once, unable to see any kind of future, she offered to leave her husband Greg and their second child, Natasha. She even admits to imagining the release of jumping off a cliff with Louis held tight in her arms.

She says: I dont think I ever contemplated suicide properly.

But I understand people in my situation who do and I would never judge them.

For me it was more of a dream sequence, a longing for escape and to relieve Louis of his pain and distress.

In the book Alison, 52, says that once, she admits to imagining the release of jumping off a cliff with Louis held tight in her arms

I didnt want my destiny. I didnt want to be the mother of disabled child. I didnt want to be a carer, to lose my freedom forever. It was devastating to know that this was my life.

Every day I would wake up with the pain of realisation about what was ahead.

Its been hard, heartbreaking. But the only alternative would be to put Louis into care and thats not something I could live with.

In the end you find acceptance and you start to look for the most positive way of dealing with it.

Mothering Louis has brought me incredible moments of joy. Theyve been enriching and incomparable, to the point that everyday times can feel mundane in comparison.

The gap between Alisons hopes for her newborn son and the realities of his life are the subject of her brilliant new memoir, Letter To Louis

Louis is physically and mentally disabled, confined to a wheelchair or a walker, unable to take care of his own basic needs

Our lives may not have been what we expected or planned but they have been intense and filled with deep, deep love.

Many of those moments are chronicled in her book. Among them are Louiss first word (today), the power of speech finally unlocked by music therapy, and his first three independent steps which he celebrated by saying, Daddy f****** hell!  proving that whatever else was wrong, his hearing was perfect.

Louiss brain damage may have been caused around the time of birth after Alison developed pre-eclampsia  potentially fatal high blood pressure in pregnancy.

The hope continued for a long time. You dont want to know, you dont want it to be true, but after Louis turned two it was obvious he had cerebral palsy, she says.

The diagnosis forced Alison and Greg, now 53, to turn their lives upside down. They moved from their home in Glasgow, where they had a thriving business as landscape architects, to Pembrokeshire.

Our lives may not have been what we expected or planned but they have been intense and filled with deep, deep love

There they found a parcel of affordable land perfect for a new-build home in proximity to a special school.

Re-settled in Wales, Louiss medical needs and their ongoing battle for funding and respite care dominated the couples marriage and their parenting of their younger children  Natasha, now 19, and Jack, 16.

Alison says: Greg and I had a strong relationship but caring for Louis is constant  there is very little left for anyone else.

I dont know how to talk about it other than to say we survived. The way we coped was to almost split the children. One of us would look after Louis and the other would do things with the other two.

However, Letter To Louis makes it clear that neither Natasha nor Jack have found growing up with their brother burdensome

If we tried to do something with all of them then Natasha and Jack would be bystanders watching and looking on, their childhood being diminished as a result.

However, Letter To Louis makes it clear that neither Natasha nor Jack have found growing up with their brother burdensome. They treat him robustly and inclusively, and make sure that his disability doesnt earn him a free pass.

NEW SHOES? BUT HE CAN'T EVEN WALK Why did you do that to me today, Louis? asks Natasha. You ignore your sister. You know we are watching you and the edges of your lips twitch but you make no attempt to answer. Tash has recently started secondary school. It has a large sports field that backs on to your special school. I spotted Louis in his playground, continues Tash. He was in his wheelchair so I took my friends over to meet him. And do you know what he did? You are grinning a big, wide smile. You let out a snort and a laugh, hunch your shoulders and giggle. You are doubled over laughing now. Tash gives up trying to make you tell me. She is laughing herself. He said to me, Who are you?  You can hold your own but some battles we cant win. On one occasion I push you into town and find a Clarks shoe shop. The assistant measures your foot and returns with a pair of brown leather shoes. She puts them on you and pulls the strap across. OK, could your son now walk across the room to check how they feel? Oh, Louis cant walk. Well he has to walk for me to check that they fit him correctly. We are not allowed to sell shoes without checking that the child can walk comfortably in them. This is insane. I keep my voice calm. As you can see we have different circumstances, I say. He cannot walk. Then why does he need shoes? I am furious but you giggle. I could have handled that better. But its hard sometimes. Advertisement

The book is crammed with long-running family jokes, endearing traditions and ordinary sibling arguments. It also includes the day Natasha and Jack accidentally lost Louis in a supermarket, only for him to make his way up to the first floor in the lift and order a glass of water in the cafe. Both were firsts for him. So its a funny and joyous story, a celebration of a different life, as well as a howl of maternal anger and despair.

There are some people who emerge badly, among them a nurse who laughed at Louis, and the council official who refused to believe someone with limited hand control could not wipe their own bottom.

But there are many others whose small acts of kindness have helped Alison, such as the staff member at their local funfair who rode the Megafobia rollercoaster more than 30 times with Louis in one afternoon, and the charity shop volunteer who took Louiss weekly shopping lists, which would include items such as a dredger, a steamroller and a double bass.

Experiences like these, combined with Alison and Gregs steadfast care, have helped Louis become confident enough to go to college for residential music and drama therapy.

I would never have thought wed get this far, seeing Louis as a young man so zestful and full of life and determination, says his mother, overwhelmed with pride.

Her book is a testament of love to her son and their two decades together.

Asked if she would have had life any other way, Alison hesitates. I accept Louis for who he is but I am sure that Louis, if he could, would not have wanted these things to have happened to him.

So if I could make his life different, for his sake, not mine, if I could change it to give him the freedom to do all the things I know he has the energy and the desire to do, then yes I would.

Letter To Louis, by Alison White, is published by Faber & Faber, priced 12.99. Offer price 10.39 (20 per cent discount) until January 21. Order at mailshop. co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p free on orders over 15.

Five ways parents can get help

1. FINANCIAL AID

Add your child to the Disabled Childrens Register and receive information on relevant financial, leisure and family services available. To register, contact your local council via the Government website (gov.uk).

2. MARRIAGE COUNSELLING

A third of parental carers struggle with their relationships, according to a recent report. GPs can refer to local NHS mental health services for relationship sessions tailored for parents of disabled children.

3. BEATING THE BLUES

Depression is common, with 65 per cent of carers feeling isolated. The NHS offers priority access to mental health services and psychotherapy. Disability charity Scope also matches parents with local families to ease loneliness.

4. RESPITE BREAKS

Various allowances and benefits are available to claim from the local authority. The council may also help with respite breaks.

5. SCHOOL SUPPORT

Due to a lack of specialist school space, more than half of disabled children are home-schooled. However, every disabled child in Britain has the right to a special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco) to support them in a mainstream school, or support at home if they cannot attend.The pro-western candidate Jiri Drahos in the election of Czech President trails closely behind the Russian-friendly incumbent Milos Zeman after the first round of voting.

The vote is viewed as as referendum on 73-year-old Zeman who has been in office since 2013.

Zeman has criticised Germany's decision to accept migrants and is hostile towards immigration from Muslim countries.

Many Czech people support Zeman's views on immigration but are held back by his inclination toward far-right groups and his warm relations with China and Russia.

The pro-western candidate Jiri Drahos (pictured) in the election of Czech President trails closely behind the Russian-friendly incumbent Milos Zeman after the first round of voting

After 98.9 per cent of votes have been counted, Zeman (pictured) led the race with 38.6 per cent of votes, while Drahos had won 26.6 per cent

A sizeable chunk of the electorate are now favouring pro-western candidates, including 68-year-old academic Drahos, who will be a formidable opponent in the second round vote in two weeks, nearly complete results showed.

With votes from 98.9 percent of districts counted, Zeman led the race with 38.6 per cent of votes, while Drahos had won 26.6 per cent.

That means a run-off needs to be held, and the balance of power may be closer than the first round showed.

Four other candidates who ended between the third and sixth place and among them won 32.5 percent.

They have all endorsed western-favourite Drahos for the second round, which takes place on January 26-27.

Drahos told supporters 'This looks hopeful' at the Prague theatre after most results had come in. He added ' By far the toughest game now awaits against Milos Zeman and his advisers... Come to vote, come to vote, come to vote.'

Czech presidents have limited executive powers, but Zeman and his predecessors have had a strong influence on public debate.

They are also pivotal in forming governments - which the European Union and NATO member country is now trying to do.

Zeman, previously shunned public debates ahead of the first round, but has now accepted Drahos' challenge to a television duel and said he hoped voters could make up their own mind.

Drahos (pictured) told supporters 'This looks hopeful' at the Prague theatre after most results had come in

'I assume citizens have their own opinion and their own reason. They are not puppets that can be manipulated by endorsement from whoever,' Zeman told reporters at his campaign headquarters.

A win for the soft-spoken, grey-haired chemical engineer Drahos could mean the tone of the Czech leadership become more western and shifts closer to the EU mainstream.

The outcome of the election may also influence Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's (pictured) chances of forming a cabinet

'I voted for professor Drahos because I want someone who will not push us to the East and who will not be a disgrace,' said lawyer Matej Gredl, 30, after he voted in Prague.

The outcome may also influence Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's chances of forming a cabinet. His first attempt to rule in a minority administration is likely to be rejected by parliament next week.

Zeman has backed Babis and said he would give him another chance even though the billionaire businessman has struggled to get support from other parties while he battles police allegations that he illegally obtained EU subsidies a decade ago. Babis denies wrongdoing.

A former centre-left prime minister and backer of a federal Europe, Zeman has gradually shifted to positions criticising the EU, echoing and reinforcing public sentiment.

He has won endorsements from some mainstream groups as well as the Communist Party and the main far-right anti-EU and anti-NATO SPD party.

'The first round result is a heavy blow for Milos Zeman, although he won it formally. It shows he doesn't have much more where to take the votes,' said political scientist Josef Mlejnek jr.

Zeman (pictured) previously shunned public debates ahead of the first round, but has now accepted Drahos' challenge to a television duel

'They will try to picture (Drahos) as a friend of migrants, an agent of the EU.'

The Czech Republic has a tiny Muslim minority and has seen only a few of the hundreds of thousands of people coming to Europe in recent years to seek safety from war or better life.

Zeman has sought more trade and closer ties with China and has warm relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for the removal of EU sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea to boost business.

He has strong support mainly in the countryside of the nation of 10.6 million people, and often snipes at Prague elites and the media. Drahos said he needed to boost his visibility outside the capital - the only region he won - and would focus on that ahead of the second round.I never thought I would write these words: I agree with Nigel Farage on Europe. He has come round to accepting the need for a referendum at the end of the Brexit negotiating process, albeit for motives quite different from mine. But there is a common thread: we agree that we need, as a country, to try to draw a line under this endless, rancorous, divisive, energy-sapping debate.

If the public endorses Brexit in such a vote, then the Remoaners (like me) will have to commit to accepting the outcome and strive to make Brexit work.

If the deal is rejected, and the public decide they prefer to stay in, then we must all strive to make EU membership work in a reformed EU, taking into account any concerns which have surfaced from the Brexit side of the debate.

I never thought I would write these words: I agree with Nigel Farage on Europe. He has come round to accepting the need for a referendum at the end of the Brexit negotiating process, albeit for motives quite different from mine

What is, I think, helping the referendum movement to gather momentum is the growing sense that we shall finish up with a messy and unsatisfactory compromise which will create widespread dissatisfaction.

Because Theresa May has ruled out continuing membership of the single market and customs union, and an association agreement all those Remainers who had reconciled themselves to a soft Brexit will be seriously disappointed. There will, in all probability, be a Canadian-type tariff agreement which will provide for much less market access than we currently enjoy; will lead to extensive border friction including in Ireland; and offer little to services industries including the City of London. If there is no vote and Government pushes through such an unsatisfactory deal  paying a lot of money to be part of a trade arrangement greatly inferior to the present one  the Remoaners will continue to moan. Meanwhile the authentic Brexiteers, like Nigel Farage, will complain the outcome is not what they fought all these years for. Far from taking back control, it is likely Britain, in a transition and after, will follow EU rules while having no say in setting them.

I am struck by the growing number of people who are emerging from different standpoints to get behind demands for a vote on the final deal. On the Tory side, there was a thoughtful piece recently from (Baroness) Camilla Cavendish, formerly head of the Downing Street Policy Unit, arguing the Conservative Partys long term interests lie in securing the best deal available and then legitimising it in a referendum.

Michael Heseltine, never previously a supporter of referendums, now advocates one as a Remainer. Although Jeremy Corbyn doesnt want to discuss Brexit for fear of opening up further divisions in his party, Labour figures such as Sadiq Khan, David Miliband and Tom Watson (and Tony Blair) have been open to the idea of a referendum. And, outside politics, Gary Lineker, J. K. Rowling, Richard Branson and scholars A. C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins have come forward as advocates for a rethink.

I am happy to sit down with Nigel Farage and the growing numbers favouring a referendum to discuss how this one can work

While the risk of a chaotic no deal Brexit is lower now than last year, the prospect of a steady, slow drain of investment and decline persists. The spectre of a transition under EU rules; attempts at convergence on EU terms; a large divorce payout rather than money for the NHS: all of these will make many Leave voters wonder whether it was all worthwhile.

The Conservative-leaning press will make a brave attempt to portray whatever is agreed, however unsatisfactory, as a great triumph. But committed Brexiteers will argue that a half-baked Brexit will inhibit the sense of national renewal which could result from proper Brexit.

I have never been a referendum enthusiast. It is not a good way to make big, complicated decisions. But this is how the Brexit process was launched and I fear the already tenuous position of elected politicians would be further undermined if Parliament sought to frustrate the will of the people without a further popular mandate.

The Lib Dems have led calls for the public to have the final say between accepting the Governments path, or taking an exit from Brexit. I am happy to sit down with Nigel Farage and the growing numbers favouring a referendum to discuss how this one can work. It must be framed not in the interests of opportunistic party management as in 1975 and 2016, but as a way of bringing a divided country together.Prairie Middle School social studies teacher Brian Vasquez was arrested in August 2017 and charged with 31 counts of sex assault after being accused of sending nude photos and physically abusing students over several years

Three middle school administrators in Colorado are now facing charges for allegedly ignoring a student's claims that a teacher sexually assaulted her.

Prairie Middle School social studies teacher Brian Vasquez was arrested in August 2017 and charged with 31 counts of sex assault after being accused of sending nude photos and physically abusing students over several years, according ABC 13.

The arrest and subsequent indictment revealed that when a 14-year-old student in 2013 told the school's Principal David Gonzales and Assistant Principal AJ MacIntosh that Vasquez had assaulted her they ignored her and then suspended her from school for several days.

The victim's name hasn't been released due to the age the student was when she was allegedly assaulted.

According to the indictment, handed down on Wednesday, Vasquez heard that the student was saying he sexually assaulted her, so he asked for a private meeting.

In the meeting he allegedly discussed the 'devastating effects her disclosure would have on his career and family.'

When the student then met with MacIntosh and Gonzales, they repeated that sentiment and urged her to 'recant her disclosure of sexual abuse by Vasquez.'

The arrest and subsequent indictment revealed that when a 14-year-old student in 2013 told the school's Principal David Gonzales (left) and Assistant Principal AJ MacIntosh (right) that Vasquez had assaulted her they ignored her and then suspended her from school for several days

In the meeting and after being pressured from all sides, the victim eventually said she'd made the allegations up - and was suspended from school for several days. After he was arrested in August Vasquez eventually admitted to the sexual assault, telling police that the girl's story was true

In the meeting and after being pressured from all sides, the victim eventually said she'd made the allegations up - and was suspended from school for several days.

After he was arrested in August Vasquez eventually admitted to the sexual assault, telling police that the girl's story was true.

He told police he 'understood the relationships were illegal and he was waiting for the time when they were all revealed,' according to the indictment.

Cheryl Somers-Wegienka, a former counselor at the school, was also allegedly involved in the victim's suspension

MacIntosh said in testimony to the grand jury that while she knows what the school district's policy is on reporting allegations of sexual abuse, she wanted to conduct her own investigation first.

She said she thought it was her her' individual responsibility to conduct her own personal investigations of allegations of impropriety on any type on the part of school staff, before complying with her obligations under the law.'

MacIntosh also said she remembered the victim but not her claims of sexual abuse, according to the indictment.

She said she did not remember suspending the student, despite her signature on official school documentation confirming the suspension.

Gonzales also claims he had no memory of sexual abuse allegations being brought against Vasquez.

The pair have been placed on administrative leave from the school pending the investigation into their actions, the Cherry Creek School District told ABC 13.

The school sent out a notification to parents about their leave and the indictment on Wednesday.

Cheryl Somers-Wegienka, a former counselor at the school, was also allegedly involved in the victim's suspension.

Somers-Wegienka, MacIntosh and Gonzales all face misdemeanor charges of failing to report child abuse or neglect. They will appear in court for the first time later this month.A Maryland man has been accused by federal authorities of bribing a Russian atomic energy official to help secure contracts for transporting nuclear fuel.

54-year-old Mark Lambert of Mount Airy has been charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act among other related counts.

Lambert was co-president of a firm that transported nuclear materials to power companies in the U.S. and abroad.

Federal authorities have accused Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, Maryland of bribing a Russian atomic energy official to help secure contracts for transporting nuclear fuel

Lambert was charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related counts

Lambert, who owns Dragon Distillery in Frederick, is the former co-president, along with Daren Condrey, of a Maryland-based nuclear fuel transportation company.

The company provided logistical support for transporting nuclear materials in the United States and to foreign clients.

Prosecutors allege that Lambert and others concealed corrupt and fraudulent payments with fake invoices, offshore bank accounts and shell companies in Latvia, Cyprus and Switzerland.

Authorities believe that from at least 2009 to October 2014 Lambert and other company executives allegedly took part in a scheme to bribe Vadim Mikerin, an official at a subsidiary of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation which exports the country's uranium.

Lambert was co-president of a firm that transported nuclear materials to power companies in the U.S. and abroad

Lambert allegedly took part in a scheme to bribe Vadim Mikerin, an official at a subsidiary of Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation

Starting in around 2009, Lambert working with others would bribe Mikerin, according to the indictment.

In exchange, Mikerin would help steer contracts to the transportation company.

The pair would use code words such as 'lucky figures,' 'lucky numbers' and 'cake' to talk about bribes and kickbacks.

Various transactions were also made - often for well over $100,000 each time between various shell companies.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime for businesses to bribe overseas officials to win business.

Investigators noted eight transactions between companies in Latvia and Switzerland were made between 2011 and 2014 for amounts ranging from $48,089 to more than $142,000, according to the indictment.

Lambert allegedly took part in a scheme to bribe Vadim Mikerin, pictured, an official at a subsidiary of Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation. Mikerin is serving four years in jail

William Sullivan, Lambert's attorney, told The Frederick News Post that they 'categorically reject the charges and are eager to dispute and defeat them in court.'

For decades, Washington and Moscow had an agreement that converted uranium from Russias nuclear stockpiles to civilian grade fuel, which was shipped to the United States for use in civilian power plants.

The charges are the latest chapter in a sprawling federal investigation into corruption involved in Russias sale of uranium into the United States.

The uranium investigation drew increased public attention last year after an informant involved in the probe claimed to have evidence tying the former Obama Administration to Russian influence peddling, a charge former administration officials have denied.

Mikerin and the firm's other co-president, Daren Condrey, previously pleaded guilty to similar charges.

Mikerin is serving four years in prison. Condrey pleaded guilty in June 2015 and is awaiting sentencing.Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock went to extraordinary lengths to cover his tracks as he planned his attack at the Mandalay Bay hotel, court documents revealed

Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock went to extraordinary lengths to cover his tracks as he meticulously planned his attack at the Mandalay Bay hotel, court documents have revealed.

Paddock, who killed 58 and injured more than 500 in the slaughter on October 1 last year, used a prepaid cellphone to remain anonymous and tried to destroy 'digital media devices' before the attack, search warrants show.

The 64-year-old, who opened fire from the window of his room on the 32nd floor of the hotel, is said to have planned 'meticulously' and 'methodically' before launching his assault.

The papers, obtained by the New York Times, say Paddock 'destroyed or tried to hide digital media devices' he used to plan the attack.

He also used a prepaid cellphone and used sophisticated measures to avoid being detected.

The FBI also say he tried to 'thwart the eventual law enforcement investigation that would follow' the attack, which may explain why investigators are yet to work out his motive.

Police found three phones in Paddock's room after he shot himself dead, but have not been able to access one of them.

The cellphone, which has a Google operating system, cannot be unlocked.

'If there were any information related to a potential conspiracy, it would be found within' the locked phone, an FBI agent is reported to have said.

Investigators found 23 firearms, multiple 100-round magazines and huge quantities of ammunition in the Mandalay Bay room (pictured) after Paddock killed himself

Paddock was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. Two windows of the suit had been smashed out by gunfire

The court documents also say Paddock spent considerable time purchasing guns and ammunition for the attack, as well as suitcases and glass cutters which he used to open the window before raining bullets down on a country music festival below.

It comes after unsealed documents revealed that Paddock's girlfriend told authorities they would probably find her fingerprints on bullets because she sometimes helped him load ammunition magazines.

Marilou Danley, 63, wasn't arrested when she returned to the US from the Philippines days after the shooting, and cooperated with investigators, an FBI agent told a judge in the documents.

The agent says in the October 3 search warrant application that there was no evidence at that time of 'criminal involvement' by Danley, but that investigators had not ruled out the possibility.

The document says Danley 'spontaneously' blurted out that her fingerprints might be found on spent ammunition while she was providing a DNA sample to authorities.

The deserted aftermath of the Route 91 Harvest Festival is seen two days after the shooting. Fifty-eight people died and hundreds were injured in the shooting

Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley, 63, wasn't arrested when she returned to the US from the Philippines days after the shooting

Investigators also noticed that Danley, who was in the Philippines at the time, set her Facebook account to private at 12.30am Las Vegas time on October 2 and deleted the account by 2.46am.

The shooting occurred around 10pm on October 1, and Danley's named circulated on police radio in the aftermath as a person of interest, which may have spurred online vigilantes to harass her.

Also revealed in the documents was a bizarre email exchange that Paddock appeared to have faked with himself.

The documents said Paddock had received an email from a Gmail account in July encouraging him to try an AR-style rifle before buying one.

It said, 'we have huge selection' in the Las Vegas area.

Paddock wrote back that he wanted to try several scopes and different types of ammunition. An email in response suggested trying a bump stock on the rifle with a 100-round magazine.

Paddock's email address and the Gmail address had similar names. Investigators say they suspect he may have been emailing himself, but couldn't figure out why.

Investigators have said that Paddock meticulously planned his attack and intentionally concealed his actions.

He modified semi-automatic rifles to shoot rapidly using bump stocks, set up cameras to watch for police outside his hotel room and wounded a security guard in the hotel hallway.

Investigators found no evidence that Paddock had help carrying out the attack.

Paddock's three-bedroom house in a retirement community in the city of Mesquite was searched twice - first by police and FBI agents in the hours immediately after Paddock was identified as the shooter.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later said that October 2 search found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially explosive materials.

The FBI returned to the house a week later for what officials called 'redocumenting and rechecking.'

Investigators stand outside the home of Stephen Paddock on October 2. The search found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially explosive materials, police said

Officers also raided Paddock's hotel suite where he opened fire and searched his vehicle after it was found parked in the casino parking structure.

Lombardo said several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, was found in the car.

Other searches were conducted at a house the gunman owned in Reno where agents found a red SUV. A neighbor reported that Paddock kept a safe the size of a refrigerator in the garage.

FBI agents also returned to that house, on October 10, after local police determined someone had broken in days earlier.

A Nevada judge is due to hear arguments Tuesday about whether Las Vegas police search warrant documents should remain sealed.Scandal-hit Ukip leader Henry Bolton was plunged into a fresh crisis last night after it was revealed that his glamour model girlfriend made racist remarks about Meghan Markle.

Mr Bolton, 54, was already facing calls for his resignation after he left his wife for 25-year-old Jo Marney.

Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal shocking messages in which Ms Marney says that Prince Harrys black American fiancee will taint the Royal Family with her seed and pave the way for a black king.

Ms Marney also says that she would never have sex with a negro because they are ugly.

Scandal-hit Ukip leader Henry Bolton has been plunged into a fresh crisis after it was revealed that his glamour model girlfriend Jo Marney made racist remarks about Meghan Markle

Ms Marney says that Prince Harrys black American fiancee will taint the Royal Family with her seed and pave the way for a black king

She was immediately suspended from Ukip last night after The Mail on Sunday alerted party chiefs to her grossly offensive comments.

Our revelations come just days before Bolton is due to face a crunch meeting over his own future with Ukip following outrage over his new relationship.

The former Army officer left the mother of his two young children, 42-year-old Tatiana Smurova, for Ms Marney, whom he met shortly before Christmas. Ukips chairman, Paul Oakden, has said he realises the strength of feeling on this among grassroot members.

If Mr Bolton is ousted by the partys ruling National Executive Committee on Thursday, it would leave the party having to elect its fifth leader in barely 18 months.

His position looks increasingly shaky as there is no recent precedent for the partner of the leader of any political party to have been suspended from that party.

One Ukip figure even predicted that the scandal could signal the end of the party, which has battled serious financial problems since Nigel Farage stepped down as leader in the wake of the EU referendum.

In Ms Marneys messages, which she sent to a male friend just three weeks before starting her relationship with Mr Bolton, she sneers at Harrys engagement to Los Angeles-born Markle  who will marry Harry on May 19  on the grounds that she is a black American.

Ms Marney also describes Ms Markle, whose mother is black and whose father is white, as a scrubber and a gender equality t*** who is obsessed with race and a dumb little commoner.

These are the disgusting texts that forced Ukip to suspend Ms Marney

In a stream of vile messages, glamour model Ms Marney also says that she would never have sex with a negro because they are ugly

Alluding to ethnic minorities in general, Ms Marney writes that they are pushing their way to the top slowly slowly. Next will be a Muslim PM. And a black king.

The ex-model  who has remained in touch with the friend she texted since starting her relationship with Mr Bolton  tells him that she would not have sex with a negro.

When the friend asks her what is wrong with black people, she replies: Ugly. Not my thing. Just personal taste. They dont turn me on.

During the exchange, Ms Marney  who is from Kent and describes herself as an actor and music journalist  also complains that there is an immigration problem, saying: This is Britain. Not Africa.

After her friend accuses her of being racist, she writes: Lol so what... Not wanting other races and cultures to invade your own culture doesnt mean I hate their race. Just means I dont want their cultures invading mine.

After being confronted with her texts by The Mail on Sunday last night, Ms Marney apologised for her comments which she claimed had been taken out of context.

Henry Bolton, 54, was already facing calls for his resignation after he left his wife Tatiana Smurova (both pictured together) for 25-year-old Jo Marney

In a statement, she said: I apologise unreservedly for the shocking language I used. The opinions I expressed were deliberately exaggerated in order to make a point and have, to an extent, been taken out of context. Yet I fully recognise the offence they have caused.

No offence was intended and, again, I apologise unreservedly for any such offence or hurt that my messages have caused to members of the public, members of Ukip my friends, family and loved ones.

I have disappointed them all and let myself down. I cannot sufficiently express my regret and sadness at having done so.

Mr Oakden said: In light of messages that have been brought to my attention, I have taken the decision to immediately suspend her party membership pending an investigation. Ukip does not, has not and never will condone racism.

Since news of his relationship broke, Mr Bolton has repeatedly insisted that he will not resign as he is convinced another leadership contest would cripple the party.

He claimed that his marriage to Ms Smurova was already over when he met Miss Marney, and has said: I have no doubt Im going to come out of this, and Jo and I are going to come out of this as a couple, stronger than we went into it.

Before the racist texts emerged, Mr Oakden said that Mr Bolton and the party were keen to work collectively in finding a resolution that best protects the future prospects of Ukip following the scandal over the relationship.

Mr Farage quit after the 2016 referendum, saying he had achieved his political ambition. He was followed as leader by Diane James, who lasted just 18 days after feuding with the partys old guard.

Mr Farage then returned briefly, to be succeeded by Paul Nuttall in November 2016. Nuttall resigned after seven months following the Election, when Ukips polled less than 2 per cent. Steve Crowther took over until Mr Bolton was elected in September. He has failed to lift Ukips poll ratings above 4 per cent.Gary Oldman was unrecognisable as Winston Churchill in the Darkest Hour

It was once said of film stars that their face was their fortune.

But now A-list actors must compete for parts in which their closest family wouldnt recognise them.

Leading the charge has been Gary Oldman, who so convincingly disguised his looks to play Winston Churchill in the new film Darkest Hour.

Refusing to put on five stone to play the part, Oldman, 59, instead spent four hours in make-up every day, starting as early as 1.45am, to be transformed into the spitting image of the wartime Prime Minister.

He said of the experience: Its oddly liberating.

I liken it to wearing a Halloween costume: if you have ever worn a mask, you lose your inhibitions.

Losing themselves in outlandish costumes may have been liberating too, for these household names  but can you put a name to the heavily made-up face?

Nicole Kidman doesn't look especially glamorous playing Detective Erin Bell in Destroyer

Kylie Minogue should be so lucky pictured here on set of Swinging Safari

Can you believe this is Cher appearing in the sequal to Mamma Mia

Keira Knightley appears in Disney's new version of The Nutcracker

Johnny Depp looks truly menacing playing gangster James Whitey Bulger in Black Mass

Jennifer Saunders would shock her Absolutely Fabulous alter-ego in this costume

Meryl Streep, pictured, has played the Iron Lady, and A Bag Lady and now is Into the Woods

Mackenzie Crook, pictured here plays Veran in the new series Britannia

Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas looks completely unrecognisable to her normal self

His Lordship wouldn't be too impressed with Lady Mary's latest outfit in Good Behavior

This Hollywood star looks divine appearing in Cloud Atlas alongside Doona BaeTrump has longed been accused of stoking racial tension by making incendiary comments about ethnic minorities while taking a delicate approach to white supremacists.

Before winning the 2016 president election, Trump spearheaded the so-called 'birther movement' which questioned then President Barack Obama's place of birth.

During the campaign, he suggested that some Mexican immigrants are 'rapists' and 'bringing crime,' while complaining that a judge presiding over a civil suit involving Trump couldn't fairly arbitrate the case due to his Latino heritage.

Soon after his surprising upset win, Trump attempted to institute a travel ban aimed at keeping individuals from six Muslim majority countries from entering the United States, prompting outcries of Islamophobia. Last month, the Supreme ruled the administration was allowed to enforce the presidential order while it's being challenged in courts.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) hosts members of the Native American code talkers during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, on November 27, 2017

More recently, Trump was accused of insulting Navajo code talkers during a ceremony at the White House honoring their service.

During the event, Trump took a swipe at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, referencing his designated nickname for the Massachusetts Democrat, 'Pocahontas.'

Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (pictured) as 'Pocahontas,' angering many in the Native American community

In August 2017, Trump appeared to draw a moral equivalence between neo-Nazi demonstrators and anti-racist counter protester following a violent clash in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and over 20 others were wounded after they were struck by a car driven by 20-year-old white supremacist James Fields, who police say intentionally plowed his Dodge into a crowd of activists protesting an alt-right rally.

The Washington Post also reported that the President made disparaging remarks about Haitians during a meeting in June 2017, remarking they 'all have AIDS.'

Trump added in that June meeting that immigrants from Nigeria, once they saw the United States, would never 'go back to their huts,' according to The New York Times.

And Trump's latest controversy came on Thursday, after The Washington Post reported that the President wanted more immigrants from Norway rather from 's**thole countries' like Haiti and those in Africa.The lawyer representing victims of the Las Vegas shooting and their families has blasted a recent statement from the Mandalay Bay.

Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney representing several victims of the massacre, blasted the Mandalay Bay's statement that it had more than 10 'normal interactions' with the shooter Stephen Paddock.

Paddock killed 58 and injured hundreds in the October 1 shooting from the window of a Mandalay suite.

Staff at the Mandalay 'had contact with Paddock or entered his suite more than 10 times over the course of his stay, including the three days leading up to October 1' the statement said, adding that the interactions were all 'normal in nature'.

'Their little paragraph of "we have normal interaction" leaves a lot out,' Tuegel told Fox News.

'I would like to know what they were classifying or defining as "normal behavior".'

Tuegel said she wants to know 'what else these employees have to say about what they saw and heard in the days leading up to the shooting, and what they may have failed to see.'

'Why didn't someone say something when he brought all these bags [with weapons] up?' Tuegel asked, adding it's 'hard to believe the amount of ammunition and weapons in the room and no one saw or picked up on anything.'

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock carried more than ten suitcases into his hotel suite during his preparation for the shooting.

Investigators found 23 firearms, multiple 100-round magazines and huge quantities of ammunition in the room after Paddock apparently killed himself.Giorgio Locatelli with his wife Plaxy. He has told the Mail on Sunday what is a must see on a trip to Sicily

I'm a northern Italian from Lake Maggiore: if youre born on the wrong side of the lake youre Swiss! Its a very beautiful place  but, as I was to discover, Italy has other sweet spots.

Sicily has had a bad image  the backdrop for many films about the Mafia  with the feeling it might be an uncomfortable place to visit.

When I was growing up in northern Italy, Sicily wasnt seen as a place you would want to go to. It was seen as too dangerous and dirty, populated by lazy people who would take your money.

After I did my national service I went abroad to Switzerland, Paris and London  so I was 30 before I first visited Sicily.

When I opened my London restaurant Zafferano, I was invited to Sicily for a wine and olive oil tasting trip. I arrived in Palermo and our itinerary meant driving from Agrigento to Porto Palo on the southern coast.

I was very surprised by what I saw. I had been told that the people were lazy  its not true, there isnt an inch of this island which is not looked after perfectly. It was all so beautiful.

I also didnt realise how big an island it is  the largest in the Mediterranean Sicily was a very strategic place: in the middle of the Med it sat on the major trade routes between Africa and Europe and the Middle East and Western Europe.

It was occupied by every major civilisation, starting with the Phoenicians and including the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the French and the British everybody wanted a piece of it. As a chef, what struck me was that the island had its own fusion cuisine, a coming together of all the cultural influences to create something very special.

Visit San Vito lo Capo on the north east coast and youll discover everyone eats couscous (every September they have a big couscous international festival).

Around Catania, for example, there is a Greek flavour to the food. After that first visit, I rented a house on the island for a month every year so I could discover everywhere, from Cefalu down to Noto.

And contrary to what many think, visitors are safe  there is no danger from the Mafia!

The largest in the Mediterranean, Sicily, pictured, is a very strategic place: in the middle of the Med it sat on the major trade routes between Africa and Europe

One of my best experiences was filming the BBC series Sicily Unpacked where we spent four weeks driving around the island.

I taught art critic Andrew Graham Dixon about the pleasures of Sicilian food and he guided me around the wonderful art treasures. I was flown by helicopter  over Mt Etna  from Catania to the Aeolian Islands with the island spread before me like a wonderful banquet.

I ended up on the island of Stromboli with its magnificent volcano which bubbles away day and night. To see the island at its best, visit at Easter when there are lots of processions and traditional feasts.

1. The sights and cities you wont want to miss!

Mt Etna: Europes tallest active volcano is a wonderful place. Coming from the north of Italy Ive seen lots of mountains, and skied down many of them. But nothing compares with the excitement of going up Etna: it really is another world.

Palermo: You must visit the islands capital. It never used to be somewhere that tourists thought about visiting  but the bustling centre is the heart of the island.

Mount Etna, one of the many must-see attractions on the Italian island in the Mediterranean

Taormina: Probably the most visited place. I would try to avoid it during the peak holiday season but come when its quieter for the fabulous view of Mt Etna from the amphitheatre. I was there last summer for an Andrea Bocelli concert  it was the most sublime experience.

Messina: Is a fascinating town which gives its name to the Strait of Messina (from here the Italian mainland seems within touching distance). Its worth visiting for the lovely Norman Cathedral, with its Gothic portal, and astronomical clock on the bell tower. Visit the regional museum here where a room is dedicated to Caravaggio  with his two masterpieces, The Adoration Of The Shepherds and The Raising Of Lazarus.

2. From beach retreats to city chic where to stay

Sicily was short of good hotels but the situation has improved a lot  not just new hotels but also some great bed and breakfast places.

Palermo: I always like to stay at the Grand Hotel Et Des Palmes, the old hotel in the centre of the city. Its an 1870s building in the grand Art Nouveau style and a real piece of Sicilian history.

The dining room the Grand Hotel Et Des Palmes, the old hotel in the centre of the city. Its an 1870s building in the grand Art Nouveau style

Menfi: I love La Foresteria, which is the winery resort of the Planeta Estate, owned by a family of winemakers who have been farming here for 500 years. Its an away-from-it-all place at the heart of the islands stunning coastal landscape.

The hotel is among the vineyards. You can relax by the beach or treat yourself to the flavours of Sicilian cuisine and the pleasures of authentic family hospitality. Other wine makers also offer B&B along the Strada del Vino  Sicilys wine road  which starts north of Palermo and heads south.

San Vito lo Capo: This is a fantastic seaside town in the north-west, a place known for its beach, which is like something youd find in the Maldives, in a sheltered bay overlooked by Mount Monaco.

The Hotel Ghibli is a real gem of a place, run with love and care by Matteo and his brother. It also has a great restaurant. Everything you could want for an unforgettable holiday.

Linguaglossa, Catania: Situated at the foot of Mt Etna, the Hotel Federico II is a great family run hotel.

Stromboli: The Hotel Carasco was one of the islands first hotels and remains one of the best. The ideal base for anyone planning to climb the volcano.

3. Gorge on the fantastic food in these hotspots

Da Vittorio, Porto Palo: My absolute favourite  a restaurant with rooms right on the beach run by my friend Vittorio, who is also from the north of Italy. He doesnt have a menu, offering you meals created from the best food available on the day  the fish comes straight from the nearby fishing port. Vittorio takes his top off when he cooks: hes what I call the real naked chef!

La Locanda del Colonnello, Modica: A firm favourite of the slow food brigade. Courses include the earthy chickpea soup and the white ricotta and marjoram stuffed ravioli. La Grotta Della Vucciria,

As well as coming for the beautiful scenery, many tourists travel to Sicily for the delicious food

Palermo: Look out for this unpretentious working-class joint in Palermos market. It serves food  but few people come for the pizza. Its main attraction is that it has the best aperitif in Sicily. Its a sort of negroni made with vermouth, gin or vodka or whatever. Its dangerous stuff: when I came here with Andrew I warned him that he would be drunk after a couple of glasses. Im afraid, he didnt listen to me

Caffe Sicilia, Noto: This marvellous establishment serves the best ice cream in the world. Frozen desserts are made with ultrafresh seasonal ingredients  visit in spring time, for example, and your ice cream may well be served with wild strawberries.

4. Marvel at mindblowing historical sites

Piazza Armerina: The Villa Romana del Casale has mosaics showing Roman ladies wearing what look very much to the modern eye like bikinis. For me there are even more interesting mosaics (the area has the largest and most varied collection of Roman mosaics in the world, for which the site has been designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site).

First-time visitors are astonished when they discover the Valley Of The Temples in Sicily

The most incredible are in the dining room. When the Romans dined reclining on the floor, their meals would end up spread out around them. The mosaics anticipate this by including little bits of food  a little bit of shell or a piece of prawn. Its magical.

Agrigento: First-time visitors are astonished when they discover the Valley Of The Temples. Its actually not a valley at all, but a hill, on which eight Greek temples were built in a Doric style around 500BC.

To one side of the site is the fabulous Temple of Heracles. The best preserved is the Temple of Concordia, which was converted into a church in the 6th Century. People are shocked when they see how big and beautiful these temples are.The Japanese are crazy for cats. Centuries ago, their furry friends settled in the country having arrived from China with Buddhist monks.

They became either pampered pets or independent dwellers, and thats still the case today.

Take Japans cat islands. There are 11, where the cat population is so high that they sometimes outnumber the humans.

Lucky: Maneki-neko cats in the Gotokuji Temple in Japan, where the people are cat crazy

Enoshima, one such island, is an hour from Tokyo by train. Cats are everywhere, roaming on the beaches, streets and shrines as if they own the place, and the Enoshima-jinja Shrine is famous for its cat residents.

Although the cats are technically strays, cat island cats are more like residents, co-existing with locals, but belonging fully to their surroundings.

And cats have even moved into Tokyo hotels. At the Park Hotel, one floor of rooms have been designed by Japanese artists.

I had the Lucky Cat room, designed by Hyogo Mino, which meant waking up to a stunning but crazy wall of cats every morning.

The Wakayama Electric Railway Company made a cat station master at Kishi Station, Kinokawa

Cats are also closely linked to religion  cat temples and shrines can be found throughout Japan. The Gotokuji temple in Tokyo claims to be the origin of the iconic beckoning cat (lucky waving cat), the Maneki-neko.

Osaka, three hours on the bullet train from Tokyo, is home to cat cafe Neko no Jikan, believed to be the first in the world, spawning a global trend. Different breeds of beautiful cats let you join them for feeding or playtime.

Hello Kitty snacks, which you can pick up in Japan at the Hello Kitty restaurant

Kyoto was high on my wish list, more for its history and culture than the cats, although I did lunch in a Hello Kitty restaurant.

South of Kyoto, at Kishi station in the Wakayama region, I met the famous cat station master, a real feline given the task of greeting passengers by the rail authorities.

This is where true Japanese cat hysteria exists. The cap-wearing cat Nitama seemed non-plussed as people rushed to take his photo, barely acknowledging his worshipping audience.

Nitama is the second cat station master. When the first, Tama, died in 2015, she was mourned nationally. Nitama seems a worthy successor, although he didnt seem to do any work

In Japan cats symbolise good fortune and if you have the good fortune to go, you wont be disappointed.

Alfie The Holiday Cat, by Rachel Wells, is published by Avon, priced 9.99.Looking for a summer self drive holiday?

Worried about queues at immigration entering the US?

Mail on Sunday's Travel Editor Frank Barrett answers your questions this week.

As members of the EU, driving in EU countries has become more straightforward as far as insurance is concerned

QUESTION: In an effort to save the maximum amount possible on our summer break abroad this year, weve decided on a self-drive holiday to a campsite in the Dordogne (not a situation Im looking forward to with much excitement).

My husband says that, when he was a kid, they always had to get a Green Card to take the car abroad on family holidays. I called our insurance company and I was told that we didnt need one. My husband doesnt believe our insurance company. Help!

Cissy, by email

ANSWER: As members of the EU, driving in EU countries has become more straightforward as far as insurance is concerned. Technically, you dont need a Green Card (this was a piece of paper which reassured anybody you collided with that you had insurance) for EU countries and a few non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein. What happens to continental motor insurance after Brexit isnt terribly clear  but I cant imagine it will be good news, financially speaking.

When going abroad with your car, you should call your insurance company and tell them where you are going and when, making sure youll have comprehensive cover (sometimes insurers leave you with only third party, fire and theft if you havent told them of your plans in advance).

The Mail on Sunday Travel editor Frank Barrett answers your questions

Its also useful to take your policy details with you when you travel in case you have problems (and its handy to have the necessary emergency phone numbers to hand).

By the way, dont assume that just because going to a pre-erected campsite in France is cheap, it will necessarily be disappointing. Kids love camp sites because there are things to do and other kids to play with. If theyre happy, youre happy. I have many fond memories of French camping holidays  honest.

QUESTION: Im dreading our trip to Florida at Easter because there is always a horrendous queue at immigration  two hours in Orlando last time I went. Someone told me that there is a fast track through immigration which costs extra but I would be more than happy to pay for it.

Brian, by email

ANSWER: Youre thinking of Global Entry which is explained in full on its web site (goo.gl/VyXxs1). As youll see, youll first need to pay 42 to complete a Home Office eligibility process and then pay $100 to the US border force to get the pass (this involves an in-person interview at a US airport).

I was dubious about the cost and the hassle but I can assure you its worth it: I sail through immigration whenever I visit the US! As with any of these application sites, make sure youre on the official one and not on a scam site which will trick you into paying extra.Advertisement

Most people get to travel for just a few weeks, each year.

But, unfulfilled by the so-called rat race, Ekaterina Terenina ditched her mundane life in Irkutsk, Russia, in order to accomplish her dream of seeing the world - one yoga pose at a time.

And now the 24-year-old has become a social media star by documenting her journey with stunning snaps from a host of jaw-dropping locations.

Living the good life! Russian dancer Ekaterina Terenina pictured performing one of many yoga poses in Thailand

Since embarking on her journey, she's racked-up more than 11,000 Instagram followers and continues to attract new fans with her social media uploads.

Especially as her pictures often show her flanked by some of the planet's best hot-spots, including Nepal, Spain, Thailand, Montenegro and Italy.

But her glamorous life is a million miles away from the lethargic, lonely place she first started from in 2015.

'I was completely uninterested in everything, tired from work and had no personal life,' the yoga instructor reveals of her life before she overhauled it.

'I had low self-esteem and physical lethargy. I fell into a kind of depressed state and that was the moment when I decided something needed to change.

'I wanted to change it for a long time but I didnt have the courage to leave since the club I worked for [as a dancer] earned me a steady salary.

'Originally, I wanted to move to the USA; that was always my dream, but I didnt get a visa so I completely changed my route and went to Thailand. I have no regrets.'

Working out in Montenegro: The brunette beauty showcases her flexibility while stood before a huge waterfall

Strike a pose: Getting comfortable in a Nepalese doorway (L), while proudly displaying her upper-body strength in Sardinia

'My mood became instantly better and when I went travelling I began to sleep well at night, was always warm, swam in the sea, met so many people and my mood began to rise,' she added.

'I became more confident, freer. But I appreciate every period of my life; even the worst periods takes us somewhere.

'The only thing about this way of life is that I dont have a steady living with a house and a permanent life; Im always living out of a suitcase and cant be in one place for long.'

However, she enjoys plenty of perks, including the ability to indulge in her spiritual and physical exercise passion.

If you've got it, flaunt it! The 24-year-old has sculpted an impressive body thanks to her commitment to the ancient practice

Looking good: Showing off the results of her fitness in Thailand (L), while displaying more flexibility in Montenegro

Body beautiful: Sporting a barely-there bikini, the ex-nightclub dancer has revealed she suffered from low mood before

'Yoga has taught me how to listen to my heart and following the right path,' she adds. 'Thats when I decided to learn more about yoga and then went to Nepal.'

There, Ekaterina joined a yoga teaching 200-hour class, where she developed her knowledge in the discipline and had the opportunity to teach others'

'I chose Nepal for teaching because it was a completely new and unusual country for me,' she detailed.

'It was a great way to get out of my comfort zone, because the course was completely on English language which I wasnt very fluent on'.

Nobody's looking at the view! More envy-inducing shots of Ekaterina enjoying her passion in the hills of The Balkans

In her homeland's capital: Ekaterina pictured on a rooftop in Moscow - the most populous city of Russia

Feeling exotic: Enjoying the sunshine and wide, open spaces in one of Granada's many manicured gardens

'It was a difficult and the best experience I have ever had. We had a little exam at the end of the course.

'We could give our own yoga class for others and I did it well, understanding that I can do it and decided one day that I would teach yoga to other people for a living.'

The Nepalese experience then reinforced her dream of becoming someone who is proficient in the study and practise of yoga, or a yogi.

Life's a beach! Showing off on the sands of Barcelona (L), while distracting from the expensive yachts in Almeria

Never a dull moment: Always on-duty, Ekaterina finds opportunity to perform in the most unusual places

Bending over backwards for her yoga: Sight-seeing in the beautiful and historic city of Turin

'For me, yogi is a person who listens to their heart, trusts in the universe and of course applies yoga into their daily lives,she added.

'My advice is that you dont need to be afraid to go where you want to go and want to be. Try to do what you want to do.

'The world is open to any person if the person is open to the world.'

A star is born! Since embarking on her journey, she's racked-up more than 11,000 Instagram followers and continues to attract new fans with her social media uploads

Impressing the locals! Showcasing her skills in Granada (L), while looking cool in the wilds of SiberiaHe recently revealed that his New Year's resolution is to stop feeling insecure about his age.

Yet Liam Neeson looked half his 65 years as he attended the Irish premiere of The Commuter at Cineworld, Dublin on Friday.

Clad in a sharp black suit, the Hollywood heartthrob turned heads as he posed up a storm on the red carpet.

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Youthful: He recently revealed that his New Year's resolution is to stop feeling insecure about his age. And Liam Neeson looked half his 65 years as he attended the Irish premiere of The Commuter at Cineworld, Dublin on Friday

The actor cut a slick figure in his fitted black suit, layered atop a more casual thin knit jumper, whilst he tied his look together with brown brogues.

Liam stars as Michael McCauley in The Commuter - an insurance salesman who is offered $100,000 by a stranger to identify a hidden passenger on his train home from work.

However, he soon realises the challenge is part of a much more dangerous criminal conspiracy, in one of the actor's trademark thrillers.

Here's looking at you: Clad in a sharp black suit, the Hollywood heartthrob turned heads as he posed up a storm on the red carpet

Whilst Liam is famed for his action roles and incredible fitness, he recently revealed that he still feels insecurities over his age, as he admitted to feeling like he is 40 years old, despite being halfway through his 60s.

Speaking to People magazine, he explained: 'Ive gotta stop saying to myself, "Im 65". Ive got to do that. Its an Irish thing. Sort of seeing the glass half empty instead of half full.

'But inside I feel 40. But I sometimes think, "Who are you fooling? Who are you kidding?" Ive got to stop that. Lifes good! Im very lucky and very blessed.'

Dressed to impress: The actor cut a slick figure in his fitted black suit, layered atop a more casual thin knit jumper, whilst he tied his look together with brown brogues

It comes after Liam previously hit headlines after he seemingly claimed he would no longer be starring in action movies because of his age.

However, he went on to admit his comments were taken out of context and he meant them as a joke, as he still feels fighting fit.

He explained: '[I love action movies] as long as theyre rooted in a believability and its not a character whos jumping from 30 stories and landing safely. All that stuff Im not interested in. As much as I adore Jackie Chan, Im not that type of action actor.'

Blonde beauties: Annie and Aoife O'Toole looked stylish in their winter warmers at The Commuter premiere

Two of a kind: Athena and Gemma Wright seemed in good spirits as they beamed broadly

Before The Commuter premiere, Liam stopped by President Michael D Higgins at his official residence in Dublin  where he was presented with the Presidential Distinguished Service Award.

Receiving the honour, the Irish actor revealed that he was wary of giving public addresses, as he admitted: 'My fear, and its a genuine fear, is public speaking. Everyone says "oh, youre an actor, you should be good at that". Its just not true.'

The award highlights the outstanding work by Irish people living overseas across a range of areas, from sport to science, charity or community support.

The Taken star, who appeared slightly emotional as he received the award, said he was 'honoured' and 'very humbled', and would continue to 'fly the flag for Irish arts' and the charity Unicef, of which he is a goodwill ambassador.Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe and Geoffrey Rush are just some of the Australians who have won acting Oscars in recent years.

And according to one media analyst, two new names could be added to that list when the 90th Academy Awards is held in Los Angeles on March 4.

Media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told BW on Saturday that Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie are both potential Oscar nominees after giving two of the year's most impressive performances.

'Margot most certainly has a chance at an Oscars nod': Media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told BW on Saturday that Margot Robbuie (pictured) and Hugh Jackman are both potential 2018 Oscar nominees

Los Angeles based Paul told BW that 'Margot most certainly has a chance at an Oscars nod' for her role as disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding in the black comedy, I, Tonya.

'We've seen her since Wolf of Wall Street make an impact as a rising new star, and now her producing and broadening her horizons in terms of her acting range is really most impressive,' the media guru added.

Indeed, Margot co-produced I, Tonya as did her husband, British-born Tom Ackerly.

Powerful performance: Margot plays disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding in the black comedy

And strengthening her chances of an Oscars nod, Margot won Best Actress in a Comedy at Thursday night's Critic's Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Hugh has received acclaim for his performance as circus man P.T. Barnum in the musical The Greatest Showman.

Not only was the film a box-office smash, the feel-good flick has been described as 'joyously uplifting' by Radio Times, with Australian Hugh's star role particularly praised.

Oscar nod? Hugh has received acclaim for his performance as circus man P.T. Barnum in the musical The Greatest Showman

The 49-year-old Aussie missed out on a recent Golden Globe Award for the movie but Paul describes the star as 'a huge threat', stating that he had 'a great year in 2017'.

Interestingly, both I, Tonya and The Greatest Showman are both directed by up-and-coming Australians who could also be potential Oscar contenders.

Uplifting film: Huge with co-star Michelle Williams in the feel-food musical

I, Tonya was directed by Michael Gillespie who has born and raised in Sydney before moving to New York.

The Greatest Showman is the directorial debut from Aussie Michael Gracey, with Paul telling BW: 'To come out with his first movie to be mentioned in the same breath as a Golden Globe/ Oscar consideration, it's somewhat unheard for a freshman film.'He walked for Dolce & Gabbana in Milan Men's Fashion Week last year.

And Jude Law's son Rafferty was back in the fashion capital on Friday as he arrived at a swanky hotel with his girlfriend, Clementine Linieris, 18.

The 21-year-old model, who is back in Milan ahead of Men's Fashion Week, looked the splitting image of his famous father.

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Lookalike: Jude Law's son Rafferty was back in the fashion capital on Friday as he arrived at a swanky hotel with his girlfriend, Clementine Linieris, 18

The DJ looked every inch the fashionista as he cut a casual figure in a purple striped bomber jacket and dark grey chinos.

The blond haired, blue-eyed model complemented the look with a gold necklace and a black polo neck shirt and pulled a black suitcase in one hand and a Dolce & Gabbana bag in another.

The rising star appeared loved-up with his squeeze Clementine, who rocked a denim jacket and tight black jeans.

Model looks: The 21-year-old, who is back in Milan ahead of Men's Fashion Week, looked the splitting image of his famous father

The couple have been dating for more than a year, with Rafferty often sharing cute photos of the pair via his Instagram.

Rafferty is the eldest son of Sadie and actor Jude Law who were married between 1997-2003.

He has become a regular on the front row during fashion week season and signed to modelling agency Select Model Management back in 2014.

He has modelled for Timberland and Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Dior.

Epitome of cool: The DJ looked every inch the fashionista as he cut a casual figure in a purple striped bomber jacket and dark grey chinos

Stylish: The blond haired, blue-eyed model complemented the look with a gold necklace and a black polo neck shirt

As well as Iris, Rafferty has younger sibling brother Rudy, 15, as well as half brother Finlay, 26 and half sisters, Sophia, eight and Ada, two - yet he is the first to burst on to the model scene.

The Dior model - who plays the guitar, piano, bass, drums and keyboard - is a big fan of clubbing and DJs in his spare time.

He was formerly in the band The Dirty Harrys along with his best friend Marley, son of Pulps bassist Steve Mackey.

Sweet: The couple have been dating for more than a year, with Rafferty often sharing cute photos of the pair via his InstagramThis Sunday in Barcelona, Lady Gaga will kick off the European leg of her Joanne World Tour, which is named after her latest album.

But on Friday - already in town before her concert at the Palau Sant Jordi - Gaga managed a throwback to her previous album ARTPOP.

The 31-year-old pop star headed to Instagram and showed off a pair of Versace thigh-high stiletto boots, which were accented with elaborate cross designs.

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'Where's the [fire] at ?': On Friday, Lady Gaga put up some Instagram posts from Barcelona of herself posing up a storm in thigh-high Versace boots

Gaga - whose Christian name is Stefani Germanotta - had teamed the footwear with a cleavage-baring black blazer, as well as bejeweled matching black beret.

She accessorized the look with a glinting, barely perceptible necklace, and a multicolored shoulder strap could be glimpsed poking out from under the jacket.

Gaga had sent up Donatella Versace, the fashion brand's chief designer and the sister of its murdered founder Gianni, in one of the songs from ARTPOP.

Despite the fact the lyric calls its subject 'a rich b****' and goads her to 'Walk down the runway, but don't puke,' Donatella recognized publicity when she saw it.

The look: Gaga - whose Christian name is Stefani Germanotta - had teamed the footwear with a cleavage-baring black blazer, as well as bejeweled matching black beret

That August, she emailed JustJared: 'I would like to thank Gaga for her geniality, creativity, incredible talent and super b****iness. I am honored to be her friend and of course I love the song! Love, DV.'

She and the New York City native have often been photographed together, and Gaga subsequently became the face of Versace's 2014 spring/summer ad campaign.

There were rumors Gaga would be playing Donatella in Ryan Murphy's upcoming anthology show season American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace.

'...made for walkin': She accessorized the look with a glinting, barely perceptible necklace, and a multicolored shoulder strap could be glimpsed poking out from under the jacket

Though Gaga had previously won a Golden Globe for her part on another of Ryan's anthologies, American Horror Story, the Donatella speculation turned out to be false, and the part is in fact playing played by Academy Award winner Penelope Cruz.

Gianni Versace, who launched his company in 1978, was shot dead outside his mansion in Miami Beach in 1997. Eight days later, the culprit, serial killer Andrew Cunanan, committed suicide by gunshot on a houseboat.

The new TV telling is based on Maureen Orth's 1999 book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, And The Largest Failed Manhunt In US History.Earlier this week, she admitted to 'fighting hard' against her hubby's request to take her on a lavish all-expenses-paid vacation.

But it's clear from Pete Evan's wife Nicola's Instagram snaps on Saturday the former runway model has been won over.

The My Kitchen Rules star and his lover looked to be having a blast in snaps from their sun-soaked Bora Bora getaway.

Having fun now? Pete Evan's wife Nicola (pictured) is having a blast in idyllic snaps from their lavish Bora Bora vacation

Not keen: Earlier this week, she admitted to 'fighting hard' against her hubby's request to take her on a lavish all-expenses-paid vacation

Pete and Nicola are believed to be staying at the St Regis resort in the idyllic French Polynesian location.

On Saturday, the lovers ventured out of their luxury accommodation for a deep sea diving expedition, where they swam with sharks and manta rays.

Before they set sail, Pete shared a snap of his wife posing in a yellow kimono with an angel wing print on the back.

Captioned 'Dream dive buddy, in, around and on every level of life!' Nicola stood on a jetty overlooking the water, stretching her arms out as if preparing to ascend to the sky.

Soaking up the rays! On Saturday, the lovers ventured out of their luxury accommodation for a deep sea diving expedition, where they swam with sharks and manta rays

A few hours later and it was clear the reclusive pair had started making friends, sharing a snap with their dive instructors on a boat.

Later, joy was painted across a shirtless Pete's face in an action shot that showed him leaping into the water.

'Today was one of the most awesome experiences ever,' he later wrote on Instagram, describing their encounters with various sea creatures.

Fast friends! A few hours later and it was clear the reclusive pair had started making friends, sharing a snap with their dive instructors on a boat

Bliss! Later, joy was painted across a shirtless Pete's face in an action shot that showed him leaping into the water

The joyous snaps were a clear sign Nicola was finally having a blast, having previously admitted to scoffing at the idea of leaving their Queensland farm.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, she wrote Pete 'really had to work hard to persuade me, but I'm so happy that I surrendered to his vision'.

'It took my sweet husband some convincing (he really had to work hard to persuade me),' Nicola added.

Better than the farm! The joyous snaps were a clear sign Nicola was finally having a blast, having previously admitted to scoffing at the idea of leaving their Queensland farmHe was rushed to hospital on New Year's Day for a burst appendix.

And Robert Irwin has thankfully been making a full recovery after having emergency surgery, according to his older sister Bindi Irwin.

The 14-year-old is back at home at their Australia Zoo base and 'doing fantastic', Bindi shared to her Instagram on Saturday.

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Recovery: Robert Irwin is back at home after emergency surgery for his appendix and 'doing fantastic', Bindi Irwin shared to her Instagram on Saturday

Bindi, 19, posted a family photo of herself with Robert, affectionately known as Bob, and her boyfriend Chandler Powell.

The smiling trio were seated at a kitchen table with a Mickey Mouse-themed Monopoly set in front of them.

'So proud of my amazing brother,' she gushed in the snap's caption.

Emergency: He was rushed to hospital on New Year's Day for a burst appendix

'On New Year's Day he got his appendix out with emergency surgery. Then, only a couple days later he was back playing Monopoly with us,' she continued.

'Now, were home at Australia Zoo and hes doing fantastic! Go Robert!!!' she added.

Robert revealed he had his appendix removed following a health scare on Friday.

'Now, were home at Australia Zoo and hes doing fantastic! Go Robert!!!' she added

Australia Zoo told Daily Mail Australia Robert was on the mend following the surgery.

'On New Years Day, Robert suffered appendicitis which resulted in the removal of his appendix,' a representative said.

'He has since been recovering well and will be participating in the daily Wildlife Warriors show at Australia Zoo as much as he can, from January 13 to 21 with Terri and Bindi. Thank you to everyone for their support and well wishes.'It's one of the biggest events on Melbourne's social calendar.

And there was no dampening Asher Keddie and Vincent Fantauzzo's spirits on Saturday, the couple all smiles despite the rain.

The Offspring star and her artist husband appeared in high spirits as they posed for photos at the Portsea Polo after getting caught in a downpour.

Can't dampen their spirits! Asher Keddie and Vincent Fantauzzo are all smiles despite getting caught in the rain at the Portsea Polo

Asher looked stylish as ever, wearing a white overcoat with a plunging neckline and matching wide leg pants.

Meanwhile Vincent looked suave in a blue linen suit, which was unfortunately damp from the rain.

But the couple soldiered on despite the bad weather, posing for photos on the grass carpet as staff held umbrellas for them.

White hot: Asher looked stylish as ever, wearing a white overcoat with a plunging neckline and matching wide leg pants

The couple were among several Melbourne celebrities at the polo event, with Bec Judd, Georgia Love and Natalie Roser also walking the grass carpet.

Asher's appearance at the Portsea Polo comes as she refused to say she 'has it all', and hit out at the expression in a new interview.

The 43-year-old told InStyle Australia this month that 'no respect' is given to how complex women's lives can be and claiming to have it all sends a 'negative message'.

'Im not juggling it all brilliantly, Im doing my best': Offspring star Asher Keddie hits back at claims she 'has it all' as she manages motherhood with acting career

'Im not juggling it all brilliantly, Im doing my best,' Asher told the publication, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The Offspring star argued that claiming to have it all was detrimental to other women.

'No respect (is) given to the complexity of (a womans life). Its just bulls**t. We shouldnt expect women to have it all and manage it all and I certainly dont want to be portrayed in that way  I think its a very negative message to send women,' Asher said.

'We shouldnt expect women to have it all and manage it all and I certainly dont want to be portrayed in that way': Asher said it was a 'negative message' when it was claimed women could have it all

Close family: The couple share a two-year-old son Valentino together and Asher is step mum to Vincent's other son Luca (pictured)

Despite her strong comments on juggling family with her career, Asher said she had found deep satisfaction in her marriage to Vincent.

The couple share a two-year-old son Valentino together and Asher is step mum to Vincent's other son Luca.

'Were growing up as partners and artists and really starting to appreciate that we have a different perspective on things,' she told InStyle.She's one of Australia's most stylish WAGs thanks to her envy-inducing designer wardrobe.

And Clementine McVeigh showed once again why she is such a fashionista, wearing a chic retro-inspired ensemble to the Portsea Polo on Saturday.

The mother of two flaunted her slender figure in a sequinned dress and oversized sunglasses.

Specs appeal! Clementine McVeigh shows off her slender figure in a 70s-inspired metallic dress and oversized sunglasses

Clementine cut a stylish figure as she posed for photographers at the Alfa Romeo marquee.

The New Zealand-born model wore a mid-length sequin dress which featured pink, green and blue hues.

The chic mum paired her frock with $925 gold Gucci shoes and a $1435 oversized belt from the same brand.

Shining bright: The New Zealand-born model wore a mid-length sequin dress which featured pink and blue hues

Wearing her brunette locks out in relaxed waves, Clementine further accessorised with a gold headband and oversized $500 Gucci sunglasses.

Clementine is married to Sydney Swans player Jarrad McVeigh, with the couple parents to Lolita Luella, five, and three-month-old Florence.

Sadly, their first child Luella died of heart complications just four weeks after her birth in 2011.

Looking good doesn't come cheap! The chic mum paired her frock with a $1435 oversized Gucci belt

'When we lost her my whole world changed, all I wanted to be was a mother and that was taken away from me,' Clementine told The Grace Tales in 2016.

'From that experience I realised just how blessed I was to be sent a beautiful little angel and to be picked as her mamma.

'It made me understand to true meaning of being a mother  that you would do absolutely anything in the world for your child, you become very selfless.'He has many reasons to celebrate, including a potential Oscar nod for his latest role.

And Hugh Jackman toasted to his achievements on Friday night, giggling up a storm in the process.

The 49-year-old shared video of his rare down time to Instagram, where he indulged in a cocktail inside a dimly-lit restaurant.

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Cheers! Hugh Jackman toasted to his achievements on Friday night, giggling up a storm in the process

The Hollywood star captioned the upload 'Weekend' and was seen laughing heartily as he held his martini glass.

His fans lavished praise on The Greatest Showman leading man in the snap's comments section.

'A being more beautiful than you has never walked this earth,' gushed one follower.

Indulging: The Hollywood star captioned the upload 'Weekend' and was seen laughing heartily as he held his martini glass

'You are my favourite individual and I need you to understand that,' offered another.

'I love you so much Hugh, cant put into worlds how much you mean to me,' fawned one supporter.

'I don't know what he's doing, but it's beautiful,' added one of the actor's devotees.

Hat tip: The 49-year-old has many reasons to celebrate, including a potential Oscar nod for his latest role

Media analyst Paul Dergarabedian has told BW Hugh and Margot Robbie are potential Oscar nominees after giving two of the year's best performances.

Hugh missed out on a recent Golden Globe Award for The Greatest Showman, but Paul describes the star as 'a huge threat' and said he had 'a great year in 2017'.

Margot's film I, Tonya and The Greatest Showman are both directed by Australians, who could also be potential Oscar contenders.She just won Best Actress in a Limited Series for her role in Big Little Lies at the Critics Choice Awards on Thursday.

And on Friday Nicole Kidman was right back to work, as she was spotted shooting scenes for her cop drama Destroyer in Los Angeles.

The 50-year-old Academy Award winning actress definitely didn't look like her usual fashionable self.

Ready to shoot! On Friday Nicole Kidman was right back to work, as she was spotted shooting scenes for her cop drama Destroyer in Los Angeles

Instead, she donned some very modest clothes for the shoot.

On top she layered a black leather jacket over a somewhat askew beige button-up shirt.

Slate grey slacks and shabby black oxfords rounded out her unremarkable outfit.

She traded in her usual blonde locks for a brunette wig with long bangs, and seemed to be wearing very minimal make-up.

Nothing fancy: The 50-year-old Academy Award winning actress definitely didn't look like her usual fashionable self, donning more modest threads instead

While she didn't carry any of the expected accessories, the Australian star did tote a small black pistol at one point, which she kept safely pointed at the ground.

Earlier in the week, the actress was criticized for failing to mention her two adopted children, Isabella and Connor with ex-Tom Cruise, at the Golden Globes on Monday.

Luckily she had a chance to correct her error when she won the Critics Choice Award on Thursday.

Armed and dangerous! While she didn't carry any of the expected accessories, the Australian star did tote a small black pistol at one point, which she kept safely pointed at the ground

Whoops! Earlier in the week, the actress was criticized for failing to mention her two adopted children, Isabella and Connor with ex-Tom Cruise, at the Golden Globes on Monday

'I want to thank all of my children who show me so much love,' she said during that acceptance speech.

Nicole has two daughters with husband with Keith Urban, Sunday Rose, nine, and Faith Margaret, seven.

She also has two adopted children from her previous marriage to Tom Cruise, Isabella, 25, and Connor, 22.He's been a pop cultural phenomenon ever since his days on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

And so it was only fitting that on Saturday Will Smith came face to face with another of the world's icons - the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The 49-year-old superstar was seen partaking in the BridgeClimb, a popular activity that allows tourists to scale the famous monument to take in the city's sweeping skyline.

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The Fresh Prince of Sydney! Will Smith was seen scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Saturday during a surprise trip Down Under

Clearly a fan of the tourist attraction, it's not the first time Will has completed the BridgeClimb. He partook in the activity during another trip to Australia several years ago.

On Saturday, despite the city's humid summer weather, super-fit Will barely broke a sweat as he completed the strenuous activity.

At one point, the Independence Day actor flashed the peace sign to fans below while making his way along metal scaffolding.

The star was clad in the mandatory blue and grey BridgeClimb jumpsuit, complete with all the requisite safety harnesses.

Super-fit: Will barely broke a sweat as he completed the strenuous activity

In good spirits: The Independence Day actor flashed the peace sign to fans below

Clearly not too ostentatious to opt for a private tour, it appeared Will tagged along on a general BridgeClimb as he was seen trailing fellow tourists along one of the walkways.

The BridgeClimb is one of the city's most popular attractions, bringing people in from right around the world.

Oprah, Prince Harry, Usain Bolt, Robert De Niro and Eva Longoria are just a small number of the world's biggest stars who have scaled the monument.

He makes it stylish! Will wore the mandatory blue and grey BridgeClimb jumpsuit, complete with all the requisite safety harnesses

Star attraction: The BridgeClimb is one of the city's most popular attractions, bringing people in from right around the world

Will touched down in Sydney on Friday, although the reason for his surprise visit to Australia has not been made public.

The actor co-stars alongside Aussie Joel Edgerton in the new Netlfix movie Bright, which was the streaming service's highest viewed original film ever during its first week of release.

Down to earth: Clearly not too ostentatious to opt for a private tour, it appeared Will tagged along on a general BridgeClimb

After touching down, the father-of-two was seen taking in the city, sharing a snap to Instagram with the Opera House in the background.

'What Up, Sydney? Ya Boy is in the Buildin, he captioned the photo, which was viewed by his 4.7 million followers.Rebecca Hall is giving back the salary she earned for appearing in an upcoming Woody Allen movie, and says she would not work with the director again.

The London-born actress, 35, said in an Instagram post Friday that she's donating the money she earned from A Rainy Day in New York to the newly-formed Time's Up coalition, formed by entertainers in the wake of dozens of high-powered men in show business facing accusations of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct.

Hall's move comes in response to criticisms of Hollywood hypocrisy from Dylan Farrow, who alleges that 'the director sexually molested her when she was seven-years-old and his adopted daughter.'

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Dirty money? Actress Rebecca Hall, 35, (L) is giving back the salary she earned for appearing in an upcoming film from Woody Allen, 82, (R) to the Time's Up movement, amid an ongoing trend of performers disavowing the filmmaker

Allen has denied the allegations - that made international headlines amid his parting from Mia Farrow in 1992 - for more than 25 years.

While the director was never charged with a crime, prosecutors in Connecticut - where the alleged molestation took place - said that a criminal case was not pursued to spare Dylan the trauma, despite the existence of probable cause.

Hall said that she was working on Allen's forthcoming film in early October as the accusations against Allen's colleague and friend Harvey Weinstein had just hit the headlines.

'I couldnt have imagined somewhere stranger to be that day, said Hall, who explained her rationale for taking the role in the first place.

Hall noted that she was 'grateful' toward Allen, who had given her one of her 'first significant roles in film' in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the 2008 film for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

Hall said that her work in A Rainy Day in New York was 'easy,' constituting 'one day in [her] hometown.'

Change of heart: The London-born star said that she decided to donate the money after reviewing an article Dylan Fallow wrote about Allen's seeming-escape from accountability amid the #MeToo movement. She was snapped in NYC in October

Making a statement: Hall explained the circumstances that led her to take a role in Allen's upcoming movie, A Rainy Day in New York

She continued: 'I have, however subsequently realized there is nothing easy about any of this. In the weeks following I have thought very deeply about this decision, and remain conflicted and saddened.'

Hall said she had a change of heart when reading a Los Angeles Times opinion piece Dylan Farrow, now 35, penned last month stating that the #MeToo 'revolution has been selective,' and asking why Allen had not suffered the professional reckoning others had.

'After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrows statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones - I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,' Hall said, adding that she was 'profoundly sorry,' 'regret this decision,' and 'wouldnt make the same one today.'

Squiring: Allen was snapped with stepdaughter-turned-wife Soon-Yi Previn in NYC in 2016

Fall from grace: Allen and friend/colleague Harvey Weinstein were snapped in 2008 in LA. The allegations against Weinstein in October triggered an avalanche of accusations of sexual misconduct against dozens of high-powered men

She noted that her donation was 'a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation,' but a first step towards her involvement in the Time's Up movement.

'Ive also signed up, will continue to donate, and look forward to working with and being part of this positive movement towards change not just in Hollywood but hopefully everywhere.'

Hall follows in the steps of other performers who have publicly stated they regret their past work with Allen, including names such as Mira Sorvino, Greta Gerwig, David Krumholtz and Ellen Page.

Speaking out: Dylan Farrow has been unabashed about the hypocrisy of Hollywood stars endorsing anti-sexual misconduct movements while working with Allen. Farrow was snapped in 2016 in NYC

During Sunday's Golden Globes, a number of Twitter users called out entertainers who had worked with Allen, that had attached themselves to the Time's Up movement.

Among them were Justin Timberlake, who worked with Allen on Wonder Wheel, and Blake Lively, who was in Allen's Cafe Society; both have spoke glowingly of the director in interviews.

Dylan, in a recent statement to Buzzfeed, questioned the sincerity of both, and how they can getting behind the Time's Up cause while championing Allen.They reportedly found love on Bachelor In Paradise and have been simply inseparable ever since.

So it was surprising that Keira Maguire and Jarrod Woodgate stepped out separately during the Portsea Polo at the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday.

While fans were expecting the two to make their big couple debut together, they took extraordinary precautions not to be seen together.

Keeping the PDA at bay? Keira Maguire and Jarrod Woodgate have stepped out for the Portsea Polo, on Saturday, on the Mornington Peninsula. But while fans were expecting the two to make their debut together, they attended the star studded event separately

Blonde beauty Keira, 31, turned heads in an eye-catching, three-piece grey checked ensemble with floral embellishments dotted throughout.

The unusual look consisted of a pencil skirt with a thigh-cut and quirky material detailing emblazoned with the designer brand's logo.

Her top featured a peplum and corset lace-up detailing that accentuated her surgically-enhanced cleavage.

Unusual: Blonde beauty Keira, 31, turned heads in an eye-catching, three-piece grey checked ensemble with floral embellishments dotted throughout

Lover of luxe: She showcased her love of luxe accessories with her favourite Gucci Dionysus bag, a pair of round Ray Ban sunglasses and clear strappy heels, alongside her fashionable gal pal (left)

The outfit was completed with a double-breasted jacket, which she wore on her shoulders.

She showcased her love of luxe accessories with her favourite Gucci Dionysus bag, a pair of round Ray Ban sunglasses and clear strappy heels, alongside her fashionable gal pal.

Meanwhile Jarrod, 31, who recently underwent a makeover believed to be instigated by Keira, flaunted his fresh hair cut for cameras at the event.

He went for a dapper summer look in his beige suit, which he matched a blue striped shirt.

New look: Meanwhile Jarrod, 31, who recently underwent a makeover believed to be instigated by Keira, flaunted his fresh hair cut for cameras at the event

The vineyard manager added pizzazz to his rather ordinary look with a blue pocket square and boat shoes.

The duo were first romantically linked when they were pictured sharing a steamy kissing during a date on Bachelor In Paradise.

Since then a source close to the pair told Daily Mail Australia that 'it's only a matter of time' before Keira moves from Sydney down to Melbourne with her alleged beau.

The source added that 'they've been inseparable ever since' meeting on the show.

Jarrod previously had his heart broken by Sophie Monk on The Bachelorette last year, while Keira failed to find love with Richie Strahan on The Bachelor.She's been hot on the social circuit since confirming her split from husband Kerry Rhodes after just six months of marriage.

And Nicky Whelan has once again stepped out in style, leading the celebrity arrivals at Magic Millions VIP Race Day on the Gold Coast this Saturday.

The 36-year-old struck a pose, showcasing her slender frame and trim pins in a white lace frock.

Giddy up! Nicky Whelan, 36, has once again stepped out in style, leading the celebrity arrivals at Magic Millions VIP Race Day on the Gold Coast this Saturday

Her elegant wrap dress also featured floral pattern on the skirt, bodice and long sleeves.

Keeping the monochrome look consistent, she teamed the outfit with a black, wide-brimmed hat and a pair of strappy heels.

For her makeup the blonde beauty showed off her flawless complexion, drawing attention to her dramatic kohl-rimmed eyes and defined lashes.

Elegant: Donning a classic, monochrome look, she teamed the outfit with a black wide brimmed hat

Horse racing royalty: Francesca Cumani, 35, also attended the event in a chic cobalt blue, pleated dress

Horse racing royalty Francesca Cumani, 35, also attended the event in a chic cobalt blue, pleated dress.

She kept her makeup look natural with a subtle flush of blush on her cheeks, nude pink lips, mascara and defined brows.

Francesca accessorised with a pair of diamond earrings and a bronze headpiece.

Youthful: She kept her makeup look natural with a subtle flush of blush on her cheeks, nude pink lips, mascara and defined brows

Dapper: Patron for the Magic Millions Mike Tindall attended the event solo as his wife, Zara Phillips was forced to miss out due to illness

Patron for the Magic Millions Mike Tindall attended the event solo as his wife Zara Phillips was forced to miss out due to illness.

He cut a dapper figure in his tailored light blue suit with brown dress shoes.

For a bit of fashion flare, Mike's look was accessorised with a pocket square and a floral lapel pin.

Glamour couple Jesinta and Buddy Franklin also dressed to the nines for the racing event.

Glamour couple: Jesinta and Buddy Franklin dressed to the nines for the racing event

The model, 26, showed off her slender figure in an emerald green ensemble cropped top featured a plunging neckline, hinting at her cleavage as well as showing off her toned midriff.

Her look was matched with high-waisted flared trousers that accentuated her endless trims.

Meanwhile Buddy donned a kooky look by accessorising his ensemble with a pair of hipster style glasses.

He teamed his tailored white blazer, shirt and tie with a pair of ankle grazing skinny pants with matching pants.

Fashionable: Meanwhile Buddy donned a kooky look by accessorising his ensemble with a pair of hipster style glasses

Elite: Sydney's high society couple Ryan Stokes and Claire Campbell put on a smitten display holding hands at the event. The Channel 7 CEO cut a suave figure in a navy suit with a silk baby blue tie

Sydney's high society couple Ryan Stokes and Claire Campbell put on a smitten display holding hands at the event.

The Channel 7 CEO cut a suave figure in a navy suit with a silk baby blue tie.

But it was his wife that stole the attention in a love heart print frock with a short front and a long train at the back.

For a little fun she added a straw brimmed hat with a pair of red Valentino rock stud heels.It's been five years since they starred together in hit blockbuster The Wolf Of Wall Street.

And 2018 will see Margot Robbie reunite with Leonardo DiCaprio for another project, this time in a far grittier film by director Quentin Tarantino, according to reports.

Deadline reported this Saturday that Quentin has approached 27-year-old Margot to play murder victim Sharon Tate in his new feature film, which centres around the infamous Charles Manson murders that took place in 1969.

Margot Robbie reunite with former Wolf Of Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for another project, this time in a far grittier film by director Quentin Tarantino, according to reports

Having famously worked with Quentin in 2013 flick Django Unchained, Leonardo, 43, will also take on a leading role in the Sony film, which has been slated for release in 2019.

Tom Cruise is also rumoured to be in talks for a role in the film.

Charles Mason died November 19, age 83, while serving his life sentence for for seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder at the California State Prison in Corcoran.

How time flies! The pair starred together in hit blockbuster The Wolf Of Wall Street five years ago

Reunited: Leonardo DiCaprio, 43, will reunite with his Django Unchained director Quentin Tarantino for the Charles Manson-themed film

Playing opposite these Hollywood A-listers would certainly solidify Margot as one of the world's most promising rising stars, having recently won a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actress in I, Tonya.

The film, produced by Margot and Tom, has managed to score an 90 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Margot lauded for her funny and sympathetic portrait of Tonya.

Previously speaking about the film, Margot told ABC News: 'It's never been the weight of the film, kind of, on my shoulders in that way, so I was really, really scared.

Manson Family mastermind: Charles died November 19, age 83, while serving his life sentence for for seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder at the California State Prison in Corcoran

'And then also because I'm a producer on it, if it turned out badly ... There was no one else I could blame for it. I was really nervous to show this to people.

'It's really hard not to recognize that this is a real life person's story, and I am shaping the view on that person,' she said.

'I just hope I'm shaping it in a more positive or slightly more redeeming way than, than she's experienced in the past.'They are approaching their seven year wedding anniversary.

But Kelsey Grammer, 62, and wife Kayte Walsh, 37, looked like a couple of teenagers on a date as they giggled together in West Hollywood on Friday night, heading to dinner at Craig's restuarant.

The Frasier star held on to Kayte's hand, as they strolled along together, clearly ready to kick-start their weekend with their lavish dinner.

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Friday Feeling! Kelsey Grammer, 62, and wife Kayte Walsh, 37, looked giggly as they kicked off their weekend with a swanky dinner in West Hollywood on Friday evening

The couple, who wed two weeks after the finalisation of Kelsey's third divorce, put on beaming smiles and cosied up to each other, both dressed casually for the meal.

Kayte looked chic yet comfy in a pale pink sweater, with matching heels to give a girly feel to the over all ensemble.

She wore indigo fitted slacks and allowed her flurry of lightly-curled golden locks to fall around her features. She added a touch of blusher to her cheeks, and smiled as she held on to Kelsey's arm.

Date night: The couple, who wed two weeks after the finalization of Kelsey's third divorce, put on beaming smiles and cosied up to each other, both dressed casually for the meal

Happily married: British-born Kayte, a former flight attendant, wed the American star in 2011

The former Cheers star waved and grinned as he walked along with his wife on his arm, looking a little more dressed down. The dad-of-seven wore jeans and trainers and a comfy polo shirt.

Kelsey walked arm-in-arm with his fourth wife as they made their way through the street. Virgin Islands-born screen star Kelsey wed British-born Kayte, a former flight attendant, in 2011.

The couple are the proud parents of three young children: Faith, five, Kelsey, three, and one-year-old Auden. Kelsey has four other children from previous relationships.

Beaming pair: The Cheers and Frasier star walked arm-in-arm with fourth wife as they strolled along the street

Casual: The dad-of-seven wore jeans and trainers and a comfy polo shirt

The couple were based in London until recently where Kelsey was making his West End stage debut in the musical Big Fish.

Experimenting with theatre, the star took to the Broadway stage in La Cage aux Folles and Finding Neverland previously.

While Big Fish has now closed, he has expressed an interest in returning to the London stage.

Next week sees the release of the actor's next project - Guardians of the Tomb, with is an upcoming Chinese-Australian science fiction horror thriller film directed and written by Kimble Rendall.

It is the largest Chinese-Australian co-production to date and is set for a release on January 19.He was responsible for Thursday's horror crash, veering his family's car into an oncoming lorry which killed both his mum Chrissie and his grandad Lawrence.

And it seems that Emmerdale's Lachlan White will struggle to deal with the guilt of his family's deaths, perhaps leading him to also kill his aunt Rebecca.

In a clip released after Friday's show, Lachlan is briefly seen saying: 'I'm sorry' as he squeezes Rebecca's oxygen tube.

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Killer? Emmerdale's Lachlan White could be set to murder his aunt Rebecca in the coming days, as a teaser clip hints the psycho teen could cut off his aunt's oxygen

Rebecca has been comatose in hospital since the accident, unaware that both her sister and father were killed in the dramatic crash.

The clip also showed Lachlan telling now ex-girlfriend Belle Dingle that they cannot be together, with his black attire insinuating he is attending his family's funeral.

Lachlan confessed his responsibility for the crash to Belle, though did not admit he intended for the car to veer off course.

Friday's episode ended with Belle finding friend Gerry's phone, containing a voicemail Lachlan recorded in the car just seconds before the crash, and though she did not listen to the message, this could hint at Lachlan's true colours coming out.

Suffering: In the clip Lachlan can be seen squeezing Rebecca's oxygen tube as she lies in a coma after Thursday's horror crash

No love: In the clip Lachlan can also be heard telling Belle Dingle they can't be together, with his black attire he could be attending his family's funeral

On edge: Lachlan told Belle that he was responsible for the crash, though did not reveal he intented for his family's car to crash

Whether Lachlan goes through with murdering his aunt remains to be seen, though actress Emily Head, who plays Rebecca hinted that her character would be in a critical state for a long time, telling the Radio Times she has 'lots of lying in bed scenes coming up'.

Discussing the departure of Louise Marwood and John Bowe, she added: 'I came into the family unit that was already set up but they were so welcoming.

'Louise and I are very similar and have the same sense of humour, she instantly became my closest friend on the show. I don't think it's hit me fully they've both gone, it will feel very weird.'

Horror: Emmerdale viewers were left heartbroken on Thursday after Lawrence and Chrissie (pictured) were killed in the horrific car crash

Tragedy: A crazed Lachlan lunged for the wheel and smashed them into an oncoming lorry, causing their car to catapult into a ditch in the horrifying double-bill

Oh no: Lachlan's grandfather Lawrence was flung out of the vehicle and died on the ground, but his terrified mum Chrissie suffered a much more painful death

Lachlan suffered the pain of watching his mum die in Thursday's dramatic scenes, as they shared a gut-wrenching conversation while she was trapped in the car.

The teen had snapped during Saturday's high speed car chase, where the Whites were chasing after Robert Sugden who had snatched baby Sebastian.

During this already tension-filled moment, Lachlan decided to confront Chrissie for her interfering in his relationship with Belle and forcing her to dump him so he would go to Australia with the rest of the family for a fresh start.

Ordeal: While Lawrence and Chrissie died, Rebecca slid into unconsciousness and was left fighting for her life

Lachlan, who was in the front seat next to his driver mother, started reciting a nursery rhyme she said to him in her childhood.

He said: 'Sleep tight, because mummy is here to make all the monsters disappear  but it was you, you were the monster and always were.

'I'm sorry grandad, but we're not going to Australia  make all the monsters disappear!'

Emmerdale continues on Monday 15 January at 7pm on ITV,Protesters demonstrate against a new austerity bill in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 12, 2018. Greek labor unions staged a first round of strikes and protests on Friday over the new austerity bill debated in parliament which, among other measures, tightens conditions for calling strikes. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Greek labor unions staged a first round of strikes and protests on Friday over a new austerity bill debated in parliament which, among other measures, tightens conditions for calling strikes.

Thousands of protesters marched in central Athens, chanting anti-austerity slogans, as state hospital doctors joined seamen, construction and subway workers, along with others members of labor unions in a 24-hour nationwide warning strike, the first major mobilization of 2018.

A second round of industrial action has been scheduled for Monday when MPs are scheduled to vote on the bill containing the latest set of prior actions required by Greece's lenders to conclude the third review of the third bailout program begun in 2010.

On Friday, ships remained moored at ports, as the Panhellenic Seamen's Union participated in the strike, and commuters faced traffic jams due to transport employees' mobilization.

On Monday, civil service unions, the umbrella union representing private sector employees, as well as air traffic controllers, have also announced a three-hour stoppage at noon local time and more demonstrations are organized throughout the day.

"No more austerity, life with dignity, hands off the right to strike," read banners raised by protesters on Friday.

A group of activists tried to hang a banner in front of the parliament building and briefly clashed with riot police who responded by using tear gas to push them back.

Labor unions warn of escalation of industrial actions regardless of Monday's vote inside the assembly.

Among the two thorniest provisions in the new bill is the detailed framework for the start of online auctions for foreclosed properties and the change in rules for unions declaring strikes. Both policies have been firmly requested by Greece's creditors according to cabinet ministers.

Under the draft bill, unions must have the absolute majority of at least 50 percent of active members who pay dues before declaring a strike in the future. Currently the percentage is one third of union members.

Critics of the bill claim that the change aims to effectively weaken the last weapon workers have to protest for their rights.

"This draft law which essentially abolishes the right to strike, as well as the auctions, even of primary houses, and all other unacceptable measures which are against workers and are included in this bill, will not be implemented de facto," Dimitris Koutsoumbas, general secretary of Greece's Communist Party, said during Friday's protest.

Proponents of the measure argue that the frequency of strikes in Greece, in particular during the years of the debt crisis, obstructs the operation of an already ailing economy which struggles to stand on her feet and recover.

According to police data, more than 12,000 protests have been staged in Athens since the start of the crisis. Dozens of general strikes have been called by the largest unions.

As bills are approved despite strikes, some Greeks question the effectiveness of walk outs and demonstrations.

5

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[ Editor: meng ]She finally confirmed her romance with Coldplay front-man Chris Martin in December after months of speculation.

Yet actress Dakota Johnson, 28, stepped out on her own for her morning coffee run as she hit the sunny streets of West Hollywood on Friday.

The 50 Shades starlet looked worlds away from her stunning red carpet attire, seen at Sunday's Golden Globes, but she still looked incredible in a crimson woolen jumper, adorned with tan elbow patches as she grabbed her caffeine fix.

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Comfortable style: Dakota Johnson, 28, stepped out on her own for her morning coffee run as she hit the sunny streets of West Hollywood on Friday

The daughter of actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson slipped comfortably into black joggers as she pounded the sun drenched pavements.

She rocked a pair of casual emerald and red Gucci flip-flops, while she kept all of her goods safely in a chic black leather shoulder bag.

Dakota beamed as she strode confidently through the street, shielding her eyes from the bright sunshine with wide rimmed black sunglasses.

The brunette beauty let her chocolate locks hang naturally down past her shoulders, as her windswept fringe rested on her forehead.

On the go: The 50 Shades starlet looked worlds away from her usual red carpet glamour in a crimson woolen jumper, adorned with tanned elbow patches as she grabbed her caffeine fix

The chic yet comfortable ensemble was tied together with a touch of sparkle from her silver drop pendant.

The fresh-faced stunner opted for a touch of pink lip gloss but her left her natural complexion to shine on its own.

Dakota will undoubtedly have a busy 2018, with the 50 Shades franchise coming to an end in the final installment, Fifty Shades Freed, due for release in February.

Wedding scene: Dakota will undoubtedly have a busy 2018, with the 50 Shades franchise coming to an end in the final installment due for release in February

Dakota finally confirmed her romance with Coldplay frontman Chris after weeks of speculation.

She was pictured with the 40-year-old British musician last week at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

They first sparked romance rumors in October after they were spotted enjoying a dinner date in Los Angeles.

Confirmed couple: Dakota and Coldplay's Chris Martin, 40, first sparked romance rumors in October after they were spotted enjoying a dinner date in Los Angeles

Chris split with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, in 2014 when they revealed they were 'consciously uncoupling' and their divorce was finalized in July 2016.

They remain close and co-parent their daughter Apple, 13, and 11-year-old son Moses.

Dakota previously dated rocker Matthew Hitt, 29, on and off from 2014 until 2016.She is the acclaimed Australian actress who calls the Big Apple home.

And Naomi Watts stepped out in fashionable form despite the rainy weather in New York City this Friday.

The 49-year-old appeared to be in good spirits as she strolled the city streets, looking radiant and makeup-free for the wintry expedition.

Looking cosy: Naomi Watts, 49, stepped out in fashionable form despite the rainy weather in New York City this Friday

Swathed in an oversized grey jacket, she rugged up from the cold in a pair of denim jeans that accentuated her trim pins as well as some eye-catching leather white booties.

It comes after Naomi made headlines for showing her support for ex partner Liev Schreiber while the Golden Globes with their two sons Alexander, 10, and Samuel, nine.

Despite their recent split, Liev's former flame took to her Instagram Story to share a snap of her boys spotting their movie star father at the award ceremony earlier this week.

These boots were made for walking! Swathed in an oversized grey jacket, she rugged up from the cold in a pair of denim jeans that accentuated her trim pins as well as some eye-catching leather white booties

Good terms: Naomi recently showed her support for ex partner Liev Schreiber watching the Golden Globes with their two sons Alexander, 10, and Samuel, nine

'Watching with the kids,' Naomi captioned the sweet snap.

Liev was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series for his role in Ray Donovan but was beaten to the top spot by Sterling K. Brown.

Since going their separate ways in 2016, the former couple have maintained good relations with each other, despite their differences.

Happier days: Since going their separate ways in 2016, Naomi and Liev have maintained good relations with each other, despite their differences (pictured in 2015)

Her laid back city look comes after she recently spoke to EW about her upcoming film Ophelia, in which she plays Queen Gertrude

Her laid back city look comes after she recently spoke to EW about her upcoming film Ophelia, in which she plays Queen Gertrude.

Naomi explained the film, lead by Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, is a reimagination of the William Shakespeare character from Hamlet often portrayed as a damsel in distress as a hero.

'Thats often how women have been portrayed in storytelling  as the damsel in the distress,' she told the publication.

'If their mind is powerful, it must be madness. And now there's this shift that's taking place, and that's reflected in this storytelling.'They're sisters and two of the biggest names in the modelling industry.

But it appears Jessica Hart, 31, and sister Ashley, 29, aren't content with just appearing on magazine covers, with the two now wanting to start a school for models.

Talking to the The Daily Telegraph this Saturday, the genetically-blessed pair revealed their entrepreneurial dreams, with Ashley gushing: 'I have this vision and dream of a model finishing school'.

Zoolander eat your heart out! Jessica Hart, 31, and sister Ashley, 29, aren't content with just appearing on magazine covers, with the two now wanting to start a school for models

We want to teach women rites of passage, from teenager coming into womanhood, teaching things that for us are sort of like breathing because we've grown up in the industry,' she she continued.

While it's unclear as to the nature of the syllabus taught at Jessica and Ashley's school, the pair will no doubt attract a wide interest from potential students thanks to their popular social media following.

Jessica is known for walking the catwalk for the famed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, but it was the Dolly Model Search in 2000 that first launched Jess's career in the industry.

'We want to teach women rites of passage': Ashley told Confidential that starting an institution for models has always been the pair's ultimate dream

Piggybacking off her sister's new-found notoriety, Ashley has since found her own fame in the modelling world.

If the sisters were to go ahead with the plan, it wouldn't be the first time the have collaborated - with the pair having a number of projects together, including a health and well-being campaign with Swisse.

'I love that we've become a duo, it is a beautiful feeling,' Ashley told The Daily Telegraph.

The pair are known to be close.

'We've grown up in the industry': The pair have been working as models for many years

Growing-up in Melbourne, the sisters had a rough time with their single mother Rae.

More recently, however, they've had trying times with their relationships.

Ashley ending things with her husband Buck Palmer and Jess splitting from Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III, who is probably best known as Paris Hilton's ex.

'I love that we've become a duo, it is a beautiful feeling': The genetically-blessed duo are known to have a close relationship

Known for the fashionable gap in her front teeth, Jess recently opened-up to Body and Soul about her 'sun damage.'

'I would have loved to know more about the damages of the sun,' she told the publication.

'I suffer severely from that now - and there is nothing I can do about it. It's irreversible sun damage.'Mark Wahlberg has announced he will donate the $1.5 million he made for re-shooting scenes for All The Money In The World to the Time's Up legal fund against sexual abuse and harassment.

The actor announced his decision following reports that his co-star Michelle Williams made less than $1,000 for the same re-shoots on the Ridley Scott movie.

In a statement Saturday Wahlberg, 46, said: 'Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All The Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation.

'I 100% support the fight for fair pay and Im donating the $1.5 million to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams' name.'

Pay gap: Mark Wahlberg has announced he is donating $1.5M to the Time's Up legal fund in Michelle Williams' name after it emerged he was paid substantially more than his co-star for reshoots for All The Money In The World

At the same time, WME, which reps Wahlberg, Williams and Scott, has pledged $500,000 in a donation to #TimesUp.

WME said: The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a position of influence have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap.

'In recognition of the pay discrepancy on All The Money In The World reshoots, WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month. Its crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution.'

It was reported this week that Wahlberg held up the production of All the Money in the World by refusing to sign-off on disgraced actor Kevin Spacey's replacement if he was not paid more than $1 million for the reshoots which took place in November.

Christopher Plummer was drafted to replace Spacey after filming had already wrapped after claims of sexual abuse emerged against the House of Cards star.

Million dollar issue: Their differing contracts meant that Wahlberg could demand more money for the reshoots while Williams accepted to do them for the standard SAG daily rate

'I 100% support the fight for fair pay and Im donating the $1.5 million to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name.' Wahlberg said in a statement on Saturday

Wahlberg decided to exercise a co-star approval clause in his contract and hold up production of the Ridley Scott kidnapping drama if his demands were not met, according to USA Today last week.

'What (Wahlberg) said was, "I will not approve Christopher Plummer unless you pay me.'" And that's how he (expletive) them,' says one person who spoke to the publication under the condition of anonymity.

The Oscar winner would not be allowed to step into the role until Wahlberg got his way, with the latter's lawyer writing a letter to financiers demanding the payment for his work over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Williams, a four-time Oscar nominee, is the top-billed actor on the project and has more screentime than Wahlberg

Shocking disparity: Wahlberg earned an additional $1.5million for the while his co-star Williams was offered less than $1,000 for the rehoots which took place over Thanksgiving last year

Classy: Piers Morgan, Mark Ruffalo and Jesse Tyler Ferguson all applauded Wahlberg for the move

Details over the staggering pay disparity on the reshoot of of the film caused waves when it was revealed that Wahlberg earned an additional $1.5million for the work after his representatives declared that he never works for free - while his co-star Williams was offered less than $1,000 for her troubles.

As TMZ first reported last week, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, when Plummer was brought on the project Scott approached Williams, asking her to travel back to Rome over the Thanksgiving holiday to reshoot some scenes.

Williams answered the call and agreed to be compensated at the minimum SAG-AFTRA rate of $80 per day, earning her a total of $800 for the 10-day reshoot.

Around the same time, Scott flew to London to meet with Wahlberg about doing the reshoot. According to TMZ's report, the Transformers alum also agreed to redo the scenes with Williams and Spacey's replacement, Christopher Plummer, but he and Scott did not discuss his compensation at the time.

Allegedly unbeknownst to Scott, Wahlberg's representatives later met with the two main financial backers of the project and demanded that their client be paid for the extra work.

Williams and Wahlberg took part in the 10-day reshoot in Rome in late November so the film could be released on time on Christmas Day

Christopher Plummer (Left) with Ridley Scott for the 'All the Money in the World' film premiere, Los Angeles on December 18, 2017

Thank you: Eva Longoria, Amber Tamblyn and Busy Philipps all praised Wahlberg

When Ridley Scott said in an interview with USA Today in December that he and his cast - excluding Plummer who was paid - were working for free to reshoot the movie in the wake of the Spacey debacle, he was unaware of Wahlberg's side deal, and was reportedly left feeling betrayed and 'hung out to dry.'

Williams and Wahlberg are both represented by Williams Morris Endeavor, and some critics have accused the talent agency of failing to inform the Oscar-nominated actress of her co-start's lucrative arrangement.

But according to TMZ sources, the glaring disparity in Williams and Wahlberg's payouts came down to their individual contracts: Williams' contract reportedly required her to do reshoots, as needed, as part of her overall salary, whereas Wahlberg's did not have such a clause.

One person familiar with contract negotiations explained that it is not a common practice for agents within the same company to discuss or coordinate their clients' salaries, and doing so would be in violation of their duty of confidentiality.

After: Plummer (above) was called in to replace Spacey in November, having always been Scott's first choice in the role

Before: Kevin Spacey as J Paul Getty in the original All the Money in the World shoot (above)

Times up: Ashley Judd, Jessica Chastain, Danielle Brooks and Terry Crews all tweeted their support

The actors' union SAG-AFTRA, which represents both Williams and Wahlberg, said it is looking into the pay disparity on Scott's latest project, which was released on schedule on Christmas Day thanks to the $10million reshoot.

'We are unambiguously in favor of pay equity between men and women in this industry and support every action to move in this direction. At the same time, performers at this level negotiate their above-scale rates through their agents,' said a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson.

Despite being the film's top-billed star and receiving her fifth Golden Globe nomination for her work in the movie, Williams just $80 per day, according to fellow A-lister Jessica Chastain.

This means that the single mother traveled to Italy in late November for a last-second reshoot while being paid 0.05 per cent what her male co-star was making for his work.

Williams was reportedly unaware that Wahlberg was not working for free when the reshoot began, but her agents at William Morris Endeavour were well aware of his payday as they also represent both Wahlberg and Scott.Rob Kardashian often regales his social media following with posts about his one-year-old daughter Dream, going so far as to make her his avatar on Twitter.

This Saturday, the rotund 30-year-old swung by his Snap Story to show the sweet tot bowling about in a toy cars.

In another post to his Story, Dream could also be seen refreshing herself from a purple bottle as she sat perched in her little high chair.

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Dream in the driver's seat: On Saturday, Rob Kardashian shared a sweet Snapchat update of his one-year-old daughter riding a toy car outside

Animated hearts fluttered about around the little tyke's head.

Dream is Rob's daughter by his 29-year-old ex-fiancee Blac Chyna, who also has a five-year-old son called King Cairo by the rapper Tyga, 27.

In a bizarre twist, Tyga has also dated Rob's half-sister Kylie Jenner, who is now rumored to be pregnant at 20 by her current 25-year-old rapper beau Travis Scott.

Having split from Tyga in 2014, Chyna had been with her Rob & Chyna co-star off and on since early 2015, and she gave birth to Dream in November of 2016.

Filtered: Pink animated hearts floated about over the image

Rob and Chyna split that December - Rob posting a Snapchat video of himself wandering miserably through their empty house - but reunited soon after.

Last July saw their latest and most dramatic breakup, with Rob posting explicit photos of Chyna to Instagram during a rant that got his account removed.

In short order, Chyna lawyered up with Gloria Allred's daughter Lisa Bloom and won a restraining order against her rotund used-to-be.

On her perch: In another post to his Story, Dream could also be seen refreshing herself from a purple bottle as she sat in her little high chair

Beaming: Reclusive dad Rob has been a doting dad ever since Dream was born in November 2016

Meanwhile, Rob chose for his attorney Robert Shapiro - who with Rob's father had been a member of O.J. Simpson's defense team during O.J.'s murder trial.

The mother of Rob's child gave a press conference featuring Lisa, who has also co-starred in a press conference with Kathy Griffin, as well as one with Quantasia Sharpton, who claimed Usher exposed her to herpes.

Though Chyna has accused Rob of abuse, TMZ reported last September that she let that allegation drop as part of a deal that got her $20,000 in child support a month.

A day after reporting that child support figure, TMZ revealed Chyna was still gunning for a payout of at least $1 million by way of the revenge porn case.She's quickly become an icon after her starring role in The CW sensation, Riverdale.

And as the second season returns to Netflix in Australia on January 18, Camila Mendes has spoken candidly about overnight fame.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the 23-year-old stated: 'I came out of college and kind of stepped right into this, and sometimes I'm like, how did that even happen? How did I get so lucky? How was it so easy?'

'I came out of college and kind of stepped right into this': Riverdale star Camila Mendes spoke with The Sunday Telegraph about overnight fame after her starring role in the popular TV series

It's the first ever on-screen role for Camila, who was raised in Miami and graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts shortly before she secured the gig.

In the insanely popular teen drama, based on the Archie Comics series, the brunette stunner plays Veronica Lodge, a Manhattan rich girl who has to relocate to a small-town after her father is jailed.

She shares the screen with New Zealand heartthrob KJ Apa, who has similarly catapulted to stardom.

Pals: Camila with Kiwi co-star, KJ Apa, with whom she is firm friends

Star ensemble: Riverdale has become an iconic teen drama, the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of Dawson's Creek and The OC

The Auckland-born actor plays television's most famous red-head Archie Andrews, and has quickly amassed more than 5 million Instagram followers.

Social media snaps prove Camila and KJ share a close friendship, as they do with their other castmates Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse, who complete the 'core four' of the show.

Lili also spoke with The Sunday Telegraph, calling her co-stars her best friends.

Insta-famous: Camila and KJ (pictured with co-star Ross Butler) each boast more than 5 million Instagram followers

Besties! Lili Reinhart (right) also spoke with The Daily Telegraph calling her co-stars her 'best friends'

'I gained a whole new family when I joined this show and I knew that I was going to get along with these people and they were going to be my co-stars, but I didn't know they were going to be my best friends,' the blonde star gushed.

Recently the brave 21-year-old used her influential new platform to talk candidly about her battle with anxiety and depression.

The mental heath advocate told the Telegraph that Riverdale has allowed her an 'opportunity to speak about important things to me... I do try to be as authentic as I can, I don't put on a facade, I speak my mind and I'm blunt and honest'.Young African-Australians turn to crime for the same reasons as other youths, but their troubles are compounded by the colour of their skin, an expert says.

Melbourne community law leader Anthony Kelly believes country-of-origin issues are irrelevant when discussing African youth crime in Victoria.

Mr Kelly has spent more than 25 years working in human rights advocacy, community development and law, linked to the city's African community.

A minuscule number of young people come from war-torn countries so crime in African communities stems from factors endemic to Australia, he said.

These include unemployment, interrupted education, socio-economic disadvantage, difficulty at home and a lack of 'belonging'.

"It's exactly the same factors as any young person shifting to crime," Mr Kelly said.

"And they're exacerbated in African communities, simply because of the added element of visibility and discrimination."

Mr Kelly, the executive officer of the Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, says youth unemployment is a huge issue in Australia and a key driver of crime.

"And it's doubly difficult for kids of African heritage because they face discrimination."

He cited an ANU study in which thousands of fake resumes were sent out with different names, and foreign-sounding names had worse call-back results.

Young people from African backgrounds also report discrimination at school, and this may lead them to drop out and enter a downward spiral.

"If kids don't feel supported within the community, they're far more likely to feel welcomed in criminal networks and find solace or belonging in negative patterns of behaviour," Mr Kelly said.

But authorities are putting a lot of work into these systemic issues, and it's working, he added.

"We're solving it day by day with support for youth programs in education and employment," he said.

The issue of crime among African youths in Victoria first came to notice in 2012 when the Apex gang emerged, but debate has intensified following a series of recent high-profile crimes.

Since early December, African offenders have been linked to a spate of crimes, including riots, home invasions, armed robberies, assaults and attacks on police.

Police have made a number of arrests and charged at least two people.

"There is not a 'crisis' in this state in relation to crime, or the behaviour we're seeing of a relatively small number of people of African background," Deputy Commissioner Andrews Crisp told ABC 24 on Friday.

"We've seen, sure, a spike in antisocial behaviour over summer, over the last few weeks, but this is not a crisis."

But federal government frontbenchers, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Melbourne-based MP Kelly O'Dwyer, say Melburnians are afraid to go out to dinner because of gang-related crime.

Mr Kelly makes a distinction between African youth groups like Apex and the emerging Menace To Society, and far-right groups like the United Patriots Front which he says are more befitting of the term "gang".

"White nationalist groups such as United Patriots Front and True Blue Crew have patches and memberships - they're organised," he said.

"The irony is that they're magnifying and highlighting online the racial narrative of African crime gangs."

Victoria Police and African-Australian community leaders have formed a task force to tackle the youth gang problems and it has the backing of the state's Labor government.

But Mr Kelly is more cautious.

"Expecting community leaders to be experts in youth crime simply due to a shared ethnicity can be problematic," he said.

"Victoria Police engaging experts in adolescent development, youth support and criminology might be more effective in focusing on these overarching causal and risk factors facing all young people."WA Premier Mark McGowan has denied his government's backflip on $23 million worth of education cuts could open the door for similar campaigns from other sectors and further hamper efforts to fix the budget.

The premier this week reversed a decision to scrap the School of the Air and funding for the state's gifted and talented program, as well as other cuts, following a public outcry.

But $41 million in cuts remain.

The controversy comes after the government dropped plans to relocate the academically selective Perth Modern School.

The hole in Labor's planned budget savings must now come from other departments but Mr McGowan denies his government may find itself under pressure if similar campaigns attempt to force decisions to be reversed.

He insisted he would not give in to spending demands.

"I think what it shows is that we're a government that listens, that we understand that if we make a mistake you change direction and you rectify the mistake," Mr McGowan told reporters on Friday.

"I think that's a refreshing change after what happened over the course of the eight-and-half years prior (under the Barnett government)."

Mr McGowan also urged against possible strike action from the CPSU/CSA who remain concerned about job cuts.

"The issues surrounding staffing levels across various departments are voluntary redundancies ... so if their members don't want to take it, they don't have to," he said.

Union delegates will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether a strike or other form of industrial action should be taken.

The premier accepted his government had failed to properly consult people before making the education cuts, but stressed the department was extremely well funded in WA.

"We're providing additional education assistance, Aboriginal islander education assistance ... learning specialists in the regions ... (and) additional support in specialist subjects in the regions," he said.

"Have a look at the totality of what the government's doing rather than having a look at specific issues or specific areas of saving."Croatian Mate Pavic and Austrian Oliver Marach have won the ASB Classic men's doubles title, emerging from a tiebreak against Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Austrian Philipp Oswald to triumph 6-4 5-7 10-7.

Top seeds Pavic and Marach seized the initiative in Saturday's match by breaking early in the first set and winning 6-4.

Yet Mirnyi and Oswald fought back to break twice and win the second.

In the tiebreak, the two pairings kept pace with one another until Pavic and Marach earned a 7-5 lead and rode it out to victory, requiring three match points.

"It was a very tough match today, they played very well - in the champion tiebreak, it goes either way, it's like a casino," Marach said.

Both players have won the Classic doubles title before - Pavic with New Zealand's Michael Venus in 2016, and Marach with compatriot Alexander Peya back in 2012.

They're likely to remain together for the Australian Open, having also won last week's Qatar Open final against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

"Yeah we're undefeated in 2018, having a phenomenal start to the year, and we're very happy with that and playing well," Pavic said.Pulse-monitoring devices will be trialled in a NSW mental health unit as authorities look for new ways to prevent suicide among patients.

The $300,000 trial will involve at least 40 patients at the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at the Mater Campus in Newcastle.

"This trial is an important step in the search for better ways to support people in NSW living with mental illness, particularly when they are in hospital and need the most support," NSW Mental Health Minister Tanya Davies said.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has not yet received a package of documents to agree on the acquisition of significant participation in Prominvestbank (Kyiv), the press service of the NBU has told Interfax-Ukraine.

The regulator's press service said in April 2017 two citizens of Ukraine applied for the approval of acquisition of direct significant participation in Prominvestbank. On July 28, 2017 the committee on supervision and regulation of banks' activities, oversight of payment systems at the National Bank of Ukraine decided to refuse Maksym Mykytas and Pavlo Fuks the acquisition of a significant stake in Prominvestbank.

"We draw attention to the fact that the acquisition of significant participation in the bank without the approval of the National Bank is not allowed. The central bank has the right to apply measures of influence to persons who directly or indirectly purchased significant participation in the bank without agreement with the regulator, namely: impose a fine of up to 10% of the nominal value of the acquired shares of the bank and/or temporarily prohibit voting rights. In addition, the NBU has the right to apply measures of influence to the bank in case if the ownership structure of the bank becomes non-transparent as a result of such an uncoordinated acquisition. In particular, the bank could be declared problematic," the press service noted.

As reported, the AMC is mulling allowing MP Mykytas purchase of a 25% stake in Prominvestbank.Police and emergency workers are conducting a large search throughout a remote area of Tasmania in a bid to a locate missing tourist.

Western Australian man Peter Henrich, 58, was last seen in early November, with his abandoned van discovered at a car park near Poatina, south of Launceston, earlier this month.

Eight police and 26 State Emergency Service joined the Westpac Police Rescue Helicopter on Saturday to search bushland and the roadway area to find Mr Henrich or establish his last movements.A 15-year-old boy has allegedly shot at a girl with a nail gun while she played on some swings at a park in central west NSW.

The 16-year-old girl and her friend ran to some nearby toilets and called for help after the boy allegedly pointed and fired the nail gun while they were at the Cowra park on Friday evening.

A nail struck the girl's forehead and she was taken to hospital with a minor puncture wound, police say.

The boy has been charged with reckless wounding and granted conditional bail to appear at the children's court in February.A man has broken into a south east Queensland home and stabbed a woman in the back in an alleged domestic violence attack.

The man broke into the East Toowoomba address around 3am on Saturday and stabbed the woman once before fleeing the scene.

The woman was taken to Toowoomba Base Hospital where she remains in a serious but stable condition.

A 34-year-old Harlaxton man has been charged with numerous offences including grievous bodily harm and wilful damage.

He will face Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday.A self-professed older and wiser Nick Kyrgios says he's feeling as good as ever in the lead-up to the Australian Open.

The top Australian hope, after winning his first title on home soil last week at the Brisbane International, says he's looking forward to a first-round meeting with Brazilian veteran and world No.100 Rogerio Dutra Silva.

"I feel pretty confident ... I feel a bit better this time around. Obviously, winning a tournament before you play a grand slam helps," he said on Saturday.Six years have passed since Caroline Wozniacki was last ranked world No.1 but the Danish star is daring to dream once more of scaling the summit with a deep Australian Open run.

The 27-year-old has arrived at Melbourne Park as one of the top contenders after a stunning revival over the past 18 months.

Twice runner-up at the US Open, Wozniacki arrived at Flushing Meadows in 2016 ranked No.74 in the world.

She has since clawed her way back to the No.2 ranking after claiming her first WTA Finals crown last October and reaching the final of last week's Auckland Open.

A strong run at Melbourne Park could result in the 2011 semi-finalist leapfrogging Simona Halep to reclaim top spot.

Should she manage to do that, Wozniacki would break the record held by Serena Williams for the longest gap between stints at No.1.

"I think it is something that would always be special and really awesome," Wozniacki said on Saturday.

"At the same time, you know, I'm just doing what I can do. I'm just playing here right now. That's what I'm focusing on. Everything else will kind of fall into place.

"If I do it, that would be amazing. If I don't, it's still great.

"I've been there before, so it's not like it's something I haven't done. It's a little different, I suppose, this time around."

While the Dane's recent form has been undeniable, it's yet to be seen whether an elusive maiden grand slam title is within her reach.

A perennial contender, Wozniacki is as well-placed as anyone to capitalise on the withdrawal of superstars Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

But she was giving little thought to the wide open nature of this year's draw, insisting she hadn't looked further beyond first round adversary Mihaela Buzarnescu, who reached the Hobart International final on Saturday.

"She's not an easy player," Wozniacki said of her Romanian opponent.

"She's a tricky player, been playing well. She's a lefty, tries to mix up the pace a little bit.

"So it's not easy, but I'm just going to go out there and do my thing."A man has been charged with murder after a body was found near a Sydney train station.

The discovery was made by members of the public about 6am on Saturday at Hurstville.

Police say the dead man, 56, had suffered severe stab wounds.

Officers arrested another man, 29, nearby and seized an edged weapon shortly after being called to the scene.

They took him to Kogarah Police Station and charged with murder.

He was refused bail and is due to appear in cout on Sunday.Newcastle Airport is expected to reopen after an out of control bushfire that also threatened homes in the area forced its shutdown on Saturday afternoon.

Runways were closed and flights cancelled or diverted at the height of the blaze, which was being fanned by strong westerly winds.

A Rural Fire Service spokesman told AAP the airport had been shut down due to the amount of smoke in the area, rather than the fire itself.

Helicopter footage uploaded to Facebook by the RFS shows large plumes of smoke moving over the airport.

The video appears to show the fire just several hundred metres away.

In a tweet on Saturday night, Newcastle Airport said it expected to re-open on Sunday.

An emergency warning was issued for the area in the afternoon before it was downgraded to an advice notice by the evening.

Water bombing aircraft and more than 60 RFS personnel worked to contain the blaze as it threatened homes.

Firefighters were remaining in the area working to contain the fire overnight, according to the RFS.Ashleigh Barty has tipped her Sydney International conqueror Angelique Kerber as a serious Australian Open contender.

And Barty herself appears set for a solid Melbourne Park crusade as she looks to improve on last year's third-round exit.

A clinical Kerber put Melbourne Park on notice in Saturday night's final, downing the rising Australian star in straight sets to claim her 11th WTA title.

The rapid return to form after a disappointing 2017 comes two years after the German 29-year-old won her first major at the 2016 Australian Open and went on to lift the US Open trophy.

And Barty was convinced by what she'd seen, and experienced first-hand, of Kerber's nine-match unbeaten streak.

"In my eyes, she has just as big a chance as anyone else, she's obviously won the title and knows what it takes," Barty said.

"What she's achieved in her career, the accolades she's had, you can't do anything but respect her.

"Angie was probably one of the first girls that sort of welcomed me when I first came on to the tour when I was quite young. She always made time for me.

"I think there is that mutual respect, which is amazing to get respect from such a champion like Angie."

Kerber is due to open her campaign against compatriot Anna-Lena Friedsam with is a chance to face Maria Sharapova in the third round.

Barty, meanwhile, is up against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka before a potential second-round hit-out with Sydney semi-finalist Camila Giorgi.

Formidably, world No.1 Simona Halep could await in the fourth round.

But Barty's run in Sydney has filled her with confidence and her ranking is set to rise back to No.17, level with top-ranked Australian man Nick Kyrgios.

"It was a hell of a week, perfect preparation for next week," Barty said.

"You know, I feel like if I play like that I'll probably beat most of the people in the draw."

Kerber was equally complimentary of Barty, predicting a successful year for the 21-year-old, who spent 2017 soaring from world No. 271 to a career-high No.17.

"What she did in the last year, it's amazing," Kerber said.

"Where she was and where she is now, it's a huge step.

"She will have a great 2018, I'm very sure about this."Police are warning the public against swimming in Darling Harbour after a man had to be pulled from the water.

About 9.45pm on Saturday police discovered the man swimming at Cockle Bay, and had to pull him from the water when he ignored their instructions to leave the water.

The 37-year-old man was charged with swim or paddle in waters of Cockle Bay without authority, obstructing or failing to obey directions of rangers or staff, resist or hinder police in the execution of their duty, and offensive conduct.

Sydney City Duty Officer Inspector John Bamford reminded the community that is unsafe to enter the water in Darling Harbour.

"Swimming in Darling Harbour puts you at risk of oncoming boats and vessels and sharks in the water," he said.A man who was pulled unconscious from the ocean at a Newcastle beach several days ago has died in hospital.

The 67-year-olds, was standing on a sandbar about 20 metres offshore at Dixon Park Beach on Thursday morning before he was seen floating face down in the water, NSW police said.

He was pulled from the water and suffered a cardiac arrest on the beach with lifeguards performing CPR until paramedics arrived.

He was revived and rushed to hospital in a critical condition but died on Saturday night.About 1,500 foreigners are banned from entering Ukraine due to visits to occupied Crimea

About 1,500 foreign citizens are banned from entering Ukraine due to illegal visits to the occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, including more than 100 artists and cultural figures, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

According to the press service of the agency, since the beginning of 2018 more than 30 persons, who visited occupied Crimea contrary to the established order, have been identified.

According to the monitoring results, at present more than 810 people have been identified, who might have visited the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.

"In 2017 almost 2,300 administrative protocols were compiled in accordance with Article 204-2 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Violations for violating the order of entry to and departure from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine," the report says.Facebook has announced plans to give greater priority to family and friends in its News Feed

Facebook's move to highlight posts from friends and family over those from brands and publications follows months of turmoil for the social network and will result in lower advertising revenue -- at least in the short-term, analysts said.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the shift in the configuration of the News Feed on Thursday, saying it would reduce engagement by users at first but would lead to their improved "well-being."

While Zuckerberg described the move as being designed to bring people closer together and foster more "meaningful social interactions," analysts noted that it comes amid criticism of the world's leading social network on various fronts.

Facebook has been under fire for months for the proliferation of Russian-created "fake news" on the platform that may have impacted the 2016 presidential election.

Zuckerberg initially scoffed at the suggestion Facebook had been used as a Russian propaganda tool, before acknowledging that mistakes had been made and promising to do better in 2018.

Facebook revealed in September that "inauthentic" accounts created in Russia had purchased advertising on the site designed to increase tensions during the election campaign.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll published in October found that Americans believed by a two-to-one margin that Facebook should have done more to identify and reveal the Russian ads.

In September, in another blow for the social network, ProPublica reported that Facebook's ad-buying platform could be used to deliver ads to users who identify as anti-Semites.

Facebook said it quickly shut that capability down.

The company also took a number of steps to eliminate graphic or violent content on the site following several incidents, including the live-streamed murder of a young girl in Thailand.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll published in October found that Americans believed by a two-to-one margin that Facebook should have done more to identify and reveal the Russian ads.

- 'More social and less media' -

Despite some turbulence, Facebook appears to have weathered the storms so far.

A study published in August by NetBase found that Facebook is still the preferred brand of Internet users.

In September, the latest month for which figures are available, Facebook's total number of users was up 16 percent over a year earlier to 2.07 billion.

And while Facebook suffered on the stock market on Friday -- its shares lost 4.47 percent -- analysts said they did not expect it to last.

"We believe these changes will be beneficial to Facebook in the medium and long term," said Brian Weiser of the Pivotal Research Group. "In our view, making the feed more relevant should boost user and engagement growth over time.

"Facebook is making the service more social and less media, and that's likely a positive for the vast majority of users," Weiser said.

RBC Capital Markets said lower user engagement with the site may provide a "headwind to growth in the near-term," but the changes will be "helpful for the long-term health of the business."

While analysts were sanguine, some users, particularly publishers, were worried.

Susann Hoffman, co-founder of the German website Edition F, said she was upset that the move had been done without any consultation.

"I am personally quite unhappy with the fact that Facebook decides for its users what is relevant to them and what not," Hoffman said.

She argued for more personalization -- giving users a greater ability to decide for themselves which content they would like to see.Nick Kyrgios, (L) Lleyton Hewitt (C) and Novak Djokovic watch the action during the "Tie Break Tens" tennis tournament in Melbourne

Defending champion Roger Federer sees temperamental Australian Nick Kyrgios as a threat at the Australian Open -- if he can keep his focus.

The 19-time Grand Slam winner, who is coming off an extraordinary 2017 in which he won two Grand Slams, will be up against a depleted field when the first Grand Slam of the year begins at Melbourne Park on Monday, with Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori out injured.

Long-time rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have also been struggling in the lead-up, potentially leaving the door open to one of the so-called "NextGen".

The volatile Kyrgios is among them and in good form, winning the lead-up Brisbane International last weekend, beating another young gun, Grigor Dimitrov, along the way.

Federer said his recent title success had not gone unnoticed.

"He's (Kyrgios) going through his things, whatever he needs to go through," the Swiss great told the Herald Sun newspaper Saturday. "But when hes on, he's on and he's really difficult to beat.

"It seems like he's doing the right things otherwise he wouldn't be winning tournaments, especially not in Brisbane because being able to cope with the pressure at home is not a simple thing."

While the 22-year-old Australian crowd-puller, seeded 17, has exceptional talent, he has often undermined his abilities with petulant outbursts directed at the umpire or fans.

Federer acknowledged he was a work in progress.

"Similar to my challenge, for him it's day to day and then week by week, can you keep it up?" he said.

"For me, it's because of me getting older. For him it's maybe in his mind and his body because he still needs to work much more than he currently is."

Federer added: "I think he's incredibly talented."

Kyrgios, who made the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2015, will begin his 2018 campaign against Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva.

The Swiss, seeded two, who starts his title defence against Aljaz Bedene, said he was feeling good and looking forward to the challenge.

"I'm playing well and now it's just about getting through the matches at the beginning part of the tournament," Federer said.Rights groups have accused Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of failing to condemn the widespread abuses during Myanmar's army crackdown

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed an unprecedented army admission that security forces carried out extra-judicial killings of Rohingya Muslims as a "positive step", state-backed media reported Saturday.

After months of staunch denials of abuse, the army on Wednesday said a probe found four members of the security forces helped kill 10 Rohingya militant suspects at Inn Din village on September 2, leaving their bodies in a hastily dug pit.

Some 655,000 Rohingya have fled western Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August, carrying with them consistent accounts of atrocities by Myanmar's army.

Rights groups have accused Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi of failing to condemn the widespread abuses during the army crackdown, which followed raids by militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

After meeting the Japanese foreign minister on Friday Suu Kyi raised the army's admission of involvement in the Inn Din killings as a "new step taken by our country".

"In the end, rule of law in the country is the responsibility of that country. It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible," she added, according to a report carried by the Global New Light of Myanmar.

Myanmar's army has a grim track record of rights abuses chiselled out across the country over 50 years of rule.

Observers hoped the emergence of Suu Kyi's civilian government in 2016 would see the army ease up on its notorious "scorched earth" approach to rebellion and conflict.

The unrelenting Rohingya crackdown banished those hopes.

Amnesty International has called the summary killings at Inn Din "the tip of the iceberg" in terms of atrocities carried out since August and urged a wider, impartial probe.

But the conflict area of Rakhine remains locked down to media, aid agencies and UN investigators.

ARSA, the Rohingya militant group, "wholeheartedly" welcomed the army's admission saying it validated the wider allegations of abuses including a campaign of rape and murder and the systematic torching of villages.

"These 10 Rohingya innocent civilians found in the mass grave... were neither ARSA members nor had any association with ARSA," it said in a statement circulated on Twitter.

The UN and US have accused Myanmar's army of ethnic cleansing, with the UN rights chief saying it may even be guilty of genocide.

Myanmar refutes the allegations, blaming militants for causing the violence and the international media and aid agencies for spreading false information due to a pro-Rohingya bias.

The Rohingya are reviled in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and described as "Bengalis" -- or Muslim interlopers from Bangladesh.

burs-apj/jahNew Zealand's Ross Taylor made 52 off 64 for his 57th ODI half-century

A withering spell by Trent Boult saw New Zealand destroy Pakistan by 183 runs in the third one-day international in Dunedin on Saturday to comfortably wrap up the series in Dunedin.

New Zealand have won all three matches so far and captain Kane Williamson said the target is a clean sweep of all five ODIs.

Boult rocked Pakistan with three wickets in five balls to take out the cream of their top order on his way to figures of five for 17.

After New Zealand made 257 batting first,boosted by 11 in the final over before Boult was dismissed on the last ball, Pakistan were all out for 74 in the 28th.

"It was a big game for us. We wanted to get the series done," said man of the match Boult.

"To score only 250 on the board we knew we had to fight hard and to come out like that was very satisfying."

Williamson said the target now was to remain unbeaten.

"That's the focus. The focus is trying to win each game. The guys were smart today and that's something we pride ourselves on," he said.

"It was a fantastic performance all round. Trent was outstanding getting five.

Pakistan had slumped to eight for 32 in the 19th over and threatened two unwanted records -- the lowest ODI score of 35, held by Zimbabwe, and Pakistan's own lowest score of 43.

Sarfraz Ahmed (14 not out), Mohammad Amir (14) and Rumman Raees (16) added 42 for the last two wickets but Sarfraz saw serious problems with the top order batting.

"It was very disappointing, a tough loss," he said.

"Our bowlers bowled very well but the problems continue with the batting which again flopped. The problem is (facing) the new ball."

Boult removed Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez in the space of five balls to put Pakistan in a hole they were never going to get out of.

After 10 overs, the tourists were three down for just nine runs and while they struggled to stay afloat, Babar Azam was unnecessarily run out.

Part-time bowler Colin Munro, with career figures of one for 203 before this match bowled Shadab Khan without scoring and had Hasan Ali spectacularly caught by Williamson for one to return figures of two for 10 off seven overs.

Pakistan came to New Zealand on a nine-match winning streak and the promise of providing a more formidable opposition for New Zealand who had just swept a series against the West Indies.

After losing the first two matches they needed to win in Dunedin and had their tails up when Munro went for eight in the second over.

But half-centuries to Kane Williamson (73) and Ross Taylor (52) plus 45 for Martin Guptill set New Zealand up.

It was Taylor 57th ODI half-century to equal the New Zealand record held by Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.

But his dismissal sparked a Pakistan revival in the field in which they took seven for 48 in the last eight overs.US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley is a politician, not a diplomat, UN ambassadors say

One year into the job, Nikki Haley stands out as the star of President Donald Trump's administration, and diplomats say the UN ambassador is directing some of that star power into a likely White House bid.

Speculation about Haley's presidential ambitious has picked up since she defended Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, staring down friends and foes alike at the world body.

The 45-year-old Republican resorted to a veto to block criticism from the UN Security Council and threatened reprisals against those who voted against Washington at the General Assembly.

The clash gave UN ambassadors a reality check: Haley, they say, is a politician, not a diplomat, and at the United Nations, she is playing to a domestic audience.

"She is not trying to win votes at the General Assembly. She is trying to win votes for 2020 or 2024," a council diplomat said. "She is clearly using this position to run for something, that's obvious."

The former South Carolina governor arrived at the United Nations last year, promising a "new day" under Trump's America First policy and vowing to "take names" of countries that don't toe the line.

Seen at the outset as a foreign policy lightweight, Haley was quickly taken seriously because of her close ties to the unpredictable Trump.

Over the past year, she has pushed through three new sets of sanctions against North Korea, bringing China and Russia on side to tackle what Trump sees as his administration's number one security threat.

Those sanctions won the unanimous backing of the council, where finding common ground with Haley is testing diplomatic skills.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is hawkish on Iran, fiercely pro-Israel and a strong advocate of cost-cutting at the United Nations.

- Signature issues -

That those three signature issues play well with the US Republican voter base is not lost on most diplomats.

"What matters above all are perceptions internally, in the US," said another council diplomat, who like many declined to be quoted.

Haley was among the first administration officials to take a hard line on Russia, declaring that sanctions over Crimea would remain in place until Moscow gave the territory back to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, who just wrapped up a two-year stint at the Security Council, says Haley is doing an "excellent job."

"She may be less diplomatic sometimes than some could expect, but this is more an asset than a shortcoming," he said.

For months, Haley had been tipped as a possible replacement to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom she has upstaged with her media appearances and statements that at times appear to break new ground.

In October, she put that speculation to rest, telling reporters that she wasn't interested.

"I would not take it," Haley told reporters on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. "I want to be where I'm most effective."

She is seen as a possible vice president to Mike Pence, should he take over the presidency.

Author Michael Wolff, whose book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" has become a national sensation, claims Haley has set her sights higher and is eyeing the presidency.

According to published excerpts, Haley began positioning herself as Trump's heir after concluding in October that he was a one-term president.

Wolff quoted a senior White House staffer who described her "as ambitious as Lucifer" and another who offered the view that while being groomed by Trump, "she is so much smarter than him."

Haley has brushed aside questions about her political ambitious, saying she is focused on the job at hand as she remains firmly in the limelight as the UN's most-watched ambassador.Simona Halep admitted she unusually had "no brand clothes" to wear at Melbourne Park for the first Grand Slam of the year after ending her deal with Adidas last season

Simona Halep goes in search of a first Grand Slam at the Australian Open next week without a sponsor, but happy she'll be able to wear her "lucky" red dress.

The world number one admitted she unusually had "no brand clothes" to wear at Melbourne Park for the first Grand Slam of the year after ending her deal with Adidas last season.

"I have no contract now. Yeah, it's an interesting period, to be honest," said Halep, who confirmed she would wear the same red dress in Australia that she used to win the Shenzhen Open in China a fortnight ago.

The Romanian said she had found the outfit on the internet and hoped it would bring the same results in Australia.

"Yeah, I sent a picture. Was a site, in China actually, and one of my managers helped me, and in 24 hours I had the outfit, and it was perfect. I was lucky."

The Romanian is full of confidence after her dominant victory in Shenzhen, but will need to overcome her sorry record at Melbourne Park where she has lost in the first round in both of the past two years when seeded in the top four.

"I don't feel pressure. I feel OK. I feel fit," said the 26-year-old.

"Every time is tough every match of a Grand Slam. I can say I started the year better. I am more relaxed. I'm enjoying more the time on court."

With Serena Williams out after giving birth to her first child and injury doubts surrounding Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, the tournament could be there for the taking by top-ranked Halep.

But she said she was not looking past her first-round opponent -- Australian wildcard Destanee Aiava.

"I heard that she's a very talented player and young. So is going to be a big challenge," said Halep. "It is not easy to play against an Australian at home.

"We'll see on court what is going to happen. I'm just looking forward to start the tournament and to give the best."Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers could not be renegotiated

Iran on Saturday rejected any modification of its nuclear deal with world powers after US President Donald Trump demanded tough new measures to keep the agreement alive.

Iran "will not accept any amendments in this agreement, be it now or in the future, and it will not allow any other issues to be linked to the JCPOA," the foreign ministry said in a statement, using the 2015 deal's technical name.

Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions on Friday -- as required every few months to stay in the agreement -- but demanded European partners work with the United States to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

He said the new deal should curb Iran's missile programme and include permanent restrictions on Iran's nuclear plants, removing expiration dates due to kick in after a decade.

But Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the 2015 deal could not be renegotiated.

2015 Iran nuclear deal

"JCPOA is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -- just like Iran," Zarif tweeted immediately after Trump's speech.

The statement from his ministry further criticised new sanctions on 14 individuals announced by the US Treasury on Friday over human rights issues and Iran's missile programme.

In particular, placing judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani on the sanctions list "crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community... and the government of the United States will bear responsibility for all the consequences of this hostile move".

Iran argues that continued US sanctions on non-nuclear areas such as human rights and missile testing have effectively barred Iran from gaining many of the financial benefits expected from the deal.

Zarif has said Trump's aggressive stance on the deal and Iran generally have also violated the commitment to "refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation of trade and economic relations with Iran" in the accord.Islamist movement Hamas has said it will not participate in a meeting of Palestinian leaders to debate responses to the controversial US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Islamist movement Hamas said Saturday it would not participate in a meeting of Palestinian leaders to debate responses to the controversial US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The decision not to take part in the meeting to begin late Sunday is a further setback to failing reconciliation efforts between leading Palestinian factions.

"We have taken the decision not to participate in the meeting of the (Palestinian) Central Council in Ramallah," Hamas said in a statement, however stressing its "commitment to the unity of our people".

"The conditions under which the committee will be held will not enable it to carry out a comprehensive and responsible political review, and will prevent decisions that reach the level of our aspirations."

The two-day meeting will bring together the heads of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian Islamist movement, were invited to attend despite not being part of the PLO. Islamic Jihad has also announced it would not take part.

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, had been pushing for the meeting to be held outside the Palestinian territories but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas decided instead to host it in Ramallah, the base of his government in the West Bank.

The Hamas statement said this left them subject to the "pressures" of Israel, which occupies the West Bank and regularly arrests Hamas officials.

The meeting is due to discuss responses to US President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The decision infuriated Palestinian leaders, who see at least the east of the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Trump's administration has also not publicly committed to the idea of an independent Palestinian state, and the PLO office in Washington was briefly threatened with closure.

Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party signed a reconciliation agreement in October that was meant to see the Islamists hand over control of Gaza by the end of the year.

The talks have however broken down, with disputes over the fate of tens of thousands of Hamas civil servants and the future of Hamas' vast armed wing.

Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, forcing out Abbas' forces in a near civil war.

It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and is considered a terrorist organisation by the Jewish State, the United States and others.Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi at a meeting with political parties, unions and employers on January 13, 2018 to discuss the unrest

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi held talks Saturday with political parties, unions and employers to discuss means to overcome a week of unrest triggered by austerity measures.

The North African country has been shaken by a wave of protests over poverty and unemployment during which hundreds have been arrested before the unrest tapered off.

At the opening of the meeting, Essebsi accused the foreign press of "amplifying" the facts and damaging the country's image in its coverage of the social unrest.

The two-hour crisis meeting at the presidential palace brought together Essebsi, representatives of political parties, the powerful UGTT trade union and the UTICA employers federation.

"We discussed the general situation in the country and the reforms, especially socio-economic, that must be adopted to overcome the current problems," UTICA head Wided Bouchamaoui told reporters.

Although no concrete decisions were announced, Noureddine Taboubi, the secretary general of UGTT, said measures "must be adopted" to aid needy families and boost social care in the North African state.

Proposals were raised "to pull out of this tension" without scrapping a contested 2018 budget, said Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist movement Ennahdha in Tunisia's ruling coalition, without elaborating.

UTICA and UGTT shared the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for their work during Tunisia's transition towards democracy after the revolution.

A Tunisian woman holds up a yellow card and a loaf of bread during a protest against price hikes and austerity measures in the capital Tunis on January 12, 2018

The demonstrations broke out ahead of Sunday's seventh anniversary of the toppling of veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a revolt that sparked uprisings across the Arab region.

The trigger of the protests on January 7 was the budget imposing tax hikes after a year of rising prices.

A man in his 40s died in unrest on Monday night in the northern town of Tebourba though police have insisted they did not kill him.

'Exaggeration in foreign press' -

Interior ministry spokesman Khlifa Chibani on Saturday said a total of 803 people suspected of taking part in acts of violence, theft and looting have been arrested this week.

Some 97 security forces and members of civil protection units were also injured, he said. There was no immediate toll for the number of protesters injured in the unrest.

Calm returned to the country on Thursday night and there was "no attack against public or private property" in the night of Friday to Saturday, Chibani said.

AFP correspondents reported one small protest overnight Friday in the central city of Sidi Bouzid -- the cradle of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising -- and said police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

"There has been exaggeration in the foreign press" and "things have been magnified," Essebsi said at Saturday's talks of coverage of the unrest.

He said the Tunisian media's coverage had been "fair" and "balanced".

Tunisia is considered a rare success story of the Arab Spring uprisings that began in the North African country in 2011 and spread across the region, toppling autocrats.

But the authorities have failed to resolve the issues of poverty and unemployment.

Protests are common in Tunisia in January when people mark the anniversary of the revolution that ousted Ben Ali.

This year, the country has seen rising anger after the government adopted the 2018 budget which includes hikes in value-added tax, on mobile phones and real estate as well as in social contributions.Even with President Donald Trump continuing to waive nuclear sanctions, Iran's economy remains hobbled by US restrictions but some diplomats in Tehran remain quietly confident for the future.

The real problem in Iran right now, everyone in the international business community agrees, is uncertainty.

That was not helped by Trump's announcement on Friday that he would waive nuclear-related sanctions, but only once more and that Europe must work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

"No one has any idea what's going on. Trump has introduced so many layers of uncertainty," a Western trade official in Tehran told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"That's not necessarily negative. Things could actually improve if Trump pulls out of the deal. The Europeans could stay and the EU could provide protections for its industries against US sanctions," he said.

"Or things could get even worse. We just don't know."

On the surface, Trump's vitriolic stance appears disastrous for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which lifted many sanctions in exchange for curbs to the country's nuclear programme.

Even as he confirmed the waiver of nuclear sanctions on Friday, Trump added yet more sanctions related to human rights and Iran's missile programme, adding to a vast web of restrictions that have scared off many Western companies.

Major foreign banks have been particularly cautious of re-entering Iran, dreading a repeat of the record-breaking $8.9 billion penalty levelled on France's BNP Paribas for breaching US sanctions on Iran and other countries.

There seems little hope of hitting the government target of $50 billion in foreign investment per year, with the government saying less than $3.4 billion was achieved in 2016.

- 'Deals in complete silence' -

But European diplomats say a lot is happening behind the scenes.

Deals for things like industrial equipment, solar parks and dairy farms have been quietly building over the past two years.

"I'm still cautiously optimistic," said a European diplomat.

"Many firms have invested so much they can't pull out. They will find a way to make it work whatever Trump does."

The big difference under Trump is secrecy.

"Deals are going on in complete silence. There's no advantage to discussing it. Many have interests in the US or an American investor. They don't want to make themselves a target," said the Western trade official.

Some bigger firms -- particularly the French -- have been less coy.

French energy giant Total signed a $5 billion gas deal in June, while carmakers Peugeot and Renault have already reopened production lines.

Italy pointedly announced a $6 billion credit line for development projects just days before Trump's latest attack on the deal.

"The divide between Europe and the US is widening. It's been more than a year that President Trump is trying to undermine this deal but he's basically failing," said Farid Dehdilani, international affairs advisor for the Iranian Privatisation Organisation.

- 'Nothing is happening' -

Nonetheless, the initial excitement that accompanied the nuclear deal has evaporated.

"I was working in the stock market when the deal was signed, and we were so excited and hopeful, but when I check with friends in brokerages now, nothing is happening," said Tehran-based economic analyst Navid Kalhor.

"The only sectors that get any interest are commodities: oil, mining, petrochemicals. But oil money cannot solve all our problems," he said.

Iran's return to international oil markets helped propel its economic growth rate to more than 12 percent last year, but unemployment remains huge and the energy sector can only create few jobs at a time.

"Look at the protests -- ordinary people are not optimistic about the future," said Kalhor, referring to the deadly unrest that rocked dozens of Iranian cities over the new year, sparked by anger over unemployment and poor governance.

"We need better and more reliable trade partners, and more access to international markets. We are mostly borrowing money rather than attracting investment. This can cause more problems in future when we have to service our debts. It's a vicious circle," he added.

The problem, many Iranians are quick to emphasise, does not lie just with Trump.

Years of mismanagement and corruption would make Iran a tricky investment destination even without US antagonism.

"We have to facilitate foreign investment by eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy: the three or four months needed to get permits, for instance," said Dehdilani.

"In the end, the success of the nuclear deal relies on Iranians."According to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), Vietnam's logistics sector is growing strongly at a rate of 15-16% per year. Vietnam also ranks fourth in ASEAN in terms of the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) after Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as announced by the World Bank.

About 1,300-1,500 domestic firms are operating in the logistics sector, accounting for 80% of the total number of logistics firms in Vietnam, which mainly provide domestic logistics services and part of the international logistics services as agents for foreign firms.

A small number of Vietnamese logistics firms could provide third party logistics services (3PL) including Transimex Saigon, Gamedept, Saigon Newport Corporation, and others.

The value of the Vietnamese logistics market is estimated to equal to 21-25% of the country's GDP, much higher than the manufacturing industry and the sector is anticipated to have huge potential for further development.

With total import-export revenue of over US$400 billion in 2017 and high economic growth rate over the past few years, the logistics sector is considered to have large room for expansion.

However, experts say that the competitiveness of Vietnam's logistics sector remains low due to high costs. Logistics costs in Vietnam stand at nearly 25% of the GDP while the rate is 9.5% in the US, 11% in Japan, 16% in the Republic of Korea (RoK) and 21.6% in China.

Vietnams ranking in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) also dropped from 48 in 2014 to 64 in 2016.

According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the cost of transporting one container from Hai Phong port to Hanoi, with a distance of 100km, is three times higher than the cost of transporting one container from China or the RoK to Vietnam.

The high logistics costs are attributed to the limited size of Vietnamese logistics firms in addition to a lack of experience, management levels and the ability to apply information technology, and qualified human resources, said VLA Chairman Le Duy Hiep.

Moreover, logistics firms have yet to establish a close connectivity with import-export enterprises while they face difficulties due to a lack of infrastructure connecting ports with warehouses and lack of specialised freight forwarding centres.

Director of Minh Nhat Company Ltd Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong said that cost hikes are also blamed for the high fees of a number of services in Vietnam, for example, the increase of fees for the use of Hai Phong sea port infrastructure since January 2017, among others.

Duong recommended three groups of solutions to improve the competitiveness and boost the development of Vietnams logistics sector, including the development of human resources, infrastructure and institutions. Well qualified human resources will help Vietnamese logistics firms to keep pace with logistics firms in the region and to be capable of competing with foreign logistics firms operating in Vietnam.

Synchronous policies and institutions will help to cut costs, avoid overlaps and facilitate import-export activities.

Logistics infrastructure has seen significant improvement but the congestion at ports, highways and industrial zones has yet to be resolved. If the problem is not handled, logistics costs in Vietnam will remain higher compared to other countries in the region, Duong emphasised.

Logistics enterprises should make further efforts to reduce costs in addition to more solutions from the Government to support firms to improve their competitiveness.

Ousmane Dione, the World Bank Country Director for Vietnam suggested that the Vietnamese Government define a clear agenda for reform if Vietnam wants to enhance the quality of its logistics service in order to meet the demand of an increasingly modern economy. He also outlined a number of key aspects of the agenda including increasing investments in infrastructure to boost connectivity, facilitating trade, and cutting time and costs for enterprises.

The VLA has also suggested that the Government establish an authorised agency specialising in logistics management with the participation of representatives from enterprises to facilitate firms and enhance the competitiveness of the economy.Boats are moored in the harbour of Gaza City on November 1, 2017

A fisherman from the Gaza Strip was shot dead by the Egyptian army overnight for unclear reasons, Palestinian officials said Saturday, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident.

Medical sources in Gaza said that Abdullah Zeidan, 33, from the Shati refugee camp, was shot in the chest by Egyptian forces near the naval border with Egypt in the south of the coastal enclave.

He was taken to hospital but died early Saturday morning.

Gaza's interior ministry said an initial investigation indicated "the Palestinian fishing boat did not cross the Egyptian (maritime) border".

"We call on the Egyptian authorities to open an urgent investigation into this incident," spokesman Iyad al-Bozum said in a statement.

Egyptian officials did not immediately comment.

The head of the fishing union in Gaza announced a halt in fishing until Sunday evening in protest at the killing.South African ruling party president Cyril Ramaphosa faces an uphill task to recover public support for Africa's oldest liberation movement ahead of elections in 2019

The new head of South Africa's ruling ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, pledged Saturday to "restore the credibility" of the party after a spate of graft scandals involving President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma was replaced as party chief by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa in December with the new leader facing an uphill task to recover public support for Africa's oldest liberation movement ahead of the 2019 elections.

"We must restore the integrity and credibility of the ANC," said the 65-year-old in his first major address to the party at a rally for the African National Congress's 106th anniversary celebrations.

"The movement has become deeply divided through factionalism, patronage, corruption and competition for resources," said the former trade unionist who led talks to end white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.

"We are going to confront corruption," he said, pledging that "the investigation and prosecution of those responsible (for manipulating the state machinery for their own ends) will be given top priority."

This week, Zuma -- who was also at Saturday's meeting in East London -- announced a probe into top-level corruption after parliament said it would deliberate procedures for impeachment.

Corruption allegations have tarnished Zuma's image and eroded his support base, with the beleaguered leader facing growing pressure to resign before his presidential term ends in 2019.

Back in 2014, Zuma failed to abide by recommendations made by the anti-corruption watchdog over $15 million (12.5 million euros) of taxpayer-funded refurbishments at his home in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

After the Constitutional Court found against him, he eventually reimbursed the equivalent of around $500,000 for non-security-related work at his homestead, a sum set by the treasury.

In 2016, a damning report questioned Zuma's dealings with the Guptas, a wealthy family of Indian origin, who were allegedly granted influence over his cabinet appointments.

Last month, Zuma suffer another blow when Ramaphosa, who campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, was elected ANC president beating the president's former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.Newborn Palestinian conjoined twins are seen in an incubator at a hospital in Gaza City on October 22, 2017

One of the Palestinian conjoined twins from the Gaza Strip separated this week in surgery in Saudi Arabia has died but her sister is recovering, the kingdom said Saturday.

"Haneen is in stable condition and on her way to recovery five days after being surgically separated from her clinically dead sister, Farah," the Saudi information ministry said.

"Haneen is breathing normally and is receiving her nutrition intravenously," said Dr. Abdullah al-Rabiah, who led the operation team.

Rabiah said that all of the Palestinian infant's vital signs were now stable and that she had been removed from an artificial respirator.

The operation was carried out on Monday and involved the separation of multiple organs, including the liver, as well as restoring organs in Haneen.

The surgery came months after a doctor and family member of the twins pleaded from Gaza that they be allowed to go abroad for the complex surgery.

Allam Abu Hamda, head of the neonatal unit at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, told AFP in October the girls were born joined at the stomach and pelvis and that the complicated condition could not be dealt with in the enclave.

Israel has maintained a blockade of the Palestinian territory for a decade, citing security fears over Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas.Donald Trump's reported description of African nations as "shithole countries" has angered many across the continent

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Saturday said Donald Trump's reported description of African nations as "shithole countries" was unacceptable, while his predecessor branded the US head of state a racist.

President Akufo-Addo tweeted that Trump's reported language was "extremely unfortunate", adding: "We are certainly not 'a shithole country'."

"We will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful."

Ghana is widely seen as a stable, peaceful country in an often turbulent region, and has close ties to the United States.

In 2009 Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, chose Ghana's capital Accra to set out his foreign policy goals for Africa in a speech in which he said he saw Africa "as a fundamental part of our interconnected world".

Africans were "partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect", he said.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo tweeted that Trump's reported language was "extremely unfortunate"

Akufo-Addo's comments follow a strongly worded African Union statement on Friday and a demand from African ambassadors at the United Nations for a retraction and an apology.

The group of UN diplomats said it was "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks".

Ghana's former president John Dramani Mahama, whom Akufo-Addo defeated in elections just a month after Trump's own win at the polls, on Twitter asked: "Isn't Trump demonstrating that he's nothing but a racist and pursuing a policy of 'Make America White Again'?"

He also highlighted the contrast between Trump's praise for Africa last year when he met leaders from the continent on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"Shithole? Thought they said he was so impressed with us just last September?" Mahama tweeted under a mocked-up photograph of Trump being shown a map of Africa in which all the countries were labelled "Nambia".

Trump was widely derided last year after twice referring to Namibia as "Nambia" at the September meeting.

Namibia on Saturday added its voice to the chorus of complaints, saying the president's language had "no place in diplomatic discourse" and was "contrary to the norms of civility and human progress".

"The Africa we know and live in is one that is recovering economically and rising," it added.

"The USA we know is one that was built with blood and sweat of African slaves and immigrants from all over."

Trump reportedly demanded to know why the US should accept immigrants from "shithole countries", after lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

He has since denied using the reported language.

burs-phz/dlOn Friday, Catholic leaders in DR Congo hammered home a message of anger toward Kabila at a mass mourning for victims of the December 31 crackdown

Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday called for a fresh rally against "the dictatorship" as they step up pressure on President Joseph Kabila.

The call for a demonstration on January 21 came less than two weeks after New Year's Eve protests against Kabila's rule saw six deaths in a crackdown by authorities, according to church and UN sources.

Rally coordinators urged believers to march "hand in hand as ever, peacefully with our peace branches, our bibles, our rosary beads and our crucifixes to save the Congo, our common heritage, in sacred respect of persons and property" and to offer "no respite for the dictatorship".

"Far from intimidating us, the authorities have reinforced our determination ... to avail ourselves of our constitutional right to demonstrate publicly," organisers said.

On Friday, Catholic leaders in DR Congo hammered home a message of anger toward Kabila at a mass mourning for victims of the December 31 crackdown.

Police fired a couple of warning shots to disperse worshippers outside Kinshasa cathedral after the highly-charged mass, led by prominent government critic Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo.

Police said they fired only teargas, and two people were slightly injured.

Friday's mass, attended by several western ambassadors and EU, UN and US representatives, saw the congregation applaud and cheer Catholic leaders as they called on Kabila to uphold a 2016 church-brokered deal to hold elections.

Kabila, 46, has been in power since 2001, at the helm of a regime widely criticised for corruption, repression and incompetence.

His constitutional term in office expired in December 2016, but he stayed on -- a move that stoked a bloody spiral of violence.

Under an agreement brokered by the church, he was allowed to stay in office provided new elections were held in 2017.

After months of silence, the authorities said organisational problems meant that the vote would be held on December 23 2018 -- a postponement that has angered Western nations, but one that they have reluctantly accepted.

The spokesman of the episcopate, Father Donatien Nshole, on Friday urged Catholics to "peacefully block all attempts to confiscate or seize power by non-democratic or anti-constitutional ways."

Roughly half of DRC's 80 million people are Catholics and the church helps to provide education and healthcare to millions of people in the absence of state services, reinforcing its broad credibility across the nation.South African ruling party president Cyril Ramaphosa faces an uphill task to recover public support for Africa's oldest liberation movement ahead of elections in 2019

The new head of South Africa's ruling ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, pledged Saturday to "restore the credibility" of the party after a spate of corruption scandals involving President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma was replaced as party chief by his deputy Ramaphosa in December, with the new leader facing an uphill task to recover public support for Africa's oldest liberation movement ahead of elections in 2019.

"We must restore the integrity and credibility of the ANC," said Ramaphosa, 65, in his first major address to the party at a rally for the African National Congress's 106th anniversary celebrations.

"The movement has become deeply divided through factionalism, patronage, corruption and competition for resources," said the former trade unionist who led talks to end white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.

"We are going to confront corruption," he said, pledging that "the investigation and prosecution of those responsible (for manipulating the state machinery for their own ends) will be given top priority."

The graft-tainted Zuma also attended the meeting and drew whistles from the crowd.

- Party divisions deepen -

Corruption allegations have tarnished President Jacob Zuma's image, with the beleaguered leader facing growing pressure to resign

This week Zuma announced a probe into top-level corruption after parliament said it would deliberate on procedures for impeachment.

Corruption allegations have tarnished Zuma's image and eroded his support base, with the beleaguered leader facing growing pressure to resign before his presidential term ends next year.

Back in 2014, Zuma failed to abide by recommendations made by the anti-corruption watchdog over $15 million (12.5 million euros) of taxpayer-funded refurbishments at his home in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

He eventually reimbursed the equivalent of around $500,000 for non-security-related work at his homestead, a sum set by the treasury.

In 2016, a damning report questioned Zuma's dealings with the Guptas, a wealthy family of Indian origin, who were allegedly granted influence over his cabinet appointments.

Last month, Zuma suffered another blow when Ramaphosa, who campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, was elected ANC president beating the president's former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The hotly contested race revealed deeps divisions in a party already weakened by the graft scandals and continued economic decline.

With Zuma still the president but Ramaphosa leading the ANC, the two factions within the party could still be set for a damaging clash, with many in the party calling on Zuma to step down so Ramaphosa can become president.

The pressure comes after the ANC, which has ruled since 1994 when Nelson Mandela won the first multi-racial election, recorded its worst-ever results in 2016 local polls.The Statue of Liberty in New York has been a welcoming symbol to new immigrants for more than a century, even as US history has been pockmarked with immigration backlashes

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free": The words on the Statue of Liberty have beckoned comers to the "Nation of Immigrants" for more than a century.

But not with President Donald Trump at the gate.

Unlike any US leader in decades, Trump has attacked immigration, slashed legal arrivals, called to expel millions of non-citizens, and invited only wealthy and educated foreigners -- with an evident preference for white Europeans.

On Thursday, Trump allegedly demanded to know why the US accepted people from "shithole" places like Haiti and Africa, and suggested the country should instead draw immigrants from Norway.

It's a sharp turn for a country that defines itself by its open door and its "melting pot" culture.

- Immigrants were 'threats' -

But historians say US history is pockmarked by immigration backlashes and a constant ambivalence by well-established Americans over whether they want to continue being an immigrant country.

"When you look at the whole history of the United States, one of the most striking aspects of it is the ways in which the debate over immigration has been racialized," said Julie Greene, a professor of history at the University of Maryland.

In 1790 the Naturalization Act aimed to keep blacks from becoming citizens; the Alien Act of 1798 targeted French; The Page Act of 1875 prohibited Asian labor migrants; and in 1924 a sweeping new immigration act took aim at southern and eastern Europeans, largely comprised of Catholics and Jews.

"There was tremendous anti-immigration sentiment throughout the 19th century. At different points in American history, different types of immigrants were considered threats to the United States," said Allan Lichtman, a political historian and professor at American University.

- Massive wave spurred backlash -

A woman clutches a US flag as other immigrants and activists protest near the White House on January 8, 2018 to demand an extension of protected status for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador

Before Trump, Warren Harding made anti-immigration the main plank in his successful 1920 presidential campaign.

Harding came to power after a 40-year boom in which about 22 million immigrants poured into the country, and Americans were worried that the latest wave of southern and eastern Europeans -- largely Jews and Catholics -- would introduce inferior "races" into the country and spearhead Bolshevism.

"Similar to Trump, he portrayed himself as an America-first president," Lichtman said.

The country wrestled with smaller waves over the subsequent decades.

During the depression of the 1930s, there was a backlash against the influx of Mexicans that the 1924 law had given rise to. After World War II came a movement to stem the arrival of refugees.

In 1965 the quota system which favored northern Europeans was eliminated. Authorities sought to encourage the arrival of people with skills and educations and also to allow more family reunification -- what Trump has labeled "chain migration".

As a result, legal immigration soared to one million people a year, a large percentage of them Asian, while illegal immigration from Mexico leapt.

In 1986 President Ronald Reagan offered amnesty to 3.2 million illegal immigrants, but that failed to stem illegal border crossers.

Four years later, President George HW Bush took aim at the lopsided arrivals from Asia with the Green Card lottery, which aimed at diversifying arrivals across the globe.

- Economic upheaval, terror attacks -

Catholic priests from Mexico (L) and the US (R) meet on November 4, 2017 at the Rio Grande during a binational border mass by hundreds of Catholics from both countries in memory of migrants killed while crossing the river trying to reach the US

But by the 2000s anti-immigration sentiment arose anew. It had multiple roots.

The September 11, 2001 and subsequent attacks that have focused fears on Muslims, whose presence surged with the lottery system, was one.

Another was the deep change in the structure of the economy, which disrupted communities around the country.

A third was demographic change that left white people a minority in an increasing number of communities around the country.

"Very rapid growth in immigration does sometimes lead to pushback," said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute.

"We are at a point where America's becoming a more diverse society in ways that many Americans are not accustomed to."

With illegal immigrants reaching 12 million, mostly from Mexico and Central America, both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama tried to stem the flow while attempting to give many a legal path to citizenship.

Yet neither, point out historians, made immigration a political issue like Trump did to win election in 2016.

"Trump very neatly among modern presidents has sought to exploit that for political purposes," said Lichtman. "There is a strong minority anti-immigrant sentiment that Trump tapped into. It's not the majority sentiment."

Unlike anyone since Harding, historians said, Trump made a clear political calculus aimed at whites discomfited by economic and demographic shifts.

"It's easy to generate anxieties about this," Greene said.

"He's definitely more extreme and he's definitely using a kind of dog-whistle racial language, different from the last two presidents."An H&M store in Johannesburg's posh Sandton City shopping mall was closed after EFF members stormed inside

South African police Saturday intervened to clear protesters trashing outlets of Swedish clothing giant Hennes and Mauritz in Johannesburg over a controversial advertisement of a black child.

A photo on the company's online website of a black boy wearing a green hoodie with the inscription "coolest monkey in the jungle" had triggered outrage on social media and among observers worldwide.

The company has pulled the photograph but the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) -- a radical group set up by the expelled head of the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress -- organised protests at several H&M outlets in and around Johannesburg.

Video footage showed activists trashing displays, kicking over and pulling down clothes rails as well as pushing over mannequins.

"Several incidents of protests at H&M stores around the province have been reported," South African police (SAPS) said in a tweet.

"At the East Rand Mall the protesters managed to enter the shop & stole several items. #SAPS members had to intervene and dispersed the group of protesters by firing rubber bullets."

Floyd Shivambu from EFF said: 'That @hm nonsense of a clothing store is now facing consequences for its racism. All rational people should agree that the store should not be allowed to continue operating in South Africa."

H&M is not the only major company to be hit by an advertisement scandal in recent years.

Spanish clothing brand Zara in 2014 removed striped pyjamas with a yellow star after facing outrage over its resemblance to clothes worn by Jewish prisoners in concentration camps.

And in October last year, personal care brand Dove apologised after it was accused of racism for airing a commercial showing a black woman turning into a white woman after removing her top.Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers could not be renegotiated

Iran on Saturday rejected any modification of its nuclear deal with world powers after US President Donald Trump demanded tough new measures to keep the agreement alive.

Iran "will not accept any amendments in this agreement, be it now or in the future, and it will not allow any other issues to be linked to the JCPOA", the foreign ministry said in a statement, using the 2015 deal's technical name.

It has the backing of all the partners to the agreement apart from the United States, with Russia warning Washington on Saturday that withdrawing would be "a big miscalculation".

"We are gradually coming to the conclusion that an internal decision by the US to leave the JCPOA has already been made or is close to being made," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency.

"This could be one of Washington's big foreign policy mistakes," he added.

Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions on Friday -- as required every few months to stay in the agreement -- but demanded that European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

He said the new deal should curb Iran's missile programme and include permanent restrictions on the Islamic republic's nuclear plants, removing expiration dates due to kick in after a decade.

2015 Iran nuclear deal

The other parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union -- have all said the deal is working and that Iran is complying fully with its commitments.

Britain and Germany said Friday they had taken note of Trump's latest decision and would confer with France before responding.

- 'It makes no difference' -

On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the "necessary respect by all parties" of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, in a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Israel's leader, a fierce critic of the deal, told Macron that changing the nuclear deal would increase the chances of it remaining in place.

"Trump's remarks should be taken seriously, and whoever wants to keep the nuclear deal would be wise to fix it", a statement from Netanyahu's office read.

On the streets of Tehran, many people have grown cynical and exasperated by the endless pressure from the United States.

"It doesn't make any difference. We have been under US sanctions for the last 40 years," said Farshad Alyan, a 26-year-old law student.

"Two years ago when the JCPOA was signed we were so hopeful. We don't have that hope any more."

Iran argues that continued US sanctions on non-nuclear areas such as human rights and missile testing have effectively barred it from gaining many of the financial benefits expected from the deal.

Many people on the street in Tehran have grown cynical and exasperated by the endless US pressure

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Trump's aggressive stance on the deal and Iran generally have also violated the commitment to "refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation of trade and economic relations with Iran" in the accord.

- New sanctions criticised -

Many analysts agree.

"Trump has once again avoided the nuclear option on the nuclear deal. But the clear reluctance with which he has issued the sanctions waivers will continue to weigh on the business community," said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Europe-Iran Forum, a business network.

"However, if the 'adults in the room' prevailed this time and kept Trump from exiting the deal, there remains hope they will prevail in the end," he added.

Responding to Trump's speech late Friday, Zarif tweeted: "Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -- just like Iran."

Saturday's statement from Iran's foreign ministry further criticised new sanctions on 14 individuals announced by the US Treasury on Friday over human rights issues and Iran's missile programme.

In particular, placing judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani on the sanctions list "crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community... and the government of the United States will bear responsibility for all the consequences of this hostile move".

burs/hc/srmIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron speak at a joint news conference following their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris in December 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday called for the "necessary respect" of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the French leader to change the landmark accord.

A statement from the Elysee said Macron "remembers the importance of preserving the Iran nuclear deal and the necessary respect by all parties of their engagements regarding the accord".

Macron and Netanyahu spoke by phone Saturday after US President Donald Trump demanded that European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

In his conversation with Macron, the Israeli premier said that "Trump's remarks should be taken seriously, and whoever wants to keep the nuclear deal would be wise to fix it", a statement from Netanyahu's office read.

Netanyahu also told Macron the free world should "strongly condemn the five crimes of the Iranian regime", listing "efforts to obtain nuclear weapons... developing ballistic missiles... supporting terror... regional aggression" and "the cruel repression of Iranian citizens".

On Thursday, Macron told Trump that it was important for all signatories to respect the Iran nuclear agreement.

Tehran has rejected the notion of any modification of the 2015 nuclear deal, and has the backing of all of the partners to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union -- apart from the United States.

Israel says Iran is dedicated to its destruction and supports global terror, in addition to backing Palestinian Islamic militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah.

The Jewish state is also concerned that the nuclear deal -- which it opposed -- would not prevent Iran from eventually having nuclear weapons.The type of imported rice will be of premium quality, using varieties not grown in Indonesia, so it will not harm local farmers or rice production, Lukita said on January 12.

The countrys current rice stocks were estimated at about 950,000 tonnes, most of which is low-grade rice to be distributed as aid for low-income people. Meanwhile, rice stocks for commercial purposes were only at 11,000 tonnes.

Previously, Indonesia Vice President Jusuf Kalla had called on the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) to consider importing rice in order to bring down domestic prices.

According to the National Strategic Food Prices Information Centre (PIHPSN), the medium-quality rice is currently fetching IDR14,100 or US$1 per kg.

The rice prices vary among regions. West Papua reported the highest price of IDR14,250 per kg while the lowest price of just over IDR9,700 per kg was posted in West Nusa Tanggara.Resident of Lusaka's Kanyama Township walk past a burning barricade of tyres on January 12, 2018, during clashes with protesters demonstrating against a curfew and a ban on street commerce imposed by the government in the wake of a cholera outbreak

Zambia said Saturday it would open its international school and some retail centres in the capital after making sufficient progress in its fight to stem a cholera outbreak.

Lusaka has borne the brunt of an epidemic which began last September with data released on Saturday showing 3,148 cases nationwide, 72 of them fatal.

The government has sought to stem the spread with a package of sometimes draconian measures including a ban on large public gatherings and the nationwide postponing of the start of the school year, as well as the introduction of a curfew in the slum district of Kanyama, seen as the focal point of the outbreak.

"Lusaka's international school will reopen on January 16. They have been inspected and meet sanitary conditions," said Health Minister Chitalu Chifuy, adding the situation regarding government-run schools would be revisited on January 23, rather than a week later as initially announced, before setting a date on their reopening.

Minister Vincent Mwale said retail stores in some commercial districts in the capital would reopen Sunday -- although not in Kanyama.

Kanyama residents clashed with police Friday, demanding informal street retailing be allowed to resume.

Authorities had banned some street markets in an effort to reduce the volume of food and drink being sold in unsanitary open-air locations, which are particularly vulnerable to the spread of cholera.

Demonstrators claimed at Friday's protest, which resulted in dozens of arrests, that street trading is the only source of income for many people living in Kanyama.

- 'Corruption source of cholera' -

Cholera is a water-borne diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated, but is easily cured with oral rehydration, intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

Clean water and sanitation are critical to controlling transmission.

President Edgar Lungu has blamed water from shallow wells, unsanitary conditions in residential and public areas and contaminated food.

On December 30, he ordered the military to assist efforts to stem the spread of the disease.

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema meanwhile said some of the blame for the epidemic lay with Lungu's regime.

"Corruption is a source of cholera ..... if the $42 million that they spent on firefighters was used to improve sanitary conditions in Kanyama there could not have been cholera.

"The PF has been behind this creation of (an) unsanitary environment because of corruption," Hichilema charged.

"We will fight cholera together because of our people but we will continue to talk about the corruption in government."This photo taken on September 7, 2017 shows protesters marching during an anti-government demonstration led by a coalition of opposition parties on in Lome

Thousands of people took to the streets in Togo on Saturday in the first anti-government protests of the year, as supporters of President Faure Gnassingbe staged counter-demonstrations.

A coalition of 14 political parties has staged almost weekly demonstrations since August last year, calling for Gnassingbe to step down and the introduction of a two-term limit for presidents.

Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 when he took over from his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who himself ruled Togo for 38 years.

There was a strong police presence in Lome on Saturday, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

But unlike previous demonstrations, where opposition supporters clashed with the security services, it passed off without incident.

The veteran opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre said the date was chosen because Saturday was the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Togo's first post-colonial president, Sylvanus Olympio.

Fabre described it as a "fateful date" of broken dreams when "violence and deception entered the country's political history".

Similar protests were held elsewhere in the former French colony, as well as in Berlin and Washington by the country's diaspora.

Supporters of Gnassingbe's ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party took to the streets in seven cities outside Lome.

UNIR executive secretary Aklesso Atchole called the mobilisation "marches for peace". "These marches also aim to support the actions of the head of state," he said.

The opposition has organised a women-only march in Lome next Saturday.

Several West African countries have called on Gnassingbe and the opposition to meet for talks under the supervision of Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo and Guinea's Alpha Conde.

Talks were announced in early November but appear to have stalled, with no date fixed for the start of discussions.

The opposition first wants its supporters who were arrested at previous demonstrations to be freed from custody.

It also wants security forces to withdraw from the north of the country, where the Panafrican National Party (PNP) has support.

Fabre said a coalition delegation would be in Accra and Conakry on Monday and Tuesday on the invitation of Akufo-Addo and Conde.Burundi's political crisis, which began in 2015, has forced more than 410,000 people into exile

Burundian refugees living in a transit camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday complained of a lack of humanitarian support after their refusal to register on a biometric database, claiming it would violate their religion.

"We've had no more assistance from humanitarian organisations since January 1, 2018, still less from the (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)," spokeswoman for the group Francoise Ndayisenga told AFP.

The refugees belong to an obscure Catholic sect that follows a female prophet called Zebiya, who claims to have had several visions of the Virgin Mary in north Burundi, and say they fled their homeland amid religious persecution.

They are now stuck in the transit camp in the South Kivu region which borders Burundi.

A local representative for DR Congo's national refugee commission, Augustin Bulimuntu, told AFP that the group were no longer receiving assistance but did not say why.

Regional UNHCR administrator Andreas Kirchhof told AFP that his organisation had offered "individual interviews" to the refugees while deploring a "lack of cooperation" with the authorities who are responsible for according refugee status.

"We are not going to accept this (database) registration in spite of the difficult existence they want to impose on us as our beliefs forbid it," insisted Ndayisenga.

"In order to survive we have to sell what few items we have to local people, such as kitchen utensils, clothes, radios and televisions -- even livestock products," said Ndayisenga.

A local NGO worker told AFP last month that DR Congo guidelines require refugees to register on a biometric database that includes fingerprints and iris scans.

The group of some 2,000 people fled over the border in 2015 to Kamanyola, accusing Burundian police of firing on them in the northern town of Businde.

In September, at least 36 Burundian refugees were killed by Congolese soldiers during a protest at Kamanyola camp which is administered by the UN's mission in DR Congo.

Most of them were members of the Zebiya, witnesses told AFP.

At the time, Kinshasa insisted it was dealing with an "armed group" which had infiltrated the refugees.

The UNHCR responded to that crisis by providing "exceptional humanitarian assistance," Kirchhof noted, while adding that "sadly, we cannot continue doing that."Former soldier Chelsea Manning is running for a US Senate seat

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning, jailed for leaking classified information, is seeking election in the US state of Maryland, a document seen on Saturday says.

The Federal Election Commission document, filed Thursday, lists Chelsea Elizabeth Manning of North Bethesda, Maryland, as a Democratic candidate for the United States senate.

Manning, now 30, was an army intelligence analyst sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The revelations by Manning, who is transgender and was then known as Bradley Manning, exposed covered-up misdeeds and possible crimes by US troops and allies.

Her actions made Manning a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists but US establishment figures branded her a traitor.

Then-president Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence, leading to her release in May.

During her incarceration, Manning battled for, and won, the right to start hormone treatment. On Twitter, she identifies herself as a "trans woman," and carries the slogan: "Make powerful people angry."

The Democratic Senate incumbent is Ben Cardin, who was first elected in 2006 and is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In elections last year, transgender candidate Danika Roem was elected to the Virginia state House of Delegates, becoming the first openly transgender lawmaker in the United States.

US President Donald Trump has labeled Manning a traitor.

He also tried to bar transgender personnel from the military, but federal courts ruled against that ban.Airbus, which this week agreed to sell China 184 A320 planes by 2020, said in a statement it had been ordered to pay the fine "for a complaint of breach of contract concerning the sale of missiles"

Airbus said Saturday it had been fined 104 million euros for a dispute dating from 1992 over missile sales to Taiwan by the Matra group, which was later acquired by the aerospace giant.

Airbus, which this week agreed to sell China 184 A320 planes by 2020, said in a statement it had been ordered to pay the fine "for a complaint of breach of contract concerning the sale of missiles".

Matra Defence S.A.S., which joined the Airbus group in 1998, said for its part it was "studying the fine and evaluating next steps", the statement said.

An Airbus spokesman declined to provide details on the case when contacted by AFP.

In a separate case, the European group said it was in discussions with prosecutors in Munich that could close a German probe into alleged corruption related to the sale of Eurofighter jets to Austria.

In February, Austria sued Airbus over a 2003 Eurofighter deal that was long alleged to have been highly shady, seeking up to 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in damages.

Austria's defence ministry said at the time that the lawsuit accused Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium of deliberately hoodwinking Vienna over the two-billion-euro order.

At the time Airbus chief Tom Enders was head of the defence division of European Aeronautic Defence Space Company, which became the Airbus Group in 2014.

"We will reveal the results when the investigation is closed," the Airbus statement said.WASHINGTON (AP) - Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program's half-century history.

Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people's lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. "We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome," she said.

But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.

FILE - In this March 22, 2017 file photo, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma listen at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. The Trump administration says it's offering a path for states that want to seek work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and that's a major policy shift toward low-income people. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

"All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks," said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.

Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation's largest health insurance program.

Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that don't provide health insurance.

People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.

Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.

States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.

The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentucky's waiver to be approved shortly.

In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the program's impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the program's original intent, he added, "as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someone's lifestyle, if they're capable of working."

But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. "Health care is a right that shouldn't be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.

The debate about work requirements doesn't break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.

A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.

Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that don't offer health insurance.

Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.

Thursday's administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:

-Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.

-Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.

-Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as "community engagement" for purposes of meeting a requirement.

The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.

The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement there's no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.

"This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches," said the group.

Trump's new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they don't amount to a permanent change in the program. They're considered "demonstration programs" to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.

"We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program," said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundation's leading expert on the program. "It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people."

___

Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.In a story Jan. 12, The Associated Press reported that Florida Sen. Bill Nelson praised the Republican governor for his efforts to get more aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The story should have made clear that he was referring to Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

A clarified version of the story is below.

____

By KELLI KENNEDY

Associated Press

Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Friday slammed the federal government's response to Hurricane Maria, saying residents of the island, who are U.S. citizens, are being treated like "second-class citizens."

Rossello and other critics have complained that the federal aid given to Puerto Rico after its worst natural disaster has not been equal to that given to Florida, Texas and California after similar disasters.

"One hundred years of U.S. citizenship, but not quite equal," Rossello lamented during a news conference in Orlando on Friday.

The Puerto Rican governor is pushing for a supplemental disaster-aid package and relief from the federal tax-reform bill. He urged federal lawmakers to grant the country supplemental Medicaid funding and to eliminate the cost-sharing requirements, which he said was done in Louisiana. He acknowledged that Puerto Rico is competing with Florida, Texas and California for the funds.

"It is completely unacceptable, it is inhumane and you have to ask yourself if this would happen in any other state. The answer is no. The reality is this would only happen in Puerto Rico because we are treated as second-class citizens," he said, denouncing Republicans who oppose additional emergency funding because they say it would increase the national debt.

He warned that voters would remember this come midterm elections, "so that everyone in Congress knows that if you turn your back on the people of Puerto Rico ... there will be consequences."

Rossello also condemned President Donald Trump's incendiary comments about immigrants, saying they are unhelpful as the island struggles to find equality.

"It is surreal that this was said by the president. The United States is the greatest nation in the world but we need to act like it. ... That's why we're here today, addressing this," because Puerto Ricans are being treated as second-class citizens, he said.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who was also in attendance, announced $1 million to help Hurricane Maria refugees find employment. To date, he said the state's career-services agencies have helped more than 7,600 Puerto Ricans find jobs. He said federal emergency officials also have agreed to his request to provide case-management services to displaced families. And he said he is asking local housing officials and community leaders to help the state and federal government house refugees.

"Florida is the most welcoming state in the nation and we will continue to do everything possible to help the Puerto Rican families recovering from Hurricane Maria in our state," Scott said.

The number of Puerto Ricans who have come to Florida since Maria in September 2017 is in dispute. Gov. Rick Scott uses the figure of 300,000 based on the number of people who've flown into the major airports, while University of Florida economists estimate the number is closer to 50,000, based on school enrollments and requests for state aid.

The Gainesville Sun reports Florida has received 11,207 students from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as of late December.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson praised the Republican Rossello for his efforts and urged federal lawmakers to do more.

"Puerto Rico is out of funds. And how are people going to get the health care that they need? ... We can't just put dribs and drabs in. We've got to put a lot of money in."SAN DIEGO (AP) - The brother of a San Diego man believed to be the first American citizen killed while fighting alongside the Islamic State in Syria has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.

Marchello Dsaun McCain, 35, was sentenced Friday in federal court in San Diego for illegal possession of a cache of firearms and body armor and making false statements to federal agents about international terrorism.

McCain is the brother of 33-year-old Douglas McCain who was killed in 2014.

The United States also unsealed a two-count indictment charging Canadian national and former San Diego resident Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi with conspiring with Douglas McCain and others in the United States and Canada to provide support to terrorists in Syria carrying out kidnappings and killings.

Marchello McCain pleaded guilty in 2016 to making false statements during several interviews with federal agents from 2014 to 2015, including denying knowing that his brother planned to fight for the terrorist group. He told the FBI that he thought his brother was going to Turkey to play music and teach English.

In his plea agreement, McCain acknowledged that he allowed his brother to use a debit/credit card belonging to McCain's wife to buy airline tickets to Turkey and put money to cover the purchase into his wife's account.

"ISIS has brought the war on terror closer to home by directing and inspiring attacks in the U.S. and other countries, thereby putting American lives in danger," U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a statement. "By lying to federal agents, Marchello McCain delayed, frustrated and thwarted an investigation into a group that supplied U.S. and Canadian fighters to ISIS."

McCain's brother left the United States in March 2014 and five months later was reported killed fighting against the Free Syrian Army.

Marchello McCain, who was convicted of shooting at two people in Minnesota in 2005, also pleaded guilty in 2016 to six counts of being a felon in possession of guns, ammunition and body armor.

In that plea agreement, Marchello McCain acknowledged that about three weeks before his brother departed, the two went to a San Diego gun range and shot weapons that included a semi-automatic-style rifle and a shotgun, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said McCain not only helped his brother to get to Syria, he agreed to travel there and join him in violent jihadist activities. He regularly communicated with his brother and other individuals regarding the financial and logistical needs of foreign fighters in Syria, and wired $800 to an Islamic State operative in Turkey to support his brother and others.

On Sept. 15, 2017, pursuant to an extradition request by the United States, Canadian authorities arrested Abdullahi.

Abdullahi is currently detained in Canadian custody without bail, pending an extradition hearing. He also faces charges in Canada for a Jan. 9, 2014 armed robbery of an Edmonton jewelry store, which prosecutors said Abdullahi carried out to finance the travel of Douglas McCain and others to fight for the Islamic State in Syria.

Besides Douglas McCain, four others left the U.S. and traveled to Syria as part of the conspiracy. All were killed in fighting there, according to prosecutors.LAS VEGAS (AP) - FBI agents knew the gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history left behind big caches of guns, ammunition and explosives when they sought warrants to search his properties and online accounts, according to court documents released Friday.

A U.S. judge in Nevada unsealed the documents showing some of what federal agents learned about Stephen Paddock in the week after the Las Vegas shooting. Prosecutors didn't oppose the request from media organizations including The Associated Press to release affidavits that were filed to get search warrants.

They also show that agents sought the email, Facebook and Instagram accounts of Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who was in the Philippines during the Oct. 1 shooting.

FILE - This Oct. 2, 2017 file photo shows police tape blocking off the home of Stephen Craig Paddock in Mesquite, Nev. A federal judge is being asked to unseal documents telling what federal agents learned before searching properties belonging to the gunman responsible for the Oct. 1, 2017 massacre on the Las Vegas Strip. Prosecutors aren't opposing a Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 request from media organizations for U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey to release redacted affidavits underlying warrants for locations including Stephen Paddock's home in Mesquite. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

The documents didn't answer the key unanswered question: What motivated a 64-year-old high-stakes gambler to unleash gunfire from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort into an outdoor concert below. Paddock killed 58 people and injured hundreds more before killing himself.

Las Vegas police Officer Aden Ocampo Gomez and FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault said Friday that they had no update about Paddock's motive. Both called it an ongoing investigation.

Investigators have said that Paddock meticulously planned his attack and intentionally concealed his actions. He modified assault-style rifles to shoot rapidly, set up cameras to watch for police outside his hotel room and wounded a security guard in the hotel hallway.

Investigators found no evidence that Paddock had help carrying out the attack.

Paddock's three-bedroom house in a retirement community in the city of Mesquite was searched twice - first by police and FBI agents in the hours immediately after Paddock was identified as the shooter.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later said that Oct. 2 search found 19 guns and several pounds of potentially explosive materials.

The FBI returned to the house a week later for what officials called "redocumenting and rechecking."

Officers also raided Paddock's hotel suite where he opened fire and searched his vehicle after it was found parked in the casino parking structure. Lombardo said several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, was found in the car.

Other searches were conducted at a house the gunman owned in Reno where agents found a red SUV. A neighbor reported that Paddock kept a safe the size of a refrigerator in the garage.

FBI agents also returned to that house, on Oct. 10, after local police determined someone had broken in days earlier.

A Nevada judge is due to hear arguments Tuesday about whether Las Vegas police search warrant documents should remain sealed.The Vietnamese Government leader made the request while meeting with Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulit on the sidelines of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on January 10.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his delight at the development of the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. He hailed the official friendship visit made by General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith and the success of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2017.

At the meeting, the two prime ministers agreed to direct their ministries, branches and localities to effectively coordinate in order to prepare for the 40th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee scheduled for early this year.

Accordingly, both sides need to evaluate their cooperative ties in various sectors in 2017 and recommend breakthrough solutions to promote cooperation efficiency in 2018. In addition, they should work to bolster the implementation of the Vietnam-Laos cooperation agreement during 2016-2020.

The two government leaders affirmed that they will continue working to deepen their bilateral political relations and join together to carry out drastic and comprehensive measures to strengthen the economic partnership. They also pledged to pay attention to key investment projects and remove bottlenecks for enterprises from both sides.BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - An Argentine court has freed former Vice President Amado Boudou from prison where he had been held since early November after being arrested on corruption charges.

Boudou, who served under former President Cristina Fernandez, is still under investigation for alleged money laundering and illicit association.

The court ruled Friday that Boudou, who also served as economy minister under Fernandez, was unlikely to interfere in the case against him, which was the original reason he was jailed pending trial. He denies any wrongdoing.

Boudou was one of several high-profile officials in Fernandez's 2007-2015 administration detained on corruption charges.

In October, Julio De Vido, a lawmaker who was Fernandez's planning minister, turned himself in to authorities after the lower house of Congress voted to remove his immunity from being detained. De Vido is being investigated on suspicion of having the government overpay more than $7 billion for liquefied gas. He's also being probed for possible embezzlement in another case.

Fernandez herself was indicted in 2016. She won a Senate seat during the recent elections, which grants her immunity from arrest. She dismisses the allegations against her as politically motivated attacks by her successor, President Mauricio Macri.BEIJING (AP) - Rescuers on Saturday recovered the bodies of two crew members of an Iranian oil tanker that's been on fire since colliding with a freighter last week in the East China Sea.

The bodies were found on the lifeboat deck of the Sanchi on Saturday morning, state broadcaster CCTV said. Rescuers stayed aboard less than 30 minutes but were able to recover the ship's data and video recordings, it said.

The network said rescuers were prevented from entering the crew living quarters by temperatures as high as 89 degrees Celsius (192 Fahrenheit).

In this Jan. 10, 2018 photo provided by China's Ministry of Transport, a firefighting boat works to put on a blaze on the oil tanker Sanchi in the East China Sea off the eastern coast of China. Rescue ships looking for missing crew members from the oil tanker Sanchi have expanded their search area to more than 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles) as Chinese state television reported Friday that maritime authorities still have not found any survivors, or put out the blaze onboard the ship. (China's Ministry of Transport via AP)

Footage of the rescue showed parts of the Sanchi still aflame, its hull and superstructure completely stripped of paint. Authorities were concerned the ship could explode and sink but there was no word on Saturday on such a possibility.

The cause of the collision remains unclear. One body was recovered from the sea earlier this week, leaving 29 crew members still unaccounted for. The crew was all Iranian expect for two Bangladeshis.

Thirteen ships, including one from South Korea and two from Japan, were engaged in the rescue and cleanup effort Saturday, spraying foam in an effort to extinguish the fire. The tanker was carrying a cargo of nearly 1 million barrels of condensate, a type of gassy, ultra-light oil that readily evaporates or burns off in a fire, reducing the chance of a major oil spill.

Intense flames, bad weather and poor visibility have all hampered rescue efforts.

The Chinese freighter CF Crystal that collided with the Panamanian-registered tanker had 21 crew members, who all were reported safe.

In this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, photo provided by China's Ministry of Transport, firefighting boats work to put on a blaze on the oil tanker Sanchi in the East China Sea off the eastern coast of China. Rescue ships looking for missing crew members from the oil tanker Sanchi have expanded their search area to more than 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles) as Chinese state television reported Friday that maritime authorities still have not found any survivors, or put out the blaze onboard the ship. (Ministry of Transport via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's White House physician says he is in "excellent health" after Trump received his first medical checkup as president at Walter Reed military hospital. He underwent a physical examination amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that he's mentally unfit.

Dr. Ronny Jackson, in a statement released by the White House, said the examination "went exceptionally well. The President is in excellent health and I look forward to briefing some of the details on Tuesday."

Trump spent about three hours at the medical facility in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, for the Friday afternoon checkup, his first as president, before departing for Florida for the weekend.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson as he boards Marine One as he leaves Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, after his first medical check-up as president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson as he boards Marine One to leaves Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, after his first medical check-up as president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Donald Trump's motorcade, seen from the media van, arrives at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, where he will have his first medical check-up as president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The entrance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is seen from the media van in President Donald Trump's motorcade as it arrives Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, where he will have his first medical check-up as president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 29, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump walks with Gene Gibson, commanding officer at Coast Guard Station Lake Worth Inlet, as he arrives to meet with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump will be the patient, not the commander in chief offering comfort, when he visits the Walter Reed military hospital. Trump heads to the medical facility in the Maryland suburbs of Washington on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, for his first medical check-up as president. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)PHOENIX (AP) - Martha McSally wants Arizona to know she supports President Donald Trump.

The Republican congresswoman has voted with the Republican president nearly 97 percent of the time so far. She says that young immigrants shouldn't be shielded from deportation unless Democrats agree to build Trump's massive border wall. She doesn't even mind if the tough-talking commander-in-chief described Haiti and other African nations with vulgar language earlier in the week.

"I speak a little salty behind closed doors at times as well, so I'm not going to throw the first stone on using any language," said McSally, who wants to be Arizona's next U.S. senator. She added, "You better believe I will keep working with President Trump."

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., waves from the cockpit of a T-6 World War II airplane as she departs from a rally, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Phoenix. McSally announced Friday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Jeff Flake. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The enthusiastic allegiance marks a shift for McSally, who refused to endorse Trump's presidential campaign and refuses even now to say whether she voted for him. But her party fight to maintain control of the Senate in 2018, the 51-year-old former fighter pilot is betting big that she needs Trump's most passionate supporters on her side if she's to keep outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake's seat in Republican hands.

The seat is empty, in large part, because Flake could not - or would not - "be complicit or silent" about his deep concerns with the Trump presidency.

McSally, meanwhile, is embracing Trump and his political playbook - which emphasizes the dangers of illegal immigration and demands border security above all else - in a state where nearly 1 in 3 residents is Hispanic and roughly 1 million are eligible to vote, according to the Pew Research Center.

The success of her message will help determine whether it's finally time for Republican candidates to heed party leaders who warned six years ago that candidates must soften their tone on immigration and do far more to connect with Hispanic voters and other minorities.

In announcing her candidacy on Friday, at least, McSally is showing no sign of moderating her tone.

"When facing vicious cartels and the possibility of terrorists, a secure border is not just the people's right, it is the federal government's urgent responsibility," she told dozens of people gathered for her announcement speech in a Tucson, Arizona, aircraft hangar. "There should be no sanctuary for anyone breaking our laws and harming our people."

McSally enters a dynamic Republican primary field that features a nationally celebrated immigration hardliner, 85-year-old former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by Trump last year after defying a judge's order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. Another high-profile candidate, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, was an early favorite of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

"She obviously has a primary where immigration will play a big role," Republican strategist Alex Conant said of McSally. "Trump's position on immigration is where the base of the party is. You cannot be perceived as being soft on illegal immigration and expect hold the base."

There are obvious risks among a more diverse general election audience, however.

"If you're perceived as anti-immigrant, you're going to have difficulty winning anywhere in America, especially border states," Conant said.

McSally appears to be trying to walk a fine line in the early days of her Senate campaign.

She co-sponsored an immigration plan considered a conservative wish list of sorts released by House conservatives this week that would reduce legal immigration levels by 25 percent, block federal grants to sanctuary cities and restrict the number of relatives that immigrants already in the U.S. can bring here. The bill, which is unlikely to survive the GOP-controlled Senate, also provides temporary legal status for young immigrants enrolled in DACA.

In an interview, she refused to say whether she supports a pathway to legal status for millions of other immigrants in the country illegally. Nor would she say whether her political party should do anything to improve its standing among Hispanic voters.

"I'm only responsible for myself," McSally said. "I'm a Republican. So what I'm doing every day is listening to people getting out to all the different diverse elements in my community, hearing what their main concerns are, and fighting tirelessly for them."

The Republican National Committee determined back in 2013 that GOP candidates must work harder to use welcoming and inclusive messages to win over Hispanic voters, who are becoming a larger share of the American electorate.

"It does not matter what we say about education, jobs or the economy," the RNC wrote, "if Hispanics think we do not want them here, they will close their ears to our policies."

Despite the warning, Trump won the presidency by adopting aggressively anti-immigrant language that continues to spark accusations of racism and bigotry.

In Arizona, McSally doesn't see any cause for concern with Trump's leadership.

"He's a fighter. He's a scrapper. He can't help it when he's attacked but to punch back. It is who he is," she said. "We're not going to change him. So why don't I focus on what I can do instead of focusing on what somebody else is doing?"

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., gives the thumbs up from the cockpit of a T-6 World War II airplane as she departs from a rally, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Phoenix. McSally announced Friday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Jeff Flake. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., speaks at a rally, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Phoenix. McSally announced Friday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Jeff Flake. (AP Photo/Matt York)WASHINGTON (AP) - Late last year, lawyers for President Donald Trump expressed optimism that special counsel Robert Mueller was nearing the end of his probe of Russia's interference in the 2016 election. But if there was hope in the White House that Trump might be moving past an investigation that has dogged his presidency from the start, 2018 is beginning without signs of abatement. In fact, the new year set off a flurry of developments in the probes by Mueller and Congress ranging in importance from the trivial to the ominous.

Some recent events suggest Trump's Russia woes aren't going away anytime soon:

GO!

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump listens as Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, after Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Sessions. Late last year, lawyers for Trump expressed optimism that special counsel Robert Mueller was nearing the end of his probe of Russia's interference in the 2016 election. But if there was hope in the White House that Trump might be moving past an investigation that has dogged his presidency from the start, 2018 is beginning without signs of abatement. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

In a remarkable broadside against a fellow conservative, two Republican House members called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, criticizing his Justice Department for not cooperating with Congress and for leaks related to its Russia investigation.

Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio criticized Sessions in an opinion piece published Jan. 4 on the Washington Examiner's website. The headline said: "It's time for Jeff Sessions to go."

They wrote that Sessions "has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world."

Sessions, who was part of Trump's presidential campaign, stepped aside last year from the department's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Sessions' deputy, Rod Rosenstein, later appointed Mueller to take over the probe. A Sessions resignation would allow Trump to appoint a new attorney general, who would assume oversight of the probe from Rosenstein.

___

DON'T GO!

A day after the lawmakers' opinion piece, it emerged that Trump had tried to keep Sessions from recusing himself. The report that Trump directed his White House counsel, Don McGahn, to press Sessions just before he announced he would step aside added a new layer for the investigation.

The episode is known to Mueller and his team of prosecutors and is likely of interest to them as they look into whether Trump's actions as president, including the May firing of FBI Director James Comey, amount to improper efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation. Investigators recently concluded a round of interviews with current and former White House officials, including McGahn.

___

WILL HE, WON'T HE?

This week, it emerged that Mueller's team has broached the prospect of an interview with Trump, prompting speculation about when, or if, that might happen and under what terms.

The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that Mueller had indicated interest in eventually speaking with Trump as the team investigates possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign and the potential of obstruction of justice.

Prior presidents, including Bill Clinton, have spoken with investigators, but it remains to be seen whether Trump will do so.

Although White House lawyers have pledged their cooperation in the last several months, with a hint of confrontation to come, Trump said this week that it "seems unlikely" that he'll be interviewed and that "we'll see what happens."

___

PARTISAN DRAMA

In a sign that congressional probes are becoming ever more partisan, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee broke with the panel's Republican chairman on Tuesday by releasing on her own the transcript of a closed-door interview with Glenn Simpson. Simpson is the co-founder of a political research firm that commissioned what became a dossier of allegations about Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she acted because "the American people deserve the opportunity to see what he said and judge for themselves," though Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee chairman, called the move "confounding" and said it could undermine attempts to interview additional witnesses.

According to the transcript, Simpson said the former British spy who put together the dossier - essentially a compilation of memos - brought the document to the FBI in July 2016 because he was worried about "whether a political candidate was being blackmailed." According to Simpson, ex-spy Christopher Steele flew to Rome to meet an FBI agent stationed there for his second debriefing before the November election. He said the FBI contact told Steele that there was renewed interest in his research because the bureau had corroborated some of the material. That testimony undercut Republican allegations that the dossier initiated the FBI's Russia probe.

Trump has dismissed the dossier as false and a political hit job, and several Republican-led congressional committees are investigating the role the dossier played in the initial stages of the FBI's investigation.

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump accused Feinstein of being "underhanded and a disgrace" for disclosing details of Simpson's testimony about the dossier and its allegations about his ties to Russia during the presidential campaign.

___

IVANKA TOO?

One member of the Trump inner circle who had avoided the klieg lights of the Russia investigation is the president's daughter Ivanka. But that changed Thursday when the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said he wants the panel to interview her.

California Rep. Adam Schiff said Republicans have declined to invite many witnesses who would be valuable to the probe, including Ivanka Trump and several people who he says have additional information about a June 2016 meeting between Russians and the Trump campaign.

In the meeting at Trump Tower, several Trump campaign officials sat down with a Russian lawyer and others under the impression they might receive damaging information about the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. The meeting has captured the interest of congressional investigators and Mueller.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Ivanka Trump talked to at least two of the meeting's participants on the way out.

___

TREASON!

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Trump accused an FBI agent who was removed from Mueller's investigative team of "treason."

Peter Strzok, who had been assigned to work on Mueller's team, was removed last summer following the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with an FBI lawyer who was also assigned to the team.

It was not clear how the exchange reflected treason, which is defined in law as aiding an enemy of the United States.

Aitan Goelman, a lawyer for Strzok, called the president's allegation "beyond reckless."

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.DENVER (AP) - For years, a movement to limit the number of migrants into the U.S. and end a system that favors family members of legal residents has had to fend off criticism that it's as a poorly veiled attempt to produce a whiter America.

Then its most prominent supporter told members of Congress in the Oval Office this week that the U.S. needs fewer immigrants from Haiti and Africa and more from places like Norway.

President Donald Trump's use of a vulgar term to describe African countries triggered widespread condemnation, and left the small cluster of immigration hard-line groups whose agenda Trump has embraced scrambling to distance themselves from the president.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration policy in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Trump's use of a vulgar term to describe African countries has left the small cluster of immigration hard-line groups in the U.S. scrambling to distance themselves from him. Trump used the vulgarity during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, with members of Congress in asking why the U.S. would want more immigrants from places such as Haiti and Africa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

"They say it's about numbers, merit, security and control," Frank Sharry of the immigrant rights group America's Voice said of organizations that share Trump's desire to reduce both illegal and legal immigration to the U.S. "All of those are coded words that mean fewer brown, black and yellow immigrants into a white nation."

Hard-line immigration activists, who prefer the term "restrictionists," argue that the system they espouse - fewer overall migrants, an end to the family-based system that favors relatives of people already legally in the U.S. and a greater emphasis on picking immigrants with skills - is not racially motivated. They note, for example, that immigrants from some African countries have higher rates of education that the U.S.-born population and may benefit from a more skill-based approach.

"People who suggest merit-based may inherently favor white, northern Europeans - that is inherently racist," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

"Immigration is not tied to Donald Trump. This preceded Donald Trump," he added, dismissing the president as someone "whose tweets cause people to cringe."

Groups such as Mehlman's helped torpedo immigration overhauls in 2006 and 2013, but they have few overt supporters in Washington. Before Trump, the most prominent one was Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who became Trump's attorney general and whose former aide, Stephen Miller, is a top White House adviser to the president on immigration.

Sessions is a longtime critic of the country's system that allows people with relatives in the United States a chance to apply for visas. "Almost no one coming from the Dominican Republic to the United States is coming here because they have a proven skill that will benefit us and would indicate their likely success in our society," he said on the Senate floor in 2006. "They come here because some other family member of a qualifying relation is here."

Trump has embraced Sessions' cause of trying to end "chain migration," a term opponents have long applied to the family-based system but one that got little attention until the president tweeted it in capital letters as he abruptly demanded its end amid immigration talks in September.

Trump also favors stopping the diversity lottery, a system that reserves visas for people from countries that have relatively few immigrants in the United States. It favors African countries and was part of an immigration deal Trump was negotiating with a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers Thursday when he made his explosive comments.

Trump disputes some of the accounts of the Oval Office exchange reported by others in the room but hasn't denied using an expletive to describe African countries or the overall tenor of his comments.

Roy Beck, executive director of Numbers USA, which advocates for reduced immigration, contended the president is mischaracterizing his own immigration agenda. "The president's emphasis on doing away with chain migration and the lottery is about people who are brought into the country with no regard to their skills, education or what their effect will be on the country," Beck said. "It's a mistake to focus on what country anybody comes from."

The Trump administration has announced its intention to end temporary protections for Salvadorans and Haitians who have lived in the U.S. since natural disasters in their countries more than a decade ago, as well as President Obama's deportation relief for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The president also has backed a long-shot bill authored by two Republican senators that would sharply cut the number of immigrants allowed into the country and prioritize those who speak English, have a doctorate and have existing job offers.

Both sides of the immigration debate have long agreed that the U.S. should move toward a more skills-based program. But Andrew Selee, president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said recent data suggest the current system may be headed there already: Since 2011, 48 percent of all new legal immigrants have possessed college degrees, well above the 33 percent of U.S. residents with them.

"His vision seems to not only be less immigration but more high-skilled," Selee said of Trump, "and that may be the system we're already getting."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., takes questions from Wispolitics.com President Jeff Mayers on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Milwaukee. The Q&A session was about the country's new tax law, but Ryan addressed obscene comments about immigrants made by President Donald Trump, calling the remarks "very unfortunate, unhelpful." (AP Photo/Ivan Moreno)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is introduced as he speaks to students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, listens to Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks to students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks at a news conference as he visits students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is introduced as he speaks to students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks at a news conference as he visits students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, speaks at a news conference as he visits students of Year Up Chicago, a one-year long job training program that provides low-income young adults, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. The senator present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly." (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

In this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018 photo, immigration activist Nora Sandigo talks with immigrant families and their children at her home in Miami. Sandigo filed a suit Thursday in federal court in Miami, on behalf of 10 children who's parents had been deported or had been threatened with deportation. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

In this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018 photo, immigration activist Nora Sandigo smiles during an interview at her home in Miami. Sandigo filed a suit Thursday in federal court in Miami, on behalf of 10 children who's parents had been deported or had been threatened with deportation. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)NEW DELHI (AP) - A helicopter carrying employees of an Indian oil company to an off-shore rig in the Arabian Sea crashed Saturday, killing five people and leaving another two missing, the navy said.

The helicopter was carrying two pilots and five employees of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Commission from a Mumbai airfield to the oil rig when it disappeared, prompting a search operation, navy spokesman Capt. D. Sharma said. The five bodies were spotted along with debris from the helicopter, Sharma said.

Rescuers on ships found some life jackets and continued to look for the missing people, he said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the pilot lost contact with the air traffic control soon after take-off on Saturday from Mumbai's Juhu airport.

The helicopter belongs to state-run company Pawan Hans, which operates a fleet of helicopters for off-shore operations, charter services and ferrying pilgrims to shrines in mountainous areas.BERLIN (AP) - Britain's treasury chief has accused the European Union of "paranoia" over Brexit.

Philip Hammond says the EU should stop threatening to punish Britain for its decision to leave the bloc and instead offer a positive vision for what a post-Brexit relationship might look like.

British officials are trying to put the onus on Brussels in the divorce negotiations and downplay the idea that quitting the EU might end up harming Britain.

Hammond told German weekly Welt am Sonntag in an interview published Saturday that those hoping London might do a U-turn on Brexit should "stop harking on about this illusion."

Hammond also was quoted as saying that a future free trade deal between Britain and the EU has to include services, which make up 80 percent of the U.K. economy.BANGKOK (AP) - Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called the military's investigation into the deaths of Rohingya Muslims found in a mass grave a "positive indication," state media reported Saturday.

The military, which has been accused of indiscriminate killings, rape and burning of Rohingya villages, acknowledged that security forces and villagers were responsible for the deaths of 10 people found in a mass grave in December. It said the 10 were "Bengali terrorists" who had threatened villagers, but that the military would "take action" against those who "broke the rules of engagement."

The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not acknowledge Royingya as a minority group even though they have lived in the country for generations. It says they're immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Since August, military operations have driven more than 650,000 Rohingya into refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh.

A newly arrived Rohingya family waits at a temporary shelter before their registration at Nayapara refugee camp, some 69 kilometres (43 miles) from in Cox bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. In Rakhine state of Myanmar, government troops have been accused of "ethnic cleansing" that has forced more than 655,000 of Rohingya Muslims to flee into Bangladesh, out of which 60 per cent of the refugees are children. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

"It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible," Suu Kyi said, according to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper. "However, some may worry. But I believe that our investigation will prevent such things from happening again."

Suu Kyi made the comments Friday during a joint news conference with Japan's foreign minister. Suu Kyi is Myanmar's foreign minister as well as the government's civilian leader though the military has a final say in security matters.

Neither the military nor Suu Kyi has said what action will be taken against those responsible for the deaths linked to the mass grave in Rakhine state, where most of the Rohingya live.

Rohingya boys wash potatoes in a polluted puddle at Nayapara refugee camp, some 69 kilometres (43 miles) from in Cox bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. In Rakhine state of Myanmar, government troops have been accused of "ethnic cleansing" that has forced more than 655,000 of Rohingya Muslims to flee into Bangladesh, out of which 60 per cent of the refugees are children. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rohingya women wait in a queue for rations at Nayapara refugee camp, some 69 kilometres (43 miles) from in Cox bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. In Rakhine state of Myanmar, government troops have been accused of "ethnic cleansing" that has forced more than 655,000 of Rohingya Muslims to flee into Bangladesh, out of which 60 per cent of the refugees are children. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rohingya men make a temporary shelter at Nayapara refugee camp, some 69 kilometres (43 miles) from in Cox bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. In Rakhine state of Myanmar, government troops have been accused of "ethnic cleansing" that has forced more than 655,000 of Rohingya Muslims to flee into Bangladesh, out of which 60 per cent of the refugees are children. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - There's a whole network of satellites, underwater robots and scientific tools watching for toxic algae on Lake Erie. But when it comes to predicting where and when harmful blooms will show up on the Ohio's rivers and reservoirs, there's still a lot of mystery.

Researchers now are beginning to look at how to determine which waterways around the state are at the greatest risk and when a crisis could be on the way. Doing that also could point the way to preventing it from happening and provide a model for states around the nation seeing an increasing number of waterways plagued by harmful algae.

Another project underway is aiming to set up a series of sensors along the Ohio River - from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Louisville, Kentucky - that would signal when there might be a problem.

FILE-In this Oct. 16, 2015, file photo, algae coats rocks in view of Cincinnati's skyline on the banks of the Ohio River in Newport, Ky. Researchers along the Ohio River are trying to figure out how to predict which rivers and lakes in Ohio and other states are at risk from toxic algae.They say it could help prevent algae outbreaks and be a model for states around the nation seeing an increasing number of waterways plagued by harmful algae. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Unlike the annual blooms that spread unsightly shades of green across western Lake Erie, algae outbreaks on rivers and lakes are less predictable and can surprise cities that rely on the water for drinking and recreation.

Two years ago, a plume of algae twisted more than 600 miles down the Ohio River - its first toxic bloom in seven years, though that one was much smaller. The question is whether that bloom was a rare occurrence or a sign of things to come.

Researchers at Ohio State University are starting a multi-year project that will try to sort out how often and when rivers, lakes and reservoirs are likely to see algae outbreaks in the future and how intense those blooms might be.

The idea would be to create a classification system for the waterways to say what areas are at risk, said Mazeika Sullivan, an Ohio State environment and natural resources professor leading the research.

His team will be collecting and analyzing water samples and studying land-use in the Ohio River's upper basin in southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and southern Indiana.

The next step will be to use the classification system to help land and water managers to come up with a treatment plan for the individual rivers, streams and lakes and monitor what works best at lessening the algae, he said.

"It's almost like developing a health plan for the watershed," Sullivan said.

Unlike the weekly algae updates that federal scientists issue for Lake Erie in the summer, the classification system for rivers and lakes would be a long-range forecast for potential trouble spots.

"We can't stop there," Sullivan said, adding that what's important is trying out and monitoring efforts to slow the algae. "We really need to know if these are working."

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, which watches over the Ohio River's health, is working with University of Cincinnati researchers to set up sensors that will be able to detect potentially harmful algae, help direct researchers where to concentrate testing and allow them to alert drinking water utilities.

The system should be ready in time for this year's algae season, said Greg Youngstrom, an environmental specialist with the commission.

"It will allow us not to be surprised," he said.He made the affirmation at a reception in Hanoi, on January 12, for a visiting delegation from the Cuban Communist Party Central Committees Department for External Relations led by its deputy head Carlos Marsan.

Politburo member Thuong, who is also head of the CPVCCs Commission for Information and Education, suggested that the two parties actively prepare for further delegation exchanges in 2018, as well as activities to celebrate 45 years since the visit made by Cuban leader Fidel Castro to the southern liberation zone of Vietnam (September 1973-2018).

He said he believes that such activities would contribute to further deepening the exemplary brotherhood, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and loyal solidarity between the Parties, States and people of Vietnam and Cuba.

For his part, Carlos Marsan thanked the Vietnamese Party, State and people for the consistent support and solidarity given to Cuba, emphasising his countrys determination to reinforce their special bilateral ties.

Briefing his host on Cubas situation and its current economic achievements, he said that the Party, Sate and people of Cuba will continue pursuing the goal of building Cuba into a prosperous socialist country.

Earlier, Carlos Marsan met with Hoang Binh Quan, head of the CPVCCs Commission for External Relations, and his deputy Nguyen Tuan Phong. The two sides discussed a wide range of regional and international issues of mutual concern and agreed on a number of specific measures to foster the ties between the two Parties and States.

During their stay, the Cuban delegation paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and laid flowers at the Statue of Jose Marti in Hanoi. They worked with representatives of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Communist Review, the Foreign Ministry, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.

They also visited Ho Chi Minh City and Ninh Binh province.NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Kenyan officials said Saturday a civilian was killed and several policemen wounded when suspected members of the Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab attacked a convoy of vehicles.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka says the police vehicles had been escorting buses between Mombasa city and Lamu County and were destroyed in the attack.

Kenya's government is battling to stop a wave of attacks by al-Shabab fighters who say they are avenging Kenya's deployment of troops to neighboring Somalia in 2011. Kenyan troops make up part of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia that bolsters the country's weak government against al-Shabab's insurgency.

In the past two years, al-Shabab has focused attacks on Kenyan counties that border Somalia and mainly targeted security agents.

Kenya's government ordered police to escort vehicles on the Lamu-Mombasa road after an al-Shabab attack last year in which a top ranking government was briefly kidnapped.

Separately, police said youth burned down a Catholic church in Marsabit County in northern Kenya after the arrest of a Muslim cleric accused by the government of radicalization.

In a statement, police said they arrested Guyo Gorsa, who allegedly had been involved in the recruitment of youth into al-Shabab. Police said Guyo's alleged involvement had been exposed by youth who were arrested while travelling to Somalia to join the extremist group.

Police called it unfortunate that "some sympathizers of the suspect who are opposed to his arrest have resorted to ... destroying property including a Catholic church."BEIRUT (AP) - Turkey's president vowed to oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, on Saturday as Syrian rebels also said they are bracing for such an operation.

Speaking in the eastern province of Elazig, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the People's Protection Units, or YPG, that Turkey will intervene if the "terrorists in Afrin do not surrender."

His remarks came as Turkey's military shelled Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled enclave along Syria's frontier with Turkey, saying it was responding to harassment by the YPG, according to the Turkish station NTV.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), at a rally in Elazig, eastern Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Erdogan has said Turkey will oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, as the military shelled the area from across the border. Turkey considers the YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. (Pool Photo via AP)

Turkey regularly shells Afrin but Saturday's assault was particularly intensive and lasted more than two hours, said YPG spokesman Rojhat Roj.

"We are seeing preparations" for a Turkish push into Afrin, said Roj.

"The YPG will defend itself against any aggression," he added.

Turkey considers the YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders.

The YPG and its political counterpart, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, say they want regional autonomy within a federalized Syria. They control nearly 25 percent of Syrian territory, shrewdly striking alliances with the U.S. and Russia to establish the Kurds as a powerful force on the ground in Syria's civil war.

But the Afrin region is detached from the bulk of Kurdish-controlled territory in northeast Syria. It's surrounded on three sides by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels backed by Ankara. And while the U.S. military maintains bases in the Kurdish territory in northeast Syria, it is not believed to be present in Afrin.

A Syrian opposition news site, Baladi News, quoted a rebel commander on Thursday as saying that joint Turkish military and Syrian rebel operations to attack Afrin could begin "at any moment."

Moaz Abu Omar of the Failaq al-Sham rebel faction said ground operations would likely be backed by Turkish air power.

Turkey has already stationed troops and armored vehicles in rebel-held territory on either side of Afrin in northern Syria. The Turkish military entered rebel-held Idlib in October to monitor "de-escalation zones" between rebels and the Syria government, following an agreement with Russia and Iran to restore order in Syria. Kurdish officials say the Turkish deployment is a cover for operations against them.

"The Turkish government needs to realize a military operation will not succeed," said Kurdish political official Rezan Hiddo. The YPG is reporting artillery strikes to Russian military observer units stationed in Afrin, he added.

Erdogan has repeatedly said that Turkey will not allow Kurdish militants to form a "terror corridor" in northern Syria.

"They will see how we will mess them up in not even a week," said Erdogan on Saturday.

___

Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, arrives at a rally of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), at a rally in Elazig, eastern Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Erdogan has said Turkey will oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, as the military shelled the area from across the border. Turkey considers the YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. (Pool Photo via AP)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures to supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), at a rally in Bingol, eastern Turkey, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Erdogan has said Turkey will oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, as the military shelled the area from across the border. Turkey considers the YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. (Pool Photo via AP)Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens courted controversy and touched off political disputes even before acknowledging an extramarital affair and facing bombshell allegations that he blackmailed the woman involved.

Greitens has been a rising star in the national Republican Party and a welcome partner for state GOP lawmakers, whose favored policies had faced a Democratic governor's veto pen until Greitens' election in 2016. He also seemed to have his sights set on even higher office, having secured the web address EricGreitensforPresident.com years before running for governor.

But he also made missteps as a first-time candidate and then as a freshman governor, raising questions in particular about secrecy.

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2018, file photo, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens delivers the annual State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate in Jefferson City, Mo. Greitens appears to be bracing for a fight to preserve his political life after admitting to an extramarital affair but denying anything more. Greitens met Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, with Cabinet members and placed calls to rally support while his attorney issued firm denials to a smattering of allegations related to the affair. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Greitens acknowledged Wednesday that he had an extramarital affair in 2015, but he denies the blackmail allegations and is telling supporters that a St. Louis prosecutor's investigation will clear him.

A look at some of the notable hiccups during Greitens' first campaign and first year in office:

___

RESUME QUESTIONS

While running for governor, Greitens repeatedly touted his volunteer work with refugees in the Balkans in 1994, saying he helped children in Bosnia, where thousands amid ethnic strife following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. He later acknowledged that most of the work was in safer, neighboring Croatia. Asked about the word choice, Greitens told The Associated Press that people recognized what happened in Bosnia and understood working with Bosnian refugees. But the choice also may have had a political advantage: Missouri has a large population of Bosnian refugees.

___

CHARITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Greitens' campaign for governor had access to the donor list for The Mission Continues, a veterans' charity he founded, and raised $2 million from individuals and entities that had given the charity significant contributions. Democrats said it was the kind of insider politics that Greitens decried in his campaign, and the chairman of the state party filed an ethics complaint contending he should have disclosed the list as an in-kind contribution. Greitens initially denied using the charity's list for fundraising, then belatedly reported it as an in-kind contribution. He paid a $100 fine.

Federal law prohibits charities such as The Mission Continues from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of candidates. The IRS has said charities cannot give their donor lists away but can rent them at fair market value if they're available to all candidates.

___

PAY SCRUTINIZED

During his campaign, Greitens emphasized how he started The Mission Continues with combat pay from a tour in Iraq, and he initially worked for the charity without pay. But as donations rose, he started taking a salary, and it hit $175,000 in 2011 - above the median for nearly 240 medium-sized charities in the Midwest, though not extravagant, according to analysts. Greitens' Democratic opponent suggested in an ad that the Republican was diverting money that was supposed to be used to help veterans.

___

INAUGURAL DONORS

Greitens made fighting corruption and making ethics reforms a key part of his successful campaign for governor. Once elected, he broke with tradition by refusing to disclose the amount of the donations to his inaugural festivities. Democratic legislators said the move could allow him to hide any conflicts of interest.

___

DARK MONEY HELP

Within weeks of Greitens taking office, his campaign treasurer founded a nonprofit group to promote the new governor's agenda. The group can take an unlimited amount of money from donors and it does not have to reveal who is contributing.

Separately, Greitens received a contribution of nearly $2 million for his campaign from a super PAC with only a single, mystery group as a donor.

___

SECRECY INVESTIGATED

The state attorney general's office is reviewing Greitens' and some of his staff's use of a secretive app that deletes messages after they're read. The review was announced after The Kansas City Star reported that the governor and some of his staff have Confide accounts tied to their personal cellphones. The app also prevents recipients from saving, forwarding, printing or taking screenshots of messages. Government-transparency advocates worry that use of the app could undermine open-record laws.

___

EDUCATION FIGHT

Greitens worked for months to appoint five new members to the eight-member State Board of Education and engineer its firing of the state's education commissioner. The effort drew strong criticism from some educators and lawmakers, who praised former Commissioner Margie Vandeven's work. Greitens was never clear about what Vandeven had done wrong; critics said the move interfered with the independence of the school board. Now those new board appointees face confirmation by the state Senate, where two Greitens foes have vowed to filibuster.

___

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FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2016, file photo, Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens and his wife Sheena speak to the media in St. Louis after she had been robbed at gunpoint the day before. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens appears to be bracing for a fight to preserve his political life after admitting to an extramarital affair but denying anything more. Greitens met Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, with Cabinet members and placed calls to rally support while his attorney issued firm denials to a smattering of allegations related to the 2015 affair. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities in Florida say the wrong person was killed last Sunday in a botched murder-for-hire plot set up by a scorned woman.

Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson told news outlets that Ishnar Marie Lopez, 35, was upset that a "man she loved" was in a relationship with another woman. So she hired Alexis Ramos, 35, and his girlfriend, Glorianmarie Quinones Montes, 22, to kill the woman.

Gibson said the couple tracked down a woman they believed to be the target as she left a Ross Dress For Less store at a mall in Kissimmee, near Orlando, on Sunday night. They followed Janice Zengotita-Torres home and forced her into the back of her car. They drove her to an apartment in Orlando. They eventually realized they had the wrong person.

"However, the suspects continued with their plan of murder and tied the victim with zip ties and then (covered) her head in duct tape and garbage bags," Gibson said.

The sheriff said Ramos then beat the woman, who suffocated because of the garbage bags on her head.

They drove the woman's vehicle to Ormond Beach, on Florida's Atlantic coast, either Sunday night or early Monday. They dumped her body and cable workers found it on Monday morning. Gibson said they abandoned the vehicle in Orange County.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Zengotita-Torres' family reported her missing Monday morning.

Lopez, the woman who arranged the plot, was arrested on Friday when she tried to use an ATM card. Ramos and his girlfriend were later arrested at a hotel near Orlando, Gibson said. He said all three confessed.

The sheriff said investigators contacted the intended victim and offered protective services, but she declined.

Gibson became emotional during a news conference, choking up as he talked about the victim, who came to Kissimmee with her husband, teenage son and mother.

"She was the target of a senseless act of violence in which she was robbed of her life," he said.

Gibson said the suspects had moved to central Florida from Puerto Rico in December.

They are being held in the Osceola County Jail on murder charges. No lawyers are listed on jail records.

___

Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/BOISE, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho-based energy development company is asking federal authorities to declare state regulators in violation of a law intended to promote alternative energy in a case that could have far-reaching ramifications for emerging battery-storage technologies.

Franklin Energy is seeking to build a $200 million lithium-ion battery storage facility in Twin Falls County. It contends the project, under federal law, qualifies for a 20-year contract with Idaho Power, which has more than 500,000 customers in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

But Idaho regulators twice rejected the company's request, saying the project is allowed only a two-year contract because the batteries would be charged with solar power.

Franklin Energy says the shorter contract doesn't offer the stability needed to make the proposed project - which includes four 25 megawatt battery storage facilities - financially viable. The company took its case to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month after the Idaho Public Utilities Commission sided with the state-regulated Idaho Power Co.

Peter Richardson, an attorney with Franklin Energy Storage Projects, said the source of the renewable power shouldn't matter because battery projects could include wind, hydro or some other renewable energy form.

"There's a fundamental difference between what a battery project can do and what a stand-alone wind project or solar project can do," he said.

A battery can store energy until it's needed, unlike solar, wind or hydro that generate energy that must be used as it's produced. That, Richardson said, plus advances in technology have brought renewable-energy battery storage to the edge of being financially competitive on a commercial scale. That means similar projects could start popping up in other states.

"Battery storage is going to open a whole new chapter in the utility industry," Richardson said.

The disagreement involves the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA. Created in 1978, it's intended to promote alternative resources. It requires power companies to buy electricity at a state commission-approved rate from qualifying small power-production facilities.

Franklin Energy argues Idaho's Public Utilities Commission isn't abiding by that law. It also contends that, rather than protecting customers from Idaho Power's leverage as a state-regulated monopoly, the commission is protecting the utility at customers' expense.

Idaho Power contests that claim and has long contended it can buy energy on the open market cheaper than from PURPA projects, passing on those savings to customers.

Idaho Power spokesman Brad Bowlin, in a statement to The Associated Press, said the company supports the Idaho commission's decision that protects "customers from Franklin Energy's attempt to circumvent established rules for setting contract price and terms for PURPA Energy Sales Agreements."

The Idaho commission in 2012 limited wind and solar projects that can qualify for PURPA 20-year contracts to not more than 100 kilowatts after utilities complained they were being forced to buy power they didn't need at high rates. The commission said Franklin Energy is building a solar project exceeding 100 kilowatts, making it ineligible for the 20-year contract, a position it plans to defend with federal authorities.

"Based on existing case law, the commission stands by its earlier ruling and awaits FERC's decision," commission spokesman Matt Evans said.

Outside companies say 100 kilowatts is too small for a financially viable commercial solar or wind energy project. But Franklin Energy sees an opening with its facility it says should be defined as battery storage, not solar.

Battery storage on a commercial scale is so new that the 1978 PURPA law doesn't address it. In September, Idaho Public Utilities Commission member Kristine Raper told the U.S. House Energy Subcommittee that needs to be examined.

"Serious consideration should be given to whether battery storage qualifies as a renewable resource under the provisions of PURPA," she testified.

Comments from Idaho Power and Franklin Energy to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are due next week.

Richardson said the company expects a ruling from the federal commission sometime early this year.NEW YORK (AP) - Actress Rebecca Hall says she's donating her salary from the latest Woody Allen film to Time's Up.

Hall says on Instagram she was hired for Allen's "A Rainy Day in New York" but is "profoundly sorry" and "regrets" her decision to work with the filmmaker. She said Friday she reconsidered the job after reviewing molestation accusations by Allen's daughter Dylan Farrow.

Allen denies molesting Dylan when she was 7.

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2017 file photo, actress Rebecca Hall poses for photographers at the premiere of the film 'mother!' at the 74th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Hall says she's donating her salary from the latest Woody Allen film to Time's Up. Hall said on Instagram she was hired for Allen's "A Rainy Day in New York" but is "profoundly sorry" and "regrets" her decision to work with the filmmaker. She said Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, she reconsidered the job after reviewing molestation accusations by Allen's daughter Dylan Farrow. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)

Hall also appeared in Allen's 2008 "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." She says she was hired for the new film seven months ago but sees her "actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed." She hasn't said how much money she'll donate.

Time's Up is a sexual misconduct defense initiative started by women in Hollywood to support victims.LONDON (AP) - Misfiring Chelsea missed the chance to climb into second place in the English Premier League by drawing 0-0 at home to 10-man Leicester on Saturday.

It was a third straight goalless draw involving Chelsea in all competitions - and a fourth in the team's last seven matches.

Leicester dominated at Stamford Bridge until Leicester left back Ben Chilwell was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 68th minute for a lunge at Victor Moses.

Chelsea's Marcos Alonso controls the ball with Leicester City's during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Chelsea applied pressure after that but rarely threatened Kasper Schmeichel, who easily clawed away a free kick from Marcos Alonso in injury time.

Chelsea stayed in third place, behind second-place Manchester United on goal difference and 15 points off leader Manchester City.

Its other goalless draws in the past seven days came against Norwich in the FA Cup and Arsenal in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal.

Gary Cahill came off in the 33rd minute for Chelsea with an apparent hamstring injury.

Leicester City's Ben Chilwell is given a red card after receiving two yellows during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Four women charged in connection with a religious organization that police say forced children to work in North Carolina fish markets for little or no money have turned themselves in.

The four turned themselves in Thursday night to Cumberland County authorities. Each faces charges involving child abuse, operating a continuing criminal enterprise, involuntary servitude involving a child, conspiracy and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Four of 10 suspects in the case were arrested Wednesday. One of those is 67-year-old John McCollum, who says he's the chief apostle of the religious organization, based in Godwin.

McCollum has told authorities he doesn't think he committed any crimes. He's being held on bond of more than $1 million.

Authorities continue to search for two other suspects.SALEM, Mass. (AP) - A former business professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he tried to swindle his dead son's family out of millions.

The Salem News reports that 75-year-old John Donovan Sr., of Hamilton, pleaded not guilty in Salem Superior Court on Friday to charges including larceny, forgery and witness intimidation.

Prosecutors say Donovan forged his youngest son's signature to gain title to at least four properties that his son left after dying of cancer in 2015.

The court has scheduled a pretrial conference for March 7.

Donovan was found guilty in 2007 of staging his own shooting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in an attempt to frame another of his sons to gain advantage in a family dispute. He denied any role in the shooting.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The White House says President Donald Trump has received an "in-depth" briefing on trade with China and its economy.

Trump met Saturday in Florida with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters says also discussed ongoing talks with Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. The three countries are parties to the agreement. Trump says he wants better terms for the U.S. or he'll pull out of NAFTA.

Trump is also seeking China's help pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The president has complained about longstanding trade deficits with the Asian economic powerhouse. Walters says he was also updated on pending enforcement actions against China.

Trump is spending the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend at his estate in Palm Beach.Pham Minh Chinh, Politburo member and Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Organisation Commission, made the statement while hosting Tsutomu Takebe, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, in Hanoi, on January 12.

Politburo member Chinh, who is also President of the Vietnam  Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group, informed the guest that the National Assembly of Vietnam will host the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) in Hanoi from January 18-21. He said that he welcomes a delegation from the Japanese Lower House of Parliament to attend the event.

He described 2018 - when the two nations celebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties - as a milestone in the bilateral relations with breakthroughs in all fields, including politics, economy, culture, and education and people-to-people exchanges.

The Government of Vietnam pledges to join hands with its Japanese counterpart to successfully develop the Vietnam  Japan University, Politburo member Chinh said, hoping that the two countries would seek measures to accelerate the project.

For his part, Tsutomu Takebe said that Japan is actively conducting practical activities to mark the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

The Japanese Lower House of Parliament will send a delegation to the APPF  26 in Vietnam, he said, expressing his belief that Vietnam would host the event successfully.

He also voiced his hope that Vietnam  Japan University would receive the best possible support from the host country so that the project could be completed on schedule as committed to by the two Governments.PITTSBURGH (AP) - Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins returned from their bye week and picked up right where they left off.

Malkin had two goals and two assists, and the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Saturday for their third consecutive victory.

"It's always fun when you win and have more confidence," Malkin said. "Your game is better, the mood is better, and now we're feeling so much better."

Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) celebrates his goal in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Phil Kessel added a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which had dropped its last three games against Detroit. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and rookie Tristan Jarry stopped 29 shots in his third straight start while Matt Murray is home in Canada tending to a family matter.

The Penguins have won four of five after dropping seven of their previous 10. Their three-game win streak is their longest since they won four in a row from late November into December.

"I think we've felt good about our last couple games going into the break," Crosby said. "I don't think we rest on that. I think we try to continue to get better."

Justin Abdelkader scored for the Red Wings, who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Jimmy Howard made 32 saves after missing one game with a lower-body injury.

Detroit went 1 for 7 on the power play. Pittsburgh was 2 for 5.

"If you look at it, their best players were better than our best players," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "I think if you go down to it, they score. They took care of business on the power play and we didn't."

Malkin opened the scoring 3:01 into the first game for each team since their five-day break. Carl Hagelin, from behind the net, fed the puck in the slot to Malkin, who beat Howard to the glove side.

The teams traded power-play goals later in the period.

Abdelkader tied it with a shot between Jarry's pads and Kessel gave Pittsburgh the lead when he one-touched a Crosby pass behind Howard from in close. The Penguins, the No. 1 unit in the league, have 12 power-play goals in their last 10 games.

Detroit had just one power-play goal in its previous seven games entering Saturday's contest.

Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead just 2:08 into the second when he beat Howard to the blocker side off a Kessel feed. Malkin has scored in three straight games. He has 14 points in his last eight games and 12 goals in his last 19 contests.

"As an elite player, (Malkin) is a guy, when he starts to feel it, and he scores a goal, all of the sudden his mindset and confidence level gets higher and the puck tends to follow him," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

Crosby's third-period power-play goal off a pass from Kessel gave Pittsburgh a three-goal lead. Kessel has eight points in his last five games, while Crosby has 10 in his last five.

"I think it's nice to get rewarded, feel good about our game and know what it looks like to have that consistency," Crosby said. "We can build on that. We have to continue with the same effort and on top of that, continue to get better."

NOTES: Pittsburgh recalled G Casey DeSmith from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League to serve as Jarry's backup. ... Pittsburgh previously went 17 straight games without allowing a power-play goal. ... Red Wings D Trevor Daley played his first game in Pittsburgh since signing with Detroit as a free agent in July. Daley recorded 11 points in 36 playoff games, helping Pittsburgh win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. ... The Penguins scratched D Ian Cole, while F David Booth and D Xavier Ouellet sat for the Red Wings.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Visit Chicago on Sunday.

Penguins: host the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Penguins' Brian Dumoulin (8) can't get his stick on a rebound in front of Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (35) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) blocks a shot with Detroit Red Wings' Justin Abdelkader (8) screening him during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)ISTANBUL (AP) - An airplane has skidded off the runway after landing in the Turkish province of Trabzon, causing panic among the passengers.

Trabzon Gov. Yucel Yavuz said all 162 passengers and crew on board were evacuated and safe early Sunday. Yavuz said the cause of the accident was not yet known and the airport closed until 08:00 a.m. local (05:00 GMT).

Private Pegasus Airlines' Boeing 737-800 departed from Ankara late Saturday. Photographs from the scene showed the plane stuck in mud.GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - A ruling-party lawmaker accused of orchestrating the murder of two journalists in 2015 was arrested in southwestern Guatemala on Saturday.

Public Ministry spokeswoman Yecenia Enriquez said Julio Antonio Juarez Ramirez was detained in the morning at his home in Suchitepequez department on a warrant sought by prosecutors and a U.N. anti-corruption commission.

Juarez is suspected of murder, attempted murder and criminal association for allegedly hiring hit men to kill journalist Danilo Efrain Lopez, fearing that his coverage would hurt Juarez's electoral campaign. A second journalist, Federico Benjamin Salazar, also died in the March 10, 2015, shooting, and Marvin Tunchez Ayala was wounded.

Ruling-party lawmaker Julio Juarez Ramirez is escorted by police to a courtroom in Guatemala City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Authorities in Guatemala arrested Juarez Ramirez accused of orchestrating the murder of two journalists in 2015. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Juarez, a member of President Jimmy Morales' National Convergence Front party, has said he is innocent.

In November the Supreme Court lifted his immunity from prosecution that comes with elected office. That same month Morales praised Juarez's work and asked those present for a round of applause in recognition.

Handcuffed and wearing a pink dress shirt, a lavender tie and khakis, he was escorted by heavily armed police to a courtroom in Guatemala city later in the day.

Last month the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Juarez under the Global Magnitsky Act, which targets human rights abusers and corrupt officials.

In October a Guatemalan court sentenced to 30 years in prison a man convicted of driving a motorcycle used in the attack. Eduardo Ariel Mazariegos Ramirez, the alleged trigger man also said to have been riding on the motorcycle, remains at large.

Ruling-party lawmaker Julio Juarez Ramirez is escorted by police to a courtroom in Guatemala City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Authorities in Guatemala arrested Juarez Ramirez accused of orchestrating the murder of two journalists in 2015. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Lawmaker Julio Juarez Ramirez stands in a courtroom flanked by two police officers in a courtroom in Guatemala City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Authorities in Guatemala arrested Juarez Ramirez accused of orchestrating the murder of two journalists in 2015. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)US president Donald Trump has confirmed he will not travel to the UK to open the new American embassy.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Trump said he thought the embassys move from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms, south London, was a bad deal.

He wrote: Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for peanuts, only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars.

Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!

The embassy was housed at Grosvenor Square (Matthew Fearn/PA)

The United States announced plans to move from its current embassy building in Mayfair in 2008 and the new building will open on January 16.

On the embassy web page about the project, it said: The project has been funded entirely by the proceeds of the sale of other US Government properties in London, not through appropriated funds.

The new US embassy will open next week (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mr Trumps decision not to come to the country comes despite Prime Minister Theresa May saying that a future visit was still on the cards last week.

Mrs May controversially extended the offer of a state visit when she became the first world leader to meet Mr Trump in the White House following his inauguration last year.

Since then, however, the president has indicated he does not want to take up the invitation if he is going to face mass demonstrations.

Robert Wood Johnson is the US Ambassador to the UK (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Last month, the White House said it would announce details soon of Mr Trumps proposed visit to the UK.

Mrs May and Mr Trump fell out spectacularly in November over his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group, Jayda Fransen.

At the time, the PM said Mr Trump was wrong to retweet the videos, and the US president hit back at Mrs May on Twitter by telling her to focus on destructive radical Islamic terrorism in the UK, rather than on him.London mayor Sadiq Khan responded to pro-Donald Trump protesters interrupting a speech he was giving by taking a swipe at the US president.

Mr Khans address to a Fabian Society conference in central London had to be suspended for several minutes as a handful of demonstrators from the White Pendragons group called for the mayor to be arrested as they made statements in support of Mr Trump and Brexit.

When Mr Khan resumed his speech after the protesters were escorted from the venue by police, he took a dig at the American president who recently described himself as a very stable genius.

Mr Khan told delegates: It is a pleasure to be here even though we were distracted by the actions of what some would call very stable geniuses.

The mayor and US president have clashed publicly a number of times over issues like counter terrorism and Mr Trumps proposed state visit to the UK.

Today at @thefabians conference I spoke about how we cannot allow a populist, anti-feminist narrative to take hold in Britain. Men must become better allies and progressives must fight back. #BehindEveryGreatCity #Fab18 pic.twitter.com/pbbOPH6zYv  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 13, 2018

The mayor also tried to make light of the protest with a reference to Prime Minister Theresa Mays Tory conference speech, which was interrupted by a prankster, saying: On the plus side I wasnt served with a P45.

Video shared on social media showed the moment the activists interrupted Mr Khans speech, just after the mayor was introduced to the stage.

One man could be heard addressing the audience with: Ladies and gentlemen, were here today to make a non-violent, peaceful citizens arrest.

Audience members started to heckle and slow-clap, during which security appeared.

Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems hes finally got that message. pic.twitter.com/YD0ZHuWtr3  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 12, 2018

However their attempts to eject those responsible for the disruption were initially met with aversion from the protesters, one of whom could be heard saying: We stand under Common Law jurisdiction.

If you touch us, youll be done for common assault. Please stand back, do not touch us.

Were not leaving, weve paid for a ticket.

He then accused the Fabian Society of subverting the constitution.A British ex-pat curry addict who was missing his favourite spicy meal has arranged for a takeaway to be delivered to France.

Pilot James Emery, 31, who lives in the Bordeaux area, has organised the long-distance delivery with Faz Ahmed, the manager of the Akash restaurant in Southsea, Hampshire.

A total of 89 meals, 70 side dishes, 75 portions of rice, 100 poppadoms and 10 servings of mango chutney were prepared and packed on to an aircraft for the one-off flight to Bordeaux.

Mr Emery and the restaurant teamed up with the Iroise Aero Formation, a professional flying school based in Brest, to use a six-seater Socata TBM700 aircraft, capable at flying 300mph, for the flight.

We have take-off! 



Our curries are now being delivered to Bordeaux, France. We'll see you on the other side. #CurryByAir pic.twitter.com/li3pqHQvSW  The Akash Restaurant (@TheAkashRest) January 13, 2018

The aircraft departed from Solent Airport in Lee-On-The-Solent, formerly known as HMS Daedalus naval air station, for Saucats Airfield, south of Bordeaux, where the meals will be reheated and served to the group of 89 curry-lovers.

Mr Emery, an aviation English assessor for French trainee pilots, will be eating his favourite curry, a spicy chicken phall.

He said: "I am a chilli addict and an aviation geek so I thought I would combine my two hobbies to get my favourite meal delivered to me in France.

Who's excited for curry?! A quick photoshoot with the curries being delivered to France  for our #CurryByAir campaign @itvmeridian @BBCSouthNews

@samfmnews pic.twitter.com/ANj3Ze5Zgh  The Akash Restaurant (@TheAkashRest) January 13, 2018

"I have been getting withdrawal symptoms, they do lots of good things in France but you just cant get a good curry."

He added: "I have been a loyal customer of the Akash for close to 20 years.

"Every time I popped in for a meal, I would complain about the bland and uninspiring version of Indian food we get in France.

"It was on one of these visits that Faz first floated the idea of delivering one to me at home in Bordeaux."

The bags are being loaded! Time to get this curry to France   pic.twitter.com/5LD2rShMK9  The Akash Restaurant (@TheAkashRest) January 13, 2018

Mr Ahmed said: "We thought about it for a long time, he has been coming into the restaurant for 20 years joking that the curries are really bad in France and asking for me to deliver one to me.

"We have done nothing like this, our delivery radius is three to four miles and we are doing 500 miles so it is something to be proud of."

He added: "Anyone with lots of money could do this but we want to make it affordable so that anyone could take part."

The customers were able to order from a selection of meals including chicken tikka massala, lamb balti, Bengal naga chicken and vegetable paneer korai with a vegetable side and naan included in the 32 price.

It is not the first time The Akash has catered for ex-pats missing its food in France.

In 2014 Roy Buchan took a selection of food across to France by ferry for his familys Christmas Day lunch.A private detective accused of exploiting the hunt for Madeleine McCann to fund his lavish lifestyle has been found dead.

Kevin Halligen, 56, gained notoriety when his firm Oakley International was used by the toddlers parents to help search for their missing daughter.

His Washington-based company received about 300,000 of cash donated by the public after Madeleine vanished from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three.

He was later forced to deny claims the money was actually siphoned off to pay for first-class travel, luxury hotel suites, a chauffeur and a mansion in Virginia, US.

Kevin Halligen has been found dead (Adrian Gatton/PA)

Adrian Gatton, a TV director and investigative journalist, who made a documentary with Halligen in 2014 for Channel 5  The McCanns and the Conman  and who knew Halligen well, confirmed to the Press Association that he died last Monday, having sunk into alcohol addiction.

He said: Although his death is certainly not foul play, as has been suggested, there are certainly a lot of people who wished him ill. But he was also unique. I knew chapter and verse about his life and career, but my interest was really to try and get to the bottom of why he did what he did.

My understanding is that he was found dead on Monday night. There was blood around the house, probably caused by previous falls when he was either drunk or blacking out.

Halligen was increasingly shambolic and these blood stains hadnt been cleared up. His house was full of empty drink bottles. A lot of people wished him ill but his death is almost certainly related to alcoholism.

Surrey Police said the death was currently being treated as unexplained.

A spokesman said: We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died. The death is being treated as unexplained and a file will be passed to the coroners office in due course.

The McCanns used the Irish nationals firm for around six months to look for their missing daughter. The 500,000 contract saw the firm hire private detectives, set up a hotline and process information.

The McCanns terminated the arrangement without paying the full fees because Halligen, from Surrey, apparently failed to fulfil certain agreements.

He was then extradited to the US in 2012 to face charges over an unrelated 1.3 million con, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013.

Dutch company Trafigura were targeted in the scam, being told by Halligen that he needed funds to secure the release of two business executives who were arrested in the Ivory Coast.

In an interview for a 2014 Channel 5 documentary, Halligen denied claims he misused money raised to find Madeleine.

He said: It is gross distortion of what was actually happening. The print media in particular took this line that really nothing was being done, I was living the high life on the proceeds of the McCann case. Trust me, I didnt buy so much as a new suit. The money, all of it, is fully accountable.The new Justice Secretary David Gauke is mulling over a potential judicial review of the Parole Boards decision to release black-cab rapist John Worboys from prison following a mass public outcry.

The announcement last week that the serial sex attacker would be freed nine years after he was jailed prompted dismay from victims groups, politicians and legal experts while questions were asked around why all of the 102 complainants had not seen their cases brought to trial.

There were also criticisms over a failure to inform some victims of his planned release.

New Justice Secretary David Gauke (PA)

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told the Press Association: Mr Gauke commissioned, mid-last week, advice on the plausibility of a judicial review and the prospect of success of any judicial review.

The Secretary of State is minded to move forward only if there was a reasonable prospect of success.

Sarah Green, from the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: The Justice Secretarys potential attempt to try and stop the release of dangerous serial rapist John Worboys is very welcome.

Worboys was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, for drugging and sexually assaulting women passengers.

Worboys release is a "threat to women" - @EmilyThornberry says previous rape cases have not been prosecuted properly #marr pic.twitter.com/qgxxX6jo19  The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) January 14, 2018

He was convicted of 19 offences relating to 12 victims but is suspected of being one of the countrys most prolific sex offenders after he was linked to more than 100 complaints in total.

Files relating to 83 separate complainants were referred to the CPS during the police investigation into Worboys.

Of those, 14 formed part of the trial while the remaining cases did not pass the evidential test.

Im astonished by the decision to release John Worboys. The Parole Board must listen to his victims and he should not be allowed to set foot in London. pic.twitter.com/QrkLxoH8Bc  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 14, 2018

Prior to the trial, the cases of three further complainants were assessed to have passed the evidential test but by that stage it was decided there were sufficient counts on the indictment to lead to an appropriate sentence.

Following conviction, the Metropolitan Police received allegations from a further 19 women.

Campaigner Ms Green said following the Ministry of Justice statement: Women have been singularly failed throughout this case, from initial investigations all the way through to the parole board decision.

The victims of this mans crimes, who have been treated appallingly by police and the Parole Board, will hopefully have some relief at this news.

We need action to be swift now, in order to bring about a review of the assessment of risk this man poses to womens safety and to restore public confidence in the systems ability to do justice and to protect.By Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Haiti on Friday expressed shock at reports that U.S. President Donald Trump referred to the Caribbean nation as a "shithole," and summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country for an explanation.

Trump on Thursday questioned why the United States would want to have immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as "shithole countries," according to two sources familiar with the comments.

On Friday, the Republican president denied using those words. But Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who attended a White House meeting on immigration the previous day, confirmed to reporters that Trump used "vile, vulgar" language, including "shithole."

African politicians labeled Trump a racist, while the United Nations human rights office rejected the reported comments as "racist" and inciting xenophobia.

Haiti's ambassador to Washington, Paul Altidor, said it was distressing that attention was drawn to the comments on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a devastating earthquake believed to have killed 220,000 people on the island, and should be a day of remembrance.

"I spoke with President Jovenel Moise about the issue, and, of course, the President condemns such language and he is shocked."

Altidor said Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Rodrigue told him the U.S. charge daffaires in Haiti had been summoned to provide an explanation about the reported comments.

The ambassador said Haiti should be remembered for its contributions to history, including supporting the American Revolution by sending troops to the Battle of Savannah in Georgia in 1779.

"Haitians don't deserve such treatment," Altidor said. "Haitians should not be seen as a bunch of immigrants who come to the United States to exploit U.S. resources.

"We have been here for a long time and have contributed to what the United States is today. We even made the ultimate sacrifice when we shed our blood in Savannah."

(Reporting by Guyler Delva; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)BUDAPEST, Jan 12 (Reuters) - An investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has revealed "serious irregularities" in projects co-financed by the European Union in Hungary run by a company once co-owned by the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Hungary receives billions of euros worth of EU development funds each year and they are an important driver of economic growth. The EU is currently preparing for tough negotiations on its next seven-year spending plan, with some countries calling for a reduction in generous funding for the ex-communist east.

OLAF said its investigation concerned 35 public lighting projects and that it had sent a report containing financial recommendations to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, and its judicial recommendations to Hungarian prosecutors.

"OLAF's investigation revealed not only serious irregularities in most of the projects, but also a conflict of interest," the OLAF press office said. It declined to give further details.

Hungary's general prosecutor's office said it would examine OLAF's recommendations. The government said it supported the investigation.

A person familiar with the case told Reuters the projects, which modernised street lamps in several towns, had been run by Elios Innovativ Zrt from 2011 to 2015.

Elios did not reply to emailed questions by Reuters and was not reachable by phone on Friday.

Istvan Tiborcz, who married Orban's daughter Rahel in 2013, was a member of the Elios board from 2009 to 2014 and he sold his stake in the company in 2015, company records show.

Neither Tiborcz nor his business partner could be reached for comment on Friday. In an interview for the Origo website last October, Tiborcz was quoted as saying he had sold his Elios stake due to "continuous attacks against me - and thus my family - which were based on presumptions". He also said he had been subject to "false defamatory allegations".

The Hungarian government spokesman's office said Hungarian authorities had previously investigated the projects cited by OLAF, adding: "We support the current probe as well. The appropriate approach is if Hungarian authorities probe all the recommendations of OLAF."

Following a separate OLAF probe, Hungary said in November it could face a big EU penalty over financial irregularities in the construction of a metro line in Budapest that had been started under the previous Socialist government.

Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, in power since 2010, is tipped to win a third consecutive term in an election due on April 8. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and Krisztina Than in Budapest; Editing by Gareth Jones)Receiving a delegation from the Cuban Communist Party Central Committees Department for External Relations led by its deputy head Carlos Marsan, Phong said that, in 2018, the VUFO and the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Association will cooperate closely with the Cuban side in celebrating 45 years since Cuban leader Fidel Castros visit to Vietnam (1973-2018).

Vietnam will welcome delegations from the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples and the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association in March this year, he said, adding that he hopes the activities would help to foster the friendship and solidarity between the two countries people.

Carlos Marsan thanked the VUFO and the Vietnamese people in general for their warm sentiments towards Cuba. He also appreciated Vietnams support in overcoming the consequences of storm Irma in September last year.

He said that the sound sentiments between the Vietnamese and Cuban people should be passed on to younger generations, considering it one of the focal tasks of the Communist Party of Cuba in 2018.

He held that Vietnamese firms interest in the Cuban market is a favourable condition to boost the economic connection between the two countries and make it match their sound bilateral political relations.Jan 12 (Reuters) - Left-hander Brian Harman took another small step towards a spot on the United States Ryder Cup team when he eagled his final hole to take a three-shot halfway lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Friday.

On a day when a struggling Jordan Spieth slipped 10 shots off the pace, Harman sank a 15-foot putt on the last to cap off a seven-under-par 63 after opening with a 64 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

Harman ended the second round with a 13-under 127 total to head a group of five players, including twice major champion Zach Johnson, at 10-under. Defending champion Justin Thomas posted a second straight 67 to trail by seven.

Harman, a two-time PGA Tour winner, says his game has reached a new level since he switched to a new ball in May.

"It's made a huge difference," he told reporters. "I wasn't a very good wind player. When I switched I was 90th in the world.

"I won the first week I put (the new ball) in. I'm able to flight the ball so much better than I used to. I feel like I was a better ball striker when I was a kid than a pro. I'm starting to get those feelings back."

Harman, now ranked 23rd in the world, is sixth in the American Ryder Cup standings, well in contention for one of 12 spots on the visiting team for the October competition against Europe outside Paris.

Spieth, a certainty for that team, endured a frustrating day on the greens on Friday, with the exception of the fifth hole.

After leaving his approach shot a little more than 90 feet away, Spieth struck his birdie putt more in hope than expectation, but misjudged the pace.

His ball seemed destined to scuttle well beyond the hole, which fortunately got in the way and acted as a backboard, the ball disappearing for an unlikely birdie with the PGA Tour confirming it was his longest successful putt on the circuit.

Spieth, however, was not happy with his overall display.

"I'm trying to get real comfortable on the greens, and that's a concern," he said after signing for a 68.

"I had to play a little conservative towards the end of the round today to make sure we're getting to the weekend."

The cut survived, Spieth plans to attack, with a 72-hole total of 16-under in mind.

"Now we can fire away," he said. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by John O'Brien)GAZA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Egyptian navy opened fire on a Palestinian fisherman at sea and killed him, the Gaza Ministry said on Saturday.

Egyptian officials had no immediate comment on the incident which happened late on Friday after dark near the southern border-town Rafah, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra.

It could not be confirmed whether the fisherman was attempting to cross into Egyptian waters. Egyptian naval forces have previously opened fire on Gazans they accused of crossing the maritime border.

Fishermen from Gaza have often brought in catch from Egyptian territory to sidestep restrictions imposed by Israels naval blockade of the enclave, which Israel maintains citing security concerns.

Gaza fishermen say that the limited fishing zone imposed by Israel is not big enough to meet demand of the coastal strip's 2 million people.

Gaza is run by Islamist group Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel and is designated a terrorist group by Western countries and Israel.

Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the territory in 2005 but remains the conduit for the passage of goods and supplies most of its electricity. Israel and Egypt, citing security concerns, maintain tight restrictions on the passage of Palestinians through their borders with the enclave. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Eric Knecht in Cairo; editing by Clelia Oziel)LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Leicester City have signed Malian forward Fousseni Diabate from French Ligue 2 side Gazelec Ajaccio on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club announced on Saturday.

Diabate, who can operate as a central striker or on either wing, has played 20 times in all competitions for the French second division club after joining them in the close season following two years with Guingamp.

The 22-year-old, who was a product of the Stade Rennais academy youth system and made his professional debut in December 2016, had represented Mali at the under-20 and under-23 level, Leicester said on their website (www.lcfc.com).

"In the past, Leicester have signed good players from Ligue 2 in (Riyad) Mahrez and (Anthony) Knockaert," Leicester boss Claude Puel told the Leicester Mercury before the deal was announced.

"Diabate has a lot of quality. He has pace and good penetration. He has very good feet and he can make the difference... It is a good opportunity for the future and an interesting player."

Eighth-placed Leicester take on defending champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the league on Saturday. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by John O'Brien)By Richard Martin

BARCELONA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Barcelona have loaned former Turkey international Arda Turan to Istanbul Basaksehir for the rest of this season and two more, the Liga leaders said in a statement on Saturday.

Turan joined the club from Atletico Madrid for 34 million euros ($41.46 million) plus add ons in July 2015, winning six trophies but only making 55 appearances and scoring 15 goals.

Spanish newspaper Sport last week estimated it cost Barca one million euros for each appearance made by Turan, taking into account an annual salary reported to be 8 million euros a year.

"During this period Barca reserve the right to transfer the player to a club belonging to UEFA, and will receive a variable fee according to his performances," said the Barca statement.

"Meanwhile, Istanbul Basaksehir will reserve the right to buy the player from Barcelona."

Turan quit the Turkey national team in June 2017.

($1 = 0.8201 euros) (Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Ken Ferris)By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The United States, South Korea and Japan must coordinate more closely on North Korea, with whom they are engaged in a "pre-negotiation bargaining process", a former Japanese defence official told Reuters.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has shown no sign of willingness to give in to U.S. demands and negotiate away a nuclear and missile programme, in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

But despite the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, the two Koreas held their first talks in two years on Tuesday and agreed to meet again.

The United States and its regional allies have taken a "coercive military option" by using B-1B bombers, stealth fighters, and aircraft carriers, Narushige Michishita, professor at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies said in an interview at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

"We are kind of testing North Korea's ability to respond ... We are collecting information as to the intentions and capabilities of North Korea armed forces," he told Reuters.

"By conducting different military actions, one of the objectives that the U.S. might have is to drive a wedge between political leaders and military leaders inside North Korea," he added.

North Korea has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland and has fired two missiles over Japan, putting Tokyo in range.

However, Michishita said he did not expect U.S. President Donald Trump to undertake a preventive strike.

"In order to destroy an important part of North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, you have to really undertake a major war against North Korea almost. Conventional, but a major war," Michishita said.

Any attack would need to destroy North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes as well as conventional weapons such as long-range artillery and rocket launchers aimed at Seoul, he said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Alexander Smith)MANILA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Dozens of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals have been arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of extortion of money from people in China via a telecoms scam, police said on Saturday.

Philippine police apprehended the suspects involved in voice phishing operations in two separate raids, one in San Vicente town in the northern province of Ilocos Sur and another in Las Pinas in the Philippine capital Manila.

Philippine TV station ABS-CBN reported that as many as 153 people were arrested, but Reuters could not immediately confirm this number.

The suspects were posing as policemen, prosecutors or judges, and telling their victims they were involved in some irregularities.

"The victims are told they are facing charges or being investigated, that their cellphone number is involved," Senior Inspector Artemio Cinco Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police anti-cybercrime group, told ABS-CBN.

The victims were asked to transfer money to the fraudsters' bank accounts in order to avoid questioning, he said.

ABS-CBN showed footages of the raid in Ilocos Sur where improvised phone booths were found, and the arrests.

Similar operations have been uncovered in recent years in the Philippines and elsewhere, including Cambodia and Indonesia, leading to the arrest of thousands of suspects. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; editing by Clelia Oziel)NOUAKCHOTT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The leader of Islamic State's affiliate in West Africa has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed four U.S. special forces and four soldiers from Niger in October, Mauritania's independent Nouakchott News Agency (ANI) reported on Saturday.

The troops were killed when their joint patrol was attacked near the village of Tongo Tongo, on the Mali-Niger border, on Oct. 4 by dozens of militants armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The incident drew attention to the little-known U.S. military presence in Niger -- it has 800 troops stationed there -- and became a major publicity headache for President Donald Trump's administration.

Security officials had identified the perpetrators as Islamist militants loyal to Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi, the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara operating along Mali's border with Niger and Burkina Faso, but there had previously been no confirmation from al-Sahrawi himself.

"We claim the attack which targeted the American commandos in the village of Tongo Tongo," Sahrawi, who makes public statements only very rarely, was quoted by ANI as saying.

Privately owned ANI sometimes enjoys privileged access to information on movements of Sahara-based Islamist fighters. Last year it broke news that Mali's main jihadist groups had merged, and in 2013 it had exclusive reports about a militant attack on a gas plant in Algeria in which 38 hostages were killed.

In the statement Sahrawi also claimed a car bomb attack on French troops on Thursday near Mali's city of Menaka, ANI reported. He said it had "killed many of them", although the French military said in a statement that the attack had merely wounded three troops.

Lawlessness across the Sahara has enabled jihadist groups to thrive and launch increasingly deadly attacks on local and Western targets there and in the semi-arid Sahel south of it. They are seen as the biggest threat to the region's stability. (Reporting by Kissima Diagana; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Hugh Lawson)ZURICH, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Anti-globalisation demonstrators took to the streets of the Swiss capital on Saturday to protest against a planned visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the World Economic Forum this month.

Trump announced last week that he would attend the WEF in Davos, an annual meeting of global business and political leaders.

Some have suggested that Trump's polarising persona could resurrect the violent anti-WEF protests seen in the early 2000s. An online petition is circulating telling Trump he is not welcome.

On Saturday, around 500 anti-globalisation protesters marched peacefully past the Swiss parliament in Bern.

Some were clad in black and carried placards saying "No future for capitalism", "Eat the rich" and "Kill Trump", also setting off flares.

Up to 5,000 Swiss soldiers have been drafted in to guard Davos along with 1,000 police, while a no-fly zone will also be put in place to protect delegates. (Reporting by John Revill and Arnd Wiegmann; Editing by Kevin Liffey)By Tim Hepher

PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Airbus said on Saturday it had been ordered to pay 104 million euros in fines over a missile sale to Taiwan in 1992, the latest French arms company to reach a settlement over disputes arising from one of France's biggest ever arms sales.

The scandal around French arms sales to the island in the early 1990s was one of a series of cases that underpinned accusations of widespread corruption during the final years of late French president Francois Mitterrand.

Airbus said in a statement that its subsidiary behind the missile contract, Matra Defense, was "reviewing the award before evaluating the next steps to take".

The arbitration fine comes three months after Dassault Aviation, radar supplier Thales and engine maker Safran said they had been fined a combined 227 million euros ($276.80 million) in Taiwan to settle the 25-year-old dispute over the wrongful use of commissions in the sale of 60 Mirage fighters to the island.

"This was a commercial dispute and not a corruption allegation," said an Airbus spokesman.

In a separate case, Airbus said it was in talks with Munich prosecutors that could lead to the termination of their investigation into alleged corruption in the sale of Eurofighter combat jets to Austria in 2003.

That investigation is one of several corruption cases still facing Europe's largest aerospace company.

Airbus did not mention the status of a parallel Austrian investigation into the same arms deal.

The company and individuals including CEO Tom Enders are being investigated in Vienna over industrial deals that were built into the Eurofighter sale and have denied any wrongdoing.

Separately, Airbus faces UK and French investigations into the use of middlemen in commercial airliner sales. ($1 = 0.8201 euros) (Reporting by Tim Hepher; writing by Richard Lough; editing by Clelia Oziel)MEXICO CITY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Guatemala attorney general's office confirmed on Saturday the arrest of congressman Julio Juarez Ramirez, who is accused of plotting the murders of two journalists in 2015.

Prosecutors and investigators with the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala said the politician orchestrated an attack on journalists Danilo Efrain Zapon Lopez and Federico Benjamin Salazar Geronimo, who were killed in March 2015.

Juarez was arrested on Saturday morning near his home in the southern district of Suchitepequez and transferred to Guatemala City, the capital of the Central American nation. He maintained his innocence as he reported to court on Saturday afternoon.

"He who owes nothing fears nothing, that's why I'm here in the name of God, who will clear up everything," Juarez told reporters. "Talk to the press of Suchitepequez and you will realize that I never, never had problems with the press."

Juarez served as mayor of the southern city of San Antonio La Union from 2012 to 2015, before winning a seat in Congress the next year. According to investigators, Zapon, who was a journalist for the newspaper Prensa Libre, was attacked because he was working on a story about corruption in the Juarez's administration.

Last December, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Juarez under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for his alleged role in the attack.

Local media reported in 2015 that Juarez described himself as a friend of Zapon's and admitted to meeting the journalist the day he was killed.

"That's why they want to investigate me, but I am free of any involvement with him," Juarez told local media. (Reporting by Sofia Menchu; writing by Julia Love; Editing by David Gregorio)Impressive growth

Despite difficulties from natural disasters, Vietnamese tourism recorded an unprecedented mark in 2017, welcoming 12.9 million international visitors, an annual increase of 30%. The sector also served 73.2 million domestic tourists and earned over VND520.9 trillion (US$23 billion), contributing approximately 7% to the general GDP.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) affirmed that if the sector maintains this growth, Vietnam will be able to catch up with the leading travel destinations in Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, in the near future. The above results have contributed to improving the position of Vietnamese tourism in the international arena, with numerous international prestigious awards.

The country ranked sixth among ten destinations with the fastest development in the world for the first time. Viettravel Company was voted as the World's Leading Group Tour Operator, meanwhile the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines was named the world's leading cultural airline and InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort was honoured as the World's Leading Luxury Resort for the fourth consecutive time. The awards have contributed to shaping the image and brand of Vietnam as a leading destination in Asia.

The year 2017 also witnessed the strong growth in investment for accommodation, particularly in the luxury travel segment. 106 accommodations with three and five-star standards were recognised, increasing the total number of establishments to over 1,000 compared to the previous year. The expansion of accommodation facilities has contributed to increasing the Vietnamese tourism sectors ability to serve visitors, as well as improving the brand of destinations.

Motivational policies

Tourism experts have affirmed that the remarkable growth of Vietnamese tourism is the result of close attention paid by the Party and State as well as the entire sector, especially the Politburo's Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector. The Law on Tourism, which was issued on June 19, 2017, created a clear but close legal corridor to enhance the effectiveness of State management on tourism, as well as creating favourable conditions for travel businesses operations.

The extension of visa exemptions for citizens from five Western European countries by an additional year (from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018) has contributed to luring more European visitors to Vietnam with an average increase of from 20% to 30%.

The decision to commence a trial period of issuing e-visas, from February 1, 2017, to citizens from 46 foreign countries has helped to simplify entry procedures, which was considered as a breakthrough in attracting international visitors.

Identifying challenges

In order to develop tourism into a spearhead economic sector, the tourism sector should promptly remove many difficulties and challenges. The VNATs General Director Nguyen Van Tuan said that Vietnamese tourism has yet to take advantage of its potential and opportunities to develop, so its competitiveness remains weaker than several other countries in the region.

Despite being improved, the countrys visa policy has been less competitive than other countries; meanwhile there are now many direct air routes connecting Vietnam with major markets.

In addition, tourism activities have revealed many inadequacies, especially the status of foreigners entering the country to illegally do travel business and take jobs as guides, affecting the business environment and worsening the destinations image.Vietnamese travel businesses, mainly small and medium-sized, have a weak capacity and limited financial resources, so they have been prone to be ruled by foreign partners despite earning low profits.

Vietnams tourism products have been poor and lack competitiveness, so they did not attract visitors to stay for long periods or to return.

Vietnam has set a target of welcoming over 15.5 million international visitors and serving 78 million domestic tourists in 2018, earning over VND620 trillion (approximately US$27.28 billion) and contributing more than 8% to the countrys GDP.

In order to achieve this heavy task, the tourism sector needs to continue maintaining the growth of both domestic and foreign tourists while ensuring stability in politics, safety, security and the environment. It is also essential to develop specific tourism products in combination with promoting them in major and high-spending markets.

Representatives from Viettravel company receive the title 'World's Leading Group Tour Operator'AFP: German high-end carmaker BMW said yesterday it booked record sales for the seventh year in a row in 2017, but continued to trail rival Mercedes-Benz.



The Munich-based group said in a statement that sales of its core BMW-brand cars rose by 4.2 percent to almost 2.1 million last year.



Growth was primarily driven by the strong performance of its X-series SUVs and updated 5-series limousines, the statement said.



While sales in China grew by 15 percent, European sales edged forward by one percent and business in the Americas declined by two percent.



Despite the record performance, BMW was still unable to catch up with Mercedes, which held on to the pole position in the luxury segment with sales of 2.3 million units last year.



Nevertheless, sales chief Ian Robertson insisted that the BMW group as a whole was the worlds leading premium automotive company. Taking into account sales of BMWs Mini and luxury Rolls-Royce units, the group sold some 2.46 million vehicles worldwide last year.

By comparison, Mercedes-Benz and its Smart brand sold 2.42 million units.



Also yesterday, Volkswagen subsidiary Audi -- another Bavarian contender in the high-end segment - reported sales up just 0.6 percent year-on-year in 2017, at almost 1.9 million vehicles. Audis sales were near flat in Europe and grew only one percent in China.



But shipments of cars with the four-rings logo surged 7.8 percent in the United States, where Audi has in recent years made headlines for its role in VWs dieselgate emissions cheating scandal.



German carmakers have responded to repeated embarrassments over emissions by promising dozens of new electric and hybrid models in the coming years.

The nations proudest industry must also clean up its act to meet tougher rules on greenhouse gases and harmful pollutants in future.



BMW said it hit a self-imposed target to sell more than 100,000 electric and hybrid vehicles in 2017 across its own-brand and Mini ranges. Shares in BMW added one percent to 89.59 euros in trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange yesterday morning.



Volkswagen shares were untroubled by Audis sluggish performance, gaining 0.75 percent to 179.14 euros, while the overall DAX index of blue-chip German shares was flat.President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned why the United States would want to have immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as shithole countries, according to two sources familiar with the comments.



Trumps remarks, made in the White House, came as Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham briefed the president on a newly drafted immigration bill being touted by a bipartisan group of senators, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified.

Other government officials were present during the conversation, the sources said.



The lawmakers were describing how certain immigration programs operate, including one to give safe haven in the United States to people from countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

One of the sources who was briefed on the conversation said that Trump said, Why do we want all these people from Africa here? Theyre shithole countries ... We should have more people from Norway.



The second source familiar with the conversation, said Trump, who has vowed to clamp down on illegal immigration, also questioned the need for Haitians in the United States.



Many Democrats and some Republican lawmakers slammed the president for his remarks.

Republican U.S. Representative Mia Love, a daughter of Haitian immigrants, said the comments were unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nations values and called on Trump to apologize to the American people and to the countries he denigrated.



Another Republican Representative, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who was born in Cuba and whose south Florida district includes many Haitian immigrants, said: Language like that shouldnt be heard in locker rooms and it shouldnt be heard in the White House.

REUTERS, 12th JANUARY, 2018REUTERS, 12th JANUARY, 2018 - U.S. President Donald Trump will extend sanctions relief granted to Iran under its 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, leaving the accord intact for now, according to a person familiar with the decision.



However, Trump, who has vowed to scrap the pact, was expected to give the U.S. Congress and European allies a deadline for improving it, the person said. Without improvements, Trump would renew his threat to withdraw from the agreement. Trump had faced a Friday deadline to decide on whether to waive the sanctions. A decision to withhold a waiver would have effectively ended the deal that limits Irans nuclear program. The White House is expected to announce the decision on Friday.

While Trump approved a sanctions waiver, he also decided to impose new, targeted sanctions on Iran, the person said.Egypt has renewed a nighttime curfew in designated areas of North Sinai following last week's extension of a nationwide state of emergency for three months starting 13 January.

Acting Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a decree published in the state's official gazette that the curfew covers Tal Rafah in the eastern part of Sinai to the international border at Rafah, and from Halal Mountain until Ouga on the border.

The curfew is in effect from 7pm until 6am (local time), except in El-Arish city and on the international road, where it runs from 1am to 5am.

The curfew will continue as long as the state of emergency is still in effect, according to the gazette.

Egypt's security forces have been fighting Islamist terrorists based in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, which heavily increased attacks  mostly on security personnel  after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

A state of emergency was declared in North Sinai in 2014.

A nationwide state of emergency was imposed in April 2017 after two church bombings killed 47 people in Alexandria and Tanta. The nationwide state of emergency has been extended every three months since.

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A statement released by parliament's press office on Saturday said that House speaker Ali Abdel-Aal is calling on MPs to meet in an extraordinary plenary meeting Sunday at 12pm, though it did not specify the reason behind the unscheduled meeting.

The statement simply said that "the invitation comes in line with Article 277 of parliament's internal bylaws."

"The last paragraph of this article states that for extraordinary reasons or upon the request of the president of the republic or prime minister, the speaker of the House can invite MPs to meet in a plenary session ahead of the scheduled one," the press statement said.

The House secretariat-general led by Ahmed Saadeddin has sent invitations to parliament's 596 members, urging them to come on time for urgent reasons.

Some MPs have speculated that the extraordinary plenary meeting tomorrow might be devoted to listening to a speech by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, or to discuss and vote on an expected cabinet reshuffle.

Article 147 of Egypt's 2014 constitution states that the president may invoke a cabinet reshuffle after consultation with the prime minister and the approval of parliament by an absolute majority of attending members, who must be no less than one-third of the total.

Some MPs, particularly Mohamed El-Sewedi, the head of the 370-member Support Egypt parliamentary bloc, have complained about the poor performance of some cabinet ministers and their refusal to come to parliament to be questioned.

Housing minister Mostafa Madbouly was appointed as acting prime minister last November after Prime Minister Sherif Ismail left for Germany to receive medical treatment.

Although Ismail returned Egypt on 21 December, he has not shown up for cabinet meetings.

Other sources say that the extraordinary session will be held so that MPs can listen to an address by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

Ethiopia's ambassador in Cairo Taye Atske-Selassie held a meeting with members of parliament's African Affairs Committee last month, telling them that Desalegan would visit Cairo in the second half of December.

Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukri visited Ethiopia at the end of December, also affirming that preparations are under way for Desalegan's visit to Cairo.

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An Alexandria appeals court overturned on Saturday a verdict that found activist and human rights lawyer Mahinour El-Masry and rights lawyer Moatasem Medhat guilty of illegally demonstrating against the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal last June.

On 30 December, El-Masry and Medhat were sentenced to two years in prison following their conviction. The two activists were detained in 18 November 2017.

In June, lawyers in Egypt's second-largest city organised a demonstration in front of an Alexandria court to protest a parliament debate over the border demarcation agreement, which placed the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir under Saudi control.

El-Masry previously served 15 months in prison in 2015 and 2016 for storming an Alexandria police station in 2013.

She also served four months of a six-month sentence in 2014 for illegally protesting during the retrial of the Khaled Said murder case in December 2013.

Hundreds have been tried for illegally protesting against the April 2016 Red Sea islands deal. Many have since been released after paying hefty fines.

Last June, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified the demarcation deal shortly after parliament approved the agreement.

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Egyptian MP, chairman of Zamalek Sporting Club, and high-profile lawyer Mortada Mansour announced on Saturday during a phone call with TV presenter Ahmed Moussa that he intends to run in Egypts upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for 26-28 March.

The 65-year-old Mansour said he will start collecting endorsements starting Sunday.

Hopeful candidates must receive endorsements from a minimum of 20 MPs, or 25,000 citizens from at least 15 governorates, with at least 1,000 endorsements from each governorate.

Candidates must submit their applications to the National Elections Authority between 20 and 29 January.

Mansour is the third to announce his intention to run for president in 2018, after former Egyptian Army Chief-of-Staff Sami Anan and leftist lawyer and labour activist Khaled Ali.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, whose first term ends in June, has not declared his intention to run. However, over 500 MPs, including House speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, have signed endorsements supporting his candidature.

El-Sisi received nearly 97 percent of the vote in the 2014 presidential elections, a two-man contest with leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

Mansour had announced his intention to run in the 2014 presidential elections, later withdrawing and backing El-Sisi.

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Egyptian parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal has called on MPs to convene for an extraordinary plenary meeting on Sunday at 12pm to vote on a presidential decree to reshuffle the cabinet, Al-Ahram Arabic daily newspaper reported.

Sources told Al-Ahram daily newspaper that the reshuffle will include three ministries, and that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will not be among the ministers to be replaced.

Article 147 of Egypt's 2014 constitution states that the president may invoke a cabinet reshuffle after consultation with the prime minister and the approval of parliament by an absolute majority of attending members, who must be no less than one-third of the total.

The House secretariat-general led by Ahmed Saadeddin has sent invitations to parliament's 596 members, urging them to come on time for urgent reasons.

Article 277 of parliament's internal bylaws states that for extraordinary reasons or upon the request of the president of the republic or prime minister, the speaker of the House can invite MPs to meet in a plenary session ahead of the scheduled one, said a press statement by the parliament.

Some MPs, most notably Mohamed El-Sewedi, the head of the 370-member Support Egypt parliamentary bloc, have complained about the poor performance of some cabinet ministers and their refusal to come to parliament to be questioned.

Housing minister Mostafa Madbouly was appointed as acting prime minister last November after Prime Minister Sherif Ismail left for Germany to receive medical treatment.

Although Ismail returned to Egypt on 21 December, he has not shown up for cabinet meetings.

The cabinet of Ismail, who was appointed prime minister in September 2015, has seen two reshuffles since his appointment. A February 2017 reshuffle saw the changing of nine ministers, while a March 2016 reshuffle involved 10 ministries.

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Syria may be among the first foreign countries to be directly influenced by the uprising currently taking place in Iran. Developments in Iran are being closely watched in Syria, and many Syrians have become used to watching footage of Iranians protesting against the Islamic regime in Tehran on social media.

The Iranian chants of death to the dictator, a reference to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and get out of Syria, a criticism of Irans sending troops into Syria to shore up the regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, have become familiar throughout the country.

The Syrian regime media has ignored the Iranian uprising, reporting merely that troublemakers have been protesting against rises in the price of eggs or conspirators have been trying to undermine the Iranian regime with foreign aid.

Syria will stand by Iran against this conspiracy, regime sources have said, with one Foreign Ministry spokesman saying Damascus is confident that Irans leadership, government and people will foil this conspiracy and continue along the path of progress.

The sovereignty of Iran must be respected, he said, and there must be no interference in Irans domestic affairs. He added that Syria strongly condemned the positions of the US administration, the Zionist entity [Israel] and others regarding the current situation in Iran.

The Syrian opposition has taken the opposite view, with the opposition National Coalition for Revolutionary Forces saying that it stands by the Iranian people in demanding their rights and fully supports the popular uprising in Iran.

The criminal behaviour and oppression used by the Iranian regime against the protesters will not solve the countrys problems, it said.

Syrian opposition figures have issued a statement in solidarity with the revolt against a regime that has dragged Iran and the entire Middle East into sectarian war. The statement said they stood in solidarity with the protesters demanding freedom and the removal of the shackles of the theocratic regime and Revolutionary Guard.

They described the chants of the Iranian protesters as proof of the burden of the Syrian tragedy on Iranian society. The Iranian intervention in Syria has contributed to its destruction, demographic disintegration and an upset in the balance of civilisations.

The protests against the Iranian regime reflect an awareness of what the mullahs have done in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. They speak of a desire to overturn this dark era in Iranian history.

Tehrans policy consists of attempts to export its domestic crises by generating conflicts and igniting wars, the Syrian opposition statement said.

Iran has directly assisted the Al-Assad regime against the aspirations of the Syrian people and has for years participated in the bloodshed by sending in sectarian militias, providing military aid to the regime, and pursuing demographic change in Syria. It has been responsible for ethnic and sectarian cleansing and has exported chaos to other countries including Iraq and Yemen, it added.

Iran is a key supporter of the Syrian regime, sending in military assistance and Iranian, Afghan and Arab militias to fight against the opposition forces. The Syrian opposition now hopes the Iranian uprising will turn into a revolution against the Iranian regime that has stepped in repeatedly to save Al-Assad.

The opposition wants to take advantage of the protests because they impact events in Syria by opening up a domestic and an overseas front for the regime in Tehran. If Iran is forced to focus on the domestic uprising, its assistance to the Syrian regime may weaken.

Many Syrians have drawn parallels between their revolution and the Iranian uprising, including the protesters raising banners with the time and the place written on them such that video footage of the demonstrations can then be broadcast in real time.

Iran is part of the noose around Syrias neck, along with Russia, Ghaliya Qabani, a Syrian opposition figure, said. Its tentacles are connected to sectarian groups that are motivated by hatred for others and loyalty to the Iranian supreme leader.

The flag of the Syrian Revolution has been hoisted in the Iranian protests, and Iranian and Syrian activists have created a Facebook page entitled In Solidarity with the Iranian People in Arabic and Farsi on the protests. This shows there is no animosity between the two peoples and the hostility towards the regimes in Tehran and Damascus, she said.

For years, the Iranian regime has taken advantage of fractures in neighbouring societies to advance its own interests, pouncing on opportunities, lying about threats to Shiite shrines, and even fabricating facts to justify its interference.

It has taken advantage of the weakness of the Al-Assad regime, especially after the regimes security and military forces were teetering on collapse early in the revolution. The Iranians promised their support for Al-Assad in return for a share of Syria, deploying sectarian militias and taking control of political and military decisions.

Head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Qassem Suleimani began touring Syria like a colonial ruler, while Lebanese-Iranian Hizbullah fighters and Iraqi-Iranian Abu Al-Fadl Al-Abbas militias took control of swathes of the country, placing Syrian regime forces under their orders.

Iran has used poor Shiite youths from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen in its own interests, enrolling them into Iraqi and Lebanese militias and placing them under the command of its Revolutionary Guards. It has taken part in forced displacement deals, transporting residents after it destroyed their homes under the cover of regime and Russian airstrikes.

We cannot be sure exactly what is happening in Iran, but the demonstrations should fill the hearts of the Syrian people with hope, commented Syrian opposition figure Abdel-Rahman Mattar.

The demonstrations may help ease the war launched by Al-Assad and his supporters Khamenei and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin against the Syrian people. The Iranian regime has been responsible for the ruthless security actions against the Syrian Revolution and in support of the Al-Assad tyranny. It has participated in the bloodshed that has affected more than one million people and displaced half the Syrian population. It has been responsible for the torture and killings in Syrian prisons through its control of the security agencies, he said.

The policies that the Syrians have been tasting are the same as those dealt out by the Iranian murderers in Iran and other countries buckling under Iranian domination, Mattar said.

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Board approved issuance 6.43 crore shares of face value of Rs 2 each on a preferential basis at a price of Rs 1726.05 per share.

New Delhi: HDFC Ltd on Saturday said its board has approved raising up to Rs 13,000 crore primarily to maintain its holding in its banking arm and enter segments like stressed assets and health insurance. This will be the first equity raising by the country's largest pure-play mortgage lender in over a decade.

"The Committee of Directors of the Corporation at its meeting held today approved the issue of equity shares up to an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 13,000 crore through a combination of a Preferential Allotment and Qualified Institutions Placement, subject to shareholders' approval through postal ballot," HDFC said in a statement.

The board approved issuance 6.43 crore shares of face value of Rs 2 each on a preferential basis at a price of Rs 1726.05 per share, aggregating to Rs 11,103.66 crore to various investors including Azim Premji Trust.

A total of 3.01 crore shares will be issued to an affiliate of GIC Waverly Pte, 1 crore shares to the administrator of the pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees (OMERS) of Canada and about 92 lakh shares to KKR firm Silverview Investment Pte, it said.

The board also approved the issuance of such number of shares of face value of Rs 2 each through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) such that the total amount to be raised shall not exceed Rs 1,896 crore, subject to approval.

"The key objective of raising capital is to participate in the preferential issue of HDFC Bank up to an amount not exceeding Rs 8,500 crore. This would enable the Corporation to maintain its current shareholding in HDFC Bank," it said.

HDFC is also exploring inorganic opportunities in the health insurance sector in conjunction with its subsidiary HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company and is evaluating opportunities in the acquisition and resolution of stressed assets in the real estate sector, it said.

"The Corporation will also need capital to sponsor funds it has set up to invest in the equity and mezzanine debt of affordable housing projects, support capital requirements of its subsidiary companies as and when required and capitalise on organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the affordable housing finance space," it added.Mumbai: Its often that said that firsts are always special. And for actors, their first film or first co-star, usually hold a special place in their hearts.

Parineeti Chopra, who made her full-fledged debut with Ishaqzaade after a bit role in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, also has similar feelings for her first hero and favourite co-star Arjun Kapoor.

The pair is reuniting again after Ishaqzaade after more than five years, and will now be working in back-to-back films, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and Namastey Canada.

About the reunion, Parineeti told in an interview to DNA, Arjun is lucky. He gets to work with me in two back-to-back films again.

She added, My relationship with Arjun is such that I can kick him and tell him, Just shut up and behave yourself. He can do the same with me as well. Thats because we share a very special bond.

About how their friendship blossomed, Parineeti revealed, Both of us bonded at a very vulnerable time in our lives. His mom was ill when 'Ishaqzaade' was coming out, and I wasnt even an actor by then because 'Ladies vs Ricky Bahl' had not released when we were shooting that film.

If anybody says anything negative about him, Im there in the front row, fighting for him and defending him. I can even kill for him. I cant hear anyone saying anything bad about Arjun because I have this undying love for Arjun, she shared.

While Namastey Canada will be a romantic film, not much is known about Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar except that Arjun plays a cop and Parineeti a corporate executive.

They are two completely different films. They are from two different schools altogether, revealed the actress.

Arjun-Parineetis chemistry in Ishaqzaade was loved and the film went on to be a success, and this off-screen friendship would surely add to the fans excitement to watch them together on screen again.Mumbai: A few days back Deccan Chronicle told you about how Kriti Sanon and Shahid Kapoor were given the Nothing To Hide Award, and as expected, got trolled over it.

Even though Shahid hasnt come out in the open and spoken about the award, Kriti is wondering why are people surprised, and in fact argues that there are different awards like Youth Icon being handed out.

Sanon told Mid-Day, "As long as I am not asking someone to give me an award, it [the win] is fine. If I am given an award, I would be humble enough to accept it." The now infamous title, she says, was in fact a tag line of one of the sponsors of the show.

"This award connects me with my fans. I don't think I needed to respond to this, but a lot was written about the win. Besides, nowadays, there are different awards being handed out, including one called a 'Youth Icon'. So, I don't see why this is surprising," added Kriti.

On the work front, Kriti is currently prepping for Arjun Patiala with Diljit Dosanjh.Were waiting to see whether or not Turkey will return the favour, said an Iranian diplomat posted at his countrys embassy in Ankara. It was clear what he meant. He wanted to remind the Turkish decision maker how Iran was one of the first governments to show its support for Turkey in the aftermath of the aborted coup in mid-July 2016. At the time, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to convey the Islamic Republics support for the elected government and president in Turkey. Some hours later, President Hassan Rouhani called President Erdogan to congratulate him on the successful quashing of the coup attempt.

Apparently, the Iranian diplomats remarks were not in vain. Cavusoglu did phone Zarif to express support. But it fell short of Iranian expectations. The Iranian diplomat felt that the Ankaras remarks were insufficient. We had hoped for a clear and unequivocal condemnation of the insurrection against the elected system and an absolute rejection of all acts of sabotage. On the other hand, there was one good and necessary point with respect to these developments, which is the demand for an end to foreign interventions.

Sources close to the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said that Ankara, keen to preserve the remaining threads of its relationship with Europe, did not want to sound too out of tune with the rest of the continent on the question of Iran and, therefore, had to stress the Iranian peoples right to peaceful protest (regardless of how that right is suppressed in Turkey). Still, Ankara called on Iranian demonstrators to avoid violence and, in a gesture of support for Turkeys friend and sister nation, Iran, it criticised the Trump administration that had openly declared its support for the demonstrations. Naturally, Turkish officials did not fail to stress that certain foreign agencies had an interest in escalating the situation in Iran. In addition to Washington, they were referring to Israel and certain Gulf countries.

Opinion pundits in Turkeys pro-government press were eager to downplay the significance of the events in neighbouring Iran. The situation is not as bad as portrayed in the Western press, suggested one pro-Erdogan columnist. The demonstrations are not having an impact and are unlikely to grow and spread, he said. He pointed to the relatively few participants in the demonstrations, numbering no more than a few hundred in the capital and most in their twenties. He also held that the USs declaration of support for the demonstrators was the sole factor that lent them some artificial impetus. The demonstrations would end as they had in 2009. It was all just a matter of time, he said.

The line of argument, above, betrays an underlying uneasiness among the Turkish ruling elite. At a time of mounting economic strains and discontent in Turkey any uprising of the poor is cause for anxiety among AKP circles in Ankara. Also, as one commentator put it, The decision-maker in Ankara sees any signs of protest in the region as an impending threat to his rule and his authoritarian regime.

Another commentator observed that when the cries of revolt sounded against the Shia theocratic order in neighbouring Iran, this marked a turning point in Turkish policy outlooks. As certain as they are that the Mullahs will end the protesters, the ruling elite in Ankara is nervous for several reasons. For one, Iran teems with ethnic tensions that are just waiting for a spark to ignite them. These will cast a dark cloud over Anatolia which is strained by the same type of problem.

For Ankara, that is the crux of the issue. Should the Iranian theocratic order crumble, the country could split into three regions, one of which would be dominated by the Kurds. That region is adjacent to Turkeys eastern border. Iranian Kurds are reportedly among the most fervent participants in the activities opposed to Velayat-e faqih, as the Iranian governing system is called, and it is rumoured that northern Iraq  also predominantly Kurdish  is lending aid and logistical support. Such rumours were quick to trigger Ankaras ingrained paranoia and penchant for conspiracy theories, leading one pro-Erdogan columnist to opine that the US is trying to take control over all the border areas surrounding Turkey preparatory to fragmenting it. Towards this end, it is working to partition all neighbouring countries. It began by supporting Barzani, then it armed the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in Syria and now Irans turn has come.

For the Turkish opposition parties, events in Iran have offered another opportunity to criticise their government and the all-powerful Erdogan. They see Iran as a precautionary tale warning against becoming embroiled in the crises of the Middle East, a policy pursued by the ruling AKP with disastrous consequences for Turkey. They urged their fellow Turks to echo the calls of demonstrators in Iran. If, in Tehran, demonstrators are shouting No to Gaza and no to Lebanon, in protest against their governments support for Hamas and Hizbullah at the expense of the people and the economy at home, Turks should take up the calls, No, to the Muslim Brotherhood and no to jihadist fundamentalists. And like the Iranian people, the Turkish people should call on their government to get out of the Syrian quagmire, involvement in which has cost their country millions of dollars.

Some opposition voices described events in Iran as a violent response to their governments attempts to expand Iranian influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Therefore, in order to stem the spiralling domestic tensions, Tehran needed to withdraw from those countries and turn its attention to much needed political and economic development and reform at home. In like manner, Erdogan should stop pursuing his irredentist neo-Ottoman imperialist dream, for he would be mistaken to imagine that what is happening in Iran is merely a passing sandstorm.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

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During this period women are forbidden from touching cattle and men. (Representational Image/ Pixabay)

In a shocking case of tradition, a woman died in a remote village in Nepal because of a tradition in which women are exiled from their homes and forced to live in huts during menstruation, a government official said recently.

The 21-year-old is believed to have died from smoke inhalation from a fire she lit in the hut to keep warm in the freezing temperatures in the mountain village, government administrator Tul Bahadur Kawcha said.

The woman was found dead the next day.

The unfortunate death occurred, even though lawmakers last year had passed a law criminalising the practice that forces menstruating women from their homes which sees a a three-month jail sentence and a $30 fine.

The practice, known as chhaupadi, has been in the spotlight after at least two women died last year while sleeping in sheds.

Campaigners say the legislation must be properly enforced in addition to a change of attitude in remote rural areas as many menstruating women are still forced to leave their homes under ancient Hindu traditions and take shelter in unhygienic or insecure huts or cow sheds until their monthly cycle ends.

The practice sees many exiled women face bitter cold or attacks by wild animals. Unclean conditions can also cause infections.

Women who have their periods or who have just given birth are sometimes seen as impure or as bringers of bad luck.

During this period women are forbidden from touching cattle and men, denied access to communal food and are usually prevented from using toilet and washing facilities and are also unable to go to school.They used to take up jobs as security guards and recce the area to identify locked houses (Representational Image)

Bengaluru: Four members of a Nepali gang, who were working as security guards and carrying out burglaries in Banashankari and JP Nagar have been arrested.

The accused have been identified as Bheem Bahadur Thapa (31), Jayaraj Bahadur Puri (25), Dharamraj Bahadur Bahora (40) and Ganesh Bahadur Thapa (34), all hailing from Bajhang district in Nepal.

The Banashankari police, who nabbed the accused, claimed to have cracked two cases of burglaries in Banashankari and J.P. Nagar police station limits. They recovered 425 grams of gold ornaments, worth Rs 14 lakh, 5 kg of silver ornaments and foreign currencies from their possession.

According to police, the accused used different tactics to carry out the crime. During interrogation they confessed they were involved in burglaries across the state. They used to either take up jobs as security guards or recce the area posing as Gorkhas to identify locked or isolated houses.

Each of the accused used to identify locked houses in apartments or in the locality and inform their accomplices. They then targeted the houses and fled with the valuables.

So far two cases have been detected in the city and we suspect they had committed robberies in many more houses across the state. We are interrogating them, the police said. While at job as a security guard at an apartment in Banashankari second stage, Bheem had identified a house near the apartment whose occupant were leaving for Tirupati on December 13.

He burgled the house the next day along with his two other accomplices Jayaraj and Dharamraj. Thapa had disconnected the power supply since the house had CCTV cameras, without realising that the house also had UPS, which got activated soon after the power went off and the entire act was recorded in the CCTV.

The accused had decamped with gold ornaments and cash and later they shared the booty. They then pledged the gold at a jewellery shop in Banashankari and were trying to flee to Nepal.The woman told the police that she met the 25-year-old accused in the hotel's pool area on January 8, when he offered her a drink back at his room and she accepted. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: A California-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI) who works with Google as a software engineer was arrested on Thursday for allegedly molesting a 52-year old American woman in a room at Taj Diplomatic Enclave hotel on Monday.

The woman, who had come to Delhi for a business project, said the accused spiked her drink and tried to grope her while she was semi-conscious.

A case of molestation has been filed in Chanakyapuri police station and the man has been arrested.

The woman had arrived in India on January 6. She told the police that she met the 25-year-old accused in the hotel's pool area on January 8, when he offered her a drink back at his room and she accepted.

Once in the room, which was on the 8th floor of the hotel, the accused mixed something in her drink, which made her dizzy. He then tried to grab her but she pushed him away and left the room.

The very next day, the woman shifted to another hotel in Gurgaon. On January 10, she returned to the enclave and registered a complaint with the police, after which she also recorded a statement with the magistrate.

In her statement, she said she did not want to file a complaint immediately but after she narrated the incident to a friend, she changed her mind.

"A case under sections of outraging the modesty or a woman and molestation was registered and a police team arrested the man from his room," said B K Singh, additional Commissioner of Police, New Delhi.

A spokesperson on behalf of Taj Diplomatic Enclave said they have been providing all possible support to the police.

"We have been made aware by the lady guest of this incident between her and another resident guest. We have been in contact with the lady guest, a formal complaint with the authorities was also facilitated by the hotel team .The hotel will cooperate with the authorities in any investigation. [The] Safety and security of our guests and associates is paramount," the spokesperson said.Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said, 'There are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.' (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at ten premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, including the residence of his father and Congress leader P Chidambaram in Delhi, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The raids were initiated early on Saturday morning in nine premises in Chennai and at the Jorbagh residence of senior Chidambaram in south Delhi, official sources said.

Those searched include a chartered accountant linked to Karti, his personal assistant and Karti's residence at Thousand Lights area in Chennai, they said.

The sources said certain "incriminating" documents have been seized during the raids.

P Chidambaram termed the raids against his son "a comedy of errors" and claimed the officers were left "embarrassed" and "apologetic" as they could not find anything at his house.

He was speaking to media outside his Jorbagh residence in Delhi.

The central probe agency had, on December 1, 2017, conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

"Since they had the search warrant, I did not raise any objections to the search but I said I will record my protest that there is no FIR in respect of the scheduled crime registered by any investigating agency including the CBI. There are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," P Chidambaram told reporters.

However, ED sources said their action is based on the FIR registered by the agency and the CBI in the case that has not been quashed by the court.

The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The agency had said it is investigating the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister (P Chidambaram)".

The ED also alleged that Karti has "disposed of" a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company "to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013".

It charged that Karti had "also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment" under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then finance minister even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval. However, approval was not obtained from CCEA," it alleged.

Karti is also being probed by the ED in an another money laundering case pertaining to the INX media deal.

He has been asked to appear by the agency on January 16 in this case.Rawat says, each classroom in government schools in Jammu and Kashmir has a separate map of the state besides that of India which sowed the seeds of thought of some kind of 'separate identity' among the children. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmirs education minister, Syed Altaf Bukhari, on Saturday asked the Army to not "meddle" with what is not its domain and give sermons to the state on how to run its education system.

"Army should concentrate on their job and not interfere in education sector. Education is in the domain of the State and we know how to run it. We dont want any sermons from them, he said while speaking to reporters here.

He also said, I would be glad to see them (Army) doing what they are supposed to do and leave us to do what we are supposed to do. Our Chief Minister is capable enough to take decisions regarding the improvement of education department.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had on Friday while addressing a press conference in New Delhi on the eve of the Army Day said that the social media and government schools in Jammu and Kashmir are spreading a disinformation campaign resulting in radicalisation of youth and called for some control over mosques and madrasas in the restive State.

He had also said a major revamp of the education system was needed in the State to deal with the problem.

The Army Chief had further said that each classroom in government schools in J&K has a separate map of the State besides that of India which sowed the seeds of thought of some kind of separate identity among the children.

If you go to any Kashmir school, you will find two maps - one is the map of India and one is the map of Jammu and Kashmir. There are always two maps in every classroom. Why should there be a map of Jammu and Kashmir. If you are putting a map of Jammu and Kashmir, then you may as well put map of every state. What does it mean to children that I am part of the country but I also have a separate identity? he said.

Bukhari reacting to it, said that the Army instead of meddling with the education sector of the State should concentrate on own assignment.

Army should concentrate on their job and not interfere in education sector, he said.

He said that everyone including those not knowing anything about education was passing comments on education sector which was not acceptable.

Even those who dont have domain in education sector issue comments on education. It is the job of concerned people, those from the education sector itself, to deal with issues because they alone know how to run it," he added.

Taking a dig at the Army Chief, he said, Perhaps the people who are giving comments on how we should run education sector are not doing their job properly and that's why we are suffering.

Bukhari, however, also said, The Army Chief is a well-respected and decorated officer, a professional and I have no doubt about his professionalism. But I dont think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on education. I dont think my society accepts these sermons on education from non-educationists. But I will welcome the sermons from educationist on how to run the education system".

CPIM state secretary and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami expressed surprise over Gen. Rawats statement and sought to remind him that there are also two flags because J&K has its own constitution owing to its special status.

He said in a statement issued in Jammu that J&K acceded to India on the guarantees provided by the Constitution under article 370.

This is because that Kashmir has unique history, ethos and identity, he said.

Reacting to the Army Chiefs assertion that most misguided youth come from schools where they are being radicalised, he said, J&K having separate constitution is not because of any religious reasons, but it is because of historically evolved cultural identity (sic).

He further said, The government of India, which initially recognised the special status for J&K, could not maintain this position. The reality is that from holding special status, Jammu and Kashmir now has been deprived of the rights and powers which other states enjoy. Eroding J&Ks special position is the reason for rise of uncertainty in J&K and also gives an opportunity to others to fish in the troubled waters.Televangelist Zakir Naik escaped from India on July 1, 2016, after Bangladeshi terrorists claimed that they drew inspiration from his speeches. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: In a recent turn of events, a school in Aligarh received a show cause notice from the Uttar Pradesh education department over the alleged portrayal of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik as a significant Islamic personality in a text book named, Ilm-un-Nafe.

The education department has also ordered a probe into the matter. However, the Islamic Mission School in Aligarhs Masud Nagar, doesnt include the book within its syllabus.

"The inquiry committee has been given a week's time to submit its report. The process of cancelling the recognition of the school will be initiated after receiving the report," the Times of India reported Dhirendra Kumar Yadav, Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA) of Aligarh as saying.

Yadav further added that the school, an institution under the state government, published the book of its own accord.

Manager of the school Kaunain Kausar, refuted the allegations made against them. "There is no separate chapter on Zakir Naik in the book. This general awareness book was published in 2015, when there was nothing against Naik. This was the old edition and now it has been modified," Kausar, who also compiled the text book, claimed.

Zakir Naik escaped from India on July 1, 2016, after Bangladeshi terrorists claimed that they drew inspiration from his speeches.

The Union home ministry has already declared televangelist Naiks Mumbai-based NGO, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), as an illegal association.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier filed a case against Naik at its Mumbai branch under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in November, 2017.With the blessings of their families and friends, Yavatmal native Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane (40) married Vinh, from Vietnam at a hotel a few distance away from the office of the Superintendent of Police. (Photo: ANI)

Yavatmal (Maharashtra): A US-based Indian engineer married his gay lover in a traditional ceremony at Yavatmal in Maharashtra on December 30.

Recently, the Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider and examine its 2013 order of criminalisation of homosexuality.

With the blessings of their families and friends, Yavatmal native Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane (40) married Vinh, from Vietnam at a hotel a few distance away from the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP).

Hrishi, who pursued B-Tech from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, presently lives in California and has a US Green Card.

According to Hrishi's social media profile, his parents were against his homosexual affiliation, but he soon succeeded in convincing them.General Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

New Delhi: The Indian Army and the government are discussing ways to revive a USD 500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defence contractor Rafael, army chief Bipin Rawat has said.

New Delhi recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India this week.

General Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.

Also Read: Ahead of Israeli PM visit, India cancels USD 500 mn defence deal

"They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results," General Rawat said.

"That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal), " he added.

General Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India's operational capabilities in the interim.

"So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? It's through the Spike. Rather than going whole hog we are in the discussion with the government" to fill in the gap, he said.

"We can possibly look at a lesser number to meet the gap," he added.

India has been investing tens of billions of dollars in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter China and Pakistan.

Israel is a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year.

In April last year the two countries signed a military deal worth nearly $2 billion which includes the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

But PM Modi has said he wants to end India's status as the world's number one defence importer and to have 70 percent of hardware manufactured domestically by the turn of the decade.The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10:25 am, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: Debris of a Pawan Hans helicopter which went missing on Saturday morning was located by a Coast Guard ship around noon.

Four bodies were also recovered.

The helicopter with seven people, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) employees, had lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) 30 nautical miles off Mumbai.

Large scale Indian Coast Guard (ISG) sear and rescue operation is underway.

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10:25 am, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board, official sources told news agency PTI.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am, the sources said.Terming the concern voiced by the judges as 'extremely important', Congress president Rahul Gandhi also called for a probe into the mysterious death of judge BH Loya. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Friday demanded a "thorough probe" into issues flagged by four Supreme Court judges over its functioning, prompting a strong reaction from the ruling BJP that accused its rivals of "politicising internal matters" of the judiciary.

Terming the concern voiced by the judges as "extremely important", Congress president Rahul Gandhi also called for a probe into the mysterious death of judge BH Loya, who died in 2014 when he was hearing the sensational Sohrabuddin Sheikh murder case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused but later discharged.

The four SC judges, including J Chelameshwar, second in seniority to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, had earlier in the day raised questions about the functioning of the apex court, saying things there were "not in order".

Also Read: SC admin not in order, democracy at stake, say 4 top judges in open dissent

They had accused Misra of "selectively" allocating cases to benches among other things, which they claimed, adversely affected the judiciary and threatened democracy.

"I think the points that have been raised by the four judges are extremely important. They have mentioned there is a threat to democracy. It needs to be looked into carefully. They also made a point about judge Loya's case. I think that is also something that needs to be investigated properly. It needs to be looked at from the highest level of the Supreme Court," Gandhi told reporters in Delhi on Friday evening.

In his brief statement, Gandhi said that all citizens who love the idea of justice and believe in the Supreme Court were looking at the developments, and therefore it was important that those were addressed.

The BJP shot back, with its spokesman Sambit Patra accusing the Congress of politicising internal matters of the judiciary.

On the Congress seeking a probe into Loya's death by the highest level of the Supreme Court, Patra said the main opposition party should refrain from commenting on issues pending before the Supreme Court.

The apex court is hearing two PILs seeking an independent investigation into circumstances leading to Loya's death in Nagpur where he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

"Politics by political parties of the country, outside the judicial purview, trying to drag issues which are internal to the judiciary and politicise that is something which should not be attempted. The Congress party has attempted the same, it has tried its best to politicise internal issues of judiciary. And we firmly believe that this is wrong," Patra told reporters in the national capital.

Patra said the Congress should know it has lost "elections after elections" since 2014, when the BJP stormed to power and the Modi government was formed. "Any attempt to fish for opportunity to politicise issues when none exist is politically wrong," he said.

On Gandhi calling for a probe into the death of Loya, Patra said none has the right to comment on issues that are pending before the Supreme Court. "I think Congress should know that," he added.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said a thorough investigation was required to understand how the independence and integrity of the judiciary was getting "affected", after the judges said many "less than desirable" things had taken place in the apex court.

He said it was necessary for the three wings of democracy -- the executive, the legislature and the judiciary  to ensure that whatever issues had been raised were corrected.

Former Rajya Sabha member Sharad Yadav called it a "dark day" for democracy, saying for the first time sitting SC judges had to speak before the media to highlight complaints.

"It is a dark day for democracy that even the judges are working under pressure and without independence," he said.Observers and analysts insist Arab reaction to the declaration by US President Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel went no further than expressions of sorrow and surrender, which encouraged Washington to move further on this course. They note that a handful of symbolic protests in some countries and momentary media outrage aimed to save face of rulers in front of their people who hold entirely different positions.

Observers believe there is a campaign coordinated by the US against the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to dismantle the organisation as part of a push to resolve final status issues such as Jerusalem, the fate of the occupied territories, the return of refugees and borders, to impose a fait accompli that dissolves the Palestinian cause.

Mohannad Abdel-Hamid, a political analyst, believes the US and Israel are working in tandem after Washingtons recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital and relocating the US embassy there  a violation of international law that ascribes Jerusalem and the West Bank as occupied land. Israel claims the West Bank as part of its own territories with Jerusalem as its capital after the Israeli government approved the construction of thousands of settlement units in Jerusalem and the West Bank. This is an escalation in the ferocious settlement campaign at the expense of Palestinians.

Abdel-Hamid said it came as no surprise that Israel is calling for UNRWAs demise. Statements by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennet and Interior Minister Gilad Erdan coincided with Washingtons decision to cut down its funding. Bennet claimed UNRWA supports terrorism in the Gaza Strip, and Erdan tweeted that UNRWA does not work on resolving the refugee issue and must be dismantled as soon as possible.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cautioned that US threats to stop aid to the Palestinians could exacerbate Palestinian suffering and push them towards war with Israel. He noted, however, that UNRWA works on eternalising the Palestinian refugee issue and insists on the claim of right of return in order to end the State of Israel. Therefore, its role in the world must end.

Media reports noted the change of heart of US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on the Palestinian issue. Haley began her diplomatic career as a defender of the rights of Palestinian refugees and visited their camps, promising to fund UNRWA with some $300 million annually. Today, however, she is spearheading the White House campaign to sever this key economic lifeline for Palestinians, as part of US policy to punish the Palestinian Authority (PA) for rejecting Washingtons mediation in peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last month the PA will not accept any peace plan proposed by the US.

The US is the largest donor to UNRWA, giving $368 million last year  or nearly 30 per cent of all funds to the agency that was created in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees, providing education and health services in the Gaza Strip.

MP Jamal Al-Khodari, chairman of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, said forming a national salvation government is urgent to confront threats to Jerusalem and refugees, and dangers facing the Palestinian cause and the impact of continued divisions.

Al-Khodari said this government would move quickly to study US steps to reduce assistance to UNRWA, since the lives of 70 per cent of Palestinian refugees are in danger if this decision is applied.

Hossam Zomlot, the head of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) mission to Washington, said the USs recent decisions against the Palestinians are a result of Israeli interference to sabotage progress in American society supporting Palestine. Zomlot added that public opinion began to positively shift in support of the Palestinian cause due to the dissemination of alternative information on social media, and the negative impact of right-wing rule in Israel on its stature. Also, the positive role of second and third generation Palestinians in the US.

He noted that this growing empathy towards Palestinians upsets Israel, which is working with lobbies in the US to end official Palestinian representation in Washington. Zomlot continued there are key shifts in US politics and structure, and for the first time the US Congress was presented with anti-Israel legislation; namely, a draft law by Congresswoman Betty McCollum calling for an end to funding Tel Aviv because Israel arrests and tortures Palestinian children.

Zomlot believes Trumps decision aimed to achieve several goals. First, remove Jerusalem from the equation to any political solution, which is a reversal of previous US promises and renders the US unfit as mediator. Second, strategically it voids the core issue of Jerusalem from the two-state solution and Palestinian cause.

Zomlot explained that a 1987 resolution by Congress designates the PLO as a terrorist organisation. Even though we signed the Oslo Accords in the White House, have relations and bilateral agreements, we are still categorised as a terrorist organisation. It doesnt make sense. He asked: How can they view us as partners in peace and the war on terrorism, but also see us as terrorists at the same time?

A source who asked to remain anonymous said that holding an emergency Arab summit in Amman was not suggested during Arab ministerial meetings to discuss the US decision, which concluded earlier this week at the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

Yasser Al-Zaatra, a writer, believes there is unprecedented hysteria by Zionists, as well as Trump, his son-in-law and the US ambassador to Tel Aviv, in these decisions. While logic dictates that Zionists and Trump should calm outrage over Jerusalem, they continued their radical decisions. This includes the Likud Party voting to annex the West Bank, the law known as unified Jerusalem that requires 80 of the 120 Knesset members to vote on all Jerusalem-related decisions in a future settlement, and finally a tentative vote to execute attackers.

Al-Zaatra said, This level of arrogance by Zionists and their poster boy Trump confirm there is no hope for a solution that meets the minimum requirements of Palestinian demands. This unprecedented pomposity puts the PA in front of a difficult reality. It held power and there was gradual progress since 2004 while still selling pipe dreams, and repeatedly asserting it upholds key principles. Today, this leadership is facing a bitter reality and must decide how to react.

Al-Zaatra responds: Nothing changed on the ground, whether in security cooperation or the choices of the PA. At best, we heard about a meeting of the Central Council scheduled mid-month  even though it is an irrelevant council and if it takes strong decisions, the leadership ignores them. Thus, it is absurd that Hamas and Jihad will agree to this meeting.

He believes the future is ominous and responding to the arrogance of the occupation should fall on the leaders of groups brought together, not a council. This is what the Palestinian people are waiting for, and we pray it does not take too long, Al-Zaatra said.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

The meeting comes in wake of the allegations made by four Supreme Court judges against the CJI at a press meet. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

New Delhi: Ahead of his meeting with Chief justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal on Saturday expressed hope for a positive outcome.

While leaving from his residence, Venugopal said, "Let us hope everything goes down very well. I hope that everything will be settled."

"Unity among Supreme Court judges will return by Monday," the Attorney General told NDTV.

"We hope the entire issue will be settled in the larger interest of the institution. Judges are persons of wisdom and statesmanship and experience. We hope they won't allow the issue to escalate," he said.

The meeting comes in wake of the allegations made by four Supreme Court judges against the CJI at a first of its kind press conference held yesterday.

The four Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar questioned the conduct of the CJI, saying that their efforts have failed in convincing the latter to take steps to protect the institution.

Also Read: Top 4 SC judges revolt against Chief Justice, question biased decisions

CJI Misra is likely to hold a meeting with the four judges as well, and is expected to address the press later on Saturday.

One of the four judges, Justice J Chelameswar leaving from his residence earlier in the day increases the likelihood of such a meeting.

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Nripendra Misra was also seen outside CJI Misra's residence in Delhi.

Supreme Court Bar Association will also be holding a meeting over the same and will address the press, later on Saturday.

On Friday, the four Supreme Court judges addressed the media, appealing to the nation to save their institution if they wanted democracy in the country to survive.After a meeting in the evening, Mishra said that the council wants to meet the 23 other judges of the Supreme Court, followed by meetings with the four dissenting judges and finally the Chief Justice of India. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Amidst indication that the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is likely to meet the four rebel JudgesJ Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Josephon Monday to settle the differences, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has formed a seven-member delegation which will attempt to resolve the issue.

Talking to the media BCI Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said "We have unanimously decided to form a 7-member delegation of the Council who will meet honourable judges of the Supreme Court. We want that the matter be solved at the earliest. We have got appointment from 23 judges. We want this matter to be solved earliest.

Expressing his anguish over the turn of events, Mishra said We have given an opportunity to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other political parties to comment on the judiciary. This is extremely dangerous. We Request the political class to refrain from commenting on this issue. We do not want the judiciary's image to be tarnished. People have unflinching faith in the judiciary.

On the differences in finalising the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) relating to judges appointment, Mishra said "MoP must be finalized at the earliest. Judges have been appointed through collegium. This is not an issue that must be taken to the public. We request the judges not to give an opportunity for such an incident to occur again.

On senior advocate Dushyant Dave criticizing the CJI, the Chairperson said Mr. Dave might be a famous lawyer for you. He is not a famous lawyer for the Bar Council. There are some lawyers who are creating a nuisance.

Meanwhile sources said that the meeting of the CJI with four judges is possible only on Sunady as except justice Chelameswar, the other three judges are out of station and they are expected to return to the capital by Sunday to attend the meeting.

However, one of the four judges told this newspaper so far nothing has been told to any one of us.

Earlier on Saturday, the Attorney General KK Venugopal told a television channel that by Monday morning litigants and lawyers would see unity among the Supreme Court judges as a solution would be found by then. He said the matter would be settled in the larger interest of the institution.

Read the text of letter given by 4 top judges of SC to CJI

He was of the view that the top judges are persons of wisdom, statesmanship and experience and they would not allow the issue to escalate.

In Kolkata, Justice Gogoi on the sidelines of a meeting told the media that there was no crisis. He however, refused to comment on the question whether the revolt amounted to indiscipline.

At Kochi Justice Kurian Joseph expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved.

Justice Joseph maintained that the four judges acted solely in the interest of judiciary and justice. He rejected suggestions that they had violated the disciplined and hoped that their action would bring in more transparency in the administration of Supreme Court.

An issue that has come to the attention of everyone would certainly be resolved, Justice Joseph said adding that the judges had acted only to "enhance the trust of the people in judiciary."

Meanwhile the visit of Nirupendra Mishra, Prime Ministers Principal Secretary to the residence of CJI Dipak Misra raised speculation about the purpose of the meeting.

However, sources said he had gone to meet the CJI to wish him for New Year and also the CJI shifting to the official residence in Krishna Memon Marg but he could not meet the CJI, as the CJI was busy in his morning schedule.

Latching onto media reports that he visited the CJIs residence, the Congress said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi must answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to meet the CJI.

On Friday the four judges said they were forced to hold the press conference because a letter they had sent to the CJI two months ago pointing out mistakes had gone unanswered.

"We tried to persuade the CJI that certain things are not in order. Unfortunately, the efforts failed. We are convinced that unless corrective steps are taken immediately, the judiciary will lose its strong and independent tag, which is an essential hallmark of democracy, they had said.

Later on Saturday evening, the Supreme Court Bar Association at an emergent meeting to discuss Friday's developments, unanimously passed two resolutions which they will send to the CJI.

It said the differences including on roster or MoP which are reflected in the newspapers are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the Full Court of the Supreme Court.

The second resolution in order to restore the credibility of the institution, a system should be introduced wherein all PILs should not go beyond the first five judges of the SC collegium," said Vikas Singh, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

He declined to spell out the stand on Loya's death probe case.

We feel that the situation is of grave consequences for the future of the court and must be resolved, he added.Between 4-8 am, both the incoming and the outgoing air traffic suffered, airport officials said, adding the services were expected to resume after 9 am. (Representational image)

Chennai: Flight services in and out of Chennai suffered on Saturday following a thick cover of smoke due to 'Bhogi' festival celebrations, airport officials said.

Between 4-8 am, both the incoming and the outgoing air traffic suffered.

Flight services resumed after 9 am.

Operations resumed at Chennai Airport; flights were delayed in view of smoke due to burning of old articles on Bogi festival. pic.twitter.com/pArrFZZmlV  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

As many as 18 arriving flights were diverted to Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports. They flew in from various destinations such as Kuwait, Sharjah and Delhi.

No flights took off during this period, resulting in delays and scores of passengers waiting at the airport.

A report on NDTV quoted a senior officer at the airport saying, The visibility has dipped to 50 metres and since 3:30 am we have no flight activity. We hope there would be interested in an hour once breeze sets in clearing the air."

Early morning visuals: #Chennai Airport operations suspended since 3.30 am in view of smoke due to burning of old articles on Bogi festival, airport officials to review the situation, shortly. pic.twitter.com/uIGxO5RXBA  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Bhogi, celebrated ahead of the Tamil harvest festival Pongal on Sunday, involves burning of old articles in a symbolic gesture of bidding adieu to the old and welcoming the new.

The celebrations started on Saturday morning with people setting bonfires on the streets with agricultural and household waste.

Bonfires made using mats, paper, clothes and cardboard boxes dotted the streets of Chennai from as early as four on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, motorists plied their vehicles with their headlights on following the smoke cover which descended on the city and its neighbourhoods.

The government launches regular awareness campaigns ahead of Bhogi, aimed at smoke-free celebrations of the day.

Over the last ten years, the pollution control board in Tamil Nadu has been generating awareness ahead of Pongal, asking people to avoid burning materials.Inmates of Vizag central prison will soon have e-books in their hands, thanks to a digital library whihc will be set up in the jail premises.

Visakhapatnam: Inmates of Vizag central prison will soon have e-books in their hands, thanks to a digital library whihc will be set up in the jail premises. This is the first of its kind in Andhra Pradesh. The purpose of the digital library is to inculcate the habit of reading among inmates and the digital library has computers loaded with texts and audio-visual material on self-development and motivational topics.

Sources said that Araku MP Kothapalli Geeta has sanctioned Rs 4.5 lakh from her MPLADS funds to develop the digital library in the premises. Central prison superintendent S. Rahul said that there are over 1,200 inmates including 450 convicts and remand prisoners. The prison has a regular library with over 9,000 books apart from this. The library is aimed at bringing about a positive outlook towards life and society among the prisoners, he added.

The process of uploading the books which include self-development, motivation, autobiographies, biographies, religious and spiritual will start soon. If all goes as planned, the digital library will be a reality in a month, Mr Rahul added. Andhra Pradesh has four central prisons  Kadapa, Nellore, Rajahmundry and Vizag and an open-air prison in Anantapur.

Sources said that reading would help the prisoners as options for recreation and relaxation are limited. A software, comprising details like names of all books, authors and its brief summary, will be developed as part of the project. Prisoners can walk straight into the library and choose their favourite e-book with the help of the software, they added.Bengaluru: All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi has convened a meeting of Karnataka Congress leaders in Delhi on Saturday to discuss the Karnataka assembly elections.

Sources in the party said that the meeting will discuss how to structure the tour programme of Mr Gandhi.

We will discuss which are the areas Mr Gandhi should visit to campaign for the party. We have to structure Mr Gandhis tour programme in such a way that his visit should boost the partys image. a senior leader said.

Comparing the Karnataka campaign strategy with that of Gujarat, the leader said Mr Gandhi single-handedly pushed the party campaign in Gujarat in the absence of credible faces in that state. However, the state Congress unit has many popular faces. We feel Mr Gandhi need not campaign as intensively as he did in Gujarat. We will suggest a tour itinerary with places which requires the attention of Mr Gandhi, the leader said.

The meeting is likely to discuss the extent to which that party should adopt a soft-Hindutva strategy to counter the BJP. The leaders including Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah have been visiting temples and darghas. In Karnataka, we may not make these visits so obvious. The visits to temples and darghas would be made very casual. Except coastal Karnataka and parts of Malenadu, this may not become a poll issue, sources said.Hyderabad: BJP Legislature Party leader G. Kishan Reddy on Saturday accused the TRS government of trying to usurp the rights of constitutionally guaranteed Panchayati Raj institutions by way of bringing an amendment to the law.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Mr Kishan Reddy said for the last four years the TRS government had not granted the mandatory funds to gram panchayats and zilla parishads, but had taken away the funds meant for panchayats in mining, registrations and other cess.

The state BJP leader said that the government had not even released the enhanced honorarium announced for various Panchayat Raj institutions.

Mr Kishan Reddy said that the TRS government was trying to destroy the institutions by proposing to hold elections on non-party basis and bringing in co-opted members to panchayats to oversee the functioning of elected sarpanches.

He said the government had failed to explain the need to amend the Act. He accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of deliberately suspending and superceding the gram panchayats because the sarpanches did not join the TRS.

Replying to a question, Mr Kishan Reddy said his party was getting details on how many times the Chief Minister has visited his office in the Secretariat and how many times he went to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan in the last four years.The 45-year-old Republican resorted to a veto to block criticism from the UN Security Council and threatened reprisals against those who voted against Washington at the General Assembly. (Photo: AP)

United Nations/United States: One year into the job, Nikki Haley stands out as the star of President Donald Trump's administration, and diplomats say the UN ambassador is directing some of that star power into a likely White House bid.

Speculation about Haley's presidential ambitious has picked up since she defended Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, staring down friends and foes alike at the world body.

The 45-year-old Republican resorted to a veto to block criticism from the UN Security Council and threatened reprisals against those who voted against Washington at the General Assembly.

The clash gave UN ambassadors a reality check: Haley, they say, is a politician, not a diplomat, and at the United Nations, she is playing to a domestic audience.

"She is not trying to win votes at the General Assembly. She is trying to win votes for 2020 or 2024," a council diplomat said. "She is clearly using this position to run for something, that's obvious."

The former South Carolina governor arrived at the United Nations in 2017, promising a "new day" under Trump's America First policy and vowing to "take names" of countries that don't toe the line.

Seen at the outset as a foreign policy lightweight, Haley was quickly taken seriously because of her close ties to the unpredictable Trump.

Over the past year, she has pushed through three new sets of sanctions against North Korea, bringing China and Russia on side to tackle what Trump sees as his administration's number one security threat.

Those sanctions won the unanimous backing of the council, where finding common ground with Haley is testing diplomatic skills.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is hawkish on Iran, fiercely pro-Israel and a strong advocate of cost-cutting at the United Nations.

That those three signature issues play well with the US Republican voter base is not lost on most diplomats.

"What matters above all are perceptions internally, in the US," said another council diplomat, who like many declined to be quoted.

Haley was among the first administration officials to take a hard line on Russia, declaring that sanctions over Crimea would remain in place until Moscow gave the territory back to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, who just wrapped up a two-year stint at the Security Council, says Haley is doing an "excellent job."

"She may be less diplomatic sometimes than some could expect, but this is more an asset than a shortcoming," he said.

For months, Haley had been tipped as a possible replacement to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom she has upstaged with her media appearances and statements that at times appear to break new ground.

In October, she put that speculation to rest, telling reporters that she wasn't interested.

"I would not take it," Haley told reporters on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. "I want to be where I'm most effective."

She is seen as a possible vice president to Mike Pence, should he take over the presidency.

Author Michael Wolff, whose book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" has become a national sensation, claims Haley has set her sights higher and is eyeing the presidency.

According to published excerpts, Haley began positioning herself as Trump's heir after concluding in October that he was a one-term president.

Wolff quoted a senior White House staffer who described her "as ambitious as Lucifer" and another who offered the view that while being groomed by Trump, "she is so much smarter than him."

Haley has brushed aside questions about her political ambitious, saying she is focused on the job at hand as she remains firmly in the limelight as the UN's most-watched ambassador.'I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level,' Trump said in another tweet. (Photo: File)

Washington/Namibia: US President Donald Trump tweeted a denial Friday after he was quoted as describing African and other states as "shithole countries," amid an international furor over the remarks.

Trump, who reportedly made the comment during a meeting with legislators Thursday on immigration reform, drew charges of racism.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said, people briefed on the meeting told The Washington Post.

The New York Times later reported the same comment, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the meeting.

"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," Trump tweeted early Friday.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

The reference was to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields from deportation nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Thursday's meeting was to discuss a compromise under which DACA would be preserved but a visa lottery and a policy allowing legal immigrants to bring family members into the country would be ended.

"I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level," Trump said in another tweet.

....countries which are doing badly. I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs. I want to fund our military, not do a Dem defund....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

"I want safety and security for our people," he added, criticizing the proposed bipartisan deal.

"USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly," Trump tweeted.

The Post and the Times said Trump's vulgar remark Thursday was in reference to African countries and Haiti. The Post included El Salvador on its list.

Trump suggested the United States should instead welcome immigrants from places like Norway, whose prime minister met with Trump on Wednesday.

United Nations rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said "there is no other word one can use but 'racist'" to describe Trump's remarks.

"You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome," Colville told reporters in Geneva.

Democratic congressman Luis Gutierrez called Trump "a racist who does not share the values enshrined in our Constitution."

Also read: Get people from Norway, not sh**hole countries: Trump on immigration

Africans reacted angrily Friday after Donald Trump reportedly referred to their nations as "shithole countries", with many lashing the US president for racism and ignorance.

The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks while the southern African state of Botswana hauled in the US ambassador to complain.

The comment "truly flies in the face of accepted behaviour and practice," said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki.

"This is even more hurtful given the historical reality of just how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, and also terribly surprising as the United States remains a massively positive example as just how migration can give birth to a nation," Kalondo said.

The comments were "clearly" racist, Kalondo said, but stressed the US was "much stronger than the sum total of one man."

Botswana summoned the US ambassador to the country to "clarify if Botswana is regarded as a 'shithole' country", according to a foreign ministry statement which called Trump's comments "irresponsible, reprehensible and racist".

This is not the first time Trump has rubbed Africans up the wrong way -- he was widely derided last year after he twice referred to Namibia as "Nambia".

On social media, users across the continent on Friday posted images of modern skylines and beautiful nature from their countries with the ironic hashtag "shithole."

Many Africans reminded the US of its historic role in the continent's woes.

"President Trump, One day, I'll take you to a 'shithole' country called Ghana," wrote Ghanaian Edmond Prime Sarpong on Facebook.

"First stop would be Osu Castle, Elmina Castle, and the over 40 Forts that detained about 30 million slaves, beaten and shipped out like sardine cans and then I will tell you the history of Africa and why people like you made that a 'shithole' continent."

Prominent Kenyan commentator Patrick Gathara, said that Trump's words were nothing new from a "racist and ignorant" administration, nor from the West at large.

"This is no different from what Hollywood and Western media have been saying about Africa for decades. We have consistently been portrayed as shitty people from shitty countries," he said.

Some acknowledged problems in their countries, but blamed this on their poor leaders as well as western nations such as the US.

"Please don't confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent... Our motherland is the most blessed continent that has been raped by imperialists in collaboration with our shitty misleaders for generations," wrote Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi on Twitter.

Please dont confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent. Our leaders are shit like dotard Trump. Our motherland is the most blessed continent that has been raped by imperialists in collaboration with our shitty misleaders for generations. pic.twitter.com/hJVYYo0VlC  Boniface Mwangi (@bonifacemwangi) January 12, 2018

In South Africa, the ruling party declared "ours is not a shithole country" and described Trump as "extremely offensive".

"It is not as if the United States doesn't have difficulties. There are millions of unemployed people in the US, millions of people who don't have health care services or access to education and we would not deign to make comments as derogatory as that," said Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC).

Nigerians however did not hold back, with many on Twitter saying their country was a "shithole", but that it was "our shithole" to criticise.

Even war-torn South Sudan weighed in, with President Salva Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny slamming the comments as "outrageous".

However Juba businesswoman Jenny Jore, 31,said that Trump's remarks were "on point". "It is thanks to our African leaders that we are insulted that way," she said.

Trump's latest comments also provided ample fodder for talkshow hosts.

South African comedian Trevor Noah, star of "The Daily Show", described himself as an offended citizen of "South Shithole" and also called Trump out for racism, especially for saying he preferred immigrants from Norway.

"He didn't just name a white country, he named the whitest -- so white they wear moon-screen," he said.Bajwa said that entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over US recent statements despite decades of cooperation. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Pakistan's army chief told a top US general that the nation "felt betrayed" by criticism that it was not doing enough to fight terrorism.

US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel told General Qamar Javed Bajwa during a telephone call this week that the United States was not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan, the Pakistani army said on Friday in a statement. This comes after US President Donald Trumps accusations against Pakistan of "lies and deceit".

Tension between the United States and Pakistan has grown over US complaints that the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that target American troops in Afghanistan are allowed to take shelter on Pakistani soil.

Trump's administration last week announced the suspension of about USD 2 billion in security aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan  officially a US ally  over accusations that Islamabad is playing a double game in Afghanistan.

Islamabad denies this and accuses the United States of disrespecting its vast sacrifices  casualties have numbered in the tens of thousands  in fighting terrorism.

The US aid suspension was announced days after Trump tweeted on January 1 that the United States had foolishly given Pakistan USD 33 billion in aid over 15 years and was rewarded with "nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools".

Trump's tweet infuriated Pakistani officials and caught the rest of the US administration off guard.

The Pakistani statement on Friday did not directly refer to Trump's tweet.

"(Bajwa) said that entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over US recent statements despite decades of cooperation," the army said, referring to the phone call between Bajwa and Votel.

The US military's Central Command did not comment on the content of their conversation. But it said the US military was in "continuous communication" with Pakistan's military, to include recurring conversations between Votel and Bajwa.

"We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider and might lead to a positive path forward," US Central Command spokesman Air Force Colonel John Thomas said.

A senior Trump administration official said last week that the United States was already examining ways to mitigate any Pakistani retaliation as it piles pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militants.

The official also cautioned that US action to pressure Pakistan could extend beyond the new freeze in aid, if necessary.

The Pakistani assertion that Votel said no unilateral action inside Pakistan was being considered may have referred to the possibility of cross-border US drone strikes and other military missions targeting Taliban and other militant figures outside the border area.

In 2016, a US drone killed the then-leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, prompting protests from Islamabad of a violation of sovereignty.

And in 2011, a secret American raid in the military garrison city of Abbottabad killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American cities that prompted the US-led invasion to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Since Trump took office, there have been several drone strikes in Pakistan's border region but they have not so far gone deeper into Pakistani territory, though Islamabad believes that is on a menu of punitive actions the US administration is considering.

However, the US military is also concerned that the Pakistani army, which effectively runs foreign policy, might close the air and land corridors on which US-led troops and Afghan forces in landlocked Afghanistan depend for supplies. So far, Pakistan has not done so.Nearly 15 years after the ouster of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, his loyalists are showing signs that they are abandoning their endeavours to topple the countrys Shia-led government and are following a softly-softly approach to get involved once more in the countrys politics.

The United Nations, which is pushing to break the political stalemate in Iraq and end the turmoil that followed the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, is believed to be seeking to marshal support for the new approach by Saddams former ruling Baath Party apparatus.

However, whether Iraqs most notorious political party could indeed make a comeback after 15 years of banishment, or if conditions are ripe for its re-emergence, is a matter of doubt.

The partys rule, lasting from 1968 to 2003, saw it instituting one of, if not the most, brutal regimes in Iraqs modern history. It attracted some evil characters who, given unprecedented power, made horrific human rights abuses into state policy.

Since the US-led invasion, the former Baath Party has been divided into several factions over positions on Iraqs Shia-led government, but die-hard leaders such as Saddams deputy Ezzat Ibrahim Al-Douri have taken on prominent roles in the anti-government Sunni insurgency.

Al-Douris offshoot joined an alliance with the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq, helping the terrorist group through the partys deep social networks to take control of many of the countrys major Sunni cities in 2014.

With the military campaign to drive IS militants from their last main strongholds now over, attention in Iraq is turning to post-IS stabilisation and putting an end to the countrys communal divisions.

A series of media reports has recently suggested that at least one faction of the Baath Party is even thinking of participating in the countrys forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for May.

On Sunday, Al-Douris faction said it was now envisaging an independent, democratic, pluralistic and strong Iraq. In a statement marking Iraqi Army Day, the party faction made no mention of its long-standing aim of restoring its rule to Iraq and ridding the country of the Iran-backed Shia-led government.

Our party is in the forefront of the ranks of those wanting to achieve a comprehensive solution to Iraqs crisis that will ensure the freedom of the people, security and stability, the protection of the dignity of citizens and an end to corruption, the faction said.

However, the statement also said the party still sought to expel the criminal Iranian occupation of Iraq, a remark seemed to be designed to show the Baathists traditional anti-Iran stance.

Iraqi media have reported that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has drafted a new reconciliation plan that proposes easing restrictions on the former loyalists, including ending the de-Baathification laws imposed on the party after the US-led invasion.

The measures meet one of the main benchmarks that Iraqi Sunnis have demanded of the Shia-dominated government, with the aim of providing places in it for the Saddam-era ruling elite and former army officers.

Other demands include the release of Sunni prisoners in government jails and resuming the paying of pensions to senior officials and army and security officers from the Saddam era.

Under Iraqs de-Baathification laws of 2003, thousands of party members from the defeated Iraqi army and government bureaucracy were stripped of employment and denied pensions, leaving many disgruntled and angry.

The UN plan also reportedly calls on the Iraqi government to ensure that Sunni grievances of marginalisation and exclusion are addressed and a way is found for the countrys various groups to live together in order to achieve reconciliation at both the community and national level.

UNAMI has not divulged details of the plan, but its head, Slovakian diplomat Jan Kubis, told the UN Security Council on 9 November that the Iraqi governments undertakings in the post-IS era should include building a peaceful and united Iraq.

The Baath Partys new and conciliatory tone has also been manifested in public statements by its leaders and discussions they have joined in recent meetings abroad.

The discussions in France, Spain, Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey and Switzerland sponsored by NGOs or government agencies were meant to display a moderate image of the party.

Instead of trumpeting national resistance to liberate Iraq, the partys declared goal since the US-led invasion in 2003, Baath Party officials have now been telling these meetings that the party is ready to be engaged once again in national Iraqi politics.

In November, party spokesman in exile Khudair Al-Murshidi proposed a plan to launch a new political process in Iraq and draft a new constitution that he said should guarantee a democratic and multi-party system and respect human rights.

Iraqs Sunni Arab neighbours are believed to be backing efforts to rehabilitate the Baathists who share with them an animosity to Iran and the ruling Shia groups in Baghdad.

Al-Douri and many other Baath Party leaders in exile are reportedly receiving financial, logistical and political backing from some of the regional Sunni powerhouses.

It is not clear, however, how Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, who met Kubis last month, has responded to the UN proposals. But the London-based Al-Arabi Al-Jadid newspaper reported on Sunday that Al-Abadi plans to propose a national reconciliation plan soon that he hopes will end communal problems in Iraq.

However, the discussions with the Baathists have come under fire from the ruling Shia bloc in Iraq, and many of the countrys Shia groups have expressed reservations about the rehabilitation of the Baath Party which could resurface as a potential Sunni force that could threaten their power.

Iraqi victims of the Baath Party also do not seem ready to forgive or forget either the partys atrocities under Saddam or its support and collaboration with Al-Qaeda and IS terrorists after 2003.

Many Iraqis who are still battling with Saddams legacy and IS brutality do not see a dramatic shift in the partys attitude, and they want to see the Baathists make a sincere apology for their dark era and their participation in post-invasion bloodshed.

In October 2016, Al-Douri apologised to Kuwait for Saddams 1990 invasion of the emirate, calling it a great moral and strategic sin, but he and other Baath Party leaders have refrained from denouncing IS. Al-Douri hailed the IS capture of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in summer 2014 as a turning point in the nations march of jihad.

For 15 years, Saddam remnants have publicly attacked the post US-led invasion Shia elites as stooges brought to power by the United States and backed by Iran, vowing to overthrow their regime.

A closer look at the partys new softer approach shows especially stark juxtapositions between its posture in public and in private. Its new narrative appears simplistic and naive, especially when it refuses to take a revisionist approach to its role in Iraqs current dilemmas.

The Baath Party leaders in exile seem to be far from the streets of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities where drastic political and social changes have taken shape, rendering them out of place and out of time and the partys ideology and politics obsolete.

Frustration with the present Iraqi ruling elites failure, incompetence, corruption and sectarianism is high, but the Baathists will be mistaken if they think they can make a comeback in Iraq by riding on public sentiments.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

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A non-profit US agency involved in placing Sherin Mathews with an Indian-American family has said it followed all national and international laws and best practices during the adoption process of the 3-year-old Indian-born girl.



The Holt International, now barred from operating in India in the wake of the death of Sherin -- whose body was found in a culvert near her parents' suburban Dallas home in October -- less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage, also said it is working towards ensuring safe adoption practices.



"During the Mathews' adoption process, Holt International as well as our partner agency in Texas followed all national and international adoption policies, procedures, laws and best practices," Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president of policy and external affairs at Holt International, said.



"We are profoundly saddened by her tragic death," Cox told PTI in an interview.



She said for more than 40 years, the agency's adoption programmes in India have been child-centred, focused on child safety and have upheld the highest ethical standards for children and families.



"Despite our strong belief that we were in proper compliance with all national and international procedures, in response to Sherin's death we are reviewing each step of our adoption process and working with all relevant government authorities to determine how we can do even more to protect adopted children," she said.



The Holt International was recently suspended for "negligence" in its assessment of adoptive parents of Sherin Mathews.



Sherin, adopted by an Indian-American couple in 2016, died in October last year allegedly from choking after her adoptive father "physically assisted" her with drinking milk.



Her autopsy report revealed that she died because of "homicidal violence."



India's Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi made the decision to suspend Holt International from operating in India.



According to the agency's website, it has placed more than 1,480 Indian children in adoptive homes since 1979. However, after India's recent decision, the organisation's website says applications for adoptions from India are no longer being accepted.



As several adoptions will be impacted by the decision, the agency said that for the adoptions from India in process, "We've contacted our families in the adoption process from India, and we are working to smoothly transfer each family to another reputable agency."



Following the incident, India's nodal body for adoption Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), has made mental well-being of overseas applicants seeking to adopt a child an important criterion for determining their eligibility.



"We are not accepting new applications to adopt from India until the temporary suspension is lifted following CARA's investigation," it said.



Sherin's adoptive parents are in jail.



Sherin's adoptive father, 37-year-old Wesley Mathews was yesterday indicted on a capital murder charge by a grand jury and faces life in prison or the death penalty. He also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence.



Sherin's foster mother, Sini Mathews was indicted on a charge of abandoning a child. The punishment for that ranges from two to 20 years in prison with a fine up to USD 10,000.



Wesley originally told police that Sherin had disappeared after he put her outside as a punishment for not drinking her milk. Police said he changed his story after her body was found on October 24, saying he removed her body from their home after she choked on her milk.



He told authorities that he had put Sherin's body in his car with a bag of trash. Her body was later found in a culvert just miles from her home.



Sini was arrested on a charge of child abandonment or endangerment based on her husband's admission to police that they both took Sherin's sister out to dinner and left the toddler home alone the night before she died.



The couple's biological daughter remains in CPS custody. Their parental rights will be determined in a civil trial scheduled for the end of this month. They can either forfeit their parental rights, or the court will decide to schedule a civil trial to possibly terminate their rights.The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday carried out searches at the residences of senior Congress leader P Chidamaram and that of his son Karti in Delhi and Chennai in connection with its investigations into allegations of money laundering in the Aircel-Maxis case.



The searches were carried out at nine premises in Chennai and the Jor Bagh residence of the former finance minister in the national capital.

Chidambaram described the raids as a "comedy of errors" and said the ED officials were "embarrassed and apologetic" to find him there instead of his son Karti.

The former minister said he had anticipated that his house in Chennai will be searched again.

"But in a comedy of errors they came to Jor Bagh (in Delhi) and officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house, but he is not. I am the occupant," he told reporters here.

He said the ED officials could not find anything at his residence and went away with some papers, which was a copy of one of his speeches in Parliament and some notes that he had jotted down.

The case is linked to an approval granted by Foreign Investment Promotion Board to Aircel-Maxis in 2006, during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.

The ED case refers to the FIPB approval granted by Chidambaram during his tenure as finance minister pertaining to investments to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore.

The ED has claimed that Chidambaram had cleared the proposal without referring it to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is the competent authority for investments greater than Rs 600 crore.

The Congress stood by Chidambaram and accused the Modi government of unleashing a "raid raj" to "settle political scores" and "intimidate political opponents".

"The BJP government is ruffled by a series of political, administrative and judicial reverses and using these raids as a diversion from its abject failures," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.A former Director of Andhra Bank has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its money laundering probe in the alleged Rs 5,000-crore bank fraud case involving a Gujarat-based pharma firm.



They said Anup Prakash Garg was arrested by the agency late Friday evening.

This is the second arrest in the case after the agency in November last year held Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan from here.

Garg has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to be prodcted before a special court.

Garg has been named as an accused in the case by the ED and the CBI.

The agency said it found during probe that "certain entries" in a diary seized by the Income Tax Department in 2011 showed various cash payments amounting to Rs 1.52 crore made to one "Mr. Garg, Director, Andhra Bank" between 2008- 2009 by the Sandesara brothers.

It said "various cash payments were made to Garg, as reflected in the said entries, on the instructions of Sandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of several benami companies of the Sandesara brothers".

The ED had alleged that Garg had infused several crores of his unaccounted cash in various companies through many Kolkata based bogus shell companies with the help of cash/cheque entry operators in Kolkata to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.

The CBI had booked Sterling Biotech, its directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case.Seven people including five senior officials of the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots of Pawan Hans Helicopters were killed when the chopper in which they were flying crashed off the Mumbai coast, on Saturday.



The Pawan Hans helicopter a a Dauphin, VT PWA a which was on way to the Mumbai High offshore development area of ONGC a took off from the Juhu aerodrome around 10.30 am and lost contact with the Air Traffic Control nearly 10 minutes later.



Immediately, a massive search and rescue (S&R) was launched by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard ships and aircraft were launched from Maharashtra and Gujarat.



The debris was spotted around 1 pm, nearly 22 nautical miles from Uttan Lighthouse off Gorai along the Thane-Palghar districts.



So far, five bodies have been recovered a which was initially kept on board ICGS Agrim and then on an ONGC vessel a from where it was airlifted by two choppers. While one landed at the Juhu airport another touched down at the Mumbai airport.



The S&R operations would continue over Sunday, IN and ICG officials said.



"It is a sad incident, we are all shocked," Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said, adding that he would be rushing to Mumbai.



Pradhan said he was in touch with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to coordinate the S&R operations.



ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker air-dashed to Mumbai to monitor the S&R operation, officials said.



The ONGC officers a all Deputy General Managers - have been identified as Sarvananan, V K Babu, Jose Anthony, Pankaj Garg and P Srinivasan.



The Pawan Hans pilots have been identified as Capt V C Katoch and Capt Ramesh Oathkar.



Four IN vessels including fast attack craft INS Tarasa and INS Teg, a Boeing P8i and a Seaking helicopter have joined the operations.



The ICG has diverted five ships including ICGS Samudra Prahari, ICGS Agrim and ICGS Achook and two Dornier aircraft and two Chetak helicopters to the crash region for S&R operations.



A pall of gloom descended at Silver Square in Kalina, Santacruz where one of the deceased ONGC staffers Pankaj Garg lived since 15 years with his wife and two daughters. "He was a very nice person, a great human being with a helpful nature. We society members are shocked at this sudden tragedy," Joy Francis, the society's secretary said.



Meanwhile, INS Makar, a naval survey ship with latest side-scan sonar and underwater cameras have sailed from Karwar in Karnataka to augment the S&R.Seven passengers were killed and 38 others sustained injuries after the KSRTC Airavata bus in which they were travelling fell off a bridge on National Highway 75, near Shantigrama in Hassan taluk early on Saturday morning.



The deceased have been identified as Bijo George (26), Diana (20), and Sonia (28) of Belthangady (all of a same family), Rakesh Prabhu (26) of Dharmasthala, Gangadhar (50) of Bapujinagar in Bengaluru, bus driver Shivappa Chalavadi (42) of Basavanabagevadi and conductor Lakshman of Raichur. All the injured were admitted at Hassan district hospital and NDRK Hospital.

The Dharmasthala-bound bus with 45 passengers had left Bengaluru at 11.45 pm on Friday. When it reached Shantigrama, the speeding vehicle hit the road divider and fell off the bridge around 3.30 am. Soon after the accident, local people alerted the police who shifted the injured to hospital.

The police suspect overspeed or driver's negligence as the reason for the accident. However, a press release issued by the KSRTC in Bengaluru said that as per the tracking and monitoring system records, the speed of the bus was 59 km/hr at the time of the accident. The fitness certificate of the bus was valid till April 12. According to the Corporation, driver of the bus Shivappa Chalavadi had been serving for nine years and was not involved in any accidents.

Transport Minister H M Revanna has announced Rs 3 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased and has assured of bearing the medical expenses of the injured.For first time in the national capital, the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology- Delhi will start a new M.Tech programme with specialisation in Artificial Intelligence from the academic year starting in July 2018.



"The programme will be research-oriented and focus on foundations and advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning," Mayank Vatsa, head of Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIIT-Delhi said.

The programme will prepare graduates to undertake industry careers involving innovation and problem solving using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies.

The course will be spread over four semesters and the intake would be 20 students.

"After the course, the students will be able to recognise and analyse problems related to AI applications, apply pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to solve real-world problems," Vatsa said.A local court has awarded life imprisonment to a 60-year-old man for repeatedly raping a minor girl.



Additional Sessions Judge N R Pradhan yesterday also slapped a fine of Rs 11,000 on convict Janardhan Kadam, a resident of Nallasopara.

Prosecutors Ujjwala Moholkar and Jaiprakash Patil told the court that the victim, then 15, and Kadam resided in the same area.

The convict stalked the victim when she used to go to college and other places. In July 2014, Kadam took the victim to his house, spiked her drinks and raped her, the court was told.

Later, on different occasions Kadam raped her by giving threats and calling her to his house, the prosecution informed the court.

The victim then informed an NGO, following which a case was registered and Kadam was arrested, the court was informed.

Accepting the submissions, the court held that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the victim was repeatedly raped and sentenced Kadam to life imprisonment.Deputy UN Special Envoy to Yemen Maain Shuraim left Yemen after three days of talks with officials from the Ansar Allah Houthi movement and the General Peoples Congress Party (GPC) against a backdrop of pessimism over the possibility of a political breakthrough, military escalation and a severe deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the country.

The UN reiterated its warning at the beginning of this year that Yemen could become a humanitarian catastrophe of a scale unwitnessed since the end of World War II. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over a million people are believed to be infected with cholera. The epidemic, which has already spread through 22 of 23 provinces of the poorest country in the Arab world, has claimed 2,237 lives.

In the coastal city of Hodeida, some 500 cases of diphtheria have been reported. It is the first time the disease has appeared in the country since 1993, according to the Ministry of Health in Houthi-controlled Sanaa. Hodeida, the main port in the country, receives 90 per cent of the countrys food, medicine and fuel imports. The prices of all these commodities have risen at unprecedented rates as they become increasingly scarce on the local market.

The World Food Programme reports that more than a third of the countrys population (nine out of 28 million) require food aid but that the international community has been unable to collect sufficient funds to provide the necessary relief.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has been campaigning to seize control of Hodeida which the Saudis claim is the outlet through which the Houthis receive arms from Iran.

The Houthis are fighting on two fronts to counter the coalition offensive, one in Lahij and the other to the north, along the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia. Sputnik news agency reports that Houthi forces have succeeded in seizing control over the strategic Jebel Al-Hamam heights in Lahij. To the north, according to the Houthis Al-Masira television station, Houthi forces killed a Saudi soldier and Yemenis fighting on the side of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia.

Taher Ali Al-Auqaili, the chief of staff of the pro-Hadi army, told The Economist that the condition of his soldiers is deteriorating as a result of delays in the payment of their salaries, now over nine months late. He said that some soldiers were forced to sell arms or information to the Houthis. He added that, after the killing of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthis seized control of the arms of the Yemeni army that had fought under him. This, combined with the fact that a large number of Salehs officers were now loyal to the Houthis, made it unlikely that pro-Hadi forces would be able to recapture the strategic heights in Lahij.

On Monday, Houthi forces shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter over Sanaa with a ground-to-air missile. The previous day, the Houthis downed another fighter  a British-made Tornado  in Saada. Arab coalition sources report that the two pilots were saved in a rescue operation.

The Saudi-led Arab coalitions war against the Houthis is now approaching the end of its third year. It was launched in March 2015 with the purpose of reinstating the legitimate government in Sanaa and on the grounds that the Houthis, backed by Tehran, posed a threat to Saudi national security.

According to unconfirmed estimates, Saudi Arabia has lost 200 soldiers and billions of dollars without attaining its declared aims. The internationally recognised government has yet to return to Sanaa, while Riyadh is facing intense international pressure due to the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Yemen.

Around 10,000 people have been killed in the war so far from both sides. The majority are civilians killed by Arab coalition bombing, according to international human rights agencies. The suffering of civilians intensified after Riyadh imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Yemen.

With the death of Saleh at the hands of his erstwhile Houthi allies, Yemen is staring at an even more uncertain future. Observers believe that the GPC is cleft between its members tribal loyalties and a tendency to side with the Houthis or even the Hadi government. The appointment of Sadek Amin Abu Rass to succeed Saleh as the partys chairman has, so far, not helped shed light on what lies ahead even though he was elected by an overwhelming majority.

Uncertainty appears dog the other side as well. Mohamed Al-Shami, a Yemeni journalist, said that the Arab coalition is not unified. The UAE supports Salehs son, Ahmed, who has vowed to exact revenge from the Houthis, while Saudi Arabia supports Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar from President Hadis camp. So far, neither man has proven popular among the Yemenis, which complicates matters, Al-Shami said.

Shuraim arrived in Yemen 6 January. He asked the Houthis to offer concessions in order to end the political deadlock and make it possible to resume negotiations that have been stalled since August 2016. He also asked them to ease restrictions on GPC leaders and to release detainees, and designate representatives in the joint committee tasked with containing major escalation. The Houthis have already released 200 people who took part in the events that led to the death of the former president in early December.

The question of Al-Hodeida was a priority in Shuraims visit. The UN, through Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, had proposed a draft agreement that would begin with the creation of impartial military committees that would oversee transitional security arrangements and the withdrawal of militias from the capital, Hodeida and Taiz within 45 days. This would be followed by a comprehensive power-sharing agreement and preparations for general elections.

However, Shuraim would not leave Yemen before receiving a threat by Saleh Al-Sammad, chairman of the Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, to disrupt international navigation in the Red Sea if the Arab coalition persisted in its military escalation. Al-Sammad, on the other hand, stressed that the Houthis were prepared to reach understandings. They will find that we are readier than ever before in the past, in order to spare the bloodshed of the people and for the sake of security and stability in the region, he said.

GPC member Mohamed Shajjaa, who resides in Cairo, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Al-Sammads remarks illustrate the dilemma in which the Houthis found themselves after the assassination of Saleh.

Abdel-Malik Abdel-Jalil Al-Mekhlafi, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, listed five conditions for returning to the negotiating table with the Houthis. The Houthis, he said, should stop targeting politicians, release detainees, halt aggressions, lift their blockades on cities and permit the entry of relief convoys.

The international community has accused both sides  the Houthis and the Arab coalition  of preventing humanitarian relief from reaching designated recipients. However, as the UN has pointed out, Riyadhs land, sea and air blockade remains the most salient factor in the aggravation of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

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The government plans to give Rs 500 to Tuberculosis (TB) patients to help them buy nutritious food and compensate them for travel expenses until they are cured of the disease, a health ministry official said.



Under the proposal, the money would be given to patients, who number around 25 lakh, irrespective of their income level.

The Expenditure Finance Committee has approved the proposal and sent it to the Mission Steering Group, the official said.

The initiative is part of the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination, with the health ministry aiming to eliminate TB by 2025.

"Around 25 lakh patients suffering from tuberculosis will soon be given Rs 500 per month, irrespective of their income level, as social support. A mechanism will be put in place to give the incentives to the patients on the basis of their Aadhaar number and medical documents," the official said.

"The health ministry aims to reduce incidences of TB by 90% by 2025 and reduce mortality due to the disease by 95% by 2030 under the Revised National TB Control Programme," the official said.

Under the new treatment policy, patients are given fixed drug combinations - three or four drugs in a single pill - daily, instead of thrice a week (intermittent drug regimen).

"Also, children suffering from tuberculosis won't have to take the bitter tablets anymore as they will be replaced with easily-dissolvable and flavoured drugs," he said.

Since 1997, under the RNTCP, patients were being administered drugs thrice a week. The daily treatment regimen is likely to be more effective with lesser relapses and it is expected to reduce drug-resistance with greater compliance.Karnataka BJP President B S Yeddyurappa urged dalits not to vote for the Congress, as the party had not bestowed the Bharat Ratna accolade to Dr B R Ambedkar, who is popularly known as the architect of the Indian Constitution.



Speaking at BJP's Parivartana Yatre rally at Srinivasapur, Kolar district, on Saturday, he said that during the last election, people were misguided and hence voted Congress to power. "The same mistake must not happen in the upcoming elections," he added.



He said that the BJP had trounced the Congress at the national level.



He alleged that state government had embezzled crores of rupees in the name of irrigation projects.



Murderous government



Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda who spoke on the occasion, alleged that there was 'murderous government' ruling Karnataka and the law and order situation in the state had worsened.



"Women fear coming out of their houses," said Gowda.



He added that the BJP would implement the Yettinahole project if it comes to power in the state in the upcoming polls. This project involves construction of eight small dams.



'Benki (fire) Ramaiah'



BJP MLA R Ashoka who spoke, called Chief Minister Siddaramaiah; 'benki (fire) ramaiah' because the CM was allegedly lighting fires between people of various castes and faiths.



He alleged that state Congress leaders had embezzled the Rs 3 lakh crore released by the Centre for various schemes.Goa's Water Resources Department Minister Vinod Palyekar today rushed to the site where Karnataka, according to the Goa government, is constructing a canal on a tributary of the Mahadeyi river.



The Goa government had alleged yesterday that neighbouring Karnataka, disrespecting a Supreme Court order, had resumed work on a canal at Kankumbi.

"I have left for Kankumbi with my officials to inspect the violations by Karnataka and take stock of the situation," Palyekar said.

The Goa government has also claimed that it had photographs to prove that the neighbouring state had violated court orders.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who had directed state Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to write a letter to the Karnataka government asking it to stop work, on Wednesday said the ongoing dispute would be fought before the Mahadeyi Water Disputes Tribunal.

Last month, Parrikar had written a letter to Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa stating that Goa would share Mahadeyi river waters with Karnataka for drinking purposes and had expressed willingness to hold bilateral talks.

Parrikar's letter had evoked strong criticism from Opposition ranks.Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra's handling of the issue pertaining to Memorandum of Procedure -- has apparently singed the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to lodge their protest in public.



Besides objecting to the allocation of cases to particular benches, the four judges led by Justice J Chelameswar also questioned a two-judge bench's decision to entertain a petition filed by R P Luthra on the issue on October 27, last. Though a three-judge bench presided over by the CJI had subsequently on November 8 overturned the judicial order, the four judges, however, went on to ventilate their grievances in public on Friday.



The MoP has remained pending since Constitution bench decision on December 16, 2016, in view of the tug-of-war between the judiciary and the Union government over certain clauses like the rejection of candidates on national security, widening zone of consultation, complaint disposal mechanism etc.



In their letter to the CJI about two months, they said that there was no occasion for the bench (of Justices Adarsh K Goel and U U Lalit) to make an observation with regard to the finalisation of the MoP or that the issue cannot linger on for an indefinite period.



The four judges, including Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, objected to the judicial order passed by the two-judge bench wherein a response was sought from Attorney General.



When the MoP was the subject matter of a decision of a Constitution Bench of this court, in Supreme Court Advocates-on-record Association and Anr Vs Union of India (2016), it is difficult to understand as to how any other bench could have dealt with the matter, they said.



They pointed out after the Constitution Bench's decision in NJAC, detailed discussions were held by the Collegium of five judges and the MoP was finalised and sent by the then Chief Justice of India to the government in March 2017.



"The Government of India has not responded to the communication and in view of this silence, it must be taken that the MoP as finalised by the Collegium has been accepted by the Government," the letter stated.



They have demanded the CJI to "rectify the situation and take appropriate remedial measures after a full discussion with the other members of the collegium and at a later stage, if required, with other Hon'ble judges of this court."



Interestingly, the CJI-led bench had on November 8 scuttled the move by a two-judge bench to examine "indefinite delay" in finalisation of the MoP for the appointment of judges in the apex court and the High Courts. "There was no necessity to pass any interim order in view of the Constitution bench decision. These are not matters to be taken on the judicial side. That's all," the bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and Amitava Roy had said.An FIR was lodged here against Patidar quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel for allegedly delivering a "political" speech at an educational and farmers' welfare event at a village in Jamnagar district over two months ago, the police said today.



The complaint, filed by Jamnagar (rural) Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) R K Patel, says that although permission was granted for organising an educational and farmers' welfare event at Dhutarpar village, it turned out to be a "political" programme with Hardik delivering the speech.

The case was registered at the Jamnagar 'A' division police station yesterday.

According to the complaint, Hardik and his associate Ankit Dhadia had violated the conditions laid down while granting permission for the event.

Dhadia had sought permission from the SDM to hold a public gathering at Dhutarpar village on November 4 last year.

"While permission was granted for an educational and farmers' welfare programme at Dhutarpar village in the Jamnagar taluka, it turned out to be a political event with Hardik delivering a political speech," the SDM said in the complaint.

"We had granted permission to hold the gathering. However, after going through the details of the event, it came to light that instead of being an educational and farmers' welfare programme, it turned out to be political event, thereby violating the conditions set while granting the permission," he added.

The Jamnagar 'A' division police lodged a case against Hardik and Dhadia under sections 36(A), 72(2) and 134 of the Gujarat Police Act.Citing threats to his life following his controversial remarks on the madarsas (Islamic Seminaries) and his offer to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya to the Hindus for Ram Temple construction, Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi has got his grave ''prepared''.



Rizvi said here that he had ''bought'' his grave at 'Karbala' (burial site) in Talkatora locality in the city a few years back. ''I have got the grave fully prepared in view of the threats,'' he said.

''I have been receiving threats on telephone and social media....I was forced to get my grave prepared as any thing can happen to me anytime,'' Rizvi remarked.

Rizvi has also got a stone on the grave with his name etched on it.

He said that he had also apprised the state principal secretary, home, of the threats and sought immediate action.

The Shia Waqf Board chairman said that he would not be ''cowed down'' by the threats and was ready to pay any price.

Rizvi detractors and Muslim clerics termed Rizvi's act as a ''gimmick'' aimed at gaining publicity and security from the government.

''Buying grave for oneself in advance is not a new phenomenon...many people do this,'' said a senior cleric here on Saturday.

Some Muslim clerics had recently demanded dismissal of Rizvi for his remarks on madarsas and also his arrest. Rizvi had sought closure of the madarsas and converting them to public schools saying that they (madarsas) received funding from Bangladesh and Pakistan and promoted terrorism.

Earlier also the Shia Waqf Board president had incurred the wrath of Muslim outfits for offering to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya to the Hindus for construction of Ram Temple.Related Palestinians to meet to discuss Trump Jerusalem response

Islamist movement Hamas said Saturday it would not participate in a meeting of Palestinian leaders to debate responses to the controversial US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The decision not to take part in the meeting to begin late Sunday is a further setback to failing reconciliation efforts between leading Palestinian factions.

"We have taken the decision not to participate in the meeting of the (Palestinian) Central Council in Ramallah," Hamas said in a statement, however stressing its "commitment to the unity of our people".

"The conditions under which the committee will be held will not enable it to carry out a comprehensive and responsible political review, and will prevent decisions that reach the level of our aspirations."

The two-day meeting will bring together the heads of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian Islamist movement, were invited to attend despite not being part of the PLO. Islamic Jihad has also announced it would not take part.

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, had been pushing for the meeting to be held outside the Palestinian territories but Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas decided instead to host it in Ramallah, the base of his government in the West Bank.

The Hamas statement said this left them subject to the "pressures" of Israel, which occupies the West Bank and regularly arrests Hamas officials.

The meeting is due to discuss responses to US President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The decision infuriated Palestinian leaders, who see at least the east of the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Trump's administration has also not publicly committed to the idea of an independent Palestinian state, and the PLO office in Washington was briefly threatened with closure.

Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party signed a reconciliation agreement in October that was meant to see the Islamists hand over control of Gaza by the end of the year.

The talks have however broken down, with disputes over the fate of tens of thousands of Hamas civil servants and the future of Hamas' vast armed wing.

Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

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An army soldier was killed as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.



An army spokesperson said Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on Indian posts in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri at around 2 pm, which was strongly and effectively retaliated by the Indian army.



"In the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Yogesh Muralidhar Bhadane was grievously injured. He later succumbed to his injuries," said the spokesperson.



Bhadane (28), belonged to Khalane district of Dhule district of Maharashtra and is survived by his wife.



The firing exchange lasted around 15 minutes, and both sides used small arms.



The latest ceasefire incident occurred a day after Army chief General Bipin Rawat said the army was ready to call Pakistan's "nuclear bluff" and cross the border to carry out any operation if asked by the government.



The ceasefire violations and sniper attacks along the LoC and the International Border (IB) by Pakistani troops have been on the rise over the last one year.



On December 31, an army soldier was killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri.



Earlier, on December 23, four army personnel, including a major, were killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Keri sector of the same district.Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10, the state unit chief of the party, G Parameshwara, said here today.



The Karnataka polls are expected to be held in March- April. The dates for polling to the 225-member state Assembly are yet to be announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Parameshwara was in the national capital to attend a meeting called by Gandhi to review the party's preparedness and discuss its strategy with senior leaders in the run-up to the Karnataka polls.

"Rahulji will visit Karnataka from February 10-12 for the first leg of the (poll) campaign," Parameshwara told reporters after the meeting.

Gandhi would start his Karnataka tour from Bengaluru and also travel to the other parts of the state, he said, adding, "Various programmes have been lined up on all three days. Rahulji will address farmers, intellectuals and students among others."

Besides Parameshwara, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, state Congress' working presidents S R Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the party's Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal were also present at the meeting, besides senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K Rahman Khan, K H Muniyappa, Oscar Fernandes and Veerappa Moily.

Punjab and Karnataka are the only two big states in the country which are ruled by the Congress.Former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde today "wholly" condemned the action of four senior judges in going public over internal matters of the judiciary, saying it affected the reputation of the institution and may amount to contempt of court.



Questioning their action, he said internal matters of the judiciary should not have been brought to the public for discussion because neither the public nor the government or the executive can give any relief to them. "I wholly condemn the press meet yesterday held by the four judges of the Supreme Court. My complaint is these things should not have been publicly discussed, consequent to which the reputation of the judiciary has been affected," he told PTI.



In an unprecedented move in the country's judicial history, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had held a press conference yesterday and mounted a virtual revolt against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, questioning him on the 'selective' allocation of cases and certain judicial orders passed by him.



Hegde, a former Lokayukta of Karnataka, said their action would not benefit anybody other than drawing public attention. He said institutions like the judiciary survive on the confidence of the people. "Once the confidence of the people is lost, the institution will be useless," he said. Agreeing that the judges' intention was to 'bring the muck out of the system, he disapproved of their approach as it would set a new precedent where judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court would start bringing their differences into the public domain.



On whether their action was liable for impeachment, Hegde said he does not want to go to that extent, though he felt it can be possible, given the fact that a Calcutta High Court judge was impeached for contempt of court. He, however, felt that their action may amount to contempt of court. "Yes, it may amount to contempt of court but I am not talking about that...I don't want to take the issue to another direction. I am only questioning the action of the four judges who came out saying that the Chief Justice is giving cases according to his whims and fancies. "Yes, that is the jurisdiction given to him. And why not? That bench before which the case is posted does not have the only person. There are two other judges there." "That means you are suspecting the three judges. Let us not denigrate the institution," said Hegde.The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) today passed a resolution saying the differences of four seniormost judges with Chief Justice Dipak Misra should be considered by the full bench of the apex court.



Expressing "grave concern" over the differences between the senior judges and the CJI, SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that all PILs should be looked into either by the CJI or senior judges who form part of the apex court collegium.

Taking note of the concerns raised by four senior judges led by Justice J Chelameswar over assigning of cases, the bar body suggested that even the PILs listed for hearing on January 15 be transferred from other benches to either the bench headed by the CJI or benches led by the members of the collegium.

Singh said that at the emergency executive meeting, grave concern was expressed over the differences between the four judges and the CJI.

Yesterday, justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases.

The judges had said that there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court and warned that they could destroy Indian democracy.

The unprecedented news conference had left the judiciary and observers stunned, leaving uncertain how this open dissension in the hallowed institution would be resolved.Police have arrested a senior student for sexually assaulting his junior at the University of Hyderabad here, on Friday.



Gachibowli police received a complaint from 19-year-old Sagnik Puri, an Integrated Master of Arts (IMA) student, that Mohammad Rinish, a 27-year-old senior, entered his hostel room on January 7 and sexually assaulted him after bolting the door. Police registered a case of unnatural sex (IPC 377) against Rinish, a native of Kerala.

According to Gachibowli DCP P Viswaprasad, the incident saw light only after the university completed its preliminary probe. The victim had complained to the university authorities, who in turn completed their probe before allowing the victim to file a police complaint. According to the complaint, Rinish entered the victim's hostel room around 11.30 pm and forced himself on the victim and had unnatural sex.

The victim said he knew his attacker, who entered his room while he was filling up an application for the Global Initiative of Academic Networks, an event slated to happen at IIT-Kharagpur. The police have arrested Rinish and sent him to judicial remand.

ABVP slur

In another incident, the UoH proctoral Board has sent a show cause notice to an ABVP leader Karan Palsania for posting derogatory comments on Dalit Professor K Laxminarayana of School of Economics, on social media. In a statement, university spokesperson Vinod Pavarala said the Vice-Chancellor, Prof P Apparao, has taken serious note of the verbal abuse targeted at the Dalit professor. "The student concerned has been sent a show cause notice and asked to appear before the board on January 17," the statement said.Two PILs seeking an independent probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya will not be taken up by the Supreme Court on Monday.



Of the two-judge bench presided over by Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar, the latter is on leave.

According to the apex court's cause list, court number 10 - that briefly heard the matter on Friday - would not assemble on January 15.

The matter is now likely to be posted for consideration on Tuesday.

The allocation of the case, involving the Mumbai judge on December 1, 2014, to a Justice Mishra-led bench was cited as one of the reasons by the four senior-most judges to express in public their dissent with the CJI.

A bench of Justices Mishra and Shantanagoudar had on January 12 asked the Maharashtra government to bring up all records pertaining to the matter.

Judge Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in which BJP president Amit Shah and senior police officers were accused. All of them were subsequently discharged.

Notably, one of the petitioners, Congress party sympathsier Tehseen Poonawalla, on Saturday accused senior advocate Dushyant Dave of asking him to withdraw his plea on the ground that the bench would not deal with the case favourably.

He said Dave himself had earlier volunteered to argue the matter but subsequently tried to convince him against pursuing it. The matter was argued by advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma.

On the last date of hearing, Dave, along with senior advocate Indira Jaising, had submitted before the court since a similar plea demanding an independent probe into the death of judge Loya was pending before the Bombay High Court, the apex court should not hear it.

The court, however, had rejected their plea.

Another PIL was filed by a Maharashtra-based journalist Banduraj Sambhaji Lone in the apex court.India has registered significant decline in mortality rate of children under five years of age, according to the recently-released 2016 sample registration system (SRS) bulletin.



Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in India showed an impressive decline of 9%, from 43 per 1,000 in 2015 to 39 per 1,000 in 2016, it said.

According to a health ministry statement, for the first time, the number of under-five deaths in the country have come down to below 1 million with nearly 1,20,000 fewer under-five deaths in 2016 as compared to 2015.

Most of the states have shown good progress in reduction of under-five child mortality in 2016 from the previous year. However, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, showed a slight increase over the previous year, while Telangana, showed no change in 2016.

Congratulating all those associated with this "remarkable feat", Union Health Minister J P Nadda said the results signify that the strategic approach of the government in the matter is yielding dividends and putting focus on low- performance states is paying off.

He said India is on track of meeting the target of bringing under-five mortality rate down to 25 by 2030 under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SRS Bulletin also stated that gender gap in India for child survival is reducing steadily with difference between female and male under-five mortality rates reducing to 11%. It was 17% in 2014.

The current under-five mortality for male is 37 per 1000, while for female child it is 41 per 1000 live births.

Among the bigger states, seven - Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana - have reversed the gender gap in survival of female child.

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have reversed the gender gap in under-five survival.

Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha, Punjab and Delhi have depicted less than 5% gap in mortality of female child and are within striking distance to reverse the gender gap.

The maximum gender gap in survival of under-five for female child is in Bihar (46% higher mortality for female child), followed by Haryana (23%), Kerala (20%), Assam and Karnataka (19% each) and Rajasthan (17%).

The SRS Bulletin also shows that the neonatal mortality rate has reduced by 1 point from 25 per 1,000 live births to 24 per 1,000 live births.A farmer reportedly committed suicide and blamed five private money lenders for his extreme step in a video recorded on his mobile phone before his death, police said on Saturday.



The farmer, Vinod Patidar, was a resident of a village about 30km from the Neemuch district headquarter here.

Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Ravindra Boyat said: "A 30-year-old farmer, identified as Vinod Patidar, committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance at Alhed village under Manasa police station area on Thursday night."

Patidar had recorded a video on his mobile phone before taking the extreme step.

"We found a video in the mobile phone of the deceased on Friday. In the video, he has accused five private lenders of harassing him despite repaying the loans taken from them," the police officer said.

The SDOP said the police have seized the mobile and an investigation was underway.

A case against these private lenders would be registered under IPC Section 306 (abetment to suicide) if some substance is found in the farmer's allegations during the investigation, he said.

According to the police, Patidar, in the video, has named the five lenders, who he claimed, were threatening and pressurising him to pay Rs 4 lakh. He has said these persons had taken away his tractor. So, he is taking the extreme step to save his self-esteem, Boyat said, quoting from the video.

After recording the video, he consumed some poisonous substance and died on way to hospital, the officer said.

Patidar Samaj's local unit president Prem Patidar said the farmer had written a letter to the Prime Minister's Office on January 4, seeking permission for euthanasia, citing "threat" to his life from the private lenders.

Prem Patidar demanded strict police action against the lenders allegedly responsible for the suicide.Lawyers bodies on Saturday stepped in to end the crisis that struck the top court in the country with the Supreme Court Bar Association asking the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to assign all PILs including the pending ones to the court of five judges.



The Bar Council of India, the statutory body to regulate legal profession, favoured for in-house mechanism to resolve the issue.

The Supreme Court Bar Association said the concern expressed by four judges is grave and should be addressed by full court.

A day after four senior most judges of the Supreme Court accusing CJI of allocating of cases with far-reaching consequences to select benches, the SCBA, as an immediate solution, urged the CJI to assign all PILs a even those put for hearing on January 15 a to the court of first five judges including the CJI.

Four senior most judges Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph on Friday addressed a press conference, the first time in the history of the Supreme Court, to allege that administration is not in order and many things, less than, desirable have happened in recent past. Justice Gogoi also objected to allocation to judge B H Loya's case to court number 10.

On Saturday, lawyers regulatory body, the BCI met and decided to send a seven-member delegation to meet the SC judges personally on Sunday to "resolve the issue peacefully". "No political party or person should take undue advantage of the situation," the BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said.

"We are ready to mediate. All these things should not come out in the public," he said.

"Whatever differences judges have over roster or allocation of cases, should be resolved by in-house mechanism without airing views in public," he said. He also termed as "unfortunate" that Congress Rahul Gandhi and others political parties talked about it.

In a statement, SCBA president Vikas Singh said, "It has been unanimously resolved by the executive committee of the SCBA that all PIL matters including the pending PILs should be either taken by the CJI or if he has to assign it any other bench, it should be assigned to the judges in the Collegium." It also said the matters posted for hearing on Monday should be transferred to the first five judges court.

The SCBA also decided to meet individual judges to end the stalemate that has been described as historic and unprecedented as the four judges said their repeated requests to the CJI were not acceded to. They had on Friday said, "Unless the institution is saved, democracy would be in danger."

"The difference that have been reported in the press by the four senior judges of the SC and the other differences... are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the full court of the Supreme Court," stated another resolution passed by the SCBA.Syria's leading opposition body on Saturday blamed the government for the mysterious death of one of its members after a car accident in the capital Damascus.

Munir Darwish, 80, was a writer and founder of a Cairo-based opposition group seen as "tolerated" by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

He joined the mainstream Syrian Negotiations Committee (SNC) in November but continued to live in Damascus.

The SNC said Darwish was the victim of "a hit-and-run outside his home in Damascus, followed by a premeditated elimination (killing)" on Friday night.

"We hold the tyrannical Assad regime responsible for Munir Darwish's death," the SNC said in a statement, referring to the incident as an "assassination".

Firas al-Khalidi, who heads the Cairo Platform, told AFP that the exact cause of death remained unclear.

After the car accident, Darwish underwent ankle surgery at the capital's Mawasat Hospital and was in "excellent health", awaiting release on Saturday, he said.

"At around midnight on Friday, they called to say he's dead. I found out from his son," he said.

Khalidi said Darwish had not left Syria since late November out of fear for his safety, even though both his sons and wife lived abroad.

"He clearly hinted that there were threats," Khalidi added, without directly accusing the government.

"Who has an interest in his assassination, except those who hate Syria -- with the regime at the top of the list?" Khalidi told AFP.

Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with widespread protests against Assad but it has since morphed into a brutal and complex war.

Numerous rounds of UN-brokered peace negotiations held in Geneva have failed to end the war, which has left more than 340,000 people dead.

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India and the United States may strike deals for co-development of next-generation military helicopters and combat vehicles this year, apart from moving towards holding multi-service war-drills - involving armies, navies and air forces.



Kenneth Juster, the US ambassador to India, recently said that one of the key pillars for durable ties between the two nations was "defense and counter-terrorism cooperation" in order to "enhance long-term security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region".

He said that India and US could announce major agreements this year, enabling cooperation in "areas such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms; fighter aircraft production; and the co-development of next-generation systems, including a Future Vertical Lift platform or Advanced Technology Ground Combat Vehicles".

The Future Vertical Lift programme of the American Department of Defence is aimed at replacing the entire US military helicopters, beginning with medium-weight rotorcraft replacing Apache and Black Hawk choppers by 2030. New Delhi and Washington DC have been discussing a proposal by the US to jointly develop the next-generation rotorcraft within the framework of the bilateral Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.

The US also offered India co-development of ground combat vehicles with advanced technologies.

Washington's new envoy to New Delhi also suggested India-US multi-service war-drills, building on the successes of the single-service exercises by armies, navies and air-forces of the two nations.

Juster said that the US will continue to provide support to turn India into a "net provider of regional security, capable of responding successfully to threats to peace, especially in the Indian Ocean and its vicinity". "We can advance these objectives in several ways, which we expect to discuss this spring in our new 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue and incorporate in a roadmap to drive action on both sides," he said, delivering a policy speech at Carnegie India in New Delhi earlier this week.

The first India-US 2+2 dialogue, which is likely to take place in March or April this year, will seek to build on strategic convergence in the Indo-Pacific, while New Delhi and Washington DC are working on stepping up cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are likely to travel to Washington DC to hold the "2+2 dialogue" with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and American President Donald Trump last year agreed upon the new format of bilateral strategic consultation aimed at working together "for peace and stability across Indo-Pacific" and countering China's hegemonic aspirations in the region."Educated youth should apply their knowledge towards nation building. Unless knowledge is applicable in the progress of the nation, the very knowledge they acquire will become redundant," said Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya.



He was speaking after inaugurating the Yuva Sammelana, a youth convention, organised by Ramakrishna Mutt, Mangaluru on the occasion of the 156th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at the mutt premises in Mangaladevi on Saturday.

"We have no reason to be apologetic. Hundreds of years of British and Mughal rule have made us slaves of foreign ideologies, thereby creating an inferiority complex among us. Our thinking process was narrowed down. But now, it is high time to think and act in terms of strengthening the nation and every citizen has a role to play. The ultimate goal of everyone should be to strengthen the nation," he said.

Mutt hailed for initiative

Lauding the efforts of Ramakrishna Mutt in creating awareness on cleanliness, the Nagaland Governor called upon citizens to join hands with organisations like

Ramakrishna Mission so as to realise the dream of Swacch Bharat, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made all Indians proud.

The Governor said that he was a staunch Hindu in partiotic terms and believes in all-religion harmony. "Bharat mata is our Goddess", Acharya said.

'Fond memories of Udupi'

Stating that he was proud to be from Udupi, he recalled fond memories of studying at Christian High School, Udupi, from where he obtained his initial education.

'Bring NE to mainstream'

The Nagaland Governor asserted that eight states of North East should join the mainstream of national development.

"These eight states are like the eight pillars of the nation. A dormant society should be changed to a vibrant Indian and North East should be a part of it," he said.

Ramakrishna Mutt, Mangaluru President Swami Jithakamanandaji presided over the programme.

P B Acharya's spouse Kavitha Acharya, Opposition Chief Whip in Legislative Council Capt Ganesh Karnik, Government First Grade College, Car Street Principal Prof essor Rajashekhar Hebbar and resourceperson Professor K Raghothama Rao were present were present on the occasion.Minister for Higher Education Basavaraj Rayareddy on Saturday said that he will hold a meeting with the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash J Javadekar on Sunday to discuss recognition for Karnataka State Open University (KSOU).



He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating 'Education Expo', at Suttur here organised as part of Suttur Jatra Mahotsava. The minister blamed that due to irregularities of the former vice chancellors and registrars, the University Grants Commission (UGC) de-recognised the courses of KSOU. Due to the lapses, lakhs of students have been facing problems. "We have to request the Union Minister Prakash Javadekar to resolve the issue by providing recognition for the institution," he said.

The minister also urged Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who was present at the event, to take measures in this regard. "If we fail to get the recognition for the varsity, then both, Union as well state government, should face embarrassment from the students," he said.

Recalling the Income Tax officials raid against Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Rayareddy said, "The officials seized Rs 450 crore belonging to the students. The matter needs to be discussed with Javadekar asking him to take measures to release the money."

Ananth Kumar assured his full cooperation in strengthening education sector in the state.Large and Medium Scale Industries Minister R V Deshpande on Saturday, said that the government has incorporated a non-profit company 'Invest Karnataka Forum' to promote industries in the state.



In a press conference here the Minister said that Karnataka is the most progressive and visionary state in the country and is emerging as the most preferred destination for investments. "The state is much suitable for companies to succeed and the government is committed to provide all support and facilities to ensure ease of doing business. The government is offering the best incentives to attract new investments in the state," he said.

Invest Karnataka Forum (IKF) is a non-profit company established under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. The Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries is its Chairman. In addition, the board has eight directors, five from the industry and two bureaucrats.

When the reporters asked whether the cases of violence, reported in the state due to communal issues, will affect the investments, he said, the incidents will not have any impact.

B'luru second capital

The Minister said, "South India too needs a capital and Bengaluru is the best place to be the capital. Bengaluru is not only an IT-BT hub but, a dynamic and hub of education, healthcare, and industries."

Deshpande said that Bengaluru is in no way less than Delhi. It is an opportunity for the Union government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to utilise the opportunity.

Mysuru tourism

"In order to develop tourism sector and industries in the state, I have urged the Union government authorities to provide direct connectivity between Mysuru and Goa; Hampi to Goa," said Deshpande.

The Minister said that he has asked the authorities concerned to take measures to start air services from Bidar also. "I have approached the authorities of Aviation Ministry to take measures to operate flights between Hubballi-Bengaluru-Mumbai on all seven days in a week. At present, the flights are operating four days in a week.A man is accused of killing his brother's widow during a quarrel on dinner in Nelamangala on the southern outskirts of Bengaluru.



Gangaguddaiah, the suspect, came home on Friday and picked a quarrel with Padma, who was married to his deceased brother. He bludgeoned her with a club, killing her instantly.

Padma's screams drew neighbours to the house. Seeing her lying in a pool of blood, they called the Nelamangala rural police who arrived at the spot and caught Gangaguddaiah. Padma's body was later shifted for post-mortem.

Padma, a resident of Lakkasandra, had been living with Gangaguddaiah after her husband passed away five years ago. She would cook the food and do the household chores. Police said they were investigating the motive behind the murder.Police have arrested a gang of four, including a woman, who had kidnapped a 70-year-old moneylender from Yelahanka, North Bengaluru, and extorted Rs 60 lakh as ransom.



The gang abducted former councillor, realtor and moneylender Mallikarjuna at gunpoint on Friday morning as he entered a park near his residence for a walk.

They cramped him into a car and sped away after snatching his mobile phone and other belongings. The gang then called his son Dr Ravi Kumar and informed about Mallikarjuna's kidnapping and demanded Rs 100 crore as ransom. They also threatened Kumar of dire consequences if he contacted the police.

Kumar told the gang that he did not have such a large sum and brought down the deal to Rs 60 lakh. As instructed, he went with the money to the city outskirts, where he exchanged it for his father. Before getting home, however, he lodged a police complaint about the kidnapping incident.

Police formed a special team headed by Mohammed Humayun Nagte, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Sampigehalli subdivision), and began gathering clues about the vehicle used in the kidnap.

Based on the call detail record (CDR), police caught the 30-year-old realtor, Kantharajegowda, and his associates Renuka Prasad (41), Arshiya (32) and Pradeep (27).

Police said the suspects, who were into real estate business, wanted to grab some quick money and planned the kidnap.

Last year, Kantharajegowda was arrested when he tried exchanging old banknotes near Ashok Nagar. He managed to walk free on bail. Kantharajegowda conspired with his friend Arshiya to kidnap Mallikarjuna for ransom.

Police recovered Rs 1.04 crore in cash and a pistol with live cartridges from the suspects.A 20-year-old man was killed and another injured when a speeding lorry collided with a stationary container truck on NICE Road in Electronics City past Friday midnight.



The deceased, Prem Kumar, was a native of Walajapet in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, and was the lorry cleaner while the injured is lorry driver Babu.

According to the police, the accident occurred around 12.30 am when a container truck driver pulled in on NICE Road without any indicators or blinkers on. The driver of the container truck had pulled in near Basavapura bridge, 200 metres from the toll booth, to attend the nature's call, police added.

Babu failed to notice the parked truck and crashed into it. Cleaner Kumar was trapped inside the vehicle with his left leg dismembered. Passersby informed the police who called for a crane to the spot.

The crane that started from Thalaghattapura toppled and fell into a gorge near Kumaraswamy Layout, injuring the driver and a few helpers. Police then called another crane to the spot and separated the vehicles.

By the time Kumar was extricated from the mangled remains, he had bled profusely. He was rushed in an ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. Truck driver Babu sustained injuries and has been admitted to a private hospital.

The Electronics City traffic police have registered a case and have booked both the truck drivers under IPC section 304-A for causing accidental death due to rash and negligent driving.The Centre is set to organise the seventh edition of the "Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav-2018" in Karnataka from January 14 to January 20.



"The Union Culture Ministry has decided to organise Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix in Karnataka to celebrate the idea of unity in diversity," the government said in a statement.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma will inaugurate the 'Mahotsav' on January 14 at 7.30 pm at the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium on Palace Road in Bengaluru.

Under the "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka has paired with Uttarakhand to organise various events. The Mahotsav will cover "a profusion of art forms" from classical and folk, music and dance, theatre to literature and the visual arts and would offer the chance to experience "the best in established and emerging virtuosity," the Culture Ministry said.

"A handloom and handicrafts utsav is part of the proposed event. The gastronomic culture of several partnering states will be showcased through a food festival," the ministry added.

The Mahotsav will be held from Jan 14 to 16 in Bengaluru; on Jan 17 and 18 in Hubballi-Dharwad and from Jan 19 and 20 in Mangaluru.

"Cultural utsavs will be held at all the venues in Karnataka. In addition to the cultural fiesta, a gamut of events have been planned for the Mahotsava in Bengaluru," the Ministry said.Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a meeting of Dalit leaders in Bengaluru on Sunday to discuss implementation of Sadashiva Commission report on internal reservation among Scheduled Castes.



"I have convened the meeting of different leaders of the Scheduled Castes. We will discuss the issue in detail," Siddaramaiah told reporters here on Saturday. The Justice A J Sadashiva Commission, which looked into methods of equitable distribution of reservation facilities among the Scheduled Castes, has recommended internal reservation among the castes by broadly reclassifying all the 101 castes into four groups.

Though a section of Dalits has demanded early implementation of the report, some have opposed it. As the issue is bone of contention among the different sub-section of Dalits, the chief minister has been trying to settle the dispute by holding discussion among them.Turkey's president vowed to oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, on Saturday as Syrian rebels also said they are bracing for such an operation.

Speaking in the eastern province of Elazig, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the People's Protection Units, or YPG, that Turkey will intervene if the "terrorists in Afrin do not surrender."

His remarks came as Turkey's military shelled Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled enclave along Syria's frontier with Turkey, saying it was responding to harassment by the YPG, according to the Turkish station NTV.

Turkey regularly shells Afrin but Saturday's assault was particularly intensive and lasted more than two hours, said YPG spokesman Rojhat Roj.

"We are seeing preparations" for a Turkish push into Afrin, said Roj.

"The YPG will defend itself against any aggression," he added.

Turkey considers the YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders.

The YPG and its political counterpart, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, say they want regional autonomy within a federalized Syria.

They control nearly 25 percent of Syrian territory, shrewdly striking alliances with the U.S. and Russia to establish the Kurds as a powerful force on the ground in Syria's civil war.

But the Afrin region is detached from the bulk of Kurdish-controlled territory in northeast Syria. It's surrounded on three sides by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels backed by Ankara. And while the U.S. military maintains bases in the Kurdish territory in northeast Syria, it is not believed to be present in Afrin.

A Syrian opposition news site, Baladi News, quoted a rebel commander on Thursday as saying that joint Turkish military and Syrian rebel operations to attack Afrin could begin "at any moment."

Moaz Abu Omar of the Failaq al-Sham rebel faction said ground operations would likely be backed by Turkish air power.

Turkey has already stationed troops and armored vehicles in rebel-held territory on either side of Afrin in northern Syria. The Turkish military entered rebel-held Idlib in October to monitor "de-escalation zones" between rebels and the Syria government, following an agreement with Russia and Iran to restore order in Syria.

Kurdish officials say the Turkish deployment is a cover for operations against them.

"The Turkish government needs to realize a military operation will not succeed," said Kurdish political official Rezan Hiddo. The YPG is reporting artillery strikes to Russian military observer units stationed in Afrin, he added.

Erdogan has repeatedly said that Turkey will not allow Kurdish militants to form a "terror corridor" in northern Syria.

"They will see how we will mess them up in not even a week," said Erdogan on Saturday.

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state is not in a position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as there is insufficient storage in its reservoirs.



Reacting to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami's letter seeking release of Cauvery water, Siddaramaiah said, "We do not have water. How can we supply to them? It is not possible to release water to Tamil Nadu."

"I hope the Tamil Nadu government will understand the ground reality as Karnataka has not received sufficient rainfall for the past several years," he said.

Siddaramaiah was in the national capital to attend a meeting called by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The hearing on the Cauvery water dispute is scheduled for next month. "We expect a favourable order," Siddaramaiah added.

Last week, the Supreme Court had indicated that it would deliver within a month its verdict on the decades-old Cauvery water sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, saying enough confusion had been created on it for over two decades.

The Tamil Nadu government earlier demanded that Karnataka release at least 15 tmcft of Cauvery water for saving its crops.

Palaniswami demanded an immediate release of 7 tmcft of water and the balance within a fortnight from the existing storage.

He said the storage in Mettur reservoir in Salem district, which caters to the Cauvery delta region, as on January 12 was a "meagre" 21.27 tmcft even as the utilisable storage there was 16.27 tmcft.The much-touted classical status for Kannada has brought nothing more than ornamental value to the language, with the central institute in Mysuru failing to utilise nearly 75% of the funds allocated for Kannada.



In the nine years since the language got classical status, the Centre has allocated under Rs 9 crore for its development, most of which has never been utilised. According to an RTI reply, the Centre of Excellence For Studies in Classical Kannada, which functions under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), has utilised only Rs 2.47 crore of the Rs 8.9 crore allocated since 2011-12.

Considering the expenditure against the allocation, the highest utilisation was 50% of the Rs 1 crore allocated in 2016-17. The Centre, which allocated a Rs 2-crore annual fund in 2012-13, reduced it by half from the next year as the spending did not go above 20%. Officials in the state government as well as sources in CIIL blamed the lack of a project director to plan and implement projects. An official said since the state doesn't have a role in the institute, it is left to the CIIL to take such steps.

"Many of those who headed the institute were non-Kannadigas. This leads to a disconnect, where the real intention of getting classical status to Kannada is forgotten," he said, noting that the utilisation of funds mirrors the fact.

Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Pradhikara chairperson

K Marulasiddappa said a huge debate took place on whether the Centre of Excellence For Studies in Classical Kannada should be located in Mysuru or Bengaluru. "The focus on the development of the language was lost. The state government should have tried to make it an autonomous institute. This is how, in Tamil Nadu, institutes get additional funds beyond allocation."

Kannada Development Authority chairman S G Siddaramaiah said there have been positive developments recently.

"Last week, I met Union Minister (Prakash) Javadekar and requested for an appointment of a project director exclusively for Kannada. The appointment has already been made (K R Durgadas) to ensure that funds allocated are spent for the development of the language. Six awards for classical Kannada, each carrying Rs 5 lakh, have been pending, which will be announced within the next two weeks," he said. Asked about autonomy, he said that was the next part of his work. "The issue can be decided by the Union government. I have already held discussions on the matter."Notorious rowdy and 'Ullal Target Group' leader Ilyas, whose photo with Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader went viral recently, was stabbed to death in his house in Jeppu Kutpady in Mangaluru on Saturday morning.



Ilyas had been released on bail on Monday evening (January 8).

Food & Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader said the killing of Ilyas, who was the vice-president of the Block Congress Committee, needed to be investigated thoroughly to unearth the motive behind the killing. Khader told reporters in Dharwad that though Ilyas was a Congress member, such crimes require comprehensive investigation to maintain law and order.

In the last 20 days, the communally sensitive Mangaluru has witnessed four murders. On December 25, rowdy Melrick D'Souza was hacked to death by a gang at Gorigudda just two days after his release from jail.

On January 3, BJP worker Deepak Rao was murdered by four persons at Katipalla in Surathkal. On the same night, in retaliation, four people stabbed Abdul Basheer at Kottarachowki. Basheer later succumbed to injuries on January 7.

Ilyas was also Mangaluru Assembly constituency Youth Congress vice-president.Country

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Following instructions from the IATA, Jet Airways on Thursday said it will prohibit passengers from carrying smart luggage on its aircraft from 15 January. This would put Jet Air in league with several other airlines including United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, Qantas, and British Airways, all of whom have issued regulations on smart luggage.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) defines smart luggage as bags with non-removable batteries. It also includes devices with integrated lithium batteries, motors, power banks, GPS, GSM, Bluetooth, RFID or Wi-Fi technology. Bags with batteries will only be accepted if it is possible to remove the battery.

The passenger is responsible for declaring the removal of the battery from the smart bag to the airline staff. Jet Airways will not be accountable for any damage or loss occurring due to the removal of batteries, the airline said.

The IATA announced late last month that its Dangerous Goods Board restricted carrying smart luggage on passenger flights operated by its 275 member airlines from 15 January.

"In accordance with the regulations issued by the IATA towards ensuring flight safety, smart bags or smart luggage which include devices with non-removable batteries, will not be permitted on all our flights, effective January 15," Jet Airways said in an advisory on Friday.

"Guests checking in smart luggage must uninstall the batteries prior to check-in. Post-removal, batteries can be carried separately in cabin baggage only," the airline said.

According to The Hindu, Jet is enforcing the regulation since it has sizeable US operations. Smart bags are in their very early stages in India, and it is more of a US trend, where smart bags come fitted with lithium-ion batteries and motors allowing them to be used as a personal transportation device, either as a stand-up scooter or sit on vehicle.Voicing concern about China's increasing assertiveness in the Indian sub-continent, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat warned on Friday that India cannot allow its neighbours to drift away from it, and the time has come for the country to shift its focus from western to the northern frontier. Gen Bipin Rawat Rawat said countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have to be kept on board as part of a broader strategy to deal with China, and India must make "wholehearted" efforts to continue extending support to them. Addressing the media on the eve of the Army Day, Rawat acknowledged that China was exerting pressure on India along the border but at the same time asserted that the Indian Army was fully capable of dealing with any security challenge on the northern frontier. "I think we cannot allow the neighbourhood to be drifted away from us - whether it is Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Afghanistan. These nations have to be kept on board, and I think we have to put in our wholehearted effort to ensure we continue to support them," he said. The Indian Army chief also vowed a tough position against terrorism and warned Pakistan that any ceasefire violation on the Line of Control (LoC) would be responded to befittingly and ''with force", while adding that India wants peace on the frontiers with Pakistan as well as China. Gen Rawat said the Indian Army would destroy all military posts from where the Pakistani army launches terrorists into Kashmir. ''We target all those posts from where they launch terrorists. Terrorists are a disposable commodity in Pakistan and the Indian Army's approach is to ensure that Pakistan feels the pain,'' he said. On the increased number of ceasefire violations and casualties, he said India was ready to retaliate against any threat and would continue this approach till it sees a decrease in violations. On Chinese expansion, Gen Rawat said, "We are seeking support of other nations, group of nations in the region, to see that we are not isolated completely in a situation in Asia against an assertive China. That is the next step that is being taken and therefore you will find that a quadrilateral is formed." In November last year, India, Japan, Australia and the US had set the ball rolling for forming a quadrilateral coalition in the Indo-Pacific region to pursue their common interests, a move seen as a measure to counter growing Chinese influence. The general said there are other countries that are coming on board to support India in whatever way they can. "At the military level, we know that if there is a threat from China, we have to be prepared for it," he said. Rawat also underlined the need for shifting attention from the western border with Pakistan to the northern frontier with China. "For too long, we have kept our focus on the western front. I think time has come for us to focus on the northern border. Therefore our infrastructure development on the northern border has to be speeded up," he said. ''We know China is a powerful country but let us also not forget that we are not a weak nation. Let's not get so worried. We are dealing with the situation. We are confident we will be able to handle the situation," he said. Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam starting 16 June after the Indian side stopped construction of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. Rawat said China has been keeping its troops in north Doklam.







ED searches Karti Chidambaram's premises in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted searches at the premises of Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, in New Delhi and Chennai in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.

The agency's action invited strong reaction from Chidambaram who questioned the jurisdiction of the agency to investigate a matter related to Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2000.

"They (ED officials) searched and found nothing but since they had to justify themselves they took papers of a statement made by government in the Parliament, few years back. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under PMLA," he said.

The agency had on Thursday issued fresh summons to Karti to appear before it on 16 January after he failed to appear before it in connection with the money laundering case.

The ED had, in May last year, registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Karti and others.

Both Chidambarams, however, deny all the charges made against them.

''There is no FIR concerning a scheduled crime by CBI or any agency. I anticipated they'll search premises in Chennai again but in a comedy of errors they came to Jor Bagh (in Delhi) and officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not,'' ANI quoted Chidamabaram as saying.

''They (ED officials) searched and found nothing but since they had to justify themselves they took papers of a statement made by government in the Parliament, few years back. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under PMLA,'' Chidambaram said.

The INX Media money laundering case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The ED had lodged an Enforcement Case Information Report against the accused named in the CBI complaint, which included Karti, INX media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, among others.

According to the agency, Karti Chidambaram had received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it over violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) rules. Karti is alleged to have received investment from Mauritius in return.

The CBI has also recovered vouchers worth Rs10 lakh which were allegedly paid for the services. These vouchers were issued in favour of Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Limited, a firm ''indirectly'' owned by Karti Chidambaram.

Karti allegedly received Rs3.5 crore for facilitating FIPB clearance for INX Media, now 9X Media.

The ED also contended that Mukerjeas had "allegedly siphoned off 90 million pounds and the money is suspected to have gone to foreign countries through hawala routes".

Following the FIPB clearance, the INX Media said it had received foreign direct investment (FDI) of Rs4.62 crore, but actually received Rs305.36 crore between August 2007 and May 2008, the ED said.

Karti and others have been charged with criminal conspiracy, receiving illegal gratification, cheating, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct.Why was US President Donald Trumps first tweet of 2018 about the US relationship with Pakistan? The tweet confirmed the strategic importance of Pakistan, a nation of 210 million people that straddles key waterways at the junction of West Asia, Central Asia and East Asia.

The tone of Trumps tweet was aggressive considering that Pakistan has long been considered a close US ally. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, Trump tweeted on 1 January.

He also raged against Pakistans supposed harbouring of Islamist terrorists. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more, he wrote.

This encouraged Pakistans foes to pounce. The countrys relations with neighbouring nations are not cordial, with the notable exception of China, a long-time ally and Islamabads main trading partner.

It soon became clear that Trumps tweet was more than an idle threat. Last Thursday, the US State Department announced that the US was freezing most military aid to Pakistan. It declined to specify the exact amount of the funds that would be cut, but the suspension could freeze up to $1.3 billion in aid.

Trumps posturing and the cuts that came in its wake would be comical if they did not heighten the risk of regional instability. While the tweet did not hint at possible military action against Pakistan  Washington has too much at stake in the country for that  yet the dangers are there. Washington has long used Pakistan as a jumping-off point for strikes against Islamist militants in Afghanistan and other countries in Islamabads neighbourhood, for example.

Some see Trumps tweet as an attempt to drive a wedge between the militant Islamist groups and their Pakistani protectors. But even as the tweet continued to excite Trump enthusiasts in India and the US, more responsible members of the US administration were conjuring up strategies of how to limit the damage.

The economic troubles of Pakistan seem all too likely to escalate in 2018. The story in 2018 may be that Washingtons sanctions will bite the country harder, and Trump will not be too troubled if Pakistan grumbles. The US also appears to be more poised to strengthen its ties to India, Pakistans rival and diplomatic foe.

In this febrile atmosphere, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif vented his rage to the US newspaper the Wall Street Journal last Friday, explaining that Washington had turned Islamabad into a whipping boy to distract attention from its own failures in the war in Afghanistan.

He implied that Washingtons move in cutting aid could end up torching cooperation between the US and Pakistan on issues like sharing intelligence. We do not have any alliance with the US, Asif said. This is not how allies behave.

Pakistan is the Muslim worlds second-most populous nation after Indonesia and its only nuclear state, and previous US administrations have consistently turned a blind eye to Islamabads sheltering of Islamist militants.

Pakistans alleged harbouring of terrorists has long been a matter of contention between the US and the South Asian nation, however, and Trumps decision to freeze huge amounts of aid to Pakistan is driven by a grievance that was also held by the Obama administration that Pakistan is aiding powerful anti-US militant Islamist organisations in Afghanistan.

Trump may have to eat his words, however. Even if Washington enforces the sanctions against Pakistan strictly enough to endanger the countrys economy, this is unlikely to change Pakistans calculation on nuclear weapons.

The good news for now is that Islamabad seems to view its nuclear capability as a deterrent and not a tool for aggression. The powers that be in Pakistan seem to believe that Washington will never militarily attack the country.

Policy-makers in Pakistan might also believe that the economic sanctions will have limited consequences. And the US has limited human intelligence inside such a gargantuan and labyrinthine nation as Pakistan.

Yet, Pakistan may be heading for a bleaker economic outlook as a result of Trumps tweet, and this must also not be viewed in isolation. The New York Times on 29 December noted that the Trump administration was going to withhold $255 million in foreign military financing more generally, so Pakistan may be just the beginning of a broader campaign.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly



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President Donald Trump offered a partial denial in public but privately defended his extraordinary remarks disparaging Haitians and African countries.

Trump said he was only expressing what many people think but wont say about immigrants from economically depressed countries, according to a person who spoke to the president as criticism of his comments ricocheted around the globe.

Trump spent Thursday evening making a flurry of calls to friends and outside advisers to judge their reaction to the tempest, said the confidant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to disclose a private conversation. Trump wasnt apologetic about his inflammatory remarks and denied he was racist, instead, blaming the media for distorting his meaning, the confidant said.

Critics of the president, including some in his own Republican Party, took time Friday blasting the vulgar comments he made behind closed doors.

In his meeting with a group of senators, he had questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to one participant and people briefed on the remarkable Oval Office conversation.

The comments revived charges that the president is racist and roiled immigration talks that were already on tenuous footing.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, Trump insisted in a series of Friday morning tweets, pushing back on some depictions of the meeting.

But Trump and his advisers notably did not dispute the most controversial of his remarks: using the word shithole to describe African nations and saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the only Democrat in the room, said Trump had indeed said what he was reported to have said. The remarks, Durbin said, were vile, hate-filled and clearly racial in their content.

He said Trump used the most vulgar term more than once.

If thats not racism, I dont know how you can define it, Florida GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told WPLG-TV in Miami.

Tweeted Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona: The words used by the president, as related to me directly following the meeting by those in attendance, were not tough, they were abhorrent and repulsive.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the comments beneath the dignity of the presidency and said Trumps desire to see more immigrants from countries like Norway was an effort to set this country back generations by promoting a homogenous, white society.

Republican leaders were largely silent, though House Speaker Paul Ryan said the vulgar language was very unfortunate, unhelpful.

Trumps insults  along with his rejection of the bipartisan immigration deal that six senators had drafted  also threatened to further complicate efforts to extend protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to this country as children and now are here illegally.

Trump last year ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provided protection from deportation along with the ability to work legally in the U.S. He gave Congress until March to come up with a legislative fix.

The three Democratic and three GOP senators whod struck their proposed deal had been working for months on how to balance those protections with Trumps demands for border security, an end to a visa lottery aimed at increasing immigrant diversity, and limits to immigrants ability to sponsor family members to join them in America.

Its unclear now how a deal might emerge, and failure could lead to a government shutdown.

The rhetoric just makes it more difficult, and thats unfortunate, said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, a senior House lawmaker. I dont think it makes it impossible, but I suspect the Democrats are sitting there going, Why would we want to compromise with him on anything?

There were also questions about which lawmakers were in position to conduct meaningful talks. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 GOP senator, and other Republicans have derided the group of six senators as having little clout. Initial bargaining has also occurred among a separate group of four leaders  the second-ranking Republican and Democrat from both the House and Senate, a group to which both Cornyn and Durbin belong.

At a forum Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ryan, R-Wis., said, We just have to get it done.

Durbin said, We have seven days and the clock is ticking. Our bipartisan group continues to build support for the only deal in town. He said he wants to call the bill to the floor of the Senate early next week.

Lawmakers have until Jan. 19 to approve a government-wide stopgap spending bill, and Republicans will need Democratic votes to push the measure through. But some Democrats have threatened to withhold support unless an immigration pact is forged.

Trumps comments came as Durbin was presenting details of the compromise plan that included providing $1.6 billion for a first installment of the presidents long-sought border wall.

Trump took particular issue with the idea that people whod fled to the U.S. after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti would be allowed to stay as part of the deal, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to publicly describe the discussion.

When it came to talk of extending protections for Haitians, Durbin said Trump replied: We dont need more Haitians.

He said Put me down for wanting more Europeans to come to this country. Why dont we get more people from Norway? Durbin told reporters in Chicago.

The administration announced last year that it would end a temporary residency permit program that allowed nearly 60,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S. in the wake of a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Trump insisted Friday that he never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. Trump wrote, I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!

Trump did not respond to shouted questions about his comments as he signed a proclamation Friday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Monday.

Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who both attended the Thursday meeting, said in a statement that they do not recall the president saying these comments specifically. What Trump did do, they said, was call out the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said by Durbin to have voiced objection to Trumps comments during the meeting, issued a statement that did not dispute the remarks.

Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel, Graham said, adding: Ive always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals.

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Gunmen claiming to belong to Colombia's last rebel group kidnapped an engineer in the country's east, police said Saturday, after peace talks broke down between the ELN rebels and Bogota.

The 41-year-old Colombian petroleum engineer was abducted from an office in Saravena, near the border with Venezuela, by "two masked men with pistols who identified themselves as members of the ELN," police said in a statement.

The kidnapping took place just ahead of a visit Saturday to Colombia by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who supports peace negotiations between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels.

Santos on Wednesday announced the peace talks were suspended in response to what he said were guerrilla attacks.

Talks had been set to resume in neighboring Ecuador, but a 101-day ceasefire expired without agreement to extend it.

A pact with the ELN would close the last chapter of a half-century conflict in the South American nation, following a deal struck by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Santos in November 2016 with the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents.

Under that peace deal, the FARC has disarmed, demobilized its fighters, and transformed into a political party using the same acronym.

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Egypts tourism revenues jumped 123.5 percent year-on-year to $7.6 billion in 2017, a government official said.

The number of tourists who visited Egypt in that time jumped 54 percent to 8.3 million, the official who preferred to remain anonymous added.

The tourism sector is one of the countrys main sources of foreign currency but it has struggled since a 2011 uprising that led the then president to step down.

The number is still well below the 14.7 million who visited Egypt in 2010 before the uprising.

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Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), meets with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York to discuss cooperation and the importance of multilateral action.

EIB pledges support for reaching Sustainable Development Goals under the new UN strategy with proposals to strengthen impact

Werner Hoyer who heads the worlds largest multilateral lender, is in New York this week for key discussions at the United Nations aimed at supporting international development efforts. Apart from senior representatives of UN agencies, the head of the EU Bank is meeting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres today to reaffirm the importance of multilateralism and give the EU Banks explicit support for the new UN strategy which underlines the importance of partnership with International Financial Institutions like the EIB.

Ahead of the meeting with UNSG Guterres, EIB President Werner Hoyer said: The EIB Group and the United Nations are guided by the same goal: to improve peoples lives and eradicate poverty by building resilience and stability. Our two institutions and fellow multilateral actors have a major role and responsibility in this task. At a time when multilateralism is being questioned in some quarters, I am in New York to reaffirm the EU Banks support for the UNs new strategy and the reforms proposed by Secretary General Guterres.

Dr Hoyer added, We all need to inject new rigour and efficiency into the job of development. There isnt enough public money in the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without strong support from private capital. Global partnerships are key to success. We are looking closely at our own instruments to bring about a new paradigm for development, building on the EU Banks strong track record in leveraging private investments. We want to work closely with the UN, other EU institutions, national governments, and partners everywhere to enhance the impact of our financing. We will also discuss new kinds of bonds linked to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in the same way as Green Bonds, first launched by the EIB in 2007, have become a crucial asset in catalysing investment for climate action and the environment. We are keen to explore how we can offer more support to the UN and further our existing partnerships with its agencies.

"We greatly appreciate the role of the European Union and its financing arm, the EIB. With our two institutions working together, there are great gains to be made in mobilizing private sector support for sustainable and inclusive development, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Discussions between Dr Hoyer and UN representatives this week are also expected to focus on proposals from the European Investment Bank to improve its own delivery of European and international development goals - the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in particular. The EIB president is laying out how these efforts can be supported through a dedicated EIB Group subsidiary pulling together the EU Banks financing for development and possible new SDG-focused EIB bonds. These initiatives will be discussed and developed in the course of 2018.

Examples of EIB initiatives in development:

One example of how the EIB and the UN agencies have been able to complement each other is the Early Recovery Programme in Ukraine, which is already helping thousands of displaced persons and the communities hosting them. In this case, as in many others, multilateralism was paramount for the success of the initiative. Under the initiative the EIB provided loan financing of EUR 200 million while UNDP supported the final beneficiaries, provided for project monitoring and anti-corruption services through a grant. The programme finances approximately 1,000 social infrastructure projects that are of benefit to Internally Displaced Peoples or the communities that are hosting them. The valuable local presence of UNDP and their offices enabled the EIB to develop good relations with local authorities and security services immediately.

The ACP migration package

The ACP migration package aims to tackle the root causes of migration, through a development and financing model targeted particularly at Sub Saharan Africa. The ACP migration package takes in the entire range of projects, from public sector infrastructure (the platforms upon which the private sector is built) through expanding our resources for impact investment by turning the ACP Impact Financing Envelope into a EUR 800m revolving fund. This opens up the EIB for more projects like Senegal River Valley Rice, Africa Mobile Networks, Boost Africa and Novastar. This way, the EIB can reach more people at the base of the pyramid than ever before, but also reach more socially-directed funds, entrepreneurs, start-ups and essential service providers. The ACP migration package is about creating opportunity, in this regard. http://www.eib.org/projects/regions/acp/applying-for-loan/investment-facility/index.htm

Economic Resilience Initiative

The Economic Resilience Initiative was requested by European Union leaders in 2016 . Focused on the Western Balkans and Europes Southern Neighbourhood, which covers North Africa and the Middle East, the initiative is substantially increasing EIB financing in these regions: an extra EUR 6 billion in addition to the EUR 7.5 billion already planned.

It will combine support for the private sector, particularly for young people and women, with more investment in socially important sectors like water, health and education. The Bank estimates this additional financing would trigger around EUR 15 billion in additional investments from 2016 to 2020, taking the total EIB mobilisation of investment in the regions to some EUR 35 billion to 2020. http://www.eib.org/projects/initiatives/resilience-initiative/index

UNDP /EIB Group Memorandums of Understanding

September 2016: http://www.eib.org/infocentre/press/releases/all/2016/2016-228-new-undp-eib-accord-signed-to-boost-cooperation-to-reach-global-goals.htm

September 2017:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) boosting cooperation between the two institutions last year. The MoU emphasises the role small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) will play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through UNDPs SDG Impact Finance initiative (UNSIF) and other efforts UNDP and the EIF will cooperate to support the SDGs and address global challenges such as international migration and refugees, by leveraging the private and philanthropic sectors, and utilising a broad range of financial instruments. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2017/09/20/european-investment-fund-undp-accord-to-boost-cooperation-to-achieve-global-goals.htmlEgypt's Emaar Misr for Development (EMD) has announced the signing of two construction contracts in the first phase of the Marasi Marina project worth a total of EGP 2 billion, according to a press release by the company.

The deal was signed with Arab Constructions Company (ACC) and Orascom Construction Industries, according to a press release by the company.

The Marasi Marina project, located in Egypts northern coast, will include the "construction of 3,200 fully finished luxury apartments, 600 (4-5 star) hotel rooms and suites, as well as a marina boardwalk stretching over 3km with over 35,000 square metres of high-end retail and F&B outlets," the press release said.

The first contract with ACC is worth EGP 1.2 billion, and will include the construction of the first phase of 826 Marina apartments with surrounding services over a total area of 92,000 square metres, and should be completed by 2020.

The second contract with Orascom, worth EGP 800 million, will include "building the complete marina basin designed to berth 300 yachts and equipped to welcome the Mediterraneans mega yachts that reach 60 metres in length," also expected to be completed by 2020.

"Our unwavering confidence in the promising Egyptian market and the investor-friendly policies of the government drive us to develop unique world class projects in Egypt that compete internationally," chairman of Emaar Properties PJSC Mohamed Alabbar said.

The project, which aims to attract luxury tourism to the area all year round, is also expected to provide thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities, the statement reads.

Emaar Misr is part of Dubai developer Emaar Properties.

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On Wednesday, 10 January, Minister of Culture Helmi El-Namnam and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Song Aiguo, inaugurated The Second Crafts and Cultural Industries Fair: Egypt-China at the Hanager Arts Centre. Shi Yuewen, the cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy in Cairo and director of the Chinese Cultural Centre, also attended the launch.

Organised by the Cultural Development Fund, and presided over by Fathi Abdel-Wahab, the exhibition aims at introducing the handicrafts and traditional arts of the two countries and to reinforce channels of communication between artists and artisans.

The fair showcases from the Egyptian side Al-Fustat traditional handicrafts such as jewellery, pottery, stained glass and brass wares, as well as graphic, wood, metal artworks, paintings, and textiles by professors of the Faculty of Fine Arts.



A traditional handicraft market is also being held, including heritage products for the cities of Al-Arish, Bir Al Abd, Aswan, Konoz Al-Nuba, Sohag, Halayab and Shalatin, in addition to the products of the Bedouin Women Association for Heritage and Sustainable Development in Ain Moussa.



The Chinese pavilion includes traditional artifacts, handicrafts, paintings and artworks by a number of leading artists and craftsmen from China. It includes interactive calligraphy workshops, ceramics, silk embroidery and an interactive calligraphy workshop in which a number of Egyptian calligraphers are participating.

El-Namnam said that the exhibition is a continuation of previous meetings and exhibitions held in Cairo or in a number of Chinese cities during the Egyptian-Chinese cultural year.



He added that cultural relations between the two countries are historical: "Relations between Egypt and China have been strong since the time of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and flourished in the era of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. We were pleased with the visit of the Chinese president to celebrate the beginning of the Egyptian-Chinese cultural year in Luxor."

The opening of the exhibition was followed by a dance performance by the National Ensemble for Folk Arts.

The exhibition continues through 14 January from 1pm to 8pm.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Erdogan signals a possible Afrin operation

President Erdogan said that terrorist groups which US thought that they transformed into an army, would be smashed up in a week.

Speaking at the provincial congress meetings of his ruling AK Party in eastern Elazg province, President Erdogan issued important statements.

Erdogan said Turkey will conduct military operations in Syria's Afrin if the PKK-PYD terrorists do not withdraw.

President also said that Turkey will act alone to protect its security against YPG terrorists even if the U.S. continues its partnership with the group.

"With the Euphrates Shield operation we cut the terror corridor right in the middle. We hit them one night suddenly. With the Idlib operation, we are collapsing the western wing." Erdogan said, referring to Afrin.Fans of the Insecure star, Issa Rae, know that the first season of the HBO series featured several Drake songs.

Rae has made it clear that she's been a die-hard Drizzy fan for years. In an episode of her Insecure show, the actress admitted that the rapper understands women.

On Sunday night, the director finally got her chance to shoot at her shot with Drake at the 2018 Golden Globes. However, it didn't go down the way fans might have hoped for.

The web series creator, attend the awards ceremony as a Best Actress nominee. The two partied the night away at the Netflix afterparty where Drake was spotted with his arm around Big Little Lies star Zoe Kravitz.

Although Kravitz and Drake might have sparked rumors that they were rekindling their "alleged" romance, Drake and Rae's run-in confirms that they are just friends.

Issa Rae Fan Girls Over Drake

According to a source, Drake spotted Rae and made his whole group stop so he could talk to her. Drake even invited Rae to attend the Netflix party with her, but she stated she was with her friends.

As always, Rae knows how to make light of a situation and joked about E! News making allegations that she turned down Drake after he asked her out on a date. She took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the story and stated that she was just fangirling over the rapper.

*Obsessed Fan Who Dedicated Entire Season to Artist Continues to Shamelessly Fangirl When She Sees Him at Party Later https://t.co/RggtVnc55f  Issa Rae (@IssaRae) January 12, 2018

Rae's statement doesn't seem too convincing after she recorded a video of Drizzy, while he was on the 1's and 2's at the party. Drake was the DJ at the Netflix event and made sure the party was lit.

As Drake stood behind the DJ equipment, Rae recorded a video of him. She continuously called him "Zaddy."

Sources say that Drake has always admired Rae and speaks highly of her talents. The source also stated that if given the opportunity Drake would like to take her out on a date.

"He thinks Issa Rae is beautiful and talented," the attendee explains.

However, the Insecure star is denying the incident. She did mention that Drake was a great DJ.

HBO Takeover

Although, fans might be sad that Rae and Drake aren't a "thing," they will be happy to know that the actress is set to release two new shows on HBO. Rae will be releasing two new series, a comedy titled Him Or Her and Sweet Life. Him Or Her will focus on the love life of a bisexual man and Sweet Life will focus on teens that live in Windsor Hills, California.

As if the anticipation for the third season of Insecure wasn't enough, a release date of Rae's two new series has not been confirmed. However, Rae is really confident about both series.Kim Kardashian fans know that Mario Dedivanovic is the mastermind behind Kardashians' signature looks.

Well, the moment beauty lovers have been waiting for is finally happening. Kardashian and Dedivanovic will be officially releasing a KKW Beauty collaboration together.

On Thursday, fans of the contour queen were so excited to find out that the two would be joining forces to launch a new product. The photo was posted in black and white to avoid revealing the colors.

However, an eyeshadow palette could be seen in the photo. The ten pan palette appears to feature two metallic colors while the rest seem to be matte.

"After 10 years of working together, my collab with @MakeupByMario will be launching and we can't wait to share it with you! #KKWxMARIO," the reality star wrote.

Fans of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star anticipated the official launch of the beauty brand back in June 2017. It was when Kardashian launched her first line of contour sticks, which also included a makeup brush. Kardashian followed up the launch by releasing powder contour kits.

Of course, both kits sold out on the release day. Luckily, Kardashian has continuously restocked the items.

Mario's Makeup Moves

Although this is Dedivanovic first collab with Kim, this isn't his first makeup collab. Dedivanovic, who is known by his Instagram name MakeupByMario, released his very own palette with the beauty brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills, in September 2016. The eyeshadow kit was Kim-K and immediately sold out.

However, the beauty duo gifted the palette to attendees at their Master Class in Dubai in October 2017. The beauty duo has hosted several Master Classes together where Dedivanovic shares Kim's contouring secrets.

While the two have managed to build a beauty foundation, Dedivanovic did not get his start with Kardashian. The makeup guru actually started as a freelancer for Fox News in 2008 where he would get news anchors camera-ready.

Shortly after, Dedivanovic was the makeup artist for a magazine shoot with Kim.

"She walked in and I remember thinking, oh my God, she's the most beautiful girl ever," Dedivanovic said.

He also stated that Kardashian asked him to take her to buy everything he used to do her makeup and the rest is history.

Kardashians Beauty Break

While the KKW Beauty contour kits were a success, fans and beauty lovers didn't know what the beauty mogul would release next.

However, in November 2017, the soon-to-be mother of three teased her Instagram followers with several photos of herself completely covered in glitter.

On Dec. 1, 2017, she released her first highlighter and lip gloss combo. The launch included five highlighters and five glosses, which magazines assumed represented herself and her four sisters. The set of highlighters and glosses feature an Opalescent Pearl, Rose Gold, Yellow Gold, Copper, and Bronze.

A release date for the new KKW Beauty x Mario collab has not been confirmed as of yet.Talk show icon David Letterman has made his return to online television. However, critics were not exactly welcoming Letterman back with open arms.

Critics' Criticize Letterman

Longtime Letterman fans were relieved to see him back on their television screens after nearly being off the air for three years. The former Late Show With David Letterman host reunited with former U.S. President Barack Obama to premiere his new Netflix series: My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

After watching Letterman's lengthy interview with former President Obama, critics were not exactly thrilled with Letterman's performance. Several of them claimed that Johnny Carson's heir apparent came out very bland. They also pointed out that the beloved former President of the United States and the King of Late Night appeared to be rusty when it came to the art of conversation at points during the episode.

The commentators also slammed Letterman for wasting viewers' precious time revisiting former President Obama's origin story during the conversation. Also, they even scolded both men for not questioning about how the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was doing or delivering jabs to the polarizing president.

Critics also took note that Letterman's longtime collaborator, Paul Shaffer, was nowhere to be found onscreen. Shaffer did arrange My Next Guest Needs No Introduction's quirky theme song, which commentators stated was the only connection to Late Show with David Letterman.

My Next Guest's Future Interviews

Despite the critics taking numerous hits on the new Netflix special, the video network will continue to air My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The special series will feature Letterman interview a plethora of guests ranging from civil rights activist Malala Yousafzai to rap mogul Jay-Z. Also, Letterman is expected to reunite with longtime friends and fan-favorite guests George Clooney, Tina Fey, and Howard Stern for intimate conversations.

Colbert's Late Show Success

Three years after Letterman handed the Late Show franchise keys to Stephen Colbert, the CBS late night show has delivered impeccable ratings. Colbert found his voice by mocking President Trump by using Cartoon Donald Trump and talking about President Trump's controversial decisions on an everyday basis. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will air a live episode directly after President Trump's State of the Union speech on Jan. 30.

He also has been having impeccable conversations with a diverse group of guests. From former Today host Billy Bush to actors Ben Affleck and James Franco, who dealt with their sexual misconduct scandals, Colbert has become one of the best interviewers that is currently on late night television.

It is unknown if Letterman will drop by the Ed Sullivan Theatre to promote his Netflix special in the near future.The boy who lived is weighing on the latest wizarding film from British writer, J.K. Rowling. Daniel Radcliffe may have hung up his invisible cloak, but the 28 year-old actor doesn't care about the film's legacy or the fans.

The Crimes of Grindelwald is the next film in the Fantastic Beasts series that will focus on the film's main protagonist, Gellert Grindlewald. Before there was a Lord Vordemolt, Grindelwald was the fictional world's number one bad guy who sought to bring "pure bloods" to power and control the magical world with the infamous "Elder Wand."

When it was revealed toward the end of Fantastic Beasts that Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp would be portraying Grindelwald and also reprising his role in the sequel, fans were immediately in an uproar. Many felt that Depp would not be a good fit to the franchise after his tumultuous marriage and divorce from actress, Amber Heard.

Depp was accused by Heard of domestic assault and verbal abuse, allegations he denied. Although the former couple settled the dispute, with Heard receiving $7 million after the divorce was finalized, fans are sill not pleased with Depp's casting.

Rowling and Director, David Yates, have stood by their decision to cast Depp, however; now Radcliffe is giving his thoughts on the matter and they don't exactly align with his former colleagues.

Radcliffe Disapproves?

Radcliffe recently commented on Rowling's decision to keep Depp in the film despite the allegations against him. Radcliffe pointed out during his time on Harry Potter, someone was held accountable for a less serious crime and wondered why Depp's accusations weren't taken with the same intensity.

"In the NFL, there are lots of players arrested for smoking weed and there is other people's behavior that goes way beyond that and it's tolerated because they're very famous players. I suppose the thing I was struck by was, we did have a guy who was reprimanded for weed on the [original Potter] film, essentially, so obviously what Johnny has been accused of is much greater than that," Radcliffe stated.

Radcliffe elaborated that he did not want to speak negatively about the people who gave him the amazing opportunity that helped shape his career, however, he could understand the fan's frustrations.

Depp will star in the upcoming sequel along with Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Zoe Kravitz, Callum Turner, and Claudia Kim.

The Crimes of Grindelwald will be in theaters on Nov. 16.In October 2017, Nelly was arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Seattle, Washington after his performance at a nightclub. The alleged victim, Monique Greene, reportedly decided to sue the rapper for the incident in December 2017.

Greene was an employee at the nightclub and was invited to Nelly's tour bus after his performance

As previously reported, Greene claims that Nelly began to masturbate while they were in his bedroom and followed by having non-consensual sex with her, vaginally and anally.

While the two recalled the incident differently, evidence pointing out what actually occurred between the two has surfaced. Photos of both Nelly's and Greene's clothing have been released as well as a video.

TMZ has also released a surveillance video that shows Nelly and Greene leaving the Seattle nightclub. The video shows the two getting on his tour bus and also the moment when she leaves the bus and calls police to report the incident.

At the time of the incident, Nelly told the police that their sex was consensual and that Greene removed her clothing. The rapper also stated that he used a condom, but did not ejaculate. Nelly also stated that Greene was upset because she thought Nelly was involved with one of his dancers, who was also on the bus at the time.

Although Nelly stated the two agreed to have sex, Greene denied and explained that Nelly forcefully removed her pants and threw her onto the bed.

Greene claims the forcible sex lasted for a half an hour and she believes he ejaculated inside of her.

Greene also explained that after the episode, Nelly offered her $2,500 to stay on the bus until their next destination. She declined the offer and told him that she's not a prostitute. Shortly after, she stated that she was pushed off the bus and the rapper threw $100 bill at her.

Will Nelly Be Charged?

On Dec. 14, 2017, it was reported that the case against the recording artist was dropped due to the accuser's unwillingness to testify.

According to Greene's attorney, Karen Koehler, Greene did not want to testify because she thought no one would believe her.

However, Greene said that Nelly has accused her of wanting fame and money.

Shortly after his release, the "Grillz" rapper took to Twitter to claim his innocence. Nelly expressed that he is not guilty of Greene's accusations and knew the system would not fail him.

Although an official video has been released, it has not been confirmed if Nelly will have to do some time for the "crime."During work carried out at San Al-Hagar archaeological site in Sharqiya governorate with a view to develop the site into an open-air museum, archaeologists stumbled upon a stelae of 19th Dynasty King Ramses II.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the stelae is carved in red granite and depicts King Ramses II presenting offerings to a yet unidentified ancient Egyptian deity.

He said that although several foreign missions have worked on the site, it has never been completely excavated and was neglected.

This discovery encourages the Ministry of Antiquities to start a comprehensive development project at the site in order to rescue its monuments and transform it into an open-air museum, Waziri added.

San Al-Hagar is a very distinguished archaeological site houses a vast collection of temples, among them temples dedicated to the goddess Mut, god Horus and god Amun.

Several foreign missions, among them a French mission, have worked on the site since the mid-19th century.

Waadalla Abul Ela, head of the ministry's projects sector, explained that a project started a month ago aims to create a collection of concrete mastaba for the monumental blocks, statues and stelae that were laying on the floor of the temple.

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Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.The Dalits do not celebrate the victory of the British or for that matter even the defeat of the Peshwas. What they do celebrate is their own entry into history, which was denied to them for centuries, and what they assert, thereby, is the possibility of not being reduced to the underground ascribed to them by the caste system. The violence against them at Koregaon Bhima is a manifestation of the current contestation between homogenising Hindutva and its dissenting narratives. In turn, the Dalits manage to defeat political Hindutva through their movements.

On the first day of 2018, 200 years after the third AngloMaratha war to commemorate which the obelisk at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra was erected by the British, 91 years after Babasaheb Ambedkar declared it a symbol of Mahar valour and 73 years after independence from the British, some nationalists have realised that the obelisk is in fact a symbol of British conquest. And that, celebrating anything to do with it is an anti-national act.

Some scholars have since waxed eloquent about how the celebration at Bhima Koregaon by the Dalits is a case of misreading an imperial conquest as a then non-existent anti-Brahminism struggle. They add that, in fact, those reading it as a battle for equality are delving into a myth. Others have conceded, ridiculously enough, that there are two histories depending on who is the readerthe Marathas or the Maharsand that both the histories must coexist and so will the conflict.The government and UIDAI are answerable to citizens for the Aadhaar project going dangerously awry.

Each time the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is confronted with how unsafe the huge database it has accumulated of the personal information of millions of Indians is, it prefers to bury its head deeper in the sand. Yet again, when a reporter from the Tribune newspaper in Chandigarh wrote about how she managed to purchase access to Aadhaar data by paying an agent a mere  500, the UIDAI responded by filing a case against the journalist, insisting that no harm had been done, and then introducing another step that citizens must take to keep their own personal data safe. Surely, the time has come to call the UIDAIs bluff.

Being such a widespread and pervasive system, the Aadhaar project is a vulnerable target. There have been numerous instances of unauthorised access, publication and misuse of data. The most recent case was reported by the Tribune, exposing how unauthorised agents are selling and providing access to demographic data. Earlier, we heard how the Airtel Payments Bank created accounts for mobile subscribers without their consent and diverted the money received via direct benefit transfers from their primary bank accounts to these payment bank accounts. Also, like many other government websites, a Jharkhand government website published the Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, names and addresses of over a million pensioners.The gender mainstreaming of Indian corporate governance laws is analysed in relation to recent legislative reforms concerning corporate social responsibility mandates, the one woman director requirement, gender wage equality and maternity benefits.

Gender mainstreaming is a suitable framework to examine the potential, and actual contribution, of corporate governance laws with regard to gender equality. The most widely accepted definition of this framework has been devised by the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (1998):

Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organisation, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels at all stages, by the actors normally involved in policy making.

Theory of Gender MainstreamingApologies if this is out there but I could not find it in the forums



When my wife arrives in the UK is there a list of documents she will need other than the TB certificate and the letter that came back with her passport?Hi there, is there e any one here from/ working in al jalila children's hospital?The 49th Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) will open 26 January and run until 10 February at the Fair Grounds in Nasr City, with 848 publishers from 27 countries  178 more publishers than last year, yet eight fewer countries.

This year's guest of honour is Algeria and CIBF's Person of the Year is Abdel-Rahman El-Charkawi (1921-1987), according to an announcement made by the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO), official organiser of the fair.

El-Charkawi was one of Egypt's most renowned writers and poets in the 20th century, authoring many books that have been deemed gems of modern Islamic writing. He also authored a play about the Algerian nationalist Djamila Bouhired and her struggle against French colonisation.

Haitham Al-Haj Ali, head of GEBO, said the fair chose El-Charkawi as a great example of "soft power."

Last year, CIBF chose Egyptian poet Salah Abdel-Sabour (1931-1981), one of Egypt's most influential contemporary poets, as Person of the Year, while in 2016 it chose late Egyptian novelist Gamal El-Ghitany (1945-2015), to commemorate his memory.

CIBF's theme for the year is "Soft Power: How?"

Haj Ali said that culture is soft power; that Egyptians need to communicate with the world, and that culture is the way for Egypt to retain its position of leadership in the world.

"Soft power is the cultural facade of the country; it is the set of values and traditions and cultural particularities that makes the future of Egypt and its history, and we are ready to put the question of soft power on the table in this year's fair," Haj Aly said.

This year will see the participation of 848 publishers from 27 countries: 481 Egyptian, 367 Arab, 10 international, though only two African publishers, down from six African publishers last year.

Last year saw the participation of 670 publishers, 451 of them were Egyptian, 200 Arab, 13 international, and six from African countries.

Arab publishers have increased by 167 publishing houses this year.

While the total number of publishers is up this year, it doesn't break the record number of 2016, which was 850.

The two African countries are Sudan and Somaila, which are also Arab countries. Haj Aly said the decrease of number of African countries "goes back to these countries" and is "probably for economic reasons."

The fair will have a busy cultural and artistic programme that is yet to be announced.

Short link:

What struck me when I first made my big move from the US to Europe was not a matter of "was Europe more expensive than the US" - but rather that you spend you money very differently when you move countries.



One example: health insurance here in France (actually, in Europe overall) is much less expensive than in the US. What you pay for "carburant" (i.e. gas for your car) is much more expensive. But then again, you don't normally drive as much here as you do ("have to") in the US.



As far as food is concerned, individual items may be more or less expensive here than in the US (or in the UK, for purposes of this discussion) - but if you integrate you do tend to change your food spending habits considerably on moving to a new country. In the US, people seem to eat out at restaurants or order carry out "most" of the time. Or they buy mostly prepared or semi-prepared foods. Here in France, we have a tendency to make meals for ourselves, with far less reliance on mixes, kits or prepared meals. That all plays into the household food budget. But it takes time (and effort) to adjust your consumption habits to your new situation.

Cheers,

BevThe catastro people fly drones and do their own mapping, it is entirely plausible that the updates have been done by them which may not reflect the work actually done and previously recorded. It is a good tool to use initially but can only be verified later on with proper conveyancing.The worst snowstorm ever to hit San Antonio, dropping 13.5 inches of snow on the weekend of Jan. 12-13, 1985, didnt come without warning  at least a small one.

A lead headline on the Saturday San Antonio Express-News said, Arctic air mass blasts into S.A., and the story said the Alamo City could get an inch of snow.

The National Weather Service prediction that day proved to be off a bit. By the time the Sunday newspaper came out, 9.2 inches of snow had been recorded, meriting the Snowbound! lead headline across the front page, noting that amount was already a record.

The Sunday story quoted the NWS predicting that some areas could have up to a foot of snow on the ground by Monday morning, with 5 more inches of snow expected. That proved pretty accurate when a record 13.5 inches of snow was measured and reported as the lead story on Monday. DIGGING OUT! was the lead headline, with Wonderland turning San Antonio into icy, slushy, winter wilderness.

Mayor Henry Cisneros made a plea for businesses and schools to cancel Monday activities, predicting that putting 800,000 drivers out on the streets during Mondays drive time would be dangerous. Parts of the Hill Country had almost as much snow  8 inches  and traffic was at a standstill, the paper said, with several county roads closed.

Atascosa Countys response to the snow sounded a little more frustrated. Were telling everyone to stay off the roads, but some of them are idiotic and traveling, said Atascosa County sheriffs Deputy Leonard Lozano.

Sunday and Monday newspapers included what are now iconic weather photos  a skier gliding by the Alamo and a snowman being built in the back of a pickup, with the Alamo as a backdrop.

It takes just a hint of snow in the forecast or an inch or two on the ground  like last months snowfall  to get San Antonians to recall the BIG ONE of 1985.Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of fatally shooting a San Antonio Police Department officer in front of Public Safety Headquarters in 2016.

Otis Tyrone McKane, 32, faces a capital murder charge in the shooting of Det. Benjamin Marconi on Nov. 20, 2016. The charge carries a punishment of either death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.

Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, who has indicated that he plans to personally try the case, filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty last week. Its a decision never taken lightly, he said Friday evening.

Marconi, 50, who was assigned to the Special Victims Unit and was a 20-year SAPD veteran, was working overtime on patrol and had pulled over a motorist in front of Public Safety Headquarters around 11:45 a.m. that Sunday. He was inside his squad car when a man approached and shot him twice in the head.

McKane was seen on surveillance video hanging around headquarters the day of the shooting, and the next day he was seen, also on video, entering the Bexar County Courthouse, where he got married.

Police arrested McKane, then 31, about 30 hours after the slaying. He told police that he was upset about a child custody battle and lashed out by killing the officer.

Our first responders deal with people in many situations, but when somebody could allegedly do something as heinous as this, no one is safe, LaHood said.

McKane has a court appearance scheduled for Feb. 28 in the 379th District Court, presided over by Judge Ron Rangel. Court records indicate that McKane will be represented by defense attorney Raymond Edward Fuchs.

LaHood said it is unclear when McKanes case will go to trial, but once jury selection begins, it could take up to a month to seat a panel.

Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863Days after police encountered a tractor-trailer in a South Side parking lot full of dehydrated and dying people from Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador, city officials met with one of San Antonios most vocal immigration advocacy groups to plan their response to future smuggling incidents.

Police on the morning of July 23 found 39 people in the trailer, 10 of whom were dead or died shortly after. Following their usual procedure, police called immigration agents.

The citys handling of the situation drew criticism from immigration advocates, who were displeased they hadnt been called to offer a humanitarian response to the crisis, which left 29 survivors hospitalized.

Police Chief William McManus, Councilman Rey Saldana and Jonathan Ryan, executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, met three days later at City Hall.

The meeting, and a later big-tent gathering with stakeholders at the Mexican Consulate, opened lines of communication to bring in advocacy groups in similar incidents.

So when police found 12 people in a trailer on the East Side last month, they called federal immigration officials, but they also placed calls to legal aide and social work organizations.

McManus arrived at the recent scene on Splashtown Drive and called Ryan, whose organization provides free and reduced-cost legal services to immigrants.

The chief eventually decided to charge the accused driver in that case, Herbert Nichols, 58, of Houston, under a state law, and the 12 immigrants found in the truck were released to Catholic Charities.

His actions at the scene later would prove controversial.

Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating whether San Antonio violated the states ban on sanctuary cities; a City Council member has asked the U.S. attorneys office to investigate; and the head of the union representing police officers has asked for McManus to be put on leave.

But its not clear that the chief violated any laws, and while he likely deviated from the Police Departments standard procedures, its also not clear that he violated rules set out in the general manual.

McManus has defended his decision.

The last time we had this type of incident back in July we made an agreement with two advocacy groups that we would call them, should we have another such incident, and lo and behold five months later we did. Fortunately no one was injured. Everyone was in good shape. Well fed, well clothed, well hydrated, he said at a news conference. Once the folks got here to police headquarters, we had no jurisdiction to hold them, to detain them, so they were released to Catholic Charities, and what Catholic Charities did with them I dont know.

When police found the immigrants in July suffering from heat-related illnesses, they called Homeland Security Investigations, the branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that handles criminal matters.

Known as HSI, its agents investigate human smuggling and human trafficking, among other crimes. One of the agents is detailed to police headquarters as part of a human-smuggling task force.

The HSI agents fanned out to hospitals across the city, where the 29 survivors, most of them suffering severe health issues from the effects of spending hours locked inside the sweltering trailer, were being treated. The immigrants later described to agents spending most of the day inside the trailer in Laredo, then crowding around a single vent to breathe on the drive to San Antonio.

Family members of those in the trailer later told the San Antonio Express-News they received frantic calls while their loved ones were trapped inside.

After their release from the hospital, 21 adult survivors were charged as material witnesses. Most of the others were children, who were released to sponsors in the U.S.

The witnesses were transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and a federal judge appointed a lawyer to represent them during the criminal proceedings of the trucks driver, James Matthew Bradley, 60.

Bradley pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, and one count of transporting aliens resulting in death and is in jail awaiting sentencing. He faces up to life in prison.

After it became clear Bradley would plead guilty, federal prosecutors asked the judge to release the survivors and they were transferred to Enforcement and Removal Operations, the side of ICE that handles deportations. Several who had severe kidney damage and required dialysis were quickly released. Twelve remained in immigration detention for several months before agreeing to return to their home countries.

City officials were criticized for their handling of the deadly smuggling incident, in part because San Antonio in 2016 received a $650,000 grant from the Justice Department to work with nonprofits to combat human trafficking, and none of those organizations had been contacted in July.

Its such a shock to different parts of the community, because theres oftentimes this confusion about whether these individuals can be victims in an incident like this, Saldana said. We didnt know if this was human smuggling or human trafficking, if these individuals were there against their will or willingly, all we knew was we had 10 body bags. It certainly opened up everyones eyes to a duty of care we have for people who are in our city, regardless of their status.

Slow to arrive

On the afternoon of Dec. 23, a motorist near Splashtown flagged down a police officer and reported people being held in the back of a tractor-trailer, a police report states. McManus later told reporters that the witness had seen people being offloaded from the trailer to waiting vehicles.

By the time officers arrived, 12 immigrants still were there. Officials wont say where theyre from, but at least one told investigators hes Guatemalan, a police report says.

Homeland Security agents again were alerted, as was McManus, who went to the scene. Police also called RAICES and Catholic Charities.

The chiefs decision to charge the driver with a state crime, rather than turn the case over to HSI agents, set off a chain of events that would end with the attorney generals investigation. Police charged Nichols with smuggling of persons, a second-degree felony that had only been used once in Bexar County since it became law in 2011. In that case, a state trooper referred the case for prosecution.

In statements to reporters, McManus said it took 90 minutes for an HSI agent to arrive on the scene, while more than a dozen of his officers congregated. McManus said he made the decision to use the state charge, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison because one of the immigrants was under 18.

The 12 immigrants found in the truck were transported to police headquarters, along with Nichols and another suspect who was released.

McManus instructed officers to interview the immigrants without fingerprinting them, said Mike Helle, the president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. The immigrants were questioned and released. Catholic Charities put seven of them up in hotels until they left town.

In a written statement, McManus said police generally do not fingerprint witnesses in human smuggling and human trafficking, a term that denotes some sort of coercion. He also said ICE could have arrested the immigrants after detectives finished their investigation.

No background checks or fingerprints were taken of the 12 victims because it is against procedure do so of victims of crime or witnesses to a crime, especially in the context of a human smuggling case, McManus said in a statement. The HSI agent was present at SAPD headquarters and was provided access to the 12 individuals. At no time did SAPD restrict or prevent the HSI agent from taking custody of the individuals. SAPD had no legal authority to hold the 12 individuals after they were questioned; the city may have faced legal liability if SAPD had done so.

ICE officials said agents did not interview the immigrants at police headquarters, but wouldnt provide more information beyond a brief statement.

HSI did offer up its assistance and San Antonio Police Department declined to take our assistance, instead the chief elected to take the case, the agency said.

Willing to cooperate

Union boss Helle accuses McManus of conflating smuggling and trafficking. McManus, during a news conference Thursday about Human Trafficking Awareness Month, said its often difficult to distinguish the two at a crime scene.

Human smuggling and human trafficking are often intertwined by the perpetrators, he said. Due to the strong connection between the two crimes, the SAPD responds or investigates suspected incidents in coordination with local, state and fed law enforce agencies and facilitates victims services from a number of advocacy organizations.

By charging Nichols with a state crime, McManus created a situation that was new for both the Police Department and ICE, said Jerry Robinette, a former ICE special agent in charge in San Antonio.

I dont know what kind of protocols theyve developed, but theres never been a situation like this, Robinette said. These are cases most appropriately handled by federal agents. We didnt have to get into this peeking or wink-wink or doing something behind the scenes. This is an alien smuggling load, and traditionally those are best handled by the federal agency.

The San Antonio police general manual instructs officers to identify witnesses, which Helle said usually involves running their driver license information through state and federal criminal databases. Because the witnesses being interviewed by police were immigrants presumed to be in the country illegally, its unlikely they had documents that could be checked against the databases. He said thats why the case should have been handled by ICE.

In a letter to the City Council, Helle called on the city manager to put McManus on leave pending the full investigation of a state or federal agency best equipped in understanding the complexities of this situation. 

McManus wasnt put on leave, and Mayor Ron Nirenberg gave him his full support.

District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse said hes unhappy it took the Police Department 10 days to notify the council, after reporters began asking about the incident.

Brockhouse also echoed concerns voiced by Helle that the 12 immigrants were released without being properly identified. Both Brockhouse and Helle wondered how the district attorneys office will be able to prosecute the case. On Wednesday he sent a letter to the U.S. attorneys office to investigate because a lapse in protocol may have led to the release of the 12 individuals without identifying who they were.

These people paid large sums of money to evade immigration laws. I dont consider them to be victims if they paid large sums of money, Brockhouse said. Obviously, its a very slippery slope for SAPD, but my biggest concern is we should have vetted these people before releasing them.

Ryan, the executive director of RAICES, said any concerns that the immigrants have been released into the country and wont return to San Antonio to participate in Nichols prosecution are unfounded. The 12 witnesses are eager to testify, Ryan said, in part because cooperation with law enforcement can help them get legal status in the U.S.

Weve been in constant contact with our clients, with law enforcement and I essentially have no clue why its being stated in public that these individuals are unreachable, he said. From the moment I met with them on the 23rd, theyve been willing to cooperate, theyve been in touch with me, theres no reason to think these people are not contactable.

Non-law-enforcement officials who work with immigrants are better equipped to facilitate criminal investigations of them because they might fear police and the criminal organizations involved in smuggling, said Michelle Brane, director of the migrants rights and justice program at the Womens Refugee Commission. Theyre also better able than police to identify trafficking victims, Brane said.

We've been saying for many years now that (federal agents) are not in a good situation for screening trafficking, she said. In some cases, people are much less likely to feel empowered and able to come forward and be identified as trafficking victims. Groups like Catholic Charities, RAICES, even (the Office of Refugee Resettlement) as a government agency is much more likely to identify trafficking victims because of their case management approach.

Robinette said the problem with releasing the 12 immigrants is it doesnt deter people who want to follow them.

Youve got to send a message to the willing participant, these aliens, who are willing to expose themselves and allow themselves to be transported that way, he said.

Brane countered that for people fleeing violence in their home countries, fear of deportation isnt much of a deterrence. Many immigrants from Central America are turning to smugglers because theyre being turned away at the border or put into detention when making asylum claims.

The current situation at the border is really driving people further underground, she said. It really  makes them much more susceptible to trafficking, and those situations are much more likely to be resolved and come to light if you have somebody working with the migrant in a case management supportive role as opposed to locking them up.

McManus said hes met with federal officials, and last months incident wont interfere with future cooperation.

HSI officials acknowledged theyd met with the chief, and in a statement, Shane Folden, the current special agent in charge, said:

Homeland Security Investigations will continue its dedication to working with, and assisting our federal, state and local law enforcement partners with the objective of disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations that negatively impact the communities in which we live. The end goal is to leverage the individual resources of each law enforcement partner to work together and achieve justice.

jbuch@express-news.netThe years-long legal fight over Texas political maps is expected to go before the U.S. Supreme Court for oral argument this spring, creating the possibility that some of the states congressional and state House districts might be scrambled before the November elections.

One of the affected congressional districts, District 35 represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett, includes parts of San Antonio and Austin, linked by a narrow band along Interstate 35.

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up the redistricting case, which centers on state political maps that advocacy groups argue were drawn to intentionally dilute minorities voting power. The court didnt set a hearing date for oral arguments, but court observers say it likely will be in April with a decision coming by late June, when the courts term ends.

We are expecting  a decision before the November elections, said Rolando Rios, an attorney for the plaintiffs. If the decision is affirmed, which we fully expect, this would allow the San Antonio three-judge court to impose an appropriate remedy with new deadlines in time for the November 2018 general elections; that is exactly what was done during the 1990 and 2000 redistricting lawsuits.

In those two instances, Rios said, candidates competed in open elections for the newly drawn districts and closely contested races without a majority winner went into run-offs.

It was the three-judge federal court panel in San Antonio that last year invalidated two of the states 36 Congressional districts and nine state House districts, ruling they were drawn with discriminatory intent.

Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted a temporary suspension of the lower court rulings.

Another congressional district affected is 27, held by Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, who faced allegations of harassment. Farenthold has said he is not seeking reelection.

None of the affected House districts are in Bexar County, but several are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

We are eager for the chance to present our case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Paxton said in a written statement Friday. The lower courts decisions to invalidate parts of the maps it drew and adopted is inexplicable and indefensible.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa similarly welcomed the news.

Todays news again shines light on Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans pattern of discriminating against Texans of color, he said in a statement. We will again be before the Supreme Court to examine Texas Republicans stacking of the deck through systemic discrimination against people of color.

If the court doesnt issue a ruling until June, the March 6 party primaries will already be decided and the general election campaigns will be in full swing.

The effect on the races will depend on what the Supreme Court decides. A ruling that calls for a redrawing of any of the maps would not only affect districts specifically identified in the case, but could also have a ripple effect, altering the boundaries of surrounding seats.

Not everyone agrees that the high court will order new maps.

Michael Li, a redistricting expert for the Brennan Center for Justice, said courts have been skittish about making changes too close to an election, not wanting to risk sparking voter confusion. Even if the court rules against the maps, he expects the decision will be too late for the districts to get redrawn before the 2018 contest.

The state has been operating under temporary court-ordered maps drawn for the 2012 elections and adopted by the Legislature in 2013.

Last summer, after the three-judge panel invalidated some of the congressional and state House districts, finding they violate the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Voting Rights Act, the state and plaintiffs had been preparing to meet to take up remedial maps, when the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the lower court ruling and the hearings were canceled.

Beyond the 2018 elections, the case outcome could carry long-term impacts for Texas. Should the court find the maps were drawn to intentionally discriminate against minorities, the state could be forced to get sign-off from a federal court or justice department before making future changes to its voting laws.

This case is a monumental case, Li said, adding: Everybody always wants to know how does this effect 2018, the bigger thing is Texas being brought back into preclearance.While I was biking on the fabulous Howard Peak Greenway near my house, I thought about how much we have to be grateful for in San Antonio and Bexar County. (One of my resolutions  not just this year but every year  is to be more thankful.)

Not only have city and county employees enhanced our outdoor experiences with these biking/walking trails and sidewalks, parks and other outdoor services, but we encounter their services every day. Who picks up your trash, repairs your roads, provides your electricity and water, runs the traffic signals, picks up stray animals, provides social services, de-ices roads, and responds to fire and police calls?

I worked in corporate American more than 30 years and can assure you most of these public servants  from the bottom to the top of the bureaucracy  could make significantly higher salaries in the private sector. But most of them love their work and enjoy helping their neighbors.

Are they all perfect? Of course not. All human endeavors feature imperfect systems. And its up to us residents and media like the local stations and Express-News to keep them accountable.

So, today, I am celebrating not just our Tricentennial but also those city and county public servants.

Betsy Pasley

Maybe next year

Just wanted to thank the city of San Antonio for its enforcement of the ban on fireworks in the city limits during New Years.

Oops, never mind. Maybe next time.

Joseph Wilson

More of his genius

Re: Fact check; Trump and team on air safety, veterans and pollution, Nation & World, Sunday:

Dear President Donald Trump:

My grandson just completed a long commercial flight, and I want to personally thank you for his safe journey.

On a lighter note, I saw your film, Dunkirk, this week. Beautiful work. I think it may be the best film youve ever directed.

Had breakfast at Bill Millers this morning. Thanks to your guidance and leadership, their potato and egg tacos are absolutely delicious.

Bobby Riley

A win-win

Re: Breitbart, Bannon now at crossroads, Business, Tuesday:

Donald Trump and Steve Bannon squaring off is, well, hilarious. Ive heard a saying that goes something like this: When two scorpions fight, if one of them dies, the other one dies. And if they both die, everyone wins.

Lois J. Ruth

Future sans him?

At the risk of sounding Machiavellian, I must say, praise be to Michael Wolff. At this point, I dont care where or how he got the information for his book, or even if its true or put together with spit and bailing wire. If anything or anyone can take down this pathetic excuse we have for a leader, I say damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Happiness is Donald Trump in my rearview mirror.

Mark A. Hall

Do your research

Donald Trump: You have to read the new tax bill to find out what is in it. Evidently, you have not done so.

John ODonnell

First, the windows

As a taxpayer, I ask that you and your ilk move to oust President Donald Trump. He must be stopped from breaking the White House windows.

Jimmy Gonzales

Bluster redux

As a kid growing up in San Antonio in the 1940s, I rode the bus downtown almost every week to go to a show, and then back home to the South Side. The streets were rough, so the drivers were sometimes loud talkers who wanted their every frivolous thought to be heard by everyone on board.

I had forgotten those rides until our president started tweeting to the world so often, usually frivolous and thoughtless, as if he were driving a rattling bus on an old pothole-ridden South Side street, determined to reach every ear in the country.

George Cooper

Theater blessed

Re: Penca Books a highlight in W. Sides literary history, Rafael Castillo, Monday:

Thank you for publishing the thoughtful and well-written oped by Rafael Castillo concerning a West Side bookstore that featured culturally relevant literature reflecting the community.

Your readers will be glad to know that Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, whose picture accompanied professor Castillos column, has been adapted for the stage and will be presented by Classic Theatre of San Antonio from Feb. 16 to March 11. Tickets at www.classictheatre.org or 210-589-8450.

Joe De Mott, secretary, Classic Theatre board

Phrase the problem

Re: Resolve to never utter these words, John Eubanks, Another View, Dec. 30:

Ill add another inane expression to superfluous words that should be eliminated from our vocabulary  No problem. That phrase has now permeated even computerized response interchanges! Asked if I wanted to take a survey, the response to my no answer was  you guessed it  No problem.

A business is to serve its customers; why would there be a problem?

Helen Rundell

Pro-life if 

Re: Bad data hurts bid to halt maternal deaths, State, Jan. 4:

Pregnancy deaths in Texas are deplorable, but its not a health issue; the issue is who controls reproduction. Religious politicians and secular evangelicals declare that their interpretation of the law and the Bible require male control.

Besides, they are pro-life if you insert the magic word unborn.

Robert Lopez Flynn, Shavano ParkEgypts foreign policy towards Sudan is one of containment and self-restraint in response to any provocations by those in power in this neighbouring state, and not allowing any disputes to escalate into serious tensions between the two peoples. It also strictly separates the actions, attitudes and alliances of Sudans rulers and the interests of the people and good neighbourly relations, history and joint destiny they have shared since they were one people and one land before the southern region decided to secede and hold a referendum, wholeheartedly approved by Egypt, and accepting the peoples decision for self-determination and secession in 1956. This was the position of governments preceding Gamal Abdel-Nasser that did not view themselves as occupiers of Sudan, but for years strove to prepare and assist the people of Sudan to rule themselves.

Based on historic facts, after World War II Egypt agreed to Sudans self-determination. On 25 October 1946, then prime minister Ismail Sedki signed the Sedki-Bevin agreement granting Sudan the right to self-determination after a period of self-rule. On 22 August 1947, then prime minister Mahmoud Fahmi Al-Nokrashi told the Security Council that the Sudanese will speak for themselves and the future of Sudan will be decided in consultation with the Sudanese, and that the Sudanese people are in charge of their country.

During the Khashaba-Campbell talks with Nokrashis cabinet in May 1948, Khashaba implicitly agreed to self-determination since he agreed on creating an Executive Council for Sudan and the Legislative Association to include Egyptians and Britons to assist Sudan to prepare for self-rule and self-determination.

On 26 August 1950, Foreign Minister Mohamed Salaheddin of the Wafd government suggested scheduling a transitional rule phase until 1953 to prepare Sudan for self-rule, after which they have a right to self-determination within the Salaheddin-Bevin talks. On 7 December 1950, Salaheddin approved the Sudanisation of Sudan by handing over all jobs to the Sudanese people and withdrawing Egyptian civil servants from there. On 16 November 1951, at the UN, Egypt agreed to withdraw all Egyptian civil servants and forces on the condition that Britain also withdraw all its staff and forces, followed by a transitional phase to Sudanise the country, then self-rule, and finally self-determination.

On 8 October 1951, a decree by Mustafa Al-Nahhas Pacha determined that by 16 and 17 October Sudan will have a constitution separate from Egypt, drawn by an elected Sudanese constituent assembly in which Egypt will not intervene. This is a clear indicator that Sudan is separate from Egypts political administration. In 1922, King Fouad wanted to bestow upon himself the title of King of Egypt and Sudan, but on 2 February 1922 High Commissioner Allenby warned him not to include this in the constitution because it conflicts with British interests. Fouad obeyed and did not include it in the 1923 constitution.

Here, we can clearly see admission of self-rule and right to self-determination by the Egyptian monarchy through the governments of Sedki, Nokrashi and Bevin. These cabinets also insisted on adding the phrase unity of the Nile Valley under the Egyptian crown, as confirmed in a memo by General Mohamed Naguib, then chairman of the Revolutionary Council, on 2 November 1952 to Britain stating all of the above as part of the unity of the Nile Valley, right to self-determination, and a period of self-rule. The memo was signed by all Sudanese politicians, without exception.

Relations between the two countries continued to be close and friendly until incumbent President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir came to power on 30 June 1989 after a military coup against the elected government of Al-Sadek Al-Mahdi. Quickly, the true face of this regime was revealed including its radical outlook and alliances with armed terrorist groups by providing logistical support, harbouring their leaders, training camps, and safe passage to attack destinations that target friends and foes. Under Al-Bashir, Sudan became the headquarters for the Jihad group, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda. It also harboured Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahri for years. There is evidence by international organisations documenting these practices; they are not fiction.

The regimes hatred towards Egypt culminated in June 1995 when Al-Bashirs close aides, Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and head of General Security Services Nafie Ali Nafie plotted to assassinate then President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa for $1 million, intelligence support by the US, and using members of Jihad and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya. Egypt decided to rise above the incident and contain the situation to protect neighbouring relations between the people, and not harm six million Sudanese living in Egypt and millions of Egyptians who consider Sudan their second home. However, actions by Al-Bashirs government confirmed this was a Muslim Brotherhood regime that adopts the ideology of Muslim Brotherhood International, and many of its policies do not necessarily serve the interests of Sudan but the goals and strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It began with Halayeb and Shalateen, which have been designated as Egyptian by law and history. Also, Khartoums alliances with Egypts enemies, whether individuals or groups  most recently gifting the strategic island of Suakin on the Red Sea to Turkeys Muslim Brotherhood president. Suakin is 200 kilometres from the Egyptian border and such a move threatens Egypts security, navigation in the Red Sea and ergo the Suez Canal, if any armed conflict erupts due to Turkeys ambitions in the region. Turkey wants to destabilise Egypt to avenge the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in a popular revolution on 30 June 2013.

A more imminent threat, however, is the alliance against Egypts interests regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Khartoum supports Ethiopias demands and policies that harm Egypts historic and legal right to its quota of Nile water through the construction of a dam that violates technical requirements approved by the three capitals.

History, common destiny and bloodlines guide towards continuing a policy of containment and non-provocation with this Muslim Brotherhood regime, rising above its petty actions, utterances and policies, and leaving the Sudanese people to decide the fate of this regime. This complies with our positions across time, and the Sudanese people should work on preventing further deterioration in relations and conditions. They must stop the bloodshed in Sudan, their disintegrating unity, continued squandering of territories and sovereignty as seen in South Sudan, Darfur, and gifting Suakin.

Khartoum must stop conspiring against the neighbour closest to the hearts of the Sudanese people.

Short link:

STAMFORD  When Chloe the guide dog came to an obstruction in the sidewalk on Morgan Street, she did as shes been trained.

She stopped, signaling to Phillip Magalnick, who held her harness, that something was unsafe.

But the snow blocking the sidewalk was also piled on both sides of it, and there was nowhere to go.

If Magalnick wanted to proceed, he had to take a chance.

Forward, he told the 2-year-old German shepherd. Forward.

Chloe took the command, leading him over the slippery mound. Magalnick used the dog to steady himself as he stumbled and slid toward clear sidewalk. Once there, he explained his decision.

I dont know how deep my foot will go when I step into the snow, but I didnt feel the dog sink when she stepped in, so I went ahead, said Magalnick, 51, a retired Stamford 911 dispatcher who began losing his vision at 13 and now is legally blind. Its unnerving, but the other option is to spend most of my life sitting in the house.

The question is why he has to choose, since a city ordinance requires that home and business owners shovel sidewalks in front of their properties within 12 hours after a storm ends. The fine is $90 a day.

Magalnick said its especially frustrating for him that the law often goes unenforced because he is a member of the Mayors Committee on Access 4 All, a group of citizens and city officials who work to improve access to public property and services.

Ive been going to meetings for almost four years and its been very disappointing  no one from the city who has any authority even attends anymore, Magalnick said. I hate burning bridges, but I have to speak for the people with disabilities who contact me because they dont know who else to call.

Navigating downtown is difficult year-round, he said. In warm weather, outdoor dining tables block sidewalks. Big, heavy flower pots block sidewalks. Cars partially park on sidewalks, which are also filled with sandwich-board signs put out by business owners.

We walk into that stuff, said Honorata Kazmierczak, Magalnicks fiance, who is also blind. The bruises on our shin bones and knees testify to that.

Winter has its own treachery.

Last week, Magalnick and Kazmierczak made their way from Morgan Street to Bedford Street. Magalnick had Chloe, who has been his guide for a month, and Kazmierczak used a long white cane.

Chloe is trained to head for the dimpled rubber mats where curbs are cut out to form ramps at crosswalks. Kazmierczak, who was diagnosed at 26 with the same disorder  retinitis pigmentosa  as Magalnick, feels for the mats with her cane.

At the busy intersection of Hoyt and Bedford streets, Kazmierczak pushed the crosswalk button.

Since I cant see the signal, I listen for silence, Kazmierczak said. When I dont hear cars, its safe to cross. If one comes out of a side street, though, I may have no idea.

They got across Hoyt Street but the ramp leading to the sidewalk was full of snow. Chloe couldnt find the rubber mat. She stopped.

Find a way, Magalnick told the shepherd, using the command he learned during his guide-dog training. Find a way.

Chloe, who is taught to not lead him into the street, headed into the lumpy, slushy snow. Magalnick used his feet to feel it as he stepped.

Walking in good conditions is difficult, said Kazmierczak, whose vision is slightly better than Magalnicks but deteriorating. She expects to qualify for a guide dog in a couple of years.

But walking on unshoveled sidewalks is perilous. In the 800-block of Bedford Street, someone had shoveled a path too narrow for Magalnick and Chloe to walk side by side. One Dolsen Place homeowner didnt shovel at all. Magalnick and Kazmierczak made their way over the slick and bumpy snow.

One thing that comes with poor sight is loss of balance, Kazmierczak said. That makes things harder.

Magalnick, who is president of the Lower Fairfield County chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, said he is fed up with the citys inaction.

The last meeting of Access 4 All was in November. I was supposed to chair the December and January meetings, but I said lets just cancel them because nothings getting done, he said. The excuse cant be anymore that it takes time, it takes money.

Mayor David Martin formed the Access 4 All committee, according to his special assistant, Libby Carlson, who is a member. She has not been able to attend every meeting, Carlson said, but the committee has had a number of successes.

An ordinance enacted in 2016 restricts restaurants use of sidewalks for outdoor dining; during the summer, the city sets out special mats that allow people in wheelchairs access to the beach; and the doors leading from the City Hall parking garage to the lobby now comply with accessibility codes, she said.

The committee does not have enforcement power or the ability to pass ordinances, Carlson said. We advise the mayor and can propose things to him or the Board of Representatives, but its a slow process. It can be frustrating.

Snow removal comes down to people following the law and looking out for their neighbor, Carlson said.

Frank Fedeli, the citys chief citation officer, said compliance with the snow removal ordinance is slowly improving, but not where it needs to be.

When a complaint is filed, Fedeli said he investigates the claim before issuing a warning or citation. This winter he has prioritized walkways near schools.

We dont want kids walking in the streets, he said.

Assistant Police Chief Jim Matheny said he is a member of the mayors committee, though he is able to attend meetings only sporadically.

Anytime someone calls and says a sidewalk is blocked with something  anything  we send an officer, he said.

In 2015, Martin appointed seven city employees to also act as civil citation officers. But Carlson said they mainly cite private plowers who push snow onto city sidewalks and streets after storms.

Magalnick said his treks through downtown show the system isnt working.

Aside from starting our own organization, I dont know what to do, he said. It needs a movement.

Residents should report unshoveled walks to the police department at 203-977-4444.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com.MECKERING farmer Jeff Snooke will be all smiles when the first samples of a commemorative beer are sampled at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Meckering Earthquake later this year.

The earthquake, on October 14, 1968, measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale, flattening most of the town and injuring 20 people.

A local committee is co-ordinating a weekend of celebrations in the town on October 13-14 and one of the highlights will be a beer made from Bass barley that was produced by Mr Snooke and his family.

He is the winner of the local competition with his barley meeting the specifications required by Nigel Metz from Lucky Bay Brewing in Esperance who will produce 100 cases of commemorative beer, with 24 bottles in each case.

Rebekah Burges, a driving force behind the co-ordinating committee, said to be in the running farmers had to lodge their CBH load details after delivery and keep aside 250 kilograms of barley.

Bass and Scope are the primary barley varieties grown in the Meckering area but Scope can not be used as it is harder to deal with in the brewing process.

We sent all the details to Nigel at Lucky Bay Brewing and one of Jeffs barley crops was the winner, meeting all the required specifications, so that is the one Nigel will use for the brew, Ms Burges said.

She said they were happy with the way the competition was received and how much interest about the anniversary it had generated.

It was only open to local farmers but we had a good response from them, Ms Burges said.

Ms Snooke is now storing the barley in a dry and hygienic location before it is delivered to Esperance in July.

Ms Burges said Mr Snooke hoped to call into the brewery when in holidays in Esperance this month.

Later on in the year when the beer is being brewed, the organising committee will also travel to Esperance to check out the process.

Ms Burges said planning for the commemorative weekend was well underway and now they were waiting to find out if various funding applications were successful.

Early indications are that a number of local and State politicians will also be attending the anniversary.

Local farmer Doug Kelly has also pledged to donate the sheep that will be part of a local produce showcase and now the committee is trying to find a celebrity chef to be involved.

A lot of people are interested in the weekend, Ms Burges said.

Since our last article, people in Northam have stopped me in the street saying they would like get hold of some of the beer when it is made.

For more information on the event and to get involved call Rebekah Burges on 0428 871 202.UNLESS Education Minister Sue Ellery agrees next week to back track on plans to close five Schools of the Air (SOTA), parents of remote education students and supporters will protest outside parliament house before the school year begins.

Isolated Childrens Parents Association (ICPA) WA president Tash Johns, Marble Bar, said she, vice president Liz Sudlow, Northampton, and probably two other ICPA State council members will meet with Ms Ellery next Wednesday, January 17.

They also plan to meet Opposition leader Mike Nahan and Opposition education spokeswoman Donna Faragher the following day, Ms Johns said.

She said the flying visit to Perth next week was part of a campaign led by ICPA and supported by WAFarmers, Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) WA, West Australian Council of State School Organisations, Country Womens Association and Kimberley and Pilbara Cattlemens Association to have the proposed 2019 SOTA closures overturned.

The Nationals WA leader Mia Davies and deputy Jacqui Boydell, were also supportive and part of a working group comprising representatives of organisations seeking a change of heart on closing the Carnarvon, Kalgoorlie, Kimberley, Meekatharra and Port Hedland SOTAs, she said.

An ICPA State council meeting last Thursday had confirmed date and time for a protest rally proposed to be held if Ms Ellery did not give a commitment next Wednesday to keeping the SOTAs, Ms Johns said.

It (protest rally) will be from 10am outside parliament house on Monday, January 29, she said.

We had previously thought we might hold it outside the Education Department, but that is now changed to outside parliament.

Even if they (Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly) are not sitting, there will still be ministers and members of the government and their staff there.

Weve just put the rally up on our website and the response to it has been really good so far.

Ms Johns said Facebook comments indicated the rally would attract parents from across the State who believed their children would be disadvantaged and their education opportunities compromised by a proposed merging of SOTAs with the Leederville-based School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE) which offers a kindergarten-year 12 curriculum.

She said it was hoped former students, tutors and other supporters could also attend  a Save Our Schools of the Air group has attracted 3375 members in about three weeks, according to its Facebook page.

Its not just going to be the ones boarding (regional parents in Perth for the start of their childrens year at boarding schools and colleges), Ms Johns said.

We understand there are parents prepared to make a special trip to Perth from all over the State just to protest at the closures and theyll make a lot of noise.

She said the proposed ICPA protest rally was not associated with a rally and industrial action proposed by the State School Teachers Union (SSTU) of WA the next day, Tuesday, January 30, before most students return to school for term one of the new year.

SSTU members plan a general rally to protest at $64 million proposed to be cut from the education budget to help address the States broader economic problems and loss of 170 education positions by next year.

A package of changes to regional and remote education, proposed to save $16.4m as part of the wider education cuts, includes closing the five SOTAs and incorporating parts of their operations into SIDE, closing residential colleges at Moora and Northam and closing four regional camp schools.

While SOTAs and SIDE come under the State Education Department and promise to provide similar satellite communication-delivered teaching to children unable to attend a normal school because of distance, supporters of SOTAs claim they are the better option.

Teacher visits to students, school camps and other regional-focus activities and class conversations help engender more of a normal school community atmosphere for students learning at home than the more remote SIDE education system, they claim.

Ms Ellery has said she would consult with parents of SOTA children  there are 162 enrolled for this year.

As previously reported in Farm Weekly, rallies against education cuts have already been held in Karratha, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie.

The Liberal Party, The Nationals WA and PGA have attacked the government this week over its proposed closing of SOTAs, claiming it does not fully understand the social and economic impacts its decision will have on families living on isolated properties or in small regional communities.

The sentiment with respect to abolishing the Schools Of The Air is unambiguous, Ms Faragher said in a letter to Farm Weekly.

Across the board, in regional, remote and metropolitan Western Australia, no one supports the governments ill-thought-out decision, she said.

Ms Davies said the government has betrayed the bush with its cruel cuts to regional education.The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has received reports of lesser loosestrife (Lythrum Hyssopifolia), as well as box poison (Oxylobium parviflorum) in the Great Southern.

DPIRD veterinary officer Dr Andrew Larkins said the reports were a good reminder to closely observe paddocks and stock.

Low levels of feed on offer in some areas, coupled with summer rainfall, could easily elevate the risk of toxic plants to livestock this year, Dr Larkins said.

It is important for producers to inspect paddocks for weeds prior to introducing livestock, as well as nearby bush and scrub areas, rock heaps and wet areas, which all provide suitable microclimates for toxic plants.

Additional plants that could be at risk to livestock include caltrop (Tribulus terrestris), mintweed or goosefoot (Chenopodium pummilio) and native gastrolobium species, as well as some self-sown crop regrowth.

Dr Larkins said most poisonings could be avoided by ensuring stock were not hungry when introduced to a new paddock.

Feeding livestock hay beforehand, particularly if they have been yarded or transported, ensures they have adequate gut fill to prevent the animals from gorging and also dilutes any potential toxic components from suspect plants, he said.

Dr Larkins said it was important to continue to monitor stock for signs of summer weed poisoning, such as ill thrift, photosensitisation, weakness and sudden death.

Livestock affected by toxic plants should be removed from the suspect paddock immediately, he said.

Subsidised disease investigations are available through DPIRDs Significant Disease Investigation Program.

For more about the program and spray options for lesser loosestrife visit agric.wa.gov.auTHE Landmark store cattle sale at Boyanup was certainly a case of something for everyone.

A total of 1400 head of cattle were penned and they ranged from lightweight ex-pastoral cows to top quality South West cattle, including beef heifers, quality Friesian steers and cows and calves of various ages.

Buying strength saw live exporters, lotfeeders, graziers and agents all secure stock.

Landmark South West agents and staff had a week to be proud of with this sale grossing $1.284 million, resulting in the week turning over in the vicinity of $3 million dollars.

Friesian steers selling liveweight topped at $1143 and 236c/kg, with those selling appraisal making up to $875.

Beef steers reached $1300 and 362c/kg while beef heifers knocked them off when selling to $1380 and 334c/kg.

A good selection of mated beef heifers topped at $1750 while various aged cows were close behind at $1700.

The offering of cows and calves was as varied in quality as in price, with local older cows and calves topping at $1350.

The sale started with a pen of 12 Friesian steers sold by

I & C Tognela, with Gem Grazing paying the top price of $1143 when the 544kg steers reached 210c/kg.

A pen of 10, weighing 562kg from Aberbechan Farm, then sold to Western Meat Packers (WMP) for $1114 and 198c/kg.

They were followed by another 11 from the same vendor weighing 536kg that sold to Errol Gardiner, Landmark Brunswick, at $1094.

Later Aberbechan sold two pens of 12 steers to CT Hynes & Co, Waterloo, for $1088 and $1028 for 210c/kg and 216c/kg respectively.

Steers with a Serpentine PIC returned $1057 and $1048 for Atwell Pty Ltd when bought by Mr Gardiner and Johnson Meats.

Lou Tuia, Melrose Enterprises, Donnybrook, paid $1084 for nine Atwell steers as well as the next pen for $1046, both at 206c/kg.

Eight smooth steers weighing 571kg from Tony Celisano went to Johnson Meats when they sold for $1131 and 198c/kg.

The top of 236c/kg was paid by Lexden Park, Capel, for a pen of nine weighing 383kg that returned $905 for MJ Lynch, Donnybrook.

The beef steers saw Rodney Galati, buying for Galati Family Trust and Livestock Shipping Service (LSS) change into top gear and secure large numbers of suitable cattle for requirement.

These included the first pen selling for $1228 for a single steer weighing 370kg from

C & B Morgan, Bridgetown, that sold at 332c/kg.

Also a pen of 12 Angus weighing 370kg from Hilltop Park, Boddington, cost Galati Family Trust $1015 at 274c/kg.

Ralph Mosca, Landmark Harvey, paid $1180 for 11 Hilltop Park steers with Gem Grazing taking a pen for $1060.

Melrose Enterprises lifted the limits on a single Red Angus steer weighing 520kg from BG & G Hart, paying $1300 at 250c/kg.

Welldon Beef, Williams and Kalgrains, Wannamal, both purchased numerous lots along with Galati Family Trust and LSS.

Landmark agents Ralph Mosca, Jamie Abbs, Richard Pollock, Errol Gardiner and Ben Cooper all helped to keep values equal to higher on recent sales.

The beef heifers saw a top of $1380 paid for three heavyweight Charolais weighing 557kg bought by Gem Grazing at 248c/kg.

The top of 334c/kg went to a line of 10 Angus showing breeding potential and weighing 389kg from C & NC Staniforth-Smith, Boyup Brook, bought by Mal Barrett, Elders Boyanup, for $1300.

Welldon Beef bid to 290c/kg for 10 Limousin cross heifers sold by JD Wilmot, Nillup, with the 353kg heifers costing $1024.

Three similar heifers from Tuia and Folatti went to LSS for $1128.

Appraisal dairy steers sold to $875 for 14 from HM McKay when bought by PR Lofthouse, Wokalup.

G & J Haworth saw their 12 steers go to Mr Gardiner for $850 to be next best return.

Mated beef heifers topped at $1750 when Sylvania Farms, Donnybrook, snapped up the four Charolais from Pine Creek Cattle Co.

Mr Abbs paid $1400 for four Limousin sold by Hull & King before adding seven Angus at $1550, sold by TP Aldridge while Mr Cooper bought four soft Shorthorn heifers sold by GJ & AL Angilley, with these equalling the top of $1750 when the last mated heifer pen sold.

Mr Pollock added five Angus cows from the Aldridge offering, paying the top of $1700.

Landmark agents buying cows included Dean Taaffe, Donnybrook, seven Angus from the Aldridge section at $1550 with Ben Kealy, Williams, taking six for $1600, before adding 10 Charolais from Keith Adams that cost $1450.

Wayne Hams, Landmark Busselton, outlaid $1500 for the pen of five Murray Grey cows.

The best return in the mixed offering of cows and calves was $1350 for five Angus units sold account SP & LD Harris.By Ted Nash, Partner, One True View

Some may call it the 'dream job'

It might be hard to remember the days before we were obsessively refreshing our timelines for the latest clip of cute puppies, or tagging our friends at the coolest rooftop bar, but the digitally dominated world we live in today has completely changed the way we live and interact with others. Not only that, but the rise and power of social media has brought with it a whole new space to work in, creating jobs that would have never existed a few years ago.

Social channels like Facebook and Instagram receive consistently high volumes of traffic, gaining tens of millions of hits every day. Audiences flock to their newsfeeds to enjoy the latest content from their favourite channels which provide them with entertaining videos and pictures; and this content sits at the heart of influencer marketing. Whether its stunning footage of white sandy beaches, or breathtaking sunsets, we often overlook whos working behind the lens. Whilst many individuals are consumed by the daily grind of the office environment 9-5, content creators are being sent around the world, all expenses paid, to shoot the eye-catching footage we see flooding our screens.

Escaping the monotony and strains of everyday life and packing your bags to explore the world sounds like a dream to many but, often, one thats too far out of reach. Financial insecurities can mean so many of us never make the leap to hand in our notice, or book those flights, so the prospect of actually being paid to travel the world sounds almost too good to be true. We all know a free spirit whos set off to the other side of the world, ready to go wherever the wind takes them, and when posed with the question of; What are you going to do for money?, they rely on picking up bar work or manual labour to carry them through. But you dont travel to some of the most beautiful cities in the world to spend your days and nights seeing the inside of a bar (unless for social reasons, of course). Opting for the nomadic lifestyle of a content creator allows you to truly make the most of new surroundings whilst sharing your discoveries with the rest of the world.

In 2014, Shanna Welch took the leap. She said goodbye to her job as a veterinarian technician and set off for Australia where she met her now husband, Rhys, who hadnt long before made the same decision. Fast-forward a couple of years and, shortly after getting married in Las Vegas, the couple began posting footage of their adventures online. This was really just a hobby for me and my husband, since travelling is our main passion, says Shanna. They shared a video of themselves sledding down the Great Wall of China which went viral and this was the lightbulb moment; they realised they could work as content creators. Realising the value of what started out as a hobby, they got in touch with various companies; luxury rental properties, unique AirBnBs and private islands, to see if they would put the couple up for free, in exchange for promotional videos. It worked!, Shanna said. We worked with over 12 companies, in 45 days, across four countries. We stayed in Penthouses, mansions with private beaches in Mexico, and met some amazing tour guides along the way. We loved being able to work with these companies, and help with their online exposure, which some struggle to achieve.

With all the freedom and opportunities that come with being a content creator, the unpredictability of traveler lifestyle comes with its challenges, and Shanna and Rhys have had to overcome a lot of obstacles along the way.

Travelling is never perfect; things go wrong, you miss your train, you lose your bags three days before your wedding, getting lost is the norm, and you often cant speak the language. But somehow you always find a way to figure it out. The willingness to face such adversities seems so easy when youre doing what you love, and thats the whole premise of content creating. The perfect shot may be a four hour hike up a mountain, or across a rickety bridge, but the stunning video that you compile at the end of it makes it all worth it.

Shanna and Rhys adoration for travel, and their desire to share it with the world, is what makes content creating such an incredible opportunity created by the digital world. This isnt just my dream job; its a different way of life. Rhys and I had a dream to inspire others to travel the world and add destinations to their bucket list - and were living it.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 13, 2018 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Kobe Steel Ltd. ("Kobe Steel" or the "Company") (OTC PINK: KBSTY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Kobe Steel's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between May 29, 2013, and October 12, 2017, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Kobe Steel securities between May 29, 2013, and October 12, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until February 26, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Kobe Steel is one of Japan's largest steel manufacturers and a major supplier of aluminum and copper products. The Company's other business segments include wholesale power supply machinery, construction machinery, real estate and electronic materials.

The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company falsified data on many of its aluminum, copper and steel products sold to customers; (ii) the Company sold products that in reality failed quality control tests in violation of laws and regulations; (iii) the Company's financial performance relied on selling products that did not meet quality standards in violation of laws and regulations; (iv) the Company would incur significant costs and lose customers if customers became aware of the substandard quality of products they purchased; (v) the Company's compliance initiatives, corporate governance and risk management activities were ineffective and inadequate at preventing product data manipulation, fraud and other related misconduct; (vi) the Company's internal reporting systems failed to foster employee participation and adequately address employee concerns, and there was an excessive propensity by senior management, including the Individual Defendants, to hyper-emphasize profitability at all costs, that promoted a pervasive culture of corner-cutting, and looking the other way in the face of compliance violations, as long as profits were achieved, which deterred employees from making claims over product quality for fear of retribution and/or management failing to properly investigate claims; and (vii) as a result of the foregoing, Kobe Steel's shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, and class members suffered significant losses and damages.

On October 8, 2017, the Company issued a press release entitled, "Improper conduct concerning a portion of the aluminum and copper products manufactured by Kobe Steel." The press release disclosed that certain of Kobe Steel's products "did not comply with the product specifications" and "[d]ata in inspection certificates had been improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met the specifications concerned."

On this news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $0.62, or over 10% from its previous closing price, to close at $5.30 per share on October 9, 2017.

On October 10, 2017, before the U.S. market opened, Reuters published an article entitled, "Kobe Steel's data-fabrication stuns Japanese manufacturers," which disclosed that several major manufacturers had confirmed use of the affected Kobe Steel products.

On this news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $1.30, or over 24% from its previous closing price, to close at $4.00 per share on October 10, 2017.

On October 12, 2017, post-market, Bloomberg published an article entitled, "Kobe Steel Scandal Expands Into Core Business Overseas," which reported that the Company's fake data scandal included its core business of providing steel to numerous international companies.

On October 13, 2017, Kobe Steel issued a press release entitled, "Report on improper conduct concerning Kobe Steel and its group of companies." The press release provided updated information about an investigation into the falsified data and related wrongdoing and listed numerous nonconforming products the Company had identified to date. On the same day, several media outlets reported that the number of impacted customers had more than doubled from the initial estimates of 200 customers.

Following this news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $0.40, or over 10% from its previous closing price, to close at $3.55 per share on October 13, 2017.

Subsequent news reports and the Company's own internal investigation revealed that Kobe Steel's lack of quality controls and data tampering was a result of, among other things, wholly inadequate and ineffective corporate governance and compliance initiatives.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLPSuch a ban (plus disgorgement of fees) of the 11 firms in the PwC network is not merely unexpected and unprecedented, but far-reaching too.

Sebi's order of 10 January 2018 places a 2-year ban on PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in India. This has come exactly 9 years after the confession of B Ramalinga Raju, Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Limited (whose accounts were audited by PwC), to massive financial manipulation. Auditors are the most visible and reliable gatekeepers of accounts. It is expected that their role in the matter (of manipulation) would be closely scrutinised. However, such a ban (plus disgorgement of fees) of the 11 firms in the PwC network is not merely unexpected and unprecedented, but far-reaching too.

Two years may not sound like a life sentence, but for a professional firm that relies on professional skilled personnel and knowledge, infrastructure, clients, etc., it could cause a lot of harm.

Can Sebi act against auditors -- this contention was upheld by the Bombay High Court in 2010 in the PwC case itself. It rejected the argument that Sebi has no jurisdiction to take action against auditors who participate in frauds in listed companies. Using general powers available to it under law and armed further by this decision, Sebi has already passed orders on auditors earlier. But this order is much more detailed and has wider ramifications.

Any professional  not just a Chartered Accountant, but even doctors, lawyers, etc.  is concerned that his work would be minutely scrutinised with the benefit of hindsight by regulators, courts and errors would be found. However, in this case, had the issue been merely of faulty/negligent work, Sebi may not have been able to take action. The question here was not whether the work was faulty but that it involved knowing participation in a fraud. Sebi not only found serious faults in the conduct of the audit of Satyam by PwC but also that these amount to complicity in the fraud.

Sebi found, for example, that PwC did not do its job well while verifying the huge bank balances/fixed deposits that Satyam supposedly held but actually did not. Sebi highlighted that these constituted nearly 70 percent of the total assets, yet PwC did not provide the necessary 'professional skepticism' in verifying them. Instead of verifying these balances directly from the bankers themselves, PwC largely relied on confirmations obtained through Satyam. This was not only against norms prescribed by the parent body of Chartered Accountants  the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India  but against their own internal manual for conduct of audit.

PwC, Sebi further said, did not detect huge amounts of sales fraudulently recorded in the accounts. Sebi said thousands of fake sales invoices were recorded in a out-of-the-routine course. This should have normally come up in an audit if proper procedures were followed. There were other findings too. However, the question that arises is  even if assuming that all these were faults - did they amount to PwC being complicit in the fraud? Sebi can take action only if it can show complicity to fraud.

Sebi said that to prove complicity in frauds, the standards of proof are lower than in criminal cases. The standard applicable is it is more than likely that PwC was complicit in the fraud. Sebi said that this fraud was perpetrated over several years and if certain basic and prudent audit procedures were not followed, it is more than probable that there was complicity of PwC in the fraud.

The Order said, There can be only two reasons for such a casual approach to statutory audit  either complacency or complicity. Thus, it held that PwC was guilty of complicity in the fraud.

The question is, who should be acted against here? Are the persons directly responsible for the audit to be acted against or should the order cover the whole PwC group in India including persons and firms distant to the whole matter? Interestingly, Section 147 (5) of the Companies Act, 2013 clarifies that in case of a firm of auditors, it is the firm and the partners who committed the fraud or colluded therein who are liable for fraud. The Companies Act 2017 (provisions not yet notified) adds a proviso that says that in case of criminal liability other than fine, only the partners involved in the fraud would be liable.

Sebi however noted several aspects here. It found close connection between several member firms of PwC including sharing of resources. It referred to settlement orders of SEC, USA in this matter. It also noted that the firm name was used in the audits and the brand thus served an important purpose and stamp of credibility. Thus, it ordered that the ban should apply to the whole group. This will have far-reaching implications as a precedent.

It is almost certain that the Order will be appealed against. How it turns out will matter not just to listed companies and their shareholders, auditors and professionals generally, but also to other stakeholders in the capital market.

(The writer is a Mumbai-based Chartered Accountant)Family members of Bilal Ahmad Kawa, who was arrested on charges of involvement in the 2000 Red Fort attack, claimed he was innocent and had been framed.

Srinagar: Family members of Bilal Ahmad Kawa, who was arrested on charges of involvement in the 2000 Red Fort attack, on Friday claimed he was innocent and had been framed.

"He was ill. His brother asked him to undergo a health check-up in Delhi. He was not involved in anything... He has been framed," Fatima, Kawa's mother, told reporters at the Press Enclave in Srinagar.

She said Kawa was not on the run and he made frequent business-related trips to Delhi.

He booked tickets using his Aadhaar card, Fatima claimed. "He would not have done it if he was a militant? Would the government give an Aadhaar card to a militant?" she asked.

Protesting Kawa's arrest, the family and their neighbours demanded that he be released immediately. The 37-year-old Kawa, suspected to be linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday evening. He had been declared a proclaimed offender in the caseMizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla on Saturday said his government had sought the Centre's help in providing relief to the 1,440 Myanmarese nationals who had taken shelter in the north-eastern state.

Aizawl: Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla on Saturday said his government had sought the Centre's help in providing relief to the 1,440 Myanmarese nationals who had taken shelter in the north-eastern state.

The Myanmarese people had crossed over to Mizoram in November, 2017, following clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army (AA) militants in the Chin state of that country.

Thanhawla said he had appealed to the Centre to provide assistance to the refugees, staying in three relief camps in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district since 25 November.

He added that his government was making efforts to ensure that all the refugees returned to Myanmar.

Officials, however, said the Myanmarese nationals were refusing to return to their respective villages even after the Myanmar Army declared that peace was restored and all the AA rebels were flushed out of their camps.

While some of them were afraid of going back apprehending that a violent confrontation might erupt anytime between the government forces and militants, many preferred to settle down in Mizoram, they added.

The refugees, mostly Buddhists and Christians, were residents of Paletwa and surrounding villages in Myanmar.

After fleeing from home, they took shelter in Lawngtlai district's Laitlang, Zochachhuah, Hmangbuchhuah and Dumzautlang villages.

After stray bullets from Myanmar hit a house in Laitlang just ahead of Christmas, the refugees staying there were shifted to the other three villages, an official said.

All the refugees would be repatriated, officials in the Lawngtlai district administration said, adding that they did not want to use force on them on humanitarian grounds.With Israel asserting that its relationship with India is much stronger than one vote in the UN, the stage is set for for the arrival on Sunday of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu.

New Delhi: With Israel asserting that its relationship with India is much stronger than one vote in the UN, the stage is set for for the arrival on Sunday of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu on a six-day trip to give a fillip to 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

This is the first prime ministerial visit from Israel to India since the visit of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The visit comes less than a month after New Delhi voted in the UN General Assembly against US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

However, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon, at a media briefing, set at rest all speculation over this saying, "I think the relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN here and there."

He also added: "Sometimes it is India that comes to Israel with a request and sometimes Israel comes to India with a request. We cannot always fulfill those requests. That is why we are two countries, two members of the UN."

B Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (WANA) in the Ministry of External Affairs, told the media that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu will sit for a bilateral summit on 15 January, both sides "will be discussing a lot of issues".

Netanyahu's visit also assumes significance as it comes just over six months after the visit of Modi to Israel, the first ever Indian prime ministerial visit to the West Asian nation.

Stating that bilateral cooperation has been expanded to several areas, Bhaskar said: "It all started with agriculture, now we have large areas of cooperation predominantly dominated by technology collaboration, innovation, R&D, science, space, so these are actually very qualitative engagements characterised by technological collaboration and innovation."

According to Carmon, though cooperation in agriculture and water were the highlights of Modi's visit to Israel in July last year, this time innovation will top the agenda.

"Innovation that would, you know, touch any of the areas in which we cooperate. Innovation could be in the field of defence, innovation could be in the field of agriculture, innovation could be in the field of IT, of R&D," he said.

The Ambassador described innovation as a "cross-cutting issue" and said this would be reflected in the discussions between Modi and Netanyahu.

Carmon referred to Netanyahu's scheduled visit to the iCreate Innovation Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and said that the centre "has a big clement of Israeli ecosystem in innovation".

Bhaskar said the ties between the two countries have been expanding in the areas of agriculture, water, innovation, entrepreneurship development, space, education, culture, homeland security and defence.

"We have upgraded our relationship to the strategic level with a special focus on agriculture and water," he said.

He said the bilateral commerce between the two countries stood at $5 billion in 2016-17 which did not include defence trade.

There is speculation about the revival of talks on India's purchase of 8,000 Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel that was cancelled last year.

Carmon, on his part, said that the Spike project is an example of Israel engaging in the Make in India programme.

Stating that the project would be a boost to India's economy, the Ambassador said: "If there is a problem, I hope it would be solved."

Apart from the summit-level meeting, the second India-Israel CEOs forum will be held as also a series of other meetings between both sides in New Delhi and Mumbai during the course of the visit. Netanyahu will be accompanied by a delegation of 130 Israeli business leaders.

Asked about the status of the India-Israel free trade agreement (FTA), Carmon said that "the FTA is definitely on our agenda".

Netanyahu is also scheduled to visit a Centre of Excellence in Agriculture at Vadrad, Gujarat, that has been set up with Israeli assistance.

Carmon said that by the end of this month, there will be 22 centres of excellence set up with Israeli aid up and running across India.

These centres cover areas like vegetables, citrus fruits, dates, mangoes, flowers, beekeeping, he said, adding that "we are now starting work on a dairy farm in Haryana".

Netanyahu will also be accompanied by Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Moshe, who was only two years old then, will visit Chabad House, where his parents were killed.

Another major highlight of Netanyahu's visit will be his participation in this year's Raisina Dialogue, India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics.Bilkis Bano, the 2002 Gujarat gangrape and communal violence survivor, has been fighting for justice.

Bilkis Bano, the 2002 Gujarat gangrape and communal violence survivor, has been fighting for justice. In May, 2017, the Bombay High Court upheld the conviction and imprisonment of eleven men convicted of raping her and killing fourteen members of her family, while setting aside the acquittal of seven others which included doctors and policemen. In the 430-page judgment, the high court condemned the violence during Godhra and post-Godhra riots, but refrained from considering Banos case as a rarest of the rare case.

Almost a year later, Bilkis Bano has filed a plea demanding exemplary compensation for the sexual violence she faced in 2002. The Supreme Court, acting through a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, sought a response from the state government by 12 March. The plea beseeches that the court revisit its law on the quantum of compensation that may be provided to Bano, given that Banos fundamental and constitutional rights were violated. The application suggests: The horrendous facts of the present case and extremes of the egregious violation of fundamental rights and human rights of the petitioner would though beseech rather demand the court to raise the bar much higher. The application for exemplary compensation also alleges that the state failed to protect Bano in the time of an emergency, and moreover, it had used all its machinery to shroud the perpetrators of the crime from the arms of the law, therefore, striking at the roots of her fundamental rights.

Bilkis Banos application for compensation goes beyond the usual demand for victim compensation. It should be noted that she does not ask the court, in her plea, to provide her with compensation under Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008, which includes the Victim Compensation Scheme (VCS) implemented by the state governments/union territories in coordination with the central government. This includes compensation to victims of sexual crimes including rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and crimes against children. Currently, there is no uniform scheme for survivors of rape but there is a practice of giving different amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 10,00,000 to survivors as compensation for the violation of rights and rehabilitation. But Bilkis Bano does not invoke this type of compensation at all; she demands exemplary compensation from the state.

The difference between victim compensation and exemplary or punitive damages is simple. Victim compensation is an amount of damages paid in recognition of loss, suffering or injury. For example, in rape cases, the state recognises, through the VCS, that during the rape or sexual assault cases, the survivor loses her intrinsic human rights. Exemplary compensation or punitive damages go beyond mere victim compensation, and such damages are awarded when the defendants wilful acts were malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton or grossly reckless. The rationale of an exemplary compensation is that the violation of rights is so heinous and gross that mere compensation is not enough; it is also mandatory to pin down accountability on the part of the defendant, and send a message to the society at large.

In a previous Firstpost piece, it is explained how Banos plight spanned fifteen years and how the Bombay High Court judgment of 2017 fails her by refusing to examine the nature of sexual violence she was subjected to in 2002. The judges in the case, despite several international law precedents, were reluctant to identify rape as a weapon of war and a tool to humiliate and sexually assault thousands of women during the post-Godhra riots  It looks at the rape of Bilkis Bano and the rape of thousands of women during the post-Godhra riots, as a misfortune of communal disharmony, and in this, it normalises the crime of rape as a result of uncontrolled sexual desire, when in reality, rape is about power and subjection.

Justices Mridula Bhatkar and VK Tahilramani were also reluctant to consider Banos case as a rarest of the rare. For them, her violation of rights did not succeed to invoke the Machhi Singh doctrine  it did not involve extraordinary cruelty, and they did not feel like the collective conscience of the society was shocked enough to implore the "rarest of the rare" doctrine. The Justices did not want to look beyond the concept of communal disharmony and did not examine Banos rape from the narrative of sexual violence in conflict, as popularised by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Moreover, the case does not at all speak about state accountability.

Banos plea for exemplary compensation is a way to highlight how the judiciary had failed her fundamental and constitutional rights in May, 2017 by not pointing out the responsibility of the state. Banos application is an attempt to invoke the positive and negative obligations of the state towards survivors of the post-Godhra riots of 2002  by saying that the state failed to protect her right to life and liberty in 2002, and additionally, utilised its machinery to protect the perpetrators of the crime.

This move is commendable by Bilkis Banos counsel because it endeavours to right the wrongs of the Bombay High Court judgment, and directly challenges the state of Gujarat in its failure to uphold Banos human rights as well as being complicit in the use of rape by its subjects as a weapon of conflict.A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven people on board has gone missing in Mumbai soon after take-off from the Juhu airport on Saturday

A Pawan Hans chopper with seven people on board went missing in Mumbai soon after take-off from the Juhu airport on Saturday, according to media reports. The chopper lost contact with Air Traffic Control 30 nautical miles off Mumbai, reports said.

#Mumbai: Helicopter with 7 people on board, including ONGC employees, has lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) 30 nautical miles off Mumbai. More details awaited.  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The helicopter was scheduled to land at ONGC's North Field at 10.58 am, ANI reported. No contact could be established with the pilots after 10.30 am.

The Times of India reported that two pilots and five ONGC employees were on board. "The pilots, as per the procedure, had changed over their radio contact from Juhu air traffic control to the one manned on the oil rig around 10.25 am," the report quoted a source as saying.

Soon after that, contact with the helicopter was disrupted, the source said, adding that an alert has been sent across to different agencies as the flight failed to land long past its expected time of arrival at the rig, the report added.

Search operations for the chopper are underway. "We have deployed all our choppers, including from each of our naval bases in search of the missing chopper. It is a Pawan Hans chopper, carrying five employees. We are working towards finding the chopper at the earliest," The Indian Express quoted a senior ONGC official as saying.

The Indian Coast Guard, too, has joined the search operations. "We have already diverted ship and aircraft to area. Will update once any news is received, the Indian Coast Guard said, according to the report.As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted raids on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti's properties, the party said 'Raid Raj' has become the 'DNA' of Modi government and it exposes its vendetta politics

New Delhi: As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted raids on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti's properties, the party said "Raid Raj" has become the "DNA" of Modi government and it exposes its vendetta politics by using probe agencies as "captive puppets".

It said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was ruffled by a series of political, administrative and judicial reversals and was, therefore, using these raids to divert the attention of the country from its abject failures.

The party said Congress leaders would not be "cowed down or bow in face of such malicious and wilful attempts to browbeat, bulldoze or overawe".

"Hurriedly conducted ED raids at the Delhi and Chennai residences of former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram have once again exposed the continuing vicious vendetta unleashed by Modi government against Congress and other opposition leaders," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a statement.

"Stark truth is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are using agencies like ED and CBI as captive puppets to settle political scores and intimidate political opponents. In fact, 'Raid Raj' has become the 'DNA' of Modi government," he added.

With such "spiteful and hostile onslaught" to suppress the voice of opposition, the party's resolve to raise people's issues and hold the government and the prime minister accountable on policy and promises only became stronger, Surjewala said.

The Directorate on Saturday conducted raids on Karti Chidambaram's properties in Delhi and Chennai in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.

The raids were conducted at one location in Delhi and four in Chennai.16:56 (ist)

Students were on a picnic when boat capsized

Police said that 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing students was continuing with Coast

Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea. "The bodies of Sonal Bhagwan Surati and Janhavi Harish Surati, both residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area, were recovered," Manjunath Singe, Superintendent of Police, Palghar said.

Singe said that the private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am.

The students were on a picnic.

PTIThe Coast Guard has recovered bodies of four people on-board the Pawan Hans helicopter that went missing off the Mumbai coast on Saturday morning.

The Coast Guard has recovered bodies of four people on-board the Pawan Hans helicopter that went missing off the Mumbai coast on Saturday morning, ANI reported.

Indian Coast Guard continues Search and Rescue operations. Four bodies have been recovered at sea near debris of #ONGC helicopter. #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/KDzcXiKpzT  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The debris of the chopper, which was heading to ONGC's north field with total seven people on board, has also been located by the Coast Guard ship, ANI reported. India Today news channel reported that three ships and three helicopters are involved in a large-scale search and rescue operation, which is underway.

Wreckage of Pawanhans Helicopter of #ONGC. The helicopter was flying from Juhu #Mumbai to ODA Offshore Development Area when it got lost at sea this morning (Source: Indian Coast Guard) pic.twitter.com/8nbWM8efOM  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

2 ISVs deployed for patrol in area have been diverted for search & rescue along with 3 Coast Guard units already in area. Seaking 42B helicopter being launched in addition: Navy Spokesperson on missing helicopter that took off from Juhu  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 am on Saturday, with five ONGC employees and two pilots onboard. Coast Guard shared the identities of two of the four bodies recovered so far: VK Bindulal Babu and Pankaj Garg. According to The Indian Express, all the employees on-board are deputy general managers. The report further revealed names of other employees who were on the chopper: Sarvannan, Jose Anthony, and P Shrinivasan.

Two bodies out of four recovered at sea near debris of ill feted @ONGC_ Aircraft identified by the cards in wallet @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/yG8dQ0t6Nx  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) January 13, 2018

Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted that he had requested Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide Coast Guard's assistance in the rescue operation. He further said that ONGC Chairman Shashi Shanker has rushed to Mumbai in view of the incident.

Spoke to Defence Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharamanji & requested for help from Coast Guard and other agencies in the search and rescue operations ;CMDONGC has rushed to Mumbai;pray for safety of the ONGC officers and the pilots pic.twitter.com/sBNwfHGP0a  Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) January 13, 2018

The helicopter was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am, PTI quoted official sources as saying.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being press into service.

The Coast Guard had also diverted its ships to search the missing chopper.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official told PTI.

He said the DGCA will extend all necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

Deeply anguished by tragic Pawan Hans / ONGC helicopter accident off the Mumbai coast. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry.  Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) January 13, 2018

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history. In August 2003, Mi-172 helicopter crashed off Mumbai coast killing 27 company persons and pilot on-board.

With inputs from PTIThe Enforcement Directorate on Saturday began raids at Karti Chidambaram's premises in Delhi and Chennai in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday began raids at Karti Chidambaram's premises in Delhi and Chennai over the Aircel-Maxis case, according to media reports. The raids, which began at 7.30 am, are being conducted in five separate locations in the two cities.

#BREAKING ED raids being conducted at Karti Chidambaram's premises in Delhi and Chennai over Aircel-Maxis Case. Raids being conducted in 5 locations - 1 in Delhi and 4 in Chennai. 5 ED officials present at the residence from 7:30am. Both Karti and P Chidambaram are not in Chennai pic.twitter.com/lv4B1d6I9e  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 13, 2018

CNN-News18 reported that currently both Karti and his father, former Union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram, are not in Chennai.

P Chidambaram on Saturday responded to the latest raids, saying the ED has no jurisdiction to conduct such raids.

#BREAKING -- They have no jurisdiction to conduct raids under PMLA. ED conducted the raid but could not find anything: @PChidambaram_IN pic.twitter.com/O3re2t5TEP  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 13, 2018

The ED also issued fresh summons to Karti, and has asked him to appear before it on 16 January, Zee News reported.

In May 2017, an FIR was lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Karti on alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Karti's father was the finance minister.

In September 2017, a Supreme Court bench comprising of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud, had told Karti not to leave India.

In October, the CBI alleged that Karti had "tampered" with the evidence relating to an alleged graft case against him during his visits abroad in May, June and July 2017.

CNN-News18 reported that Karti had visited London to close his bank accounts, and had also withdrawn the money deposited in them. Karti denied the CNN-News18 claims and said it was "outrageous" to suggest that he had not disclosed his assets.

Saturday's raids were not the first on Chidambarams' residences. In December 2017 too, the ED conducted raids in Chennai and Kolkata in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.Indu Malhotras potential appointment, while nothing short of historic, reveals a deeply ingrained issue in the judiciary  the lack of gender diversity.

In a historical move, senior advocate Indu Malhotra is all set to become the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. Malhotras name was cleared unanimously by the Supreme Court collegium consisting of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. Along with her, the Collegium also recommended that Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph also be elevated to the Supreme Court.

When appointed, Malhotra will be the seventh woman judge to make it to the Supreme Court since it was established 67 years ago. Currently, Justice R Banumathi, who was appointed in August 2014, is the only woman judge in the countrys apex court amongst 25 judges, and is due to retire in July 2020. In 1989, Justice Fathima Bheevi became the very first woman judge of the Supreme Court.

The career of Indu Malhotra  who was born in Bengaluru in 1956  spans over three decades. She began her legal career in 1983, and in 2007, she was the second woman lawyer, after Justice Leila Seth, to be appointed senior advocate by the Supreme Court. Malhotra is a second-generation lawyer, and has been an advocate of social issues, and is on the board of trustees at SaveLIFE Foundation, which she has also represented in the Supreme Court.

The legal communitys response to this news has been overwhelming, to say the least. Indira Jaising, senior advocate, spoke to The Hindu saying that  Its a welcome move to recruit a woman directly from the Bar. There has to be more women judges at the Supreme Court. Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover stated that this is great move by the Supreme Court but there is a need to have more women judges in the apex court.

Indu Malhotras potential appointment, while nothing short of historic, reveals a deeply ingrained issue that the judiciary should have addressed decades ago  in 67 years of the Supreme Courts existence, there have been only 6 women judges! Last year, when the practice of triple talaq was declared arbitrary, un-Islamic, and unconstitutional, the verdict was pronounced by five judges of five different faiths, but not even one of them was a woman. Later, in a separate judgment, privacy was declared a fundamental right by an all-male panel of Supreme Court judges. Justice Banumathi was not a part of the two most significant judgments of the judiciary in 2017. Though Justice Banumathi was a part of the bench that adjudicated the Jyoti Singh gang-rape case and confirmed the death sentence of the men convicted, she was sadly left out of adjudicating the cases that could have changed the narrative of womens rights in the judiciary.

A former judge of the Madras High Court, Justice Prabha Sridevan points out to the biggest issue when it comes to women in the judiciary  The problem is far more deeply ingrained. It is the fact that there is just one woman judge and that this does not seem to matter to anyone. Indira Jaising believes that women are available but they are not on the horizon of those who appoint judges. The scarcity of women judges and the complete lack of gender diversity at the higher judiciary, the agencies that shape legal narratives, is stark. The data speaks louder  there have been 229 judges appointed to the Supreme Court since the 1950s, out which there have been only six women. The judiciary had taken 39 years to appoint the first ever woman judge in 1989. Today, we celebrate Indu Malhotras potential elevation to the apex court, knowing fully well that there is only one other woman judge in the higher judiciary, and this fact is disturbing.

In my opinion, we dont require women judges exclusively to decide on issues of womens rights and gender. In the past, there have been several judgments where womens right to life, dignity and equality were ruled by male judges. The fact is that one does not need judges of a particular gender, caste or community to rule on issues that require such considerations  advocacy does not require exclusivity. However, the Supreme Court is an institution that is dedicated towards meting out justice and upholding constitutional principles of equality, diversity and dignity, and if this institution demonstrates such a gaping lack of diversity, then this must be redressed. Having women judges at the Supreme Court would have possibly contributed to a less unidimensional judgment in the triple talaq case, where the male judges did not discuss the domestic violence and torture that was a significant part of Shayara Banos original petition. Perhaps there would have been a discussion on marital rape when the Supreme Court criminalized sex with a minor wife. Had a woman judge sat on for Hadiyas matter, perhaps the Supreme Court would not have had to assume parens patriae jurisdiction, and Hadiya would be declared what she already is  an adult woman who can choose what she wants in life.

India is a signatory to the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women) that mandates the removal of obstacles of womens public participation in all spheres of public and private lives. The idea is that there should be a certain level of feminist adjudication at the highest court of the country, and currently, such adjudication does not happen. Male benches perceive women as victims who need to be protected and provided for, and this is why having more female judges at the top is necessary  we need more women who will understand the lived realities of women litigants. The Supreme Court is in the midst of discussing the criminalisation of marital rape and the barring of women worshippers from the Sabarimala temple. How can the Supreme Court keep adjudicating matters that touch womens private and public lives without having women judges opine on the matters?

Indu Malhotras potential appointment should not be a move of appeasement  directly appointing a senior advocate just to steer away from the discussions of gender diversity in the judiciary. Her appointment should be a way to remove barriers so that other women can aspire to work at the Supreme Court. Otherwise, the gender imbalances in judicial narratives of womens rights will continue to stare us in the face.An army jawan was on Saturday killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district

Jammu: An army jawan was on Saturday killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, the army said.

Pakistan Army troops initiated unprovoked firing on Indian posts from across the border in the Sunderbani sector, prompting the Indian troops guarding the LoC to retaliate strongly and effectively, an army spokesman said.

Lance Naik Yogesh Muralidhar Bhadane, 22, from Khalane village of Dhule district in Maharashtra, was critically injured in the firing and later succumbed to his injuries. Bhadane is survived by his wife.

The incident comes just days after a BSF head constable was killed after Pakistani forces "sniped" from across the International Border in Samba district.

In retaliation, the BSF destroyed two Pakistani mortar positions. It also foiled an infiltration bid by gunning down a Pakistani intruder along the IB near Nikowal Border Out Post (BoP) in Arnia sector.

An army personnel was also killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district on 31 December last year.

Sepoy Jagsir Singh, 32, was killed when he was shot by Paksitani troops from across the border along the LoC in Rajouri district on the last day of 2017, the year which recorded the highest number of ceasefire violations in the past decade resulting in the death of 35 people, including 19 Army personnel and four BSF men.

India shares a 3,323-km border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

On 23 December, an army major and three soldiers were killed along the LoC in Rajouri and in retaliatory action, Indian troops killed three Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir two days later.The BJP on Saturday staged a demonstration in Bengaluru against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his remarks branding members of the party and RSS as 'terrorists.

Bengaluru: The BJP on Saturday staged a demonstration in Bengaluru against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his remarks branding members of the party and RSS as "terrorists."

Led by BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, the party leaders staged a dharna at the Mysuru Bank circle in the heart of the city and blocked the road.

Later, the BJP leaders and workers courted arrest.

Karandlaje accused Siddaramaiah of indulging in "vote bank politics."

Siddaramaiah had recently alleged that BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal have terrorists within their organisations.

"They are themselves like terrorists in a way. BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal also have terrorists within," he had said, triggering a war of words between the ruling Congress and the saffron party ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Siddaramaiah, who came under intense attack from the BJP for his controversial remarks, however, later called them "Hindutva extremists".Maharashtra government will get 52,000 sq mt plot at Mandale village near Mankhurd next month for the construction of the new prison

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court that it has finally completed formalities to acquire land for a new prison complex in Mumbai, four years after it made the proposal.

As per an affidavit submitted in the high court by the Maharashtra government Friday, the city collector will hand over around 52,000 sq mt plot at Mandale village near Mankhurd to the state by next month for the construction of the new prison.

The construction of the new prison was proposed by the Maharashtra government in 2014 to tackle overcrowding in the existing prisons in and around Mumbai.

As per the affidavit, the state home department, the revenue department, and other stakeholders met on 3 January.

All formalities were completed during the meeting and the state revenue minister directed the city collector to hand over the 52,000 sq.m. plot within a month's time.

Appearing for the state, advocate Anil Sakhre informed the court that the Public Works Department had also been directed to appoint an architect and prepare the plan and estimates for the new construction.

In the meantime, Sakhre said, the state had already begun constructing "eight new barracks at the Yerwada Central Jail premises in Pune since the prison has sufficient space" for the same.

"All new construction at the Yerwada premises and the proposed site in Mankhurd will be done in line with the suggestions of the state's prison reforms committee," Sakhre said.

The affidavit was filed in compliance with a previous order of the high court.

In February 2017, a bench led by Justice AS Oka had directed the Maharashtra government to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge and experts as members to conduct a "scientific study on setting up a model prison with necessary infrastructure and steps to reduce overcrowding in jails."

Following the court's order at the time, the state had conducted an inspection, which revealed that the Arthur road jail in Mumbai and the Yerwada jail were severely overcrowded.

It had also revealed that the prisons across the state did not have adequate number of toilets and bathrooms, and that the male inmates often had to bathe in the open. In the women's cell too, there were inadequate number of toilets and bathrooms.

The inspection report had also said that these toilets were ill-maintained and dirty.

In the affidavit submitted on Friday, the state said that the central prisons in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Nagpur required around 200 additional toilets, bathrooms, and bathing platforms.

"We are carrying out repair work at the existing toilets and bathrooms. We will soon allocate funds for construction of new toilets and bathrooms too," Sakhre said.

The court has now directed the state to submit by February 12 a chart detailing all repair and construction work that is proposed or currently being undertaken, the cost for the same, and the time that will be taken to complete all such work.Aadhaar has now entered a controversial territory, and its perception has morphed from a data-driven public service to connotations of an all-encompassing, Big Brother-esque, almost voyeuristic intrusion into the private lives of citizens.

The recent breach of Aadhaar data of millions of Indians, on sale for a sum of Rs 500, was a truly worrisome revelation for the country. For us in the UPA government, it is hard to fathom how Aadhaar is now being employed as a snooping tool by the current government.

We had rather envisioned it as a mechanism to supplement and streamline governance, and I personally perceived it as part of the larger apparatus of the National e-governance Plan. For us, it was about leveraging Information and Communications Technologies to eliminate wastage and optimally target beneficiaries.

Unfortunately, Aadhaar has now entered a controversial territory, and its perception has morphed from a data-driven public service to connotations of an all-encompassing, Big Brother-esque, almost voyeuristic intrusion into the private lives of citizens.

Im largely in favour of governments leveraging big data and technology, albeit with caveats and a privacy law in place, by monitoring, for instance, purchases on a credit card or online search history, in order to determine whether an individual could potentially indulge in a dangerous activity. This is indispensable for Indias counterterrorism effort and the preservation of national security. However, it is also the responsibility of the government to establish adequate safeguards to ensure that the data of private citizens isnt leaked or misused.

It was keeping that very philosophy in mind that the Supreme Court recently declared privacy a fundamental right. One would think that this judgment was a slap on the wrist for a government that is trying to transform Aadhaar into a snooping tool, and would provide the impetus for rectifying this brazenness. In light of the judgment, one would expect the government to fast-track the conception of a roadmap and timeframe delineating proposed measures to codify the Supreme Court order into law and to initiate a debate on what privacy means to Indians and how to best navigate it in the Indian context.

Instead of safeguarding citizens data that the government has been entrusted with, we are met with a blase administration which has allowed a serious lapse in privacy and security, exposed by an investigative journalist, which proves that our data is not only vulnerable to vested interests in India but can potentially be accessed and misused by external threats. In the backdrop of the Supreme Court order, this opportunity should ideally have been used to carve a unique Indian notion of privacy, as well to plug gaps in order to prevent data leaks and establish legal safeguards to protect our data.

The governments entire attitude with regards to our private data screams brazenness. Edward Snowden, a whistle-blower against unlawful snooping by the state who exposed the US governments surveillance programme Prism, said in a tweet that the blame solely lies with the UIDAI, and that if the government were truly concerned about justice, it "would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians".

The government is currently like an ostrich with its head in the sand with regards to the privacy debate in India. The world over, in progressive liberal democracies such as our own, governments are partnering with their citizens to balance out issues of privacy versus security. It is time that the government of India takes its head out of the sand, rises to the occasion, and displays the same level of maturity.

The author is a former member of Parliament and has served as minister for communication and IT, and shipping and ports.The Indian Navy requested Nitin Gadkari for accommodation in South Mumbai because armed personnel should be able to easily access their installations round the clock, and not because they wan to live in posh areas

Nitin Gadkari is the Union Minister for Shipping and Water Resources. This is an important portfolio. Therefore, it is only natural to assume that a person who holds such a position will issue statements that are as weighty as the office he holds. Unfortunately, the minister's words directed at the Indian Navy were not of such timbre: he told the country's maritime force to go to the border along Pakistan when they requested for land allocation in South Mumbai to build accommodation for their personnel.

He said this in the presence of the Chief of the Western Command and senior naval officials after accusing the navy of holding up development projects. The navy had earlier declined to give permission for a seaplane jetty and a floating hotel off Mumbai's Malabar Hill.

"(The navy) came to me seeking a plot of land... I will not give them even an inch of land, please don't come again... Everyone wants to build quarters and flats on south Mumbai's prime land. We do respect you (navy), but you should go to the Pakistan border and do patrolling," the Minister had said.

First, Gadkari should know better. His government's party line is hyper-patriotism and snubbing the armed forces is not toeing the party line. Secondly, it's a bit of a problem asking a sea force to patrol a land border. Besides, India's maritime border is largely patrolled by the Indian Coast Guard.

But on a more serious note, Mumbai is a vitally important naval installation. And, for many reasons. One being that it presents one of the best natural harbours on the western coast. Which is why it was an important naval base since the days of the East India Company and the Royal Indian Navy.

Mumbai also contains vital installations that warrant a naval presence. The Naval Dockyard and the Mazgaon Dockyard are located here. Indian naval ships are built and repaired in Mumbai. This is apart from the Bombay High, the oil field that produces around 2,05,000 barrels of crude oil a day, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Port of Mumbai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. This means that in pure military terms, the city of Mumbai is of vital importance. The fact that it's on the Arabian Sea also means that it enables power projection to the west and its proximity to the Pakistani coast also makes it feasible to carry out both defensive and offensive operations from here. This is why there is a strong naval presence in Mumbai, to defend and protect the city.

But this apart, why does the navy need accommodation in South Mumbai? Well, South Mumbai is where the existing naval installations are. Further, the Indian armed forces live in cohesive units. The accommodation has to be near the installations so that officers and personnel have easy access to them round the clock. Furthermore, naval personnel are subject to different laws and also live in different communities. Historically, their lands are run by cantonment boards which manage the properties so that they can be tailored to their specific requirements. This is why the navy requested for accommodation in South Mumbai. Not because the naval officers want to live in posh areas. They aren't going to retire in these flats. Most of them will be posted elsewhere after a few years. The accommodations are a necessity.

But unfortunately, our Shipping Minister doesn't seem to think so. He thinks it is no security concern to have a seaplane jetty on Malabar Hill where the Raj Bhavan is located. This is despite the fact that the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks arrived in the city via the sea. The nation should hope that the collective wisdom of the Cabinet, provided it is of one mind, makes the right call.Three teenage girls were killed and 15 others injured after a fire broke out during a religious event near Rajkot in Gujarat, an official said on Saturday.

Rajkot: Three teenage girls were killed and 15 others injured after a fire broke out during a religious event near Rajkot in Gujarat, an official said on Saturday.

The incident happened at the 'Rashtra Katha Shibir' (camp) in Pranali village of the district last night.

"The blaze erupted in shibir's women section and spread rapidly, killing three persons," District Collector Vikrant Pandey said.

A team of National Disaster Response Force and fire brigade rescued several people from the site, Pandey said.

Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Antrip Sood said the deceased were teenage girls.

Nearly 15 people suffered burn injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital, Sood said.

A short-circuit may have led to the fire, but an investigation was on to ascertain the cause, Pandey said.

The camp was being organised by spiritual leader Swami Dharmabandhuji.

Dharmabandhuji, who has been conducting the shibir for the past 20 years, said he was pained by the tragedy, which happened on the last day of the ten-day event.

The event draws prominent personalities. This year, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani attended the camp.Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to ignore the serious issue of cervical cancer adhering to recommendations from an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

In the United States, January is the month of Cervical Cancer Awareness. Country-wide efforts are made to raise awareness about the disease which affects 13,000 American women each year.

In comparison, approximately 365.71 million Indian women above the age of 15 years are at risk of developing cervical cancer, the most common cancer among Indian women. Approximately 132,000 new cases are diagnosed and 74,000 deaths occur annually in India, accounting to nearly one-third of the global cervical cancer deaths. (Source: WHO Reports and government data from National Health Portal).

Yet, India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to ignore this serious issue adhering to recommendations from an organisation affiliated to, oddly enough, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Cervical cancer is caused by Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted and is preventable by HPV vaccine, which the World Health Organisation has recommended should be included among routine mandatory vaccinations. A paper published by National Health Portal of India also stated, "cervical cancer can be prevented by vaccinating all young females against the HPVs...."

It is therefore, surprising that the ministry has decided to drop the HPV vaccine from Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) adhering to recommendations from the RSS affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM). As per reports, SJM wrote a letter to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) last month stating, "It is our concern that this programme will divert scarce resources from more worthwhile health initiatives diverting it to this vaccine of doubtful utility (sic)."

The letter was duly acknowledged by PMO and accordingly sent to the ministry for consideration. A sub-committee of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) was earlier constituted to look into the matter of introduction of HPV virus in India. While NTAGI is yet to give a decision, highly placed sources have revealed that SJM's recommendation is being adhered to, and regardless of what NTAGI decides, the vaccine will not be included in UIP scheme, reported The Indian Express.

Swadeshi Manch's national co-convener Ashwani Mahajan was already celebrating the successful impact of his work as he tweeted:

THANKS @narendramodi ji @PMOIndia @JPNadda ji Health Ministry Decides To Shelve Cervical Cancer Vaccine After RSS-Affiliate Writes To PM Modi, Now resources meant for health would be better utilised as MNCs game plan foiled https://t.co/CvGhjS9mk0  ASHWANI MAHAJAN (@ashwani_mahajan) January 10, 2018

The chain of events raises several doubts. Why would an organisation like SJM have any stake in this matter? Do they have the relevant technical expertise to hold an opinion which, if taken seriously, has the potential to adversely affect the health of 365.71 million Indian women? What would be the rationale behind the ministrys decision in this regard, whether they would adhere to NTAGI's recommendation or those of Swadeshi Manch?

SJM's position is misogynist as it attempts to put women's health on last priority in doing a cost benefit analysis. SJM seems to be of the opinion that cervical cancer is not a serious issue and "scarce resources" should be used for "more worthwhile" health initiatives. Mahajan's vindictive tweet is reflective of one-upmanship for having foiled "MNC game plan" and is devoid of any concern for women's health.

Having said that, it is worth mentioning that the utility of HPV vaccine is not free from debate, which is largely mounted upon two major planks  "morality" and "safety". Since the cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted virus, vaccine is seen as a license to wanton sexual behavior. Religious and conservative bodies in the US therefore, oppose the vaccine and advocate abstinence.

The other issue is that of safety as several reports have emerged citing serious side effects of the vaccine.

In India, women's body Sama Resource Group and Saheli Women's Resource Centre has raised serious objections to the trials, study and marketing of HPV vaccines.

Their opposition is mainly based upon safety, ethical and procedural grounds. "The vaccines were administered to poor adivasi girls in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat as part of a pilot study, and a Parliamentary Committee found that this process was fraught with unethical practices and violations of the children's rights," said Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA secretary and noted women rights activists. "Instead of pushing through the HPV vaccine, what the government needs to do urgently is to make regular cervical screening available for the mass of girls and women in the country," Krishnan added.

Dr Swati Saxena, a public health researcher, however is of the opinion that there are enough studies and findings to prove that the vaccine is safe and effective in preventing cancer. "The government should introduce the vaccine. It is approved by CDC and WHO. It is true that demonstration projects (pilot study) in Andhra and Gujarat were conducted unethically, which caused great concern among advocacy groups but there is nothing wrong with the vaccine itself." said Saxena.

So what factors should be considered by government before taking a final decision? "The government should check the 'disease burden' which is very high in this case, and availability of effective alternate means to prevent the disease," said Saxena.

The alternate to HPV virus is regular 'pap smear' tests, but it is neither effective nor feasible in a country like India. Indian women are conditioned to not pay attention to their health or talk about their bodies. There is almost no culture of regular health checkup for women. Slightest hint of women's sexuality is tabooed, there is extreme shame and guilt associated with the vagina and a positive pap smear test would immediately vilify and ostracise the woman.

A UK based study involving women of Pakistani and Indian origin revealed, "Women expressed 'worry', 'shock', 'surprise' and even 'fear' in response to the information that cervical cancer was linked to a sexually transmitted virus." Another study conducted in Allahabads Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture revealed that even highly educated women (PhD holders) were not aware of the risks of cervical cancer and had never gone for a pap smear test in their entire lifetime.

Evidently, the alternate to HPV virus is not effective and the vaccination seems to be the way forward. Putting the responsibility squarely on the government, Saxena said, "Look, the vaccine is already available in the Indian market privately but it's very expensive and only the rich women can buy it. So what we are talking about here, is not the vaccine per se, but the government's responsibility towards poor women. They would never go for screening and they won't be able to afford the vaccine privately. And if contracted, the palliative care costs of this cancer are very high."

To conclude, the final decision whether or not to include the HPV vaccine in UIP is perhaps not an easy one, and is best left to people with sound technical expertise. Should hyper-masculine patriarchal and traditional organisation such as RSS and its affiliates be encouraged to have an opinion in matters which are exclusively about womens health  is a question that must make us think.Attorney General KK Venugopal on Saturday expressed the hope that the crisis in the top judiciary following a revolt by four Supreme Court judges would be 'settled'

New Delhi: Attorney General KK Venugopal on Saturday expressed the hope that the crisis in the top judiciary following a revolt by four Supreme Court judges would be "settled".

"Let's hope everything works out very well. I am sure everything will be settled," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Venugopal on Friday said the judges could have avoided going public with their complaints against Chief Justice Dipak Misra. He also said that the judges were men of repute and statesmen and hoped that they would solve their difference amicably.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra was on Saturday morning seen driving to the residence of the Chief Justice. He was seen sitting inside his official car which returned from the gate of the Chief Justice's residence without entering there.The Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday expressed 'grave concern' over the sharp division among the top Supreme Court judges

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday expressed "grave concern" over the sharp division among the top Supreme Court judges and urged for a Full Court hearing on the crisis while demanding that all PILs, including the one on the mysterious death of judge BH Loya, be referred to either the CJI or the judges in the collegium.

The SCBA executive committee held an emergent meeting and unanimously adopted two resolutions on the crisis facing the top judiciary.

In the first resolution, the SCBA said the differences that have been reported in the press conference by four senior judges of the Supreme Court and the other differences which are reflected in newspapers are of "grave concern and should be immediately considered by the Full Court of the Supreme Court".

The other resolution urged that all PILs, including the pending ones, should be either taken up by the Chief Justice of India or be assigned by him to the judges in the collegium.

"Even the matters listed on Monday, 15 January, 2018 should also be transferred as per our request," the resolution said without referring to any particular case.

On Friday, the Supreme Court posted the PIL seeking a probe into the death of special CBI judge Loya who was hearing the case relating to the alleged fake shootout of Sohrabuddin for Monday.

Addressing a press conference, SCBA President Vikas Singh said a Full Court reference is a private hearing and an in-house procedure to thrash out issues. "It will be a very good step to restore the credibility of this institution," he said.

Asked to comment on the judge Loya case, a reference to which was made by the judges in the press conference, Singh said they would not comment on any specific cases. However, he added it was not as if nothing was wrong. There must have been something obviously the judges felt, he said.

Singh said the SCBA would seek an appointment with the CJI and later with other judges in an attempt to resolve the issues.Everyone was taken by surprise when four senior judges of the Supreme Court on Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the country's chief justice.

Everyone was taken by surprise when four senior judges of the Supreme Court on Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders.

Advocate Gautam Bhatia, in a series of tweets, said on Friday that in the last 20 years, the office of the Chief Justice of India has received a lot of power without having any system of accountability to keep it in check.

Bhatia argued that two features in the Indian legal system  "the splitting up of the Supreme Court into multiple different benches, and the massive backlog of cases"  make these powers problematic. "In this context, the Chief Justice's powers to assign cases to benches and to decide when a case is to be heard become very significant," he said in one tweet.

"The Chief Justice's administrative power effectively transform itself into a power to significantly influence the outcomes of cases (sic)," Bhatia further said.

The power of the CJI to decide the composition of the benches is especially significant. This gives whoever holds the position of CJI a lot of power to influence the outcome of a case, according to this blog post by Bhatia.

The CJI also has the power to break the massive queue of pending cases and select a case which needs to be heard sooner. Lawyers can appeal for a case to be heard sooner through an oral "mentioning" before the CJI. "The CJI has absolute discretion to allow or deny a mentioning request for an early hearing, just as he has an absolute discretion in deciding when larger benches are to assemble (along with their composition)," Bhatia said.

Bhatia also said that the two-and-a-half-year delay in the listing of the Aadhaar case was an example of the consequences of such power.

"The Office of the Chief Justice is effectively answerable to none," he said in another tweet.

"The combination of absolute power, complete opacity, and no accountability in the Office of the Chief Justice basically means that for the institution to survive, every CJI must be utterly incorruptible, absolutely impartial, and beyond reproach," he further said.

Bhatia also said that another result of this kind of absolute power was witnessed recently when the Chief Justice had constituted a bench for a case in which the CJI was "potentially implicated".

That case involved petitions asking for an impartial SIT probe into allegations that a retired judge of the Orissa High Court, along with "others", had been taking bribes to "fix" a matter being heard in the Supreme Court, according to another blog post by Bhatia.

During the course of a hearing, Justice Chelameswar  noting that the allegations were serious  referred the matter to be heard by the five senior-most judges of the apex court on 13 November, 2017.

When another petition related to this case came up for hearing on 10 November, Justices Sikri and Bhushan took note of Justice Chelameswar's decision and referred the matter to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

CJI Misra "constituted a bench to hear it that same afternoon".

"In a short order, that bench effectively annulled the order of reference passed by Justice Chelameswar the day before," Bhatia wrote in the blog post.

The reasoning given by the bench was that on the administrative side of the apex court, the CJI is the "master of the roster" and that "he alone has the prerogative to constitute benches of the Court and allocate cases to the benches so constituted".

Moreover, the case which the accused was claiming to "fix" was one which was being heard by a bench presided by the CJI himself.

Thus, "there was a clear and direct clash between two principles: the Chief Justice being the 'master of the roster' on the administrative side, and 'no person shall be a judge in his own cause'."

The unprecedented move by the four judges, including Justice J Chelameswar, the second senior judge after Chief Justice Dipak Misra, brought to fore the simmering differences between Chief Justice Misra and some senior judges in the apex court in recent months. The apex court currently has 25 judges.

Justice Chelameswar himself described the joint news press conference as an "extraordinary event" in the annals of the Indian judiciary. "Sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months," he added.

The judge accused the CJI of not taking any "remedial measures" on some of the issues which affected the functioning of the apex court that they had raised. Misra became the CJI on 28 August, 2017 and he is due to retire from on 2 October this year.

Unless this institution is preserved, "democracy will not survive" in this country, Justice Chelameswar said at the unscheduled press conference, in the first of its kind event in Independent India, leaving uncertain how this open dissension in the hallowed institution would be resolved.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Supreme Court judges' rebellion.

With inputs from PTIAny idle speculation or spinning of conspiratorial tales will further erode the credibility of Supreme Court, undermine its sanctity in public perception and shake the foundation of our democracy.

There will be both imminent and distant repercussions to the extraordinary news conference conducted on Friday by four dissenting Supreme Court judges against Chief Justice of Indias alleged arbitrariness in the discharge of his administrative functions.

The mutinous judgesall sober, wise men with impeccable track recordhave claimed that they were forced to take this unprecedented step to "save democracy" because various "irregularities", "less than desirable" things have taken place in the last few months over "allocation of cases by CJI" and all their efforts to persuade CJI Dipak Misra into taking "remedial measures" have failed.

The developments, as Indian Express aptly noted in its editorial on Saturday, point to an "institution in crisis, and a crisis of institutions."

It is not for this columnist or for the media to speculate over the charges. We must take Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Josephs words in good faith and in all seriousness. However, we must equally note that the CJI has chosen not to react and it would be unfair and improper to pass "judgements" on the veracity of the charges. We have not been privy to any information that helps us arrive at a conclusion, and it is not in the media/publics power or jurisdiction to deliver the relief that the honourable Supreme Court judges seek.

The public can neither take a call on CJIs impeachment nor can they implement judicial reforms that must emanate from within the institution.

Conversely, any idle speculation or spinning of conspiratorial tales will further erode the credibility of Supreme Court, undermine its sanctity in public perception and shake the foundation of our democracy. The primacy of the Supreme Court must be acknowledged, and it cannot be made vulnerable to trial by media.

As former CJI RM Lodha told Indian Express, "Ultimately, CJI, being leader of the institution, has to show statesmanship and ensure that grievances are resolved... This matter is exclusively within the judiciary and should be resolved within the judiciary."

However, we can and must discuss the damage that the institution of judiciary has suffered due to Fridays extraordinary events, not the least because it sets a precedent and represents the crossing of Rubicon. Theres no going back.

Bear in mind that this is not the first time that Supreme Court judges have had internal differences. The discontent arising from these differences at times have barely stayed confined within the apex courts hallowed corridors.

Take, for instance, an issue that is relevant to the present turmoil. There were unpleasant scenes during the Constitution Benchs ruling that established the dominance of CJI as the Master of Roster last November.

As Krishnadas Rajagopal had reported in The Hindu, the "raucous hearingwhere the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that constitution of any Bench is the CJIs exclusive domainwas "marked by exchange of harsh words, heckling, brutal accusations of terrorising judges, forum-shopping and repeated warnings of contempt of court." In fact, CJI Misra had rejected an appeal from lawyers that the media be disallowed to cover the rather unruly proceedings in the interest of freedom of speech.

Crucially, no provocation has been great enough to compel judges to cross the line and unburden their differences before the public. As Vikas Singh, senior advocate and the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association told CNN-News18 in an interview, "there have been occasions where judges have had bigger differences with the CJI" but these have never been subject to public scrutiny.

Theres a very good reason why. The Supreme Court is not just any other institution. It provides remedy and restores balance when all other institutions fail. Thats why its primacy and independence deserve special protection. It is also the reason why the Supreme Courts Collegium system, despite its opacity, received support from different quarters of the polity during the battle over NJAC.

As Shekhar Gupta writes in The Print, many of us (including this writer) have given it the fullest support over these contentious years. The logic was, whatever the systems flaws, it is better than having the politicians mess with it."

Now that a precedent has been set, what stops any dissenting judge or judges who might have legitimate grievances against the CJI to similarly approach the public? We cannot even begin to grasp the crisis that may befall the institution.

The more immediate repercussion, though, will be highly political in nature. The four wise judges of the Supreme Court through their novel approach have not only made the institution defenceless against dirty politics, their action has made judiciary vulnerable to political manoeuvres.

No sooner did the judges conduct their news conference that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee tried to insinuate that the Narendra Modi government had precipitated the crisis.

Judiciary and Media are the pillars of democracy. Extreme interference of Central Government with Judiciary is dangerous for democracy. 2/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 12, 2018

The basis behind her inference was unclear but an insinuation that the CJI is amenable to political influence was clear. Will the Supreme Court will now be used to settle political scores?

The Congress weighed in on the crisis soon after. Rahul Gandhis contention that a "proper investigation" needs to be lodged into the death of special CBI judge BH Loya and the matter be "looked at from the highest levels of the Supreme Court" is equally dangerous when the Supreme Court itself is seized of the matter, had termed it a "serious issue" during the hearing of a recent petition and a two-judge Bench had asked the Maharashtra government to file judge Loyas autopsy report.

Concerning the death of Judge Loya, the matter must be entrusted to the senior most members of the Supreme Court: @OfficeOfRG pic.twitter.com/SfUNw2zPeL  NDTV (@ndtv) January 12, 2018

For the Congress president to now call for the "highest levels of Supreme Court" to look at the issue may be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with judicial proceedings. It is not for Rahul Gandhi to advise the Supreme Court on the constitution of the bench. It is profoundly ironic that his demands stem ostensibly from a "worry" that "judiciarys independence is in jeopardy".

Now that the die has been cast, it would be very difficult to contain these repercussions. Justice Kurian, one of the rebel judges who had appeared in the news conference, may hope that the "issue will certainly be solved since it has come to the attention"as he told reporters on Saturday in Kochibut that optimism isnt shared by most.

According to judge RS Sodhi, "by going to the press in this manner, they (the dissenting judges) have breached judicial precedents and judicial discipline..." The retired HC judge told The Print even if one wants a fairer system, there is something called a full court that procedurally addresses issues. But by attempting to strong-arm the Chief Justice, they have denigrated the judiciary in the eyes of the Indian public and international judicial forum."

I think all 4 judges should be impeached, they have no business to sit there and deliver verdicts anymore. This trade unionism is wrong. Democracy in danger is not for them to say, we have parliament, courts, police functioning: Justice R.S. Sodhi (Retd) pic.twitter.com/bBFW8v5rkv  ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2018

Some, like lawyer Gautam Bhatia have called for this unprecedented event to serve as the touchstone for judicial reforms.

So, telescoping outwards from today's event, and the personalities involved, what it has highlighted is the dire need to reverse the concentration of power sans accountability in the office of the Chief Justice. In other words, structural reform. Finis. (10/10)  Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) January 12, 2018

However, if the path for structural reforms is paved through an institutional crisis then the efficacy of action must be questioned. The point to ponder is whether the judiciarys image will be strengthened, or weakened, after Fridays events?

In former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee's words to Bloomberg Quint, "the public image of the judiciary will definitely be affected. After all it is not a matter of majority or minority shareholders... Theyre judges of the Supreme Court. And they should behave in a manner that doesnt affect the image of the institution in the eye of the public. Maybe they have a point of view, but thats no way to go about it."

The judges may have acted in their best intentions and must have, as they proclaimed, answered the call of their soul. There's no denying though that the biggest injury dealt by the fateful step is that henceforth every judgment (delivered even by the highest court of the land) might be robbed of sanctity in public perception. This is a stunning and irreversible damage.Divisions in the Supreme Court burst out in the open on Friday when four senior most judges took an unprecedented step of addressing the media to accuse Chief Justice Dipak Misra of breaching rules

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"The democracy cannot survive without an independent judiciary. All our efforts to convince the Chief Justice have failed," he added.

"With no pleasure in our hearts that we do this. But sometimes, the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order. We owe a responsibility to the nation to do this," says Justice Chelameswar.

It appears that the four judges are upset with the Chief Justice Dipak Misra

When pressed by the media, he acquiesced that this was about the BH Loya death case.

"Today we went to the Chief Justice and asked him to do a certain thing," says Justice Chelameswar.

"The four of them gave a signed letter to the CJI. We wanted a thing to be done in a particular manner. The thing was done an unsatisfactory manner," said Justice Chelameswar.

However, they only had one copy of the letter. They have sent someone to get some photocopies of the letter.

The judges try to distribute copies of the letter they gave to the CJI

Justice Gogoi says there is nothing else to say, everything is in the letter

Senior Advocate and former president of the SC Bar Association Dushyant Dave in The Indian Express has pointed at serious issues in the constitution of benches and the allocation of work to such benches by the Chief Justice.

Bar and Bench had detailed the clash which took place between the CJI and Justice Chelameswar in November in Kamini Jaiswal's petition.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, on being asked if it is about CBI Judge BH Loya said, 'yes'

"It's quite shocking. There must have been compelling reasons for the senior-most judges to have adopted this course of action. One could see pain on their faces while they were speaking," SC advocated KTS Tulsi tells ANI.

"Issues don't matter. It is their complaint on administrative matter. They are only 4, there are 23 others. 4 get together and show the Chief Justice in a poor light. It is immature & childish behaviour," Justice R S Sodhi was quoted as saying by ANI.

I think all four should be impeached. Four judges cannot come together and speak against the CJI like this. Why should the CJI cow down to them?

"We are not mentioning details only to avoid embarrassing the institution but note that such departures have already damaged the image of this instituition to some extent," Supreme Court judges' letter to CJI Dipak Misra.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will meet Attorney General KK Venugopal shortly after the countrys top judiciary was rocked by an unprecedented press conference by four sitting judges. News18 reports that the meeting will take place at 1.30 pm.

"Certain orders... have adversely affected judicial functioning... and independence of High Courts..." In another part, the letter reads, "Well settled... that Chief Justice is only first among equals  nothing more, nothing less."

The Chief Justice seeks to consult Venugopal on how to move further on this unprecedented development.

We can't criticise them, they are men of great integrity and have sacrificed a lot of their legal career, where they could've made money as senior counsels. We must respect them. Prime Minister must ensure that the four judges and Chief Justice of India, in fact, the whole Supreme Court come to one opinion and proceed further, ANI quoted Subramanian Swamy as saying.

1) Is top judiciary being run on whims? 2) Are most senior judges being bypassed by the CJI? 3) Are all big cases against Govt being assigned to "selective" benches 4) Is Govt interfering with highest judiciary? 5) Doesn't CJI need to answer?

On Friday, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph addressed the media to highlight their grievances about how cases are allocated in the Supreme Court. Read the full text of the letter issued by the four Supreme Court judges

Sources tell ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad about the allegations made by the four Supreme Court sitting judges.

"Deeply sad and pained by the development. Also feel a sense of agony that highest court of land should come under such severe stress that forces judges to address the media," says senior advocate Salman Khurshid.

Former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, was quoted as saying, "It is very unfortunate that the internal dispute of the judiciary was brought out in this manner publicly. What the four judges have done today by holding the press conference to bring out their dispute in public is that theyve denigrated the institution of judiciary... When the judiciary goes for public opinion it spells the end of judiciary."

But it comes with a caveat, when the matter involves the Chief himself, the Chief shouldn't be involved in the decision to preserve integrity of the institution. But in this case, Misra didn't follow that procedure at all.

The Chief Justice determines which judges/benches hears cases of a particular type (i.e Criminal Appeals go to X, Civil Appeals go to Y, Writs go to Z). When it comes to constituting larger benches though, that becomes CJI's absolute discretion (3 or more judges), just like any boss can decide who gets what special assignments. Ideally, the Chief gets this power cause he's expected to know who's the best person for the job.

CJI determines which judges/benches hears cases, but when the matter involves the CJI himself, the chief shouldn't be involved

Judges had to come before media and take this unprecedented step. This means that there is a serious dispute, either with Chief Justice of India or some internal dispute, says PB Sawant, former Supreme Court judge on press conference by four sititng Supreme Court judges

Soon after the four judges ended their media address, the Chief Justice had called upon Attorney General KK Venugopal to chart his next course of action.

According to sources in the Supreme Court, CJI Dipak Misra is likely to make a statement at a special hearing in a short while when the apex court resumes its proceedings for the day.

The market crashed to its lowest to 34349.99 points at 12:45 pm, taking a hit by 256 points as compared to the figures at noon before the presser.

The Bombay Stock Exchange stood at 34606 points at noon on Friday and fell to 34550.2 points at 12:15 pm, at the time the press conference of the Supreme Court judges began and further fell to 34423.8 at 12:35 pm, exactly five minutes after the press conference ended, plummeting by 183 points in a span of half an hour.

The markets responded adversely after four Supreme Court judges held a press conference for the first time in the history of Independent India.

Former Maharashtra Advocate General Shreehari Aney says, "I agree, some damage has been done to the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI), but this is not a permanent damage"

Going to the press is the last resort. And if the four judges have taken this last resort it also says that there is something seriously wrong with the judiciary. But I wish these issues were settled internally. The required changes within the system should have been brought about internally."

By this I dont mean to imply that Im supporting the Chief Justice of India. The four judges have got good reasons to challenge the monopoly of the CJI. But they should have challenged him in the confines of the four walls of the judiciary.

There are reasons for people to be aggrieved with the system but unlike other wings  the executive and the legislature  the judiciary doesnt discuss its disputes in public. It is bound to protect its own integrity.

"It is very unfortunate that the internal dispute of the judiciary was brought out in this manner publicly. What the four judges have done today by holding the press conference to bring out their dispute in public is that theyve denigrated the institution of judiciary.

If the four judges have taken this last resort it also says that there is something seriously wrong with the judiciary: Santosh Hegde

People have the right to know what's going on within the judiciary: Indira Jaisingh

"We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court. #DemocracyInDanger," the Congress' official Twitter handle said.

The Congress said "democracy is in danger" after four seniormost Supreme Court judges came out in the open to say that the situation in the apex court was "not in order".

CJI Dipak Misra had called Attorney General KK Venugopal for the Unitech case and not about the judges press conference as some media outlets are putting it out, Bar and Bench tweeted. "The CJI is hearing cases like he does everyday," Bar and Bench further reported.

"This is an internal matter of the judiciary, it is best they solve it themselves, a top source told CNN-News18 , adding that Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has received a copy of the dissenting note circulated by Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph.

Top government sources told News18 that the Centre is likely to distance itself from the crisis, in the hope that the judges will be able to sort it among themselves.

Let the judges sort it out among themselves: Centre plans to distance itself from crisis

We can't criticise them, they are men of great integrity and have sacrificed a lot of their legal career, where they could've made money as senior counsels. We must respect them. PM must ensure that the four judges and the CJI, in fact whole Supreme Court come to one opinion and proceed further, Swamy said.

Bar Council of India says it was unaware of judges' internal matter, will meet tomorrow to discuss issue

Speaking to IndiaToday senior advocate Indira Jaisingh said, "We all know that the Chief Justice of India is the master of the roasters, but he cannot behave arbitrarily. He has to take on record the feedback provided by his colleagues."

Yes CJI is master of rosters but he can't be arbitrary in his choices: Indira Jaisingh

Former Supreme Court Judge AK Ganguli said that the CJI cannot afford to be rigid on issues like this after all this is not a matter of clash of egos but a matter of principle. These should have been thrashed out within the institution, he added. "I heard that the justices said that they tried and approached the CJI but did not succeed. Well, the CJI must try and resolve this internally as he must first earn the confidence of his peers, that is how he will become the Chief and not my merely by seniority," Ganguly said.

Judges should not make it an issue of egos but principle: Former judge AK Ganguly

CNN-News 18 reported that the four judges who have come out in public against the CJI had differences on the matter of appointment of judges. While Justice Chelameswar was the lone dissenting voice, who spoke against the Collegium system, Justice Gogoi and Justice Joseph, however, said that the traditional system must be upheld.

Meanwhile, CPM, another Left-wing party has demanded a thorough investigation "to understand how the independence and integrity of judiciary was being affected."

According to a report by CNN-News28, CPI's D Raja met Justice Chelameswar, one of the four Supreme Court judges who held a press conference earlier today, speaking out publicly against the CJI. However, it was not clear whether Raja's meeting with the Supreme Court judge was related to the matter. Reports say that Raja shares a close family relation with Justice Chelameswar.

According to CNN-News18, Chief Justice Dipak Misra will confirm later whether he wishes to go public with his response over the issues raised by four senior Supreme Court judges. It is likely that the CJI chooses to address his colleagues first, before going public with a statement, the report said.

News18 said it has learnt from sources close to Justice Chelameswar that the judge is ready to hold a discussion with his colleagues to sort out the issue. He has also reportedly said that his intention was never to humiliate the CJI but he did what he could to raise his point.

Mamata Banerjee tweeted on the issue, expressing her anguish and disappointment on the open fall out between Supreme Court judges. She, however, also added that "extreme interference of Central Government with Judiciary" is dangerous for society.

The Congress senior leadership is in a huddle before they address the press on the party's stand on the crisis that unraveled today. The party will hold a press briefing at 6.30 pm.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a plea seeking inquiry on the death of Justice Loya. This issue was raised up today after four Supreme Court judges went public with their allegations that CJI is not following procedure on allotment of cases. When one of the media persons asked the judges, whether their grievance about allotment of cases also related to the Justice Loya case, the judges nodded in affirmative.

Some legal luminaries also said the turn of events had raised a question mark about the credibility of the judicial system.

The decision of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to hold a press conference was today termed as "unprecedented" by the legal fraternity, with some experts terming it as "shocking" while some others saying there could have been some compelling reasons for such a move.

"As a retired judge of the Supreme Court, I feel devastated. "For some reason or the other, their cause is justified, (but) relief they are seeking is wrong...going to the media? No. Judiciary was always considered as a family. Family disputes are never taken to the streets," he told PTI.

 Expressing deep anguish over four Supreme Court judges going public on issues related to the apex court, former Solicitor General of India N Santosh Hegde today said he was "devastated" by their action which has caused "irreparable" damage to the institution.

"What has happened today could have been avoided. The judges will now have to act in statesmanship and ensure that the divisiveness is wholly neutralised and total harmony and mutual understanding will prevail in future," he said. - PTI

Attorney General KK Venugopal said the unprecedented move by the four Supreme Court judges in holding a press conference "could have been avoided" and the judges would now have to act in "statesmanship" to ensure complete harmony.

The case of RP Luthra versus Union of India was specifically mentioned in the letter sent by four judges of the Supreme Court to the Chief Justice of India. The case pertained to appointments to the higher judiciary and the memorandum of procedure for doing soissues which were highlighted in the press conference called by the judges on Friday.

A particular judge may have domain expertise in an area of law and therefore would be suitable for a particular matter while another judge may not. These decisions are often taken by the Chief Justice while assigning matters. While there is usually a system that is followed for most regular cases, when it comes to constituting special benches or assigning matters of constitutional import, the exercise of this power becomes as important as some of the decisions of the court itself.

The record of the allotment of cases to benches is called the roster. The CJI is the first amongst equals at the Supreme Court and his judgments carry no more weight than any other judge of the court. But the CJI does have more administrative powers, which includes control on the roster. This means it is up to the CJI to decide which set of judges hears which matters.

In the early years of its existence, the SC had only 7 judges and they would all hear matters together. But as the court expanded and its workload increased, the Supreme Court became an institution with multiple benches.

"The judiciary is independent and reputed. They will resolve it themselves. The government should have no need to intervene," said MoS Law PP Chaudhary.

Surjewala quoting the letter written by the four judges said that the Congress party is deeply disturbed by these developments.

Speaking to the press, Congress spokesperson said that while the Congress party was deeply disturbed by these development, we would request the senior most judges to hear the case and appoint an independent SIT to probe it.

"All citizens are looking at this issue and it must be addressed. It is an unprecedented move, so the questions raised by the four judges should be thoroughly looked into," Rahul Gandhi said.

The four judges  Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Madan B Lokur besides Justice Chelameswar  released a letter they wrote to Justice Misra a couple of months ago, conceding that he was the master of roster but that was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

At a hurriedly called press conference at his residence, Justice J Chelameswar and three other colleagues said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and their efforts to persuade Justice Misra even this morning "with a specific request" failed, forcing them to "communicate with the nation" directly.

Divisions in the Supreme Court burst out in the open on Friday when four senior most judges took an unprecedented step of addressing the media to accuse Chief Justice Dipak Misra of breaching rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, with one of them pointing to the plea regarding the mysterious death of Special CBI judge BH Loya.

Omar Abdullah voices support for SC judges, says 'worst thing we can do is wish it away'

Speaking to ANI , former additional solicitor general of India and the Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh said, "If they had to come for a press conference, then they should have said something substantial. Just creating doubts in the minds of people will not serve the interest of the judiciary. This was not properly planned. They didn't say anything about Justice Loya."

Former ASG Vikas Singh says judges' press conference was not planned, should have said something 'substantial'

Justice Chelameswar, who is set to retire as an apex court judge on 22 June this year, has also dealt with several important issues including Aadhaar and the JNU case which had witnessed violence inside the Patiala House Court complex in New Delhi.

Justice Chelameswar was the lone judge who had dissented when a five-judge bench had struck down the constitution amendment and held as unconstitutional the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act. He was part of the nine-judge constitution bench which had declared right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Justice Chelameswar had stoked controversy several times and was in the news for not attending the collegium meetings on the appointment of judges for higher judiciary.

He is the second senior most judge of the apex court after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra.

Speaking to CNN-News18, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal said the press conference held by four senior Supreme Court judges could impact public confidence. "Public confidence in the Supreme Court of India may be affected. We will settle this matter completely," he said.

CNN-News18 reported that the Supreme Court Bar Association will hold a meeting on Saturday over the judges' press conference on Friday at 5 pm. The SC Bar Association chief Vikas Singh will brief media at 6 pm.

The news of their sudden exit spread like wildfire in the corridors of the apex court, sending a shockwave among the journalists, lawyers and litigants and leading the scribes to scramble to the venue of the presser, about four kilometres away.

All four of them left the Supreme Court premises within minutes and gathered at the 4, Tughlaq Road Bungalow in Lutyen's Delhi, the official residence of Justice Chelameswar to hold an unscheduled press conference  no Supreme Court judge had ever addressed the media publicly.

Around 11.30 am, Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Kurian Joseph rose for the day in their respective court rooms, numbered 2 and 5. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, in the meantime, rushed through and disposed of most of the day's listed business, while Justice Madan B Lokur heard matters in his chamber.

But a brewing judicial firestorm, invisible to all except four judges, erupted an hour later, taking the nation by surprise and plunging the judiciary into an unprecedented crisis whose reverberations will continue to ring for years to come.

Nothing seemed amiss when the Supreme Court started work at 10.30 am on Friday, as always. Judges strode out of their chambers, lawyers fussed through the papers, litigants hung around and reporters took their assigned seats in court rooms.

He further added that people would be failing in their national duty if they did not take note of this. "If political parties, or anyone concerned about the future of democracy in the country, don't take note of this, we fail in out national duty. It is a serious matter. All those who care about the future of the country and of democracy should raise their voice," Sinha said.

Speaking to reporters, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha attacked the Central government over the short Winter Session of Parliament and said, "If the country's Parliament is not in order, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is under threat in the country. If the four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter alone? If you read the letter, one thing is clear that Supreme Court judges or benches were appointed selectively to hear certain cases."

This has led to imagination of the country running wild. The institution derives its respect for the credibility it has garnered over these years. If the credibility goes, who will respect the institution? The press conference has only led to speculation, he added.

There is no question of impeachment in this case. This has to be addressed within the system rather than going to press like this. You go for a press conference to reveal, but the intention of this press conference was to conceal, he told News18 .

The Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday dismissed possibility of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra's impeachment and said there was "no question" of it.

Mishra further added that Bar Council is set to have a meeting at 5 pm on Saturday and meet the four senior judges on Sunday. "We have a meeting at 5 pm today (Saturday). Tomorrow (Sunday) our delegation will meet those senior judges, Chief Justice of India and other judges and request them to not bring issues like these in front of public," he said.

According to ANI , chairman of Bar Council of India Manan Kumar Mishra criticised the four Supreme Court judges for holding a press conference on Friday. "Holding a press conference on a minor issue of roster is saddening," he said.

"Let's hope everything works out very well. I am sure everything will be settled," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Attorney General KK Venugopal expressed the hope that the crisis in the top judiciary following a revolt by four Supreme Court judges would be "settled".

Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that "there is no crisis" when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis. Asked whether their (judges') act had amounted to a violation of discipline, Gogoi refused to comment - PTI

Justice Kurian Joseph said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and there are only problems in procedure they had objected to. "There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Kurian told reporters. IANS

News18 reported that Bar Council of India's meeting has ended and it is expected to address media shortly.

The Bar Council of India discussed the contents of the letter sent to the CJI on Friday, said Manan Mishra, council chairman.

"There are enough mechanisms to address this inhouse. We discussed the contents of the letter. We have decided to form a seven-member delegation of judges. We will be meeting all the judges at the Supreme Court. We have already got appointment from 50 percent of the SC judges," said BCI chairman Manan Mishra

He further said that the first move is to meet the rest of the judges, which means all judges excluding the CJI and the four judges who wrote the letter, reported News18.

BCI chairman Mishra said that the matter has to be sorted out anyhow and cannot go out in the media again. On behalf on the Bar Council of India, he also appealed to the judges not to create such an opportunity again.

The matter cannot go out in the media again: BCI chairman

The Supreme Court Bar Association said that instead of playing out in public, the matter should be resolved in closed court. SCBA president Vikas Singh said that the association will meet the CJI before meeting the four judges.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Sunday separately met high-level delegations of top two lawyers' bodies -- BCI and SCBA -- and assured them that the crisis erupting after the revolt by the four seniormost judges against him would be sorted out soon and congeniality would prevail.

"Our family is pained by the chain of events in past few days. Please don't harass us," Judge BH Loya's son, Anuj Loya said to the media during a press conference on Sunday.

A seven-member Bar Council India (BCI) panel led by its chairman Manan Kumar Mishra had a 50-minute meeting with the CJI after hectic parleys with several apex court judges, with whom they shared the views of the apex body of the Bar regulating the lawyers.

Mishra said they would hold a press conference on Monday to apprise about the BCI's day-long parleys with the judges of the apex court in the wake of the crisis.

The BCI chairman said the panel met Justices J Chelameswar, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, and they also assured that everything would be sorted out. He did not mention whether the panel had any talks with Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was not in the city.

And there were all indications that there was something stinking in the corridors of the Supreme Court, to borrow a phrase from Justice Markandey Katju (he was referring to the Allahabad High Court). All this was exposed in a jiffy as the judges pointed fingers at CJIs alleged indiscretion in allocating cases to benches and his other administrative functioning.

It was brewing for some time is the general refrain if you talk to anyone conversant with what is going on. Letters were being secretly written to judges and circulating, pointing out skeletons in cupboards hidden from public view. Insinuation and innuendo over the formation of benches on certain issues of critical economic and political importance were the order of the day.

For those who have access to portals of the Supreme Court, the spectacle of four of its senior most judges raising the banner of revolt against their Chief Justice did not come as a surprise, but rather a conspiracy to alter the course of history.

According to The Times of India , there have been fifteen 'super sensitive' cases which have been handled by junior judges and not the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. These cases include Bofors, Rajiv Gandhi assassination, LK Advani's trial in Babri masjid demolition, Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter, Best Bakery and the case that changed how BCCI, reported the publication.

According to Hindustan Times, the petition challenging the validity of the Aadhaar scheme will be heard by a five-member Constitutional bench on Wednesday.

According to Hindustan Times, there are three more cases that will be heard by the Constitution bench this week. One of the cases refers to an IPC code that makes adultery a criminal offense for a man but not a woman. Another case that will come up for hearing is Section 377, which criminalizes homosexuality. The final case pertains to the ban on women from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Of frequent reference is also the case of caste. It is argued that the judiciary, populated by as much as 95 percent of its constituency by individuals of the Brahmin caste, is Brahmanical. This criticism resurfaced in the defiance and subsequent punishment of Justice CS Karnan whose persecution, it is said, was about his caste.

Based on the letter to the CJI, the four justices made public on Friday, it seems clear that the main point of contention at present is the delay in implementing the Memorandum of Procedure towards the appointment of judges in India. "...there should be no further delay in finalisation of MOP in larger public interest," the SC order in the Luthra case had said and was reiterated by the four judges as well in their letter to the CJI.

The RP Luthra case is at the centre of the whole fiasco. To convey the "less than desirable" things taking place inside the apex court, the four justices referred to a letter that they had written to the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The letter mentions an order passed in the case RP Luthra vs Union Of India Ministry Of Law And Another respondents passed on 27 October. What does the order in the RP Luthra case say that made the four justices speak publicly against the CJI?

"We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court. #DemocracyInDanger," the Congress' official Twitter handle said.

The Congress said "democracy is in danger" after four senior-most Supreme Court judges came out in the open to say that the situation in the apex court was "not in order".

According to a News18 report, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde is brokering peace between Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on one side and four other senior-most judges  Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph  on the other.

According to Times Now, Attorney General KK Venugopal, who is heading to the Supreme Court, has said that all the courts will be functioning as usual and that everything is okay in the Supreme Court.

Regardless of the roster, it will be "business as usual" today at the Supreme Court, the four judges have reportedly told members of the Bar Council. "The judges will hear whatever is assigned to them," said sources.

According to NDTV, every day, before work begins, all judges convene at the judges lounge and have coffee. However, the report claimed that on Monday, all court staff were asked to leave the lounge.

Four retired judges including an ex-Supreme Court judge have written an open letter to the Chief Justice of India urging him to resolve the ongoing crisis. According to an Economic Times report, the four judges have backed the four rebelling judges on the issue of allocation of cases.

Four senior-most Supreme Court judges, who had held an unprecedented press conference and raised issue of assignment of cases, today attended court and took up routine work, PTI reported. The four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- have taken up their respective business on the first working day of the top court after the 12 January press conference.

According to NDTV, Supreme Court advocate RP Luthra has raised the judges issue before the Chief Justice of India's bench. The advocate is believed to have said that there is conspiracy to destroy the institution and Misra must take action. The report added that Misra listened to him and smiled without answering him.

Attorney General KK Venugopal was quoted by NDTV as saying that everything has been settled after an informal meeting in the morning today. he added that the courts are functioning. Nevertheless, Chief Justice Misra is yet to reach out to Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph, who took him on in an extraordinary press conference on Friday last.

He said that the view expressed by the retired judges is "quite similar to the views of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) that till this crisis is resolved, the important matters should be listed before a five-judge Constitution bench of senior judges".

Justice Shah confirmed having written an open letter along with the other retired judges and told PTI, "We have written the open letter which the other judges named in the letter have also consented to."

An open letter by former apex court judge PB Sawant, ex-chief justice of Delhi High Court AP Shah, former Madras High Court judge K Chandru and ex-Bombay High Court judge H Suresh was given to the media. It has also gone viral on social media.

"I met the CJI and handed over a copy of the resolution. He said that he would look into it and ensure there was congeniality in the Supreme Court at the earliest," Singh told PTI after his 15-minute meeting with the CJI.

Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh on Sunday met the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and handed over a resolution on the crisis in the apex judiciary to him. The senior lawyer told PTI that he handed over a copy of the SCBA resolution to the CJI, who assured him that he would look into it.

Sinha, however, insisted that it was for the apex court to sort out the crisis after the four senior judges virtually revolted against the country's chief justice on Friday, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders.

"Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior cabinet ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up," he said.

Sinha said "if four senior most Supreme Court judges say democracy is under threat, we have to take their words very seriously""

"The Chief Justice's administrative power effectively transform itself into a power to significantly influence the outcomes of cases (sic)," Bhatia further said.

Bhatia argued that two features in the Indian legal system  "the splitting up of the Supreme Court into multiple different benches, and the massive backlog of cases"  make these powers problematic. "In this context, the Chief Justice's powers to assign cases to benches and to decide when a case is to be heard become very significant," he said in one tweet.

Advocate Gautam Bhatia, in a series of tweets, said on Friday that in the last 20 years, the office of the Chief Justice of India has received a lot of power without having any system of accountability to keep it in check.

When asked how can such a major development be solved "internally", BCI chief Manan Kumar Mishra said that it was a matter "within a family" which has been resolved after the judges meet in the CJI's chambers at 10.30 on Monday morning.

Two days after four Supreme Court judges held a press conference citing lack of accountability and integrity in the apex court, the Bar Council of India told the media on Monday that "it was an internal issue and it has been resolved internally."

Justice Loyas son, Anuj, said he did not have any doubts about the way his father died three years ago. "I had an emotional turmoil, hence I had suspicions about his death. But now we don't have any doubts about the way he died," he told reporters at a press conference.

The family of Justice BH Loya on Sunday said the death of the special CBI judge , who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh "fake encounter" case, was being politicised and urged all parties to refrain from taking advantage of the situation.

"Why drag the Judge Loya case into this? As you can see, Judge Loya's family has said that they do not have any doubts on the matter," says BCI chief Manan Kumar Misra.

"We did not want any political party to take advantage of the situation. Everyone are discharging their duties and everything has been resolved as the Attorney General has also said," BCI chief Manan Mishra told media on Monday.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Monday said its members have met 15 judges of the Supreme Court following the crisis in the apex judiciary and they have assured that the issues have been resolved. "Kahani khatam ho gaya (the story is now over)", BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told a press conference in New Delhi. He also said that political parties should not try and take mileage out of the January 12 press conference by the four senior most apex court judges to flag some problems, including the assigning of cases.

The story is over, says BCI; asks politicos to not take advantage of issue

"All four senior most judges have resolved the differences and are attending the court. There is no need of any action on these four judges; all of them are honest and men of integrity," said BCI Chairman, Manan Kumar Misra.

A day after Attorney General KK Venugopal called the ongoing crisis in Supreme Court a "storm in a tea cup", on Tuesday said the crisis seems to be unresolved and hoped it will be "fully settled" in a couple of days.

CBI judge BH Loya, was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case when he passed away. After doubts were raised around the circumstances of his death, two pleas were filed by BR Lone, a Maharashtra-based journalist and activist Tehseen Poonawala, seeking a probe in the death.

BR Lone's petition sought a probe saying there were several contradictions emerging in the matter, according to The Indian Express . Tehseen Poonawala, in his plea contended that circumstances of the death of the judge were questionable, mysterious and contradicting.

A Constitution Bench comprising CJI Dipak Misra, Justice AK Sikri, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan has been constituted to hear important cases including those on Aadhaar, decriminalisation of homosexuality, validity of adultery law under IPC, entry of women into Sabarimala temple etc. It will start the hearings from 17 January.

The Bar Council of India on Tuesday said there was "absolutely no crisis now" in the Supreme Court and normalcy will be restored soon in the higher judiciary that saw four top judges coming out in the open against the Chief Justice of India.

Judge BH Loya's death case must not be confidential, the Supreme Court said in a 5-minute hearing. Everything must be before the public.

Tehseen Poonawala told Times Now that SC has ordered that all documents should be given over to him. He said that his faith in the judiciary has been restored as the case was not dismissed.

SC said that all documents must be given to me: Tehseen Poonawala

Maharashtra government tells Supreme Court that barring certain confidential reports placed by it, the petitioners can access other documents.

CJI meets the four dissenting judges. Holds talks for 15 minutes over possible solutions to the issues raised

The discussion took between the CJI and the four dissenting judges, reported CNN-News18. The meeting was cordial and everyone agreed that the issues were important than the personalities. The issues are expected to be resolved by the end of the week.

The discussions are expected to continue tomorrow, according to NDTV. However it could take some time to resolve everything as many issues were raised by the dissenting judgments.

Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday said he had filed a complaint against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in the medical college scam case and requested five senior most apex court judges, including the four rebel judges, to hold an in-house inquiry into the matter.

"Nagpur Police undertook a thorough investigation in this case and his death was due to a heart attack", Shivaji Bodkhe, Joint Commissioner of Police, Nagpur told reporters. "The postmortem, as well as the forensic reports too, confirm the same. There was nothing unusual in the report," he said.

The Nagpur Police on Tuesday said that there was no cause for suspicion regarding the death of judge Loya and that he had indeed died of a heart attack.

The Supreme Court made certain observations in the Bofors case regarding who can file a case in criminal matters, reported The Times of India . This could have an effect on the Loya case as all the PILs in the case have been filed by advocate associations or individuals who had no connection with the judge.

However there are numerous instances where incidents have come up where Aadhaar's secureness has been questioned. These include app-based flaws, disclosures on government websites, third party leaks, sale of data etc. Click here for report on all of these incidents.

Despite the number of reports over the last couple of years, UIDAI has constantly maintained that the server and the data itself, especially biometric data is safe.

He goes on to insist that we should "applaud the UIDAI for being responsive to the concerns of the public. We need to recognise that providing a unique, secure identification, with instant authentication anywhere, to 1.3 billion Indians is an evolving endeavour."

In an article in the Hindustan Times , Nandan Nilekani argues that the concern about the linking of Aadhaar to various services are over-hyped and baseless.

Policy expert Alok Prasanna Kumar weighs in on the possible change of bench in the Loya case

Suhrith Parthasarathy argues in The Hindu that the government will, no doubt, argue that Aadhaar can bring about many benefits. However any policy, howsoever poorly framed, will likely bring about certain gains. The question is ultimately one of proportionality and justice. Arguing that the government's aim is to create a seamless police state, which will chill our freedom and give the State rampant power he asks whether the Supreme Court will dare to stop this.

In the five years that the Supreme Court has been hearing the Aadhaar petitions, the number of people issued Aadhaar numbers have gone up from 20-25 crore in 2012 to 119 crore, reports NDTV .

Legally speaking, the petition is being termed as an 'intervention application' which has yet to be accepted by the SC. There is no clarity on when it will be heard according to legal experts who have spoken to ET.

According to an Economic Times report, a petition has been filed by the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) which comprises startups such as CapitalFloat, LendingKart, ZestMoney, IndiaLends as well as early-stage investment firms and companies which provide authentication services and background verifications. These companies are particularly appealing to ensure advantages such as eKYC offered by Aadhaar help a lot in real-time verification of customers.

The court will take up 29 pleas against Aadhaar. The final hearing on the pleas challenging Aadhaar comes five years since the first was filed.

Livelaw reported that the petitioners argue that details for Aadhaar are collected by private contractors and NGOs hired by UIDAI without any safeguard. This makes them prone to misuse. They claimed that empirical research shows that the biometric identification denoted for UID, namely the the iris scan and fingerprint identification, is faulty and is could be abused.

"A new day seems to be in order in the Supreme Court after clouds over its cohesiveness and probity. The CJI should now show the light and redeem the institution's glory by getting all his brother and sister judges along, to end this crisis and convert it into a chance to bring about all necessary institutional reforms," writes Utkarsh Anand on News18 .

"Tuesday was a sunny day at the Supreme Court after days of clouds over its cohesiveness and probity"

Petitioners argue that if the Aadhaar programme is allowed to continue unimpeded, it will hollow out the Constitution

Petitioners: The case at hand is unique. There are few judicial precedents to guide us

Petitioners: The State is empowered with a switch by which it can cause the civil death of an individual

Shyam Divan for the petitioners: You cannot live as a citizen of India without an Aadhaar

Shyam Divan takes Court through work of the petitioners to counter the State's claims that there are only elitist concerns against Aadhaar

India Today reported that the CJI is meeting the judges for lunch. Three of the dissenting judges are present at the meeting. Justice Chelameswar is absent. Justice Bobde and Justice Goel are not present as well.

A total of five countries  Uruguay, New Zealand, France, Brazil, and England and Wales  legalised gay sex in 2013. Here is the full report on how the world has changed its views on homosexuality since 2013.

The final arguments in Aadhaar case begin before the Constitution Bench of Supreme Court. At the start of the arguments, Attorney General sought time bound arguments. A-G reminded the Bench that Ramjanmabhoomi land title dispute case is also scheduled to be taken up from 8 February.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan today submitted in court that Aadhaar seems too alter the relationship between the citizen and the State, while diminishing the status of the citizen. All rights, a citizen could earlier freely assert have now been made part of a compulsory barter, averring, The barter compels the citizen to give up his biometrics voluntarily, unless the number is seeded in databases of the service provider, the citizen is denied access to these most essential facilities. "Inalienable and natural rights are dependent on a compulsory exaction.

Justice Chandrachud asked that if the government ensures that Aadhaar data is used only for the purpose it is collected, will it address the concerns raised by the petitioners. To this the petitioner's lawyer replied that the design in itself is bad as it allows State domination. Shyam Divan further argued that the problem is not that whether the State is actually tracking its citizens or not but the fact that the Aadhaar makes it possible.

Ensuring Aadhaar data is not misused not enough to grant it legality, petitioners argue in case

Justices AK Sikri and DY Chandrachud seek to know how is the Aadhaar biometrics system different from the biometrics for US Visa?

#AadhaarCase | Shyam Divan also argues that #Aadhaar Act cannot be used to deny basic amenities, rights or benefits pic.twitter.com/nSUvl1Gb4L

#Aadhaar case: Senior Supreme Court lawyer, Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, told the five-judge Constitution bench that ' #Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights. A people's Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State's Constitution.'

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan today submitted in court that Aadhaar seems too alter the relationship between the citizen and the State, while diminishing the status of the citizen. All rights, a citizen could earlier freely assert have now been made part of a compulsory barter, averring, The barter compels the citizen to give up his biometrics voluntarily, unless the number is seeded in databases of the service provider, the citizen is denied access to these most essential facilities. "Inalienable and natural rights are dependent on a compulsory exaction.

Justice Chandrachud asked that if the government ensures that Aadhaar data is used only for the purpose it is collected, will it address the concerns raised by the petitioners. To this the petitioner's lawyer replied that the design in itself is bad as it allows State domination. Shyam Divan further argued that the problem is not that whether the State is actually tracking its citizens or not but the fact that the Aadhaar makes it possible.

Ensuring Aadhaar data is not misused not enough to grant it legality, petitioners argue in case

Justices AK Sikri and DY Chandrachud seek to know how is the Aadhaar biometrics system different from the biometrics for US Visa?

#Aadhaar : You make take several steps to prevent leakages. But still an architecture which allows surveillance is not be permissible, Shyam Divan.

SD: the UK abandoned its identity system beacause it was "unsafe, untested.... and could be a threat to personal rights." (still quoting the Standing Committee)

A day after divisions in the Supreme Court burst out in the open on Friday when four senior most judges took an unprecedented step of addressing the media to accuse Chief Justice Dipak Misra of breaching rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, Attorney-General KK Venugopal said the press conference held by four senior Supreme Court judges could impact public confidence in judiciary.

At a hurriedly called press conference at his residence, Justice J Chelameswar and three other colleagues said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and their efforts to persuade Justice Misra even this morning "with a specific request" failed, forcing them to "communicate with the nation" directly.

The four judges  Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Madan B Lokur besides Justice Chelameswar  released a letter they wrote to Justice Misra a couple of months ago, conceding that he was the master of roster but that was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

Asked specifically if they were upset over reference of the matter seeking a probe into the suspicious death of Judge Loya, Justice Gogoi said: "Yes."

Judge Loya, who was hearing a case relating to the killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an alleged fake shootout in which BJP chief Amit Shah was named an accused (later discharged), died of cardiac arrest in 2014. His family has raised doubts over the circumstances in which Judge Loya died and have sought an independent probe into it.

Pleas seeking probe came up for a hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday when the top court expressed concerns over it and said it was a "serious issue". It asked the Maharashtra government to produce all the documents related to the case before 15 January.

In a seven-page letter, the four judges said they were not mentioning details of the cases only to avoid embarrassing the institution because "such departures have already damaged the images of this institution to some extent".

The clash among the judges in the highest court also comes in the wake of a controversial order in November in which Justice Misra declared that the Chief Justice "is the master of the roster" having exclusive power to decide which case will go to which judge.

The CJI had given the order a day after a two-judge bench headed by Justice Chelameswar had passed an order that a five-judge bench of senior most judges in the apex court should be set up to consider an independent probe into a corruption case in which bribes were allegedly taken in the name of settling cases pending before Supreme Court judges.

Holding that the Chief Justice was only the first among equals, the four judges contended that there were well-settled and time-honoured conventions guiding the Chief Justice in dealing with the strength of the bench required or the composition thereof.

"A necessary corollary to the above mentioned principle is the members of any multi-numbered judicial body, including this court, would not arrogate to themselves the authority to deal with and pronounce upon matters which ought to be heard by appropriate benches, both composition-wise and strength-wise with due regard to the roster fixed," they wrote in the letter.

They said any departure from the two rules would not only lead to "unpleasant and undesirable consequences of creating doubt in the body politic about the integrity of the institution" but would create "chaos".

The four judges also touched upon another controversial issue, the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) on appointment of judges over which the Supreme Court had locked horns with the government.

The government, the letter said, had not responded to the communication and "in view of this silence it must be taken that the MoP has been accepted by the government on the basis of the order of this court".

Justice Chelameswar told the media that they were "convinced that unless this institution is protected and maintains its requirements, democracy will not survive in the country or any country... The hallmark of a democracy is independent and impartial judges."

"Since all our efforts failed... Even this (Friday) morning, on a particular issue, we went and met the Chief Justice with a specific request. Unfortunately we could not convince him that we were right."

Justice Gogoi said they were "discharging debt to the nation that has got us here".

The government appeared to distance itself from the controversy, saying the judges should sort the issue themselves.

Minister of State for Law PP Chaudhary said: "Our judiciary is one of the known, recognised judiciaries in the world. It is an indepenedent judiciary. At this stage I think no agency is required to intervene or interfere. The Chief Justice and other members should sit together and resolve. There is no question of panic."

The Supreme Court split had an immediate political fallout, with CPI leader D Raja saying after meeting Justice Chelameswar that Parliament will have to device methods to sort out problems like this in the top judiciary.

Two judges, Justice SA Bobde and Justice L Nageshwar Rao, are understood to have called on Justice Chelameswar.

With inputs from IANSA US-based Indian engineer married his gay partner in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district on 30 December

A US-based Indian engineer married his gay partner in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district on 30 December, days before Supreme Court decided to reconsider Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which has been used to decriminalise homosexuality.

According to The Times of India report, police and the staff of the hotel, where the wedding took place, turned a blind eye, considering the legal ambiguity regarding gay marriages in India.

Even though Superintendent of Police Amarsingh Jadhav first said he did not want to comment, he later said that he had ordered an investigation, said the report.

The 40-year-old engineer pursued B-Tech from IIT-Bombay and presently lives in California, said this India Today report.

The engineer's parents were against his sexual orientation, but he later succeeded in convincing them, added the report.

According to Mumbai Mirror, the couple met in October 2016 via an online dating website and got engaged in a few months.

The report added that the engineer's parents resisted on the couple getting married in their hometown but they were firm on conducting the ceremony in Yavatmal.

On Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud had decided to re-examine the top court's earlier order upholding section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. "Our earlier order needs to be reconsidered," Justice Misra had said.

Section 377 of the IPC refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine.

The petition in the present case was moved by five people who belong to the gay community. They had argued that they were affected by the judgment and since the Supreme Court had itself declared the Right to Privacy a Fundamental Right, they couldn't be denied their right to sexual privacy.

With inputs from agenciesCongress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on 10 February

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on 10 February, the state unit chief of the party, G Parameshwara, said on Saturday.

The Karnataka polls are expected to be held in March- April. The dates for polling to the 225-member state Assembly are yet to be announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Parameshwara was in the national capital to attend a meeting called by Gandhi to review the party's preparedness and discuss its strategy with senior leaders in the run-up to the Karnataka polls.

"Rahulji will visit Karnataka from 10-12 February for the first leg of the (poll) campaign," Parameshwara told reporters after the meeting.

Gandhi would start his Karnataka tour from Bengaluru and also travel to the other parts of the state, he said, adding, "Various programmes have been lined up on all three days. Rahulji will address farmers, intellectuals and students among others."

Besides Parameshwara, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, state Congress' working presidents SR Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the party's Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal were also present at the meeting, besides senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K Rahman Khan, KH Muniyappa, Oscar Fernandes and Veerappa Moily.

Punjab and Karnataka are the only two big states in the country which are ruled by the Congress.Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the upcoming Assembly polls in the state would be a battle between two ideologies  communalism and secularism.

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the upcoming Assembly polls in the state would be a battle between two ideologies  communalism and secularism.

He also denied that there was an anti-incumbency factor for the Congress and said the party would retain power in the southern state by winning the polls with a "comfortable majority".

Siddaramaiah was in the national capital to discuss the party's poll preparedness and strategy at a meeting called by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, which lasted for about three-and-a-half hours. Gandhi is scheduled to launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on 10 February. The state is expected to go to the polls in March-April.

"This (election) will not be a battle between me and (BS) Yeddyurappa. It will not be a contest between me and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. It will be a battle of two ideologies -- secularism and communalism," Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting.

Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara, working presidents SR Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the party's Karnataka in-charge K C Venugopal were also present at the meeting, besides senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K Rahman Khan, K H Muniyappa, Oscar Fernandes and Veerappa Moily.

This was the first meeting called by the Congress president on the Karnataka polls after last month's Gujarat Assembly election.

Siddaramaiah said the party's poll preparedness was reviewed in detail at the meeting and its strategy chalked out.

"He (Gandhi) is very happy with the functioning of the party (in Karnataka) and the (state) government. Our government is not facing any anti-incumbency. We will win the upcoming polls with a comfortable majority," he added.

Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress had not only honoured all the promises it had made in its manifesto for the previous state polls, but "even some of the programmes not in the manifesto were implemented".

"Therefore, the chances of winning are very high and I am confident that the party will come back to power again," he said.

Claiming that the BJP had no poll agenda for the state, Siddaramaiah said, "They (BJP leaders) are raising irrelevant issues in Karnataka. That will not work."

Even the Hindutva issue raised by BJP president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were not a matter of concern for the Congress, he claimed.

"They (BJP) are following (Hindutva) sans humanity. Being a Hindu myself, I follow it with humanity," Siddaramaiah said.

Venugopal said senior leaders had assured the party president that they would work in "unity" and win the upcoming Karnataka polls.

"The BJP is trying to polarise the people because they have no other slogan or programme. Similarly, other parties are also up to some mischief or the other. But the Congress party is confident of winning the polls," he added.Siddaramaiah is not a mass leader, but his paroxysms of rage against BJP and Hindutva have made him a household name in Karnataka

There is a fundamental difference in the way Congress is fighting the Karnataka Assembly elections to be held in March-April this year. It has a local leader in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to lead its campaign. The party didnt have local faces in the Assembly elections it fought in the recent past, and it wont have one in most of this years polls.

In last months Gujarat Assembly elections, the absence of a local leader was said to be one of the reasons why Congress missed victory. On the other hand, it enlisted the services of the likes of Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani, and Alpesh Thakor. Earlier in Uttar Pradesh, Congress rode piggyback on Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party as part of a miscalculated and bungled venture.

Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Karnataka are going to polls in the next four months while Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will have elections in the second half of this year.

The Congress is in a mess in Nagaland and Meghalaya, and virtually non-existent in Tripura. Though relatively better off in Mizoram where the party is trying to form a government for the third consecutive term, it has leadership issues in other states going to polls.

In Rajasthan, its still a toss-up between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot whereas, in Madhya Pradesh, its worse: the faction-ridden party has to pick one from among Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kamal Nath, and Digvijaya Singh. The party has no leader to face the powerful Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh. In most of these states, BJP has leaders and strategies in place.

All this leaves Karnataka as the only state with a local face. The Congress knows it. So does Siddaramaiah.

He is no longer Nidderamaiah

Till not very long ago, Siddaramaiah was made fun of as Nidderamaiah. Nidde in Kannada means sleep, and he was known to doze off at public functions. Pictures of him sleeping regularly went viral on the social media. But like the Kumbhakarna of Mahabharat, he has woken up from a long and deep sleep  yawning and growling  ready to devour everything within the reach of his hands. And that includes BJP and Hindutva. Now, if anybody is caught napping, its BJP leaders.

If the barbs that fly from Siddaramaiah were poisoned arrows, there would have been a massacre of BJP leaders on the streets of Karnataka. His recent outburst calling BJP and RSS terror outfits was one such.

Siddaramaiah is neither a mass leader nor a crowd-puller. His influence within his own backward community of Kurubas (7-8 percent of the population in the state) is doubtful. It's another matter that BJPs state unit president and chief-minister-in-waiting BS Yeddyurappa is anything but charismatic.

Siddaramaiah is also not an orator nonpareil. Nobody can accuse him of displaying the sophistry and grace of a seasoned and polished statesman. But his taunts at BJP, composed of rustic language and delivered in an enviable baritone, are beginning to rattle opponents. The Sangh Parivars keyboard warriors do their creative best to counter him, but by then Siddaramaiah will have done the damage, whether he intended it or not.

It was partly because of his paroxysms of rage against BJP and Hindutva  gaining more frequency as elections near  that he has made himself a household name. He is also fond of indulging in direct attacks, sometimes verging on the personal, on Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

The Chief Minister and his followers make it appear as if the Karnataka election is a direct fight between him and the Modi-Shah duo. They would like you to believe that Siddaramaiah is next only to  or on a par with  Congress president Rahul Gandhi at least as far as taking on the prime minister is concerned.

The Congress leadership knows this and indulges him only because it has no other choice if it wants to put up a good fight in Karnataka. It was, of course, not a conscious choice of Congress to nurture Siddaramaiah as a local leader to lead the election. In the absence of alternatives, he just fitted in, like a vital piece of the jigsaw falling into place.

From 'outsider' to insider

For a leader who left former Prime Minister Deve Gowdas Janata Dal (Secular) and joined Congress 12 years ago and who was till recently looked down as an outsider by the party's leaders, Siddaramiah's rise to the status of the partys mascot has been indeed remarkable.

A Cabinet reshuffle that the Karnataka chief minister undertook in June 2016 led to a revolt that almost led to his fall, but the Congress leadership had no choice other than retaining him, more so because ousting him could mean the fall of the government itself. The victories in the two by-elections in April 2017 led to a dramatic rise in his political stock.

Today, Siddaramaiah is not only an unchallenged Congress leader in Karnataka but also one of the partys few important regional satraps in the country. Perhaps, Congress had learnt the lesson in Punjab and decided to leave Siddaramaiah alone. It was Amarinder Singh, a regional leader like Siddaramiaha, who led Congress to victory in the February 2017 election in Punjab, despite Gandhis intentions to sideline him.

A populist chief minister

Siddaramaiah is populist, if not popular. The mention of his names brings to mind his penchant for populism. He has, in fact, been in an election mode almost ever since he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2013, so much so that governance has come to mean announcement  if not always execution  of schemes for free supply of something or the other.

These include schemes to supply free rice and milk to poor people, payment of cash to women of minority communities and provision of laptops to SC/ST students. He has also set up Indira canteens to supply subsidised food in Bengaluru (to be extended to other parts of the state). A scheme to provide free healthcare to the poor is also being worked out.

There is more. Siddaramaiah has also been making the right noises to stir up sentiments of the Kannada pride by opposing the imposition of Hindi by the Central government and proposing a separate flag for Karnataka.

Apart from the fact that Congress has a leader in Karnataka and its ruling the state, the partys campaign template seems to be more or less the same as it was in Gujarat, and earlier in Uttar Pradesh. So, Siddaramaiah keeps attacking Modi, Hindutva and his claims on the nations economy. And like Gandhi did in Gujarat, Siddaramaiah is also trying to shed his anti-Hindu image by putting on the garb of soft Hindutva.

And just as it did in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, Congress under Siddaramaiah is also depending a lot on caste permutations to win Karnataka. But that kind of a caste-based strategy may not be the recipe for success that Congress is looking for in Karnataka, though its sure to give a tough fight to BJP.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused Congress of politicising the 'internal affairs' of the Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused Congress of politicising the "internal affairs" of the Supreme Court.

"Today we had a press conference which was addressed by four respected judges of Supreme Court. All those issues in the press conference pertained to interior issues of judiciary. It pertained to administrative issues of the highest court in the country. It was an internal affair of the judiciary," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

The BJP's reaction came after Congress called a press conference and read out a statement calling the comments made by four Supreme Court judges "extremely disturbing" and appealed to the full Supreme Court to find solutions to preserve the independence of the judiciary.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi demanded that the PIL concerning the death of Judge BH Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin fake shootout case, should be entrusted to the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court who should ensure a thorough and impartial investigation of the case by an independent SIT.

But Patra, slamming the Congress, said that Indian democracy "has shown the mirror" to the party, and termed its attempt "to fish (for) an opportunity where none existed politically" wrong.

"None of us should politicise issues of judiciary and this is an advice to Congress party. The people of this country are watching Congress party exposing itself," he added

Divisions in the Supreme Court burst out in the open on Friday when four senior-most judges took an unprecedented step of addressing the media to accuse Chief Justice Dipak Misra of breaching rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, with one of them pointing to the plea regarding the mysterious death of Special CBI judge BH Loya.

At a hurriedly-called press conference at his residence, Justice J Chelameswar and three other colleagues said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and their efforts to persuade Justice Misra even this morning "with a specific request" failed, forcing them to "communicate with the nation" directly.After meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday claimed that there was no anti-incumbency against his government

New Delhi: After meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi along with party leaders from his state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday claimed that there was no anti-incumbency against his government and the party will win a comfortable majority in the Assembly elections due in a few months.

The Chief Minister refused to apologise for his alleged attack on the BJP. He also trashed the BJP campaign and its President Amit Shah's description of his government as anti-Hindu, saying they had nothing to talk about "and are raising irrelevant issues".

"Rahul Gandhi is very happy with the functioning of the government. He is very happy that our our government has no anti-incumbency. He is very happy to know that all promises made to the people in the (last election) manifesto have been fulfilled," Siddaramaiah told reporters.

"We, senior leaders including the KPCC President and General Secretary in charge and secretaries, are confident that the Congress party will come back to power on its own with a comfortable majority."

Asked about the BJP's attack on him on Hindutva issues, Siddaramaiah said: "The BJP has no issues. They are raising irrelevant issues. (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath is also raising the same issue. Amit Shah is also raising the same issue. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi may also raise the same issue because they have no issues there."

To a question about his alleged attack on the BJP and its leaders as terrorists, he said: "I did not say terrorists. I have only said they spread hatred in the name of Hindutva. I said I am also a Hindu but a humane Hindu. That is Hindutva."

Asked if he would apolgise for his remarks, he asked "why".

Rahul Gandhi had called him for the meeting along with senior leaders of the party including the Karanataka Congress chief, working president, Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, KH Muniappa, Oscar Fernandes and party in-charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal.

Venugopal told reporters that the leaders gave an assurance that they would all work united for the success of the party in the Assembly elections.

The meeting came in the wake of a verbal duel between Siddaramaiah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah. Karnataka is likely to witness election in April-May.

Siddaramaiah had called the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) "Hindutva extremists", while Shah had termed his government in Karnataka "anti-Hindu".

Gandhi had earlier warned his party leaders from making remarks which are unwarranted and personal.Firing a fresh salvo at the government, disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday asked his party colleagues and ministers to 'get rid of their fear' and 'speak up for democracy'

New Delhi: Firing a fresh salvo at the government, disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday asked his party colleagues and ministers to "get rid of their fear" and "speak up for democracy" like the four Supreme Court judges who came out publicly against the chief justice.

The former Union minister referred to the comments of the four judges to claim that the prevailing atmosphere was like the Emergency in 1975-77 and voiced concern over short parliamentary sessions.

If Parliament is compromised, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is threatened, he told reporters.

Sinha said "if four senior most Supreme Court judges say democracy is under threat, we have to take their words very seriously""

"Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior cabinet ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up," he said.

Sinha, however, insisted that it was for the apex court to sort out the crisis after the four senior judges virtually revolted against the country's chief justice on Friday, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain

judicial orders.

Like the chief justice of India in the Supreme Court, the prime minister is also first among equals in the government and his cabinet colleagues should speak up, he said.

Sinha, who has been a vocal critic of the Modi government over issues like demonetisation, GST and Kashmir, claimed that he was "personally aware of the fear in which members of the cabinet in this government are working, and that also is a threat to democracy".

The BJP has in the past attributed Sinha's scathing criticism of the government to his being sidelined in the party with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley once dubbing him as a "job applicant at 80".

Sinha was a cabinet minister in the first BJP-led NDA government and held finance and foreign affairs portfolios.

In his press conference, Sinha also rejected suggestions that politicians should not wade into the judicial crisis, saying when four senior most SC judges have gone public, it was no longer an internal matter of the court and it was imperative for every concerned citizen to raise his voice.

Political parties and Parliament should speak when four senior most judges had spoken about dangers to democracy, he said.

Referring to the Winter Session and the first leg of the Budget Session to be held between 29 January-9 February, Sinha said he had never heard of such short sessions and this was also a threat to democracy.

Citing the four judges comments that sensitive cases were assigned by the Chief Justice of India to particular benches, he said it must be clarified which were these cases.

He added that it was anyway "clear like sunlight" that which cases were being talked about.

"It is obvious that attempts have been made to manage some sensitive cases," he alleged, adding "corrective actions must be taken. People should be told which are these cases".Facing strong condemnation at home and abroad, US president Donald Trump on Friday denied using the word sh**hole to describe Haiti and African countries

Washington: Facing strong condemnation at home and abroad, US president Donald Trump on Friday denied using the word sh**hole to describe Haiti and African countries, but kept up criticism of a Senate immigration plan that he said would force the United States to admit people from countries that are doing badly.

Trump reportedly made the remarks at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday. US Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the gathering, told reporters on Friday that Trump used vile, vulgar language, including repeatedly using the word sh**hole when speaking about African countries.

The Republican presidents comments were decried as racist by African and Haitian politicians, by the United Nations human rights office and by US lawmakers from both major parties.

Trump, who has been accused of racism over several issues since he took office a year ago, sought to walk back the comments on Friday, saying on Twitter, The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.

Trump also denied saying anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

According to two sources, at Thursdays meeting Trump questioned why the United States would want to accept immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as sh**hole countries.

While many Republican lawmakers stayed quiet on Trumps remarks, Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, called them unfortunate and unhelpful, noting in an interview on CNN that his family had emigrated to the United States from Ireland to help build the nations railroads.

At an event on Friday at the White House, Trump honoured the memory of Martin Luther King Jr, the civil-rights era activist who was slain in 1968. Kings memory is marked with a national holiday, which falls this year on Monday.

Trump stood beside Isaac Newton Farris, Kings nephew, while a group of about 20 African-American supporters and members of his administration were on hand in the Roosevelt Room, including Ben Carson, his Housing and Urban Development secretary. He ignored reporters who shouted questions about his remarks.

A group of Republican and Democratic senators have been working for months to craft legislation that would protect 700,000 young adults who were brought into the country illegally as children and later shielded from deportation under a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Trump also suggested that momentum toward a deal on maintaining such protection had stalled. The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday (Friday) to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards, he said.

The tentative deal also addresses border security, including a border wall, the diversity visa lottery and chain migration, in which US green-card holders can sponsor other family members for permanent residence in the country.

Among other objections, Trump said the plan did not provide proper funding for the proposed wall that he made a centre-piece of his election campaign. He added the country would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly.

'Shocking and shameful'

Haiti said it was shocked by Trumps reported remarks on Thursday and summoned the top US diplomat in the country, asking for an apology if the vulgar term had been used.

El Salvadors government sent the US a formal letter of protest that said the president had implicitly accepted the use of harsh terms detrimental to the dignity of El Salvador and other countries.

Botswana also said it had summoned the US ambassador to that country to express its displeasure and had asked him whether Botswana is regarded as a sh**hole country.

Trumps comments are extremely offensive to South Africa, said Jessie Duarte, a senior official with the ruling African National Congress. Ours is not a sh**hole country. Neither is Haiti or any other country in distress, she said.

In Geneva, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said These are shocking and shameful comments from the president of the United States. There is no other word one can use but racist.'US president Donald Trump announced on Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive... for now.

Washington: US president Donald Trump announced on Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive... for now.

The Republican leader grudgingly agreed to sign sanctions waivers, ensuring Washington will live up to its commitments for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be "for the last time."

During that four-month period, he wants Congress and America's main European allies to draw up a new deal  without negotiating with Tehran  to replace the "disastrous flaws" in the current agreement.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement.

"Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."

The new deal  which Trump envisions as being outlined in US law and involving Britain, France and Germany  would impose tougher controls on Iran if sanctions relief is to continue.

In particular, it will not begin to expire after 10 years as parts of the existing deal do, but instead would impose permanent restrictions on not just Iran's nuclear plants but also its missile program.

"These provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon  not just for 10 years, but forever," Trump said.

"If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume."

Trump is also urging Congress to reform US law so the president is no longer required to declare every 90 days whether he thinks Iran is in compliance, or to renew sanctions waivers every 120 or 180 days.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, took to Twitter to describe Trump's decision and the announcement as "desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

The 2015 deal, he said, "is not renegotiable. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance  just like Iran."

Street protests

Trump's decision was announced alongside another package of new sanctions  punishing not Iran's nuclear program, but its alleged abuse of human rights in a crackdown on recent street protests.

The most prominent new name on the Treasury sanctions blacklist, which forbids Americans from doing business with the targets, is the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani.

The US Treasury said Larijani, the brother of Iran's parliamentary speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is to blame for the torture and degrading treatment of prisoners.

Washington policy hawks hailed Trump's decision, which they said would concentrate minds in Europe, where leaders have urged the US president not to sabotage a deal they see as a landmark diplomatic success.

"So Trump now has issued explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans: Fix Iran nuke deal or no more sanctions waivers," wrote Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"Is he bluffing? I don't think so. Busy four months ahead."

But supporters of the existing deal between Iran and six world powers, including the former officials in Barack Obama's administration who negotiated it, denounced Trump's plan.

Diplomacy Works, a pressure group set up by former secretary of state John Kerry to defend the deal, was scathing.

"Today, we learned that the president's plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending," it said.

'Solid agreement'

The other signatories to the deal  Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia  and the European Union, which oversaw the talks, were watching carefully.

The British and German foreign ministries said they had taken note of the decision and would confer with France before deciding on a course of action.

"The UK has a clear position on the Iran nuclear deal: we regard it as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran," the British Foreign Office said.

The EU said it would hold internal consultations and was "committed to the continued full and effective implementation" of the deal.

America's allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

While there may be some relief that Trump has yet to torpedo the hard-won accord, there were clear signs of frustration from European capitals in the runup to the decision.

French president Emmanuel Macron called Trump on Thursday and stressed France's determination to see "the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it."

And Russia spoke out strongly in favor of the accord, calling it "the result of a consensus among many parties."

UN inspectors have certified Iran's compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.A Pakistani court has issued a notice to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly making an anti-judiciary speech

Lahore: A Pakistani court has issued a notice to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly making an anti-judiciary speech in which he termed the Panama papers verdict a "piece of trash", according to a media report.

Advocate Azhar Siddiqi filed the petition in the Lahore High Court, stating that Abbasi's comments on the judgement amounts to committing contempt of court, Dawn News reported.

Presenting his case in the court of Justice Shahid Kareem, the petitioner said that by making such an inflammatory statement, Abbasi was trying to make the judiciary controversial.

He said that earlier ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had openly criticised the apex court and its judges in their speeches, and tried to whip up public sentiment against the judiciary.

He said that now Abbasi had also started talking against the apex court, in violation of the oath he took when he assumed the office of prime minister.

He requested the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Abbasi and said that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) should be directed to stop news channels from airing the prime minister's speeches targeting the judiciary.

The court issued notices to Abbasi, the federal government and PEMRA and sought their replies by the next hearing scheduled for 15 January.

The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of over 11 million files from the database of the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, reportedly showing how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.

On 28 July 2017, a five-member Supreme Court bench had ordered the National Accountability Bureau to file three corruption cases against Sharif.Protests against the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez have turned violent with security forces firing tear gas and some marchers breaking windows and setting fires

Tegucigalpa: Protests against the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez have turned violent with security forces firing tear gas and some marchers breaking windows and setting fires.

Video from Friday 's protests showed former President Manuel Zelaya being shoved by military police. Zelaya and defeated presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla also suffered the effects of tear gas.

Hernandez was awarded the electoral win weeks after the November vote and a disputed vote tally. The opposition

alleged fraud and plans to continue protesting through Hernandez's swearing in on 27 January.

Security forces and protesters were injured during the clash. Miguel Osorio, spokesman at the University School

Hospital, says 10 people were treated there. Hernandez blamed the opposition for the violence, noting that protesters had damaged the nearby Marriott hotel.A non-profit US agency involved in placing Sherin Mathews with an Indian-American family has said it followed all national and international laws and best practices during the adoption process of the 3-year-old Indian-born girl

Houston: A non-profit US agency involved in placing Sherin Mathews with an Indian-American family has said it followed all national and international laws and best practices during the adoption process of the 3-year-old

Indian-born girl.

The Holt International, now barred from operating in India in the wake of the death of Sherin whose body was found in a culvert near her parents' suburban Dallas home in October less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage, also said it is working towards ensuring safe adoption practices.

"During the Mathews' adoption process, Holt International as well as our partner agency in Texas followed all national and international adoption policies, procedures, laws and best practices," Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president of policy and external affairs at Holt International, said.

"We are profoundly saddened by her tragic death," Cox told PTI in an interview. She said for more than 40 years, the agency's adoption programmes in India have been child-centred, focused on child safety and have upheld the highest ethical standards for children and families.

"Despite our strong belief that we were in proper compliance with all national and international procedures, in response to Sherin's death we are reviewing each step of our adoption process and working with all relevant government authorities to determine how we can do even more to protect adopted children," she said.

The Holt International was recently suspended for "negligence" in its assessment of adoptive parents of Sherin

Mathews. Sherin, adopted by an Indian-American couple in 2016, died in October last year allegedly from choking after her adoptive father "physically assisted" her with drinking milk.

Her autopsy report revealed that she died because of "homicidal violence."

India's Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi made the decision to suspend Holt International from operating in India.

According to the agency's website, it has placed more than 1,480 Indian children in adoptive homes since 1979.

However, after India's recent decision, the organisation's website says applications for adoptions from India are no

longer being accepted.

As several adoptions will be impacted by the decision, the agency said that for the adoptions from India in process,

"We've contacted our families in the adoption process from India, and we are working to smoothly transfer each family to another reputable agency."

Following the incident, India's nodal body for adoption Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), has made mental well-being of overseas applicants seeking to adopt a child an important criterion for determining their eligibility.

"We are not accepting new applications to adopt from India until the temporary suspension is lifted following

CARA's investigation," it said. Sherin's adoptive parents are in jail.

Sherin's adoptive father, 37-year-old Wesley Mathews was on Friday indicted on a capital murder charge by a grand jury and faces life in prison or the death penalty. He also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence. Sherin's foster mother, Sini Mathews was indicted on a charge of abandoning a child. The punishment for that ranges from two to 20 years in prison with a fine up to $ 10,000.

Wesley originally told police that Sherin had disappeared after he put her outside as a punishment for not drinking her milk. Police said he changed his story after her body was found on 24 October, saying he removed her body from their home after she choked on her milk.

He told authorities that he had put Sherin's body in his car with a bag of trash. Her body was later found in a culvert

just miles from her home. Sini was arrested on a charge of child abandonment or endangerment based on her husband's admission to police that they both took Sherin's sister out to dinner and left the toddler home alone the night before she died.

The couple's biological daughter remains in CPS custody. Their parental rights will be determined in a civil trial

scheduled for the end of this month. They can either forfeit their parental rights, or the court will decide to schedule a civil trial to possibly terminate their rights.UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing 'balance of power' in the security council to make the world body more 'democratic'.

United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing "balance of power" in the security council to make the world body more "democratic".

Speaking at a ceremony on Friday at which Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China from Ecuador, the UN secretary-general called for a more democratic UN, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all its bodies.

"The centre of that is in the reform of the security council, it is in the revitalisation of the general assembly, but one thing that I am strongly committed at the secretariat level  and that is one of the reasons of the management reform that we have proposed  is to make sure that, at that the level of the secretariat, that increased diversity and that balance of power is established," he said.

He expressed hope that the Group of 77 will be "attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives an effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic UN where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."

He said Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world but in a world where international relations have more justice.After 160 people were reported to have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in the first week in January, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR on Friday appealed to countries to help save lives by offering more resettlement places

Rome: After 160 people were reported to have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in the first week in January, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR on Friday appealed to countries to help save lives by offering more resettlement places.

Around 2,77,000 refugees are in need of resettlement in 15 priority asylum and transit countries along the Central Mediterranean migrant route but UNHCR has received offers of just 13,000 places in 2018-2019 after an urgent September appeal for 40,000 places, the agency said.

"Most of these are part of regular established global resettlement programmes and only a few represent additional places," it said.

UNHCR also urged nations to offer other safe alternatives to protection for refugees, including through family reunification.

Since November, UNHCR has evacuated hundreds of vulnerable refugees, the vast majority children and women, from Libya to Niger, the agency said.

"For unaccompanied children, a solution in the best interest of each child will be identified, while adults go through UNHCR regular processing with a view to identifying solutions for them, including resettlement."

UNHCR relaunched its call for a "comprehensive" approach to protect migrants and refugees who leave their homelands and set off on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean.

"These efforts should include building or strengthening protection capacity and livelihood support in countries of first asylum, providing more regular and safe ways for refugees through legal pathways such as resettlement and family reunification, and addressing the root causes and drivers of refugee displacement," said the agency.UN General Assembly president Miroslav Lajcak on Friday outlined his priorities for 2018, putting conflict prevention above all.

United Nations: UN General Assembly president Miroslav Lajcak on Friday outlined his priorities for 2018, putting conflict prevention above all.

Addressing a General Assembly meeting, Lajcak said that he would put conflict prevention, partnerships, financing and integration as four priorities of his work in 2018, Xinhua reported.

"We need a stronger focus on peace when it still exists. We should be acting faster, and sooner, when there is a peace to keep, rather than scrambling for solutions once it has been lost," he said.

Speaking of partnerships, Lajcak noted that "we need to make existing partnerships more active and efficient. And we need to create new ones."

As for financing, the president said that the UN's peacebuilding and sustaining peace activities "are chronically underfunded."

"By adopting the 2016 Sustaining Peace resolutions, we committed to addressing this issue. The Secretary-General's report, due to be released next month, is likely to contain concrete proposals. We need to give them serious consideration."

Referring to integration, he said "sustaining Peace is not a task for one office, or one team at the United Nations. Instead, it must be mainstreamed."

The General Assembly president also called for the participation of women and youth "when it comes to Sustaining Peace."

"Women and young people play a major role in building and preserving peace. Their experiences and ideas must be seen and listened to," he said.Emmerson Mnangagwa has briefed Angolan President Joao Lourenco on recent political developments in Zimbabwe and assured him that Robert Mugabe's safety will be guaranteed.

Harare: Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has briefed Angolan President Joao Lourenco on the recent political developments in Zimbabwe and assured him that the welfare and safety of former President Robert Mugabe are guaranteed.

Mnangagwa also assured Lourenco that general elections due this year will be held on schedule.

Citing a report of the state-run media New Ziana, Xinhua reported that Mnangagwa met Lourenco in Luanda, Angola. In an interview after the meeting, Mnangagwa said he explained to his counterpart the recent events in Zimbabwe.

"It was an excellent meeting, I came to Luanda to brief my senior, President Lourenco, about the transition that has taken place in Zimbabwe," Mnangagwa said.

Lourenco is also the current Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community's Organ for Politics, Defence and Security.

Mnangagwa said that the elections would be held as scheduled, effectively quashing claims that the new administration was seeking a postponement.

On the welfare of former President Mugabe, Mnangagwa said the new government was determined to preserve his rich legacy.

"We had this transition peacefully and the former President Mugabe is very safe, we will look after him, we will care for him. He is our founding father of the nation, he is our revolutionary icon and we are determined to preserve his legacy.

"Those criminals who (had) surrounded him, the transition has been able to remove them from positions of influence." Mnangagwa said.

Mnangagwa and Lourenco also discussed several bilateral issues, particularly economic and trade relations.Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is raising wages again.

The retail giant said today that it would lift its minimum hourly rate to $11 for all U.S. employees, the third time in four years it's boosted starting pay. When it announced the first hike in 2015, going from the federal minimum of $7.25/hour to $9, investors responded by dumping the stock, pushing shares down 3.2%. Later that year, Walmart stock crashed after the company warned that wage hikes would take a bite out of profits.

However, this time around investors seem to have wisened up to the strategy of investing in the company's workforce. The stock was higher in pre-market trading and flat at the time of writing.

In addition to raising pay, Walmart also said that it would expand maternity and parental leave benefits and provide a one-time cash bonus of up to $1,000 to staff. In total, the changes will benefit more than 1 million Walmart U.S. employees.

CEO Doug McMillon explained, "We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders." Walmart's move follows similar announcements from other blue-chip companies like AT&T and Wells Fargo, which paid out bonuses in celebration of the new tax law, but the bigger news here is how Walmart is using the windfall.

A new Walmart

Five years ago, the company would have spent the money on share buybacks and new stores, but today it's investing in its workforce. McMillon bucked longheld Walmart doctrine to do so, as the famously frugal company was known only a decade ago for things like encouraging its traveling employees to bring back pens and notepads from the hotels they stayed in so corporate could save a few bucks on pens. But McMillon's strategy has paid off.

Raising wages and improving benefits helped the company cut an egregiously high turnover rate. Employees were enticed by higher paychecks and a more direct opportunity for advancement. Wal-Mart's rock-bottom customer satisfaction scores started improving as the company cleaned up stores, cut down out-of-stocks, and sped up checkout lines.

As a result, customers have started coming back, and same-store sales began rising again, now up 13 quarters in a row. In its most recent quarter comparable sales increased by 2.7%, the fastest clip in nearly a decade. Higher wages are a key driver of that evolution.

And raising wages not only improves store operations and performance -- it also helps burnish the company's image. Ten years ago, Wal-Mart was pilloried by labor activists for pressuring wages down, busting unions, and refusing to offer medical benefits. Scandals involving bribery and gender discrimination also didn't help. But the Wal-Mart of today is considerably different. Not only has the company become a leader among retailers in raising pay, it's also one of the biggest consumers of renewable energy, and McMillon even spoke out against a "religious freedom" bill in the company's home state of Arkansas, which threatened to allow discrimination against the LGBT community.

McMillon understands that the company needs to grow its customer base beyond lower-income communities in the rural south, where it has historically been strongest. Walmart opened its first stores in Washington, DC just a few years ago, and though it still doesn't have any locations in New York City, it launched an advertising blitz there last year as its acquisition of New Jersey-based Jet.com gives it a foothold for online deliveries in New York. The company's improving image and McMillon's new approach may have also helped with its recent acquisitions of e-commerce brands like Jet, Bonobos, and Modcloth. That changing image will also help the company better compete with Amazon, which has traditionally been strongest with higher-income city dwellers, a key opportunity for Walmart.

It's worth it

This year's wage hike also comes as the labor market is tightening. Unemployment is down to just 4.1%, so it's important for Walmart to stay ahead of competitors. Target (NYSE: TGT) has already raised its minimum wage to $11/hour, and seems to be borrowing from Walmart's playbook in a number of ways, including its recent acquisition of Shipt.

The raises aren't free, of course. Walmart said they will cost $300 million in addition to what was included in this year's fiscal plan, and the bonuses will cost $400 million. Still, that's a relative bargain compared to the $2.7 billion the company spent to lift minimum pay to $9/hour in 2015 and then $10/hour in 2016. And don't forget that Walmart brings in nearly $500 billion in revenue a year, more than any other company in the world.

With the stock at all-time highs and a successful pivot to e-commerce and grocery pickup underway, Walmart is in the midst of a renaissance. Today's wage hike is one more reason to bet on the retailer's continuing success.

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said after meeting in Riga, Latvia's capital, that information technology, transportation and medicine are areas where Japan sees the most trade potential in the Baltic countries.

Abe praised the cargo harbor in Riga as "a successful center of transportation and logistics" that will allow Asian suppliers to deliver goods to the region.

The four-way Japan-Baltics trade pact is likely to yield benefits for Tokyo only once a larger partnership deal between the European Union and Japan has been ratified.

Abe, accompanied by a sizable Japanese business delegation, and Kucinskis both urged rapid ratification of the EU-Japan trade deal reached in December.

"I am glad that economic partnership treaty negotiations between Japan and the European Union have been concluded," Abe said, referring to the free trade agreement that will open EU markets such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania to Japanese companies and vice versa.

Latvia is the second leg of Abe's six-nation European tour that started in Estonia on Friday. Abe is scheduled to also visit Lithuania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. He is the first sitting Japanese prime minister to ever visit those countries.

Abe arrived in Lithuania Saturday afternoon to meet with President Dalia Grybausakaite and Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, and to honor a late Japanese diplomat based in Lithuania during World War II. Chiune Sugihara is credited with helping save about 2,500 European Jews in 1940 by issuing them travel visas.

Abe said he discussed with Lithuanian leaders closer cooperation between the Baltic states and Japan in the areas of defense, economics and cybersecurity. He also thanked Lithuania for its support amid the tension over North Korea's missile tests.

"We have to increase our cooperation in this field to increase pressure on North Korea and condemnation of its actions" he said.

He is set to visit Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania on Sunday.2017 was a great year for glass and ceramics maker Corning (NYSE: GLW), which saw its stock rally 32% against the S&P 500's 19% gain. The 167-year-old company ended a five-quarter streak of annual revenue declines with five straight quarters of growth as most of its business units roared back to life.

But can Corning keep outperforming the market this year? Let's examine the company's strengths and weaknesses to decide.

Corning's core strengths

Many investors recognize Corning as the maker of Gorilla Glass, the chemically toughened glass used in consumer electronics. Corning constantly upgrades the glass with tougher versions and new versions for adjacent markets -- like Gorilla Glass Auto and Gorilla Glass SR+ for wearables. Robust demand for Gorilla Glass turned Corning's specialty materials unit into its fastest-growing business with 26% annual sales growth last quarter.

Corning expects to keep dominating this market, since its short list of competitors -- including Asahi Glass' Dragontrail and Schott AG's Xensation -- lack Corning's brand recognition and scale. During Credit Suisse's Tech, Media, and Telecom Conference in November, Corning CFO Tony Tripeny said that he expected the glass supply to be "balanced or even tight" for the foreseeable future.

Corning's second-fastest-growing business is its optical communications unit, which supplies optical network components for service providers. Demand for these components is booming thanks to the higher network demands of streaming media, cloud services, and other data-intensive tasks.

That's why the unit's revenue rose 15% annually last quarter, and Corning expects its annual revenues to rise from $3 billion in 2016 to $5 billion in 2020.

Corning also recently acquired most of 3M's (NYSE: MMM) communication markets business, which sells optical fiber and copper passive connectivity solutions. Buying that unit, which generates roughly $400 million in annual sales, could make it even easier for Corning to hit its 2020 target.

Other growing businesses

Corning's life sciences unit is also posting steady growth thanks to strong demand for products like Valor Glass, a type of pharmaceutical glass packaging that reduces particle contamination, breaks, and cracks. Customers like Pfizer and Merck are already using Valor Glass, and other pharmaceutical and biotech companies should follow suit over the next few quarters.

Corning's environmental technologies business is also generating stable returns thanks to strong sales of gas particulate filters (GPFs), which automakers use to meet emissions standards. Demand for GPFs should keep rising this year as governments tighten those standards and crack down on non-compliant automakers.

Corning's biggest weakness

Corning's only soft spot is its display technologies business, which posted annual revenue declines over the past two quarters on weak demand and low LCD prices. During the Credit Suisse conference, Tripeny said that "to generate acceptable returns on new investment, glass pricing will need to improve even further."

Tripeny noted that TV demand in China "rebounded with mid single-digit unit growth during the Singles Day (Nov. 11) period," and that TV sales in the U.S. were also showing "signs of improvement driven by early Black Friday promotions."

However, those promotion-fueled sales are unlikely to spark a lasting rebound in LCD prices, so the business, which accounted for 28% of Corning's top line last quarter, should remain a weight on its near-term growth.

Stable margins and shareholder-friendly moves

Yet Corning's other strengths easily offset the weakness of its LCD business. That's why analysts expect the company's revenue and earnings to have respectively risen 7% and 10% in 2017 (which ended on Dec. 31 but which hasn't been reported yet), followed by 3% revenue growth and 6% earnings growth in 2018. Corning's gross margin has also remained fairly stable over the past five years.

Corning currently pays a forward dividend yield of 1.9%, which is supported by a low payout ratio of 26%. Corning has increased its dividend by 29% over the past two years. For 2018 and 2019, it plans to boost the payout by "at least 10%" each year.

Corning also reduced its share count by about 29% over the past two years with buybacks. During the Credit Suisse conference, Tripeny stated that buybacks were a "particularly important mechanism, because we continue to view Corning as undervalued relative to our growth opportunities."

However, Corning's insiders aren't eagerly buying the stock. Its insiders sold 2.15 million shares over the past 12 months, but only bought 4,000 shares -- which raises some questions about the "undervalued" nature of the stock.

The key takeaways

I own shares of Corning. I think that the stock is still relatively cheap at 15 times earnings, which is lower than the industry average of 18 for electronic component makers.

Corning isn't a sexy growth stock, but the company has plenty of irons in the fire, a wide moat, and its pays a decent dividend, which makes it a reliable investment for this frothy market.

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Leo Sun owns shares of Corning. The Motley Fool recommends 3M and Corning. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.During the debate on tax reform, a number of provisions were initially slated for the chopping block. Changes to popular tax breaks, like the state and local tax deduction, drew criticism from taxpayers in high-tax states, but public outcry eventually convinced lawmakers to pull back on their initial call to cut the deduction entirely.

Nontraditional students got similar good news. After fears that the Lifetime Learning Credit would be a casualty of the tax-reform effort, Congress ended up leaving the tax break untouched in the final version of its bill. That leaves the credit available for future years, and could save millions of taxpayers an average of nearly $1,000 each on their taxes.

What is the Lifetime Learning Credit?

Many people don't know about the Lifetime Learning Credit because it's the less popular of the two major education tax credits. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is the first choice for traditional college students, offering up to $2,500 in annual credits for as many as four years of undergraduate education.

However, the Lifetime Learning Credit is available in many more situations than the American Opportunity Tax Credit. In particular, you can take the Lifetime Learning Credit even if:

You don't meet the half-time attendance requirement for the American Opportunity Credit.

You're not enrolled in a formal degree program.

You're in graduate school, or have been an undergrad for more than four years.

You're getting formal training for job-related skills that aren't covered under other credits.

The Lifetime Learning Credit plays an important role for many nontraditional students. Almost 2.5 million people claimed the credit in the most recent year for which IRS data is available, and they saved a total of almost $2.35 billion as a result. That works out to an average of $940 for each taxpayer who qualified for the credit.

How much can I get?

To calculate the Lifetime Learning Credit, you need to start by adding up the educational expenses permitted under the tax provision. That includes tuition, required fees, and mandatory course materials for the classes that you're taking. You can claim up to $10,000 in annual educational expenses at this stage.

Then, multiply your allowed expenses by 20%. That yields a maximum credit of $2,000 per year if you spend $10,000 or more on education.

Keep in mind, though, that there are income limits that apply to the Lifetime Learning Credit. For 2017 tax returns, if you have modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $56,000 as a single filer or $112,000 for joint filers, you'll lose part of the credit. If your MAGI is above $66,000 for singles or $132,000 for joint filers, the credit disappears entirely.

Be smart with your credits

The IRS doesn't let you have two bites at the same apple when it comes to educational tax credits. If you claim the more lucrative American Opportunity Credit, then you're not allowed to claim a Lifetime Learning Credit for the same student in the same year. What you can do is claim one credit for one student and the other credit for a different student on the same tax return. The credit maximums are per student and not per tax return.

Nevertheless, for the millions of Americans who will never be eligible for the American Opportunity Credit, the prospects of also losing the Lifetime Learning Credit because of initially proposed tax changes were maddening. With the credit having survived, it's more important than ever to make sure you claim it if you're eligible, and make the most of the opportunity to get some money back for what you're investing in yourself and your future.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Britain's treasury chief has accused the European Union of "paranoia" over Brexit.

Philip Hammond says the EU should stop threatening to punish Britain for its decision to leave the bloc and instead offer a positive vision for what a post-Brexit relationship might look like.

British officials are trying to put the onus on Brussels in the divorce negotiations and downplay the idea that quitting the EU might end up harming Britain.

Hammond told German weekly Welt am Sonntag in an interview published Saturday that those hoping London might do a U-turn on Brexit should "stop harking on about this illusion."

Hammond also was quoted as saying that a future free trade deal between Britain and the EU has to include services, which make up 80 percent of the U.K. economy.Two Angel Moms, whose sons were killed by illegal immigrants, are urging the Trump administration to immediately end sanctuary cities before any action is taken to protect The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Agnes Gibboney, director of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC), is hoping President Donald Trump refrains from granting amnesty to DACA participants because she says they are not properly vetted.

We dont know who they are and how many are there. We need to protect our own country. They need to comeback do it legally like my family did, she during an interview with FOX Business Lou Dobbs Friday.

Gibboneys son, Ronald da Silva, was shot and killed in El Monte, Calif. by an undocumented immigrant in 2007.

Trump met with congressional Republicans and Democrats Tuesday to secure the framework for future negotiations on border security, the DACA program and family-based migration, known as chain migration.

AVIAC co-founder Mary Ann Mendoza said the safety of Americans needs to be lawmakers priorities before debating a solution to the DACA program.

We have got to get rid of these criminals that are here, committing crimes, being re-released out into our communities and making every day an unsafe place for Americans to be, she said.

Mendozas police officer son was killed by an illegal immigrant drunk driver in 2014.

Both Angel Moms said they have expressed their feelings on DACA to the president through open letters and social media.It is now confirmed that Meghan Markle knows how to rock a crown, thanks to a throwback photo of the actress from high school.

An old photo of Markle as homecoming queen surfaced on Twitter on Thursday and fans went crazy for the image of the soon-to-be royal in a crown. In the photo, the former Suits actress looked regal in a dainty tiara and satin blue gown.

Come May, Markle will upgrade her plastic tiara to crown jewels after her royal wedding ceremony to Prince Harry at Windsor Castles St George's Chapel.

Markle, who has made waves in the royal family by shaking up some of the more traditional rules, made her first appearance with Harry since spending Christmas at the Sandringham estate with the Queen earlier this week.

The couple were hand-in-hand as they arrived at Reprezent 107.3FM radio station in Brixton, where they spent the afternoon learning about the stations positive impact on young people through the disciplines of radio and broadcast training.

Meghan and Harry were snapped both inside and outside of the venue, but it was outside of the station where Markle yet again made headlines for her effortless American style.

Breaking the traditional done-up royal protocol, from oversized bags and no stockings, Markle continued to set her own fashion rules by sporting the ever so popular messy bun during her radio station appearance. The simple hair do was a refreshing break from well quaffed up dos worn by many of the royals. Markle was then praised on social media for her casual ease.

A few days after their radio station visit, Kensington Palace announced that the couples next appearance will be in Cardiff, Wales on Jan. 18. Harry will take his fiancee about 150 miles west of London to show off the rich culture and heritage of Wales. Here, Markle will have the chance to learn more about some of the organizations working in communities across the country.

According to Kensington Palace, the royals first stop in Cardiff will be Cardiff Castle, where they are set to fully experience the Welch culture.Former President Barack Obama resurfaced on Friday and took a shot at Fox News viewers, saying theyre living on a different planet than people who consume mainstream media.

Obama made the remarks on the premiere of the new monthly Netflix series My next guest needs no introduction with David Letterman, which hit the streaming service on Friday morning. Early in the episode, Obama asked Letterman about his retirement but the veteran talk show host quickly let the former president know who was boss.

Now heres how this is gonna work. Im gonna ask you stuff, and then you respond to stuff, Letterman joked.

Letterman then asked Obama what he considers the more dangerous threat to a democracy, the president demeaning the press or a foreign power sabotaging the voting process. Both options are clearly jabs at President Trump and Obama answered without mentioning the current presidents name.

One of the biggest challenges we have to our democracy is the degree to which we dont share a common baseline of facts, Obama said. "If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you are listening to NPR.

"If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you are listening to NPR.  Barack Obama

The response got a big round of applause from the presumably liberal crowd at the City College of New York. Obama has a long history of taking shots at Fox News but the recent comment marks his first public attack on the network and its viewers since leaving the White House.

While Trump is often criticized for attacking the media and labeling CNN as fake news, Obamas comment is a reminder that the White House and the press have sparred for decades. Obama once even accused Fox News of attacking his administration during an interview with CNBC.

Letterman said goodbye to his long-running talk show two years ago and has launched a six-episode series on Netflix. In each hour-long episode, Letterman conducts a long-form conversation with a single guest, and explores topics of his own outside the studio.

George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey, and Howard Stern are scheduled to be guests on Lettermans show over the next five months.It was 50 years ago Saturday that Johnny Cash went to Folsom Prison to record an album that became one of the best-selling live albums of all time  not to mention his salvation.

Cash performed for inmates in the prison cafeteria on Jan. 13, 1969, backed by his wife, June Carter, Carl Perkins and the Tennessee Three.

Hello, Im Johnny Cash, he said before launching into one of his biggest hits, "Folsom Prison Blues," a song he recorded in 1953. There were two shows.

The album, "At Folsom Prison," was released in May of 1968 on the Columbia label, and reached No. 1 on the country charts and in the top 15 on the national album charts, WKRN-TV reported.

Gene Beley covered the concert as a young reporter for the Ventura Star-Free Press.

It was probably the first time they were allowed to give such emotion, Gene Beley told History.com, referring to the inmates who made up the audience and who whooped, hollered and sang along at the emcees urging.

It was quite an education, he recalled. You know, you visualize murderers and thieves looking like really bad guys. Probably 50 percent looked like the boy next door. They were just like high school kids at a big concert.

History.com reported that the day wasnt just galvanizing for the inmates. It helped revive Cash's flagging career, producing a hit album and becoming the stuff of music legend. He also became an advocate for prison reform.

The website Legacy.com said Cash, who died in September 2003 at 71, wasn't just seeking personal gain when he decided to play behind bars. He also was thinking of those for whom he was performing. Cash, a Christian, believed in redemption and argued that prisoners could be rehabilitated, the site said.

"He had an affinity for the common man, the downtrodden, the people who lived on the margins," Michael Streissguth, author of "Johnny Cash: the Biography," said, according to Legacy.com. "To quote Merle Haggard, 'Wealthy men don't go to prison in this country.' Cash knew that. He realized he could have easily been in prison himself."The U.S. news media dont often cover news about Guatemala, the small Central American nation on Mexicos southern border. As a result, many Americans were surprised to learn that Guatemala recently announced it would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Why is Guatemala aligning itself with Israel at a time when most United Nations member states have voted to oppose the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and regularly support resolutions hostile to the Jewish state?

Contrary to widespread speculation, Guatemalas support for moving both the U.S. Embassy in Israel and its own embassy there to Jerusalem is not motivated by a desire to curry favor with the Trump administration. Instead, Guatemala is motivated by its own longstanding ties to Israel and it commitment  shared with Israel  to the principles of liberty and economic development.



The claim that Latin American countries bow to President Trump is patronizing. In the case of Guatemala, it inaccurately portrays President Jimmy Morales as an unprincipled beggar.

Some Latin American governments seek economic growth; others do not. The first step is the rule of law, to reverse centralization and abuse of power in favor of individual rights as the basis of society.

That path often irks political and financial elites that favor the collective over the individual and put themselves above the law. Cuba, Venezuela and their socialist allies are the most extreme examples. On the other side are Guatemala, Panama and Chile, among others.



The close relationship between Guatemala and Israel dates to the latter's founding. The 1947 proposal to recognize the state of Israel was presented and lobbied for by Guatemalas ambassador to the United Nations, Jorge Garcia Granados. This led to Israeli statehood, and as a result Israeli street names remember Granados and his country.

Guatemala was the first nation to open an embassy in Jerusalem (later relocated to Tel Aviv) and the second to recognize Israeli statehood, after the United States.

When President Jimmy Carter ended aid to Guatemala during its internal armed conflict with Fidel Castro's communist guerrillas, Israel provided weapons, aircraft and training that helped Guatemala defeat the communists. Israel has also granted scholarships to thousands of Guatemalans and provided technical support for projects in Guatemala.

As George Gilder posits in The Israel Test, the pervasive opposition to Israel comes less from prejudice against Jews than from prejudice against liberty. Israel is a thriving and innovative democracy, and thats precisely the example the autocratic and elitist leaders of its detractors want to avoid. Guatemala shares many ideals with Israel and so embraces the Jewish state.

Moraless foreign minister has stated that the United States didnt ask Guatemala to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The statement is believable, given Guatemalas long-term relations with Israel and no reversal from President Trump of President Obama's Guatemala policy. Because the United Nations has frequently voted against Guatemala, thats a likely factor in Morales's decision to defy the institution.



President Morales has much in common with President Trump. Both political novices won on anti-establishment platforms, and they face fierce opposition that includes efforts to sabotage them and remove them from office.

The successors to Castro-supported guerrillas struggle for power by any means necessary, and their agenda is collectivism, with inevitable economic destruction and the loss of liberty.

U.N. member nations are mostly autocratic governments and socialist democracies with illiberal values. The United States, by comparison, has had a mixed bag: globalist (Obama) and nationalist (Trump). The former opposed Israel because of its historic emphasis on the individual and universal values. The latter champions those values because they produce the best results for the greatest number of people.

The U.N.-created and mostly U.S.-funded International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and the guerrilla successors are leading the charge against Morales. These adversaries work together and have co-opted the judicial branch, which they have used to illegally block Morales's August declaration of persona non grata regarding the CICIG commissioner.



The Obama-imposed, anti-American collectivists in Guatemala  who oppose Trump and his policies  fear Morales' embassy move to Jerusalem will attract President Trumps attention. President Trump could realize that Morales values individual liberty and economic growth  as Trump does and the collectivists dont.



If President Trump responds fittingly and reverses Obama administration policy toward Guatemala, as he has in other areas, it would benefit the United States and Guatemala, beyond their longstanding alliances with Israel.



There are elements of realpolitik in every countrys decisions, but one can predict which countries might follow Guatemala's lead in moving their own embassies to Jerusalem. Those most likely to do so value the individual and want economic progress. They are prepared, as President Trump is, to separate from the globalist group that values the collective above the individual.Liam Neeson has called the large wave of sexual misconduct allegations against prominent Hollywood figures a bit of a witch hunt.

The Commuter actor told The Late Late Show on RTE, an Irish television program, on Friday theres some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girls knee, or something, and suddenly theyre being dropped from their program or something.

When Neeson was asked what he thought about the string of sexual misconduct allegations against people in the movie industry, Neeson said, its a bit of a witch hunt.

LIAM NEESON BELIEVES GENDER WAGE GAP IS DISGRACEFUL BUT WILL NOT TAKE A PAY CUT

The Taken actor used Garrison Keillor, the former host of A Prairie Home Companion on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) to explain his point. Keillor was fired by MPR in November after the company learned of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him. The allegations against Keillor were never disclosed publicly by MPR or his accuser.

Keillor told the Star Tribune he put his hand on a womans bare back.

I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled, Keillor said. I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me ... We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called.

LIAM NEESON ISNT DOING THRILLERS ANYMORE DESPITE HOW MUCH PEOPLE WANT HIM TO

When asked about the allegations against actors Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey, Neeson said he was on the fence about the accusations against Hoffman, which he described as childhood stuff.

The Dustin Hoffman thing, Im on the fence about that, Neeson said. When youre doing a play and youre with your family  other actors, technicians  you do silly things and it becomes kind of superstitious if you dont do it every night you think its going to jinx the show. Im not saying Ive done similar things to what [Hoffman] apparently did but its childhood stuff.

Hoffman has been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault and exposing himself to an underage girl.Newly engaged Gavin Becker just set the bar to a sky-high level for marriage proposals.

The aviation student in northern Minnesota carved out a giant heart in the snow with the words Marry Me on top. Then he took his girlfriend for an airplane ride to get an aerial view of his creation.

Gavin's father Ed Becker told KARE-TV that the idea came about as the family sat around chatting about ways he could propose to his now-fiancee, Oliva Toft.

Thats when they reminisced how Gavin had asked Oliva to their high school prom by painting, Olivia, you ROCK, on a rock. The marriage proposal idea grew from there.

The University of North Dakota aviation student saw his proposal to fruition by enlisting his family for help. His father told KARE-TV that it took them about four-and-a-half hours to complete the design, with letters that were 25 feet long.

Gavin used a snowblower to pen the romantic message in front of the familys In-We-Go Resort on a frozen lake. Then he rented a plane and flew Toft for over the lake to see -- and she said yes.

Ed told the news station that it was a labor of love for a woman the Beckers are excited about welcoming into their family.

"We are definitely fond of Olivia," Ed said. "They're a good faith-based couple trying to figure out what their future is."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A funeral director accused of switching out a grandmothers gorgeous $1700 coffin for a $70 pine box between the funeral and cremation has broken his silence.

The Rockhampton Morning Bulletin this week reported that police were investigating Harts Family Funerals in Australia after the family of local woman Janice Cecilia Valigura made a fraud complaint.

WOMAN POSTS AD FOR WEDDING DRESS 'ONCE WORN BY MISTAKE'

After a requiem mass at St Marys Catholic Church for the 74-year-old, who died of a stroke on New Years Eve, the ornate casket lined with white silk was carried out by Valiguras grandchildren for transportation to the crematorium  but family were told there would be a delay.

When the coffin arrived an hour late, a family friend saw the cheap box and realized something was wrong. He knew the family would have gone to a huge effort to give Janice a respectful send-off and what she was put in was absolutely degrading to my aunty, Valiguras niece Kerry Rothery told the paper.

She then called the crematorium to postpone the cremation so she could see for herself. When she got there, she claimed she saw her aunt had been wrapped in plastic in the cheaper coffin, with personal letters  written by her grandchildren and placed on her heart  tossed inside.

Rothery claimed the next day when they met the funeral director, Tony Hart, they were told the practice was commonplace.

Hart told The Courier-Mail on Thursday he performed the swap to prevent the expensive coffin cracking in the cold, as a delay at the crematorium meant Valiguras coffin had to be returned to the freezer.

The coffin she was cremated in was the same one that the family bought, he said. He denied ever cremating someone in a different coffin to the one their family had paid for, or ever re-using a coffin.

FAMILY REUNITED WITH LOST CAT AFTER 15 YEARS

The news was just the latest scandal to rock the $1.1 billion industry, which has long been accused of taking advantage of vulnerable people.

Timothy Button, founder of cut-price cremation business Just Cremate Me, on Thursday described the alleged coffin switch as a new low.

Thats disgusting if thats what the funeral directors are doing, he said. I dont really sell expensive coffins, we use environmentally friendly cardboard caskets, but if there are any sharks in the industry doing that, thats completely disgusting.

Button said there was no regulation at all in the industry. Youve got industry professionals that form associations but theres no requirement to be part of an association. I think theyre just money-hungry, they dont really provide any requirement for you to do anything.

Greg Inglis, co-founder and managing director of Uber-style funeral start-up Picaluna, said the funeral industry had as a whole tried to protect itself from regulation.

To put it bluntly, if you wanted to be a funeral director tomorrow, you could, he said of the regulations in Australia. You dont need a licence, theres very little in the way of regulation.

MOM SAYS TALKING DOLL SHE BOUGHT FOR DAUGHTER CALLED HER A 'B----'

Inglis said some minor rules, such as requiring itemized bills were brought in by governments following media coverage in the 1980s, but they were pretty loose.

Funeral directors got around those rules by charging huge mark-ups on coffins, and categorizing everything as a generic funeral services fee," which does not need to be itemized, he said.

On claims of the coffin switch, Inglis said you hear urban myths about it happening but he hadnt seen it himself. That $1700 coffin was most likely bought from the manufacturer for $400 to $500. They have a 300 to 400 percent mark-up for doing nothing.

I feel really sorry for the family. My personal opinion, I dont believe theres any value in [an expensive] coffin, and I dont think most families do until a funeral director gets in front of them and starts upselling.

Its not the first time Rockhampton has been in the news for questionable funeral practices. In 2011, a Brisbane funeral director was accused of loading his hearse with several bodies and driving eight hours for cheap cremations.

The funeral director was believed to have hatched a deal to pay $100 to $200 per cremation in Rockhampton, but charged the families in Brisbane more than $1000. He was accused of breaching the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act by allegedly falsifying the location and date of cremations.

It comes amid growing calls for greater price transparency in the industry, in which funeral providers are accused of obfuscating costs to charge anywhere up to $15,000 to vulnerable families.

They should disclose prices and have a product information statement, to give people an opportunity to buy only the items they want, University of Sydney Business School Professor Sandra Van der Laan said last year.

Its quite impenetrable. Everybodys emotionally fragile, people arent in a good place to be making what for some is a significant financial decision  because theyll have to pay it off or borrow money to pay for it.

At the time, Australias biggest funeral provider InvoCare, the parent company of funeral home brands including White Lady, Simplicity and Guardian, defended its pricing while supporting calls for greater industry-wide transparency."

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

InvoCare said its operators provide price transparency upfront so that our customers can select an option to best suit their needs."

We are fully aware of the vulnerability of people when dealing with the loss of a loved one and we go to great lengths to ensure they have a complete understanding of what service they are to receive, whether its the most affordable option or a full-service funeral, a company spokeswoman said in a statement.

InvoCare believes every family has the opportunity to farewell their loved one in the way they would like and to have as much choice available to them.

This article originally appeared on News.com.au.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Holly Butcher, who recently died at age 27 of a rare form of cancer that affects the bones, wrote a letter to her friends and family in her last week of life giving wise and moving advice about how to get the most out of whatever time we each have on Earth.

Ive gleaned 14 life lessons from the young Australian womans incredible letter that I think carry profound lessons for us all. Here they are, with words from her letter quoted below each lesson, in Australian spellings just as she wrote them:

1. Life is a gift and your time could be up at any moment.

It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right. Im 27 now. I dont want to go. I love my life. I am happy. But the control is out of my hands.

2. Your problems are tiny and often meaningless.

Those times you are whinging about ridiculous things (something I have noticed so much these past few months), just think about someone who is really facing a problem.

3. Stop worrying about the small stuff  and when things dont go your way.

Let all that s--- go  I swear you will not be thinking of those things when it is your turn to go. It is all SO insignificant when you look at life as a whole.

4. What really matters in life are love, friends and family.

Im watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more Birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more.

5. Being healthy doesnt equal having the body everyone else wants you to have.

 work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too. That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is.

6. Its true: its more blessed to give than to receive.

Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more.

7. Material things and gifts dont create love and connection.

This year, our family agreed to do no presents  those cards mean more to me than any impulse purchase could. Anyway, moral of the story  presents are not needed for a meaningful Christmas.

8. The best things in life are free.

Get up early sometimes and listen to the birds while you watch the beautiful colours the sun makes as it rises. Cuddle your dog. Far out, I will miss that.

9. Reassess and readjust your life priorities.

Work to live, dont live to work.

10. Live with joy and purpose, not fear or guilt.

Seriously, do what makes your heart feel happy. Eat the cake. Zero guilt.

11. Live for yourself; not to please others.

Say no to things you really dont want to do.

12. Express love now  dont wait until it is too late.

Tell your loved ones you love them every time you get the chance and love them with everything you have.

13. You have control over your life, and no time to be miserable.

Also, remember if something is making you miserable, you do have the power to change it  in work or love or whatever it may be. Have the guts to change. You dont know how much time youve got on this earth so dont waste it being miserable.

14. At your very last moment, you will remember the people you love.

a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life.... Til we meet again.



Hol

XoxoNEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Trump and his administration are being unfairly criticized for concluding that a program called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that has allowed 200,000 citizens of El Salvador to legally remain in the U.S. since 2001 is just what its name says  temporary.

Predictably, when the Trump administration announced earlier this month that TPS for the Salvadorans would end in 2019, the left and mainstream media erupted. They contended, in effect, that the president should act without congressional authorization to make what was always intended to be a temporary program permanent.

The Nation published an article headlined: Trump to 200,000 Salvadoran Immigrants: Drop Dead. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., tweeted that the President Trumps decision breaks with our countrys moral obligation to care for our neighbors.

In fact, the president made the right decision, in accordance with federal law. A big reason the American people elected him in 2016 was because he promised to get control of our immigration system as a key part of his America First agenda.

President Trump is following the law. He understands that his most important job is to protect our national security and the safety, jobs and economic security of the American people. Improving border security is a vital step in achieving these goals.

President Trump recognized that past administrations allowed a lawless and mostly open border, and enshrined into law an inane chain migration model that compromises Americas economic and national security.

Chain migration allows immigrants with legal status to bring spouses and minor children to the U.S., and then permits the immigrants to petition to bring in other relatives once they become U.S. citizens. As a result, naturalized citizens can bring their adult siblings, adult children, and the spouses and children of their adult children.

A quick history lesson: Congress passed a law creating TPS in 1990 to allow foreign nationals to remain in the United States temporarily if theyre unable to safely return home because of extreme circumstances, such as war or natural disasters. This is why it was named the Temporary Protected Status program. Congress could have chosen to create a program for permanent protected status leading to American citizenship, but it did not.

In 2001 El Salvador was devastated by earthquakes. With the country in shambles, TPS was granted to the approximately 200,000 El Salvadorans already in the U.S. at that time.

Yes, you read that right. These Salvadorans are not  contrary to popular belief  refugees who fled a disaster. Instead, they were already in the United States when the earthquakes struck and devastated their homeland. Most media reports have badly distorted the actual history of what happened.

Out of great compassion, the U.S. agreed to temporarily allow these people to remain in our country, even though many  if not most  of them were here illegally and would otherwise be eligible for deportation.

Such a reprieve represents the best of America  a country with heart and generosity for our Latin American neighbor and the plight of these people. The whole point of TPS, however, is to provide a temporary protection  not a lifelong free pass.

Can anyone reasonably argue that 17 years is not a sufficient amount of time for any country to recover from a natural disaster?

Another question Id place before critics of this policy move: why should Salvadorans, particularly the ones who were here illegally in the first place, receive lifetime legal status in the United States when millions of other applicants wait patiently in line for permission to become Americans?

I do not believe that a disaster in the homeland of the Salvadorans, as unfortunate as the devastation was, merits a perpetual permit to remain in our country.

In announcing that TPS for the Salvadorans will end next year, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen made a sound judgement in accordance with the law creating the temporary program. As a statement issued by her department said, the Secretary determined that the original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist.

Its high time we regain control over immigration. President Trump deserves enormous credit for the plunge in illegal crossings at our southern border. Now we must complete the task of securing that border with a wall, something President Trump should trade in exchange for protecting DACA recipients.

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) temporarily allows about 700,000 illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents to stay here with legal status, but was never approved by Congress. Instead, President Obama created the temporary program by executive order.

President Trump has given Congress until March to pass legislation protecting the DACA recipients, but has sensibly insisted that funding for a border wall and increased border security be included in that legislation, along with an end to chain migration and termination of a diversity visa lottery program. The lottery program gives 50,000 immigrant visas annually to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S.

Without new legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, DACA will end.

Heres the bottom line: President Trump is following the law. He understands that his most important job is to protect our national security and the safety, jobs and economic security of the American people. Improving border security is a vital step in achieving these goals.

Instead of criticizing President Trump for his action on the Salvadorans and other immigration issues, we should be thanking him for doing his job and carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a dreamer. He saw what others could not see. He heard what others did not hear. He felt what others did not feel. Therefore, he did what others were not willing to do.

King understood any form of racism defies the dignity of human life. That is why, in the midst of racial injustice and division in America, he dreamed about a day in our nation when justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. His quote of Amos 5:24 mirrored the heart of a prophet who in his own day was witness to injustice and inequality. But Kings interpretation of the text was tinged with a sense of holy dissatisfaction.

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he framed it this way: No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Most of us remember MLKs 1963 speech by its most famous theme  I Have a Dream  but King was much more than a dreamer. What made him one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century was his insatiable desire for biblical justice. This desire would end up costing him his life, but his dream of biblical justice in America would live on. It still lives on today.

Reflecting upon this history, Im moved to humility and repentance.

We are not black churches. We are not white churches. We are not Latino churches. We are not Asian churches. We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the same body. In the true church of Jesus Christ, the walls of racism and injustice come down.

When I look upon today, there are moments when I think we have come so far. But then, there are other moments that happen far too many times, when the evil of the human heart reminds me that we still have so far to go.

Its with deep regret that I can do nothing to wipe clean the stained past against our African American brothers and sisters. But with all I am, I can join them in creating a future together that binds up the nations wounds and always marches ahead knowing we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

We cannot change the future of America by ourselves or by remaining cloistered with those who look, talk and think like us. Biblical justice demands engagement. This goes especially to the church in America.

Silence is not the answer to our racial issues in America, and, to be perfectly frank, blind hope that our conflicts will sort out by themselves is a strategy to fail. Pastors and churches cannot sit passively on the sideline. This is one moment when the church of Jesus Christ must lead by exemplifying a strong commitment to racial unity.

We are not black churches. We are not white churches. We are not Latino churches. We are not Asian churches. We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the same body. In the true church of Jesus Christ, the walls of racism and injustice come down.

On Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 15, I will join pastor Arthur L. Hunt, Jr. and Governor Asa Hutchinson at the Arkansas State Capitol and, along hundreds of pastors in Arkansas, we are going to stand and be united publicly. We are choosing unity, not simply talking about it.

Our goal is not political or even racial, but biblical. We must not, we cannot, be satisfied until, as Amos said, justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Its past time for racial unity in America. Weve decided to be united.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

The theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos this month is Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. President Trump, leading the U.S. delegation, can expect a frosty welcome from the other participants, who view him as the least welcome invader of the Alps since Hannibal arrived via elephant.

Having exhibited little interest in sharing anything, the president will instead try to sell his America First vision to heads of state, economists and business titans who are almost unanimously suspicious of him. Hell also be witness to a first-in-a-generation showdown between the leaders of Germany and France, who are vying to be recognized as the de facto head of Europe.

Trump probably doesnt care about the warmth of the embrace he receives in snowy Switzerland. He demonstrated his indifference to being popular among foreign leaders last year, when he lectured Americas NATO allies for failing to pay their fair share of the defense coalitions expenses. More than likely, hell bring his unpredictable  and pugnacious  presidential style with him, to confront an exclusive club of committed globalists.

The president will clearly be an outsider at Davos, says Paul J. Saunders, executive director of the Washington-based Center for the National Interest. This is the annual gathering of the leaders of globalism, intellectually, financially, politically. It will be interesting to see how he handles himself and also what impact he has. Remember, the president is very skilled at getting attention for himself.

Trump will have to decide whether to act like the blustery cheerleader for American business and military might, or the uninvited guest at an ultra-exclusive club who shows up without a tie.

Trump will have to decide whether to act like the blustery cheerleader for American business and military might, or the uninvited guest at an ultra-exclusive club who shows up without a tie. It depends on what kind of mark he wants to make, and where he wants to make it  in the U.S. or internationally, says Saunders. The bar is relatively low. Many foreign leaders are uncertain about the president. If he comes to Davos and does something that they view as unexpected  a major initiative on trade for example  it could get positive attention.

Used to hogging the spotlight, Trump might just find himself a sideshow to an oh-so-courteous knife-fight between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Merkel, who has dominated European politics and dictated its policies for more than a decade, is in a weakened position after her party and its allies lost support in last years national elections.

Macron, the baby-faced French centrist who critics say governs with an imperial disregard for those around him, has set out far-reaching goals for the European Union, of which France is an enthusiastic backer.

When you look at the European political stage, with Merkel now constrained, then someone who has an electoral mandate like Macron is strengthened, says Saunders. Hes a quite ambitious person who sees an opportunity for himself in Merkels troubles. But its a two-edged sword. France is not equal to Germany in its economic contributions to Europe. And no other nation is in a position to drive the train unilaterally.

It is Trump, however, who will be the elephant in the room at Davos. And not because hes a Republican.Former President Bill Clinton responded Friday to President Trumps reported comments questioning why the U.S. was accepting immigrants from s---hole countries, allegedly made in reference to Haiti and some countries in Africa and Central America.

In a statement on Facebook, Clinton  who worked in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake  said the Caribbean nations struggles do not make them the country the president described.

They have not often had the government the people deserve, but that does not make them the country the president described, Clinton wrote. I can say the same about other nations in Central America and Africa swept up in his epithet.

Former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush visited Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, to lead U.S. fundraising efforts following the January 12, 2010, quake.

WAR OF WORDS ESCALATES OVER TRUMPS IMMIGRATION COMMENTS

In Friday's Facebook post, Clinton said the U.S. should support Haiti and its people and help them reach their full potential.

 we should be grateful for the immense contributions made by immigrants from Haiti  and other nations  to America, Clinton said.  they and their homelands deserve our respect and gratitude.

"On this day, we remember Haiti," he concluded. "They have come a long way in 8 years, but much work remains and I still believe in the Haitian people."

Clintons response comes amid widespread outrage surrounding the reported comments, which drew condemnation from global leaders as well as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Trump allegedly made them during a DACA meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday.

Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here? the president allegedly said. He reportedly added that the U.S. should admit more people from countries like Norway.

Trump later denied using the vulgar language during the meeting.

TRUMP HITS BACK AT OUTRAGE OVER TOUGH IMMIGRATION LANGUAGE, TRASHES DACA DEAL

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA! Trump tweeted early Friday.

Later Friday morning, Trump went on to deny he said anything "derogatory" about Haitians.

"Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country, Trump tweeted. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"

Clinton wasnt the only member of the well-known political family to respond to the comments.

His wife, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, also chimed in Friday, tweeting that the eight-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake should be a time to remember the tragedy, but, Instead, were subjected to Trumps ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesnt look like him.

Fox News Brooke Singman contributed to this report.Norma Salazar keeps it together during the day -- she has to, she said, for her kids -- but at night it's a different story. That's when the 27-year old Dallas woman allows herself to cry. "What if," she said, "What are we going to do if this happens?"

Salazar is one of more than 690,000 recipients of the Deferrered Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program President Obama initiated in 2012. It allows some foreign born children brought to the U.S. illegally to legally stay and work. Each enrollment allows a two year stay, which can be renewed. President Donald Trump ended the DACA program last September.

As lawmakers debate what to do next, DACA recipients find their fate hanging in the balance.

"They're scared," Dallas immigration attorney Martin Valko said. "It's been a roller coaster ride for them from the beginning. You get it. It's been taken away from you. ... What's going to happen?"

Texas is second only to California in its number of DACA recipients. Valko said if you don't buy a humanitarian argument for allowing DACA recipients to stay, he said consider the financial contributions they're making by working and living in the United States.

"The bottom line is, they are a part of the economy," Valko said. "Trying to pull them out of the system will, I think, cause significant damage.

But others claim DACA recipients cost the country as well. Mark Krikorian, with the Center for Immigration Studies, said, "The big costs are health care, food stamps, education."

He added that amnesty programs like DACA create an incentive for new illegal immigration and can create "chain migration," meaning, once an immigrant is in the United States legally, they can apply for family members to join them. Krikorkian said he's not necessarily opposed to creating a solution for DACA recipients, but added, "We have to have other things packaged with it."

Salazar said her story is typical of many DACA recipients. Her mother brought her here from Mexico when she was a child, just 10-years old. Salazar went to school, learned the language, and eventually went to college and got an office job. At the top of her mind, she said, always, is her mother.

"My mom went through a lot to make this happen for me, so I was determined for it not to be in vain."

Now Salazar is a married mother of three. She's terrified she may have to leave her children once her DACA term expires. She said leaving to live in a country she doesn't know would be catastrophic for her family, not just financially, but emotionally as well. Her youngest child, a son, has autism.

In talking about the possiblity of leaving, she can barely get the words out, "He needs me," she whispered. "He needs me."The results of this doctor's appointment was of global interest. The high-profile patient? President Donald J. Trump.

The 71-year-old president went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., last week to undergo his first physical exam in office. Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, performed the assessment.

"The presidents physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went exceptionally well," Jackson said following the examination on Friday. "The president is in excellent health."

The physical came just one week after Trump slammed Michael Wolffs White House expose, Fire and Fury, which raised questions about the presidents mental health and fitness to run the Oval Office. The president said he considered the book a work of fiction, adding that Wolffs purported hours-long interviews with him never took place.

Ran for president one time and won. And then I hear this guy who doesn't know me at all, didn't interview me for three hours, his imagination, Trump told reporters at Camp David, a day after the book was officially released.

When it comes to his health, Trump has always been quick to defend himself.

....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart, Trump tweeted on Jan. 6.

During his campaign for president in December 2015, Trump released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, predicting he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to presidency.

While Jackson wouldn't "make any comparisons of presidents over the past 200 years," here's what he did say about Trump's first physical as commander-in-chief during a press briefing at the White House Tuesday.

Is Trump required to have an annual physical?

No, the president has no legal obligation to have a physical exam. In fact, the president isn't even required to disclose any of his health information. He can pick and choose what's released to the public. However, Jackson assured the media that he didn't leave anything out.

"I can promise there's absolutely nothing I'm withholding from this," Jackson told reporters. "I've done the last four or five of these...this is more information that's been put forth than any assessment to date."

What did the exam entail?

Results from the physical included information such as height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol levels among other basic data.

Jackson detailed Trump's overall health, providing vital statistics, results from the physical exam of the former president's vital organ systems, lab results and other studies.

The exam lasted for about 4 hours and a team of 12 medical professionals from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center assisted Jackson with the exam.

"It was a team effort," Jackson said.

What we learned from Trump's exam

The basics:

Height: 63

Weight: 239 pounds

Temperature: 98.4F

Blood pressure: 122/74

Cholesterol: 223 mg/dl

Vision: 20/30

Resting heart rate: 68 beats per minute

Medications: Crestor, to lower cholesterol, Propecia, to prevent male pattern hair loss, a cream to treat rosacea and a multivitamin.

Jackson says Trump is in very good health, despite his weight and his usage of cholesterol-lowering medicine.

His vascular health looks good, and Jackson described Trump's cardiac health as "excellent," which he attributes to a history of abstaining from alcohol and tobacco.

Overall, Trump is "very healthy and will remain so for the duration of his presidency," Jackson said.



Trump's diet and exercise routine

Trump has set a goal to lose 10 to 15 pounds, Jackson said. Right now, the president doesn't have a set diet or exercise routine, though, Jackson points out, he is receiving more nutritious meals thanks to White House chefs.

"If diet and exercise are right then weight loss will come," said Jackson, adding that he plans to take a more active role in monitoring Trump's nutrition and may even ask first lady Melania Trump for assistance. "He's more enthusiastic about the diet part than exercise part, but we're going to do both."

In response to a question from a reporter about how Trump can remain in "excellent health" despite his rumored McDonald's diet, Jackson replied, "Its called genetics. Some people just have great genes; he has incredibly good genes. It's just the way God made him."

Jackson also estimated Trump sleeps, on average, about four to five hours a night. He said he hopes to gradually increase that number, but that may just be Trump's routine.

"Hes probably been that way his whole life," Jackson said. "Hes just one of those people that does not require a lot of sleep."

Did Trump undergo a cognitive test?

Yes. Per Trump's request, Jackson performed what he believes to be the first cognitive test during a presidential exam, despite having "absolutely no concerns about his cognitive ability."

The 10-minute test, known as The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), assesses a person's concentration, executive functions, memory and conceptual thinking among other "cognitive domains," according to the Boston Medical Center.

"The president is mentally very sharp, very intact...He's fit for duty."  Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson

Trump performed "exceedingly well" on the exam, with a perfect score -- 30 out of 30, Jackson said.

"The president is mentally very sharp, very intact...He's fit for duty. I think he will remain fit for duty for the remainder this term and even for the remainder of another term if elected," Jackson said.

What we already knew about Trumps health

Trumps health has been a hot topic of discussion both before and after he took office. Bornstein released several letters summarizing Trumps health status during the 2016 presidential race.

In the first report, made public on Trumps campaign website, Bornstein confirmed Trump is in excellent physical health.

The physician described Trump as 63, weighing 236 pounds, adding he had only been hospitalized once at the age of 11 for an appendectomy.

Bornstein provided Trumps cholesterol, blood pressure, calcium range, testosterone and PSA level. Trumps liver function and thyroid tests, colonoscopy, EKG and chest X-ray were normal, Bornstein wrote.

He takes a lipid lowering agent (rosuvastatin) and a low dose aspirin, Bornstein wrote in the report. He does not use tobacco products or alcohol.

Trump sat down to discuss the medical records on the "Dr. Oz Show," saying he has a tremendous amount of stamina.

"I would say just based on my life...I feel as good today as I did when I was thirty," Trump told Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Sept. 2016 interview.

Bornstein later spoke with The New York Times, telling the newspaper Trump takes a prostate drug marketed to promote hair growth.

He has all his hair, Bornstein, who has been Trumps personal physician since the 1980s, told The Times.

Bornstein also said Trump takes an antibiotic to control rosacea, a common skin condition that causes redness and dilated blood vessels, and a statin for elevated blood cholesterol and lipids.

The government was last partially shuttered on Dec. 22, 2018 as President Trump and Democrats reached an impasse over a spending bill  particularly in regards to funding for border security.

Trump at the time warned the closure could drag on for a very long time. The shutdown ended on Jan. 25, 2019.

Prior to the partial shutdown, Trump had urged Senate Republicans to use the so-called nuclear option to pass a spending bill that includes enough funding for a border wall. The House scrambled to put together a package late that included the $5.7 billion the president wants but was unable to agree on a deal to fund the government by the deadline.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has often rebuffed calls to use the nuclear option, which would change Senate procedure to require only a simple majority to approve the spending bill.

TRUMP CLASHES WITH PELOSI, SCHUMER ON BORDER SECURITY IN EXPLOSIVE OVAL OFFICE MEETING

Fox News asked Marc Goldwein, senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget  a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that educates the public on fiscal policy issues  to explain a government shutdown, and he answered seven basic questions about the process that Americans should know.

What causes a government shutdown?

A shutdown occurs when Congress and the president fail to sign into law 12 appropriations bills (which determine spending for specific government agencies) in order to continue providing funding for government operations.

How can you prevent a government shutdown?

To avoid a shutdown, members of Congress can give themselves an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR). The temporary funding measure keeps the federal government open and allows lawmakers more time to negotiate the remaining appropriations bills.

The bar for a CR is pretty low. Youre not agreeing to anything new politically; its a no-brainer, Goldwein told Fox News.

How long does a government shutdown last?

As long as it takes. Congressional leaders from both parties have to reach an agreement to fund the government.

It usually takes a weekend for this to happen.

A LOOK BACK AT EVERY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY

Were talking days or weeks  not months, Goldwein said.

The federal government would be forced to shut down non-essential services." Who would be affected?

"Essential staff at top level agencies would continue working, but most federal employees whose jobs arent vital would likely be sent home," Goldwein said.

For example, those who work at national parks, monuments and museums would be told to go home.

"It doesnt feel awesome to be told youre not an essential employee. It's a little demoralizing to go home because youre not important," Goldwein added.

In the 2013 shutdown, roughly 850,000 employees were furloughed per day, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

But not everyone is required to take unpaid leave.

The president, presidential appointees and members of Congress are exempt. The Postal Service, the TSA and Air Traffic Control will also continue business as usual.

Americans will still be able to get their Social Security and Medicare benefits and food stamps. However, people expecting VA benefits, unemployment benefits, farm subsidies and tax refunds may experience delays.

Do federal employees still get paid?

Most likely. The problem: They're not sure when they'll get their money.

"Everyone loses from the government shutdown. An employee loses their paycheck at the time he or she needs it," Goldwein said. "Ultimately, were going to fund it anyway. Its kind of silly."

Federal employees typically receive back pay shortly upon their return, though, Goldwein says, nothing is certain. Every agency has their own contingency plan in the event of a shutdown.

How many times has the government shut down?

The government has shut down 20 times since 1976, the year Congress introduced the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budgets research. Half of the shutdowns occurred over a weekend.

Before 1980, the government didnt really shut down, Goldwein explained. A lot of others were over the course of weekends. I call them fake shutdowns.

Goldwein says there have really only been three significant government shutdowns in the history of the U.S.

Two occurred during the Clinton administration in the winter of 1995 to 1996. Former President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds and shut the government down for a total of 26 days, Goldwein said.

The third occurred during the Obama administration in 2013 when a stalemate between the House and Senate led to a 16-day hiatus.

How much money can the country lose during a shutdown?

The 16-day government shutdown in 2013 cost the country $24 billion of lost economic activity, according to an analysis from ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

"The payroll cost of furloughed employee salaries alone  that is, the lost productivity of furloughed workers  was $2.0 billion," the Office of Management and Budget reported in 2013.

Goldwein says shutdowns "waste money" more than they "cost money."

"Were not going to spend more money. Were just going to spend it on worse stuff," he explained. "Instead of paying employees to work, were paying them not to work."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

2018's partial government shutdown cost the U.S. economy $11 billion "due to lost output from federal workers, delayed government spending and reduced demand," according to Forbes.

The Congressional Budget Office further noted the shutdown delayed $18 million in federal spending and led to the suspension of several federal services.

Fox News' Alex Pappas, Judson Berger, Kaitlyn Schallhorn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Trump is in "excellent health," the White House doctor said Friday after the president underwent his first medical checkup since becoming president.

"The presidents physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went exceptionally well."  Dr. Ronny Jackson, President Trump's physician

"The presidents physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went exceptionally well," Dr. Ronny Jackson, the president's physician, said in a statement.

Jackson added that "the president is in excellent health and I look forward to briefing some of the details on Tuesday."

The president's physical examination came amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that he's mentally unfit.

Trump himself has pushed back hard against any suggestion that he's mentally unfit, this week declaring himself "a very stable genius."

The examination lasted several hours and considered such things as Trump's blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, heart rate and weight.

While the exams are not mandatory, modern presidents typically undergo them regularly and release a doctor's report declaring they are "fit for duty."

Two months before the November 2016 election, Trump released a five-paragraph letter from his longtime physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, who concluded that Trump was "in excellent physical health."

A year earlier, Bornstein said in a December 2015 letter, "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."

Jackson, Trump's physician, is a Navy rear admiral who was the emergency medicine doctor for a shock trauma platoon in Taqaddum, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to his Navy bio. He also provided care for President Barack Obama and became a White House physician in 2006.

Fox News' Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Chelsea Manning, a transgender former Army intelligence analyst convicted of leaking classified documents, has filed to run for the U.S. Senate.

The Washington Post first reported Saturday that Manning has filed to run in Maryland for the seat of Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

The Federal Election Commission website shows a Jan. 11 filing for Chelsea Manning for U.S. Senate with the party affiliation registered as Democrat -- suggesting a primary challenge for Cardin.

Manning, then known as Bradley Manning, was arrested in 2010 and convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of sensitive documents to WikiLeaks. Mannings sentence was controversially commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017 after Manning had served seven years of a 35-year sentence.

Since leaving prison, Manning has become known for controversial tweets, often accompanied with a series of emojis and the hashtag #WeGotThis. Last week, Manning tweeted out the message f---k the police on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, along with the hashtag #DisarmThePolice

Manning has also referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as literally the new gestapo.The uproar over the s---hole countries remark attributed to President Donald Trump this week prompted some media outlets to follow up with a story about an incident that reportedly occurred in December.

Multiple reports Friday said Trump commented about a pretty Korean lady who attended an Oval Office briefing.

The unidentified woman was reportedly an expert in hostage policy who was presenting information to him about an impending release of a family long held in Pakistan, the Guardian reported, citing an NBC News report.

Trump then proceeded to ask her where she was from, to which she answered New York. The question, however, raised concern for his lack of cultural sensitivity, the report said.



He was reportedly dissatisfied with the answer, Newsweek reported, so she said Manhattan.

Finally, the president asked where her people were from, the Guardian reported.

The analyst then said her parents were from South Korea, the Hill reported.

Trump then asked a nearby adviser why the pretty Korean lady was not leading negotiations with North Korea on behalf of the White House.



The analyst is reportedly trained in hostage negotiations, not diplomacy, the report said.This is a rush transcript from "Your World," January 12, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TRISH REGAN, GUEST HOST: All right, just hours ago, Kentucky becoming the first state to get approval to require Medicaid recipients to work.

The state's Republican governor, Matt Bevin, joins me right now by phone.

And, Governor Bevin, you're getting some criticism for this. Why do you think it's the right thing to do?

GOV. MATT BEVIN, R-KENTUCKY: It's interesting. Criticism always comes from liberals. They have no solutions. They are writing failed policies.

But anyone who would propose an alternative is quick to receive their scorn. I believe it's the right thing to because I grew up in poverty. I grew up with no access to health care coverage for the first 20-something years of my life.

I was an active-duty Army officer before I ever had access. And I understand that, as Administrator Verma put it the other day, it is absolutely soft bigotry. Low expectations is not what people in America need.

The dignity that people get and receive from the opportunity to do for themselves, to be engaged in their own health outcome is what ultimately leads to better health outcomes. When people have a vested interest in anything, they are more likely to care about it, to utilize it, and to get the maximum value from it.

I am utterly convinced from personal experience that having that opportunity is the greatness of America, and we owe it to people to give them that chance to improve their lives.

REGAN: Mm-hmm.

Part of the problem with welfare is that it becomes a bit of a trap. And, you know, you can't go to work because you're getting that much from the government. And then you just want more from the government. It's that much harder to go to work. You think about, say, a single mom who makes a rational decision perhaps to stay home because she may have more money coming in to her via the state, via the federal government than if she were to actually go to work and to have pay for day care and have to pay for gas, et cetera, et cetera, and be away from her kids.

So, it seems me that there should be some kind of in-between system, Governor, where we're doing what we can to help people to help themselves. And in this one way, via this Medicaid reform, a way of doing that?

BEVIN: Absolutely, Trish.

And I'll tell you, it's interesting. This is the first federal entitlement reform that we have seen since the mid-'90s. So, this is going to be transformative not just for Kentucky, but as a model for the nation, because it will give millions of people who are in that trap that you have just described the opportunity to get out.

Medicaid and other entitlement programs were not intended to be life destinations. They were not intended to be dead ends. They were intended to be transitory situations for certainly able-bodied people, people with alternatives. We want to provide those alternatives to them.

And one of the things in the waiver is exactly that, the ability to come alongside existing requirements and transition people to the private sector, transition them to traditional and commercial health care provided by employers, because they're out there working.

And if for some reason that employer program is not the same that they would have gotten under Medicaid, that we will come alongside and make up the differences, costing the taxpayer less.

REGAN: Yes. And I want just to point out, for your sake, that if, for example, you had a single mother that couldn't work, you are not going to force her to work and perhaps take the kids in tow to that.

And somebody who is very, very ill and couldn't work, that person as well wouldn't be forced. You are talking about able-bodied people that have time on their hands that can do it.

But let me go to something else, and that's, well, shall we say, the headlines that the president has been making since around this time yesterday?

What do you make of that? What do you think needs to happen on immigration reform, and is this rhetoric going to get in the way?

BEVIN: Honestly, I have been focused on two things, number one, my meeting with the president as it related to prison reform. Then, since then, I have been focused on what we're doing as it relates to transitioning Medicaid requirements for the first time in America.

I have not focused on what his commentary has been on that front. As it relates to immigration reform, we need to address it.

REGAN: I feel like -- I guess you weren't watching CNN then.

(LAUGHTER)

BEVIN: I have not. I don't spend much of my time watching CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

REGAN: Good answer. Good answer.

But, that said, you know, I will fill you in, that everybody is up in arms about this, and they're concerned that he said some racist things by suggesting that we would be better off having immigrants from countries like Norway, as opposed to, say, Haiti or other places in Africa.

Do you interpret as a racist comment, or do you think he was really perhaps just commenting on the fact that, per capita, GDP in some countries is a whole lot higher, and you have a more educated population than in other countries?

BEVIN: Without professing to be an expert on all that has been said or -- and certainly can't speak for what somebody meant, here's what I know.

So many are quick to decry as anything they don't agree with the comment to be racist. If everything is racist, we diminish the reality that racism truly exists. And I find it offensive, as a father of black children and a father of white children, that people are so quick to be dismissive of certain things and to categorize them as racist.

I happen to have children that were born both in this country and outside of this country. And the fact of the matter is, America is a nation of immigrants. And people know that. And getting hung up on any vernacular, appropriate, inappropriate, things that might have been said, word choices that might have been different, the reality is this.

We as a nation have an obligation and a responsibility to look out for our people first. And by our people, I mean people who are citizens of the United States. And yet we are a nation of immigrants, and we have always been a nation that welcomed people in, the huddled masses and others beside.

And nobody, including our president, to my knowledge, is saying that we should be anything other than that. But what he and I think many others and myself would agree with is that we have got to take care of those that are here first. A nation has a responsibility to protect its borders, to take care of its citizens, and that we get to dictate the rules by which people become citizens.

And I think as -- speaking as a governor and a taxpayer and a citizen and as a father and as somebody who cares about this, I think we need to make it easier for people to come here legally and make it harder for them to come here illegally.

It's not that complicated. I know that's what our president is fighting for. And I think people should focus on that, and not allowing themselves to be whipped off into tizzies over some word choice, which is what I believe is the catalyst behind all that.

REGAN: Well, you say that all so very eloquently, sir. And you make lot of sense.

And there is a reality here that we need to focus on, as opposed to the circus distractions going on.

Anyway, thank you, Governor. It's good to have you with us today.

BEVIN: Thank you so much.

REGAN: All right.

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.A California man confessed to 25-year-old unsolved murder in a televised interview because, he said, God had urged him to come forward.

In an interview with KRCR, 44-year-old Brian Hawkins said he and two others were responsible for the 1993 murder of 19-year-old Frank Wesley McAlister.

Hawkins said it was God that motivated him to come forward.

God and Christ and these things that have happened over the course of 25 years have pushed me and pushed me to do the right thing," he said.

Hawkins did not reveal the details of the murder in the interview, but told investigators that he, Curtis Culver, 45, and his sister Shanna Culver, 41, murdered McAlister by stabbing him to death. He told them that the trio initially wanted to rob the young man.

Hawkins said they dumped the body in the woods, where it was found by hikers a year later.

Expressing his remorse, Hawkins maintained in the televised interview that he lost his life as well after committing the murder.

"Horrible, horrible, horrible, absolute horror, absolutely horrible since that day. Every minute of every day has been a nightmare, he said. Frank never got to have a life, but we were teenagers and now I'm 44 and still haven't even had a life and now most likely won't anyway."

After the interview, Hawkins went to the Shasta County Sheriffs office to meet with police investigators, the Redding Police Department said.

He was arrested on Tuesday following his confession, and the Culver siblings were arrested the next day.

Hawkins and Curtis Culver are being held on $1 million bail, while the other Culver sibling is being held without bail.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.The girlfriend of the Las Vegas shooter told authorities that they would likely find her fingerprints on some of Stephen Paddocks bullets because she sometimes assisted him in loading ammunition into magazines, court documents unsealed on Friday revealed.

There was no evidence at that time of "criminal involvement" by Marilou Danley, an Oct. 3 document showed, but it noted that investigators had not ruled out the possibility. Officials also reportedly sought the email, Facebook and Instagram accounts of Danley, who was in the Philippines during the Oct. 1 shooting.

Paddock fatally shot himself after firing from a Las Vegas Strip hotel room into a concert crowd, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds.

Also unveiled on Friday: Emails Paddock had exchanged about buying rifles and bump stocks months before he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Paddock reportedly used guns equipped with the device, which allows semi-automatic weapons to fire almost as quickly as automatic ones.

The documents said Paddock had received an email from a Gmail account in July encouraging him to try an AR-style rifle before buying one. "We have huge selection" in the Las Vegas area, the email allegedly noted.

Paddock wrote back that he wanted to try several scopes and different types of ammunition. An email in response suggested trying a bump stock on the rifle with a 100-round magazine.

Paddock's email address and the Gmail address had similar names, leading investigators to suspect that he may have been emailing himself, although they couldn't figure out why.

FBI agents reportedly knew that Paddock had left behind big caches of guns, ammunition and explosives when they sought warrants to search his properties and online accounts, according to the documents.

Las Vegas Police Officer Aden Ocampo Gomez and FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault said Friday that they had no update about Paddock's motive.

Both called it an ongoing investigation.

A Nevada judge will hear arguments on Tuesday about whether Las Vegas police search warrant documents should remain sealed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.The Latest on an arrest in the death of a 19-year-old student found buried in a California park (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Authorities have arrested a friend in the killing of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who was buried in a shallow grave at a Southern California park.

Orange County officials say 20-year-old Samuel Lincoln Woodward of Newport Beach was arrested Friday on suspicion of murder.

Undersheriff Don Barnes says DNA evidence links Woodward to the crime. Details of Bernstein's death aren't being released.

Barnes says investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

Barnes says Woodward was the last person to see Blaze Bernstein alive. Bernstein was visiting his family in Foothill Ranch during winter break when his high school friend Woodward picked him up on Jan. 2 and drove with him to several places before winding up at a neighborhood park.

Bernstein's body was found Tuesday after recent rains partially exposed it.

Authorities say Woodward has asked for an attorney.

___

2:49 p.m.

A suspect has been arrested in the death of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student whose body was found this week at a Southern California park.

Orange County sheriff's department spokeswoman Carrie Braun says the suspect was taken into custody Friday. She did not identify the suspect or provide any other details.

The student, Blaze Bernstein, was home on winter break when he disappeared on Jan. 2 after he was taken to the park by a friend.

The friend was interviewed by police, who described him as nervous.

Bernstein's body was found in brush surrounding a neighborhood park in the Foothill Ranch area of Lake Forest on Tuesday after a search lasting nearly a week.

Authorities have said they were investigating the death as a homicide.Police in Washington State say theyre trying to find the rightful owner of an urn "with cremated remains" that was donated to a Goodwill location.

In a tweet the Vancouver Police Department sent on Wednesday, authorities said they were "seeking assistance to locate anyone associated with an urn with cremated remains inside that was donated at a local Goodwill.

WOMAN WHO SET UP GOFUNDME FOR SLAIN CO-WORKERS DAUGHTER KEEPS CASH, POLICE SAY

Authorities told KIRO 7 that the urn was brought to the store and found by an employee on Sunday as they were sifting through donated items. Police reportedly think that the donation was accidental.

In photos provided in the polices tweet, the urn appears to be a wooden box with a handle. Two letter Ms with the name Michelle Miller are seen on the front.

Anyone with information regarding the item is asked to call the police evidence department at (360) 487-7404.The mother of teenage boy was abducted and killed in Florida after a hitman and his girlfriend mistook her for the intended victim, according to reports.

Authorities late Friday announced three arrests in the death of 42-year-old Janice Zengotita-Torres, of Kissimmee. Her body was found Tuesday.

They said Ishnar Lopez-Ramos, 35, wanted to kill a woman who was in a relationship with a man she loved, Fox 35 Orlando reported. That woman, who was never harmed, and Zengotita-Torres, who was married and the mother of a 14-year-old boy, were co-workers.

Lopez-Ramos then hired Alexis Ramos-Rivera and Glorianmarie Quinones Montes to carry out the murder, the station reported.

According to the station, the pair, both 22, kidnapped Zengotita-Torres after she left work Sunday and drove home.

Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said they eventually realized Zengotita-Torres was the wrong woman, but they killed her anyway.

"The suspects continued with their plan of murder and tied the victim with zip ties, and then her head in duct tape and garbage bags," he said, according to the station.

He said when Zengotita-Torres tried to fight back she was beaten unconscious.

Her killers drove 80 miles and dumped her body in Volusia County, the station reported.

Investigators arrested Lopez-Ramos after she used Zengotita-Torres ATM card, the station reported. She led investigators to the other two suspects in the case. They have been charged with murder and jailed.

All three confirmed that this was a murder-for-hire and that the victim was mistakenly targeted and murdered," Gibson said.

One station reported that Gibson choked up as he announced the arrests.

"I get emotional because it just touches me so deeply that one of our citizens was killed in such a manner over a mistaken identification, and in the end it appears to be a lovers' triangle," he said, according to WFTV. "Wow."

Click for more from Fox 35 Orlando.A suspect was reportedly in custody early Saturday after police from several agencies responded to a report of an armed man aboard a Greyhound bus traveling south on Interrstate 94 near the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

Traffic was closed in both directiions on the interstate while police continue to investigate, the Daily Herald reported.

Kenosha County, Wis., sheriff's Lt. Rory Zuerlein said his agency received a call around 10 p.m. that an armed passenger on the bus was threatening other riders, the paper reported.

Officers pursued the bus, which wound up stopping south of Russell Road. Illinois State Police said about 40 passengers got off the bus safely, a police statement said.

Greyhound released a statement saying police from several counties responded to the scene.

Around midnight Saturday local time, CBS Chicago reported that Illinois State Police appeared to have neutralized the situation.

There were no reported injuries.After Hawaii emergency officials confirmed that an alert about an inbound ballistic missile was a mistake, they said the employee who pushed the wrong button feels awful about the panic-inducing incident.

Vern Miyagi, who oversees the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (EMA), said at a news conference late Saturday that the civil defense employee who pushed the wrong button regrets what took place.

"This guy feels bad, right. He's not doing this on purpose - it was a mistake on his part and he feels terrible about it," said Miyagi in a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Miyagi, a retired Army major general, said the employee would be "counseled and drilled so this never happens again," but he did not say whether there would be disciplinary measures.

Rather than triggering a test of the system, it went into actual event mode. He confirmed that to trigger the alert, there is a two-step process involving only one employee  who both triggers the alarm, then also confirms it.

"There is a screen that says, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'" Miyagi said. The employee confirmed the alert, inadvertently causing a panic in a state already on edge over saber-rattling missile threats from North Korea.

HAWAII TO SOUND WARNING SIRENS AMID NUCLEAR THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA

Hawaii Gov. David Ige said in a statement Sunday that the false alert was "an unfortunate situation that has never happened before and will never happen again."

"On behalf of the State of Hawai'i, I deeply apologize for this false alert that created stress, anxiety and fear of a crisis in our residents and guests," Ige said.

At about 8:07 a.m. local time, Hawaii citizens received an emergency alert on their phone that read: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

At 8:20 a.m. local time, Hawaii EMA tweeted that there was NO missile threat to the state. However, the tweet didn't reach people who aren't on the social media platform.

Around the same time, House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, tweeted: HAWAII  THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE.

Roughly 15 minutes later, the U.S. Pacific Command issued a statement, clarifying there was "no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii."

It wasn't until 38 minutes after the first warning  at 8:45 a.m.  that Hawaii's EMA alerted mobile devices across the islands that that initial alert was a false alarm.

"If it was a mistake and someone pushed a button they shouldnt have pushed, then why the 38 minute delay?" asked Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, in an interview with Fox News. "The next question is, why dont we have a better fail-safe?"

Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, vowed she would hold Capitol Hill hearings about the incident.

"The real issue that I think we as a state now has to deal with is how do you build back public confidence and public trust?" Hanabusa said. "So the first thing weve got to do is explain to people how it happened ... and why we were unable to correct it."

At the news conference late Saturday, Miyagi said that there will now be a two-person rule implemented for sending test alerts and actual alerts. He also offered an apology for the stresses resulting from the false alarm.

"I deeply apologize for the trouble and the heartbreak that we caused today," Miyagi said, taking responsibility for the incident as he called it a result of human error. "We made a mistake."

He added that EMA will "hold off" on future tests of the system "until we get this squared away."

Gov. Ige said Saturday is "a day that most of us will never forget," a day Hawaii residents thought "our worst nightmare might be happening."

"I know firsthand that was happened today was totally unacceptable and many in our community was deeply affected by this," Ige said. "And I'm sorry for that pain and confusion that anyone might've experienced."

Hawaii House Speaker Scott Saiki said the system state residents have been told to rely on failed miserably on Saturday.

"Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations," Saiki said. He also noted that the State House would begin an immediate investigation.

Many social media users posted footage of the emergency alert being broadcast on local television.

"The U.S. Pacific Command has detected a missile threat to Hawaii. A missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. This is not a drill," the television broadcast stated. "If you are indoors, stay indoors. If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows."

"If you are driving, pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter in a building or lay on the floor. We will announce when the threat has ended. This is not a drill. Take immediate action measures," the broadcast concluded.

Fox News' Chad Pergram spoke with two people on the Kona side of the Big Island who said they were told to stay in their hotel room and that there was a missile incoming.

One Twitter user posted a photo of a message board on a Hawaiian highway that read: "MISSILE ALERT IN ERROR THERE IS NO THREAT."

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted: "There is no missile threat. It was a false alarm based on a human error. There is nothing more important to Hawaii than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process."

In a follow-up tweet, he adopted a stern tone: "What happened today is totally inexcusable. The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process."

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, tweeted that she would work to find out what occurred.

A White House official said President Trump, who is spending the weekend in Florida, had been briefed on the episode, which they said "was purely a state exercise."

Ige said in an earlier statement that "while I am thankful this mornings alert was a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system. I am working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future."

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that the false alarm was "absolutely unacceptable" and an investigation by the agency was underway.

"Based on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of Hawaii did not have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false alert," Pai said. Moving forward, we will focus on what steps need to be taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again."

Fox News' Jennifer Bowman, Christopher Carbone, Lee Ross, Lucas Tomlinson and Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Kentucky received the green light Friday to require many of its Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive coverage.

The Bluegrass State thus becomes the first state to act on the Trump administrations unprecedented change that could affect millions of low-income people receiving benefits.



Under the new rule, adults age 19 to 64 must complete 80 hours of "community engagement" per month to keep their care. That includes working a job, going to school, taking a job-training course or volunteering.

"There is dignity associated with earning the value of something that you receive," Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said. "The vast majority of men and women, able-bodied men and women ... they want the dignity associated with being able to earn and have engagement."

"There is dignity associated with earning the value of something that you receive. The vast majority of men and women, able-bodied men and women ... they want the dignity associated with being able to earn and have engagement."  Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin

Kentuckians also will be required to pay up to $15 a month for their insurance, with basic dental and vision being eliminated entirely. However, those benefits can be earned back through a rewards program, such as getting an annual physical, completing a diabetes or weight management course or participating in an anti-smoking program.

The change was approved Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Trump administration announced Thursday it would allow for states to impose work requirements for people receiving Medicaid.

Bevin, a Republican, said the decision stemmed from concern about public health. Despite the fact that more Kentuckians have insurance, theyre not becoming any healthier, he said.

The state, along with the rest of Appalachia, falls behind the rest of the U.S. in 33 out of 41 population health indicators, according to a recent study. Bevin believes the new work requirement will help change the statistic.

Bevins office also stated in its proposal to Washington that the move will save taxpayers more than $300 million over the next five years, and estimated that up to 95,000 people could lose their benefits because they either didnt comply with the new rule or they obtained jobs that pay too much money and push them out of the low-income bracket.

However, there are some exemptions to the work requirements that will be enforced starting in July and remain in effect for five years. Pregnant women, full-time students, former foster care youth, primary caregivers of children and the elderly and full-time students will not be affected.

People deemed medically frail, a broad term that encompasses people who are battling drug and alcohol addiction, will also be exempt.

Critics of the new plan said the changes could lead to many low-income families being denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork.

Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who represents Louisville, calling it a dangerous and irresponsible decision that will lead to the financial ruin or thousands of families that reside in Kentucky.

Medicaid covers more than 70 million people, or about one in five Americans. Currently, the largest government health insurance program does not required people to have a job or be employed to receive the benefits.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.A New Year's Eve party in a town northeast of Dallas has led to the arrests of a high school teacher and her teenage son, authorities said.

They said the 46-year-old mother has been charged with serving alcohol to minors while the 17-year-old son has been charged with sexual assault.

Police said they were tipped off Tuesday about the party, which occurred in Wylie, about 28 miles outside Dallas.

Neighbors told FOX 4 they didnt notice any disturbances the night of the party.

As one neighbor said, I was just at home with my family, celebrating the new year. We were inside. Didnt really hear anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

The police investigation determined that the teacher had provided alcohol to minors, one of whom reported being sexually assaulted, the station reported.

The mother and son were both arrested Wednesday and booked into Collin County Jail.

The Wylie school district placed the teacher on leave pending further investigation and said the son would be disciplined in accordance with the student code of conduct.

Fox News is not identifying the suspects because the son is under 18.A 92-year-old Battle of Bulge survivor has been reunited with a dog tag he lost days before the bloody World War II battle 73 years ago.

I thought Id never see it again, Boris Stern of Carrollwood, Florida, told Fox 13 Tampa.

Jean Paul Mandier, a collector of World War II artifacts in France, mailed the dog tag to Stern after purchasing it from a friend and tracking Stern down in the U.S.

Stern brought Mandiers package to Carrollwood Pharmacy owner Dan Fucarino Thursday after picking it up at the post office.

"You could tell  when that dog tag came out, he was lit up with enjoyment and happiness and felt, I think, that he had come full circle with that dog tag," Fucarino told the station. "It was a beautiful thing."

The Battle of the Bulge began Dec. 16, 1944, when German soldiers launched a counterattack they hoped would turn the tide of the war.

Stern told the Tampa Bay Times in December that he was sleeping in the basement of a dumpy hotel in Belgium's Ardennes Forest when there were explosions.

We didnt have any idea of what was happening, he told the paper. I went up to the second floor with field glasses, looked around and saw Germans setting up mortars."

Stern said he told a lieutenant about the Germans.

"He called in an artillery strike and wiped them out," Stern told the paper.

Last year France awarded Stern its prestigious Knight of the Legion of Honor for his World War II service.

Click for more from Fox 13 Tampa.They are risking their lives to bring freedom to Iran, and vow to continue their protests.

"These uprisings have just begun. People are not at all willing to give up," one activist told Fox News from the streets of Iran.

"Their patience has come to an end and they have nothing to lose. Iran will surely not fall down and people will not retreat from their demands."

The defiance comes as President Trump announced Friday that he is waving sanctions against Iran under the controversial 2015 nuclear deal one last time, and gave the European allies four months to change the terms of the agreement or he may seek to scrap it.

The protesters we talked to demand even harsher sanctions.

"They should impose major sanctions on the regime," one protester demanded. Another added there "should be sanctions for human rights violations."

The protesters are members of the long banned opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, also known as the MEK). The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, has been directly blamed by the Iranian government for fomenting the unrest.

Social media videos show supporters unveiling large banners with Rajavi's photo over highway overpasses, and continuing their opposition.

Punitive measures sought

The group is calling for Irans oil exports to also be subject to sanctions, the ability of the Tehran regime to access the international banking system to be cut off, as well as other punitive measures.

The activists predict stronger methods will work, and are thanking the president and the American public for keeping up the pressure.

"We thank you President Trump. We call on all of the supporters of the people who press this regime from different fronts, to put pressure with you and overthrow with us," the activist told Fox News in broken English.

He and others said they are grateful that the Trump administration is expressing support for the resistance that has been staging many of the protests. The demonstrations started Dec. 28, and the government claims that they have largely been quelled.

That is why the activists are looking to the United States for inspiration -- and more help.

"Iranian people want to achieve a democratic and independent government, and play a role in it," said one.

"In Iran taxis and buses and public places, you heard people talking that they are happy that the United States and President Trump is actually taking actions on the side of the Iranian people and as you know, the overthrow of this regime and establishment of a free country is in the interest of the entire world.

This support should continue, and years of appeasement should end. People are very determined and do not retreat despite this severe crackdown."

The demonstrators deny the protests are largely over. Videos posted on social media show activists attacking government outposts, such as firebombing police stations, destroying government property, and chanting anti-regime slogans.

Common goal

Fox News interviewed the protesters through a social media app that demonstrators have been using to evade the government crackdown on the internet.

The protesters we interviewed asked that their locations remain hidden, and their voices altered or not even used at all, out of fears that they could be identified by the government and arrested.

But they all expressed a common goal. They insisted the movement will not end until the hardline theocratic regime is finally ousted.

"To reach this goal they know the value of the support," one activist told us.

The support from the White House has included President Trump's harsh criticism of the regime and its treatment of the demonstrators.

On Jan. 3, Trump tweeted: "Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!"

Earlier this week a White House statement condemned the regime and its mass arrests of protesters. It also said "reports that the regime has tortured or killed some of these demonstrators while in detention are even more disturbing. We will not remain silent as the Iranian dictatorship represses the basic rights of its citizens and will hold Iran's leaders accountable for any violations."

One activist was so scared that he refused to talk, and instead texted this about the president's views.

"He is correct and we approve of what he spoke. He should help the Iranian people. We need internet because the internet in Iran is banned. We ask President Trump to convince European Union to ban the Mullah. We want President Trump to widespread Iranian sound all over the world and show Mullah's injustice to the people of the world."

'Obama failed to act'

In announcing the waiver decision, the president appeared to do just that. The White House statement included several references to the regime's treatment of the protesters:

"The Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Iran's people. ... We are calling on all nations to lend similar support to the Iranian people, who are suffering under a regime that is stifling basic freedoms and denying its citizens the opportunity to build better lives for their families -- an opportunity that is every human being's God-given right. ...

President Obama failed to act as the Iranian people took to the streets in 2009. He turned a blind eye as Iran built and tested dangerous missiles and exported terror. ... (The Iran deal) has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders. The Iranian people know this, which is one reason why so many have taken to the streets to express their outrage."

The president's comments slamming the regime have been echoed by other top administration officials as well.

"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world," Vice President Mike Pence told the Voice of America earlier this month. "To see the people of Iran rising up, to demand change in their country, should hearten every freedom loving American and people who cherish freedom around the world."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council last week, "They (the protesters) are acting of their own will, on their own behalf, for their own future. Nothing will stop Americans from standing in solidarity with them. In 2009, the world stood by passively while the hopes of the Iranian people were crushed by their government. In 2018, we will not be silent."

Thousands arrested

The NCRI says there have been demonstrations in at least 132 cities and that upwards of 8,000 protesters have been arrested. One Iranian lawmaker was quoted as saying the number was closer to about 4,000.

One activist texted us that his motivation to overthrow the ruling regime, is simple.

"We have no life in Iran. Our life and death is equal. We have nothing to miss. We want freedom. Just poverty, unemployment and corruption is the result of the Mullah regime ... young people are unemployed. Educated people escape to other countries. Our country has a brain drain problem. The regime does not concern the Iranian people and suppresses any protest and throws people in jail. We want Mr. (Trump) to help us in whatever way he knows."

Another was also very clear.

"Nobody wants to go back, we want to go forward. People what a free republic, that is what people have been chanting. We know that we need to be at risk for a revolution. This is an inevitable revolution and we accept it."

Ben Evansky contributed to this report.Zimbabwe's new president says he risked gunfire and land mines while escaping a plot to "eliminate" him after Robert Mugabe fired him as his deputy last year.

A state-run Zimbabwe Herald report Saturday says President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed the details in remarks to Zimbabweans during a visit to Angola.

Mnangagwa said he fled Zimbabwe hours after his firing, warned of plans to "eliminate" him. He said he traveled to a border post with Mozambique but was told he could not leave. He said one of his sons thwarted an effort to shoot him.

Mnangagwa said he walked for 10 hours and then took a plane from Beira city to South Africa.

He returned days later in triumph to Zimbabwe after Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military and ruling party.West Oxfordshire District Council cabinet members have voted to back a proposal to ban the release of sky lanterns and helium balloons from its land.

At the meeting on 10 January it was recommended that the release of balloons and sky lanterns be banned on land owned or controlled by the council.

Officers will contact town and parish councils in the district asking them to introduce the policy on their land.

Cllr Toby Morris, deputy leader of the council, said: There is growing evidence of the dangers to wildlife and the environment presented by the use of these apparently harmless items, the use of which has grown in recent years.

See also: Farm fires: Planning a livestock evacuation

We are sending a statement that highlights these risks and hope residents will follow our example and prevent their use.

Fire and safety concerns

Many local authorities have already made the decision to ban sky lanterns over concerns they pose a fire risk and a safety risk for animals once they land.

The NFU is actively encouraging councils to ban sky lanterns. Rupert Weaver from the NFU land management team, said: The wire used in the lanterns could catch around an animals leg or neck and lead to amputation or strangulation.

The debris landing in fields can cause stomach perforations if the livestock ingests it. Even the so-called biodegradable lanterns could take up to 10 years to biodegrade.

As well as the safety risks, most people dont realise the litter nuisance it causes for farmers. Its never the people who let the lanterns go who end up picking up the litter. The farmer has to be extremely thorough to be sure they have collected everything.

Serious threat

The CLA also believe the lanterns are bad news. Tim Breitmeyer, CLA president, said: We dont want to spoil peoples fun, but these lanterns are bad news. They pose a fire risk and can be fatal for animals.

Releasing a naked flame with absolutely no control over where it will land is a serious threat to rural businesses, livestock, wildlife and the environment. It also creates unnecessary litter.

With the support of Englands national parks and an increasing number of local authorities banning the release of lanterns from council-owned land, we hope the government will take note of a growing desire to see the use of these flying bonfires banned outright.

More than 50 councils in England and more than 20 in Wales have already banned sky lanterns, according to data collated by the NFU.The content you are looking for has either been removed or requires you to login to view

Please login below or register for an account With Naijapals.comVancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Fiore Gold Ltd. (TSXV: F) (OTCQB: FIOGF) (Fiore or the Company) was made of aware of and requested by the OTC Markets Group, Inc. (OTC Markets) to comment on recent trading and promotional activity related to Fiores common shares.

Fiores common shares commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, its principal trading market (the TSXV), on October 2, 2017, and began quotation in the United States on the OTCQB on November 23, 2017. Since becoming a public company, Fiore has complied with its reporting requirements in Canada and disclosure requirements of the OTCQB, including press releases and updates on the status of its business and operations at the Pan Mine. On October 19, 2017, in connection with going public and as part of investor relations activities, Fiore engaged Gold Standard Media, LLC, an independent media company, to provide marketing services with a one-time media campaign. Other than Gold Standard Media, Fiore has not engaged any third-party investor relations firm.

On January 4, 2018, an independent third-party article was published by E. B. Tucker at The Casey Report, which recommended Fiore and three other mining companies, which Fiore believes led to increased interest and trading activity in each of the companies securities recommended in the article. Fiore believes that there is a correlation between the timing of The Casey Report and increased trading activity of Fiores common shares on the OTCQB. Fiore became aware of The Casey Report after it was published on January 4, 2018. The Casey Report is an independent third-party, subscription based report and is not affiliated with Fiore or Gold Standard Media. Although Fiores Chief Executive Officer responded to an interview request from The Casey Report on October 3, 2017, as part of ordinary course investor relations, Fiore has no relationship with E. B. Tucker or The Casey Report, Fiore was not aware that it would be included in the article and Fiore did not pay to be included in the article. Gold Standard Media confirmed to Fiore that it had no knowledge that Fiore would be included in the article. The Casey Report states that its writers are prohibited from owning or having an interest in any security that they recommend to readers and we have no basis to doubt their representation.

On January 6, 2018, Gold Standard Media commenced a one-time media campaign that included a series of interviews with Fiores CEO and one of its advisors, written materials containing information from Fiores public filings, creation of a website landing page and a distribution that included a link to the landing page. Gold Standard Media prepared the materials used in the media campaign solely from Fiores public filings and maintained editorial control over content. Fiore review of the materials was limited to confirmation of factual matters only. Gold Standard Media confirmed to the Company that other than its own materials, Gold Standard Media has not, directly or indirectly, paid any third party to create or distribute The Casey Report or any other promotional materials.

On January 8, 2018, Fiore issued two positive press releases announcing November gold production results, the operational status of the Phase II leach pad and the appointment of Ross MacLean as Fiores Chief Operating Officer.

On January 10, 2018, Fiore was informed by OTC Markets that following publication of The Casey Report and increases in trading volume, other third-parties published promotional materials mentioning or featuring Fiore, which included price targets, encouraging investors to watchlist Fiores common shares and initiation of research coverage. These promotional materials were not authorized, reviewed or distributed by the Company or Gold Standard Media. Instead, it appears that these materials were distributed following increased trading volume, The Casey Report, Gold Standard Medias campaign and Fiores January 8, 2018 press releases. Although Fiore observed a correlation between trading volume and the publication of The Casey Report, Fiore cannot predict if these other third-party promotional materials affected trading activity in Fiores common shares. The Company had no advance notice or communications with the sources of these promotional activities.

After inquiry, Fiore confirmed that its officers, directors and, to its knowledge, its controlling shareholders (i.e., shareholders owning 10% or more of the Company's securities) and third-party service providers have not, directly or indirectly, authorized or been involved in any way (including payment to a third-party) with the creation or distribution of promotional materials regarding Fiore or its securities, outside of those produced by Gold Standard Media.

OTC Markets requested that Fiore confirm transactions by any officer, director, controlling shareholder (defined as owning 10% or more of the outstanding stock), and any third- party service providers in Fiores securities during the past 90 days. After inquiry, the Company has determined that officers, directors, and to the best of its knowledge, its controlling shareholders have not sold or purchased the Companys securities within the past 90 days. As disclosed in the Companys press release dated December 22, 2018, the Company granted options to a new Director exercisable into common shares of Fiore at C$0.75, the closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) December 21, 2017, which was also the date of grant. To the best of Fiores knowledge, none of Fiores other third-party service providers have sold or purchased Fiores securities within the past 90 days, except that between October 31 and December 28, 2017, certain third-party financial advisors purchased 876,700 and sold 12,280 Fiore common shares, and purchased 100,000 Fiore common shares on January 8, 2018. Gold Standard Media confirmed that they do not own and have not owned any Fiore common shares and they have not purchased or sold Fiore securities during the previous 90 days.

In accordance with TSXV policies, Fiore has not issued shares or convertible instruments allowing conversion to equity securities at prices constituting a discount to the current market rate at the time of the issuance.

The Casey Report and the unauthorized promotional materials brought to Fiores attention by OTC Markets contain promotional language, including opinions on stock price targets, recommendations and views that are the opinion of the authors. Although the promotional materials reviewed by Fiore management do not appear to be materially false or misleading, they contain promotional language and are not endorsed by Fiore or its management. Investors should not place undue reliance on information contained in these materials. Fiore does not provide future share price guidance or endorse target guidance. Fiore encourages those interested in Fiore to rely solely on information included in its press releases combined with its filings and disclosures made with OTC Markets and with Canadian securities authorities on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Fiore routinely responds to inquiries from shareholders, potential investors and investment analysts and prepares its own investor relations materials. As such, Fiore urges its shareholder base and followers to review Fiores website and its filings on SEDAR. Any investor seeking to verify whether a publication was disseminated by Fiore can email info@fioregold.com.

Corporate Strategy

Fiores goal is to build on the existing operations at our Pan Mine in Nevada to become a 150,000 ounce/year gold producer. To achieve this, we intend to:

grow gold production at the Pan Mine from a planned 35-40,000 ounces in fiscal 2018 to between 40-50,000 ounces per year by fiscal 2019

advance exploration and development of the nearby Gold Rock project, with a resource update planned for late 2018

acquire additional production or near-production assets in Nevada and surrounding states

On behalf of Fiore Gold Ltd.

"Tim Warman"

Chief Executive Officer

Contact Us:

info@fioregold.com

1 (416) 639-1426 Ext. 1

www.fioregold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on managements best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to the operation and profitability of the Pan Mine, goal to become a 150,000 ounce/year producer, goal to acquire additional production or near production assets, and other statements, estimates or expectations. Often, but not always, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as expects, expected, budgeted, targets, forecasts, intends, anticipates, scheduled, estimates, aims, will, believes, projects and similar expressions (including negative variations) which by their nature refer to future events. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Fiore Golds control. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, as well as a number of assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company concerning, among other things, anticipated geological formations, potential mineralization, future plans for exploration and/or development, potential future production, ability to obtain permits for future operations, drilling exposure, and exploration budgets and timing of expenditures, all of which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Fiore Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated by such forward looking statements include, but not limited to, risks related to the Pan Mine performance, risks related to the companys limited operating history; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions, actual results of current or future exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; increases in market prices of mining consumables; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results, test results and the estimation of gold resources and reserves; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the possibility that capital and operating costs may be higher than currently estimated; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work programs; availability of financing; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of exploration, development or construction activities; the possibility that required permits may not be obtained on a timely manner or at all; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in countries in which Fiore Gold operates, and other factors identified in Fiore Golds filing with Canadian under its profile at www.sedar.com respecting the risks affecting Fiore and its business. Although Fiore has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Fiore disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/FioreGold01122018.pdfSource: Fiore Gold Ltd. (TSX Venture:F, FWB:2FO, OTCQB:FIOGF)

To follow Fiore Gold Ltd. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below.

Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. https://www.fscwire.com

Copyright  2018 FSCwireCouncil Members Include: - Clayton Banks, CEO at Silicon Harlem.



- David Belt, CEO and co-founder of New Lab.



- Kiel Berry, vice president of global emerging opportunities at Viacom.



- Allen Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn.



- Beth Comstock, former vice chair at General Electric and NYCx Tech Leadership Advisory Council co-chair.



- Avi Dorfman, co-founder of Compass and entrepreneur-in-residence at the D. E. Shaw Group.



- Ben Fried, vice president, chief information officer and New York office Tech Site Lead at Google.



- Matt Harrigan, co-founder and managing director at Grand Central Tech.



- Jukay Hsu, co-founder and CEO of C4Q.



- Karin Klein, founding partner of Bloomberg Beta.



- Marcy Klevron, executive vice president and president, mobility at Ford Motor Co.



- Keith Krach, chairman of the board at DocuSign.



- Brian OKelley, CEO at AppNexus.



- Michelle Peluso, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at IBM.



- Kim Polese, chairman at CrowdSmart.



- Andrew Rasiej, CEO of Civic Hall and chairman of the NY Tech Alliance.



- Kevin Ryan, chairman and CEO of AlleyCorp.



- Julie Samuels, executive director of Tech:NYC.



- Kevin Scott, chief technology officer at Microsoft.



- Liliana Gil Valletta, CEO at Cien+ and CulturIntel.



- Maya Wiley, senior vice president for social justice, and Henry Cohen Professor of public and urban policy at The New School.



There is a lot of angst in the public safety world about the extent to which officials can use the available technology to send out alerts in times of emergency.The technology exists for geo-targeted messages to be sent to a specific group of people, but it isnt being used in the public-safety sector, and officials say that is costing lives.A solution, being deployed in some schools and other entities, mostly in California, is offered by a company called Titan Health and Security Technologies (HST), which has deployed its two-way emergency communication platform. The system allows for two-way communication to geo-targeted groups via text, email, robocall in real time and access to maps, safety procedures and other resources. It also allows for the use of augmented reality to get real situational awareness.The function I love is that when you have an emergency, you can request the status of any group, said David Marcus, campus business manager at deToledo High School in Southern California. The question you want to ask them is, Are you safe or not safe? They message back that they are safe or not, and you can see on your cellphone where their location is.Another feature Marcus talked about is the broadcast feature, which allows chosen administrators to send broadcasts and choose among a number of groups who will receive the message. For instance, at deToledo, groups are delineated by grade of student, faculty and even parents of each grade of student.Marcus said the school used the app during the recent wildfires to inform students and faculty about whether classes were canceled and what resources were available for help.Vic Merjanian, founder and CEO of Titan HST, described the solution as taking everything you need to quickly resolve an emergency and putting it in the palm of your hand.Merjanian described a story of a life saved by the app soon after it was deployed in a school where a student drank bleach in class to try to commit suicide. The teacher pressed the medical emergency button, which immediately notified the school principal and the 911 dispatch center. The principal arrived in 30 seconds and dispatch was able to begin giving the teacher instructions on how to save the student in under a minute.With this, you can bring in your administrators, who can lock down the site with one touch, Merjanian said. They can send out broadcast notifications, they can do safety status, you can find your people, you can look up emergency materials, phone numbers, site maps, training videos.One of the more recent developments was the deployment of augmented reality, which happened about a year ago. This feature allows the user to check on personnel, plotting their locations in real time and identifying which ones are safe and not safe.We work in a high-rise, Merjanian said. Emergency responders could walk up to our building, scan it and see where to send help.He cited the recent local wildfiresfires, where people retreated to their swimming pools to escape the flames and ended up dying of smoke inhalation as a situation in which the platform could have helped.It would have sent out localized broadcast messages via text, landline, app, Web  all these channels  and asked if people were safe, he said. The fire department could have scanned the hillsides and found those people and saved lives.See thisarticle,Claire Rubin shared this link.The article's title is not quite right, in that warnings were issued of the "possibility" for mudslides based on rain projections. In the world we live in today, with people's attention span being very short and the fact that people get their news and information from a variety of sources, we have to use every warning tool in the toolbox.Here in Washington state, there is another potential slide that is being watched carefully and people have been moved out of their homes. SeeSome say it is only a question of time for when a slide occurs. And what if all movement stops in the next few weeks? Will people be allowed back into their homes?We don't have the luxury of knowing when hazards will strike.I suggest you re-examine your alerting and warning procedures for your agency. It needs to be clear who can/will issue a warning, by name. What types of events will trigger a warning? What systems will be used to issue the warning? Then, you need to practice, practice, practice! Back in my King County days, the duty officer on duty for the week would do a practice (non-broadcast) Emergency Alert System (EAS) test. These were meant to ensure the equipment was working and people's mechanical skills for issuing the warning were rock solid.Highway safety advocates are urging lawmakers to pump the brakes on the development of driverless cars.The group, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, is calling on Congress and federal officials to strengthen safety regulations related to autonomous vehicle technology following the release of a public opinion poll , which shows that Americans regardless of age, political preferences or geographic locations  want increased safeguards.It is critical that the U.S. Department of Transportation implement a statutory mandate and issue vehicle safety standards for autonomous cars, said Joan Claybrook, a former administrator with the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration for the Carter Administration, in a conference call with reporters Jan. 12. The last thing the public wants is to have DOT standing on the sidelines, allowing auto and tech companies to build and sell cars that have new technologies that do not have to meet minimum government requirements.Congress needs to wake up and insist that DOT acts. Otherwise, it will not do so, she added.The survey found that 64 percent of drivers have a concern with sharing highways with vehicles that drive themselves. And some 73 percent of respondents want the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop safety standards for the new features included in autonomous vehicles.The survey was conducted via telephone and Dec. 7 to 10, 2017, surveying 1,005 adults in the continental U.S. Questions ranged from gauging respondents comfort with sharing the road with AVs to determining support or opposition for regulations.Autonomous vehicle development and testing has clearly entered the fast lane as some 20 states now allow some form of testing. California alone has permitted the testing of dozens of vehicles by 49 companies, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles . Some states, like Arizona, have taken a decidedly open for business approach to autonomous vehicles, where Uber and Waymo have been actively testing AVs on public streets.Meanwhile, Congress has voted overwhelmingly to ease the development of AVs, and the U.S. Department of Transportation has taken a largely non-regulatory, industry-friendly approach to self-driving cars.All of this, regulations advocates argue, flies in the face of the wishes of the public, according to the surveys results.In general, the results of the survey illustrate the widespread concerns the public has with driverless cars, and a strong desire for a hands-on approach by the federal government, said Shaun Kildare, director of research with Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.For its part, states stress safety around AVs is paramount. And in California, the state has stepped in to begin developing safety protocols, said Jessica Gonzales, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Transportation, who was careful to add she has not yet seen the survey.Safety has always been one of our main concerns while developing autonomous vehicle regulations in California, said Gonzales. Vehicle safety rules are completed at the federal level, and autonomous vehicle regulations were pushed to the state level, because the feds were not ready to work on them in 2012.Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety say a patchwork of differing state regulations does little to ensure across-the-board industry safety, which can only be achieved through the establishment of broader federal guidelines.This is a really important issue that Congress should be requiring at the federal level, said Jackie Gillan, president emeritus for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. If the different states have different reporting requirements, thats not going to really give us the comprehensive reporting requirements that we need.We need Congress to step up. Now is the time to do it. We need some leadership, echoed Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation did not immediately return a request to comment on the survey.Advocates for stronger rules took issue with the DOT and its leadership, Secretary Elaine Chao. She (Chao) is essentially a no-secretary secretary, said Claybrook, the former NHSA administrator. She is not taking the interest of the American public."Safety is the first priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation. And obviously, Elaine Chao doesnt understand that, she added.This issue marks the third iteration of the GovTech100  a representative list of 100 technology companies whose solutions are aimed at state and local government, a market with estimated tech spending of more than $100 billion last year. As weve gotten deeper into our coverage of the growing ecosystem of companies offering innovative tech solutions to solve real government problems, there are clear signs the market is maturing. New ideas continue to make their way onto the scene, and the deals and investments are growing, signaling the viability of a government-only (or government-first) business model.A quick look through the companies that make up this years GovTech100 reveals a number of themes. While its not surprising that five companies have gov in their names, it does lay plain their focus on the public sector, eliminating any ambiguity as to their target audience. Four out of five companies with gov in their names were formed in this decade, most in the latter half. While unscientific, it stands to reason that, before then, most companies wouldnt brand themselves as government-only enterprises. The outlier, NEOGOV , was formed in 1999, and its HR software is used by more than 1,500 customers in state and local government and education.The words open and data show up in a handful of company names on the list. OpenDataSoft checks both boxes, and in a win for truth in advertising, offers an open data hub serving both citizens and the public sector. The widespread use of both words, and so many related terms, in company monikers is reflective of where government priorities lie in 2018. Good government is guided by open, transparent operations. And the most effectively run public organizations are supported by usable, timely data that can be harnessed by those inside and outside of government for the most possible good.The most prominent words to show up in GT100 company names are city and civic. This undeniable fact suggests that the civic tech movement weve been covering for several years has given rise to this new market category of gov tech, and that many solutions are borne out of tech- or just plain civic-minded citizens connecting in new ways with local governments and identifying areas where they can help. And more than help, theyre finding ways to productively engage with their communities and create viable businesses that can scale to jurisdictions around their state and across the country.Its not a homogeneous list, to be sure. But taken all together, its a revealing look at whats trending and whats gaining ground in the emerging government-focused tech marketplace. Read our story Raising the Profile for insights and analysis on the year that was in the gov tech market. Also, see who made this years list and let us know what you think. The complete list and an interactive funding map are online at govtech.com/100China's trade surplus with the United States widened in 2017 while total foreign trade volume maintained rapid growth, customs data showed Friday.

Trade surplus with the United States soared 13 percent year on year to 1.87 trillion yuan (about 288 billion U.S. dollars), according to Huang Songping, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs.

China's trade volume with the United States expanded 15.2 percent in 2017 to 3.95 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.2 percent of the total.

Exports to the United States climbed 14.5 percent while imports from the country jumped 17.3 percent.

In 2017, the United States was China's second largest trade partner and China hopes to deepen economic and trade cooperation with the country to achieve mutual benefits, Huang said.

Huang also noted that global protectionism is still on the rise with a high frequency of trade remedy investigations into Chinese products, which has become one of the uncertainties facing international trade in 2018.

At a press conference Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said that the trade imbalance between China and the United States is mainly a result of different economic structures, industrial competitiveness and international division of labor, and China has never sought a trade surplus as the flow of trade is determined by the market.

In response to a U.S. Section 301 investigation into Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer launched late last year, Gao said that the trade investigation is based on its own laws and regulations and will compromise the international trade framework.

China will take necessary measures to protect Chinese enterprises' interests if the United States sticks to unilateral protectionist trade practices, he said.

Customs data also showed that China's total trade surplus shrank 14.2 percent in 2017 to 2.87 trillion yuan, compared with a 9.1-percent reduction registered in 2016.

China's exports increased 10.8 percent to reach 15.33 trillion yuan while imports surged 18.7 percent to 12.46 trillion yuan in 2017.China has warned the country's three top tech firms about potential privacy violations, as they face an increasing number of complaints for collecting customer data without consent.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Thursday named Ant Financial, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba, search engine Baidu, and Beijing Bytedance Technology, owner of popular news app Jinri Toutiao, in a notice posted on its website.

The regulator said the three companies failed to fully disclose to users the purpose behind the collection of their personal information, and their policies for how the information would be used. The regulator ordered the companies to take immediate steps to better safeguard the privacy of their users.

MIIT warned the companies that they would face severe punishment if they were found to be engaging in illegal practices. The regulator will look into possible breaches of individual privacy, and will strengthen their supervision over the collection of personal data by the tech companies.

The notice did not name specific problems with the current practices of the three tech giants.

The news app Jinri Toutiao on Friday denied they had violated the privacy of their users, saying that the company has never accessed users' private data without permission and that this has been communicated to MIIT. The company suggested that it would report to police the recent rumor that it had been stealing users' private data.

Alipay came under fire last week after it was found to be sharing users' personal information by default with Ant Financial when users opened their annual spending report provided by the payment app. Alipay later apologized to its users in a message posted on its official Weibo account, and subsequently changed the default settings in its app.

Also last week, a consumer rights group took Baidu to court, where it was accused of using two of its apps to snoop on consumers' personal information. The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court has accepted the lawsuit filed by the group.A technician demonstrates an intelligent recruitment solution during the World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, last month.

Chinese consumers and government entities will spend more money on information services than products for the first time in 2018, according to the report released on Friday by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

"Information consumption is expected to hit 2.6 trillion yuan (2 billion) in 2018, and the figure for product consumption will be 2.4 trillion yuan," said Lu Chuncong, director of the Policy and Economic Research Institute at CAICT, a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Hitting 5 trillion yuan in 2018, China's spending on information consumption is expected to grow 11 percent year-on-year, as government institutes and consumers buy more technology-enabled products and services, the report said.

The report came as China is already one of the world's largest spenders on information-related products and services, such as e-commerce, intelligent electronics, online education, medical treatment and telecom services.

According to Lu, the majority of Chinese netizens are those born from the 1980s onward, who are more comfortable buying information-related products and services than their Western counterparts.

"Senior citizens in China are also very responsive to new things, which will further drive up information consumption," Lu added.

In August, the State Council, China's Cabinet, unveiled a guideline to bolster information consumption in the next few years, as part of the country's broad push to stimulate domestic demand and shore up economic expansion.

It promised favorable policies, such as deepening efforts to set up a pilot city to boost the development of smart home appliances, wearable devices, blockchain technology and other popular products and services.

"Information consumption has become one of the most innovative, rapidly growing and widely adopted economic spheres, and is significant to driving domestic demand, creating jobs and pushing forward industrial upgrades," said Li Ying, an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.Connecticuts population had a slight gain over the past year, with 499 new residents calling the Constitution State home.

State's prison population lowest in more than two decades

On Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released the latest national and state population estimates.

It showed Connecticuts population in 2017 estimated at 3,588,184, up from 3,587,685.

While Connecticuts population gain is small, it reversed a population decline of 14,434 measured between 2015 and 2016.

Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont, which all lost population in 2016, all made slight population gains this year. Pennsylvania had a 0.1 percent increase with 18,452. Vermont  the least populated state with 623,354 residents, gained 303.

Population growth in Connecticut and Fairfield County is sluggish, but some communities  Stamford, Shelton and Danbury  are enjoying a growth spurt, according to census figures released earlier this year.

Danburys population of 84,922 posted the fastest growth, gaining 335 residents between 2015 and 2016, and growing by 5.1 percent since 2010.

Stamford, with 129,113 people, gained 239 residents and its population grew by 5.3 percent since 2010. Bridgeport, despite a one-year loss, grew by 1.2 percent since 2010.

Norwalk, with 88,438 residents, lost a handful of people between 2015 and 2016, but its population grew by 3.3 percent since 2010, the numbers show.

Shelton, with a population of 41,334, gained 108 residents and is up 4.5 percent since 2010.

The figures released Wednesday showed the U.S. population grew 0.72 percent to 325.7 million. Net international migration decreased 1.8 percent between 2016 and 2017, making it the first drop since 2012-2013. However, net international migration continues to be a significant factor in the population growth of the United States, adding just over 1.1 million people in the past year.

Nationally, eight states lost population between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017. Illinois had the largest decline, losing 33,703 people  a relatively small percentage change compared to its population of 12.8 million. Wyoming had the largest percentage decline with 1 percent.

Idaho was the nations fastest-growing state over the past year. Its population increased 2.2 percent to 1.7 million from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017.

Following Idaho for the largest percentage increases in population were: Nevada, 2 percent; Utah, 1.9 percent; Washington, 1.7 percent, and Florida and Arizona, 1.6 percent.

States in the South and West continued to lead in population growth. In 2017, 38.0 percent of the nations population lived in the South and 23.8 percent lived in the West.

In addition to the population estimates for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the new estimates show that Puerto Rico had an estimated population of 3.3 million, a decline from 3.4 million in 2016.In this series, Open Every Door, Entrepreneur staff writer Nina Zipkin shares her conversations with leaders about understanding what you have to offer, navigating the obstacles that will block your path, identifying opportunity and creating it for yourself and for others.

Sometimes disruption is as simple as the click of a mouse. In 2015, Shirley Chen saw that while publishers included affiliated links as part of their content to create an additional revenue stream, when readers went to follow those links, the information available wasnt often accurate or up to date.

Ultimately, this would give customers an incomplete experience and leave money on the table for retailers, publishers and advertisers. It seemed like a missed opportunity to Chen. So Chen founded Narrativ to tackle this challenge head on.

Since launching, the 27-year-old CEO has raised $3.5 million in seed investment and grown a base of 500 partners, including Conde Nast, Dermstore, New York Magazine and Nordstrom. The companys SmartLink technology connects products that editors are writing about to all of the advertisers that sell it, and continuously updates the link in question.

We want to create better consumer experiences by fixing out of stock and pricing [information], Chen explains. We want to enable advertisers to unlock this Amazon monopoly we're seeing in content and we want to create new revenue streams for publishers and get fair value for their ecommerce content.

Chen shared her insights about being a young founder, how to make inclusive hiring a priority and what it takes to compete with the Facebooks and Googles of the world.

Related: To Thrive in an Uncertain Future, You Can't Be Afraid to Tell the Truth

Can you talk about a moment in your career that you had to advocate for yourself? How did you approach it?

The interesting piece about advocacy is I'm pretty used to doing that and advocating for what I believe, including myself. I really grew up in an environment where opportunities are earned, not given. When it came to founding Narrativ and raising our seed round, advocating for what I thought was a good idea came pretty naturally. We ended up raising a $3.5 million round. And I think that the core to that is just presenting a really clear vision, demonstrating strong commitment and having the humility to listen and evolve as you grow.

What was a mistake you made and how did you move forward from it?

As a female founder I don't think I've always prioritized moving women forward in technology. I've never personally felt blocked in my career because of my gender. So I had no shortage of opportunities and mentorship at McKinsey or at J.P. Morgan or at Columbia. And it wasn't until this year, when I was invited to join the Liberty Media's women and commerce network, that I realized so many of these opportunities were afforded to me because of female leaders before me fighting for change.

It really created a new focus and kickstarted a commitment from me to diversify our engineering pipeline and communicating this to the broader team that it is a priority for us. So in Q3 we made an active commitment to increase the number of female engineering resumes in our recruiting pipeline from 20 percent to 50 percent. Today our team is actually 53 percent female. So I feel happy about the progress that we've made there but it needs to be something that we continue to focus on and interestingly enough, I think as a younger company we have a greater opportunity to set the right foundations in the beginning.

Related: Who You Are in Tough Times Reveals Your Strengths as Leader

How have you grown and changed as a leader throughout your career?

I think the difference here is being a manager vs. being a leader and it's pretty nuanced. It starts for me in terms of the qualities I'm looking for in my team. So I think in the beginning it was about finding the right skills to produce a certain outcome. So now I find myself asking, "Does this person believe in our mission?" "Are they accountable?" "Are they committed and are they consistent?" This is especially important for startups: "Are they excited by change?" "Are they willing to change themselves?"

I think that shift in terms of hiring for character as well as for ability was a really big one for me. As a leader, it's important to create an environment of trust. The startup environment is one of constant acceleration and it can be very scary. But when you're surrounded by people who have this character and who you do trust that becomes so much easier.

Over time, how has your view of success and failure changed?

Failing is always pretty tough. That's the honest truth. I think I've gotten a lot farther in terms of creating a process for taking more disciplined risks instead of blind risk. The reality is there's an element of risk and luck in anything that you do. But I find that with disciplined risk, you're either winning and succeeding or you're learning. And that's really the foundation to evolving and growing as a business.

Related: Why This Media Entrepreneur Wants You to Rethink Your Definition of Legacy

Is there a piece of advice a mentor gave you that you still take to heart today?

Earlier this year, one of our investors asked me a really interesting question. We were having a board meeting. And he asked, "How do play in this field dominated by Facebook and Google?" I'm sure publishers are thinking the same thing. It honestly was thrilling. Because as a seed-stage startup, this is not a question that you ask yourself every day. And I've been thinking a lot about our competitors as companies and other startups in our immediate space, and not putting ourselves in the same league as Facebook and Google.

It really forced me to ask, why are we building Narrativ? It's not to create this marginally better product. It is about transforming the system and elevating our ambitions to this big game change. The output of that is that we've tripled our inventory in the last quarter. We had our biggest revenue month by far in November by over 60 percent, and if you're going play, I think you need to aim for the big game instead of aiming for the middle.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely road. What have you done to build a community of other business owners?

The loneliness factor is something I didn't think about in starting a company. I am a solo founder. But I've been pretty lucky to get pulled into some of the startup communities in New York. Grand Central Tech as a big one. We were accepted into GCT two years ago and it gave me a chance to interact with 15 other founders across different verticals but we were all sharing this very unique experience of having an early stage company. And some of the founders were very experienced and it was their second or third company and for other ones it was their first.

These other founders are the ones that end up talking to you late at night and comparing stories and getting encouragement from. So there's a real peer community that I've been introduced to as a result of that. I've also been really impressed by the number of mentors and advisors who are willing to give and share their time even without pay or equity. There's a lot of generosity in the community that in some ways when you're in a more traditional corporate environment you don't get to experience.

What do you say to yourself to keep going during tough moments?

I think I have a relatively high bar for what tough means. I think it's a result honestly of my family and growing up in China. Both of my parents lived through the Cultural Revolution. The background on that is 30 million people actually died during the Cultural Revolution in China. My grandparents survived World War II and Japanese occupation. I think it's a strong reminder that having this opportunity to basically pursue my dreams as an entrepreneur isn't that tough. My family is very quick to remind me of that as well. It's a really great perspective. And if I am having a bad day, I think it's about mentally resetting. What is the outcome that I actually want? What's the best way to get there? And then getting to work.

Related:

The Foundation of Success Is Taking Disciplined Risks

3 Overlooked Truths New Entrepreneurs Must Be Aware of

Can $1,000 Cash Motivate a Student to Succeed?



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com

One taste, and youll know. Photo: AMC

Ever since Los Pollos Hermanos started slow-cooking ingredients to perfection, pop-ups have paid homage to Gus Frings front company everywhere from L.A. and Manhattans Financial District to a random Austin parking lot. Nothing can do it like the original, though: The spot used in Breaking Bad still exists in south Albuquerque as a location of the New Mexico burrito chain Twisters, and to celebrate the series turning ten on January 20, that OG Los Pollos Hermanos is putting all of the chicken trappings back up.

Meaning if you swing by, youll see the above instead of this:

Photo: Google

According to KRQE, its being paid for by two locals, a couple of super fans named Edward Candelaria and Marq Smith. They assure the station that they have their Chicken Brothers costumes ready, and the stores general manager says that folks can expect the full enchilada, as it were  the sign, the yellow uniforms, the aprons and hats.

Its a bit unclear, however, if this pop-up is official? Unsanctioned copycats that sort of freeload off of famous shows do tend to get noticed pretty fast by attorneys, and thats rarely good for the creators. Something they should think about, because Candelarias final comment to KRQE would suggest that maybe its not: Better Call Saul is in town filming, he said, so if any of the cast members want to show up, hey, well buy you a burrito.Many women no longer bite their nails and wait until their boyfriends pop the question but propose themselves.

Lee Seon-hwan (30), an office worker in Seoul, proposed to her boyfriend, Koh Jung-wook (30) last year and tied the knot in November. "Our relationship did not specify gender roles, so I was the one who proposed," she says. "My husband was moved to tears."

And Park Eun-hye (24) from North Jeolla Province also proposed to her boyfriend. "I thought my husband didn't have the courage, so I went ahead and proposed," she says. "I think it's biased thinking to believe that men must propose marriage."

Women go about it differently though. Some present seals engraved with each other's names or offer cakes with a message saying "Be my husband."

Event planner Lee Chan-hee, said, "The woman often shows the man video of memorable moments or reads a letter, while the man traditionally offers a ring."



Haiti - FLASH : Haitian Government's reaction to President Trump's remarks





Thursday, January 11, 2018, at a meeting at the White House in the Oval Office between President Trump and several Democrats and Republicans senators about immigration, President Trump reportedly according to the US press, qualified Haiti, El Salvador and several African nations of "shithole country" provoking a torrent of indignant reactions around the world, Africa demanding an apology.



Without denying the substance of his remarks, the US President said Friday on Twitter that he did not use the expression "shithole country" affirming "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust !"



Anyway, in a statement, Haiti reacted strongly "The Government of the Republic of Haiti is deeply indigned and shocked by the content of the statements, not officially denied [by the White House], attributed by US media to the President of the United States of America who would have referred to some people, including Haitians, in terms, to say the least, disrespectful and insulting.



[...] The Haitian Government condemns in the strongest terms these hateful and abject remarks, which, if true, would be in all respects unacceptable because they reflect a simplistic and racist vision totally wrong, of the community of Haitian origin and its contribution to the United States. In addition, they would be incompatible with the multiple bonds woven by the long history of friendship and conviviality uniting the two peoples of the two oldest republics in the hemisphere.



It should be remembered that the destinies of Haiti and the United States of America have crossed since 1779 when 500 Haitian soldiers led by General Lafayette fought alongside American troops in the war of independence. Similarly in 1814 several hundred Haitians took part in the battle of New Orleans to protect the independence of the United States of America when the British wanted to regain their former colony.



The relationship between the two countries has been strengthened by the fact that millions of sons and daughters of Haiti have contributed, contribute and will continue to contribute to the prosperity and greatness of America. In the same way, the spontaneous solidarity of the American people towards the Haitian people in their difficult moments consolidates, for a long time, the base of their unfailing friendship.



The Haitian Government calls for respect for the dignity of peoples, for the preservation of the humanist tradition rightly held by the United States, and for the values of solidarity, altruism and respect for the differences that have made of this country, in the course of its history, a haven of freedom and a land of welcome for millions of immigrants coming from all horizons and all corners of the globe."



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Politic : Jovenel Moise laid the first stone of the National Palace





Friday, President Jovenel Moise, in the presence among others of new Presidents of the two Chambers Joseph Lambert (Senate https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23224-haiti-flash-members-of-the-senate-bureau.html ) and Gary Bodeau (Chamber of Deputies https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23243-haiti-flash-members-of-the-bureau-of-the-chamber-of-deputies.html ), of tyhe Vice-president of the Court of Cassation, Wendell Coq Thelot proceeded to the laying of the first stone of the construction of the new National Palace.



This ceremony was an opportunity for the Head of State to call for solidarity, all citizens to find "our dignity and rebuild Haiti." He also praised the symbolic contributions of several young people and organizations from different departments of the country, in order to materialize this ambitious project of construction of the Presidential Palace. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23233-haiti-news-zapping.html



"The time has come to rebuild our country and we want to take our destiny in hand," said Moise, inviting international partners to use government channels through their actions aimed at the well-being of the Haitian people.



Clement Belizaire, Coordinator of the Working Group and Reflection on the Construction of the National Palace https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20709-haiti-flash-moise-announces-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace.html explained that the future presidential building that will soon be erected, will be a modern construction equipped with the latest technologies, particularly in terms of security. He added that the new Palace will be rebuilt on the model of the one built in 1912 by the architect Georges Baussan. To this end, a competition has been launched https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22306-haiti-flash-architecture-competition-for-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace.html and a jury made up of experts in different fields was formed to choose the best project. The reconstruction of the National Palace could cost the Treasury between 40 and 50 million US dollars https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22818-haiti-flash-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace-could-cost-40-to-50-million-dollars.html and the work will be spread over 3 years...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23233-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22818-haiti-flash-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace-could-cost-40-to-50-million-dollars.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22306-haiti-flash-architecture-competition-for-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20709-haiti-flash-moise-announces-the-reconstruction-of-the-national-palace.html



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - News : Zapping...





"It's more than fire and fury in the White House" dixit Senator Dumont

"Even in times of war we do not insult a people. It's more than fire and fury in the White House," declared West Senator Patrice Dumont of the" Rally of Haitian Patriots (RPH)" following the remarks attributed to President Trump See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23259-haiti-flash-haitian-government-s-reaction-to-president-trump-s-remarks.html



NOTICE diaspora France : Requiem Mass

On Friday, on the sad anniversary of the earthquake of January 12, 2010, the Embassy of Haiti in France had a special thought for all survivors and victims of this tragedy. It took the opportunity to inform the Haitian community in France and the friends of Haiti that a requiem mass will be celebrated this Sunday, January 14, 2018 at 5 pm in memory of the dead at the Parish Church of St. George, 75019 Paris.



Closure of Consulate of Haiti in Atlanta

The Consulate General of Haiti in Atlanta informs the general public and the Haitian community in particular that the Consulate will be closed Monday, January 15, 2018 on the occasion of "Martin Luther King Jr. Day". The Consulate will resume the normal course of its activities, Tuesday, January 16th.



Notice pre-carnival activities

Leon Ronsard Saint-Cyr, the Secretary of State for Public Safety informs the general public and Carnavaliers in particular that pre-carnival activities and festivities scheduled on Sundays before the fat ays should not continue after 11:00 pm. The forces the order have been instructed to take all the necessary measures for the application of this measure.



"Haiti is a country like all the others" dixit Jovenel Moise

Friday at the National Palace, as part of the commemoration of the 8th anniversary of the earthquake of January 12, 2010, in reference to Trump's statements reported in the US press, President Jovenel Moise said "Haiti is a country like all the others" See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23259-haiti-flash-haitian-government-s-reaction-to-president-trump-s-remarks.html



Earthquake 2010 : Floral Offering to the PAP Cemetery Memorial

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 8th anniversary of the earthquake of January 12, 2010, the Deputy Mayor of the Capital, Kettyna Bellabe on behalf of the Administration Communale, laid a wreath at the Port-au-Prince Cemetery Memorial, dedicated to the victims of the earthquake, buried in the cemetery of Port-au-Prince. At an emotional ceremony, Kettyna Bellabe gathered under the eyes of many relatives and friends of the victims. In her intervention she invited everyone to have a special thought for the missing, in these moments of sadness and pain.



HL/ HaitiLibre

















Reports that U.S. President Donald Trump used a vulgar term to describe Haiti and African nations have been confirmed by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who was in an Oval Office meeting Thursday when the President called them "s---hole countries."

Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, described the president's words as "hateful, vile and racist." He said Twitter denials by Trump are "not true. He said these hate-filled things. And he said them repeatedly."

Trump took to Twitter on Friday to deny using the vulgar term during a White House meeting Thursday on immigration.

In another Twitter post, the president wrote that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very troubled and poor country." The president said he has a wonderful relationship with Haitians and suggested future meetings probably should be recorded.New dive boat delivered to Hawaii Experiences for West Oahu dolphin tours

by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council, January 10, 2018

Workboat Magazine published on January 8, 2018, the news article, Armstrong Marine delivers catamaran tour boat to Hawaii, reporting that Armstrong Marine recently delivered the tunnel aluminum catamaran tour boat MIRAI to Honolulu-based Hawaii Experiences. Mirai () is a Japanese given name, meaning "the future," and there are several Japanese-owned merchant ships whose names include the word marai.

The Port Angeles, Washington-based Armstrong Marine USA Inc. designs and builds welded aluminum boats and barges. On September 22, 2017, Byron Bolton, CEO of WestWinn Group Enterprises Inc. of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, announced their acquisition of Armstrong Marine.

The WestWinn Group is a privately-held company founded by Bolton in 2004, and a leading manufacturer of welded heavy-gauge sportfishing boats under the KingFisher, Harbercraft and Jetcraft boat brands in Vernon. In October 2012 WestWinn Group's Bolton completed a private stock purchase of the Washington State-based Renaissance Marine Group, Inc., manufacturers of Duckworth, Weldcraft and Northwest Boat brands, through a newly formed entity, RMG Holdings Co., of Seattle, Washington. Subsequently, RMG Holdings acquired Armstrong Marine in 2017. The Canadian WestWinn Group and American RMG Holdings operate independently.

The operator of the MIRAI is Honolulu, Hawaii-based Iruka Hawaii Experiences LLC, which is owned and managed by Yuriko Iruka whose website explains that she loves dolphins so much she changed her name to "Iruka" Japanese for dolphin. The website further notes Yuriko made this company out of her heart to show the world the lessons that "Iruka Sensei (Dolphin Teacher)" can teach us. Iruka Hawaii Experiences offices are locat4ed in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza (where the ground service provider, JTB Hawaii Group, is also located)

Under the collective name of Hawaii Experiences a variety of ground tours in Hawaii are marketed under different brands: Big Island Jump (Hawaii Island); Mauna Loa Helicopter Tours (Oahu & Kauai); Iruka Waikiki (Oahu); Iruka Kona (West Hawaii Island); and, Kona Fishing (West Hawaii Island). The Ikura Hawaii Twitter feed notes they provide, Scuba & Snorkeling, Swim with Dolphins, Dolphin & Whale Watching, Nature & Wildlife Tours, Outdoor Activities, Boat Tours & Water Sports, and Tours.

The Hawaii Experiences FaceBook page states, They LOVE our new Catamaran MIRAI. Ocean activities and snorkeling in crystal clear and warm Hawaiian water on the west side of Oahu! indicating the vessel is already in service and hosting tours along the West side of Oahu.

The Iruka English website describes the experience they provide off West Hawaii, Our main focus is to protect and respect the Dolphins and Manta in their ocean home whilst providing our guests with an experience of a lifetime in a safe and unique environment. These Dolphin & Manta return every day to interact with guests, introducing their families to our guests. For us, swimming with our wild Dolphins & Manta families and living in these incredibly beautiful islands, is a special and privileged way of life.

Key excerpts from Workboat:Angela Merkel has survived as German chancellor but the coalition deal she clinched on Friday puts her fate in the hands of her Social Democrat (SPD) partners and risks eroding support from her close allies before the end of her fourth term.

Europe's pre-eminent leader for more than 12 years, Merkel's star is waning as she pays for her 2015 decision to leave German borders open to over a million refugees, a move that cost her Christian Democrats votes and fueled the rise of the far-right.

After the collapse of talks in November to form a three-way coalition with the liberal Free Democrats and Greens, Merkel and her conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) allies were forced to turn again to the left-leaning SPD.

Merkel's immediate destiny now lies in the hands of rank-and-file Social Democrats whose party leaders will ask them on Jan. 21 to back Friday's deal, a repeat of the grand coalition that governed from 2013 to 2017.

The chancellor, who still commands wide respect abroad, needed the talks to succeed to avoid further erosion of her authority, after losing ground in September elections, and the weakening of German influence, not least in the European Union.

An Infratest Dimap poll for broadcaster ARD published last week showed Merkel's personal approval had dropped 2 percentage points from a month earlier to 52 percent.Pro-choice group firm in mission despite SCOTUS ruling

Since the Roe v. Wade ruling by the Supreme Court in 1973, opponents have worked to overturn it. With the new court, they have been more honest and straightforward  they want to get rid of Roe, said Karrie Galloway, Planned Parenthood of Utah president and CEO. Wednesdays decision regarding abortion laws in Texas moves those opponents one step closer. The Texas law prohibits abortion as soon as a heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around six weeks into a pregnancy. This law, according to Planned Parenthood and multiple news sources, was written to avoid any legal ...There is a very easy way for Democrats to get major concessions from President Donald Trump on immigration: Give him his wall.

This is the key to a deal codifying the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era de facto amnesty for a segment of so-called Dreamers. All it takes is giving Trump a plausible start to the wall that the president can then, in his inimitable way, promote as the greatest structure built on a border since Hadrian began his famous handiwork at the northern limit of the Roman Empire in 122.

That the Democrats very likely wont do this speaks to their irrational aversion to a wall that they cant view dispassionately any more than Trump can.

It used to be that enhanced security on the border  and yes, a physical structure that in places is effectively a wall  had bipartisan support. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 passed the House by a vote of 283-138 and the Senate 80-19. It called for building roughly 700 miles of double-layer fencing on the border, and no one seemed to believe that the United States had irreparably sullied its reputation.

This wasnt the first time anyone had thought of a fence, of course. There had been barriers in the San Diego area for a very long time, although not particularly robust ones. Beginning in the 1980s, more serious structures were built. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, there are 46 miles of fencing overall and 13 miles of double fencing in the San Diego-Tijuana corridor, where there used to be a nightly influx of undocumented immigrants. In some sections, the barriers are 10-feet-tall military helicopter pads indistinguishable from a wall. Again, no one believes San Diego has closed itself off from the world.

But Democrats now find physical barriers on the border offensive, especially if they have enough solidity to be called a wall. Harry Enten of FiveThirtyEight notes that in 2006, almost 40 percent of Democrats supported building a wall. By February of last year, Democrats were against it by 89 percent to 8 percent.

This forecloses the most basic legislative give-and-take. If Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer gave Trump something significant on the wall, they would be able to find their way home  as John Jay said after concluding an unpopular treaty with the British in 1795  by the light of their own burning effigies. Their voters would scorn them as traitors complicit in the alleged horrid bigotry of Donald J. Trump.

So, they will probably fail to capitalize on a president almost certainly desperate to fall into their arms. Trump cares about one thing above all, and thats the wall. He knows it was a signature campaign promise. Hed love to be able to go back to his voters with something, with almost anything, that he could brag about as the wall.

This means that even a partial step toward a wall might entice Trump into a deal. On the substance, Democrats who are latitudinarian on immigration should prefer this to any other agreement. The wall is an enhancement of the status quo rather than a departure from it, and even if Democrats go along for now, its not clear that it would ever get built.

The Secure Fence Acts bold promise of hundreds of miles of double fencing petered out under bureaucratic resistance and congressional backtracking. Democrats could easily, if they take the House in 2018 or win the presidency in 2020, defund the wall or otherwise sabotage it. But if they got a lawful amnesty for 700,000 illegal immigrants or even more, depending on the parameters of a deal, thats never going away.

Thats why restrictionists worried about Donald Trumps reliability on this issue have an important backstop against a bad deal: the recalcitrance of Democrats who oppose the wall more than they support amnesty for Dreamers.It is learned that various Central agencies too have begun a preliminary investigation. Officials are probing whether there is a terrorism angle to the incident.In the Mahabharata, when Draupadi was gambled away by Yudhishthira, she asked a question: I belonged equally to all five of them, how could Yudhishthira alone lose me?

This question sprang to my mind as I watched four of the Pancha-Pandavas of the collegium stand up against the perceived dishonour of the institution. At times like this, young Abhimanyus and Parikshits of the judicial family have to wonder whether there is something at all that they can contribute to the cause of Dharma. The four judges have told the country in no uncertain terms that things are not right within the judicial fortress. From the press conference held by the judges, it appears two months ago, these very judges had written to the Chief Justice complaining about certain judicial orders passed by this court which has adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivery system and the independence of the high courts besides affecting the administrative functioning of the offices of the Honble Chief Justice of India.

The letter also points to an attempt on October 27, 2017, by a two-judge bench to re-look the working of the verdict in the NJAC case. This dealt with appointments to the higher judiciary. That case, however, was closed on November 8, 2017, by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice.

The four judges calling an unprecedented press conference after two months to hand over a copy of the letter to the media only indicates that they are still not satisfied with the working of the court under the current dispensation.

The judges have wisely refrained from setting out all the details of what they have perceived to have gone wrong in the previous months.

One can now presume that the dissatisfaction persists to an extent that they feel compelled to bring out their misgivings into full public view.

Justice Chelameswar at the press conference said, All four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country, or any country.

Justice Gogoi, who is expected to be the next Chief Justice of India, said that the conference was organised as a discharge of debt to the nation.

This is a time to think institutionally and in the spirit of utmost deference to duty, that all men of law are called upon to render to the cause of administration of justice. The first call must be to ensure that the administration of justice is not perceived to be dependent upon the mere allocation of the roster of cases by the Chief Justice.

Secondly, it must be hereafter seen to that no litigant, how high so ever, can be perceived to have any role in the inner workings of the judicial process.

Thirdly, it must be ensured that the institution of the Supreme Court must not be seen as subordinate to the tastes, predilections and fashions of the Chief Justice of the day. Finally, it must be ensured that the higher judiciary is seen as an integrated family, united against any external attempt to influence it or interfere with its functioning.

As someone who has spent almost his entire working life in the Supreme Court and who is ever grateful for the recognition and honour, that working in this institution has brought me, I am loathe to say anything that will undermine the institution. It is times of crisis that determine character. The press conference should not be seen as a revolt or a challenge to authority. It must be seen as a desperate cry to set right a revered institution.

It is hoped that all the five Pandavas sit together in a spirit of re-dedication to national service. One cannot let the cause of lady justice, be subject once again, to a casual roll of the dice.

(Sanjay Hegde is a Supreme Court lawyer)After Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment by a number of actors, new cases of sexual misconduct, accusing actors Michael Doughlas, James Franco and Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee have surfaced. The issue became a hot topic of conversation here in Bollywood as well. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who has always spoken on socially relevant issues, feels it is the exploitation of power which needs to stop.

As an industry, we need to be aware that harassment in any form  sexual or mental  needs to be looked at very seriously. It never gets recognised. You have to recognise the harassment and nip it in the bud, feels the National award-winning filmmaker.

Mehta says that such ugly issues have happened in the past as well but it is the collective change in the attitude of masses, which can put this to a stop.

Before Weinstein, didnt we have cases? What happened to them? Its a societal attitude that needs to change. For me, Weinstein case is blatant abuse of power and what goes unchecked. We have to understand that every sector has people who abuse power. Somebody perceives that they have power over you and they begin to bully and harass you. That harassment needs to be addressed, and people in power need to realise that they are crossing the line, says Mehta.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreEven as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh said that they would not lift bans on the controversial film, Padmaavat, Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh gave Sanjay Leela Bhansalis film a green signal, according to a report. The film was recently cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification with a U/A certificate.

A Times of India report says that the film will release as planned on January 25, although no official confirmation regarding the release date has been issued. Now that the filmmaker has incorporated the changes suggested by the Censor Board, I see no reason why the release of the film should be stopped, reported TOI, quoting a top government official.

The CBFC had asked Bhansali to modify five scenes in the film, and to change the title. The films social media pages were updated to reflect this change. The makers have submitted the final film with agreed five modifications which have already been communicated and a U/A certificate has been given to the film. CBFCs process is complete and any further news about cuts is absolutely untrue. Lets refrain from utilising CBFCs name unnecessarily, CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi told IANS.

Lokendra Singh Kalvi, Chief of Karni Sena of Rajput during a Press Conference against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavat Movie at Press Club of India in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, however, refused to lift the ban, placed prior to the Gujarat Assembly Elections, held in December. We had banned the films release before polls, and that order still stays. We have not revoked it, hence there is no question of the film being released in the state, he said.

Throughout the past week, several members of the Karni Sena have resumed their protest against the film. Over 150 individuals were arrested in Mumbai. The film had been postponed from its original December 21 release date after members of the fringe group staged protests and threatened violence against Bhansali and lead actor Deepika Padukone.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreAlthough there are many cultures, languages and rituals in India, still each and every festival is celebrated with equal vigour by Bollywoods glitterati. Welcoming the warm festival of Lohri in the cold weather, celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor and Randeep Hooda wished Lohri to all their fans and well wishers.

Lohri, which is celebrated primarily by Sikhs and Hindus, is a popular winter Punjabi folk festival. It marks the end of winter season, and is a traditional welcome of longer days and suns journey to the northern hemisphere.

It is observed the night before Makar Sankranti or Maghi and typically, falls about the same date every year on January 13. Here is how what the celebs wished fans and followers on Twitter:

Actor Shah Rukh Khan wished his fans on Twitter with a scene from his film Veer Zaara:

Peace and happiness to all of you this Lohri... #HappyLohri pic.twitter.com/BaBGCtLiR8  Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) January 13, 2018

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor posted a picture of Lohri, writing, Wishing one and all!

Wishing one and all! pic.twitter.com/McUHlzrcp7  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) January 13, 2018

Actor Akshay Kumar, who has PadMan slated for release on January 26, tweeted, Wishing everyone a #HappyLohri. May the festival bring prosperity, happiness and good health to all :)

Wishing everyone a #HappyLohri. May the festival bring prosperity, happiness and good health to all :) pic.twitter.com/7Ax1ji1ggc  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 13, 2018

Randeep Hooda said, Sab nu #Pongal #MakarSankranti #Bihu di #HappyLohri many cultures, many languages, many rituals - same love - one country - stay blessed, stay happy

Actor Boman Irani tweeted, Let this #Lohri lighten & brighten up our lives...Bring Joy, Love & Prosperity to one and all.... Also warm wishes for #Bihu, #MakarSankranti & #Pongal.

Let this #Lohri lighten & brighten up our lives...Bring Joy, Love & Prosperity to one and all....



Also warm wishes for #Bihu, #MakarSankranti & #Pongal.  Boman Irani (@bomanirani) January 13, 2018

Actor Kajal Aggarwal said in her own style, writing, Wishing you a #HappyLohri :) May the warmth of this festival spread joy, happiness and fill your life with lots of energy!!

Wishing you a #HappyLohri :)

May the warmth of this festival spread joy, happiness and fill your life with lots of energy!! pic.twitter.com/jep2mgh1hL  Kajal Aggarwal (@MsKajalAggarwal) January 13, 2018

Anil Kapoor said, May the festival of Lohri bring you all the luck, prosperity, peace & happiness! #HappyLohri

May the festival of Lohri bring you all the luck, prosperity, peace & happiness! #HappyLohri  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) January 13, 2018

Film director Farhan Akhtar also took to the microblogging site and wrote, Wish happiness and prosperity to all. Happy Lohri.

Wish happiness and prosperity to all. Happy Lohri.   Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) January 13, 2018

Singer Mika Singh also wished his fans.

Wish you all a very Happy Lohri. May God Bless all of us with good health, happiness and tons of success. #HappyLohri pic.twitter.com/79Azh72qs1  King Mika Singh (@MikaSingh) January 13, 2018

Follow @htshowbiz for moreWhen you tell people you are going to Vietnam, they look vaguely confused. Those who are a little more familiar with the region ask where in Vietnam you are going. If you say Ho Chi Minh City (the new name of Saigon) they look disapproving and suggest various resort towns. If you do want to go to a city, they say, you should go to the capital Hanoi, which has more history and is prettier than Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon.

Over 13 years ago, when I first went to Vietnam, I was greeted with this sort of reaction. And last month, when I went back for New Year, many people were openly incredulous: why would anyone want to go to Saigon?

Well, because of recent history. My generation grew up on stories about the Vietnam War, read books, heard music and saw movies located in Saigon. It wasnt just The Deer Hunter (and anyway the lurid, neon-lit street in the movie was not even located in Saigon; they shot it in Patpong in Bangkok). It was Apocalypse Now, Despatches, Good Morning, Vietnam, and even Graham Greenes The Quiet American and the movie they made of it.

When I first went, all those years ago, people told me: hurry! The Vietnamese are embracing capitalism. The city will soon begin to look like Bangkok. Go before its character changes forever.

A still from the movie Good Morning, Vietnam

And so I went and stayed at the towering Sheraton, then the smartest hotel in town. But I liked the older hotels, most of which were down at heel and rundown. The Caravelle had once been the haunt of the legendary American journalists who had covered the war, often between drinks at its rooftop bar. The Rex Hotel was where the US military briefed the press every day through the 60s. The briefings  described as the Five Oclock Follies because they bore no resemblance to reality  were immortalised in books and articles. American radio broadcasts (as featured in the Robin Williams movie Good Morning, Vietnam) took place in the Brink Boq building across the road from The Rex.

The Continental Hotel, in the same area, had an older history, dating back a century. It was here that Michael Caine sat at a charming pavement cafe, wondering whether he was losing his girlfriend to a CIA agent, in the movie of The Quiet American.

On my first trip, the hotels must have thought I was mad when I asked to be shown around. (Why, they probably wondered, does an Indian care about these things? Good question. I dont have an answer.) And because everything looked so faded and sad, the hoteliers were a little embarrassed about showing me their properties.

At The Sheraton, gleaming and new, they told me that I was looking at yesterdays Saigon. The Sheraton was the new Saigon, soon to joined by the Park Hyatt, part of it built on the site where the Brink Boq building (of Good Morning, Vietnam fame) used to be.

In Saigon, people are friendly and prices are low (Getty Images)

And yes, the city I saw on this latest trip was well on its way to becoming a Bangkok clone with shiny new constructions everywhere. But the old hotels had not vanished. Instead, they had been renovated and spruced up. Far from looking faded, they now seemed part of the new Saigon with expensive designer shops (Hermes, Burberry, Dior etc) on their ground floors.

The Park Hyatt, where I stayed this time, is, as everyone had predicted over a decade ago, the fanciest hotel in town with world class restaurants and an elegant ambience. But the Continental next door has rediscovered its magic. I went back to the pavement cafe that Michael Caine had frequented in The Quiet American and found that it had regained its old charm (an old lady played Sway on an accordion) and retained a sense of place.

Young Vietnamese do not like talking (to foreigners at least) about what they call the American War (well, they can hardly call it the Vietnam War, can they?) but press the older ones and the memories come pouring out. The rewritten history of their country requires them to regard the Americans as evil oppressors and the Communist armies (who came in from what was then North Vietnam) as liberators. But they will talk about the terrible period after Saigon fell to the Communists in 1975, when anyone suspected of having collaborated with the Americans was thrown into jail or publicly disgraced.

Post-liberation Vietnam had the worst of all worlds: totalitarianism, deprivation and hunger

There was terrible poverty. One man, now in his 40s, told me that for several years after the liberation his family could only afford to eat tapioca. It was eight years before they got a little rice to mix with the tapioca. And post-liberation Vietnam had the worst of all worlds: totalitarianism, deprivation and hunger.

The War Remnants Museum reminds us of the horrors the US inflicted on Vietnam (Shutterstock)

All that changed when the country  which is still run by the Communist Party  embraced capitalism and looked for foreign (often American!) investment. The prosperity of today is based on capitalism. But, from all accounts, it does not necessarily extend far from the big cities or trickle down much.

Indians are not shocked by economic extremes  we have enough of them at home. But it is a little unusual to see a country that is entirely fuelled by capitalist wealth (and tries to lure Western tourists) still talk warmly about its victory over Western capitalism and the triumph of communism.

Tourists will be encouraged to visit the harrowing War Remnants Museum to be reminded of the horrors the US inflicted on Vietnam and every tour stops at the old Presidential Palace where the Communist tanks first arrived in 1975 to declare victory.

Most of us have seen photographs of the frantic helicopter evictions from the top of the US Embassy in Saigon as the Americans pulled out in 1975. I tried to find those locations but the old Embassy has been torn down and replaced by a new Consulate. And, in any case, many of the choppers actually took off, not from the Embassy, but from the roof of the CIA building, then one of the tallest structures in the city. That building still survives but it now seems tiny and is dwarfed by the huge skyscrapers that the new Vietnam has built around it.

But suppose, that unlike me, you have no interest in the Vietnam War. (And I reckon that holds true for most of you!) Should you still go to Saigon?

The Park Hyatt is the fanciest hotel in town with world class restaurants

Well, thats a tough one. Saigon has much to offer the average tourist. The people are friendly. Prices are low. Hotels are relatively inexpensive. The food is good. Most Indians like Vietnamese food (which bears the same sort of relationship to Thai food as Bihari cuisine does to the food of Bengal). Every Indian visitor loves Vietnamese coffee  much of it is made from the Robusta bean and sweetened with condensed milk. The fancy parts of the city, with their designer boutiques, can seem more prosperous than Mumbai or Delhi.

Opera at the Park Hyatt serves excellent Italian food

The international food is good too  better than in India. At the Park Hyatt, Square One, a new restaurant, is visually stunning and does terrific French and Vietnamese food. I brought in 2018 at Opera, the Hyatts Italian restaurant, and the cuisine was excellent while the service was brilliant.

Standalones can be very good too. Indians like Hum, which does vegetarian Vietnamese food. I thought Stoker, a steakhouse, was on par with anything I have seen in Asia. The same owners also run Firkin, a secret bar (up a flight of stairs behind an unmarked door), which has a drinks list that could rival any bar in New York or London.

But there are drawbacks. One of them is the airport. The Vietnamese give you an e-visa authority letter which is pretty meaningless because you have to hang around at the airport for a visa on arrival for hours even if you have the e-visa letter. Immigration staff are lazy, surly and possibly dishonest. The queues at immigration when I arrived, were among the worst I have seen. It took me 90 minutes, from the time I landed, to negotiate the airport (and thats by using Fast Track!) which was longer than the flying time from Bangkok to Saigon.

And finally, if you have no interest in the Vietnam War, then there is really not much to see. You are far better off going to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) or even Bangkok. Nor will it get much better. As one weary Vietnamese told me, the Communist regimes dream is to create a new Singapore. (Since when do communists dream of a capitalist paradise like Singapore?) But they will only get as far as creating a new Bangkok.

And the old Bangkok is still around. So, why bother?

From HT Brunch, January 14, 2018

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunchA woman dentist has been arrested for allegedly torturing a minor employed as a domestic help at her residence in Kalyan Vihar, northwest Delhi. Police rescued the victim, who was allegedly kept in confinement for the last four months, on Friday evening.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Aslam Khan said the girl  who appears to be between 15 and 17 years of age  bore cuts and bruises all over her body. She was brought from Jharkhand by a placement agency in September.

The employer, a 40-year-old dentist, has been arrested, said Khan. A case was registered against the accused under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) and 374 (unlawful compulsory labour) of the Indian Penal Code; sections 75 (punishment for cruelty to child) and 79 (exploitation of a child employee) of the Juvenile Justice Act; and section 16 of the Bonded Labour Act.

The incident came to light on Friday, when the girl ran to the balcony of the house and called for help. A domestic help working nearby heard her screams and contacted the police.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) officials assisted the police in conducting the rescue operation.

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said the victim had burns on her body and bite marks on her face. The girls eyes were swollen. Her employer would spit in her face, strangulate her, and  at times  attack her with scissors. On Friday, the woman pinned her to the floor and repeatedly struck her head with a weighing machine. The scars and bruises on her body corroborate her claim, she added.

Maliwal said the girl was undernourished because she hadnt been fed in days. She was occasionally allowed to have two slices of bread. No sweaters and blankets were given to her at night.

The accused could not be reached for comment.With the recent announcement of the details of the electoral bond scheme, the governments steps to clean up political funding have met with a sharply polarised response. Admirers claim theyre a far-reaching first step. Critics believe it is pulling the wool over our eyes.

So where does the truth lie? Perhaps its easier to answer that question if you examine the measures in terms of two criteria: first, do they make political funding cleaner, in other words with a great proportion of legitimate tax-paid funds? And, second, do they make political funding more transparent, that is to say its details fully known to all of us?

The decision to reduce the amount of money a political party can receive in cash from any one source from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000 looks like a major step that should make funding cleaner. After all this is what the Election Commission of India asked for. But think carefully and the answer could be somewhat different.

Political parties can still receive donations up to Rs 2,000 and remember theyre anonymous. No names need be declared. So if cash donations above that sum are received all that political parties need do is claim they came in smaller lots of Rs 2,000 or less.

Because donations in cash have not been made illegal and because the veil of anonymity continues, its quite possible, indeed likely, that the amount of money received in cash will remain unchanged, except it will now be claimed it came in donations of no more than Rs 2,000. I dont see much cleaning up here or any transparency.

The second big step is the decision to create electoral bonds, issued by select branches of the State Bank of India, on cheque or digital payment, which can be credited to the authorised accounts of political parties (for investment within 15 days) while retaining the anonymity of the donor. Again, at first sight, this sounds like a great idea. But is it?

First, to be honest, the government has ensured a 100% cleaning up. Because the bonds will be bought by cheque or digital payment they can only be bought by tax-paid and not black money.

Alas, the second half of the story is very different. Because the anonymity of donors is guaranteed there will be no transparency. This breaches the principle that in a democracy we have a right to know who is funding political parties and with what amounts.

In fact, the sad truth is by this measure the government has actually diminished the transparency that used to exist. Up till now all donations above Rs 20,000 had to be declared, which means the names of the donors were made public. Now, through these electoral bonds, the names of individuals or companies that make donations  be it Rs 2 or Rs 20 lakh, Rs 20 or Rs 200 crore  will not be disclosed. This is undoubtedly a retrograde outcome.

There is, however, one thats arguably worse. Because the government has also lifted the cap on corporate donations, industrialists can now pay vast sums anonymously to the ruling party. If, in return, theres a quid pro quo and, remember, in India there usually is, not only will we never be able to prove it, we might even never find out about it. Which means that in this case the potential for corruption has actually grown, not diminished.

The views expressed are personalDry spell and cold waves could be devastating for Uttarakhand as theres hardly a month left for the forest fire to begin. Experts claim that the government needs a strong policy to combat this natural disaster which could have serious consequences.

2016 witnessed a considerable damage of the forest, gutting 4,434 hectare of forest land and 104 hectare of plantation area in fire, causing a revenue loss of Rs 4.65 crore. The devastation spread was so severe that the government had to engage two Indian Air Force (IAF) MI-17 choppers to douse the fire.

Last year, however, the loss was comparatively low, where only 1,245 hectare forest with an additional 7 hectare of plantation in the state was damaged. The revenue loss as per official data was R 1.83 crore.

The official season of forest fire begins from February 15 and concludes on June 15.

Experts said that 2018 would be challenging. Despite the dry spell and cold waves, the only redeeming part is that the temperature is low. But in February, the temperature will rise leaving no moisture. This might adversely affect the forest during the forest fire, said Sunil Chandra, deputy director Forest Survey of India (FSI).

Pine needles are a potential cause of forest fire. There has been no mapping ever to underline the areas with pine growth, moreover, the government has not formed any strategy to combat this calamity.

Radhika Jha, secretary, held a meeting with officials recently and directed to engage village panchayats and other people in collection of pine needles through which power could be generated. The government is in the process of making a policy, but it is not likely to come anytime soon.

The government is working on a policy but we still dont know how much time it might take. Meanwhile, we are making check dams with the help of needles and also carrying out control burning and making fire lines for the upcoming season, BP Gupta, nodal officer forest fire, said.

Pine covers around 4,363 sq km, of the total 24,240 sq km of the forest area of the state, the 2015 Forest Survey of India report shows. Pine needles have 9.75% moisture and a burning efficiency of 27.01%, higher than that of fuel wood (15.55%).

Padma Shree awardee, popularly known as mountain man, Anil Joshi, who runs HESCO (Himalayan Environmental Studies & Conservation Organisation), said, Its a tragedy that officers and the government come into action only when the fire season is nearing. They should come up with a strong policy at the earliest to mitigate this yearly natural phenomenon.If you enjoy performing arts, or cultural events, an you stay in and around Delhi, then you have a reason to rejoice. You can get information about any event organised by the government of Delhi by giving a missed call to 9323300300. The initiative, announced by Delhis deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, is being cheered by Delhiites. Aamir Khan, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia, who never misses a chance to attend Urdu festivals, and events in the Capital, says, Its a welcome move, especially for the art lovers. The entry charges of commercial events are so high that not everyone can afford them. However, the government-organised events are most often within ones budget, or free. So, Id definitely be glad to receive updates about such events.

Delhi university student, Akanksha Singh, echoes the sentiment, We are students, and we cant afford pricey tickets of private events. And we hardly get to know any info about government-sponsored events. So getting messages about ongoing and upcoming events would be really cool.

However, some people are wary of sharing their contact details. Since this Aadhaar Card controversy has come in to light, I am a bit sceptical about sharing my details with any agency. Though I love going to music festivals and mushairas, yet I am not sure if Id register, says Meera Sharma, an IT professional.

Artists and art curators are partially happy with the initiative; they expect more from the administration. Erum Khan, artist and art curator, says, I am happy that art and cultural events are being promoted. Sending notifications about events might increase the footfall. She adds, However, they need to have a better response and approach to our queries. They should do more to encourage us.

Follow @htTweets for moreWith peanuts, music and popcorn, Lohri is traditionally celebrated to mark the success of winter harvest in North India. And, lighting the bonfire is an integral part of the celebrations. But this year, environment-friendly folks of the city will mark the festivities of Lohri differently by going bonfire free. Weve been able to breathe properly and see a clear sky areas after so long. And this effort may help us go a long way in maintaining breathable air in Delhi. So, in our society, weve decided to not burn firewood, says Sukhmani Kaur, a resident of Delhi.

And many of them are trying to spread this message as well. Groups, such as, Citizens for Clean Air, #MyRighttoBreathe are urging people to celebrate a Green Lohri or a Smoke-free Lohri. Earlier, my friends have celebrated a smoke-free Diwali. Ill be happy to dance and make merry without the smoke of a bonfire, says Shivam Singh, a resident of Gurgaons Sushant Lok.

A comparison of air quality in 2017 across 23 cities shows Gurgaon as the most polluted Indian city (According to Hindustan Times analysis of daily PM2.5 data concentration) with Bangalore adjudged as the cleanest. And the air quality index (AQI) of Gurgaon and Delhi was either poor, very poor or severe on 47% days in 2017.

A comparison of air quality in 2017 across 23 cities shows Gurgaon was the most polluted Indian city (in terms of median PM2.5 concentration) while Bangalore was the cleanest. The countrys most polluted cities were largely in North India

We just braved one of the worst air quality scenes in Delhi-NCR. The poor air quality spiked incidents of respiratory illness. Anything that adds to pollution should be curbed. On the one hand, we are praying to Mother Nature, and on the other, we are polluting it, says Ruchika Sethi of Citizens for Clean Air group.

Supporting the Green Lohri initiative, Shona Chatterji, a resident of Gurgaon, says, We cant point fingers at the government that we want pollution levels to come down and do nothing about it. Our society celebrated a green Diwali and were trying to do the same with Lohri.

Echoing similar sentiments, Sonali Amla, founder of the Delhi based group, #MyRighttoBreathe says, Through our social media campaign, we are reaching out to people to move away from bonfires this year. Were distributing kits comprising electric hot water bottle, monkey cap, muffler, anti-pollution masks, gloves and socks to guards and drivers because they also light bonfires to keep themselves warm, which in turn, adds to the pollution.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreA 15-year-old intellectually disabled girl was gangraped allegedly by six men in a public park in east Delhis Madhu Vihar on January 8.

The crime came to light on Thursday night after the girl told about the incident to a doctor in a government hospital in central Delhi where she has been undergoing treatment for her intellectual disability. The doctor informed the police about the gang rape, police said.

On Friday, all the six men were arrested and produced before a city court and sent to jail. Police said all the six lived in the girls neighbourhood in east Delhis Mandawali. They said the girl knew two of them personally because they live in the same lane where she lives with her family.

On December 16 last year, a 16-year-old girl was gang-raped and her male friend beaten up in a public park allegedly by three men in northwest Delhis Shalimar Bagh.

Omvir Singh, deputy commissioner of police (east), said they are withholding the identity of the arrested men because of the girls mental condition.

We arrested the accused soon after the crime was brought to our notice. Three of them raped the girl. The other three helped them in the crime, said the DCP.

A police officer said that on January 8 around 9.30 pm, the girl went out on a stroll after dinner. She was in the lane when her 19-year-old neighbour introduced himself to her and told her he wanted to be friends with her. The youth knew about the girls mental condition.

He told the girl he would take her to Connaught Place for a party. The girl agreed but the man took her to Childrens Park in Madhu Vihar. He then called his five friends and they together had a party in the guards room, said the officer.

The girl in her statement told the police that the men allegedly made her drink beer. When she got drunk, three of them allegedly raped her. The girl returned home but did not tell anything to her family members, said police.

On January 9, she was admitted to the hospital for her ongoing treatment. Even there she did not say anything about the sexual assault for the next two days. On January 11 night, she shared her ordeal with a doctor, who in turn, called the police, said the officer.

In a similar crime, a 17-year-old girl was raped allegedly by a 23-year-old bartender at a guest house in northwest Delhis Adarsh Nagar on Wednesday. The girl in her complaint alleged that the bartender also made her drink alcohol in the guest house room before violating her.

Police said she had met the accused, identified by his single name Himalaya, on a social media platform. Police have arrested Himalaya. They have also sealed the guest house since it did not follow the norms for giving rooms to visitors.For the last two Sundays, the municipal authorities have not allowed the vendors to sell books at the Sunday market at Daryaganj. The sellers now fear that they may not be allowed to return at all.

The municipal officials have told the vendors that this is a part of the ongoing beautification drive in the run up to the three-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit to be held in Delhi, starting January 24.

But not all vendors may be allowed to come back once the ASEAN Summit is over. Ruchika Katyal, deputy commissioner, City-Sadar Paharganj Zone of North Municipal Corporation said in the future, the agency will only allow authorised booksellers on permitted stretches.

Residents and traders have been complaining about illegal occupation on footpaths. Their main concern was that the hawkers also take over portions of roads, which creates hindrance in traffic and pedestrian movement. Several illegal vendors had come up in the recent years, she said.

More than 250 book sellers put up their stalls on the pavement along Netaji Subhash Marg and Asaf Ali Road starting from Daryaganj-Faiz Bazar crossing to Delite Cinema every Sunday. Started in 1964, this market is known for rare book titles (course books, biographies, memoirs, quiz books, coffee table books, encyclopedias, magazines, and even entrance exam books), which are available here at throwaway prices.

However, unlike earlier, several vendors selling knick-knack, clothes, shoes, and restaurant cutlery squat parallel to the books market now, which results in traffic snarls and chaos in the area, said another municipal official.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has been running an anti-encroachment drive between Daryaganj and Red Fort. The Sunday books market was organised on the stretch. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Qamar Sayeed, president, Sunday Books Bazaar Welfare Association said there is no certainty about the future of the market. Confusion prevailed as senior police and corporation officials tell us that they are not letting us set up the market because of the ASEAN summit. At the same time, junior staff say that the market may not be allowed even after January 26, he said.

There are 271 members registered with our association, who pay requisite fee to the corporation for tehbazaari. It was police and corporation officials who permit illegal hawker to occupy space in the market, he added.

However, regular, loyal customers, and old timers expressed their displeasure over the possibility of closure of the market. Vidya Srivastava, communications professional, said it sad to hear that the market might shut.

I was once an enthusiastic shopper there; and am suddenly feeling terrible that I havent gone back in the past few years. To me the market was part of the charm of wintry mornings in Delhi and it will be a huge loss, she said.

Mohsin Sayeed, medical practitioner, said this market had inspired several, including him to continue reading. I did my schooling and graduation, reading books purchased from this market. It is usual for my four-year-old kid to go there with me and get fascinated. It is disturbing even to think about losing such a legacy, he said.

Banojyotsna Lahiri, faculty, Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University said the Sunday market is one of the charms of Delhi. This is a market for which book lovers do not mind waking up early on a Sunday morning. Hunting for books is exciting because there is no proper demarcation or segregation. But one that not many people could relate to.

SEWA Bharat, an NGO, which has been working with vendors, said the government should grant legal recognition and protection , not only to promote the dying art of physical books but also to preserve this market as a cornerstone of historical tradition. Daryaganj book bazar is a market with over 50 years of history and heritage value, and it is also a source of livelihood for more than 250 book vendors. The government should give vendors their right to fair trade, Sanchita Mitra, National Coordinator, SEWA Bharat.

The corporation has been carrying out anti-encroachment drive in and around Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid area for the last eight weeks.

Following the crackdown, traders and residents said it is big relief for them and the authorities should put a system in place to prevent encroachers from coming back.

We have been fighting for this for last 10 years. There are specific court orders but the police and corporation were not implementing them deliberately. We are hopeful that they will keep the area encroachment free as mandated by the court, said Sanjay Bhargava, president, Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal.

Burhanuddin, a resident of Jama Masjid area, said the action has streamlined vehicular movement on Netaji Subhash Marg. The entire stretch would remain blocked due to squatters. Now, it just takes 5-10 minutes to cross the stretch from Lal Quila red light to Delhi Gate crossing, he said.When they met on a matrimonial website, he introduced himself as the CEO of a Europe-based pharmaceutical company. They were in touch through Facebook for months. One day, he told the woman that he was coming to India to marry her. On the day he was supposed to arrive, he told the woman that he had been detained by customs at Delhi airport and he needed Rs7.5 lakh for his release. Once she transferred the money to his account, she never heard from him again.

An incident of fraud has been uncovered at the Delhi airport where a conman used the excuse of being detained by customs officials as a chance to extract money from an unsuspecting victim.

The man reportedly told the woman he had been detained by customs as he was carrying expensive gifts for her along with large sums of cash. He asked her to deposit Rs7.5 lakh into his account so customs would release him and he could meet her. The woman, a resident of Hyderabad, deposited the money but didnt hear from the man after that.

She finally contacted customs, who told her that they had never detained any person that fit her description.

She came all the way from Hyderabad to receive the man. But then she got this call. The woman deposited the money in three instalments. We got to know about the incident when she approached us describing the case. We realised someone is using customs name to cheat people, said a Delhi-based customs official, requesting anonymity.

The woman then went to Hyderabad and after landing there, she approached customs officials again.

She said that someone from customs called her again saying the passenger was carrying forex worth Rs2 crore and has to pay duty on the amount. We checked our records, but no person with the name of details given by the woman had been detained. We told her to file a police complaint, a customs officer at Hyderabad airport said.

Customs officials said the man had been in touch with the woman for over six months. They used to chat regularly and he had told her that they would be getting married. Officials did not rule out the possibility of the man having duped several others.

We cannot do much unless we are approached by the victim, although similar complaints have been received in the past as well. Before depositing the money into others bank account in such cases, people should check with customs first, the customs officer said.

Customs said that the woman was not interested in filing a police complaint.

However, airports across the country have been alerted to look for such cases and inform passengers if they get such calls for help.A national capital-based Residents Welfare Association (RWA) member on Friday lodged a complaint against AAP legislator Alka Lamba for threatening him with physical violence.

The complaint was filed by Riyaz Qureshi, president of Gali Qaziwara Residents Welfare Association of Chandani Chowk in Delhi, at the Daryaganj Police Station here.

Qureshi in his complaint alleged that he was threatened by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator for raising the issue of development in his area.

According to Qureshi, Lamba, who represents the Chandani Chowk area of Old Delhi, threatened her with dire consequences through a voice message on his WhatsApp.The ministry of women and child development has suggested that school curriculum includes lessons on the harmful impact of internet addiction and cyber ethics, laying out a roadmap for tackling one of the biggest concerns of parents with growing children in India.

On Monday, the WCD and human resource development ministries will take up these and a slew of other measures proposed to ring-fence lakhs of children from multiple dangers associated with the internet.

Besides officials of the two ministries, the meeting of will also be attended by state education ministers and a few other Union ministers. The meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the apex body that advises the central and state governments, will be chaired by HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar.

As computer studies is mandatory in the syllabus, it would be beneficial for the students, if the course also contains information about cyber laws, internet ethics, cyber security measures, what all to avoid online and why as well as psychosocial impact of internet addiction says the agenda of the meeting accessed by HT.

Experts say that growing addiction to smartphones and computers are creating what they describe as social isolation among youngsters leading to depression and suicidal tendencies.

The WCD ministry has said as much to tackle growing loneliness among children.

It is proposed to stress upon the need for counseling during the growing up years. As the society is witnessing a transition from larger families and community dependence to smaller nuclear families, children are becoming lonely. The situation is further complicated as both the parents go to work, playgrounds are shrinking and internet/mobiles are the closest buddy available to kids.

It added that this scenario is not limited to the metro cities but is being experienced in small towns too.

NCRB data has reported that there has been a rise in crime against children. In such a scenario, psycho social counselling needs to be strengthened, the ministry note added.

Besides, the ministry has suggested strengthening counseling and introducing psychosocial counseling in schools to tackle growing crime against children.

The ministry has also suggested that parents -- through parents-teacher associations should be approached for making them aware about the unusual behaviour pattern and other symptoms indicative of child suffering due to mind numbing games and violent games.

To create better awareness about Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) e-Box -- an online complaint box for reporting child sexual abuse -- the ministry has suggested publishing information related to that and Childline (1098) helpline on the course books. The suggestion has been made for state boards too.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had enhanced the scope of POCSO e-box last November to handle cyber bullying, cyber stalking, morphing images of child pornography and child victims of cyber-crimes.

The facility received 1153 hits till December 11 but only 59 cases were found to be complaints related to offences covered under POCSO. To ensure students are aware of this facility and are aware of the right to file a complaint it has been suggested that details should be printed on the back of textbooks.Gurgaon

The celebration of Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu is going to be quite interesting this year. Drihata Phukan, a resident of Delhi, says, We may not light a meji (bonfire) because we want to keep our Bihu celebration as eco-friendly as possible. We will light lamps instead. Also, rather than celebrating individually, we will opt for a group party, and our folk dance, Bihu dance, and play party games.

Many folks like Neel Saikia are heading to Gurgaon to indulge in Bihu festivities. Saikia, a lawyer by profession, explaining why the festival is called Magh/Bhogali Bihu, says, It is called Magh because its observed in the Assamese month of Magh, and Bhogali comes from the word bhog, which means feasting.

With different varieties of pithas (sweet and savoury snacks), ladoos and jolpaans (jalpaan) at the venue, the Assam Association, Gurgaon is set for Bihu. It has also arranged for a traditional meji followed by pitha-pona (rice based sweet) competition among other interesting things.

These pithas, ladoos and jolpaans are shared with everyone who visits the celebration. It will continue with fun games, dance and music. The free-for-all event that has been popular among Gurgaonites since 2006 will be organised at Huda Community Centre, Sector 47, Gurgaon, today. Prabhakar Dutta, general secretary, Assam Association (Gurgaon), says, A lot of people who are not even from Assam love to participate in the festivities.Traditionally, on the eve of the Bihu, young men gather wood to construct meji and bhela-ghar (a makeshift cottage built with bamboo and dried rice stalks) in nearby fields or open areas. A community feast is then held on the Uruka eve, and dishes are prepared and feasted upon in front of the bhela-ghar. The morning after, the meji and the bhela-ghar are set on fire, and people offer prayers to the God of Fire. However, we will light meji on the Uruka eve to conclude the celebration the same day.

Catch it live What: Magh Bihu Where: Huda Community center, sector 47, Gurgaon When: January 13 Timings: 6pm Nearest metro station: Huda City Centre on Yellow line

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreThe city is set to get a 24-hour, toll free helpline for residents to call and seek information on the rescue of disstressed wildlife in the region. The helpline will be up and running by the end of this month.

The decision came a day after the state forest department received a letter from the Centre, seeking a status report on the formation of a task force to step up vigil in the Aravallis and curb poaching.

In response to the letter, the forest and wildlife department on Saturday conducted a joint meeting with the Haryanas forest and wildlife minister Rao Narbir Singh in Gurgaon. It was decided at the meeting that the Aravalli task force will be operational within 10 days, forest officials said.

Also, to stop poaching and crack down on unauthorised tree chopping in the Aravallis, checkposts will be set up in the forests over the next one week. While 11 of these will be set up in Gurgaon, Mewat and Faridabad will get another 15 and 9 respectively.

Voicing concern over poaching and unauthorised tree felling in the Aravallis, a group of environment activists met Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan on December 29 and sought his intervention in checking such incidents.

Read I Gurgaon: Illegal road, wall come up in Aravallis near Bandhwari village

On December 8, a peacock, with its legs caught in a metal trap, was spotted near the Tata Raisina Residency in the Aravallis.

The activists are also up in arms over alleged tree felling on a 52-acre plot in the Sarai Khawaja village of Fariadabad in a bid to free up space for a group housing project.

The forest department has also decided to use drones for keeping watch on Aravalli forests. We have taken crucial decisions to save the Aravallis, said Vinod Kumar, conservator of wildlife, south Haryana, said.

The forest department team also met a group of animal rights activists who had raised concern over poaching.

We put forward our concern over these incidents and were assured of steps by the minister. He said that the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will be asked not to dump garbage in forest areas. He said new water pits will be dug for preservation of wildlife in the Aravallis, Vashali Rana Chandra, an environment activist who met the minister along with a group of fellow activists, said.Actor Jake Gyllenhaal said he first met his Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger while auditioning for Baz Luhrmanns Moulin Rouge!.

In an interview with GQ Australia, Gyllenhaal said that he and Ledger, who passed away at the age of 28 in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, became friends because of mutual frustration of not getting the part they auditioned for.

I was auditioning for Moulin Rouge!. Baz Luhrmann had chosen three actors. It was Ewan [McGregor], it was Heath, and me. And we auditioned with many different actresses, it was a long process. But I never met Heath, I only heard about him.

When Ewan was cast, I finally met Heath and we sort of became friends before Brokeback Mountain based on our mutual frustration, Gyllenhaal said.

The 37-year-old actor recalled a conversation where Ledger turned down the lead in Luhrmanns next.

When Brokeback Mountain came out and it got all the attention it did, I remember, a few months later, Heath called me and he was like, Hey mate, I got some news for you. I said, What? He said, Baz just offered me his next movie. I just wanted you to know, I f**king turned it down! So that was how much Heath loved me, you know. That was how I met him, Gyllenhaal said.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreActor James Franco, who has been accused of sexually exploitative behaviour by five women in a report published by the Los Angeles Times earlier this week, wrote detailed accounts of having lots of sex with young girls in a semi-autobiographical book, Actors Anonymous.

Franco has issued denials regarding the accusations. In separate appearances on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyers, the actor said that the claims were inaccurate but that he is willing to continue the conversation. I think, well, the ones I read were not accurate. But one of the things that Ive learned is that this is a conversation that obviously needs to be had, he said.

His 2013 novel, Actors Anonymous, according to People is about experiences in dealing with existence, modern society and identity, in order to find suitable ways of acting and being in the world. Passages from the book have been circulating on social media following the allegations made against the actor, which first appeared after his win at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice awards for his new film, The Disaster Artist.

From James Francos book Actors Anonymous pic.twitter.com/YSMNauQbxf  Mary Sollosi (@missollosi) January 10, 2018

In one chapter, Franco writes, I had lots of sex. Lots. Most actors seem to do it, capitalize on their celebrity appeal.

I had something going on with most of my female co-stars and worked up a routine so that I could see someone every night, he continues.

While promoting his film 127 Hours in Toronto, Franco wrote about a fling he had and how the relationship continued later. In the intervening months she had sent me plenty of photos of her body and especially her a** bent over in a G-string, so when she arrived at my Lower East Side apartment, I was ready and she was ready, he wrote. Not only did she allow me to do everything I wanted to her, she let me film it on my phone.

Francos accusers have alleged that the actor exploited them - mostly young aspirants - on the sets of his micro-budget movies and in acting classes he conducted.

According to People, Franco is currently hiding out.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreThe Jammu and Kashmir government lashed out on Saturday at Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat over his remarks about schools in the state, saying the well-decorated officer should not give sermons on issues that are not in his domain.

The state governments retort was in response to Rawats statement that schools in the state were teaching two maps  Indias and Jammu and Kashmirs  to the students, which he said was radicalising youth.

Rawats statement was criticised on social media with many pointing out that students in all schools in the country are taught two maps, the countrys and the states.

The army chief is a respected and well-decorated officer of this country. He is a professional. I have no doubt on his professionalism. But I dont think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on education, state education minister Altaf Bukhari said.

I dont think any society accepts sermons on education from non-academicians, he added.

Bukhari said education was a state subject and we know how to run our education system.

There are two flags, we have a state constitution (owing to the states special status), and maps are in every state. Every school in every state has a state map because you explain it to them, Bukhari said.

Separatism would not be anywhere if army does its job well, he said.

I will be very happy if they do what they are supposed to do and leave us what we are supposed to do. They have a responsibility. Let them do their responsibility (sic). If they do their job well, all problems will be solved, Bukhari added.

Addressing the media on the eve of Army Day on Friday, Bipin Rawat had linked the two-flag issue with militancy.

...Why do we need a separate map for J&K? What does it teach the children? Most misguided youth come from schools where they are being radicalised, he had said.

The army chief had also said that some control has to be exercised over madrassas and mosques that spread misinformation.

Bukhari said there was no harm in getting education from madrassas. Education has its own domains. Madrassas also give education. There is no harm. Education is education. People go to China to learn, the minister said.A 12-year-old boy was on Saturday critically injured by an unexploded bomb that went off near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Mohammad Iqbal (12), a resident of Shahpur, found the bomb in an open field near Qasba village around 11:45 am and started fiddling with it, causing the explosion, a police official said.

The boy suffered critical injuries with both his hands blown up. He was rushed to hospital and his condition is stated to be critical, an official said.

The bomb, apparently a mortar fired by Pakistan during cross-border shelling in the recent past, had remained unexploded and undetected, the official said.

The boy was playing in the field when he came across the bomb, he said.To attract more foreign tourists into India, the Centre is preparing to rope in Hollywood stars such as Richard Gere, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie as brand ambassadors for Incredible India 2 campaign, Union tourism minister K J Alphons said.

Earlier Bollywood actors Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra endorsed and promoted the Indian tourism campaign. Aamir Khan promoted Indian tourism for about a decade while the other two were chosen for the coveted job last year.

Tourism ministry has announced to take annual footfall of foreign tourists from the present 14.4 million to 40 million in the next five years.

We are going to launch Incredible India campaign 2 this year. And as brand ambassadors, we might think of zeroing in on international celebrities like Richard, Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie, though we have not finalised anything as yet, Alphons said.

We wont mind roping in Richard Gere for promoting our ambitious tourism project Buddhist Circuit as he himself is a Buddhist. Actually, we are looking for celebrities who have got global appeal. We have millions of NRIs and why dont they come and see India also? the minister wondered.

The ministry also wants to contain the outflow of 22 million Indians going abroad and wants them to enjoy Indian tourist destinations instead.

Foreign tourists visit the Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi. (AFP)

We want them to go out and see the world but they should also enjoy the rich Indian culture. Anyway, we dont thoroughly rule out roping in Indian actors for the campaign, he added.

The tourism ministry is eyeing on the huge foreign exchange and employment generation opportunities by promoting tourism domestically and globally.

Alphons in October had announced to create 100 million jobs from current 43 million through the tourism sector only.

Elaborating on the Incredible India 2, he said the focus this year would be on the north-eastern states, Rajasthan and the Buddhist circuit.Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said Bollywood film Padmavaat should not be allowed to release till the scenes which were offensive to the Rajput community were deleted from it.

He added that he would meet Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi soon in this regard.

Changing the name of the controversial film, Padmavati (to Padmaavat), is not enough. Till the objections of the Rajput community as regards the film are not cleared, it should not be released, the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment said.

Stating that while the name of the film was changed, the story and scenes were not, Athawale demanded that such scenes be deleted before the film was released.

The Karni Sena, a Rajput group opposed to the film, had staged a protest outside the CBFC office here on Friday over the clearance given to the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor- starrer is slated for a release on January 25.The number of recorded incursions by Chinas army into Indian territory in 2017 rose to 397 from 260 in

2016, but the number was almost the same in 2015 (391) and 2013 (401), and much lower than in 2014 (507), indicating that last year isnt what statisticians would call the outlier, but rather a normal year (in terms of Chinese incursions) when seen over a five-year period.

India and China share an uneasy relationship across a 3,488-kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the two countries were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam in Bhutan, near the tri-junction of the three countries.

The standoff was resolved in August.

The data on incursions, accessed from security agencies, show that they are almost exclusively concentrated in Pangong Tso, Chumar, Samar Lungpa, Kongka La, Spanggur Gap and Mount Sajum in eastern Ladakh sector, Kaurik in Himachal Pradesh and the so-called finger area in Sikkim.

When India and China exchanged middle sector maps in March 2002, differences in how the two countries saw the LAC was evident in four areasKaurik, Shipki La, Pulam Sumda and Barahoti plains. Maps on the western sector were not exchanged (although they were shown).

A comparison of the Chinese and Indian maps showed differences (in how the two countries define the LAC) in 12 areas of the Ladakh sector: Samar Lungpa, Tri Heights and Depsang Bulge, Kongka La, Spanggur Gap, Mount Sajum, Dumchele, Demchok and Chumar.

The Chinese claim 70,000-90,000 kilometers of the eastern sector and maps on the sector were neither shown nor exchanged. However, India continues to claim China is in unlawful possession of Namka Chu, Sumdorong Chu and Longju.

The India-China expert level group identified eight areas in 1995 as mutually disputed: Trig Heights and Dumchele in Ladakh, Barahoti in Uttarakhand, Namka Chu, Somdorong chu, Yangste, Asaphi La and Longju in Arunachal Pradesh. Although the Chinese army conveyed its unhappiness over events leading to the Doklam stand-off, Beijings top diplomatic interlocutors have indicated that the resolution of boundary issue is not a top priority for China as it has other pressing issues on the table, according to people familiar with the matter in South Block.

Even during the Special Representative dialogue between the two sides on the boundary issue on December 21, Chinese interlocutor Yang Jiechi told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that Beijing is for peace and tranquility on the border and against any aggravation.The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has suggested to the Centre to set up fully government-funded universities for educational empowerment of Christians on the lines of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the Jamia Millia Islamia.

As part of its suggestions for a medium-term action plan to be implemented within seven years, the NCM also called for roping in educationists from the community to be given due representation in framing educational policies and be appointed on different expert committees.

Christians should also be given universities for their communities, fully funded by the Government of India, like Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia University, the NCM said in its annual report for 2016-17.

The report is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the next session, sources said.

On being asked about the recommendation, NCM chairman Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said, Such a move will help ensure educational empowerment of Christians.

Rizvi said, like the AMU or the Jamia Millia Islamia, the university for Christians should impart education to students from other communities as well.

The NCM also said that the government should fully fund at least one university for Christians and it could do so in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.

According to the 2011 Census on the education level of different religious communities for age seven and above, the literacy rate of Christians was 74.34 per cent.

Muslims had the highest percentage of illiterates aged beyond seven years at 42.72, as per the census.

This percentage was 36.4 for Hindus, 32.49 for Sikhs and 28.17 for the Buddhists.The Hyderabad police on Friday arrested a 27-year-old post-graduate student of the University of Hyderabad for allegedly sodomising a 19-year-old first year MA student in a university hostel. He was produced in a local court which sent him to judicial remand for two weeks.

The incident took place on the night of January 7 but was brought to the notice of the police four days later. After conducting a preliminary probe, the police registered a case under Section 377 of the Indian penal code (IPC) for unnatural offences against the accused Mohammmad Rinish from Kerala, on Friday.

According to the Gachibowli police, the accused had barged into the hostel room of the victim, a student of Sociology in Integrated Master of Arts course hailing from Jharkhand. Rinish bolted the door from inside and sexually assaulted him.

Both the students have been friends for quite some time and hence, the victim did not suspect when Rinish was entering his room, Gachibowli police inspector M Gangadhar said.

The victim who apparently was afraid of the senior eventually mustered the courage to report the incident to the university authorities who lodged a complaint with the police four days later. The victim was sent to a hospital for a medical examination.An IndiGo passenger bound for Indore ended up in Nagpur after he boarded the wrong aircraft from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday morning. The mix-up occurred because both the flights were scheduled to depart around the same time.

The airline has taken cognisance of the security breach and initiated a probe. Three airline staffers have also been temporarily taken off work.

IndiGo regrets a security breach intercepted by its security staff, wherein a passenger of flight 6E-656 (Delhi-Indore) wrongly boarded flight 6E-774 (Delhi-Nagpur) and travelled to Nagpur. The passengers baggage was retrieved from flight 6E-656, after which it was released. His baggage was later sent to Indore on flight 6E-733. The passenger has been sent to Indore from Nagpur on flight 6E-509, said an airline spokesperson.

People familiar with the development said the incident occurred because the passenger mistakenly boarded the bus meant for the Nagpur flight. The airports terminal 1, which hosts IndiGo operations, does not have aerobridges.

The passenger boarded the flight without checking if it was the right one. The staffers at the rear entrance did not verify the details printed on his boarding pass either. He fell asleep soon afterwards, which is why he did not hear the in-flight announcements, said an airport official on the condition of anonymity.

The mix-up could have been detected at the outset if the seat number printed on his boarding pass was allotted to another passenger, the official said. However, that particular seat happened to be unoccupied.

The IndiGo spokesperson said the incident was being probed by the safety department. The security personnel involved (security lead, second lead and skipper) have been taken off the roster pending an internal inquiry. The security of passengers, crew members and the aircraft is IndiGos top priority, and there can be no compromise on that, he added.

Earlier this month, a parliamentary panel had slammed IndiGo employees for their discourteous and rude behaviour towards passengers, terming it as an institutional problem.In a new twist to the ongoing controversy over release of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis movie Padmaavat, female members of Kshatriya community in Chittorgarh on Saturday threatened to perform jauhar (self-immolation) if the screening of the film is not stopped by the government.

In a Sarvasamaj meeting held in Chittaurgarh, the members decided to stage a phase-wise protest against the proposed release of film. The meeting was attended by around 500 people, out of which 100 females belonged to high-profile families of the city.

Speaking to IANS, spokesperson of Rajput Karni Sena Virendra Singh said on January 17, national highways and railway tracks across Chittorgarh would be blocked.

The film, already cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after five modifications and renamed from Padmavati to Padmavat and now titled Padmaavat, is scheduled to release on January 25 across India. The Rajasthan government has, however, decided against releasing it in the state.

On Sunday, a delegation of the Sena will meet Rajnath Singh, who is scheduled to visit Udaipur, requesting him to stop the screening of the movie across India.

According to Virendra Singh, a representative board will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, who is scheduled to visit Pachpadra village in Barmer district for laying the foundation stone for a refinery project.

A request will be made to him as well to stop the screening of the film, he said.

But, if despite all these measures the film is released, the women of Kshatriya Samaj will perform jauhar on January 24 -- the day when the queen performed jauhar -- and at the same site, said Virendra Singh.

Chhittaurgarh Jauhar Smriti Sansthan general secretary Bhanwar Singh said that preparations were also being made to close the gates of the historical Chittorgarh fort once again.

Earlier, the Sena had planned a protest on January 25 and 26, but in the wake of Republic Day celebrations, the protest was rescheduled to January 17, Virendra Singh added.With last monsoons scanty rainfall in Madhya Pradesh reducing the Narmada dam reservoirs water storage to its lowest in 15 years, the Gujarat government asked the states farmers to skip the summer sowing, which starts around March.

The decision was taken following the Narmada Control Authoritys (NCA) decision to curtail water supplies to the state by half due to the scanty rainfall.

The Gujarat government, in a statement issued on Friday, said that water storage in the dams under Narmada command area had dropped by 45 per cent this year, following which it had decided to suspend water supplies in the Narmada canal network for irrigation purposes from March 15.

Citing the NCA meeting held on January 10 in New Delhi, the government advisory, quoting Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), said: The NCA had decided to curtail water supplies to the beneficiary states of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

As a result, Gujarat state will get 4.71 million acre feet water from the scheme as against the planned 9 million acre feet. This necessitated curtailment in the Narmada water supplies and store it for drinking purpose.

The SSNNL statement said: We urge the farmers depending on Narmada waters for summer cultivation not to take up sowing, as there will be no water supplies for irrigation from Narmada scheme from March 15. Those, having alternate irrigation facility can make use of that instead.

The statement also said that the Narmada water supply for drinking purposes would not get affected due to the NCA decision.

The state has about 1.5 million hectares under summer cultivation, where some of the major summer crops include sesame, millets, pulses, groundnut and paddy.Violating directives of the Mahadayi Inter-State Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government has re-started work on the Kalsa canal on the river, Goas water resources minister Vinod Palienkar claimed on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Chief Ministers Office said that state chief secretary would be writing to his counterpart in Karnataka asking the latter to immediately stop the work on the canal.

In a statement issued here, Palienkar said the construction by the Karnataka government along Mhadei banks is condemnable as the water dispute case is still to be adjudicated by the central tribunal.

Karnataka has started the construction of head regulator and allied work on the Kalsa nallahs in total disregard of the orders of the tribunal and Supreme Court.

A team of engineers from Goa Water Resources Department visited the site and confirmed the same with photographs. The Goa government is seized of the matter and letters will be sent to Karnataka government on the issue and issue taken up with the Mahadayi tribunal, he said.

Meanwhile, a CMO spokesperson said that chief minister Manohar Parrikar has directed the state chief secretary to write a stern letter to his Karnataka counterpart, asking him to immediately order stopping of the work at Kalsa.

Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are currently involved in a dispute in the tribunal over controversial Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across Mhadei river, through which Karnataka aims to divert water from the Mhadei basin to nearby basin on the Malaprabha river.

Mhadei, also known as the Mandovi river, is considered as a lifeline in the northern parts of the coastal state. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.

The river course is 28.8 km in Karnataka, and over 50 km in Goa.

Parrikars offer last month to discuss river water sharing for drinking purposes on humanitarian grounds had triggered popular protests in both Goa and Karnataka.Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday said his government will not ban Sanjay Leela Bhansalis upcoming film Padmavat in Himachal Pradesh.

There is no ban on the movie. Neither I nor any of my colleague have opined to ban this film, Thakur said.

This comes days after some media organisations claimed that the movie will be banned in the state.

Recently, the chief minister had said that he respects art but one should avoid hurting anyones sentiments. I dont want to say anything else on the matter. We will think what we can do. The film is indeed controversial. I respect art but when it comes to peoples sentiments being hurt, it must be thought about and discussed, he had earlier said.

However, on Saturday, Thakur clarified that his government has no plans to ban the film.

The film has been mired in controversy over conjectures that it distorts history regarding Rajput queen Padmini, a charge that Bhansali has repeatedly denied.

Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film is based on a 16th-century poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. It has been at the centre of controversies for past one year, ever since Bhansali began shooting in January last year in Jaipur.

The director was attacked on the sets and fringe groups demanded a ban on the film. The right-wing protests intensified as the film neared release date, December 2. After many states banned the film, Viacom decided to postpone release.

The Centeral Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had recently suggested modifications in the film. One such modification was to the change the original tittle Padmavati to Padmavat.

Rajputs in Himachal Pradesh comprise nearly 38% of the population. The community has also played an influential role in the states politics. In the 68-member House, 29 legislators are Rajputs. The CM also belongs to the rajput community.

Earlier, some rajput legislators had reportedly conveyed their displeasure and reservations about distortion of historical facts in the film to the CM.

Meanwhile, the state governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have decided to ban the film, even after the modifications suggested by the CBFC.Police on Saturday arrested manager and two other staff of IndusInd Bank in Keonjhar district after they were found transporting Rs 50 lakh in cash in a car to the house of one of the states richest MLAs without proper documents.

They were on their way to independent MLA Sanatan Mahakuds house in the managers car, said Kenojhar superintendent of police Rajesh Pandit.

Manas Rout, manager of the banks Joda branch, sales officer Saroj Behera and gunman Sanatana Pradhan were arrested on charges of abetment to riots, said the SP, alluding to a recent spate of arson and rioting, allegedly by Mahakuds supporters, in the iron ore-rich district of Odisha.

The money was being carried for distribution to carry out more such incidents. The manager did not have any cheques to substantiate the large volume of cash he was transporting, said the SP.

Police said income-tax and enforcement directorate officials would be informed about the seizure.

Since last few weeks, Mahakuds organisation, Sana Sena, has been accused of creating law and order problem in the district. On January 9, Mahakuds supporters allegedly set fire to an office of Debapriya Patra, son of school and mass education minister Badri Patra in Anandpur.

With declared assets worth Rs 51 crore, Mahakud was one of the richest candidates in Odisha in the 2014 assembly elections. His wife Shantilata also has declared assets of Rs 18 crore.

The truck driver turned politician is believed to have made the money during the mining boom in Keonjhar between 2004 and 2008.

Recently, he announced to form a new political partythe Jana Samrudha Party-- and field candidates in all the 147 assembly constituencies in the next Odisha polls.A Pakistani intruder was shot dead by the Border Security Force along the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar sector when he crossed over to the Indian territory, an official said on Saturday.

The Ex-17 battalion of the BSF observed suspicious movement of an intruder at Border Outpost Rear Kakkar about 7:55 pm yesterday.

The troops warned the intruder.

However, he kept on moving towards the border fence in aggressive posture. The BSF troops then opened fire and killed him, a BSF official said.

About 600 Pakistani rupee was recovered from the intruder, he said.

The body of the intruder, about 30 years of age, was handed over to Pakistani Rangers in the evening, the official said.

Last year, in September, BSF had foiled an infiltration bid when it shot dead two armed Pakistani intruders along the Indo-Pak border in Ajnala here. In December, a Pakistani intruder was shot dead in Ajnala sector.Decks have been cleared for the conduct of cockfights in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh during the three-day Sankranti festival beginning Saturday, with the Supreme Court on Friday allowing their customary winter sport in traditional way.

Acting on a special leave petition filed by senior BJP leader and businessman Kanumuri Ramakrishnam Raju from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district, a division bench of the Supreme Court said the interim order issued by it last year was still in force and as such, there was no need to issue any fresh order.

In last years order, the Supreme Court said cockfights could be conducted in a traditional way without tying knives or blades to the legs and wings of the roosters and also without indulging in gambling or betting. The apex court clearly prohibited police authorities from entering the premises of people to confiscate roosters ready for cockfights or arrest the people, Raju said.

The Supreme Court, however, refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh high court order issued last week banning cock-fights during Sankranti this year and asking the Andhra Pradesh police to take penal action against those indulging in cockfights.

We are organising cock fights strictly according to the Supreme Court guidelines. The police can take action if they have any information about gambling or betting or tying of knives and blades to the roosters, Raju said.

State minister for human resources development, Ganta Srinivasa Rao also said that there was nothing wrong in conducting cockfights, as it was a traditional sport in the East and West Godavari districts. We can enjoy the cockfights as long as it does not involve cruelty towards the birds and betting in the name of sport, he said.

Interestingly, officials have promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in East and West Godavari districts on the pretext that there could be large scale betting by the people at the arenas of cockfights where people assemble.

This is ridiculous. Sankranti is a festival where all families staying in different parts of the country come to their native villages and gather at one place. Will the police arrest all of them? Raju asked.

He pointed out that nearly 30 policemen were posted at the residence of his friend who had invited his friends and relatives for breakfast on Saturday morning, suspecting that there could be cockfights there. This is nothing but infringing into our privacy and also spoiling the festive atmosphere, Raju alleged.

The Humane Society International (HSI) India, which has been fighting against the cockfights, in a statement said irrespective of whether the birds were fitted with knives or whether ancillary activities of betting, gambling take place, the practice of animal fights is prohibited by law.

The courts have time and again upheld this prohibition on cockfights, and asked the people to report to the nearest police station if they come across any cockfights in their area.Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Saturday the upcoming assembly polls in the state would be a battle between two ideologies -- communalism and secularism.

He also denied that there was an anti-incumbency factor for the Congress and said the party would retain power in the southern state by winning the polls with a comfortable majority.

Siddaramaiah was in the national capital to discuss the partys poll preparedness and strategy at a meeting called by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, which lasted for about three-and-a-half hours.

Gandhi is scheduled to launch the first leg of his partys poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10. The state is expected to go to the polls in March-April.

This (election) will not be a battle between me and (BS) Yeddyurappa. It will not be a contest between me and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. It will be a battle of two ideologies -- secularism and communalism, Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting.

Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara, working presidents SR Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the partys Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal were also present at the meeting, besides senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K Rahman Khan, KH Muniyappa, Oscar Fernandes and Veerappa Moily.

This was the first meeting called by the Congress president on the Karnataka polls after last months Gujarat assembly election.

Siddaramaiah said the partys poll preparedness was reviewed in detail at the meeting and its strategy chalked out.

He (Gandhi) is very happy with the functioning of the party (in Karnataka) and the (state) government. Our government is not facing any anti-incumbency. We will win the upcoming polls with a comfortable majority, he added.

Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress had not only honoured all the promises it had made in its manifesto for the previous state polls, but even some of the programmes not in the manifesto were implemented.

Therefore, the chances of winning are very high and I am confident that the party will come back to power again, he said.

Claiming that the BJP had no poll agenda for the state, Siddaramaiah said, They (BJP leaders) are raising irrelevant issues in Karnataka. That will not work.

Even the Hindutva issue raised by BJP president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath were not a matter of concern for the Congress, he claimed.

They (BJP) are following (Hindutva) sans humanity. Being a Hindu myself, I follow it with humanity, Siddaramaiah said.

Venugopal said senior leaders had assured the party president that they would work in unity and win the upcoming Karnataka polls.

The BJP is trying to polarise the people because they have no other slogan or programme. Similarly, other parties are also up to some mischief or the other. But the Congress party is confident of winning the polls, he added.The police in Bengaluru have discovered at least two instances of criminals using SIM cards  obtained through the Aadhaar authentication of someone else  to avoid being tracked down by the officers hunting for them.

In both cases, the police said, the dealers kept the Aadhaar details of those applying for a SIM and issuing SIM cards to some unknown people.

Some network operators offer up to 10 SIM cards to a person after identifying his or her Aadhaar details. Police said that the dealers used this policy to obtain the SIM cards fraudulently.

While investigating the case of missing techie Ajitabh Kumar, the police found that the last person to contact him on December 18 used a phone having an Aadhaar-authenticated SIM card, registered in someone elses name.

The person had contacted Kumar to buy his car, which was put on sale through an online portal.

When we tried to trace the phone number of the buyer registered on the site the trail led us to another person who had never purchased such a SIM, a police officer said, adding that his biometric authentication for the Reliance Jio SIM was recorded.

When questioned, the person told police that he had visited the store but never purchased any SIM.

This person, who is illiterate, was asked to provide biometric authentication by the dealer. However, that person did not get the SIM, and the dealer has confessed to having sold it for Rs 1,000 to some unknown person, the officer said, refusing to divulge more details of the Sim card dealer as the missing techie is yet to be found.

A Reliance Jio spokesperson said the biometric authentication system followed by the company was very secure and any malpractice was easy to detect. We follow a two-step authentication process for SIM card purchases where the dealer and the buyer both provide their biometrics. In this way, we can track down the dealer if any malpractice has occurred, the spokesperson said.

In the second case, a gang of 10 robbers had allegedly got SIM cards using similar modus operandi a day before they committed dacoity in house of one Mahadevaiah in Bengaluru last August.

A senior police officer said the SIM was registered in the name of Chandraiah, who had purchased a SIM from the dealer, Praveen, by giving him a photocopy of his Aadhar letter. The dealer made multiple photocopies of the card and registered SIM cards in Chandraiahs name, the officer said.

While Praveen has been booked for abetting the crime, police are worried about the potential misuse of the policy to issue multiple SIM cards for one Aadhaar authentication.Four judges of the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the chief justice on Friday, alleging one of countrys most admired institutions was in danger. The Indian Army chief said the country must focus on its northern borders and warned China that India was not weak. US President Donald Trump denied using vulgar language about Haiti and countries in Africa, but that did little to improve his image. These were the top stories on Friday. Here is more about them.

Supreme Court judges in public spat with Chief Justice

Four justices of the Supreme Court criticised the chief justice for the way cases were distributed to judges and raised concerns about judicial appointments, in an unprecedented public airing of problems at one of the countrys most respected institutions. Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Bhimrao Lokur and Kurian Joseph claimed democracy in the country would be endangered if the Supreme Court was not set right.

India sends its 100th satellite into space

India launched its 100th satellite on Friday as the country seeks to project itself as a global low-cost provider of services in space. A total of 31 small satellites were launched into space. More than half of the micro and nano satellites were for the Unites States, and the remainder India, Canada, Finland, France, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Issue of Judge BH Loyas death serious: Supreme Court

Allegations made about the death of BH Loya, a special CBI judge who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, are a serious matter, said the Supreme Court on Friday as it asked the Maharashtra government to submit his autopsy report before it by January 15. The court also sought the states response on petitions seeking an independent probe into Loyas death.

Donald Trump uses vulgar language for Haiti, African countries

US President Donald Trump used vulgar language to question why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa rather than places like Norway, as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation. As protests grew, Trump denied he had used the words.

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat addresses a press conference in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

China strong, but India is not weak: Army chief

India will not allow its territory to be invaded and China should not consider it weak, Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said. China is a powerful country but we are not a weak nation, Rawat said. The focus has to shift to the northern borders (with China). We have focused too long on the western side (bordering Pakistan), he said.

NRI arrested for molesting US woman at Delhi five star hotel

A non-resident Indian was arrested for allegedly molesting an American woman at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri, the diplomatic enclave in New Delhi. Anmol Singh Kharbanda, 25, and the 52-year-old woman were guests staying in different rooms of the Taj Diplomatic Enclave (earlier known as Taj Palace). The woman alleges Kharbanda invited her to his room, molested her and tried to sedate her.

Nepal ends Indias monopoly on internet access with new Chinese link

Nepal ended Indias monopoly on internet access on Friday by opening a new optical fibre link across the Himalayan mountains to China. Landlocked Nepal was till Friday dependent on India for access to the worldwide web through connections for which it pays a substantial sum as fees and royalties. Nepals new deal reflects Chinas growing engagement in a region seen as Indias backyard.

Nitish Kumars convoy pelted with stones in Dalit village

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was unhurt when people of a Dalit village in Buxar district threw stones at his convoy, leaving about a dozen police officials injured and half a dozen vehicles damaged. Kumar was on a tour to review the development plans of his government, but the people of Nandan panchayat say they have got no help.

ICICI Bank says malware in mobile app not a threat

ICICI Bank on Friday admitted its mobile banking application had a malware, but said customers were safe. The admission comes days after Quickheal, a Pune-based cyber security firm, warned lenders of the presence of a malware in the mobile banking apps running on operating system Android.

Homeless mans account of living on streets of Paris takes Twitter by storm

Christian Page, a French homeless man, has become a social media sensation, chalking up nearly 20,000 followers on Twitter with his account of life on the streets of Paris. Page was the head waiter in a ritzy restaurant in the posh Madeleine district of the French capital before becoming homeless after a divorce that tipped him into depression.Justice Ranjan Gogoi is to take over as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) after justice Dipak Misra retires in October this year.

But after Fridays attack on Misra by a group of four judges, including Gogoi, questions are being asked whether the latter has hurt his prospects of being made the CJI.

Justice Gogoi, accompanied by three other senior judges of the apex court, levelled various allegations of abuse of power and bench-fixing by the incumbent CJI. There is no specific provision in the Constitution on the appointment of the Chief Justice of India. Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the manner of appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.

However, it has now been the norm for decades to appoint the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as the CJI.

Conventionally, it is the outgoing CJI who recommends to the President of India the name of the senior-most judge for appointment as his successor.

In theory, Misra can recommend someone else over Gogoi, especially if he claims the latters behaviour has affected the image of the Supreme Court.

Still, it is a discretionary power that no CJI has exercised before. Indeed, any move to supersede or break the established line of succession in the apex court has come from the government rather from the institution itself.

The first incident of break from the established tradition in appointing the CJI came in 1973 when justice AN Ray was made the CJI superseding three judges. In 1977, Justice HR Khanna was the lone dissenting judge on a Supreme Court bench that ruled in favour of the government in a key case during the Emergency (1975-77). The case concerned the powers of the state during Emergency.

Khanna paid the price for his dissent when he was superseded by justice MH Beg for the post of Chief Justice by the Indira Gandhi government. He later resigned.The petitions demanding an independent probe into judge BH Loyas death are unlikely to be taken up by the Supreme Court on Monday as one of the two judges who heard the matter on Friday is not available.

As per a Supreme Court notice, justice Arun Misra, who heads the bench, will take up chamber matters because justice MN Shantagoudar will not sit on Monday. The cases listed for a hearing that day will get deferred to January 16.

Judge Loyas case is seen as a flashpoint and the reason for the judges of the top court to publicly accuse the Chief Justice of India for selectively allocating sensitive matters to benches of his choice. Loya died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleagues daughter. He was then hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties.

A Mumbai-based journalist, BR Lone, and social activist Tehseen Poonawalla have filed the petition for impartial probe into the death.

It is said the four judges had tried to persuade the CJI on Friday morning to delete and reassign the cases that were listed before the judge  ranked 10th in terms of seniority. The judges decided to address the media after they were told it was not possible to meet their demand at the last moment.

Warning that democracy was at stake, the four senior judges admitted one of the concerns they had was with regard to allocation of judge Loyas case.

Four of us went to the CJI today with a request that a particular thing is not in order and it should be rectified. Despite our request, he did not do anything, justice J Chelameswar told the mediapersons on Friday, without mentioning the Loya case. When asked whether this request was in connection with the Loya case, his colleague justice Ranjan Gogoi admitted that it was.

After hearing the petitions briefly on Friday, justice Misras bench had asked the counsel for Maharashtra to get instructions. No formal notice was issued to the state. The court heard the petitioners despite being informed that Bombay HC was looking into it.A case was registered on Saturday against popular Tamil film lyricist Vairamuthu for his alleged remarks against a Hindu goddess at a function recently.

The case was registered in Rajapalayam against Vairamuthu based on a complaint from a Hindu Munnani functionary, police said, adding that investigation is on.

A row had erupted after the national award-winning lyricist had reportedly made the comments against Hindu goddess Andal at a function.

The complainant Suri stated that devotees of Sri Andal were hurt by the poets remarks, police said.Jallikattu is all set to be a much safer sport this year, thanks to strict regulations, tight security and thorough health check-ups put in place by the government.

These bull-taming events are held for nearly six months every year, kicking off on Pongal. Six-member Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) teams have been visiting various Jallikattu venues to ensure that the bulls are not ill-treated. The practice of weeding out unfit participants from the contests has been welcomed by everybody from organisers to spectators descending on Aviniapuram, Palamedu and Alanganallur  the three main Jallikattu venues in the state.

Aviniapuram kicks off its leg of the bull-taming sport on Sunday. Nearly half a kilometre of the stretch leading up to the bull-collection point has been barricaded to ensure that spectators are not harmed. No vehicle or person will be allowed onto the bulls path.

Workers prepare spectator stands for Jallikattu events. (Moses Abishek / HT Photo)

Public interest in the sport has increased manifold, mostly due to last years statewide agitation for its revival. The Allanganallur Jallikattu committee has already received Rs 10 lakh in donations, and people in Palamedu are also pitching in. Local sponsors offer prizes ranging from gold coins to consumer durables and two-wheelers. Allanganallur  hailed as the Mecca of Jallikattu celebrations  witnessed a police lathi-charge on Friday, after huge crowds tried to break into the player registration office.

Ranjit Pandian, a 35-year-old software engineer settled in Bengaluru, figured among the successful candidates. With 15 years of bull-taming experience under his belt, he will first face the bulls at Aviniapuram, followed by Palamedu and  lastly  Alangannallur.

It is purely out of passion for the sport that I have come here, said Pandian, who is regarded as a bull-tamer of repute. I will participate at Aviniyapuram, Palemedu and few other events before heading back to Bengaluru.

Workers set up spectator stands for Jallikattu events. (Moses Abishek / HT Photo)

Though Pandian believes that the new rules and regulations will only help the sport, he hopes the authorities will also take steps to cut through the red tape. It would help greatly if they established a centralised registration system and permitted certified bull tamers to bypass the most basic formalities, the Jallikattu enthusiast said.

Meanwhile, many families steeped in the bull-taming tradition are exuberant about winning back their right to participate in the sport. N Thangavelu may be 67, but he never lets age come between him and his passion for the sport.

Proudly displaying all the scars and fracture marks on his body from past encounters with rampaging bovines, he says: Just transporting my bulls to distant places costs a minimum of Rs 5,000, and  on top of that  theres all the special feed I end up buying. My children wonder why I spend over a lakh rupees on Jallikattu every year. The thing is  my prize-winning animals fetch me recognition. I am well known across Tamil Nadu as Palemedu Maattukaran (bull-owner from Palemedu).

Ranjit Pandian (right), a software engineer, will take part in a Jallikattu event at Alanganallur. (Moses Abishek / HT Photo)

Meanwhile, the bulls are being groomed for the big event too. Their owners put them through rigorous training and exercise sessions, which include running and swimming.

SR Ramar, a 50-year-old milkman from Avaniapuram, regards a bull handed to him by his late father as his most prized possession. He says the 23-year-old animal  lovingly referred to as Arulu  has won over 200 prizes in competitions through the years. Why, even the cot I sleep on was won by my Arulu! Ramar exclaims.

Meanwhile, Madurai collector K Veera Raghava Rao claimed that this edition of Jallikattu would be a safe affair. Around 1,000 players and an equal number of bulls have been registered for the events at the three villages, but not all of them will be allowed in, he said. Another round of medical tests will be held on the day of the event, and those failing it will be sent out.

Workers set up spectator stands for Jallikattu events. (Moses Abishek / HT Photo)

Rao said local audit committees will constantly monitor the event through CCTV cameras. The number of bulls and players will also be strictly regulated to ensure minimal chances of injury. While 50 bulls will be released per hour at Alangannallur, 100 will be allowed in that duration in the larger Palamedu arena. A maximum of 75 tamers will be allowed at a time, he added.

There will be ten teams of medical personnel in place at each venue, besides an equal number of ambulances and four mobile health squads. Ten teams of veterinarian doctors will also be deployed to ensure timely aid for the animals.

Four fire tenders and around 5,000 policemen would also be deployed to prevent untoward incidents. The events will be held from 9am to 3pm, with no possibility of being extended.The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday demanded Karnataka to release at least 15 tmcft of Cauvery water for saving its crops, but the neighbouring state maintained that it did not have enough water.

In a letter to his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah, Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami demanded an immediate release of 7 tmcft of water and the balance within a fortnight from the existing storage.

As per the 2007 order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Tamil Nadu has to receive 192 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water every year as its share from the Cauvery river. It has only received 111.647 tmcft as on January 9 at Biligundulu as against the due of 179.871 tmcft, leaving a deficit of 68.224 tmcft.

When asked about the Tamil Nadu governments demand, Siddaramaiah said, We do not have water. How can we supply to them? It is not possible to release water to Tamil Nadu.

The Karnataka chief minister was in the national capital to attend a meeting called by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The hearing on the Cauvery water dispute is scheduled for next month.

We expect a favourable order, Siddaramaiah added.

Last week, the Supreme Court had indicated that it would deliver within a month its verdict on the decades-old Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, saying enough confusion had been created on it for over two decades.

In the letter, Palaniswami said there was a deficit in realisation of its share of Cauvery water this year (2017-18).

He said the storage in Mettur reservoir in Salem district, which caters to the Cauvery delta region, as on January 12 was a meagre 21.27 tmcft even as the utilisable storage there was 16.27 tmcft.

This was grossly inadequate to meet the irrigation needs of standing crops and drinking water needs during summer months, he said.

The AIADMK leader said the crop season in Karnataka was already over and that its gross storage in four major reservoirs in Cauvery basin stood at about 49.82 tmcft as on January 12.

After reserving the minimum needs of drinking water supply and perennial crops, Karnataka can release at least 15 tmcft to Tamil Nadu to make up a part of the shortfall, he said in the letter.

This water is required to meet the crucial needs of the standing crops in the Cauvery delta, the Tamil Nadu chief minister asserted.

He also urged Siddaramaiah to instruct the officers concerned to release 7 tmcft of water immediately and the balance within a fortnight from the existing storage for saving the standing crops.

This should be done taking into consideration the plight of a large number of farmers of the delta who depend on the success of their crop to meet their livelihood, he said.

Extending Makara Sankaranthi greetings to Siddaramiah and to the people of Karnataka, Palaniswami said that in this irrigation year (2017-18), Mettur reservoir could be opened only on October 2, 2017 as against the normal date of June 12.

Though the Samba crop cultivation commenced soon after and the rainfall due to the north east monsoon was helpful in the beginning, its intensity became heavy and destructive by October end last year, he said.

The young crop could not withstand the onslaught of such rainfall and got damaged to a considerable extent. The farmers of the Cauvery delta had to replant the crop, as a result of which the crop period got extended.

These standing crops need irrigation in the critical stage of crop growth maturity, namely, milky and dough stage, for which the irrigation has to be extended beyond January, 2018, he said.

At this instance, I would like to point out that the farmers of Cauvery delta lost their crop last year, 2016-17, due to deficit inflows into Mettur reservoir, Palaniswami added.Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha asked BJP leaders and Union ministers on Saturday to take a cue from the four Supreme Court judges to get rid of their fear and speak up for democracy.

The rebel BJP leader also likened the prevailing situation in the country with the Emergency between 1975 and 1977, and expressed concern about the government convening short sessions of Parliament.

In an unprecedented move, four SC judges had on Friday held a press conference to air their differences with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra.

Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior cabinet ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up, he said.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician insisted that democracy was under threat if Parliament was compromised and the Supreme Court was not in order. If four senior most Supreme Court judges say democracy is under threat, we have to take their words very seriously, he added.

He said when four senior most SC judges have gone public, it was no longer an internal matter of the court and it was imperative for every concerned citizen to raise her voice.

Citing the four judges comments that sensitive cases were assigned by CJI to particular benches, he said it must be clarified which were these cases. He added that it was anyway clear like sunlight that which cases were being talked about.

It is obvious that attempts have been made to manage some sensitive cases, he alleged, adding corrective actions must be taken. People should be told which are these cases.In what doctors are calling nothing short of a miracle, a youth who had been kidnapped five days back, had his head smashed with a stone, trussed up and thrown into a 500 feet deep gorge near Indore, was found alive on Friday.

Mridul (20) alias Manu Bhalla of Shahgarh, Sagar, is now recuperating at Indores Bombay Hospital where his condition is said to be stable.

According to police, Mridul was studying BCA in Indore and living in a rented apartment in Clerk Colony, Pardeshipura, with his friend Saurabh Sen. He went missing on January 7.

Initially, Pardeshipura police had not been very serious when Saurabh and his friends approached the police on Monday, but when Mriduls father Mohit Bhalla, came down from Sagar a day later, police took up the case seriously.

On the basis of CCTV footage and call details and with the help of some witnesses, police arrested Akash Ratnakar and his two accomplices Rohit alias Piyush and Vijay, all from Indore and in their early twenties.

During questioning, Akash said that he was in love with a girl living near Mridul and suspected that the latter was trying to woo his girlfriend. Apparently, the two were chatting late into the night. So, Akash along with his two friends conspired to kill Mridul. On Sunday morning Akash took his brothers car and called Mridul saying that the girls uncle wanted to talk to him.

They managed to get Mridul to accompany them in the car and took him to nearby jungles of Muara Ghat on the Pedmi-Udainagar road, some 35 km from Indore. They first overpowered Mridul, smashed his head with a stone, tied him up and then thinking that he was dead, threw him into a deep gorge.

ASP Prashant Chaube said that the kidnappers had said that they had killed Mridul.

While Akash works as a driver for a doctor, Rohit works as a iron fabricator and Vijay is a electrician.

Doctors attending to Mridul said at the time he was found his pulse rate was down to 46 and was suffering from hypothermia and his body had nearly run out of glucose. It is a miracle that he is alive, Dr Ravi Baghel, who was attending him, was quoted as saying in local media.

Mriduls father Mohit said that he had given up his son as dead and had also told his relatives, many of whom had come to Indore. I am thankful to God that he is alive, he was quoted in the local media.Resentment is building up in Rajasthan against the BJP governments decision to handover 300 schools to private players on a pilot basis. Villagers across the state are staging sit-ins outside schools to be given on public private partnership (PPP) mode.

At some places villagers are taking to novel ways to express their opposition to the government decision. In Bikaner district villagers have put locks on gates of all seven schools to be given to private players.

In Chuvasa village of Sikar district villagers and school children recreated the Chipko movement of Uttarkhand by clinging to the walls of the senior secondary school to oppose privatisation.

Under the Policy for Public Private Partnership in School Education 2015 that was notified on September 12, 2017, the government has identified 300 schools to be given on a pilot basis to private partners through a competitive bidding process.

Private parties will be free to appoint teaching and non-teaching staff. Government teachers will be adjusted in other government schools.

Villagers, activists and teachers associations are criticising the government for abandoning its responsibility to provide education and for handing over its land and resources to private parties.

At the Rajkiya Balika Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Raisar, in Bikaner district 350 km west of Jaipur, villagers have locked school gates since the past five days.

The school has 240 students and 21 teachers and facilities like classrooms, benches, lights, fans, toilets and water coolers.

Former sarpanch Narayan Singh said the school has recorded good results between 80% and 90% in the past three years.

If the facilities and the quality of education is good then why should this school be given on PPP mode? he asked. The private parties will increase fee and employ poorly trained teachers.

The scene is similar at the Rajkiya Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Nokha. The school with 329 students 13 teachers has good infrastructure.

Shiv Karan Vishnoi, a shopkeeper whose children have studied in the school, said, Villagers have provided facilities, we wont let it go to private parties who will charge hefty fee. Then where will our children go?

Ramniwas Bishnoi, an advocate who along with seven other philanthropists gave Rs 37 lakh for upgrading school infrastructure such as five rooms, lights, fans, tables chairs, a water tank, said there were 150 students from Dalit community.

How will the poor students afford school if the private party charges high fee?

The common refrain among villagers is that if the government is concerned about improving quality, why werent schools chosen in remote locations that face shortage of teachers and facilities.

At the Shahid Surjaram government secondary school in Deeppura-Rajaji village, 130 km east of Jaipur, villagers have been sitting on a dharna since a month.

The school has 251 students and 14 teachers. The school is named after Surjaram Jat, an alumnus who was martyred in Srinagar in 2000.

The schools 15 rooms have been added over the years by the villagers, said headmaster Pratap Singh Burdak. He claims even private school schools are shifting here.

Villagers provide school uniforms and sweaters to students and have contributed for other facilities. Why is it being given to private players when it is doing well? asked Parmeshwar Dhakad whose niece studies in class 7.

CPI (M) leader and former MLA Amraram accuses the government of facilitating land grab by corporate. They are giving away resources to corporate. In many instances, land and other facilities for schools have been donated by businessmen, villagers or other philanthropists.

There are around 80,000 government schools in Rajasthan with some 3 lakh teachers. Over the years government schools in Rajasthan have been plagued by poor quality of education, low enrolments, high dropout rate, lack of teachers and infrastructure and staff absenteeism.

The BJP government claims it has improved quality of education by setting up Adarsh schools, rationalising postings of teachers and increased enrolment in government schools by 17 lakh in the last four years.

Ram Krishan Agarwal, president of the All Rajasthan School Teachers Union, said: If the government claims it has improved its schools, then why the need to privatise? It will deny education to the underprivileged students. It is the governments responsibility to provide education.

School education minister Vasudev Devnani insisted that no good government schools are being given and students will continue to get facilities like free uniforms, text-books and mid-day meals.

We are trying this on a pilot basis. The private partner will be given management of the school for 10 years to improve education, he said.Around 10,000 defence personnel posted away from their homes will be able to cast their votes through electronic ballot in the upcoming by-elections in Rajasthan.

With the use of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot (ETPBS), voters will receive downloadable postal ballot through mobile/e-mail and will have to take a printout. The votes cast on the printed ballots would be sent to the returning officer through post.

The system was used on a pilot project basis in the recent Gujarat elections. It will be used in all the three seats (in Rajasthan) where by-elections are being held, an election commission official said.

By-elections to Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh assembly segment are scheduled for January 29 and the votes will be counted on February 1.

The ETPBS system will save time as paper ballots which were used previously was proving to be time-consuming at times and were causing delay.

C-DAC, a government of India undertaking, has developed the ETPBS delivery system, wherein, the service voters will be receiving the downloadable postal ballot through two-layer secure electronic medium that is secured one time password (OTP) for downloading the encrypted files sent through mobile/e-mail and the system generated unique personal identification number (PIN) for decrypting and printing each and every single postal ballot to the individual service voter.

Fifty-five candidates are in the fray for the by-elections to two Lok Sabha seats and one assembly constituency after scrutiny of nomination papers.

Nominations of 15 candidates from Alwar, 26 from Ajmer and 14 from Mandalgarh were found valid, the state chief electoral office said on Friday.

Congresss Karan Singh Yadav, BJPs Jaswant Singh Yadav and 13 others, including 11 Independents, are eligible to fight the by-election from the Alwar parliamentary constituency, it said.

In Ajmer, nominations of Ramswaroop Lamba of the BJP, the Congresss Raghu Sharma and 24 others, including 21 Independents, have been found valid, the CEO office said.

BJP candidate Shakti Singh, Vivek Dhakad of the Congress and 12 Independents will be contesting in the Mandalgarh assembly by-poll, it said.

The exact number of candidates, however, can be ascertained on January 15, the last day for withdrawing nomination papers.Violence broke out in Karma Bazar area of Allahabad on Friday after a Hindu youth was stabbed by a Muslim man and his six accomplices, following a scuffle over collecting grass.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Akash Kulhari said when one Nadeem, resident of the area, tried to collect dried grass from Subhash Patels house on Thursday night for a bonfire, Subhashs son, Dharmendra, objected to it.

There was a scuffle between the two but police, who were informed about the clash, intervened and stopped the fight.

On Friday morning, Dharmendra was at a tea stall when Nadeem and his accomplices attacked and stabbed him in the stomach, the SSP said.

Police try to pacify agitating locals at Karma Bazaar in Ghurpur on Friday. (HT PHOTO)

Soon people from both communities confronted each other with sticks and rods, but the timely arrival of police averted a communal clash. While the attackers escaped, their supporters also left the scene.

Angered over the attack on Dharmendra, his kin and fellow villagers resorted to a road blockade and demanded the arrest of the accused.

When police tried to remove the protesters from the road, they attacked them with stones and sticks. The SSP said police had to fire shots in the air to restore order.

Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Karchhana, Raja Ganpati suffered injuries in his leg after he fell down from a wall during the ruckus. Some cops also suffered injuries in the stone-pelting by the villagers, he said.

Dharmendra was admitted to SRN Hospital and his condition is said to be stable, the SSP said.

A street strewn with stones and bricks after a mob pelted stones at police demanding the arrest of a person of another community who allegedly stabbed their kin, in Karma Bazar area of Allahabad. (HT PHOTO)

In the stabbing case, FIR has been lodged against seven persons. Five of them have been nabbed and raids were being carried out to nab the other two. Also, those involved in stone pelting and rioting will also be identified and booked, the SSP added.

The SSP, along with policemen and Rapid Action Force, took out a flag march to ensure peace in the area.In a housing society in Vile Parle, the Multani community celebrated a very different Lohri on Saturday.

The Multanis , a trading community from Multan in southern Punjab, in present-day Pakistan, moved to Mumbai during Partition. We do not celebrate Lohri as a harvest festival. We celebrate our trade, share the goods we trade  mainly silverware, cloth and cutlery, says Sudhir Khanna, 76, president of the Shri Multan Seva Samiti.

Lohri is celebrated across northern India with feasts of sarson ka saag, puffed rice and sweetmeats of sesame, jaggery and groundnut. Multan is an arid region; we dont traditionally have a lot of vegetables. So our special Lohri food is a spicy mix of seven vegetables  a rare treat, says Mahesh Nagpal, 75, secretary of the Samiti. We also feast on sugarcane juice.

A large bonfire is lit and celebrants walk around it thrice, chanting and making offerings of gulal to their deity, Narsimha, a part-man-part-lion incarnation of the Hindu deity Vishnu.

There is one Multani priest in Mumbai, who knows each of the families of the 1,000 Multanis in the city.

The culture lives on through the priest and the elderly. Most youngsters call themselves Punjabi, although our culture is different, adds Nagpal. Nishant Chawla, 25, a public relations executive, says, I tell people Im Punjabi. My family doesnt speak the language at all.

A monthly community bulletin with details of events and recipes keeps them united, and helps with match-making.The police may initiate action against more people for allegedly shielding three owners of the pub 1Above, who were arrested in connection with the December 29 Kamala Mills fire that claimed 14 lives.

Kripesh Sanghvi and his brother Jigar Sanghvi - on the run since the fire broke out - were arrested from a hotel in Bandra late on Wednesday. Abhijeet Mankar, their partner, was arrested early on Thursday morning. The police stated they are investigating how the accused managed to escape for more than 10 days. We are investigating who aided the trio to remain at large, said a police officer privy to the investigation. The investigations are to check where they stayed and who all were helping them.

Earlier, the police had arrested Vishal Kariya, a hotelier, for allegedly giving shelter to the Sanghvi brothers and Mankar. The 1Above owners have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other offences under the Indian Penal Code. The police tracked the mobile numbers the owners were using after Kariya shared the information during questioning.

A fire broke out in Mojos Bistro and spread to the adjoining 1Above, killing 14 people and injuring 55 others. While a co-owner of Mojo Bistro, Yug Pathak is in jail, his partner Yug Tuli is still on the run.The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested seven members of the proscribed outfit Communist Party of India (Maoists) from Mumbai and Kalyan.

The CPI (Maoists) has been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Based on a tip-off that a suspected member of the Maoist cadre was arriving at Kalyan station from Andhra Pradesh, a team of ATS officials captured one person in Kalyan and detained him for enquiry.

During the enquiry, he revealed that he and his colleagues were working for the Maoist outfit from Kamrajnagar in Mumbai.

Six others were arrested from Kamrajnagar, Vikhroli (East), Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, and Dombivli (East). The ATS also recovered incriminating documents of the banned outfit from their homes.

The accused told the ATS officials that the seven operated from Maharashtra and Gujarat to propagate their idealogy in the industrial belt. According to the officials, the main accused was also in touch with left-wing extremist cadres from various forest divisions.

They were produced before a court and remanded in custody till January 16.Always ask a policemen to show you his badge or identity card before complying with his orders. Men posing as cops have been duping senior citizens in the city, said police.

In two separate cases, 61-year-old homemaker Mumtaz Anvar Premani and 68-year-old Prabhakar Gundekar were allegedly duped of cash and valuables by fake police at St John Baptist Road in Bandra (West). Police have not managed to nab the accused in either case.

Premani withdrew Rs2 lakh from a Bank of India branch at 11 am on Tuesday, when an unidentified man approached her, saying he was a policeman and could help her count the cash. The accused pocketed Rs68,000 during the counting process and fled. Premani realised she had been duped when she counted the money once again, said senior inspector Pandit Thakare, Bandra police station. She then approached the Bandra police, who filed a case.

The second incident occurred at the same time on Wednesday. An unidentified man posing as a cop approached Gundekar and asked him to remove his gold ornaments so he could frisk him.

Gundekar removed his gold chain and gold ring, which the accused wrapped in a plastic bag and put in his pocket, said an officer. The accused left before Gundekar could realise that he had not given him his gold back. We are examining CCTV camera footage, said Thakare.The family and friends of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) deputy general manager Pankaj Garg fondly remember him a gentleman who was a workaholic. Fifty-year-old Garg was among five senior ONGC employees, along with two pilots on-board the Pawan Hans helicopter that crashed in to the Arabian sea on Saturday morning.

The five officers work at three different bases located in ONGCs north field.

They usually dont work on Saturdays, but were called in this time as there was some important work. The helicopter was to drop them at three different platforms  water injection north (WIN), Mumbai north high (MHN) and NQO, said an ONGC official, who did not wish to be identified.

A Kalina resident, Garg is survived by two daughters  engineering student Rashi, 19, and Class 3 student Ojaswi, 6  and his wife Anjali, a homemaker. Members of his society said the family moved there 15 years ago.

He was a fine gentleman who would talk to everyone politely and took part in every activity whenever he was available, said N L Shetty, chairman of Silver Square Society.

I met him just two days ago and asked him to become a committee member of the society. He responded with hearty laughter, Shetty added. Members of the society said that Garg left for work late on Friday, and news of accident came as a shock the next morning.

He was a workaholic. Since his work involved overseeing operations at offshore ONGC bases, he would get a call even in the dead of night, and a car would be waiting outside for him, said Joy Francis, secretary of the society.

Friends said that his funeral is likely to take place on Sunday as Gargs father, a resident of Azamgargh, and Anjalis parents who live in Varanasi, will only be able to reach the city by then.

Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle, issued a statement saying six bodies were brought in late on Saturday, all of which were in a very poor condition.

A representative of the hospital said the bodies will be transferred to the Cooper Post Mortem Centre after the medico-legal cases have been completed.

We will ensure that the post mortems are completed overnight and the bodies are handed over to the families immediately, unless they request otherwise. The families are in a state of shock and a further delay might inconvenience them further, said doctors from Cooper Post Mortem centre.In a huge haul of foreign currency, three Mumbra residents were arrested on Saturday at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) with US dollars worth Rs1.72 crore.

The trio was held before they could board a flight to Dubai. This is the highest seizure at a single time since the past one year, said a senior Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officer of the Mumbai Customs. The accused have been identified as Moin Shaikh, Nizamuddin Shaikh and Anam Shaikh, all aged between 25 to 30. The youngsters are carriers and were working for as less as Rs10,000 each for smuggling the currency, the officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, the trio was intercepted after they checked-in at the airport. A search resulted in the recovery of US $ 2,75,000, equivalent to Rs1.72 crore. Out of the total currency recovered, Moin and Nizamuddin had kept $5,000 (Rs3.17 lakh) each in their pockets. The rest was kept in 10 tins of cosmetics and food products kept in their checked-in luggage. The tins were resealed properly, said the officer.

The AIU stated that the accused spoke decent English and were wearing good clothes. Authorities suspect the currency was being taken to Dubai to purchase goods for smuggling them back to the country. Among many products, gold and iPhone are the most sought after for smuggling. We are investigating in detail the purpose of taking so much currency abroad, said the officer.

AIU officers are investigating about the masterminds behind the smuggling and suspect more people may be involved in the crime. The accused had purchased tickets in an expensive flight and had previously been employed in call centres and the electronic business in the past. We are trying to reach the kingpin, said the officer.

According to the AIU, some of these syndicates deploy carriers -- young men and women lured with promises of free international travel and money.A male leopard attacked six residents after straying into a society in Nanepada, Mulund (East) early on Saturday. The forest department and police conducted a four-hour-long rescue operation, following which a team from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) tranquillised the animal.

Savitha Khute, 30; Balaji Kamte, 40; Kistamma Hanumanta Palle, 40; Ganesh Pujari, 44; and Suresh Basutkar, 50; were taken to Sion Hospital, where they are said to be stable.

Doctors said they suffered scratches and minor cuts. We have discharged a few and will send the rest home at the end of the day, said the casualty medical officer, Sion Hospital. Residents said Sunita Sonawane, 35, who also suffered minor injuries was treated at a local clinic.

Residents said the leopard was first spotted around 6.30am outside Matruchaya Housing Society, which is 3 km from SGNP. He attacked two men, before moving closer to the housing societies, said Pallavi Udekar, who lives in Vaastu Building.

Khute said she opened the door at 7.15am on hearing commotion outside her house. The minute I stepped outside, I saw people looking at my house. Suddenly a large animal growled, pounced on me, and dug his nails and teeth into my back and legs, said Khute. My neighbours made a lot of noise and tried to help, after which the leopard ran off. This was possibly the most fearful morning of my life, she said.

Her husband Dhananjay said the big cat moved towards the Matruchaya Housing Society after attacking his wife. Pujari was one of several residents who had stepped out of their homes. The leopard attacked him on his head. As residents ran for their lives, the leopard made its way into Pujaris ground-floor house, and stayed there until he was tranquillised, said Dhananjay.

Forest officials said more than a 100 people were part of the rescue operation, which started by 8.15 am.

It was difficult to control the crowd as hundreds had gathered. There was a lot of confusion and we needed to ascertain exactly where the animal was, said Jitendra Ramgaokar, deputy conservator of forest, Thane forest range. The SGNP rescue team located the leopard, after which we ensured that the buildings exits and alleyways were blocked. We also kept the crowd at bay.

He added that the animal was tranquillised, put on a saline drip, and taken to SGNP. The animals health will now be monitored, he said.

The leopard kept charging towards me from the window but we stayed patient and waited for the right moment to tranquillise him. He is now sedated and will be kept at a quarantined location at the parks rescue centre, said Dr Shailesh Pethe, veterinarian.

Forest officials said leopards have been spotted in Mulund, but never this far from the national park and never before in a housing society. We will check the movement of other animals in the area and conduct awareness drives so residents know they need not fear, said Ramgaokar. The forest department will bear the cost of treatment for all injured residents and will check the extent of damage to their homes.

AUTHORITIES SPEAK

Humans are encroaching into forest territory and leopards are now moving into human habitations. Leopards are spotted mostly in Mulund (West), but this one travelled a long distance. We need to be careful, but also ensure that their habitat is not encroached upon any more, said Prakash Gangadhar, BJP corporator from Mulund.

ACTIVISTS SAY

Animal welfare officer Sunish Subramaniam said he had received a distress call from Mulund residents on Thursday over a leopard crossing the Eastern Express Highway. In all likelihood, this was the same free-roaming leopard that made its way to the Mulund housing society. We will inform the forest department about this, he said.

SGNP is home to about 40 free-roaming leopards in and around the park premises. Earlier this week, another leopard was spotted on CCTV cameras at Yashodham Complex in Goregaon.The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) launched a massive search and rescue operation soon after the Mumbai air traffic control notified them that it lost contact with a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying seven people, including five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) employees, around 15 minutes after take-off from the Juhu Aerodrome at 10.14am on Saturday.

Five ICG ships were diverted to the area, while the Indian Navy mobilised Seaking 42B and Seaking 42C helicopters and launched long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8i from its base at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu.

The Indian Navy also deployed stealth frigate INS Teg with medical teams on-board, and fast-attack craft INS Tarasa.

A SKG 42C helicopter was kept on standby at INS Shikra  the naval air station in Colaba. INS Makar, a hydrographic survey vessel, was dispatched from Karwar to determine the exact location of debris.

Intermediate support vessel ISV T45 maintained a distance of 300m from the wreckage.

Around 1.30 pm, the exact location of the wreckage was ascertained and ships were diverted to the area. ICG ship Agrim picked up three bodies near the crash site.

One was identified as Pankaj Garg, an ONGC employee, said an ICG official. Three bodies were recovered later.

Four aircraft and five ICG ships were deployed. A few ships of there Indian Navy were also sent there, said commandant Varun Augustya, ICG.

At the time of going to press, efforts to trace the seventh body were ongoing.The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has extended support to the villagers of Rajapur who have been affected by the state governments decision to construct a mega refinery in Ratnagiri in Konkan.

Activists from the village think that the project will result in ecological destruction. Thackeray met with the activists opposing the project on Saturday and told them to unite for the cause.

The MNS will stand with the villagers who are opposing the project. However, you need to stand united, he said.

The governments ally in the state, Shiv Sena said that it would not allow the forceful acquisition of the land. Sena MP Vinayak Raut asked the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to move the project out of the Konkan. The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have also voiced their reservations against the project.

The BJP has declared 16,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the project as an industrial zone under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Act on May 18. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the project will generate at least one lakh jobs in the region.Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will commence his six-day sojourn in India, six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modis landmark visit to Israel. Modis visit had celebrated 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries and had applauded the extraordinary achievements in bilateral relations during this period.

Israel has become a major defence supplier to India, a strong security partner, a collaborator in the high-value diamond trade, and a provider of frontier technologies in agriculture, water, cybersecurity and innovation. Not surprisingly, during his visit, Modi enthusiastically coined the term, I4I, standing for India for Israel and Israel for India, while Netanyahu spoke of: I squared, T squared, standing for, India-Israel Ties for Tomorrow.

Netanyahus visit will exemplify the joint commitment to boost and diversify economic ties. Netanyahu is accompanied by a 130-strong business delegation to engage with Indian counterparts.

It will also highlight the countries shared interest to fight extremism with the prime ministers visit to Mumbai to commemorate the November 2008 attacks. Netanyahu will visit the Taj Mahal hotel and Chabad House, where he will be accompanied by 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg, who as a baby survived the attack in which his parents were killed.

This will be followed by Netanyahus engagement with Bollywood at an event titled Shalom Bollywood, at which he will meet personalities from Indian cinema and plead with them to shoot their films in Israel.

In the political area, Netanyahu will face some difficulties. The two countries share concerns relating to extremism and violence, but beyond that their priorities differ. Israel is deeply concerned about increasing Iranian influence in West Asia and is anxious to curtail it, particularly in Syria and Lebanon. India, on the other hand, sees Iran as a strategic partner in establishing logistical links to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia through the Chabahar port, being developed with active Indian participation.

Israel and India also differ on China: Israel has welcomed the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative sponsored by China and is eager to participate in the development of networks in the region. It does not share Indias concerns relating to expanding Chinese influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

Above all, the two countries part company on Palestine, as evidenced most recently by the Indian vote in the UN General Assembly criticising the United States decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. Displaying contempt for international opinion, Israel has moved to change Jerusalems demographic character by separating the Arab populated areas from the main city and Judiize this disputed city. Israels Knesset has also legislated that no part of United Jerusalem will be ceded without the backing of at least 80 Knesset members.

US President Donald Trump, responding angrily to Palestinian criticism relating to his Jerusalem announcement, has cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which since 1949 has looked after Palestinian refugees displaced in conflicts with Israel.

Thus, it seems that the three issues that are central to the final Israel-Palestine settlement, i.e., emergence of a viable and sovereign Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return of refugees, are being superseded by the deliberate creation of new realities in the occupied territories.

Indian commitment to Palestinian aspirations is not only principled, it is also linked with Indias core interests in that a large chunk of Indian territory in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is under illegal Pakistani occupation. Hence, there is no way India can countenance Israels unilateral actions in the occupied territories without seriously compromising its own claims.

Thus, despite the bloated rhetoric by Rightwing elements on both sides, ties between Israel and India will remain transactional. This is best illustrated by the headline in the Israeli daily, Haaretz: India Wants an Affair when it Comes to Israel, not a Serious Relationship.

Talmiz Ahmad is a former diplomat

The views expressed are personalConfusion still prevails on the release of Deepika Padukone starrer, Padmaavat in Bihar as the state government is yet to take a call on whether to allow it screening.

We will take a couple of days to announce our decision, culture minister, KK Rishi said on Saturday.

Reliable sources in the government said that none except the chief minister Nitish Kumar would take the final call and hence, others concerned are non-committal.

Kumar had in November banned the film which was to release on December 1, due to opposition by a section of the society over some scenes and a song sequences.

Four other states  Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh  had also banned its release then.

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, which was cleared recently by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), is now releasing all over on January 25.

However, despite a slight change in its name and some cuts by CBFC, Rajasthan, Gujarat and MP governments have decided to continue with their decision not to release the film in their states. Uttar Pradesh has given the green signal, though.

Film exhibitors in Bihar are keeping their fingers crossed. Officials kept passing the buck, with the home department and the state public relations department throwing the ball in each others court.

Principal secretary, home, Amir Subhani said the responsibility was of the Information and Public Relations Department (IPRD) while IPRD director Anupam Kumar said the home department would be taking a final call.

Even though the CBFC has cleared it with some changes and the producer has planned its release on January 25, we have not been approached (by the state distributor of the film). We are eagerly waiting for the schedule (of the release of the movie), Sharad Kumar, manager, Mona cinema hall in the city, said.

If allowed in the state, the film will definitely be screened in Mona hall, he added.

Suman Kumar, owner of Regent cinema hall, said he is still in dilemma and keeping fingers crossed like others. Since the government had in November announced to ban the film, it is up to them clear the prevailing mystery, he said.

Dr Sunil Kumar, the Biharsharif MLA who is also the distributor of the film in the state, did not take calls neither did he reply to SMSes.

Patna DM, Kumar Ravi said he was yet to receive an instruction on the films release.A 25-year-old man, Sukhjeet Singh, shot himself with pistol in Hariya village of Baghapurana in Moga in the early hours of Friday. The reason, according to the complaint with the police, is that his wife refused to facilitate his migration to Canada, where she went in May last year on student visa.

Police said Sukhjeet had borne all expenses for wife Gurmeet Kaurs visa and admission. After reaching Canada, Gurmeet refused to call him there and instead demanded separation, it is alleged. Police booked Gurmeet, Rupinder Kaur, Manvir Singh and Gauri on charges of abetting the suicide.

Major Singh, the father of the deceased, said Sukhjeet had married Gurmeet, who is sister-in-law of his elder brother, with the express promise that she would call Sukhjeet to Canada. He spent Rs 25 lakh on the marriage and her studies, the father said.

Investigating officer Sukhdev Singh Waraich said the body was handed over to the family after conducting the postmortem, and investigation is underway.

This comes days after a similar case in Barnala. Satnam Singh, 28, of Chhiniwal Kalan village there committed suicide by consuming poison. Satnam was married to Navdeep Kaur, who belongs to Bhanohar village in Ludhiana, around two years ago.

His family claimed that the entire expenditure on marriage and for sending Navdeep abroad was incurred by them, but she did not keep the promise to take him there too eventually. He had even got his visa three months ago, but it was cancelled by the embassy after Navdeep claimed a life threat from him.Even after repeated assertions made by the chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, in favour of enactment of a Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA), the government seems to be treading cautiously now.

The concern is about possible misuse of such a stringent law, the prime aim of which is to tackle gangsters, said officials involved in the drafting on the condition of anonymity.

The act was first proposed during the tenure of the SAD-BJP regime, which was replaced by the Congress last March. In June, after some members of the cabinet raised concerns over powers that the act would give to police, a sub-committee headed by health minister Brahm Mohindra was formed.

But it has held only one meeting in seven months, that too back in August, in which the director general of police (DGP), advocate general (AG) and the additional chief secretary (home) were present. It asked the AGs office to amend some objectionable clauses in the draft.

Confessions and sunset clause

In October, the AG office suggested some changes, including changing the original provision of making confessional statement made before a superintendent of police (SP) admissible before a court.

Following an idea from the DGP, the AG office said that statements recorded by an officer not below the rank of senior superintendent of police (SSP) would first go to an inspector general for invoking PCOCA.

Thereafter, the IG would invoke the act in a particular case only after getting permission from an officer of the rank of additional director general of police (ADGP), according to the tweak suggested.

The AG reportedly even suggested to introduce the act with a sunset clause, meaning that it would be automatically repealed after a time period.

As the act gives extraordinary powers to police and there is grows concern that it could be misused, it could be repealed after three years after breaking the nexus of gangsters, the main aim if bringing the act, the AG office suggested.

On November 4, the CM announced in Patiala that the act would be a reality by the end of that month. He even gave directions to the sub-committee to expedite the drafting.

Not in haste

Mohindra, when asked about the delay at a press conference on Thursday, said, Its a very serious act. The government is not in haste. We are discussing each and every issue of the proposed act.

Officials dealing with the process said the other members of the sub-committee, local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and technical education minister Charanjit Channi, have raised apprehensions too over giving such powers to the police.

Sidhu, in an interview to TV channel News18, had said, Extra-judicial powers given to the police during terrorism time also proved draconian later. Moreover, our government has already caught many gangsters. Maybe this is the reason of the delay in the meeting of the sub-committee. He was not available for comment when contacted by HT.

The DGP, meanwhile, is learnt to be strongly rooting for the law, with the claims that it would create a fear of the law among those involved in organised crimes.Five months after being booked for stalking and making kidnap bid on a city-based disc jockey, Vikas Barala was released on bail from the Burail jail on Thursday.

Son of Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party chief Subhash Barala, Vikas was taken home by his cousins and friends after his release at 7:30pm.

Refusing to comment to mediapersons who surrounded him outside the jail, Vikas said: Main abhi kuchh nahi kehna chhatha, mamla abhi court mein hai (I dont want to say anything, the matter is still in court).

However, in an official written statement to the media, the family claimed his innocence.

When you know you are innocent, and have not done anything wrong you dont fear anything, read the statement.

My unflinching faith in God and concern for my familys honour saw me through the five months I spent in custody. I would now like to concentrate on my law studies and try to make up for the five months lost.

Vikas was granted bail by the high court on Thursday. The trial court furnished bail bonds worth 50,000 on Friday afternoon. The HC, in the detailed order, has specified that the petitioner should not try to contact the complainant, Varnika Kundu, or her family and any witness directly or indirectly and should not leave the country without the permission of the trial court.

Meanwhile, Vikas friends and relatives who picked him up from the jail tried their best to protect him from the media and covered him with a shawl while rushing him to the car.

Wearing a woollen cap, Vikas looked pale. As mediapersons tried to talk to him, many even fell down and broke flowerpots at the entrance to the jail. Later, Vikas was taken to a temple, where he met his mother before going home.

Co-accused files bail plea

Vikas friend and co-accused Ashish Kumar also filed bail plea on Friday. It will be taken up on Monday.

Defence counsel Rabindra Pandit said now that the cross-examination of the complainant was over, Ashish could also apply for bail according to the HC directions.

Pandit said there was no reason to keep him in jail after Vikas got bail in the same matter. The bail plea mentions that there has been considerable time since the incident and that Varnika didnt mention attempt to kidnap in her complaint. The two were booked on August 5.Come festive occasions and marriage functions, Inderpreet Singh Rabab gets busy making arrangements. Whether it is a bhangra performance or giddha or any Punjabi folk song and dance requirement, Inderpreet is the go-to man.

Also the run-up to festivals like Lohri is packed with back-to-back performances. Incidentally, hosting song and dance performances by professional groups has become de rigueur for malls and corporate institutions in the tricity.

And performers like Inderpreet and his team take to stage with gusto and look to regale the audience with enthusiasm.

Winters are mostly a busy time of the year. Even though we are selective about private functions and weddings, but you will see us performing at malls, offices and public spaces often. This Lohri we will be performing at a private function, says the 36-year-old who runs Rabab Bhangra Force, a team of dancers and musicians who are regular fixtures at many public and private events in the tricity.

The team effort

A passionate dancer, Inderpreet found there was an increasing demand for performers in the folk and traditional dance category, not only in the tricity but elsewhere too.

We started with eight members in 2007, who still form the core group. Many freelance as well as professional dancers and musicians also work with us as partners. We send teams out depending on the requirement, he informs. The team comprises of a mixed lot.

There are university students from in and around Chandigarh as well as young working men and women from different professions. Bringing them together, as Inderpreet points out, is love for folk dance.

The boys and girls are mostly from Panjab University and Punjabi University, Patiala.They take part in youth festivals mostly and team up with us when they are free, explains Inderpreet who teaches bhangra, folk dance and even fitness bhangra in Chandigarh and adjoining cities. There are teams for different genres like luddi, Malwai giddha, boliyaan who are called in as per the clients need.

Rang Punjab De

Come Lohri day and Harpreet Singh and his dance group Rang Punjab De will take to the stage at the ongoing Lohri festival at a mall in Kharar. Working with a private bank, Singh is also a bhangra specialist and has performed umpteen times in the region and recently in Dubai as well.

The group initially had DAV College, Sector 10 students. We were also known as DAV Bhangra 10 for some time, says Singh who graduated two years ago. The dance group has a sizeable number of dancers attached who are on call for the functions.

We all share same love for folk dance. The feedback we get from our shows. no matter how big or small is the true reward, says Singh. For their performance on Saturday, a special package of performances has been designed. Apart from bhangra and giddha we will be showcasing the Lohri special jindua dance and also a Pakistani giddha, informs Singh.

Earlier this week, the sounds of the dhol reverberated through a shopping mall as young dholis (drum beaters) took to the stage to sweat it out in a fierce competition.

Lohri calls for a big celebration and we wanted to showcase traditional dances by giving local artistes a platform. We conducted a traditional boliyaan and dhol competition, said Amneetpal Singh, assistant manager, marketing, VR Punjab.

Daljeet Kaur, a BSc final year student at a college in Landran, has been keenly participating in giddha competitions since school days. I love singing and recently accompanied a group for a sangeet function. I was surprised to see that many girls of my age dont know traditional boliyaan. I would love to teach at an academy, says Kaur who is keen to be part of a professional group when college exams arent around the corner.

Good pocket money

As Inderpreet Singh points out, for most students who team up for shows, it is good pocket money. Mostly people do it in their free time and we compensate well. Depending on the requirements, show prices range between 15,000 to 1 lakh, he tells. The number of dancers and the duration is what decides the price, says Harpeet who makes sure everyone gets duly compensated.

Bigger bhangra and giddha teams who perform on stage can cost 45,000 upwards, he says.Wearing too much gold while landing at the airport can land you in trouble.

A Patiala-based trader arrived from Dubai wearing a 700-gram gold chain and 233-gram bracelet on Saturday. He was also carrying 116-gram gold biscuit and 10-gram gold coin in his wallet. In all, the gold was worth 30 lakh.

But he made one mistake. He displayed too much nervousness while crossing the green channel after the Dubai flight landed at the Chandigarh airport at 10:35 am. He was caught at the baggage area.

A customs official said they keep vigil on all international passengers, and those landing from Dubai are their prime focus as it has become a favourite source of gold smuggling ever since the flight began in September 2016.

On Saturday as the Dubai plane landed with nearly 180 passengers, we saw a passenger passing the green channel anxiously while moving to the baggage area to collect his luggage, said an official.

After his questioning, the officials found 700-gram gold chain around his neck that was hidden inside the layers of his winter clothes. The bracelet on his right wrist and other gold was also recovered.

The accused, aged 34, is a trader in Patiala. He could earn at least 5 lakh profit by selling the gold, which is pure 24 carat, said the official.

What the rules say

Under the customs rules, a woman passenger is allowed to carry 40 grams of gold while a man can carry 20 grams without paying any duty if they have stayed abroad for more six months. For other travellers, there is no exemption.

A customs official said as the market value of gold being carried by the Patiala man was beyond 20 lakh, he was arrested and later released on bail. His case will now be sent to the court of zonal commissioner in Ludhiana.

The accused will be sent notice before the commissioner decides his case. He has the power to confiscate the gold permanently and impose penalty too, which happens in most smuggling cases, he said.Sundar Mundariye and De ni maayi Lohri at one time was like an anthem for kids, announcing the festival of Lohri coupled with the culmination of the cold winter days.

In return to the songs, the kids would get rewarded with groundnuts, gachak, rewari, and even money, making the hard work of going from door-to-door worth it. Bygone are the days when students used to ask for Lohri from their teachers and principals.

With time, the festival and the mode of celebration have changed. The status of the festival has reduced to merely an insignificant holiday on the calender.

The festival

Lohri is celebrated on the last day of Poh month of the Bikrami calendar, a day before the month of Maagh begins.

Celebrated across Punjab, the festival has multiple interesting folk tales associated with it. The most famous of them all is of Dulla Bhatti. Songs praising the valour of Dhulla Bhatti are sung during the celebration of the festival.

Reminiscing her childhood days, district education officer Anujit Kaur narrated how she used to go to the neighbours asking for Lohri in their village. All the kids used to go to the neighbours together, singing songs, but now the kids dont know about it.

City residents say, only the children living in the peripheral areas and colonies ask for Lohri now, without having any knowledge about the tales behind it.

Nowadays the festival is celebrated with pomp, concerts and cultural evenings are organised. Earlier, it used to be a calmer affair as the neighbours would get together and light the fire to burn the evil, throwing sesame seeds in fire, while singing: Ishar aaye dalidder jaaye, Dalidder di jarrh chullhe paaye (It is a prayer to god to consume the evil by fire).

Sunita of Sector 50 says, The people in villages still celebrate the festival the same way. They make a round around the fire (dhooni) and sit for hours talking to each other, eating groundnuts, rewari, and gachak while the dholis come to take the shagun.

Celebrating the fiery valour

Dulla Bhatti was a Muslim landlord at the time of emperor Akbar in Lahore. As the tale goes by, he is remembered for standing up against the emperor, emerging as the symbol of Punjabi culture, for saving girls from being sold as slaves.

He saved two Brahmin girls Sundri and Mundri from Akbar and married them off on the day of Lohri and giving birth to the famous song Sundar Mundariye ho..tera kaun vichara..Dulla Bhatti wala..Ranchi: Pakur district police in Jharkhand arrested four people on Friday for the alleged gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in revenge after the victims family did not vote for wife of one of the accused in the local body elections.

Police said victim went missing on January 8. The victim had left home to relieve herself at around 6 am on January 8.Later in the day, the girls father filed a missing person complaint with Littipara police station, around 400 km northeast of the state capital Ranchi. Her body was found in nearby jungles the next day.

Four people who were named in the FIR filed the after recovery of the body were arrested on Friday after an investigation, police said. Those arrested include Premlal Hansda, Samuel Hansda, Katthi Hansda and Sishu Hansda (the last three being siblings).

Premlal Hansdas wife had contested the panchayat election for the post of mukhiya. Premlal held lack of support from the victims family to be the primary reason for her defeat. In revenge, they kidnapped the girl and gang raped her. In order to conceal their crime, they hid her body in the Blewan forest after killing her, Shailendra Burnwal, superintendent of police, Pakur.

The SP claimed the accused have confessed to their crime.

The victims family identified her body which was recovered from Belwan forest and her father named the four accused in the FIR, accusing them of revengeful act related to the election.

All related evidences have been collected from the crime scene and the four have been booked under relevant sections of CrPc and Pocso Act, the SP said.On August 28, 1989 thousands of people were gathered in the southern English town of Milton Keynes. The gathering, instructively titled Sammelan, sought to bring together Hindus living in Britain and called for the reawakening of a larger Hindu identity. As part of the agenda, the need to move  politically and physically  for a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was unanimously pushed. Among the attendees  which included local labour MPs, gurus and other religious leaders  one man stood out, perhaps for the influence he had already built up and the wave of Hindu approval and recognition he had ridden on on his way to the Sammelan  Ramanand Sagar. Thirty years on, and a week after his 100 birth anniversary, Sagars legacy is more a source of questions than answers.

In January 1987, Sagar received a call from the offices of Doordarshan in Delhis Mandi House. Asked if he could present a pilot episode of the Ramayana within two weeks, Sagar said yes. We met, my brothers and dad, when the call came in. I told dad we couldnt do it, says Sagars son, Prem Sagar. We had shot four episodes. But turning that into a pilot was next to impossible. It required so much work. And we had little time. The four episodes, Prem mentions, were eventually cut and stitched together to make a single episode. On January 25, the pilot was aired and Indian television would never be the same again.

POLITICAL CONCERNS

Within a couple of episodes, Sagars Ramayana became a national sensation, eventually clocking viewership of around 650 million, telecast in 55 different countries and becoming the highest grossing show on Indian television by some distance. But behind and besides the narrative of success underlined by earth-shattering numbers, there were concerns, most of them political, and many controversies. Of the political concerns, chief was the telecast of the epic series in the shade of the Ram Janambhoomi movement that culminated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

Sagars Ramayana played in the backdrop of a Hindutva shift in Indian politics, under the aegis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political outfit, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the media and cultural commentators struggled to consider Sagars epic one way or the other, there were some who saw it as a catalyst, even if unintended, to the turmoil that the movement resulted in. Chief among them was Arvind Rajagopal, whose book Politics after Television (Cambridge Press, 2001) took the view that not only did Sagars show violate a secular principle adjoined to the concept of a national broadcaster i.e. Doordarshan  that Doordarshan should not be in favour of any one particular religion  but that it may even have been the fillip that turned the electoral fortunes of the BJP.

LK Advanis Ratha Yatra (from Somnath to Ayodhya) was like a lit fuse that traced a no doubt carefully selected trail across the Hindi belt  all of which responded enthusiastically to the show. Bear in mind that penetration was limited, only 14 million TV households in 1987. But hundreds watched at many viewing points, says Rajagopal. Coincidentally, Advani was also present at the mahurat of Yogeshwar Krishna, a film project with Shashi Kapoor playing Krishna, to be helmed by Sagar, which however failed to materialise after its launch in 1975.

Rajagopal believes that the very idea of telecasting a Hindu epic on national television was in violation of a secular standpoint that at least the Congress government in power should have stayed true to. Then there were the likes of SS Gill, then a former I & B Secretary, who openly, in a newspaper article, took credit for having floated the idea of the Ramayana. The Hindi press largely followed Gills line in venerating the idea and Sagars execution. The English press though remained mute. They couldnt reconcile its popularity with their classicist and Orientalist understanding of the Ramayan as an Indian classic, and as somehow representative of the culture, Rajagopal says.

Ramanand Sagar had begun working on the concept as far back as 1975. (Courtesy:Sagar Arts.)

The abandonment of the Nehruvian secular ethos in favour of a Hindu-centric aesthetic troubled many within Doordarshan as well. Sharad Dutt, then a producer there, and one of the first reviewers of Sagars tape of the pilot, says there was enough to make a few people backstage uncomfortable. I wont say there was outright rejection or unease, but a lot of people within the channels office werent supportive of the idea to begin with. But it had no motivation with what was going on politically. The Congress was in power and it had no agenda of the sort. Instead, it might be more crucial to discuss how poor the execution of the show was. That was my first question to Sagar after I watched the tape. Have you made Ramayana or Ram-Leela? he says.

MEETING RAM

Criticism of Sagars execution is where most writing on the show coincides. Marxist scholar and playwright GP Deshpande called it an injustice to the epic form and calendar art. Even Gill, in the same article where he declared himself the seed of the show, criticised Sagars execution of the idea. Dutt believes it was too long, too narrow in its view and too plastic to be worthy of any form of dissection. It was made primarily to milk money. And the show did that with great ease. After a point, even Doordarshan couldnt do much but cash in on the money, Dutt adds.

That the show became as popular as it did points to other elements at work. Dutt says Doordarshan was bombarded by letters and positive reviews from viewers who considered the show as sacred, as if they were being given darshan by the gods themselves.

In contrast to Dutt, Prem Sagar says that the shows place on national television was natural. Baba knew he would make the Ramayana as early as the 1940s. He had begun conceptualising the idea back in 1975 itself. But every time, at Doordarshan, someone or the other pulled the plug. They had an agenda. It was probably down to the officers high up in the organisation. Eventually someone got transferred here or there, or left office and the show finally happened, he says. Shot in Umbergaon, a small town in Gujarat, the Ramayana was so frantically produced and prepped that actors were at times chosen a week before episodes aired. The actor who played Sugrive was selected only a week before he had to appear for the first time. We just kept going. There was hardly any breathing space in between, he adds.

THE OFFSHOOTS

Ramanand Sagar was born to a rich Kashmiri family on December 19, 1917. Sagar started out as a writer under various pen names. Eventually, he shifted to Bombay where his tryst with cinema began at Prithvi Theatre, as an assistant to Prithviraj Kapoor. In 1950 Sagar founded Sagar Arts, a production company, and made a number of bad to average films before eventually turning to television which would prove to be his holy grail. He was a thorough student. He read almost all the Ramayanas and was the only one who could have done it. Look at what they do with the epic these days. They only know technicalities, but have no knowledge, says Sagar.

Following the success of the serial, maker Ramanand Sagar (seen above, directing actor Arun Govil, who played Ram, in a scene) became an industry in himself, going on to make Sri Krishna, Luv aur Kush, Alif Laila and many more serials . (Courtesy: Sagar Arts. )

Ramanand Sagar modelled his telling of the epic to Tulsidas Ramayana and chose to end the show with the coronation and homecoming of Ram (the beginning of Ram Rajya), omitting the part of Sitas trial and the chapters about Luv and Kush. Baba said his Ram couldnt banish Sita as had been written by many. Mere Ram aisa nai kar sakte, he used to say, whenever there was criticism. But even he bowed under pressure. We made a special Luv-Kush episode for a man who was hospitalised in Chennai because he demanded that missing episode. We flew an exclusive tape to him. Such was the influence of the show on some people, Sagar adds.

After the show, Sagar became an industry in himself, going on to make Sri Krishna, Luv aur Kush, Alif Laila and many more serials that became synonymous with mythology as text in India, before globalisation and foreign media altered the picture. Sagars image outside the context of television had been elevated to the level that he was carried on chariots through Ayodhya. The political clout that the TV series came to hold can be adjudged by the fact that Arun Govil (who played Ram) and Sagar were repeatedly courted by both the Congress and the BJP to campaign for them. Other actors like Deepika Chikalia (Sita) and Arvind Trivedi (Ravana) both eventually became MPs.

In 1992, Advani led a nationwide campaign to the doorstep of the Babri Masjid and changed Indias political discourse forever. On the question of Ramanand Sagars influence on the Hindu population and its mobilisation to devastating effect in the case of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Prem Sagar has a clear opinion: Where else will you build Rams temple? What was wrong with it? Ram has to return to the place he belongs to, he says.George Clooney is all set to return to television with Catch-22, an adaptation of Joseph Hellers classic novel. The actor will star in and direct a six-episode, limited-series for Hulu, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The series landed at the streaming service following a bidding war that ensued when Paramount TV and Anonymous Contents development of the project was announced late last year.

This marks Clooneys first series regular role in decades, since he departed ER nearly two decades ago.

Director George Clooney and his wife Amal attend the premiere for Suburbicon in Los Angeles, California. (REUTERS)

In the series, which is close-ended and will not have a second season, Clooney will star as Col. Catcart, the role played by Martin Balsam in director Mike Nichols 1970 feature film adaptation of Hellers novel.

Set in Italy during World War II, Catch-22 tells the story of Yossarian, a US Air Force bombardier trying to fulfill his service requirements so he can go home. The novel explored the paradox of requirements where airmen who felt mentally unfit to fly were not obligated to do so, but anyone who applied to stop flying was sane enough to fly.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreAfter the eviction of rapper Akash Dadlani from season 11 of Bigg Boss, the four remaining contestants, namely, Hina Khan, Puneesh Sharma, Shilpa Shinde and Vikas Gupta, can be seen giving a tough competition to each other to claim the winners spot. The winner will be announced on January 14, 2018.

In a candid conversation with us, former contestant of Season 4 of Bigg Boss and Bollywood actor, Ashmit Patel, who was seen romancing Pakistan actress Veena Malik on the show, says, I have never watched Bigg Boss, not even my own season. Its only this season that I have been following and that is also because of Maheck [Chahal], as shes a fan of the show.

Maheck Chahal and Ashmit Patel have been dating for the past couple of years and are reportedly going to get hitched soon. Maheck Chahal is also a former contestant of Bigg Boss 8.

Talking about Bigg Boss 11 contestants, and asked who he thinks might win, Ashmit remarks, I dont want to comment on Hina Khan. The less said, the better it is. After spending so many days in the house, we can see who the bad person is and who is good.

I dont want to comment on Hina Khan. The less said, the better it is.

Patel reveals that his favourite contestants are Puneesh Sharma, a commoner from Delhi-NCR who is also the co-owner of Playboy Club, and Shilpa Shinde, and Indian television actress who gained popularity for her role in television series Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai!

Ashmit says, I like Puneesh because he has understood that he has made mistakes, apologised for them and moved on. Hes a real person on the show and stands up for his friends.

Week after week she [Shilpa Shinde] was targeted by them, but despite all of this, she stood strong and kept moving further

Commenting on Shinde, Patel says, Shilpa as everyone knows is a wonderful person. She has been consistent, all through the show; there were people who were against her and ganged up, week after week she was targeted by them, but despite all of this, she stood strong and kept moving further.His brow dripping with blood and his skin caked with brick dust, Abu Abdallah was pulled out from under the rubble of his house near Damascus after it was blown up in an air raid.

He was lucky to survive the bomb that fell while he was having breakfast, dropped by one of the countless warplanes that emergency workers say have pounded the rebel-held Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta in recent days.

His three-year-old son was not so fortunate.

We were sitting around, eating, said Abu Abdallah - a sobriquet meaning Abdallahs father - as he recalled Tuesdays strike. My son wanted to use the toilet, so his mother took him. Then the missile came down.

Read | What the world must see: Girl injured in Yemen war tries to open swollen eyes

In less than a minute, the entire house fell on top of us.

Relatives in the living room were also trapped in the debris. Everyone was screaming.

I was under the rubble... and my head was bent down, I couldnt raise it, said Abu Abdallah, who declined to give his full name. I said thats it, this will be the end of me.

The body of a young victim lies on the ground at a makeshift hospital following reported artillery shelling in Hammuriyeh in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area. (AFP Photo)

Syrian troops and their allies have blockaded Eastern Ghouta, a densely populated pocket of satellite towns and farms, since 2013. It is the only remaining major rebel enclave near the Syrian capital.

Rescue workers arrived within minutes and then pulled his wife out, he recalled. She told them there is a boy... and they got him out, he added. Everybody in the house got out safely except the boy. He was martyred.

Honestly, I keep remembering the boy when they pulled him out... and the pressure with everything on top of me.

Abu Abdallah, 26, comes from the eastern Ghouta village of Marj al-Sultan, which the Syrian army recaptured from insurgents in late 2015. He had moved deeper into the enclave to the town of Saqba with his family to try to escape the bombing.

Now its still not clear what we will do, he said. His family is staying with relatives while he recovers from a head injury and a back strain.

A man gets stuck under debris at a damaged site after an airstrike in the Saqba area. (Reuters Photo)

Home to around 400,000 civilians, the Eastern Ghouta enclave faces a humanitarian catastrophe, the UN human rights chief said this week.

Syrian government forces and their allies have killed at least 85 civilians there since the end of December, including 21 women and 30 children, Zeid Raad al-Hussein also said.

The (world) should have mercy on these children and women because they have nothing to do with the fighting, Abu Abdallah said. If they want to fight, let them go fight on the frontlines. But why are they bombing us?The Lahore High Court has issued notice to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for making an anti-judiciary remarks in an inflammatory speech in Sialkot.

Notice was also issued to the government and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Friday when the court heard a petition alleging that the Prime Minister had termed the Supreme Courts Panama Papers decision a piece of trash.

Advocate Azhar Siddiqi filed the petition, arguing that Abbasis remarks amounted to contempt of court, Dawn reported on Saturday.

Presenting his case in the court of Justice Shahid Kareem, the petitioner said that by making such an inflammatory statement, the PM was trying to make the judiciary controversial.

He said ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had also openly criticised the apex court and its judges in their speeches, and tried to whip up public sentiment against the judiciary.

The petitioner said now Abbasi had also started raging against the apex court, in violation of the oath he took when he assumed the office of Prime Minister.

He requested the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against PM Abbasi and said that Pemra should be directed to stop news channels from airing the prime ministers speeches targeting the judiciary.

The court sought replies from Abbasi and his government by the next hearing scheduled for January 15.In a first of sorts, a planeload of spicy Indian food from an Indian restaurant in Portsmouth  dishes such as Bangal Naga Chicken, Paneer Korai  flew from south of England on Saturday to an airfield in Bordeaux to meet the needs of curry-craving British expatriates in France.

The unique long-distance delivery  the brainchild of France-based British aviation trainer James Emery and Faz Ahmed of Akash restaurant  included 89 meals, 70 side dishes, 75 portions of rice, 100 papads (better known as poppadoms in Britain) and mango chutney.

Priced at 32 per person, orders were accepted only from France, with a choice of four curries: Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Balti, Bangal Naga Chicken and the vegetarian Paneer Korai.

The consignment was flown in a six-seater Socata TBM700 aircraft from the Solent Airport in Lee-On-The-Solent to the Saucats Airfield in Bordeaux. The Akash restaurant tweeted: We have arrived at customs in France with our curries.

We have arrived at customs in France  with our curries!



Proudly waving the Portsmouth FC flag and rocking the shirt  pic.twitter.com/DS8vjbcqX2  The Akash Restaurant (@TheAkashRest) January 13, 2018

The project evoked much media interest in England. Emery told journalists before taking off: I am a chilli addict and an aviation geek so I thought I would combine my two hobbies to get my favourite meal delivered to me in France.

I have been getting withdrawal symptoms, they do lots of good things in France but you just cant get a good curry. Every time I popped in for a meal, I would complain about the bland and uninspiring version of Indian food we get in France.

Ahmed said: We thought about it for a long time, he has been coming into the restaurant for 20 years joking that the curries are really bad in France and asking for me to deliver one to me.

We have done nothing like this, our delivery radius is three to four miles and we are doing 500 miles, so it is something to be proud of.

The Indian food industry has come a long way since the days of Patna-origin Sake Dean Mohamed, who opened Londons first Indian restaurant Hindoostane Coffee House in Marylebone in 1810. The industry is worth 4 billion today.

In Britain, curry is used in a generic sense and stands for dishes vastly different from that known back home. At least one Indian dish is a purely British invention  the chicken tikka masala, which was endowed with the status of national dish by former foreign secretary Robin Cook.Ye Mo saab hain, former Pakistan prime minister Pervez Musharraf says to his mother Zarin, sipping tea and gesturing towards a 38-year-old at his breakfast table. I used to call my younger brother Mo. He was mo-ta (fat), he adds. Both men laugh.

Filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi, or Mo, is known to use his work to explore perilous subjects. His last film, Among the Believers, was about Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, head of the Lal Masjid mujahideen training base; a Special Emmy-winning project before that was on the international human rights icon and gang-rape survivor Mukhtaran Mai.

For his documentary on Musharraf, InshaAllah Democracy, Naqvi shadowed the former dictator and Army general for five years, as the man readied for a political comeback while living in Dubai and London.

So you see Musharraf as a stodgy, middle-aged man in black trunks and swimming goggles at his pool. Look over his shoulder as he logs into Facebook every morning, celebrates New Years Eve in the Middle-East, breakfasts with his mother.

I shot the film myself, most of it with a handheld. I wanted my time with Musharraf to feel deeply personal and intimate  as if the audience were voyeurs, says Naqvi.

He turns the camera on himself too, revealing why this is as much a political as a personal mission. In the 1990s, his uncle, Dr Nadeemul Hasan, was killed in his Karachi home, during a spate of violence against Shias. As an insecure teenager, Musharraf became Naqvis idol, a champion of minorities.

He admits that he started on his project in 2010 with a sense of awe. The two men exchanged jokes, hung out at the beach. Musharraf came into my life at a time when I had a strong sense of disillusionment at the state of affairs in Pakistan. He had helped shaped contemporary history. Now, he was licking his wounds in self-imposed exile, trying to run for election in a country that had still not forgiven him, Naqvi says.

In the film, there is a dramatic build-up to the scene where Musharraf finally sets foot on Pakistani soil again, and is anti-climactically placed under house arrest, in 2013.

Facing him is a unique election  the first civilian transfer of power in Pakistan. Every head of state before this, all the way back to 1947, has either been assassinated, unseated in a coup, or impeached.

By the time the votes are cast (the winner was Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharaff unseated in his coup in 2001), Naqvi had already lost most of his illusions about the latter. It starts when you see Musharaff claim ignorance about Osama bin Ladens whereabouts during his time as head of state.

When he talked about militancy as a means of fighting a proxy war with our enemies, I realised that he didnt think he owed his people the truth. Not on terror, the war on terror, nor his own conduct during his rule. He was still a dictator at heart  a dangerous flaw in a leader, Naqvi says.

Is democracy possible, Naqvi ends up asking himself, when you have the right to vote but your only options are an ex-dictator, a Taliban sympathiser and a crook (his take on Musharraf, Imran Khan and Sharif?).

Mos amazing access to General Musharraf over the years reveals a refreshingly informal man, albeit one afflicted with an inflated ego, says documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. My only criticism of the film  it does not examine the double game played by the US in both fomenting and fighting terror. Despite this, for Indians this film is a rare and valuable insight into a political scenario we have so far avoided.Ally Parker, a mother from Florida, shared a picture of her daughter and father suffering from brain cancer and a motor neuron disease, highlighting the devastating impact of disease on relationships.

Braylynn Lawhon, from Florida, was four days away from celebrating her fifth birthday when she was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)  a highly aggressive and difficult to treat brain tumor found at the base of the brain -- in December last year.

Braylynn was detected with brain cancer in December and given a less than 10% survival rate.

Parker has been documenting Braylynns battle with cancer on social media, garnering the support and solidarity of thousands of people.

A photo that stood out for over 5,000 people was one of Braylynn on the hospital bed, with her grandfather wailing beside here. Parker is now faced with the prospect of having to bid goodbye to both, her daughter and father, within weeks of each other.

Parker posted about her daughters plight in an attempt to raise awareness.

We all thought that they would outlive the rest of us...and we certainly never thought that my precious little Braylynn would be the first to go. Last year was hard for us, but I cant even begin to explain how difficult this year will be and has already been. In a few days I will have to bury this beautiful little girl. Months, maybe even weeks, later, I will have to bury my father, Parker wrote in her Facebook post.

Both of my heroes, gone, within the same year, she writes.

The family had just raised enough money for Braylynn to receive treatment in Mexico. Each treatment cost $18,000 each and are delivered every 3-7 weeks, Parker said.The leader of Nigerias Shia Muslim sect, rumoured to have died in detention, made his first public appearance in two years on Saturday, after police arrested dozens of members of the group during protests calling for his release this week.

Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), has been imprisoned at an unknown location without charge since December 2015 after his followers clashed with the army in the northern city of Zaria.

A judicial inquiry the following year said 347 IMN members were killed by the military and buried in mass graves.

The violent repression of IMN and detention of Zakzaky, despite a court ruling that he could not be held without charge and should be released, drew accusations of human rights abuses by President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

In a brief exchange in the capital Abuja, Zakzaky told reporters that authorities had allowed him to see his doctor for treatment of an unspecified condition.

For the first time at least the security (officers) have allowed me to see my own doctors, he said, according to footage of the exchange. I am getting better.

This week, Nigerian social media had been awash with rumours that Zakzaky had died. From Monday to Wednesday, IMN members protested in the capital, with police arresting 52 people without specifying charges.

In 2016, Nigerias northern state of Kaduna declared IMN - a minority sect in the mainly Sunni Muslim north - unlawful on security grounds, angering its adherents as anyone convicted of being a member could be imprisoned for up to seven years.

The ban triggered a wave of attacks on IMN members, worsening sectarian rivalries in northern Nigeria, where the army is also fighting Boko Haram, Sunni Islamist militants who have killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

Security analysts have drawn parallels between the Shiite group and Boko Haram, whose insurgency began in 2009 after security forces killed hundreds of its members and its leader Mohammed Yusuf died in custody. Zakzaky was badly wounded in the 2015 clashes.

Nigeria, with a population of 190 million, combines a predominantly Christian south and mainly Sunni Muslim north. Shiites are estimated at less than 4 million, although there are no official figures. Human Rights Watch estimates that IMN has around 3 million members.

IMN was founded in the 1980s after an Islamic revolution in mainly Shiite Iran in 1979, which inspired the sects founders.Qatar said on Saturday a second United Arab Emirates military jet had violated its airspace, prompting a new complaint to the United Nations.

The plane was travelling from the UAE to Bahrain on January 3 when it flew over Qatars special economic zone without prior authorisation, the foreign ministry said.

On Friday, Doha said it had lodged a protest at the United Nations about a UAE fighter jet violating its airspace on December 21.

In its new complaint, Qatar said the repetition of this terrible incident was evidence of the UAE violating international law.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash denied Friday the accusation relating to the first incident and said Abu Dhabi would send an official response.

Tensions have escalated in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar in June, accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Riyadhs arch-rival, Iran.

They have banned all flights to and from Doha and cut off most trade links.

Qatar denies the allegations, arguing the bloc aims to incite regime change in Doha.A Dallas county grand jury on Friday indicted Wesley Mathews, the Indian American father of Sherin Mathews, for capital murder in the death of the three-year-old girl which carries a death penalty on conviction.

Mathews was also charged with endangering the life of a child, abandoning a child and tampering with evidence three months after Sherins body was found in a culvert near their home in Richardson, Texas.

His wife Sini Mathews, who has been charged with abandoning a child, faces up to 20 years in prison. The couple and their biological child, a four-year-old daughter had gone for dinner leaving Sherin home alone the night before the child died on October 7, 2017.

We cant go into details, but based on that autopsy report, we were able to determine that we can seek capital murder for this case, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a news conference announcing the indictment.

We do want to make certain that justice is done on the behalf of this little 3-year-old. We are going to be the voice for her, Johnson said.

Sherin Mathews was adopted from an agency in Bihar. (AP File Photo)

The Medical Examiners office ruled last week the toddler died of homicidal violence. But prosecutors have not yet revealed what else they may know about how the little girl was killed.

The evidence is still unfolding in this case. We dont want anything to jeopardise this case. We think that we have a great case, we plan to pursue this case vigorously, and we dont want anything to hamper it in any kind of way, Johnson said.

Indian consul general Anupam Ray who was present at the conference, was confident that justice would be delivered.

Wesley and Sini will face trial. The prosecutors have and will pursue this case zealously so that justice is done. India has not forgotten this little child. May she rest in peace, Ray said. We were not going to forget Sherin.

A photograph of 3-year-old Sherin Mathews sits by a makeshift memorial in Richardson, Texas. (AP File Photo)

The Mathews who hail from Kerala, adopted Sherin from an orphanage in Bihar in 2016. The little girl was found dead by a search dog near the familys home in Richardson on October 22, two weeks after she was reported missing by her family.

Wesley Mathews first told the police that she had gone missing from outside the house where he had made her stand as punishment for not finishing her milk. She wasnt there when he went back for her, he had added.

He changed the story subsequently and told investigators the child died in his arms after he tried to force-feed her  physically assisted (her)  in drinking the milk.

The 3-year-old girl began to choke, the police had said in their report. She was coughing and her breathing slowed. Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died.

But instead of calling for medical help or police, Mathews is alleged to have put the child in the back of the familys SUV along with a trash bag, drove a mile to a culvert and left the body there.

The family called the police four hours later.

Both the parents remain in custody and they are involved in another court case over the custody of their biological child who has been taken away by the states child protection services.

The court hearings have revealed a shocking pattern of neglect and possible abuse three-year-old Sherin underwent at the hands of her adoptive parents.

Dr. Suzanne Dakil, a child abuse pediatrician who treated Sherin, who had suffered severe after-effects of malnourishment, beginning in February 2017, told the court she was concerned about fractures suffered by the child and reported them to the authorities. The couple stopped visiting her shortly, and switched to their regular pediatrician.

Kelly Mitchell, an investigator with child protective services, told the court she had found Sini Mathews, eerily calm and unemotional when she went to their house to remove the couples biological daughter, who, she pointed out, did not cry at the time. She added she had also noted many pictures in the house of the biological daughter, but none of Sherin.

And police detective Jules Farmer deposed that Sini Mathews had told the police that Wesley had a weird look on his face when he had returned home on October 7 after removing the body. The couple had then cried and prayed for three hours around the kitchen table before calling the police.

(With PTI inputs)Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called the militarys investigation into the deaths of Rohingya Muslims found in a mass grave a positive indication, state media reported Saturday.

It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible, Suu Kyi said according to the report in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper. However, some may worry. But I believe that our investigation will prevent such things from happening again.

Suu Kyi made the comments Friday during a joint news conference with Japans foreign minister. Suu Kyi is Myanmars foreign minister as well as the governments de facto leader.

The military launched clearance operations against ethnic Rohingya in August, prompting more than 650,000 to flee into neighboring Bangladesh in what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing. The UN and other groups accuse the military of widespread atrocities against Rohingya, including killings, rapes and the burning of homes. But the military has insisted that there has been no wrongdoing by any security forces.

On Wednesday the military acknowledged that security forces and villagers were responsible for the deaths of 10 people found in a mass grave in December. It said the 10 were Bengali terrorists who threatened villagers, but that the military would take action against those who broke the rules of engagement.

The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not acknowledge Royingya as a minority group even though they have lived in the country for generations. It calls them Bengalis and accused them of migrating illegally from Bangladesh.

Neither the military nor Suu Kyi has said what action will be taken against those responsible for the deaths linked to the mass grave in Rakhine state.Protesters took to the streets of Vienna on Saturday and called for members of the Austrias new right wing government to be boycotted by the rest of Europe.

Around 20,000 people according to police estimates gathered to protest against the new coalition government which includes the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which was founded by former Nazis.

The demonstrators included students, leftist groups and pensioners who called themselves Grannies Against The Right and others, carrying placards saying Dont Let Nazis Govern.

Austrian police said up to 1,000 officers were on duty at the event, which they described as peaceful.

The gathering called for a boycott of FPO ministers by other European governments and the shunning of Austria when it takes up the revolving European Union presidency in the second half of 2018.

Last month, the FPO entered government as the junior coalition partner to Chancellor Sebastian Kurzs OVP conservatives after a parliamentary election in which both pledged to stop illegal immigration and to fight radical Islam.

Despite the FPO saying it has left its founders Nazi past behind and denounces anti-Semitism, its opponents still accuse the party of being racist, sexist and anti-Jewish.

It is very important that Austrian civil society is mobilised. The FPO are not just populists - they are an enemy of democracy, said Benjamin Abtan, president of the European Grassroots Anti-Racist Movement, who spoke at the event.

People dont understand that the FPO is not a regular party, they are extremely radical. They should not have a seat at the top tables in Europe.

Abtan cited comments from Interior Minister Herbert Kickl of the FPO, who last week said asylum seekers should be concentrated in special centres to help the authorities process their applications swiftly.

The wording evoked Nazi-era concentration camps and triggered a storm of protest in Austria.

Senior FPO figure Norbert Hofer on Saturday told Austrian radio that Kickls comments were not maliciously or consciously meant, and that human rights would be respected in dealing with asylum seekers.At least three people died and 45 others were injured, some seriously, in a collision between a public transport bus and a car in a Prague suburb on Friday, police said.

The collision between a bus and a car killed three people, the driver of a Skoda and two people who were in the bus, police spokeswoman Monika Schindlova told AFP.

Police also said that 45 other people were injured, including five in a serious condition, 10 moderately and the remainder only lightly.

Rescue workers managed to remove several injured passengers trapped inside the bus, which struck a tree after veering off the road.

An investigation was launched to establish the cause of the accident, Schindlova said.

Two children sustained serious head injuries and were put on artificial ventilation and into artificial comas, said rescue service spokeswoman Jana Postova.

The damaged bus belongs to the private Arriva company and was the link between the 6th district of Prague and the village of Holubice, north-west of the Czech capital.London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that US President Donald Trump had got the message from Londoners after cancelling his visit to the city.

Trump had claimed he had scrapped the visit because he did not want to open the new US embassy in the British capital, but Khan on Friday suggested the real reason was because he would not be welcome, CNN reported.

President Trump got the message from the many Londoners, Khan said. He said his countrymen love and admire America and Americans but find Trumps policies polar opposite to the citys values, Khan said in a statement released on Twitter on Friday.

Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems hes finally got that message. This reinforces what a mistake it was for Theresa May to rush and extend an invitation of a state visit in the first place.

The Mayor said Trumps visit would without doubt have been met with mass peaceful protests.

Large demonstrations are expected to accompany any visit to the British capital by Trump, who is deeply unpopular here, said CNN.

A petition to stop Trump from making an official state visit to Britain garnered over 1.8 million signatures in 2017, in a backlash over his controversial travel ban.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson fired back at Khan on Twitter, saying on Friday that he would not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by the London Mayor, whom he referred to as a pompous puffed up popinjay in City Hall.

A UK official said on Friday that the invitation to Trump for a state visit, first extended by May during her visit to the US early in Trumps presidency, still stands, the CNN report said.

The invitation for a state visit has been extended and accepted, the official said.

The official drew a distinction between the state visit, which would include a visit with Queen Elizabeth II and royal trappings like a horse parade.

While a working visit, would include a meeting with May and other diplomatic formalities like opening the embassy.

After Trump declared his disapproval with Londons new US embassy as the reason for cancelling his visit to the city, Madame Tussauds placed a waxwork of the President outside the building, CNN reported.A serial killer may have been behind the rape and murder of young girl in Pakistan whose killing sparked deadly clashes, an official said Saturday.

Rana Sanaullah, the home minister for Punjab province, said DNA testing has linked the killing to at least five other cases of child abuse and murder in the city of Kasur. Police have detained eight suspects, including two relatives of the girl.

The eight-year-old girl went missing last week while heading to a nearby home for Quranic studies. The discovery of her body, which was found in a garbage bin Tuesday, ignited clashes between residents and police that killed two people and wounded three others.

The residents say the authorities were slow to respond to the girls disappearance, charges denied by police.

The city appeared calm but tense on Saturday after three days of clashes. Businesses reopened, but police and paramilitary troops were still out in force and guarding government buildings.

Sanaullah expressed hope for a breakthrough, saying new footage from surveillance cameras showed a man with a thin beard, who resembles police sketches of the suspect, walking near her house. He said the head of the investigation was replaced by another seasoned officer following complaints by the victims father.MIDLAND - Jim Purvis started in the oil field digging ditches, sold his first prospect at 21, and then, in cowboy hat, bolo tie and double-pocket shirt, spent the next 60 years roaming the expanse of desert known as the Permian Basin, hoping to find oil before someone else did.

The company he founded, Purvis Operating Co., was among the small Texas wildcatters that took big risks for big rewards, relying on instinct and experience, as much as science, to make the Permian what it is today, the center of U.S. oil production. But the future of Purvis Operating is now uncertain.

"Are we going out of business? No, sir, we're not," said Purvis's wife, Margaret, who took over the firm after his death in 2016. "Is it more difficult with all these companies in and paying lots of high prices? Yes."

The world's biggest oil companies - the majors - have arrived in the Permian, where they are forever changing how crude is produced in the nation's most prolific shale play. With deep pockets, advanced technology and global reach, they are elbowing aside the old ways - full of Texas passion, intuition and guts - and replacing them with the cool efficiency of manufacturing.

The majors have plans to drill thousands of wells, streamline operations, maximize production and create what they call frac factories to suck hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day from the 48 million acres of shale rock across West Texas and eastern New Mexico.

The three-year-old oil price crash weeded out the weakest U.S. oil producers and forced the survivors to vastly improve drilling efficiency. But the biggest oil companies have taken those lessons and started to employ them at an unprecedented scale, using big data to relentlessly track operations, creating computer models to predict production potential, and applying it all to work in acreage as much as 10 times larger than their smaller competitors, aiming to produce not just more oil, but also more profit.

Some executives, analysts and local officials laud the activity as these frac factories ramp up: More truck drivers, frac crews, drillers and jobs. But others warn that, as a manufacturing mindset takes over and drives toward ever greater efficiencies, the approach will slash jobs, force small drillers to sell, and drive out the very wildcatters who made the Permian.

Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Corp. have all in recent years bought hundreds of thousands of acres in the heart of the Permian, investing billions of dollars in land, rigs and drilling in pursuit of a steady, reliable stream of profits to pay their shareholders. Chevron, for example, needs to generate $8 billion a year just to cover shareholder dividends.

MORE: Permian Basin could yield 70 billion barrels of oil in coming decades

For decades, Chevron has relied on offshore fields to pay the bills. A single Gulf of Mexico deepwater well, for instance, requires billions of dollars and up to 10 years to develop, but will then pump 150,000 barrels of oil and gas and mint $9 million in revenue, every day.

But Chevron says its Permian operation has the potential to triple that production in less than half the time it takes to develop an offshore field. By 2020, it plans to have drilled thousands of wells - as many as 2,000, analysts say - that together could produce as much as 450,000 barrels a day.

"The Permian is extremely important to Chevron," said Bruce Niemeyer, vice president of Chevron's North America Exploration and Production. "We're at the dawn of a world-class asset."

Buying in

The oil majors were widely mocked for missing the shale revolution, losing out to faster-moving independents willing to take risks on oil fields that the industry had viewed as all but played out just two decades earlier. Production in the Permian Basin, for example, had peaked at about 2 million barrels a day in 1973.

By 2009, when Exxon Mobil bought Permian driller XTO for $41 billion, independent companies had been horizontally drilling wells and fracking to release oil and gas from shale rock for more than a decade. Shell came even later, buying into the Permian in 2012, when it snapped up leases under 618,000 acres for $1.9 billion from Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Corp.

"When all the independents were talking about the Permian," said Sven Del Pozzo, an analyst at research firm IHS Markit, "the majors didn't know what the heck they were talking about."

But the majors, like an oil tanker that takes a long time to turn, have since gained momentum and speed. Chevron has added 250,000 acres in recent years, and now has 2 million acres in the Permian, while Exxon has increased its Permian stake by some 300,000 acres, most of that acquired through a $6.6 billion purchase last year of several private companies held by the Bass family of Fort Worth.

MORE: Rising costs, land prices have "taken the edge off" Permian Basin

Over the next three years, Chevron, Exxon and Shell will each at least double the number of wells they drilled in the Permian in the past six years, according to Houston energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. By 2020, the majors' Permian production should triple from 2014, rising by almost 550,000 barrels of oil and gas per day to more than 850,000 - almost one-third of the Permian's current 2.7-million-barrel-per-day production.

"It's amazing," said Amir Gerges, Royal Dutch Shell's general manager in the Permian. "This is a truly long-term play for the energy industry. We're just scratching the surface of what we can do."

700,000 barrels a day

Chevron's frack factory is a choreographed exercise in efficiency. Computer algorithms identify drilling sites. Geologists map out well lengths and locations. Teams of contractors, roughnecks and engineers mount 800,000-pound drilling rigs that cost tens of thousands of dollars a day.

The rigs drill one 10,000-foot lateral, slide over a few feet, and then drill another. Computers automatically chart progress, and drill operators, sitting in a glass box on the rigs, constantly monitor the process, watching for the first indication the pipe is straying out of the shale sweet spot.

MORE: Permian Basin oil production crushes 1973 records

Every 12 hours each drilling team reviews its work, comparing progress to the most efficient performances in Chevron's fleet, and makes corrections to their own drilling, to catch up.

At Shell, the process is so digitized and automated, geologists and engineers guide Permian rigs from the 11th floor at Shell's Woodcreek campus in Houston, allowing them to drill and monitor 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They didn't even stop when Hurricane Harvey hit this summer.

Shell's future, Gerges said, will increasingly rely on automation and mechanization: wireless sensors to check well levels, pressures and temperatures; drones to travel to pipelines, pump jacks and drill pads. Such technologies would automatically report broken equipment, and match contractors to jobs, much as ride-hailing services match drivers with passengers.

"It's the Uberization of the industry," Gerges said. Shell expects to test the automation technology in the Permian by 2019 or 2020.

Chevron plans to spend $3.3 billion in the Permian this year, one of its two largest investments, behind the $3.7 billion for the super-giant Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, projected to take 40 years to fully develop. Chevron's production at Tengiz is over 350,000 barrels of oil and gas a day. Last year, Chevron CEO John Watson said the company's Permian wells could produce 700,000 barrels a day within a decade.

'They're wily'

With the majors gobbling up land and prices soaring, it's hard for small companies to cobble together prospects, said Margaret Purvis. She said she's thinking of putting her company's leases up for sale.

"I don't know what's going to happen to the small operator," she said. "Some are going to sell out and go out of business. Some are going to keep doing what they've always done and find a little niche. What am I going to do? I have no idea."

MORE: Shortage of truckers crimps Permian's boom

Oil field veterans, wistful for the days when wildcatters abounded, have begun to accept that there is less room in this new Permian for the prospectors upon which the basin was founded.

"I think we've got to come to that realization," said Tom Cambridge, an 82-year-old geologist, former Midland oil company CEO and current owner of Cambridge Production in Amarillo.

But the best of the wildcatters will adapt and survive, said John Yates, Jr., 67, former chairman of New Mexico's Yates Petroleum. Yates sold his company to the Houston oil and gas independent EOG Resources in 2016 for more than $2.3 billion, but now he's back at work looking for oil.

Yes, the majors will make prospecting more difficult in the Permian, he conceded.

"But that's the thing about the independents," Yates said. "They're wily."Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle

Houston-based Citgo Petroleum said its new president, Asdrubal Chavez, has arrived in the city's headquarters amid ongoing controversies regarding the arrests of the company's previous leadership team in Venezuela late last year.

Chavez, a cousin of the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. was installed as the new president at the end of November by current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Citgo is a subsidiary of the state oil company in Venezuela, which is mired in economic and political turmoil.WASHINGTON - A new front is opening in the battle to restore net neutrality rules: state legislatures.

Lawmakers in at least six states, including California and New York, have introduced bills in recent weeks that would forbid internet providers to block or slow down sites or online services. Legislators in several other states, including North Carolina and Illinois, are weighing similar action.

They are responding to the Federal Communications Commission's vote last month to end regulations that barred internet service providers from creating slow and fast lanes for different sites and services. The new policy will go into effect in the coming weeks.

By passing their own laws, the state lawmakers say, they would ensure that consumers would find the content of the choice, maintain a diversity of voices online and protect businesses from having to pay fees to reach users. And they might even have an effect beyond their states. California's strict auto emissions standards, for example, have been followed by a dozen other states, giving California major sway over the auto industry.

"There tends to be a follow-on effect, particularly when something happens in a big state like California," said Harold Feld, a senior vice president at nonprofit consumer group, Public Knowledge, which supports net neutrality efforts by the states.

Bills have also been introduced in Massachusetts, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Washington. The issue has also attracted some support in governor's mansions. In Washington, for example, Gov. Jay Inslee reiterated his support for a state law in a recent speech.

"When Washington, D.C., takes away that protection, we must protect net neutrality for our people, for our businesses and for the virtues of free speech," Inslee, a Democrat, said.

But the bills are still in the early stages and could face roadblocks. Many similar efforts by states to restore broadband privacy rules that Congress repealed last year have stalled or been scrapped.

And any such state law could be challenged in courts. The FCC's new order, which rolled back rules passed in 2015, blocks state and city governments from creating their own net neutrality laws. The commission said different state laws were too difficult for an internet service provider, like Verizon or Charter, to follow because the internet does not recognize state borders and transfers traffic between states.

"The internet is the ultimate form of interstate commerce, which is clearly only within the authority of the FCC," said Bret Swanson, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in telecommunications policy.

But the state lawmakers argue that they have an obligation to protect consumers with net neutrality rules and that local governments can approve or deny requests by telecommunications providers to operate in their states. They also argue that it is unclear if the FCC can declare a blanket pre-emption of states, something they say Congress would have to do. In 2016, a federal court ruled against the commission's effort to pre-empt state laws related to municipal broadband networks.

"People should not be intimidated by the FCC simply saying it has pre-emptive authority, and we need to dig into the sources of that claim, which are a lot weaker than the FCC makes it out to be," said Washington state Rep. Drew Hansen, a Democrat who has introduced one of two net neutrality bills in Washington in recent weeks.

The FCC declined to comment but pointed to the section of its order that pre-empts states from creating their own net neutrality rules.

Supporters of net neutrality are attacking the agency's repeal of the 2015 rules in other ways as well. On Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, announced that he had enough support to force a vote on a congressional resolution to bring back the rules. He gained an important Republican supporter, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who said she would vote in favor of it. Such a measure is a long shot in the House, however, and would also need President Donald Trump's signature.

"Net neutrality will be a major issue in the 2018 campaigns, and we are going to let everyone know where we stand and where they stand," Schumer said at a news conference, warning Republicans to vote in favor of the Democratic-led resolution.

In addition, lawsuits against the commission are expected shortly after the policy becomes official. Earlier this month, a lobbying group for big technology companies including Facebook, Google and Netflix announced that it planned to join the lawsuits, giving the opposition substantial new resources. More than a dozen state attorneys general have also announced plans to sue the commission.

But state lawmakers say they cannot wait around to see what happens with those efforts.American goldfinches began huddling in my yard the last week of December. I should have known a hard freeze was coming.

The pixie birds had arrived in wooded parks and nearby forests by Thanksgiving, migrating from breeding grounds in the midcontinental U.S. and southern Canada. They come to feed on the woodland harvest of wild seeds that are scarce in breeding grounds in icy northern climes.

But prolonged freezing weather in our area can diminish the local wild seed crop. Perhaps sensing the imminent freezing days of the new year, the goldfinches headed to backyard bird feeders to ensure a supply of seeds.

Or maybe they had been hanging out in North Texas, where freezing weather hit before Christmas, and they quickly headed down to our neighborhoods. My mentor, the late John Tveten, always said, "When it freezes in Dallas, we get goldfinches in Houston."

The birds arrived in my yard to cop seeds out of a large sweetgum tree. The birds seemed to dangle on tree twigs, snatching seeds and rolling them lengthwise with their tongues before cracking the hulls with their tiny, conical beaks and swallowing the kernels.

I've also seen them devour seeds while dangling from tall sunflower plants at summer breeding grounds in Nova Scotia.

More Information American goldfinches 9 Are gregarious birds that often feed in large flocks. 9 Chatter to each other in high-pitched notes that sound like "sweee-sweeee" 9 Are members of the Fringillidae bird family that includes house finches. 9 Measure about 5 inches long, similar to Carolina chickadees. 9 Typically sit on a bird feeder, five to 20 minutes at a time, munching seed. 9 Like to eat nyjer (thistle) seed from a mesh stocking feeder or nyjer tube feeder or sunflower seed from a regular bird feeder (use shelled seeds to prevent waste husks on the ground). See More Collapse

But Goldfinches aren't necessarily dangling - instead they are grasping and holding twigs steady with their feet while their beaks extract seeds from seed pods.

And these energetic birds look like anything but goldfinches right now. Readers often are confused when winter flocks of goldfinches show up in their yards. "What bird is that?" they ask.

The confusion arises because, rather than sporting a springtime plumage of bright yellow, goldfinches in winter are a drab grayish-brown with dull black wings.

Males may have a tincture of yellow in the feathers and traces of black on the forehead. Females look similar, just more drab.

As winter yields to spring, goldfinches gradually molt body feathers to become the color of sunflowers. People then wonder if wild canaries have come to their yard.

Goldfinches are among songbirds, like warblers, that undergo two molts a year: a complete feather molt in fall that covers them in lackluster plumage and a molt of head and body feathers excluding wings and tail in spring that adorns males in fulgent golden yellow.

Males also reveal a striking black skull cap and equally striking black wings marked by white bars. Females merely get a yellow cast on the underside, brown-tinted green on the topside and wan black wings.If you live in Houston, chances are you've tucked into a warming bowl of pho. Vietnam's most famous culinary export, the aromatic beef noodle soup is especially popular at the moment, with several pho-only concepts  The Pho Spot downtown and The Pho Shack in Sugar Land among them  bubbling up around town.

But pho is the tip of the iceberg where Vietnamese cuisine is concerned. When Vietnamese refugees arrived in Houston in the 1970s, they brought with them many rich culinary traditions incorporating elements of French, Chinese and other Southeast Asian influences. Including other delicious noodle soups, which have found their way onto menus at local restaurants.

PHO CITY: Houston is the best city for pho in the United States?

With most bowls ringing in at less than $10, and low temperatures to stimulate our appetites, winter is a fine time to take a culinary trip through Vietnam. Here are 10 soups to try, arranged by region of origin, along with my suggestions on where to find the best versions of each in Houston. If a few ingredients seem too adventurous for your palate, well, don't knock it until you try it.

NORTH VIETNAM

Mai Pham

Bun Rieu (crab and tomato noodle soup)

A dish that originated in the rice paddies of the Red River Delta, bun rieu (pronounced "boon rhe-ooh") is a noodle soup composed of thin rice vermicelli noodle (bun) and a pounded crab paste (rieu). Traditionally made with small paddy crabs found in the region's rice fields, the crabs are pounded, shell and all, into a paste. The juices extracted from the paste are cooked with pork bones and tomatoes to yield a sweet and tangy broth, while the crab paste itself is mixed with egg, then dropped into the broth until it forms what looks like curdled lumps of crab meat topping. Other toppings in bun rieu include chunks of fried tofu and a few deep-brown, gelatinous cubes of congealed pork blood (huyet). Accompaniments may include a side dish of julienned lettuce and limes, as well as a fermented shrimp paste known as mam ruoc. This savory noodle soup has tons of umami and a strong crab essence, and is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes of all time. A version with escargot is called bun rieu oc, while the vegetarian version is called bun rieu chay.

Where to try it in Houston: Cafe TH, Pho & Crab Restaurant, Viet Huong Restaurant, Bun Viet Son

Mai Pham

Bun Mang Vit (bamboo and duck noodle soup)

Bun mang vit ("boon mong veet") is a thin rice vermicelli noodle soup topped with sliced bamboo shoots (mang) and duck (vit). The soup itself  usually a clear, pale yellow consomme  is made from duck or a combination of duck and chicken. Dry bamboo is added to give the broth its unique earthiness. Though some places serve the noodle soup with the duck and noodles floating in the broth, a popular contemporary convention is to serve the broth, noodles and bamboo shoots in one bowl, with slices of duck arranged over an accompanying side salad of shredded cabbage garnished with fried shallots and Vietnamese coriander (rau ram). When ordered this way, the dish is eaten by alternating slurps of noodles soup with bites of the duck salad. A ginger dipping sauce is essential to the experience.

Where to try it in Houston: Bun Mang Vit Thanh Da, Com Ga Houston, Huynh Restaurant

Mai Pham/Mai Phan

Bun Oc (snail noodle soup)

A specialty of Hanoi, the capital city of North Vietnam, bun oc ("boon oak") features thin rice vermicelli and snails (oc). A popular breakfast and lunch dish in Hanoi, the spicy soup exhibits a distinct sour savoriness, thanks to the addition of fresh tomatoes and a special rice wine vinegar (giam bong). The chewiness of the plump snails, which should be dipped in an accompanying ginger fish sauce, adds a delightful textural dimension. The soup is served with herbs (such as perilla), shaved banana blossom and lime wedges.

Where to try it in Houston: Pho Tan Loc

Mai Pham

Mien Ga (glass noodle soup with chicken)

Next to pho ga (chicken pho), mien ga ("mee-ehn gah"), made of mung bean glass noodles (mien) and chicken (ga), is the soup to get when you want a clean-tasting, low-calorie bowl of steaming hot noodles. The simplest of the Vietnamese noodle soups in this list, one of the most satisfying versions  mien mang ga  contains bamboo shoots.

Where to try it in Houston: Com Ga Houston

Mai Pham

CENTRAL VIETNAM

Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef and pork noodle soup)

Like pho restaurants and ramen shops, new restaurants selling only bun bo Hue ("boon boh hway")  Two Bowls Bun Bo Hue and Bun Bo Houston opened this past year  are trending. The official dish of the Imperial City of Hue, this labor-intensive soup involves stewing pork hocks with beef bones, lemongrass, annatto seed oil and fermented shrimp paste. Its singular flavor profile  deep, full-bodied, beefy and sweet with bone essence  is quite addictive. Topped with sliced beef shank, pork hocks, huyet, along with Vietnamese pepper and pork sausage slices, the noodles are thick, like Japanese udon. It is typically served with a side of shredded purple and green cabbage, lime wedges and mam ruoc.

Where to try it in Houston: Bun Bo Hue Co Do 2 (one of the several locations), Mai's Restaurant, Bun Viet Son, Bun Bo Hue Doc Chuong

Mai Pham

SOUTH VIETNAM

Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Hu Tieu My Tho (pork and shrimp noodle soup)

Often described as the Southern Vietnamese cousin of pho, hu tieu ("hoo tee-eww") can be a little bit confusing because there are so many versions of it. The words "hu tieu" actually refer to the type noodle in the soup, and there are two types. One is an opaque rice noodle indistinguishable from a pho noodle. The other is a clear, chewy noodle called hu tieu dai. Generally, you can specify which type you prefer when you order.

Then there are the regional varieties of hu tieu: hu tieu Nam Vang, made in the Cambodian style of Phnom Penh, and hu tieu My Tho, which comes from the southern town of My Tho along the Mekong Delta, are most popular. More obscure versions include hu tieu Sa Dec, which comes from Sa Dec, and so on. Some restaurants forgo the regional variations and serve hu tieu with certain toppings. Hu tieu tom cua, for instance, is hu tieu topped with shrimp and crab ("tom" is shrimp, "cua" is crab).

As for the soup itself, the pork-based broth is a slightly opaque tan color. Dried shrimp and squid are often added to the soup base, which gives it a wonderfully porky umami flavor. Toppings vary and may include a combination of quail egg, sliced pork, minced pork, fish balls, shrimp and crab. Liver slices are added sometimes. The Nam Vang version also contains copious amounts of garlic and is served with bright, crisp Chinese celery leaves.

Where to try it in Houston: Hu Tieu Hong Phat (for hu tieu Nam Vang), Crawfish and Noodles (for hu tieu with char siu pork and shrimp)

Mai Pham

Mai Pham

Bun Suong (shrimp sausage and noodle soup)

A rice vermicelli noodle soup topped with cylindrical shrimp sausages ("suong") and thinly sliced pork in a pork-based broth, bun suong ("boon swuhng") comes from the coastal province of Tra Vinh in southwestern Vietnam. Suong are small caterpillars in the area, and the sausages are cylindrically shaped to mimic the shape of the caterpillar. Bun suong is a fun dish to eat because of the sausages are sort of spongey and chewy. Red annatto seed oil, added just before serving, also makes the dish pop with color

Where to try it in Houston: Pho Dung, Thien An Sandwiches

Mai Pham

Mi Vit Tiem (braised duck noodle soup)

Brought to Vietnam from China, where it was originally served in Chinese-populated areas like Cho Lon in Ho Chi Minh City, mi vit tiem ("mee veet tee-ehm") is made of thin egg noodle (mi) and braised duck (vit tiem). The recipe involves marinating the duck in Chinese spices, pan frying the leg and thigh to a golden brown, then braising the bird in a pork-based broth with Chinese herbs until it's fall-off-the-bone tender. Mi vit tiem is topped with sweet greens and shiitake mushrooms, and usually comes with a small side plate of thinly sliced, sweet-pickled green papaya.

Where to try it in Houston: Pho Ngon, Thim Hing Sandwiches

Mai Pham

Mi Bo Kho (beef stew with egg noodles)

A Vietnamese lemongrass and five-spice beef stew, bo kho ("baw-khaw") can also be ordered as a noodle soup. Ordered with egg noodles, it is called mi bo kho. Ordered with hu tieu rice noodles, it is known as hu tieu bo kho. Reminiscent of French boeuf bourguignon, regardless of the noodles you prefer, both are hearty, stick-to-your-rib bowls. Make sure to get a loaf of plain banh mi for dipping.

Where to try it in Houston: Pho Saigon, Mai's Restaurant

Mai Pham

Banh Canh Tom Cua (shrimp and crab tapioca noodle soup)

In Vietnamese, "banh" means cake while "canh" means soup, so banh canh, translated literally, is "cake soup." In actuality, banh canh ("bang cang") refers to an udonlike tapioca and rice noodle. Originating in the southwest region of Vietnam, the thick, white noodles have a slightly chewy consistency. The broth varies from a consomme-clear to thicker and more gelatinous, made with pork hocks. The soup is topped with shrimp and crab.

Where to try it in Houston: Mai's RestaurantAn-off duty Metro police officer reportedly shot and injured a suspect Friday afternoon in Pearland, according to local television reports.

The officer shot at the suspect shortly before 1:30 p.m. in the 14000 block of Ginger Cove Court after trying to interrupt a burglary, according to KTRK and KPRC.

The suspect fled but was found inside a neighborhood on Prosperity Ridge Drive, about 8 miles from the shooting.

He was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

This is a breaking news story. Check back here for developments.The board of the Alley Theatre announced plans Friday to create a special committee to evaluate "the workplace environment" after the Houston Chronicle reported that more than a dozen current and former employees said former artistic director Gregory Boyd had fostered a toxic, abusive culture for decades.

In a 79-word statement, the board did not mention Boyd by name and did not directly address the Chronicle's report, published Friday, which included interviews with actors and actresses who said Boyd had screamed obscenities at them during rehearsals. Two actresses alleged that Boyd also touched them inappropriately on their buttocks.

"During this transition to new artistic leadership, the Board of Directors has renewed its commitment to providing a dignified and respectful workplace," the statement said. "The Board has also appointed a special committee to assess the workplace environment and deliver recommendations to ensure the Alley Theatre continues to be a destination for world-class talent."

Boyd, 66, did not return a reporter's phone call. He announced plans to retire on Tuesday and officially ended his 28-year, Tony-winning tenure at the theater two days later.

In Friday's Chronicle article, Emily Trask, a member of the company for nearly two years, said she quit her "dream job" at the Alley in April after reporting to three members of management that Boyd had bullied her at rehearsals and called her a "stupid c---" while giving another actor stage direction. Trask and another actress, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported being touched inappropriately on their buttocks.

Other current and former employees described a hostile environment tinged by fear of Boyd's outbursts.

After the article was published, more former employees came forward with allegations of abusive behavior that they said were ignored by management.

"I think the Alley owes Houston a tremendous apology for misusing the community's trust and for covering up reprehensible behavior," said Michael Dragoni, who was Boyd's assistant from 1996 to 1998 and described the job as "an almost non-stop abusive situation."

He said he saw Boyd berate actresses and touch a former staff member on her thigh inappropriately until she stood up and left a rehearsal.

"They have known about the toxicity from the beginning, and multiple leaders over the years have turned a blind eye and allowed things to get completely out of control," Dragoni said.

'Conspiracy of silence'

Greg Lasley, who worked at the Alley from 2006 to 2011 as a bartender, described a "conspiracy of silence there."

"People would complain, the board would show up and squash the complaint," Lasley said.

Tony Vallone, owner of Tony's restaurant, a longtime supporter of the Alley, expressed dismay at the accounts of an oppressive environment.

"I don't think anyone of either gender, women mostly, should have to go through any of that," Vallone said. "I feel strongly about that."

The Alley's administration has not offered any response to the allegations against Boyd beyond Friday's statement.

SPEAKING OUT: Actors describe toxic, bullying atmosphere during Alley productions

The Chronicle reached out to all 20 members of the board's executive committee listed on the Alley's website. Those who responded declined to comment or referred reporters to the Alley's public relations firm.

Nancy Sims of the public relations firm did not respond to a reporter's emailed request to interview the theater's managing director, Dean Gladden.

Sims did confirm that board members had attended a retreat Friday, which she described as "long-planned."

Friday afternoon, theater employees were summoned to an emergency meeting at the Alley's offices to hear from board president Butch Mach, chief operating officer of Mach Industrial Group. Mach told employees about the special committee and said it was designed to keep watch over the theater and make employees feel safe, according to someone who was present.

Sims said the committee's members have not been selected.

Long-term impact unclear

Boyd, widely considered the most influential figure in Houston's theater scene, was just one year into a five-year contract and was paid at least $420,000 in the fiscal year that ended in June 2016, according to the tax records.

During his tenure, the Alley rose in national and international prominence, breaking attendance records, attracting big-name stars and producing premiere plays that went on to New York and elsewhere.

On Dec. 6, American Theatre magazine published an article based on 100 interviews and emails with actors and staff in theater companies across the country about their experiences with workplace harassment. It did not mention the Alley, but the next day, Gladden and Boyd sent out an email that reiterated the Alley's policy against harassment and pledged "to make the Alley a better, kinder place to work."

On Dec. 8, Boyd seemed to offer a general apology at a staff meeting, according to a recording obtained by the Chronicle.

"I recognize, and I hope all of you do too, that criticism in our business is a good thing. It's how we deliver the criticism that we need to work on ," he said. "I know I need to get better on this point. I can't say I'm going to be 100 percent successful but I think it's time to make the best effort."

The Chronicle started interviewing Alley employees in November as the "Me Too" movement spread nationally and current and former employees complained about Boyd.

The Alley's news release on Boyd's retirement, issued Tuesday, said Boyd had planned to step aside in the fall but delayed the announcement because of Hurricane Harvey.DALLAS -- Josie Zamora, 44, born in Mexico and a legal resident of Texas for nearly 15 years, says she can feel the building pressure.

"You can feel it in the community," she says in describing her Oak Cliff neighborhood, where many of the families are from the same small towns in Mexico.

First was Donald Trump's border wall, and the push from politicians to deport all illegal immigrants. Then came the passage in Austin of a Texas ban on sanctuary cities and the calls to deport Dreamers, the young immigrants who were brought into the United States illegally by their undocumented parents.

Last week, when President Trump announced he was ending a protective amnesty program for about 200,000 Salvadorans nationwide, Zamora said she just shook her head.

MORE: Trump ends special protections for immigrants from El Salvador

"We're Trump's punching bag," said the office manager at a Dallas bookkeeping firm. "I try to ignore what he and a lot of his Republicans say. It makes me angry."

As Democrats look to make gains in Congress and mount a challenge to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this year, they shouldn't count on a big Latino vote, despite the backlash to hardline policies and rhetoric of Trump and the GOP on immigrants. It's more complicated than that.

Cody Duty/.

To succeed, they would have to translate that anger into a surge in Latino voter turnout -- something Democrats have predicted for years, but has not materialized. Democrats would also need their predictions to come true that more Latino voters means more votes for them.

How likely is that?

BY THE NUMBERS 40 - percentage of Latinos in Texas registered to vote in 2016 28 - percentage of registered Latino voters who cast a ballot in 2016 30 -- percentage of Latino vote won by President Donald Trump nationwide in 2016 44 -- percentage of Latino vote won by Gov. Greg Abbott statewide in 2014 By the numbers 40 percent Latinos in Texas registered to vote in 2016 28 percent Registered Latino voters who cast a ballot in 2016 30 percent Latino vote won by President Donald Trump nationwide in 2016 44 percent Latino vote won by Gov. Greg Abbott statewide in 2014 See More Collapse

Zamora and several of her friends laugh.

"You act like all (Latinos) vote and think alike. Wrong," said one friend, Maryana Gonzales, adding she would probably vote Republican, if she votes in November at all. "The Democrats think we'll all turn out for them. I'm Catholic. No abortion or gay marriage. I'm not a Democrat."

It's an election year in Texas when Latinos are considered a key, when Democrats are touting the candidacy of the first Latina running for governor, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez. But the Latinos at the restaurant with Zamora mostly said they weren't interested in the election at all yet.

MORE: Clock is ticking for Salvadoran immigrants after protected status terminated

In fact, only one knew who Valdez was, even though the sheriff is said to live nearby.

"Most (immigrant voters) probably don't want to rock the boat, so they just don't vote, even if they're mad," Zamora explained. "I've heard again and again how (Latinos) are going to turn out and win everything for the Democrats. I don't see that."

Others disagree.

"It's true that Latinos don't vote as a bloc, because Republicans have done a better job in the past of courting Latinos in a sincere way," said Sylvia Manzano of Latino Decisions, a research firm that focuses on Hispanic voters. "But that's not happening anymore. And it's not just that they're ignoring Latinos. They're doing worse. They're actively working to repel Latinos."

Less than 40 percent of Latinos in Texas registered to vote in 2016, the lowest rate compared to white or black voters. In a state with a long history of low voter turnout, even fewer voted: just 28 percent of registered Latino voters cast a ballot in 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. By comparison, 63 percent of white registered voters went to the polls.

While Texas Democratic Party officials and party activists say registrations of Hispanics are up significantly, GOP campaign consultants say their polling shows that many Latinos are likely to vote Republican because they agree with the party's pro-life, small-government, pro-business policies -- even their stance that immigration laws should be followed.

"Texas Latinos are fired up and fighting back to protect their families. The track record is clear: Texas Republicans have refused to fund neighborhood schools, refused to raise the minimum wage, and refused to protect the Affordable Care Act," said Manny Garcia, deputy executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. "At the same time they've attacked DREAMers, attacked the Voting Rights Act, and passed the "show-me-your-papers" bill, SB4. Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, and Texas Republicans have pulled every trick in the book to attack Latino families and in 2018, they will be held accountable."

Even in a year when polls show Trump has fallen out of favor with many who voted for him, especially Latinos, observers are split on whether the building pressure on Latino communities will benefit Democrats like they predict.

"If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said 'of course, this is going to hurt (Republicans),'" said Guadalupe Correa, an immigration expert and former chair of the Government Department at the University of Texas in Brownsville who now teaches at the George Mason University outside Washington, D.C. "Today, I would also say yes, but I don't know to what degree."

Trump factor

Trump's election in 2016 with nearly 30 percent of the Hispanic vote  despite his many taunts against Mexican immigrants  has forced a revision in how analysts must view the Latino vote, she said.

MORE: McCaul, Republicans, double down on wall-for-DACA fix

"I thought that with all that rhetoric the Republican Party was going to lose of Hispanic support, and that the Hispanic vote was going to really have an impact on the election," Correa said. "Well, it happened that more Hispanics voted for Donald Trump than I would have assumed. Or the Hispanic vote just wasn't as important as I had assumed."

Despite Trump's provocative rhetoric about building a massive border wall and creating a "deportation force," Hispanic voters in 2016 were only about 11 percent of the electorate nationwide, about the same as in 2012.

"It's clear that the Hispanic vote is not monolithic and that neither party can take the vote for granted," said Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the Washington-based Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "Elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, should be working hard to earn the Hispanic vote and the trust of the Hispanic constituency."

Surges in the Latino vote have been predicted before, but they did not turn out in big numbers to protest Trump.

Latinos did vote for Hillary Clinton by more than a 2-1 margin, according to exit polls. But 2016 underscored that Latinos are not ideologically monolithic, even if they generally break for Democrats, much like other minority groups, political scientists have posited.

The are other factors as well, including Hispanics' low voter participation rates, particularly in Texas.

MORE: Houston employers should prepare for immigration inspections as ICE turns up the heat

They don't all have the same concerns, either. Though many Salvadorans enjoy protections from the TPS program Trump is phasing out, Correa said, it doesn't affect most Hispanics. At the same time, many Hispanic conservatives have little more sympathy for illegal immigration than other Americans.

"Plus, there is a segment of the population that has been in the country for generations, and are not voting as a class," she said. "Many of them voted for Trump because of the way they identify themselves in politics. Identity politics play in a very different ways, and its' not so straightforward."

"There are other factors that impact how the Hispanic population votes," Correa added. "This is all happening now. It is very confusing, and we don't know if the issues are going to be different by the end of the year. There could be North Korea, or any number of things."

In 2014, when he was elected governor, Abbott received about 44 percent of the Latino vote in Texas, giving the party optimism that those numbers could grow further in the 2018 elections. But that optimism is now diminished, with Trump getting much of the blame.

Even so, Alfonso Aguilar, a former George W. Bush administration official and executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, thinks Democrats "make a huge mistake by thinking they have a hold on the Hispanic vote -- just like they didn't understand why average Americans would vote for Trump, they still don't get why Hispanics voted for Trump.

"They might not like the man, but they respond to some of his ideas," Aguilar said.

Aguilar supports DACA and a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, as do many Republicans. While he wants to see the issue resolved, he accuses liberal activists of turning it into a wedge issue by threatening a government shutdown over a deal, something he thinks would backfire on Democrats.

He also accuses Democrats of ignoring the diversity of the Latino community in the U.S., which he considers an artificial construct.

MORE: Immigration detention deaths reach the highest total since 2009

"You cannot apply the African-American model to the Latino community," Aguilar said. "The African-American model is a homogenous experience. The Latino is not."

Following the rules

Ask Javier Monte, 38, a construction foreman who has lived in Texas for two generations, whether he is a Democrat or Republican and he rolls his eyes before answering. "I voted Republican when I voted," he said. "I agree on most of what they want. The rest I can live with. And deportation? My family came here legally. We followed the rules. Others should do that, too. If it's the law, it's the law for everybody."

His friend, Ray Lopez Padreda, 40, stands nearby shaking his head.

"He's wrong. A lot of good people who have never done anything wrong are going to get hurt," he says, admitting that he has never voted in the 14 years he has lived in Texas. "I got signed up a couple of times, but I never went out. We never voted in Mexico," he said. "I just want to keep my head down and keep working and have a good life. The politics don't involve me."

At the same time, Soraya Colli, 40, a Texas-born Democratic Party activist in Dallas, predicts this will be the year Texas' Latino voice is heard.

"Before a year and a half ago, I had never had to think about the fact I was Mexican," she said. "Trump changed everything. I always carry my passport now so that if I ever get stopped, I can prove that I am a U.S. citizen. If Latinas voted in numbers, we could be the Blue Wave that the Democrats are hoping for."

State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat running for Congress, has hopes for the same wave. "We're running a campaign for Congress, but we are also running a campaign to energize and increase the minhyority vote," she said, echoing the sentiments of Democratic Party activists in Dallas who are hoping a Blue Wave will help them take local offices and legislative seats from Republicans, even if the party does not win its first statewide office after a 24-year drought.

"This is a building process that will take time," Colli said.

While Latinos have been underrepresented at the polls in the past, some activists believe that could change going into the second year of the Trump's presidency, particularly if a border wall progresses while the hopes for Dreamers recede like the Temporary Protected Status program did for Salvadorans.

A New America: Five storylines on the frontline of the immigration debate in Houston

"I see Hispanic voters looking at these issues and really thinking about coming out to vote," said Vanessa Rodriguez, a Dreamer from Austin who met with lawmakers from Texas last week in Washington. "For some time a lot of Latinos have not realized that a lot of power is in their hands when it comes to voting."

As a 19-year-old undocumented immigrant, Rodriguez, whose parents brought her to the U.S. illegally when she was six, will not herself be able to vote. But she's become active in politics nonetheless.

"All these issues surfacing are making an impact," she said. "People are becoming more aware, and the more that this issue (DACA) is prolonged and is left up in the air without resolution, more people are looking at voting as a way of guaranteeing that something will be done."

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is among Republican leaders in Washington who are confident that Trump's policies will resonate with many in the Hispanic community, especially on the economy and lax enforcement of immigration laws that are blamed for much of the current political mess.

Cornyn focused on minority outreach in his last re-election bid, and said he recently met with a group of Hispanic leaders who reiterated that many immigrants and Hispanic voters care about security.

"I think the president is uniquely situated to come up with a solution that not only demonstrates compassion, but also demonstrates a commitment to security," Cornyn said.RALEIGH, N.C. - They meet in a conference room on the second floor of the Islamic Association of Raleigh, a therapist and a member of the mosque experiencing emotional distress.

Sitting around a table in the windowless room, they talk for an hour, during which the therapist draws up a list of referrals to outside experts who can offer specialized help for marital conflict, children's behavioral problems, depression, substance abuse or other issues.

In the United States, many Muslims are reluctant to seek out mental health professionals because of the stigma attached to mental illness or because they fear that a Western-trained therapist will not understand their culture or religion.

Instead, they turn to imams and other community leaders, who often quietly refer them to mental health professionals. But leaders of the Raleigh mosque, which draws thousands of worshippers a week, realized that mental health issues needed to be dealt with in a more professional and organized way and that the requests were inundating its two religious leaders.

"Our imams get hundreds of requests every week," said Azleena Azhar, a trained Muslim chaplain and one of the leaders of the referral initiative. "It's been very overwhelming for them. People are slowly finding out that if they don't need to get advice from a religious scholar - they can come to the team and talk to someone there instead."

A year ago, a group of mental health experts who also are mosque members agreed to volunteer their services. Members can go online and pick from six mental health experts - including a family therapist, chaplain and a substance abuse counselor - for a free and confidential session.

This new referral initiative started here in September and is part of a growing menu of social services nationwide aimed at addressing the needs of American Muslims, which have never been stronger.

Muslims in the U.S. are racially and ethnically diverse, with nearly 60 percent born abroad. As a minority - making up 1.1 percent of the U.S. population - they have suffered assaults and intimidation in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency. The travel ban and the rise of nationalist rhetoric, which views immigrants as "other," have contributed to feelings of being bullied, harassed and otherwise treated with suspicion.

"There's this collective feeling of being under siege," said Dr. Hamada Hamid Altalib, a psychiatrist and neurologist who is president of the Institute for Muslim Mental Health and chief editor of the Journal of Muslim Mental Health.

Yet, many Muslims are wary of talking with outsiders about domestic violence or behavioral issues, for fear that may cast a bad light on the faith generally, said Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad, founder and president of the Muslim Wellness Foundation in Philadelphia.

"There's an ambivalence about sharing these challenges outside of the community because it reinforces the stereotype we're trying to counteract about who we are," he said.

Providing mental health services through the mosque may provide cover as well as permission to access care, said Heather Laird, a psychologist who directs the Center for Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology at the University of Southern California.

Laird is one of a growing number of Muslims working to empower adherents to take advantage of mental health services. Next month, she is convening a conference, "Moving Toward Defining an Islamic Psychology," that will bring together Islamic scholars and mental health experts to hammer out what she called a "working definition of Islamic psychology."

Laird is working on a developing a 24-hour mental health hotline for Muslims living in Southern California and has been instrumental in several initiatives to extend culturally compatible mental health services to Muslims through education, treatment and referrals.

"There's a lot of intergenerational trauma in our community - a lot of issues that come up that have gone unaddressed: depression, marital issues, suicide among youth, LGBT sexuality," she said. "Our community is suffering."

That kind of cultural sensitivity is critical because Muslims won't seek out mental health services if they fear that their religious identity might be threatened, said Shaykh Suhail Mulla, resident scholar at the Islamic Society of West Valley in Los Angeles and the Muslim chaplain at UCLA.

For example, a woman wearing the hijab and seeking out psychotherapy may not want to be told "You just need to take off your hijab and assimilate and be like everybody else and then you'll be able to find a job," he said.

This year, Mulla hopes to launch a branch in the Los Angeles area of the Khalil Center, a clinic that uses a faith-based approach to mental health rooted in the science of psychology while integrating Muslim theological concepts.

The Khalil Center has three satellites in Northern California and another three in the Chicago area.

In other places, such as Detroit, the Islamic Circle of North America has started a program called Muslim Family Services, which offers counseling.

And then there's the model of Muslim chaplains who serve in universities, hospitals, prisons and the military. Some also are being hired to serve as assistants to imams and other congregational leaders.

The Institute for Muslim Mental Health is compiling a directory of Muslim practitioners.

James M. Lyon, who is volunteering in the Raleigh mosque's referral program while he works to get his certification as a substance abuse counselor, said it feels good to help his fellow Muslims.

"When I see the people, having that opportunity to speak confidentially with someone, they feel better already, as soon as they meet with you," he said. "They know someone's advocating for them. You can just see that they're thinking, 'Hey, somebody is listening to me.' "There were many stories that inspired Elaine Howard Ecklund, a professor of sociology at Rice University, to write her book "Religion vs. Science: What Religious People Really Think." However, she writes about one in particular that became a catalyst for her work.

Ecklund recalls meeting a mother who was concerned about sending her children to Cornell University because she was afraid that interacting with scientists would cause them to lose their faith. This encounter made Ecklund wonder: "Are all scientists really all out to eat young Christian children for lunch? What's really going on here?"

Over the span of five years, Ecklund conducted in-depth research with 319 interview subjects in 23 congregational studies to answer questions like these, using the data to break down myths and stereotypes about how religious people think about and interact with science.

Ecklund, and co-author Christopher P. Scheitle, use the data to offer practical advice about how to facilitate constructive conversations between religious and science communities. She believes building bridges between science and religion will not only lead to greater understanding but increase scientific creativity and diversity within the field.

We recently sat down with Ecklund to talk about the book.

Q: Your work addresses the fact that people naturally rely on stereotypes to dictate how they perceive "others," whether these are scientists or religious people. Why do you think it's so important to reconsider these stereotypes?

A: I think we're in a particular national state where science is somewhat at risk and so no matter where you are politically, funding is decreasing for science. There is a sense that scientists are not trusted as a people group by some, and so I don't think it helps the entire scientific enterprise if religious people continue to have stereotypes of the scientific community and about science. Stereotypes hurt science.

I also think that stereotypes hurt religion and religious organizations as well. If you take the case of conservative protestant Christians or Evangelicals, young people are leaving congregations in quite large numbers, and one of the reasons that they cite for leaving congregations is because the congregations don't seem to be engaging modern-day science. So I do think for those who care about retaining kids in congregations, this is a big deal.

I also think thirdly - I think it's a little harder to understand as a bullet point, but science is very concerned about issues of equality and increasing minority representation in science. Particularly African-Americans and Latinos, and some groups of Asian-Americans, are vastly underrepresented in science. These are groups that historically and presently are very religious and overrepresented in the kinds of organizations that we believe have some contention with science - conservative Catholicism, conservative Protestantism and Pentecostalism - so I think that if scientists and religious people want to increase minority representation, science is sort of a social justice issue, that they ought to look towards religion as a possible partner. Now this is a radical thing to say: How do we do science outreach? Let's go to church.

Q: You quote a graduate student in biology who is commenting on her peer's faith convictions and belief in God. She, as someone who is not religious, says " ... it makes no sense, because I would not come to the same conclusion if I read that paper." You address a very important issue, that two different people can reach two entirely different conclusions even when they're presented with the same information. Why do you think this is the case and how should we navigate these disagreements with our peers?

A: So that particular quote is exemplifying how someone who perceives themselves as secular is looking at someone who is religious, they're both scientists in that particular quote, and the secular person is saying of the religious person, "Gosh, she comes to different conclusions."

What we then need to ask is are those conclusions consequential for science as an enterprise? What we didn't find in these data is that the scientists that we surveyed and interviewed as part of the broader study don't perceive themselves as religious in that they're doing a different kind of science. So it seems like, from scientists' own point of view, whether they're religious or not doesn't really have an impact on their method of science and perceive themselves as doing a different kind of science. Now they do perceive themselves, religious scientists that is, as having a different approach to ethics, thinking of student care differently, some of them do think their faith makes a difference in how they apply science or the practice of science, but not really in scientific method. We didn't really find any evidence that if you think of a Muslim scientist and a scientist who is atheist and a scientist who is Christian, none of them seem to be perceiving themselves as doing science differently. But they might understand the goal of science in the world differently.

Q: You clarify religious people's viewpoints on hot button issues like stem cell research, climate change and evolution. What is the danger of allowing these misunderstandings to stew while these issues continue to gain momentum?

A: Well, because we had Harvey, let's bring it back. It's hard for people to understand this, but if you keep allowing misinformation about the environment and climate to persist, you let go of a large group of people who could help create positive change in environmental care. We really need religious people here. So going back a little bit, what we found - this goes both directions: Both religious leaders and scientists need to understand where the other community is coming from. In terms of climate and the environment, these have become highly politicized issues, and if we make it political, it becomes divisive.It's actually safer to make climate care a religious issue.

This is a bit counterintuitive, but it helps to get religious communities on board in terms of environmental care if you can make it an issue of stewardship, which is a value that actually Christians, Jews and Muslims all hold. As soon as we make it an issue of caring for people and stewardship of God's world, then it becomes to religious people something they can really get on board with.

Q:You present the idea f that many Evangelicals don't see scientists as the sole authority. That doesn't mean that they entirely discount scientific research, but that they factor in other variables like their religious leader's teachings when formulating an opinion. How do you think understanding can emerge from putting some of these perceptions into context?

A: I think it's important to make sure that we understand that religious people across the board think science is valuable to society so we're at, from the scientist's point of view, we're at a net positive. ... It is important to know that certain religious groups are likely to return to certain religious leaders to interpret science. This is not all science - it's not how does a refrigerator work. They totally buy that science says that it works great. They do care about scientific issues that seem to impinge on who God is and who people are. So we've used this: a science that affects God and humans. So if it's a scientific issue that has implications for God's intervention in the world and has to do with the uniqueness and specialness of humanity, and some would say rightly so, that religious people start to think through what kind of theological implications does this have for my form of faith. Then they start to talk to religious leaders and other religious people about those kinds of issues. They should perhaps turn to scientists for the mechanics of science, but the implications of science, I think it makes sense to talk about those issues in faith communities. And so I don't think scientists should see this as an entirely bad thing, but that religious organizations and spaces might be another opportunity to talk about science and increase the reputation of science.

Q:With recent events like the mass shooting at the church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and the Egyptian mosque shooting that killed more than 300 people, why do you think the topic of your book religion vs. science is relevant?

A: It seems at this national and global moment, we ought to support any efforts to decrease stereotypes and increase understanding. Perhaps the best kind of antidote to anger and violence is increasing compassion and understanding and humanity. You wouldn't think it - religion and science. They seem like these dispassionate, intellectual, philosophic issues that we debate about, but people get very angry. They get very angry and say hateful things to each other, which I think some of those things are borne out of misinformation and so sometimes the right information can help us be on better ground for a better conversation.WASHINGTON - When excerpts from Michael Wolff's tell-all book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" were unveiled recently, a few sharp-eyed students of religion noticed a peculiar snippet about Jared Kushner.

In a quote attributed to the president's Orthodox Jewish son-in-law and senior adviser, Kushner claims to have been ordained "an internet Unitarian."

More specifically in the passage - revealed last week in New York Magazine - Kushner says he can perform a marriage for MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski thanks to this ordination.

"I can marry you! I'm an internet Unitarian minister," Kushner is quoted as saying.

As it turns out, Kushner is, in fact, ordained - but not by "internet Unitarians."

That appears to be a bungled reference - whether by Kushner or whoever gave the quote to Wolff - to the Universal Life Church, which has a robust online presence.

An official with the ULC confirmed that Kushner is, in fact, ordained by ULC.org.

"He's not the only person to forget the name - a lot of people forget," said George Freeman, presiding chaplain of the ULC.

The confusion seems to revolve around the term "Unitarian," a word often used to describe members of the Unitarian Universalist Association and which sounds somewhat like the group that actually ordained Kushner.

But the UUA is not an internet-based tradition: Birthed from the fusion of different Christian groups in 1961, the denomination now preaches a much broader message of religious inclusion to around 200,000 members who worship at more than 1,000 congregations.

And while the UUA and the ULC do share a similar desire to incorporate various religious traditions, the similarities stop there. The ULC is not connected to the UUA, does not have worshipping congregations in the traditional sense and frequently ordains people across the country in a swift process that is conducted primarily online.

That compares to the ordination process of the "UUs" - as they sometimes call themselves - which is rigorous, takes years and isn't exactly something you complete over the internet.

"A Unitarian Universalist minister must be ordained by a Unitarian Universalist congregation and then must be certified by the UUA's Ministerial Fellowship Committee," said Marchae Grair, a UUA spokesperson who also noted that Kushner is not a UUA minister.

"UU ministers typically have a Master of Theology degree from an accredited seminary or theological school."

Kushner is hardly the first high-profile individual ordained by the ULC. According to the Universal Life Church Monastery, others include Joan Rivers, Conan O'Brien and Stephen Colbert.

Xavier Wilkens, a representative of the ULC, said the ULC makes it easy for anyone to join as an ordained individual and that "a majority" of people who visit the site are seeking to officiate a wedding ceremony.

"There is a key component of 'study' that is the cornerstone of UUA ordination, and we take the opposite approach," Wilkens said. "We don't put any barriers in the way. We definitely encourage our ministers to engage in study to further the ministry, but it's not a litmus test that we put in the way for joining the organization."

Freeman noted that this policy is rooted in the ULC's loose theology.

"We don't hold any one religious belief in terms of deities," he said. "Whatever deity you have, you get to keep."

Freeman added he was personally opposed to at least one of the Trump administration's actions: namely, the recent decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, a region where Kushner has played a major role for the White House.

But when asked if he had any message for Kushner as the head of the ULC, Freeman kept his comments brief.

"Do no harm. And do the right thing. Tell the truth," he said.

Calls requesting comment from the White House and TheSHUL - the Washington synagogue Kushner attends with his wife, Ivanka, the president's daughter - were not immediately returned.

Kushner's ordination remains a sideshow over the release of Wolff's book.

Most of the initial news coverage revolved around the emerging war of words between the president and his former adviser, Steve Bannon.

A legal representative for President Trump has since sent a "cease and desist" letter to Wolff and his publisher, claiming lawyers were "investigating numerous false and/or baseless statements" within the book's pages. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has called the book a "complete fantasy."Many Texans support NAFTA based on the premise that it allows American workers and businesses to compete on a level playing field with anyone in the world.

President Trump has tapped into the concern of many workers that international trade is too often tilted against American interests. From the dumping of Chinese steel to foreign governments propping up domestic companies for an unfair competitive advantage, there are legitimate concerns about trade practices that harm American industry.

When you couple these concerns with a confiscatory tax policy that sends jobs and investment overseas, American industry - particularly American manufacturing - has been losing jobs for a generation.

RELATED: Update NAFTA

ALSO: Trade with our neighbors north and south supports nearly 14 million U.S. jobs

But Texans know when it comes to trade agreements like NAFTA, the answer is to mend it, not end it. President Trump must be urged to recognize the agreement's importance to our state, because the alternative would be detrimental to the Texas and American economy.

Texas is the gateway to trade with Latin America. We're also the nation's leading exporter to our southern neighbor. Our people, products and innovations flow south in record numbers, not only creating opportunities abroad, but jobs back home.

And with the privatization of the Mexican energy sector, new opportunities are emerging that will unleash energy jobs, opportunity and investment in Texas and across the United States.

RELATED: While North America updates our trade deal, the U.S. loses to overseas competition

ALSO: Trump's misstatements about NAFTA and TPP are particularly pertinent to Houston

In the last two years, natural gas exports to Mexico have doubled. Over the course of the next two years, six new pipelines will open, carrying American gas south to Mexico. This new dynamic is a big part of the reason that the United States became a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in 60 years this past June, boosting not only our state's economy but security abroad for our friends and allies. It's also expected that offshore leasing of Mexican oil fields could reach $50 billion in investment.

As the U.S. seeks to re-negotiate NAFTA, the Office of the United States Trade Representative describes its energy policy goals to, "Preserve and strengthen investment, market access, and state-owned enterprise disciplines benefitting energy production and transmission and support North American energy security and independence, while promoting continuing energy market-opening reforms." If these goals are met, it will mean energy growth and prosperity for Texas and the U.S.

As a state with a 1,254-mile international border, we also know how critical it is that we cooperate with our North American neighbors on grid interconnections. Grid stability benefits from the international exchange of energy and electricity resources.

RELATED: Texas-Mexico ties

RELATED: Mexico's energy potential is a game changer

Investments in a diverse energy supply, the means to transport energy resources, and the generation of conventional and renewable sources is vital to our future. Doing it as North American partners is just as critical.

We need a North American energy strategy, in partnership with Mexico and Canada, that leverages our shared energy potential. We can achieve energy security as a continent, greatly reducing our reliance on hostile sources of energy, if we work across shared borders to advance shared economic and security interests.

Doing this requires not withdrawing from NAFTA or harming longstanding trade relationships with our neighbors, but sitting down to hash out agreements about renewable standards and environmental commitments, focusing on joint infrastructure projects, and agreeing to 21st century rules and regulations that advance our collective prosperity.

Protectionist policies, though well-meaning, could greatly harm American investments in Mexican energy fields and our shared goal of North American energy security. That is a non-starter for Texas and it must be a non-starter for President Trump.

Craddick is chair of the Railroad Commission of Texas.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.

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The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.'Darkest Hour': Saving The World 101

It is said that if you're hungry and motoring in a hurry, unable to stop due to time constraints, ubiquitous eateries will line the road. Likewise, an analogous case exists in times of sociopolitical crisis. Looking at our current situation in America, I see metaphors everywhere.

But in viewing Gary Oldman's tour de force portrayal of Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright's "Darkest Hour," it takes no great stretch of the imagination to draw comparisons. A threat to civilization is a threat to civilization.

The difference is that while the United Kingdom and eventually most of its allies, including the United States, faced an external menace back in the WWII era, today's danger weaves its peril from within, the culprit distorting and demeaning the very institutions it disingenuously says it represents. While it takes no more than a child's ability to unmask the villain in a cartoon to recognize such evil, a confluence of factors, not the least of which is a cowardly passiveness in our Congress, currently precludes decisive, patriotic action.

While we can only hope that a spark of conscience ignites under those hell-bent on gaining financial profit and/or power, apparently at any cost, history shows that Churchill, in his moment of truth, would have none of it. That's why he's a hero, just like the history books say. While his predecessor, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, afraid that England stood no chance against the Nazis, favored appeasement, Churchill vociferously scoffed at the notion. Remember? "Never, never will we surrender!"

Alas, there were even opportunists then, single-minded politicians in Parliament with designs of their own, willing to take a chance that Herr Hitler would treat England kindly if it accepted Germany as the acknowledged ruler of the continent. How Winston, as great a Machiavellian as the most conniving of his enemies domestic and foreign, engineered the path to victory, is bracingly told here in entertainingly heartfelt terms. And when we put things in optimistic perspective, which we must, and the sooner the better, our own plight seems rather easy to solve.

Whereas Britain and the rest of the free world, along with help from Russia, had to fight a horrific war to maintain their sovereignty, all we have to do to save our republic is kindle the groundswell, protest, petition our representatives and vote. The one lucky thing for the English was that they had a champion, and a downright interesting one per Mr. Oldman's Oscar-worthy portrait of the curmudgeonly statesman. We haven't one just yet, although as Churchill proves, in a democracy it is ultimately the people themselves who must be the hero.

There is a great, heartening scene when Mr. Churchill, baffled with self-doubt and the thought that untold numbers would lose their lives in a conflict with the Axis powers, takes his first-ever trip in the London Underground to informally measure the vox populi. If the emotions rendered there, altruistic and dedicated to that greater good the human race has sought to attain ever since climbing out of the primordial mud, doesn't stir tears of pride, you might be an apt cabinet pick for the current administration. Plainly, it's the love for equality vs. the politics of divisiveness.

Therefore, aside from learning or learning anew some of the most important history in the last century, the viewer will experience a vicarious pleasure from this hour-by- hour account of how Churchill turned the tide against fascism. It is a good reminder for those of late long-faced that good can indeed triumph over evil, and often does. I believe that people, especially those from a culture that has traditionally embraced the G-d- given right and virtues of freedom, have an internal gyroscope, at the ready to right itself in the cause of liberty when need arises.

Digging down into the cerebraly exhilarating and deliciously funky depths of his prime minister, Gary Oldman examples the DNA of democratic ideals with both grand conviction and charming whimsy. For all his dyspeptic moods, heavy drinking and a raft of bad habits that Lady Clementine Churchill (Kristin Scott Thomas) is forever trying to ameliorate if not correct, he is first and foremost a patriot  a defender of the realm. An effective counterpoint, though of course dedicated to the same cause, is supplied by Ben Mendelsohn's perfectly proper King George VI.

It seems odd to say that a chronicle detailing the events that evolved into the cataclysm of WWII, resulting in mass destruction and loss of life never before seen, is a feel-good movie. All the same, Clio, the muse of history, will attest that this is precisely a situation where the knowledge of past events proves a primer for navigating the current crises. It teems with "Yes we can!" Full of noble thoughts and wisdom, with an emphasis on the importance of country over party, "Darkest Hour" points the way to the light at the end of our own dark tunnel.

"Darkest Hour," rated PG-13, is a Focus Features release directed by Joe Wright and stars Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ben Mendelsohn. Running time: 125 minutesSuperintendent Robert Putnam presents the academic award to Molly Reynolds.

Reynolds Receives Adams-Cheshire Superintendent Award

CHESHIRE, Mass.  Hoosac Valley High School senior Molly Reynolds has been awarded the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Award.

Superintendent Robert Putnam honored Reynolds at the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee's meeting Monday night and praised her academic achievements.

"These awards are to be given to students who have distinguished themselves in the pursuit of excellence during their high school years," Putnam said. "This is a most fitting award for all of the excellent work academically and civicaly you have done in the school district."

Principal Jerimiah Ames said Reynolds has maintained a high grade-point average while taking some of the most rigorous classes possible. He added that she is active in the student council, a member of the National Honor Society and the driving force behind the peer mentoring program, with 60 high school students mentoring fourth- and fifth-graders.

"She is a regular in our office and she works so hard for so many causes and I am very proud of the work she has done with the peer leadership program," Ames said. "It is a lot of work and organizing and on top of that, she takes the hardest courses she can and just crushed her AP exams."

School Committee Chairman Paul Butler also congratulated Reynolds.

"This is well-deserved honor and congratulations from the School Committee," Butler said.

Reynolds thanked the committee and superintendent and said she has enjoyed giving back to the school.

"I am very flattered," she said. "I have just always felt very comfortable at school and I like to give back."

She plans to attend Bentley University and double major in early childhood and elementary education.



iciHaiti - Brazil : Brazil's Minister of Health in Haiti, announcements and inaugurations





Ricardo Barros, Brazil's Minister of Health and Marie Greta Roy Clement, Haiti's Minister of Public Health will meet in Haiti on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January 2018 as part of several cooperation activities.



Minister Barros, announced the Brazilian support for the reform of the network of the National Ambulance Center with the acquisition and development of ambulances, as well as the development of training and qualification activities, workshop for the sterilization of ambulances and strengthening the emergency sector in Haiti.



On Monday, January 15 in Jeremie, the two ministers will participate in inauguration ceremonies of the storage depot of vaccines and inputs and the delivery of the new operating rooms of the Saint-Antoine Hospital. Subsequently, they will participate in Bon Repos, at the reopening ceremony of the Haitian Rehabilitation Institute, whose maintenance will be financed by the Reconstruction Fund project for three years, before a sustainable transfer to the Haitian Government.



IH/ iciHaiti

















British actress Bella Emberg has died aged 80, prompting a flood of tributes from her family, friends, colleagues and fans.

The "huge comedy talent" is most fondly remembered for her character Blunder Woman, the comic sidekick of hapless superhero Cooperman, in the 1980s television programme The Russ Abbot Show.

She also made appearances on shows including Doctor Who and The Benny Hill Show, in a career spanning six decades.

Abbot called her a woman of immense warmth and generosity.

She was not only a great sport but a huge comedy talent. I count myself very lucky to have worked alongside her, he said. She really was a one-off.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror last year, Emberg insisted the Blunder Woman character had been a positive thing, despite struggling to find work when the show finished in 1996.

I went for jobs and they'd say: 'We'd love to hire you but you're too well known with Russ,' she told the publication.

Once every few weeks I go and look at that Blunder Woman costume - still hanging up at home - and I feel nothing but gratitude.

Actor Les Dennis paid tribute to his funny, lovely friend, while comedian Bobby Davro called her a true comedy talent.

Comedy actor Paul Chuckle added, while her agent said she would be greatly missed.

Emberg had just finished filming a new Sky One comedy, In the Long Run, which was created by Idris Elba. It is due to be released later this year.John Humphrys has lashed out at the nasty person who leaked an off-air conversation he had where he was heard joking about equal pay for women at the BBC.

Humphrys, who is the BBCs highest-paid news presenter, was caught joking with colleague Jon Sopel about the issue after China editor Carrie Grace resigned.

The leaked transcript of the issue caused outrage, particularly when Humphrys was allowed to continue to broadcast, yet women employees at the BBC were barred from reporting on the issue after expressing an opinion about it.

 Carrie Gracie on quitting the BBC over equal pay: There is a 'hunger for an equal, fair and transparent pay system'

The 74-year-old presenter told ITV News that his remarks over the BBC pay gap were a jocular exchange and did not represent his views, calling the suggestion he did not support equal pay complete rubbish.

We are in the habit, Jon and I, of winding each other up and the purpose of this jokey  emphasise jokey  exchange was a bit of mutual mickey-taking and that is all it was, he said.

Humphrys, who earns between 600,000 and 650,000, was speaking to Sopel, who earns between 200,000 and 250,000, off-air at around 4am before Mondays edition of the Today programme.

Some nasty person decided that the world was entitled to hear it, and that one is not entitled to have private conversations, he told The Daily Telegraph.

This is not something thats going to dominate my existence. As far as Im concerned, its over and done with. If people took a different message from it, it could only be because they didnt appreciate that it was a joke.

Labour MP Stella Creasy said it was unfair some stars have been stopped from speaking while Humphrys continued to work.

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This shows the BBC needs to ensure equal pay rather than using editorial guidelines to try to prevent presenters talking about this issue, she said.

Its clear everyone has an opinion, so it is unfair to stop some speaking and not others. That some of those opinions appear rooted in the 19th century when it comes to why this matters only further underlines the importance of getting this right.

A BBC source previously told the Huffington Post that management were deeply unimpressed by the exchange.

A BBC spokesperson said on Thursday: This was an ill-advised off air conversation which the presenter regrets. The BBC is committed to getting its pay structures right and, as we have said, we are conducting a comprehensive analysis of presenter pay.

PwC are working with us on this to ensure an objective external assessment of how we have set pay in the past, what we need to do differently going forward, and what further action we need to take immediately. We will publish that in the coming weeks.I once worked for an overdemanding editor who used to entertain, born of sadism or befuddlement I could not tell, the most ludicrous delusions of grandeur about his own importance and the power of his organ. We all used to joke that one day hed tell us, in all seriousness, to put a bid in to interview Queen Elizabeth II. How we laughed and mocked such an improbable prospect.

Well, now look. Not content with gamely jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond (or pretending to), the Queen has graciously agreed to an interview! Tomorrow evening, in The Coronation, shell be not-exactly-grilled by Alastair Bruce, who knows his royal stuff alright but is a lot tamer than one of the corgis, let alone those vicious bull terriers Princess Anne is responsible for (and no, I dont mean Zara and that rugger player shes shacked up with). Perhaps the only star who can outshine Claire Foy in The Crown is the real Elizabeth II talking about the real crown, or rather St Edwards crown, the big very arched one that you see represented on the side of the Royal Mail vans, on your maroon passport and across British officialdom. It features the ruby supposedly worn by Henry V at Agincourt and Edward the Confessors very own sapphire and it weighs 5lbs in mostly solid gold. (I hope youll agree that imperial rather than metric measurements are appropriate just this once). Quite the coup, if youll pardon the expression.

Andrew Graham-Dixon with... the future king? (BBC)

As if that wasnt enough flummery for one week  and were still nowhere near the marriage of Meghan and Harry yet  Andrew Graham-Dixon goes for a good old nose round the Royal Collection for the next four Tuesday nights in Art, Passion and Power, and, while you might have some notion of the scale and, yes, value of the art and crafts mostly locked up away from public view in Windsor, Buckingham Palace and other residences youll not fail to be awestruck by the beauty, mostly, of the collection. You might also wonder what effect being brought up surrounded by all this priceless gear has inflicted on the mentality of the members of the House of Windsor who were born (as opposed to married) into it. Such aspects are for another documentary series perhaps.

The drama of the week is probably Kiri, which stars the ever more impressive Sarah Lancashire, moving gracefully into middle age as an increasingly, I hope, well-rated and cherished actor. Shes impressive in the role of harassed social worker blamed for the death of a toddler on a family visit. Politics, racism and media intrusion are all, rightly, there to make this a fitting subject with all too obvious references to events in the real world. Next of Kin, ITVs latest intervention in the standard Monday 9pm slot is pretty promising, with its themes of radicalisation and terrorism, though Silent Witness over on BBC1, relies on a more established set of conventions to capture your weary attentions. Hard Sun, the Saturday night offer from the BBC, features an official conspiracy of silence surrounding a secret plan by a close-knit band of insane ideologues to inflict a kind of apocalypse on the British nation in the near future. Too far fetched, that, surely?

Dark times: Channel 4s latest Nordic noir, Before We Die, explores age discrimination (Channel 4)

I am, though, also taken by the latest Nordic noir drama to arrive, Before We Die, which turns up on Channel 4 on Tuesday night, and, for the first time, includes explicit scenes of age discrimination in employment in a crime drama. Gory stuff.

For comedy, I urge you to turn to Inside No. 9, the latest series of which is making its dark presence felt on BBC2. Each instalment is loosely based  often perfunctorily so  on some object or idea with the number nine, which is a light peg from which the team of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith hang elaborate and superbly crafted plays. As you might expect from these two leading graduates of The League of Gentlemen theres never an easy laugh, either for them or the viewer and the price of comedy is paid in embarrassment and gut-churning awkwardness. This week: a house move at No. 9 turns nasty.

Unintended humour, you might call it schadenfreude, is the main attraction of BBC2s Millionaires Ex-Wives Club. As the old saying goes, theres no fool like an old fool, and none so plentiful than in the divorce capital of the world, London. Enjoy.

Last Im not sure that even the most dedicated dog lover might be prepared to sit through a whole two and a half hours of Britains Favourite Dogs on ITV, even if it focuses on exotic breeds.

Art, Passion and Power: The Story of the Royal Collection (Tuesday, BBC4 9pm); Kiri (Channel 4, Wednesday 9pm); Next of Kin (Monday, ITV 9pm); Silent Witness (Monday, BBC1 9pm); Hard Sun (Saturday, BBC1 9.35pm); Before We Die (Tuesday, Channel 4 11pm); Inside No. 9 (Tuesday, BBC2 10pm); Millionaires Ex-Wives Club (Wednesday, BBC2 9pm); Britains Favourite Dogs (Tuesday, ITV 7.30pm)Alex Parr spent his boyhood in the English countryside, but had to adapt fast to the speed and noise of the urban jungle after enrolling as a biology student at the University of Roehampton in London.

But lately, putting his head down after another long day in the African sun, his ears have become attuned to some very different noises  the nocturnal growling of leopards and lions, or the sound of elephants snapping and munching the juicy branches just metres away from his flimsy canvas tent.

Here, in Somkhanda Game Reserve  a 12 000-hectare Big Five wildlife reserve in South Africas KwaZulu-Natal province  Parr is probably as far as he could hope to get from the frenzy of central London and the buzz of student life at Roehampton.

The bearded 22-year-old undergraduate was among a group of several conservation interns taking advantage of an innovative Science on Safari project that allows students from across the world the chance to further their studies and gain practical field experience in a tented university in the bush.

Former wilderness trails ranger Andrew Anderson, head of the Science on Safari programme (George Hughes)

Parr, who grew up next to Dartmoor National Park in Devon, returned to London recently after studying the feasibility of re-introducing baboons to a region from which they disappeared more than 60 years ago.

Now studying towards his Masters degree in primate biology and conservation, Parr also interviewed local residents and wildlife ranchers about their perceptions regarding baboons.

One of the oldest residents of the area, 80-year-old Sakhile Gumbi, told him that the last baboons disappeared from the area in 1955. They were killed by hunters looking for body parts to supply the muthi (traditional medicine) trade.

Im told that baboon parts can be mixed with certain herbs or other animal parts to improve a mans ability in stick-fighting, to cast away evil spirits or to help recover lost cattle, says Parr.

There are several wildlife species that seem to be a risk from traditional medicine, including hyenas, baboons and vultures. They may not be the prettiest animals, but their conservation cant be overlooked in favour of the more glamorous species.

In a nearby tent, fellow intern Katarina Rybarikova has just returned from a late-night frogging expedition in the marshlands next to the Mkhuze River.

Despite their astonishing height, giraffes are not counted as one of the Big Five (Tony Carnie)

Slovenian-born Rybarikova, a biology student at Fribourg University in Switzerland, was hoping to study elephants at Somkhanda but found that someone was doing that already, so she has been investigating some much smaller creatures instead.

There are about 16 different frog and toad species at Somkhanda, and she has already found four new species that have not been documented previously on the reserve.

I organise a frogging event at least once a week so that the other students can help me catch them. I knew virtually nothing about frogs when I arrived and the first traps we made were pretty hopeless. But I have learned many, many new things since then  quite apart from how to catch and identify frogs.

Rybarikova, who wants to study for a Masters degree in conservation when she returns to Fribourg, says she was always attracted to Africa. I just feel good here. Its hard to explain  it was a bit like coming home when I arrived.

Other interns include Lennon Mkwananzi from Zimbabwe, who is spending six months in the reserve studying community-based wildlife projects, having completed his degree in wildlife and safari management at the Chinhoyi University of Technology last year.

Katarina Rybarikova spends much of her time catching and studying the wealth of frog species

Community-based wildlife management is about giving people more power to manage their wildlife, he believes.

From what I am learning, communities just want to be more involved in the decision-making.

And Somkhanda, as a community-owned game reserve, seems the ideal place to study his chosen subject.

The Science on Safari project was launched by Andrew Anderson, a former Natal Parks Board wilderness trails ranger who set up his own wildlife and environmental travel business, African Insight.

African Insight and the Wildlands Conservation Trust are helping to develop and manage tourism on Somkhanda after a land claim by the Gumbi community on four large properties that were previously cattle or game farms.

We can take up to 12 interns at a time, allowing each to do a specific project, generally for three-month stints, says Anderson.

Though Science on Safari provides comfortable accommodation and support, Anderson stresses that there are no mommies or nannies.

Lennon Mkwananzi from Zimbabwe is learning more about community wildlife management (Tony Carnie)

The students are here not just to study, but also to learn life skills  so everyone has to cook and clean for themselves.

There is also a degree of symbiosis. By encouraging academic students to work on the reserve while doing their dissertations, students benefit from having a place to do their research, while Somkhanda benefits by gaining valuable data about the fauna and flora in the reserve.

Each intern has their own two-room tent with a proper bed and mattress, solar lamp, wardrobe, desk and chair, also making use of the nearby lodge and interns office to download emails and write up their research.

They share communal ablutions (which include open-roofed hot shower cubicles) as well as a communal kitchen and commons area, with plug points for charging electronics.

Students are in charge of their own time, generally working from 8am to 6pm  unless they go out very early to help track black rhinos, wild dogs and other threatened species.

Every weekend interns and conservation volunteers are also expected to pitch in to help with community assistance projects like cattle-dipping.

There are also opportunities to get involved in daily management work such as game capture, game introductions and priority-species monitoring and fence-line maintenance.A Britain First supporter told police he was going to kill a Muslim before making a Nazi salute and ploughing his car into an Indian restaurant, a court has heard.

Marek Zakrocki from Harrow in north west London pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and assault by beating on the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey. He also admitted to drink driving during the sentencing hearing.

The court heard how Zakrocki had consumed around two bottles of wine before getting into an argument with his wife and grabbing her arm forcefully on the evening of 23 June last year.

He then told her and their daughter that he intended to attack a religious building with the goal of hurting Muslims.

Concerned, his daughter called the police. Officers then attended the family home where they treated the Polish national as a missing person.

They called him from his wifes mobile phone, where he told them: I'm going to kill a Muslim. I'm doing this for Britain. This is the way I am going to help the country. You people can't do anything. I am going to do it my way because that is what I think is right.

The 48-year-old then went to the local shopping centre at around 8.25pm where police were called after witnesses spotted him driving around the pedestrian zone shouting about white power.

He then went into the centre and pushed an unidentified Asian man before being confronted by a security guard.

Officers attended the scene but Zakrocki had already driven off.

Around 15 minutes later Zakrocki drove to the Spicy Night restaurant and parked outside. When a staff member asked him to move he became angry and got into an argument with the restaurants owner, Kamal Ahmed.

The court heard he used the van as a weapon against Mr Ahmed and twice mounted the pavement.

He was driving at 5mph and was effectively trying to pin Mr Ahmed against the restaurant window, which smashed.

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He then attempted to speed off but the van was stopped by armed police nearby and Zakrocki was found to be in possession of a kitchen knife and a baton-torch along with a Nazi coin in his pocket, a stash of Britain First flyers and newspapers at his home in Harrow.

In a police interview, he appeared to be "fixated" by Muslims and said he had made donations to Britain First.

During the interview he admitted the knife and the baton-torch were his but said he had no recollection after finishing the two bottles of wine.

He told officers he was not racist and had no intention of hurting anyone.

He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and driving under the influence but the judge accepted the guilty pleas to the lesser charges.

In mitigation, Richard Furlong said his client wanted to stress he was "not racist and not a Nazi".

Recommended Hate crime targeting UK mosques more than doubled in past year

He added: "He's plainly somebody who has a lengthy history of alcohol abuse and it's something he is very much aware of."

Zakrocki, who moved to Britain 14 years ago, had a previous conviction for assaulting a police officer while drunk in 2011.

Zakrocki has been sentenced to 33 weeks in prison. He will serve a 32 week sentence for dangerous driving and a six week imprisonment for drink driving which will run concurrently.

He has also been sentenced to a further seven days in prison to be served consequently for the assault against his wife.

DC Georgina Acuna said: Zakrocki deliberately armed himself with a knife and told both his family and officers that he intended to harm someone for their religious beliefs.

This was a terrifying ordeal for the witnesses and victims. Zakrocki was almost three times over the drink-driving limit and it was through pure good-fortune that no one was injured during his rampage.

I hope todays sentencing gives Zakrockis victims some measure of comfort and closure.

Additional reporting by PAIt was painful, so painful, there was blood everywhere, Yeabu recalls. There were other people watching in the room. They were singing their own songs. They were happy when they were cutting me.

Yeabu* was 16 when her parents sent her to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone, telling her afterwards: Youve become a proper woman now.

She says she remembers knowing what was going to happen to her, but was too frightened to fight after seeing other children held down while fighting and biting the cutters.

As a young girl you have to do it because for them its decency, she explains. When youre with your man you are clean if you do that, thats the mentality.

I was frightened but we dont disrespect our people. I they say thats part of our tradition we have to go through it, but its not something I wanted.

The barbaric practice is widespread in swathes of West African countries, among others (Lizzie Dearden)

Yeabu, now 35, sought asylum in the UK but her injuries were only discovered by doctors when she gave birth to her children.

The Independent met Yeabu at Heathrow Airport, where officers tasked with stopping people arriving from countries where FGM is prolific offered her support. She was among hundreds of passengers met by police, Border Force officers and specialists from the National FGM Centre, who questioned travellers from countries with high rates of the irreversible practice and other linked abuses such as forced marriage, breast ironing and witchcraft beliefs are rife.

What is FGM? Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, maimed or changed without a medical reason. It is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, before puberty starts, for various cultural, religious and social reasons in the mistaken belief that it will benefit the girl. Its very painful and can seriously harm the health of women and girls. It can also cause long-term problems with sex, childbirth and mental health. Communities at particular risk of FGM in the UK originate from countries including Guinea, Eritrea, Somalia, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Mali and Sudan. FGM is normally performed by traditional cutters without antiseptic or anaesthetic, and is normally done in a girls or her parents country of origin. There are four main types of FGM: Type 1  removing part or all of the clitoris. Type 2 removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia with or without removal of the labia majora Type 3  narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and repositioning the labia The consequences can include pain, difficulty having sex, infections leading to infertility, abscesses, long-term mental illness and life-threatening problems during labour and childbirth and fatal blood loss. In the UK it is illegal to perform FGM or commission it, abroad or at home, or help anyone carrying out the procedures. Anyone who performs FGM can face up to 14 years in prison and failing to protect a girl is punishable by seven years imprisonment. If someone is in immediate danger the police should be contacted via 999 and anyone with concerns should call the NSPCCs confidential helpline on 0800 028 3550 or fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk.

They are uniting for Operation Limelight, which aims to intercept families who take their children abroad to be mutilated and gather intelligence on the practice around the world.

After checking passports, officials usher families, couples, and women travelling alone to experts who gently question them about their trip. Although no passengers were physically checked on the launch day, officials will search people if they suspect a female is the victim of FGM.

Some passengers appear affronted at their welcome to Britain. Why would I do that to my kids? asks one Eritrean man.

But most are eager to help, sharing their own experiences of FGM  however distressing  or passing on their knowledge of their countries of origin and taking leaflets to pass around in the community.

Many do not understand what they are being questioned about until officers translate the term into native languages, with each affected country having numerous ways of describing the practice.

A middle-aged couple from Uganda tell officers FGM happened a lot in the 1980s and 90s but has started to die out, while a common pattern emerges seeing men and women say they have heard of FGM but not personally been affected by it.

Inspector Allen Davis, the Metropolitan Polices head of FGM investigations, during Operation Limelight at Heathrow Airport on 11 January (Lizzie Dearden)

We dont take it at face value, says Inspector Allen Davis, the Metropolitan Polices head of FGM investigations. For some of them that might be the truth but we look at what the health data is telling us.

This is a hidden crime and anyone who wants it to continue is never going to turn around and admit yes, we still do it.

At least 14,250 women and girls living in the UK have told doctors they have FGM but officials believe the figure is the tip of the iceberg as the practice remaining widely unreported.

According to the World Health Organisation, the percentage of women who have undergone the procedure in some countries is as high as 96 per cent, with the worst including Somalia, Guinea, Egypt and Sudan.

Police fear FGM is also being performed in the UK, with a 49-year-old man currently awaiting trial for allegedly mutilating a girl in London, but know that some families take their children to visit family abroad to undergo procedures.

School holidays are a crucial time to intercept potential offenders, sparking the start of Operation Limelight in 2014 to question families flying into and out of Britain.

Leethen Bartholomew, head of National FGM Centre, said it also aims to raise awareness about the risk facing 3 million girls around the world every year.

In the worst-case scenario the consequence is death, he says. Girls and women can suffer from tetanus, from broken limbs because of how theyre held down, they suffer infertility because of blood-borne viruses

We know FGM happens in different parts of the world, you have countries in Africa and the Middle East as well and parts of Asia.

FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Show all 12 1 /12 FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl cries after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM The traditional practice of circumcision within the Pokot tribe is a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and is a requirement for all girls before they marry Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls are encouraged to leave their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised in a tribal ritual in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls, draped in animal skins, sit on rocks during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl bleeds onto a rock after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl is smeared with a white paint after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM More than a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone genital cutting, according to United Nations data REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls covered with animal skins squat on rocks after being stripped naked and washed during their circumcision rite in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS

The flights targeted at Heathrow come from countries including Morocco, Egypt, France and Germany, which have connecting flights to affected countries.

Many of the passengers questioned are not entering Britain but transiting through its largest airport on their way to other destinations including North America and Iceland.

An Iranian mother says she is taking her daughters to study abroad because they are at risk at home because of their Westernised lifestyle. Elsewhere an Eritrean woman is on her way to study in Winnipeg.

Conversations uncover abuses far beyond FGM, seeing a number of people stopped in Operation Limelight found to be at risk from forced marriage, trafficking and immigration offences and passed onto other agencies for protection.

For Insp Davis, the ultimate goal is to prevent FGM happening in the first place, and thats about winning hearts and minds and changing the mindset of affected communities.

If you get to the stage where it has happened and youre having to deal with it as a criminal matter, life-long physical and emotional damage has already been done to the child and that cant be changed, he adds. Its a really serious crime but one of the challenges is that no one wants to see their mum go to prison  prosecution is important but we know that were not going to arrest our way out of the problem.

Police have been criticised for bringing no successful prosecutions over FGM since laws were widened in 2003, but specialists see the courts as a last resort to be used when other means of protecting girls fails.

Passengers being questioned by police, the Border Force and specialists as part of an operation against FGM at Heathrow (Lizzie Dearden)

FGM protection orders can be imposed to prevent children being taken abroad, or force them to be brought home, or local agencies can support families to turn them away from the practice.

Insp Davis acknowledges that the practice might take generations to eradicate but believes it is essential for efforts to continue.

Victims suffer emotional, physical and psychological damage and its done by those closest to them, he says. It is happening and its going to continue to happen, so it is absolutely fundamental that we protect children and we try to work with others to eradicate this.

The findings from Operation Limelight are shared with the FBI and Homeland Security, who launched Operation Limelight USA across American airports after visiting the team at Heathrow.

Meanwhile in the UK, there is growing cooperation between police, social workers, councils, schools and the NHS. The National FGM Centre, which is run by Barnardos and the Local Government Association, is bringing together a range of authorities to raise awareness, educate professionals, intervene with families and gain protection orders.

Meg Fassam-Wright, its head of partnership, said Britains action is sending a strong message that will help the international fight to end FGM. We need drive home the message that FGM and other harmful practices are regarded seriously in this country, that we are able to take considerable steps to end these practices, that theyre not acceptable and they are illegal, she adds.

Its a long process because they are very deeply embedded in families and societies, but its beginning to change.

*names have been changed to protect anonymityJustice Secretary David Gauke is considering launching a judicial review in a bid to stop the release of black cab rapist John Worboys.

The government said Mr Gauke had sought legal advice on an attempt to reverse a Parole Board decision to free the serial sex attacker.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: The Secretary of State commissioned mid-last week advice on the plausibility and the prospect of success in a judicial review.

He would only be minded to move forward on a Judicial Review if there was a reasonable prospect of success.

London cab driver Worboys was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, for drugging and sexually assaulting female passengers.

He was convicted of 19 offences relating to 12 victims but is suspected of being one of the countrys most prolific sex offenders. Police believe he could have attacked more than 100 victims in total.

The Parole Boards decision to release him after nine years sparked a public outcry when it was announced earlier this month.

Previous Justice Secretary David Lidington, who was appointed Cabinet Office Minister in Theresa Mays reshuffle this week, had ordered a review of the boards transparency amid questions about how the decision was reached.

Sarah Green, from the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: The Justice Secretarys potential attempt to try and stop the release of dangerous serial rapist John Worboys is very welcome.

Lawyers acting for alleged victims of Worboys have said their clients were shocked and dismayed to learn of his imminent release and called for fresh prosecutions.

They said women whose complaints have never been heard in court were told a fresh trial was not necessary because Worboys would not be coming out for a long time.

It is understood that the intention was that the indictment was not overloaded and that the case was as simple as it could be to present to a jury, added lawyers Richard Scorer and Harriet Wistrich in a letter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS.)

To the extent that this was the CPSs expectation at the time, this has clearly not happened and this justification for not bringing further prosecutions has fallen away.

Mr Scorer said victims were living in fear as they await his release and were losing faith in the criminal justice systems ability to protect them.

A date for Worboys' release and licensing conditions have not yet been set.

The women whose cases led to prosecutions have been invited to make representations to the Parole Board on the conditions of his release, including contact and exclusion zones.

Some have called for him to be banned from entering London, where the majority of his victims are thought to live.A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was killed in an attack at a travel agents where she worked in Merseyside.

Police said Cassie Hayes, 28, suffered serious injuries in a domestic-related incident at a TUI branch in Southport town centre.

She was taken to hospital, where she died.

A 30-year-old man from the St Helens area has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said officers were called to reports of concern for a female at a shop on Chapel Street.

Ms Hayes, from Southport, has been formally identified by her next of kin, police added.

A TUI UK spokeswoman said: We regret to confirm that a female member of staff at our Southport TUI retail store tragically died in an incident today.

We send our deepest sympathies to the friends and family of the staff member involved.

Were doing everything possible to assist the local police with their investigation and support our customers and staff at this difficult time.

Police forensics officers have been pictured entering the travel agents. Officers cordoned off an area around the branch and several nearby shops closed.

In pictures posted on social media, crowds could be seen gathered at police tape in the busy shopping street.

A witness told the Liverpool Echo: I was walking past when they were rushing to get the woman into the ambulance.

There was a lady from the travel agent shaking outside the shop, and lots of police around who had just arrived.

North West Ambulance Service sent an air ambulance, road ambulances and advanced paramedics to the scene. The woman was taken to Southport hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Detectives are appealing for any witnesses to contact Merseyside Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.A man has been caught on camera stealing money from a four-year-old girl at a cash machine, minutes after allegedly shoving an elderly woman to the floor before taking her purse.

CCTV footage captured the suspect grab a wad of bank notes from the childs hand just after she takes it from the machine where she was was being helped by her mother, who also had a five-month-old in a pushchair, police in New York said.

He can then be seen fleeing the scene with $300 and the childs glove.

Just eight minutes earlier, a suspect with the same description shoved an 81-year-old woman to the floor before taking her purse, investigators said, adding that the victim was left with bruising and pain to her back and left wrist.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital in a stable condition. Among the items inside her purse were $65 (47.30), a cell phone and her medication.

New York's City Police Department is now appealing for the public to help them locate and identify the individual wanted in connection to the robberies, both of which occurred within the confines of the 20th Precinct.

The individual is described as a black male between 20 and 25 years old. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, a green flight jacket, grey sweatpants and grey sneakers.A British curry addict who was missing his favourite spicy meal has arranged for a takeaway to be delivered to France.

Pilot James Emery, 31, who lives in the Bordeaux area, has organised the long-distance delivery with Faz Ahmed, the manager of the Akash restaurant in Southsea, Hampshire.

A total of 89 meals, 70 side dishes, 75 portions of rice, 100 poppadoms and 10 servings of mango chutney were prepared and packed on to an aircraft for the one-off flight to Bordeaux.

Mr Emery and the restaurant teamed up with the Iroise Aero Formation, a professional flying school based in Brest, to use a six-seater Socata TBM700 aircraft, capable at flying 300mph, for the flight.

The aircraft departed from Solent Airport in Lee-On-The-Solent, formerly known as HMS Daedalus naval air station, for Saucats Airfield, south of Bordeaux, where the meals will be reheated and served to the group of 89 curry-lovers.

Mr Emery, an aviation English assessor for French trainee pilots, will be eating his favourite curry, a spicy chicken phall.

He said: "I am a chilli addict and an aviation geek so I thought I would combine my two hobbies to get my favourite meal delivered to me in France. I have been getting withdrawal symptoms, they do lots of good things in France but you just can't get a good curry."

He added: "I have been a loyal customer of the Akash for close to 20 years. Every time I popped in for a meal, I would complain about the bland and uninspiring version of Indian food we get in France.

"It was on one of these visits that Faz first floated the idea of delivering one to me at home in Bordeaux."

Mr Ahmed said: "We thought about it for a long time, he has been coming into the restaurant for 20 years joking that the curries are really bad in France and asking for me to deliver one to me.

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PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Team GB's Mallory Franklin during the Womens Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. She went on to win the silver medal Getty UK news in pictures 28 July 2021 Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status PA UK news in pictures 27 July 2021 A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants. 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"We have done nothing like this, our delivery radius is three to four miles and we are doing 500 miles so it is something to be proud of."

He added: "Anyone with lots of money could do this but we want to make it affordable so that anyone could take part."

The customers were able to order from a selection of meals including chicken tikka massala, lamb balti, Bengal naga chicken and vegetable paneer korai with a vegetable side and naan included in the 32 price.

It is not the first time The Akash has catered for ex-pats missing its food in France. In 2014 Roy Buchan took a selection of food across to France by ferry for his family's Christmas Day lunch.

Press AssociationUnaccredited online therapists are preying on the desperation of people with mental health problems as the NHS struggles to meet rising demand, in many cases exacerbating peoples issues, experts warn.

Vulnerable people are being exploited by unethical private websites which charge large sums of money for therapy sessions via online chats  with some services even being used as a tool to project religious and spiritual beliefs.

There is growing concern many of these websites operate using unaccredited counsellors who are not medical professionals and do not have the minimum training standards to treat serious mental illness.

Currently, there is no legal requirement for therapists to be a member of a professional body. But experts strongly recommend anyone seeking therapy should be treated by someone who is on a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Obtaining this accreditation requires a minimum of around 400-450 hours of college-based therapy training, which usually takes no less than four years.

But there is a growing number of alternative courses available to aspiring therapists which are quicker and less expensive, and can be completed in as little as a year. Due to the lack of legal framework around regulation, this has led to a very wide spectrum of people calling themselves counsellors, according to experts.

A number of privately run websites offering therapy have been described as unethical and exploitative by former users, who said rather than helping them, the experience caused them heightened stress.

One website states it offers convenient, affordable, private online counselling and offers the opportunity to talk with a licensed, professional therapist online.

But accredited mental health professionals have told The Independent there are concerns the therapists are often unaccredited, and sessions can leave the client feeling overwhelmed, sometimes serving only to exacerbate their condition.

Former users have posted negative reviews about one of the private websites, with one person writing they were slapped onto a paywall the moment they had opened up and shared their issues. They said the abrupt nature of being served an online bill could risk pushing them over the edge if finances are particularly tough.

Recommended Surge in online mental health appointments attacked by specialists

They added: The behaviour of this website in this instance is unethical and they need to be stopped from practising until they fix this experience and set clearer expectations for their visitors. They prey on the ill and desperate.

Another said the therapist they spoke to insisted there was a spiritual solution to their problems, saying they were clearly using the site as a means of finding desperate, unhappy people to recruit to their belief system.

Kate Anthony, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) fellow and co-founder of the Online Therapy Institute, which offers training to therapists on working online, told The Independent the lack of regulation of online therapy was a serious concern.

Theres no regulation, except for small professional organisations that insist on members having been trained. But those are specialist organisations. Anyone can set up a website that charges for therapy, she said.

There are certainly people, out there exploiting vulnerable people, who arent best placed to treat them. Its a serious concern that people who are not qualified are charging people for online support.

Over the years Ive seen a lot of these websites come and go, so its very difficult to get any sort of research in place to find out what the outcomes are. Its a concern that so much counselling isnt being regulated.

If there are problems, the user would have to go to the professional association of the practitioner and create a complaint, which is quite a difficult and anxiety-provoking process.

Ms Anthony added that due to the nature of the online world, mental ill-health sufferers are likely to reveal the full extent of their problems much faster, which can lead to further complications.

When clients get online theyre a lot more disinhibited than they would be face-to-face, so they can reveal a lot of very personal stuff very quickly  things they havent revealed before to anyone. This leaves the client feeling overwhelmed and can actually exacerbate the problem.

There are some platforms that use automated scripts. Thats a real problem because whether its online or not its about human interaction.

Terry Hanley, programme director of the doctorate in counselling psychology at Manchester University, echoed this, saying the rise in people seeking psychological support online is being capitalised by private practitioners. He also pointed out that many sites operate globally and nuances in language are often lost in translation.

He told The Independent: It seems to be an opportunity for private practitioners to add another string to their bow. Theres very little regulation monitoring of what goes on in that area. You can cross countries very easily. This can risk misinterpretation, particularly if youre talking about text  language becomes a bigger issue. Even terms like counselling and psychotherapy mean something different in different countries.

We know the use of internet helplines has gone up exponentially, and its hard to document how much the private industry is getting. But you can see there are lots of private practitioners who have set themselves up in that area  which suggests a lot of people are using them.

The warning comes as a growing number of patients are being directed to webcam and instant messenger appointments by the NHS itself, as commissioners across the country seek out alternatives to traditional face-to-face therapies to ease pressure and wait times.

Figures published by The Independent earlier this year show an almost ninefold rise in webcam and instant messenger appointments through the NHSs flagship mental health scheme between 2012-13 and 2015-16, compared to a 144 per cent rise in overall appointments.

The number of appointments carried out this way, under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) scheme, in England, rose from 5,738 to 49,475.

It comes as a recent report found NHS mental health services in England and Wales face a potent mix of rising demand and cuts to the workforce, leaving many patients having to wait months or even years before they can access treatment.

The drop in services has resulted in people with psychological issues turning to the internet for help  fuelling the unregulated online market.

Mr Hanley said a number of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programmes offered under this scheme, such as Beating the Blues and FearFighter  which are both free to access  can help some patients, but for others risk batting them away from more appropriate face-to-face services.

Theres a big wave of developments in computerised CBT, which have benefits of increasing access hugely, and for some people that will be incredibly useful, but it also seems to be batting people away from accessing services that might be more appropriate for them, he said.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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. 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PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Team GB's Mallory Franklin during the Womens Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. 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For people with higher levels of distress its a sticking plaster on a very big wound. Six sessions with a programme isnt the same as face-to-face sessions for someone whos had a horrendous history of sexual abuse. It cant be a one size fits all.

Responding to the concerns, an NHS England spokesperson said: We now have the biggest national programme for talking therapies, with more people receiving treatment than ever before.

Theres no single right way to receive care and evidence shows online services can help, particularly when backed up by face to face support.Theresa May has been mocked for claiming credit for an EU policy to protect consumers from rip-off payment card charges.

Retailers, airlines and other businesses have been banned from hitting shoppers with hidden surcharges when they use credit or debit cards  sometimes as high as 20 per cent  which costs consumers around 166m each year.

MEPs criticised the Government for claiming responsibility for the move, which comes as part of a broad range of new payment regulations based on an EUwide directive that was spearheaded by left-wing politicians in the European Parliament.

The Government must comply with EU directives until Britain leaves the bloc, although these changes will become part of UK law so will remain after Brexit.

Recommended Businesses brace for credit card fee ban starting this weekend

The Prime Minister tweeted: "From today we're banning hidden charges for paying with your credit or debit card  a move that will help millions of people avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money."

The European Commission also tweeted praise for new "EU rules on payments", which aim to modernise rules for consumers and businesses.

Critics said the Conservatives had "nothing to do with" the idea and the move was an example of cooperation in Europe.

Green MEP Molly Scott Cato told The Independent: "In spite of her rhetoric about fairness Theresa May is failing to give credit where it is due in suggesting that it is her government that is banning credit card charges.

"The truth is that it was my committee in the European Parliament that fought for and won the cap on credit card fees paid by many retailers which will mean lower charges for UK consumers. To achieve this we had to battle against national governments as well as the finance lobby.

"Its also clear that it was the power of 500 million consumers that enabled us to put pressure on the credit card companies. Brexit Britain will be much weaker and its consumers more vulnerable to financial rip-offs."

Labour MEP Clare Moody also criticised the claims, addressing Ms May on Twitter: "No, you havent. This is an EU initiative from which all EU citizens will enjoy, not instigated by UK Government."

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said: Once again the Tories are claiming a popular policy that they had nothing to do with."

These new rules will make things easier, cheaper and more efficient for consumers. Once again EU rules are helping people in their everyday lives. Unfortunately this doesnt match Theresa Mays spin so instead the Tories are lying to the public.

This is a welcome change that gives more freedom and flexibility to people in their everyday lives.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

According the Treasury, the ban on credit and debit card surcharges is effective across the EU from Saturday, and will apply to all purchases made where the banks of the consumer and retailer are within the European Economic Area (EEA).

The UK Government has extended the ban to also cover other payment methods such as PayPal.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen said it was "completely unfair" for shoppers to face hidden fees and the move would give powers back to the consumer.

He added: "As we build a fairer society, this added transparency ensures buyers can make informed choices about how they spend their hard-earned money."Philip Hammond has said European leaders are backward-looking and preoccupied with paranoia about other countries leaving the bloc after Brexit.

The Chancellor said EU must let go of ideas of punishing Britain for voting to leave the bloc and stop constantly threatening members who want to walk away.

His comments came during a three-day trip to Germany aimed at drumming up trade deals after Brexit, where Mr Hammond told EU leaders that they should be clear on the future relationship they want with the UK - as it takes two to tango.

He also made a joint pitch to business leaders with Brexit Secretary David Davis, where they called for a bespoke post-Brexit trade deal with the EU which would be the most ambitious in the world.

In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Mr Hammond said: We hear a willingness and enthusiasm in the USA and from many other countries around the world to make new trade deals with us. But we dont hear that from Europe.

We hear from Europe only backward-looking stuff. Are you sure you want to leave? Or Its a bad decision to leave. Or You must be punished for deciding to leave.

Well, we are leaving and we want to retain the closest possible partnership with the European Union. But we can only have that if the European Union also wants it.

Asked if a soft Brexit would encourage other countries to leave, the Chancellor said: I can understand that paranoia. But imagine you are running a successful, thriving club. If one member leaves, you dont immediately panic that all the other members might leave, but are confident they will want to remain.

You cannot really run a club if you are constantly threatening members who decide to leave. You should rather redouble your efforts to remain attractive for new and existing members.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

Mr Hammond also stood firm on demands that financial services were included in any Brexit deal  an idea that has been opposed by chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. The Chancellor said it was not a realistic proposition for the UK to accept a post-Brexit trade deal that does not include services and that the EU would be crazy to cut itself off from the City.As he meticulously planned the Las Vegas attack, the man responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern American history took elaborate steps to stymie the inevitable law enforcement investigation, according to federal court documents unsealed.

The FBI search warrants shed new light on the degree to which the gunman, Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 others when he opened fire on a crowd from a hotel room in October, planned the attack and prepared for the aftermath. One of the warrants described how Mr Paddock destroyed or tried to hide digital media devices.

Investigators said he used anonymous communications devices, including a prepaid cellphone, to cover his tracks and employed a level of sophistication which is commonly found in mass casualty events.

Paddock planned the attack meticulously and took many methodical steps to avoid detection of his plot and to thwart the eventual law enforcement investigation that would follow, the FBI said.

Mr Paddocks motive for the attack remains unknown.

The search warrants, which were approved by judges shortly after the shooting, said three cellphones belonging to Mr Paddock were found in his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, including two that investigators searched and one that they could not unlock. An FBI agent wrote that he believed if there were any information related to a potential conspiracy, it would be found within the locked phone, which used a Google operating system.

The search warrants detail how law enforcement focused on Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of Mr Paddock. She has not been charged with a crime and has spoken to investigators several times, and her lawyer has said she was not aware of Mr Paddocks deadly plans. The investigation is continuing, and the warrants only reflect its early stages.

She has been identified thus far as the most likely person who aided or abetted Stephen Paddock based on her informing law enforcement that her fingerprints would likely be found on the ammunition used during the attack, according to one of the documents.

She told investigators she occasionally helped Mr Paddock load magazines. The FBI said there was no evidence that she knew of his plans or had been deceptive, but it cautioned soon after the shootings that she was still the subject of intensive review.

Ms. Danley corroborated much of what had been previously pieced together by investigators, but she has been adamant that she had no prior knowledge of Mr Paddocks intention to carry out the mass shooting.

According to the documents, it appears that Mr Paddock relied on the internet to buy many of the items used in the attack, including guns and ammunition, during the 12 months leading up to it.

He spent significant time and expense prior to the attack purchasing and caching weapons and other items, such as glass cutters and suitcases. The authorities have said he used the glass cutters so he could fire out of his hotel window at the people below, who were attending a country music concert.

Much of what investigators found in the hotel room had already been made public, but the search warrants add additional details. The FBI said there were hundreds of rounds of spent ammunition as well as preloaded high-capacity magazines, found in suitcases that Mr Paddock had brought to the room. Investigators also found body armour, range finders and a homemade gas mask.

Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Las Vegas shooting  in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting  in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting  in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting  in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting  in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting  in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA

Investigators also revealed that Mr Paddock may have been treated for unidentified medical conditions. In October, Ms. Danley told investigators that Mr Paddocks physical and mental health seemed to have deteriorated in recent months.

In an affidavit submitted as part of a search warrant application, an investigator said that access to Ms. Danleys email account could lead investigators to determine the full scope of Stephen Paddocks plan and Marilou Danleys possible involvement. The authorities also requested information about several Instagram accounts that they believed were connected to Ms. Danley.

In their requests for data from Instagram, investigators said they were seeking evidence showing the possession, use, purchase or sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition or explosives by Paddock. They also sought information about Ms. Danleys state of mind as it relates to the crime under investigation and the identities of anyone who communicated with her about what would amount to violations of federal weapons laws.

Ms. Danley deleted her Facebook account just hours after the attack, investigators wrote in their affidavit. At 12:30 am, about two-and-a-half hours after the shooting began, she changed the status of her account to private. By 2:46 a.m., she had deleted the account entirely.

In September, the court records suggested, Mr Paddock ordered from Amazon a holographic weapon sight that investigators believe he ultimately used during the assault. On Friday night, Amazon listed the same model, which was described as designed for close-in combat speed and versatility. The price is $429, according to the listing, which said the sight improves target acquisition, boosts accuracy and increases control.

The FBI also discovered emails between two accounts connected to Mr Paddock. One from early July indicated that Mr Paddock had begun taking steps to carry out the attack, referring to a bump stock, an attachment that enables a semiautomatic rifle to fire faster.

In an email Mr Paddock sent on July 6 to an account that also may have belonged to him, he wrote: try an ar before u buy. we have huge selection. located in the las vegas area. Another email sent between the accounts read, for a thrill try out bumpfire ars with a 100 round magazine. By ar, Mr Paddock appeared to be referring to rifles.

The affidavit later adds that investigators have been unable to figure out why Stephen Paddock would be exchanging messages related to weapons that were used in the attack between two of his email accounts, and that it was possible that someone else was controlling one of the accounts. If that was the case, the investigator said, the FBI needed to identify that person. Receiving a search warrant for that account will lead investigators to determine the full scope of Stephen Paddocks plan, an F.B.I agent wrote to the judge.

New York TimesThe US militarys Pacific Command said there was no threat to Hawaii after an official message was sent to residents mobile phones, warning them of an imminent ballistic missile attack.

Against a backdrop of increased tension with North Korea which has said its missiles can reach the US, a message was sent in block capitals: Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.

The text was sent out by the national Emergency Alert System, designed to allow the US government to warn Americans within 10 minutes of authorities learning of a threat.

State governor David Ige said it was sent when an employee pushed the wrong button during a shift change, CNN reported, and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) later said on Twitter: NO missile threat to Hawaii.

Recommended Hawaii brings back missile warning sirens over fears of nuclear attack

US President Donald Trump was briefed about the incident, as a number of people complained that the authorities had been slow to tell the public there was no threat.

The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.

HEMA said it was investigating what had happened.

What happened today is totally inexcusable, added senator Brian Schatz. The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.

He added: There is nothing more important to Hawaii than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.

The state last year reinstated a Second World War-style missile warning system amid fears of an attack by North Korea. The sirens did not sound when the erroneous text alert was issued.

Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic congresswoman for Hawaii, said she had spoken to officials to confirm there was no threat.

Hawaii  this is a false alarm, she tweeted. There is no incoming missile to Hawaii. I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile.

The missile alert caused panic among Hawaiians, who rushed for shelter and called family members to say goodbye before it became clear it was a false alarm.

Many complained they were not told the alert was a false alarm for more than half an hour after the initial warning was issued.

Carla Herreria, a journalist in north Hawaii community of Haleiwa, said she texted everyone in my family that I loved them en-route to a place to hid with other family members.

I saw civilian cars pulling over to alert other pedestrians to take cover, she wrote on Twitter. The alert may have been a mistake, but it caused chaos and mass fear for island residents. And it lasted for more than 30 minutes before the state corrected the mistake.

 Hawaii ballistic missile alarm was due to someone 'pressing the wrong button'

Jamie Malapit, owner of a Honolulu hair salon, texted his clients that he was cancelling their appointments and was closing his shop for the day after receiving the erroneous alert.

He said he was still in bed when the phone started going off like crazy. He thought it was a tsunami warning at first.

I woke up and saw missile warning and thought no way. I thought No, this is not happening today, Mr Malapit said.

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

He was still a little freaked out and feeling paranoid even after hearing it was a false alarm.

I went from panic to semi-panic and Are we sure? he added.

Hawaii last year brought back sirens which had not been tested since the Cold War in response to an escalating war of words between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Experts believe a North Korean missile could take just 20 minutes to reach Hawaii, leaving people with little time to react.Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army whistleblower who served seven years for leaking material to Wikileaks, is running for the US senate from Maryland.

Federal election filings show that Ms Manning, 30, is seeking the Democratic Partys nomination for a seat currently held by Ben Cardin, who has served two terms and said to be a favourite to win a third in November.

Reuters said Ms Manning did not immediately respond to requests for a comment. Mr Cardin also did not comment.

Ms Manning was in 2013 convicted of the largest leak of classified documents in US history and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Last year, then President Barack Obama commuted her sentence to time served and she was released from a military prison in Kansas.

Reports said Ms Manning moved to Maryland after her release and friends and family raised more than $175,000 to support her through an online campaign.

 Chelsea Manning tearfully says thank you to Barack Obama

The Washington Post said Mr Cardin, who is Marylands senior senator, is not considered especially vulnerable to a challenge from within the state. It said, however, an outside candidate with national name recognition, such as Manning, could tap a network of donors interested in elevating a progressive agenda.

Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Show all 12 1 /12 Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence torbakhopper/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Garry Knight/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence People hold signs calling for the release of imprisoned wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning while marching in a gay pride parade in San Francisco, California June 28, 2015. Manning has appealed to an Army court to overturn her court-martial conviction, a court filing released on Thursday said. Reuters Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Around twenty activists associated with the Chelsea Manning support group rally in front of the White House in Washington DC, Sunday May 11, 2014. Stephen Melkisethian/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Daily Chalkupy/Flickr Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Around twenty activists associated with the Chelsea Manning support group rally in front of the White House in Washington DC, Sunday May 11, 2014. Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Twitter Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Abigail Edward holds up a sign advocating the release of WikiLeaks whistle blower Chelsea Manning along the Gay Pride parade route in San Francisco, California on Sunday, June, 26, 2016. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Demonstration for Chelsea Manning in London, England, United Kingdom. Chelsea Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning) is a United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or unclassified but sensitive military and diplomatic documents. Manning was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole in the eighth year, and to be dishonorably discharged from the Army. Manning is a trans woman who, in a statement the day after sentencing, said she had felt female since childhood, wanted to be known as Chelsea, and desired to begin hormone replacement therapy. From early life and through much of her Army life, Manning was known as Bradley; she was diagnosed with gender identity disorder while in the Army. Mike Kemp/Getty Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Chelsea M Queer Friends/Twitter Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Instagram Protesters urge Obama to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence Jil Love Revolution/Instagram

Mr Cardin was easily re-elected in 2012, beating his Republican challenger by 30 points in the heavily-Democratic state.

Ms Manning was working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She was convicted by court-martial of espionage and for providing more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Among the material was a now notorious video that showed an incident from 2007 when a US Apache attack helicopter attacked upon individuals in a Baghdad suburb. Amongst the over twelve people killed by the 30mm cannon-fire were two members of staff working for the Reuters news agency.

Mr Manning came out as transgendered shortly after her sentencing, but the military denied her request for hormone therapy treatment while behind bars. She was placed in solitary confinement after twice trying to kill herself.The United States and United Kingdom have enjoyed close ties that Winston Churchill called the special relationship  a camaraderie that transcends the Atlantic and the roots of America as Britain's breakaway colony.

But that has strained into a special misunderstanding this week, after President Trump pulled out of the new London embassy dedication slated for next week and blasted the billion-dollar construction of the glassy diplomatic headquarters.

Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts,'" Trump wrote on Twitter . Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!

Hours later, Trump's ambassador to Britain, businessman and New York Jets owner Robert Woody Johnson, took an entirely different approach to the embassy's relocation and construction in an age when Trump has vowed to shake up America's place in the world  even among rock-solid Nato allies such as Germany, and, it would appear, in the U.K. as well.

The new embassy is not just bigger, it is better and capable of meeting the complex challenges of the 21st century and beyond. It is the most secure, hi-tech and environmentally friendly embassy that the United States has ever built, Johnson wrote in the London Evening Standard.

Yet its off location Trump described is by design. The sprawling 450-acre compound south of the Thames River, fixed on a hill and surrounded by a moat and other security measures, fulfills security requirements that embassies be isolated from other buildings and 100 feet away from roads to avoid car bombs and other attacks following the al-Qaeda embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. The old embassy is located in a bustling area of central London flanked by buildings and has struggled to keep pace with rising staff levels there.

Security concerns after 11 September meant we had to move to a location that could better protect American citizens and our British neighbours, Johnson wrote. State Department spokesperson Frankie Sturm said officials considered more than 50 sites in the area, with a team of professionals scrutinising locations to meet more than 170 criteria, including some security requirements codified in law.

Johnson's historical reinforcement of the special relationship, including Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and John Adams traversing Grosvenor Square in the 1700s, appears to be an effort to mend recently strained relations. Trump sparked outrage among members of Parliament and drew a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Theresa May after he retweeted posts from a fringe anti-Muslim group in November.

The ambassador's breakdown of the cost also is at odds with the president. Trump called it a bad deal after Johnson described the cost, the most expensive embassy ever, as a bargain. The money was raised by selling other USgovernment property in London, Johnson wrote, and the new embassy did not cost the UStaxpayer a cent. Yet is one of the most advanced embassies we have ever built.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not reply to a request for comment.

Trump's abrupt cancellation brought speculation that the president wilted under pressure from intense scrutiny in Britain following his divisive rhetoric. It seems he's finally got that message, wrote London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, on Twitter in response to Trump's message about his travel cancellation. That message was echoed by David Lammy, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party, who believed Trump was shaken by the prospect of being met by millions of us out on the streets protesting.

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

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a frequent defender of Trump, accused Khan and others of endangering the crucial relationship.

Trump's roiling of diplomatic relations caused disruptions in the Western Hemisphere as well. In December, USAmbassador to Panama John Feeley resigned in protest of Trump's policies, ahead of the president deriding Latin American nations such as Haiti and El Salvador as s***hole countries, Reuters reported Friday.

As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies. My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honour bound to resign. That time has come, Feeley wrote.

The Washington PostDonald Trump has attacked Democrats and accused them of not wanting to agree a deal on immigration reform, as controversy continued to swirl over his alleged description of Haiti and African nations as s***hole countries.

As the African Union  representing 55 nations  and many high-profile Haitian-Americans demanded an apology, the President claimed Democrats did not want to work with him to secure a deal.

I dont believe the Democrats really want to see a deal on DACA, he said on Twitter, referring to the programme established by Barack Obama to provide thousands of thousands immigrants protection from deportation.

They are all talk and no action. This is the time but, day by day, they are blowing the one great opportunity they have. Too bad!

Mr Trump, who also tweeted America First and then claimed that jobs were coming back to America, has found himself at the centre of a storm of outcry after allegedly using the vulgar and offensive phrase while meeting with Democratic and Republican politicians to discuss immigration reform.

 Donald Trump refuses to answer press questions about 's***hole' comment

While the President initially sought to claim that while he had used tough language, he had not used that phrase, the White House has made little attempt to deny the remarks.

The Associated Press said while the Mr Trump offered a partial denial in public, he privately defended his remarks disparaging Haitians and African countries, and which many have described as racist.

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 news agency said Mr Trump claimed was only expressing what many people felt but will not say about immigrants from economically depressed countries, according to a person who spoke to him.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, Mr Trump said in one of several tweets on Friday morning.

But Mr Trump and his advisers did not dispute the most controversial of his remarks.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the only Democrat in the room, said Mr Trump had indeed said what he was reported to have said. The remarks, Durbin said, were vile, hate-filled and clearly racial in their content.

He said Mr Trump used the most vulgar term more than once.

The African Union attacked Mr Trump in the most blunt of terms. Its mission to the US, said his comments dishonoured the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

The African Union Commission is frankly alarmed at statements by the president of the United States when referring to migrants of African countries and others in such contemptuous terms, spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo added.

Considering the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the US during the Atlantic slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice.

Haitis ambassador to the United States also condemned Mr Trumps language and said his country has asked for an explanation from US officials.

In the spirit of the people of Haiti we feel in the statements, if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people, Ambassador Paul Altidor said.

Mr Altidor said the Haitian Embassy in Washington had been inundated with emails from Americans apologising for Mr Trumps words.

Haiti's largest newspaper condemned Mr Trumps language as racist and disgraceful and said such comments had no place in the relations between nations or people, even less so in the mouth of a president of a nation friendly to Haiti.The man responsible for developing the phonetic translations of Chinese characters is being celebrated this week by Google, with a doodle.

Zhou Youguang would be 112 years old Saturday. During his life, Youguang not only developed phonetic translations of Chinese characters  meaning, hes the reason why you say Beijing instead of Peking these days, for instance  but also authored more than 40 books, and translated the Encyclopedia Britannica into Chinese.

Youguang was born in Changzhou in 1906, and showed an interest in linguistics early on, at the age of 12. He went on to graduate from his high school with honours.

Still, although he was clearly a bright young man, as evidenced by his stellar performance in school, he faced financial hardships that threatened his ability to pursue higher education. He enrolled in the St Johns University in Shanghai in 1923, but wasnt able to attend until family and friends put together a successful effort to fund the education.

In school, he majored in economics and took courses in linguistics.

Youguang would end up fighting during World War 2, and afterward went on to live in New York City and in London, where he worked at a Chinese bank.

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 wasnt until 1955 when he began to work on the Romanization of the Chinese characters, when he was placed by the Chinese government at the head of a committee to reform the language. While he protested initially, saying that linguistics was just a hobby of his, he ultimately couldnt refuse.

It turns out the the assignment was a good one, and he completed the pronunciation guide by 1958.

But, Youguang did not get propped up as a hero for his efforts. He was put into a Chinese labour camp in 1969 after he was accused of being a reactionary academic, where he worked in rice fields. He was there for two years.

He left there and continued to write about language, and to compose books. He translated the Encyclopedia in the 1980s. Many of his books he wrote were banned by the Chinese government.Iran has rejected Donald Trumps calls for changes to its 2015 nuclear deal, after the US President said America would leave the agreement unless its disastrous flaws were addressed.

The Iranian foreign ministry has said it would not accept any changes, now or in the future.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif added that the demands were a desperate attempt to undermine the deal.

Mr Trump was the one that needed to check his compliance, Mr Zarif added.

President Trump made a temporary renewal of the agreement, which was negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obamas administration.

He had previously described it as the worst deal ever.

However, he said it would be the final time that economic sanctions would be waived by the US, although the deals European signatories  the UK, France, and Germany, alongside Russia and China  reaffirmed their commitments.

Following the announcement, Mr Zarif tweeted: Trumps policy & todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, the US must bring itself into full compliance  just like Iran.

Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear programme for at least 10 years in exchange for the relaxation of sanctions which have hamstrung its economic development in recent years.

Despite his objections this is the third time President Trump has renewed the deal and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday nobody has so far produced a better alternative.

Mr Trump maintains that Iran is not complying with the spirit of the deal, despite his own advisors previously admitting there had been no technical violations.

Either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw, he said.

New York protests against Iran nuclear deal Show all 10 1 /10 New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York A woman holds a poster as she takes part in a rally on Times Square in New York opposing the nuclear deal with Iran New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York An inflatable mushroom cloud stands among demonstrators during a rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York Protesters rally against the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York A member of the Neturei Karta Orthodox Jews sect is escorted away by New York City Police during a rally near Times Square to demand that Congress vote down the proposed US deal with Iran in New York New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York A woman shouts slogans during a rally against the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square in New York New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York A protestor holds a placard during a demonstration and rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York Some of several thousand protestors crowd into 7th Avenue at 42nd street as they demonstrate during a rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York A woman holds a placard as she joins several thousand other protestors to demonstrate during a rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York Protesters rallied against the Iran nuclear deal in New York's Times Square KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images New York protests against Iran nuclear deal New York Protestors shout slogans as they demonstrate during a rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran

The US President is demanding Iran allow immediate inspections at nuclear sites on request, and that so-called sunset clauses, which see the restrictions on nuclear development relax after 10 years, be removed.

My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon  not just for ten years, but forever, Mr Trump said.

He also wanted to extend legislation to make explicit that testing of long-range missiles was inseparable from the nuclear weapons programme, so Irans ballistics testing should also be subject to severe sanctions.

Recommended European foreign ministers are being forced to side with Iran

State-run news outlet, IRNA, reports that Irans foreign ministry responded to the demands, saying Iran strongly announces that it will make no measure beyond its JCPOA commitments and will make no changes in the nuclear deal neither now nor in the future.

Even though Mr Trump has now imposed a 120-day deadline on his European partners, it does not appear like they have the appetite to negotiate a follow-on agreement regarding Iran.

Earlier this week European foreign ministers met in Brussels with Mr Zarif, seemingly to press Tehran about its destabilising activities in the Middle East.

The Iran nuclear deal makes the world safer. European partners were unanimous today in our determination to preserve the deal and tackle Irans disruptive behaviour, added Mr Johnson.Prices for British visitors to Singapore have risen by 65 per cent in a year in sterling terms, according to a Post Office survey, making It the worlds priciest holiday destination.

The city-state is easily the most expensive location of the 44 cities and resorts sampled for the annual Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer. The survey compares the price of eight holiday commodities, including drinks, sunscreen and insect repellent.

Costs in Singapore totalled 154, nine per cent ahead of Dubai and Muscat in Oman, in joint second place at 141. Bulgaria was cheapest at 38.

The Post Office says the price of a meal for two with a bottle of house wine in Singapore has doubled in the course of a year, and now stands at 118. An equivalent meal in New York will cost 65, and only 33 in Tokyo.

Tourism officials in Singapore rejected the surveys finding, saying it did not represent a like-for-like comparison because a more expensive restaurant had been chosen.

A spokesperson for the Singapore Tourism Board told The Independent: The cost of a meal and bottle of wine at the restaurant included in last years study  therefore offering a genuine year-on-year comparison  has not increased.

Singapore enjoys a thriving culinary scene with something to suit foodies on every budget, from fine-dining at some of the worlds best restaurants, to its renowned hawker centres, where visitors can still purchase a Michelin-starred meal for under 5.

But the Post Office insisted its survey is sound. A spokesperson said: We are confident that the price shown for Singapore is a fair representation of what UK visitors will find on average.

Prices in Spain, the most popular overseas destination for British travellers, have risen by 42 per cent according to the report.

In the past year the pound has fallen by two per cent against the euro. Most of the rest of the rise in Spain is attributed to the result of steep increases in the cost of eating out. ABTA, the travel association, reports that its members sold nine per cent more holidays to Spain in 2017 compared with the previous year.

Portugal is one-third more expensive, according to the survey, largely because the price of a meal out has risen by 64 per cent year on year.

Noel Josephides, chairman of Sunvil Holidays, said: There is no doubt that prices have gone up in Portugal as in other EU destinations but a lot depends where these are being measured. If you are looking at honeypot areas like Lisbon, the Algarve and Porto then they would have risen proportionally more but to measure in exact percentages  well I am not sure. In the Alentejo a coffee costs only 60 cents.

The survey says Oman has by far the most expensive filter coffee, costing 6.15 for a cup. But The Independent found that the largest coffee at one of the many branches of Costa in Muscat costs less than half as much, at 3.04.

Neighbouring Dubai has seen some unusual price cuts over the past year: the cost of insect repellent and sunscreen have halved. A Coke is now only 1.48; last year it was the most expensive in the world at 5.11.

Drinkers may be tempted to the Japanese capital by the Post Offices assertion that the price of a beer has fallen to a mere 69p  one-sixth of the price a year ago.

The price of a large glass of wine in Tokyo has fallen to the same level, a drop of three-quarters in the past year, making it easily the cheapest worldwide. Noted wine-producing nations are far more expensive: travellers will pay 3.14 in South Africa, 4.50 in France and over 5 in Australia.

Australia is almost the land of the 10 pint, warns the Post Office, with a 330ml beer (just over half-a-pint) costing 4.79 in Darwin.

Dubai and Oman are still more expensive, at over 8 for a small beer. The Gulf nations also charge most for a glass of wine, at 9.50 and 10.25 respectively.Its not Donald Trump labelling other sovereign countries, including, it seems, every nation in Africa, as s***holes that is so disturbing so much as the knowledge that so many Americans out there think hes right; that hes speaking their minds as well as his own. And that he knows it.

Every time this happens you wonder if hes finally gone too far. Whether even his most ardent fans will wake up and feel that same dreadful gagging sensation the rest of us do. Actually, we were asking it before he became President. When the tapes came out with him boasting about grabbing the genitals of women. When he smeared Mexicans as rapists and criminals.

Trump's racism is not a new trait. Recall how he strove to delegitimise Barack Obama by contending he couldnt possibly be American because he didnt seem to have a birth certificate to prove it and therefore had really come from Kenya. Or from some other you-know-what of a country.

 Donald Trump refuses to answer press questions about 's***hole' comment

And dont forget the five black and Latino men accused of raping a white woman jogging in Central Park in 1989. Trump paid for full-page ads in four Gotham papers demanding the return of the death penalty. Muggers and murderers, he told the papers readers, should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. He didnt name the men, but he didnt have to. The code was clear to all. He just had to pay $85,000 (62,000) to get it out.

But heres the worse part. After each of the so-called Central Park Five was exonerated thanks to new DNA technology and compensated financially by the city, Trump doubled down. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous, he told CNN in 2016. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same.

Running for President made taking out newspaper ads unnecessary. He had the attention of the entire country, and even before he started he was tapping out the same code again. He was the candidate for anyone who already felt that ethnic diversity was the main reason their lives werent what they wanted them to be. The ones who thought making America great again necessarily meant making it white again. Or as white as possible. It is, of course, a racist code. See it and you see why Trump beat Hillary Clinton when so few of us thought it possible.

And so it is now with Trump as President. In so far as he tries to encrypt his hateful messaging, he sometimes gets sloppy. That happened last August when he let slip that he thought both sides shared equal responsibility for the Charlottesville disturbances, the white supremacists snaking through town chanting Nazi slogans and the thousands who had come to stage a counter-protest against them. One of those, a woman called Heather Heyer, you recall, was run down and killed by a far-right sympathiser in his car, but still Trump thought both sides were to blame for it all.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

Trump tried to claim he never said those things last week in the Oval Office. No one bought it and the battering of him wasnt just by Democrats at home (and a few Republicans too, though not all of them). The outrage was global, in fact. Two things stood out: the use of s***hole to describe other nations, yes, but also his suggesting that if America must take in immigrants, why not from somewhere like Norway? You know, a whiter, more prosperous place.

But as I say, thats not the worst part. I suspect first that Trump, in Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, is enjoying even this kerfuffle, however harsh the criticism of him. Because he is the centre of everyones attention again but also  and I suggest, more importantly  because he will be convinced that even this wont be enough to make his supporters doubt him. In other words, when they are told that Trump referred to these countries as s***holes they thought, right on.

There is one family north of New York I occasionally canvas when we have eruptions like this, even though to do so is dangerous because they worship Trump and because our friendship is important to me. Here we were again. No, they could see nothing wrong this time either; Trump had not erred. Jarringly, they cited ads on TV from charities seeking help for children in the worlds most blighted regions, usually in Africa, as proof of the Presidents point. The kids had flies buzzing about their heads, so these places must be sh**holes. How ironic. Advertising designed to kindle Americas generous spirit instead is encouraging it to turn its back.

This happens when a country raises its children on the myth of exceptionalism that says the United States is the only place on earth that has Gods blessing. The only place that matters. It happens in a country where exotic travel means crossing a state border for cheaper booze and where a passport is less important than a Sams Club membership card. It happens in a country where ignorance about the rest of the world is allowed to endure.

Above all it happens when a country elects a leader who instead of using his position to marshal its best instincts revels in doing the opposite. Trump may be right to think that far away from the opprobrium-filled parlours of New York and Washington there is a large segment of America that is on his side even in this controversy. But if he were even a slightly more decent man, if he were a better leader, he would recognise that as a very bad and sad thing, not a good one.Jeremy Hunt is celebrating  he has managed to keep his appointment as Health Secretary and gain control of social care. He jubilantly retweeted a tweet from last year, when he survived another reshuffle, saying reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Well, while you are fit and well, Hunt, there are thousands who are not, and your Government needs to share the responsibility. What Hunt didnt tweet is that the NHS is in crisis and mental health provision is being hit hard. So now that Hunt has an ever-expanding remit, it begs the question as to whether mental health will be sidelined even further?

Two years ago I experienced first-hand how overstretched NHS mental health services are. I have struggled with periods of depression since I was a teenager. Normally I didnt need acute care but this time was different. Too ashamed to seek help before I reached crisis point, I ended up being left in a bed in an A&E assessment ward for three days due to lack of space. Then, in the middle of the night I was taken to a hospital outside my area away from family and friends. I was in hospital for a month.

 Jeremy Hunt claims mental health provision is improving

I ended up in a hospital that was part of a private chain. Everyone who was there, including myself, was an NHS patient. Some of the chains hospitals are now under investigation for poor practice. I am angry about my experience but I place no blame on the staff who, on the whole, were unfailingly kind. I can still appreciate that I was lucky in that I managed to access some care. However, when I left hospital the outpatient care team dropped me after a week. I felt as though I had just started to find my feet when someone pulled the rug out from underneath me.

I cant stress how important a role my friends and family played in my recovery. It made me reflect on how much easier this period was for me than it would have been for other people. I know that as a middle class, cis, white woman in the UK, it is easier for me to access the care that I need. Its awful to think what happens to others without that support network or access to care. Too many people slip through the cracks and they are the ones in real danger.

Inequality is a huge problem facing mental health. Those struggling with Tory austerity cant afford to take time to look after their health. According to the Office for National Statistics, those who are in the most deprived 10 per cent bracket in society are more than twice as likely to kill themselves than the least deprived 10 per cent. Minorities are often the hardest hit, and overstretched services and cuts to NHS only fuel the crisis.

In the UK, BAME groups are more likely to suffer from mental health issues and require hospital treatment. However, they are also more likely to have a poor outcome from their treatment. Institutional racism, combined with the fact that a lot of mainstream mental health services often fail to understand the needs of non-white British communities, contribute towards the inequality. With services struggling already its hard to see how this situation will change when there isnt enough funding or staff available.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Show all 6 1 /6 Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves The elderly We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population, Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs Jeremy Hunt has called for a honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called very serious problems at some hospitals by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunts plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Simon Stevens, head of NHS England Reports that key members of Ms Mays team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Previous health policy, not funding In an interview with Sky Newss Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been ducked by government over the years. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a humanitarian crisis and said health funding was at record levels. We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need, said the Prime Minister. They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in. But doctors accused Ms May of being in denial about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise  introduced by Tony Blairs government in 2000  should only be for those who actually need it. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had less stringent rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis  except themselves No one Mr Hunt was accused of hiding from the public eye following news of the Red Crosss comments and didnt make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying the public will want to know, Mr Hunt. Sorry Beth, Ive answered questions about this already, replied Mr Hunt. But you didnt answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didnt want to water it down. Is that what youre saying? said Ms Rigby. Its very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then wont answer the question, Mr Hunt. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in. Getty

In the LGBTQ community, 36 per cent of those who are under 26 and identify as LGB have attempted suicide, with the rate of those who are under 26 and identify as transgender at 48 per cent, according to a RaRE Research Project. This figure is far too high and with prejudice, homophobia and transphobia still rife in the UK it is really disappointing to think that the Government still wont listen and realise that mental health is not something that can be glossed over.

Having said that, mental health awareness has boomed recently. Anything that encourages people to be more open and speak out is fantastic. Reading peoples stories has made me feel much less alone. Organisations such as Mind have also done a fantastic job in trying to lessen the taboos surrounding mental health. However, when suicide is the leading cause of death for men between the ages of 20 to 49, it is clear that something is broken and needs to be fixed.

Im still ashamed to be fully open about my mental health issues. While social media provides an open platform for progress and the opportunity to express my voice, the echo chamber of Twitter doesnt translate to progress in day-to-day life. I still feel as though I need to keep my mental health issues quiet, as Im scared that people wont understand.

Im in a much better place at the moment than I was two years ago. However, I havent had any further professional help since I was discharged. My support network is what I rely on and currently it is working for me. Im hopeful for the future but I dont know what will happen.

Funding and proper support is what mental health services need right now, yet Tory austerity is hindering access to care and services on a dangerous level. With Jeremy Hunt at the helm of the NHS, mental health and social care, it seems as though things are only going to get tougher for the NHS. Last World Mental Health Day, for example, he made false claims about the number of new staff that had been recruited. With staff leaving in their droves and not enough new people in training, it looks like the crisis is set to continue.

We need to keep putting pressure on the government to change things. Mental health awareness is a great place to start. Sharing my story may help others, but it can only go so far. We need to make sure that we are looking out for those who are slipping through the cracks, including those with nowhere to turn and no support available  I could have been one of them, but I was lucky.Every time someone issues a report on teacher stress and workload, there is a predictable pattern. Some radio shock jock will pick it up and coo sympathetically as callers opine that everyone has to work but those lucky ducks get 13 weeks holiday, knock off at 3.30 every day and should stop their whinging.

As an analysis, its about as accurate as saying the world must be flat because, yknow, the horizon.

But that doesnt stop the argument from being repeated, and not just by ill-informed members of the public. Im sorry to say that journalists, who are supposed to do their homework before writing articles, are just as guilty of peddling the coddled teacher myth.

 Michael Gove touts new Education minister Damien Hinds as potential future PM

The reality is very different. Britains teachers are overworked, underpaid and put under so much stress that a small army of them leave the profession every year for another job. Assuming, that is, they are well enough to secure alternative employment. Last year some 3,750 of them were signed off on long-term sick leave due to pressure, anxiety, and mental illness. That number came via a freedom of information request submitted by the Liberal Democrats.

The figures show that one in 83 members of the profession is now out of action for the long haul, which is up 5 per cent on last year. All told, 1.3 million sick days were taken for reasons relating to stress and mental health over the past four years, including 312,000 in 2016-17.

Numbers like that will come as a surprise only to people who have no experience of living with and/or around members of the teaching profession.

As someone who has that experience, I can testify that the average figure of a 55-hour working week for classroom teachers, 60 hours for school leaders, actually looks to be a little on the low side.

Contrary to popular belief, teachers do not knock off at 3.30, or shortly after whenever the gates at their particular schools shut. Nor do they start a few minutes before they open.

They spend many hours before and after their pupils have left engaged in meticulous and detailed lesson-planning, form-filling, data collection, marking, assessments and dealing with whatever crap Whitehall mandarins dream up to dangle under the nose of the latest Education Secretary so they can make it look like theyre doing their jobs before they knock off early.

Thanks to the desperate desire of a succession of Education Secretaries  from both major parties Im sorry to say  to be seen as reforming and dedicated to improving standards, todays children undergo a blizzard of assessments.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 UK news in pictures 21 July 2021 A man walks past an artwork by Will Blood on the end of a property in Bedminster, Bristol, as the 75 murals project reaches the halfway point and various graffiti pieces are sprayed onto walls and buildings across the city over the Summer PA UK news in pictures 20 July 2021 People during morning prayer during Eid ul-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, in Southall Park, Uxbridge, London PA UK news in pictures 19 July 2021 Commuters, some not wearing facemasks, at Westminster Underground station, at 08:38 in London after the final legal Coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England PA UK news in pictures 18 July 2021 A view of spectators by the 2nd green during day four of The Open at The Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 July 2021 Cyclists ride over the Hammersmith Bridge in London. The bridge was closed last year after cracks in it worsened during a heatwave Getty UK news in pictures 16 July 2021 The sun rises behind the Sefton Park Palm House, in Sefton Park, Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 15 July 2021 Sir Nicholas Serota watches a short film about sea monsters as he opens a 7.6 million, 360 immersive dome at Devonport's Market Hall in Plymouth, which is the first of its type to be built in Europe PA UK news in pictures 14 July 2021 Heidi Street, playing a gothic character, looks at a brain suspended in glass at the worlds first attraction dedicated to the author of Frankenstein inside the Mary Shelleys House of Frankenstein experience, located in a Georgian terraced house in Bath, as it prepares to open to the public on 19 July PA UK news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rehearsals are held in a car park in Glasgow for a parade scene ahead of filming for what is thought to be the new Indiana Jones 5 movie starring Harrison Ford PA

Schools frequently have one or another of their teachers spending half their time not teaching but collating and processing data. Every child is transformed into a mass of data points with a granularity that would surprise all but the most diligent of forensic accountants.

And those holidays that radio talk show hosts and callers find so bothersome? Theyre mythical. No teacher I know gets anything like the 13 weeks per year during which schools dont hold lessons. Theyd never get everything done if they took all that time off.

All this comes on top of, you know, attempting to educate classes full of 30 kids or more, which is a challenge most Britons would find quite beyond them. I know I would. I know most cabinet ministers would, although Id dearly love to see Boris Johnson trying to keep control of a class full of stroppy 15-year-olds at an inner city comp. It might inject a much needed dose of humility into the corpulent buffoon that masquerades as Britains Foreign Secretary.

Now imagine trying to teach a class of 30 kids when youre knackered, having spent half the previous night filling in forms. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. More to the point, its not good for our children. It really isnt.

I dont know about you, but as a parent I want my kids teachers to be relaxed and rested when they hit the classroom because thats when people typically do their best work.

Im not against pushing people to give their best, and Im not against high expectations, and Im not even against a bit of stress, which can help guard against complacency and keep everyones eyes on the ball. But what we have now is people trying to do a demanding job under a pressure that has become so extreme it is driving them off a cliff.

This is not the first such set of data highlighting the issue. Stories like this periodically pop up and when they do, people go to the Department for Education for comment, which inevitably responds by ignoring the problem and saying something like teaching is a great job and were hiring more teachers than ever. The latter of course is because it is losing more teachers than ever.

The system is already creaking. Unfortunately, it might have to break before anything really changes and sadly a lot of people will get broken in the process. Our children will also pay a heavy price.For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browserIf you are a minority or a woman who owns a business, the City of Indianapolis has someone who is ready to introduce you to exciting opportunities. Camille Blunt has been selected as the new director of the Office of Minority and Women Business Development for Indianapolis. The appointment was announced this week by Mayor Joe Hogsetts office.

Blunts mission as director will be to promote business opportunities for enterprises owned by minorities, women and veterans, as well as people living with disabilities.

Doing this, city leaders say, promotes inclusiveness, economic growth and stability for both the businesses and the community at large.

Blunt believes that one of the challenges faced by minority- and women-owned businesses is getting opportunities and their moment to shine with the city.

A lot of businesses are capable of doing a lot more than they are currently doing, Blunt told the Recorder. One of the things I want to do is to make sure that we help them develop relationships with prime contractors.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 37 percent of Americans identify with at least one minority group, and the number of minority-owned businesses grew from 5 million to 8 million between 2007 and 2012. They contribute approximately $1.3 trillion in revenue and 7.2 million jobs to the economy.

Blunt says more than 700 minority- and women-owned businesses are certified with the City of Indianapolis. Currently, the City, the State of Indiana and the federal government each have their own certification processes.

One of our goals is to streamline the Citys process and make it easier for minority businesses, Blunt said. I dont want to do anything that will add more red tape or complicate the process.

For example, Blunt embraces the use of technology to make everything faster and simpler for business owners. However, she also keeps in mind that not every person uses a computer for their business or is able to scan all of their documents.

Providing options but also making things easier for businesses is the goal, Blunt stated.

She added that the Office of Minority and Women Business Development is also presenting various events throughout the year. Those events will give business owners advice on topics such as growing their business, having the right documents in place, filing taxes, keeping track of important details and building relationships with the citys prime vendors.

Those contractors want to know who you are and feel comfortable that youre going to do a good job, Blunt said. So these events will be an opportunity for businesses to meet with the contractors, get to know them and get in front of decision makers.

In a statement, Hogsett said he believes that in her new role, Blunt will help the city further a culture of inclusiveness in its business community while building a stronger and more diverse local economy.

Camilles ability to foster engagement through dialogue perfectly positions her to support and uplift local businesses of all backgrounds, he said. I am confident that our community will continue to benefit from Camilles expertise and passion for service.

Before her new appointment, Blunt served as the legislative director for the City of Indianapolis. In that role, she was the liaison to the City-County Council and oversaw the execution of the Citys legislative strategy on the state and federal level. With Blunt as legislative director, the Hogsett administration has gained bipartisan support for most items on its legislative agenda, including passage of its 2018 budget with a 212 vote.

Prior to working with the City, Blunt was vice president with Bose Public Affairs Group. She was responsible for working with clients in the areas of grassroots lobbying, political action committee management, state and local legislative lobbying, and relationship development.

Blunt graduated from Ball State University and is a member of both the Ball State Alumni Association and the Government Affairs Society of Indiana. She is fond of saying that she did not choose her career in public service  it chose her. Originally, the Indianapolis native wanted to be a television news anchor.

In my young mind, I didnt realize that people dont just graduate from college and go straight to the anchor chair, Blunt said with a laugh.

Blunt expanded her communication skills and was given an opportunity to become a legislative lobbyist, a role she excelled in after being hired by Bose in 2002.

Everyone has a different style of lobbying, and its interesting to watch that if you ever just sit in the halls of the Statehouse and see how people interact, she said.

No matter how busy or difficult her day may become, Blunt gets renewed motivation from her 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.

They drive me to do more and to be more, she said. They always say how proud they are of me and say, Mommy, every time we go somewhere you know everybody. I just remind them that I have been in this city a long time.

Blunt would like to use the relationships and talents that she developed as a lobbyist to foster more opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.

She has also worked with leaders in city and state government to offer programs that educate youth, especially young African-American women, on the importance of being involved in government.

One of those leaders, State Rep. Cherrish Pryor, believes Blunt is the right choice for the Office of Minority and Women Business Development because she understands the importance of diversity in employment, business opportunities and contracts.

Camille has a passion for ensuring that minorities and women get a fair chance to have successful businesses and get opportunities, not only with other businesses, but also as it relates to government contracts, said Pryor, who chairs the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.

Blunt sees a major role for the office in the community. Increasing opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses, she says, not only benefits those businesses and the city, but that entrepreneurship can also address issues such as crime and poverty, particularly in predominantly minority areas.

The more opportunities we create for ourselves, the less we will see individuals planning a role in criminal activities, Blunt said. When entrepreneurs do positive things in the community, it has a positive impact on kids. They can say, That person came from the same neighborhood I came from and started a successful businesses. I can do that, too.

Camille Blunt sees entrepreneurship as a solution to some of the communitys challenges. (Photo/City of Indianapolis)Nikesh Patel, an Indian American CEO, was arrested attempting to flee the country just days before he was to be sentenced for a $179 million real estate fraud scheme. (pixabay)A Dubious Patriotism - On Accommodating Reality

By Fred Reed

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Methinks that, for the good of the country, it is time that the Alt-Right, those bitterly hostile to our Latin-America population, stop and think. There is a difference between opposing further immigration, a good idea, and constantly attacking American citizens.

Many good reasons existed for preventing massive immigration from the south. But it happened. Some forty-five million legal Hispanics (whatever exactly the word means) are now in America, mostly citizens. They show no signs of leaving. They cannot be deported. Their children become citizens. It is unlikely that many of the (very vaguely) estimated twelve million illegals will be deported or chased out.

Given this reality, the question becomes, or should become, what to do to, for, with, or about these people? The future of the country very much depends on the answer.

A beginning would be not to turn them into another dysfunctional, hostile racial minoritywhich is exactly what the Alt-Right seems bent on doing. Blacks, thirteen percent of the population, appear irremediably angry, with obvious untoward consequences. If the Alt-Right can make another seventeen percent into internal enemies, it will be the end of anything recognizable as America.

Yet from the organs of the Alt-RightVDare, Breitbart News, and so oncomes a drumbeat to the effect that Latin-Americans are stupid, filthy, lazy, criminal, and parasitic. Mr. Trump, hostile to Mexico and Mexicans, has called them rapists, which resonates in Latin America much as Hillarys deplorables speech did in Middle America. We have hysterical books painting them as the end of civilization and human decency. (Ann Coulters Adios, America! The Lefts Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole comes to mind.)

Yet from the Alt-Right comes no suggestion of practical policy toward the permanent Latin population. Hatred is not a policy.

What to do?

The choices available to the country, other than doing nothing, are to encourage, or to discourage, assimilation. For the good of the United States, assimilation seems much the better choice. Diversity is almost always a disaster, but, if you already have it, and it is not going to leave, the best hope is to assimilate it, to encourage the diverse to move into the middle class and stop being very diverse.

Can Latin Americans be assimilated? Maybe, maybe not. Walking around Los Angeles, San Antonio, Houston, or in Chicago, where relations seem entirely amicable, suggests yes. The not arises largely from the possibility that the combined influence of the Alt-Right and black racial animosity will drive young Latin men into the current anti-white insanity.

My own experience suggests that assimilation can be accomplished. In these matters I may have more experience than most of the Alt-Right. I have lived in Mexico for sixteen years. My wife is Mexican, we speak Spanish in the home, and we have toured the country from one end to the other. I have traveled extensively in all the countries of South America except Paraguay and Venezuela. Nowhere (with the exception perhaps of parts of Central America) have I seen the hellholes imaginedI might almost say fervently desiredby the Alt-Right. Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogota, Montevideo and many others are modern cities, with airlines, telecommunications, skyscrapers, and so on. Hellholes? I wonder whether Miss. Coulter has been in Latin America.

On the site of American Renaissance, which takes a very dim view of Latin-Americans, I have seen links to a pair of studies by the Pew Research Center. The first , from 2013, found that 89% of American-born Latins are proficient in English. astonishing as sunrise. The second found that succeeding generations are losing their identification as Hispanics, also hardly a surprise, and also that intermarriage is high. Is this not assimilation?

Americas various minorities are not identical. The Latins are Christian, speak a European language, do not drive airplanes into buildings or shoot up homosexual nightclubs, do not have Brown Lives Matter or the Knockout Game, do not mutilate their daughters or discourage them from going to university, do not engage in honor killings.

Consider a not-very-hypothetical Rosa born of illegal parents in Los Angeles, age nineteen, speaking unaccented California English, and pecking at her cell phone. She will not be seen as very Mexican by young Anglo men. Language is a powerful marker of difference. Rosa is also likely to be pretty, which will not hinder assimilation.

The second available policy toward Latins is to discourage assimilation. This wont work for long (see Rosa, above). Such discouraging is the obvious if unacknowledged desire of the Alt-Right. The Anti-Latinos tend to frame their hostility in terms of objective traits real or imaginedLatins dont learn English, do commit crimes, live on welfare, take American jobs. Yet one requires little reading to see that their real objection is racial.

In todays climate of compulsory right-thought, wanting to maintain ones race and culture is bad, very bad. Actually of course it is an age-old instinct and practiced by Japanese, Chinese, Jews, white nationalists, Latin Americans, and pretty much everybody else. It does not well survive assimilation.

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The problem vis-a-vis the Alt-Rights desire for racial purity is that Latins, who are not going to go away, cannot change their race. This means that no matter what they do, how many languages they learn, how many degrees they earn, or taxes they pay, the Alt-Right will loathe them. I wonder: Should this loathing be permitted to shape the future of the country?

Assimilation and racial purity being incompatible and diametrically opposed, we must choose. You can have one, or the other, but not both. To discourage assimilation, one needs to maximize bad relations between Latin and Anglo. This seems exactly what the Alt-Right is determined to do.

Racial hostility explains the profound ignorance of most of the Alt-Right of South America. Read their websites, their comments. They seem to have no curiosity as to where the immigrants come from, what manner of wights they be, or what they can do or have done. This is not the place for a disquisition on Latin American culture. Still, anyone of intellectual breadth must be aware of the rich and extensive body of music, literature, poetry, and cinema of southern lands. All of this can easily be found on the internet. One may wonder why the Alt-Right has not bothered. Ask who Carlos Monsivais was, or Octavio Paz. You will get get a blank stare.

More culpable are the leaders of the Alt-Right, highly intelligent and educated people, most of them talking heads of the DC-Manhattan bubble. They are not of limited mind and could afford to learn what they are talking about. They do not. They are misrepresenting peoples they have never met, civilizations they have never seen. They regard this a patriotism.

Finally, though perhaps in offense to literary continuity, it is interesting to look at the logic, if that is quite the word, of much of the Alt-Rights cultivation of hostility. They say that Mexicans take American jobs. How? Does Pedro put a pistol to an American workers head and say, Geeve me zee shoffel or I blow your brines out? Or do American businessmen, to make more money, hire countless Pedros, knowing perfectly well that they are illegal? Do Mexicans attach wheels to American factories by dark of night and roll them to Tampico? Or do American corporations, to make more money, build factories in Mexico? Who is taking American jobs?

The Latins are in America to stay. Love it or hate it, it is over, a done deal. How do we make the best of iwhich may not be very bad?

Fred 's Biography - As He Tells It - Fred, a keyboard mercenary with a disorganized past, has worked on staff for Army Times, The Washingtonian, Soldier of Fortune, Federal Computer Week, and The Washington Times. His website - www.fredoneverything.org

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Join the DiscussionAnother Step Toward Armageddon

By Paul Craig Roberts

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The US military/security complex has taken another step toward Armageddon. The Pentagon has prepared a nuclear posture review (NPR) that gives the OK to development of smaller useable nuclear weapons and permits their use in response to a non-nuclear attack.

As Reagan and Gorbachev understood, but the warmongers who have taken over America do not, there are far too many nuclear weapons already. Some scientists have concluded that even the use of 10 percent of either the US or Russian arsenal would suffice to destroy life on earth.

It is reckless and irresponsible for Washington to make such a decision in the wake of years of aggressive actions taken against Russia. The Clinton criminal regime broke Washingtons promise that NATO would not move one each to the East. The George W. Bush criminal regime pulled out of the ABM Treaty and changed US war doctrine to elevate the use of nuclear weapons from retaliation to first strike. The Obama criminal regime launched a frontal propaganda attack on Russia with crazed Hillarys denunciation of President Putin as the new Hitler. In an effort to evict Russia from its naval base in Crimea, the criminal Obama regime overthrew the Ukrainian government during the Sochi Olympics and installed a Washington puppet. US missile bases have been established on Russias border, and NATO conducts war games against Russia on Russian borders.

This is insanity. These and other gratuitous provocations have convinced the Russian militarys Operation Command that Washington is planning a surprise nuclear attack on Russia. The Russian government has replied to these provocations with the statement that Russia will never again fight a war on its own territory.

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Those such as myself and Stephen Cohen, who point out that Washingtons reckless and irresponsible behavior has created an enemy out of a country that very much wanted to be friends, do not get much attention from the presstitute media. The US military/security complex needs an enemy sufficient to justify its vast budget and power, and the Western media has accommodated that selfish and dangerous need.

Russia today is far stronger and better armed than the Soviet Union ever was. Russia also has an alliance with China, an economic and military power. This alliance was created by Washingtons threats against both countries.

Europe and Japan need to understand that they have responsibility for the resurrection of the Cold War in a far more dangerous form than existed in the 20th century. Europe and Japan, whose political leaders are owned by Washington, have taken money from Washington and sold out their peoples along with the rest of humanity.

The entirety of the Western World is devoid of intelligent political leadership. This leaves countries such as Russia, China and Iran with the challenge of preserving life on earth as the Western World pushes humanity toward Armageddon.

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 .It Is Time for Progressives to Support the Trump-Putin Efforts at Rapprochement

By John V. Walsh

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Should progressives support the efforts of Trump and Putin to bring about rapprochement between Russia and the U.S.? Or to use Trumps terminology, should progressives support the effort to "get along with Russia"?

This might seem like a no-brainer. After all Russia and the US are the worlds major nuclear powers. A war or a mistake resulting in a nuclear exchange would reduce much of the planet to radioactive rubble, ending civilization as we know it, and perhaps even putting the continued existence of the human race at risk. And yet there are virtually no voices in the progressive community calling for support of Trumps call to "get along with Russia." Almost no voices speaking in favor of his contacts with Putin, for example after their meeting in Hamburg last July with its considerable achievements . What is going on? Have the progressives gone mad?

Let us be very clear. Support for the Trumpian rapprochement with Russia does not mean support for all Trumps policies or even one other policy of his. The election of 2016 is long behind us now. In that election as in all elections, it was necessary to weigh the policies of the opposing candidates and then to make a choice. One cannot vote for only one policy of a given candidate and against other policies. It is an all or nothing matter.

But the situation post-election is another story. Trump is now President, and it is possible and quite normal to oppose some policies and support others. In the case of Obama, many progressives opposed his continuation and expansion of Bushs wars but supported ObamaCare. (As a Single Payer advocate and antiwar campaigner, this author supported neither.) Similarly, in the case of Trump, one may oppose his tax legislation and his health care policies  I certainly do  and yet support the policy of rapprochement with Russia. Is this not the grown-up thing to do? Should one not seize on an opportunity to get something worthwhile out of a situation that did not go ones way  if that is the way one views the election of 2016? In point of fact, given the danger of nuclear holocaust, it is not only infantile but potentially suicidal to do otherwise.

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The crumbling narrative of "collusion" between Putin and Trump in the 2016 election is the major obstacle to the US-Russia rapprochement. Indeed some progressives have done yeomans work in exposing the lies of the media, the Intel agencies and the Democratic Establishment in concocting the Collusion Myth. Two standouts are Robert Parry and his colleagues at Consortium News and Stephen F. Cohen of The Nation and his colleagues at American Committee for East West Accord . Parry, for example, meticulously examines and exposes the web of lies, deceit, unsourced stories and downright gossip coming out of the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN on a daily basis. Cohen, Professor emeritus of Russian history at Princeton, in his weekly 45 minute discussions with John Batchelor on WABC radio out of NYC has given an insightful look at developments, especially in the light of Russo-American relations and Russian history.

And there are many other progressive bloggers and writers who do the same. That is very much to their credit. But debunking the Collusion Myth, sometimes called Russiagate, is as far as it seems to go. If the Collusion Narrative is in reality a Big Lie, then one purpose of exposing it should be to correct the path it has put us on. That path is confrontation with Russia. The next logical step would be to back Trumps attempts at rapprochement with Russia in the face of daily vicious assaults from the imperial press. But none of that is done.

When one queries progressives about this strange behavior, the first response is to change the subject to tax policy or immigration policy or health care policy. But except in some pretty woolly "theories of everything," such policies are readily separable in non-electoral circumstances as discussed above.

The next response is to deny the danger of war that such tensions create. But everyone familiar the history of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis knows that the risk of miscalculation is greatest when tensions are highest. The story of Stanislav Petrov and his role in preventing an accidental nuclear exchange should be known by every school child in the US.

One must conclude either that most progressives are blinded by their hatred of Trump or that they are sympathetic to treatment of Russia as an enemy. The latter is an abandonment of the progressive commitment to non-interventionism and peace, but neither is a very good sign. And the deeply devious part of the Elites Russiagate strategy is that it presents a giant roadblock to rapprochement since any moves to decrease tensions with Russia will be used as "proof" of Trumps "collusion" with Russia.

If one presses the question further with progressives who know that Russiagate is a fraud, the response is that to support Trumps policy is to risk ones credibility. Some progressives are quite frank about this and will express fear of being shunned by friends. Some will even tell you that they have lost friends for so much as hinting that they might support rapprochement  simply because Trump has advocated it. (If you have your doubts about that, read Win Bigly, a book by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. Learn what happened to Adams, not for supporting Trump, but merely for predicting a Trump win in 2016!)

It seems that it is time for progressives, even while disagreeing with some things Trumpian or even all other things Trumpian, to stand up and back his moves toward rapprochement with Russia. Many are already inching in that direction much to their credit. But the Democratic Party Elite, their neocon partners, the GOP Elite and the servile media will do everything they can to prevent it. It is time to defy them.

We are rolling the nuclear dice daily. And time may be running out.

John V. Walsh can be reached at john.endwar@gmail.com .

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Join the DiscussionThe FBI Hand Behind Russia-gate



Special Report: In the Watergate era, liberals warned about U.S. intelligence agencies manipulating U.S. politics, but now Trump-hatred has blinded many of them to this danger becoming real, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern notes.



By Ray McGovern



January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Russia-gate is becoming FBI-gate, thanks to the official release of unguarded text messages between loose-lipped FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and his garrulous girlfriend, FBI lawyer Lisa Page. (Ten illustrative texts from their exchange appear at the end of this article.)

Despite his former job as chief of the FBIs counterintelligence section, Strzok had the naive notion that texting on FBI phones could not be traced. Strzok must have slept through Security 101. Or perhaps he was busy texting during that class. Girlfriend Page cannot be happy at being misled by his assurance that using office phones would be a secure way to conduct their affair(s).

It would have been unfortunate enough for Strzok and Page to have their adolescent-sounding texts merely exposed, revealing the reckless abandon of star-crossed lovers hiding (they thought) secrets from cuckolded spouses, office colleagues, and the rest of us. However, for the never-Trump plotters in the FBI, the official release of just a fraction (375) of almost 10,000 messages does incalculably more damage than that.

We suddenly have documentary proof that key elements of the U.S. intelligence community were trying to short-circuit the U.S. democratic process. And that puts in a new and dark context the year-long promotion of Russia-gate. It now appears that it was not the Russians trying to rig the outcome of the U.S. election, but leading officials of the U.S. intelligence community, shadowy characters sometimes called the Deep State.

More of the Strzok-Page texting dialogue is expected to be released. And the Department of Justice Inspector General reportedly has additional damaging texts from others on the team that Special Counsel Robert Mueller selected to help him investigate Russia-gate.

Besides forcing the removal of Strzok and Page, the text exposures also sounded the death knell for the career of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in whose office some of the plotting took place and who has already announced his plans to retire soon.

But the main casualty is the FBIs 18-month campaign to sabotage candidate-and-now-President Donald Trump by using the Obama administrations Russia-gate intelligence assessment, electronic surveillance of dubious legality, and a salacious dossier that could never pass the smell test, while at the same time using equally dubious techniques to immunize Hillary Clinton and her closest advisers from crimes that include lying to the FBI and endangering secrets.

Ironically, the Strzok-Page texts provide something that the Russia-gate investigation has been sorely lacking: first-hand evidence of both corrupt intent and action. After months of breathless searching for evidence of Russian-Trump collusion designed to put Trump in the White House, what now exists is actual evidence that senior officials of the Obama administration colluded to keep Trump out of the White House  proof of what old-time gumshoes used to call means, motive and opportunity.

Even more unfortunately for Russia-gate enthusiasts, the FBI lovers correspondence provides factual evidence exposing much of the made-up Resistance narrative  the contrived storyline that The New York Times and much of the rest of the U.S. mainstream media deemed fit to print with little skepticism and few if any caveats, a scenario about brilliantly devious Russians that not only lacks actual evidence  relying on unverified hearsay and rumor  but doesnt make sense on its face.

The Russia-gate narrative always hinged on the preposterous notion that Russian President Vladimir Putin foresaw years ago what no American political analyst considered even possible, the political ascendancy of Donald Trump. According to the narrative, the fortune-telling Putin then risked creating even worse tensions with a nuclear-armed America that would  by all odds  have been led by a vengeful President Hillary Clinton.

Besides this wildly improbable storyline, there were flat denials from WikiLeaks, which distributed the supposedly hacked Democratic emails, that the information came from Russia  and there was the curious inability of the National Security Agency to use its immense powers to supply any technical evidence to support the Russia-hack scenario.

The Trump Shock

But the shock of Trumps election and the decision of many never-Trumpers to cast their lot with the Resistance led to a situation in which any prudent skepticism or demand for evidence was swept aside.

So, on Jan. 6, 2017, President Obamas Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released an evidence-free report that he said was compiled by hand-picked analysts from the CIA, FBI and NSA, offering an assessment that Russia and President Putin were behind the release of the Democratic emails in a plot to help Trump win the presidency.

Despite the extraordinary gravity of the charge, even New York Times correspondent Scott Shane noted that proof was lacking. He wrote at the time: What is missing from the [the Jan. 6] public report is what many Americans most eagerly anticipated: hard evidence to back up the agencies claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack.  Instead, the message from the agencies essentially amounts to trust us.

But the assessment served a useful purpose for the never-Trumpers: it applied an official imprimatur on the case for delegitimizing Trumps election and even raised the long-shot hope that the Electoral College might reverse the outcome and possibly install a compromise candidate, such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the White House. Though the Powell ploy fizzled, the hope of somehow removing Trump from office continued to bubble, fueled by the growing hysteria around Russia-gate.

Virtually all skepticism about the evidence-free assessment was banned. For months, the Times and other newspapers of record repeated the lie that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies had concurred in the conclusion about the Russian hack. Even when that falsehood was belatedly acknowledged , the major news outlets just shifted the phrasing slightly to say that U.S. intelligence agencies had reached the Russian hack conclusion. Shanes blunt initial recognition about the lack of proof disappeared from the mainstream medias approved narrative of Russia-gate.

Doubts about the Russian hack or dissident suggestions that what we were witnessing was a soft coup were scoffed at by leading media commentators. Other warnings from veteran U.S. intelligence professionals about the weaknesses of the Russia-gate narrative and the danger of letting politicized intelligence overturn a constitutional election were also brushed aside in pursuit of the goal of removing Trump from the White House.

It didnt even seem to matter when new Russia-gate disclosures conflicted with the original narrative that Putin had somehow set Trump up as a Manchurian candidate. All normal journalistic skepticism was jettisoned. It was as if the Russia-gate advocates started with the conclusion that Trump must go and then made the facts fit into that mold, but anyone who noted the violations of normal investigative procedures was dismissed as a Trump enabler or a Moscow stooge.

The Text Evidence

But then came the FBI text messages, providing documentary evivdence that key FBI officials involved in the Russia-gate investigation were indeed deeply biased and out to get Trump, adding hard proof to Trumps longstanding lament that he was the subject of a witch hunt .

Justified or not, Trumps feeling of vindication could hardly be more dangerous  particularly at a time when the most urgent need is to drain some testosterone from the self-styled Stable-Genius-in-Chief and his martinet generals.

On the home front, Trump, his wealthy friends, and like-thinkers in Congress may now feel they have an even wider carte blanche to visit untold misery on the poor, the widow, the stranger and other vulnerable humans. That was always an underlying danger of the Resistances strategy to seize on whatever weapons were available  no matter how reckless or unfair  to get Trump.

Beyond that, Russia-gate has become so central to the Washington establishments storyline that there appears to be no room for second-thoughts or turning back. The momentum is such that some Democrats and the media never-Trumpers cant stop stoking the smoke of Russia-gate and holding out hope against hope that it will somehow justify Trumps impeachment.

Yet, the sordid process of using legal/investigative means to settle political scores further compromises the principle of the rule of law and integrity of journalism in the eyes of many Americans. After a year of Russia-gate, the rule of law and pursuit of truth appear to have been reduced to high-falutin phrases for political score-setttling, a process besmirched by Republicans in earlier pursuits of Democrats and now appearing to be a bipartisan method for punishing political rivals regardless of the lack of evidence.

Strzok and Page

Peter Strzok (pronounced struck) has an interesting pedigree with multiple tasks regarding both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump. As the FBIs chief of counterespionage during the investigation into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintons unauthorized use of a personal email server for classified information, Strzok reportedly changed the words grossly negligent (which could have triggered legal prosecution) to the far less serious extremely careless in FBI Director James Comeys depiction of Clintons actions. This semantic shift cleared the way for Comey to conclude just 20 days before the Democratic National Convention began in July 2016, that no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges against Mrs. Clinton.

Then, as Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division, Strzok led the FBIs investigation into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election of 2016. It is a safe bet that he took a strong hand in hand-picking the FBI contingent of analysts that joined hand-picked counterparts from CIA and NSA in preparing the evidence-free, Jan. 6, 2017 assessment accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of interfering in the election of 2016. (Although accepted in Establishment groupthink as revealed truth, that poor excuse for analysis reflected the apogee of intelligence politicization  rivaled only by the fraudulent intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq 15 years ago.)

In June and July 2017 Strzok was the top FBI official working on Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia, but was taken off that job when the Justice Department IG learned of the Strzok-Page text-message exchange and told Mueller.

There is no little irony in the fact that what did in the FBI sweathearts was their visceral disdain for Mr. Trump, their cheerleading-cum-kid-gloves treatment of Mrs. Clinton and her associates, their 1950-ish, James Clapperesque attitude toward Russians as almost genetically driven to evil, and their (Strzok/Page) elitist conviction that they know far better what is good for the country than regular American citizens, including those deplorables whom Clinton said made up half of Trumps supporters.

But Strzok/Page had no idea that their hubris, elitism and scheming would be revealed in so tangible a way. Worst of all for them, the very thing that Strzok, in particular, worked so hard to achieve  the sabotaging of Trump and immunization of Mrs. Clinton and her closest advisers is now coming apart at the seams.

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Congress: Oversee? or Overlook?

At this point, the $64 question is whether the various congressional oversight committees will remain ensconced in their customarily cozy role as overlook committees, or whether they will have the courage to attempt to carry out their Constitutional duty. The latter course would mean confronting a powerful Deep State and its large toolbox of well-practiced retaliatory techniques, including J. Edgar Hoover-style blackmail on steroids, enabled by electronic surveillance of just about everything and everyone. Yes, todays technology permits blanket collection, and Collect Everything has become the motto.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, with almost four decades of membership in the House and Senate, openly warned incoming President Trump in January 2017 against criticizing the U.S. intelligence community because U.S. intelligence officials have six ways from Sunday to get back at you if you are dumb enough to take them on.

Thanks to the almost 10,000 text messages between Strzok and Page, only a small fraction of which were given to Congress four weeks ago, there is now real evidentiary meat on the bones of the suspicions that there indeed was a deep-state coup to correct the outcome of the 2016 election. We now know that the supposedly apolitical FBI officials had huge political axes to grind. The Strzok-Page exchanges drip with disdain for Trump and those deemed his smelly deplorable supporters. In one text message, Strzok expressed visceral contempt for those working-class Trump voters, writing on Aug. 26, 2016, Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support.  its scary real down here.

The texts even show Strzok warning of the need for an insurance policy to thwart Trump on the off-chance that his poll numbers closed in on those of Mrs. Clinton.

An Aug. 6, 2016 text message, for example, shows Page giving her knight in shining armor strong affirmation: Maybe youre meant to stay where you are because youre meant to protect the country from that menace [Trump]. That text to Strzok includes a link to a David Brooks column in The New York Times, in which Brooks concludes with the clarion call: There comes a time when neutrality and laying low become dishonorable. If youre not in revolt, youre in cahoots. When this period and your name are mentioned, decades hence, your grandkids will look away in shame.

Another text message shows that other senior government officials  alarmed at the possibility of a Trump presidency  joined the discussion. In an apparent reference to an August 2016 meeting with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Strzok wrote to Page on Aug. 15, 2016, I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andys office  that theres no way he [Trump] gets elected  but Im afraid we cant take that risk. Strzok added, Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event that you die before youre 40.

Insurance Policy?

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he will ask Strzok to explain the insurance policy when he calls him to testify. What seems already clear is that the celebrated Steele Dossier was part of the insurance, as was the evidence-less legend that Russia hacked the DNCs and Clinton campaign chairman John Podestas emails and gave them to WikiLeaks .

If congressional investigators have been paying attention, they already know what former weapons inspector Scott Ritter shared with Veteran intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) colleagues this week; namely, that Fusion GPSs Glenn Simpson, who commissioned the Russia dossier using Democratic Party money, said he reached out to Steele after June 17, just three days before Steeles first report was published , drawing on seven sources.

There is a snowballs chance in hell that this is raw intelligence gathered by Steele; rather he seems to have drawn on a single trusted intermediary to gather unsubstantiated rumor already in existence.

Another VIPS colleague, Phil Giraldi, writing out of his own experience in private sector consulting, added: The fact that you do not control your sources frequently means that they will feed you what they think you want to hear. Since they are only doing it for money, the more lurid the details the better, as it increases the apparent value of the information. The private security firm in turn, which is also doing it for the money, will pass on the stories and even embroider them to keep the client happy and to encourage him to come back for more. When I read the Steele dossier it looked awfully familiar to me, like the scores of similar reports I had seen which combined bullshit with enough credible information to make the whole product look respectable.

It is now widely known that the Democrats ponied up the insurance premiums, so to speak, for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steeles dossier of lurid  but largely unproven  intelligence on Trump and the Russians. If, as many have concluded, the dossier was used to help justify a FISA warrant to snoop on the Trump campaign, those involved will be in deep kimchi, if congressional overseers do their job.

How, you might ask, could Strzok and associates undertake these extra-legal steps with such blithe disregard for the possible consequences should they be caught? The answer is easy; Mrs. Clinton was a shoo-in, remember? This was just extra insurance with no expectation of any death benefit ever coming into play  save for Trumps electoral demise in November 2016. The attitude seemed to be that, if abuse of the FISA law should eventually be discovered  there would be little interest in a serious investigation by the editors of The New York Times and other anti-Trump publications and whatever troubles remained could be handled by President Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee of Judiciary on Crime and Terrorism, joined Sen. Grassley in signing the letter referring Christopher Steele to the Justice Department to investigate what appear to be false statements about the dossier. In signing, Graham noted the many stop signs the Department of Justice ignored in its use of the dossier. The signature of committee ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, however, was missing  an early sign that a highly partisan battle royale is in the offing. On Tuesday, Feinstein unilaterally released a voluminous transcript of Glenn Simpsons earlier testimony and, as though on cue, Establishment pundits portrayed Steele as a good source and Fusion GPSs Glenn Simpson as a victim.

The Donnybrook is now underway; the outcome uncertain.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was an Army and CIA intelligence analyst for 30 years; prepared and briefed the Presidents Daily Brief for Nixon, Ford, and Reagan; and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

+++++++++++++

Sample text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, released to Congress and the media on December 13, 2016

++++++++++++++

03/04/2016

Strzok  God Hillary should win. 100,000,000-0.

Page  I know

++++++++++++

04/02/2016

Page  So look, you say we text on that phone when we talk about Hillary because it cant be traced, you were just venting, bc you feel bad that youre gone so much but that cant be helped right now.

++++++++++

07/08/2016

Strzok  And meanwhile, we have Black Lives Matter protestors, right now, chanting no justice no peace around DoJ and the White House

Page  Thats awful.

+++++++++

07/14/2016

Page  Have you read this? Its really frightening. For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance http://NYTI/ms/ 29WCu5!

Strzok  I have not. But I think its clear hes capturing all the white, poor voters who the mainstream republicans abandoned in all but name in the quest for the almighty $$$

Page  Yeah, its not good.

Strzok  Poll Finds Emails Weighing on Hillary Clinton, Now Tied With Donald Trump http://nyti.ms/29RV5gf

Page  It is

+++++++++++++

07/26/2016

Strzok  And hey. Congrats on a woman nominated for President in a major party! About damn time! Many many more returns of the day!!

Page  Thats cute. Thanks

++++++++++

08/06/2016

Page  Jesus. You should read this. And Trump should go f himself. Moment in Convention Glare Shakes Up Khans American Life http://nyti.ms/2aHulE0

Strzok  God thats a great article. Thanks for sharing. And F TRUMP.

++++++++

08/06/2016

Page  And maybe youre meant to stay where you are because youre meant to protect the country from that menace. To that end comma, read this:

Page  Trump Enablers Will Finally Have to Take A Stand http://nyti.ms/2aFakry

Strzok  Thanks. Its absolutely true that were both very fortunate. And of course Ill try and approach it that way. I just know it will be tough at times. I can protect our country at many levels, not sure if that helps

++++++++++++

08/09/2016

Page  Hes not ever going to become president, right? Right?!

Strzok  OMG did you hear what Trump just said?

+++++++++++

08/26/2016

Strzok  Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support

Page  Yep. Out to lunch with (redacted) We both hate everyone and everything.

Page  Just riffing on the hot mess that is our country.

Strzok  Yeahits scary real down here

+++++++++

10/20/2016

Strzok: I am riled up. Trump is a f***ing idiot, is unable to provide a coherent answer.

Strzok  I CANT PULL AWAY, WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY (redacted)??!?!

Page I dont know. But well get it back. Were America. We rock.

Strzok Donald just said bad hombres

Strzok Trump just said what the FBI did is disgraceful.

This article was originally published by Consortium News -

====

Was the DNC/Clinton campaign-funded dossier used to obtain warrants on Trump team from the secret court?

Join the DiscussionUN Condemns Donald Trump's 'Shithole Countries' Remark as Racist



Human rights office steps into row as residents of nations maligned by president respond angrily and demand apology.



Trump suggested the US should bring more immigrants from Norway, not shithole countries.



By Patrick Wintour, Jason Burke and Anna Livsey

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Remarks by Donald Trump describing immigrants from Africa and Haiti as coming from shithole countries were racist, the United Nations human rights office has said, as it led global condemnation of the US president.

On Thursday, Trump questioned why the US would want to have immigrants from Haiti and African nations, suggesting instead more immigrants should come from Norway, whose prime minister he had met on Wednesday.

According to a report in the Washington Post , Trump said: Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? after he had been presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and certain African nations as part of a bipartisan immigration deal. In a statement, the White House did not deny the account, instead highlighting Trumps hardline immigration stance.

The UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told a Geneva news briefing: There is no other word one can use but racist. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes, whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome.

On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that the language he had used in the meeting had been tough, but said the reported words were not precisely the ones he had used.

Robin Diallo, the US charge daffaires to Haiti, has been summoned to meet the Haitian president, Jovenel Moise, to discuss Trumps remarks. The former Haitian president Laurent Lamothe expressed his dismay, saying Trump had shown a lack of respect and ignorance.

El Salvadors foreign minister, Hugo Martinez, tweeted about Salvadoran contributions to the US. A good part of those who helped rebuild New Orleans after Katrina were Salvadoran. I feel proud to be Salvadoran, he wrote.

Meanwhile, US diplomats and the US embassy in San Salvador sought to assure those in El Salvador of their respect for the country.

Jean Manes, the US envoy to El Salvador, tweeted in Spanish: I have had the privilege to travel around this beautiful country and meet thousands of Salvadorans. It is an honour to live and work here. We remain 100% committed.

Across Africa there was diplomatic fury. Botswanas government called Trumps comment reprehensible and racist and said the US ambassador had been summoned to clarify whether the nation was regarded as a shithole country after years of cordial relations.

The African Union said it was alarmed by Trumps language. Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told the Associated Press.

This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.

Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of South Africas ruling ANC, said: Ours is not a shithole country; neither is Haiti or any other country in distress. Its not as if the United States doesnt have problems. There is unemployment in the US, there are people who dont have healthcare services.

Mexicos former president, Vicente Fox, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, said in a colourful tweet that Americas greatness was built on diversity. He added Trumps mouth was the foulest shithole in the world. With what authority do you announce who is welcome in America and who is not? Americas greatness is based on diversity, or have you forgotten your migration background, Donald?

In the US, Cedric Richmond, a Democratic congressman and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trumps comments were yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views that reinforce the concerns that we hear every day, that the presidents slogan Make America Great Again is really code for Make America White Again.

Mia Love, a Utah Republican whose family came from Haiti, condemned Trumps remark as unkind, divisive, elitist and demanded an apology for the American people and the nations he wantonly maligned.

James Comey, who was fired as director of the FBI by Trump, quoted the inscription on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! This countrys greatness and true genius lies in its diversity.  James Comey (@Comey) January 12, 2018

David Miliband, the president of the International Rescue Committee, said Trumps comments were leading a race to the bottom on refugees.

Trump has made few references to Africa since his election, and many senior Africa-focused posts in his administration remain unfilled.

In September, he appeared to invent a new country called Nambia while addressing African leaders in Washington. Trump also told them: I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. It has a tremendous business potential.

Boniface Mwangi, a well-known social activist in Kenya tweeted that Africa isnt a shithole.

Its the most beautiful continent in the world. Beautiful, hardworking people. We have diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, cocoa, coffee, tea etc. Sadly we have #shithole leaders like Trump shitting on us everyday, Mwangi said.

Standing at a coffee stall outside an office block in Rosebank , a commercial and business neighbourhood in central Johannesburg, Blessing Dlamini, a 45-year-old administrative assistant, said Trumps words came as no surprise.

He has shown the world he is a racist. We should just block him from our thoughts, Dlamini said.

This article was originally published by The Guardian

====

AU blasts Trump for 'shithole' remark on Africa

'Why would anyone migrate to the US from Norway? Why would you give up healthcare?' Scandinavian Twitter mocks Trump after he said he wanted Norwegians rather than people from 's***hole' countries

A woman in the U.S. was thrown out on the streets by hospital staff because she didn't have insurance. pic.twitter.com/HY1UzNceG1  teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) January 12, 2018

Join the DiscussionJared Kushners Connection to Israeli Business Goes Without Scrutiny



Imagine how different it would be if that business was Palestinian



January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Shortly before Kushner accompanied Trump on his first diplomatic trip to Israel in May, his family real estate company received about $30m in investments from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israels largest insurers and financial institutions



By Robert Fisk

There was a time when we all went along with the myth that American peacemaking in the Middle East was even-handed, neutral, uninfluenced by the religion or political background or business activities of the peacemakers. Even when, during the Clinton administration, the four principle US peacemakers were all Jewish Americans  their lead negotiator, Dennis Ross, a former prominent staff member of the most powerful Israeli lobby group, Aipac (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee)  the Western press scarcely mentioned this. Only in Israel was it news, where the Maariv newspaper called them the mission of four Jews.

The Israeli writer and activist, Meron Benvenisti, wrote in Haaretz newspaper that while the ethnic origin of the four US diplomats may be irrelevant, it is hard to ignore the fact that manipulation of the peace process was entrusted by the US in the first place to American Jews, and that at least one member of the State Department team was selected for the task because he represented the view of the American Jewish establishment. The tremendous influence of the Jewish establishment on the Clinton administration found its clearest manifestation in redefining the occupied territories as territories in dispute.

But lest they be accused of antisemitism, said Benvenisti, the Palestinians cannot, God forbid, talk about Clintons Jewish connection... Still slandered as antisemitic for merely condemning Israels brutality and occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the same fear still eats away at the courage of the Palestinian Authority. When Trumps Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner became the disgraceful Presidents peace envoy, the Palestinians, well aware that he supported the continued  and internationally illegal  colonisation of Arab land, even politely welcomed his sudden exaltation as peacemaker. It was the Israeli media that first pointed out how little he knew  and how few people he knew  in the real Middle East.

But Dennis Ross, the ex-Aipac man whose bias towards Israel was criticised by Jewish colleagues as well as Arabs, hugely supported Kushner when he was appointed Trumps special envoy. As for Trump, here is the official record of his thoughts on the prowess of Jared Kushner: Ya know what, Jared is such a good kid, and hell make a deal with Israel [sic] that no one else can. Hes a natural, hes a great deal, hes a natural  ya know what I was talking about, natural  hes a natural dealmaker. Everyone likes him.

As a real estate investor, Kushner may indeed be a natural dealmaker. But no one expected to discover  as they did in the New York Times a few days ago  that shortly before Kushner accompanied Trump on his first diplomatic trip to Israel in May, his family real estate company received about $30m (22m) in investments from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israels largest insurers and financial institutions. The agreement was  surprise, surprise  not publicised. Theres no evidence that Kushner was directly involved in the deal and it doesnt seem to have violated federal ethics laws, according to the New York Times.

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But as the paper said, quite apart from Trumps decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Kushner arrangement could undermine the ability of the United States to be seen as an independent broker in the region. Tut tut. How could this be? Doesnt the New York Times accept that Kushner takes the ethics rules very seriously (this from a White House press secretary) and that while Kushner Companies cannot be stopped from doing business with a foreign company just because Kushner works for the US administration; it does no business with foreign sovereigns or governments.

Kushner remains a beneficiary of trusts that have stakes in Kushner Companies, even though he resigned as chief executive in January of last year. My favourite quotation came from one of Kushners lawyers, Abbe D Lowell, who said that connecting any of his well-publicised trips to the Middle East to anything to do with Kushner Companies or its businesses is nonsensical and is a stretch to write a story where none actually exists.

So thats OK, then. And if a future member of a principal US Middle East peace-negotiating team happened  just by chance, mind you  to be a Muslim (his ethnic origins as irrelevant as we must regard Kushners) and, while working for the US President, was a beneficiary of trusts in a company that was doing business with, let us say, companies in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or  even, heaven spare us  in Ramallah in the Palestinian West Bank, that would be above board, hunky-dory and acceptable practice for a chap whose only desire in life was to bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians. And if those Arab companies were investing in that particular peace-negotiators real estate company, no one would turn a hair or suggest that anything was just a bit remiss or  let us not use the word unethical for a moment  not really quite the appropriate thing to do.

After all, elected American officials have always been a bit sceptical about Arab financial help to the US, even when the aid has come free of charge and with no interest attached. Take Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal  one of the worlds richest men, currently residing on a mattress in the Riyadh Ritz Hotel as an unwilling guest of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman  who in 2001 offered a $10m donation to the Twin Towers Fund, for the families and victims of the 9/11 attack. He also mentioned the Palestinian cause because, he said, reporters have since the attack repeatedly asked how to eradicate terrorism. America had to understand, he said, that if it wants to extract the roots of this ridiculous and terrible act, this issue has to be solved.

Whoops! This self-evident truth was far too much for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York, who promptly told Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal to keep his cheque. You cant offer cash and talk politics at the same time. But it did show how sensitive can be the connection between money  even donations from an Arab  and politics in the Middle East-US axis. No such problems, however, seem to attend Jared Kushner  who obviously approved of his father-in-laws grotesque decision to accept Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, thus cutting the Palestinians out of the natural deal which Trump claimed he could secure. And most surely, Kushners real estate companys relationship with Israeli financial institutions have nothing to do with that.

This article was originally published by The Independent -

====

Join the DiscussionIn America, Prisoners with Money Can Pay Their Way to a Nicer Stay



For $100 a night, wealthier prisoners can serve their sentence in relative comfort.



By Kali Holloway

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Justice in this country has always been for the privileged. The nations criminal courts are particularly punitive toward those who are too poor to afford bail , represented by overworked public defenders or simply not rich enough to mount an affluenza defense . From arrest to conviction, wealth and whiteness are precious assets for any defendant in a system that favors both. Numerous jurisdictions profit off fines and fees that nickel and dime the poor into debtors prisons . And then there are Southern Californias pay-to-stay jails, which offer more monied inmates nicer accommodations in exchange for cash.

The price to stay in one of these city jails can run the gamut from $25 a day in La Verne to just over $250 in Hermosa Beach. A collaborative investigation by the Los Angeles Times and the Marshall Project found that for $100 a night, inmates in Seal Beachs pay-for-stay program had access to  amenities that included flat-screen TVs , a computer room and new beds. The cost also affords inmates  semi-private rooms, single showers and the ability to... make phone calls whenever they want. In addition to creature comforts, the program lets those with resources buy their way out of serving time in the Los Angeles and Orange County jails, where overcrowding, violence and inhumane conditions are often baked into every jail sentence.

The benefits are that you are isolated and you dont have to expose yourself to the traditional county system, Christine Parker, of Correctional Systems Inc., which runs three pay-to-stay programs , told the New York Times. You can avoid gang issues. You are restricted in terms of the number of people you are encountering and they are a similar persuasion such as you.

In other words, if your pockets are deep enough, you can steer clear of the additional consequencesin addition to your jail sentencethat poorer criminals are forced to endure, and serve your time with people of a similar persuasion. Considering the links between wealth and race, and the racial disparities in prison sentencing , that undoubtedly means pay-to-stay jails create a class of inmates who are both richer and whiter than the general jail population. (The Times/Marshall Project investigation found incomplete race-based data figures.) Prisons, after all, are nothing if not a reflection of American societys most prevalent biases and inequities.

"Those who are wealthy are able to upgrade their facilities to stay at nicer jails than those who are poor who may have committed the same exact crime," Lauren-Brooke Eisen, of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, told the Times.

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There are currently more than 25 pay-to-stay jails across Los Angeles and Orange counties, and between 2011 and 2015 those city jails raised nearly $7 million. The funds came from an estimated 3,500 inmates serving sentences mostly for nonviolent offenses; a whopping 66 percent of inmates were convicted of DUIs. But 4.5 percent, or just over 160 people, were jailed for crimes including assault, robbery, domestic violence, battery, sexual assault, sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography. Several city jail inmates were repeat offenders. Judges sign off on defendant requests to serve time in pay-to-stay programs. Only the wealthier defendants tend to be informed of the programs existence, often by their paid counsel.

Some of the collateral consequences of even short jail staysloss of relationships and jobscan be avoided by pay-to-stay programs. Unlike the Los Angeles and Orange County jails, many of SoCals private jails allow inmates to serve out their time on the weekends, allowing them to live normally during the weekdays. Eight programs include work furloughs, permitting inmates to go to work each day and return to the facility at night. In one case highlighted in the Marshall Project/Times report, a former Los Angeles police officer convicted for stalking his ex-wife worked as a security guard and fitness trainer throughout his one-year incarceration. He didnt inform his employers, who told researchers they did not know [he] was serving jail time and that they believed he forged letters from them to secure a judges permission to leave jail. The price for the privilege of coming and going so freely? A daily cost of $120.

Before they head to a city prison, most defendants do a bit of research, comparing programs based on price, reputation and on-premises conveniences. One former financial services CEO caught driving while high on heroin expressed to Marshall Project/Times reporters a clear understanding of the difference $100 a day made in his experience behind bars at Seal Beach city jail. This is like paradise, he concluded.

Kali Holloway is a senior writer and the associate editor of media and culture at AlterNet.

This article was originally published by AlterNet -

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Join the DiscussionIsrael Keeps Bombing Syria and Nobody Is Doing Anything About It



By Darius Shahtahmasebi



January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The Syrian Army is alleging that Israeli jets struck positions dozens of times within Syria early Tuesday morning in the al-Qutayfa area east of Damascus.

According to a statement by Syrias General Command, the Syrian governments air defenses not only intercepted all of the missiles Israel fired, but it even managed to counter strike one of the Israeli jets, the Jerusalem Post reports .

While the strike is unconfirmed on the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the recent assault during a lunch with NATO ambassadors in Jerusalem, according to the Post.

We have a long-standing policy to prevent the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah from Syrian territory. This policy has not changed. We back it up as necessary with action, he said.

Israel has hit Syrian territory over 100 times since the conflict began in 2011. It has also openly talked recently about bombing Lebanon. Each of these conflict theaters is aimed at containing Irans expanding influence.

All of this begs the question: Why havent Iran, Syria, and/or Hezbollah in Lebanon responded directly? Striking the territory of a sovereign nation is not only an act of war, it is completely illegal without authorization from the U.N. unless it has been done in self-defense.

Is it because Israel reportedly has well over 200 nukes all pointed at Iran, and there is little Iran and its allies can do to take on such a threat?

According to the Guardian , Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly instructed both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah not to retaliate against Israeli strikes in Syria. The Guardian also notes that Israeli media has claimed Putin even proposed a deal that would prevent foreign powers from using Syria as a base for attacking a neighboring state , a blatant reference to Iran.

While much of Syrias air defenses are Russian-supplied, the Jerusalem Post notes that the far more advanced Russian S-300 and S-400 have not been used against Israeli jets, but Syrian air defenses have. This includes an incident in March where three anti-aircraft missiles with a 200-kilogram warhead targeted several Israeli jets.

Clearly, Russia has no interest in getting involved in a spat between Israel and Iran. In fact, it can most likely use the impending conflict to further pursue its goals in the Middle East and successfully emerge as the major power broker, wedging the United States out of the area completely. Even now, Russia is continuing its support for the Syrian government to retake the remaining parts of Syria currently up for grabs, particularly in the Idlib province. Much of the medias attention is focused elsewhere, like the protests in Iran .

Make no mistake, the looming conflict between Iran and Israel via its proxy states could easily break out unless something drastic is done to diffuse it.

On Tuesday, the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, warned of the proliferation of accurate Iranian missiles in the Middle East.

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The Iranians are coasting into the Middle East undisturbed and with very large forces, in a way that virtually creates an air and land corridor that pours fighters into the region in order to actualize the Iranian vision, Cohen warned at a Finance Ministry event in Jerusalem on Tuesday, adding that we hear the concerns from Sunni leaders about Iran are growing, just as they are in Israel. We are hearing it from everywhere.

Speaking to Politico in December, Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer also warned :

If Iran is not rolled back in Syria, then the chances of military confrontation are growing. I dont want to tell you by the year or by the month. Id say even by the week, he said.

Because the more they push, we have to enforce our redlines, and you always have the prospects of an escalation, even when parties dont want an escalation. So in taking action to defend ourselves, you dont know what could happen. But I think its higher than people think.

In the meantime, it is unclear how much Russia might tolerate a blatant attack on Iran if it extends past the disputed border area with Israel. Regardless, Iran and Russia will remain key allies in the years to come until Washingtons influence and control over the Middle East has all but completely eroded.

This article was originally published by The Anti-Media -

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Join the DiscussionHome Trump Cancels UK Visit... So Much For The Special Relationship By Finian Cunningham January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Hardly anyone will buy President Donald Trumps explanation for his abruptly canceled visit to London next month. The real reason, no doubt, was to avoid embarrassing scenes of mass street protests marring his official welcome. Whatever has become of the so-called special relationship? Nigel Farage, the former UKIP leader and one of the few British politicians who has openly befriended Trump, expressed embarrassment: Its disappointing. Hes been to countries all over the world and yet hes not been to the one with whom hes closest. I think its disappointing, Farage told the BBC on the back of news over Trumps cancelation. The United States and Britain have long flattered each other with declarations of having a special relationship  a phrase first coined by Winston Churchill during his postwar trip to the US in 1946. Given that Britain is Americas supposedly closest international ally, what does it say about Washingtons present standing in the world when the president is obliged to call off his visit  out of concerns that hes not welcome by the British public? . @BorisJohnson slams pompous popinjay critics of @realDonaldTrump after UK state visit canceled https://t.co/LdLj8HiGem  RT UK (@RTUKnews) January 12, 2018 When news broke overnight this week that Trump was pulling out of his working trip to London next month, the president sought to lay the blame on the previous Obama administration. During Trumps planned visit  reportedly scheduled for February 26 or 27  he was due to officially open a new US embassy building. But in a belated Tweet, Trump huffed that the new embassy costing around $1 billion was a bad deal. He claimed the Obama administration had sold the erstwhile prestigious diplomatic address in Londons Mayfair district for the relatively down-at-heel location in Wandsworth, near Battersea Power Station, south of the Thames River in the capital. Indeed, the latter address does sound a bit off location. Trump, in chagrined tone, said he wouldnt be cutting the ceremonial ribbon to unveil the newly built embassy. Other reports have indicated, however, that the president is more concerned by mounting public opposition to what would be his first official visit to Britain. Previously, Trump had said that he was considering shelving plans to come to Britain due to public animosity towards the president. It was also reported that Trump was unhappy by the lack of bells and whistles being afforded during his would-be stay by the British government. He was, for example, not scheduled to meet with the monarch and official head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, at Buckingham Palace. The curtailed public ceremonies were likely prompted by official concerns of bad publicity ensuing from raucous protests greeting Trump on Londons streets. Officially, Trump has been invited by the Queen for a separate full-state visit at some later date this year. But, as of yet, no date has been scheduled for that full ceremonial honor. The way things are going, even that trip might be in question now. During state ceremonies, the visiting foreign dignitary is invited to stay at Buckingham Palace with the monarch, treated to the pomp and ceremony of a state banquet, and usually requested to formally address the Houses of Parliament. Barack Obama and his wife were hosted with state honors in 2011. GW Bush, Bill Clinton and other American presidents received the same red-carpet treatment. RT's @Polly_Boiko reports outside the U.S. Embassy London after @realDonaldTrump  cancels UK visit to open it next month and makes 's***hole countries' remark #TrumpVisit



MORE: https://t.co/HbkjxQxJ1i pic.twitter.com/Dq2iCkTlnu  RT UK (@RTUKnews) January 12, 2018 Trumps canceled visit next month was separate from his planned state visit. The former, to open the new US embassy, was billed as a working trip during which he would meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May at her official residence in Downing Street or at the rural residence at Chequers. But an engagement with the monarch was not on the schedule this time around. That omission is thought to have piqued Trump, who is known to relish lavish overseas welcomes, as noted during previous trips last year to China and France. It should be embarrassing that no dates have yet been specified for Trumps state visit to Britain. The vacant planning is doubtless due to the same reason why the British government tried to keep Trumps working visit next month a low-key affair. Because Downing Street knows that the British public are none too pleased with this American president coming. When Theresa May visited President Trump at the White House last January  one week after his inauguration  she was reportedly the first foreign leader to pay respects to the new American leader. It was during Mays visit that she extended the official invite from the British monarch to Trump for a state visit. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter But Mays tribute trip immediately sparked protests among British citizens and politicians alike. Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow issued a highly unusual statement that he would not permit Trump to address the British parliament, as protocol would normally dictate. A public petition was launched  garnering 1.8 million signatures to date  demanding that the British state visit by Trump be canceled. Among the public gripes over Trump were his policies, which have been perceived as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant. Last month, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn made a vehement call for the British public to mount massive protests in the event of a Trump visit to the country. Trump also riled public resentment over his insensitive comments during last Junes terror attack in London, which killed seven people, when he implied that London Mayor Sadiq Khan had been incompetent on security policy. The president has even irked Prime Minister May. Although May has tried to weather public criticism of her cordial relations with Trump, the president drew her anger back in November when he re-posted anti-Muslim images belonging to a fringe racist group, Britain First. May publicly rebuked Trump for apparently endorsing the images. He then hit back, retorting that she should pay more focus instead on the alleged problem of jihadist radicalism in Britain. The British leader and Trump appeared to patch things up during a Christmas greeting phone call on December 19. Both reportedly talked about Trumps then-forthcoming visit to Britain. One thing that will inevitably be gleaned from the debacle is the dwindling world standing of this American president. His latest outburst this week reportedly labeling various poor nations as shithole countries has sparked more international outrage over Trumps foul-mouth and perceived racist attitude. Increasingly, this president has led the US into frosty isolation from the rest of the world due to his churlish conduct and boorish personal behavior. Trumps snubbing of the Paris Climate Accord, his disdain for the international Iran nuclear deal, his cowboy-like declaration of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and his incendiary threats to totally destroy North Korea  have all contributed to the US becoming more isolated and deprecated by the rest of the world. And this for a president who proclaims America First and Making America Great Again. Perhaps the clearest signal yet of America Last is Trump now canceling his visit to Britain. Even hard-nosed, thick-headed Trump realizes that for many ordinary Britons the special relationship is, for them, a cause of indignation and deep shame. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. This article was originally published by RT - ==== Trump's Panama Ambassador Resigns, Says He Can't Faithfully Serve the President Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of ICH readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin. Please read our Comment Policy before posting - Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.Oprah for President, Really?

By Mike Whitney

Being president isnt like hosting a talk show or running a media brand. Oprahs success in her field is no more indicative of her potential to be a good president than Trumps success in real estate was. You cant criticize Trump for having no relevant experience or evident understanding of public policy, then say that the solution for Democrats is just to throw up their hands and find their own celebrity to promote.  Paul Waldman, Get a Grip, People. Oprah should not run for President, Washington Post

January 12, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Will she or wont she?

No one knows for sure. Best friend, Gayle King, says Oprah Winfrey has no plans to run for president, but longtime Oprah partner, Stedman Graham, disagrees. Graham says bluntly, She would absolutely do it. Its up to the people.

So whos right and whos wrong? And whats up with the Golden Globes? Was the reaction to Winfreys emotionally-charged speech really as spontaneous as weve been led to believe or was the deluge of adulatory coverage in the media already in the works? I dont know about you, but the ridiculous outpouring of praise including more than 700 gushing articles in the MSM accompanied by a saturation campaign on social media smells fishy to me. Was this supposed to be an inspirational speech to fans and well-wishers or a product launch by Democratic party leaders who needed a glitzy venue to showcase their future presidential candidate, Ms. Talk TV herself, Oprah Winfrey?

If I was a gambling man, Id bet that the whole Sunday night extravaganza, including Winfreys heart-wrenching oration, was a set-up from soup to nuts. My guess is that the DNC honchos have cynically decided that their best chance to beat Trump in 2020 is by following the blueprint that worked for the inexperienced, 2-year Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. First, they start with the product launch to a target audience, then they create a positive buzz in the media and on the internet, then they magnify the size of the groundswell of support (remember the fainting ladies at Os speeches?), then they transport their candidate from one soapbox to the next where he/she mutters the same stale chestnuts over and over again to the adoring throng.

Oh yeah, and one other thing: Real issues have to be avoided like the plague while promises should be made in the vaguest, but most uplifting terms possible. That was the key to Obamas success and it looks like that Oprah is following his lead. Heres a brief clip from her speech:

Ive interviewed and portrayed people whove withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning  even during our darkest nights.

Ahh, another 8 years of hope and change. Who wouldve known?

Of course, Winfrey is enormously popular but her popularity does not necessarily translate into political support. Take a look at this excerpt from an article in the Washington Post and youll why her transition from TV celbrity to presidential candidate could be bumpier than many people expect:

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A March 2017 Quinnipiac University poll found Winfrey had a 52 percent favorable rating (and just a 23 percent unfavorable rating). She was most popular with Democrats (72 percent) and independents (51 percent). But that doesnt mean those polled wanted her to throw her hat into the ring: Just over 1 in 5 said Winfrey should run in 2020, and 69 percent said she shouldnt. (Washington Post)

That doesnt mean its a lost cause, it just means that her presidential bid is not a sure thing. Its going to be a long, uphill slog with plenty of pitfalls and mudslinging. Even so, most analysts expect Winfrey to sail through the Democratic primaries without breaking a sweat. Theres simply no prospective candidate in the party who could compete with her charisma, her name recognition or her wide-ranging fan-base. But nabbing the nomination and becoming the partys standard-bearer merely puts Oprah in a position where she can lock horns with big Don Trump in a no-holds-barred cage match that will decide whether the country is going to be governed by a flamboyant billionaire oligarch or by a flamboyant billionaire oligarch. Could things get any weirder?

I always thought the Dems would put Michelle Obama on the 2020 ticket, after all, for the identity politics-driven Dems, Michelle has it all; shes black, shes a woman, shes bright, she has massive name recognition, she has stature, gravitas, charisma, she knows how to deliver a riveting speech, she knows how to handle herself among dignitaries, and she knows the drill, that is, she knows that the president is a meaningless figurehead who has very little power and follows a tight script that is written by his big money constituents. Michelle knows all of that which is what makes her the perfect candidate.

But Michelle probably didnt want the job. And why would she? Hubby just cashed in on a $60 million book deal, so Michelle can afford to put her feet up and enjoy life. Thats why the Dems moved on to Door Number 2: Oprah Winfrey. If Trump can win with no political experience (the thinking goes), then why not Winfrey?

Why not, indeed? Heres how Paul Waldman at the Washington Post sums it up:

Its true that Democrats have underappreciated the importance of charisma in presidential politics. But the answer to those electoral failures isnt to stop caring about substance. Its to find candidates who are both charismatic and serious, who would be able both to win and to do the job once they took office. (Paul Waldman, Washington Post)

Bingo. And what would it take to make Oprah Winfrey a serious candidate?

Well, shed have to have a good grasp of the issues which means shed have to take a crash course in policy, world affairs, negotiation and economics. Shed need to have an opinion about the nuclear standoff with North Korea, the confrontation in the South China Sea, the Saudi war and blockade of Yemen, the escalating conflict in Afghanistan, the US occupation of East Syria, frayed relations with Turkey, economic sanctions against Iran, Russia, Venezuela and Cuba. And shed have to understand domestic issues, cuts to Medicaid, corporate tax cuts, burgeoning budget deficits, stagnant wages, the skyrocketing price of tuition, out-of-control health care costs, free trade, deregulation, Wall Street, the environment, transportation, law enforcement, national security and the steady evisceration of the American middle class. Whew.

The fact that Oprah really has no grasp of any of these things nor any understanding of how to negotiate with congress, staff an administration, or appoint judges to the bench, makes me think that Democratic honchos are merely using her as a stalking horse to shoehorn themselves back into power so they canonce againenjoy the spoils of war.

Isnt that what this whole Oprah for Prez-thing is really all about? Arent the party fatcats and their behind-the-scenes constituents just looking for the right vehicle to tout their message and fly their banner without any intention of addressing the issues that ordinary working people really care about?

Of course they are. These people are cynics.

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition . He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com .

This article was originally published by Counterpunch -

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Pop Singer Seal Exposes Oprahs Extreme Hypocrisy Over Harvey Weinstein Scandal

Join the DiscussionNigerian-British model, Harry Uzoka, has been stabbed to death near his home in what is believed to be a apparent failed robbery in Acton, London.

Harry was signed to top model agency Premier Model Management, who represent hundreds of the worlds most successful models in the country, and helped launch the careers of models like Naomi Campbell.

According to reports, he was found on Old Oak Road in East Acton at 4PM on Thursday with a stab wound to his chest. He was later pronounced dead after paramedics attempted to save his life at the scene.

One of his latest photo shoots was for British GQ, featuring Harry standing in front of a Mercedes Benz, which is in the current issue of the magazine. The staff of GQ are appalled and saddened by his death and would like his family to know that our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.

Tributes have been pouring in as two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

source: GistreelA Warri based OAP michael effiong aka Funnymouth of Kpoko Fm has voiced out the dangers ahead for any state that tends to give out colony to herdsmen.

He also blasted Buhari for being quick to tackle IPOB and Nigeria delta militancy but so slow to curb herdsmen insurgency.

Source: NairalandSome parents in Kaduna state came out en- mass in solidarity with the state governments plan to sack over 21,000 teachers that failed the October 2017 competency test.

The National leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday, led teachers in the state to protest against the planned strike. The NLC leaders are demanding the re-training of the teachers, a decision the state government is kicking against.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai in a recent interview with Channels TV said he cannot re-train illiterates that failed primary four set of questions that was given to them during the competency test.

The parents on the state came out to show their support for the reforms the state government is embarking in the education sector.

See more photos from the protest below:

Source : ( Linda Ikeji )The decision of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which ordered the interim forfeiture of a sum of $5.9m found in Mrs. Patience Jonathans Skye Bank account was upheld by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division on Friday.

The appellate court, in a lead judgment by Justice Mojeed Owoade, threw out the ex-Presidents wifes appeal challenging the forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.

It held that the appeal lacked merit.

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos had, in April last year, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the funds after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission argued that the money was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of fraud.

Apart from Patiences personal account with $5.9m, the judge also froze a number of accounts linked with her including an Ecobank account with a balance of N2.4bn opened in the name of one La Wari Furniture and Bath Limited.

But efforts to secure an order for the permanent forfeiture of the money was opposed by Patience, through her lawyer, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN).

Also, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), on behalf of La Wari Furniture and Bath Limited, opposed the permanent forfeiture of the funds in its clients account.

The two lawyers subsequently went on appeal, seeking to overturn the temporary forfeiture order and recover the funds.

But the appellate court on Friday dismissed their appeals.

The EFCC had, in an affidavit it filed before Justice Olatoregun, said its investigation revealed that Patience opened the Skye Bank account on February 7, 2013, and used it to allegedly warehouse proceeds of crime.

According to an operative of the EFCC, Musbahu Abubakar, the former first lady made several cash deposits in United States dollar into the account, through a former Special Assistant to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa; and a State House steward, Festus Iyoha.

He said as of January 30, 2015, the Skye Bank account had a balance of $6.7m, but Patience subsequently withdrew it down to $5.9m.

The EFCC had prayed the court to urgently freeze the account so as to prevent Patience from moving the funds.

Justice Olatoregun had then granted the interim forfeiture order and adjourned till May 22, 2017 for anyone interested in the funds to appear before her to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Anambra says it has taken adequate measures to ensure smooth, credible, free and fair election in the Anambra Central Senatorial District re-run on Saturday.

Leo Nkedife, the Head of Department of Publicity and Voter Education in INEC in the state, said this while speaking with newsmen in Awka on Friday.

Mr. Nkedife said that all sensitive and non-sensitive materials as well as ad-hoc staff had been mobilised to the seven local government areas of the senatorial district.

He urged the residents of Anambra central senatorial district to come out em-masse with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to exercise their franchise.

He urged the voters to elect candidates of their choice and said that INEC was fully prepared for the election.

The INEC official assured that plans had been perfected to ensure adequate security the area where the exercise would be conducted.

The council areas where the re-run will be held are Njikoka, Dunukofia, Anaocha, Awka North , Awka South, Idemili North and Idemili South.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that there have been several court orders in favour and against the holding of the election.

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication Strategy, Tony Nnacheta, says there will be no restriction of movement of vehicles on the highways in the state during the exercise.

Mr. Nnacheta said however that movement would be restricted in the affected seven local government areas between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Source : (NAN)A year 2 student of Statistics at the University of Abuja, Awal Sani, was on Thursday January 11th, stabbed to death by his mothers rival during a family fued at their home in the Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. The Nation reports that Sanis step-mum, identified as Rukayat Abdulkareem had confronted her mate, Sanis mother, over their missing husband.

Sani was stabbed, while trying to calm the fight between both women, that he younger brother to the victims mother who narrated the unfortunate incident, said

Between 10:00 p.m. and 10.30 p.m,, I heard someone banging on the door and I came outside, I asked her what she wanted and she said she was looking for her husband. I know the woman, they were living close to us here in Pipeline before they packed to Kaduna road. I told her that I would check and see if I can call the husband for her. I went inside, I met my sister and informed her that the mans wife was outside looking for him, my sister said she was going to meet the woman, I tried to stop her and told her she was not the one the woman came for but she insisted. So I followed her because I didnt want any problem. We met the woman and then I realised that if they start talking, it may result to another thing. So, I asked my sister to go inside and went to pipeline police station. I invited a policeman, he asked the woman what the problem was, she said she was here to see her husband. The policeman asked her to follow him to the station so she can write a statement and they will return to pick her husband. But she said she was not going anywhere so the policeman left. I went inside the house and the next thing I heard was that they had stabbed Awal. I rushed out, we did all we could to save him. We rushed him to the hospital and the doctor confirmed him dead and we brought him back home. She had left when I rushed out but the vigilante men caught and brought her later and we kept her till the police arrived

The deceased was meant to have returned to school on Monday January 15th.

Source: (The Nation)With so many channels in online marketing, its hard to decide where to invest your time and money. Lucky for you, Ive found the best place to not spend any money and get in front potential self-storage customers: A free Google business listing.

Let me explain. Local searches have local intent. For example, a user goes to Google and searches Storage units in Clarksville, Indiana and the search thinks this person is searching for a local business. Once the search is returned, youll see a long list of ads, a map and the organic listings on the search engine results page (SERP). The ads in the ads section come from keywords that trigger them in AdWords, Googles ad platform for search and display ads.

The next thing you see on the SERP is what we came here to learn about today. The local map results, aka Google Maps, aka Google Places, aka The Snack Pack. This section has had so many names over the years and the information has been collected by Google from a variety of sources.

The good news is, now you can get your self-storage business listed in the local finder by claiming your Google My Business Listingall for free.

Benefits of Claiming Your Listing

Claiming your business listing gives you the opportunity to be right in front of potential local customers when theyre searching for your service. It also comes with the following benefits  if the first one wasn't enough!

Your listing will have the correct information. Google My Business allows you to provide the most popular search engine with your correct information. Weve all been thereseeing published information about our business online that isn't correct. In your Google My Business account, you supply your information and can edit it any time.

Heres a list of information you add to your account:

Correct business name

Address

Hours of operation

Categories that fit your business

Phone number

Website

Photos of your business

Manage all your reviews. Your account also lets you manage all your reviews on Google. You can reply to your customers who leave positive and negative reviews. This is great for replying to unsatisfied customers and making things right.

Insights on how users discover you. Insights are like Google Analytics. If you aren't familiar with Google Analytics, that needs to be your next move after setting up your Google My Business account. Insights are broken down into six categories:

How customers search for your business

Where customers view your business on Google

Customer actions

Phone calls

Photo views

Photo quantity

Photos of your business. Imagine adding pictures of the interior and exterior of your storage facility, plus staff on Google for your potential customers to see. Google My business allows you to do that. Take advantage of this. Dont just add three photos, either. Max them out.

Getting Started

Many self-storage operators will hire a company or person to set up their Google My Business account. This has its benefits, mostly being that they come out and take photos for you. Other than that, your account can be easily set up by you or an employee. Now that you know the benefits of having a free Google My Business listing, get out there and get in front of local customers searching for you.

Garrett Lang is an employee with Anytime Storage, which operates two locations in Clarksville, Ind. He has been working in the marketing industry since 2006, and has degrees from Indiana University in journalism and advertising. He began his career by producing Web design, which led to being Google Certified in AdWords and Google Analytics. He now loves search engine optimization and enjoys learning new ways to please the Google machine. For more information, call 502.643.9618; visit www.anytime-storage.com.Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

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Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.The chairwoman of the Irish Film Board (IFB) has said she is disappointed at the gender imbalance across the nominations for this years Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards, writes Joe Leogue.

Annie Doona made the comments following the announcement of the 2017 IFTA shortlist, which saw five men nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, compared to just three actresses in the corresponding female category.

IFTA CEO Aine Moriarty previously told the Irish Examiner that the difference between the two categories is reflective of the film industry, and that the past year saw few films in which women were given a leading role.

Responding to this, Ms Doona said she was disappointed with the discrepancies.

We are all aware that there is a gender imbalance within the industry and we at the IFB remain steadfastly committed to addressing this issue, she said.

Achieving 50/50 gender equality within the sector remains an utmost priority for the IFB and we have undertaken a number of measures to ensure that Irish female talent is encouraged and visible within the industry.

It is vitally important that the stories Irish films portray represent a contemporary image of Ireland in all its diversity, inclusivity and originality of voice.

In December 2015, we launched our Six Point Plan on Gender Equality, detailing a number of measures to monitor and enhance gender representation across the sector.

At last years Galway Film Fleadh, we furthered our commitment to achieving 50/50 gender equality by announcing a number of groundbreaking initiatives to support and encourage female talent.

We acknowledge that this shift cannot happen overnight and it is important to remember that we can only fund what we receive. We must continue to implore and encourage Irish creative female talent to apply so that these goals can be achieved.

Ms Doona said the last year alone saw success for Co Corks Nora Twomey with her Golden Globe-nominated animated feature, The Breadwinner, and Emer Reynolds with her critically acclaimed feature documentary, The Farthest.

In 2018, a host of female-led Irish films will come to the fore, including Twomeys aforementioned The Breadwinner, Carmel Winters Float Like A Butterfly, Aoife McArdles Kissing Candice, Mary McGuckians A Girl From Mogadishu and Alexandra McGuinnesss Highway alongside the Katie Holly-produced Irish co-production Vita & Virginia and Sinead OSheas documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot.

These upcoming titles prove that this imbalance is shifting and it is a shift we will unyieldingly support. We hope that at next years awards, female talent will be equally represented and offered the recognition it truly deserves, she said.Update 4.24pm: Met Eireann have revealed the rainfall stats during the most recent yellow rainfall warning.

More than 50 millimetres of rain fell between 9am yesterday and 9am this morning in parts of Cork and Kerry.

Gardai say restrictions remain in Bandon, Co. Cork, where the town's main bridge is closed to all traffic from North Main Street, but Baxters bridge is open to traffic.

Other parts of the South and West of the country had between 10mm and 25mm.

Meanwhile, Dublin only recorded 0.1 millimetre - due to the protective 'shadowing effect' from the Wicklow Mountains.

14.40pm: No access into Bandon as roads flood around Cork

There is no traffic access into or through Bandon due to the risk of floods, writes Cillian Sherlock.

Gardai in Bandon say water pumps are active in the town.

They believe water levels in the river peaked about an hour ago.

Hickey's Corner is understood to be most affected.

The bypass on the south side of the town is still open.

The town's closure may last for up to three hours, gardai say.

Elsewhere, the R5930 Skibbereen road is now passable. Townlands on this road include Garranes South and Dromdaleague.

Earlier: Roads flooded in Cork, Council warning of further heavy rain

Cork County Council has announced that a number of roads are flooded and further closures may be expected due to heavy rainfall.

Cork County Council's Severe Weather Assessment Team has assessed that due to heavy rainfall, the Park Road in Mallow will remain closed all day.

The Mill Road / R593 in Skibbereen are flooded and closed and are likely to remain closed all day.

Lee Fields are also flooding. However, Carrigrohane Road is not affected..

24 hour rainfall from 9am Friday to 9am this morning.

Over 50mm was recorded in parts of Cork & Kerry.

Dublin only received 0.1mm. This is due to the shadowing effect from the Wicklow Mts when there is a southerly wind direction. pic.twitter.com/LDlJESs0gt  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 13, 2018

Bridge Steet is being monitored and depending on water levels may have to be closed at lunchtime today.

Similarly, the bridge in Fermoy is being monitored and, if neccessary, will be closed in the early evening today.

The flood levels in Bandon are expected to peak this afternoon.

Road R-593-93 is impassable due to FLOOD. Townlands on this road are: Gortnaclohy, Lurriga, Coolnagarrane, Maulbrack, Bunalunn. Details emailed. #RoadAlert https://t.co/9VI78gSoJL  Cork County Council (@Corkcoco) January 13, 2018

The situation is being monitored by the Council and crews are on standby.

The Cork County County Emergency phone line is open at 021-4800048.Update 7.57pm: The man has been pronounced dead in hospital.

5.08pm: Man in critical condition after being swept off rocks into sea off Clare coast

By Pat Flynn

A man has been airlifted to hospital in a critical condition after he was washed into the sea in Co Clare this afternoon.

The man is believed to have been taking photographs at the base of a cliff at Creeragh off the Dunlicky coast road near Kilkee.

It is understood he was struck by a rogue wave and washed into the sea.

The man, who is understood to be a 30-year-old from Hungary and living in Galway, is believed to have made his way down to the base of a cliff before he was swept off the rocks.

Emergency services were alerted at around 3.30pm and a major search and rescue operation was mounted.

Gardai and volunteers from the Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard were dispatched to the scene while the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also tasked to assist in the search.

The helicopter crew soon found the casualty and winched him on board the aircraft before rushing to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.

Gardai are investigating the circumstances of the incident.A thirsty beer drinker helped himself to a few bottles in Corks Heineken brewery after throwing a rock through two glass door panels, writes Liam Heylin.

He also left with three bottles but gardai had a head start in the burglary investigation after intruder Roy Kelly, aged 37, left his mobile phone behind him.Gardai are conducting forensic tests on the car and are gathering CCTV in a bid to identify the opportunistic criminal who took the car.

The man apparently happened to be in an estate in north Dublin when he spotted a stationary car with its engine running but with no driver, and sped away with it.

It is thought the owner may have momentarily left the car to go into their home when the theft occurred.

A 13-month-old baby was inside the car at the time, though gardai suspect the thief was unaware of its presence and did not realise it until sometime after driving off.

The initial incident occurred at 7.30am in an estate in Baldoyle, north Dublin.

After the alarm was raised, all available garda units were dispatched to search for the vehicle.

Sources said 45 minutes passed before gardai located the vehicle in a car park at 8.15am behind a building site in Clongriffin, some 5km away.

It was a 45-minute wait, so its a long time, said one garda source.

The source said the car would be examined for fingerprints and DNA and checked against records.

We will harvest any CCTV in the relevant areas and do local inquiries to see if anyone saw the car or the driver, said the source.

Witnesses are asked to ring Raheny Garda Station on 01-6664300.

Meanwhile, across the city, in Dalkey, Co Dublin, detectives have ruled out foul play in the death of a 35-year-old man, whose body was found in a private laneway. The man had suffered a puncture wound in his stomach. His body was found at 8.30am yesterday by a woman out walking.

The laneway leads to an apartment block just off Convent Road in the village.

Gardai in Dun Laoghaire responded and sealed off the scene pending a technical examination and the arrival of the state pathologist.

Sources said they were keeping their options open but were investigating the possibility the man may have impaled himself while climbing over a gate with sharp railings that leads to the laneway.

The man was seen going down the lane at 1.30am and no one else was spotted on camera at that time.

The Technical Bureau was yesterday observed conducting tests and taking samples from the railings.

Anyone with information can contact Dun Laoghaire Garda Station on 01 6665000.A 14-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of seven burglaries in Killarney over Christmas.

Chief Superintendent Tom Myers told a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee in Killorglin on Friday that there has also been a sharp, yearly increase in house burglaries in Kerry, and that local, as well as roving, criminals are responsible

The public is being urged to report suspicious activity, such as door-to-door calling, but also to break the chain and not to buy power tools and other goods at street fairs such as Puck Fair and Kenmares annual August 15 fair unless they can be sure of their provenance.

Travelling criminal gangs are arriving in Killarney town, dropping off individuals, and picking them up again when they have broken into houses and taken cash, electrical goods, and jewellery, said Superintendent Flor Murphy.

Some 245 burglaries were recorded in Kerry in 2017, up from 171 the previous year, but none involved violence against persons. Vehicle theft was also up sharply, to 124.

Sean Roche, a community representative on the JPC, said there had been a scourge of burglaries in south Kerry in recent years, and that people can no longer afford house insurance, after being robbed day and night. He also said tourists are being watched on Rossbeigh and other beaches, and, when they come back, their stuff is gone.

It sends an awful message out. We are a tourist county, said Mr Roche.

Cameras must be placed at major junctions and bridges, such as Killorglin, as we are on our own in south Kerry, he added.

Stolen goods are being sold on stalls at fairs, such as at Puck, said Fine Gael councillor Patrick Connor-Scarteen.

Kerrys crime-prevention officer, Sgt Jim Foley, said everyone has a role to play and people buying from bogus traders are part of the problem.

There is a chain to be broken, he said.

Sgt Foley also urged the politicians at the meeting to lobby for tax relief for house alarms to encourage householders to get them.

Muintir na Tire representative Diarmuid Cronin said the erection of picture signs of smash-and-grabs had dramatically decreased thefts from cars on beaches in Co Cork.

Travelling gangs from east Kildare and Dublin are dropping off people at various locations in Killarney and collecting them after they have broken into empty houses. These opportunistic criminals would typically knock on doors and ask for directions, if someone answered. Generally, their method is to then force in windows and doors, if the house is empty, Supt Murphy said.

Mass times or day times, when people are working, are peak burglary times in Kerry, but a number of nightime burglaries took place in Killarney over Christmas, and local people have been arrested.Annie Doona made the comments following the announcement of the 2017 IFTA shortlist, which saw five men nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, compared to just three actresses in the corresponding female category.

IFTA CEO Aine Moriarty previously told the Irish Examiner that the difference between the two categories is reflective of the film industry, and that the past year saw few films in which women were given a leading role.

Responding to this, Ms Doona said she was disappointed with the discrepancies.

We are all aware that there is a gender imbalance within the industry and we at the IFB remain steadfastly committed to addressing this issue, she said.

Achieving 50/50 gender equality within the sector remains an utmost priority for the IFB and we have undertaken a number of measures to ensure that Irish female talent is encouraged and visible within the industry.

It is vitally important that the stories Irish films portray represent a contemporary image of Ireland in all its diversity, inclusivity and originality of voice.

In December 2015, we launched our Six Point Plan on Gender Equality, detailing a number of measures to monitor and enhance gender representation across the sector.

At last years Galway Film Fleadh, we furthered our commitment to achieving 50/50 gender equality by announcing a number of groundbreaking initiatives to support and encourage female talent.

We acknowledge that this shift cannot happen overnight and it is important to remember that we can only fund what we receive. We must continue to implore and encourage Irish creative female talent to apply so that these goals can be achieved.

Ms Doona said the last year alone saw success for Co Corks Nora Twomey with her Golden Globe-nominated animated feature, The Breadwinner,

and Emer Reynolds with her critically acclaimed feature documentary, The Farthest

. In 2018, a host of female-led Irish films will come to the fore, including Twomeys aforementioned The Breadwinner

, Carmel Winters Float Like A Butterfly

, Aoife McArdles Kissing Candice

, Mary McGuckians A Girl From Mogadishu

, and Alexandra McGuinnesss Highway

alongside the Katie Holly-produced Irish co-production Vita & Virginia

and Sinead OSheas documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot

, Ms Doona said.

These upcoming titles prove that this imbalance is shifting and it is a shift we will unyieldingly support. We hope that at next years awards, female talent will be equally represented and offered the recognition it truly deserves, she said.

Editorial: 16Pat Horan, solicitor, first applied for the case against his client to be adjourned to a date other than January 19 when it is listed for trial at Cork District Court.

Mr Horan said it clashed with an unrelated case in which he was involved and which was set for hearing on Friday, January 19.

Judge Olann Kelleher refused the application to take the case out of the list for January 19 and said it had been set down for hearing with two other accused.

Mr Horan then made a second application for Mr Cahill to be present for the case on January 19.

Des Cahill, when he was Lord Mayor, made a statement to Irish Examiner touching on the defence, said Mr Horan.

I will require that individuals address.

The judge said it was not for him to give addresses. Mr Horan said he was asking the State to furnish the address.

Judge Kelleher said he could not make an order on this matter and refused the application to take it out of the list.

Tony Walsh, aged 52, from 25 Carrigmore Park, Ballinlough, is charged with two counts of criminal damage at Victoria Rd, two counts of criminal damage at Victoria Cross, and one count of criminal damage at Victoria St, Military Hill, on February 2. Two other co-accused face similar charges.

Mr Horan said: I would say Mr Walshs case could be divorced from the others.Inspector John Deasy said the man then went to a nearby Centra, where he got into another row and assaulted the owner and a member of staff.

Judge Olann Kelleher said this vicious attack in the shop was one of the worst he had seen in recent years at Cork District Court.

William Condon, of Youghal and no fixed address, was described by his solicitor Pat Horan as having a bad anger-management problem.

When Judge Kelleher imposed a total jail term of 19 months (24 months is the maximum limit of the court) on Condon, the 24-year-old said, fucking prick, as he was taken into custody.

The owner of The Gallows Bar, Cork, Noel Cremin, said 1,200 damage was caused to a 65in TV screen when Condon threw the glass.

He said a female member of staff was in the bar and two men were served alcoholic beverages and everything was fine for 20 minutes but, for whatever reason, he struck another patron in the bar.

Mr Horan, solicitor, said Condon was not charged with that. The judge said he was entitled to hear the background and he added of Mr Cremin: He is a citizen of the city. His premises was broken up. Be respectful to him.

Mr Cremin said: He [Condon] finished his pint of lager. He flung the pint glass at her [the bar woman]. He missed her and struck the TV set.

The owner of Centra, Denroches Cross, Denis Whelton, said the defendant came to his shop with another man that evening, August 30, 2017.

He said that what happened was the most serious incident in 15 years of running the family business.

Shams Rahman Parcha was working behind the counter when Condon and his accomplice got so difficult he had to call for the assistance of his employer

Mr Whelton said: I strove to protect myself and the member of staff. I was head-butted. I was punched three times in the head. He spat in my face It has made me nervous.

Judge Kelleher described counts of assault causing harm to Mr Whelton and Shams Rahman Parcha as terribly vicious.

It was quite a terrifying attack, as vicious as I have seen at Cork District Court in the last few years, he said.

Imposing eight months for a theft and 11 months consecutive for the assaults, the judge described the case as exceptional and one that did not merit the sentences being made concurrent.

Judge Kelleher sentenced Condon before lunch and asked that he be brought back after lunch in relation to his outburst after sentencing. Condon apologised.My fear, and its a genuine fear, is public speaking. Everybody says: Oh, youre an actor, you should be good at that. Its just not true, he said. He was speaking at Aras an Uachtarain, yesterday, where he received a special award for Irish people doing outstanding work abroad in sport, science, and the arts.

Im very, very humbled and Im very, very proud to be Irish, especially today. I shall continue to fly the flag for Irish drama, he said, on receiving the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, from President Michael D Higgins.

President Higgins said the actor had not only contributed to the arts, but also to humanity, through his 20 years as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.

Last November, when I was presenting the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for contribution for the Irish abroad, Liam wasnt able to be with us, but he more than deserves a special occasion himself.

We started the awards in 2012, to give recognition to the Irish people living abroad who had made a distinguished contribution, not just to Ireland, but to humanity in general and, indeed, that is the case with Liam Neeson, Mr Higgins said.

The President also spoke of the Irish family and how it is not defined by political or geographic borders, but instead shared values.

I think our reason for having the awards was to say that the Irish family isnt defined by national borders or territories. Its defined by care, compassion, a shared culture and heritage, a common sense of responsibility, a consciousness of our historical experience, and also the importance of Ireland contributing dynamically to a future that would be more humane and more compassionate and more just.

It is very, very clear, to absolutely everybody in this room, how Liam Neeson qualifies by all of those criteria.

The President also referred to the actors contribution to the Irish film industry in the 1990s, when it was going through a difficult period.

I want to say that, in that period between 1993 and 1997, when the Irish film industry was getting its second wind and going on to the strong internationally-recognised position it now is [in], Liam Neeson, and those like him, were outstanding in helping promote the Irish film industry, said President Higgins.

He also thanked the actor for his Unicef work. Now is the time, more than any other, when, in fact, children of the world are more vulnerable and deserve all our support.This would be a more efficient and cost-effective approach to the current ad-hoc arrangement that exists between the Mater Private in Cork and Cork University Hospital (CUH), according to CEO John Hurley.

Mr Hurley, a cardiothoracic surgeon, said they had 25 beds that they could make available to CUH or the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) or whoever needs them on a 12-month basis because the Mater Private Cork, open since January 2013, is not yet operating at full capacity.

CUH has an arrangement since December 2016 whereby it can transfer patients to the Mater to alleviate overcrowding. During 2017, 20 patients were transferred at a cost of 46,000, a CUH spokesperson said. So far this year, 18 have been transferred.

Mr Hurley said patients transferred were of moderate acuity.

He said while they were very happy to help CUH, he believed proper planning, rather than the extremely short notice of a phonecall on the morning of the transfer would probably give better value for money for all the stakeholders, including the patients.

When its ad hoc, staff have to be called in at short notice, there is overtime involved.

Mr Hurley said the success of a planned approach had been proven when Cork University Maternity Hospital made seamless use of the Mater facilities to tackle gynaecology waiting lists last year.

Mr Hurleys comments are in the context of Health Minister Simon Harris admitting the public system needs 2,500 beds over the next decade.

They have a problem that will take years to fix. We have the capacity in the private sector. Its enabling action rather than permanent decanting of public patients to private hospitals, he said.

However the Irish Medical Organisation warned earlier this week that transferring patients to private facilities was not a sustainable solution to A&E overcrowding: that it continued a policy of investing.. into the private system with no corresponding investment in our public system.

Trolley figures for the first week of 2018 hit a record high. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation recorded 2,408 on trolleys, up 10% on the same period in 2017.The Fine Gael minister said he would consider his stance after next weeks Dail debate and party meeting, before revealing whether he supports or opposes change.

I support the Government decision that a referendum on the Eighth Amendment will be held in 2018, which will allow the Irish people to make the ultimate decision on the future of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, he told the Irish Examiner.

At this point, the final report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, arising from the report and recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on the matter, has been published. Next week the Oireachtas will debate the content of the report.

Likewise, the Fine Gael parliamentary party will meet to discuss the issue. Given the seriousness and sensitivity of this important matter, it is my intention to consider in detail the content of what arises from the Oireachtas debate, my parliamentary party colleagues discussions on the issue, as well as further Cabinet deliberations, before commenting further on the matter.

An Oireachtas committee report has recommended repeal of the Eighth and allowing unrestricted abortions up to 12 weeks. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this week said the recommendations had gone further than people anticipated.

A special Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting next Monday will consider the report, while time has been set aside for debate in the Dail over three days. All contributors will get to speak for a maximum 10 minutes or a portion of that time. But pro-life Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, who sat on the special Oireachtas Committee, has formally complained to the office of the Ceann Comhairle.

There are 20 minutes for each TD for road safety legislation, for climate change, or even Dublin Bay, so why not this serious issue? I dont care what side people are on, it deserves more time. It gives more credence to the whole thing being a setup. But the Government are running the show and have choreographed this.A stunned-looking Simon, a 15-year-old transition year student, won the top award for his project, entitled Investigation into the Antimicrobial effects of both aerial and root parts of selected plants against Staphylococcus aureus.

In addition to receiving the perpetual trophy and a cheque for 7,500, he will represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, which will be held in Dublin in September. He also landed an exclusive trip to Bletchley Park in the UK, the Second World War code-breaking centre.

Speaking about the winning entry, BT Young Scientist judge and chairperson of the biological and ecological sciences category, John OHalloran said: This is a really exciting project, which explores the possibility of the blackberry leaf extracts ability to control harmful bacteria. The unexpected findings deliver a unique approach to killing bacteria using natural plant active ingredients. The rigour of the approach adopted by Simon set his project apart from competitors and made him our overall winner.

Simon selected nine locally sourced plants, such as asparagus, nettles and blackberries, to test for the presence of chemicals which could potentially be used to control bacterial infection. The leaves of the blackberry plant were shown to contain a chemical which prevented the growth of different bacteria.

The individual runner-up award was presented to Claire Gregg, a 16-year-old transition year student at Loreto College in Dublin for her project, entitled An Analysis of the Housing Shortage in Ireland using Agent-Based Modelling.

Sophie Dempsey, left, and Maia Searle from St Michaels School Navan, Co Meath, try out Coast Guard suits at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS. Picture: Sam Boal

The group winners were James Knoblauch, Harry Knoblauch, and Oran ODonoghue, all aged 16 and fifth-year students at St Brendans College, Killarney, Co Kerry. They won for their project entitled An Investigation into Conformity and How Minorities Influence It, which, via two controlled psychology experiments, showed how one person can influence the behaviour of others, using a unique approach to studying group dynamics that focus on the influence of an individual within a group.

They pipped a trio of transition year students from Colaiste Treasa, Kanturk, Co Cork  Darragh Twomey, Neil OLeary, and Andrew Heffernan. The runners-up had entered their project in the biological and ecological sciences category at intermediate level. Entitled Feeding 9.6 billion people by 2050, it involved treating barley with a strain of bacteria, which found it increased the yield of varieties of the crop.Epilepsy Ireland said doctors should not start any new child patients on the drug, Epilim, to avoid them having to wean themselves off it and find a replacement in future, when they want to start a family.

Epilim, the brand name in Ireland for sodium valproate, is implicated in 40 cases of birth defects and disabilities, reported to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in recent years. However, campaign groups believe the true number may be 400 over the 43 years that the drug has been used here.

The drug is under review by the European Medicines Agency, which is expected to announce new restrictions or procedures for its use.

It is expected the HPRA will then convene a meeting of doctors, patient groups, pharmacists, and other relevant parties to agree fresh protocols for its use in Ireland.

However, Peter Murphy, chief executive of Epilepsy Ireland, said that, in the meantime, all women and girls taking the drug should be fast-tracked through medical reviews with specialists.

Our concern is that there are patients whose epilepsy is being controlled by Epilim, so they will have been discharged from the hospital system and are under the care of a GP, who could be prescribing the drug for 10 years or more, precisely because it works and everyone is happy with it, said Mr Murphy.

But, in those years, a young woman will have begun to think about having a family, and a child will have grown into a young woman, and where pregnancy wasnt on their minds before, it will be, or should be, now.

Warnings about possible birth effects have been carried on leaflets in Epilim packaging for years, but they became more explicit in 2014. Since last year, extra warnings are also carried on the outside of the packaging.

HSE figures show that 1,700 female patients between the ages of 16 and 44 were prescribed Epilim in 2016. Medical conditions in babies, reported by women in Ireland who took the drug during pregnancy, include foetal malformation, tumours, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, autism and developmental problems. Several women reported spontaneous abortion.

The HPRA said, since 2014, it had worked to disseminate information about Epilim through packaging, patient-alert cards, and front-line workers.

The HPRA has communicated extensively with neurologists, obstetricians, paediatricians, psychiatrists, GPs, family planning clinics, specialist epilepsy nurses, pharmacists and HSE clinical leads, it said, adding that it was awaiting the EMAs further recommendations, which were expected in February.He also left with three bottles but gardai had a head start in the burglary investigation after intruder Roy Kelly, aged 37, left his mobile phone behind him.

Kelly, from St Johns Square, Blackpool, Cork, yesterday pleaded guilty to the Leitrim St burglary at 11pm on January 3.The traders association in Wilton Shopping Centre, in Corks western suburbs, said the facility needs investment and modernisation.

However, they said they hoped the centres owners, Clarendon Properties, would ensure the revamp did not create an old versus new scenario, which could compromise footfall and trade in the original mall area.

There is no doubt that Wilton Shopping Centre needs investment and a revamp, a spokesman for the traders association said.

The plans are big and impressive, but we would have concerns about some elements of the proposals.

For example, we would have concerns that some of the existing entrances could become redundant and that could affect the footfall pattern through the traditional mall areas. The developers must ensure that the new design doesnt create an old versus new scenario.

We hope that Clarendon will work more closely with us, as this project moves forward.

The spokesman, who represents 60 traders employing 500 people, was speaking after Clarendon unveiled draft proposals, for their ambitious Wilton Town Centre regeneration project, at a public meeting in Wilton on Thursday.

As first reported in Thursdays Irish Examiner, Clarendon plans to retain the centres existing malls, while redeveloping the entire northern side of the complex, with a vast new two-storey, mixed retail-use area on the site of the Penneys outlet, which faces demolition, along with a multi-screen cinema, hotel, two new public plazas and a multi-storey car park.

Larger-scale regeneration plans by the centres previous owners, approved by An Bord Pleanala in 2011, never proceeded. However, planning for that scheme is valid for another two years.

A spokesman for Clarendon said they have spent 18 months examining that scheme, the observations and objections, and the relevant statutory documents, and new proposals resolve many of the contentious issues raised, while capitalising on the strengths of the existing centre.

Cllr John Buttimer and Wilton Rd residents spokesman, John Leahy, said they had concerns about the developments impact on traffic in the congested suburb.

Wilton Shopping Centre opened in 1979. Its ownership has changed hands on several occasions.

Currently, it is anchored by a 24-hour Tesco and a Penneys, with 50 traders occupying the smaller units. Wilton library is on the same campus. The centre is opposite CUH, Wilton church, and the Wilton pub.

Clarendon, which is also behind plans for the 160m HQ development on Horgans Quay in Corks docklands, hopes to lodge a planning application for the Wilton project within months.The men, aged 35 and 44, deny the offences, which are alleged to have occurred in a vehicle, at an unknown location in Cork city, on June 27, 2014.

The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, oral rape, sexual assault, and false imprisonment of the then 19-year-old woman. The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty to anal rape and false imprisonment of the woman on the same occasion. The accused cannot be identified, for legal reasons. The court heard that Mr Derulo is not charged with any offence in relation to these events.Hassan Bal, formerly of OConnell St, Waterford, yesterday pleaded guilty at Waterford Circuit Court to two counts relating to the funding and attempted funding of IS. He has been in custody since April.

His case was adjourned by Judge Eugene OKelly to April 10, when a date will be fixed for the case to be finalised and for Bal to be sentenced.

Bal was in court wearing a blue-and-white check shirt, green jacket, and grey trousers.

He was asked to confirm his name and said guilty in reply to both charges put to him.

The accused moved to Ireland from the UK with his family when he was 12 years of age, initially living in Wexford, and in Waterford from 2007. He holds an Irish passport and was training to be an electrician. After he was arrested in April, the district court heard that his wife, who was born in the UK, was pregnant with the couples first child.

Bal yesterday pleaded guilty to unlawfully providing 400  using an An Post/Western Union money transfer in Co Waterford on October 2, 2015  to a Stevo Maksimovic in the city of Brako in Bosnia-Herzegovina, intending or knowing that the funds would be used for the benefit of the terrorist group known as Islamic State or Daesh. This offence carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, on indictment.

He also pleaded guilty to unlawfully attempting to collect or receive cash from a person known to him as Omar Abu Aziz, by means of telephonic communications and an intermediary at an address at 2 Geron Way, London, NW2 6GJ, knowing that the funds would be used for the benefit of Islamic State. That offence was committed on October 23, 2015.

The offences are contrary to section 13 (3)(a) and section 13 (4) of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act of 2005.

Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, defending, said it was a very unusual case and said the sentencing hearing would take up to two hours.

He handed into a court a document in relation to a request for an expert on radicalisation, Daniel Koelher, of the German Institute of Radicalisation and De-Radicalisaion Studies, to carry out a report on Bal.

Mr O Lideadha asked that Dr Koelher be given access to interviews with Bal and any associated documents, including the book of evidence; and that the expert provide a report on why Bal became associated with such activities.

Mr O Lideadha also asked that Dr Koelher be available to give evidence at the sentencing hearing.

Bal was remanded in custody to appear in court on April 10.Whatever you are spending on cybersecurity is not enough, Detective Superintendent Michael Gubbins of the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau told a conference on cyber fraud in University College Cork yesterday.

The conference, Hacking the Human: Cyber Fraud in a Digital Age, heard that cyber fraud is under-reported at both corporate and individual level, and that businesses suffered ransomware attacks such as the NotPetya virus which locks a users computer until a ransom is paid to the hackers responsible.

Det Supt Gubbins said few such attacks are reported to the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau.

Someone came to me after a similar talk to this and said: Actually, I know a couple of companies, they were victims of NotPetya, its not widely known, it cost them a lot of money and they are still trying to mediate,  said Det Supt Gubbins after the event.

He said the issue is under-reported globally, and that his appearance at such conferences is to spread the word that the gardai have dedicated resources to investigate such crimes.

We are there for people to report to us, said Det Supt Gubbins. People dont report to us, we cant investigate, therefore we cant know or make people aware of whats actually happening.

We want people to report to us so we know whats going on so we can build up our own experience.

The public needs to be wary of social engineering, he said  a situation whereby criminals will look to use information posted on social media to pose as an individual to scam their contacts.

Its about being conscious of the information you are giving out, and to whom you give it, said Det Supt Gubbins.

If you look at someones LinkedIn account it tells you who they are, who they work with, and the people who are connected to them.

Rosie Coffey, UCCs IT security officer, told the conference of how fraudsters hit UCCs suppliers with a purchase order scam last summer, wherein the criminals posed as the university to effectively steal high-value goods from businesses.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of retailers, vendors, and suppliers around Cork were receiving purchase orders purportedly from UCC, said Ms Coffey.

They would be for high-value goods, the delivery address would be to a non-UCC address, typically a warehouse.

Despite UCC alerting its suppliers and firefighting with gardai to spread the word about the scam, Ms Coffey said some fell victim to the scam.

But still some retailers in Cork did get caught out for this, and thats how the criminals make their money, she said.

Cybersecurity company SmartTech247 is to open a security operations centre in Cork on Monday. Chief executive Ronan Murphy said its customers face a tsunami of attacks on a daily basis.

He believes theres a lack of readiness among the public.

Thats clear by the headlines, if you look at them on a daily basis theres a new breach every second day, said Mr Murphy.

Were facing rogue states like North Korea which are posing a big challenge in terms of what they are doing with things like Wannacry [ransomware].

Governments, Mr Murphy warned, are playing catchup when it comes to tackling cyber crime.

The bad guys are innovating faster than the good guys, I think all governments globally have a big challenge, he said.A 90-year-old woman spent seven hours on a hospital trolley in Galway.

She was left on a trolley in the emergency department (ED) at Portiuncula Hospital, in Ballinasloe, following an X-ray for a minor fracture, according to her son. This was at Christmas.

She was quite distressed and anxious. Her blood pressure kept going up. When youre 90, the ED is not the nicest of places to be, her son told the Irish Examiner.

His mother had attended the hospital for a scheduled X-ray and when a minor fracture showed up in the scan, she was referred back to the ED, where she then waited on a trolley, for seven hours, to be seen and discharged.

Going through the ED was the only route. Ideally, there should be another route. She was with another relative and then I heard she was in ED and came up from Dublin, he said.

The womans son said politicians are not taking the hospital trolley crisis seriously.

Yesterday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) recorded 473 people waiting on hospital trolleys around Ireland. This figure did not include St Vincents Hospital, in Dublin. The highest number (48) was recorded in University Hospital Limerick; followed by Cork University Hospital, 34; and, then, University Hospital Galway, where 30 patients waited on trolleys.

My advice to people is to complain and make noise. They have been talking about fixing this crisis for years and I see no solution in sight. I feel people are at their most vulnerable when they are sick and also when youre least likely to stand up for yourself, he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris has concurred that 500 additional beds are needed in hospitals to avoid a repeat of the winter flu crisis currently gripping the health service.

While members of the Independent Alliance broke ranks yesterday to demand the extra beds, Mr Harris, too, has made it known that an increase in bed capacity in 2018 is urgently required.

While it has been stated that as many as 2,500 beds will be needed in the system in the next 10 years, Mr Harris has insisted money be found to deliver the additional beds.

The capital cost of providing a new, acute hospital bed was estimated at 325,000 last year. Beds in modular units or in hospitals with spare capacity would be more affordable.

The Department of Health is studying which hospitals can take extra beds in existing or modular buildings this year, and that bed capacity review is to go to Cabinet in nine days time.

At Cabinet, Mr Harris won what was seen as a major victory, in getting Cabinet agreement on the course of actions for the year ahead. He won approval to move forward on the new GP contract, deliver the reforms outlined in the Slaintecare report, and deliver reforms to get trolley numbers under control.

Mr Harris also, yesterday, referred the Patient Safety Licencing Bill to an Oireachtas committee for scrutiny.

Another important step for this major legislation that is much-needed, he said.#stocks Seoul stocks inch up after weak U.S. jobs data South Korean stocks edged up after choppy trading Monday as investors seek to digest weaker-than-expected August jobs data in the United States. The Korean won rose against the U.S...

#KARA Ex-KARA member Hur Young-ji tests positive for coronavirus Hur Young-ji, a former member of now-disbanded K-pop girl group KARA, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, her management agency said Monday. "She used a self-test kit f...Sleaze, sex and the pursuit of political power have driven politicians for centuries. The proof is in Waste, the Greenwich Playhouse's latest production.

The play was written in 1906 by Granville Barker but was banned, revised and then finally produced in the 1930s.

It is set in the corridors of power where an adulterous affair leads to an unwanted pregnancy and ends with death. Seeing the then Tory shadow cabinet dealing with a sex scandal shows, when pursuing power, sleaze, pragmatism at the expense of ideals, and corruption are not just phenomena restricted to today.

Director Tristan Brolly, 31, said he enjoyed Barker's writing as a student.

"Several scenes in this play, due to the quality of the writing, had really hooked me.

"These scenes, what those involved in the show now call the 'seduction', the 'unwanted pregnancy', and the 'shadow cabinet' leapt off the page waiting for me to direct them."

Granville Barker was an actor, playwright, director and academic and perhaps one of the most influential figures in early twentieth century British theatre but Brolly believes the writing is extremely relevant today.

Brolly got into drama at school acting and directing his first play at 17. After graduating he directed his first show outside of college at the then Prince Theatre now the Greenwich Playhouse. Since then, he has worked all over Britain and the world.

"But," he said: "I'm glad to be returning to the Greenwich Playhouse to revive Granville Barker's terrific play, Waste.

"And symbolically it is another first, as I have not directed the classics before."

q Nov 13-Dec 9, Waste, Greenwich Playhouse, Greenwich High Road, Tues-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 4pm, 9 (conc 7) 6 groups of 6+, 020 8858 9256.

November 5, 2001 11:22HAVENSTREET Community Association will raise the roof  thanks to the County Press.

The group was awarded 5,000 by the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the Gannett company, which owns County Press publisher Newsquest.

In addition to the grant, the association, run entirely by a volunteers as a charity, has held a series of fundraisers for a new roof at its Main Road community centre.

Association chair Lynne Broom said it was a vital village resource  used for meetings, functions, fundraisers and social events, home to a monthly market run by the church and a lunch club for older residents.

Pointing out Havenstreet had lost most of its amenities over the years, including the school, shop, post office and bus service, Lynne said: As a consequence, many residents, particularly the elderly, feel isolated, so its essential to retain a local centre for social and recreational purposes.

In the past ten years, the Gannett Foundation has awarded almost 4 million worth of grants to UK projects that benefit local communities.

Alan Marriott, publisher and editor of the County Press, said: The 5,000 cheque will help Havenstreet Community Association to protect this vital part of the community infrastructure.

Nationally, the Gannett Foundation gave around 300,000 to all sorts of good causes this year. On the Island, around 20 causes applied for a grant, and many were unlucky not to be selected this time.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.JURIST Guest Columnist William D. Araiza of the Brooklyn Law School discusses the lawsuit filed by Paul Manafort against Robert Mueller and the Department of Justice

Paul Manaforts recent lawsuit challenging the legality of his indictment by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller raises a set of intriguing questionsnot least about his attorneys litigation choices. The lawsuit is likely to take its place as one of the stranger, if perhaps more obscure, episodes in the already-bizarre saga of candidate and then President Trumps relationship with Russia and the investigation that seeks to uncover the facts about that relationship.

Recall the story up to now: In late October, a federal grand jury convened by Special Prosecutor Mueller indicted Manafort, the foreign-government lobbyist who served for a time as then-candidate Donald Trumps campaign manager. The indictment alleged a variety of violations of financial disclosure and foreign agent registration laws related to Manaforts work for Ukrainian politicians. Because of Manaforts prominence in the Trump campaign and his close ties to pro-Russian groups in Ukraine, his indictment immediately triggered speculation that Mueller was seeking to use Manafort to obtain information about the activities of other Russia-related conduct by high-ranking persons in Trumpworld.

On January 3, Manafort filed the lawsuit challenging his indictment. The legal grounds for that challenge are interesting enough (as explained later), but the first head-scratcher is a preliminary one: why file this lawsuit at all? The normal course, and certainly the more direct one, would have been to move to quash the indictment. Indeed, as Steve Vladeck has argued, the traditional rule against equitable civil relief when a criminal defendant can obtain an adequate remedy in the criminal proceeding suggests the legal error, and not just the tactical strangeness, of Manaforts suit.

But perhaps theres something underlying the suit beyond its technical legal claims. Perhaps the lawsuit aspires to a broader, more far-reaching result than the simple quashing of his indictment. Indeed, some of his requests for relief, for example, for an order . . . setting aside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteins charge to Mueller setting forth the scope of Muellers investigative jurisdiction, do seem, at least formally, to go beyond the kind of relief that could be sought in a simple motion to quash his indictment. But presumably a favorable ruling in such a motion would rest on reasoning that would apply more generally, so its not clear what the actual difference would be, unless Manafort simply wants to make a broader statement about the investigation.

Yet that speculation is called into question by the legal arguments the lawsuit actually makes. The second of the complaints two counts alleges that Muellers indictment of Manafort exceeded the authority Rosenstein gave to Mueller. Specifically, it alleges that Manaforts dealings with Ukraine were well-known to the FBI a decade before Mueller began his investigation. Thus, according to the lawsuit, those dealings could not be understood as matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation into links between Russia and the Trump campaignone of the heads of jurisdiction Rosenstein granted Mueller. But its hard to see why that is. Just because Manaforts Ukraine-related activities occurred well before the Trump campaign was a gleam in anyones eye, and just because the FBI knew about them long ago, doesnt mean that they did not arise directly from the Trump-Russia investigation. Indeed, common sense would suggest that Manaforts previous connections with Russia-affiliated entities would in fact be quite relevant to any connections that eventually developed between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016.

But that second count is small-bore. More noteworthy from a public law perspective is the argument in Count One. In Count One Manafort alleges that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein himself violated the DOJs Special Prosecutor regulations when he charged Mueller with investigating  any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation into links between Russia and the Trump campaign. According to the complaint, that charge violated the regulations provision that The Special Counsel will be provided with a specific factual statement of the matter to be investigated. According to Manafort, the any matters jurisdiction Rosenstein gave Mueller violates that provision. According to the complaint, that jurisdictional grant purports to grant Mr. Mueller carte blanche to investigate and pursue criminal charges with anything he stumbles across while investigating, no matter how remote from the specific matter identified as the subject of Rosensteins order appointing Mueller. (emphasis in original).

This argument is couched in terms of Rosensteins alleged non-compliance with DOJs special prosecutor regulations, which Manaforts complaint concedes are carefully crafted and carefully circumscribe[d]. Leave aside the fact that the regulations expressly state that they create no enforceable rightsan inconvenient fact the complaint acknowledges but then bizarrely dismisses as irrelevant. Also leave aside the fact that Rosensteins appointment of Mueller was not actually based on those regulations, even though the appointment order does make those regulations applicable. The larger import of this claim is that his description of the regulations hints at the problem of carelessly crafted and uncircumscribed prosecutorial authoritycharacteristics that, at a constitutional level, were alleged in Morrison v. Olson to render the Watergate-era special prosecutor law unconstitutional.

But one searches the complaint in vain for a broad claim that Rosensteins grant of authority to Mueller is unconstitutional. Aside from a passing reference to Justice Scalias dissent in Morrison, the complaint does not claim that a special prosecutorindeed, one who, like both Mueller and the special prosecutor in Morrison, enjoys good cause removal protectionis unconstitutional, either facially or as applied to this allegedly overbroad charge. A few scholars have made such arguments, a fact Manaforts lawyer presumably knew. And while the district court judge might not have accepted such an argument, an aggressive appeals panel might have been willing either to accept it or at least tee the question up for the Supreme Court. Perhaps more importantly, a constitutional argument would have made the legal splash that Manafort was possibly thinking about making in light of his curious initial decision not to simply seek the quashing of his own indictment.

What gives? One might just dismiss the complaint as an effort doomed from the start, as scholars have done here and here. Perhaps so. But perhaps Manaforts real hope is to persuade Rosenstein to avoid litigation over the issue by issuing an amended, and more limited, charge to Mueller that would exclude the conduct for which Manafort has been indictedor maybe to hope for a new, non-recused, Attorney General who would take that step.

Thus, what we might have here is a middle path: a lawsuit that seeks to do more than simply quash Manaforts own indictment, and does so by way of a seemingly-technical argument about the governments compliance with its own regulations, but one that nevertheless hints at broader constitutional issues that advocates of a unitary executive theory of the Constitution (including perhaps a new Attorney General) might find attractive. The proper analogy for this lawsuit is thus neither the blunderbuss, all-guns-blazing attack nor the surgical strike. Instead, to mix metaphors, its a low-probability bank shot in billiards. Its unlikely to succeed. But who knows? It worked for Paul Manaforts erstwhile boss.

William Araizas teaching and scholarly interests focus on administrative and constitutional law. He is widely published in these areas, having written casebooks on the First Amendment (LexisNexis) and Constitutional Law (LexisNexis). His most recent articles have appeared in the NYU Law Review, Constitutional Commentary, U.C. Davis Law Review and Boston University Law Review. His book, Enforcing the Equal Protection Clause, was published by NYU Press in 2015.

Suggested citation:William D. Araiza,Paul Manaforts Mysterious Lawsuit, JURIST  Academic Commentary, January 12, 2018, http://jurist.org/forum/2018/01/William-Araiza-manafort-lawsuit.php

This article was prepared for publication by Dave Rodkey, Managing Editor for JURIST. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.orgThe US Supreme Court [official website] added 12 cases to its docket on Friday, including two Texas redistricting cases.

The court had previously blocked [JURIST report] two lower court rulings that mandated the redrawing of Texas congressional and state legislative [dockets] districts. The court has now added the cases, both called Abbott v. Perez, to its merits docket, consolidating them and allotting one hour for hour oral arguments.

In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will rule on whether state and local governments can collect sales taxes from internet retailers. The Supreme Court has ruled that states may not require catalog retailers to collect sales tax on sales to state residents unless the retailer is physically present in the state. South Dakota passed a law in 2016 requiring out-of-state retailers that make 200 sales or $100,000 worth of sales to collect sales tax and then sued companies that did not comply. The Supreme Court of South Dakota ruled for the retailers [opinion, PDF], following Supreme Court precedent, set more than 50 years ago.

In Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will determine whether administrative law judges of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are officers of the United States within the meaning of the Appointments Clause [art. II,  2, cl. 2]. If so, then they would have to be appointed by the commission rather than by SEC staff as is current practice. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] that they are not officers of the United States.

In Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide to what extent US courts must defer to a foreign governments characterization of its own laws. The case involves an antitrust suit against Chinese companies that acknowledged they had engaged in price fixing but argued they were required to do so under Chinese law, which the Chinese government confirmed. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] in favor of the Chinese companies.

In WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corporation [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will determine whether a patentee who has shown patent infringement in the US can ever recover damages for the profits that it would have earned outside of the US if the infringement had not occurred. Justice Samuel Alito is recused.

In Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether a debtors statement concerning a specific asset, provided to show the debtors ability to pay a debt, can be a statement respecting the debtors  financial condition for purposes of the Bankruptcy Code.

In Lagos v. United States [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court must decide whether the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act [text] covers costs for reimbursement that were neither required nor requested by the government, including costs incurred for the victims own purposes and unprompted by any official government action.

In Washington v. United States [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will determine whether road culverts that reduce fish habitat in Washington state violate a Native American fishing treaty.

In Pereira v. Sessions [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether, to trigger the stop-time rule for a non-permanent residents eligibility for cancellation of removal [8 USC  1229b(a) and (b)] by serving a notice to appear, the government must specify the items listed in the definition of a notice to appear, including [t]he time and place at which the proceedings will be held.

In Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will determine whether stock that a railroad transfers to its employees is taxable under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act [text].

Finally, in Chavez-Meza v. United States [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether, when a district court decides not to grant a proportional sentence reduction under 18 USC  3582(c)(2), it must provide some explanation for its decision when the reasons are not otherwise apparent from the record, whether it can instead issue its decision without any explanation so long as it is issued on a preprinted form order containing the boilerplate language providing that the court has tak[en] into account the policy statement set forth in 18 USSG  1B1.10 and the sentencing factors set forth in 18 USC  3553(a) [text], to the extent that they are applicable. Justice Neil Gorsuch is recused.The United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) [official website] on Thursday urged [report, PDF] Congress to take drastic actions to remedy the disparity in public school funding in minority and low-income communities.

The report calls on [f]ederal, state, and local government [to] develop incentives to promote communities that are not racially segregated and do not have concentrated poverty, which in turn would positively impact segregation and concentrated poverty in public schools and the educational challenges associated with such schools.

The USCCR asserts that the U.S. spends over $550 billion on public education annually, breaking down to an average of $11,066 on each student each year. However, the commission found that that number fluctuates drastically from district to district due to the reliance on local property taxes, which are in turn largely tied to property values and the wealth of a community.

By way of example, the commission notes that there has only been marginal improvement since 1965, when a similar report found that the average white seventh grade student from the urban northeast region performed just as well academically as a black twelfth grade student from the rural southern region, and that there are still significant gaps among white students and students of color across the U.S.

USCCR called on Congress to increase federal funding to supplement state and local funding, with a goal of providing meaningful educational opportunities on an equitable basis to all public-school students, and to incentivize states to invest in facilities which can help to provide an equitable environment.

Since the Supreme Courts decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez [text], a quality education has become even more mandatory for students to gain the skills necessary to work in the new global information age economy and it has become clear that some states and cities are continuing to discriminate against students of color in the funding of their schools. Congress should make clear that there is a federal right to a public education.

Congress established the Commission on Civil Rights through the Civil Rights Act of 1957 [text, PDF] as an independent agency with a mission to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws.Key developments in Tunisia in the seven years since president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in a revolt that sparked a wave of uprisings in the region.

 2011: President flees 

Ben Ali quits on January 14, 2011 after weeks of demonstrations sparked by the self-immolation of a fruit seller who was protesting police harassment and unemployment.

He is the first leader to stand down in the Arab Spring, fleeing to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power.

In October, Islamist group Ennahda wins 89 of the 217 seats in a new constituent assembly, just months after being legalised in March. It is Tunisias first free election.

The assembly elects former opposition leader Moncef Marzouki as president in December.

 2012: Attacks, unrest 

In June and August, violent demonstrations erupt, while Islamists start staging attacks.

In September, four attackers are killed in clashes at the US embassy as hundreds protest over an anti-Islam film.

In late November, riots break out in Siliana, southwest of Tunis, in which 300 are injured.

Since the summer, sometimes violent strikes and demonstrations have affected industry, public services, transport, and business. The unrest in mostly in the countrys economically sidelined interior.

 2013: Opposition leaders killed 

In February, prominent anti-Islamist opposition leader Chokri Belaid is assassinated in Tunis, sparking deadly protests and a political crisis.

In July, leftist opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi is also shot dead. Jihadists claim both killings.

 2014: First free presidential poll 

In January, lawmakers adopt a new constitution after two years of turmoil that has exposed a deep rift between Ennahda and the secular opposition.

In October, the secular Nidaa Tounes party led by Beji Caid Essebsi comes top in the parliamentary polls.

Two months later, Essebsi defeats Marzouki in Tunisias first free presidential election.

 2015: Carnage 

In 2015, the country suffers three attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

In March, 21 tourists and a policeman are killed as gunmen assail the Bardo museum in Tunis.

In June, attackers kill 38 foreign tourists, 30 from Britain, in a coastal resort town south of Tunis.

And in November, a suicide bomber kills 12 presidential guards in the capital.

 2016: New protests 

In January 2016, a wave of protests against poverty and unemployment erupt throughout the country. It is the worst social unrest since the 2011 revolution.

The unrest fans out from the central town of Kasserine, where an unemployed man died of electrocution during a protest.

In a new attack in March, at least 35 jihadists, 11 members of the security forces and seven civilians are killed during an assault on security installations in the town of Ben Guerdane on the Libyan border.

In August, Youssef Chahed of Nidaa Tounes forms a national unity government including ministers from Ennahda and independents.

In November, a Truth and Dignity Commission begins hearings into six decades of dictatorship, including under Ben Ali.

 2017: Decisive measures 

The International Monetary Fund in December 2017 calls on Tunis for urgent action and decisive measures to reduce its deficit, after giving the country a $2.9-billion loan the previous year.

 2018: New protests 

In January, after an austerity budget comes into force, peaceful protests start.

They degenerate into riots, with more than 200 people arrested by January 10.As most of you already know, people often do not buy a premade PC, they create their own configuration. Pre-made still sells though, some people just dont want to go through all that trouble and simply ask for an opinion on what is in store,MEDFORD, Ore. -- A group of local high school students have a big trip planned this coming March. They are headed to Mexico. However, it's not your typical Spring Break.

Allison Winter, Cascade Christian High School Senior, is a trip leader and said the group will be made up of 40 students and chaperones. The group will travel to Tecate where they will build houses for people in need.

"We'll probably build two houses and basically we just build it from scratch, no big equipment, we just build a house," Winter said.

To help raise money for the trip, the group's church, Medford First Church of The Nazarene, is putting on a two-day garage sale.

We have almost everything here, some really random stuff, but if you really search through all the stuff theres some really nice stuff you can find," Winter said.

Winter said the group's Preacher asked everyone at the church to donate five items to the sale.

During his sermon he said when you get rid of your five things you can bring them down to the yard sale that the Mexico mission trip team is putting on and weve had a lot of stuff being donated, and a lot more than usual, almost double," Winter said.

She said Tecate is a very dangerous area for many people so building new homes will make a huge difference.

"When you go down there you can really see how important it is to have a good house," Winter said.

The team will build durable and safe homes with windows and locks for families.

The sale continues Saturday, Jan. 13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Medford First Church of The Nazarene.CAVE JUNCTION, Ore.-- One man is dead after an officer-involved shooting in Cave Junction Friday afternoon.

The Josephine County Major Crime team is investigating.

Authorities say on Thursday, the US Marshal Service requested local law enforcement to be on the lookout for a fugitive, 37-year-old Jerey Alan Burleson.

Burleson was wanted out of the State of Florida.

On Friday, around 12:30 PM, local law enforcement from Josephine County Sheris Oce and Oregon State Police conducted a trac stop on a vehicle suspected to contain Burleson.

The trac stop occurred at 213 Redwood Hwy in Cave Junction.

During contact with law enforcement, authorities say Burleson displayed a rearm.

A contacting law enforcement ocer red shots.

Burleson was transported to Three Rivers Hospital in Grants Pass, and subsequently died.FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2017, file photo, Logan Paul introduces a performance by Kyle & Lil Yachty and Rita Ora at the Teen Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. YouTube says it has removed blogger Logan Paul's channels from Google Preferred and will not feature him in the new season of "Foursome." Paul's new video blogs also are on hold after he shared a video on YouTube that appeared to show a body hanging in a Japanese forest that is said to be a suicide spot. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision/AP, File)FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005 file photo, Harrods chairman Mohamed Al Fayed unveils a new memorial statue, seen in background, on the 8th anniversary of the deaths of his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales at Harrods department store in London. Harrods, the luxury London department store and tourist destination, is reportedly to remove a memorial of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, British media reported Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/ Jane Mingay, File)Construction of the Okanagan Rail Trail between Kelowna and Vernon was well underway before November and December snowfalls buried the recreational trail. Work will resume along Kalamalka Lake, above, in Lake Country and has started in Kelowna with the aim of opening half of the trail in the spring.A rock memorial at the Walkerton Heritage Water Garden is shown in Walkerton, Ont., on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Drinking "raw water" collected from springs and other so-called pure sources appears to be a growing natural health craze in the U.S. that could make its way to Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteA Facebook logo is displayed on the screen of an iPad, in this Wednesday, May 16, 2012 file photo taken in New York. Some members of Canada's media industry say they expect to be able to weather the potential setback created by the latest change to Facebook's content sharing priorities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/James H. Collins, file)Manager of train operations Jean Demaitre, right, and his wife, Danielle Champagne, are followed by rail traffic controller Richard Labrie, left, as they leave the courthouse after the second day of jury deliberations, Friday, January 12, 2018 in Sherbrooke, Que. The jurors at the trial of three men charged with criminal negligence causing death in the Lac-Megantic railway disaster will deliberate Saturday after failing to reach a verdict Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzIn this Jan. 9, 2018 photo, Etienne Acine 38, a television and radio repairman, works on a television circuit board, in front of his T-shelter, in the Caradeux tent camp set up nearly eight years ago for people displaced by the 2010 earthquake, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. AuLiving in the shelter makes me stressed because the shelter means Jan. 12, 2010 to me,Au he says. AuI want to live in a normal house like other people in the country.Au (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)FILE - These images provided by the U.S. Army show, from left, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; Sgt. La David Johnson of Miami Gardens, Fla.; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga. All four were killed in Niger, when a joint patrol of American and Niger forces was ambushed on Oct. 4, 2017, by militants believed linked to the Islamic State group. The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 that Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi with the self-professed IS affiliate claimed responsibility for the Oct. 4 ambush about 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of Niger's capital, Niamey. (U.S. Army via AP)Emergency crew members search an area near houses damaged by storms in Montecito, Calif., Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. The number of missing after a California mudslide has fluctuated wildly, due to shifting definitions, the inherent uncertainty that follows a natural disaster, and just plain human error. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)Czech President and presidential candidate Milos Zeman attends a press conference after the first round of presidential voting in Prague on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. Milos Zeman will face a runoff election in two weeks against former head of the country's Academy of Sciences Jiri Drahos. (Michal Kamaryt/CTK via AP)Flooding is seen in Benoit's Cove, Newfoundland on Saturday, January 13, 2018. Much of Atlantic Canada is being pummelled with heavy winds and a downpour on Saturday, leaving thousands of Maritimers without power and leading some people in southwest New Brunswick to evacuate their homes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Vaughn Keeping *MANDATORY CREDIT*ASTORIA, Ore. -- The Coast Guard in Astoria seized a large amount of cocaine during patrols off the coast of Mexico and Central America.

They said they seized nearly 12,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of more than $180 million.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast returned to Astoria the day before Christmas after 50 days. They said while they patrolled international waters off the coasts of Mexico and Central America, they intercepted five vessels, suspected of illegally smuggling drugs.

"I couldn't be more proud of the hard work and dedication of my crew, and the men and women of the interagency aircrews and support networks ashore," said Cmdr. Alain Balmaceda, Steadfast's commanding officer. "Their teamwork was vital to successfully combating transnational organized crime in drug trafficking zones over the past several months."

They said knowing they stopped tons of drugs from reaching America's shores made the deployment over the holidays even more rewarding.CORVALLIS, Ore.  The Corvallis School District is asking for the communitys vote on the $200 million bond measure.

The School Board adopted the resolution on the bond Thursday night. The school district has between now and May to share with the community what the bond includes.

Superintendent, Ryan Noss, said this bond is very important to the district. He said if passed, the bond measure will improve classroom safety and enhance the learning environment in all schools across the district. He also said the career and technical education spaces and the installation of new infrastructure would be included.

Lincoln and Hoover will both be rebuilt in the bond, Noss said.

MORE: Corvallis School District considers replacing Hoover Elementary School

He said both schools would be rebuilt on the same property but on a different part. Lincoln for example, will remain on the same property, but will be rebuilt further away from Highway 99.

Noss said the bond would invest in removing portable buildings, asbestos tiles, and aging infrastructure to replace it with new one. He said the goal is to create safe and welcoming learning environments.

The support that the community provides really highlights the work that happens in ours schools on a daily basis, Noss said. We have some incredible teachers and staff that support kids and to provide them with modern educational classrooms has a significant difference on the kinds of opportunities that we can provide our kids.

The bond would also fund a program for seismic safety, according to Noss.

The community will have a chance to vote on the measure on May 15. If passed, Noss said they would then begin a design process that meets both the needs of students and the community.SAN FRANCISCO -- A 68-year-old man that was living outside the U.S. has been deported back to the states and will face federal fraud charges.

Richard Macadangdang Sales made his first court appearance on Friday from San Francisco. He is accused of cheating investors out of more than $900,000.

In December 2017, a federal grand jury in Eugene indicted Sales on four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

The indictment alleges that between 2011 and 2013, investors were led to believe Sales was using their money to recover hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of U.S. Treasury Notes that were in East Asia and the Pacific. The indictment states that the investors believed Sales was building houses for victims of natural disasters as part of the recovery process. Investors were told they would see returns as high as 100 percent.

Sales was deported from Indonesia on January 11, 2018. He had been living outside the U.S. since 2012. FBI agents picked him up and escorted him back to the U.S. and arrested him after touching U.S. soil.

Sales will be transferred back to Oregon for further court proceedings.LINN COUNTY, Ore. -- A woman in Lebanon was arrested Thursday after deputies said she stole thousands of dollars from her grandmother.

Linn County deputies started investigating when the family of Joyce Ammon, 78, reported that her retirement account had been depleted of funds.

They said Ammon's granddaughter, Mindy Lynn Port, had been living with her when the money went missing.

Financial records show more than $50,000 had been taken from Ammon's accounts during the six months that Port had been living with her. Deputies were able to determine that Port had taken at least $43,000.

Port, 32, was arrested on charges of aggravated theft and criminal mistreatment.NEW HAMPTON, Iowa  A man is dead after a train collided with a piece of construction equipment Friday morning.

The Iowa State Patrol says the fatal collision occurred around 7:45 am near the intersection of Jasper Avenue and 220th Street. 64-year-old David P. Zwanziger, of Nashua, was driving north, plowing Jasper Avenue with a 1999 Caterpillar Grader, when he was hit by a westbound Canadian Pacific Train.



An example of a 1999 Caterpillar Grader. This is not an image of the vehicle involved in this accident. An example of a 1999 Caterpillar Grader. This is not an image of the vehicle involved in this accident.

Zwanziger was killed in the crash. The State Patrol says he was not wearing a seat belt.

The Chickasaw County Sheriffs Office and the New Hampton Fire Department Rescue Squad assisted at the scene.

This accident remains under investigation.DECORAH, Iowa  A Winneshiek County man has been charged with 3rd degree burglary and 2nd degree criminal mischief.

41-year-old Mark Leonard Schroeder of Decorah was arrested Thursday afternoon. Hes accused of breaking into Randys Bluffton Store in the early morning hours of December 31, 2017. Authorities say Schroeder took money from the cash register, broke into four video poker machines, and tried but failed to break open an ATM. About $2,000 was reported stolen from the business, which also suffered an estimated $3,800 in damage.

According to court records, a description of the burglar matches the clothing and physical appearance of Schroeder from a traffic stop in Buchanan County on December 30. Authorities say he was also in possession of a pry bar matching one that was used at Randys Bluffton Store.

The Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office says their investigation is continuing and additional arrests are pending.CLEAR LAKE, Iowa  Flames destroyed a mobile home Saturday morning.

The Clear Lake Fire Department was called to 1500 South Shore Drive Lot #22 around 7:30 am for a trailer on fire. Firefighters entered through the south side door of the trailer and found heavy smoke and flames before they could extinguish the blaze. Crews remained on scene for several hours to make sure all hot spots were out with sub-zero temperatures making operations difficult.

The Fire Department says one cat died in the fire and another cat and dog are missing. Owner Justin Lindner was not at home at the time of the fire and told the Fire Department he has no insurance. The Red Cross has been contacted to assist him.

The mobile home is being called a total loss, with an estimated $25,000 in damage to the trailer and a $5,000 in lost contents. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Clear Lake Police Department, Ventura Fire Department, and Alliant Energy assisted at the scene.WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump on Friday delivered an ultimatum to Americas European allies to fix the terrible flaws in the Iran nuclear deal, or hell pull the U.S. out in a few months time.

Trump made the threat as he extended waivers of key economic sanctions on Iran, keeping the accord alive at least for now. But his explicit warning to Europe that the deal must be fixed by the time the next sanctions waivers are due in the spring creates a high-stakes diplomatic deadline that will be difficult to meet.

This is a last chance, Trump warned in a statement that outlined several tough new rules on Iran. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.

Trumps declaration puts great pressure on Britain, France and Germany, the European signatories to nuclear pact with Iran. Trump wants them to help the U.S. devise a new agreement designed to prevent Iran from escalating nuclear activity again next decade, as permitted under the 2015 arrangement reached by President Barack Obama.

Iran has said its not interested in any renegotiation and would almost certainly view a side agreement between the U.S. and Europe as a violation of the deal. The Europeans, meanwhile, have said they are willing to discuss the matter with the U.S. but have shown little enthusiasm with Trumps hard line.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif accused Trump of maliciously violating the nuclear deal.

Trumps policy (and) todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, Zarif tweeted shortly after Trumps statement. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance  just like Iran.

The sanctions Trump had to waive Friday dealt with Irans central bank. These penalties largely cut Iran out of the international financial system, until they were suspended by Obama under the nuclear deal. Trump is also waiving other U.S. penalties covered by the agreement, including on Irans oil and gas sectors, which were up for renewal next week.

Trump will next have to deal with these decisions in mid-May.

He paired Fridays concession with other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses and ballistic missile development. The Treasury Departments action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.

Those hit by the sanctions include: Iranian judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani; the Rajaee Shahr Prison and its director, Gholamreza Ziaei; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organization; Irans Supreme Council of Cyberspace and National Cyberspace Center; Malaysia-based Green Wave Telecommunication and its Iranian director Morteza Razavi; and the Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company and Iran Aircraft Industries.

In his lengthy statement, Trump said the U.S. would work with European partners to remove the nuclear deals so-called sunset clauses, which allow Iran to gradually resume advanced atomic activity.

Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said.

If at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately, he added. No one should doubt my word.

The decision had been expected since earlier this week. Officials, congressional aides and outside administration advisers said had the president would likely extend the sanctions waivers, citing progress in amending U.S. legislation that governs Washingtons participation in the deal. One aspect of the law that Trump has particularly bristled at is having to give Iran a thumbs up every few months by acknowledging that it is meeting its nuclear requirements.

In his statement Friday, Trump said he remained open to revising the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, or INARA. He said he would only sign it if an Iranian refusal to allow U.N. inspectors to visit sites triggered an automatic re-imposition of U.S. sanctions. He said Irans restraint on long-range ballistic missile programs also must be linked to sanctions relief.DES MOINES, Iowa- The first week of the 2018 Legislative Session is complete and it was a busy one at the capital.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds gave her first Condition of the State address laying out her priorities for the year ahead. She also released her proposed budget adjustments after the Iowa Revenue Estimating Conference projected a shortfall.

A Chief Justice also spoke this week expressing the issues with the lack of funding coming in to the justice system.

Democratic Representative Sharon Steckman says she hopes both parties can work together this year saying education needs to be funded as well as water quality initiatives. Republican Representative Terry Baxter says he is optimistic about this week and the Governors speech.

One person we spoke with says he wishes elected officials would move mental health higher on the list of priorities.

Mental health treatment and that type of thing needs to be brought to the forefront with the situation and our culture right now, says Kelly Mishak of Nora Springs. I work in the medical field and I am worried about the number of treatment facilities available for the mentally ill.(New throughout, adds letter details, history of live consignments)

SAO PAULO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The company that operates Latin America's largest port in the Brazilian city of Santos said it will suspend shipments of live animals, according to a letter sent by state-run Companhia Docas do Estado de Sao Paulo to a congressman and seen by Reuters.

A press officer at Codesp, as the state-run operator is known, said on Friday that the letter is authentic, and added more details would be provided in a statement later in the day.

Santos resumed shipments of live animals in December 2017, when 27,000 cows were sent overseas through the port, a Codesp spokesman said. Before that, only a consignment of live ostriches had passed through Santos in 1996, he said.

The Codesp letter said it supports environmental and socially responsible practices and does not condone any "disrespect of animal life."

The 27,000 calves were shipped to Turkey last year and belonged to Brazilian meatpacker Minerva SA , a spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. The company could not immediately make additional comments on the ban.

The letter was signed by Codesp's logistics operations director Carlos Henrique Poco and sent to Congressman Ricardo Izar. It provided no details on the timing of the suspension.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by David Gregorio)MUMBAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - India's Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd plans to raise about 111 billion rupees ($1.75 billion) from a preferential share sale to investors including affiliates of Singapore state investor GIC and private equity KKR & Co. LP .

A committee of directors of the mortgage lender on Saturday approved selling 64.3 million shares at 1726.05 rupees a piece to the investors, according to a stock exchange filing.

HDFC shares closed at 1760.95 rupees on Friday.

Separately, HDFC will also sell shares to institutional investors through a so-called Qualified Institutions Placement to raise up 18.96 billion rupees, it said.

HDFC's fund-raising is mainly aimed at investing in a preferential share issue by HDFC Bank , which will help the mortgage lender maintain its about 21 percent stake in the bank. Last month, the mortgage lender secured board approval to raise as much as 130 billion rupees. It said it may need capital for health insurance and acquisition of stressed assets in the real estate sector. The preferential share sale announced on Saturday comprises 3.9 percent of the company's enhanced share capital after the issue, HDFC said.

A GIC affiliate will buy about 30.1 million shares, while the administrator of the pension plan for Canada's Ontario municipal employees is buying 10 million sharers. The KKR affiliate will buy about 9.3 million shares, HDFC said.

The other investors subscribing to the preferential sale are Carmignac Group of France and India's Premji Invest. ($1 = 63.6000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)(Adds background)

By Steve Holland

PALM BEACH, Florida, Jan 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was briefed on Saturday by U.S. trade envoy Robert Lighthizer on U.S. trade with China and talks on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, a White House spokeswoman said, as the administration considers several new tariff moves in coming weeks.

The meeting comes as Trump mulls whether to impose broad restrictions on steel and aluminum imports and punitive actions against China arising from an investigation into Beijing's alleged theft of intellectual property.

Lighthizer also briefed Trump on China's economy and pending trade enforcement actions, as well as the NAFTA negotiations, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement from Florida, where Trump is staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort. She did not provide details.

Lighthizer currently is preparing for the next round of NAFTA talks in Montreal. Washington has taken a hard line in the negotiations, which appear stalled with just two rounds of left, saying that concessions are the only way for Canada and Mexico to keep the deal.

Canada this week welcomed Trump's suggestion that NAFTA talks could be extended beyond March when Mexico's presidential election campaign kicks into high gear. Trump's opportunity to impose new tariffs or trade quotas follows a U.S. Commerce Department Section 232 investigation that looked into whether foreign steel imports are a threat to U.S. national security. The department submitted the long-awaited report to the White House on Thursday. Next week, the results of a separate investigation of rising aluminum imports will go to the White House.

China's excess production capacity for both steel and aluminum has emerged as a major trade irritant for the United States and Europe, prompting them to consider new steps to protect domestic industries and jobs from a flood of Chinese imports.

Meanwhile, China reported on Friday that exports and imports growth slowed in December after surging in the previous month, adding to signs of ebbing economic momentum as the government extends a crackdown on financial risks and factory pollution.

A synchronized uptick in the global economy over the past year has been a boon to China and much of trade-dependent Asia, with Chinese exports in 2017 growing at their quickest pace in four years. The sharp December imports slowdown, however, is raising concerns that the world's second-biggest economy faces domestic-demand pressure as authorities turn off cheap credit and restrict speculative financing.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott)KCHD urges people to protect themselves and loved ones during flu season





KNOXVILLE -- With seasonal influenza activity high in Tennessee and especially in East Tennessee, the Knox County Health Department (KCHD) is encouraging everyone to follow some basic precautions to slow the spread of the influenza virus and stay healthy.



Many area hospitals are reporting a sharp increase in traffic in their emergency departments due to flu, respiratory illness and other conditions, said KCHD Director Dr. Martha Buchanan. First and foremost, its important for the public to know its not too late to get a flu vaccine if they havent already this season. Its also important that our community have information on both how to avoid infection as well as what to do if they get the flu, including when to go to the emergency room.



KCHD is providing free flu vaccinations while supplies last at all three of its locations: the main location, 140 Dameron Ave., West Clinic, 1028 Old Cedar Bluff Rd., and Teague Clinic, 405 Dante Rd. To reduce wait time, appointments are recommended by calling 865-215-5070. Clinics are open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Free flu vaccinations only apply to the standard flu shot, not the high-dose version recommended for those over 65 years of age.



Flu symptoms can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting. Most people with the flu do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. In most cases, those with flu symptoms should stay home and avoid contact with others. However, if someone in a high-risk group has symptoms of the flu or if someone is highly concerned about the illness, he or she should first contact a medical provider or walk-in clinic and save the hospital emergency department for actual emergencies.



Young children, people aged 65 and older, pregnant women, and people with certain medical conditions, including asthma, chronic lung disease, heart disease and diabetes, are considered high risk. A comprehensive list of high-risk groups is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) website.



Influenza guidelines include:

 If someone is mildly ill with flu symptoms, he or she should not go to the emergency room. Hospital emergency departments should be reserved for those who are severely ill or injured.

 The following mild flu symptoms usually do not require treatment at an emergency room: runny nose or nasal stuffiness, low-grade fever for less than three days, mild headache, body aches, or stomach upset. Instead of visiting the emergency room, call your health care provider or seek care at a walk-in clinic.

 Limit visits to friends and relatives in the hospital. Postpone visits to the hospital to protect patients, staff and yourself from the flu. If you must visit, check with the hospital first to see if any visitor restrictions have been established.

 Stay home and away from others, especially the elderly, children or those with chronic health conditions, if youre sick. If you must leave home, to get medical care for example, wear a facemask if you have one or be sure to cover your cough and sneeze.

 Wash your hands thoroughly and often to keep from spreading the flu to others. Washing your hands properly and frequently can also lower your risk of getting the flu.

 The CDC recommends those with flu symptoms stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone without the use of fever-reducing medicines. Staying home includes avoiding work, school, travel, shopping, social events and public gatherings.



Those with the emergency warning signs of flu, should go to the emergency room. These signs include:



In children:

 Fast breathing or trouble breathing

 Bluish skin color

 Not drinking enough fluids

 Not waking up or not interacting

 Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held

 Flu-like symptoms improve but return with fever and worse cough

 Fever with a rash



In addition, seek medical help immediately for an infant who has any of these signs:

 Being unable to eat

 Has trouble breathing

 Has no tears when crying

 Significantly fewer wet diapers than normal



In adults:

 Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

 Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen

 Sudden dizziness

 Confusion

 Severe or persistent vomiting

 Flu-like symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse cough



Flu activity generally peaks between December and February, but the exact timing, severity and length of the flu season usually varies from one year to another. According to the CDC, all national key flu indicators are elevated and about half of the country is experiencing high flu activity, including Tennessee. Published January 13, 2018TBI top 10 fugitive captured in Maryville





Ronnie Lucas Wilson. Photo courtesy TBI. KNOXVILLE  A man who was added to the TBIs Top 10 Most Wanted list Friday is now in custody. Ronnie Lucas Wilson was captured this morning.



Wilson (DOB 4-7-86) was wanted by the Knoxville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to face a charge of Attempted First Degree Murder of a police officer. On January 11th, a Knoxville police officer initiated a traffic stop on Wilsons vehicle. Wilson exited the vehicle and began shooting at the officer, striking him at least one time.



Early Saturday morning, authorities received information that Wilson was at a vacant home on Calderwood Highway in Maryville. Upon arrival, contact was made with Wilson, who attempted to flee the home by jumping out a window. He was immediately taken into custody by deputies with the Blount County Sheriffs Office, investigators with the Knoxville Police Department, and members of the U.S. Marshals Service Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force.



Wilson is a confirmed member of the Aryan Nations and has a history of violence.





KNOXVILLE  A man who was added to the TBIs Top 10 Most Wanted list Friday is now in custody. Ronnie Lucas Wilson was captured this morning.Wilson (DOB 4-7-86) was wanted by the Knoxville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to face a charge of Attempted First Degree Murder of a police officer. On January 11th, a Knoxville police officer initiated a traffic stop on Wilsons vehicle. Wilson exited the vehicle and began shooting at the officer, striking him at least one time.Early Saturday morning, authorities received information that Wilson was at a vacant home on Calderwood Highway in Maryville. Upon arrival, contact was made with Wilson, who attempted to flee the home by jumping out a window. He was immediately taken into custody by deputies with the Blount County Sheriffs Office, investigators with the Knoxville Police Department, and members of the U.S. Marshals Service Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force.Wilson is a confirmed member of the Aryan Nations and has a history of violence. Published January 13, 2018













By Jung Min-ho







The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday that a Korean woman was found dead in Bolivia.





Her body was found on Isla del Sol, an island in the southern part of Lake Titicaca, Thursday evening (local time).





According to the ministry, the woman, who was in her 40s, appeared to have been stabbed to death. Bolivian police have been looking into the cause of her death after taking her body to La Paz, the country's capital.





Following the news, the Korean Embassy in Bolivia has sent officials to the police.





The ministry said it has urged the Bolivian government to thoroughly investigate the case.





According to local media reports, she was traveling the country by herself.





By Jacco Zwetsloot





A full-service law firm in Korea like HMP Law potentially handles any kind of legal matter that can arise: from criminal defense, through inheritances, to obtaining government licensing to build and operate a nuclear power plant.



As well as lawyers (our firm has around 80), there are tax specialists, notary publics, advisers, patent attorneys and many back-office support staff, such as receptionists, secretaries, librarians and paralegals, without whom the office could not function.La Jolla resident and 30-year Rotarian Penny Shurtleff got the surprise of her life at the Dec. 12 Rotary Club of La Jolla meeting, when it was revealed that Dec. 12, 2017 had been declared Penny Shurtleff Day in the County of San Diego. Arranged by her loving husband Gordon, the recognition was given in honor of her decades as a Rotarian.

A shocked Penny Shurtleff sees the proclamation recognizing her decades of service Ashley Mackin-Solomon

How did you feel when you realized what was happening?

I was in shock. I couldnt even talk. I get embarrassed when people do things like that, but I understand why (Gordon) did that. I was one of the first women in my hometown Rotary Club, and Im proud of what Ive done with my life. Back then, Rotary was a mens organization, and the wives were called Rotary-Anns, which was really humiliating. A friend of ours wanted me to join Rotary, and I questioned why, given that it was a mens organization, like the Boy Scouts.

What convinced you to join?

I saw all the good they were doing, I loved it, and that was when their mission was to eradicate polio around the world. That alone impressed me. Then there were the scholarships Rotary gives young people, and the international and local projects.

The only problem was that, at the time, the club decided to dump everything on me, because they were testing me. They had me heading the fundraisers and all these different projects. I asked the president if that was normal? He said it was. In the end, my membership worked out great.

Where did you grow up?

I was actually born in La Jolla, but moved to Santa Rosa when I was two. My father was in the wine business in the 1940s. He had ranches in northern California, so we moved up there and had a winery and apple ranch (Pennys maiden name is Frei, and Frei Brothers wine still exists today).

Do you have any children?

I have one child, Anthony, who lives in LA. I got married when I was 19 and had Anthony. It was a doomed marriage from the start. I went to school with (my former husbands) sisters, who told me not to marry him. But Im glad I did because now I have a wonderful son. But we got divorced and I remarried again on the rebound because in those days, if you had a child, you didnt live with someone, you married them. He was a disc jockey and we moved to the East Coast.

So how did Gordon enter the picture?

I was going through a second divorce and decided I needed to grow up, so I went back to school to train to become a secretary. I lived next to some really great people, who were friends with Gordon. They offered to set me up and I said theyre not fixing me up with anyone!

But we met anyway and he was so good to me and Anthony. I always wanted to move back to California and start a business. Gordon was supportive of that idea, and we moved back to my hometown. In trying to network, he would introduce himself as Penny Frei-Shurtleffs husband because it was a small town and everyone knew everyone.

What was your business?

Gordon and I started our business in the 1980s in Santa Rosa. We had a temporary help service, like Manpower and clerical. We started with a filing company and two desks, and then we had some investors, things got good, and we started making money. Our job was to send people out on jobs. It was like having children; you bring them up and teach them all the skills theyll need and then they go out.

In the 1990s, we were bought out by a company and retired early. I kind of wish we would have stayed in business a little bit longer.

Once we retired, we moved here. I love La Jolla, I love everything about it. I always knew we would end up here. Our son lives in LA, and he wants us to move there, but were fighting that.

What did you do when you got here?

The first thing Gordon and I did was join Rotary. We knew it would fill our lives. But weve never wanted to be in the same club. So I joined the Rotary Club of La Jolla and he joined the Torrey Pines Rotary Club. I feel connected to the world and the people in the Club. I love giving back and the camaraderie.

What do you do in your free time?

We like to travel a little. All of our friends live in Sonoma and on the East Coast. We love Hawaii. But were so busy, we dont have much free time. We love to have parties, and we used to have huge theme parties. I just enjoy being around people.

Im very interested in people and their business. Most people think What do you do? is just a polite question, but Im genuinely interested in the answers! (Proving her point, she occasionally flipped the script and asked this reporter how I got into journalism, my thoughts on equality in the workplace and whether I would like a sandwich.)

How is life now?

Life is good now, especially since Im getting older. The one good thing about getting older is you are more secure with yourself. Im learning to handle myself and stand up for myself, but still respect other peoples opinions. We all have the right to feel how we do.

But the hardest part of getting older is facing changes we may or may not like. We all look back on our generation and consider the good old days. I look back and say, Well, we didnt do things that way in my day. Its an interesting thing we all seem to do.PRESS RELEASE

New German Government Finally in the Making

Jan. 12, 2018 (EIRNS)Maybe French President Emmanuel Macron's trip to China, during which he announced himself the leader in Europe for building constructive cooperation with Chinas New Silk Road, helped to accelerate the three-party talks in Berlin on the formation of a new government coalition: It is all too evident that Germany urgently needs a real new government to play a role in all these new developments.

Whereas, as of the night of Jan. 11, everybody was still speaking of "big rocks in the road" that had to be removed, by this morning, everyone expressed confidence that a basis for a new coalition has been created. This basis is a set of concessions: The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) made sure that the "black zero" of budget-balancing is in the 28-page paper agreed on; the CDU's Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) got its demand that a limit of 200,000 for the annual number of refugees Germany would take in would be imposed; and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) got its demand that social and health insurance payments would again, as in former times, be equally divided between employers and employees. No tax increases, no big spending, but commitment to pay more into "Europe" after the exit of the Brits.

Therefore, in spite of stronger opposition inside the SPD party base, it is generally expected that both the SPD and the CSU will approve the 28-page paper, which so far is only a roadmap, by the end of next week, so that real coalition talks can begin. CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer said he is optimistic now that there will be a new government before Easter, which is April 1 this year. This would be a government again led by Angela Merkel as Chancellor. But a review of achievements is envisaged in mid-term of the four-year government term.

The contents of the 28 pages are not earthshaking, though: a lot of digitization of the economy and society, no banking separation but only a transaction tax, creation of 15,000 more jobs for police, and the like. No great projects.

The most interesting part of the paper is the demand for a new "Elysee Treaty" between France and Germany, to update the 1963 treaty whose signing 55 years ago will be celebrated by both national parliaments on Jan. 22. Franco-German relations are to be given a new impetus. This actually has the potential of turning into something interestingprovided that the French and German policymakers are doing their job and define a future-oriented strategy of working with the New Silk Road dynamic.In cavernous jet hangars in and around Mexico City, Interjet has a secret.

Four of the Mexican airlines Sukhoi Superjet 100s  out of a fleet of 22  have been grounded for at least five months because of engine maintenance delays. The Russian-made aircraft, which average just 4 years old, are now being cannibalized, an industry term for when a plane is slowly scrapped for parts to keep other jets running.

A grounded plane is a wasted plane, and Interjets offline aircraft are symbolic of an airline thats veered off course. Once one of Mexicos hopefuls to bring a new era of competition to the industry, Interjet has muddled along with a questionable strategy while more nimble rivals have appeared on the scene. Now, the stranded Sukhoi Superjets are adding to concerns about whether ABC Aerolineas, the companys formal name, will ever thrive.

There are doubts about the viability of the business, said Carlos Ozores, an air-transport specialist at ICF, a consulting and technology services company based in Virginia. The only way for an airline to make money is to keep flying.

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Interjet confirmed the grounded aircraft but said its in good financial shape. The parked-plane situation can be traced back to a decision Chief Executive Officer Jose Luis Garza made half a decade ago when he agreed to buy the little-known and largely untested Sukhoi Superjets, which are backed by Italys Leonardo SpA and Russias Sukhoi. The engines are made by Frances Safran SA and a Russian partner.

JSC Sukhoi doesnt have a single maintenance facility in the Americas. Airbus SE, which services the rest of Interjets fleet, operates three. Thats important because planes need regular and meticulous upkeep. Its like driving a Hummer in a land of Volkswagens. For a time youll be fine, but once the vehicle requires so much as a tune-up, finding the parts and the labor to fix it will be tricky and costly.

The supply chain with this aircraft has been a process, Garza said from his office overlooking the Mexico City airport. But were getting to where we want to be with them. To ease maintenance problems, a $7-million consignment stock is being set up this year with Sukhoi parts, he said.

The decision to buy them was a technical and economical one, he said, calling the deal an extraordinary acquisition agreement the company wouldnt have gotten from Brazilian maker Embraer SA.

Interjet made a splash as Mexicos first airline for the budget-conscious flier when it was founded in 2005 by the Aleman family, the son and grandson of a former Mexico president. The companys regional focus and deeply discounted ticket prices quickly turned it into the No. 2 airline by passengers as of 2011. But in the years that followed, the carrier hit turbulent skies, causing the companys overall market share to stagnate while ultra-low-cost rival Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, known as Volaris, has seen its stake soar.

Itll be hard for it to survive without a change of strategy, Ozores said. Its hard operating in the middle.

The middle that Ozores is referring to is the point between being a low-cost carrier and a full-service one. Interjets original economic model has slowly morphed into a sort of hybrid, so that these days, the carrier is trying to compete on price and service  and falling short on both fronts.

Garza says Interjet has focused its growth strategy on international routes since 2014, almost doubling its share of foreign flights to and from Mexico to about 21% as of November, from 11% in 2014. The airline began flying to John Wayne Airport in Orange County in 2012, but dropped the service two years later. It began serving Los Angeles International Airport in 2016.

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While that expansion has helped boost the companys dollar income  a boon for companies battered by a local currency thats lost a third of its value in five years  Interjet has paid a heavy price to compete with its bigger rivals.

Interjet freebies such as snacks and checked luggage put its costs on par with full-service rivals such as Grupo Aeromexico SAB. It also boasts of comfortable leg room, adapting the seating configuration on its Airbus aircraft so that its planes fly an average 13% below capacity. Despite those perks, Interjets image is still solidly stuck in the domain of budget carriers. However, its prices are sometimes more than double those of Volaris, which started operations in 2006.

Were told were leaving money on the table, Garza said. Does that mean we should overbook flights and start charging for everything? We dont think so.

Meanwhile, Interjets debt leverage  Bloomberg estimates net debt is 7.1 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent  tops Aeromexicos ratio of 5.1 or Volaris 5.2 times. Said Michael Duff, director at data researcher rhe Airline Analyst: A relatively high financial risk is how Id categorize them.

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Its for that reason that keeping a constant eye on costs is so crucial. For low-cost carriers, that usually means limiting fleets to a single aircraft to save on maintenance-training costs. But Interjets 22 Superjet 100 planes coexist with its 50 Airbus A320 jetliners as well as six Airbus A321 aircraft.

The most important defining characteristic of a low-cost carrier is an airline thats able to keep costs low, whatever way they manage to do it, said Triant Flouris, an International Air Transport Assn. flight instructor and academic at the Hellenic American University in Greece.

It was about a year ago that Garzas decision to bet on the Sukhoi Superjet first came back to haunt him in a big way. In December 2016  peak travel season for holiday fliers  the Russian aviation authority warned of a defect in a part that helps the aircraft fly straight in the air. After Interjet inspected its own planes, it grounded half its Sukhoi Superjet fleet and was forced to cancel 25 flights, Garza said at the time.

Although the planes were back in service by the following month, the damage was done. Some consumers began a social media campaign to pressure Mexicos consumer watchdog to ban Interjet from flying the planes ever again, although nothing came of the requests.

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The Superjet hasnt become very popular outside of Russia, Flouris said. Most of the airlines that Ive seen flying this jet are closer to Russia.

The 2012 Sukhoi Superjet purchase was the best choice for Interjet given Mexico Citys temperatures, altitudes and the routes they were intended to cover, Garza said. It was a bold bet on Russias first major passenger aircraft since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The single-aisle aircraft sold for about a half of the price of comparable jets from Brazils Embraer or Canadas Bombardier Inc.

JSC Sukhoi did not respond to requests for comment.

Interjet has some financial challenges to overcome in the meantime. Financial reports show maintenance costs are rising faster than other expenses, and they now top what Aeromexico pays to keep its planes running, Duff said. Aircraft-leasing firms have boosted deposit requirements for the airline, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst George Ferguson said, adding that lessors are probably paying close attention to their operations. Out of its 78-aircraft fleet, the company owns 30 and leases the rest.

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A cash injection of 3.2 billion pesos put forth by the Aleman family last year helped the company pay down most of its short-term liabilities. We paid down short-term debt because thats what had analysts worried, Garza said.

Mexicos government has reason to be worried. The nation took a major blow when Mexicana de Aviacion SA filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2010. Mexicanas chairman was charged with embezzlement (the charges were later dropped), and hundreds of pilots and flight attendants saw large chunks of their pension funds shrink. Mexicos aviation market, meanwhile, lost one of its biggest players, opening the void that Interjet, Volaris and Aeromexico would ultimately fill.

Navarro writes for Bloomberg.

anavarro30@bloomberg.netSigmund Freud, C.S. Lewis, Michael Kearns, Disneys Splash and the 80s soap Dynasty all factor into this weeks roundup of The 99-Seat Beat, our weekly highlights from L.A.s small-theater scene.

Bugaboo & the Silent One at the Lounge

The essentials: Playwright-director Marja-Lewis Ryans returns to the Lounge Theatre with her empathetic new character-based drama about two misfit cellmates in a womens prison. They manage to cross lines of alienation, defensiveness and despair and find their way to emotional and spiritual connection.

Why this? The production reunites Ryan with lead actress Heidi Sulzman from their previous collaboration, One in the Chamber, which won Ryan the 2015 L.A. Drama Critics Circle playwriting award. Ryan remains fiercely committed to live theater despite her rapidly ascendant Hollywood profile: Shes the showrunner for Showtimes forthcoming L Word sequel, screenwriter for Disneys gender-swapped Splash remake, and director for the Netflix feature 6 Balloons.

Details: A Chris Bender production at the Lounge Theater, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; ends Jan. 27. $34. (800) 838-3006, batso.brownpapertickets.com.

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Freuds Last Session at the Odyssey

The essentials: In a 1939 meeting of great minds, an ailing Sigmund Freud and rising star C.S. Lewis put their colorful personalities and opposing philosophies on the line. The tension between the grimly rational, secular humanism of Freud (played here by Martin Rayner, who originated the role) and the faith-based optimism of Lewis (British actor Martyn Stanbridge) takes on ominous urgency as the world teeters on the brink of World War II.

Why this? Playwright Mark St. Germain specializes in fictionalized encounters between historical figures, and his witty, insightful and well-researched 2010 off-Broadway hit raises the stakes way beyond merely contrasting celebrity bios. The revival for L.A.s venerable Odyssey Theatre is staged by Emmy-winner Robert Mandel  and who better to probe metaphysical inquiries amid an existential threat to civilization as we know it than the director of the original X-Files pilot?

Details: An Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (see website for additional performances); ends March 4. $30-$35 ($10 on Jan. 24, Feb. 2 and March 1). (310) 477-2055, www.OdysseyTheatre.com

Martin Rayner, left, and Martyn Stanbridge in Freuds Last Session. (Ron Sossi )

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Bloodbound at Highways

The essentials: After extensive workshopping at the Skylight Theatre, the official premiere of Michael Kearns poetic and unsettling memory play explores the layers of alienation and tortured family bonds between two gay brothers, from their coming-of-age in the closeted 1950s through the present. Their late-in-life confessions play out against incarnations of their younger wayward selves through fragmentary narrative elements the playwright considers autobiographical  to an extent.

Why this? As Hollywoods first openly gay and later first openly HIV-positive actor, playwright-actor-activist Kearns has long been pushing boundaries. Where many gay-themed plays focus on the anxieties of sexual orientation, for Kearns those are merely the jumping-off point into far deeper psychological quicksand as he gleefully upends theatrical cliches. Gordon Thomson, best known as the suave, dastardly Adam Carrington on the 1980s nighttime serial Dynasty, stars as the renegade older brother trying to come to terms with his past misdeeds.

Details: A Moon Mile Run production at Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. Performances on various Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Check website for times and dates. $25. www.highwaysperformance.org

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Bloodbound cast members, from left, Mike Bash, Gordon Thomson, Mason Mahoney and Greg Ainsworth. (Sonja Brenna )

The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our team of reviewers  people with more than 75 years of combined experience tracking local theater  shortlist current offerings at 99-seat theaters and other smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows weve seen; others have caught our attention because of the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. You can find more comprehensive theater listings posted every Sunday at latimes.com/arts.

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.The new year has barely gotten started, but the cultural events are blazing  with tributes to Leonard Bernstein, the civil rights movement in dance, the L.A. Art Show and an artist who pries open the significance of White House architecture. Im Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, with the weeks top culture stories:

THE YEAR OF LENNY

On the first day of 2018, orchestras in cities around the world  including Tehran  kicked off the year by playing works by composer Leonard Bernstein. The occasion? Its the 100th anniversary of the composers birth. He was the first great American conductor, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed. He became the first classical music television star. He proved an inspired educator and first-rate pianist. He was the first internationally esteemed conductor everyone, whether you knew him or not, called by the familiar Lenny. The year will bring us a lot of Lenny, says Swed, but not necessary the Lenny we need. Los Angeles Times

Leonard Bernstein conducts Mahler at the Hollywood Bowl in 1983. (Los Angeles Times )

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CLASSICAL NOTES

And since were on the subject of classical music, Mark Swed has been an extraordinarily busy man this week, reporting on myriad concerts around town. These include:

 A stupendous recital by 2018 Gilmore Artist Award winner Igor Levit at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Writes Swed: If there was still any doubt that Levit has the making of a great pianist, Saturdays recital put that to utter rest. Los Angeles Times

Pianist Igor Levit has been honored with the 2018 Gilmore Artist Award. (Robbie Lawrence / Philharmonic Society of Orange County )

 A mixed program of work that included pieces by Dukas, Ravel and Debussy performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and led by German conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher, who may be a candidate for the music director position at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. His conducting style is relatively broad, writes Swed, a little heavy and somewhat reserved, all of which can disguise his impressive command of a score. Los Angeles Times

 Sicilian violinists Fabio Biondis program devoted to Vivaldis Farewell Concertos at Walt Disney Concert Hall, written during the composers tragic last year of life. Los Angeles Times

Plus, Times contributor Richard S. Ginnell reports on Itzhak Perlmans presentation, with the L.A. Phil, of Bachs Concerto in A Minor, as well as works by Brahms and Elgar. Feeling like you missed the boat? There will be another performance on Saturday. Los Angeles Times

Violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman. (Marie Mazzucco )

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OROZCO AT L.A. ART SHOW

Amid the many commercial art displays at the massive L.A. Art Show, which runs through Sunday at the L.A. Convention Center, is an unusual video mapping projection of murals by Mexicos Jose Clemente Orozco. On view at DIVERSEartLA, a section of the L.A. Art Show curated by Marisa Caichiolo, the multimedia installation of murals from MUSA, the Museum of the Arts at Guadalajara, is part of an attempt by the organizers to bring a more museum-driven element to the annual fair, writes Catherine Womack. Its not something you will buy a poster to have in your house, MUSA exhibition and education director Laura Ayala says. Los Angeles Times

Man Creator and Rebel by Jose Clemente Orozco. (MUSA )

DANCE AND MLK

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The Lula Washington Dance Theatre is in the midst of a three-night run at the Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center (the last night is Saturday!). Contributing reviewer Laura Bleiberg had a look at the first night of the show, which featured works by four African American choreographers, including Washingtons own piece, The Movement, depicting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the civil rights movement. The show, she writes, serves as a reminder of the joys and responsibilities we all have to make a better world. Los Angeles Times

Lula Washington Dance Theatre performs The Movement. (Kevin Parry / The Wallis )

PEELING BACK THE WHITE HOUSE

Rodney McMillian is taking on the White House  quite literally. In an installation for the Contemporary Austin in Texas, the L.A. artist invites viewers to peel back the neoclassical architecture of the White House to view a film that ruminates, in abstracted ways, on white supremacy. Buildings such as the White House, the artist tells me, purport ideologies around democracy and possibilities that those ideals espouse. Ive been intrigued with them as symbols, but also in asking if the institutions are doing the job that the elected officials are slated to do. Or, for whom are they doing the job? Los Angeles Times

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Rodney McMillian with pieces of an installation that will go on view at the Contemporary Austin. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )

THEATER THERAPY

The experimental theater company Poor Dog Group recently brought in a therapist to hold group sessions for members of the troupe. The group decided to tape the sessions and turn them into a play titled Group Therapy. The production has its weaknesses, including sound that is a bit grab bag, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. But the most interesting moments come when the ensemble members, either reenacting group therapy scenes or commenting on them, reveal the wounds of being young, gifted and avant-garde in a society that prefers its culture prepackaged. Los Angeles Times

Members of Poor Dog perform during a dress rehearsal of Group Therapy. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times )

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Plus, McNulty writes about art and artists in the age of #MeToo: The cavalier way men have systemically abused their power over women in and around the workplace warrants little leniency. But a more slippery question has emerged in this me-too moment of cultural reckoning: What to do with the works of artists whose conduct has been abhorrent? Los Angeles Times

PST PERFORMANCE-FEST!

Eleven days. Seventy-five performances. More than 200 artists. The Pacific Standard Time Festival: Live Art LA/LA, organized by REDCAT in conjunction with cultural institutions around the city, is up and running, and its bringing performance art by U.S. Latino and Latin American artists to locations around the city. Times culture writer Deborah Vankin has a preview  and it includes a motorcycle performance and a concert on a lake. Los Angeles Times

In case you need ever more performance art, I spoke with Madeleine Brand about some of the festivals offerings. See you at the show! KCRW Press Play

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Carmina Escobars Fiesta Perpetua! on Echo Park Lake will be part of the Pacific Standard Time Festival: Live Art LA/LA. (Ian Byers-Gamber / Machine Project )

MAN RAYS L.A.

The surrealist photographer Man Ray spent the years during World War II in Los Angeles and during that time he took striking pictures of a culture crowd that included figures such as Igor Stravinsky, Ava Gardner and Jean Renoir. The Gagosian Gallery has now gathered images from that era for a new exhibition. Los Angeles Times

A detail of Man Rays Self-Portrait in Vine Street Studio, 1948  on view at Gagosian. ( Man Ray Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS)/ADAGP, Paris 2018. Courtesy Gagosian)

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MORE ON THE METS ADMISSION HIKE

Daniel Weiss, president and chief executive of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gave an interview to Hrag Vartanian about the museums new admission hike: The problem is regrettably that the pay-as-you-wish model no longer works. Forty years ago, in 1970, when the pay-as-you-wish model was put in place the museum was getting about 25% of its funding from the City of New York, today were getting about 9% of our funding from the City. Hyperallergic

Financial writer Felix Salmon, however, says that, according to his calculations, some of Weiss numbers dont quite pan out. Cause & Effect

Daniel Weiss of the Metropolitan Museum of Art speaks at a news conference. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press )

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IN OTHER NEWS

 Kynaston McShine, a trailblazing curator who, for a time, was the only person of color serving as a curator in a leading U.S. museum (he worked at MoMA), has died at 82. ARTnews

 Jan Baum, the art dealer who pioneered a gallery hub on La Brea Avenue, has died. Los Angeles Times

Art dealer Jan Baum in her namesake gallery space in 2007, shortly before retiring. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times )

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 Lina Lecaro pays tribute to a figure I sometimes saw at L.A. art openings: Hollywood Jesus. Rest in Peace. L.A. Taco

 Watching Hamilton in London. The New Yorker

 A 176-pound chunk of concrete fell off a Zaha Hadid building in Vienna. Co. Design

 The Los Angeles Conservancy has filed an application to turn the old Womans Building in Chinatown into a Los Angeles landmark. Curbed

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 Speaking of women, scholar Mary Beard on misogyny in ancient Greece and Rome makes for fascinating reading. Los Angeles Times

 The Gettys James Cuno looks at the connection between the destruction of cultural heritage and mass atrocities. The Iris

 The Coleccion Patricia Phelps de Cisneros has announced it is donating more than 200 works by 91 Latin American artists to six museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Bronx Museum and Austins Blanton Museum. Hyperallergic

 The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Autry Museum of the American West have announced a partnership to pool curatorial resources and share their collections. Los Angeles Times

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 Los Angeles artist Ron Athey is bringing a performance to Vibiana downtown Los Angeles that will fuse autobiography with ecstatic communion. Los Angeles Magazine

 Zak Smith on artists and publicists and spam press releases. Artillery

 A guide to Art Deco Los Angeles. KCET

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

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A wonderfully illustrated 1925 Japanese edition of Aesops Fables. Open Culture

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletterAnyone wondering if the black-dress blackout of Sunday nights Golden Globes was going to continue through the entire awards season only had four nights to ponder the possibility. Thats because the stars descending on Santa Monicas Barker Hangar on Thursday seemed to put the issue to rest, some hitting the arrivals blue (yes, blue) carpet in white and off-white dresses, others in pale shades of pink or purple and some enthusiastically embracing bright, bold colors. Best supporting actress winner Allison Janney was in a blue Michael Cinco number, and Nicole Kidman wore a fuchsia frock from Valentino, to name just two.

Thursday nights memorable women in white included Angelina Jolie in a custom Ralph & Russo dress with an asymmetrical hem and a feathered strapless neckline; Kate Bosworth in a lace Brock Collection dress with a sculptural ruffle at the waist; and Greta Gerwig in a pleated Fendi frock with a heart-shaped embellishment that appeared to float over her decolletage.

The colorful contingent included Nicole Kidman (in Valentino), from left, Kiernan Shipka (in Delpozo) and Yara Shahidi (in Giambattista Valli). (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix / AFP / Getty Images (left and center) and Frazer Harrison / Getty Images (right) )

Other stunners in white included Saoirse Ronan (in Michael Kors Collection), Emma Roberts (in a sleek strapless Giorgio Armani dress), Diane Kruger (in custom Vera Wang Collection) and Alison Brie (in Roberto Cavalli). Adding to the lightness were dresses in a pale palette that fits somewhere between nude (Heidi Klum in a sequin-covered Georges Hobieka dress) and blush pink (Rachel Brosnahan in Zuhair Murad).

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In addition to the pops of bold color mentioned above, another thing we noticed on the arrivals carpet Thursday night was a distinct dash of Old Hollywood glamour. Perhaps the best examples of the evening came by way of Mary J. Blige in a bronze and gold iridescent sequin strapless gown by Vivienne Westwood Couture and Laurie Metcalfs pale-blue Cristina Ottaviano gown.

adam.tschorn@latimes.com

For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me at @ARTschorn.At the L.A. Art Show, Emmy-winning actor Jon Hamm was host for an opening-night gala benefiting St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, and the Wednesday star-studded event included other celebrities such as Emma Roberts, Matthew Modine, Jay Duplass and Aldis Hodge, as well as some fans and art patrons.

Now, what exactly goes on during the run of the L.A. Art Show? For one, its a behemoth-sized experience at the L.A. Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles with more than 100 participating galleries from 18 countries. And its also where you can take in an array of paintings, sculpture, works on paper, installations, photography, design, video and performance art. (The art show continues through Sunday evening.)

Aldis Hodge with his painting at the L.A. Art Show. Birdman Photo / L.A. Art Show

The art show has supported the research hospital as its primary beneficiary for the last three years. At the gala, 100% of proceeds from VIP vanguard and patron tickets and 15% of friends tickets were donated to furthering St. Judes mission. (St. Jude was founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, whose son Tony is a friend of Hamm.)

No child should have to die from pediatric cancer, said Hamm during the gathering about why supporting St. Jude is a cause thats close to his heart. About St. Jude itself, the Mad Man star said, the hospital was the passion, vision and drive of a single man to save childrens lives.

Host Jon Hamm speaks onstage during the L.A. Art Show's opening-night gala, which benefited St. Jude Children's Hospital. Birdman Photo / L.A. Art Show

Walking around the expansive show, we were stupefied by the volume of art, as far as the eye could see. Among the rows of art, we noticed a few intriguing artists such as Pandemonia, Jae Yong Kim and Antuan Rodriguez as well as work from Saber, who live-painted an abstract during the gala.

While art is the shows focus, we couldnt help but notice that the fashion worn by the guests was a sight to be seen; some outfits practically rivaled the actual artwork.

The mix of art, fashion and celebrity on display made us realize that Los Angeles is rapidly becoming a global epicenter for art, fashion and culture. Now heres a closer look at some of the art and guests attending the annual L.A. Art Show.

A look at some of the outfits worn by guests during the L.A. Art Show gala on Wednesday. Birdman Photo / L.A. Art Show

A look at the 2018 L.A. Art Show, which is at the L.A. Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The event runs through Sunday. Birdman Photo / L.A. Art Show

Antuan Rodriguez's "Left or Right" work; and Saber with his painting at the L.A. Art Show. Birdman Photo / Courtesy of the L.A. Art Show

         

L.A. Art Show

Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., L.A.

When: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: See website

tara.paniogue@latimes.comA veteran of tragedies from 9/11 to Katrina, one firefighter counts herself blessed to be able to help during one more

Los Angeles firefighter Hollyn Bullock. (Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times)

In the 27 years since joining the Los Angeles Fire Department, Hollyn Bullock has reported for search-and-rescue duty for tragedies like the World Trade Center terrorist attack in New York, Hurricane Katrina and the deadly train derailment in Chatsworth that claimed 25 lives.

On Friday, the veteran firefighter joined a team scouring through the wreckage of the latest disaster. Seventeen people were dead after mudslides tore through the Santa Barbara County community of Montecito. At least five remained missing.

And so, along a sodden, debris-tangled corner just east of the 101 Freeway, Bullock and others searched on.

Honestly, I feel fulfilled, even blessed to have been given the opportunity to get in there and help people in times of crisis, she said as fellow firefighters hosed contaminated mud off her boots and pant legs.

She was part of a team of 26 men and one woman: herself.

The team tried to sound an optimistic note  hoping for the best, bracing for the worst  as they used an arsenal of tools, technology and specially trained dogs to probe debris piles more than 15 feet deep near the corner of Creekside Road and Sheffield Drive.

Its as exhausting, frustrating and tedious as looking for a needle in a haystack, Battalion Chief Mark Akahoshi said, while hunched over a topographical map of surrounding terrain studded with ranches and mansions offering panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean.

Nodding appreciatively toward team members tramping knee deep through mud contaminated with pesticides and sewage, he said, Take a look at the dedication on the faces of these guys. Theyre in it for as long as it takes to finish the job and say, Thats it. Done. We searched every inch. 

Bullock, 55, plans to retire in the summer.

She joined the department in 1990, when women made up an even smaller fraction of the firefighting force.

It was my father who suggested I become a firefighter. But sometimes I feel I was born to be one, she said. I can bore you to tears with stories about comradery, hard, dirty team work and helping folks out of the worst trouble of their lives.

So, yes, Im bowing out in summer, she added with a smile as fire trucks roared past. But there are other women firefighters joining up even as I speak, and this wont be the last disaster of this scale. I can guarantee that.A mysterious disease is spreading through Kyoko Hibinos neighborhood, but youd never know it by glancing at her sunny, tree-lined Southern California community, she says.

The Porter Ranch resident has suffered bronchitis, heart palpitations, headaches and nosebleeds, none of which amount to a diagnosis by doctors. Hibino said her cat also started getting nosebleeds, and now has cancer.

We are slowly being killed, she said, noting that the air near her house is clear, making the problem hard to spot. Its not dramatic enough.

Three years after a massive gas leak at the Southern California Gas Co. storage facility at Aliso Canyon  the largest methane leak in U.S. history  nearby residents say theyre still suffering health problems from toxins in the air.

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Outside USCs Bovard Auditorium, where candidates for governor were minutes away from a town hall debate Saturday morning, advocates called on leaders to commit to permanently shutting down the site.

Though not government-owned, Southern California Gas is subject to state regulations. The candidates did not discuss the topic during the forum.

This is our health! This is our air! This is not just in the Valley! The wind blows, and it blows everywhere, said Jane Fowler of nearby Granada Hills. Some of you dont even know youve been affected.

Fowler, 58, said she had to stop working in elder care and driving an Uber due to unpredictable dizziness, blackouts and other ailments that she says are tied to the smelly leak. She said the emissions killed her dog and sickened her cats.

A broken well at the Aliso Canyon site forced about 8,000 families in the northwest San Fernando Valley to evacuate starting in 2015. After a state appeals court lifted a temporary ban on operations, Southern California Gas resumed injections at the facility this past summer and has been conducting safety improvements.

Use of the facility is now allowed on a limited basis, but opponents want the site shut down entirely.

Alexandra Nagy, a senior organizer with the environmental group Food and Water Watch, said there are still small leaks every day at the site which seep into the air. She noted that methane emissions add to greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change.

Southern California Gas says methane is nontoxic when inhaled in limited quantities and that the Aliso Canyon leak doesnt pose continued health problems.

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All of the extensive data collected and analyzed by public health officials over the last two years have shown that there was and is no long-term risk to public health or safety from the gas leak, the company said in a statement.

During the leak and for months afterwards, thousands of indoor and outdoor air, dust, soil, and mud samples were tested during and after the leak, by multiple public health agencies, including the Los Angeles County Department of Health, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Air Resources Board, and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the data demonstrates that Porter Ranch is safe, the statement said.

Staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

maya.lau@latimes.com

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Twitter: @mayalauAt least 18 people have died in the Montecito mudslides and seven people were still unaccounted for Friday, as hope waned that any survivors remained amid muck, boulders and toppled trees.

Rescuers continued to dig through the tangled wreckage of vehicles and homes, searching for human remains or survivors. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said crews had found another victim, 87-year-old Joseph Francis Bleckel, in his home in the Romero Canyon area about 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Bleckel had previously been listed as missing. The number missing has fluctuated widely in the aftermath of heavy rains that pounded the Thomas fire burn scar this week and unleashed a torrent of mud, boulders and debris that destroyed scores of homes:

Authorities had said late Thursday that roughly 43 people were unaccounted, but many of them have since been reported safe, according to Chris Elms, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. As of Friday evening, Santa Barbara County Sheriffs officials had identified seven people who were still missing.

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Elms said crews are still trying to fight their way through roadways made inaccessible by mudflow in the hopes of locating more people. Officials expanded mandatory evacuation zones Thursday because pedestrians and traffic were hindering rescue and repair operations.

Brown said that armored vehicles typically used by his SWAT team on barricaded suspects have been useful in reaching muddy areas where people were trapped. Most who had been stranded in their homes have been rescued, he said, including about 300 residents and staff members who were evacuated by rescue workers Thursday from the Casa Dorinda retirement home east of Olive Mill Road.

A Los Angeles Fire Department search and rescue team tried to sound an optimistic note  hoping for the best, bracing for the worst. Members used an arsenal of tools, technology and specially trained dogs to probe piles of debris more than 15 feet deep at the southern end of Romero Creek.

Its as exhausting, frustrating and tedious as looking for a needle in a haystack, LAFD Battalion Chief Mark Akahoshi said, while hunched over a topographical map of surrounding terrain studded with ranches and mansions offering panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean.

Highway 101, which had been tentatively scheduled to reopen on Monday, will be closed indefinitely, said Capt. Cindy Pontes of the California Highway Patrol. As of Friday evening, the highway was closed to northbound traffic from the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line to South Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, and closed to southbound traffic from South Milpas Street to Padaro Lane near Summerland.

Crews are working day and night to clear the road, but as they pump water away from the highway, more flows in, Pontes said.

Pontes said she flew over the 101 in a helicopter on Friday, and almost a mile of it was under water so deep that the center divider was not visible. More rain is expected at the end of next week.

Route 192, which cuts across the foothills of Montecito, is also unsafe to travel in places, and officials are trying to establish an alternate route as soon as possible, she said.

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A Montecito Water District official said the water in all of Montecito remains unsafe to drink. Workers are replacing fire hydrants and reconnecting water mains across creeks that were wiped out, but it is unknown when the system can be restarted, she said.

In the meantime, some residents have low pressure from their taps, and others have no water at all.

On Friday, Montecito Creek was back to its usual trickle amid a scene of destruction. Where the key artery of East Valley Road crosses the creek, houses had gaping holes in their sides. A white clapboard structure was wedged in the branches of a tree. Workers rushed to cut off the gas supply in the neighborhood amid worries about dangerous leaks.

Carla Flynn, who lives along East Valley Road, spent Thursday morning shoveling mud as thick as peanut butter at the foot of her driveway. Im incredibly grateful to be alive, she said.

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When the storm hit, the sky lit up after tumbling rocks crashed into a gas line and ignited a fire in the hills. Mud pooled on the main thoroughfare outside her driveway, effectively trapping her family inside. They had decided not to evacuate, she said, because they were so far from the burn area.

Flynn is used to torrents of water gushing by  her property is alongside a creek  but nothing like this, she said. I heard this crackling, like an ungodly crackling. Walls, fences breaking, she said.

Her daughter has friends who are among the missing. Prominent community members have perished.

You never think that it could happen here. This is such a sacred little oasis, Flynn said.

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Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.Authorities are searching for those responsible for vandalizing a 129-year-old Pasadena church early Saturday and setting it on fire.

The fire was reported at about 2:20 a.m. at the Church of the Angels at 1100 N. Avenue 64, said Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman with the Pasadena Fire Department. The Los Angeles Fire Department initially responded and put out the fire because of confusion over the address, she said.

The vandals broke a stone statue in front of the church and sprayed graffiti on its exterior walls, Derderian said. The church sustained smoke damage, including to some pews, and a solid oak statue that was part of the church when it was built was badly damaged, she said.

The fire was started inside the building, she said.

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Authorities are not treating the incident as a hate crime, Derderian said, but there was a break-in, a burglary and vandalism.

No arrests have been made and it appears that more than one individual was involved, she said.

The Episcopal church has been used for the filming of movies over the years and there was a shoot scheduled for Saturday morning that had to be canceled, Derderian said. It was unclear whether the church would be open for services on Sunday.

Its very sad, she said, because this was a historical landmark that cant be replaced or replicated.

carlos.lozano@latimes.com

UPDATES:

4:50 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.

This article was originally posted at 2:05 p.m.Two members of the Los Angeles City Council called Friday for legal action against an array of petroleum companies, saying fossil fuel emissions have contributed to natural disasters and abnormally intense weather patterns that are proving costly for taxpayers.

The push for financial reimbursement comes as Southern California communities continue to deal with the aftermath of an especially intense wildfire season and, in recent days, devastating mudslides caused by a recent storm.

In their written proposal, Councilmen Mike Bonin and Paul Koretz said oil and gas companies knew they were contributing to climate change and did nothing to stop their destructive ways. The result, they said, has been expensive repairs to streets and other public facilities.

Were getting rising sea levels, wildfires, mudslides  thats the implication of climate change right there, Bonin said in an interview. That does damage to our infrastructure. It just has some wide-ranging and comprehensive implications.

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The proposal, which was also signed by Councilmen Jose Huizar and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, seeks a closed-door meeting with City Atty. Mike Feuer on potential legal claims against corporations that profit from the production and sale of fossil fuels. It also calls for the city to file an amicus, or friend of the court, brief to assist New York City with a lawsuit against Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell and other companies.

In that case, filed Tuesday, lawyers said New York City had suffered extensive damage from climate change, including inundation, erosion and regular tidal flooding of its property.

In this litigation, the city seeks to shift the costs of protecting the city from climate change impacts back onto the companies that have done nearly all they could to create this existential threat, the lawsuit states.

A spokesman for Shell Oil Co. declined to discuss the proposal in Los Angeles, saying a lawsuit had not yet been filed.

Asked about the case in New York City, he said climate change should be addressed through sound government policy and cultural change to drive low-carbon choices for businesses and consumers, not by the courts.

San Francisco and Oakland have filed their own climate change lawsuits, saying oil and gas companies should pay for the ongoing cost of protecting Bay Area cities from rising sea levels. Lawyers for San Francisco said $5 billion would be needed just to complete long-term upgrades to that citys seawall, which covers three miles of waterfront.

Chevron, one of the companies sued by San Francisco, said last fall that the Bay Area lawsuits would not help address climate change. Should this litigation proceed, it will only serve special interests at the expense of broader policy, regulatory, and economic priorities, Melissa Ritchie said in a statement.

Representatives of Chevron did not respond to a request for comment on the Los Angeles proposal.

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Bonin, who represents coastal neighborhoods stretching from Westchester to Pacific Palisades, said he expects that parts of his district will be underwater in the next 50 years. As part of its climate change lawsuit, the city should seek both financial reimbursement and policy changes from the petroleum industry, he said.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniserAs the death toll in the Montecito mudslides increased to 19 on Saturday, officials announced that the 101 Freeway would remain closed indefinitely.

Search and rescue crews recovered the body of Morgan Corey, 25, who was found in debris near Olive Mill Road about 9 a.m. Saturday, officials said. She was among at least five people who were still listed as missing.

At a late afternoon news conference at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Eric Peterson spoke about the difficulties and challenges faced by emergency responders in their search for survivors.

I have felt the heartbreak of knowing that even with all of your skill and all of your training and all of your planning, you couldnt save everybody, he said. No one could have planned for the size and scope of what a 200-year storm immediately following our largest wildfire could bring.

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Emergency crews remain in search-and-rescue mode, he said. However, he added, after every hour it becomes less likely we will find someone alive, but there is always hope.

U.S. Highway 101, a major north-south artery that carries 100,000 vehicles through the Central Coast each day, was initially expected to open Monday, but officials said cleaning up one part of the freeway was proving more difficult than imagined.

Its really an overwhelming situation and we dont want to give an estimate that isnt accurate, said Colin Jones, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.

Caltrans crews, aided by private contractors and the Army Corps of Engineers, have been working around the clock on an approximately two-mile stretch of the debris-strewn freeway near Montecito. Crews have removed most of the vehicles abandoned in the storm, including a number of tractor-trailers, but a significant amount of debris and mud remains.

The cleanup Saturday focused on what the agency calls dewatering  using pumps to suck up the mud and rainwater on the freeway. In a section of the road near Olive Mill Road  one of the lowest points in the city  there was 2 feet of standing water and storm drains were clogged, Jones said. Once all the mud and debris is removed, the pavement and overpasses must be evaluated for structural safety, and then signs and guardrails reinstalled and lines repainted, he said.

Caltrans will get the 101 open, he said. We just dont know when at this point.

In addition to the 101, many local roads are blocked. Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy said the big push on Saturday was to clean roads in the Santa Barbara and Montecito areas in order to improve vehicular access.

As it stands, were still having to go in on foot in many areas, he said.

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State Route 192, which cuts across the foothills, is also unsafe in places, and officials are trying to establish an alternative route as soon as possible.

With the 101 closed, hundreds of people have taken to traveling the coast by boat. Two sightseeing companies, Island Packers in Ventura and Condor Express in Santa Barbara, have worked together to turn their vessels into a ferry service between the cities.

Tickets on the Condor Express, a 75-foot catamaran that normally takes tourists whale watching, were in high demand last week, with many trips packed with the maximum 127 passengers, assistant manager Katie Fitts said.

The 90-minute trip over the water was significantly shorter than the more than four-hour detour on the 5 Freeway, and ferry passengers included firefighters, city workers and medical personnel from Cottage Hospital, she said.

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There are people trying to get to their families that have been struck by this tragedy and people trying to get to work  surgeons and nurses, Fitts said.

Ticket sales fell off Saturday after Amtrak restarted Surfliner and Coast Starlight service between Santa Barbara and Oxnard. The train trip between Ventura to Santa Barbara normally takes about 45 minutes. Trains were delayed two hours Saturday.

A spokeswoman said the delay was due to adding capacity to accommodate an increase of customers.

Meanwhile, business owners in Solvang  a favorite tourist stop of mostly western European-style hotels, bakeries and ranches just north of Santa Barbara  were in a near panic on Saturday as they watched sales revenues shrink to less than half of normal. For them, closing Interstate 101 seemed the equivalent of splitting the state in half.

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Some hotels were even encouraging patrons from their largest market  the Los Angeles area  not to attempt the trip, which currently requires detours of up to 10 hours. Cancellations had become routine as word spread of the closure and some businesses and supermarkets had either reduced or halted restocking of inventories because they were not needed.

#CAstorm- Damage to guest cottages at the storied San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito due to deadly mudflow from overnight heavy rain. pic.twitter.com/AJbjxxEdBN  SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) January 9, 2018

One of the regions most famous resorts, San Ysidro Ranch north of Montecito, sustained extensive damage in the mudslides, McElroy said Saturday. The luxury hotel, which has counted Audrey Hepburn, Winston Churchill and honeymooners John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy as guests, is edged by a creek that became a torrent of boulders, toppled trees and muck.

Contractors and crews using earthmovers and dump trucks were streaming into the property Saturday morning. Elroy said many key structures on the property remained standing.

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Around noon Saturday, more than four dozen Los Angeles County firefighters armed with shovels, pickaxes, chain saws and heavy-duty dumpsters descended on a debris-strewn location in the heart of the ranch property on a special mission: to rescue one of the oldest and most important adobe structures in Southern California.

The San Ysidro Adobe was inundated with water and mud the consistency of peanut butter. A bronze plaque on the devastated low-slung building said it was built in 1825, and from 1868 to 1878.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

harriet.ryan@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

7:25 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.

5:40 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from Santa Barbara fire officials.

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3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with new information about the impact of the mudslides on area businesses.

12:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about a missing person as well as efforts to rescue a historic adobe structure on the San Ysidro Ranch.

11 a.m. This article was updated with information about a ferry service between Ventura and Santa Barbara.

This article was originally posted at 9:25 a.m.When the Thomas fire swept down from the Los Padres National Forest and took aim at this coastal town in December, the looming disaster was impossible to miss.

Powerful winds picked up, smoke shielded the sun and brought an eerie darkness to the landscape, and towers of flames could be seen in the distance. Thousands of residents fled as what would become the largest fire on record in California pushed to the Pacific Ocean. More than two dozen homes were lost or damaged in the area, but no one died in the town.



For the record: An earlier version of this article reported that more than two dozen homes in the Montecito area were lost in the Thomas fire. That figure refers to the number of homes that were damaged or destroyed.

The mudslides that followed the fire this week were a much more stealthy and ultimately lethal threat. Though residents had been warned about heavy rain and potential debris flows, many took the threat far less seriously than the fires. And when the earth started moving, there was nowhere to run.

(Los Angeles Times )

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Rethinking mudslide response

The Montecito mudslides killed at least 18 people, with five still missing, making it the deadliest flooding event in California in decades. Its likely to spark rethinking about how government agencies handle evacuations and warnings about the coming threat. Many of those killed lived in areas that were under only voluntary evacuation orders because officials didnt believe the mudslides would travel so far south toward the ocean.

The destruction in Montecito underscores how little margin of error there is in dealing with a mudslide because once a debris flow begins, its extremely difficult to get out of the the way, said Richard Rudman, vice chairman of the California Emergency Alert System.

Some unofficial estimates have placed the mudflow at 20 mph, faster than most people could run. And many residents had no idea the mud was coming their way until it slammed into their homes.

This is not a fire that you can watch slowly and see if its coming, said Jeff Gater, Santa Barbara Countys emergency manager. Its going to come during the dark. Youre not going to be able to see it. It happened exactly that way.

First responders agreed, saying that by the time the 911 calls started rolling in, there was little they could do.

The event happened. People were just gone. It was the middle of the night so there werent witnesses saying, I saw people getting swept away. Send help,  said Andy Rupp, a firefighter with the Montecito Fire Protection District.

When firefighters reached the scene, the depth of the disaster was staggering.

When you look at mud, its 20 feet high, said Montecito Fire Capt. Ben Hauser.

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County officials have defended their preparation for the mudslides, pointing to extensive outreach in days before the rains hit.

Travis Zehntner comforts Teresa Drenick on Thursday amid the belongings of her sister Rebecca Riskin, who was killed in the mudslide. Family and friends salvaged family photos and furnishings left in the home on Glen Oaks Drive. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )

Voluntary evacuations in hard-hit areas

Santa Barbara County issued mandatory evacuation orders for about 7,000 people living north of Highway 192 in areas closer to where the Thomas fire had burned. Voluntary orders were issued for 23,000 others as the storm approached. Many residents in both zones disregarded the warnings and stayed in their homes.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the evacuation maps were created by a group of local, state and federal emergency and water officials. The zones mirrored the evacuation areas the county used for the Thomas fire. They knew the rains would be bad. The totals  more than 2 inches  hit the National Weather Service estimates. But the rain fell in much more intense bursts than expected, creating a once-in-200-years event that caused burn areas to dissolve into walls of mud and debris.

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The really sad part in all this is they were spot-on in terms of prediction that there was going to be an incident, Brown said. The difficulty really comes in the fact that what they said was going to occur actually did occur. It just occurred much more intensely than what was anticipated.

Indeed, fire and emergency response officials reviewed maps before the mudslides that showed with remarkable accuracy how a devastating mudflow would cover neighborhoods down to the 101 Freeway and beach. The maps were created from water data from the County of Santa Barbara and were circulating at least a day before the mudflows came, said Montecito Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Scott Chapman. The maps showed what epic 100-year and 500-year floods could do to Montecito.

Chapman said the flooding and flows foretold by the map are mostly accurate, with the exception of a small patch of homes by the 101 Freeway and Montecito Creek, which were not as flooded as the map would have predicted.

Even expecting the worst and planning for the worst, no one expected this, he added.

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Its unclear how much these maps were shared with the public.

As the storm got worse early Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service sent out repeated alerts of imminent flash flooding. But for reasons that remain unclear, those bulletins did not reach everyone in the vulnerable areas, county officials said. It wasnt until 3:50 a.m. Tuesday that Santa Barbara County officials sent an alert through a federal wireless system that buzzes every cellphone within range of a working tower, just like an Amber Alert. By then, the mudflows had begun.

Improving the system

Rudman said the outcome shows the clear need to improve how agencies and residents prepare for the potential of mudslides. Part of the problem, he said, is that the warnings officials did provide did not get people out of their homes.

The usual measure of effectiveness is what actions it makes people take to protect their homes and lives, he said.

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Many mudslide survivors admitted they stayed in their homes because they doubted the rains would cause widespread disaster and that they were unwilling to evacuate again just weeks after fleeing the fires.

Jonathan Schwartz, 29, decided not to evacuate  a decision he said was made too casually. When the rain and mud and rock came crashing through his familys neighborhood along Lilac Drive in Montecito, he felt a singular terror.

You saw the mud start to rise outside and feel the ground shaking, Schwartz said.

He said he was aware of the warnings but that the level of danger didnt sink in.

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They did give people notice, Schwartz said. But when people hear flash flood they think, water. Maybe well get wet. They are not thinking of landslides.

I think nobody predicted the severity. Well, they did, he added. We were just cavalier about it.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

joseph.serna@latimes.com

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Times staff writers Louis Sahagun in Montecito and James Queally in Los Angeles contributed to this report.Chelsea Manning, the transgender Maryland woman convicted of sharing thousands of military documents with Wikileaks, has filed her candidacy to challenge Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin in this years election.

Manning declared her intentions Jan. 5 with the Federal Election Commission, which posted the document on its website Thursday. She is running as a Democrat.

Manning, a 30-year-old Oklahoma native, had previously lived in Montgomery County before enlisting in the Army and eventually facing a court-martial for leaking classified and sensitive information. She moved back to Maryland last year after President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence in the final days of his administration.

She is at least the fourth candidate lined up to unseat Cardin, according to state election records, but by far the most well known. Previously known as Bradley Manning, she has been held up as a heroic whistle-blower and denounced as a traitor for revealing information about military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and about detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Cardin, who served 20-year tenures in the Maryland House of Delegates and the U.S. House of Representatives before succeeding retiring U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes in 2007, is not considered particularly vulnerable to challenge.

He had an approval rating of 50% as recently as October, according to Morning Consult. That was around the middle of the pack for all senators and 2 percentage points higher than that of Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who won the race to replace former Sen. Barbara Mikulski in 2016.

Cardins campaign had about $2 million on hand as of Sept. 30, according to federal campaign finance records.

Representatives for Cardin did not immediately return calls for comment Saturday.

Conservative news outlet Red Maryland first reported Mannings candidacy.

Federal election documents list Mannings campaign committee address as an apartment tower in North Bethesda. They do not show any campaign finance reports for Mannings campaign.

Manning could not immediately be reached for comment.

The day after Manning filed her candidacy, the television network Showtime announced that later this year it would air a documentary called XY Chelsea that follows her release from prison. Among the documentarys executive producers is Laura Poitras, who produced Citizenfour, a documentary about another famous leaker, Edward Snowden.

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Manning has not discussed her Senate campaign on Twitter, but has recently weighed in on political issues there. On Tuesday, which was National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, she stirred controversy when she tweeted ... the police, and then, police kill hundreds of people every year with absolute impunity.

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided 7-Eleven stores around the country on Wednesday, she tweeted, so @icegov is literally the new gestapo.

She has written about transgender rights and bullying in columns published on the website Medium. Last year, she wrote a column for the Guardian opposing compromise in politics.

We need to stop asking them to give us our rights, she wrote. We need to actually take the reins of government and fix our institutions.

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When another Twitter user criticized Mannings diatribe on police last week and said have fun never voting again, she responded that she was registered to vote despite her criminal record: state of maryland doesnt disenfranchise.

Marylands primary election will be held June 26. The general election is Nov. 6.

Dance writes for the Baltimore Sun.The presidents question was this: Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

Technically  in its own crass way  it was a policy question. Specifically, President Trump was asking why the U.S. should accept immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations instead of immigrants from wealthy Norway, according to reports of the presidents remarks to congressional lawmakers at a Thursday meeting.

Yet for many black Americans, the presidents remarks, as so many times in the past, seemed to draw a bulls-eye on their skin color.

As they saw it, the president was essentially asking that government policy prioritize white foreigners over black and brown foreigners.

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And beyond policy, for many black Americans, shithole countries was not just a diplomatic insult to several foreign nations. It was a deeply personal insult to the stories and histories of how their own parents and ancestors immigrated  or were kidnapped and forcibly trafficked  to the U.S.

They just worked and worked and worked my whole life, Ike Ndolo, 34, of Phoenix said Friday, recalling what it was like to grow up in Columbia, Mo., as the son of two parents from Nigeria  immigrants from one of Trumps shithole countries.

Ndolos father immigrated to the U.S. 36 years ago for college and earned a masters degree in engineering at the University of Missouri. His mother, while eight months pregnant, followed him to the U.S., where she would go on to work in day-care, caring for other Americans children.

Seeing my parents struggle, and seeing the comments yesterday  I think Ive been angry since last November, [but] this was especially outrageous, said Ndolo, a musician.

On Friday in Atlanta, an interfaith coalition of religious leaders took to the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was baptized as a child, to condemn Trumps statements on the eve of the King holiday weekend.

The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, center, denounces President Trumps remarks on Friday in Atlanta. (Jenny Jarvie / For The Times )

The Rev. Timothy McDonald, pastor of the First Iconium Baptist Church in east Atlanta, wondered about people who heard Trumps remarks.

What concerns me is the silence of all the other people, the other people who were in the room, McDonald said. Where are their voices? The other senators who sat there and listened. What did they say? What did they think? (Though Trump tweeted Friday that he did not say shithole, some senators said he did, while other senators said they didnt recall the comment.)

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The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, who believes his ancestors came to the United States as slaves from Cameroon in central Africa, said that Trumps comments were deeply personal.

I serve as pastor at a church that is filled with people from far corners of the globe, certainly from throughout the African diaspora, Warnock said in an interview. I mean, where would America be without its African descendants? There would be no jazz, the only original music coming from America. There would be no blues. We wouldnt have the genius of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. without reference to the African continent.

Kimberly Atkins, the Washington bureau chief of the Boston Herald, recently did a DNA test that pretty much confirmed my heritage is 100% the result of the slave trade, she wrote in a private message on Twitter. Eighty-seven percent from western coastal African countries and 13% European, all migrated by way of the American South.

She traced part of her heritage to an ancestor who fought in the Union during the Civil War to guarantee his freedom and the abolition of the U.S. slave trade. My ancestors did not come from shithole countries, she tweeted. They were neither tired nor poor. They were forcibly brought here to live in a shithole created for them.

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Trumps singling out of Haiti was particularly frustrating for descendants from the Caribbean nation, coming as the nation mourned the eighth anniversary of an earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of residents.

Haiti is not unacquainted with racists or white supremacists. We defeated our share of them in 1804 when we became the worlds first black republic, Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat wrote in a post on Facebook, expressing her frustration that Haitians mourning was being diverted by an insult from Trump.

Danticats father came to Brooklyn, N.Y., to drive a taxicab sometimes sixteen hours a day, so that my three brothers (two teachers and an IT specialist) and I could have a better life, Danticat wrote.

Danticat added: We are also the country that the United States has invaded several times, preventing us from consistently ruling ourselves. If we are a poor country, then our poverty comes in part from pillage and plunder.

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Clint Smith, a writer and PhD candidate Harvard University specializing in sociology and education, said that he hoped that at least the presidents remarks would prompt a fuller conversation about past U.S. and European involvement with the countries Trump mentioned  countries still troubled by the legacy of colonial rule and military interventions.

You cant understand the economic conditions in which Haiti exists now without understanding the centuries and centuries of direct imperialism and violence and economic exploitation that the country experienced after the Haitian revolution of 1804, Smith said. We cant have a real conversation about what is happening, why Salvadorans are coming here, without discussing how the U.S. contributed to the civil unrest in that country.

The larger conversation, Smith said, is not often enough taking into account the way that U.S. policy directly contributed to the condition in which so many of these so-called shitholes are currently existing.

matt.pearce@latimes.com

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Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce.

Pearce reported from Los Angeles and special correspondent Jarvie from Atlanta.

More national headlinesTo the editor: As an African American male who loves this great country of ours and has tremendous respect for authority, I am appalled by the comments of President Trump. (Trump is a liar, but his shithole remark shows hes often scariest when he says what he truly believes, editorial, Jan. 11)

As a parent, I teach my children to respect authority, but when the person with the most authority in the country consistently makes derogatory comments about other countries and races, how do you respect a person like that? How do you explain the presidents comments to our future leaders?

Trumps comments and actions are not those of the leader of the free world, but of an insensitive, unintelligent, racist, power-crazed narcissist. I fear that the president is causing so many problems that his successor, whether a Democrat or a Republican, may not be able to rectify them.

Eric Williams, San Bernardino

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..

To the editor: Trumps reference to allowing immigrants from shithole countries instead of countries like Norway, while deplorable on its face, is not as surprising as the number of citizens and politicians who refuse to condemn his words.

Putting party and politics above American values does not comport with our exceptionalism as a country. Citizens and politicians, regardless of their political affiliation, need to stand up to any form of intolerance. Remaining indifferent to the words of our president is no different or better than making excuses for him.

I hope that people in other countries realize that not all Americans think the same way. Michele Deady-Paano, Lakewood

The words of Desmond Tutu, a person from one of these shithole countries, captures the need for silent people of conscience to denounce Trump: If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

Mark Henderson, Laguna Niguel

..

To the editor: Recent remarks made in the Oval Office further demonstrate that we must continue to expose the often-forgotten plight of black immigrants.

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Our country is fortunate to be enriched by the contributions of millions of immigrants every year, especially in Los Angeles. It should not be overlooked that Trumps attacks on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and diversity visas, combined with his divisive rhetoric, are tactics being employed to drive a wedge between the black and Latino communities in the immigration debate.

There are more than 3.5 million black immigrants in the United States. When we look at the issue holistically and see that tens of thousands of DACA enrollees are black and that the plurality of diversity visa recipients are also black, it contextualizes the presidents assault on these programs and reminds us that we must not turn on one another in response.

Fear-mongering and hateful rhetoric do not accomplish what weve been sent to Washington to do. Immigration is a black issue too.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

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..

To the editor: Recently, Trump made sure the world knew he was a stable genius. More recently, he wondered why America wants all these people from shithole countries.

Im probably not a genius (and I will not address my stability), but I am smart enough to subscribe to and read the Los Angeles Times, and just before Trump made his immigration query there was one answer to it in the article, Whos picking your food? A record number of foreign laborers. It reported that while wages for farmworkers have increased, not enough locals have applied for jobs.

So, people from poor countries come to America to work in demanding jobs that Americans (and presumably Norwegians as well) arent interested in for the wages being offered.

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Bob Fey, Orange

..

To the editor: Trump believes that the United States should shift its immigration policy away from poorer, developing countries, and instead focus on carefully selecting educated immigrants ... who can already speak English and have professional or technical skills needed in the United States.

What I find amazing is that the Trump administration insists on allowing more than 800,0000 educated immigrants  English-speaking, tax-paying individuals, most either in school or already gainfully employed  to be threatened with deportation.

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I must be missing the genius level of intelligence to understand throwing away the investments already made by this country in these individuals. Doesnt it make more sense to keep these immigrants who are already here and put them on the path to citizenship?

Joan Balaris, Palm Desert

..

To the editor: The thought that a president, especially of the United States, could make such an arrogant and irresponsible comment about immigrants from other countries is just another reason why this country obviously elected the wrong person to run it.

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Trumps comment that we need more people from Norway is totally ridiculous. Why would anyone from Norway or any other European country want to come here when there are probably millions of Americans who dont want to be in the United States right now?

Its just a shame that this man is the representative of our country and is allowed to continue making racist remarks. I hope that people in other countries realize that not all Americans think the same way.

Michele Deady-Paano, Lakewood

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookGavin Newsom releases ad that highlights his push to allow same-sex couples to marry By Phil Willon A new ad from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom features Phyllis Lyon, who with her partner, Del Martin, received the first marriage license after Newsom vowed to allow same-sex couples to marry when he was mayor of San Francisco in 2004. The current lieutenant governors push for marriage equality thrust him into the national spotlight and he has emphasized that effort to portray himself as a bold, progressive leader. Facebook

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Failed California housing bill was not a bad idea, Gov. Jerry Brown says By Liam Dillon Gov. Jerry Brown (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Earlier this month, high-profile housing legislation that would have allowed for four- to five-story apartments and condominiums near transit stops failed to advance in the state Legislature. But had it reached his desk, would Gov. Jerry Brown have signed it? Maybe. I think that was not a bad idea, Brown said of Senate Bill 827 at a meeting with business leaders from the Bay Area Council on Monday afternoon. The bill, written by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), attracted national attention and a maelstrom of opposition in part because it would have eliminated single-family zoning near transit stops in favor of apartments or condominiums. Brown said that a relative of his who lives in West Portal, a low-density neighborhood in San Francisco, told the governor he was horrified by the bill. Brown also lamented dramatically rising housing costs. He said he bought his first house in Los Angeles in 1973 for $75,000 at a time when his salary as secretary of state was $35,000. Now, he said, buying a house for a little over twice ones annual salary is virtually impossible anywhere in the state. FOR THE RECORD

May 1, 9:32 a.m.: This post originally misstated the year Brown purchased his house as 1970. It was 1973. Facebook

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John Cox begins California barnstorm with the delivery of gas tax repeal signatures By Javier Panzar Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, left, and Assembly candidate Bill Essayli load boxes of signatures for the gas tax repeal initiative. (Francine Orr) GOP gubernatorial candidate John Cox strolled up to the stack of 12 boxes in front of the Los Angeles County registrar-recorders offices in Norwalk on Monday and placed his hands on top of his partys hope for success in 2018. The boxes, stacked four across and three high, contained 211,000 signatures for an initiative to repeal recent increases in Californias gas tax and vehicle fees. Cox says the effort has gathered more than 940,000 signatures from registered voters to put the measure on the ballot  far more than the 585,407 signatures that are required. The aim: to bring out the partys base to the polls this November and help candidates in tough congressional and legislative races down the ticket. A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll in November found 54.2% of registered voters surveyed said they would repeal the tax and fee hike, but a survey a month earlier by another group said a majority would vote to keep the higher taxes. Cox was flanked by Bill Essayli, a former federal prosecutor who is challenging Democratic Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes of Riverside in the June primary. Cervantes voted for the gas tax and Essayli plans to use that vote against her. He even launched his campaign at a 76 gas station in Norco. This is a central issue in my campaign, he said. Cox also submitted signatures in San Diego on Monday and is headed to Bakersfield, Fresno and Sacramento, as well as Shasta and Butte counties in coming days. We are going all across the state, Cox said. The whole state is paying this tax and the whole state wants it gone. Facebook

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All Californians would be able to serve on state boards  even people in the U.S. illegally  under new bill By Jazmine Ulloa Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) State lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation that would allow all Californians to serve on state boards and commissions regardless of immigration status. Senate Bill 174, by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), comes as the state is locked in a broader legal battle with the Trump administration over state immigration laws and his call for mass deportations. Lawmakers point to what they say is the states own discriminatory history as their basis for introducing the legislation. The proposal would amend an 1872 provision that was first adopted to exclude Chinese immigrants and other transient aliens from holding appointed civil positions. At the time, antipathy toward the Chinese had been building in California, though, Chinese immigrants opened hundreds of businesses across the state and would play a critical role in building the transcontinental railroad. The Senate bill would delete the phrase transient aliens from the government code and make clear that any person, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, can hold an appointed civil office if they are at least 18 years old and a resident of the state. That would allow any Californian to serve on hundreds of boards and commissions that advice in an array of policy areas, including farm labor, history and employment development. Californias two million undocumented immigrants are a source of energy for our state, Lara said in a statement. It is shocking to read the words of fear and exclusion that are still in California law but belong in historys trash can. Facebook

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Tony Mendozas fundraising dries up after resignation amid harassment inquiry By Patrick McGreevy Former state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). (Steve Yeater / Associated Press) Political contributions to Tony Mendoza, who resigned from the state Senate under pressure amid sexual harassment allegations, have nearly dried up. New documents he filed with the state in his bid to reclaim the seat he once held show that his support has eroded. As a result, five other candidates for the 32nd District senate seat in the June 5 election have raised more than Mendoza so far this year. With the June 5 election approaching, Mendoza has reported raising just $7,750 in cash from six supporters during the nearly four-month period from Jan. 1 to April 21. Mendoza, a Democrat from Artesia, went on a leave of absence from the Senate Jan. 3 and resigned a month later under the threat of expulsion from colleagues. An investigation ordered by the Senate found a pattern of unwanted flirtatious or sexually suggestive behavior based on testimony from six women. Mendoza has denied wrongdoing. Last year, Mendozas reelection campaign raised $412,600, or an average of about $34,000 per month, from more than 350 supporters. Most of Mendozas 2018 total was contributed by the political arm of the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council 16 on Jan. 22, a month before Mendoza resigned. Mendoza also reported that his campaign loaned $125,000 this year to his legal defense fund. That left him with $446,600 in his campaign account at the end of April. Mendoza is running against eight Democrats and two Republicans. Democrat Bob J. Archuleta, a Pico Rivera city councilman, raised the most, $210,000, during the period. On Monday, Mendoza suffered another setback when the State Legislative Womens Caucus endorsed Democrat Vicky Santana, a member of the Rio Hondo College Board. Facebook

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Newsom and Villaraigosa affairs coming to TV ads in California By Phil Willon An independent political committee backing Republican John Cox for governor released an ad blasting both Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for their past sexual affairs. The California Deserves Better ad, which was first reported by Politico, criticizes Newsom for having an affair with a woman on his staff in 2005 while he served as mayor of San Francisco. It also goes after Villaraigosa for having an extramarital affair with a television reporter in 2007 while he was mayor of Los Angeles. The ad, which begins airing on Fox stations in the states top media markets Monday, links Newsom and Villaraigosa to the men accused of sexual impropriety in the #MeToo movement, including movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and disgraced Today show veteran Matt Lauer. Powerful men are finally being held to account, punished for inappropriate sexual conduct with women over whom they exercise power, the ad begins. Newsom and Villaraigosa think the rules shouldnt apply to them. The independent campaign committee, called Restore Our Values, already has raised more than $100,000, said Leigh Teece of Emeryville in Northern California, co-founder of the group. Teece, the CEO of a nonprofit that helps line up students with professional mentors, said the campaign will actively support Cox. She called him a true conservative and noted that he supports cutting taxes and opposes Californias sanctuary state policy. John is a business person who has demonstrated integrity, Teece said. Facebook

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Was that Cisneros in the voicemail? Dispute is latest espisode of Democratic infighting in crowded primary races By Christine Mai-Duc Gil Cisneros speaks during a forum at Fullerton College in January. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) With less than five weeks to go before Californias primary, insults and accusations are flying with abandon in the most crowded races Democrats hope to ultimately win. The latest example of this is in the 39th Congressional District, where a half dozen Democrats are vying for a chance to replace Rep. Ed Royce, whos retiring. Its one of several California contests where Democratic leaders are already worried that divisions could ultimately split votes and shut Democrats out of key pickup opportunities. In that race, millionaires Gil Cisneros and Andy Thorburn are going negative  about going negative. Cisneros was recently elevated to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees Red to Blue program in hopes it would serve as a signal to Democratic activists and donors that his campaign was the most viable. But both Cisneros and Thorburn have poured millions into the race, which promises to be a knock down, drag out fight through June 5. At the center of the latest controversy is a voicemail, allegedly left by Cisneros on Thorburns home answering machine earlier this month. The recording, which the Thorburn campaign turned over to media outlet The Intercept, lasts less than 10 seconds. Hi Andy, its Gil Cisneros. Im gonna go negative on you, a mans voice is heard saying. Cisneros campaign manager Orrin Evans denied the candidate made the call, posting a cease and desist letter to The Intercept on Twitter. The letter, sent by a Cisneros campaign attorney, called the voicemail fabricated and demanded that the story be taken down, calling it defamatory. It gave the publication until 3 p.m. Friday to take down the story before they pursue all legal rights and remedies. An attorney for The Intercept, in a letter to Cisneros, said the publication confirmed with multiple sources familiar with Mr. Cisneros that his voice was on the recording, and that it stands by its reporting. Thorburns camp says it flatly rejects Cisneros denial, and that the timing of a negative website filled with unflattering background on Thorburn, released three days later, suggests it was him. Track the California races that could flip the House According to The Intercepts report, Cisneros campaign manager did not respond to initial inquiries about the voicemail, calling its questions ridiculous. In a follow-up statement Friday, Evans said called the episode a dirty, desperate trick by the Thorburn campaign and said they are readying to pursue legal action for defamation and false light against both him and the publication. It sounded like him to me! said Thorburns wife, Karen, in a statement released by the campaign. She was the one who first heard the voicemail, they said. Thorburn campaign manager Nancy Leeds called Cisneros threats Trump-like tactics and accused the candidate of trying to harass and intimidate anyone who stands in his way. Its not the first time candidates from the same party have clashed in the lead-up to the June 5 primary, and its all but certain to not be the last. Cisneros sued two of his opponents, Thorburn and Sam Jammal, over their ballot descriptions until they had to change them. Earlier this month, Democrat Bryan Caforio asked his opponent, Katie Hill, to sign a pledge rejecting the use of independent expenditure committees, entities that neither of them can legally coordinate with, in the race to unseat Rep. Steve Knight (R-Lancaster). Hill refused and called the attempt hollow and likened it to political theater, while Caforio accused her of empty campaign promises. Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: The money raised in the race for governor hints at a race thats now red hot By John Myers With less than six weeks before election day, the cash raised in the California governors race mirrors the overall dynamics: one major front-runner and a heated race for second place. This weeks podcast episode offers a glimpse into those cash reports and how the Republican field seems more settled in a new statewide poll than the battle between Democrats. We also examine the reasons why a nationally talked-about housing bill in Sacramento was killed by the Democratic authors own allies. Im joined by Times staff writers Melanie Mason and Liam Dillon. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher. Facebook

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L.A. County politician sexually assaulted woman when she was 16, lawsuit claims By Dakota Smith A woman sued an unnamed politician in Los Angeles County on Friday, alleging the man sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager after he gave her an unusual-tasting drink. The politician, identified as John Doe, was in his early 40s and a public figure at the time of the 2007 assault, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The man is an elected official today and lives in Los Angeles, said attorney Lisa Bloom, who is representing the woman identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe. Bloom declined to say what branch of government the man represents. Read More Facebook

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Villaraigosa touts his working-class upbringing, accomplishments as mayor in first TV ad By Phil Willon Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa released his first TV ad in the governors race Friday, touting his record and accomplishments as mayor of Los Angeles when up against the economic downturn during the recession. The 30-second television spot opens with a sweeping shot of Los Angeles and cuts to Villaraigosa sitting on a bus. In kindergarten, my sister and I took three buses to get to school. As mayor, I remembered that, Villaraigosa says into the camera. And despite the recession, we built more new schools and rail lines than any city in America, added 200,000 living wage jobs, built 20,000 units of affordable housing and nearly doubled graduation rates. Campaign spokesman Luis Vizcaino said the ad will air statewide over the next week at a cost of approximately $1 million. The commercial will being airing Saturday. Two Democratic rivals in Californias race for governor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang, also launched ads this week, signaling the biggest ramp-up of the campaign as the June 5 primary approaches. Newsom is the front-runner, while Villaraigosa is battling for second place with Republican John Cox. One recent poll has Villaraigosa trailing both Cox and Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen of Huntington Beach. Chiang has been stuck in the single digits in almost all polling in the race. Last week, an independent expenditure group called Families and Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor, funded largely by a trio of wealthy charter school backers, launched a spot in support of the former mayor of Los Angeles. That ad campaign is focused on increasing Villaraigosas chances of coming in second in the June 5 primary and moving on to the general election. Villaraigosas ad, titled Three Buses, emphasizes the struggles he faced growing up in East Los Angeles and addresses one of his central campaign themes  that hes the candidate best suited to help working-class Californians. I know how far a bus can take you, Villaraigosa says in the ad. Facebook

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein wont participate in pre-primary debate By Sarah D. Wire (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) California Sen. Dianne Feinstein will not participate in a proposed pre-primary debate because there are too many candidates in the race, her campaign spokesman said Thursday. Political activists with the group Indivisible Los Angeles said they had a venue and date  May 5  reserved for a debate with four of the Senate candidates. But they said if Feinstein does not participate, it will be canceled. Feinstein faces 31 primary opponents in her bid for a fifth full term representing California in the Senate. Feinstein staffers initially said she had a prior commitment on May 5 in San Francisco. When organizers offered to let her campaign pick another date, her campaign said it wasnt fair for the group to invite only some of the candidates when there is such a big field, said Tudor Popescu, volunteer community organizer with Indivisible Los Angeles. The invited candidates, all Democrats, were Feinstein, state Sen. Kevin de Leon, political action committee director Alison Hartson and lawyer Pat Harris. They were selected based on fundraising and poll numbers. There are 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats, nine independents and 2 third-party candidates running for Senate on the June ballot. Indivisible Los Angeles is still hoping Feinstein will pick another date, Popescu said. Feinstein spokesman Jeff Millman pointed to a San Francisco Chronicle endorsement of Feinstein, which indicates that she told the editorial board she would be willing to have a debate ahead of Novembers general election. Senator Feinstein looks forward to debating her opponent in the general election, Millman said in an email. Feinstein holds a substantial lead in both fundraising and in the polls. Front-runners in statewide races have routinely declined to debate their challengers, knowing that its free publicity for candidates who dont have the cash to increase their name recognition on their own. De Leon spokesman Jonathan Underland said the state senator has done candidate forums before, but planned to attend the May 5 debate only if Feinstein did. We basically said well clear his calendar 100%, well clear his calendar if Feinstein shows up, Underland said. Wed love to make it happen, but we want her to be there. Facebook

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NRA, Olympic shooter sue California over its restrictions on ammunition sales By Patrick McGreevy Olympian Kim Rhode is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the NRA and its state affiliate against California. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The National Rifle Assn. and its state affiliate have filed a fourth lawsuit against California over its gun control laws, this time challenging new restrictions on the sale and transfer of ammunition. The NRA and the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. filed a challenge in federal court to a requirement that ammunition sales and transfers be conducted face to face with California firearms dealers or licensed vendors, ending purchases made directly from out-of-state sellers on the internet. The lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California also challenged a requirement starting next year for background checks for people buying ammunition. The lawsuit was filed in the name of Kim Rhode, a six-time Olympic medal-winning shooter, and others. It challenges Californias new ammunition sales restrictions as a violation of the 2nd Amendment and the commerce clause of the United States Constitution. Restrictions on ammunition purchases were included in Proposition 63, approved by voters in 2016, and in bills approved by the Legislature. As a result of these laws, millions of constitutionally protected ammunition transfers are banned in California, Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRAs Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. Californias law-abiding gun owners are sick of being treated like criminals and the NRA is proud to assist in this fight. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is running for governor, defended his initiative and vowed to fight the NRA lawsuit. We wrote Proposition 63 on solid legal ground and principle: If youre a felon banned from possessing guns in California, then you should not be able to purchase the ammunition that makes a firearm deadly, Newsom said in a statement. California voters said loudly and clearly that guns and ammunition do not belong in the hands of dangerous individuals  but once again, the NRA has prioritized gun industry profits over the lives of law-abiding Californians. Facebook

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Republicans hope to ride a gas-tax repeal to victory By Patrick McGreevy In a Central Valley barn decked out in red, white and blue, dairyman and state Senate candidate Johnny Tacherra drew cheers from a crowd of fellow farmers when he said he opposes the California Legislatures hike on gas taxes and vehicle fees. I would not have voted for that. It is not the time to be voting on (raising) the gas tax, said Tacherra, a Republican running against Democratic Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, who voted for the tax increase last year. Three hundred miles away the same week, a campaign mailer arrived at homes in Orange County from an Assembly candidate with a message blaring from the cover in bold type: Republican Greg Haskin  tough enough to stand up to Jerry Brown and repeal the gas tax. Read More Facebook

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Treasurer John Chiang launches ad in governors race touting his record as a fiscal steward By Seema Mehta In his first television ad in the governors race, state Treasurer John Chiang touts his record on fiscal issues as California faced the recession. Some thought we were done, Chiang says in a voiceover in the 30-second spot he released Thursday, with images of him standing seriously at a lectern and complimentary headlines about his work as controller and treasurer. But I knew better. I made the tough calls. And brought California back from the brink of financial disaster because you trusted me to manage our economy. Chiangs campaign is spending about $500,000 to air the ad in Los Angeles and San Diego in coming days. That buy is dwarfed by seven-figure purchases for ads supporting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Newsom is the front-runner, while Villaraigosa is battling for second place with Republican businessman John Cox. Chiang has been mired in the single digits in almost all polling in the race. His ad, called Quiet Storm, tries to portray Chiang as a progressive who is effective and can move policy in Sacramento. Chiang points to his work challenging Wells Fargo before arguing that he could accomplish what doubters say is impossible to improve the states healthcare, housing and schools. I say, we got this, Chiang concludes. Facebook

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Been ignoring the race for California governor? Thats OK, in some ways its just starting By Mark Z. Barabak On a recent trip to Iowa, Eric Garcetti  the mayor of Los Angeles and a possible 2020 White House contestant  raised eyebrows with a bit of exuberant outreach. Los Angeles and Iowa, Garcetti insisted, have a ton in common, and he didnt simply mean both are inhabited by carbon-based life forms needing oxygen to survive. Urban or rural, farmer or fashion plate, all of us harbor the same hopes and dreams, the mayor suggested, and if it wasnt a terribly original thought it also wasnt the most egregious sort of political pandering  like, say, ordering that every home in Los Angeles be powered by Iowa-produced ethanol. Read More Facebook

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California voters should expect to decide on an $8.9-billion water bond in November By Liam Dillon (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A proposal to borrow $8.9 billion for improvements to Californias water quality systems and watersheds and protection of natural habitats is eligible for the statewide ballot in November, Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced in a press release Wednesday. Padilla said the measure, which is backed by agricultural interests, had exceeded the 365,800 valid signatures it needed to qualify for the general election ballot. The bond measure will appear on the ballot unless proponents withdraw it by June 28, the release said. The bond is one of many voters could decide on in 2018. A $4-billion bond for parks and water infrastructure improvements will appear on the June 5 ballot. State lawmakers approved it last year. Facebook

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They came for Darrell Issa. They stayed with their inflatable chicken, blue wall and signs for political therapy By Christine Mai-Duc (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) A mother of two turned ringleader of the resistance and more than a hundred of her faithful followers gathered on Tuesday morning outside Rep. Darrell Issas office in a northern San Diego County suburb. Across the street was her foil, a wedding DJ in a red Make American Great Again cap, setting up hefty speakers for an upcoming war of words. For about 65 weeks the deep divide in America played out along this 100-yard stretch of road in Vista. Here, at 10 a.m. every Tuesday, passersby found signs, chants, songs and, if they were lucky, sometimes a 20-foot-tall inflatable chicken with a Trump-esque coif. Theyd also glimpse the state of the body politic in 2018, a time when shock has turned to anger and post-2016 calls for reconciliation have morphed into grudging acceptance that each side might be better off in their respective corners. Or in this case, their sides of the street. On Tuesday, the anti-Issa, anti-Trump contingent fought this particular battle for the last time, declaring it their final protest at the congressmans office. They said they planned to use their energy to knock on doors and get out the vote, with an occasional protest on the side. Their pro-Trump rivals vowed to show up wherever they do. Read More Facebook

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Efforts to regulate bail companies have some unlikely allies: bail agents By Jazmine Ulloa Jane Un, chief executive and founder of Abba Bail Bonds, works with a client. ( Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) In recent years, the seriousness and number of official complaints related to the bail industry in California have significantly increased while bail agents and bounty hunters face limited oversight, putting vulnerable communities at risk of fraud, embezzlement and other forms of victimization. This year, as Gov. Jerry Brown has pledged to work with lawmakers in a push to overhaul how courts assign defendants bail and to better regulate bail agencies, even some who profit from the court practice admit its time for regulation. These bail and bail-recovery agents could become unlikely allies, saying they advocate for change because theyve seen the system abuse the poor. Read More Facebook

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California voters: Get ready for an onslaught of television ads By Seema Mehta After a sleepy campaign, California voters are now being bombarded with television advertisements in the governors race, an onslaught that is expected to ramp up in coming weeks. The ads most frequently seen on television are those promoting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the front-runner in the race, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is trying to secure the second spot in the June primary. Newsoms campaign and an outside group backing Villaraigosa are spending seven figures weekly on these efforts, according to filings with the California secretary of states office and a media buyer who asked not to be identified in order to freely discuss the ads. Other gubernatorial candidates are expected to hit the airwaves soon, the media buyer said. State Treasurer John Chiang has reserved a half-million dollars in the coming days in the Los Angeles and San Diego markets, and Villaraigosas campaign has requested availability in at least five of the states biggest TV markets. The GOP candidates in the race, who will be seeking the state Republican Partys endorsement at its convention next weekend, have been much less active. Businessman John Cox in recent weeks has been spending about $90,000 per week, but doubled that this week in Los Angeles and added small buys on KFI-AM radio and cable in markets including Fresno, Bakersfield and Salinas. State Assemblyman Travis Allen of Huntington Beach, who has been scooping up Republican Party endorsements across the state, has yet to make a notable television or radio buy, though he and Cox have received some attention as commentators on Fox News. Facebook

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Republicans ready to turn in signatures for ballot measure to repeal California gas-tax increase By Patrick McGreevy A Chevron gas station in Sacramento shows prices last year. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Republican activists said Tuesday that they have collected at least 830,000 signatures for an initiative to repeal recent increases in Californias gas tax and vehicle fees, more than enough to qualify the measure for the November ballot. The activists need 585,407 signatures of registered voters to qualify the ballot measure. Because signatures are still being processed and counted by the campaign, backers hope to have 900,000 by the time they begin turning them in to the counties on Friday, according to Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member and organizer of the drive. The breadth and depth of voter anger over the car and gas tax hikes is just amazing, said DeMaio, who hosts a radio talk show. We are seeing Democrats, independents and Republicans sign the petition and volunteering to carry the petition, people from all walks of life. The initiative targets a law approved in April 2017 by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown that is expected to raise $5.4 billion annually for road and bridge repairs and improvements to mass transit. The money comes from a recent 12-cents-per-gallon increase in the gas tax, a 20-cent increase in the diesel fuel excise tax and a new annual vehicle fee ranging from $25 for cars valued at under $5,000, to $175 for cars worth $60,000 or more. The petition drive raised more than $2 million with significant contributions from the California Republican Party and Republican members of Congress from California, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Reps. Ken Calvert of Corona and Mimi Walters of Irvine. Republicans hope the issue will help their candidates for office in this years election and hurt Democrats who support the higher taxes. I think this is going to put Democrats in real bad spot, DeMaio said. A spokesman for Brown declined to comment until the signatures are filed. DeMaio said there were approximately 20,000 volunteer petition circulators who brought in more than 250,000 signatures, with the rest collected by paid circulators who received $1 to $2.50 per signature. Its a pretty comfortable margin [of signatures] that we have been able to hit here, DeMaio said. Opposition will grow, he said, as more Californians get their annual vehicle registration notice. The repeal campaign hopes to raise $5 million for the campaign to pass the constitutional amendment, which would not only repeal the increase in the gas tax and vehicle fees but require future increases to be submitted to voters. We know that Gov. Brown and his cohorts are going to spend an amazing amount of money to mislead voters, DeMaio said. But I feel pretty confident that we will repeal the gas tax. Read More Facebook

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Rep. Duncan Hunter sets up trust to raise money for legal expenses amid ongoing criminal investigation By Morgan Cook Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, has filed paperwork to establish a legal expense fund amid an ongoing federal criminal investigation into misused campaign cash. Hunter filed the required paperwork March 27, seeking a rarely granted Legal Expense Fund through which members of Congress under investigation or being sued in connection with doing their jobs or running for office can raise money for their legal expenses. Such funds are administered by an independent trustee and allow donors to give above the maximum amount they can contribute a candidates campaign. Hunter has spent more than $600,000 of campaign money on lawyers. Read More Facebook

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Kamala Harris says she wont take corporate donations anymore By Sarah D. Wire (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) California Sen. Kamala Harris says she will no longer accept money from corporate political action committees. In an interview with WWPM-FMs The Breakfast Club, in New York that aired Monday, the senator said she wasnt expecting a question at a town hall this month about whether she would accept money for corporations or corporate lobbyists. At the time, Harris said it depends, but she said on Monday that she had reflected on the matter and changed her mind. Money has had such an outside influence on politics, and especially with the Supreme Court determining Citizens United, which basically means that big corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money influencing a campaign, right? Harris said. Were all supposed to have an equal vote, but money has now really tipped the balance between an individual having equal power in an election to a corporation. So Ive actually made a decision since I had that conversation that Im not going to accept corporate PAC checks. I just  Im not. You can watch the video of the interview here. (Harris corporate money comments come about 30 minutes in.) Harris wouldnt be on the ballot for a second Senate term until 2022, though its widely believed that she is planning a presidential bid in 2020. Other potential 2020 presidential candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have also ruled out taking corporate PAC money. Soon after Mondays show aired, Harris campaign sent out a fundraising request noting her new stance. As corporate PACs continue to corrupt our politics and twist Congress priorities at your expense, were going to focus on raising money from small-dollar, individual donors like you, the email says. Facebook

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With money tied up in court, California lawmakers try again with new plan to spend $2 billion on homeless housing By Liam Dillon A man sleeps on the sidewalk in front of the Union Rescue Mission in the skid row neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) A measure to spend $2 billion on housing homeless Californians could be on the November statewide ballot. State Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) is pushing the idea to deal with what he said was a burgeoning humanitarian crisis whose epicenter is here in California. De Leons new measure is a do-over for a 2016 plan passed by the Legislature to redirect $2 billion toward building homeless housing from a voter-approved 1% income tax surcharge on millionaires that funds mental health services. A Sacramento attorney sued over that decision, arguing that the move violated constitutional rules on approving loans without a public vote and that lawmakers shouldnt take money away from mental health treatment. The case remains active in Sacramento Superior Court and its unclear when, or if, the state will be able to spend the $2 billion. De Leons Senate Bill 1206 would put the $2-billion loan on the ballot in November, freeing up the money if voters approve the measure. De Leon said had he been able to predict the 2016 plan would end up in court, he would have sought a ballot measure at the time. We thought this was like apple pie and baseball and puppies, De Leon said. Who would oppose the idea of repurposing the dollars to build immediate housing as a permanent solution for homelessness? Obviously with a crystal ball, had I anticipated the litigation, I would have worked to place it on the ballot. De Leon noted that the 2016 plan had bipartisan supermajority support in the Legislature, something his new bill also will need to get on the ballot. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) is a coauthor of the plan. SB 1206 is scheduled for its first hearing in the Legislature on Wednesday. Should De Leons measure be approved, it will join a crowded list of housing issues before voters in November. Californians will decide on a separate $4-billion bond to help finance new low-income housing and home loans for veterans. De Leon said hes not worried those two measures will compete against each other because voters are aware of the scale of the states housing problems and the proposed homeless housing bond redirects existing dollars instead of raising taxes. Once [voters] know that the impact on their pocketbook is not existent, Im confident that theyll join me and my colleague John Moorlach in support of this measure, De Leon said. Facebook

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California lawmakers say too many former felons are being denied professional licenses By John Myers Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) along with supporters of bills to allow more former felons to receive professional licenses. (John Myers/Los Angeles Times) A trio of California Assembly members urged colleagues on Monday to pass legislation that would prohibit state commissions and agencies from rejecting a professional license for those who were once convicted of less serious crimes. We cant say we want to rehabilitate people, and then block them from getting the jobs that they need when theyre released, said Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). That leads to more recidivism and to more crime. The bills, scheduled to be heard in Assembly committees Tuesday, would ban the use of arrest or conviction records as the reason for denying a professional license. The bill would not apply to Californians who served time for any of the offenses on the states list of violent crimes. The authors, all Democrats, said that a government-issued professional license is required for some 30% of all jobs in the state. Their bills would change the licensing process at the California departments of Consumer Affairs and Social Services and agencies that certify emergency medical technicians. The bills would block prior convictions from leading to the delay or denial of a license unless that crime is directly related to the profession the person intends to pursue. Two of the bills also specifically say convictions less than 5 years old could continue to play a role in licensing decisions. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that keeps private sector employers from inquiring about a job applicants conviction history prior to an offer of employment. Advocates joined the lawmakers at a press conference in Sacramento to point out that limits on awarding licenses should focus only on those whose prior criminal activity could pose a threat to consumers. Continuing to hold people back for crimes that are 6, 7, 8, 10, 20 years old does not actually make sense if youre looking at public safety, said Jael Myrick of the East Bay Community Law Center. One of the proposals, Assembly Bill 2293, seeks to make it easier for ex-felons to get a license allowing a job with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection  the same agency that often uses prison inmates to battle blazes around the state. If a person is good enough to risk their life fighting fires for the state of California as an inmate, said Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace), their previous actions should not prevent from having a job utilizing the skill set that they learned. Facebook

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Assembly speaker rebukes building trades union after it targets Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia By John Myers ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) The decision by a politically powerful labor group to openly campaign against an embattled Los Angeles-area lawmaker drew a sharp rebuke on Friday from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. The Lakewood Democrat lashed out hours after the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California filed paperwork for a political action committee to defeat Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens). Garcia, whos seeking her fourth term, took an unpaid leave of absence in February following allegations of sexual misconduct. She has denied the reports and an Assembly investigation remains underway. Rendon didnt criticize the labor group by name, insisting instead that the decision was driven by oil and gas industry interests. This is a thinly veiled attempt by Big Oil and polluters to intimidate me and my members. It is an affront to my speakership, Rendon said in a statement. We are proud of the work that the Assembly has done to increase jobs and wages while defending our environment. We will vigorously defend the members of our caucus from any ill-advised political attack. A statement from the labor group, which sparred with Garcia last year on her effort to link new climate change policies with a crackdown on air pollution, said it had decided to reverse past support for her. The Trades have thousands of hard working members in Garcias district, and we look forward to lifting up another Democrat in the 58th Assembly to better represent them and their families, said the statement. The political action committees campaign finance filing on Friday listed nonmonetary in kind contributions from Erin Lehane, a public affairs consultant aligned with the building labor group. Lehane said she had begun researching Garcia in November. In January, a former legislative staffer accused her of groping him in 2014. Lehane, who identified herself as a spokesperson for the labor groups political action committee, said on Friday that she believed Garcias hypocrisy threatened a movement that will dictate how much harassment and abuse my daughter will face in her work life. Garcia, who has been an outspoken advocate for women in the #MeToo movement, has complained that her political opponents helped fan the flames of the accusations. Through a campaign consultant, she declined to comment on Friday. Rendons critique came on the heels of a full-page ad in The Times on Friday, partly paid for by the Trades Council, that criticized well-funded ivory tower elites who push proposals that hurt the oil and gas industry. We are the real jobs that fuel the real California economy, read the advertisement. Facebook

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Legal tiff breaks out over independent committees ad backing Antonio Villaraigosa for governor By Phil Willon An attorney representing Gavin Newsoms campaign for governor is demanding that California television stations cease airing an ad by an independent political committee supporting his Democratic rival Antonio Villaraigosa. Attorney Thomas A. Willis, in a letter to the stations, said the ad is false and misleading and violates California law because it uses snippets of video footage from Villaraigosas own campaign ads. Willis called that illegal coordination between the campaign and PAC. Under California law, advertisements made by entities other than a candidate are presumed to be coordinated  and thus not independent expenditures  when the advertisement replicates, reproduces or disseminates substantial parts of a communication, including video footage, created and paid for by the candidate, the letter states. A representative for the independent expenditure committee  Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor  fired back. Attorney Brian T. Hildreth says those allegations have no merit and accused the Newsom campaign of being misleading. Hildreth sent a letter to the television stations in response, urging them to ignore the Newsom campaigns accusations. He said the Newsom camp appears to intentionally misrepresent the law and that the video use was permissible. He said only six seconds of video from Villaraigosas campaign ads was used, which is well within the legal limits. The independent committee is sponsored by the group California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, according to the California secretary of states office. The ad is airing on broadcast and cable stations statewide. The committees ad is focused on Villaraigosas record as Assembly speaker and as mayor of Los Angeles when there was a drop in crime. Facebook

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Governors race snapshot: Californians are generally upbeat but not focused on the campaign By Mark Z. Barabak Armand Werden, a 29-year-old community college student who works the taps at Dust Bowl Brewery in Turlock, said the state is on the upswing. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) As California chooses a new governor  one of just a handful in the last 40 years not named Jerry Brown  the state seems to be enjoying something unusual in these tumultuous political times: a feeling of relative contentment. Not to say things are perfect. Still, more than 100 random interviews conducted over the length and breadth of the state  from Redding in the north to Santee in the south, from the Pacific coastline to the edge of the Sierra Nevada  found most saying things are looking up, at least so far as Californias direction is concerned. Read More Facebook

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Sierra Club backs Gavin Newsom for California governor By Phil Willon Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with members of the public following a debate at USC in January. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The Sierra Club endorsed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the race for California governor, with officials in the established environmental group praising the Democrats record on climate change and clean energy. He has a proven record for leading on environmental protection, public health and clean energy, Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, said in a statement released by the Newsom campaign. He understands that we are feeling the effects of climate change and that California must reduce carbon emissions and reach 100% renewable energy to achieve our climate goals. Phillips said the Sierra Clubs extensive network of volunteers will campaign for Newsom as the June 5 primary approaches. Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune also praised the Democrat, saying he will protect California from Donald Trumps attacks on our clean air and water. The Sierra Club joins a series of other influential groups in California that have backed Newsom. The California Medical Assn., the powerful state doctors lobby, announced its endorsement of Newsom on Thursday. The California Nurses Assn. and the Service Employees International Union, one of the most powerful labor unions in the state, also support Newsom. Newsom is the races front-runner in polls and fundraising. A poll released earlier this month by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 26% of likely voters backed Newsom. John Cox, a Republican from Rancho Santa Fe, was favored by 15% of likely voters and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, by 13%. Facebook

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Californias GOP House members are taking their challengers more seriously and the numbers show it By Christine Mai-Duc For much of last year, consultants and campaign managers for some of Californias most vulnerable Republican incumbents maintained a bullish tone on the prospect that the GOP would hold the House in this years midterms. The National Republican Congressional Committee insisted that longtime Republican incumbents in California had built up reputations as effective champions of local issues that would help them weather a flood of Democratic enthusiasm. Since then Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) have decided not to seek reelection and the NRCC has opened a West Coast headquarters in Orange County. Read More Facebook

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California officials say Pentagon has confirmed National Guard funding despite Trump threat By John Myers (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The awkward dance between Gov. Jerry Brown and the federal government over the National Guard jerked back toward discord on Thursday, when Trump said he would refuse to pay for a new deployment of troops  just hours after his administration said otherwise. And a few hours later, California officials said they had received written confirmation from the Pentagon that the mission would indeed be funded. Trump had earlier called Browns decision to approve 400 troops for a mission focused on combating transnational crime and drug smuggling a charade in a tweet. We need border security and action, not words! the president wrote. Governor Jerry Brown announced he will deploy up to 400 National Guard Troops to do nothing. The crime rate in California is high enough, and the Federal Government will not be paying for Governor Browns charade. We need border security and action, not words!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2018 A spokesman for Brown pointed to a tweet written Wednesday night by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, thanking the California governor for his efforts. Trump was meeting on Thursday with Nielsen at his Mar-a-Lago estate not long after his tweet was posted. A tweet later posted by the California National Guard said that almost three hours after Trumps comment, the state received written confirmation from the Pentagon to fund the mission as outlined by Brown the day before. In short, nothing has changed today, said a subsequent Guard tweet. Just spoke w @JerryBrownGov about deploying the @USNationalGuard in California. Final details are being worked out but we are looking forward to the support. Thank you Gov Brown!  Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) April 19, 2018 Brown was the last of the nations border governors to respond to Trumps insistence earlier this month that National Guard troops were needed to assist with immigration-related duties at the U.S.-Mexico border. And he has consistently refused to allow California troops to engage in any mission related to federal immigration law. This will not be a mission to build a new wall, Brown wrote last week to Nielsen and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis. It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. Exactly what the California operations will cost remains unclear, as state officials have said it will depend on decisions made once the mission begins. The funds would not be transferred to the state, but instead would be paid directly by the Department of Defense. Trump has critiqued California several times over the past few days, often writing tweets that embrace the actions by some cities and counties to join his administrations lawsuit against the states sanctuary immigration law. He made similar comments to reporters on Thursday afternoon. If you look at whats happening in California with sanctuary cities  people are really going the opposite way, Trump said. They dont want sanctuary cities. Theres a little bit of a revolution going on in California. 2:26 p.m.:This article was updated with additional information from the California National Guard and with remarks from Trump. This article was originally published at 9:51 a.m. Facebook

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Gay conversion therapy services would be banned under measure advancing in California By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The California Assembly voted Thursday to add gay conversion therapy to the states list of deceptive business practices, following a debate that focused on the personal experiences of several lawmakers and hinted at potential lawsuits to come. It is harmful and it is unnecessary, Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), the bills author and one of the Legislatures most vocal LGBTQ members, said of the practice. Low, who told Assembly members that he explored conversion therapy as a teenager and suffered depression over his sexual orientation, insisted that the bill would be limited to efforts that involve the exchange of money. Theres nothing wrong with me, he said in an emotional speech on the Assembly floor. Theres nothing that needs to be changed. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, has become the focal point of intense debate on social media. Some religious groups have said that such a law would be a violation of their constitutional rights, while advocates insist the provisions are narrow and theres no credible evidence that the services work. One key part of the debate centers on whether Assembly Bill 2943 would stretch beyond businesses that charge for these programs and extend to printed documents, even Bibles. An analysis by the Assembly Judiciary Committee says the bill would apply only to services that purport to change a persons sexual orientation and offered on a commercial basis, as well as the advertising and offering of such services. Lawmakers who spoke in support of AB 2943 also made clear that they believe those kinds of services have been discredited. This is fraudulent, it should not be occurring, said Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton). But you can still try to pray the gay away, if you like. Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), who said the bill addresses a difficult issue, nonetheless said that its important to ensure laws dont tamper with religious freedom. We have to think about the legitimate experience of people who have gone through conversion therapy and said this was a good thing for them, Gallagher told his colleagues. California law already bans the use of conversion therapy by mental health professionals on those under age 18. Lows bill would expand the states efforts beyond minors. It would join a list of commercial activities deemed unfair or deceptive acts or practices and therefore banned under state law. Facebook

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Gavin Newsom gets backing from doctors group, despite differences over single-payer healthcare By Melanie Mason Gavin Newsom speaks at the California Democrats State Convention in San Diego on Feb. 24. (Kent Nishimura) Californias doctors are siding with Gavin Newsom in the governors race, even though they dont see eye-to-eye on a defining issue of the campaign: single-payer healthcare. The California Medical Assn., the state doctors lobby and a political heavyweight, announced its endorsement of the lieutenant governor on Thursday. Gavin is a lifelong champion for health care in California, and we know he will continue to fight for pragmatic solutions to our most crucial health care challenges, including working to achieve universal access and tackling our states physician shortage, CMA President Theodore M. Mazer said in a statement. Newsom has made his support for state-financed healthcare a centerpiece of his campaign, and he earned the early backing of the most ardent single-payer supporters, the state nurses union. The doctors, meanwhile, oppose the nurses bill, SB 562, which emerged as a flashpoint in the healthcare debate last year. The CMA said the bill would dismantle the healthcare marketplace and destabilize Californias economy. Newsom has said SB 562 should advance in the Legislature, but also said it has open-ended issues that still need to be addressed. The doctors group is also battling with another prominent Newsom endorser, the Service Employees International Union, over a new measure that would impose price caps on an array of medical services paid for by commercial health insurers in the state. The SEIU is a leading sponsor of the proposal; the doctors fiercely oppose it. Newsom and the physicians group have a history of political alignment. Newsom was the first statewide official to support Proposition 56, a 2016 tobacco tax pushed by the CMA that raised revenue in part to increase money for doctors who saw Medi-Cal patients. That year, the association also endorsed two initiatives championed by Newsom: Proposition 63, which imposed new gun control measures, and Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana. Facebook

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Independent committee backing Antonio Villaraigosa for governor hits the airwaves with first ad By Phil Willon Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at the 2018 California Democratic Party Convention in San Diego in February.. (Denis Poroy / Associated Press) A well-financed independent committee backing Antonio Villaraigosas bid to be Californias next governor released its first television ad Thursday, praising his record for working with Republicans and as a candidate for all of California. The ad, which is to air statewide on broadcast and cable stations, is focused on Villaraigosas record as Assembly speaker and mayor of Los Angeles, including on education and a drop in crime while he was at City Hall. To move California forward, we need to help more Californians get ahead, the ad says. Thats why Antonio Villaraigosa brought both parties together to balance the state budget with record investments in public schools and new career training programs. The independent expenditure committee behind the ad campaign, Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018, is sponsored by the California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, according to the California secretary of states office. The committee is spending seven figures per week on the ad buy, said Josh Pulliam, a political consultant for the committee. As mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa clashed with teachers unions, starting with his failed attempt to take political control of the Los Angeles Unified School District. His fight with those unions continued after he left office in 2013. Money has poured into the committee this month from wealthy charter schools supporters: Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, donated $7 million, and Los Angeles billionaire and philanthropist Eli Broad donated $1.5 million. On Wednesday, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan donated $1 million. The independent expenditure committee is expected to provide a boost to Villaraigosas campaign. Democratic front-runner Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has a major advantage in fundraising over all other candidates in the race and has received the backing of the California Teachers Assn. and other education unions. A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll also showed Villaraigosa lagging in third place in the race, trailing Newsom and Republican businessman John Cox. The candidates who finish in the top two in the June 5 primary will advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown says Trump administration will fund his National Guard mission  without immigration duties By John Myers (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Gov. Jerry Brown formally mobilized 400 California National Guard members Wednesday for transnational crime-fighting duties, thus preventing any effort by President Trump to have the troops focus on immigration enforcement on the Mexican border. The governor announced that federal officials have agreed to fund the plan he announced last week  a mission to combat criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers in locations around California, including near the border. The order Brown signed makes clear that the troops will not be allowed to perform a broader set of duties as envisioned by Trumps recent comments. California National Guard service members shall not engage in any direct law enforcement role nor enforce immigration laws, arrest people for immigration law violations, guard people taken into custody for alleged immigration violations, or support immigration law enforcement activities, the order read. The cost of the mission, a spokesman for Brown said, will be paid directly by the federal government. No initial estimate has been made, as the exact amount will depend on exactly how the troops will be used. Though the duties of California Guard members were outlined last week, the state had been waiting for an agreement by federal officials to pay for the operations. Since that time, the president has taken Brown and the state to task over its decision to avoid any immigration-related duties at the border. On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted, Jerry Brown is trying to back out of the National Guard at the Border, but the people of the State are not happy. Want Security & Safety NOW! There is a Revolution going on in California. Soooo many Sanctuary areas want OUT of this ridiculous, crime infested & breeding concept. Jerry Brown is trying to back out of the National Guard at the Border, but the people of the State are not happy. Want Security & Safety NOW!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018 Looks like Jerry Brown and California are not looking for safety and security along their very porous Border. He cannot come to terms for the National Guard to patrol and protect the Border, Trump tweeted Tuesday. There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Browns announcement. On Tuesday, Brown told reporters in Washington that his plan was consistent with a safer border. That sounds to me like fighting crime, the governor said. Trying to catch some desperate mothers and children, or unaccompanied minors coming from Central America, that sounds like something else. The order Brown issued Wednesday after returning from a brief trip to talk climate change in Toronto and to speak to a national trade union and visit with reporters in Washington is set to expire at the end of September. It specifically says no Guard service member may participate in a mission that would exceed the mission scope and limitations related to transnational crime activity. It also says troops cannot help build any new border barrier. 5:27 p.m.: This article was updated with information related to the cost of the Guard mission and Browns trip to Washington. This article was originally published at 5:13 p.m. Facebook

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California bill aims to end practice that keeps workplace misconduct cases out of court By Melanie Mason A California bill would prohibit employers from requiring workers to use private arbitration to settle disputes, a practice that critics say shields improper workplace conduct from public view. The bill by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) would bar businesses from making employees, when they are hired, waive their future rights to take any harassment, discrimination or other claims to court. Arbitration can be a highly effective dispute resolution method when both parties can choose it freely, when both parties are equal, Gonzalez Fletcher said at a news conference on Wednesday. It is far less successful when the more powerful party forces the other to accept those terms, especially as a condition of employment. Forced arbitration has come under increasing scrutiny since the #MeToo movement, with high-profile figures such as former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson pointing to the practice as shielding workplace abusers from public disclosure because arbitration resolutions often include nondisclosure agreements. Last year, a bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress to end mandatory arbitration in employment agreements. Gonzalez Fletcher said she was pursuing an unusual tool to draw attention to the issue  a subpoena issued by the Legislature to compel testimony from a worker bound by a nondisclosure agreement as a result of arbitration. The Legislature has subpoena power but it is rarely used. The bills sponsors believe lawmakers last issued a subpoena in 2001 while investigating price manipulation by Enron. Gonzalez Fletcher said she has requested Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) to issue the subpoena to require Tara Zoumer, who sued the company WeWork in 2016 for overtime pay, to testify before the Assembly Judiciary Committee next week. Zoumers suit was moved to arbitration and resolved. She is now subject to a nondisclosure agreement and could face a financial penalty for speaking publicly about her case. A spokesman for Rendon said the subpoena request is under consideration. Business groups oppose the bill, AB 3080. The California Chamber of Commerce has dubbed it a job biller, claiming it would dramatically increase legal costs for businesses. Banning such agreements benefits the trial attorneys, not the employer or employee, the group said. The bill must first advance from the Assembly Labor Committee on Wednesday. Facebook

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At least 240 House lawmakers want a vote on immigration. California supporters say they arent ready to force one By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), flanked by Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) and Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) speak about DACA legislation (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Rep. Jeff Denham says at least 240 of the 430 current House members have signed onto his resolution to hold votes on four immigration bills, and he hopes House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and President Trump are paying attention to the show of support. But, the Republican from Turlock and his allies said Wednesday that they are not yet willing to commit to forcing Ryans hand through a little-used procedural move called a discharge petition; they acknowledged theres no guarantee that all of 47 Republicans and 193 Democrats House co-signers will back them up if they try to force the issue. Im sure that it is something that will be discussed in the coming weeks. You should not need a discharge petition. When you can show the overwhelming majority of the House, the support of it, you should not need a discharge petition, but it is something we would talk about in the future, Denham said. It is far too early to talk about next steps. Ryan said last week that he opposes Denhams effort, saying its a waste of time for the House to vote on bills the president might veto. Denhams resolution would prompt debate and votes on four very different immigration bills: one favored by the Trump administration, one preferred by Democrats, one bipartisan proposal and another immigration bill of Ryans choice. Whichever got the most votes would move forward to the Senate. All four bills would help Dreamers to differing degrees and include varying levels of border security or immigration enforcement. For example, the Trump-backed bill would also dramatically reduce legal immigration, while the Democrats would only deal with legal status for Dreamers. Democrats say they dont expect the show of support will sway Ryan. Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) said Tuesday night she expects Ryan will have to be forced into allowing a vote. It doesnt matter how many signatures we get. We could have every signature, technically, except his, on the floor of the House and... if he doesnt want to, it doesnt happen, Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) said. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), who gathered the Democratic co-sponsors for Denham, also wouldnt give a deadline for House leaders to act, but said the co-sponsors are only willing to wait weeks not months. We do want to give them an opportunity to bring up the rule and to use whatever process they want, Aguilar said. They do have options, but I think they need to understand that we have options too. Facebook

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Billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer endorses Kevin de Leon in his insurgent bid against Sen. Dianne Feinstein By Seema Mehta Tom Steyer, left, and California state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). (Getty Images; Los Angeles Times) Billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer is endorsing state Sen. Kevin de Leon in his insurgent challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and did not rule out funding an outside effort to boost De Leons chances. I think hes the kind of young progressive that reflects California and would be a very strong advocate for our state nationally, Steyer said in an interview on Tuesday, pointing to De Leons efforts on issues such as immigration, climate change and gun control while he was the state Senate leader. I know him well and hes a friend. We share a lot of values. Steyer, who flirted with running for the Senate seat, did not criticize Feinstein as he has in the past. Sen. Feinstein has been an outstanding public servant who has dedicated the bulk of her adult life to the service of our state and the country, he said. These are two strong, very good Democrats. I just believe Kevin is the true progressive and he reflects something we need representing California going forward. I have nothing bad to say about Dianne Feinstein. I have a lot of good to say about Kevin de Leon. De Leon faces enormous odds as he tries to oust Feinstein, who has served in the Senate for a quarter-century, is well known to the states voters and has daunting leads in polls and fundraising. But De Leon has gained notable endorsements, most recently from the 2.1-million-member California Labor Federation last week. Campaign finance reports released this week show that Feinstein has more than $10 million in the bank, while De Leon has just more than $670,000. Feinstein, a multimillionaire and one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, has already lent her campaign $5 million and could easily write another check. But Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund manager, could write a larger one. He is among the largest Democratic donors in the nation and has already committed more than $50 million to push for the impeachment of President Trump and to register young voters. He was noncommittal when asked if he would fund an independent expenditure group on behalf of De Leon. I dont have any concrete plans for that, he said. Read More Facebook

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Californias largest pension fund sends next years invoice to state government: $6.3 billion By John Myers The California Public Employees Retirement System building (Max Whittaker / Getty Images) As part of a shift toward less optimistic expectations for investment returns to pay for government worker pensions, board members of the California Public Employees Retirement System voted Tuesday to require an almost $6.3-billion payment from the state budget in the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The action, which could receive final approval on Wednesday, reflects a gradually higher annual contribution to public employee pensions by the state and from local governments across California. In 2016, CalPERS approved a half-percentage point decrease in its official estimate of the long-term investment return on its $353.3-billion portfolio. That shift was designed to happen over several years, in hopes it would lessen the financial shock of shifting more of the costs onto government employers. The highest costs are also, in part, a reflection of increases in the size of the states payroll. The states CalPERS payment will be about $450 million more than the total paid in the current fiscal year and more than double what it was only a decade ago. CalPERS board members voted on Tuesdays staff proposal with little discussion, save for a question about the increase in contributions also required from workers hired after a pension overhaul that took effect in June. It seems like it will be a ding on peoples salaries, said Theresa Taylor, the chairwoman of CalPERS finance committee and a member of SEIU Local 1000, the union that represents some 96,000 state employees. The $6.299-billion payment required from Californias state government must now be factored into the budget crafted by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in late June. Brown had already assumed a similarly sized payment in his budget proposal unveiled in January. In February, a coalition representing city governments warned about the effects of rising pension costs under the expectations of less money from Wall Street investments. The report issued by the League of California Cities projected an average increase of more than 50% in annual pension payments made by the states largest cities over the next seven years. A CalPERS staff report notes that the net return on all of the funds investments for the fiscal year that ended in July was 11.2%. But expectations on profits over the next 30 years remain significantly more modest, and theres long been a robust debate about how to properly set those future expectations. The lower the rate of projected investment return, the larger the share of pension costs that must be covered by taxpayers and some employees. Overall, CalPERS officials believe the system has assets to cover 71% of its long-term obligations. Facebook

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California warns legal pot sellers not to participate in unlicensed 4/20 events By Patrick McGreevy Marijuana on display at a dispensary in Los Angeles. ( (Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images)) The state issued a warning Tuesday that businesses holding licenses to sell marijuana could face penalties if they participate in unlicensed temporary events away from their stores, including on Friday, April 20, which has become an annual celebration for counterculture groups. The warning was issued ahead of 4/20 by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control. Since Jan. 1, the bureau has issued more than 700 state licenses to sell marijuana for medical or recreational use. The bureau has issued 47 temporary event licenses to groups that are limited to holding the marijuana celebrations on county fairgrounds that have authorized such events with city approval. Any bureau licensee participating in an unlicensed cannabis event may be subject to disciplinary action, the warning said, adding that lawful participation by bureau licensees in any temporary cannabis event that allows sales and/or consumption is dependent upon issuance of the appropriate licenses from the bureau. While many Californians have been issued medical approval to sell or use marijuana, the law does not allow them to participate in unlicensed events, also referred to as Proposition 215 events after the ballot measure that legalized medical pot two decades ago in the state. Participation in such events may lead to civil penalties for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, the warning said. Meanwhile, a survey of some 1,000 marijuana users that was released Tuesday by the firm LendEDU found that the average 4/20 participant plans to spend $71 on marijuana to celebrate the unofficial holiday, and about 35% of respondents are planning to take off work Friday. Facebook

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California police groups shift position on officer discipline records, now consider support for making some of them public By Liam Dillon Los Angeles Police Department recruits at a graduation ceremony in April (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Some major law enforcement groups signaled Tuesday they are willing to support making part of police officer disciplinary records public, a dramatic departure from their past positions. Local and national attention on police shootings and misconduct has led law enforcement organizations to reconsider their blanket opposition to proposals that would give public access to some internal disciplinary investigations of officers. Were going to be open to supporting efforts that would allow for some records to be released, said Ryan Sherman, a lobbyist with the Riverside Sheriffs Assn. Debate over secrecy provisions in officer disciplinary files came during a legislative hearing on Senate Bill 1421 from Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). Skinners bill, which advanced out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, would require public disclosure of all internal officer shooting investigations and confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. Currently, all police discipline information is confidential outside of a courtroom in California, which has some of the nations strictest standards against public disclosure. Unfortunately, the fact that we have such strict restrictions on any access to public records has affected certain communities trust towards our law enforcement, Skinner said during the hearing. Prior to Skinners effort, other have tried to loosen these rules, some of which date back 40 years. Most recently in 2016, a bid by then-Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) failed in a Senate committee. In debate two years ago, no major law enforcement groups indicated they would accept changes to state laws that would make individual internal investigations public, saying they were essential to protect officer privacy and safety. But Tuesday, Sherman and other lobbyists including those representing the states largest police labor organization, signaled they might be willing to entertain changes. They said they were negotiating with Skinner on the bills details. Law enforcement groups still have major concerns about SB 1421 as written. Ed Fishman, an attorney for the Police Officers Research Assn., told legislators that the bill would wrongfully expose police officers who acted within departmental policy to invasions of their privacy. It has unintended consequences that are extreme and will hurt the public, Fishman said. Tuesdays hearing featured testimony from many who have had relatives killed by police officers in recent years advocating for the bill. Senators on the Public Safety Committee also gave public rebukes to law enforcement lobbyists, criticizing them for a lack of diversity and insensitivity to concerns raised by communities of color. I think that you are completely and utterly out of touch with the realities of how those you are representing are perceived by major segments of California, said Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles). You are not going to be able to continue to lobby your way out of it. The bill faces at least one more committee hearing in the Senate before reaching the floor. It will have to pass both houses of the Legislature by the end of August. Facebook

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Newest member of the California Assembly arrives ready to work on criminal justice issues By John Myers Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove prepares for the oath of office from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon with her husband, Austin Dove. (California Assembly Democrats) Two weeks after winning a Los Angeles special election, the newest member of the California Assembly says she hopes to focus on reforms to the states criminal justice system during her time in Sacramento. Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) took the oath of office on Monday, filling one of three vacant seats representing Los Angeles County in the lower house. The Democrat, a former community college trustee and legislative staffer, thanked her mentors in remarks from the Assembly rostrum. So many women, and in my life so many black women, have paid in giving me the kind of morals and integrity and grit that is required to fight on behalf of people that you know, and people that you dont know, she said. Kamlager-Dove won handily on April 3, receiving 70% of the votes cast in the 54th Assembly District which encompasses communities west of downtown Los Angeles, from Crenshaw to Culver City and as far north as Westwood. She will serve the remaining eight months of the term of former Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who resigned last year citing health concerns. She has said she hopes to focus her attention on poverty issues and on reform of the states criminal justice system. I think we have an opportunity to really push the needle in terms of how we look at rehabilitation, how we look at incarceration, and how we look at changing the lives oftentimes of poor men and women of color, Kamalager-Dove said on Monday in a video released by Assembly Democrats. Facebook

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Survivors of violent crime raise their voices in California to call for a new approach to criminal justice By Jazmine Ulloa Aaliyah Smith marches with her cousins. (Jazmine Ulloa / Los Angeles Times) Her father, uncle, a cousin and two older brothers. Those are some of the family members 16-year-old Aaliyah Smith has lost to gun violence. Then there are her friends. Jermaine Jackson Jr., 27, was shot and killed in 2016 while he painted over graffiti in San Francisco. Toriano Tito Adger, 18, was shot there a year later at a bus stop. He called Smith, who was nearby, and warned her to run. She made it inside a library moments before the crack of gunfire. Last week, Smith was among hundreds who gathered in Sacramento for annual National Crime Victims Rights Week events, where calls were issued for a new approach to criminal justice and public safety in California, one that puts survivors at the center of policy. But a debate is brewing over what that entails. Read More Facebook

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California expects $14 billion in tax payments this month By John Myers State workers handle income tax returns at the California Franchise Tax Board offices. (Laura Morton / For The Times) Gov. Jerry Browns proposed state budget is built on what taxpayers might find an audacious assumption: almost $14 billion in tax payments in the month of April, an average of $83 million collected per hour on every business day of the month. Most of that money will come from the taxes Californians pay in advance of Tuesday nights filing deadline for income tax returns. If history is any guide, the rate of payment could quadruple by weeks end. While tax rules have shifted some of the payment schedules to other months, April remains a vitally important month to the fiscal health of state government. The state controllers office reports more than 15% of all personal income tax revenues in 2017 were collected in April. In the recession years of a decade ago, tax revenue predictions were frequently off the mark by hundreds of millions of dollars. The last two state budgets have seen significant windfalls of personal income tax revenue, thanks in part both to an improving economy and to the continuation of a temporary surcharge on the wealthiest taxpayers  extended by voters in 2016. In the budget plan he sent to lawmakers in January, Brown projected a $6.1-billion windfall and proposed using a sizable amount to top off Californias rainy-day fund ahead of schedule. The independent Legislative Analysts Office reports that through the end of last week, the months income tax tally stood at $3 billion, slightly ahead of projections. By the end of the current week, a single days total could be almost that large. Lawmakers began reviewing the governors $190.3-billion spending plan during the winter, but few decisions are made until they get a look at Aprils tax revenues. The governor will release a revised plan based on the new data next month; lawmakers are required to send him a completed budget no later than June 15. Facebook

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Feinstein war chest tops $10 million while Kevin de Leon struggles to keep pace By Sarah D. Wire Sen. Dianne Feinstein widened her already-massive fundraising advantage in the run-up to Junes primary, raising twice as much in the first quarter than her strongest Senate challenger has sitting in the bank. Feinstein raised $1.3 million between January and March, bringing her war chest to just over $10 million as Californias U.S. Senate race begins in earnest, according Federal Election Commission reports. Former state Senate leader Kevin De Leon, the best known of the more than 30 people who will appear with Feinstein on the June primary ballot, raised just $575,991 in that same period, bringing his cash on hand to $672,331, according to his quarterly FEC report. Read More Facebook

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Trump has met his match, says Gov. Jerry Brown in promoting climate action on a quick trip to Canada By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press) Gov. Jerry Brown told a Canadian audience Monday that he believes President Trumps efforts to reverse course on climate change policy are a momentary deviation as others in the United States seek limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Thats very temporary, I can assure you, Brown said at a joint event in Toronto with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. The governors quick international trip, announced only late last week, comes as Wynnes Liberal Party faces a stiff challenge in Junes election from the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and its leader, Doug Ford. Critics of Wynnes party have called for Ontario to pull out of the Western Climate Initiative, a cooperative agreement between three Canadian provinces and California on efforts to limit greenhouse gases. Brown sought to link the efforts of Canadian conservatives with Republicans in the United States who oppose existing climate change programs. In contrast, he told the audience, several GOP lawmakers voted last summer to renew Californias cap-and-trade program. I would say to the conservatives of Canada, wake up and see what your friends in California are doing, he said. The Democrat took particular notice of Trumps efforts to shift away from climate change policies from the administration of former President Obama, as well as a push by the Environmental Protection Agency to cancel Californias strict limits on automobile emissions. If Trump tries to change that, well have litigation well beyond his term in office, Brown said while also noting Chinese government efforts to produce more low-emissions vehicles. Between California and China, Trump has met his match. What hes saying is not going to happen. Many of the governors remarks, though, were aimed at the tough political situation in which Wynne finds herself with seven weeks to go before Ontarios parliamentary elections. Dangers abound, but success is right in our hands, Brown said. So dont blow it! Facebook

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California voters are getting to know the states attorney general through his aggressive stance challenging Trump By Patrick McGreevy Less than two months from his first statewide election, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has become adept not only at challenging President Trump but at using the bully pulpit of his office to raise his profile with voters. The aggressive effort may help boost the former Los Angeles congressmans chances at winning a full term in office this fall, almost two years after he was appointed to replace Sen. Kamala Harris in 2017. Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, Becerra took office as attorney general four days after Trumps inauguration. Thats afforded him an opportunity to get in front of Californians  and potential voters  on an array of issues including immigration, healthcare and the environment. Read More Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown forms commission for 2020 census outreach By Melanie Mason In an effort to make sure California has a strong showing in the next national census, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday established a state commission to prepare outreach for the decennial count. It is vitally important for California to do everything it can to ensure that every Californian is counted in the upcoming census, Brown said in a prepared statement. The commissions formation comes on the heels of a Trump administration plan to ask about citizenship status as a part of the census. State officials fear that such a question, which has not been asked in a census since 1950, could chill participation among California residents. That could result in the state losing billions of dollars in federal funds and a seat in Congress. The 23-member panel, appointed largely by Brown as well as picks by legislative leaders, comes from private- and public-sector backgrounds, including civil rights groups, religious institutions and educational institutions. Facebook

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Garcetti kicks off Iowa visit with 2020 on his mind and a hardhat on his head LA Mayor - and 2020 prospect - Eric Garcetti makes his Iowa debut at the Carpenters Union Training Center. Fearlessly flaunts the never be photographed in head gear/safety glasses rule. pic.twitter.com/14bUOPXMvF  Mark Z. Barabak (@markzbarabak) April 13, 2018 Facebook

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Asm. Rocky Chavez takes the lead in race to replace Issa, while Doug Applegate slips By Joshua Stewart A new poll shows that Republican Assemblyman Rocky Chavez has taken a clear lead over 15 other candidates running to replace Rep. Darrell Issa in Congress and has overtaken Democrat Doug Applegate, the previous frontrunner. In a SurveyUSA poll by 10News and The San Diego Union-Tribune, Chavez, R-Oceanside, has support of 16 percent of likely voters, putting him ahead of Applegate, a lawyer, who was favored by 12 percent of voters and is in second place. The top two vote-getters in June, regardless of party, will proceed to a November runoff election. Competing with Applegate for the No. 2 spot is Democrat Mike Levin, also a lawyer, with support of 9 percent of voters. Several other candidates were right at his heels. Democratic Businessman Paul Kerr and Board of Equalization Member Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point, were tied for fourth at 8 percent each. Read More Facebook

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Pro-Kevin de Leon group launches ad castigating Dianne Feinstein By Seema Mehta A group that is supporting Kevin de Leons bid for the U.S. Senate launched a blistering ad against Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday, questioning her progressive principles and tying her to President Trump. The ad buy from A Progressive California is minuscule  $10,000 to air it in Los Angeles for one day on CNN and MSNBC during programming such as The Rachel Maddow Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews and Anderson Cooper 360. The minute-long ad features news clips about Feinstein not getting the California Democratic Party endorsement earlier this year, as well as footage of Feinstein saying that Trump can be a good president and appearing to share a laugh with Trump. That moment actually came during a White House meeting in the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting when the president suggested an assault weapons ban should be included in a bipartisan bill to expand gun background checks. It also features extensive clips of de Leons speech at the state partys convention. De Leon, who just ended his final term as leader of the state Senate, announced last year he would run against fellow Democrat Feinstein as she seeks her fifth full term. Feinsteins longtime political advisor dismissed the ad, noting the size of the buy. Its not really a buy, said Bill Carrick. Ten thousand dollars in cable in L.A. Poof, its gone. Still, he said he planned to have the campaigns lawyers review the ad to see if it violates campaign law that limits what outside groups like A Progressive California can do. Such groups cannot coordinate with campaigns or candidates, and are limited in how much their messages can support a candidate. Ann Ravel, the former chair of the Federal Election Commission and the California Fair Political Practices Commission, said if the ad was in a state race, she is certain that the state commission would open an investigation into potential coordination with de Leons campaign because of the messaging and the types of footage in the ad. But the bipartisan federal commission cant agree on how to enforce the federal regulations, she said. The problem is [outside groups] understand that given the lack of very strong enforcement at the federal level, theres the ability to stretch the law, she said. A spokeswoman for the FEC declined to comment. Dave Jacobson, a spokesman for A Progressive California, disputed the suggestion that the ad violated campaign law. This frivolous allegation shows that Sen. Feinstein is afraid of the public seeing an ad which showcases her own words, that Donald Trump can be a good president, he said. Facebook

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Dispute over money emerges in campaign to repeal Californias gas tax increase By Patrick McGreevy A motorist prepares to gas up her vehicle in San Rafael, Calif., in 2015. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) A proposed initiative to repeal hikes to Californias gas tax has been caught in the middle of a dispute involving Republican rivals in the governors race. Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican candidate for governor, decided in January to drop plans for his own initiative and said he would urge supporters to sign a separate petition being supported by several Republican members of Congress. Then last week, the committee Allen formed to finance his ballot measure reported a $300,000 contribution from PISF Inc., a Novato, Calif., real estate firm. Now, an organizer of the still active Give Voters a Voice committee is urging the Allen committee to immediately donate their funds in support of the ongoing signature gathering efforts. There is only one gas tax repeal measure currently in circulation and that is the measure sponsored by the Give Voters a Voice Committee, said Dave Gilliard, a consultant to the group. PISF Inc., he said, gave to repeal taxes aThey love him in Saudi Arabia. Britain? Not so much.

President Trump has shared warm photo-ops with autocrats from Riyadh to Beijing and Manila. But the century-old special bond with Britain, Americas most celebrated world partnership, is more frigid than its been in decades. And now Trump has canceled an upcoming visit to London amid expectations that he would draw massive protests.

News that Trump had scrapped the trip came late Thursday, on the heels of reports that he called African countries shitholes in a private meeting in which he also disparaged Haitians and Central Americans. Trump has since denied those accounts, on Twitter, but one lawmaker present during the meeting to discuss immigration policy said on Friday that they were accurate. No other participants disputed the reports.

Trumps comments set off a wave of anger and recriminations from foreign leaders and their subjects, and added to a growing list of countries  many of them longtime U.S. allies  where Trump would get a chilly reception at best.

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The reactions, coupled with Trumps canceled trip to Britain, underscore a pattern in the presidents relationships with world leaders after nearly a year in office: He has cozied up to the globes leading autocrats while leaders of traditional democratic allies, notably Britain and Germany, are increasingly uncomfortable with the nationalist American president.

Trump said nothing about the anticipated anti-Trump demonstrations in Britain. Instead, he maintained on Twitter that he was scrubbing next months trip, which was intended for him to inaugurate a new U.S. Embassy compound in London, because President Obama had cut a bad deal in selling the old property.

Trumps assertion was false. The $1-billion embassy project, a high-tech building overlooking the River Thames and designed in part to symbolically represent the two countries ties, was initiated by President George W. Bush, who cited security reasons.

Already, Trumps visit to a typically welcoming capital had been much delayed. Londoners had made clear almost from the start of his presidency that he was unwelcome, and planned demonstrations. Members of Parliament repeatedly have argued against any invitations.

One of Trumps first acts, a travel ban for residents of a group of mostly Muslim-majority nations, incited much vitriol in England. His anti-Muslim comments and others against the British, the Muslim mayor of London and Europe in general strained what is known as the special relationship between Washington and London, the closest diplomatic tie that the United States has.

Londons mayor, Sadiq Khan, responded on Twitter to the presidents cancellation of his trip: President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans, but find his policies and action the polar opposite of our citys values.

While the White House disputed that there is any fear of protests, Trumps foremost British supporter seemed to suggest it played a role.

Maybe those optics he didnt like the look of, said Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party and nationalist champion of Brexit, Britains departure from the European Union. Farage had campaigned with then-candidate Trump.

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American foreign policy analysts were quick to lament the situation.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served in the Reagan and both Bush administrations, said on Twitter, using the acronym for president of the United States: Sad when a visit by a Potus to our closest ally is canceled b/c he is not welcome. Europeans increasingly reject illiberal foreign, domestic policies of this president.

Trump was invited to London nearly a year ago by Queen Elizabeth for an official state visit, and he accepted. Prime Minister Theresa May personally delivered the invitation when, following tradition, she became the first foreign leader to visit the White House after Trumps inauguration.

As time went on, however, and opposition grew, that invitation was seemingly forgotten. Also, Trump seemed never to click with May, or German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as he did with other leaders at global gatherings last year.

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By November, the relationship between the Trump administration and Britain grew even more tense after Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos from a far-right British group, elevating a political movement with little support. The tweets drew widespread condemnation in London  one member of Parliament, Stephen Doughty, said Trump is either a racist, or incompetent, or unthinking, or all three  and a rare critique from May, who called the actions wrong.

Trump undiplomatically tweeted back: Dont focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!

The trip next month had not been planned as a state visit. May still would have been in an awkward spot, given the imperative to host her unpopular American counterpart.

Much of Trumps most successful travel has been to countries led by autocrats, kings and military strongmen, where public demonstrations are banned or tightly controlled.

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In Saudi Arabia, the rich pageantry for Trump included the presentation of a glowing orb. In China, Trump toured a previously closed section of the ancient Forbidden City, spoke at the Great Hall of the People and enjoyed an opulent state dinner. In the Philippines, he was serenaded with a traditional love ballad by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Trump has returned the favors, offering kind words to Duterte, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi  all of whose governments have been accused of egregious human rights abuses and zero tolerance for dissent.

In contrast, several of Trumps actions have created friction with traditional allies  U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, his badgering of and ambivalence toward NATO and the United Nations, and his hostile equivocation over the landmark Iran nuclear deal to which several allies are signators.

Perhaps just as corrosive has been Trumps name-calling, thinly disguised threats and occasional unfriendly body language.

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His awkward failure to return a handshake with Merkel when she visited the Oval Office in March made news the world over. Tense phone calls early in Trumps presidency with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rattled longtime alliances with their nations and rippled wide in their domestic politics.

On Friday, leaders from multiple countries were demanding explanations after Trumps comments about immigrants from Haiti, Central America and Africa were reported. The BBC website ran an interactive feature called, What has President Trump said about your country?

The BBC added this, in characteristic British understatement: What the U.S. president says in public about other countries has been a major part of international diplomacy for the last 100 years. But one year ago, Americans elected a man who prefers plain speaking to the language of custom and niceties.

Special correspondent Christina Boyle contributed from London.

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noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbiermanAllies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook

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Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings  one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook

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Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook

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U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook

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Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook

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He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect  despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook

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Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook

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It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook

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New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook

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Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause.  #Georgia  Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook

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Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook

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Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook

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Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook

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Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution  something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm  U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush.



The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T  Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY  LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook

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Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook

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Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

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Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook

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Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook

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James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump  as recently as Tuesday  continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along  that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right  to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook

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Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

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Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook

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Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops  You really are our heroes, he said  as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water  we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook

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Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook

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Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.  James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook

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Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes  he last won reelection by a 14-point margin  suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook

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Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook

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Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January  eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook

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Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook

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Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook

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Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook

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Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election  again, in blowout fashion  but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook

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Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook

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Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes  which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook

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Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook

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Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook

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GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10.  Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook

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Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook

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Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook

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Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook

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Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook

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CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook

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Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks  Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank  when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while  including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook

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Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook

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ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook

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Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook

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Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press  President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook

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Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there  the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day  and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event  a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook

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Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children  the older ones are 5 and 2  about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals  her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican  she the race felt mAs soon as the deluge of water and mud had subsided enough on Country Club Drive, city and county crews got to work Tuesday on cleaning and repairing the battered Burbank neighborhood.

The area had become inundated with water and mud over the course of the storm that hit the Southland Monday. The rush of mud upended several power poles, caked homes along the street in a layer of grime, destroyed several cars and overturned an RV that damaged a gas line, which resulted in a leak.

Residents were ordered to evacuate the neighborhood late Tuesday morning as a result of the leak but were eventually allowed to return to their homes shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The storm brought around 2.33 inches of rain to Burbank within a 48-hour period, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite the damage that the rain did to the hillside community, the Los Angeles Countys system for dealing with storms worked as intended.

Atop Country Club Drive sits a pair of debris basins built around 1929, according to Mark Pestrella, L.A. Countys public works director.

When the upper and lower Sunset Debris Basins reach capacity during heavy rain, the overflow would then be channeled into a storm drain.

However, if the water and mud doesnt make its way into the drain, Pestrella said the runoff would then flow down the street and into catch basins along the road.

Thats what happened on Tuesday.

The street system is part of the storm-drainage system, he said. Those mudflows made [their] way down Country Club Drive and, for the most part, were within the street boundary.

Pestrella said he was thankful that no one was hurt as a result of the mud and no homes were severely damaged.

He said at no time during the storm did either basin become structurally compromised. All that was damaged was construction work to expand the capacity of the Upper Sunset Debris Basin.

Pestrella said county crews will return to the basins on Monday to assess the structures and begin clearing out debris that built up during the storm.

Because of last Septembers La Tuna fire, he said residents living near burn areas should be on heightened alert for at least the next three years of any potential debris flows during the wet season.

In addition to county crews, the city will also continue its cleanup efforts into next week. The neighborhood lost all utilities during the storm.

While the gas leak was repaired by Tuesday evening, removing the RV that damaged the line was a more difficult task.

Eric Baumgardner, Burbanks emergency management coordinator, said workers attempted to lift the RV away on Thursday, but it broke apart during the process. By Friday, city personnel decided to cut the vehicle into smaller pieces that were then carted away on flatbed trucks.

He said Burbank Water and Power will also work on setting up permanent power poles to replace the ones lost in the storm. A temporary setup was installed for homes to be powered when the evacuation order was lifted.

Residents also undertook their own recovery efforts once they were allowed back into the neighborhood. Many went to work shoveling mud from their property and rinsing grime off their homes.

The Burbank Public Works Department will cart away any natural debris such as tree branches and rocks that residents leave on the curb, according to Baumgardner.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_TrucBurbank City Council members took what they think will be the first step to maintain the citys existing level of fire service while saving money.

The council unanimously voted during a meeting on Tuesday to approve an alternative dispute resolution with the Burbank Fire Fighters Assn. with the goal of significantly reducing the dispute process.

Betsy McClinton, the citys management services director, said the agreement will establish a list of 29 independent medical examiners approved by both the city and firefighters association that the labor organization will use during a medical dispute when filing a workers compensation claim.

An examiner from that list will be required to see that employee within 30 days of a request by city staff. The physician will then be required to prepare their report within 30 days of the appointment, McClinton said.

Under the citys current workers compensation process with other labor groups, it could take up to two to three months for the city and labor group to select an agreed medical examiner or state-qualified medical examiner to resolve a medical dispute.

McClinton added that it could take additional months after finding an examiner to make an appointment and get the results.

The dispute resolution is greatly delayed, and, therefore, treatment and return for the employee is also delayed, and that could result in a poor medical outcome for the employee, McClinton said.

Workers compensation costs make up a large chunk of Burbanks overall payroll.

For example, workers compensation for fire personnel for the current fiscal year is roughly 24% of the total payroll; about 18% of the total payroll goes to workers compensation for police personnel; and approximately 13.5% is for public works and parks and recreation field employees, McClinton said.

According to an analysis conducted by Aon, Burbanks insurance broker, the city could have saved about $3.7 million across the 8,545 workers compensation claims filed historically with the city if each claim was reduced by 30 days, McClinton added.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpioThe Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers is marking its 50th anniversary this school year.

The teachers union plans to host a celebration dinner in late spring. Members will also recognize the milestone by attending the California Federation of Teachers convention at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa in March.

Before the federation, Newport-Mesa Unified School District teachers were represented by the Newport-Mesa Education Assn.

In 1967, a group of Corona del Mar High School teachers organized in affiliation with the California Federation of Teachers because they believed the previous association lacked strong, forceful leadership, said Jim Rogers, a former teachers union president.

These teachers penned articles about school board meetings, district leadership and teachers rights for their Harpoon newsletter out of their former office on Orange Avenue in Costa Mesa.

A group of Corona del Mar teachers used their Harpoon newsletter to update the community on school board meetings and upcoming elections. (Courtesy of Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers )

Former Newport Heights Elementary sixth-grade teacher Bob Kelly joined the union in 1972. He recalled distributing fliers to his colleagues mailboxes before work and encouraging them to join their cause.

The N-MFT became the official representative under a three-year contract after it won a majority vote in 1979.

Kelly said they negotiated to adopt the peer assistance review program where a committee of teachers and administrators helped mentor teachers in the late 1990s.

Rogers said they negotiated a 21% increase  the largest ever  in salaries and benefits over a three-year period beginning in 2007.

We went from the bottom of the tier to the top of the tier in unified school districts, said Britt Dowdy, president of the teachers union.

The opposing organization continued until its membership waned and ceased to exist. Rogers said they were challenged once but an election never occurred.

Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers President Britt Dowdy leads a discussion at the 2017 CFT Convention related to health and welfare benefits for members across California. (Courtesy of Britt Dowdy )

Dowdy, who was elected president of the organization in 2016, said his goal as their leader has been to a rebuild strong, trusting relationship with senior Newport-Mesa administrators to develop stronger contracts for future negotiations.

Dowdy said their work as a union doesnt stop at the classroom, explaining that any improvement in the environment for teachers also benefits students.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscellaThe Orange County district attorneys office has seized the petitions in the unsuccessful recall effort against Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter over concerns about potential irregularities, the city said Friday.

The DAs office served a search warrant to take the petitions from the Orange County registrar of voters office in Santa Ana, according to an email that Newport Beach City Clerk Leilani Brown sent to the City Council, city manager and city attorney.

The search warrant was served under seal and we have not received a copy of the search warrant, Brown wrote. I am in contact with the DAs office and hope to receive more information next week.

Further details, such as specific allegations or the date the warrant was served, were unavailable.

Brown said she received word of the seizure from the registrars office. Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley referred questions to the DAs office.

District attorneys spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said she cant comment on the case unless charges are filed.

California election code makes petition circulators criminally liable for false or forged petition signatures.

Phil Greer, a recall proponent and lawyer for the Committee to Recall Scott Peotter, which organized the petition drive, said Friday that he doesnt believe anyone on the committee was implicated in the irregularities. Fellow recall organizer Susan Skinner said she believed a third-party circulator may have forged signatures.

Peotter said he found out about the DAs investigation when the rest of the council did Friday.

The registrar announced in December that the recall group fell short of forcing a special recall election. The committee submitted 10,696 signatures in October. The county threw out 2,357 as invalid. That left 8,339 valid signatures, 106 shy of the needed 8,445, representing 15% of the citys registered voters.

Recall proponents initially said they would seek another round of verifications. But they said this week that they would not further challenge the examination of the petitions after several proponents inspected rejected signatures and said they appeared to be disqualified appropriately.

Recall supporters cited several issues of policy and civility in seeking Peotters removal, including his support of the now-scuttled Museum House high-rise condominium project. The group also said he insulted residents and colleagues and made poor financial decisions for the city, such as his August vote  along with four other council members  to decline the citys share of state gas tax revenue in protest of the tax.

Peotter has said the recall effort targeted him for being politically incorrect.

He is up for reelection in November.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHDHundreds of teens battling kidney disease will gather Sunday at the Glendale Hilton for an annual prom created to give them an opportunity to make merry and potentially offer support and guidance to one another.

Organizer Lori Hartwell missed her own senior prom at Herbert Hoover High School because she was on dialysis. Now, at 51, she emphasized that its never too late to be a prom queen. This years Calypso-themed Renal Teen Prom marks its 19th anniversary.

I didnt always identify with my peers because I was dealing with life-and-death issues and their issues may have been trying to pass a test or date somebody, Hartwell said.

The event, put on by Hartwells nonprofit Renal Support Network, will feature tropical decorations, dancing, renal-friendly food, a photo booth and a special appearance by actor and musician Jack Black.

Black, star of the recent reboot of Jumanji, was introduced to the prom more than 10 years ago by a family member who had undergone a transplant. He has been a familiar face ever since.

Hes been very supportive, and hes so wonderful with the kids, Hartwell said of Black, who often signs autographs and performs at the prom.

Notre Dame High School student Gemma Lafontant, 15, has been looking forward to the event for over a year.

She had her dress picked out and was all set to attend last years prom when she suddenly fell ill.

She got sick that day because of her disease. Unfortunately, it happens, Gemmas mother and Burbank resident, Charlene, said. So, she wasnt able to attend.

Now, just one month shy of celebrating the one-year anniversary of her kidney transplant, Gemma has a new dress and is ready to attend this year  and every year until she is 24, the oldest attendees can be, her mother said.

Federal health privacy laws prevent health professionals from introducing patients to one another, so it becomes more important, creating networking events where patients can meet each other and hopefully create friendships that last a lifetime, Hartwell said.

Although Hartwell graduated from Hoover High, she said she went to campus less than three weeks total her senior year. She knew almost no one in her graduating class.

Hartwell has had four kidney transplants and 50 surgeries, and said she wants to let the teens know that just because you have a chronic illness, you dont have to give up on your dreams.

She has been married for 20 years and, in 2002, published Chronically Happy: Joyful Living in Spite of Chronic Illness, which she credits with catapulting her organization to a national level.

In addition to the festivities, Hartwell said the prom raises awareness that many young people are affected by kidney disease and are in need of transplants.When the Glendale Rocket Society was founded by students at Clark Junior High the current site of Crescenta Valley High  the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II had just commenced and Dwight D. Eisenhower had not yet taken command of the Allied Forces in Europe.

The organizations leader, George James, 14 years old at the time, brought the society to Glendale High, where it gained a small but devoted membership of students interested in the study of rockets.

We have carefully avoided inviting those who have no other interest in the subject beyond idle curiosity, James told the Glendale News-Press in 1946. All of our members contribute something to the project.

Now, 75 years later, the group has survived as the Rocket Research Institute, a nonprofit educational group staffed by engineering, space and safety professionals who contribute toward space- and rocket-education advocacy.

Originally inspired by a Buck Rodgers comic strip, James interest in rocketry during high school secured him a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an assistant testing mechanic when the facility employed about 300 people.

We did not have electronic instrumentation, just big gauges, he recalled. When the rocket fired, we were assigned a particular gauge with a clipboard and pencil to take notes on data. It wasnt until later that we got our first primitive electronic instruments.

As James matured, so did the institute. James and the organizations members over the decades have expanded the group into a collaborative partner with the National Assn. of Rocketry, the Tripoli Rocket Assn. and, in 1968, became a member of the International Astronautical Federation.

From 1962 to 1980, the institute operated a facility near Sacramento that allowed young professionals to safely design, construct and statically test rocket motors.

Model rocketeers launched more than 7,000 model rockets there as well.

When the facilitys lease was terminated, Charles Piper, an institute research director and board member, established the privately owned Adobe Valley Assn. Rocket Ranch Test Site near Patterson.

According to James, the facility is in the process of being updated to comply with the latest U.S. Department of Homeland Security requirements.

James still acts as chairman of the institute and conducts outreach through The Space Advocate newsletter, which reproduces industry news and information to educators and their students.

For more information or to request a free subscription, email rri@rocketresearchinstitute.org.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLandaLots of the news from sub-Saharan Africa is about war, famine, poverty or political upheaval. So its understandable if many Americans think most Africans who immigrate to the United States are poorly educated and desperate.

Thats the impression that President Trump left with his comments to members of Congress opposing admission of immigrants from shithole countries in Africa and elsewhere.

But research tells another story.

While many are refugees, large numbers are beneficiaries of the diversity visa program aimed at boosting immigration from underrepresented nations. And on average, African immigrants are better educated that people born in the U.S. or the immigrant population as a whole.

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Its a population thats very diverse in its educational, economic and English proficiency profile, said Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute think tank in Washington and coauthor of a report last year on sub-Saharan African immigrants in the U.S. People came for a variety of reasons and at various times.

Overall, their numbers are small compared with other immigrant groups but have risen significantly in recent years. The U.S. immigrant population from sub-Saharan Africa (49 countries with a total population of more than 1.1 billion) grew from 723,000 to more than 1.7 million between 2010 and 2015, according to a new report by New American Economy, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. Still, they make up just half a percent of the U.S. population.

Drawing from U.S. surveys and Census Bureau data, the report found that the majority come from five countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa.

The Pew Research Center reported that African immigrants are most likely to settle in the South or Northeast, and that the largest numbers  at least 100,000  are found in Texas, New York, California, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia. Many African refugees have also relocated to or have been resettled in states such as Minnesota and South Dakota.

The Refugee Act of 1980 made it easier for people fleeing war zones to resettle in the U.S., and today there are tens of thousand of refugees from Somalia, Sudan and Congo. About 22% of African immigrants are refugees, according to Andrew Lim, associate director of research at New American Economy.

At the same time, the diversity visa program  also known as the visa lottery  has opened the door to immigrants from more peaceful places. Of the sub-Saharan immigrants who have become legal permanent residents, 17% came through the program, compared with 5% of the total U.S. immigrant population, according to Batalova.

Applicants to the program must have completed the equivalent of a U.S. high school education or have at least two years of recent experience in any number of occupations, including accountant, computer support specialist, orthodontist and dancer.

As a result, the influx includes many immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who are highly skilled professionals.

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Batalovas research found that of the 1.4 million who are 25 and older, 41% have a bachelors degree, compared with 30% of all immigrants and 32% of the U.S.-born population. Of the 19,000 U.S. immigrants from Norway  a country Trump reportedly told lawmakers is a good source of immigrants  38% have college educations.

The New American Economy study found that 1 in 3 of these undergraduate degrees were focused on science, technology, engineering and math  training heavily in demand by todays employers.

That report also found that African immigrants were significantly more likely to have graduate degrees. A total of 16% had a masters degree, medical degree, law degree or a doctorate, compared with 11% of the U.S.-born population, Lim said.

African immigrants were more than twice as likely than the U.S. population overall to work in healthcare, Lim said. There are more than 32,500 nursing, psychiatric or home health aides, more than 46,000 registered nurses and more than 15,700 doctors and surgeons.

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Overwhelmingly the evidence shows that [African immigrants] make a significant, positive economic contribution to the U.S. economy, both at a national level and in districts where they are concentrated, Lim said. They contribute more than $10.1 billion in federal taxes, $4.7 billion in state and local taxes, and most importantly, they have significant economic clout to the point of $40.3 billion in spending power.

That $40.3 billion pays for housing, transportation, consumer goods and education for their children  things that actually stimulate the economy around them, Lim said.

The biggest beneficiary is Texas, where their spending power is $4.7 billion, followed by California, Maryland, New York and Georgia.

Its a population that leverages its human resources and contributes to the U.S. economy by revitalizing communities, starting businesses, but also by working in a variety of professional fields, Batalova said.

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Even those with less education who arrive as refugees often fill certain lower-skill niches in healthcare, such as home health aides, researchers said.

In the communities they were resettled in, they have made significant contributions, Lim said.

In many towns and cities in the Great Lakes area of the Midwest, for example, they have started new businesses, infused local labor forces with younger workers, and expanded local tax bases, Lim said.

A report last year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that immigrants in general had little to no negative effect on overall wages or employment levels for U.S.-born workers, and higher-skilled immigrants in fields such as technology and science had a positive influence on the U.S. labor force.

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Still, supporters of stricter immigration policy back the Trump administrations calls to end the visa lottery as well as programs that allow certain immigrants to sponsor family members to settle in the U.S. They believe that a merit system that selects immigrants based on individual skills should replace the current system.

ann.simmons@latimes.com

For more on global development news, see our Global Development Watch page, and follow me @AMSimmons1 on TwitterIn the weeks since the Trump administration withheld nearly $1 billion in security aid for Pakistan, Washington and Islamabad officials have been working to patch things up and avert a dangerous deterioration in their often troubled relationship.

Several U.S. officials have held talks with senior Pakistani civilian and military leaders to find what one called common ground after President Trump rebuked Pakistan in a series of tweets and then said the U.S. would no longer provide aid to Islamabad.

Trump accused Pakistan of doing nothing to assist in the U.S.-led war effort in neighboring Afghanistan and of failing to crack down on militants that attack U.S. and Afghan forces across the border.

Some U.S. and Afghan officials worried that Pakistan would retaliate by ceasing to share intelligence or raising the costs for U.S.-led NATO forces to use Pakistani air and land corridors into Afghanistan.

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Pakistani Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan went so far as to tell reporters this week that Pakistan would cease a wide field of intelligence cooperation and defense cooperation with the U.S. He did not elaborate.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say neither has happened, and in conversations over the last week the two sides have tried to move past Trumps incendiary rhetoric.

The Pakistani army said in a statement Friday that the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, said in a telephone conversation with Pakistans chief of army staff that the ongoing turbulence in the countries relationship was a temporary phase.

Votel also told Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa that the U.S. was not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan, but seeking its cooperation to capture militants based on Pakistani soil who carry out attacks in Afghanistan, the Pakistani statement said.

Col. John Thomas, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said officials are in continuous communication with Pakistans military, including conversations between Votel and Bajwa.

We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider that might lead to a positive path forward, Thomas said.

Pakistan was initially fearful that Trump would launch a strike in Pakistan  similar to the secret 2011 raid that captured Osama bin Laden outside Islamabad  and put its forces on alert the day the aid suspension was announced.

U.S. officials have given no assurances that as much as $1 billion in aid would resume. But one Pakistani official who spoke on condition of anonymity said his government had breathed a sigh of relief as their U.S. counterparts played down Trumps comments.

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Even the U.S. ambassador, who was summoned for a meeting at Pakistans Foreign Ministry after Trumps New Years Day tweets, didnt have an explanation for the tweet for the first couple of days, the official said. He added that U.S. contacts didnt disown Trumps tweets, but they also found it tough to explain how they would translate [into] policymaking.

In Washington, a senior State Department official expressed hope that the two countries would come to terms and that Pakistan would meet U.S. requests for the handover of captured terrorism suspects.

I am hopeful that Pakistan will do the right thing and turn over the terrorists and honor their commitment, said Steven Goldstein, undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs.

Weve only suspended the aid; we have not reallocated the money, Goldstein said. So now it is the job of Pakistan to take seriously their commitment to us and most importantly to the people of Pakistan who  should want to root out terrorists in their country as much as we want to root out terrorists in their country.

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Times staff writer Bengali reported from Mumbai, India, and special correspondent Sahi from Islamabad. Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.Mitsubishi bets big on SUVs, crossovers

Jan 13, 2018, 5:29am ET

Forget about the next-generation Lancer.

Mitsubishi won't replace the now-defunct Lancer with another four-door sedan. The plans of a launching a development project with Renault and/or Nissan fell through. Instead, the company is betting big on crossovers and SUVS.

"We are definitely focusing our future on crossovers, for sure. The majority of our sales will be CUVs," Nate Berg, Mitsubishi's senior manager for product planning, told Motor1.

The decision hardly comes as a surprise. Berg pointed out Dodge and Chrysler canceled the Dart and the 200, respectively, and rumors indicate Ford won't redesign the Fusion as planned. It's difficult for a relatively small company like Mitsubishi to make a favorable business case for competing in a segment that's hardly profitable.

The prospect of another Mitsubishi coupe looks grim, too.

"The coupe market is a very small market. We don't see a lot of potential there," Berg said. Fans who want to see a born-again Eclipse will have to settle for the Eclipse Cross (pictured) introduced last year.

The exception to the rule is the tiny Mirage, which will seemingly stick around in the foreseeable future. Insiders indicate Mitsubishi has already started developing a replacement for the current car using components from the Renault parts bin. It's unclear at this point whether the model will be sold in America, however.

Photography by Ronan Glon.A tractor trailer driver found illegally parking his truck overnight in a shopping center lot left the lot, but then came back and was arrested for DUI, police said.

Bethlehem Township police said they found two trucks Thursday night in the Bethlehem Square shopping center off Nazareth Pike.

One truck was idling and, when the officer told the driver to move, he did, township police said.

Police said at the other truck, with the engine off, it took several bangs on a window to wake the driver.

The driver, Sukhjit Singh Minhas, of California, was also told to move, but he appeared confused before starting his truck, police said.

The officer offered to take the driver to a nearby industrial park, where he could park his truck legally.

The 39-year-old Minhas started following the officer, but then turned in a different direction and drove off.

Police went back to the shopping center to make sure no other trucks were there, when Minhas came back to the lot.

Minhas reportedly got out of his truck and told the officer he was going to sleep.

The officer then asked for Minhas' driver's license, and could smell alcohol on Monhas' breath, as well as noticing Minhas had trouble keeping his balance, police said.

Minhas failed the field sobriety test, and blew a 0.18 on a breath test, according to police.

Minhas was charged with DUI and an unattended vehicle on private property. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.As renovations wrap up at one Easton Area school they'll start at another.

And that means that students from both schools will be on the move.

Renovations are nearly complete at Tracy Elementary School at 1243 Tatamy Road in Palmer Township. They included a new roof, heating and air conditioning upgrades.

Children at that school have been housed in extra classrooms at Easton Area Middle School since the start of the school year so they wouldn't be exposed to a construction site.

The school district plans half days on March 5 and March 6 to allow teachers to move their supplies from the middle school back into Tracy, according to Easton Area School District Superintendent John Reinhart. Then the children can move back in to Tracy.

Meanwhile, similar renovations will start at Forks Elementary School. During those two half-days, teachers from Forks will move their supplies from Forks at 1709 Richmond Road to the middle school at 1010 Echo Trail in Forks Township.

The Forks students will then move into the middle school. Work will start in March and should wrap up in time so that Forks students will be back in their renovated school in the fall.

The renovations are part of more than $120 million in projects scattered across the school district.

The school board approved plans to build a new Cheston Elementary School across the street from the old one. Renovations were completed last year at Paxinosa Elementary School.

Work will hopefully start next fall on a new Palmer Elementary School, Reinhart said. The Palmer children will move in to the extra middle school classrooms this fall, Reinhart said, so that demolition at Palmer can commence.

He predicts it will take about two years to build a new Palmer Elementary School.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Here are the latest costs and schedules for Easton Area School District school construction

Palmer Elementary School: $33.6 million for a new school. Demolition is slated for the fall of 2018.

Cheston Elementary School: $32.1 million for a new school. Plans were approved in late 2017

Tracy Elementary School: $6.6 million for a new roof, heating and air-conditioning. Work should wrap up in March 2018.

Forks Elementary School: $9 million for a new roof, heating and air-conditioning. Work will start in March 2018.

Easton Area High School: $2.3 million for a new roof put on in the summer of 2017. $3.5 million budgeted for air-conditioning and temperature control equipment.

Paxinosa Elementary School: $17 million renovations completed in 2017.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.Former Palmer Township police Chief Bruce W. Fretz was laid to rest Saturday, with officers leading mourners in a funeral procession.

Bruce W. Fretz (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

A large American flag hung from a Palmer Municipal Fire Department ladder truck as the procession left St. Paul's Third Lutheran Church on Newburg Road in the township.

Fretz died Sunday at home. He was 68.

"Our hearts are broken," the police department said in a Facebook post Monday. "It is with great sadness that the Palmer Township Police Department announces the passing of retired police Chief Bruce Fretz, yesterday."

Fretz was a 1967 graduate of then-Easton High School, who enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a communications technician for three years in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He went on to graduate from Northampton Community College and joined the Palmer Township police force in September 1970.

01/8/2018 Our hearts are broken. It is with great sadness that the Palmer Township Police Department announces the... Posted by Palmer Township Police Department on Monday, January 8, 2018

Fretz rose through the ranks, promoted to corporal in 1990, lieutenant in 1993 and, finally, to chief in 1994 following the retirement of former Chief Charles Lutz.

Fretz retired in March 2012 after more than 41 years with the department. His successor, police Chief Larry Palmer, remains in the position today.

Fretz leaves behind his wife of 45 years, Karen, two sons, five grandchildren and other survivors.

Interment is private.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.The Lehigh Valley's dining scene has lost a beloved source of ethnic cuisine.

Mariam's Restaurant, the Ethiopian eatery that opened in 2013, has closed for good, with no plans to re-open elsewhere, according to The Morning Call.

The restaurant's co-owner Ebisa Mulata told the Call that the closure was due to family health issues. Mariam's, which was located at 446 N. Seventh St. in Allentown, has reportedly been closed since December.

As of Friday afternoon, the restaurant's windows were covered, and a call to its listed phone number produced a message saying the number was no longer in service.

The closure leaves local diners without a reliable space to dig into Ethiopian favorites like lamb and beef tibs; a stir-fry with vegetables; or chicken and beef wot, a stew dish with vegetables, spices and butter. A Google search suggests that the closest options for Ethiopian food are Almaz Cafe in Norristown and Dashen Ethiopian Cuisine in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ethiopian food is typically served on a spongey bread called injera, which is torn off to pick up the rich, spicy meats and vegetables.

Ebisa Mulata owned Mariam's with his wife, Beleteshachew Mulata, who also worked as the chef. In addition to the signature Ethiopian food, the restaurant sold American standards like cheesesteaks and hamburgers.

The restaurant was well-regarded among diners seeking hearty, affordable food, and was selected last year among the Lehigh Valley's top chefs' favorite places for cheap eats.

This isn't the only hit the local dining scene has taken recently. The Emmaus French restaurant 187 Rue Principale closed this week just a few months after changing its no-tipping policy.

Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.TROPHIES

The Harmony Township Volunteer Fire Co. experienced a first this week -- a call to help a white-tailed deer that went through the ice at a pond on Allens Mill Road. Fire Chief Wes Garrison said when it became apparent the doe couldn't get out on her own, firefighters Kyle McKenna and John Latourette donned protective suits and took a metal boat onto the snow-covered pond. They lifted the exhausted deer into the boat; five firefighters and three state troopers pulled the boat over snow to the shore. Garrison said firefighters drill for such emergencies; this was their first chance to use the special boat for an icy water rescue.

Friends and acquaintances of Liz Rivera are mourning her death after the homeless Bethlehem woman was struck by an SUV on Broad Street. Many in the community knew her as the cheerful, petite woman who sold handmade crafts in Downtown Bethlehem. A memorial was established next a bench on East Broad Street where she to set up shop. A GoFundMe was set up to raise $15,000 for expenses.

Local police departments in the Easton area now have a supply of military-grade tourniquets, thanks to Easton Hospital. The gift was made to departments in Easton, Forks Township, Palmer Township and Wilson in recognition of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. The need for tourniquets was driven home when Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Seth Kelly was shot in the course of a traffic stop on Route 33 in November. Emergency workers said he saved his own life by applying a tourniquet until he could get to a hospital.

Good detective work by the Phillipsburg Police Department and others resulted in the arrest of a man suspected of setting a fire and committing two burglaries in one night. Police charged Jorge Segarra, 53, of the 100 block of Washington Street in connection with burglaries at SoMa Downtown Grill and Just Subs, as well as a fire that destroyed a vacant building at 224 Stockton St. -- all within a few hours. Police Chief Robert Stettner said the investigation was assisted by the Phillipsburg and Harmony Township fire departments, the town emergency squad and public works department.

TURKEYS

Unwanted solicitations from telemarketers seem to be spreading like the flu, and the epidemic is hitting New Jersey particularly hard, according to a survey by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC received 3,593 complaints per 100,000 residents from New Jersey, the highest rate in the nation. Pennsylvania was in 25th place, registering 2,126 complaints per 100,000. The FTC and state "do not call" lists are far from impenetrable. People are reporting an increasing number of calls on cell phones, some from "spoofers" who use local numbers to trick recipients into thinking a friend or neighbor is trying to contact them.It has been six years since the fateful night when a man was robbed of his life in a gas station holdup. Now the hearings, the trials, the pleas -- they are all over.

The last of the four young adults who participated in the crime, 24-year-old Zachary Flowers, learned his punishment late Friday afternoon: He will serve 35 years in state prison for felony murder.

Already in prison are his sister, 27-year-old Alexis Flowers, serving 20 years as an accomplice to manslaughter; David Beagell, also 27, serving 12 years as an accomplice to armed robbery; and Andy Torres, 28, serving 40 years for felony murder.

Zachary Flowers, of Allentown, is sentenced Jan. 12, 2018, for his role in a deadly 2012 gas station holdup in Phillipsburg. (Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com)

"Today marks the closure ... of a case that's lasted six years," Warren County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald told Judge H. Matthew Curry during Flowers' sentencing hearing Friday.

"What happened," he continued, "it was horrible, it was tragic. And a human being lost his life."

Early the morning of Jan. 5, 2012, the four hatched a plan to hold up a gas station and drove from Allentown -- where they all lived except for Beagell, who is from Blakeslee, Pennsylvania -- to Phillipsburg, going to the BP gas station on South Main Street.

Beagell and Alexis Flowers stayed in the car while Zachary Flowers and Torres took a shotgun and robbed Kismathdas Kasam, the 47-year-old attendant, who was blasted in the leg during the heist and died two days later.

All four were arrested within a week, and all but Torres accepted plea deals that year.

The four people charged in connection with a fatal shooting Jan. 5, 2012, in Phillipsburg are, from left, Andrew Torres, Zachary Flowers, Alexis Flowers and David Beagell. (Courtesy photos | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Authorities accused Torres of being the gunman and were relying on the testimony of his cohorts to prove it. Beagell testified against Torres in the 2015 trial, but the Flowers siblings refused. As a result, Torres was acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted on all other counts, including felony murder -- a charge levied when a death occurs during commission of another crime.

Beagell's cooperation maintained his reduced sentence. Alexis Flowers cut another, less favorable plea deal in 2016. Zachary Flowers, who had initially faced a 17-year sentence under his plea, went to trial and was convicted in November of felony murder.

Like Torres, he could have faced up to life in prison. The prosecution argued that under normal circumstances, Flowers should be sentenced 40-45 years, but acknowledged that the court would not sentence him more harshly than Torres and instead asked for 38 years.

Zachary Flowers is led from the Warren County courtroom after his sentencing Jan. 12, 2018. (Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Unlike Beagell, who at his own sentencing on Tuesday gave a tearful apology while family watched from the gallery, Flowers was silent through the proceeding, only speaking once to acknowledge a question from the judge. No one but court staff and a reporter was there to observe the proceeding.

A sheriff's officer led him from the courtroom as he arrived -- in shackles.

Flowers must serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.COUNCILLORS have rallied in support of Limerick's Woodlands House Hotel, after a presentation was given by its owner, Mary Fitzgerald, urging the council to reconsider its road plans.The current design for the new Foynes to Limerick road, which would include an Adare bypass , and would mean that the exit for Adare would be situated further away from the hotel than the current main route, the N21.According to Mary Fitzgerald and consultants representing the hotel, the business relies on passing trade for up to 80 percent of their income, and benefits from its convenient location near the Lantern Lodge at the entrance to Adare from the city.The hotel stands to lose 3.7m annually come 2027 if the current plan goes ahead, according to a Grant Thornton consultant representing the Woodlands.This would leave the Woodlands open to damage, threatening the 230 employees. new proposal by the hotels consultants , which placed the interchange exit at the Lantern Lodge and eliminated at least three roundabouts on the route to the business, was unanimously supported by councillors.Ms Fitzgerald emphasised that her family business is in favour of the bypass, but care would be needed not to put large employers in an inconvenient location for customers.At a special full council meeting called to debate the current route, all the councillors present - up to 37 out of the full 40 at any one time - supported the hotels proposed route.There are 230 jobs there and they are looking to expand to 300. Many of our families have worked there to support their families and our young people to support their further education. Protect our local businesses, said Cllr Richard ODonoghue.Cllr Kevin Sheahan said that he cannot understand the current design, adding that the Woodlands is a natural pit stop from Dublin to Kerry.When did we decide in this country to destruct success? he asked.Cllr Liam Galvin said that under no circumstances could councillors support what he called a dangerous proposal that endangers jobs. How can we go back to the people and say your jobs are in danger because of the stroke of a pen? he asked.Cllr Eddie Ryan said that roads have been changed for the sake of the snail or the frog - and Cllr Kevin Sheahan exclaimed that if we can accommodate the snail we can accommodate the people.Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr Stephen Keary, said that there have been mistakes made in the past with regards to bypasses, citing the motorway from Dublin to Limerick which has decimated towns.The Lantern Lodge is the gate to Adare, said Cllr Daniel Butler. To take that away is to take away something really special from a historical perspective - it would change the tourism experience of Adare, he added.According to Cllr James Collins, if a new business were offering 200 or 300 jobs, LCCC would be asking what it could do to help them.Director of services Kieran Lehane said that the design team is still open to submissions, and committed to examining the new proposal closely. Once the plans are finalised, the design will be submitted to An Bord Pleanala, which Mr Lehane called the ultimate decision maker.Mr Lehane said that an economist is now being appointed to assess the new designs and the economic impact submitted by the Fitzgeralds representatives.Mayor Stephen Keary expressed concern that an economist has been appointed at this hour of the day when the route is already designed.But Mr Lehane said that the route has been designed with economic considerations all along - the new economist is specifically tasked with assessing the Woodlands case.Councillors will have a chance to view the next design update in February.A DIRECT Provision centre on the Limerick city outskirts has defended itself after asylum seekers believed they were denied Christmas Day celebrations.

Residents at Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre claimed that, after raising funds to host a celebration in the communal hall on Christmas Day, they were unable to access the space as it was locked.

It is understood that a staff member had been informed of the event, but that permission was not granted to host it.

Can you imagine having more than 50 children, dressed up in new clothes, waiting to go and celebrate Christmas with everyone, and then just be told that it is not going to happen? sources told the Leader.

Following a Limerick Leader report on December 30, Minister for Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan ordered management at the centre to issue his office with a report on the matter.

In their report, management said that Christmas was celebrated through a programme of events.

It said that Santa visited the site with presents for all children and teenagers on December 14; all teenagers went bowling and to Supermacs on December 18; all pre-school children, babies and their parents to Dreamland on December 19; all primary school children went to the cinema on December 20; on December 21, there was a party with a visit from Santa; and on Christmas morning, all residents were given presents.

Management said that on Christmas Day, the night manager was approached by a resident and informed that a childrens party would take place at 8pm.

The party took place and went on until after 2am and gave rise to a number of complaints by residents because of noise.

Generally management would assist in arranging a social event but could not on this occasion due to the late notice given.

Subsequently, Doras Luimni and Every Child is Your Child organised a belated Christmas celebration for young people at Knockalisheen, at the RollerJam hall on Ballysimon Road.

Doras Luimni CEO, Leonie Kerins said the party was to compensate in some way for the disappointment experienced by the children and their families.RELOCATION is the only solution for the Limerick couple, Eamon and Marie Roche, whose home is under threat from river bank erosion, councillors agreed when the Newcastle West Municipal District met this week.

The Roche home at New Street, Abbeyfeale, was now just the width of a table away from being swept into the river, Cllr Liam Galvin claimed.

But Cllr Galvin did not accept the position put forward by the OPW that it had no responsibility for the Feale or its riverbank and would not pay the 500,000 needed to shore up the riverbank along the rear of New Street. The OPW also said it could not help relocate the Roches because their home had not actually been flooded. The issue was erosion, not flooding.

But, argued Cllr Galvin, there was a precedent in Abbeyfeale, citing work funded by the OPW on a house on the bank of the Allaughaun, a tributary of the Feale. He also pointed out the site on which the Roches house was built was originally owned by the Council yet the Council had not informed councillors of this.

And why, he asked, did the local authority give planning permission for a house without any condition to build a defensive wall?

It was, he said, disgraceful planning.

The planning decision at the time, 1999, was based on the information available, Gordon Daly, director of services told councillors. Either there was no erosion there at the time or it wasnt anticipated, he said.

If the planning authority wasnt aware there was an erosion issue there then, there is something radically wrong, Cllr Seamus Browne said. How did the local authority have no knowledge of an erosion issue there when the developer did?

The planners failed us, Cllr Jerome Scanlan said.

I dont think the Roche home can be saved, Cllr John Sheahan said. But the immediate need was to relocate them to a new home of their own, not a rented property. He argued that chief executive Conn Murray should lobby for a derogation so the OPWs relocation fund could be used to buy the Roches a new home.

However, he also argued that some of the 57m allocated for flood works in Limerick could be used to carry out the remedial works needed along the bank.

I am not here to get into a blame game, Cllr Francis Foley said. The Roches had been living a nightmare, living in hell for the past months, he said. Have we a plan for them in case the house is washed away?

Councillors asked for an update on the relocation issue within a week. A public meeting on the matter will take place in Glorach Theatre, Abbeyfeale next Tuesday at 8pm.FIANNA Fail TD Willie ODea has said that it is shocking that Health Minister Simon Harris didnt have the foresight to provide extra funding to deliver more beds at University Hospital Limerick.

Deputy ODea has this week called on Minister Harris to outline a funding plan to increase bed capacity at UHL in order to meet proposed targets in the Bed Capacity Review.

Its shocking that Minister Harris didnt have the foresight to recognise that additional funding is needed to deliver more beds in Irish hospitals such as University Hospital Limerick, which is consistently one of the most overcrowded hospitals in the country.

Despite this, the Minister failed to secure extra funding for hospital beds in Budget 2018. He has not outlined what discussions he had, if any, with the Department of Finance regarding additional funding for hospital beds. There is already a 346m black hole in the health estimates as identified in the HSE service plan which will make the delivery of extra beds without additional funding impossible, he stated this Tuesday.

The city TD said the lack of provision of extra beds at UHL is indefensible.

Experts have been calling for additional bed capacity in our hospitals to tackle the overcrowding crisis. The Bed Capacity Review was established to determine the extent of this additional bed requirement. It was never going to recommend a reduction in beds, so Fine Gaels failure to put in place a funding plan in advance of its publication is shocking.

He said that the Minister must set out a plan that details additional funding to be provided this year and next year.

Fine Gael have to get real about delivering additional capacity in our hospitals. We know that demographic change means that there will be more and more demand placed on our health service in the years ahead. Additional capacity is needed to ensure all people get the care they need.

The UL Hospitals Group has put in a bid to secure funding from the Department of Health for the 25m project, which could alleviate UHLs overcrowding problem.

According to a report by the INMO last week, there were 203 patients being treated on emergency department trolleys and on additional trolleys or beds in the wards at UHL.ADARE has played host to a group of some of the UKs most elite showjumpers as they gathered to celebrate the 60th birthday of Olympic gold-medal-winning horseman Nick Skelton.

The band of around 20, all high profile members of the eventing world, included others who are well-decorated with Olympic gold medals, including Capt Mark Phillips, former husband of Princess Anne and father of royals Peter and Zara Phillips.

Enjoying some downtime at the Dunraven Arms Hotel last week, Nick Skelton said that he enjoys visiting a place he described as being a very horsey area.

My birthday was actually on December 30, but we decided to come in January. Ive known (hoteliers) Bryan and Louis (Murphy) for a good many years. I thought it would be nice to go away with a few friends  theres about 20 of us  and to stop in here for three nights. Its been really good, theyve looked after us really well, Skelton told the Limerick Leader at the Adare hotel.

In West Limerick with the group were celebrated riders William Funnell, Laura Kraut, Lauren Hough, David McPherson, Pippa Funnell, as well as other friends and family.

So what does a group of internationally acclaimed equestrians do while in the Mid-West?

We were talking about going to visit a hunt but I dont know if well get everybody together in time today, he laughed.

We went to Coolmore (the world famous stud farm in Tipperary) and had a tour around. That was very good. Weve gone across to Adare Manor for lunch and relaxed around Adare. We are generally just having a good time, said Mr Skelton.

The Dunraven received high praise from the celebrated horseman, who said that he always likes to stop in whenever hes in Ireland.

For me, its one of my favourite hotels in the world, and Ive been to a lot of hotels in my time. The way they look after you, and the food is brilliant. And we always have good fun, he said. For me to get 20 people organised, my two sons and friends and that, and to get everybody together at the same time in our game is pretty difficult. So it was a good time of the year to come, he added.

Skelton retired in May of last year, but it hasnt been leisure, he said.

I still ride at home, and we have horses, we buy and sell, train riders as well. My sons are involved with the racing, they have racehorses. Dans a trainer and Harrys a jockey. So its still very busy.

Nick Skelton won Britains first ever individual Olympic gold for showjumping in Rio at the age of 58, in 2016. In 2012, at the age of 54, he won gold as part of the winning Great Britain team.

I was always interested in horses. Ive been lucky with horses, theyve taken me all around the world, and Ive gotten to meet and see a lot of different people and different places, so its been a great life.A WOMAN who is accused of assaulting a Limerick prison officer was granted bail despite admitting that she lives lives all over the place including in caravans and hostels.

Sorcha Burgess, aged 42, who agreed to stay at a hostel in Tralee is charged under the provisions of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act in relation to an incident which is alleged to have happened at Limerick Prison on July 27, 2016.

Explaining the delay in bringing the case before the court, Inspector Paul Reidy said the defendant had failed to appear in court on 15 occasions in the past and that gardai had been seeking to locate her for a number of months in order to prefer the charge.

He told Limerick District Court the matter is to proceed on a summary basis but expressed concern the defendant would not appear in court given her previous record of non-attendance.

In her evidence, Ms Burgess said her life has been difficult in recent times and that she has no permanent address.

I stay all over the place, she said adding that she generally lives in North Kerry in hostels or caravans in Tralee, Killarney and Listowel.

On occasion, she added, she rents a caravan at Banna beach.

Solicitor Sarah Ryan said her client would abide by any conditions imposed by the court including living at a named hostel in Tralee.

When asked by Judge Mary Larkin if she had money on her, the defendant confirmed she was in a position to pay 50 as a cash surety.

Is it refundable? she asked to which the judge replied: Only if you turn up in court  if you dont it will be estreated.

The judge went on to explain that this meant the State will take your money.

Granting bail, Judge Larkin imposed a number of strict conditions.

Ms Burgess was ordered to live at the hostel in Tralee, obey a nightly curfew and to sign on three times a week at Tralee garda station.

She was ordered not to have any contact with the prison officer and to stay away from Limerick Prison pending the conclusion of the case.

The defendant, who is due back before the court on March 14 next, was ordered to give her mobile phone number to gardai and to keep the phone turned on, charged and in credit 24-7.Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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Support our mission and join our community now.MORE than 25mm of rainfall was recorded in parts of County Limerick between 9am on Friday and 9am this Saturday, Met Eireann has confirmed.

In a message on social media, the national forecaster posted a graphic which showed the extent of the rainfall across the country over the 24 hour period.

While counties Cork and Kerry were the worst affected areas with more than 50mm of rainfall in places, there were pockets in Limerick  particularly around Anglesboro, Kilbehenny, Tournafulla and Abbeyfeale, where heavy rainfall was recorded.

According to the graphic, most parts of Limerick experienced between 10mm and 25mm of rainfall.

24 hour rainfall from 9am Friday to 9am this morning.

Over 50mm was recorded in parts of Cork & Kerry.

Dublin only received 0.1mm. This is due to the shadowing effect from the Wicklow Mts when there is a southerly wind direction. pic.twitter.com/LDlJESs0gt January 13, 2018

The heavy rainfall had been forecast with Met Eireann issuing a status yeallow weather alert on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the weather outlook looks to be relatively stable for the remainder of the weekend.

However, scattered showers are being forecast with a possibility of some mist and dense fog in some places late tonight and into the early hours of Sunday.Patti Jo Newell

Background: She was born in Detroit and grew up west of the city in suburban Livonia. She initially trained as a dancer in Chicago and eventually came to New York. She graduated from Hunter College, where she majored in political science, and received a master of divinity at the New York Theological Seminary. In 1993, she married her husband, Bruce Rodgers, and moved to Albany. He works for Habitat for Humanity, she previously worked with the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. They live in Pine Hills with their son. She also has two adult stepchildren and three grandchildren with another on the way. She is a co-chair of the Inclusivity Team at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany and vice president of the Board of Trustees.

Did you grow up in a Unitarian household?

I was raised in the Episcopal Church, and it was a big part of our lives. We were regulars at Sunday services and Sunday school, and I went to church camp in the summer and participated in youth group and other activities. While my personal faith was always important to me, I was not an active churchgoer during my 20s, which is not uncommon. I was a postulant with the Episcopal Church during most of my time in seminary, but, while I declined to continue with that process, I was very invested in completing my degree. I continue to have great respect, and no bad feelings, for the Episcopal tradition.

How did you come to be a Unitarian?

I suppose it started in seminary. When you're in a creedal tradition, there's enormous specificity about belief. It can be a very tight fit. I went to seminary with a woman who subsequently became an ordained UU minister. I learned quite a lot from her. She later married my husband and me.

But I remained affiliated with the Episcopal Church throughout my time in seminary. I worshipped at St. Clement's in Manhattan and did my pastoral internship there. It was a unique congregation with some kind of dispensation in that diocese. It had gay ministers long before that was common and used a different, inclusive-language liturgy than other Episcopal congregations. That experience can really spoil you when you go to another church. The typical gendered hierarchical language about God and belief can wear on a person. And having to continually translate or substitute language and ideas in one's head is exhausting  not an ideal worship experience.

When I moved to Albany, we sought out a religious community and were impressed with Albany UU, with the diversity of beliefs among people seeking truth in a UU context, coming from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other traditions, as well as no tradition at all. It's a big-tent approach to individual belief, but creating communities with core common principles about justice and respect, and support for the search for truth and meaning.

What's special for you about the Albany congregation?

I've been at Albany UU for over 20 years, and the community means so much to my family and me. I've also had the privilege of serving in different capacities as a volunteer and in leadership positions. Justice work is most important to me, and I've met so many like-minded folks and had the opportunity to pursue those goals. One of those initiatives was our work to become a Welcoming Congregation, a denominational designation for congregational commitment to be more inclusive of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

More recently, in 2016, we formed the Inclusivity Team to evaluate our policies and practices, from how we welcome people and how we worship to how we talk about challenging issues and how we conduct the work of the church, with the goal of making our congregation more welcoming and inclusive, especially regarding people of color. Through this lens we've conducted worship services, held congregational conversations, provided ongoing messaging in variety of ways, held special workshops and the like to provide ways for our congregation to learn about racism and white privilege  and not in an academic sense, but to take a challenging look at how people of color might experience our predominately white congregation. Obviously, we're not alone in this effort. Conversations and conflicts are occurring across the country in response to systemic racism and racist bigotry. In 2017, we had a crisis of leadership in our own UU denomination regarding hiring practices at the national and regional level that preserved a predominately white denominational staff, and which resulted in several top resignations. I'm proud that our denomination and our own congregation are taking these issues seriously, and are actively working to change.

Your congregation recently changed the removed Ralph Waldo Emerson's name from your Community Hall.

Yes, the Community Hall is where we have Sunday services. We still have our beautiful old New England-style sanctuary, which we use for special occasions, but since our renovation 10 years ago we use the larger, more flexible Community Hall for regular services. It was named for Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century philosopher, who was one of the towering figures in Transcendentalism and Unitarian history. He is well-known as an essayist and poet, a lecturer, minister and educator. But less known are the repugnant beliefs that he outlined in his personal and public writings. In these, he extolled the superiority of people of English descent over blacks, American Indians, Jews, Irish, Italians, and others, whom he described as intellectually and morally inferior  truly reprehensible. I was among those shocked by these revelations.

As the Inclusivity Team shared this information with the congregation, we also started a conversation about changing the name of our Community Hall. We don't want to take away Emerson's contributions or pass final judgment on him. We all have clay feet, and no one would want to be judged by their worst moments or their worst traits. But keeping his name associated with our Community Hall, with the place where we worship, would contradict the congregational efforts toward inclusivity I've just described. We don't want the name of our Community Hall to send a message about us that is not in keeping with our values, our mission. So, we will rename our Community Hall, and we are welcoming to all.

 Rob BrillWASHINGTON - Teresa Manning - an antiabortion activist in charge of the Health and Human Services Department's family planning programs - resigned her post Friday, according to a department spokeswoman.

Manning, who served as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Population Affairs, has spent much of her career fighting abortion and has publicly questioned the efficacy of several popular contraception methods. Her job included overseeing the Title X program, which provides family-planning funding for about 4 million poor Americans or those without health insurance.

In an email Friday evening, HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley confirmed Manning's resignation but did not provide a reason for her abrupt departure.

"HHS would like to thank her for her service to this Administration and the American people," Oakley said.

Manning was escorted from the building by security officials Friday. According to an HHS official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, Manning already had turned in her badge and the escort allowed her to get back out through security.

Her resignation does not appear to represent a major ideological shift in the department, since Valerie Huber, a prominent abstinence education advocate, has been named acting deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Population Affairs. Huber has served as chief of staff in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health since June.

Manning, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last May, formerly lobbied for the National Right to Life Committee and worked as a legislative analyst for the Family Research Council. She was one of several antiabortion activists and leaders Trump has picked for key positions at the agency.

Like many conservatives who oppose abortion rights, Manning has repeatedly objected to the use of RU-486, or mifepristone, which is often used with misoprostol to trigger an abortion during the early stages of a pregnancy, as well as the morning-after pill.

But she also has expressed deep skepticism of birth control overall, suggesting in a 2003 interview with NPR that "contraception doesn't work."

"Its efficacy is very low, especially when you consider over years - which a lot of contraception health advocates want to start women in their adolescent years, when they're extremely fertile, incidentally, and continue for 10, 20, 30 years. The prospect that contraception would always prevent the conception of a child is preposterous," Manning said at the time.

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Abortion-rights activists protested Manning's appointment, saying someone opposed to contraception shouldn't oversee Title X.

Her replacement has long advocated for abstinence education. Huber managed Ohio's abstinence program from 2004 to 2007 and subsequently led Ascend, a group initially founded as the National Abstinence Education Association. She says she prefers to use the term "sexual risk avoidance," telling Focus on the Family's Citizen magazine that Ascend's mission is broader than telling teens not to have sex.

"I bristle at the terminology 'abstinence only,' because our programs are so holistic," Huber said. "They contextualize a whole battery of different topics that surround a young person's decision whether to have sex or not. Rather than someone telling a young person, 'Do this, don't do that,' it's casting a vision for a young person's future."

Some family planning advocates, such as Ginny Ehrlich, chief executive at the nonprofit Power to Decide, criticized the administration's decision to put Huber in charge of the Office of Population Affairs.

"Manning's departure would be positive news except for the fact that the Trump administration has chosen to replace Manning with Valerie Huber, who is well known for placing ideology over an evidence-based approach to ensuring that young people have the information and services they need to avoid an unplanned pregnancy," said Ehrlich, whose group backs federal support for sex education and a wide range of contraception methods. "What we really need is for this administration to take women's health issues seriously and appoint an individual who is not only well qualified for the position, but also values women."For many in the Mississippi courtroom on June 21, 2005, the 80-year-old man in a wheelchair, breathing from the thin green tubes of an oxygen tank, embodied the state's violent, hate-filled past.

It had been 41 years to the day since the killing of three civil rights workers on a country road in the old lumber town of Philadelphia, Mississippi. The crime shook the country, propelling the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and inspiring the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning."

And on that scorching afternoon, a new generation of jurors convicted Edgar Ray Killen of manslaughter in the deaths of those workers - James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner - whose names became synonymous with the cruelty of the civil rights era. It took just 5 1/2 hours for the Neshoba County jurors to find Killen, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and country preacher who ordered the killings out of hate and boasted about them, guilty of the 1964 offense.

Outside the courthouse, people cheered. Inside, "graying black men who grew up in a segregated world, but lived to see it end, held their faces in their hands and sobbed in the audience," The Washington Post reported at the time. Killen, stooped in his wheelchair, glowered as he left the courthouse, taking a swipe at one of the cameras capturing his comeuppance.

Killen died inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at 9 p.m. Thursday night while serving three consecutive 20-year terms. He was 92.

An autopsy was pending, but no foul play was suspected, the state's corrections department said in a statement Friday.

Prosecutors wanted Killen to be found guilty of murder, and many were disappointed he wasn't.

"The fact that some members of this jury could have sat through that testimony, indeed could have lived here all these years and could not bring themselves to acknowledge that these were murders, that they were committed with malice, indicates that there are still people unfortunately among you who choose to look aside, who choose to not see the truth," Rita Bender, who had been married to Schwerner, told the New York Times after the trial.

But prosecutors were challenged by the dearth of live witnesses decades after the killings. They were also set back by their inability to get Killen's few living accomplices to cooperate. Jurors said at the time that they felt they lacked the evidence they needed to convict Killen of murder.

"I should say I heard a number of very emotional statements from some of the white jurors," said Warren Paprocki, a white juror who was 54 years old at the time, told the New York Times. "They had tears in their eyes, saying that if they could just have better evidence in the case that they would have convicted him of murder in a minute. Our consensus was the state did not produce a strong enough case."

Willis Lyon, one of the three black jurors, told the New York Times that "we were as fair with Mr. Killen as we could have been."

"I think we gave him as fair a verdict on his behalf as was allowable," he said.

Nebosha County District Attorney Mark Duncan conceded at the time that it was not the perfect verdict.

"But you have to understand it was not a perfect case," he told The Post.

The three civil rights workers had been arrested for speeding in 1964 and were attacked after their release. During the 2005 trial, Mike Hatcher, a former Philadelphia law enforcement officer and Klan errand boy, testified that Killen bragged to him about the killings the day after they happened, The Post reported at the time. Killen had told Hatcher that Schwerner's last words before he was shot and buried in a mud dam were, "I understand how you feel, sir."

It took weeks before the bodies were found, and the killers were never held accountable. Mississippi officials at the time refused to seek murder indictments and the federal government, which did not have a federal murder statute like the one that exists today, indicted Killen and 18 others in 1967 for violating the men's civil rights. Seven were convicted, nine were acquitted and Killen, along with two others, received mistrials.

Duncan, the prosecutor in the six-day 2005 trial, was approached about 38 years after the killings by a group called the Philadelphia Coalition, which hoped to rewrite its town's history.

But some feared Philadelphia, which had already sheltered Killen for nearly four decades, would continue to do so. The judge who oversaw the 2005 trial, Marcus Gordon, had years before watched Preacher Killen preside over the funerals of his parents. One of Killen's cousins was in the jury pool. And Killen's brother, Oscar Kenneth Killen, attacked Duncan while testifying, accusing the prosecutor of being the hypocritical son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members.

Duncan later denied the association, and told neighbors after the verdict, "I'm one of y'all."

Some in Neshoba County thought it would be too late and too painful to reopen the case but others believed the trial - and the conviction that followed - would help the county find peace.

"Finally, finally, finally," said Jim Prince, the editor of the local weekly newspaper, The Neshoba Democrat, according to the New York Times. "This certainly sends a message, I think, to the criminals and to the thugs that justice reigns in Neshoba County, unlike 41 years ago."

James Chaney's younger brother, Ben Chaney, told the New York Times that he spoke briefly to his 82-year-old mother after the verdict, and said she was pleased.

"She finally believes that the life of her son has some value to the people in this community," he said.A leaked draft of the Pentagon's forthcoming nuclear weapons review shows that senior defense officials are keen to not only modernize the aging U.S. arsenal, but add new ways to wage nuclear war as Russia, China and other adversaries bolster their own arsenals.

Among the new weapons proposed are so-called "low-yield nukes" that could be mounted to existing Trident ballistic missiles launched from submarines. Despite the nickname, the warheads would still likely pack a punch larger than the explosions that leveled the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

The draft, first published by the HuffPost, states that the smaller nuclear weapons are necessary due to the "deterioration of the strategic environment," a nod toward existing tensions with Russia, in particular. The Pentagon's thesis: If an adversary has an arsenal of nuclear weapons that are not controlled by existing treaties, the United States should have one to match and retaliate if necessary.

"These supplements will enhance deterrence by denying potential adversaries any mistaken confidence that limited nuclear employment can provide a useful advantage over the United States and its allies," the draft said.

The concept seems especially focused on Russia, which the Pentagon accused of violating the New START Treaty last year by deploying a new nuclear cruise missile that is seen as a threat to Europe. The Pentagon alleges in the draft that Russia thinks launching a limited nuclear strike first may offer an advantage, in part because it has a variety of small nuclear weapons at its disposal.

"Correcting this mistaken Russian perception is a strategic imperative," the draft said.

The Pentagon also calls for a new nuclear submarine-launched cruise missile, typically called a SLCM ("slick-em") in the military. The Obama administration sought to phase out a similar cruise missile in a nuclear review it released in 2010, but defense officials now argue that it is necessary.

The new weapons could add additional costs to what already promised to be a very expensive bill to modernize the nuclear arsenal, most of which is decades old. An assessment by the Congressional Budget Office released last fall found that it will cost $1.2 trillion over the next 30 years to build new weapons and maintain them.

President Donald Trump directed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis early last year to launch the review to assess the state, flexibility and resiliency of the existing arsenal to deter modern adversaries. In a statement Friday, the Pentagon did not deny the draft document is legitimate but said it is Defense Department policy not to comment on "pre-decision" documents.

"Our discussion has been robust and several draft have been written," the statement said. "However, the Nuclear Posture Review has not been completed and will ultimately be reviewed and approved by the President and the Secretary of Defense."

The Pentagon is expected to release the nuclear review after Trump's State of the Union on Address on Jan. 30, though it is not clear if the timeline has been altered by the draft's leakage. A variation of the review was carried out by each of the last two administrations, and typically informs strategy for years going forward.

Michaela Dodge, a defense analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, declined to comment on the document, citing its unauthorized leakage. Broadly, however, she said some nuclear analysts have said adding new ways to deliver nuclear weapons could launch a new arms race.

"But my sense is that there already is a nuclear arms race," she said. "It's just that the United States is not racing. It's actually standing by and observing while the Russians and the Chinese are building new nuclear capabilities, and the North Koreans are advancing their nuclear weapons capabilities and expanding them."

But others argue that the United States should not be building new weapons. Jon Wolfsthal, a former Obama administration official who worked on nuclear issues on the National Security Council, said the Trump administration is on solid ground in sending a strong message that the United States will tolerate the use of nuclear weapons, but "runs off the rails" in arguing that new capabilities are needed.

Congress has rejected previous Pentagon efforts to add new submarine-launched warheads, in part because it isn't clear how Russia would react if a missile is launched at it and the size of the warhead on it could not be determined, Wolfsthal said.

"These are familiar debates for people in the nuclear community," Wolfsthal said. "We've had them for many, many years, and some of them were considered and rejected under the Obama administration. Some of them were considered and pursued. But they now have the opportunity to push their agenda."coldstream said: The Alt Left of Britain was likely salivating to get out its big protests in opposition to Trump. I'm sure they are quite disappointed Trump did not give them the opportunity for a day of self righteous ranting. Click to expand...





Britains epic vanity: do we really think Trump cares that much about coming here?

Later this year, the world will laugh at Britain after it welcomes the Saudi Crown Prince - just after the protests about Trump's visit....



PETER OBORNE: Labour's hostility to Trump is hypocritical... their governments have given the red carpet treatment to far worse monsters in the past

Where were they when the likes of Xi Jinping and King Abdullah had State Visits to Britain in recent years? They were nowhere to be seen.Still, I look forward to Mr Trump's State Visit to Great Britain.12 January 2018The SpectatorBoris Johnson is absolutely right to say that his successor as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has behaved like a puffed up pompous popinjay about Donald Trumps cancelled visit to Britain. And they arent the only ones. The whole Trump visit story has become an embarrassing mass exercise in British grandstanding.In fact, if you want a perfect example of British delusional thinking look not at Brexit, look instead at the way we have handled the prospect President Donald J Trumps arrival on our shores. Nothing better illustrates our sense of self-importance, our priggishness, and our ability to convince ourselves of rubbish if it makes us feel good.Long before Trump was the Republican nominee, our Parliament had a full debate about banning him from our shores because he had said right-wing things we deemed unacceptable. MPs actually discussed whether Trump was such a threat to British values that he should be blocked from entry or whether he should be taken to a curry house in order to show what a wonderfully diverse country we areThen, after Trump shocked the world by becoming president, the idea of his UK visit turned into a bigger controversy  here, at least. Theresa May was called an appeaser for inviting our most powerful ally to visit Britain. There were protests about the very idea of Trump being treated as a dignitary; stuffy monarchists fretted that he might say something inappropriate to the Queen.Whitehall, fearing violence on the streets, drew up plans for a dummy run  a low-key flying visit to test the waters of public opinion towards Trump. Trump would see the Prime Minister but not stay the night in Buckingham Palace. Nobody seemed to think about whether the President of America (and especially the current one) might not be willing to be treated like a bad smell, or even that it was worth his while visiting Britain more than once.Meanwhile, our rivals on the global stage had no such frets. President Macron, the French president who was elected largely because he presented himself as an anti-Trump, promptly rolled out the reddest of carpets to welcome Trump to Paris on Bastille Day. The French did not really protest; thousands came out and waved flags and cheered. French magazines talked up how glamorous Melania Trump looked. Nobody called Macron an appeaser.Then, late last year, Trump wounded British pride by retweeting anti-Muslim Britain First videos. This stupid act forced Theresa May to rebuke him  she could hardly have ignored it given the outcry. The left immediately went further, again demanding the cancellation of Trumps visit, the rescinding of the invite. People like Owen Jones essentially threatened political violence (although I doubt Owen himself would do anything too rough) if Trump turned up.Well, it worked. Trump has now cancelled the visit, citing concerns about objections raised to the moving of the US embassy in London. Everybody knows its really because of all the fuss and fury that he would generate. As Khan said, so self-satisfied, Trump has got the message.That is, the American Commander-in-Chief, the most powerful man on the planet, reckons, in as much as he thinks of us at all, that Britain is probably too unfriendly a place for him. The trouble is, while our transatlantic friendship, the so-called special relationship, matters to us quite a lot, especially with Brexit looming, it is considerably less important to the US. No doubt Trump would greatly enjoy being treated like a king by the queen  hes spoken warmly about the pomp and circumstance of British public life and about what an avid monarchist his Scottish mother was. But he has rather bigger matters on his plate. Indeed the obvious feebleness of Trumps excuse for not coming suggests that Great Britain is fairly low on his list of his priorities. Yet the left and Twittersphere are crowing as if they have resisted a determined enemy and defended Britains honour. What a silly, vain people we are!By Peter Oborne For The Daily Mail 13 January 2018 Donald Trump has been a godsend to the Left, considering its historic hatred of America. With his exhibitionist wealth, vulgarity, misogyny and racist views, he personifies what they see as the countrys worst values.Now, his decision to pull out of his expected visit to Britain has given Labour a reason to celebrate.Not just because their bogeyman wont defile this countrys streets, but because the issue has brought together the two sides of the Labour Party who have been waging a vicious civil war ever since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.Yesterday, after the Mails Jack Doyle revealed Trumps decision, a truce occurred between the rival Blairites and Corbynistas.For, between them, they claimed credit for having led vociferous opposition to his planned working visit, which reportedly led Trump to be concerned that demonstrations might be disruptive.At first sight, it is easy to sympathise with Labours exultation.Trump is a narcissistic and absurd figure. He is a racist, who retweeted videos posted by Britain First, a fascist organisation that all decent people condemn.This week, he allegedly described immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and Africa as coming from s***hole countries  an utterly unacceptable comment from anyone, let alone the President of the United States of America.Yet I believe that Labours hysterical opposition to Trumps visit here is equally contemptible.Crucially, Trump is head of state of the most powerful nation in the world, which also happens to be our closest and most valued ally.Last summer, Frances President Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump. For all his liberal credentials, Macron recognised that this was in the French national interest.For their part, the notoriously volatile French people understood this and the visit passed with virtually no trouble at all.The truth is that Labours hostility to Trump is hypocritical.Over the years  including under Labour governments  far worse monsters have been given the red-carpet treatment.For example, in 1973, President Mobutu of Zaire, a homicidal dictator who embezzled up to 12 billion; in 1978, Romanias Communist head of state Nicolae Ceausescu, who was later executed by a firing squad following protests about his brutal regime; and, in 1994, the abominable president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Two years ago, it was the turn of President Xi Jinping of China  the ruler of a one-party state where dissidents are jailed, torture is normal and citizens are spied on.Compared with Xi Jinping, Trump is a hand-wringing liberal.Yet when the Chinese leader came to London, there were no mass street protests and Jeremy Corbyn wore white tie and tails to attend a state banquet in his honour at Buckingham Palace.The Labour leader said he would raise human rights issues in private. Why couldnt he have tried to make a similar arrangement with Trump?The fact is that realpolitik dictates that Britain needs a warm relationship with China. British jobs depend on it.In a few months time, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Britain. However appalling Trumps behaviour, it pales into insignificance compared with that of the architect of the Saudis attack on the Yemen which has claimed more than 10,000 lives and led to mass starvation.But, yet again, I recognise that British jobs depend on good relations with Saudi Arabia and understand why the Crown Prince should come to this country as an honoured guest.There was also the visit two years ago of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had lunch with the Queen and a warm meeting with then PM David Cameron. And yet Modi had blood on his hands for having failed to stop anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in which at least 1,000 people died.Again, his state visit was justified because Britain needs strong trading relations with India, which is expected soon to overtake Britain and France to become the worlds fifth-largest economy. Of all people, Londons Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, should have opposed Modis visit to Britain on account of his role in the Gujarat riots.Yet Khan said he was against a ban  and himself visited Modis India last year.Typical of Labours double standards, Khan revelled yesterday in the news of Trumps cancelled visit.A persistent critic of Trump, he first crossed swords with him last year after the London Bridge terrorist attack when the U.S. president mocked Khans comments that there was no reason to be alarmed by armed police on the streets. Khan hit back by calling Trump ill-informed.Wallowing in smug self-congratulation, Khan said yesterday that Trumps policies and actions are the polar opposite of our citys values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.Also guilty of self-satisfied sanctimony is failed ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband.Two years ago, he welcomed Modis visit. I care very much about my relationship with India and my relationship with Prime Minister Modi, so I absolutely think that [Mr Modis visit] is a policy priority for me, he said beforehand.Yesterday, he grandstanded his opposition to Trump. Retweeting Trumps explanation that his cancellation was because he disapproved of the bad commercial deal behind the new U.S. embassy in London, Miliband taunted: Nope its because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message.What these Labour pygmies dont seem to realise is that Britains relationship with America helps bring jobs, prosperity and security to this country.This is especially true of London  Sadiq Khans fiefdom. The Citys remarkable recent prosperity, in particular, is largely down to the presence of major American financial institutions.Khans attacks on Trump are a classic example of virtue signalling. They ingratiate him to the Left and help burnish his credentials for a possible future bid to become Labour leader.But, like his fellow Labour Trump-haters, hes showing contempt for those Britons whose livelihoods depend on a healthy economy and whose safety depends on shared intelligence-gathering with the Pentagon.An adult-film star was paid $130,000 by a lawyer for Donald Trump in the weeks before the 2016 election to not talk publicly about a sexual relationship with the then-Republican candidate, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly paid Stephanie Clifford to remain silent about an encounter at Lake Tahoe, California, in 2006, a year after Trump married his third wife, Melania, according to the Journal. The Journal said the payment was made to a client-trust account at City National Bank in Los Angeles.

The Washington Post was not able to independently confirm the payment and was not able to reach the bank.

"These rumors have circulated time and again since 2011. President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence, as has Ms. Daniels," Cohen said to The Post. Cohen also issued a statement that he said was from Clifford, whose professional name is Stormy Daniels.

"Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false," reads the statement, signed by Stormy Daniels. "If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn't be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book."

Cohen has called himself Trump's "fix-it man" and has become part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election for his emails to Russian officials about a business project there, including a note to Vladimir Putin's spokesman.

Clifford could not be reached for comment. Her partner, Glendon Crain, did not respond to messages. Keith Davidson, a lawyer that the Journal said was representing Clifford, did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

A White House official said "these are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election." The official did not specifically respond to the allegation of a payoff to Clifford.

In the days before the 2016 election, The Journal reported that Clifford was in talks with ABC's "Good Morning America" to air her story about Trump. That report came days after The Washington Post released a video from a 2005 "Access Hollywood" recording in which Trump said he could grab women by the genitals because he was famous.

The Journal also reported in 2016 that the National Enquirer - a publication owned by a close friend of Trump - paid Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for her story about an affair with Trump, but never published it.

Clifford, a native of Louisiana, considered running against then-U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R, in 2010 but decided against it.

Her mother, Sheila Weimer, said she hasn't spoken to Clifford in 12 years and had no idea if her daughter had made a legal settlement or had a sexual relationship with Trump.

"I don't have her phone number. I don't have a way to get in touch with her," she said. She said her daughter "grew up and went her own merry way."

She did not know her daughter was also known as "Stormy" or had starred in adult films.

But she had praise for Trump.

"I love Trump. I think he's great," Weimer said. "I think he's making a lot of good progress for our country."WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - President Donald Trump's vulgar comments disparaging Haiti, El Salvador and African countries reverberated across the country Friday - including one immigrant-rich state central to the GOP's political fortunes where the party was already facing head winds: Florida.

Trump's description of "shithole countries" in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers Thursday sent Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a close ally the president is courting to run for Senate, scrambling to distance himself from the controversy. Republican lawmakers issued strongly-worded statements condemning what the leader of their party said. And GOP strategists and activists worried about the fallout in a battleground that is home to one of the country's largest populations of Latin Americans.

Trump's presidential victory hinged heavily on his surprise win in Florida, which Republicans are trying to build on in this year's midterm elections. But the drag of Trump's polarizing actions and words can be felt acutely in some quarters of this state, where marquee elections for Senate and governor will play out this year, and which is expected to be as pivotal in the 2020 presidential contest as it was in 2016.

"It's not helping," said Michael Barnett, the vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party. Barnett, an African-American attorney in Palm Beach County who is close to the Haitian community there, added, "As far as making our job harder, we've been through a lot already with him."

Some Florida Republicans quickly condemned the president's remarks. Sen. Marco Rubio issued a series of tweets Friday praising Haitian Americans for their contributions to the country. Hours before that started, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., who is running for reelection in a battleground south Florida district, tweeted "Under no circumstances is it acceptable to degrade, denigrate, or dehumanize" immigrants in the United States under what is known as temporary protected status.

The president's Oval Office insult, during a discussion about negotiations over immigration policy, followed months of other behavior that has similarly threatened to undercut Republicans in Florida.

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September, Trump told local officials they should feel "very proud" they hadn't lost hundreds of lives like in "a real catastrophe" like Hurricane Katrina. Later, he gave the federal response "a 10," even as the island territory was struggling to recover.

In 2016, Florida's nearly 1.1 million Puerto Ricans was second only to New York as the largest population of island transplants. By one estimate after last year's storm, at least 100,000 Puerto Ricans were expected to relocate to Florida, at least on a temporary basis.

More recently, the Trump administration announced plans to expand oil-drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters, a move opposed by governors from New Jersey to Florida. A few days later, officials announced an exemption for Florida - an apparent recognition of the political peril of the expansion in a crucial state, but a move that Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., called it a "political stunt." The White House declined to say whether Trump was personally involved in the decision to exempt Florida, where the president owns Mar-a-Lago, an oceanfront club in Palm Beach.

On Friday, Florida Democrats remained focused on Trump's "shithole" remark.

"People are listening carefully to what the president is saying, and they're internalizing the racism, xenophobia and hatred he is spreading," said Lauren Baer, a Democrat who is running for Congress in Florida's 18th district. "I think that will effect what they do in the ballot box."

In a written statement Thursday, Scott repudiated Trump's coarse remark.

"If this report is true, it is absolutely wrong to say or think this. I do not think this way, nor do I agree with this kind of sentiment. I represent Florida, and we are an amazing melting pot where over 250 languages are spoken," Scott said. "I work every day to make this the most welcoming state for everyone - Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and others from all around the world that call Florida home."

According to a 2010 census publication, of the estimated 830,000 people in the United States in 2009 with Haitian ancestry, about two-thirds lived in Florida, with around 376,000, and New York, with 191,000.

The president's remarks came at a moment of frustration during an Oval Office meeting with Republican and Democratic lawmakers Thursday, as they were presenting an opening bid for a broad immigration package.

The deal included a solution for "dreamers," young immigrants brought to this country illegally as children, as well as improvements to border security and changes to two other elements of the immigration system: one allowing U.S. citizens to sponsor certain relatives for citizenship, and the other, known as the "diversity visa lottery," which distributes 50,000 visas annually to nations with low rates of migration to the United States.

Trump became angry during a conversation about the visa lottery program, which benefits some African countries, and about the temporary protected status afforded to immigrants from certain nations, including El Salvador and Haiti.

"Why do we need more Haitians?" Trump said, according to several people briefed on the meeting. "Take them out."

Trump has aggressively courted Scott to run for Senate, but those who know him are mixed about how likely he is to take the plunge. One associate said the governor is continuing to gear up for a likely campaign and plans to host a least a pair of fundraisers for his political operation later this month.

If Scott runs against Nelson, his personal fortune and name recognition across the state would, at a minimum, likely force Democrats to invest millions in Florida they would otherwise spend elsewhere.

At a maximum, he could compete seriously for a seat that could help Republicans keep their narrow Senate majority, which stands at 51-49.

As Scott decides whether to run, having Trump in his corner on the campaign trail is an increasingly dubious prospect. An October University of North Florida poll of registered voters found 37 percent approved and 59 percent disapproved of Trump.

Scott was seen much more positively, with 59 percent approving of his job performance. Both this survey and another one showed Nelson and Scott were just about even in a head-to-head matchup for Senate.

Barnett, who helped arrange a meeting with Trump and the Haitian community in South Florida during the campaign and was on the tarmac with six Haitian pastors when Trump flew into Palm Beach International Airport last month, said the Trump he met would not speak the way he did at the private meeting this week.

But Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard, a Democrat who was born in Haiti, said he believes Trump used the word "shithole" - and that he meant it.

"His comments were disgraceful, vile and repugnant," said Bernard, who moved to Florida when he was 10. Bernard said if Florida Republicans aren't quick to denounce Trump's comments, they'll face a backlash in the midterm elections.

Trump won Florida and its 29 electoral votes by just 1.3 percentage points. If Democrats flip that outcome in 2020 and hold everything else Hillary Clinton won in 2016, the party would need only nine more electoral votes to win back the presidency.

Scott is term-limited, triggering an open race for the governorship that nonpartisan analysts have rated as a toss-up. The field includes Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., a Trump ally.

Some influential Republicans defended the president, insisting the firestorm was overblown.

"I think when you have hard negotiations on immigration, there's going to be pushing and shoving," said Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist who raised money for Trump's campaign. "I think at the end of the day, what product comes out of those negotiations is key."

Others sought to sidestep the controversy in an effort to remain focused on producing an immigration deal alongside a spending bill that must pass by midnight on Jan. 19 to keep government open.

" I'm not going to be diverted from all possible efforts to continue to negotiate to reach a deal. So statements at the 11th hour are not going to distract me," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., a participant in Thursday's Oval Office meeting, in a statement.

- - -

Sullivan reported from Washington. Scott Clement in Washington contributed to this report.This week, worried that more students than usual were absent with flu-like symptoms, San Antonio Christian School administrators looked at the calendar and saw an opportunity.

As a long weekend approached with the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, they made the unusual decision to call a flu day, canceling Friday classes to put the preK-12 campus, which enrolls about 1,030 students, through a four-day super clean.

A cleaning company will sanitize all surfaces and release germicidal bombs to disinfect rooms, said Tracy Smith, a school spokeswoman, adding, We took a proactive approach, and we hope that it will make all the difference.

Texas and the rest of the country is grappling with rising levels of flu illnesses. Nationwide, 20 children have died of the flu this season, including one in San Antonio. A weekly report released Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services noted high flu activity across the state.

The Houston area has been hit particularly hard, with five people dead so far as a result of the virus. The number of patients also has surged in emergency rooms in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin.

The peak of the current flu season has come a bit sooner than usual, but theres no cause for alarm yet, said Rita Espinoza, chief epidemiologist for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

The number of hospitalizations and deaths seems to be what is expected. It hasnt surpassed what we have seen in the past, she said.

So far, San Antonio has recorded one pediatric death that can be attributed to the flu and five clusters of cases, Espinoza said. The city typically sees one or two deaths from the virus among young children, the age group the city uses to gauge the severity of the flu season, which lasts from October to May.

About 38 percent of suspected flu specimens submitted to laboratories in Bexar County tested positive, the vast majority of which were type A influenza, she said.

Dr. Juan Garza, assistant clinical director at University Hospital, said the facility has seen an influx of adult patients with flu-like symptoms, as well as an increase in flu diagnoses and admissions  but thats par for the course this time of year, he said.

Were getting overwhelmed just like every other emergency department, he said. I think were doing pretty well taking care of the population.

This week, school nurses across Northside Independent School District saw an increase in student visits to clinics and sent home a higher-than-typical number of students with flu-like symptoms, although no individual campus experienced a widespread outbreak, said district spokesman Barry Perez.

North East Independent School District confirmed 319 cases of the flu in December and 125 cases so far this month, said spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor. Campus nurses believe those figures do not reflect the full scope of flu cases among the districts students, because many doctors treat flu symptoms without completing the test for the illness, she said.

Both Espinoza and Garza urged people to reduce their risk of contracting the illness by practicing good hygiene and health habits, including washing hands frequently, wiping down work spaces, drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding those who are sick.

Espinoza said those who do fall ill should get evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible, so they can be prescribed antiviral medication, which works best within the first two days of symptoms.

Health officials also recommended that people over the age of six months get the flu vaccine, which does not guarantee that someone wont catch it but can mitigate the severity of symptoms. Garza said its never too late to get the vaccine, which can be especially important for vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.

These patients that have underlying illnesses with heart disease and lung disease and other morbidities  if youre questioning, if you dont feel well, if you have concerns, come to the emergency room and be evaluated, Garza said. Wed rather you be safe than sorry.

Lauren Caruba is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | lcaruba@express-news.net | @LaurenCarubaDid Donald J. Trump actually use the words "...shithole countries..." in a meeting with members of the House and Senate from both parties? I believe it. Especially since Senator Dick Durbin confirmed his use of vile language.





Does it matter? It could lower the rest of the world's opinion about the #LiarInChief if that were possible. Not sure that it is. It could lower the adoration among the sycophants who put him into the Oval Office, but will it? Almost certainly not. He is a racist and a xenophobe and so are a large portion of those who voted for him. Not all. Some were voting against Hillary Clinton more than they were supporting Trump. They considered him the lesser of two evils.





* * *





Kudos to Jeff Bezos for donating $33 million to an organization that helps "dreamers" pay for college. Given his net worth, some may consider that to be spare change, but I think it is awesome for him to do this. As to his net worth...





* * *





Julian Assange has become a citizen of Ecuador. Last month was the 5th anniversary of his residence in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. He took refuge there to avoid being extradited to Sweden.





Will this lead to him finally being able to escape the confines of the embassy without being taken into custody? Stay tuned.





* * *





Amy "Dolly" Everett was a 14 year old teen girl living in Australia. I say was because she took her own life in the wake of cyber-bullying. Her father posted a message on Facebook that contained the following:





"Firstly if by some chance the people who thought this was a joke and made themselves feel superior by the constant bullying and harassment see this post, please come to our service and witness the complete devastation you have created.

The second is for the strong ones, lets stop the bullies no matter where, but especially in our kids, as the old saying goes. You will never know what have untill it's gone."





How many more children will die as the result of the epidemic of cyberbullying? Too many.





* * *





Since 2010, funding for the IRS has been cut by 20%, adjusted for inflation. In 2015 Congress passed a new law requiring the agency to use outside collection agencies to try to collect some of the back tax debts owed to the federal government.





During his confirmation hearings, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin called the use of outside collection agencies, "...a very obvious thing to do."





Now the program has been in place for one year and the numbers are in. The outside agencies were paid $20 million and they managed to collect all of $6.7 million in back taxes. Worse yet was something said by Nina Olson, the IRS' Taxpayer Advocate in her annual report to Congress:





"PRIVATE DEBT COLLECTION: The IRSs Private Debt Collection Program Is Not Generating Net Revenues, Appears to Have Been Implemented Inconsistently with the Law, and Burdens Taxpayers Experiencing Economic Hardship"





Worse yet, the IRS paid commissions of 25% to these debt collectors for collection of amounts where the collectors did nothing to earn the commissions.





* * *





Tim Murphy was a member of the House from Pennsylvania until he resigned. He resigned after it was discovered that he had encouraged his mistress to terminate her pregnancy in spite of his strident anti-abortion stance.





The special election to replace him takes place on March 13th. It pits Rick Saccone (R) versus Conor Lamb (D) and Drew Gray Miller (Libertarian Party).





Mr. Saccone is a member of the Pennsylvania House and was running for the U.S. Senate in 2018 until he suspended that campaign to run in this race. He introduced a resolution into the PA House to have 2012 declared The Year of the Bible. He also introduced legislation to require every school in the state to display the motto "In God We Trust" on every building.





Mr. Lamb is a Marine (there's no such thing as a former Marine) and a former federal prosecutor.





Mr. Miller is an attorney who was once the legal counsel to the PA House Majority Whip.





My thoughts on this race? I'd love to see Mr. Lamb win and deny yet another victory for Trump to trumpet as his own. Enough that I donated to Mr. Lamb's campaign. You can do the same here





* * *





Nancy Kerrigan and her husband have no comment on the movie I, Tonya.





No surprise there.





* * *











A federal investigation into a child porn site in the dark corners of the Internet has led to the arrests of two Homeland Security employees in the San Antonio area.

The secretive, ongoing probe was revealed at a hearing Friday for federal agent Richard Nikolai Gratkowski, 39, who works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations and was arrested earlier this month.

RELATED: BCSO: Veteran detention deputy arrested

At the same hearing, FBI agent Larry Baker testified that the arrest of Border Patrol agent Paul Casey Whipple of Hondo in mid-December arose out of the same investigation into the child porn website on The Onion Router, or TOR network, which uses thousands of relays or servers, much like layers of an onion, to keep users anonymous.

The network originally was used for dissidents to communicate privately in oppressive regimes, but criminals have turned to it to peddle drugs, black-market guns and other contraband and to trade child pornography. Because of the prevalence of crime, law enforcement has followed and unmasked many users.

Whipple, 34, is charged with producing child porn and distributing it. He was denied release on bond last month, but officials did not publicly disclose at the time that Whipple was connected to the child-porn investigation. The Border Patrol, an agency within Homeland Security, did not respond Friday to the San Antonio Express-News questions submitted by email and left on voicemail about Whipples work situation.

RELATED: Two men killed when rear-ended by 18-wheeler ID'd

Similarly, Homeland Security did not respond to questions about Gratkowskis tenure with the feds, his work status and the types of investigations he was assigned.

All Department of Homeland Security employees are held to the highest standards of behavior and ethics, the agency said in a statement responding to questions about Gratkowski. While ICE does not comment on personnel matters, the agency is fully cooperating with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding this issue.

FBI agent Baker testified that Gratkowski has been with Homeland Security since 2008, focused on gang investigations, and is now on paid leave as his employer is moving to fire him.

Gratkowski was arrested Jan. 4 on a charge of receiving child porn after his case was referred to the FBI by his own agencys internal affairs branch and the Internal Revenue Services criminal investigators, Baker testified.

According to Baker, the website in question provides access to more than 117,000 graphic child porn videos, and Gratkowski and Whipple were identified as two users.

In Gratkowskis case, he used his USAA bank account  and his government ID  to buy bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, and open an account on the child porn website in April 2016, Baker said. Then, Gratkowski established a second account on the child porn site that gave him access through much of 2017. Baker said Gratkowski also visited two other child porn websites on the TOR network and used a social media app called Kik to get to another child porn site.

The FBI served a search warrant at Gratkowskis home in early January and recovered two non-working iPhones and a computer hard drive, but did not find any child porn images in them, Baker said. But the FBI did find  in one of two working iPhones recovered from Gratkowski  evidence of links that lead to child pornography, and he admitted visiting the child porn sites when he was interviewed, Baker said.

He said that in April 2016, he turned to child porn and turned to the site and two other (child porn) sites on the TOR network, Baker said. He advised hed been in a dark place as a result of problems with his wife, work stressors and financial stressors. He went to the dark net to avoid detection.

Baker testified that before the raid, Gratkowski used an anti-forensics program to wipe child porn images from his computers. Gratkowski also told agents that he destroyed the computer he used to download child pornography in mid-December and threw it in a Dumpster outside the apartment he shared with his girlfriend.

Gratkowski has been separated from his wife, who advised him there might be a chance of reconciliation, and the destruction of the computer was symbolic of a fresh start, Baker testified that Gratkowski said. The computer was not recovered.

Gratkowski, who served in the Army, was awarded a Bronze Star and was honorably discharged and has been diagnosed with PTSD, according to testimony from his father, who lives in Washington state. Other testimony and public records revealed Gratkowski is married and the couple has young children, but he is separated from his wife, and hes been dating a fitness model.

Gratkowskis lawyer, assistant federal public defender Marina Thais Douenat, tried to convince U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Chestney to release Gratkowski on bond with restrictions. Doeunat argued vehemently that the FBI has no proof that what Gratkowsi allegedly downloaded was in fact child porn because no images were recovered. Douenat further argued adult women can be made to look like young teen girls.

But Chestney was not convinced. She ordered Gratkowski to continue to be jailed without bond.

The website described was designed for child pornography, Chestney said. Theres not any other reason to go to that website. You cant get there accidentally.

If convicted, Gratkowski faces five to 20 years in federal prison. Whipple faces 15 to 30 years in prison.

Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | gcontreras@express-news.net | @gmaninfedlandSANTIAGO, Chile - Firebombs exploded before dawn Friday at three churches in Santiago, Chile's capital, an act of violence aimed at Pope Francis, who is to begin a weeklong visit to Chile and Peru on Monday. The police defused two other explosive devices that failed to detonate outside other churches later in the day.

No one was injured, and only minor physical damage was reported. President Michelle Bachelet appealed for calm, urging Chileans to welcome the first papal visit since John Paul II visited Chile in 1987. "I also want to invite you all to experience this visit in a climate of respect, solidarity and happiness," Bachelet said in a statement.

No organization immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but pamphlets left at the sites of the first three bombings alluded to several issues, including the plight of the Mapuche, an indigenous people who have been battling loggers and farmers in the impoverished region of Araucania in southern Chile.

Early on Wednesday, Pope Francis is to fly to Temuco, the capital of the Araucania region, about 400 miles south of Santiago. The government has intensified security measures there, with more than 4,000 additional police officers and special forces troops, even though Francis is expected to stay only for a few hours.

The pope will hold a religious service at the Temuco airport. Monsignor Hector Vargas Bastidas, the bishop of Temuco, told the news agency ACI Prensa that the pope wanted to visit "existential borders, where there is pain, where there is suffering, where there are wounds, where there is poverty."

But several militant indigenous groups see the Roman Catholic Church as being closely associated with the history of oppression, and they have staged arson attacks against churches in the region. In November, hooded activists set fire to a bus and scattered pamphlets after the pope's visit to the region was announced.

The pamphlets left outside the churches in Santiago on Friday were not entirely coherent. They referred to "dominion over our bodies," and included the phrase "free, impure and savage bodies," suggesting criticism of the church's conservative social positions on sexuality and abortion.

They also called for freedom for "political prisoners all over the world" and contained a threat against the pope.

"We attack with the fire of combat, exploding your disgusting morals," it said. "Pope Francis, the next bombs will be on your robe!"

Pope Francis is to arrive in Santiago on Monday night. On Tuesday he will celebrate Mass at a major public park and meet with Bachelet, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and Chilean bishops. He will go to Temuco the following day and then visit the northern city of Iquique on Thursday morning before flying to Lima, Peru.

In addition to the Mapuche, another source of controversy around the visit is the issue of the complicity of Chilean bishops in the case of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the former head of El Bosque parish in Santiago, who catered to the elite while abusing teenage boys. The Vatican found Karadima guilty of sexual abuse in 2011 and sentenced him to a life of penitence and prayer.

The church sentence was the only punishment leveled against the priest. Victims were unsuccessful in an effort to get compensation through civil litigation. But no actions have been taken against the bishops whom he trained, and who victims say covered up his crimes.

This week the organization BishopAccountability.org published research showing that almost 80 members of the clergy in Chile have been accused of sexual abuse since 2000. More than half have been convicted in court or by the Vatican.For centuries, scholars have argued about the relationship between knowledge and rhetoric, investigating the inherent connections between how we know what we know and how we communicate what we know.

What better place to explore the consequences of this discussion than in the world of higher education  the place where researchers discover knowledge, transmit knowledge and utilize knowledge to change the world.

Universities are in the knowledge business. Just as companies create, develop and market products, universities discover, apply, organize and deliver knowledge. In the 21st century, we are traveling an unpredictable path from an industrial economy to an information age.

Not surprisingly, additional pressures are being placed on higher education, impacting both graduate and undergraduate education.

Among the formidable challenges is finding ways to integrate different kinds of knowledge and ways of thinking amid a proliferation of academic disciplines and subdisciplines. As in medicine, the allure of more arcane specialties has produced a shortage of primary-care thinkers  those who can integrate disparate knowledge and create the wisdom that seems so scarce in todays public sphere.

It might seem expedient for academics to be intellectual purists  to draw sharp lines between the discovery of knowledge and its application, organization and delivery. A troubling consequence of this practice is the tendency to pit teaching against research and to segregate the academic from the nonacademic. The fear is that blurring these lines might diminish the importance of research, constituting a sellout of a universitys primary mission.

But there is an alternative. It begins with a simple proposition: All aspects of the knowledge enterprise are inherently intertwined, each relying on the ability to adapt to an audience. This alternative has roots that are deeply embedded in one of the oldest academic disciplines  namely, rhetoric.

Though one popular connotation depicts it as empty or vacuous speech, classical rhetoric concerns itself with the noble task of adjusting ideas to people and people to ideas. Hence, rhetoric is a discipline occupied with the process of transforming information into knowledge and wisdom  understanding that different persons and audiences have separate experiences, distinct knowledge and unique styles of communicating.

In a sense, rhetoric teaches us that the lines between knowledge discovery and transmission (between the form of a message and its content) are fuzzy at best, and that communication is thus a method of discovering as well as a vehicle for conveying knowledge.

At the University of Texas, many believe that the intellectual tradition of rhetoric can teach students, faculty and administrators how to meet the challenges of a postindustrial world. For example, in 1997 the Graduate School created a cutting edge Professional Development Program (later renamed Intellectual Entrepreneurship, or IE) that included 16 courses, ranging from traditional classes in preparing future faculty, academic and professional communication, and teaching methods to instruction in more cutting-edge topics, such as consulting, professional uses of technology and entrepreneurship.

Almost 4,000 UT graduate students from 80 different graduate programs enrolled in these courses. Their popularity and the overwhelming positive student feedback attest to a hunger for acquiring cross-disciplinary skills to enhance credentials earned in academic disciplines.

Arguably, the common denominator among these professional development courses is rhetoric, in the most venerable academic sense: to teach students how to adapt to a variety of audiences  so they can write scholarly articles and books, develop grant proposals, utilize knowledge to generate informed and responsible public policies, facilitate innovation in commerce and business, and improve the human condition.

UTs professional development courses taught students principles of effective communication, enabling them to present their work clearly and convincingly to peers at scholarly conferences, as well as to nonacademic audiences. Professional development classes also provided students with the pedagogical resources to lead classrooms, corporate boardrooms and workshops with energy, passion and rationality. And all of these skills complement and strengthen what students learn in their academic disciplines.

It should be noted that in 2003, IE launched an initiative for undergraduate students grounded in the same premise about rhetoric and knowledge: the IE Pre Grad Internship. More than 3,000 students from nearly every academic discipline have enrolled in this course, using basic principles of communication to discover what they are passionate about and devising a plan for their future education and careers.

The Professional Development program (IE) and the IE Pre Grad Internship represent one way higher education in the 21st century can prudently balance professional and academic realms. In the spirit of classical rhetoric, we might be well advised to design education so that each student is trained to become both an intellectually rigorous scholar and a professionally astute citizen. Those of us in the business of higher education take that responsibility very seriously.

Richard Cherwitz is the Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor in the Moody College of Communication and founding director of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin. Stefanie Sanford is chief of global policy and external relations at the College Board.Staff at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London grew tired of whiffing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who reportedly does not attend to his own personal hygiene.

Its that lack of cleanliness, among other things, that fueled Ecuadors recent attempts to end his five-year standoff at the Knightsbridge embassy, the International Business Times reported.

It seems he doesnt wash properly, a well-placed source told the news outlet, noting the issue has prompted repeated complaints from staff at the embassy.

Assange reportedly complained of noise from a loading bay near his hideout, which resulted in a female restroom being converted into a bedroom for him. The move left Assange sharing a single restroom with embassy staff.

And its not the first time people around him have complained of Assanges questionable hygiene practices.

3 1 of 3 Frank Augstein/Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/MBR Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Julian ate everything with his hands, and he always wiped his fingers on his pants. I have never seen pants as greasy as his in my whole life, one of his closest aides, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, told the Times.

Jeremie Zimmermann, a friend and former colleague, wrote in 2012 that unless the people around him force him to shower, he might not change his clothes for days.

The WikiLeaks founder was made an Ecuadoran citizen last month, the nations foreign minister revealed Thursday, in a bid to resolve the diplomatic impasse created by Assanges presence.

Earlier last week, the British Foreign Office revealed it dismissed requests from Ecuador for the Australia native to be made an accredited diplomat. Ecuador officials hoped it would allow for Assange to leave the embassy  and Britain  without arrest.

Assange fled to the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning on rape and sexual assault allegations and was granted asylum there. The case in Sweden was dropped after prosecutors questioned him at the embassy. Assange could still be arrested for skipping bail and faces jail time should he leave the embassy.

U.S. officials told the Times that arresting Assange remains a priority, though they did not confirm whether the government would request his extradition should he be arrested in Britain. Assange previously said U.S. authorities already have prepared an indictment and made plans to extradite him for espionage after WikiLeaks disclosed hundreds of classified military documents.

Jessica Schladebeck is a New York Daily News writer.Numerous sources with a clear insight into the project have expressed reservations concerning the contractors staffing, its technical skill and capacity, and the planning and coordination of the project.

Recently, the [Vanuatu] government has taken steps to bring the projects many stakeholders into line, and to avoid letting the situation deteriorate any further.

PORT VILA - The Port Vila Urban Development Projector the most publicly visible parts of it, at leasthave been subjected to withering criticism of late.

Australian senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells caused a stir last week when she disparagingly referred to Chinese aid delivery in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific as useless infrastructure. But how does Australian aid delivery rate? In March last year DAN McGARRY of the Vanuatu Daily Post wrote of an Australian-funded road project that still has Port Vila residents irate. Here are some extracts.

More recently, drivers and property owners have raised a number of concerns about road safety, closures, new traffic flow requirements and repeated disruptions caused by ongoing work.

We sat with the members of the Design, Supervision and Capacity Development Team, who role is to bridge the gap between RMS and the Vanuatu Project Management Unit, who have overall administrative oversight of the project.

DSCD, as theyre known, have a fairly broad mandate to wrangle day to day issues, to coordinate efforts between the contractor and other stakeholders, including property owners and local power, water and communications utilities.

According to the materials provided to the Daily Post at the briefing, Overall project budget is US$35.5 million, with $20.59 million budgeted for improvements to road networks and drainage systems.

In a subsequent written follow-up they added, The project cost when the project was negotiated in November 2011 was US $39.1 million, including taxes and duties. The current cost estimate, with a reduced project scope, is $35.5 million. The decline of the Australian dollar and currency exchange were the primary issue for the reduction.

Of the overall $ 39.1 million, there is a cost estimate of $20.59 million for road networks and drainage systems. The spend to date for road networks and drainage is US $4.2 million. The contractors are paid against construction milestones.

Confronted with numerous complaints concerning road safety and inconveniences, Team Leader Greg Chambers, only recently arrived in Port Vila, admitted that things had been sub-standard in the past, but stressed that they had their priorities straight.

The expectation is the safety of the public must be preserved. Safety is number one. Continued movement and ease of service is up there. Theres obligations on the contractor to do things, and obligations on us to supervise that.

Pressed to say if they were content they were fulfilling their obligations, he replied, Yes, but theres always challenges on a daily basis.

Ive driven the road [descending to Europe Corner] a couple of times this past week. Theres aspects there Im discussing with the guys here. Its a question of priorities.

Asked if he felt the road was safe enough, he said, Theres always room for improvement.

Asked how he would improve it, he replied, Theres a lot of aspects to it. Theres the physical safety aspect to it, and clearly my expectation is that its number one. I can sympathise with the contractor, but that doesnt mean you can neglect these things.

Pressed to provide a detailed completion schedule, the DSCD team replied that its difficult to complete the work in discrete pieces. Its not feasible, Carol Dover said, for crews to complete all of Manples, for example, then move on to Tebakor.

It just doesnt work that way.New Delhi: If the reports are to believed, French luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, also known as Louis Vuitton is willing to invest a mammoth 500 million US dollar in Patanjali Ayurveda.

Patanjali spokesperson SK Gupta Tijarawala conveyed the information on Twitter on Thursday. Acharya Balakrishna (MD of Patanjali has said that 'just as we use foreign technology for our development, we do not hesitate to use foreign funds for the benefit of our country'.

Riding high on the popularity of 'Made in India' products, Yoga guru Ramdev had earlier said that by 2018-19, Patanjali will overtake Unilever and others and by 2020-21 Patanjali would become world's largest fast moving consumer goods brand.Kochi: A nine-member Sri Lankan Tri-Services delegation, headed by Secretary of Defence Kapila Waidyaratne, paid a two-day visit to the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, in order to strengthen the India-Sri Lanka bilateral ties.

During their visit, the Sri Lankan delegation had discussions with Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral AR Karve on matters of mutual interest to both countries, including aspects related to training conducted by the Indian Navy for Sri Lankan trainees at various units of SNC, a defence release said.

The delegation also visited Water Survival Training Facility (a facility which trains the aviation crew in survival techniques in case of an aircraft crash at sea), Flight and Tactical Simulator (helicopter flight training simulator), Ship Handling Simulator and Joint Operations Centre, Kochi, the release said.SPRINGFIELD - The Baker administration efforts to redesign MassHealth, the state's Medicaid health insurance program for low-income individuals, took another step forward with the certification of 17 health care organizations to participate in MassHealth's Accountable Care Organization.

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission certified the 17 participants which, in the Greater Springfield Area, includes both Mercy Hospital, which involves Mercy Health Accountable Care Organization and RiverBend Medical Group, as well as Baycare Health Partners, which involves Pioneer Valley Accountable Care and Baystate Health Care Alliance.

MassHealth is being transitioned from a fee-for service model of payment for providers toward a model where providers share in savings if costs are kept under an allocated budget in what is the most comprehensive restructuring of the state-federal program in 20 years.

The ACOs certified to contract with MassHealth represent community partners in the form of organized groups of doctors and other health care providers who commit to a more integrated approach to patient care and assume a certain amount of risk in contracting to control costs within a certain budget.

"The ACO program represents a significant change in the way MassHealth contracts with health care organizations throughout the state," said Massachusetts Secretary for Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders, in the Jan. 4 announcement of the first certifications.

"The goal of the ACO program is to improve the care coordination and health outcomes for 850,000 MassHealth members and we are pleased they all met the thorough certification standards."

In order to be evaluated for certification by the commission as a participating ACO, organizations were required to provide information for 15 standards, including patient-centered governance, performance improvement strategy, experience in quality-based risk contracts, population health management programs, and ability to coordinate cross-continuum care.

Unlike other state or federal programs, according to the release, the certification program evaluates ACOs on an all-payer basis, including for their Medicaid, Medicare, and commercially-insured patient populations.

Full certification is effective for two years and organizations.

"We are pleased to take the next step in this important effort to improve care for MassHealth patients and reduce costs for the commonwealth," said Mark Fulco, president of Mercy Medical Center, in a statement about the ACO certification.

Mercy had said it expects its 32,000 MassHealth enrolled patients to transition to its Medicaid accountable care organization this month.

Patients in the program should see little change from providers enrolled in the system.

Baystate had said previously it welcomed inclusion in the MassHealth redesign as "one of the largest providers of Medicaid/MassHealth services in the state."

The financial support needed for the restructuring of the state's MassHealth insurance program from the current fee-for-service model was made possible by a $52.5 billion Medicaid waiver, dispersed over five years and effective next month, from the federal government that was negotiated by the Baker administration and approved by the Obama administration in November 2016, as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Gov. Charlie Baker, former chief executive officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, has viewed this restructuring of the state's Medicaid program as a way to reduce costs through a more coordinated and effective delivery of care. MassHealth covers 1.9 million people, and is said to account for $16 billion in annual spending, split between the federal and state governments.

The Health Policy's Commission first certifications for participation in MassHealth Accountable Care Organization are said to make Massachusetts the first state to implement state-wide, all-payer standards for care delivery.

The Trump administration has expressed less enthusiasm for the bundled method approach to provider payment, which has been a growing trend in the healthcare industry for several years.Five people, including two from Springfield, have been charged with federal drug offenses in indictments unsealed Friday.

According to the Department of Justice, 27-year-old Nia Moore-Bush, also known as "Nia Dinzey," and Dinelson Dinzey, 34, both of Springfield, were arrested Friday morning.

Three Vermont residents -- Joshua Foster, 40, Tracy Parsons, 45, and Jamison Gallas, 36, all of Barre, Vermont -- also were taken into custody Friday.

All five defendants have been charged with a single count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine. Beginning in at least October 2017, the defendants conspired to distribute heroin and more than 28 grams of crack cocaine, according to court documents.

Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, supported by Springfield police, searched 120 Hadley St. in the East Forest Park section of the city Friday morning. City records indicate the address is the residence of Moore-Bush and Dinzey.

According to city records, the house is owned by Daphne G. Moore, an assistant clerk-magistrate at Hampden Superior Court.

Dinzey and Moore-Bush were arrested in May as they traveled on Interstate 91 in Greenfield. Heroin was found in their vehicle, and they were charged with trafficking in heroin at that time.

If convicted of the charges, Moore-Bush, Foster and Parsons could face between five and 40 years in federal prison upon along with up to four years of supervised release and a $5 million fine.

Dinzey and Gallas both have past drug convictions on their records. Each faces a possible sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison, a minimum of eight years supervised release and fines up to $8 million.

According to the DOJ, the case was investigated by the ATF's Springfield Area Firearms Enforcement Task Force, ATF agents in Springfield and Burlington, Vermont, the IRS Criminal Investigations, Massachusetts State Police and Vermont State Police.The busiest airline operating out of Boston's Logan International Airport, JetBlue, is also America's worst, according to a Wall Street Journal assessment of which of the country's major flight companies give their customers the worst headaches.



An uptick in delays and cancelations were behind the undoing of JetBlue, "usually middle-of-the-pack performer," the newspaper writes.



JetBlue ranked at the bottom -- number 8 of 8 -- in "on time arrivals" and "extreme delays" and was near the bottom in "two-hour tarmac delays," "involuntary bumping" and "canceled flights" on the Journal's 2017 Airline Scorecard.



Because weather plays so much a factor in cancellations and delays, and JetBlue flies high concentrations of flights out of Northeastern airports, the company pointed to a doubling in the number mandatory slowdowns issued by air-traffic control in New York this year by way of explaining its slide in the rankings.





On Christmas day, a JetBlue Airways plane unexpectedly drove off the taxiway and into the grass, hurting no one but requiring a response from city firefighters to move the plane and assist passengers in getting off.



ATHOL -- Emergency crews have responded to a large ice jam that reportedly slammed into a bridge, causing flooding and leading residents to evacuate from their homes Saturday, according to various news outlets.

The Orange Police Department told Western Mass News that the Morton Meadows Section of Athol is being evacuated in response to the flooding, which is impacting areas near the Exchange Street Bridge, the South Main Street Bridge and North Orange Road.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported that residents of Morton Meadows, a housing complex for the elderly, are being evacuated due to the potential of flooding

Families and pets are being sent to the Athol Town Hall, Orange Police told the news outlet.

Western Mass News reported that mutual aid, including the Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts Department of Transportation, have responded to the area.

Orange Police confirmed to MassLive.com that Athol is facing flooding and ice jams.

Athol emergency officials declined to comment on the reported flooding or evacuations.SPRINGFIELD -- Lawyers for two men and a woman charged in a multi-kilo cocaine case on Friday argued law enforcement had no right to remove two packages from the mail and subject them to a drug-sniffing dog test.

But Assistant District Attorney Kerry Beattie told Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page there was "reasonable suspicion" that the two packages from Puerto Rico to people here contained drugs.

Page took the motions to suppress evidence under advisement.

Hiram Martinez, 32, Jose Polaco-Morales, 43, and Grisseli Soto, 39, all of Springfield, are all charged with trafficking cocaine in the amount of over 200 grams and conspiracy to violate the drug law.

At the time of the arrests in November 2016, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni said, "I would like to thank the members of the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Department of Homeland Security for their hard work and professionalism, which resulted in the arrests of high-level traffickers whose removal from our community will appreciably reduce the amount of drugs on our streets and improve public safety."

There are two other co-defendants -- Kimberly Spaeth-Barta and Eveliz Gonzalez-- but there were no motions to suppress filed in their cases.

Attorneys James R. Goodhines, for Polaco-Morales, Daniel D. Kelly, for Soto, and Terrence M. Dunphy, for Martinez, said U.S. Postal Service investigators and other law enforcement personnel had nothing but conjecture to think the two packages they took out of the mail for testing on Nov. 25, 2016, contained drugs.

They said the packages should not have been subject to a dog sniff. The fact the dog smelled drugs was the reason a search warrant to open the packages and search warrants to seize them once delivered were obtained.

"So the whole basis of their suspicions and their conclusions necessitating a search and a sniff of the dog are completely fictitious," Dunphy said.

U.S. Postal Inspector Jesse Nason testified at the hearing Puerto Rico is one of the "source locations" identified by the postal service for cocaine.

He said before the final packages were seized, 24 packages were sent from Puerto Rico to Spaeth-Barta and 16 to Martinez over the course of a year. Under questioning from defense lawyers, Nason said it was not determined what was in the packages but it fit the pattern of drug deliveries.

Beattie said having 40 packages from different addresses in Puerto Rico mailed to the same two addresses in Springfield over the year created suspicion of drug deliveries.

After the packages were opened and resealed by law enforcement, a postal inspector dressed as a mail carrier delivered them. Martinez accepted one at a Cannon Circle address and Spaeth-Barta accepted one at a South Branch Parkway address.

Four kilograms of cocaine were seized in the two deliveries that day.

Goodhines said he was sure there were many people from Western Massachusetts who got repeated deliveries of items from friends and relatives in Puerto Rico, so the fact many packages were mailed to Martinez and Spaeth-Barta was not enough to create reasonable suspicion they contained drugs.

"It's fairly clear that there isn't a sufficient investigation to establish the necessary standard to conduct the search," Goodhines said.EASTHAMPTON -- As a U.S. Marine, Ryan Murphy deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan before returning to the states, joining the Army National Guard, and then becoming an Easthampton police officer.

"Suicide is one of the biggest issues facing veterans," said Murphy on Friday. "There are a lot of issues. The transition and readjustment to civilian life can be difficult. At the same time, veterans are dealing with what they went through."

Murphy is one of dozens of Easthampton and Holyoke police officers growing beards during the month of January to raise funds for Twenty Two Until None, a non-profit devoted to ending veteran suicide.

This week, staffers at Easthampton Savings Bank joined the "Manuary" effort.

Bank president and CEO Matthew Sosik -- sporting stubble himself -- hosted the officers in an impromptu gathering at bank headquarters to share coffee, socialize briefly, and talk about the issue.

"Veterans' suicide rates are through the roof," said Sosik. "We looked into the cause, and were struck by the need. We wanted to join our colleagues on the police force to support the effort."

Bank vice president Tom Brown said an employee saw a Facebook post from police about the beard-growing fundraiser and suggested the collaboration.

"It's an important cause," said Brown. "One that we want to support."

Easthampton police are generally expected to be clean-shaven, and may wear a goatee, said Officer Todd Joseph. He and other officers said the early stages of beard-growing can be "scratchy," but that "things eventually settle in."

Twenty Two Until None offers transition assistance, family support, and a 24-7 hotline for veterans who are in crisis. The crisis line is 1-800-273-8255.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, around 20 veterans per day committed suicide in 2014. Many suffered from post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Controlling for all other factors, the risk of suicide is 21 percent higher for veterans than for the general public.

VA has since implemented comprehensive suicide prevention initiatives, and Twenty Two Until None helps veterans navigate the VA system as part of their mission.

In Easthampton, donors may sponsor a mustache, goatee, or beard at $20, $25, or $30 levels, but all donations are welcome, according to a Facebook announcement. Each officer will make a personal donation to the "Manuary" fundraising drive, and also ask others to give.

All of the proceeds will go to Twenty Two Until None. According to the announcement, donations may be dropped off at the 32 Payson Ave. public safety complex or sent to:

Easthampton Police Association

ATTN: "Manuary Donation"

32 Payson Avenue

Easthampton MA 01027WESTFIELD - The City Council's legislative and ordinance subcommittee Thursday reviewed the city's options for joining a class-action lawsuit that seeks to recoup from pharmaceutical companies costs associated with the opioid crisis.

First Assistant City Solicitor Shanna R. Reed said the city law department is keeping an eye on other potential legal action against the drug manufacturers and distributors.

"The attorney general's been investigating the matter," Reed said. "So, we are monitoring what the AG is doing."

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has joined a number of her counterparts around the U.S. to launch a probe into whether pharmaceutical companies misrepresented the dangers of prescription painkillers and ignored the public health risks of opioids.

Reed said City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips joined an email group on the topic, which is being discussed around the state.

Subcommittee member William Onyski asked if other communities have signed onto the lawsuit.

"Yes, Greenfield is one of them," Reed said. "A lot of communities are in the same position we are - they're looking at what the AG is doing."

Last fall, Greenfield joined the class-action lawsuit in an attempt to recoup costs associated with a spike in drug overdoses in recent years, Mayor William Martin told The Republican at the time.

Subcommittee member Nicholas J. Morganelli Jr. asked what would be required of Westfield if it joined the lawsuit.

"Is there an expectation on our part? Would there be time involved?" he asked.

"There wouldn't be anything our office would take on," Reed said.

Outside law firms would handle the work, Reed said. If the lawsuit is successful, the firms would receive one-third of the award as payment.

The request to explore the lawsuit was made in October by former Councilor Steve Dondley.

The lawsuit names as defendants three pharmaceutical companies, identified as "the big three": McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergan. The lawsuit was filed by Levin Papantonio of Pensacola, Florida, and the Sweeney Merrigan Law firm, which has offices in Boston and Greenfield.

Attorney Peter M. Merrigan said Friday his firm has filed suits on behalf of Greenfield, Methuen and Everett and plans to file on behalf of several more communities.

"We have at least six to eight verbal commitments, including two Western Massachusetts communities," said Merrigan. "We have had some preliminary talks with Westfield and we are hopeful to have more."

The suit seeks to recoup municipal spending that has resulted from combating the problems associated with opioid addiction and overdoses over the last several years. In Greenfield, Martin said those costs include law enforcement, needle exchanges, purchases of the drug Narcan to reverse overdoses, and assorted costs for treatment.

"There is a genuine cost to the municipality in both monetary and psychological terms," Martin said. Greenfield, as the largest community in Franklin County, provides multiple services, he said.

"The opioid epidemic is hitting Massachusetts harder than we could have ever imagined," said Merrigan.

A Massachusetts Department of Public Health quarterly report on overdose deaths across the state noted Westfield had 16 confirmed opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016. That is double the amount from 2014 and 2015. There were seven confirmed opioid-related overdose deaths in the city in 2013 and five in 2012.

Southwick had two confirmed opioid deaths in 2016.

Data for 2017 is still being compiled. For the first nine months of the year, DPH has confirmed 932 opioid-related overdose deaths statewide and estimates there could be 491 to 582 more. Additional cases for 2015 and 2016 are still being confirmed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.File photo / The Republican

This analysis looks at the number of times each senator sided with Republican Gov. Charlie Baker on his 179 vetoes of items in the 2017 session.

A two-thirds vote is required to override a gubernatorial veto in the 160-member House, which includes 125 Democrats and 35 Republicans. The governor needed the support of 54 representatives to sustain a veto if all 160 voted -- and fewer votes if some members were absent.

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Charles Krupa

Overall support for Baker's vetoes

It was mostly the 34 GOP members who voted with the Republican governor to sustain the vetoes.

Minority Leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading, and Rep. James Lyons, R-Andover, both voted with Baker 100 percent of the time. State Rep. David Vieira, R-Falmouth, meanwhile, sided with the governor the least, only 68.5 percent of the time, or on 83 occasions.

The governor's vetoes had little support among the 126 Democrats in the House, with only 10 voting with Baker to sustain any vetoes.

State Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik, D-Gardner, supported Baker the most: seven times, or 3.9 percent of the time. The other nine representatives who supported the governor did so only on one veto each.

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Brian Ashe

Ashe, D-Longmeadow, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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SHIRA SCHOENBERG / THE REPUBLICAN

John Barret

Barrett, D-North Adams, was sworn into the Massachusetts House of Representatives in November after winning the seat formerly held by the late Rep. Gailanne Cariddi.

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Donald Berthiaume

Berthiaume, R-Spencer, supported Baker's vetoes 94.9 percent of the time, or 170 times, in 2017.

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Nicholas Boldyga

Boldyga, R-Southwick, supported Baker's vetoes 95.5 percent of the time, or 171 times, in 2017.

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Shannon Young | syoung@repub.com

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Dwight B. Shepard | dshepard@repub.com

Rep. Michael Finn

Finn, D-West Springfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Solomon Goldstein-Rose

Goldstein-Rose, D-Amherst, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Carlos Gonzalez

Gonzalez, D-Springfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Peter Kocot

Kocot, D-Northampton, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Mary C. Serreze | Special to The Republican

Stephen Kulik

Kulik, D-Worthington, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Paul Mark

Mark, D-Peru, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Thomas Petrolati

Petrolati, D-Ludlow, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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William Pignatelli

Pignatelli, D-Lenox, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Angelo Puppolo

Puppolo, D-Springfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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John Scibak

Scibak, D-South Hadley, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Todd Smola

Smola, R-Warren, supported Baker's vetoes 83.7 percent of the time, or 150 times in 2017.

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Jose Tosado

Tosado, D-Springfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Aaron Vega

Vega, D-Holyoke, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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John Velis

Velis, D-Westfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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dave roback

Joseph Wagner

Wagner, D-Chicopee, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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Mark Murray

Susannah Whipps

Whipps, I-Athol, left the Republican Party and changed her voter registration to "unenrolled," or independent in August.

She supported Baker's vetoes 17.9 percent of the time, or 32 times, in 2017.

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Bud Williams

Williams, D-Springfield, supported Baker's vetoes 0 percent of the time in 2017.

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How often state senators sided with Gov. Charlie Baker on vetoes

How often they sided with Gov. Charlie Baker: Massachusetts senators' veto support on Beacon HillSPRINGFIELD -- Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said Friday that President Donald Trump is once again delivering "hurtful and mean spirited comments," referring to Trump's alleged vulgar comment regarding Haiti and countries in Africa.

"What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong - President Trump once again, goes to his wheelhouse, his 'M.O.' and persona to make such hurtful and mean spirited comments," Sarno said in a statement.

As first reported in the Washington Post and then repeated by other publications and the Associated Press, Trump during an Oval House briefing asked why the U.S. should accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa. Trump has denied using that language.

Various Massachusetts officials reacted with outrage Friday at Trump's alleged comment.

Sarno pointed to the example of Harry Dumay, president of Elms College in Chicopee, as someone who was born in Haiti and came to the U.S. at a young age, and went on "to forge a compelling story of success, unlike what our President depicts."

Sarno's oldest daughter, Cassandra, attends Elms College.

"Key here is we must not respond in a mean spirited way but follow what Mother Teresa would say - 'the world is full of good people. If you can't find one, be one,'" Sarno said.SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response to damage caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in Puerto Rico Saturday, despite offering that initial efforts could have been more efficient.

Neal, who toured the island with several other members of the state's congressional delegation Friday, told reporters that although Puerto Rico still faces challenges when it comes to restoring electricity, he was "very impressed" with FEMA's work and volunteers' response efforts.

"One of the things I was struck by was ... all the kinds of good works by ordinary people that were volunteering across the island, making sure that people had food," he said. "And also, the role that government has in helping to get food to people and making sure that they have health care. The other thing is, making sure that they have shelter."

The congressman met with federal responders and surveyed the island's damage via helicopter as part of the delegation's trip.

About to depart on a helicopter tour of eastern #PuertoRico where some of the most extensive damage took place and where they are still struggling to rebuild. pic.twitter.com/c5NgVeKTra  Rep. Richard Neal (@RepRichardNeal) January 12, 2018

He noted that nearly 3,000 FEMA employees are currently on the ground in Puerto Rico, and that the agency has served at least 55 million meals and provided 61 million liters of water as part of its work on the island.

Several volunteers have also flocked to Puerto Rico to help in the island's recovery, including members of the Massachusetts State Police, who also met with the state's congressional delegation during the trip.

Despite praising FEMA's work, Neal acknowledged that the federal government's initial response to the hurricanes' damage in Puerto Rico could have been better managed.

"Obviously everyone thinks there could've been greater efficiencies applied here," he said.

The Trump administration has come under fire from some over its efforts to restore power on the island.

The congressman would not specifically comment on whether he believed the federal government's response to the island would have been different if Puerto Rico were allowed to vote on Capitol Hill, noting tax and other issues that complicate its status.

He added that most have suggested "it's up to the people of the island to determine ... how they want to be part of (the United States.)"

Puerto Rico overwhelmingly voted for statehood in a June 2017 nonbinding referendum, the Associated Press reported. Congress, however, must approve any changes to its political status.

Although Puerto Rico may only be a U.S. territory, Neal stressed that it "is still a very important part of America."

"I think when natural disaster occurs, it's a reflection of what we call the national principle, and the national principle says that, if there's an earthquake in California, we all come to their aid," he said. "If there are forest fires or fires across Alabama, we come to their aid, and if there's a hurricane of this magnitude in Puerto Rico, we come to their aid."

The congressman said he expects Congress to include more disaster relief funding for Puerto Rico in its upcoming spending bill.

Neal said he's unsure of how much money could ultimately end up in that legislaiton, which Congress must pass by Jan. 19 or face a government shutdown.

He, however, offered that additional disaster relief dollars could help Puerto Rico speed up efforts to fully restore electricity on the island.

Currently -- more than 100 days since the hurricanes -- only 60 percent of power has been restored on the island and just 10 percent of Puerto Rico's power grid is operational, Neal noted.

Officials predict that power on the island won't be totally restored until at least March -- something which the congressman said represents a large challenge in Puerto Rico's recovery.

"The biggest hurdle from here is getting that grid up and running," he said. "For all of us who have ever had lights out temporarily and flipped the light switch only to find the lights didn't come back on, it can be pretty harrowing. I think we're all startled when that happens. Just think that it's been 114 days and for 40 percent of the people on that island, they still can't turn on their lights."

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's, D-Massachusetts, office organized the trip to Puerto Rico. Eight of the state's 11 members of Congress traveled to the island.

Neal said he wanted to travel to Puerto Rico earlier, particularly given Western Massachusetts' ties to the island and the number of individuals who have come to the state in wake of hurricanes.

Nearly four months after Hurricane Maria, Springfield leads the state in the number of Puerto Rican evacuee schoolchildren with 590. Worcester, meanwhile, had more than 300 students enrolled and Holyoke had 170 students enrolled as of the first week in January, officials said.The Red Sox and Mookie Betts failed to reach an agreement before yesterday's exchange date (when the player and club exchange salaries for an arbitration hearing).

The Red Sox reached agreements with all 12 other arbitration players, avoiding salary arbitration.

But Betts and the Red Sox still can agree to a 2018 salary and avoid an arbitration hearing. They have time.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement states, "In the event the Club and

Player reach agreement on salary before the arbitration panel

reaches a decision, the matter shall be deemed withdrawn from arbitration."

The Red Sox agreed to a contract with Drew Pomeranz last year on Jan 25, which was 12 days after the exchange date.

However, the club and Fernando Abad failed to reach an agreement before his hearing. He became the first Red Sox player since 2002 to go to an arbitration hearing and he lost. Abad earned $2 million during 2017 instead of the $2.7 million he submitted.

It would be ideal for the Red Sox to avoid a hearing with Betts. Hearings have been known to get ugly with the player taking offense to the team's case against him.

Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement:

Location of Hearings. The single hearing site for each year will be agreed upon by the Parties with preference being given to either Los Angeles, Tampa/Orlando, or Phoenix.

Conduct of Hearings. The hearings shall be conducted on a private and confidential basis. Each of the parties to a case shall be limited to one hour for initial presentation and one-half hour for rebuttal and summation. Cross-examination of witnesses shall not count against the aforesaid time limitations, and such time limitations may be extended by the arbitration panel for good cause.

The Red Sox settled with Steven Wright, Carson Smith, Tyler Thornburg, Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Sandy Leon, Christian Vazquez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Joe Kelly, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Workman."For small to medium to national organizations, for events and fundraisers of any size, in any format  live, virtual or hybrid  the platform is built for scale."2018-02-21 09:00:00

The Loft

Contact: https://www.facebook.com/events/167749263988834/

1 Million Cups  Missoula provides a supportive community where newer business owners can practice pitching their business and get constructive feedback for moving their business forward. Plus, coffee!

Typical format:

* Business 1: 6-minute presentation, 20-minute audience Q&A

* Witty MC remarks, coffee refills

* Business 2: 6-minute presentation, 20-minute audience Q&A

* Mingling, networking, and relationship building

From time-to-time, we mix it up with a Lean Coffee, #sidstem, or holiday party!

Coffee courtesy of Cravens Coffee Company. MC courtesy of Sid Graef. Videography courtesy of Imagination Media.

https://www.facebook.com/events/167749263988834/An important mechanism in the regulation of a protein that plays an essential role in the function of skeletal muscle and the heart has been identified by recent research at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and Columbia University in New York.



The study describes a new mechanism in the regulation of the elasticity of the giant protein titin. Titin, explained Alegre-Cebollada, is a key protein in the functioning of striated muscles throughout the body, particularly in the heart: "the proof of this is that mutations in the titin gene are a common cause of diseases affecting the muscles of the body and the heart."

The most interesting finding is that the formation and isomerization of disulfide bonds cause major changes in the elastic properties of titin.





The research team observed that many of the immunoglobulin domains in titin form disulfide links and that the cysteines participating in them can change dynamically, a process called isomerization. The most interesting finding was that the formation and isomerization of disulfide bonds cause major changes in the elastic properties of titin.



The formation of disulfide bonds is an example of a broader class of biochemical transformations known as reduction-oxidation (redox). It has long been known that many disease processes affecting the heart, including myocardial infarction, involve sudden and drastic changes in the redox state of the heart muscle.



Dr. Alegre-Cebollada's group is currently investigating how our cells modify the titin redox state as a mechanism to modulate skeletal and heart muscle activity and how different diseases can interfere with the mechanical action of the protein, resulting in loss of functionality. Alegre-Cebollada concludes, "Our mechanical findings were made possible by reconstituting contractile systems in vitro. While we have learned a lot through this approach, the challenge now is to understand how these basic principles operate in a living organism. This is the focus of our current research, using a multidisciplinary approach that combines advanced techniques in physiology, biology, and biochemistry."



The study is the result of a collaboration between Dr. Alegre-Cebollada and Professor Julio Fernandez at Columbia University. Professor Fernandez is a pioneer in the development of single-molecule biophysical techniques for investigating the mechanical properties of proteins, and his collaboration with Dr. Alegre-Cebollada has made it possible to describe the biochemical regulation of protein mechanics.



The complete research is published in the journal Nature Communications.



Source: Eurekalert Using bioinformatic and structural biology approaches, the research team found that the immunoglobulin domains have a high cysteine content. This amino acid confers special properties. Jorge Alegre-Cebollada explained that "when 2 cyteines in a protein come close to one another, they can form a chemical link between different parts of the polypeptide chain called a disulfide bond."The research team observed that many of the immunoglobulin domains in titin form disulfide links and that the cysteines participating in them can change dynamically, a process called isomerization. The most interesting finding was that the formation and isomerization of disulfide bonds cause major changes in the elastic properties of titin.The formation of disulfide bonds is an example of a broader class of biochemical transformations known as reduction-oxidation (redox). It has long been known that many disease processes affecting the heart, including myocardial infarction, involve sudden and drastic changes in the redox state of the heart muscle.Dr. Alegre-Cebollada's group is currently investigating how our cells modify the titin redox state as a mechanism to modulate skeletal and heart muscle activity and how different diseases can interfere with the mechanical action of the protein, resulting in loss of functionality. Alegre-Cebollada concludes, "Our mechanical findings were made possible by reconstituting contractile systems in vitro. While we have learned a lot through this approach, the challenge now is to understand how these basic principles operate in a living organism. This is the focus of our current research, using a multidisciplinary approach that combines advanced techniques in physiology, biology, and biochemistry."The study is the result of a collaboration between Dr. Alegre-Cebollada and Professor Julio Fernandez at Columbia University. Professor Fernandez is a pioneer in the development of single-molecule biophysical techniques for investigating the mechanical properties of proteins, and his collaboration with Dr. Alegre-Cebollada has made it possible to describe the biochemical regulation of protein mechanics.The complete research is published in the journalSource: Eurekalert

and as such has a multitude of functions. According to Jorge Alegre-Cebollada, "in simple terms, we can think of titin as a 'molecular spring' that allows muscle cells to contract in synchrony." However, it is not a simple spring, and the many mechanisms that determine titin elasticity include the unfolding of specific regions in its structure called immunoglobulin domains. In all, titin elasticity is determined by the concerted action of more than 100 immunoglobulin domains within the protein.MCA NashvilleWith his debut release Singles You Up making a place for itself in countrys top 20, Jordan Davis is getting ready to head out on his first headlining tour.

The trek will be called White Wine and Whiskey, and newcomer Jillian Jacqueline will open most of the shows. The dates kick off February 2 in West Peoria, Illinois, with stops in Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta and Nashville on the itinerary.

Tickets are on sale now, with the latest information about dates and locations at JordanDavisOfficial.com.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The panel's 17 recommendations included increasing the number of inpatient adolescent psychiatric beds in the region, improving data collection on mental health and developing a strategy to better diagnose and treat mental illnesses.

"I commend Upstate University Hospital for acting swiftly on these recommendations and opening an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit so that children and teens who suffer from anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders will have access to the services they need," Katko said.

Before Upstate's announcement, the hospital did not have an inpatient unit or emergency room-based child or adolescent psychiatric services. But there is clearly a need.

There are as many as 23 children and teens a day at the hospital awaiting transfer to a facility that provides the care they need. The children are sent to facilities in Buffalo and Saratoga Springs, according to the hospital.

Upstate isn't the only hospital with children awaiting mental health care. The hospital noted that there are children at other central New York emergency rooms waiting for inpatient psychiatric treatment.ELKTON  Progress on a Village of Elkton solar farm is advancing ahead of schedule.

At its monthly meeting this week, council members got an update from President Randy Haley on the villages current solar farm plans with Cypress Creek Renewables. The plans involve a 29-acre piece of property off of Ewald Road on the east end of town and the village has already agreed to terms with the company.

Things are moving along, Haley told the board. They feel like things are moving along faster than anticipated.

While the process is ahead of schedule in the engineering phase of the project, its still going to take some time before completion. Haley estimated the project could be completed in two years.

Cypress Creek is taking a real hard look at the state of Michigan with their 25 percent renewable power, said Haley. The state and DTE are working very well with the solar companies.

Because of that aggressive approach, Cypress Creek is also in discussion with the village on an additional solar farm property. The property in discussion is a 34-acre plot off of M-142 on the west end of town.

For that property, the company is offering to pay $1,000 per acre, which is up from the $800 per acre price agreed upon for the Ewald Road solar farm. Aside from the price, Haley said the contracts would be identical.

Theyve upped the ante, because they want to have 1,500 properties in Michigan, Haley said.

In related news, the board discussed that in order to be able to move forward with the proposed M-142 solar farm project, it would first need to rescind a previous agreement with Terry Heck regarding the potential purchase of the property. Haley explained the village still has a motion on the record to sell the property to Heck.

However, things have not advanced past that stage.

I suggest that we rescind that motion, due to the fact that we have an opportunity with Cypress Creek, Haley said.

The board then discussed the notion that Heck has made a few board members aware of his intentions to no longer pursue the purchase and development of the property. Because of that, members eventually decided to officially rescind the agreement.

Thats one of the things that weve got to do, before we move forward with the contract on the 142 property, Haley said.UPPER THUMB - With a million fewer tons of sugar beets harvested this year than last, local sugar beet growers are hoping for a higher yield and strong sugar content in 2018.

Michigan Sugar Company CEO Mark Flegenheimer provided an update on Michigan's sugar beet sector as the grower-owned cooperative hosted its annual meeting Thursday at Saginaw Valley State University.

"While Michigan's sugar beet farmers have faced a variety of challenges during the past two years, including lower-than-average sugar content in 2016 and lower tons harvested in 2017, there are some positive signs headed into the new year," Flegenheimer said in a press release.

"Thanks to investments made throughout the cooperative and ongoing research to help farmers improve yields and sugar content, we're well prepared for the future," he added. "We will continue to work hard to maximize economic opportunity for Michigan Sugar's grower-owners and our 2,400 employees throughout the region."

Here is a look at some key data regarding the 2017 sugar beet harvest and current processing campaign reported by Michigan Sugar:

 Michigan Sugar's roughly 1,000 grower-owners harvested 150,662 acres of sugar beets in 2017, producing 3.85 million tons -- 25.56 tons per acre -- for processing at factories in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing. That compares to 157,563 acres and 4.88 million tons -- 31.03 tons per acre -- harvested in 2016. The year-over-year decrease in tonnage is the result of excessive early season rainfall last spring followed by a very dry summer.

 Sugar content in beets harvested in 2017 was 18.47 percent, up dramatically from 15.85 percent in 2016.

 The 2017-18 processing campaign is progressing well and expected to be completed in mid-February. This month, the company plans to begin processing piles of ventilated beets, which have stored well in the cold temperatures seen so far this winter.

 Looking ahead, Michigan Sugar expects to plant between 158,000 and 160,000 acres this spring. Growers typically plant 1 acre of sugar beets for each share owned. If the five-year yield average of 29.5 tons per acre is achieved, it would yield a 2018 crop of approximately 4.7 million tons.

Overall, Flegenheimer said there is potential for stronger prices and stronger payments in 2018 - especially if sugar content can be maintained at 2017 levels and tons harvested can be increased.

"Prices are taking a step in the right direction, since a long-standing trade dispute was settled in 2017," Flegenheimer said. "Our hope is to see a combination of stronger sugar content and a high yield for 2018."Prime-time television traditionally hasn't been known as a haven for women, either in front of or behind the camera. An ongoing study by San Diego State University, which has been conducted over the past 20 years, most recently showed that:

Most startlingly, the study released in September 2017 found that 97% of the programs considered had no women directors of photography, 85% had no women directors, 75% had no women editors, 74% had no women creators, 67% had no women writers, 23% had no women producers, and 20% had no women executive producers.

On at least one network, this appears to be changing. The CW may be only marginally more women-oriented than its counterparts at ABC, CBS and NBC, but that margin is significant -- and growing.

The CW was born in 2006, cobbled together from UPN and The WB networks by its co-owners, CBS and Warner Bros. The early years of the network were marked by a determined shift to snag viewers thought abandoned by the older networks: women under the age of 35, as evidenced by production of such fare as "Gossip Girl."

Today, The CW has struck a more balanced lineup with the addition of male-appealing superhero fare from DC Comics, although those shows feature strong female characters and modern themes. But network president Mark Pedowitz has told reporters that he'd now like to see the pendulum swing back a bit toward a female-majority audience, in the "55/45 female-to-male" ratio.

The CW now features at least a half-dozen series in which women play the lead role -- and a few more in which they are arguably on equal footing with male roles. This trend will only strengthen in the future, with four female-focused series in development for next fall and another set to debut this spring.

One of the series in development, actress Drew Barrymore's "Black Rose Anthology," will be written and directed entirely by women. Another, "The She World," will be written and produced by two women and feature four female leads.

It's hard to argue with this approach; actors Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin") and Rachel Bloom ("Crazy Ex-Girlfriend") have won Golden Globe Awards for their acting work on their series.

For now, The CW seems to be leading the charge toward more female-oriented fare while also offering more women the chance to write, direct and produce. It may be a distant fourth among broadcast networks, but The CW may be onto something.

Check the slideshow above for a look at current CW series and the women who drive them.WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's comments about African countries and Haiti drew condemnation from around the world Friday, putting the White House and Republicans on the defensive while casting doubt on hopes of resolving disputes in the coming weeks over immigration legislation.

In a tweet Friday, Trump seemed to deny using the term "shithole" to refer to some countries during a private White House meeting Thursday, but acknowledged he used "tough" language during the negotiations. Among Republicans, there were differing responses to the comments, but few of them outright condemned his remarks.

The lone Democrat present for the Oval Office encounter said that Trump's denial was false and the president "said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist."

"I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday," Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters.

In a sign that the outcry over Trump's remarks are unlikely to abate quickly, senior House Democrats said that they planned next week to introduce a resolution censuring the president for his comments.

A day after the White House did not deny that Trump used the vulgarity, first reported by The Washington Post, Trump dove into the controversy and blasted out his own version of the meeting early Friday morning on Twitter.

"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!" Trump wrote, referring to negotiations over the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allowed children brought to the country illegally, known as "dreamers," to avoid deportation.

But Trump's attempt at a denial did little to quell the international outrage at his reported comments that the United States should seek immigrants from countries such as Norway instead of African and Latin American nations.

"There is no other word one can use but 'racist,' " United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said at a briefing in Geneva. "You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes,' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome."

Ebba Kalondo, the spokeswoman for the African Union, said the comments were alarming.

"Considering the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the U.S. during the Atlantic slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice," she said.

The controversy began Thursday when the president grew frustrated with lawmakers during an Oval Office meeting as they discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan deal over the "dreamers," according to several people briefed on the meeting.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers.

Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday.

A White House official said Trump also suggested that he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt that they help the United States economically.

In addition, the president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that country must be left out of any deal, these people said.

"Why do we need more Haitians?" Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. "Take them out."

In November, the Trump administration rescinded deportation protection granted to nearly 60,000 Haitians after the 2010 earthquake and told them to return home by July 2019. This week the administration announced that similar protections for roughly 200,000 El Salvadorans will end in Sept. 2019 - unless Congress enacts legislation providing them permanent legal status.

In another tweet Friday, Trump focused on remarks attributed to him about Haiti, saying: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said "take them out." Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"

Reaction to Trump's remarks across the political spectrum and around the globe mirrored what has happened in the past - hastily-arranged meetings among diplomats, outrage and sharp criticism from Democrats, and measured comments by Republicans.

At an appearance in Milwaukee, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Trump's words "very unfortunate, unhelpful," pointing to his own Irish ancestors' migration to America.

"It is a beautiful story of America, and that is a great story and that is the story we have today and that is a story we had yesterday and that is what makes this country so exceptional and unique in the first place," he said. "So I see this as a thing to celebrate, and I think it's a big part of our strength."

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has been negotiating the immigration policy deal with Durbin and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview with The Post that he was not at the meeting, but heard about Trump's comments "before it went public. And what I've heard reported is consistent about what I heard about the meeting."

Flake said that Thursday's comments reflect what Trump has reportedly said in the past about Haiti and Nigeria. "I'm not surprised at the sentiment expressed - it's consistent with what he's said - but that he would do that knowing the fury it would cause."

In a statement Friday afternoon, Graham, who as at the meeting, did not specifically address what Trump said.

"Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday," he said. "The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I've always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals."

On Friday, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told a South Carolina newspaper that Graham told him that the reported comments are "basically accurate."

"If that comment is accurate, the comment is incredibly disappointing," Scott told the Post & Courier newspaper.

In a joint statement, Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., - two of Trump's biggest allies on Capitol Hill who attended Thursday's meeting - said, "We do not recall the president saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest."

Trump, the senators said, "brought everyone to the table this week and listened to both sides. But regrettably, it seems that not everyone is committed to negotiating in good faith."

Cotton and Perdue are co-sponsors of legislation that would enact severe restrictions on legal immigration - a bill Trump has said he supports, but that senior GOP leaders have said could not pass Congress.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., who also attended the meeting, did not address the comments in a statement issued by his office Friday.

"There are almost 800,000 young DACA beneficiaries who are facing imminent deportation in March if we don't reach a deal," he said. "I'm not going to be diverted from all possible efforts to continue to negotiate to reach a deal. So statements at the eleventh hour are not going to distract me."

An immigration hard-liner in Congress, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, tweeted support for Trump's remarks Friday: "If those countries aren't as you described, Democrats should be happy to deport criminal aliens back to them. &End #AnchorBabies, too."

In the wake of news reports about his comments, Trump initially was not particularly upset by the outcry and spent a portion of Thursday night calling friends and confidants to assess the potential fallout - part of his routine attempts to take the temperature of longtime contacts, according to a White House official familiar with the situation, granted anonymity to speak frankly about the president's response.

While Trump does not generally enjoy widespread negative media coverage of his more controversial statements, the official added he is cognizant that the situation will likely be perceived differently in Washington and on television news compared to with his political base across the country.

Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 Democratic rival, weighed in, tweeting that Friday's eighth anniversary of a major earthquake in Haiti "is a day to remember the tragedy, honor the resilient people of Haiti, & affirm America's commitment to helping our neighbors. Instead, we're subjected to Trump's ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn't look like him."

Left unanswered is how much damage Trump's comments have done to the ability of Congress to soon reach a deal on DACA.

Durbin said in a written statement on Friday that he and others in his bipartisan group will continue pressing for an agreement. It "continues to build support for the only deal in town," he said.

Graham voiced a similar sentiment in his statement.

"I believe it is vitally important to come to a bipartisan solution to the immigration and border challenges we face today," he said. "I am committed to working with Republicans and Democrats to find common ground so we can move forward."

- - -

The Washington Post's Ashley Parker, Mike DeBonis and Erica Werner contributed to this report.ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor is once again making the case for a new Amtrak train station in front of the University of Michigan Hospital in part of Fuller Park.



In the third installment of the mayor's annual report released Saturday, Jan. 13, Taylor said the latest estimate puts the cost of the project at roughly $87 million, which is the highest estimate yet.



The project has been in the works for more than a decade. Five years ago, construction costs were estimated at about $45 million.



That later climbed to $65 million, which did not count another $2.6 million in estimated costs for final design.



Last year, following some additional planning and conceptual design work, the city released a new report that upped the total cost estimate to roughly $81 million, which included about $18 million for a parking deck for the station in Fuller Park with 870 long-term and 50 short-term parking spaces and $5.6 million for final design.



The city later acknowledged the $81 million figure was about $5 million lower than it should have been due to a math error.



The mayor's annual report now cites $87 million as the latest cost estimate, and he continues to believe it could be split 80/20 between the federal government and local partners.



He said that means the federal government would pay roughly $70 million for the new station and local partners -- potentially including the city, Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority, University of Michigan, Greyhound and the Michigan Department of Transportation -- would need to contribute about $17 million.



"We have a long way to go before Ann Arbor Station is a reality, but I am committed to doing what I can to move the project forward, so long as we can do so in a financially prudent manner," Taylor writes.



"Expanded rail service, particularly the prospect of providing commuter service to reduce the number of cars coming into Ann Arbor, is a necessary element of advancing environmental sustainability and improving our quality of life."



A large portion of Part 3 of the mayor's annual report is dedicated to talking about the train station project.



It also touches on environmental issues and efforts to address climate change, the city's intended uses for new tax funds, a high-rise development planned for the city-owned Library Lot, the city's deer cull, which Taylor opposes, and national politics.



"We, I believe, live in shameful times," Taylor writes about the national climate, heavily criticizing the president and his supporters and advisors, saying "these men in the White House and those who collaborate with them pollute our national honor."



As for the train station project, Taylor argues the city's existing Amtrak station, which opened on Depot Street in 1983, is undersized and frequently unable to accommodate existing passenger volumes.



"During peak periods, the existing Amtrak station operates above its designed capacity for all arriving and departing passengers," he writes.



"The station is equipped with 60 seats in the waiting area, but a typical train boarding 80-120 passengers overwhelms the waiting area. There is no checked baggage service, no baggage storage, no baggage carts, and no lockers. Based on the trend in ridership, the existing station cannot support future Amtrak intercity passenger rail demand and could not handle further increases in passenger traffic resulting from future expansion of intercity passenger rail service or the introduction of commuter rail service."



Taylor also cites limited parking and existing traffic on Depot Street as some of the problems with the the current station.



He notes Ann Arbor's Amtrak station, which sits along the Detroit-Chicago rail corridor, is still the busiest in Michigan.



"Despite a recent decline in ridership from low gas prices, long-term projections still indicate significant future growth in rail usage. Indeed, this year saw a 10%+ increase in ridership," he writes. "Even absent major improvements to the Wolverine service, annual intercity rail ridership at the station is projected to increase to 209,000 by 2035."



Amtrak ridership on the Detroit-Chicago line went up about 18 percent in 2017, while the number of boardings and deboardings in Ann Arbor went up about 23 percent, from 122,534 to 150,176.



That's up from 146,873 in 2012, 149,520 in 2013, 147,093 in 2014, and 141,344 in 2015.

A citizens group called Protect A2 Parks, which created the website AllAboardOnDepotStreet.com, has lobbied for a station on Depot Street instead of Fuller Park, arguing it's a better location. Among the group's concerns is the impact on Fuller Park.



In order for Ann Arbor to build a new Amtrak station and parking garage in Fuller Park, the federal government must be convinced there would be no significant negative impacts.



Under federal rules, there needs to be an official determination that the impact on the park is "de minimis" or minimal.



After some discussion and against the wishes of several residents who spoke out, the city's Park Advisory Commission voted 6-2 on Oct. 17 to accept the analysis in a draft environmental assessment report that identified Fuller Park as the city's preferred location.



After the draft environmental assessment report is finalized, Taylor writes in his new report, the city will conduct preliminary engineering and ultimately obtain the Federal Railroad Administration's formal clearance to move ahead with plans for a new station at the Fuller Park location, and the city intends to coordinate with MDOT and the FRA for final design and construction resources.GENOA TOWNSHIP, MI - Police are seeking help identifying a suspect involved in a Livingston County bank robbery.

Livingston County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched about 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, to an armed robbery at a Bank of America branch at 3400 E. Grand River Ave. in Genoa Township, according to a news release.

A suspect entered the bank wearing a black jacket with a hood, a black skull cap and dark colored gloves. The suspect is described as a 6-foot white man with a thin goatee, police said.

Upon entering the bank, the suspect presented a note to the teller, showed a handgun and asked for all the money, according to police. The suspect fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

A Brighton Police K-9 unit was summoned and a track was attempted, but was unsuccessful, police said.

Additional investigation revealed that the suspect left the area in a 1998 to 2002 Chevy Venture mini-van, maroon in color, according to police.

The Livingston County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information on the suspect to contact Det. Marc King at 517-540-7953 or CRIME STOPPERS at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.YPSILANTI, MI - U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, has reached out to the U.S. Postal Service about issues with Ypsilanti mail delivery.

Dingell sent a letter to Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Megan J. Brennan on Thursday, Jan. 11, regarding recurring issues with the service, according to the congresswoman's office.

In the letter, Dingell said complaints have included mail being delivered after 8 p.m., packages being reported as delivered when they aren't, mail being delivered to the wrong homes, the Ypsilanti Post Office being unresponsive to customers and long lines and wait times at the office.

Dingell said the issues need to be resolved.

"Mail delivery problems in Ypsilanti is an ongoing issue, which I have raised before, but we are receiving a significant number of complaints from city leaders and constituents because the problems with mail delivery have become so serious," Dingell wrote in the letter. "While it is understandable that the holiday season may cause some delays, these issues go well beyond that and have been going on for too long.

"Residents of Ypsilanti must be able to rely on timely, consistent mail service and this is clearly not the case at this time."

Dingell is urging the USPS to investigate the matter and share steps being taken to improve service.

Officials at the Ypsilanti Post Office deferred to the state's corporate office in Detroit for comment. No one at the Detroit office was able to be reached.DETROIT, MI - A baby reported missing with a Saturday morning Amber Alert has been found and is safe, Detroit Police reported Saturday morning.

The alert has been cancelled.

"Apparently, a family member received a call to meet him and the child was turned over," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in an interview with reporters posted live on the police department's Facebook page.

The 2-week-old girl, Bella Osterman, is in the custody of authorities, who took Bella from her mother's house, and is being checked, the chief said. "We have to go through the steps, we want to make sure the baby is healthy."

Police were continuing to search for Bella's father, Cordney Robert Osterman, 24.

Osterman forcibly took the child from her home about 1:35 a.m. Saturday in the 3300 block of Garfield Street in Detroit and fled on foot, police reported. The child was wearing only a diaper and a shirt, a pink onsie, in about 12-degree weather.

Without known access to a vehicle, he was on a tether, which he removed about 2:30 a.m., Deputy Chief Elvin Barren told reporters, according to the online video. He has a history of crimes, including armed robbery, and a "strenuous" relationship with Bella's mother. There is a personal protection order and have been domestic violence incidents, Barren said.

Craig credited and expressed gratitude for the coordinated effort of Detroit police with Michigan State Police, the FBI and the Michigan Department of Corrections.

An investigation is ongoing and police are asking for help from the public.

Osterman is a black man with a light complexion. He stands 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds, read the alert, issued about 8:40 a.m.

He has black eyes, a beard and a mustache and was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, black sweatpants and burgundy gym shoes, police reported.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Detroit Police Department's Seventh Precinct at 313-596-5700, call 313-596-2250 or contact CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI - The 100th Street bridge over U.S. 131 was damaged when two semi-trucks with over-height shipping containers struck the overpass.

The crash happened just after 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, on northbound U.S. 131 when shipping containers on the trucks struck the overpass.

Northbound U.S. 131 was shut down for 2 1/2 hours but is now open.

State police said Michigan Department of Transportation, whose workers responded to the scene, ordered the bridge over U.S. 131 closed until further notice.

Kent County sheriff's deputies, Byron Township firefighters and Bud's Towing also assisted.MONTCALM COUNTY, MI - Fire destroyed a business, American Classic Roofing & Building Supply, north of Greenville, the Greenville Daily News reports.

The newspaper reported that no one was injured in the fire Friday, Jan. 12.

Multiple fire departments responded to the blaze. The fire "engulfed" the main building, the Daily News said on its Facebook page.

The business is at 8091 Peck Road.KALAMAZOO, MI - A pizza-delivery driver was robbed late Friday, Jan. 12, by a man armed with a long gun.

The robbery was reported around 11:55 p.m. in the 4300 block of Hemingway Drive.

The delivery driver told police that a man armed with a long gun demanded money. After the holdup, the robber fled on foot.

Police set up a perimeter while a Kalamazoo police tracking dog conducted an unsuccessful search for the gunman.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at 337-8994, the Criminal Investigation Division at 337-8139, or Silent Observer at 343-2100.EMMET COUNTY, MI -- An Emmet County woman has been charged in the 2016 death of her infant daughter.

Lisa Rae Bryan, 32, was arraigned this week on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice. She's also charged as a second-offense habitual offender with a prior manslaughter conviction out of Oklahoma.

She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Bryan is accused of second-degree murder in the death of her infant daughter, Isabella Powrozek, on Nov. 1, 2016. The child was born Oct. 6, 2016, and police were notified on Nov. 1 by hospital personnel that a suspicious death of an infant had occurred.

On Friday, police confirmed that their investigation, which lasted more than a year, finally resulted in Bryan being charged in Emmet County District Court.

According to a report by UpNorthLive, Bryan changed her statement multiple times when questioned about the morning her daughter died. She also admitted to sleeping in a bed with the infant and holding her close to her chest, the report shows.

In May 2011, Bryan, known also as Lisa Zillman, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said Bryan's 2011 conviction also involved the death of her infant child.

Bryan was sentenced to four years in prison for the case, but served about 15 months, according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records.

She is due back in Emmet County District Court for a probable cause conference on Jan. 24, followed by a preliminary hearing on Jan. 31.Michigan State University will use a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create an online hub that will bring together millions of pieces of data on the slave trade in America.

By doing so, users will be able to identify enslaved people and their descendants through one central source, and create charts, graphics and maps detailing enslaved populations, according to a news release from MSU.

The project is called "Enslaved: The People of the Historic Slave Trade."

"By linking data compiled by some of the world's foremost historians, it will allow scholars and the public to learn about individuals' lives and to draw new, broad conclusions about processes that had an indelible impact on the world," said Walter Hawthorne, a history professor at the university who's serving as a co-investigator on the project.

During the first phase of the project, expected to take 18 months to complete, researchers are expected to "develop a proof-of-concept to show data can be linked across eight well-established online databases," one of which is housed at MSU, according to the university's news release.

The project is being led by Dean Rehberger, director of Matrix: The Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences at MSU. Along with Hawthorne, Ethan Watrall, associate director of Matrix and an anthropology professor, is also taking part.

Watrall said the project "reaffirms" MSU's "longstanding commitment to Africa-centered research."

In addition to the $1.5 million grant, the university had previously received another grant from the Mellon foundation - totaling $19,450 - for planning purposes.HILLSDALE, MI - A woman who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the death of her sometimes boyfriend, 37-year-old Jeremy Barron, is to be sentenced next week.

Prosecutor Neal Brady said he would not rescind an agreement with Ashley Hoath despite her failure to adhere to the terms by refusing to testify against her co-defendant and friend, Jay Scott Clark.

"Because I think what she pleaded to was entirely appropriate," Brady said Friday after a jury convicted Clark of first-degree murder, a willful, premeditated act that carries a mandatory term of life in prison.

Clark could have pleaded to the same, Brady noted. Clark instead "wanted to roll the dice," his lawyer Kimm Burger said.

Hillsdale County Circuit Judge Michael Smith is to sentence Hoath on Thursday, Jan. 18. Second-degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison.

She could motion the judge to withdraw the plea, as she tried to do when called to the stand Wednesday; Smith quickly stopped her. It was not clear whether she would formally do so. An attempt to contact her attorney on Friday was not successful.

Emotional and agitated, she attempted this week to invoke her right not to incriminate herself, but Smith said Fifth Amendment protections did not apply because she admitted guilt. He ordered her to fulfill her obligation, but she would not.

According to earlier testimony, she told police she was with Barron and Clark. They were drinking and playing cards at her Hillsdale home and left to get drugs. "Yeah, get her done," Hoath was said to have told Clark before the shots were fired.

She had blamed Hoath for her separation from her children and Clark, wanting to help Hoath, believed it was Barron who stood between them.

Clark was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe and Barron was in the back seat. He admitted to sheriff's deputies that he shot Barron and dumped his body, found decomposing April 2 in the area of Dimmers and Gilmore roads in Camden Township by Amish children on horseback. Brady contends he died Feb. 8.

There was evidence to suggest Hoath also fired at Barron, hit five times, Brady said. Four of the shots were on the left side. One, inconsistent with the others, was on the right, testified Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy.

"They are both entirely culpable for the murder," Brady said.KALAMAZOO, MI. - Bronson Healthcare is trying to fight the flu.

The healthcare system says it is temporarily limiting visitation at its four hospitals in Southwest Michigan to try to reduce the spread of influenza and other illnesses.

The hospitals are: Bronson Battle Creek Hospital, Bronson LakeView Hospital, Bronson South Haven Hospital and Bronson Methodist Hospital, the group's flagship location

The visitation policy changes, in effect until further notice, are:

-Visitors at any of the hospitals must be 15 years old or older;

-Patients' immediate family members will be the only ones allowed to visit them at Bronson BirthPlace in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek;

-Visitors at Bronson BirthPlace who are younger than 15 will be required to wear a mask;

-Emergency Department visitors must be at least 15 year old.

-Only two visitors per patient will be permitted to patients in emergency departments.

-Visitors to Bronson Commons in Mattawan must also be 15 or older.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has reported that sickness due to influenza may be more widespread this year. Authorities report that may be because flu shots appear to be less effective against a strain of the virus called A(H3N2).

Fourty-six states, including Michigan, are dealing with a widespread flu problem.

According to Bronson Healthcare, the change in its visitor policy is similar to those being made at other hospitals striving to protect patients and visitors. It invites individuals with questions to make contact via fludoctor@bronsonhg.org.MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - At least 13 local health agencies will receive more than $875,000 in senior citizen millage proceeds for such programs as activities for Alzheimer's patients, nutrition support, fitness classes, home repairs and transportation.

The largest award will go to Habitat for Humanity, which is receiving $270,000 for major home repairs.

Disbursements of the Muskegon County-wide millage proceeds received preliminary approval by the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners' Human Services Committee on Tuesday during its regular meeting. Final approval will be given after the county commission's full board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The 0.5-mill property tax was approved by voters in 2016. Agencies can apply for a share of the tax to fund projects that help increase the quality of life for Muskegon County seniors.

The county's Senior Activities Committee reviewed 17 proposals for senior millage funding in early December 2017, all in the "Over $5,000" category. Committee members eventually decided to recommend 16 projects, ranging from $5,000 to $270,000.

The 17th proposal came from the Reeths-Puffer Neighborhood Improvement Association, but was ultimately denied. According to a request for consideration dated Jan. 9, Public Health Officer Kathy Moore wrote that the county and the neighborhood group will work together and resubmit their proposal for the next round of awards.

Here are the 13 agencies that received senior millage funding.

Habitat for Humanity received $270,000 for 100 units of major home repairs.

Pioneer Resources received $98,314 for 43 weekly units of recreational programs in Eastern Muskegon County.

Love, INC. received $75,000 to purchase and install 20 units of handicap accessible ramps.

Agewell Services received a total of $93,840, with $74,240 for 160 units of Dimensions of Wellness senior activities. The remaining $19,600 will pay four 96-unit sessions for health promotion and enhanced fitness classes.

Alzheimer's Association received $66,675 for 134 units of education, support, engagement and referral activities.

Access Health received a total of $59,695, with $52,195 for 65 units of full-service dental exams, x-rays and treatment. The other $7,500 will provide at least 15 units of full or partial dentures.

Community enCompass received a total of $56,000, with $51,000 for 10 units of home repair consultations and 10 major home repairs. The other $5,000 will pay for 50 units of "prescription for health" nutrition education sessions.

Muskegon Health Project received $43,320 for 540 units of Community Health Worker pathway services.

Arc Muskegon received $35,250 for 156 units of one-to-one seminar, meetings and legacy planning sessions.

Muskegon YMCA received $30,000 for 48 sessions of LiveStrong classes with 12 participants in each class.

White Lake Community Education received $16,500 for five Matter of Balance enhanced fitness classes.

Professional Med Team, Inc. received $15,868 for 312 units of Senior Safety Assessments.

Disability Network of West Michigan received $15,000 for 18,600 miles-worth of vouchers for its transportation program.

This story has been updated with new information.KOCHVILLE TWP, MI -- An artist reception and gallery talk with Gerhardt Knodel takes place at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road.

Gerhardt Knodel has produced art using fiber for more than 40 years. He led the graduate program in fibers at Cranbook Academy of Art for 25 years, then made the director. He was made Director Emeritus in 20006 and now works full time at his studio in Pontiac.

Meet artist Gerhardt Knodel from 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, during an artist reception. Mingle and view the Museum's newest exhibit "Minglings: A Journey Across Time" on display Jan. 20 through May 19. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

At 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, Knodel gives a gallery talk and signs copies of his book, "What if Textiles: The Art of Gerhardt Knodel." The book documents his work in textiles from 1969-2014.

Both events are free. RSVP by Jan. 13 for either or both events by calling 989-964-7082 or email ljalliso@svsu.edu.SAGINAW, MI -- The Mid-Michigan Children's Museum is hosting an Autism Family Night event Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Families affected by autism are invited to come together for "fun and play in a low-light, low-sound atmosphere."

Admission for the event, to take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., will be free for guests who complete an evaluation of the museum's climbing wall, according to a Facebook event page.

The museum is located at 315 W. Genesee Ave. in Saginaw.

Autism now affects one in 68 children and one in 42 boys, and prevalence figures are growing, according to Autism Speaks. Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U.S.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Tuesday, 23 January 2018 at its Registered Office at 'PUSHPAK' 1st Floor, Panchvati Circle, Motilal Hirabhai Road, Ahmedabad 380006 at 10.45 am. to consider the Unaudited Standalone Financial Results for the quarter and nine months ended on 31 December 2017Source : BSE

Read MoreAurobindo Pharma Ltd.

Pharma stocks cooled-off in second week of January, after starting the year on strong note. The overall bullish sentiment of the stock markets didn't rub on to the pharma stocks.

The BSE Healthcare declined 0.05 percent in the past week, while the benchmark Sensex rose 1.1 percent.

Glenmark was the biggest gainer rising 5 percent. Lupin and Cadila Healthcare too posted gains of 1.23 percent and 1.47 percent respectively.

Most stocks including Sun Pharma (-0.45 percent), Dr Reddy's (-0.91 percent), Cipla (-0.73 percent), Aurobindo Pharma (-0.52 percent), Torrent Pharma (-1.79 percent), Divis (-1.79 percent) and Biocon (0.97 percent) saw declines.

Here's What Kept the Sector Buzzing:

The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) grew 7.8 percent in December, helped by improved uptake in anti-infectives, respiratory and chronic segment like diabetes, according to market research firm AIOCD-AWACS. For the third quarter ended December, IPM grew 7.2 percent, recovering from the wash out in the second quarter as the industry grew just 0.7 percent due to disruption caused by GST implementation.

Lupin aims for a bigger thrust on the USD 54-billion complex generics market as it tries to insulate itself from increasing competition and consolidation of distribution channel in US in plain vanilla copycat drugs.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said it expects the US, Indian and European markets, along with active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) segment, to contribute over 80 per cent to its sales by 2021. Glenmark also announced this week that it has received US FDA approval for generic oral contraceptive drug Minastrin 24 tablets.

South Africa-based Life Healthcare Group Holdings is looking to sell its 49.7 percent stake in Max Healthcare. The Johannesburg-based company is working with Barclays to explore potential interest in its holding in Max Healthcare, one of Indias largest private hospital chains.

The opportunity in Europe is large with aging population, by 2020, generic medicines are expected to make up 70-80 percent of the medicines used in Europe as several European Union member states push copycat drugs to contain healthcare costs. The economic slowdown isn't helping matters as countries in Europe are increasingly pushing price caps, rebates and procurement of drugs through public tendering as policy prescriptions.India's true growth potential can be realised in partnership with the diaspora, two senior Indian ministers said today as they concluded their visit to the UK.

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju addressed members of the diaspora from the UK at a special event organised by the Indian High Commission in London.

"I strongly believe in the strength of the diaspora in realising India's growth potential... together we will shape tomorrow's India," said Prabhu, as he laid out examples of the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government as a "flavour of New India".

"For the first time, we have a Prime Minister who has set a timeline of 2022 by when most of the country's problems will be addressed," Prabhu said, soon after a visit to Ambedkar Memorial in north London to pay respects to the Dalit leader earlier on Saturday.

Stressing that he was keen to focus on the "entry" of new ideas rather than Britains exit from the European Union (EU), the minister said that his tour of the UK had proved successful in setting a positive post-Brexit agenda.

His colleague, Rijiju, highlighted steps taken to assist the diaspora worldwide, such as merging the persons of Indian origin (PIO) card with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) document and expansion of the e-visa scheme to 160 countries.

"Wherever we go our strength is our diaspora, which is our pride. We must stand together and help each other to ensure India reaches its rightful place in the community of nations," said Rijiju, who was praised by Prabhu as a promising young leader and "symbol of new India".

Both ministers have been on a UK visit to hold bilateral dialogues with their counterparts.

Prabhu, here to co-chair the India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting in London earlier this week, held talks with UK international trade minister Liam Fox to review the work of the India-UK Joint Working Group on Trade to remove hurdles in the path of closer ties.

Rijiju initialled two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on criminal record sharing and illegal migrant returns agreement with UK security minister Caroline Nokes, which will be formally signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the UK for the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in April.Chidambaram

over airbag defects in China

7. Pawan Hans chopper crashes off Mumbai coast, 3 bodies found | Two students drown, 32 rescued after boat capsizes

21:01 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.

DIPP's

West Bengal currently tops the list of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2017, comprising 36 states and Union Territories, reports PTI. The eastern state's 'implementation scorecard' stood at 86.18%, the same as neighbouring Jharkhand, followed by Gujarat at 82.38%, according to DIPP data. The development comes as a shot in the arm for West Bengal, days before it hosts the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

FY18

The Railways saw an increase of 0.7% in the number of passengers in FY18 year-to-date as against last year, an official told PTI. "For the first time in the last five years, the figures of FY18 (April-November) indicate a 0.7% increase in passengers vis-a-vis last year and a 5.13% increase in revenues," Railway Board member (traffic) Mohd Jamshedpur, said at the National Rail Transport Seminar here.

He said the reserved segment recorded a growth of 6.36% during the period. Freight traffic too registered a growth. The Indian Railways has loaded 39 MT more this year up to December in all commodities - a growth of around 4.5%, he said.

RHT

Fortis Health Management and Singapore-listed RHT Health Trust have extended exclusivity period to finalise the proposed acquisition by 30 more days from January 12, reports PTI. Fortis' board had approved the proposed acquisition of entire portfolio of RHT Health Trust (RHT) for an enterprise value of around Rs 4,650 crore.

Both the parties as per the agreed term sheet between them had entered into an exclusivity period for 60 days which expired on January 12, 2018. "It is hereby further informed that, the parties to the Term Sheet have on January 12, 2018, mutually agreed to extend the Exclusivity Period by an additional period of 30 days from January 12, 2018.

Shankaracharya

Mamata's

Ganga

Sagar

Kumbh

Mela

The Shankarcharya of Puri Swami Nischalananda Saraswati welcomed the demand of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the annual Ganga Sagar Mela should be treated at par with Kumbh Mela, reports PTI.

Russia said Washington would be making a grave mistake by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, adding that Moscow would work hard to keep the landmark agreement alive, reports AFP. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticised remarks by US President Donald Trump, who on Friday said the US will not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran for the moment, but would withdraw later this year unless the terms of the deal are changed.

monetisation

Piyush

Goyal

Aiming to fund rail expenditure through asset monetisation, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said he would be "satisfied" with any amount of capital allocation to the transport behemoth in the upcoming budget, reports PTI. Without giving details on the budget allocation for Railways, Goyal said that he is "satisfied with whatever has been proposed (in the budget)".

"Frankly, I may may not even need all of that as we have aggressive plans on monetising some of the (Railways) assets," he said. The minister said his government is planning to change some of the existing guidelines on monetising land and station assets as well as contemplating on extending the lease period from 45 years to 99 years, among others.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10, the state unit chief of the party, G Parameshwara told PTI. The Karnataka polls are expected to be held in March-April. The dates for polling to the 225-member state Assembly are yet to be announced by the Election Commission (EC).

"Rahulji will visit Karnataka from February 10-12 for the first leg of the (poll) campaign," Parameshwara said. Gandhi would start his Karnataka tour from Bengaluru and also travel to the other parts of the state, he said, adding, "Various programmes have been lined up on all three days. Rahulji will address farmers, intellectuals and students among others."

Chidambaram

The Congress and its leader P Chidambaram accused the government of "unleashing vicious vendetta" against the opposition after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at the residence of the former Union minister in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case, reports PTI.

P Chidambaram accused the ED of misusing its power at the behest of the government. He said he would not succumb to pressure and continue to speak and write. He spoke to reporters outside his Jorbagh residence, hours after the ED conducted searches at 10 premises linked to his son Karti Chidambaram in connection with the probe.

P Chidambaram termed the raids "a comedy of errors" and claimed the officers were left "embarrassed" and "apologetic" as they could not find anything at his house. "Since they had the search warrant, I did not object to the search but I said I will record my protest that there is no FIR in respect of the scheduled crime...there are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," he said.

20:03 Nizam's

The descendants of Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the seventh and last Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad, urged the government to hand over 277 acres of land in the city, which they claimed belonged to the royal family, reports PTI. Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, grandson of Nizam VII, said that he has urged the district collector to include his and his family members' name in the properties and give their physical possession or provide compensation.

The Supreme Court Bar Association today passed a resolution saying the differences of four senior most judges with Chief Justice Dipak Misra should be considered by the full bench of the apex court. Expressing "grave concern" over the differences between the senior judges and the CJI, SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that all PILs should be looked into either by the CJI or senior judges who form part of the apex court collegium.

Taking note of the concerns raised by four senior judges led by Justice J Chelameswar over assigning of cases, the bar body suggested that even the PILs listed for hearing on January 15 be transferred from other benches to either the bench headed by the CJI or benches led by the members of the collegium.

BCI formed a seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court, barring the five senior most judges, to discuss the present crisis in the apex court. It passed a resolution saying no political party or leaders should take undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges.

BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Misra said that the apex bar body has formed the seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court barring the five senior most judges to discuss the present crisis.

Iran said on Saturday it would retaliate against new sanctions imposed by the United States after President Donald Trump set an ultimatum to fix disastrous flaws in a deal curbing Tehrans nuclear programme, reports Reuters. Trump said on Friday he would waive nuclear sanctions on Iran for the last time to give the United States and European allies a final chance to amend the pact. Washington also imposed sanctions on the head of Irans judiciary and others.

While approving the waiver on US sanctions related to the nuclear deal, Washington announced other sanctions against 14 Iranian entities and people, including judiciary head Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, a close ally of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Describing sanctions against Larijani as hostile action, Irans Foreign Ministry said the move crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community and is a violation of international law and will surely be answered by a serious reaction of the Islamic Republic, state media reported. It did not specify what any retaliation might involve.

bpd

Opec

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on Saturday that the OPEC members oil output capacity is nearing 5 million barrels per day, but the country will remain in full compliance with its output target under a global pact to cut supplies, reports Reuters.

North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold working-level talks at the Tongil Pavilion on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom on January 15, South Koreas unification ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The delegation led by the unification minister Cho Myung-kyun, will be sent to hold talks on the prospects of North Korea sending its performance art group to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover will recall 8,952 imported vehicles in China due to defective airbags, authorities said today. The recall was filed by Jaguar Land Rover China to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the national quality watchdog has said. Starting from January 19, the company will recall 8,952 imported 2013 Jaguar XF vehicles manufactured between June 19, 2012 and October 1, 2013, reports PTI.

India needs investment to the tune of $300 billion in the next 10 years to double its oil refining capacity, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI. "Oil refining capacity in the country stands at over 247 million ton at present and demand for petro products, which is rising rapidly, will touch 600 million ton by the year 2040," Pradhan said.

Noting that the country has built a robust refining and petrochemicals sector over the years, the minister said several brownfield projects are already in the pipeline for creating capacities of around 142 million tons. Pradhan said two major greenfield projects are all set to be launched to add 69 million ton of new refining capacities soon.

Ranjan

Gogoi

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, today said "there is no crisis". "There is no crisis," he told PTI on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis. Asked whether their act had amounted to a violation of discipline, Gogoi refused to comment, saying, "I have to catch a flight to Lucknow. I cannot talk."

CJI's

TV visuals today showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, a day after four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against the CJI, raising questions over "selective" case allocation, reports PTI. The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence in New Delhi. However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the prime minister was seen driving back.

In an unprecedented move, the four judges launched a public attack against the CJI's alleged arbitrary way of assigning important cases, including the case linked with justice BH Loya's mysterious death. Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. After the TV visuals were aired, the Congress was quick to criticise the government, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi must give an answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to the CJI.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck about 158 km southeast of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific on Saturday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

17:20 Hardik

An FIR was lodged in Jamnagar against Patidar quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel for allegedly delivering a "political" speech at an educational and farmers' welfare event at a village in this district over two months ago, the police said today. The complaint, filed by Jamnagar (rural) Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) RK Patel, says that although permission was granted for organising an educational and farmers' welfare event at Dhutarpar village, it turned out to be a "political" programme with Hardik delivering the speech.

Russia deployed a new division of S-400 surface-to-air missiles in Crimea on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported, in an escalation of military tensions on the Crimean peninsula, reports Reuters. Russian annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, triggering economic sanctions by the European Union and United States and a tense stand-off in the region.

Moscows latest deployment represents the second division armed with S-400 air defence systems on the peninsula, after the first in the spring of 2017 near the port town of Fedosia. The new division will be based next to the town of Sevastopol and will control the airspace over the border with Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported.

The new air defence system, designed to defend Russias borders, can be turned into combat mode in less than five minutes, Interfax news agency quoted Viktor Sevostyanov, a commander with Russias air forces, as saying. Russias defence ministry says the S-400 systems, known as Triumph, can bring down airborne targets at a range of 400 kms and ballistic missiles at a range of 60 kms.

The Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry has amended the guidelines of housing scheme for urban areas under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to enhance its coverage, reports PTI. Areas falling within notified planning or development area under the jurisdiction of an industrial development authority or special area development authority or urban development authority or any such body under state legislation which is entrusted with the functions of urban planning and regulations shall also be included for coverage under PMAY(U), according to the amended guidelines.

The housing scheme is being implemented by the Rural Development Ministry in rural areas under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) and by HUA ministry in urban areas under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). "The beneficiaries in the permanent wait list of PMAY (G) will have the flexibility for opting for a house under PMAY(G) or PMAY (U)," it said. The benefits of all existing and future rural schemes will not be denied to a beneficiary who would avail a house under this amendment, it added.

After a positive start to 2018, global stock markets sustained the momentum in the week gone by. Majority of the global indices ended in the positive territory. The US markets were the biggest gainers, rising by 2%, on the back of a stable economy and prospects of a good earnings season. US retail sales rose 0.4% in December, the fourth straight monthly gain. The consumer-price index rose 0.1% in December.

The euro firmed up, hitting a three-year high against the dollar after German lawmakers reached an agreement on a blueprint for a ruling coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and the opposing Social Democrats. A weaker greenback is expected to boost the profits of the multinational companies in the US.

Also in Europe, the British pound moved to its highest level since the UK's vote to leave the European Union as reports indicated that Netherlands and Spain want to work toward a "soft" Brexit. Barring Germany, equity markets in France and UK ended on a strong footing.

In the Asian markets, barring the Japanese index, all the others ended in the green in the week gone by. The Indian markets continued to remain on a firm wicket with indices scaling fresh highs. Positive trade in global market and expectation of revival in domestic earnings propelled the markets to record levels. This was the sixth weekly gain in a row for the benchmark.

In the commodity markets, oil prices resumed their climb, trading near three-year highs, as Trump extended temporary waivers on US sanctions against Iran. In cryptocurrencies, the bitcoin spot price rose 2.7% to $13,640. Back home, realty, IT and oil & gas led the rally for the week. Only, telecom, auto and power stocks ended in the red.

Retail chain Shoppers Stop has allotted shares worth Rs 179.26 crore to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings, an investment arm of Amazon.com. According to a BSE filing by the company, it has issued of 43,95,925 equity shares of Rs 5 each at a price of Rs 407.78 per equity share, aggregating around Rs 179.26 crore, to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings.

The private placement committee of Shoppers Stop at its meeting held on January 12 had approved the allotment of the equity shares. The company had entered into an agreement with Amazon.com Investment Holdings in September for the purpose of issuing equity shares on a preferential basis.

Yashwant

Sinha

Firing a fresh salvo at the government, disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha asked his party colleagues and ministers to "get rid of their fear" and "speak up for democracy" like the four Supreme Court judges who came out publicly against the chief justice, reports PTI. The former Union minister referred to the comments of the four judges to claim that the prevailing atmosphere was like the Emergency in 1975-77 and voiced concern over short parliamentary sessions.

If Parliament is compromised, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is threatened, he said. Sinha said, "if four senior most Supreme Court judges say democracy is under threat, we have to take their words very seriously." "Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior Cabinet ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up," he said.

Chinas tourism authority has urged accommodation companies to review their websites and apps to fix what Beijing deems to be inaccurate labelling of Taiwan or other Chinese-claimed territories as countries, reports Reuters.

The move expands the Chinese governments efforts of recent days to police how foreign businesses refer to parts of China, or territories claimed by Beijing, including Taiwan and Hong Kong - even if only in pull-down menus on websites.

On Thursday the government suspended Marriott Internationals Chinese website for a week to punish the worlds biggest hotel chain for listing Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries in a customer questionnaire.

Uber

The former security chief of Uber Technologies swore in a closed legal proceeding that he knew of no attempts to steal trade secrets from anyone, including Alphabets self-driving unit Waymo, and would be shocked if that had occurred. In a deposition taken in mid-December near San Francisco, Joe Sullivan, Ubers security chief from 2015 to 2017, said that the most explosive claims made by another former Uber employee of unethical and illegal behaviour by members of his security team were false. The testimony, described to Reuters by people familiar with it, came in connection with a lawsuit brought by Waymo which accuses arch rival Uber of stealing trade secrets.

14:39 A total of 32 students have been rescued from the boat that capsized 2 nautical miles from the Dahanu coast. The search and rescue operations were still underway.

14:19 At least three people were killed on Saturday after a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying seven persons crashed off the Mumbai coast. The helicopter was carrying five ONGC officials and two pilots. The three bodies were recovered by Indian Coast Guard ship Agrim, but they were not immediately identified, reports News18.

13:54 Tech giant Google has removed more than 60 gaming apps, which targeted kids, from its Google Play Store. The games were said to have contained malware that showed pornographic ads.

13:29 IDFC Bank, Capital First announce merger, share swap ratio at 139:10

IDFC Bank today announced a merger with non-banking financial company Capital First after a board meeting held earlier today approved the arrangement. The swap ratio has been set at 139:10 (for 10 equity shares Of Capital First, 139 Shares of IDFC Bank will be allotted).

As part of the deal, Bipin Gemani, the Chief Financial Officer of IDFC Limited has resigned from the company and will now be joining as the interim CFO of IDFC Bank. V Vaidyanathan, currently Chairman and MD of Capital First, will succeed Rajiv Lall as MD and CEO of the combined entity upon completion of the merger and necessary regulatory approvals.

In a press statement, the bank said this announcement is pursuant to IDFC Bank's stated strategy of retailising its business to complete their transformation from a dedicated infrastructure financier to a well-diversified universal bank, and in line with Capital Firsts stated intention and strategy to convert to a universal bank.

13:27 At least 4 people are reported to have died after their boat capsized near Dahanu, Maharashtra. The boat, carrying 40 students, capsized two nautical miles from the seashore of Dahanu. Around 25 persons have reportedly been rescued so far and the search is still on for the rest, ANI reported on Saturday.

13:13 Ind vs SA Second Test: Host win toss, elect to bat at Centurion

13:05 SpaceX Dragon, the cargo spacecraft carrying approximately 4,100 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station (ISS) was set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, according to Hindustan Times report.

12:42 Supreme Court Bar Association has dismissed any possibility of impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra

According to a News18 report, the SC Bar Association has dismissed any possibility of impeachment of Chief Justice Dipak Misra saying the four senior-most judges concealed more than they revealed in their unprecedented press meet on Friday.

Hours later, senior advocate Vikas Singh, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told News18 the press meet has only led to speculation and that the letter (from the judges to the CJI) had nothing to reveal.



Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" has debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times' best sellers list https://t.co/rDPKijaw56 pic.twitter.com/CuoYz2iouu

 CNN (@CNN) January 13, 2018

Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" is said to have debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times' best sellers list, according to a CNN tweet.

12:29 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is reportedly holding a meeting right now with the Chairman & Members of the 15th Finance Commission at his office in North Block

12:13 Five wrestlers, who were returning from a local competition, were among six persons killed when a tractor rammed into their SUV at Sangli district in western Maharashtra early today, police said.

Seven persons were injured in the accident, they said.

12:09 A helicopter with ONGC employees on board, which took off from Juhu airport this morning hasn't landed on the designated oil rig. There is no information on the helicopter, reports TOI

11:49 Investigation wing of Income Tax Dept made a seizure worth Rs 21.2 Crore, including Rs 8 crore cash, bullion & jewelry from U & I Vaults Limited. Total seizure from this vault now stands at Rs 85.2 Crore: IT Sources



Investigation wing of Income Tax Dept made a seizure worth Rs 21.2 Crore, including Rs 8 crore cash, bullion & jewelry from U & I Vaults Limited. Total seizure from this vault now stands at Rs 85.2 Crore: IT Sources pic.twitter.com/nPakKUSRd4  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018



11:18 Salut Old Monk! The spiritual teetotaler Kapil Mohan and how the legendary drink came into being

11:10 Supreme Court of India Judges vs Chief Justice of India

# Sources to CNN News 18 | PM Modi's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra went to meet Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, but could not get an appointment to meet him. He waited outside the residence for a few minutes and then left.

# Supreme Court Bar Association to hold a meeting at 5 PM. Bar President Vikas Singh to brief media at 6 PM.

# Rahul Gandhi demands 'high level' investigation into the death of Justice B H Loya

# Read Anna Hazare's comment on the issue

# Here's how the legal fraternity reacted

10:57 Here's a look at ISRO's journey in the last one year

10:34 ED raids at Karti Chidambaram's residence

The raids are a part of an ED investigation into a money laundering case registered last year against Karti Chidambaram. The agency had raided properties of Kartis close aides in Chennai and Kolkata on December 1.

The ED had, in September, also had attached Rs 1.16 crore worth of assets of Karti, who is being probed for allegedly receiving kickbacks in lieu of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance in the Aircel Maxis deal when his father was the Union Finance Minister in the UPA government.

10:34 The raids started around 7:30 am, both P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram are not in Chennai.

10:28 Aircel-Maxis Case: The Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids at Karti Chidambarams premises in Delhi and Chennai.

10:27 Here's a quick look at last evening's major headlines:

Your passports may no longer serve as address proof

Infosys President Rajesh Murthy resigns citing personal reasons

Questions Supreme Court judges raised need to be looked into, says Rahul Gandhi

India hopes UK-EU divorce won't be 'very acrimonious': Suresh Prabhu

Mallya's defence team raising issues to delay extradition: Kiren Rijiju

Forex reserves scale new high of USD 411.124 billionNew Delhi: Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI Photo by Atul Yadav (PTI1_13_2018_000129B)

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) today passed a resolution saying the differences of four seniormost judges with Chief Justice Dipak Misra should be considered by the full bench of the apex court.

Expressing "grave concern" over the differences between the senior judges and the CJI, SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that all PILs should be looked into either by the CJI or senior judges who form part of the apex court collegium.

Taking note of the concerns raised by four senior judges led by Justice J Chelameswar over assigning of cases, the bar body suggested that even the PILs listed for hearing on January 15 be transferred from other benches to either the bench headed by the CJI or benches led by the members of the collegium.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) formed a seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court, barring the five seniormost judges, to discuss the present crisis in the apex court.

It passed a resolution saying no political party or leaders should take undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges.

Misra said that the apex bar body has formed the seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court barring the five seniormost judges to discuss the present crisis.

The top lawyers' body also resolved that it will take the opinion of other judges and expressed the view that such issues of judges should not be made public.

Singh said that at the emergency executive meeting, grave concern was expressed over the differences between the four judges and the CJI.

Yesterday, justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Jurian Joseph had mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases.

The judges had said that there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court and warned that they could destroy Indian democracy.

The unprecedented news conference had left the judiciary and observers stunned, leaving uncertain how this open dissension in the hallowed institution would be resolved.Army chief General Bipin Rawat

A hotline will be set up between the Indian and Chinese armies very soon, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said today.

"It is moving very fast. Very soon we will have a hotline with the Chinese side," the Army Chief said at a press conference.

He said both India and China were very keen on having a hotline between the Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Chinese officer holding similar position.

The Army Chief said a hotline will help resolve incidents such as transgressions along the border promptly.

"We are very keen to start the hotline. The Chinese are also very clear," he said.

Currently, India and Pakistan have a hotline between their DGMOs.

Replying to a question on procurement of Spike anti-tank missile from Israel through government-to-government route, the Army Chief said such a proposal was being considered.

In November, the defence ministry had decided to retract the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

Subsequently, the ministry had asked premier defence research laboratory DRDO to develop similar missiles with indigenous technology.

Gen. Rawat said the government was considering procuring the missile system from Israel using the government-to- government route.Pawan Hans helicopter carrying police patrols over violence-hit area of Lalgarh

At least four people were killed on Saturday after a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying seven persons  five ONGC officials and two pilots  crashed off the Mumbai coast.

One of the bodies was identified as that of ONGC DGM Pankaj Garg, while the identity of the other bodies was yet to be ascertained.

The Dauphin chopper, VT PWA, took off at 10.20 am. Just 15 minutes later, it suddenly lost contact with both the Mumbai ATC and the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

At that time, it was thought to be flying around 55 km off the Mumbai shoreline, presumably en route to the state-owned ONGC's Bombay High oilfields, around 175 km northwest from Mumbai.

The Indian Coast Guard diverted a ship and an aircraft to the region for a search and rescue operation.

Pawan Hans chairman BP Sharma earlier confirmed that two pilots and five ONGC employees were on board the aircraft. ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) is a state-owned firm overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said he was heading to Mumbai and had spoken to Defence Nirmala Sitharaman. Navy and Coast Guard are on their job. I am also going to Mumbai to coordinate things. I will discuss it with the Defence Minister. She is also cooperating and has instructed the Navy and Coast Guard to look into the issue extensively, Pradhan said.The suspension of military aid to Pakistan by America is "welcoming" for India, experts, including a former Indian envoy to the US today said.

A group of experts drawn from diverse fields participated in a panel discussion on the 'US India relation under Trump Presidency' at the India Habitat Centre here.

"Many former Indian prime ministers sustained the forward trajectory in the Indo-US ties. And, during President Donald Trump's election campaigning and later after he assumed presidency, there were positivity in ties, so the forward trajectory can be sustained," former India's ambassador to the US, Arun K Singh said.

Singh served as India's ambassador to the US in 2015-16.

On the Trump administration freezing of the US military aid, he said, such strong decision on Pakistan was "welcoming for India."

Geostrategic trends expert Brahma Chellaney, and a fellow panellist, concurred that the step was welcoming for India, "But only sustained pressure (on Pakistan) will yield results."

"On action here and one action there won't suffice," he said on the sidelines of the panel.

On January 1, Trump had tweeted that the US had "foolishly" given Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid in the last 15 years and had gotten nothing in return but "lies and deceit."

Washington has confirmed that it will withhold nearly USD 2 billion in aid to Pakistan.

Trump has accused Pakistan of providing safe havens for terror groups like the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network fighting in war-torn Afghanistan.

The freezing of US military aid to Pakistan also includes USD 255 million due to it for military equipment and training under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) fund, and USD 700 m under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) -- paid to the country for conducting operations against militant groups.

The event was organsied by the India America Friendship Association in partnership with the University of Chicago Center in Delhi.

Other panelists included Surjit Bhalla, member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, JNU professor Chintamani Mahapatra and Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd), distinguished fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here.North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is seen during the inspection of a potato flour factory in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang. (Reuters)

North Korea has stepped up tunnelling at its main nuclear test site, a US think tank said, even as tensions cool on the peninsula following the resumption of long-stalled inter-Korean dialogue.

Satellite images showed increased activity at the Punggye-ri site, with mining carts and personnel frequently visible, and excavation waste piles growing, the respected 38North website said Thursday.

"These activities underscore North Korea's continued efforts to maintain the Punggye-ri site's potential for future nuclear testing," it said.

The last five of Pyongyang's six nuclear tests have been carried out under Mount Mantap at Punggye-ri in the country's north-west, all of them at the North Tunnel.

After a series of small earthquakes in the area, 38North said last October that the site may be suffering from the geological condition "Tired Mountain Syndrome".

The syndrome refers to the effect of below-ground nuclear blasts on the surrounding rock, which is extensively fractured and becomes increasingly permeable.

The latest pictures indicated the North Tunnel was "dormant" with water draining from its entrance, but that "tunnel excavation has been stepped up at the West Portal".

Elsewhere at the site there was unusual activity with some 100-120 personnel lined up in formation in the courtyard, their purpose unknown.

The images were taken in December, shortly before North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un gave a New Year speech warning US President Donald Trump of a "nuclear button" on his desk, while also offering to hold talks with Seoul.

The olive branch led to the first official dialogue between the two Koreas in more than two years, and an agreement for Pyongyang to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in the South.

The apparent rapprochement came after months of confrontation, during which Pyongyang carried out multiple missile tests and by far its biggest nuclear detonation to date.

But North Korea made no promises on its weapons programme at the talks, and lashed out when asked about denuclearisation by South Korean journalists, saying it was not up for discussion.

"The target of all our nuclear and hydrogen bombs and ICBMs and all other sophisticated weapons is the US," the North's chief delegate Ri Son-Gwon said.

Since Kim inherited power in 2011, North Korea has made rapid progress towards its goal of developing a missile that can deliver an atomic warhead to the United States, which significantly strengthens its negotiating position.Donald Trump

President Donald Trump has kept alive the Iran nuclear deal by waiving economic sanctions, but warned European allies and Congress that it will be "for the last time" if they fail to fix the "disastrous flaws" in the landmark 2015 pact.

The White House said yesterday that Trump will waive the sanctions against Iran for the "last time", unless an agreement can be reached between the US and Europe within the next 120 days that would strengthen the nuclear deal.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the US from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement.

He told the international community, in particular his European allies, either to fix the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or he would withdraw the US from the nuclear deal.

"Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw," he said.

"This is the last chance. In absence of such an agreement (between the US and European powers), the US will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal," he said in a lenghty statement.

The announcement came as the Treasury Department placed sanctions on 14 individuals and entities for alleged offenses unrelated to Irans nuclear industry. The new measures concern human rights abuses and censorship in Iran and the arming of groups throughout the region.

Issuing designations for 14 individuals and entities, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice.

The entities sanctioned include Irans Supreme Council of Cyberspace and its subsidiary, the National Cyberspace Center, which police the Internet, restricting access to websites that challenge the regime.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif describe Trump's decision as "desperate attempt" to "undermine" the deal.

"Trumps policy & todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, he tweeted.

He said the nuclear deal is "not renegotiable and rather than repeating tired rhetoric, the US must bring itself into full compliance -just like Iran."

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was struck between the US, under the administration of former President Barack Obama, Iran and five other countries. It prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons while offering sanctions relief to allow it to participate in international commerce and banking.

As a signatory to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has committed to not building nuclear weapons, even after the restrictions on its programme lapse, and it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

To keep the 2015 deal alive before he is required to sign another waiver in 120 days from now, Trump outlined four "critical components" that must be included in US legislation regarding Iran.

Trump outlined four "critical components" that must be included in US legislation regarding Iran.

The changes Trump has demanded include immediate inspections at all sites requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency; ensuring that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon; automatic resumption of US sanctions if Iran does not comply and Irans development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

Trump said he is open to working with Congress on bipartisan legislation regarding Iran. But any bill he sign must include these four critical components.

"I have been very clear about my opinion of that deal. It gave Iran far too much in exchange for far too little. The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the dealaccess to more than USD 100 billion, including USD 1.8 billion in cashhas not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people. Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders, he said.

In his statement, Trump said he is waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure USs European allies agreement to fix the "terrible flaws" of the Iran nuclear deal.

"This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately, Trump warned, adding that no one should doubt his words.

"If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran. Those who, for whatever reason, choose not to work with us will be siding with the Iranian regimes nuclear ambitions, and against the people of Iran and the peaceful nations of the world, Trump said.

Trump alleged that in 2015, the Obama Administration "foolishly traded away" strong multilateral sanctions to get its weak nuclear deal.

By contrast, my Administration has engaged with key European allies in seeking to secure a new supplemental agreement that would impose new multilateral sanctions if Iran develops or tests long-range missiles, thwarts inspections, or makes progress toward a nuclear weaponrequirements that should have been in the nuclear deal in the first place, he said.

Trump alleged that Iranian regime is the worlds leading state sponsor of terror and enables Hezbollah, Hamas, and many other terrorists to sow chaos and kill innocent people.

"It has funded, armed, and trained more than 100,000 militants to spread destruction across the Middle East. It props up the murderous regime of Bashar al Assad, and has helped him slaughter his own people," he said.

"The regimes destructive missiles threaten neighbouring countries and international shipping. Within Iran, the Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Irans people. Irans ruling elite has let their citizens go hungry while enriching themselves by stealing Irans national wealth," said the US President.

The US, he said, is countering Iranian proxy wars in Yemen and Syria.

"We are cutting off the regimes money flows to terrorists. We have sanctioned nearly 100 individuals and entities involved with the Iranian regimes ballistic missile program and its other illicit activities, he said.January 13, 2018 Syria - Volume of Al-Qaeda Propaganda Forecasts Syrian Army Success The success of the current Syrian government operations against al-Qaeda in Idleb governorate can be measured by the volume of U.S. propaganda against it. A similar situation occurred when Aleppo was liberated from al-Qaeda's control. Certain U.S. media, (non-)government-organizations and politicians obviously prefer Takfiri al-Qaeda rule in Syria over control by the legitimated secular government. According to the various streams of such propaganda Idleb is crowded with hospitals, bakeries and little children who all get "barrel bombed" by the nefarious Iranians and Russians while no Takfiri militant can ever be seen. Amnesty International, which famously begged "NATO: KEEP THE PROGRESS GOING" in Afghanistan, is again on the forefront: Amnesty International @amnesty - 3:41 PM - 12 Jan 2018

Were outraged by the attacks on civilians in #Idlib governorate which hosts thousands of internally displaced people from across #Syria. They now have nowhere else to flee to anymore. The tweet is decorated with a picture of al-Qaeda's first aid mercenaries, the White Helmets, who are paid by the British and other governments and receive propaganda cover from British media. The overpaid (more than $450,000 pa) eternal leader of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth chips in: Kenneth Roth @KenRoth - 11:47 PM - 12 Jan 2018

Putin-Assad fooled Great Negotiator Trump into believing Syrian "de-escalation zone" would mean a halt in attacks on civilians rather than just a lull to regroup. Roth links to a Washington Post editorial which finds that fighting al-Qaeda in Idleb is not in the interest of the United States: [Trump officials] are playing down the Idlib fighting on the grounds that the area is dominated by al-Qaeda-linked rebel groups.

...

While extremist groups control a large part of Idlib, Turkey says moderate Free Syrian Army units are involved in the fighting  an assertion that we also heard from several FSA leaders now visiting Washington.

...

[I]f the offensive is successful, the result will be the further entrenchment in Syria of not just Russia but also Iran, the Assad regimes closest ally. The United States, in short, stands to lose  again  to Russia in Syria. The Washington Post bureau chief in Beirut adds her half cent by lauding a propagandist for the al-Qaeda death-cult in Idleb as "brave journalist": Liz Sly @LizSly - 9:06 PM - 11 Jan 2018

This Syrian journalist, standing in an open field while bombs explode all around him, is very lucky to be alive. No flak jacket or helmet. You can barely hear him above the explosions. He and his colleagues are very brave. The neoconservative WaPo editors picked their idea from the notorious propaganda outlet Institute for the Study of War. When the de-escalation zones where introduced in Syria through negotiations between Russia, Iran, Turkey and the U.S., al-Qaeda and the Islamic State were excluded. Associated Press reported at that time: [The deal] also calls for the continued fight against IS and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front Al-Qaeda itself denounced any de-escalation agreement and promised to continue fighting. The ISW recognized that at that time and pointed out that al-Qaeda is the real danger in the deal: The ceasefire deal will provide Al Qaeda with time and space to further network itself within the opposition, including through local governance and security structures.

...

Syrian rebels have expressed dissatisfaction over U.S. demands to abandon the fight against President Assad and decreased U.S. support to rebels. Al Qaeda will exploit these grievances and attempt to fill the vacuum. Al Qaeda will position itself to eventually spoil the agreement, but will do so in a timeframe that supports its own interests. That al-Qaeda is the main ruling and fighting power in Idelb, is excluded from the de-escalation deal and tries to break it is now conveniently forgotten. In its newest efforts the ISW even claims that attacks on al-Qaeda violate the de-escalation agreement: Russia, Iran, and Syrian President Bashar al Assads regime launched a joint operation in northwestern Syria against the al Qaeda stronghold in Idlib Province in November 2017.

...

The pro-regime offensive violates the de-escalation zone in Idlib Province. That is an obvious lie. The various UN Security Council resolutions on Syria demand "to eradicate the safe haven [al-Qaeda and ISIS] have established over significant parts of Syria". But the ISW now believes that fighting al-Qaeda is not in U.S. interests: A pro-regime campaign to seize Idlib Province is not in Americas interest. The extension of Assads control produces a corollary extension of Irans military footprint and leverage in Syria.

...

Neither Turkey nor Russia can deliver an outcome in Syria that supports US interests. The US should help Turkey block pro-regime operations that will cause further humanitarian catastrophe. The US must refrain from accepting either Russias diplomatic play or Turkeys relationship with al Qaeda, however. The US must instead retain freedom of action and avoid the temptation to outsource American national security requirements to regional actors already at war in Syria. What does that actually say? What action would the ISW or the Washington Post editors like to see? Turkey attacking Syrian and Russian forces in Syria to prevent further attacks on al-Qaeda? An occupation of al-Qaeda held Idleb by U.S. forces against the will of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia? By what means? Neither the ISW nor the Washington Post offer concrete advice. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do not further any idea on how to solve the issue. They seem to prefer that civilians living in Idleb stay under the deadly ruled of religious fanatics who's ideal of "liberated women" (video) are walking black tents. Thankfully larger scale military action against Syria by either Turkey or the U.S. is now unlikely. The bloody liberation of Idleb governorate from al-Qaeda will proceed. The propaganda wave against it lets one assume that it will be successful. This makes it even less understandable why the above outlets continue with their efforts. What again do they hope to achieve? Posted by b on January 13, 2018 at 15:47 UTC | Permalink CommentsThe Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors presented commendations to members of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, the San Martin Chamber of Commerce and Greenwaste Recovery, Inc. for their joint efforts in hosting the November 2017 Trash Bash event in San Martin.

Supervisor Mike Wasserman presented plaques to each organizations representative with words of acknowledgement and praise for the cleanup the volunteers completed in South County.

Back in 2015, SMNA began looking at ways to address the increased trash and graffiti within San Martin, according to organizers. SMNA members, community volunteers and other organizations, such as the Sheriffs Association, began holding cleanup events in San Martin.

With the added collaboration and support from the newly formed San Martin Chamber of Commerce, the Trash Bash event Nov. 11, 2017 was a true community success, according to organizers.

Collaboration efforts will continue with cleanup events in San Martin scheduled for each spring and fall.

SMNA is committed to increasing the number of volunteers and working closely with Supervisor Wassermans Office, Greenwaste Recovery and the San Martin Chamber of Commerce, SMNA President Trina Hineser said. SMNA has extended an invitation to the Santa Clara Valley Water District to participate in the Trash Bash events to achieve cleanup efforts in the creeks that flow through San Martin.

The next Trash Bash community event is tentatively scheduled from 9am to noon March 24 at the Sig Sanchez County Building in San Martin.TORONTO, Jan. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BELGRAVIA CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INC. (CSE:BLGV) (OTCQB:BLGVF) (Belgravia Capital, or the Company) is pleased to announce it has closed its announced non-brokered private placement of units. The Company has raised gross proceeds of $6,699,500 through the issuance of (i) 133,990,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit, with each unit consisting of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.18 per share until January 10, 2019. All securities issued pursuant to the financing are subject to a four-month plus one-day hold period as required under Securities legislation.



Mr. Mehdi Azodi, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company stated: We are pleased to have completed this important financing. As previously announced the Companys strategies include the development of Blockchain distributed databases for attestation of provenance and quality for internationally supplied medicinal cannabis. As with all pharmaceuticals, the medicinal cannabis industry is required by regulators and domestic and international law to track the entire seed to sale process. Our systems and software will perform these functions using a distributed and decentralized data base recordation system. This will provide visibility to regulators and consumers. Our systems will provide considerable value to licensed producers in their marketing efforts since they will allow for consumer-friendly product content and quality visibility. The blockchain data will verify product quality characteristics such as percentages of cannabinoids and terpenoids, and the absence of impurities such as heavy metals and metabolites.

Mr. Azodi continued: These funds raised, in conjunction with previous funding, will be used for both working capital purposes and valued-added targeted investment. In addition to the development of attestation blockchain databases, the Company is investigating an additional blockchain concept. This product has the potential to provide a dramatic and significantly disruptive solution for medicinal cannabis customer generation and retention. The product will be of extreme value to licensed producers and distributors of medicinal cannabis. In addition to holding capital for the funding blockchain development solutions, the Company holds strategic investments of approximately $675,000 in a developing portfolio of research and development companies. We believe these investments will provide value-added services to Belgravia in terms of profitable ideas and relationships. In some cases, Belgravia management will take an active role in the strategic direction and management of the investees.

About Belgravia Capital

Belgravia Capital International is focused on the provision of clearly value-added services to the international legal Cannabis industry. This includes the production of specialized organic fertilizers for Cannabis Sativa plants, and the organization and development of blockchain technology software for seed-to-sale tracking and quality attestation of intermediate and consumer products. The wholly owned subsidiary of Belgravia, ICP Organics, is a research and development company incorporating agronomic and health perspectives in the Cannabis space. Belgravia is also developing a royalty-streaming subsidiary.

Belgravia Capital intends to establish joint research and development partnerships with Licensed Producers operating under ACMPR regulations in Canada and in other jurisdictions where medicinal cannabis is fully legal. Belgravia Capital may invest in various private and public companies in diversified sectors on an opportunistic basis. For more information, please visit www.belgraviacapital.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that use forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, anticipate, believe, continue, potential or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding planned investment activities & related returns, trends in the markets for fertilizers and medicinal or recreational use of cannabis, the timing or assurance of the legalization of recreational cannabis, the timing for completion of research and development activities, the potential value of royalties from water and other resources, and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, changes in market trends, the completion, results and timing of research undertaken by the Company, risks associated with resource assets, the impact of general economic conditions, commodity prices, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory, environmental, and governmental approvals, the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing, and risks associated with cannabis use for medicinal or recreational purposes. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

For More Information, Please Contact:

Mehdi Azodi, President & CEO

Belgravia Capital

(416) 779-3268

mazodi@blgv.caMillions of Americans will need to use a new Internal Revenue Service online calculator to ensure their new paychecks are accurate, Trump administration officials said Thursday as they issued guidelines for implementing the recently passed tax law.

The guidelines are necessary for businesses to calculate how much to withhold in taxes from employees' paychecks beginning as soon as next month. The White House said Thursday that businesses should make these adjustments by Feb. 15, part of the administration's push for millions of workers to see bigger paychecks as quickly as possible.

In rushing the process, the Treasury Department is asking companies to rely on outdated forms to help determine how much to withhold.

A senior IRS official said Thursday that Americans with simple tax situations are likely to get accurate paychecks next month. But many Americans, including those who tend to itemize their tax returns, will need to use the online tool to ensure they are not dramatically overpaying or underpaying their taxes. The online calculator will not be available until sometime next month.

If they find their paychecks are inaccurate, it will be incumbent on the employees to tell their employers to make corrections.

"This will provide [Americans] with certainty so they are neither over-withheld or under-withheld," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday.

The new guidelines incorporate lower tax rates that were central to Congress's December tax overhaul. Trump administration officials said that the guidelines should lead to bigger paychecks for 90 percent of all wage earners.

But these tax withholding decisions are based on tax forms Americans file with their employers, known as W-4s, that were written to apply to an outdated tax system. The Treasury Department and IRS are designing new W-4 forms that millions of Americans will probably be able to fill out later this year to make their tax withholdings more accurate in the future, but they will not be ready in time for the paycheck adjustments next month.

"We had an existing form," Mnuchin said. "We had existing technology. We had to figure out how to fit this in this format."

Senior Treasury Department officials said they expect employers to update their systems so that the new withholding tables go into effect by Feb. 15.

Americans typically have federal income taxes withheld from their paychecks, money that is aggregated over the course of the year to account for a person's federal tax liability. When they file their tax returns, if their tax payments were too high or too low, they must account for the difference through a refund or payment. Currently, 76 percent of Americans who file their taxes receive a tax refund. A senior IRS official said he expected that level to fall just a bit next year to around 73 percent.

But Democrats have alleged the number could fall much more, accusing the White House of changing the tax tables in a way that will lead to Americans dramatically under-withholding their tax payments during the year, only to be hit with big tax bills next year. They have ordered a review by the Government Accountability Office to determine whether the new tax guidelines are accurate.

"Republicans are using brute force and speed to implement a law that will deliver a financial blow to hardworking Americans all across the country," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement. "I look forward to GAO's independent review of these tables, which will expose whether the Trump administration is tampering with Americans' paychecks, resulting in a whopping tax bill next year."

Many Americans are likely to see changes and adjustments this year in their tax payments as the law goes into effect.

The law lowers tax rates, which is the primary reason Americans will see bigger paychecks next month, but it also limits or scales back tax deductions, changes that might not be realized until Americans file their tax returns.

For example, there is a new $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local taxes a household can deduct from federal income. There are also new limits on the mortgage interest deduction, and the child tax credit was expanded.

Senior IRS and Treasury Department officials told reporters Thursday that they would be encouraging all Americans to proactively use a new IRS tax calculator in late February to help them determine whether their paychecks are accurate. If they determine they are paying too much or too little in taxes, based on the size of their family or other variables, they can direct their employer to make changes.

Americans will not be asked to input personal information such as names or Social Security Numbers into this online calculator, but they will need to input their income levels, family status and a number of other details.

The tax law is projected to add between $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion to the debt over 10 years because of a fall in revenue, something Democrats have decried but Republicans have said will help spur economic growth.

Employers must now rush to incorporate the new tax withholding tables into their payroll systems, a process that is expected to take several weeks.

The lower rates, an expanded standard deduction, and a larger Child Tax Credit are projected to reduce taxes for American workers and business owners by $180 billion in 2018, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

But that will be partially offset by new curbs on numerous tax breaks, including the elimination of personal exemptions and the new cap on state and local taxes.

These tax changes are all scheduled to expire after 2025, though Republicans have said they want to make them permanent.TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, Jan. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corporacion Dinant today announced a series of results showing the long-term environmental benefits of the companys significant investments in its African Palm plantations in the Aguan and Lean regions of Honduras.

Since 2014, Dinants African Palm plantations have significantly cut their impact on the natural environment. Water consumption has been reduced by 73%, industrial wastewater generation is down 40%, and production processes now use 54% less energy.

Company Spokesman, Roger Pineda, commented, Dinant has invested heavily in recent years to ensure that our African Palm plantations have less impact on the environment, and Im delighted that we are seeing excellent results. Our oil extraction mills in Honduras have net zero operations with respect to energy, water and waste. Over 95% of the waste produced at our plantations is reused, marketed or recycled. And in the Aguan, the clean energy generated from biomass and biogas has enabled us to reduce our use of fossil fuels by 25%. Furthermore, all MAZOLA cooking products are now sourced from 100% sustainable raw materials.

Dinants high-tech biogas recovery unit at its oil extraction mill in the Aguan, which has generated 50 million m of biogas and reduced the companys use of fossil fuels by 6 million gallons since 2008, has been designated a Clean Development Mechanism by the United Nations.

Mr. Pineda continued, In recognition of our investment in the environment, Dinants African Palm oil extraction mills and plantations have received two International Sustainability and Carbon Certifications  ISCC EU and ISCC Plus  for the sustainability of raw materials and products, the traceability of supply chains, and the control of greenhouse gas emissions. Were really proud of the progress were making, but we know there is still more work to be done.

About Corporacion Dinant

Dinant is a family-owned consumer products manufacturer founded in Honduras in 1960. Its products are sold across Central America and the Dominican Republic. The company employs 7,200 people worldwide, supports a further 22,000 livelihoods, and contributes significantly to the Honduran economy. Dinant rigorously benchmarks its African Palm business against stringent international standards regarding economic, environmental and social impacts. All Dinant operating facilities in Honduras have been granted ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 status for their environmental management systems and occupational health & safety. All MAZOLA cooking products are sourced from 100% sustainable Crude Palm Oil and Kernel Palm Oil.

This material is distributed by Tricuro LLC on behalf of Corporacion Dinant. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af8e53df-b743-4612-90ab-a4603393d389

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7a53f733-dd47-4f02-929e-d8cbadcf2439HALIFAX, Novia Scotia, Jan. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVA LEAP HEALTH CORP. (TSXV:NLH) ("Nova Leap" or the "Company"), a company focused on the home health care industry, has granted 1,485,000 incentive stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company. The stock options are exercisable for a period of 10 years at an exercise price of $0.25 per share and vest 25% immediately and 25% on each anniversary date of the stock option grant date. The options were granted under and are subject to the terms and conditions of the Companys Stock Option Plan.



About Nova Leap

The Home Care Providers industry is becoming one of the fastest growing healthcare industries in Canada and the United States. Home care saves patients billions of dollars every year by treating them in their own homes instead of in hospitals. An aging population, the prevalence of chronic disease, growing physician acceptance of home care, medical advancements and a movement toward cost-efficient treatment options from public and private payers have all fostered industry growth. Nova Leap is focused on a highly fragmented market of small privately-held companies providing patients one on one care in their homes. Nova Leap's post acquisition organic growth strategy is to increase annual revenue per location through a combination of increased employee investment, including training, focused sales and marketing efforts, billing rate increases, expansion of geographical coverage, and improved referral sources.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:

Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

For further information:

Christopher Dobbin, CPA, CA, Director, President and CEO Nova Leap Health Corp., T: 902 401 9480 F: 902 482 5177 cdobbin@novaleaphealth.com

John Boidman, Vice President Renmark Financial Communications Inc. T: 416 644-2020 or 514 939-3989 jboidman@renmarkfinancial.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.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.Theres a place tucked away in Central Florida where youll find all things slimy, slithering, and hissing.

Reptile World in St. Cloud showcases venom extractions from snakes

The zoo features 75 different species of snakes, lizards, turtles & alligators

Even if thats not quite your thing this place has a little something for everyone and may just push you outside of your comfort zone.

Off a mostly quiet highway in St. Cloud youll find a zoo, of sorts.

There are very few places on the planet that youll be able to have this experience, herpetologist and owner of Reptile World Serpentarium George Van Horn said.

George has made it his lifes work to make sure of that.

Holding his first snake when he was just a boy, he now makes it his job to dabble in danger.

There arent many venom producers left, George said, Its an odd occupation I must say.

Yes you read that correctly  He extracts venom from deadly snakes for a living and here at his Reptile World Serpentarium you get to see it all unfold.

Twice a day George and his wife hold venom extractions.

The public stands behind glass while the couple extracts venom from cobras, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, and an assortment of other venomous snakes.

These arent just shows though, the venom extracted is all stored in a bio toxin laboratory, then shipped to universities and other labs across the world.

When people do this tour they have such a better understanding of what we do, about these animals, and how the production of anti-venom works, George explained.

The serpentarium is a certified venom factory. The venom is used for medical and herpetological research.

In total, the facility has more than 75 different species of snakes, lizards, turtles and alligators, all of which you can see when you walk through the serpentarium.

If youre not terrified of snakes and feeling adventurous, theyll even let you hold one, of course not the venomous snakes, but it will still push you out of your comfort zone.

We really have tried to keep this less touristy and make this a place people feel good about their visit, learn something, and take away an experience they wont get anywhere else, George said.

Reptile World is open everyday, except Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There are two venom extraction shows each day, one at noon and the other at 3 p.m.

Admission for adults 18 and up is $11.50. For children 17 and under the cost is $9.50.A proposed museum would let visitors walk through battlefield re-creations and ride in armored tanks to create an immersive experience about the countrys military history.

Following the closure of Danburys U.S. Military Museum in September, Wallingford resident Tom ORourke is eyeing locations for a new military museum, including the site of the former NRG power plant on Cathole Mountain in Meriden.

ORourke is the founder of Military Simulation Airsoft Tactical Operations, a military simulation events company. His new project, Military Experience Museum Inc., would be a not-for-profit museum with indoor and outdoor attractions

ORourke was able to obtain many of the artifacts from the Danbury museum after it closed, including a Cold War era gas mask, World War II field phone, and a vintage metal detector, in addition to uniforms and other authentic items. Alongside the artifacts, ORourke plans to play video interviews of veterans explaining how the equipment was used.

The main attraction would be re-creations of battlefields, including a World War II village on the border near France and Germany, a Vietnam fire base and a U.S. forward operating base in Iraq. Visitors would be able to walk through the re-creations and experience the battlefields firsthand.

O'Rourke also hopes to acquire the military tanks and trucks that remain at the Danbury site, allowing guests to ride the grounds for a fee. For that reason, he is looking at larger locations, in the 75-acre range.

You will actually be able to go ride on the vehicles and thats why were looking for such a large property, ORourke said. Thats what gets people interested in history, if they get to be involved.

ORourke has pitched the museum concept to six municipalities in Connecticut. Last week, he toured the NRG site off South Mountain Road in the citys north end with City Planner Bob Seale. NRG had partially constructed a power plant, but it was demolished in 2014. The site is now vacant with some signs of vandalism, including graffiti.

With sprawling views of the Meriden area, ORourke said the NRG site would be ideal for his museum.

Its absolutely gorgeous. Its centrally located in the state of Connecticut, great location, ORourke said. It has a lot of benefits. I think it would be great for the city if it ends up being a destination location.

NRG spokesman David Gaier confirmed O'Rourke had contacted the company.

Weve had an expression of interest from a developer regarding a potential military museum, and well of course be happy to take a look at any proposal they make, Gaier said.

Although talks regarding the museum are preliminary, Seale said the location is pristine land ripe for development, and interest in the site could spur further development.

Its an amazing, absolutely gorgeous view, Seale said. Obviously, it would be good for the city to have more development happening and add to the tax base and add indirectly to economic development.

ORourke is seeking local veterans to tell their stories for the museum. Those interested should visit militaryexperiencemuseum.org for more information.

We want to get the veterans because theres so many stories that are being lost, ORourke said.

ltauss@record-journal.com

203-317-2231

Twitter: @LeighTaussRJAllen and another DEC staff member, Peter Nye, were the leads on the project that started in 1976 when the state's bald eagle population dwindled down to two.

"The recovery program has just been a massive success," said David Marsh, coordinator of the local survey to Friday's volunteers. "We're indebted to those people for certain."

Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

The midwinter survey conducted out of the refuge covers from the northern end of Cayuga Lake to the Lake Ontario shoreline. Jim Eckler, a wildlife biologist with the DEC, and Jill Pero, a sophomore at Keuka College and intern with the DEC, were assigned to scout the Sodus Bay area.

Eckler has worked for the DEC for 35 years, and Friday was his approximately 15th survey. Eckler, too, worked on the eagle recovery program when it was based out of Albany. He built one of the state's hacking towers at Alcove Reservoir, where scientists would take care of eaglets before they were ready to fledge.

For those who have seen the ruins of Montezuma's hacking tower on Clark's Ridge, it might be difficult to imagine that it once had a one-way mirror where scientists would sneak food into an enclosed cage unnoticed by the eaglets. Eckler said there was a camera inside the hacking towers, too, that he could move around using a joy stick from a control room to make sure the babies were eating.AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE--Bravatek Solutions, Inc. (OTCPink:BVTK) ("Bravatek" or the "Company") announces that it has executed its acquisition of HelpComm, Inc. ("HelpComm") of Manassas, Virginia. The Company previously reported it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire HelpComm.



Dr. Thomas A. Cellucci, Bravatek's Chairman and CEO commented: "The team at HelpComm is considered by many 'the best in the business' because of their telecom construction and services. With a history of achievement of over 16 years we are proud to have them join the Bravatek family of solutions. Much more than their multi-millions in revenues, HelpComm possesses significant assets to rapidly acquire more business across the country in a short time to take advantage of the booming 5G market, as well as all the ancillary telecom-related applications."

Johnny Bolton, CEO and Co-founder of HelpComm and Jonathan Bolton, VP at HelpComm commented: "After seeing how effective Bravatek was as a strategic channel partner for us we knew we could grow more rapidly with their sales/marketing prowess and other telecom IDIQs from the Viking acquisition. We are extremely excited and proud to be joining the Bravatek team and look forward to tremendous growth in the near and long term."

About Bravatek Solutions, Inc.

Bravatek Solutions, Inc. is a high technology security solutions portfolio provider that assists corporate entities, governments and individuals protect their organizations against both physical and cyber-attacks through its offering of the most technically-advanced, cost-effective and reliable software, tools and systems.

For more information, visit www.bravatek.com

About HelpComm, Inc.

Helpcomm Inc. is a diversified small business company that specializes in telecommunication, land development consulting, environmental services, generators, bond release coordination, and electrical services. Our diversity allows our team to provide turnkey projects in a variety of fields; eliminating the need for numerous subcontractors and providing clients with the expertise needed to complete each project on-time and within budget.

For more information, visit www.helpcomm.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and the actual results and future events could differ materially from management's current expectations. The economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors identified in the Company's previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media contact:

Bravatek Solutions, Inc.

media@bravatek.com

1.866.490.8590There were lots of signs that Californias race to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown began in earnest Saturday during a forum at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

With the top finishers in the June 5 primary, regardless of party, advancing to the November election, the candidates started swinging hard in an effort to stand out in the crowded field:

Both of the two Republicans onstage and two of the three other Democrats attacked early poll front-runner, Democrat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The two Republicans  businessman John Cox of Rancho Santa Fe (San Diego County) and Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach (Orange County)  sniped at each other for everything from being immature to contributing money to Democrats, and each claimed to be doing more to support a proposed ballot measure to repeal Californias new gas tax.

The field neatly cleaved into those who support President Trump (Republicans) and who dont (Democrats.) And kind of like it is in California  where 66 percent of voters disapprove of Trump, according to a Berkeley IGS Poll  there was no middle ground.

WATCH: Forum for the Democratic candidates in California's gubernatorial race (story continues below)

Clearly hes a racist, said former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, the self-described optimist and only candidate on stage not to attack a fellow candidate.

But in response to the same question from a moderator about what they thought of Trumps vulgar comments last week questioning the need to accept immigrants from Haiti and African countries, neither Cox nor Allen criticized the president.

I dont have a racist bone in my body, Cox said. But as a lifelong businessman, I dont have the luxury of calling somebody a name and then deflecting the issue. Weve got to focus on things that will make life quality for the people of California, not demonize the president.

Cox supported Trump on immigration, saying We need to build a wall.

Allen also declined to criticize Trump and drew a smattering of boos when he said California must never be a sanctuary state.

These are people who came into the country illegally and are in our communities committing crimes, Allen said. They are now going to be sheltered by Jerry Browns sanctuary state 

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tore into Allen, pointing to a National Academy of Sciences study that found immigrants commit fewer crimes per capita than native-born Americans. What you say is absolutely wrong, Villraigosa said.

Nearly all of the candidates, save for Eastin, found a more common enemy in Newsom, who led a December Berkeley IGS Poll with 26 percent of the vote over Villaraigosa with 17 percent. Allen and Cox each had 9 percent, Eastin and state Treasure John Chiang, each had 5 percent. A seventh candidate, former Sacramento-area GOP Rep. Doug Ose, just entered the race and wasnt measured in the poll.

The other candidates focused on Newsoms support for single-payer health care. Villaraigosa said that while he is philosophically for it, that as someone on Medicare, he worried about abruptly switching health care systems without a plan to guide the transition. Turning to Newsom, he said, You dont have a plan.

Youve got to have a plan, everybody, Villaraigosa said. Anybody who is telling you that we should do it without a plan is selling you snake oil.

Newsom countered, saying that Antonio just mentioned that hes on Medicare. Isnt that interesting  (Medicare is) a single-payer plan in this country that is working. That brings down the costs. That allows government to use its leverage and purchasing power.

Eastin offered unequivocal support for a single-payer plan, saying she would convene the best minds to make the system work. Its about having will, she said. I have the will to make this happen.

Chiang said he supports such a plan, but chided Newsom for not offering details.

You have to ask Gavin, Hhow much are you going to increase payroll taxes? Chiang said. Are we going to support businesses in the state of California? Are we going to make it difficult to do business in California?

Cox and Allen wholly opposed a single-payer plan.

Why stop at health care? Why dont we have single-payer food? Why dont we have single-payer housing? Cox said.  Ill tell you why. Because the free market is absolutely the best way.

Eastin continually returned her focus to how improving the states education system would solve other problems, including the high incarceration rate. Cox criticized Newsom for receiving the endorsement of the states teachers union, saying it is an example of the cronyism that cripples Sacramento.

While Newsom touted San Franciscos schools as being the best urban district in the state, Villraigosa pointed out that the achievement gap between African American students and others is the worst in the state. We actually have a real achievement gap, there, he said.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoliA Pittsburg police officer shot and killed a man reportedly conducting a drug deal from his car outside a Nations Giant Hamburgers restaurant in the city Friday night.

When officers arrived at the restaurant on Railroad Avenue, they saw the man, whose name was not released, sitting in his car with a handgun on the center console, according to police. He was described as a 43-year-old Antioch man by the Associated Press.BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. - Like many pastors, Joey Gilbert felt called to serve.

But that call ended up being long-distance.

Gilbert has been pastor at a small church in the Bayside community - which has an average Sunday attendance of 40 - for about 17 months.

Children rush up to give him a hug, even though they might be bashful about talking, and he's just as glad to see them. Adults give him a hearty handshake or a high-five.

But this isn't your average calling.

The thing is, he doesn't live in Bay St. Louis or Waveland. He doesn't even live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, or anywhere in Mississippi or nearby Louisiana.

About three weekends each month, Gilbert drives from Carnesville, Ga., to Bayside Baptist Church off U.S. 90. It's about a 1,000-mile round-trip journey. That's in addition to doing his weekday job as a land surveyor for a company called Landtech.

Carnesville is about 75 miles northeast of Atlanta, and as anyone who has driven in Georgia knows, it's almost impossible to bypass that city's traffic in the northern half of the state. Yet Gilbert, often joined by wife Julie, who is a teacher, and friends Joyce and Kim Reed, sees this route as a regular mission trip to people who captured his heart after Hurricane Katrina.

Like much of Hancock County, the Bayside community was hit hard by the catastrophic storm. A building intended to be a sort of neighborhood clubhouse now houses a convenience store and a coin laundry. Katrina cottages dot the streets. Several struggling families now call the development area home, with a few original residents.

One of those original residents is Suzy Medrano, a retired nurse who has made her daughter's empty house available to the Gilberts and the Reeds as a sort of free bed and breakfast. It's her donation to the cause. She wants Bayside Baptist to succeed.

"That's OK," she said, explaining that had circumstances been different, she wouldn't have been able to contribute in this way. "The Lord has delivered me through many things."

Another is Vicky Wesner, who has been a member of the church "33 or 34 years."

"My wedding was the first wedding in this church," she said. "I've been teaching Sunday School about 30 years and driving the church van about 30 years, too."

She's seen 13 pastors serve at Bayside.

Gilbert first came to the neighborhood a few years ago when he and several other volunteers arrived to help after Katrina. Part of their mission was to help rebuild the church. Later, providing Vacation Bible School for the community's children became a project.

"Last June, the pastor called and said he was leaving the church in the hands of another gentleman," Gilbert said. When they arrived in Hancock County to help with VBS a few weeks later, he was amazed to find that attendance had dropped dramatically - to as few as three adults. The former pastor's plans had not worked out, and people were leaving the church.

"They asked if I could help them," he said. Gilbert, 46, became an ordained Baptist minister in 2002, "but I actually started preaching at 19," he said.

His new missions work had begun. What had been an annual trip became an almost-weekly trip. The Gilberts and the Reeds absorb most of the travel expenses themselves.

"The offering is used to keep the lights on," Joey Gilbert said, and Kim Reed added, "and keep the van repaired."

The van picks up neighborhood children who otherwise wouldn't have a ride to the church on Sunday mornings. It doesn't hurt that breakfast, which usually features biscuits, coffee and juice, is served at 9 a.m. Sunday School follows at 9:30 a.m., with the service at 10:30 a.m.

How does Gilbert do it? Where does he find the willpower, the energy?

"With the Lord's help, and a lot of prayer, and a lot of determination," he said, then added quietly, "If you came on a Sunday, and met the members and the kids, you'd understand. Like I tell people, it's a God thing. Physically, financially, God has made a way. I've just about worn out a vehicle in the past year and a half, but it's all worth it."

Nevertheless, he hopes the church eventually can find a local, permanent pastor. The Gilberts have three children: one in college, one in high school, one in middle school.

"My children are understanding, but they sure do like for Dad to be home," he said.

"I love this church," said Wesner, a member. "Sometimes I come here and get my peace and quiet. If I have trouble in my mind, I might just sit in the parking lot, and my anxiety is relieved."Dear Mr. Premack: My mother is 85, still lives on her own in an apartment, and I see her nearly every day. Still, I cant be there with her every minute. Last week, she answered the door and a very nice young man talked to her about a donation to a youth charity. She wrote him a check for $300 to his name at his request. I am certain she was scammed. The loss of the money hurts, but isnt the end of the world. On the other hand, how can we legally avoid this kind of rip-off from hurting her?  J.E.

Scams against the elderly are all too common. You should report this scam to the local police department, and can make a report to the National Consumers League at www.fraud.org (where you can also learn tips for prevention).

You should also immediately call her bank to report the fraud. They may be able to stop the check before it is cashed. Calling them will also alert the banks fraud office to be on the alert for similar scams.

Additionally, there is a new Texas law that gives banks additional authority in an effort to handle scams. House Bill 3921 modified the Texas Finance Code and the Texas Securities Act, effective September 1, 2018. It allows a banker or broker to act when exploitation of a vulnerable adult is suspected. A vulnerable adult is anyone 65 and older, any adult with a substantially impairing disability, and certain adults receiving government benefits.

If a banker or broker has cause to believe that financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult exists, they must file a report with Texas Adult Protective Services. They must also inform a third party associated with the vulnerable adult (like a joint account holder, spouse, or adult child). Finally, the new law authorizes the bank or broker to put a hold on any transaction related to the exploitation, or on the entire account if the result will be to avoid exploitation. The hold can last for around 10 days, which should give the vulnerable adult, the associated third-party, and the bank/broker time to determine what other actions are appropriate to avoid additional exploitation.

Additionally, you and your mother should meet with her estate planning attorney to discuss direct legal plans to avoid further scams. Action may take two forms:

First, your mother can structure her financial accounts so she does not have the ability to write a check. She can do this by working with her attorney to set up a revocable living trust. She would place her accounts into the trust, and appoint you (or a suitable alternative) as the daily manager of the trust. You would be responsible for paying her bills, managing her finances, and seeing that she has all the necessities of a comfortable life. Because she has no access to her accounts, a scam artist would not be able to get anything from her. (A revocable living trust has the added advantage of helping her estate avoid probate court after she dies.)

Second, even if she does not want to set up a trust, she could agree that she will not have a checkbook or cash at her home. Instead, she would have a credit card with a fairly low credit limit. If a scammer was so aggressive as to use one of the cellphone credit card machines on her, the charge could be contested through the card issuer. She could appoint you as agent under her durable power of attorney so that you can access her online records and help manage the credit card account.

Paul Premack is a Certified Elder Law Attorney with offices in San Antonio and Seattle, handling Wills and Trusts, Probate, and Business Entity issues. View past legal columns or submit free questions on legal issues via www.TexasEstateandProbate.com or www.Premack.com.

Chinas Creditor Imperialism



Brahma Chellaney









BERLIN  This month, Sri Lanka, unable to pay the onerous debt to China it has accumulated, formally handed over its strategically located Hambantota port to the Asian giant. It was a major acquisition for Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)  which President Xi Jinping calls the project of the century  and proof of just how effective Chinas debt-trap diplomacy can be.



Unlike International Monetary Fund and World Bank lending, Chinese loans are collateralized by strategically important natural assets with high long-term value (even if they lack short-term commercial viability). Hambantota, for example, straddles Indian Ocean trade routes linking Europe, Africa, and the Middle East to Asia. In exchange for financing and building the infrastructure that poorer countries need, China demands favorable access to their natural assets, from mineral resources to ports.



Moreover, as Sri Lankas experience starkly illustrates, Chinese financing can shackle its partner countries. Rather than offering grants or concessionary loans, China provides huge project-related loans at market-based rates, without transparency, much less environmental- or social-impact assessments. As US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson put it recently, with the BRI, China is aiming to define its own rules and norms.



To strengthen its position further, China has encouraged its companies to bid for outright purchase of strategic ports, where possible. The Mediterranean port of Piraeus, which a Chinese firm acquired for $436 million from cash-strapped Greece last year, will serve as the BRIs dragon head in Europe.



By wielding its financial clout in this manner, China seeks to kill two birds with one stone. First, it wants to address overcapacity at home by boosting exports. And, second, it hopes to advance its strategic interests, including expanding its diplomatic influence, securing natural resources, promoting the international use of its currency, and gaining a relative advantage over other powers.



Chinas predatory approach  and its gloating over securing Hambantota  is ironic, to say the least. In its relationships with smaller countries like Sri Lanka, China is replicating the practices used against it in the European-colonial period, which began with the 1839-1860 Opium Wars and ended with the 1949 communist takeover  a period that China bitterly refers to as its century of humiliation.



China portrayed the 1997 restoration of its sovereignty over Hong Kong, following more than a century of British administration, as righting a historic injustice. Yet, as Hambantota shows, China is now establishing its own Hong Kong-style neocolonial arrangements. Apparently Xis promise of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is inextricable from the erosion of smaller states sovereignty.2



Just as European imperial powers employed gunboat diplomacy to open new markets and colonial outposts, China uses sovereign debt to bend other states to its will, without having to fire a single shot. Like the opium the British exported to China, the easy loans China offers are addictive. And, because China chooses its projects according to their long-term strategic value, they may yield short-term returns that are insufficient for countries to repay their debts. This gives China added leverage, which it can use, say, to force borrowers to swap debt for equity, thereby expanding Chinas global footprint by trapping a growing number of countries in debt servitude.



Even the terms of the 99-year Hambantota port lease echo those used to force China to lease its own ports to Western colonial powers. Britain leased the New Territories from China for 99 years in 1898, causing Hong Kongs landmass to expand by 90%. Yet the 99-year term was fixed merely to help Chinas ethnic-Manchu Qing Dynasty save face; the reality was that all acquisitions were believed to be permanent.



Now, China is applying the imperial 99-year lease concept in distant lands. Chinas lease agreement over Hambantota, concluded this summer, included a promise that China would shave $1.1 billion off Sri Lankas debt. In 2015, a Chinese firm took out a 99-year lease on Australias deep-water port of Darwin  home to more than 1,000 US Marines  for $388 million.



Similarly, after lending billions of dollars to heavily indebted Djibouti, China established its first overseas military base this year in that tiny but strategic state, just a few miles from a US naval base  the only permanent American military facility in Africa. Trapped in a debt crisis, Djibouti had no choice but to lease land to China for $20 million per year. China has also used its leverage over Turkmenistan to secure natural gas by pipeline largely on Chinese terms.



Several other countries, from Argentina to Namibia to Laos, have been ensnared in a Chinese debt trap, forcing them to confront agonizing choices in order to stave off default. Kenyas crushing debt to China now threatens to turn its busy port of Mombasa  the gateway to East Africa  into another Hambantota.



These experiences should serve as a warning that the BRI is essentially an imperial project that aims to bring to fruition the mythical Middle Kingdom. States caught in debt bondage to China risk losing both their most valuable natural assets and their very sovereignty. The new imperial giants velvet glove cloaks an iron fist  one with the strength to squeeze the vitality out of smaller countries.





Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including Asian Juggernaut, Water: Asias New Battleground, and Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.This story excerpt is courtesy of this week's The Columbia Paper and www.columbiapaper.com.

Public defenders change in Columbia County

HUDSON  Columbia County changed public defenders with the New Year.

Robert Linville, the county's public defender for almost two decades until the end of the year, "was a wonderful administrator.... I inherited a very competent and dedicated staff," said his successor, Dominic Cornelius, in phone interviews Jan. 4 and 5.

Public defenders are lawyers appointed to represent defendants who can't afford to hire a lawyer. In Columbia and other counties in New York state they are appointed and paid by county government.

Linville was Columbia County's public defender for 18 years and was consistently reappointed by the Board of Supervisors when his term expired. But he said by phone on Dec. 30, "about 10 days ago," one county supervisor, told him the county Republican Caucus "wants the public defender to go in a different direction." He was not reappointed.

Neither the supervisor who spoke to Linville nor Supervisor Matt Murell, R-Stockport, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, would comment on the matter.

But Murell did say that the people involved had made a decision "not to renew Mr. Linville" before determining who should replace him.

 Jeanette WolfbergGREENWICH  Gov. Dannel Malloys postponement of hundreds of transportation projects throughout the state of Connecticut will affect Greenwich. But First Selectman Peter Tesei said critical local projects will continue.

And lawmakers from Greenwich said the governors action proves the need for an amendment to keep Hartford from raiding transportation funds for other uses.

Malloy released a list this week of $4.3 billion worth of projects that are now postponed indefinitely. The governor said he wants new revenue appropriated for the Special Transportation Fund before he allows them to go forward.

Tesei said he evaluated the list with town Commissioner of Public Works Amy Siebert and local projects that were to receive state reimbursement will proceed regardless of Malloys decision. They include bridge work over Smith Cove on Oneida Drive, at a cost of $417,000, and bridge work on Sunshine Avenue over Binney Park Brook, a cost of $729,845.

They need to be done irrespective of whether there is state funding or not, Tesei said on Thursday. I dont necessarily want to debate whether we will get the funding or not. The fact is we have to do them and Greenwich, I think, has had the practice of stepping up when something needs to get done and paying for it. We can always argue about what money we get later.

Other local items on the governors list have already been completed, including projects on Burying Hill Road, Brookridge Drive and Dingletown Road, budgeted under $50,000 each.

The list also includes much larger items affecting Greenwich, but they are state projects the town cannot control.

They include repairs to the Cos Cob Railroad Bridge, a total of $33.5 million; rehabilitation work on the Merritt Parkway along Lake Avenue, $4 million; and bridge work on I-684 over the Byram River, $3.2 million.

In delaying the projects, Malloy said he wants the state Legislature to act to make sure the Special Transportation Fund is solvent before the projects can go ahead.

Members of Greenwichs delegation to Hartford have long called for a guarantee that funds earmarked for the transportation fund stay there.

This comes as no surprise given that the governor has raided the Special Transportation Fund regularly for years, betraying the publics faith in the funding system for transportation maintenance and new transportation projects, setting the state back perhaps decades in term of being able to catch up with deferred maintenance and increases in traffic volume, said state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th. If we had a genuine lock box mechanism in place, or if he decided to stop this practice of raiding these funds for general fund purposes, the state could look forward to a better future in transportation across the board.

Originally created in 1983 by Gov. William O'Neill after the collapse of the Mianus River Bridge to help shore up and expand the state's transportation network, the Special Transportation Fund is primarily supported by taxes on gasoline.

But no sooner was the fund created than lawmakers and governors began moving money out of it for non-transportation uses, a practice that has continued unabated.

Efforts to impose a constitutional lockbox amendment on the fund, including by Malloy, have failed in the past. This year, a Connecticut Transportation Revenue Lockbox Amendment will be put before voters in November.

State Rep. Fred Camillo, R-151st, spoke in favor of the amendment this week.

The practice of diverting money from the (Special Transportation Fund) continues to this day, Camillo said. Public safety should always be a major priority. The condition of roads and bridges as well as other transportation issues play a big part in that and the quality of life here in Connecticut.

Malloy has said he is in favor of a lockbox amendment.

State Rep. Michael Bocchino, R-150th, called Malloys support of the amendment hypocritical.

The governor and this administration have been actively raiding the special transportation fund for many years to balance past ridiculous budgets and for him to now preach about how the state has failed to invest in transportation is irresponsible, Bocchino said. Until we adopt a constitutional lock box that prevents this governor and future governors from raiding it, we will never be able to fully fund our transportation needs.

State Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149th, said she did not believe there were any immediate safety concerns posed by delaying the projects.

The governors deficit mitigation plan must go into effect as soon as possible in order to maintain a required balanced budget, Floren said. Spending reduction decisions are always difficult, but the situation is fluid as are fiscal remedies. Transportation is vital to the economic health and vitality of our state. If at all possible, I think we should try to fund necessary infrastructure projects as planned, on schedule and on budget.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.comThe owner of a massive house in the Grogan's Point neighborhood of The Woodlands who's being sued by The Woodlands Township over seemingly never-ending work on the house is facing more legal troubles, but this time over landscaping and drainage issues.

Alexandro Rovirosa, the owner of the 18,000 square-foot home on Longspur Drive, did not show up for a Development Standards Committee meeting Wednesday night, Jan. 11, where his house, referred to by neighbors as a "monstrosity," a "behemoth" and other unflattering terms, was once again the topic of discussion and debate. But Rovirosa's attorney, Scott Kidd, did attend the meeting, and he was given an earful by the attorney who represents The Woodlands Township in legal matters, Bret Strong.

After a detailed discussion of the number and types of trees Rovirosa wants to plant on the nearly 3 acres that surround the multi-million dollar home, the size of planters the trees would be planted in, drainage concerns and other matters, Strong reminded Kidd of the "long and sordid" history of the home.

Strong was referring to complaints by neighbors during four years of construction work on the home and of a pending lawsuit against Rovirosa. In that suit filed in October, the township claims that Rovirosa-who is named in the suit as Rovirosa Martinez-and Tanya Marquez Gutierrez, have been continuously" violating the township's covenants. The township is seeking between $200,000 and $1 million over the matter. With a deadline of Jan. 16 to respond the lawsuit, by the time the DSC met Wednesday evening Rovirosa, or his attorney, had not responded to the suit. During the meeting Strong cited a long list of ongoing "legal deficiencies" at the home, including issues with drainage from its surrounding property, its pool, outdoor kitchen, lighting and other matters.

"There are a lots of things that need done to finish this job and they're just not finished yet," Strong told Kidd.

TOWNSHIP ATTORNEY THREATENS MORE LEGAL ACTION

Strong also threatened additional legal action as he reminded Kidd of the "concern and exasperation" shared by members of the DSC, neighbors and township officials over the ongoing work.

"We have a legal action with an answer due next week," Strong said. "If we don't see those things resolved in the coming days, then we're going to have proceed forward with legal action to ask a court to either hire us to do it or order that it be done."

Kidd blamed some of the most recent delays on a contractor taking vacation during the holidays. Kidd also tried to assure the committee that his client wanted to get the work finished.

"They are actively working on the permits and Mr. Rovirosa and his family want to get in there as soon as possible." Kidd said.

Outside the meeting, Kidd declined further comment.

Although Rovirosa has long appeared to be a bit of mystery man to residents of the neighborhood, county records show he owns another property in The Woodlands. He also spends at least part of his time working in The Woodlands, where he's listed as the director of Roma Energy Holdings LLC, an international oil and gas company with corporate offices on the top floor of 24 Waterway Ave. in The Woodlands.

A business partner with Rovirosa, Tom Sampson, has said that Rovirosa usually works out of the company's offices in Villahermosa, Mexico, but returns to The Woodlands on weekends.

DSC REJECTS LANDSCAPING, DRAINAGE PLAN

As the committee wrapped up discussion on the matter, Strong said the township would send a list of items to Kidd that still needed to be addressed. The DSC then voted unanimously on a motion put forward by new committee member John Anthony Brown, who is also a member of the township's board of directors, to deny the landscaping and drainage plan submitted by Rovirosa.

Brown and fellow board member Brian Boniface were named to the DSC last month. Their placement on the committee comes in response to concerns by Board of Directors Chairman Gordy Bunch and others over the DSC's handling of the controversial house and other issues.

BROWN: 'RESIDENTS DESERVE SOME CLOSURE'

After the meeting, Brown noted the length of time the house has been a source of ongoing complaints and a topic of DSC discussion.

"I think the project on Longspur is the result of a long project that probably took too long and the fact that I think the residents deserve some closure," Brown said. "So I think this is why we're at the this point in this project, of moving this to get closure, is mainly for the residents."

DSC APPROVES MONOPINE CELL TOWER, WITH CONDITIONS

In another matter, the DSC voted unanimously to approve a 100-foot monopine cell phone tower, which is built to appear to be a pine tree, at the intersection of Woodlands Parkway and Lake Woodlands Drive. But the approval came with the stipulation that the cell phone company that wants to erect the tower, New Jersey-based Diamond Communications, would have to replace the estimated five trees that would be cut down to erect the tower.

At the start of the discussion, a DSC staff member reported four "concerns" have been received from the township over the tower. Two or three people attending the meeting, apparently opposed to the tower, questioned Diamond Communications representative Jeremy Baldwin over the tower, with one person, who did not identify herself, complaining the tower was "Literally in our backyard."

Another neighbor, also unidentified, asked about possible radiation from the tower. That person was assured there were no "perceived issues" of radiation from the towers.

Those residents left before the DSC meeting concluded and no one addressed the committee about the tower during the public comment period.

The DSC's is scheduled to meet again on Jan. 17. Wednesday's meeting came after its first meeting of the year was pushed back because of a lack of a quorum.A Spring man who was on the brink of death after a serious car crash is thanking his survival on the care he received within minutes at an upgraded trauma center at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center.

Caleb Trahan was so seriously injured after crashing his car into a light pole during the wee hours of May 14 last year that a passerby who stopped to help and a responding paramedic thought he was dead.

After hitting the pole on FM 1488 in Magnolia, Trahan says he was partially ejected from his car and was "halfway through the windshield."

"It took then 47 minutes to cut me out," he recounted.

But then, according to Trahan, it took only seven minutes to be taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann.

The hospital recently announced it has been verified as a Level II trauma center, an upgraded standard in trauma care that can mean the difference in life or death for a critically injured person who needs prompt care from highly qualified medical professionals.

It wasn't too long ago that there were no Level II trauma centers in Montgomery County, meaning Trahan and others needing immediate medical care had to be driven by ambulance or flown by a helicopter to Houston. Conroe Regional Medical Center also offers Level II trauma care, with the medical center announcing its verification last March.

That extra time it previously took in getting the seriously injured the critical care they need-30 to 45 minutes, or even up to an hour-can be the difference between life or death.

In Trahan's case, it likely helped him escape the grasp of the Grim Reaper.

"I was dead four times, almost died in the ER," Trahan said, adding that a paramedic had declared that he was dead before he was even in the emergency room.

Trahan's mother, Laurie Carlton, who teared up as her son recounted his tale of survival, interjected that even after keeping "him alive" doctors doubted her son would survive.

"They gave him less than a one percent chance of survival at the time," she added.

Indeed, one of the doctors who treated Trahan, Timothy Hodges-who is also the trauma center's medical director, said when Trahan was brought into the emergency room he was "actively dying."

"At his time of arrival to the hospital, it was not expected that Caleb would survive," Hodges said via email. "Once his injuries were identified and he was stabilized, his probability of survival was very slim."

Trahan, who was sedated for several days after the crash and then hospitalized for nearly a month, suffered broken bones in his face, broken ribs, broken shoulder bones, a crushed leg, a lacerated liver and a long list of other injuries. He has since undergone nearly a dozen surgeries.

But now, even though it was feared the leg crushed in the crash would have to be amputated, Trahan can walk without a limp.

"They saved his leg," his mother said.

With most of his ordeal behind him, Trahan, who is now 25, says his near-death experience has inspired him to pursue the same line of work that some of the people who helped save his life perform.

Trahan has attended school to become an emergency medical technician and is about to take the EMT certification test so he can help people just as he was helped, or saved, by a team of health care professionals.

"There's a lot of people that I really can't thank or repay them who were a part of everything," Trahan said. "All I can figure is pay it forward and try to help someone else out."MIDDLETOWN - The Connecticut State Police recently promoted 10 troopers to sergeant and recognized them during a ceremony at headquarters in Middletown.

Dr. Dora B. Schriro, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, formally promoted the troopers during the event and state police Col. Alaric J. Fox pinned badges on the new sergeants. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman also attended and addressed the promotees.

The following troopers were promoted:

Sgt. Matthew Ewing was promoted from Trooper First Class, where he most recently served as Chester Resident Trooper. As Sergeant, he will be assigned to Troop I in Bethany. During his dozen years as a Trooper, Sgt. Ewing has also served at Troop K in Colchester. He has earned the agencys Medal for Meritorious Service, Medal for Outstanding Service, three Unit Citation Awards and the Wartime Service Award, as well as the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Award. He has been a DARE Instructor, a Field Training Officer and a member of the State Police Honor Guard. Sgt. Ewing holds a Bachelors Degree from Central Connecticut State University and is a veteran of the Marine Corps. He lives in Killingworth with his family.

Sgt. Myles Ginley was promoted from Trooper First Class and will now serve as Sergeant at Troop H in Hartford. During his 18-plus years as a Trooper, he served at Troop H in Hartford and as a Community Resource Officer and a School Resource Officer. Sgt. Ginley has been awarded with Medals for Outstanding Service, as well as a Unit Citation Award. He earned a Bachelors Degree from Saint Anselm College. He lives in Plainville with his family.

Sgt. Jack Kulig was promoted from Trooper First Class and will be Sergeant at Troop F in Westbrook. He most recently served as a Detective in the State Police Central District Major Crime Squad and previously served at Troop I in Bethany and Troop G in Bridgeport. Sgt. Kulig has been a Trooper for 13 years and has earned an Award for Meritorious Service, a Lifesaving Award and a Unit Citation Award. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College and lives in Southington with his family.

Sgt. Don Chasse Jr. was promoted from Trooper First Class and has been assigned to Troop I in Bethany. He was most recently at Troop A in Southbury and a K-9 handler. Sgt. Chasse has been a Trooper for 11 years and has earned the agencys Medal for Meritorious Service, Medal for Lifesaving, Medal for Outstanding Service and two Unit Citation Awards. He holds an Associates Degree from Briarwood College and previously served as a Police Officer in Plymouth. He resides in Thomaston with his family.

Sgt. Patrick Collins was promoted from Trooper First Class and will take a new assignment at Troop H in Hartford; he most recently served at Troop B in North Canaan. A Trooper for two decades, his previous assignments include Troop H in Hartford and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Sgt. Collins earned an Associates Degree from Holyoke Community College and a Bachelors Degree from Westfield State College. He is also a state-certified Emergency Medical Technician. He lives in Windsor Locks with his family.

Sgt. Richard McDaniel Jr. was promoted from Trooper First Class and has transferred from Troop A in Southbury to Troop G in Bridgeport. A Trooper for more than two decades, Sgt. McDaniel has served at Troop B in North Canaan and served as Troop As first School Resource Officer and Community Resource Officer. He has also served in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and in the Governors Security Unit. In addition, he has been a Field Training Officer and recruiter for the State Police and has earned an Award for Meritorious Service. Sgt. McDaniel is currently taking classes at Charter Oak State College toward a Bachelors Degree. He lives in Waterbury with his family.

Sgt. Robert Olechowski was promoted from Trooper First Class, where he most recently served at Troop L in Litchfield. He will serve as sergeant at Troop A in Southbury. A Trooper for 11 years, he has earned the agencys Award for Outstanding Service and is a six-time recipient of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving award. Sgt. Olechowski earned a Bachelors Degree from the University of New Haven and resides in Farmington.

Sgt. Alex Pearston was promoted from Trooper First Class and has been reassigned from Resident Trooper in Burlington to Troop G in Bridgeport. Sgt. Pearston has been a Trooper for a decade and previously served at Troop G in Bridgeport and Troop L in Litchfield, as well as in the Governors Security Unit. He holds a Bachelors Degree from Charter Oak State College and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He lives in Harwinton with his family.

Sgt. Nicholas Tewell was promoted from Trooper First Class and will serve as sergeant at Troop K in Colchester; he is currently assigned to Troop E in Montville. As a Trooper for more than nine years, he has also served at Troop F in Westbrook and has earned an Award for Meritorious Service and a Unit Citation Award. He earned a Bachelors Degree from Salve Regina University and resides in Stonington with his family.

Sgt. Gregory Zordan was promoted from Trooper First Class and will now serve at Troop B in North Canaan; his most recent assignment was as Harwinton Resident Trooper. A Trooper for ten years, he has served at Troop A in Southbury and Troop L in Litchfield and has earned a Unit Citation Award. Sgt. Zordan holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of New Haven and has served as a Field Training Officer, a DARE officer and Advisor of the Troop L Cadet Post. He is a certified Emergency Medical Technician and a certified Firefighter. He lives with his wife in Torrington.BRIDGEPORT  Police are asking for the publics assistance in identifying suspects involved in two attempted acts of arson at a Bridgeport market.

Police released surveillance footage from Sunshine Kitchen & Deli, 1615 Park Avenue, on YouTube Friday evening in an attempt to track down suspected arsonists.Area residents struggling with behavioral health concerns will benefit from a $100,000 grant given to the MidMichigan Health Foundation.

This grant, awarded by the Midland Area Community Foundation, will improve access to care for these individuals by embedding a behavioral health specialist in a primary care practice in Midland and in the Emergency Department of MidMichigan Medical Center - Midland, two points of access most used by people with behavioral health issues.

"We recognize the need to address mental health gaps in our community and are very pleased to support this important initiative," said Sharon Mortensen, president and CEO of the Midland Area Community Foundation.

Behavioral health issues are becoming more common, affecting one in four Americans each year and 50 percent of the population over the course of a lifetime. A national opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportions that include local communities such as Midland.

"We are elated to receive such generous support from the Midland Area Community Foundation in helping to address this need that affects so many in this community and beyond," said Katherine Dollard, director of behavioral health for MidMichigan Health and one of the key staff members who will help implement the program.

Dollard admitted that the behavioral health system can seem fragmented and difficult to navigate at times. This grant is intended to help alleviate that.

"Having a therapist as part of a primary care team can remove barriers to getting needed care," Dollard said. "The doctor and the therapist will work together with the patient to address issues like anxiety and depression. We are hoping to decrease the stigma of getting help for these issues by bringing services where many people seek treatment, at their doctor's office.

"Additionally, when a patient is experiencing a mental health crisis, they often seek help at the Emergency Department," Dollard continued. "This can be a frightening ordeal for the patient and their family. By providing a behavioral health professional to evaluate and intervene, during and after the crisis, we hope to decrease trauma and help the patient get the right care at the right time and at the right place including important follow up after discharge."

This grant comes from the Midland Area Community Foundation's Community Investment Fund.McLaren Bay Region recently announced it has earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for Hospital Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards.

The Gold Seal of Approval is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

McLaren Bay Region underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite survey in October 2017. During the review, a team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated compliance with hospital standards related to several areas, including emergency management, environment of care, infection prevention and control, leadership and medication management. Surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

The Joint Commission has accredited hospitals for more than 60 years. More than 4,000 general, children's, long-term acute, psychiatric, rehabilitation and specialty hospitals currently maintain accreditation from The Joint Commission, awarded for a three-year period. In addition, approximately 360 critical access hospitals maintain accreditation through a separate program.

"Joint Commission accreditation provides hospitals with the processes needed to improve in a variety of areas from the enhancement of staff education to the improvement of daily business operations," said Mark G. Pelletier, chief operating officer, Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations, The Joint Commission. "In addition, our accreditation helps hospitals enhance their risk management and risk reduction strategies. We commend McLaren Bay Region for its efforts to become a quality improvement organization."

"The unannounced Joint Commission survey is a validation of our continuous improvement efforts," said McLaren Bay Region Vice President/Chief Nursing Office Ellen Talbott. "Ongoing compliance with these Joint Commission standards results in day-to-day delivery of safe, high quality care. McLaren Bay Region is committed to maintaining processes for patients that are safe and meet high quality standards."

The Joint Commission's hospital standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help hospitals measure, assess and improve performance.Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Gonzalo Raffo de Lavalle

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

Helenio Herrera

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

Karl Marx

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu









We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.



Paulo CoelhoAn 11-year veteran detention deputy with the Bexar County Sheriffs Office was arrested Friday evening by the San Antonio Police Department on accusations of driving while intoxicated, according to a news release.

The arrest was made near Wurzbach Parkway and Perrin Beitel, according to the news release from the Sheriffs Office.Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of fatally shooting a San Antonio Police Department officer in front of Public Safety Headquarters in 2016.

Otis Tyrone McKane, 32, faces a capital murder charge, accused of shooting Det. Benjamin Marconi on Nov. 20, 2016. The charge carries a punishment of either death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.

Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas Nico LaHood, who has indicated he plans to personally try the case, filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty last week. Its a decision never taken lightly, he said by phone Friday evening.

Marconi, 50, who was assigned to the Special Victims Unit and was a 20-year SAPD veteran, was working overtime on patrol and had pulled over a motorist in front of Public Safety Headquarters around 11:45 a.m. that Sunday. He was inside the squad car when a man approached and shot him twice in the head.

McKane was seen on surveillance video hanging around headquarters the day of the shooting, and the next day was seen, also on video, entering the Bexar County Courthouse, where he got married.

Police arrested McKane, then 31, about 28 hours after the slaying. He told police he was upset about a child custody battle and had lashed out by killing the officer.

Our first responders deal with people in many situations, but when somebody could allegedly do something as heinous as this, no one is safe, LaHood said.

McKane has a court appearance scheduled for Feb. 28 in the 379th District Court, presided by Judge Ron Rangel. Court records indicate McKane will be represented by defense attorney Raymond Edward Fuchs.

LaHood said it is unclear when McKane's case will go to trial, but once jury selection begins, it could take up to a month to seat a panel.

Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863The Bexar County Medical Examiners Office has identified the man found dead Wednesday evening on the Northeast Side.

Gabriel Rodriguez, 35, had been fatally shot in his torso.

RELATED: BCSO: Veteran detention deputy arrested

Rodriguezs death marked the first homicide of the year for the city, San Antonio Police Department spokesman officer Douglas Greene confirmed.

RELATED: Two men killed when rear-ended by 18-wheeler ID'd

Greene said first responders found the man dead at about 6:20 p.m. near Cross Creek and Walzem Road. He was found in a parking lot not far from his vehicle, police said.

jdelvalle@express-news.netShortly after a jury here convicted him of murder Friday, Robert Martinez told the panel he didnt kill anyone in a drainage ditch in 2015 known as Hells Gate.

It took a jury about 90 minutes to convict Martinez, 21, of killing Steven Cerna, 19, whose body was found Feb. 20, 2015, in a West Side drainage ditch known as Hells Gate in the 1100 block of Shadwell.

Prosecutors Melissa Saenz and Kristina Escalona argued that Cerna was lured to a motel with the promise of drugs or money and then was taken to the ditch and killed in retaliation for a killing that did not involve Cerna.

Martinez did not take the stand in the first phase of the trial, which lasted four days, but testified on his own behalf shortly after the verdict was read and jurors began hearing testimony to determine his punishment. He faces five to 99 years or life in prison.

I did not shoot that man, Martinez told the jury when asked directly by his defense attorney, Leland McRae.

Martinez testified that he had no relationship with his uncle, Larry Isaac, 31, who testified Thursday that Martinez told him Cerna was in the dirt, and admitted to killing the man.

McRae reminded jurors in his closing argument that Isaac had a reason to lie about Martinez because of a plea agreement that would cap his sentence in a kidnapping case to nine years instead of the 20 he faces.

The courthouse is closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Closing arguments in the punishment phase are expected to begin Tuesday morning in the 290th state District Court, presided by Judge Melisa Skinner.

Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863AUSTIN  Two prominent San Antonio leaders from different political parties criticized President Trumps reported vulgar and derogatory language regarding immigrants, saying such disrespectful speech is bad for the country.

There is no question about it: The vast diversity of our population makes America a better place. Im proud that, in Texas, people of countless different nationalities come together every day  said House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, in a statement released Friday.

I wish President Trump would show the same respect for other people, no matter their background, that Texans show one another. Unfortunately, when the President talks so derisively of other countries and their people, it is our country that suffers the most, Straus said.

At an unrelated event at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy on Friday, Congressman Joaquin Castro told reporters that Trumps remarks were vile and racist, adding that they really undermine the country.

I think that people from all political stripes and backgrounds were shocked to see the president of the United States speak that way about people from any country, Castro said.

During a meeting with lawmakers Thursday, Trump was reported to have asked why the United States would allow more people to come here from shithole countries in a reference to nations in Africa.

In his comments, which first were reported by the Washington Post, Trump also suggested it would be preferable to have immigrants from Norway. And, according to reports, he suggested that immigrants from Haiti should be left out of any immigration deal.

The Republican president tweeted Friday that the language he used was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made  a big setback for DACA.

DACA is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama administration initiative that has protected undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children from deportation. Lawmakers are discussing how to deal with this population as part of immigration reform.

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out, Trump said on Twitter. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

In talking with reporters after the school event Friday, Castro expressed urgency in finding a solution for the DACA program.

A budget package to fund the government is due Jan. 19, making legislators frantic to come to a consensus on the status of these hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Congress has to do something about DACA, said Castro, adding that those who come to the United States under Temporary Protected Status must also feel discouraged.

It tells them that the president basically doesnt value their contribution to American society, and that they have no place here, he said.  I think thats what people hear. And so those were just very vile comments coming from the president.

pfikac@express-news.net | Twitter: @pfikac

Peggy Fikac is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | pfikac@express-news.net | @pfikacThe two men who died in a fiery accident Wednesday night on the South Side have been identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office.

Christian Adam Vasquez, 22, and Christopher Talamantez, 25, were identified as the men in the car that caught fire after it was rear-ended at about 8 p.m. while heading north on Interstate 35 just south of Loop 410, according to the medical examiner. Vasquez was identified on Thursday, Talamantez on Friday.San Antonio police are searching for two men they say opened fire on a group of others in the courtyard of an apartment complex on the East Side.

According to reports, Antoine Hylton, 19, and Dramar Johnson, 17, were both hit in their legs when two unidentified men approached and began shooting at the victims, and two others, as they stood in a common area of the Artisan Apartments at 535 Gembler Road, Friday night about 10:45 p.m.WASHINGTON - American diplomats scrambled Friday to salvage their nation's bonds with Africa, Haiti and even the celebrated "special relationship" with Britain after President Donald Trump, in the span of a few hours, deeply offended much of the world with the most undiplomatic of remarks.

Trump's description of African nations as a "shithole" and other inflammatory comments became the latest and perhaps most direct test of whether America's global partnership can withstand its president's loose lips. In Washington and far-flung foreign capitals, U.S. officials launched into urgent cleanup mode.

As world leaders denounced the comments as racist, Trump's ambassadors to Botswana and Senegal were both summoned to explain his remark, as was the top U.S. diplomat in Haiti, where there is no ambassador, State Department officials said.

In addition to the Africa slur, Trump during a meeting Thursday with lawmakers questioned why the U.S. would need more Haitian immigrants.

President Jovenel Moise's government issued a strongly worded statement denouncing what it called a "racist" view of Haitian immigrants and people from African countries.

"The Haitian government condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks which, if proven, reflect a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States," it said.

More Information U.S. ambassador to Panama quits The U.S. ambassador to Panama resigned Friday, saying that he could no longer "faithfully" serve the president. Notice of John Feeley's resignation came a day after Trump referred to Caribbean and African nations as "shithole countries." Feeley's resignation marks the end of a 35-year career in public service as a Marine and diplomat. New York Daily News See More Collapse

The White House, too, was reeling from the fallout. Staffers fanned out to do television appearances in support of Trump and reached out to Republicans on Capitol Hill to coordinate damage control.

Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein, in charge of U.S. public diplomacy, said Trump has the right to "make whatever remark he chooses," calling it the benefit of being president. He said Trump's comments notwithstanding, it was diplomats' obligation to send the message to other countries that the United States cares "greatly about the people that are there."

"Will they have to work extra hard to send it today? Yes, they will, but that's OK," Goldstein said. "That's part of the responsibility that they have. It doesn't change what we do."

State Department officials said they were advising diplomats to prepare to get an earful and to focus on listening to and acknowledging those countries' concerns.

Rather than try to interpret or soften Trump's remarks, diplomats were encouraged to focus on specific areas where the two countries are cooperating - trade, for example - and to emphasize that those tangible aspects of the relationship transcend anything the president did or didn't say, said the officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

"I think you just have to take it. It's almost impossible for diplomats to say something that would make an African government feel better," said Grant Harris, who ran Africa policy at the White House under former President Barack Obama. "So you say the U.S. government is committed to being a strong partner and that actions speak louder than words.

"The problem is, for many other administrations, the actions spoke more loudly," Harris added.LONDON - President Donald Trump's cancellation of a visit to London to open a new U.S. Embassy was welcomed by his many critics in Britain on Friday, even as it deepened the diplomatic problems confronting a British government struggling to forge closer ties to Washington without offending opinion at home.

The decision averted the risk of public protests that had threatened to embarrass both Trump and Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, who has recently squirmed to distance herself from statements made by a U.S. president seen by many Britons as deeply divisive.

The announcement, which came in a Twitter post by Trump that included a false jab at former President Barack Obama, is the latest reverberation from a hasty and ill-judged invitation made around a year ago, when Trump was offered, and accepted, a state visit to Britain. Such an honor is normally bestowed only much later in a presidency.

With Britain to leave the European Union in 2019, May hopes to negotiate a new trade agreement with the United States, and the state visit was partly seen as a way of cementing ties with Trump.

But while Britons may pride themselves on their "special relationship" with the United States, that does not appear to extend to its president, whose statements on a range of topics have provoked widespread anger in the country. A petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn was signed by more than 1.8 million people, the issue was debated in Parliament and, with large-scale protests threatened, the state visit plan was quietly put on the back burner.

Then, late Thursday night, the president took to his favorite medium, Twitter, and announced that he had scrapped his trip because he was unhappy with the new building.

His critics in Britain gave that explanation little credence. Ed Miliband, the former Labour Party leader, responded to Trump's announcement on Twitter, saying: "Nope. It's because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message."

The old U.S. Embassy, in a historic square in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood, was deemed to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The new one, which includes a small moat, is a high-tech construction in a former rail yard on the south bank of the Thames.

Though Trump blamed the Obama administration for the move, the first announcement of the new embassy site had been made in 2008 under President George W. Bush.

In a statement released Friday the U.S. Embassy in London said that, in 2007, a plan was developed "to finance a new embassy project through a property swap for existing U.S. government property in London. This solution allowed construction of a new chancery that meets all security standards, yet used no taxpayer dollars to fund the project."To Darlene Angeline Tondre Mechler Schuchart, hard work was a way of life.

Starting life on her familys dairy farm, Schuchart was milking cows and watching out for her younger sister by the time she was 6.

Once in school, she walked 3 miles to St. Marys Catholic School in La Coste by herself, across the Medina River and through the woods.

She started out early having to do things on her own, daughter Janice Roberts said. She was always fiercely independent.

Schuchart died at home Jan. 7 at 91.

Descended from Alsatian immigrants, Schuchart spoke only Alsatian when she started school.

They used to make fun of the kids who didnt talk English, ridicule them, Roberts said. She had to learn pretty quick.

Raised during the Depression, Schuchart told her children that even through the hardships, they always had food on the table, Roberts said. My grandmother made their clothes out of feed sacks; you didnt have to go out and get things, the resources were there.

More Information Darlene Angeline Tondre Mechler Schuchart Born: Dec. 30, 1926, La Coste Died: Jan. 7, 2018, Sauz community in West Bexar County Preceded by: Husbands Marlin Mechler and Ernest Schuchart; two great-grandchildren; a sister; parents Fritz and Genevieve Moehring Tondre Survived by: Daughters Sharyn Mechler and son-in-law Patrick, and Janice Roberts and son-in-law Carl; son Stephen Mechler and daughter-in-law Barbara; nine grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Florence Mechler Services: Visitation from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home, 1016 Lorenzo St., Castroville, followed by rosary at 6 p.m. at St. Louis Catholic Church, 1306 Angelo St., Castroville; Mass at 10 a.m. Monday at the church, followed by burial at St. Louis Catholic Cemetery. See More Collapse

Graduating from the now-closed St. Louis High School in Castroville in 1945, Schuchart at first lived with her aunt and uncle in San Antonio while working at Bexar County National Bank.

Later that year, Schuchart married World War II veteran Marlin Mechler, eventually settling in at a home on Mechler Lane, the same street on which her in-laws lived.

In addition to raising her three children, Schuchart helped run Mechlers Place, a combination gas station and beer joint established by her in-laws.

It was  built out of ammunition boxes left over from World War II, Roberts said. The wives would run it during the day, and then Dad and his brother would come home from work and run the beer joint at night.

The business was always a family endeavor.

We did our homework there, cooked dinner there, Roberts said. We would stay a lot of times after my mom would go home; we had to stay  lock up the pumps, swept and cleaned up.

Losing her husband to heart disease in 1972, Schuchart remarried in 1975, moving to Rio Medina, where she and her new husband raised cattle.

She got right in there with him, Roberts said. Theyd feed, vaccinate, everything you do when youre raising cattle.

Schuchart moved back to Mechler Lane after her second husband died in 1999.

Living in the tight-knit community most of her life, Schuchart became the historian not just for her family, but for the community.

It was amazing the people she knew, Roberts said. You could ask her anything about the connections out here.

mheidbrink@express-news.netI love Oprah Winfrey. Weve been friends in the Facebook sense of the word since the late 80s.

Im not alone; a lot of Americans are with me. We watched her go from syndicated talk show host to arguably the most influential woman in the world  and we were a part of that. She introduced us to television  and later, a magazine, and later still, a network  that taught us about ourselves. She introduced us to experts who encouraged us to Live Our Best Life by examining our relationships, eating well and understanding the pitfalls of bad financial decisions.

She recommended good books and spiritual study. Her Master Class gave us some useful insights and tools for getting through the day, every day. Her Favorite Things often became our favorite things, too, because they were pretty cool things to start with, only they were things we never would have heard of because nobody thought wed be interested in hearing about them.

And when good things happened to us in an otherwise blah day as a result of something she brought to our lives, we knew where it came from, and we were grateful. We still are.

So its not surprising that, after an incredible speech delivered after she was presented the 2018 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award last week, a lot of Americans are talking about Oprah running for president.

Its not a nutty thought. Shes already shaped our country in many ways. Shes a philanthropist who has gone to great lengths to help people around the world. Shes sharp, influential and well-connected without being part of the political establishment. President Oprah Winfrey would not be a bad thing for America.

But as much as I love Oprah, theres something else I Know For Sure: There are people out there who are probably better suited for the task who are not nearly as popular because, well, theyre not our friends.

Remember Al Gore being described as wooden or condescending because of his debate exhale? Or Mitt Romney being described as being out of touch because of that live mic moment? They were the nerd in the room or the Mr. Howell-type who couldnt hang with the rest of us, eating Big Macs, drinking beer on the front porch or  gasp!  snapping towels and talking trash in the locker room.

If the leader of the free world is merely the person charged with making America believe in itself, Oprahs a great candidate. Consumer confidence would ride high, and there would be an effort at getting everyone to focus on our shared issues rather than our stark differences. Now that we know that having held an elected office is not a prerequisite, she seems as good a pick as any.

But the Aha! Moment we should all have had by now is that while there may be some logic to wanting to drain the swamp, the swamp is not going away. Americas system of government is imperfect, but considering the tremendous task at hand, it works. To improve on it, we need people in all levels of government who understand the swamp and know their way around it.

And theyre not always going to be the most popular ones among us. While our beloved Oprah would make a good president, there are a lot better choices.

Then again, there were a lot better choices out there than Donald or Hillary  until there werent.

Mariaanglinwrites@yahoo.comTrinity professor Christine Drennons recent response (Explaining economic segregation; Is San Antonio really the most economically segregated city in the U.S.? Dec. 24, Opinion) to an assessment by the Economic Innovation Group in Washington, D.C., prompts me to respond in turn  in the context of having studied our socioeconomic record and as a native San Antonian.

Of particular interest these past 30 years is the examination of the ways and means local officials and their management teams have conceptualized the diverse challenges all urban centers face. Especially in economic policy terms, too few are critically engaged.

Regrettably, the citys record has left much to be desired, given our long-standing status as a poor city and our current national ranking in economic segregation.

RELATED: Creator of viral 'judgmental' S.A. map speaks out on controversy

While Drennons analysis correctly explains the deterring effects of deed restrictions on people of color, sustaining a racial-ethnic divide for 50 years, and the buildup of high-quality new developments along the periphery in unrestricted areas by Anglo families, her thesis leaves out class distinctions in income and wealth.

These account for this latest ranking.

Rather than focusing on political geography, we should focus on the lack of upward mobility opportunities. A recent analysis showed that a local resident in the lowest income quintile had only a 6.5 percent probability of rising to the top quintile in his or her lifetime.

Drennons chastisement of co-author Steven Glickmans analysis is that it fails to distinguish between different forms of political geography. She cited Rochester, New York, which is fairly homogeneously poor and low-income but is surrounded by middle- and high-income suburbs.

In contrast, San Antonio is characterized within its boundaries by both low- and high-income neighborhoods. Drennon concludes that means that we can redistribute funds from one area to another.

RELATED: Poverty deeply entrenched in San Antonio

She wrote, In this way, property wealth may rise in our poorer school districts  producing a real distribution of wealth.

History and lawsuits notwithstanding, this has not happened, and it is market forces that largely determine local property values.

The claim of redistribution of wealth also needs clarifying. Citing Rochester as a point of comparison doesnt serve our need to better understand the tools and politics necessary to achieve property value parity.

Drennons opinion regarding our wealth divide could have been written 30 years ago by a Trinity University professor neither born nor raised here. This, too, has been our history. It isnt that Drennon is a poor analyst, it is just that over many years, locals have only been the backdrop as urban planners explain to us what we already know.

Eighteen months after this EIG report, the city has not officially responded, nor is its strategy discussed in its comprehensive plan.

A counterargument could be made that ever since the city changed its at-large voter system to the current 10-district model, minority representation has had a major voice in the citys affairs. While true, the city hasnt leveraged that power to effect institutional change or devise policymaking instruments to produce more effective socioeconomic outcomes.

RELATED: Seeing San Antonio's endemic poverty

Instead, the mindset has been to offer new innovations, programs, projects, initiatives and activities represented as policy direction  but no actual written policies that can be evaluated for their efficiency or effectiveness.

In addition, our business-development approach has remained unchanged. The citys economic growth agenda remains central to its identity and purpose, tapping new revenues by systematically expanding its tax base, via all annexation permitted by law.

Yet council members largely represent low- and middle-income families that are struggling. How do they actually benefit from the citys growth agenda?

Do we need to continue to expand the safety net via soft money from Washington while our hard dollars go to create a metro monster?

This built-environment agenda has always been heavily subsidized, so while the commercial real estate industry has seen good returns on its investments, where are the corresponding public benefits in net personal terms? And how does the equity lens  posing as a panacea  redistribute wealth when this involves public works projects, supplementing the record-setting $900 million bond issue in 2017?

Yes, there are indirect quality-of-life gains, but we know nothing about any causal effects to support upward mobility, income or wealth creation. With intergenerational poverty of 20 percent, this represents 280,000 residents; 8 percent live in concentrated poverty, which means living day to day.

RELATED: Once again, San Antonio leads on inequality

When EIGs report became known, the city asked Housing and Urban Development for technical assistance. No surprise, as the citys primary interest is in land development, not in human capital investment. Its urban planning model measures success in business terms, rather than in socioeconomic terms; as such, it does not have the capacity for equity planning, not even with its new $2.7 billion budget.

We need to clean up our terminology as well.

While the city spends millions in the name of economic development, it has no operating definition for it  it just sounds gratifying and pro-business. However, this is a public-sector term that has been hijacked by public officials as a mechanism to subsidize private-sector metro growth in market-ready areas, leaving the taxpayer holding the bag.

I describe this situation as a runaway train.

Coming with this superficial, distorted success, we market our bilingual, Hispanic culture as a tourist magnet and promote investment opportunities to national and international markets. These constitute rising burdens to our environment, infrastructure, water resources and air quality. And with it also comes rising fees, taxes, utility costs, gentrification (the bad kind), public health issues and more economic segregation.

So we come to a major fork in the road. Does our city leadership have the moral courage to shift gears to align its resources toward raising standards of living and net personal-income gains via strategic objectives  using its hard dollars?

Understand that the citys agenda is to become a metroplex to rival Austin, Dallas and Houston. It is eager to welcome another 1.1 million residents and to densify, as this would signify business prowess and economic vibrancy. Rapid, subsidized growth justifies the manufactured need to build mega projects, raise executive salaries, and continue artificial growth because of its heavy hand in our market economy.

This is the citys vision of itself  to become a world class city by 2020.

When officials speak of San Antonio, they are not referring to our actual city, they are referring to their metro vision  an area involving eight counties and 7,400 square miles.

Given these fiscal, resource and equity challenges, it is the right time for residents to redesign its destiny in the anniversary of its founding, to achieve broader and deeper prosperity, and erase our national ranking as an economically segregated city.

Fernando Centeno specializes in community economic development strategies. He has a masters degree of education, and in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. He can be reached at fcenteno@satx.rr.comIt can take generations to break the cycle of poverty. It can take years to transform underserved neighborhoods and communities  while maintaining their essence.

Thats part of the story on the near East Side, where millions have been spent to address poverty, but economic development is lagging as gentrification roars. Real change takes real time.

Recent reporting in the Express-News about the East Side from Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje revealed a stubbornly high unemployment rate for the area, as well as the need for improved bus service and affordable housing incentives.

As is so often the case with economic inequality, schools are also key.

While San Antonios overall unemployment rate is 3.2 percent, the rate is about 10 percent in the so-called Promise Zone. This is a 22-square-mile area stretching from U.S. 281 to beyond the AT&T Center. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama made this area a Promise Zone, giving nonprofits in the zone a priority on grant applications.

Millions in grants have also gone to the East Side to provide affordable housing and improve access to early childhood education.

The 10 percent unemployment figure is down from recent years but is still far too high. Because the unemployment rate is so high in the area, those with skills go elsewhere for work.

As Stoeltje reported, many East Side residents work at the Medical Center on the Northwest Side, riding the bus two hours each way. Not only is that untenable, its also an obstacle for workforce development.

The city of San Antonio has increased funding for VIA Metropolitan Transit to improve route frequency, but much more will be needed to improve service. Where additional transportation funding comes from will be (or perhaps should be) one of the great local policy debates of the new year.

Businesses that require skilled labor also have not developed in the area. Cruise around the East Side and you will see hip coffee shops, restaurants and bars. Some interesting housing also is under development, not necessarily without controversy. All are visible signs of investment, momentum and changes.

But the reality is, business creation has been underwhelming. Over the past six years, according to Stoeltje, only 90 for-profit businesses have received certificates of occupancies for the East Side ZIP codes of 78208, 78202 and 78203, which are home to about 18,000 residents.

Finally, gentrification has created stress. Housing values (and rents) have risen quite a bit in recent years, potentially pricing out low-income residents in some areas such as Dignowity Hill, Government Hill and Denver Heights.

If anything, this only underscores the need to provide affordable housing incentives for new development, something the city is reviewing.

These types of challenges dont mean investment in the Promise Zone is money wasted. Quite the opposite. These challenges reflect the myriad dynamics at play when communities turn their attention to areas that have long been underserved and lacked investment. There is real momentum building on the East Side, and the balancing act is how to build on that momentum in a way that serves and maintains existing residents while also inviting new ones.

This means, at minimum, prioritizing affordable housing, making public transportation more efficient and staying hawkishly focused on school performance.

Those are cornerstones to the kind of progress that keep people in their neighborhoods and connect them with meaningful work.Re: UT Health adds e-cigarettes to tobacco-free policy, Metro, Jan. 4:

Why isnt this vigor toward banning e-cigarettes not aimed also on the rampant use of alcoholic beverages? Statistics are readily available on the deaths and injuries caused by inebriated automobile drivers. The acronym DWI is understood by everyone. However, this seems to be acceptable in our society.

I am not worried by an e-cigarette-smoking driver, but I avoid all late-night functions because of our societys tolerance of people who cannot enjoy themselves unless they consume a large amount of alcohol.

Chuck Mire

Words of wisdom

Interesting. Many years ago, the Express-News had a brief feature titled Thought for today. I believe the following bears repeating.

Thought for today:

True education makes for inequality; the inequality of individuality, the inequality of success, the glorious inequality of talent, of genius: for inequality, not mediocrity, individual superiority, not standardization, is the measure of the progress of the world.

 Felix Emmanuel Schelling,

American educator

and scholar (1858-1945)

John Kiser

Cost of inequality

Re: Yes, not all wealth is earned  so what? Inheritance inequity and even lazy heirs dont justify estate tax, Christopher E. Baecker, Opinion, Dec. 31:

The writer ignores the economically unhealthy concentration of wealth already in the hands of the very few and how it will accelerate with the reduction of the estate tax. This concentration of wealth may evolve into rule by plutocracies or oligarchies, historically associated with oppression, tyranny and corruption.

Also, no mention of the resources associated with wealth allowing for extraordinary exploitation of loopholes, write-offs, subsidies and collusions, compared to what is available to middle-class salary earners. When estate taxes are lowered, tax confiscation of a free persons resources is shifted disproportionately to citizens with vastly lower resources.

The necessary infrastructure, protection and other services provided by government, and utilized by the wealthy and others, represent a costly entitlement. This cost of government services is paid, proportionally, to a greater extent by middle-class taxpayers compared to other income groups.

Government provides the stability and has incentives that promote business; these services help with the self building process in the creation, as well as the operation of wealth.

V. L. Garza

Teachers suffering

Re: Higher health costs hitting retired Texas teachers in 2018, State, Jan. 2:

With great pain and sorrow, I read this article about health care insurance provided for retired Texas teachers. This is a disgrace and a show of disrespect to all the educators who sacrificed so much to the teaching profession. The state has been aware for many years of the discrepancies in the pension and insurance funds but refused to acknowledge and correct it.

Now, many educators have been forced to seek employment again due to the continued rise of living expenses and medical care. Unfortunately, many retirees are unable to return to work because of medical issues. I hope the voters remember this and other issues during the upcoming election. God bless America.

D.M. Lopez

Fire the chief

Re: Smuggling suspect arrested; migrants allowed to go free, front page, Jan. 4:

In a stunning display of hubris and a complete disdain for federal immigration laws, Police Chief William McManus allowed detained illegal immigrants to walk out of police headquarters. He should be fired for dereliction of duty. The chief is like a despot, deciding which laws he obeys and which laws he flaunts. Its disgusting.

African-Americans are prosecuted left and right, but illegal immigrants walk out. What does this say to law-abiding American citizens? To the African-American community, who already thinks the system works against them? We arrest you for looking sideways, but illegal immigrants, who could be terrorists, are just let out the door.

Why should we obey the law when the chief of police doesnt? Its infuriating and undermines the rule of law. Im no fan of Mike Helle, the police union president, but Im now with him in his criticism of McManus. I no longer trust him to enforce the law. Hes a complete disgrace.

Where is the mayor on this? Asleep at the wheel, as usual, and I voted for him.

Shannon Deason

In a word, great

Re: Resolve to never utter these words, John Eubanks, Another View, Dec. 30:

I enjoyed this column. John Eubanks covered the worst word of the year, youthquake, and his Top 10 list of worst words. His commentaries are always interesting to read. Thank you!

Shirley Swift

Hes no pit bull

With his first tweets of the new year, I see that Donald Trump is starting 2018 with a lot of bark. Yet after a year of much barking, I see no bite marks.

Yram Martinez

Love for symphony

It breaks my heart that a big city like San Antonio doesnt place more importance on saving our symphony. I love the symphony and have the utmost respect for all its members, who give listeners a special gift every time they play. Dont give up on them, San Antonio. We love them!

Laura ZarskyBy PTI

NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India today formed a seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court, barring the five seniormost judges, to discuss the present crisis in the apex court.

It passed a resolution saying no political party or leaders should take undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges.

BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Misra said that the apex bar body has formed the seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court barring the five seniormost judges to discuss the present crisis.

The top lawyers' body also resolved that it will take the opinion of other judges and expressed the view that such issues of judges should not be made public.

Yesterday, justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Jurian Joseph had mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases.

Three of the four judges, who had attacked the Chief Justice at a press conference here on Friday, were away from the capital and are expected to return on Sunday afternoon.

Indications of a meeting to resolve the crisis were already brought up today from the remarks made by Justices Kurian Joseph and Ranjan Gogoi and Attorney General KK Venugopal, the government's highest law officer.

Justice Joseph said in Kochi that there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and the issues they had raised appeared to have been sorted out.

"We did this for a cause and I think (the) issues appear to have been sorted out. This was not against anyone nor are we having anything personal. It was meant to see that more transparency is there," said Justice Joseph.

He, however, did not elaborate.

Justice Joseph said the issues they had raised in an unprecedented press conference on Friday triggered no constitutional crisis.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected."

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, he said: "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."

In reply to a question on why they failed to brief the President of the issues, he said the President is only the appointing authority.

Ranjan Gogoi, who was in Kolkata for a meeting of legal services authorities, also ruled out any crisis hitting the top court. "There is no crisis," he said, but refused to make any further comments.

The Attorney General, meanwhile, expressed the hope that the problems in the top judiciary would be "settled" by Monday.

"Unity among Supreme Court judges will return by Monday. We hope the entire issue will be settled in the larger interest of the institution. Judges are persons of wisdom and statesmanship and experience. We hope they won't allow the issue to escalate," Venugopal said here.

Venugopal on Friday had said the judges could have avoided going public with their complaints against Justice Misra.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) met here on Saturday and unanimously decided that a seven-member delegation of the bar would try to meet majority of Supreme Court judges on Sunday in an attempt to persuade them to resolve the issue at the earliest.

"We are ready to offer our mediation," Manan Misra, BCI President, told the media after the meeting. He said the matter should not be politicised.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra was on Saturday morning seen driving to the residence of the Chief Justice. He was seen sitting inside his official car which returned from the gate of the Chief Justice's residence without entering the premises.

The Congress asked Modi to explain why he sent his aide to Justice Misra's residence.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg. (The) PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to (the) Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The revolt by Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B Lokur surfaced in a press conference in which they accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Senior BJP leader and former minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday said it was "our bounden duty to take note of what the judges have said and raise our voice for corrective action".

Sinha, who finds himself at variance with his party's stand and policies, said fear stopped people from speaking out.

"If four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter? It is a serious matter. If they say anything to the people of the country, it is our bounded duty to take note of that."

(With inputs from IANS)By PTI

MUMBAI: A Pawan Hans helicopter with five ONGC personnel and two pilots on board today crashed off the city coast while heading to an oil rig at Mumbai High, and five bodies have been found, a senior Coast Guard official said today.

The chopper Dauphin N3 had gone missing after taking off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.30 AM.

"The Coast Guard confirms that its ships picked up three bodies from the site of Pawan Hans helicopter crash off the Mumbai coast," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

Two bodies have been identified so far, out of four recovered at sea near debris, the source added.

The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am. Five employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots were on board the chopper.

Wreckage of Pawanhans Helicopter of #ONGC. The helicopter was flying from Juhu #Mumbai to ODA Offshore Development Area when it got lost at sea this morning (Source: Indian Coast Guard) pic.twitter.com/8nbWM8efOM  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i was also pressed into service.

The Coast Guard had also diverted its ships to search the missing chopper.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official told PTI.

Indian Coast Guard continues Search and Rescue operations. Four bodies have been recovered at sea near debris of #ONGC helicopter. #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/KDzcXiKpzT  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

He said the DGCA will extend all necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

"IndiaCoastGuard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hrs," he said on twitter.

"So far resulted in 03 body recovery. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry (sic)," he tweeted.

(With ANI Inputs)By ANI

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has accused his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah of killing Hindus, and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of instigating communal rift, thus taking the chief ministers long-standing beef to a new level.

Taking a dig at Siddaramaiahs recent statement about him being a Hindu, the over-a-minute-long video, posted on BJP Uttar Pradeshs Twitter handle on Saturday, shows pictures of 12 Hindus, who were killed in the last two to three years in Karnataka.

     5    ,          pic.twitter.com/Ah0gmaZU39  BJP Uttar Pradesh (@BJP4UP) January 13, 2018

The post added, But when questioned by Yogi, he (Siddaramaiah) calls himself a Hindu.

The attack also took into fold Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his numerous temple visits during the Gujarat Assembly election, and his proclamation of being a Hindu, and accused him of using religion to create communal rift in the country.

Had you worked even a speck in the last five years, then the Rajkunvar of Congress need not have been making recipes, comes the remark in the video.

ALSO READ: Siddaramaiah asks Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath to learn from Karnataka, Yogi strikes back to amuse Twitterati

The video also highlighted the 1002 cases of farmerss suicide in Karnataka in the current fiscal year, corruption cases against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Earlier, Adityanath, while addressing a BJP rally in Bengaluru, accused Siddaramaiah of intermixing religion and politics, thus following the footsteps of Congress President Rahul Gandhi ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat.

He further questioned Siddaramaiah on why he was "endorsing beef eaters" if he was a Hindu, to which the latter promptly responded that Hindus did eat beef, and questioned Aditynaaths right to criticise the people's food habits.

Siddaramaiah also termed Adityanaths governance in Uttar Pradesh as Jungle Raj and opined that the latter could "learn a lot" from him.Countess Sophie and Prince Edward will visit Sri Lanka to attend celebrations of 70th anniversary of independence of Sri Lanka. Edward and Sophie will spend five days in Sri Lanka between the dates of January 31- February 4 and visit Colombo amongst other cities. The Royal Couple will attend celebrations of official independence anniversary on February 4. Ceylon became independent from Britain in 1948. Ceylon became a republic in 1972 and its name was changed as Sri Lanka.If you have pets, these tips will help you prepare for a natural disasterFor Subscribers Tiverton having fun again as it prepares to play in new division

This group has been fun to be with, whereas a year ago there was a challenge involved in everything we did."Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).Wallethub's analysts compared all 50 states plus the District of Columbia on statistics like number of available nursing jobs and average nurse salary to find the best places to have a career in nursing.Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).KTM India has introduced an all-new white color variant for its flagship 390 Duke for 2018. The new variant is in addition to the already existing electric orange. The 390 Duke comes packed with 43.5 Ps of power and 37 Nm torque and a host of premium features such as a trellis frame, all-LED headlamp, multifunction TFT display, open-cartridge suspension by WP. Safety is ensured by the presence of large dual disc brakes (320mm/230mm front/rear) and ABS by BOSCH.

Over the course of 2017 the 390 Duke has gone on to become a favorite amongst motorcycle enthusiasts.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Amit Nandi President (Probiking) said KTM has been amongst the fastest growing motorcycle brands in the country. The new generation of KTM Dukes launched last year have been extremely well received and with this new color variant we have broadened the choices available for our customers.

Bookings for the white color variant of the KTM 390 Duke have begun across the 400+ exclusive KTM showrooms in the country.

Also Watch: Audi Q5 2018 Review (First Drive) | Cars18Mumbai: One of the youngest private lenders IDFC Bank and Warburg Pincus-backed non-banking financial company Capital First on Saturday announced a merger in an all-stock deal, creating a Rs 88,000-crore combined entity.

The boards of both companies, which met in Mumbai on Saturday, fixed the share swap ratio at 139:10, which means IDFC Bank will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First. On Friday, the share price of IDFC Bank closed at Rs 67.65, down 1.31 per cent, while that of Capital First at Rs 835.90, up 0.05 per cent, on the BSE.

The bank, in a statement said, the merger is pursuant to IDFC Bank's stated strategy of retailising its business to complete their transformation from a dedicated infrastructure financier to a well-diversified universal bank, and is also in line with Capital First's stated intention and strategy to convert itself into a universal bank.

"We believe this merger will be transformational for IDFC Bank. It will bring two tech savvy, culturally aligned platforms to come together to create a diversified and fast growing universal bank with a national footprint, in a manner that will be value accretive for all shareholders," IDFC Bank managing director and CEO Rajiv Lall said.

Commenting on the merger, Capital First chairman and managing director V Vaidyanathan said, "We are excited about this merger because IDFC Bank provides a perfect platform for continued growth of the combined franchise, supported by low-cost funding."

The merger is likely to be completed in the next two-three quarters.

Vaidyanathan will succeed Lall as managing director and CEO of the combined entity upon the completion of the merger, which is subject to regulatory approvals. Lall will step into the role of non-executive chairman of IDFC Bank and guide the transition process. He will replace Veena Mankar as non-executive chairman, but the latter will remain on the board.

Capital First has a customer base of 3 million and a distribution network in 228 locations across the country. It's gross and net NPA stood at 1.63 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively as on September 2017.

Post-merger, the combined entity will have an AUM of Rs 88,000 crore.

The new entity will have a distribution network comprising 194 branches, 353 dedicated banking correspondent outlets, over 9,100 micro ATM points, and will be serving more than 5 million customers.

Currently, private equity firm Warburg Pincus holds 35.97 per cent in Capital First. The Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC owns 14 per cent, while Vaidyanathan holds 10.5 per cent in the company.

After the merger, Warburg Pincus's stake will come down to a little over 10 per cent, GIC's stake will slip to 5 per cent and Vaidyanathan's to 3.4 per cent. Infrastructure lender IDFC, which entered the banking space in 2015, has been on the lookout to grow its retail portfolio.

Last July, IDFC Bank had entered into an agreement with Piramal Group-backed financial services major Shriram Group for a merger.

The deal was later called off in October as both the entities could not reach a common ground on the share swap ratio.New Delhi: Diesel prices hit a new high when average rates in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Noida recorded Rs 63.14 a litre on Friday.

Price of diesel per litre in Mumbai on Friday was a steep Rs 65.09.

Prices have been rallying since last week.

Fuel prices are now dynamic and unregulated which means prices change on a daily basis based on the crude oil rates and the demand and supply mechanism.

Under dynamic, or real-time, pricing, price of a product can vary as fixed by individual retailers across locations and duration of the day.

Retail fuel prices in the last six months rose by 11 percent during the period even as crude oil prices, jumped 45 percent to a three year high of around $69 a barrel.

According to a report by BP Global, India imports about 80 percent of the oil consumed in the country. Government levies kept the prices high even as price of Brent retreated from $115 a barrel in 2012 to $28 in early February 2016. The fossil fuel began firming up again again on account of production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January last year.

Ministry of petroleum andnatural gas in consultation with the finance ministry on 3 October 2017 lowered excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 each.

However, the central levy on fuels is still twice of what was charged three years ago.

Demand for petrol and diesel dipped in the calendar year 2017, keeping prices in check. Fuel consumption rose 4 percent in 2017 in comparison with 7 percent growth in each of the previous two years.

Currently, India has 56,190 fuel retail outlets, including state-run and private, which sell petrol and diesel of firms such as Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), HPCL and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL).

The other firms involved in the fuel retail are Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.

Also, private entities such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Essar Oil (acquired by Roseneft) and Shell India also retail petroleum products.

According to a draft policy by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, there are three retail outlet models in placedealer owned dealer operated, dealer owned corporation operated and corporation owned corporation operated.Bhubaneswar: India needs investment to the tune of $ 300 billion dollars in the next 10 years to double its oil refining capacity, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday.

"Oil refining capacity in the country stands at over 247 million ton at present and demand for petro products, which is rising rapidly, will touch 600 million ton by the year 2040," Pradhan said, while inaugurating the 22nd Refining and Petrochemicals Technology Meet here.

Noting that the country has built a robust refining and petrochemicals sector over the years, the minister said several brownfield projects are already in the pipeline for creating capacities of around 142 million tons.

Pradhan said two major greenfield projects are all set to be launched to add 69 million ton of new refining capacities soon.

The Barmer Refinery in Rajasthan will be of 9 mtpa, while the West Coast Refinery and Petrochemicals will create 60 million ton capacity.

To achieve the target of 600 million ton capacity, it is necessary to add over 20 million ton almost every year, he said.

"I am confident that the country will march ahead to achieve the goal for which investment to the tune of 300 billion dollars in hydro-carbon sector will be required," the minister said.

Emphasising the need for a state-of-the-art refining and petrochemical industry, he said it is necessary to concentrate on research and development in the public sector.

"I expect much more because I know your capacities. We can do much better. There should also be healthy competition among oil refineries," Pradhan said, indicating that he was not satisfied with the R&D activities.

Asserting that the oil refinery sector will continue to grow despite challenges from increasing use of automation, digitisation, robotics, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, he said, "We believe in human intelligence and well-trained human resource".

Speaking at the three-day meet, Ambassador of Japan, Kenji Hiramatsu said his country would make an investment of $ 10 billion in the LNG sector in India, as cooperation and business ties between the two countries are expanding.

Referring to Odisha, Hiramatsu said cooperation between Odisha and Japan would be further strengthened in many areas.

Around 900 oil industry professionals from India and abroad are attending the event, being organised by the Centre for High Technology (CHT), a satellite organisation of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in association with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. The theme of the meet is 'Emerging Trends in Downstream Hydrocarbon Sector'.New Delhi: Industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday said that balance of trade between India and China is "improving" in former's favour.

According to a report by PHD Chamber, current trends show a rise in India's exports to China.

"India has seen a major breakthrough in its exports to China during last few months whereas the surge in imports for Chinese products in Indian market is on deceleration," said Anil Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"India's exports to China grew by 72 per cent in October 2017 whereas growth of imports from China was only 4.2 per cent."

The report pointed out that exports to China are expected to improve further in the coming months.

"Despite substantial volume of imports from China, of lately, India's import growth from China shrunk from 65 per cent to 4 per cent during April - October 2017 whereas exports growth to China witnessed a surge from 40 per cent to 72 per cent during the same period," said Khaitan.

India's trade deficit with China has also eased from $4.92 billion in April 2017 to $4.6 billion in October 2017.

"The trade between India and China witnessed a tremendous jump from $ 2.71 billion in 2001 to around $ 70 billion in 2016," Khaitan said.

"Although China has been able to enhance its footprint in India to a greater extent over the past decade, the trend has seen a consistent reversal in the first half of 2017-18."New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday held a review meeting with lenders and senior officials on the financial stress faced by some of the power projects, including that of Tata Power and Adani Group in Gujarat.

The high-level meeting was also attended by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, senior officials of power ministry, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar, among others, sources said.

It is to be noted that Tata Power last year offered to sell 51 percent stake in its 4,000 MW Mundra power project for Rs 1 to states like Gujarat, which gets electricity from it, to tide over the financial crisis facing this business.

Besides, there were allegations that Adani Group charging exorbitant electricity tariff in Gujarat.

However, the company refuted the charges saying it sold power to the state at a "very attractive" price of Rs 2.65 per unit over the last four years.

Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL), the Tata Power unit which operates the Mundra project, wrote to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd offering to retain only 49 percent stake and operate the project as a contractor provided the procurers buy all the power at higher tariffs.

In the letter, copies of which were marked to the principal secretary to the prime minister and Union power secretary, CGPL CEO Krishna Kumar Sharma said Mundra has accumulated losses of Rs 6,457 crore against a paid up equity of Rs 6,083 crore.

It has outstanding loan of Rs 10,159 crore and lenders have stopped further disbursal due to non-viability of the project, he wrote.

Tata had in February 2006 won a bid for the 4,000 MW Mundra project in Gujarat, quoting a price of Rs 2.26 for every unit of electricity generated. It had intended to fire the plan with coal imported from mines owned by the Tata Group in Indonesia.New Delhi: At least three schoolchildren died after a boat carrying 40 children capsized off a Maharashtra coast on Saturday. So far 32 children have been rescued so far, while five others are still missing.

Rescue operations are still underway to trace the five missing children, who mostly hail from Palghar district in Maharashtra.

The bodies of the three girls -- Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi -- all aged 17, were recovered, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe told PTI. All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

The private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am, Singe added.

"The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search

operations," the SP told PTI. Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, police said.

The location is around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said. Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Local BJP MLA Manisha Choudhary claimed that the boat had about 40 children onboard. The tragedy apparently struck when some students crowded on one side of the boat to click selfies, resulting in the vessel tilting on one side and capsizing, he said.

"Massive rescue and relief operations are underway and District Superintendent of Police and local officials are supervising the operations," he said. Local fishermen, who saw the mishap, and some residents of Dahanu have also joined in rescue efforts.

Late in the evening, Singe told reporters that the police were probing the accident. An offence would be registered against those responsible for the tragedy, the SP said.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who is arrived in Mumbai fro a two-day visit on Saturday, also expressed grief over the accident. "Anguished to hear of boat carrying school children capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. State government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," he tweeted.

(With PTI inputs)New Delhi: Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat on Friday said the government has given in-principle approval for setting up two boarding schools for children of martyrs and those disabled in action.

He said the initiative is being taken in view of the government capping at Rs 10,000 per month the educational assistance it gives to children of martyrs or those disabled in action.

The Army Chief said once the schools become operational, the government may be conveyed that it can withdraw the educational assistance scheme.

Gen. Rawat said the two educational institutions will be developed on the lines of Delhi's Sanskriti school. One school will be built in Pathankot and the other will come up either in Bhopal or Secunderabad.

It may take 3 to 4 years for the schools to become operational.

Till then the Army will take care of the financial need of children of martyrs or those disabled in action, if government does not provide them funds, Gen. Rawat said.

After graduating from the two boarding schools, the students can study in the Army-run colleges.

He said the government put a cap on the educational assistance as some people were misusing the scheme.

"Somehow, some people among us started misusing the scheme... We told the government that we will review the policy so that only genuine people can benefit from it," he said.

Under the scheme, rolled out in 1972, tuition fee of children of martyrs or those disabled in action were completely waived in schools, colleges and other professional educational institutions.

However, the government had on July 1 issued an order capping the amount at Rs 10,000 per month, triggering discontentment among all the three services.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) had written to the defence ministry requesting it to remove the cap.

However, the government last week made it clear that it would not review the decision.

Around 250 students have reportedly been affected by the government's decision.Kolkata: Bank employees associations came down heavily against the Islamist clerics who had recently issued a fatwa asking Muslims to shun marriage proposals coming from families of bankers or anyone with a job in banking.

Darul Uloom Deoband had earlier issued a fatwa asking Muslims to avoid families that raise haram (illegitimate) money earned from banking jobs and instead look for a pious families while considering marriage proposals.

Reacting to this, Abdul Sayeed Khan, Vice-President of Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) said, Those who make such comments are far removed from reality. The problem with a severe lack of education and there are people who extort the poor Muslims with such declarations.

Condemning the fatwa, Khan added, I think they should concentrate more on other issues like education. Quran forbids its followers from taking interest money. But this comment made by the Darul Uloom Deoband is unfortunate.

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), General Secretary, Rajen Nagar, said, We dont give importance to such statements but we strongly condemn it. I dont want to make any comments on such unrealistic statements.

All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIRBA), General Secretary, Samir Ghosh, said, Islamic Banking believes in the principles of interest-free banking. But in this case, I have to first understand what were they trying to say.

Islamic or Sharia banking is based on principles of no interest since interest-based banking is not permitted in Islam. Introduction of Sharia banking was examined by the Centre and RBI and it was decided that the matter would not be pursued any further.Mumbai: The Bombay High Court said on Friday that detaining a patient in hospital over unpaid bills is illegal, and every member of public must be made aware of this.

A bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre directed the health department of the Maharashtra government to publish on its website the legal rights of patients and the penal provisions that can be invoked against errant hospitals.

How can a hospital detain a person who is declared fit otherwise on the ground of non-payment of fees? Such hospital is curtailing the personal liberty of a person. Every member of the public must be made aware that such action on the part of a hospital is illegal, the bench said.

The bench, however, refused to issue any specific regulatory order against hospitals, saying it is governments job.

We cant commit a judicial overreach by issuing regulations on the issue. However, we must make it clear that we are sympathetic to the issue, it said.

Opining that the government should formulate a mechanism to protect such patients and their families, the bench said hospitals can always resort to legal remedies to recover their dues.

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation which cited two cases where patients were allegedly detained at private hospitals over disputed bills.New Delhi/Chennai: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday searched properties linked to Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, in connection with its money laundering probe into the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

The searches were carried out at five locations, one in Delhis Jor Bagh and four in Chennai. The raids were conducted after Karti failed to join the investigation, sources told News18.

Addressing reporters in Delhi, Chidambaram said the ED has no jurisdiction to conduct the searches and that some of these properties belonged to him. There is no FIR with respect to a scheduled crime filed by any agency, including the CBI. In the absence of a scheduled offence, there is no crime. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate the matter under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Speaking about the raid at Delhis Jor Bagh, Chidambaram said the ED officials were embarrassed and apologetic to find him there instead of his son Karti. It's a comedy of errors that my Chennai residence and Delhi residence have been raided thrice and the ED has found nothing. In today's search, the ED was embarrassed and apologetic that I live here. They thought Karti lives here. They were searching the kitchen and bedroom. They found nothing.

They found nothing in the Chennai searches. From the Delhi residence, they've collected 39 blue sheets, which are statements made by the government in Parliament between 2012 and 2013, and the background papers of the statement, Chidambaram said.

ED officials, however, told News18 that the Jor Bagh property in Delhi is jointly owned by Chidambaram and Karti. The property in Jor Bagh is jointly owned by Karti Chidambaram and (his mother) Nalini Chidambaram. So saying this property had nothing to do with the search is wrong, an official said.

The official also shot down Chidambarams contention that there was no FIR. The CBI FIR in the case has not been quashed and P Chidambaram had earlier appeared before the CBI in the case. So it is wrong to say the case does not exist or the ED does not have jurisdiction.

The raids are a part of an ED investigation into a money laundering case registered last year against Karti Chidambaram. The agency had raided properties of Kartis close aides in Chennai and Kolkata on December 1.

The ED had, in September, also had attached Rs 1.16 crore worth of assets of Karti, who is being probed for allegedly receiving kickbacks in lieu of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance in the Aircel Maxis deal when his father was the Union Finance Minister in the UPA government.

The FIPB approval was supposed to go to the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs but Chidambaram senior allegedly approved it on his own and the amount for FIPB clearance was wrongly projected to conceal facts.

During investigation, it was found that a company promoted by Karti and A. Palaniappan, a nephew of Chidambaram, allegedly received $2 lakh from Maxis Group in the guise of software consultancy.

(With agency inputs)New Delhi: With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all set to visit India on Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs plans to exchange some notes on tackling ISIS and terrorism. However, the government is not planning to procure any equipment or technology from the ally and have not drawn up a shopping list.

Terrorism with special focus on ISIS, border fencing and cyber security will be brought to the table when India's security establishment meets the Israeli delegation accompanying Netanyahu on the 5-day visit starting Sunday.

ISIS is operative in Israel's neighbourhood and a lot of Indians have reportedly with ISIS. It's an issue of mutual concern and will be taken up for discussion, an MHA official said.

The fenced India-Pakistan international border and the problems of infiltration, drug trafficking etc that India face is also likely to be discussed. Ministry officials said that the technology and patrolling methods that Israel employs on its border with Palestine is also something that India wants to learn from.

However, there is no equipment procurement or technology exchange is on the agenda as according to sources, some Israeli equipment have failed twice in the past.

A stink gun was tested as a replacement for the pellet guns in Kashmir, but it failed during the trials, an officer said. The Israelis use stink guns as a non-lethal device meant for crowd control.

Officials told News18 that the stink gun, when fired, emits a continuous stench for 4-5 days and is as strong as that of a corpse. But when the trial for the gun was done at NSG's Manesar unit, it did not affect the personnel at all. Ultimately, PAWA shells were chosen as an alternative to pellets as repeated trials of the stink guns could not give desired results, an official told CNN-News18.

Again, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from Israel, intended to be used in the Naxal zone, also did not give the desired results. The UAV was a success in Israel but for some unexplained reasons it failed to work in Chhatisgarh. May be the moisture in the air affects the equipment, the officer said.New Delhi: The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a $500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defence contractor Rafael, army chief Bipin Rawat said on Friday.

India recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the country this week.

Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet 'Make in India' initiative.

"They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results," Rawat said. "That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal)."

Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India's operational capabilities in the interim.

"So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? It's through the Spike. Rather than going whole hog we are in the discussion with the government" to fill in the gap, he said.

"We can possibly look at a lesser number to meet the gap."

India has been investing tens of billions of dollars in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing tensions with China and Pakistan.

Israel is a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year.

In April last year, the two countries signed a military deal worth nearly $2 billion which includes the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

But Modi has said he wants to end India's status as the world's number one defence importer and to have 70 percent of hardware manufactured domestically by the turn of the decade.Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Altaf Bukhari advised Army chief Bipin Rawat to "concentrate on its job" after the latter raised concerns over the kind of education being imparted in the government schools of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Army should concentrate on its job and not interfere in education sector, Bukhari told presspersons during a school function.

The Army Chief on Friday said there was a need to revamp the education system as he questioned the need for having two maps in the school books.

"You will be surprised that in the government schools of Kashmir, teachers are teaching something that should not be taught. You will find two maps, one is a map of India and the other of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. What is the need for that? What does this mean to a child's mind?"

The minister clearly not impressed with Army chief's remarks, said: "Those who don't have expertise on education should desist from commenting. Army Chief may be a professional but he is not an expert on education. We would welcome comments from academicians on education."

The minister said it was the job of educationists to comment on the subject and how to run it.

"Perhaps the people who are giving comments on how we should run education sector are not doing their job properly and that's why we are suffering," said Bukhari.Mumbai: The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police has arrested seven suspected Maoists, working for the Golden Corridor Committee, formed to spread their ideology in Maharashtra and Gujarat, officials said on Saturday.

According to an official, the arrests were made after raids were conducted in the eastern suburbs of the city late on Friday night.

Banners related to the Bhima Koregaon event held recently to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune district were seized from two of the accused, sources said.

Violence had broken out during the Bhima-Koregaon battle's 200th anniversary celebrations.

According to sources, the ATS will probe if the arrested accused were involved in the violence in Mumbai and suburbs. "Based on specific information in connection with the movements of members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), the Kalachowki unit of the ATS initially nabbed one suspect from the Kalyan railway station yesterday," the official said.

During interrogation, he revealed he and his colleagues from the Kamraj Nagar, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Vikhroli areas of suburban Mumbai were working for the CPI(Maoist). After getting vital information, the ATS formed special teams and raids were carried out in Ramabai Nagar, Kamraj Nagar and Vikhroli, during which seven Maoists were arrested. All the arrested persons were from Telangana and working for the CPI(Maoist), he said.

ATS sleuths seized incriminating documents related to the banned organisation, he added.

An offence under sections 20, 38, 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been registered at ATS Kalachowki and a probe is underway. The arrested persons were produced before court, which sent them to ATS custody till January 16, the official said.

"Maoists have declared parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat as Golden Corridor for propagation of their ideology and spread of their movement in the industrial belt," he said. During investigation, it came to light that the arrested main accused and his accomplices had been working for the Golden Corridor Committee and were in touch with Left Wing Extremism cadres from the forest divisions, he said.Mumbai: At least five people were killed on Saturday after a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying seven persons  five ONGC officials and two pilots  crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company's oil installation in the Arabian Sea.

So far, five bodies have been recovered, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said in a statement. One of the bodies was identified as that of ONGC DGM Pankaj Garg. Search operation is on for other missing persons.

Two bodies out of four recovered at sea near debris of ill feted @ONGC_ Aircraft identified by the cards in wallet @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/yG8dQ0t6Nx Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) January 13, 2018

The Pawan Hans helicopter with five ONGC officers, including three of the level of Deputy General Managers, went missing around 10.40 hours.

ONGC, Coast Guard and Navy pressed helicopters and speed boats as soon as the information of the chopper going missing was received at the Juhu helibase.

ONGC has key oil and gas fields off the Mumbai coast and Pawan Hans helicopters routinely ferry company employees and officers to the oil installations that are situated as far as 160 kilometres from the coastline.

The field in the offshore include Mumbai High, the nation's largest oil field and Bassein fields, the largest gas field.

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history. In August 2003, Mi-172 helicopter crashed off Mumbai coast killing 27 company persons and pilot on-board.

"ONGC vessels and choppers along with the Coast Guard and Indian navy are combing the areas where the chopper has apparently crashed," the ONGC statement said. "Identification of the bodies is in progress".

The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am. Five employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots were on-board the chopper.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation, while surveillance aircraft P8i was also pressed into service.

The Coast Guard had also diverted its ships to search the missing chopper.

A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that the aircraft accident investigation body AAIB will probe the Pawan Hans chopper crash.

"Since it is a clear accident, this chopper crash will be probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," the official said.

He said the DGCA will extend all necessary help to the AAIB in conducting the probe.

AAIB is the apex body which probes serious incidents and accidents, involving aircraft registered in India and comes under the civil aviation ministry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives.

"India Coast Guard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hrs," he said on twitter.

"So far resulted in 03 body recovery. Search & rescue operations are underway. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will launch thorough inquiry (sic)," he tweeted.New Delhi: In May last year, a bus rolled into a remote village in the jungles of Naxal-affected Bastar in Chhattisgarh. The moment marked the end of a 12-year-long isolation for the villagers, who had been living in isolation. However, on Friday, Naxals burned this sole connection that the villagers had with the outside world.

News18 had reported last year on how the freedom bus a prized target for the Naxals  was changing the lives of its passengers who were mainly former Salwa Judum members.

Less than a year since then, the villagers have been thrown back into the seclusion that they tried to come out of, with Naxals torching the bus during its journey on Friday between Jagargunda and Jagdalpur villages.

The bus was set on fire while it was returning to Jagargunda village, the same stretch where Naxals had earlier ambushed a CRPF team and killed 25 personnel last year.

According to sources, the Naxals, armed with sharp-edged weapons and sticks, intercepted the bus around 5pm on Friday, asked all passengers to move out and set the bus on fire.

We received news of the bus being burnt just a few minutes after it happened. It is nothing but a show of desperation by the Naxals after our successful encounters, Sukma SP Abhishek Meena said.

Just three days ago, the security forces, in a joint operation in Dantewada grievously injured a top Naxal leader Ganesh VK. VK is believed to have masterminded the deadliest assault on CRPF soldiers in 2010, in which over 70 paramilitary soldiers were killed.

Having set the passenger bus on fire, the Naxals have managed to cut off the only lifeline the villagers had.

More than 50 security personnel, including CRPF soldiers and police officials, have died trying to build a road on this stretch over the past three years.Moscow: A new round of U.S. sanctions expected against Moscow is an attempt to influence Russia's domestic affairs ahead of a presidential election, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Washington is expected to impose fresh penalties against Russia as soon as early February for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential vote. Russia has repeatedly denied this.

Moscow expects the United to present two anti-Russian reports with the sanctions, Ryabkov told Tass news agency.

One of the reports will likely extend the number of Russian officials and companies on the sanctions list, while the other will analyse whether sanctions so far have proved to be effective, Ryabkov said.

"We see this as yet another attempt to influence our internal situation, especially ahead of the presidential election," he said.

Russia will hold its next presidential vote on March 18 when President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win another six-year stint.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a new package of sanctions drafted by U.S. lawmakers. The new legislation also limits Trump's own ability to lift any sanctions against Russia.

The first U.S. sanctions against Russia were imposed in 2014 for its role in the Ukrainian crisis and for annexing Crimea. The European Union has also imposed penalties against Moscow, prompting it to retaliate with banning food imports from countries that sanction Russia.

The new round of U.S. sanctions could possibly include a ban on the purchase of Russian treasury bonds.New Delhi: When the four senior-most Supreme Court judges decided to "address the nation" and "discharge their debt", no other judge in the apex court or even the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Dipak Misra had any inkling of what was about to happen.

It was a particular moment when the four judges, including Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who is next in the line to become the CJI, decided to do something that has never happened before.

Justices J Chelameswar, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph held a meeting with Justice Gogoi, who took a call to shed his reluctance and come out in the open against the "unfortunate events" that impacted the "independence of the judiciary" -- as Justice Chelameswar communicated at the press briefing.

Since Justice Gogoi happens to be the next CJI, whose name shall have to be recommended by the incumbent CJI Misra to the President for appointment, it was perhaps the most difficult decision for him. But the fact that all four were in unison that the overall functioning of the CJI's office seemed to have been affected by the manner of the present administration, Justice Gogoi also agreed to come along.

It was then unanimously decided that they shall meet the media on Friday itself, without delaying it any further.

However, there was no time left to inform the other judges about their decision.

Sources tell News18 that the four dissenting judges wanted to consult a few other judges too, who, according to their opinion also shared the same grievances. But since the court had to start functioning at 10.30 am and all the other judges had to go to their respective courtrooms, it was not possible to apprise them of the move. Besides, these four judges also had to go to their courts and conclude hearing of the cases listed before them.

According to the sources, it was Justice Chelameswar who got the draft of the seven-page letter prepared in his office. This was later approved by the other three judges.

Thus, the upheaval on Friday did not only leave the country in a tizzy but also the brethren in the Supreme Court. They were equally surprised by the unprecedented act of the four judges.New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary, Nripendra Misra, turned up at the residence of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, a day after four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court revolted against the CJI, raising questions over "selective" case allocation.

The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence. However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister was seen driving back.

In an unprecedented move, the four judges launched a public attack against the CJI's alleged arbitrary way of assigning important cases, including the case linked with justice B H Loya's mysterious death. Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

Misra downplayed the issue and said he was only paying a visit to his old neighbor and it had nothing to do with the ongoing rift in the Supreme Court. I had dropped my visiting card to wish him New Year. I did not meet him. I had not gone to meet him with any subject. He was my neighbour when we both lived on Tughlaq Road, he said.

This did not assuage the Congress, who was quick to criticise the government, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi must give an answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to the CJI.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," the party's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.Lucknow: The Lucknow police have arrested two people, including a local leader of Samajwadi party, for throwing quintals of potatoes in front of the Vidhan Sabha building and outside Chief Minister's residence on January 6.

According to police, the arrested duo executed the dumping of potatoes with the intent to defame the Yogi government.

In a press conference called on Saturday, SSP Lucknow Deepak Kumar said: "There were no farmer unions behind this incident. Total six people were involved in the entire incident, two are arrested and rest will be arrested soon. The accused were identified and nabbed after the police investigated the CCTV footage of the localities where potatoes were dumped."

On the other hand, ex-CM of UP and Samajwadi Party National President, Akhilesh Yadav slammed police for booking a farmer who was related to Samajwadi Party and said that it seems police have nothing better to do than arresting farmers protesting for their rights.

Farmers are in a problem as they are not getting the right price for their yield; on the other hand, our government is trying to prove that it was not done by farmers. What if the farmers who did it belong to our party? Are BJP people not into potato farming? The issue is about potato farmers, but our police are arresting them instead of arresting criminals in the state.

We are now asking farmers to gift potato to DM of their districts, after which we will ask them to gift one stray cattle to DMs. The government has failed in curbing crime in the state and now are arresting potato farmers," he added.

After a record production of 155-160 lakh metric tonne potatoes in Uttar Pradesh during 2016-17, the state government decided to buy the produce at a rate of Rs 487 per quintal. The procurement, of nearly one lakh metric tonne potatoes, was to start immediately.

Farmers, however, said they have not done anything wrong as this was a symbolic protest against the government and its policies.

Speaking to News18, Harnam Singh, farmer leader, said, The government might have announced a basic MSP but the procurement is next to nil. Also, the support price of Rs 487 per quintal is not enough. They have not taken into account the money paid by farmers to store their produce in the cold storages. In such a situation, farmers are forced to dump their produce on roads.

Singh added that the government was only interested in handing out figures about their help to farmers. Figures dont help or provide any relief to farmers. Farmers sit on dharna in this cold weather and no one cares. If the government does not wake up now, it will face consequences, he said.New Delhi: A day after four senior-most judges of Supreme Court went public with their differences with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said it is "our bounden duty to take note of what the judges have said".

Sinha, who finds himself at variance with his party's stand and policies, chose to speak on the matter and said it is fear which is stopping people from speaking out.

"If four senior judges have gone public then how is it a SC matter? It is a serious matter. All those who care for the future of the country and democracy should raise their voice. People are not speaking out of fear," said Sinha.

The BJP, though, has refrained from speaking on the judges' issue calling it an "internal matter of the apex court" and hit out at Congress for using it to gain 'political mileage'.

"Simply can't drag judiciary into politics and the issue which is pending in the SC should not be discussed in public. No politics should be played at all. We are surprised and pained that Congress, which has been rejected number of times by people in elections, is trying to gain political mileage and it has exposed itself," said BJP's spokesperson Sambit Patra.

Sinha alleged that senior cabinet ministers are quiet because the fear is they might lose their post.

"I am not saying the government should step in, it should be left to the Supreme Court. But what I am saying is government should play its part in protecting the democracy. If democracy is threatened then the government has the responsibility to stand up against those," said Sinha.

Sinha also lamented the way Parliament is being compromised by such short sessions, which is scuttling the space for debate and discussion.

I have never seen such short Parliament sessions. Parliament of India is compromised. The sessions are not held properly. The winter session was curtailed as there was election in a particular state, said Sinha, referring to the Assembly election in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The SC is not in order. Democracy is under threat. Where is the Parliament of India? asked Sinha.

It was an argument early on Friday morning around 10am which convinced the four most senior judges in the Supreme Court to go to the people's court.

The four judges - Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurien Joseph - soon after addressed the media on the controversy over allocation of cases, saying the administration of the top court is not in order and that efforts to convince Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had failed.We have all been hearing words & phrases like unprecedented & never ever in independent India to describe the SC judges mutiny. Let us be frank friends. Beyond that, there is precious little in this story that the common man could really comprehend. This is the type of a story that everyone is talking about but nobody fully understands.

Weekend is here and this is what the wise men on the streets are talking about.

1) Judges went against their own.

2) There was some sort of a mutiny.

3) This has never ever happened before.

4) One judge said that we dont want some wise men to say that we sold our soul.

5) This could potentially damage democracy.

It is point number 5, according to me, which is the most important in public discourse. Has it really harmed democracy? Or is this proof that our thriving democracy and its systems are alive and kicking? That is where opinion is divided and I am taking the liberty to assume that this is the crux of every conversation.

Judiciary protects democracy and keeps it alive. Public perception matters a lot in so far as judiciary is concerned. Unfortunately, this public perception has been harmed with four senior judges coming out in the open. The essence of democracy is public perception. The CJI, being the first among equals, has the responsibility to keep judiciary out of harms way as far as public perception is concerned. And this case, the strobe lights are on the chief justice himself, says Hindustan Times Political Editor Vinod Sharma.

Lawyer & Columnist Dushyant disagrees: This belief has taken root that democracy is about perception. And that is why all effort is always invested in managing perception. I feel democracy is about accountability, not perception. In this case also, it is being said that the manner in which things happened is wrong. So essentially we want to put a cloth over the rot. Let a system rot and let us not tell anyone about it. What happened may be tragic but it isnt bad for democracy. The four judges had exploited all their options internally before coming out and speaking.

Senior Lawyer Swapnil Kothari calls this the darkest day of his career. Judiciary was the only institution that preserved democracy. Because the other two institutions  the lax legislature and the excessive executive  have failed significantly. SC has been tarnished by the four judges. Dirty linen is being washed in public. Chief justice is the father of the judiciary. If I have a problem with him, I should solve it within the four walls. Even if I have to fight a mulish stance taken by the CJI. Institutions have to be above the individuals that manage.

Here is an easy to digest explainer on what went wrong in court:

Special CBI Judge BH Loya, handling the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case apparently suffered a cardiac arrest & breathed his last in December 2014. The family later alleged foul play. They felt the judge could be under pressure.

PILs were filed in the Justice Loya death case. And the CJI assigned them to a certain court. Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph questioned CJI on why an important matter relating to death of a judicial officer was sent to a certain court bypassing eight senior judges and benches.

Sources say Justice Misra saw no wrong with this administrative order. The four judges then held a press conference.

Desh Ratan Nigam, a prominent thinker associated with the RSS feels: Judiciary seems to be getting politicised. Four judges coming out and speaking like this is unethical. CJI is the master of the roster. And he is not supposed to make a distinction between VIP and non-VIP cases. As far as CJI marking cases to benches is concerned, why is there and expectation that certain type of cases should come to certain judges only. To say that certain type of cases should have come to them itself raises suspicion.

Should the judges have come out in public? Was judiciary weakened when judges decided to appeal in the janta ki adalat?

Lawyer Mohit Paul says, I would like to read out the restatement of values of judicial life. As adopted by the full bench of the Supreme Court on May 7, 1997. It said a judge shall not enter public debate or express his views on political matter that are pending or likely to arise for judicial determination.

Here is a sharp sampling of opinion on this point.

CNN-News 18s legal editor Utkarsh Anand says: There is nothing that prohibits judges from talking to the media. And an RSS inclined Deshratan Nigam feels this has set a dangerous precedent. Today these judges have spoken. Tomorrow the lower judiciary will come out on the streets.

Vinod Sharma feels Institutions are best defended by the people who run it. The four judges raised issues and did not speak about individuals. To which Swapnil retorts: Today the dignity of judges in the eyes of the people has gone down. People feel that if judges cannot resolve a dispute within themselves how are they going to resolve a dispute between us?

Like every other, the government is only just recovering from the aftermath of the press conference shocker. After many hours of silence on Friday, the Attorney General KK Venugopal said that holding a press conference could have been avoided. He felt that all judges, including CJI, would rise to the occasion to wholly neutralise the divisiveness.

Rising above divisiveness should not mean pushing all issues raised here under the carpet, says Dushyant.

The governments initial response to this crisis  saying that the judiciary itself needs to handle it  is pretty disappointing and hands off.

If we intervene, then people will accuse us of meddling in the judicial process. Judges only have to handle this, BJP spokesperson with a legal background, Rajeev Pandey, remarks.

However a counter to this view is that judiciarys problems are not entirely its own doing. And solutions also lie elsewhere.

This is a multi-institution issue. There are questions on impeachment being spoken about here. Impeachment of CJI or impeachment of the 4 judges who went live? Both these issues involve arms of the executive and Parliament to intervene. It is very important for other institutions to weigh in. You cannot get away by saying that this is an issue which only the judiciary can handle, says Dushyant.

Why is the government not acting fast on a memorandum of procedure for appointing senior judges? Why the delay? Congress Aadil Singh asks.

What has happened in the process though is that the cloak of secrecy and opinion around judges has now fallen. Motives are now openly being attached both against the CJI and Justice Chelameswar. What was so far the dirty preserve of public politics, has now reached courtrooms as well.

Justice Chelameswar has been the most vocal about the independence of the judiciary. But then he comes out with a press conference and then happens to meet his old friend or school friend or whoever he is, Mr D Raja. Judges of the Supreme Court dont meet people like that. I am sure they were not discussing the weather in Delhi, an agitated Swapnil Kothari remarks.

Since the judges took their grievance to the public, we took our question on twitter. Has democracy been harmed we asked.

Forty five percent of you said Yes. Fifty five percent said No. Are these the wise men talking?New Delhi: On December 19, the government informed the Lok Sabha that Pakistan had violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) a total of 771 times  a 230% spike from 2016.

Counted with ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB), the total number of violations in Jammu and Kashmir stood at 881. Pakistan, too, hit back at India and claimed that India had violated the ceasefire agreement more than 1,300 times in 2017. So with ceasefire violations becoming the norm rather than the exception, is the 2003 agreement effectively dead?

Responding to Pakistans allegations of ceasefire violations, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said Indias violations were only aimed at counter-terror operations and that the force struck Pakistani troops only when they were aiding and abetting terrorism.

Despite the grim picture of ceasefire violations in 2017, the Army Chiefs tone and tenor was positive. General Rawat said that the pressure on the Pakistani Army was working and the two nations may soon be able to return to more stable times.

Our ceasefire violations are only in count-terror ops. But we saw that terrorists are a disposable commodity for Pakistan. Unless Pakistan Army faces pain, they will not stop infiltration. Even they will respond with violations. But I can assure you that their casualties are higher. If we see a drop in infiltration, we are willing to consider an absolute ceasefire and go back to the 2003 situation. The Army has been told to conduct operations in the manner we deem fit, the Army Chief said on Friday.

He said Pakistan has been reaching out to India to negotiate a return to the 2003 situation. This, he said, was an indication that Indias tactic of putting pressure directly on the Pakistan Army was succeeding.

So where does that leave the ceasefire agreement of 2003, agreed upon by the governments of General Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee 15 years ago? Is it time to pronounce it dead? According to Lieutenant General (Retired) DS Hooda, who was the architect of Indias 2016 surgical strikes against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the agreement has been dead for a very long time.

Interestingly, however, the agreement was never a formally written, signed one. Prior to 2003, the situation along the LoC and the IB was pretty bad. When the agreement was made in 2003, it was never really put down on paper. As I understand, it was a verbal agreement between the two sides. Pakistan was the one to initiate the ceasefire by asking for it and we agreed to it, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Hooda said.

For the first 10 years of the agreement, there was relative peace and calm along the LoC. From 2003 to 2012, no major incidents took place along the LoC. We only reported some minor incidents. For example, one of the provisions of the ceasefire agreement was that no new posts would be constructed within a 500-meter radius of the line. Sometimes, when we would see them strengthening their defences or they would see us doing the same, there would be some warning shots fired. Now, technically, even a single round fired is a ceasefire violation. So they are counted as violations. But apart from minor incidents, nothing major happened there for the first 10 years.

Then came January 8, 2013. India alleged that a Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) had crossed over into India, ambushed an Indian Army patrol and killed two soldiers. One of the two soldiers who died was beheaded, which sparked outrage across India. Pakistan flatly denied the claim. A livid Salman Khurshid, the then Minister for External Affairs, vowed India would respond with a proportionate response.

Khurshids comments were followed by a series of border skirmishes between India and Pakistan, three in the month of January alone. That incident, said Hooda, changed the dynamic on the border and the LoC.

In 2011, there were just 62 minor incidents of ceasefire violations. The number in 2012 was similar. In 2013, that number spiked to 347. Things were never the same after that. In 2013 alone, several major incidents were reported, including beheadings. Earlier, these violations were limited to warning shots. After 2013, the LoC saw a return of mortar shelling and rockets being launched, Hooda said.

But is the Army Chiefs assessment that a return to the 2003 situation is within the realm of likelihood correct?

Yes, says Hooda, but with riders. Two things need to happen. Before we go back to that situation, we will need to maintain sustained pressure on the Pakistan Army for some more time. Unless we hit them where it hurts, no strategy will succeed. Secondly, any new ceasefire agreement must be tied to some tangible reduction in infiltration and terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil. If both these things happen, I believe that a fresh ceasefire agreement is both likely and desirable. After all, the Indian Army doesnt want any bloodshed. It is our boys who die at the LoC.Jammu: An Army jawan was on Saturday killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, the Army said.

Pakistan Army troops initiated unprovoked firing on Indian posts from across the border in the Sunderbani sector, prompting the Indian troops guarding the LoC to retaliate strongly and effectively, an Army spokesman said. Lance Naik Yogesh Muralidhar Bhadane, 22, from Khalane village of Dhule district in Maharashtra, was critically injured in the firing and later succumbed to his injuries. Bhadane is survived by his wife.

The incident comes just days after a BSF head constable was killed after Pakistani forces "sniped" from across the International Border in Samba district.

In retaliation, the BSF destroyed two Pakistani mortar positions. It also foiled an infiltration bid by gunning down a Pakistani intruder along the IB near Nikowal Border Out Post (BoP) in Arnia sector.

An army personnel was also killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district on December 31 last year. Sepoy Jagsir Singh, 32, was killed when he was shot by Pakistani troops from across the border along the LoC in Rajouri district on the last day of 2017, the year which recorded the highest number of ceasefire violations in the past decade resulting in the death of 35 people, including 19 Army personnel and four BSF men.

India shares a 3,323-km border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir. On December 23, an Army major and three soldiers were killed along the LoC in Rajouri and in retaliatory action, Indian troops killed three Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir two days later.New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bar Association has dismissed any possibility of impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, saying that four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court concealed more than they revealed in their unprecedented press meet on Friday.

In a first, four sitting judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference, saying that the administration of the top court is not in order and many "things less than desirable" have happened in last few months. The judges addressing the media were Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurien Joseph.

Hours later, senior advocate Vikas Singh, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told News18 that the press meet has only led to speculation and that the letter (from the judges to the CJI) had nothing to reveal.

There is no question of impeachment in this case. This has to be addressed within the system rather than going to press like this. You go for a press conference to reveal, but the intention of this press conference was to conceal, he said.

This has led to imagination of the country running wild. The institution derives its respect for the credibility it has garnered over these years. If the credibility goes, who will respect the institution? The press conference has only led to speculation, he added.

Singh also criticised the stand taken by Justice Chelameshwar, Justice Gogoi, Justice Joseph and Justice Lokur stating that the judgment which has been cited in the letter to highlight the delay in finalising Memorandum of Procedure was already withdrawn by the CJI.

The letter has absolutely nothing. The letter speaks about the RP Luthra matter which was dealt by Justice Goel and Justice UU Lalit. I dont think that order was wrong which had only said that if the Memorandum of Procedure was approved then why it is not being decided. That delay in finalising the MoP is harming the judiciary, he said.

But even that order was re-called by the CJI along with Justice AK Sikri and Justice Amitava Roy. Its incomprehensible as to why Luthra verdict was cited in the letter. I do not understand how such senior judges could have committed such a mistake to have actually not checked facts? That order was withdrawn by the CJI, said Singh.

Lashing out at the CJI for an incorrect interpretation of the 'master of the roster theory' and stating that this media interaction was needed for them to discharge their debt towards the nation, the four senior-most judges said that they had to take this step so that 20 years down the line wise men do not say that the four judges had sold their souls.

Vikas Singh told News18, that even if the CJI is wrong in forming such benches, his decision has to accept and primacy must be accorded to him.

The master of the roster theory has also been accepted by the four judges. It is not as if something new has been done by CJI Mishra. But the way CJI has been forming those benches leaves a lot to be desired. But that does not justify what the four judges did. Even if the CJI was doing it wrong, he would still be the master of the roster. Still you have to give him the primacy, said Singh.New Delhi: It was an argument early in the morning around 10 am which convinced the four most senior judges in the Supreme Court to go to the people's court.

All four had met Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra with a question about the assignment of two PILs on Special CBI Judge BH Loya's death to court No.10, which is headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

Loya was trying the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter killing case. He apparently suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last in December 2014 but the family later alleged foul play and said the judge was under pressure.

On Friday morning, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph confronted the CJI as to why such an important matter relating to death of a judicial officer was sent to court No.10, bypassing eight senior judges and benches.

They questioned whether it wouldn't reflect badly on the system as well as the competence of the other judges when the CJI sends an "important case" to a "handpicked" bench.

According to the sources, Justice Misra replied that the case has already been assigned by him to court No.10 in administrative authority and that he saw nothing wrong with his administrative order.

Upset, the four judges expressed their strong objection to the CJI, saying all this would set a wrong precedent and that the institution will suffer. The CJI, however, retorted that he was acting as per the established principles of the allocation of cases.

The four judges also recalled that they had been making requests to the CJI for months now to make the allocation of cases more suitable and proper, apart from making the system more transparent but to no avail.

However, the CJI referred to a Constitution Bench judgment, which had made it clear that he, as the master of the roster, could assign cases to appropriate benches as per his discretion. Justice Misra refused to accede to their request.

As their request was unheeded, the four judges had a brief discussion among themselves and then a decision was taken to go public with their views.

Sources said this was the last straw, and even the Justice Gogoi, who is the next in line to become the Chief Justice of India after Justice Misra demits office on October 3 and had been reluctant so far to address the media, as per the sources, decided to join the ranks.

What the law says about allocation of cases:

According to a Constitution Bench ruling, delivered by a bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra in November, the CJI has an exclusive discretion to decide where to send a case. The judgment said that even in cases where the CJI may have a conflict of interest, it is only he who, by virtue of his constitutional post, has the authority to allocate cases among the judges in the court.

But this judgment had come amid a controversy over a medical college bribery case, in which CBI had alleged that a retired judge, along with others, had obtained a bribe to fix cases pending in the apex court.

One of these cases was heard by a bench led by CJI Dipak Misra and thus two PILs were mentioned before Justice J Chelameswar, who was hearing the cases for urgent listing since the CJI was sitting in a Constitution Bench.

When Justice Chelameswar heard one of these PILs, he was told by the petitioners lawyers that since the case pertaining to this medical college was heard by the CJI-bench, Justice Misra should not deal with this case either on the administrative side or the judicial side.

Justice Chelameswar fixed the matter for an urgent hearing and then ordered for the constitution of a bench comprising five most senior judges in the court since the issue pertained to the judiciary.

However, three hours later, a hurriedly constituted five-judge Constitution Bench overruled Justice Chelameswars order and said it is only for the CJI to decide how and which bench will hear a case.Meanwhile, the situation has taken a political turn after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary went to meet CJI Dipak Misra at his residence.

CLICK TO READ | PM's Principal Secretary Turns up at CJI's Residence, Congress Seeks AnswersNew Delhi: With just 20 days to go for its last budget, the central government has asked departments to go through the BJPs 2014 manifesto and list out all the promises that have not been fulfilled yet.

Keeping in line with the directive, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has asked the government to fulfill its promise of a higher tax relief for families taking care of the disabled. Sources at the ministry told News18 that they were hoping that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will announce the relief in the upcoming budget.

We were asked just 3-4 days ago to list out things that have not been fulfilled. As was asked from us, we have sent a mail to the Finance Minister informing him about the promise of a higher tax relief. Since the government has asked us to mention the loopholes, we think this will be announced in this Budget, sources told News18.

The BJP manifesto, under its social security section, had promised to provide a higher tax relief for the family member taking care of the disabled. As of now, the Income Tax Department allows deductions under Section 80DD to individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) on the expenditure incurred to take care of a disabled or a differently-abled dependent.

For an individual taxpayer, the dependent has to be a spouse, child, parent or sibling. For HUF, the dependent has to be a member of the HUF.

Expenditure for medical treatment, training and rehabilitation of the dependent qualify for tax benefits. As of now, there is a relief to the tune of Rs 75,000 where the disability is less than 80% and more than 40%. The relief can go up to Rs 1,25,000 in situations where the disability is more than 80%.It's been only four years that Kriti Sanon has stepped into the Hindi film industry with Heropanti in 2014 and the actor has already established her identity in Bollywood, thanks to her stunning performance in Bareilly Ki Barfi, which didn't only impress the critics but also touch the hearts of the audiences.

However, recently the 27-year-old star left many people scratching their heads after she received Nothing To Hide Award at a star-studded event. Many people called out the award category on social media writing, "the Good for Nothing Award."

Star Screen Awards has introduced a new category. 'Nothing To Hide' Award. Yes, you read that right: 'Nothing To Hide' Award category. This is why aliens always go to America and never to Mumbai when they visit Planet Earth.  Phoenix of Vienna (@Andec_Tanker) January 1, 2018

It's Nothing To Hide Award Or Its Nothing To Hide Awards Shows Stupidity Award ?? pic.twitter.com/5mkSRV4oOk  PRANAV (@pranav1490) January 1, 2018

"Iss saal hum star screen award mein nayi category introduce karne wale hain, nothing to hide award" Me: pic.twitter.com/J3558Tq7EW   (@roundorocks) December 31, 2017

However, Kriti seems completely unruffled by all the ado. "As long as I am not asking someone to give me an award, it (the win) is fine. If I am given an award, I would be humble enough to accept it," the actor was quoted as saying by Pinkvilla.

"This award connects me with my fans. I dont think I needed to respond to this, but a lot was written about the win. Besides, nowadays, there are different awards being handed out, including one called a 'Youth Icon'. So, I dont see why this is surprising," she added.London's most well-mannered bear is back with even more kindness and cuddle-effects. Paddington 2, a sequel of 2014 hit animation Paddington, has everything in it to make it the watch of the weekend, not only for the little ones but even for adults. After all, who cannot love a cute brown bear with sparkling kind eyes, making you laugh with his misadventures and innocent mannerisms?

After arriving in London three years back, Paddington the bear is all settled with the Brown family and is the entire street's favourite person. From the bus conductor to the street dog, everybody is in awe of him, including the audience.

However, his story takes a drastic turn when he decides to take up a job in order to gift a rare pop-up book to his aunty Lucy on her 100th birthday. While making money by cleaning windows in the most adorable way possible, he witnesses a theft happening and wrongly gets accused of the crime. Now begins his survival in the prison and his journey to clear his name by catching the real culprit with the help of his new family.

The characters are again as lovable as they were in the previous outing. The adorkable Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Brown is still warm and friendly with a fetish for adventure stories, Hugh Bonneville is still sceptical Mr. Brown who double checks every generosity and saves the day with his former risque instincts, the villain of the town is again a Hollywood biggie (Hugh Grant), who plays the character of a fallen superstar in desperate need of money and fame. Every character in the film does his/her part to transport you into the perfect world of Paddington where goodness is oozing out and where prison looks like some European neighbourhood full of laughter and delicacies.

Oh! There is thrill involved and tears do come rolling out of the eyes seeing our favourite bear suffer, implying the conviction and hold of the character over audience's minds. There is nothing to not love in the film, there are laughter, thrill, emotions and a message that good vibes have the energy to change the world if only one remains persistent and uncorrupted.

Paddington 2 might just be the film a brittle, bothered world needs right now. Full of warmth, compassion, and kindness, this well-mannered bear is an ideal reflection of an ideal world.Guna: Guna: A clash broke out between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress workers in Raghogarh town of Guna district in Madhya Pradesh on Friday evening.

The trouble began when Congress workers allegedly disrupted the public meeting of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was in the town for campaigning in favour of party's local body polls candidate Maya Agrawal.

It is not clear what triggered the clash. As the trouble grew, the crowd started pelting stones and the police had to resort to lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells to keep the mob at bay.

Soon after, heavy police force was deployed in the town and section 144 of CrPC was imposed.

Congress - alleging police excesses on its workers - led by MLA Jaivardhan Singh gheraoed the police station.

Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that CM Shivraj and BJP leaders, not satisfied with the desired response to party road show in town, got Congress workers beaten up by the police.

Chaturvedi said that the Congress workers were simply raising CM murdabad slogans.

Rajnish Agrawal, BJP spokesperson, hit back saying that Congress workers, unnerved by the overwhelming response to BJP in the home turf of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, created ruckus.

Nimish Agrawal, Superintendent of Police, Guna, however, could not be reached for comment on the incident.

Guna is the stronghold of Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who represents the district in Lok Sabha.Lucknow: In a reference to the ED raids at multiple premises linked to Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday claimed that this was an act to "divert the attention" of the people, following the Supreme Court judges' press meet on Friday.

"The BJP men are best in diverting the attention of the people. The judges had raised a serious matter yesterday and today they (government) raided someone's residence," he said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday morning conducted searches at 10 premises linked to Karti Chidambaram in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case. In an unprecedented move, four senior Supreme Court judges, at a press meet in Delhi, had mounted a revolt against the chief justice of India yesterday, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, sending shockwaves across the judiciary and polity.

Yadav alleged that the BJP had resorted to the same tactic during last month's Gujarat Assembly polls by raking up the "neech" politics issue.

During the Gujarat polls, Mani Shankar Aiyar, since suspended by the Congress, had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "neech aadmi" (lowly person) who did dirty politics, which was made a big issue by the BJP. Questioning the ruling party about the fate of the "swadeshi andolan"it had launched, Yadav said, "The BJP should clear its stand on the swadeshi andolan after allowing 100 per cent FDI (in the retail sector) and the GST rollout.

"The move (of allowing 100 per cent FDI in retail) and GST (Goods and Services Tax) will ruin the Indian industries and the BJP should come clean as regards what has it thought about it."

On the BJP painting the government offices and other buildings in Uttar Pradesh saffron, the former chief minister said, "They have insulted the colour by painting toilets saffron."

Accusing the BJP of practising "caste-based politics", he said, "Everyone should remain alert of this party as it can rake up any issue any time for political gains.

"These forces are dividing the society and country on the basis of caste and religion and the youth should give them a befitting reply. Their false propaganda should be thwarted at all levels."

On the Yogi Adityanath-led state government holding a "Gorakhpur Mahotsava", the SP leader said he had no problem with it as the previous government, led by him, had also held a similar event at Saifai.

"But the Gorakhpur Mahotsava could not match up to the class of the Saifai event. I will request the chief minister to increase the budget. If he cannot even increase the budget for his native place, you can imagine what kind of a weak chief minister he is," Yadav said.New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the upcoming Assembly polls in the state would be a battle between two ideologies -- communalism and secularism.

He also denied that there was an anti-incumbency factor for the Congress and said the party would retain power in the southern state by winning the polls with a "comfortable majority".

Siddaramaiah was in the national capital to discuss the party's poll preparedness and strategy at a meeting called by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, which lasted for about three-and-a-half hours.

Gandhi is scheduled to launch the first leg of his party's poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10. The state is expected to go to the polls in March-April.

"This (election) will not be a battle between me and (BS) Yeddyurappa. It will not be a contest between me and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. It will be a battle of two ideologies -- secularism and communalism," Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting.

Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara, working presidents S R Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the party's Karnataka in-charge K C Venugopal were also present at the meeting, besides senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K Rahman Khan, K H Muniyappa, Oscar Fernandes and Veerappa Moily. This was the first meeting called by the Congress president on the Karnataka polls after last month's Gujarat Assembly election.

Siddaramaiah said the party's poll preparedness was reviewed in detail at the meeting and its strategy chalked out.

"He (Gandhi) is very happy with the functioning of the party (in Karnataka) and the (state) government. Our government is not facing any anti-incumbency. We will win the upcoming polls with a comfortable majority," he added.

Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress had not only honoured all the promises it had made in its manifesto for the previous state polls, but "even some of the programmes not in the manifesto were implemented".

"Therefore, the chances of winning are very high and I am confident that the party will come back to power again," he said.

Claiming that the BJP had no poll agenda for the state, Siddaramaiah said, "They (BJP leaders) are raising irrelevant issues in Karnataka. That will not work."

Even the Hindutva issue raised by BJP president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were not a matter of concern for the Congress, he claimed.

"They (BJP) are following (Hindutva) sans humanity. Being a Hindu myself, I follow it with humanity," Siddaramaiah said. Venugopal said senior leaders had assured the party president that they would work in "unity" and win the upcoming Karnataka polls.

"The BJP is trying to polarise the people because they have no other slogan or programme. Similarly, other parties are also up to some mischief or the other. But the Congress party is confident of winning the polls," he added.United Nations: All African countries at the United Nations unanimously demanded Friday that US President Donald Trump retract and apologize for his reported denunciation of immigration from "shithole" nations.

The African Group of UN ambassadors is "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media," a statement said.

After an emergency session to weigh Trump's remarks, the group said it was "concerned at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration toward Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of color."

While demanding a "retraction and an apology" from Trump, the 54 countries also thanked those Americans "from all walks of life who have condemned the remarks."

The resolution was passed unanimously after four hours of discussions.

"For once, we are all on the same page," an ambassador told AFP.

The ambassadors did not consult their governments before issuing the resolution, he said, adding that some could now expect to receive phone calls from their capitals because of the text's strong tone.

Trump's comments were allegedly made on Thursday at a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.

After lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador, the president reportedly demanded to know why the United States should accept immigrants from "shithole countries," rather than -- for instance -- wealthy and overwhelmingly white Norway.

He tweeted a convoluted denial Friday in an attempt to quell outrage both at home and abroad.

Earlier, the 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks, while Botswana and Senegal hauled in the US ambassador to complain.

The comment "truly flies in the face of accepted behavior and practice," said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki.

Western Sahara is not recognized as a sovereign state by the UN and thus not included in its African Group.

It is, however, part of the African Union, which Morocco left in 1984 over the body's recognition of the disputed territory's independence, before rejoining it last year.Boston: From Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon through Barack Obama, Americans have gotten used to the idea of their presidents using profanity, but Donald Trump's use of the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and Africa this week sparked a storm of protest.

The countries offended condemned the outburst and human rights groups labelled the comment racist, given that Trump described people from largely white Norway as more desirable immigrants.

But supporters of the former businessman and reality TV star erupted in applause.

"Finally a president that says what we all think! You go @POTUS! #ShitholeCountries #shithole #America1st," tweeted Marco Gutierrez, a Trump supporter and Congressional candidate from California.

Conservative blogger Stacy Rush dismissed criticism of Trump's language as pitiful and a distraction from the bigger picture: "It is pathetic our country and particularly the MSM (mainstream media) is wasting time on the word #shithole when we have real issues that need to be addressed."

But many from the worlds of diplomacy, academia and even etiquette experts cringed.

"The reality is that when you have to resort to it, it does send a message of insecurity," said Diane Gottsman, author of Modern Etiquette for a Better Life, who advises against using profanity in either professional or social settings.

Trump's remarks during a meeting on immigration policy that was held at the White House on Thursday were reported by a U.S. senator at the gathering, who said on Friday that the president had used "vile, vulgar" language, including repeatedly saying "shithole."

Trump denied on Friday that he had used such derogatory language. But he was condemned nonetheless in many African nations, as well as in Haiti and El Salvador, and by international human rights organizations.

During the 1960s Lyndon Johnson raised eyebrows by saying that, in politics, "chicken shit can turn to chicken salad." Experts said the public were shocked by the profanity-laced Nixon tapes from the Oval office in the 1970s Watergate political crisis, and that people are less sensitive now.

"People have become accustomed to the idea that presidents swear," said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University history professor who studies the presidency. "But even with that, I think people still expect a certain amount of formality in public."

Some academic research suggests there could be benefits to swearing in some contexts, from dulling pain to suggesting trust in social situations.

Benjamin Bergin, a cognitive science professor at the University of California San Diego who wrote a book on why people swear called "What the F," said his research has shown profane speech can be perceived as more honest.

If swearing kept Trump from storming out of the negotiations, that could be positive, said Timothy Jay, emeritus professor of psychology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and author of five books on profanity.

That was not enough to sway Gottsman, who advises people on business etiquette.

"My advice would be don't do it," she said. "When we are in a position of power, people look up to us."Islamabad: Pakistan's army chief told a top US general that the nation "felt betrayed" by criticism that it was not doing enough to fight terrorism.

US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel told General Qamar Javed Bajwa during a telephone call this week that the United States was not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan, the Pakistani army said on Friday in a statement. This comes after US President Donald Trumps accusations against Pakistan of "lies and deceit".

Tension between the United States and Pakistan has grown over US complaints that the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that target American troops in Afghanistan are allowed to take shelter on Pakistani soil.

Trump's administration last week announced the suspension of about $2 billion in security aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan  officially a US ally  over accusations that Islamabad is playing a double game in Afghanistan.

Islamabad denies this and accuses the United States of disrespecting its vast sacrifices  casualties have numbered in the tens of thousands  in fighting terrorism.

The US aid suspension was announced days after Trump tweeted on January 1 that the United States had foolishly given Pakistan $33 billion in aid over 15 years and was rewarded with "nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools".

Trump's tweet infuriated Pakistani officials and caught the rest of the US administration off guard.

The Pakistani statement on Friday did not directly refer to Trump's tweet.

"(Bajwa) said that entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over US recent statements despite decades of cooperation," the army said, referring to the phone call between Bajwa and Votel.

The US military's Central Command did not comment on the content of their conversation. But it said the US military was in "continuous communication" with Pakistan's military, to include recurring conversations between Votel and Bajwa.

"We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider and might lead to a positive path forward," US Central Command spokesman Air Force Colonel John Thomas said.

A senior Trump administration official said last week that the United States was already examining ways to mitigate any Pakistani retaliation as it piles pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militants.

The official also cautioned that US action to pressure Pakistan could extend beyond the new freeze in aid, if necessary.

The Pakistani assertion that Votel said no unilateral action inside Pakistan was being considered may have referred to the possibility of cross-border US drone strikes and other military missions targeting Taliban and other militant figures outside the border area.

In 2016, a US drone killed the then-leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, prompting protests from Islamabad of a violation of sovereignty.

And in 2011, a secret American raid in the military garrison city of Abbottabad killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American cities that prompted the US-led invasion to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Since Trump took office, there have been several drone strikes in Pakistan's border region but they have not so far gone deeper into Pakistani territory, though Islamabad believes that is on a menu of punitive actions the US administration is considering.

However, the US military is also concerned that the Pakistani army, which effectively runs foreign policy, might close the air and land corridors on which US-led troops and Afghan forces in landlocked Afghanistan depend for supplies. So far, Pakistan has not done so.Mexico: The Naked Cowboy, whose white underpants, bronzed chest and cowboy hat are fixtures in New York's Times Square, took his act to Mexico City this week, bravely singing of his love for Donald Trump and his border wall.

Robert John Burck is famous for busking on Broadway sporting just a guitar and tighty-whities emblazoned with the words "Naked Cowboy" in red, white and blue, even in the dead of winter.

But this January he is braving a different kind of chill in sunny Mexico City, by singing the American president's praises right in the heart of the capital.

"Trump's gonna build a wall, that wall's gonna protect us all. Sounds like a good idea to me," he belted out during a recent outing.

"I'm a Trumpster through and through."

It's a risky act to pull in this era of strained relations between the United States and Mexico, where Trump's wall proposal and characterizations of Mexican immigrants as "criminals" and "rapists" have not gone down well.

But Burck has been met mainly with bemusement as he strolls amid Mexico City's historic colonial buildings, strumming his guitar and pausing between numbers to invite tittering onlookers to smack him on the rear as they pose for pictures.

The Naked Cowboy, 47, says he has been warmly welcomed, Trumpism and all.

"Muchos fotos, mucho amor, mucho, you know, todo," he said in broken Spanish ("Lots of pictures, lots of love, lots of, you know, everything").

But the political junkie, who has in the past announced he was running for New York mayor and even US president, didn't budge from his defense of the wall.

"There's no reason for people from Mexico to go to America illegally and then take the resources from America and bring them back to Mexico," he said.

"Every country has a wall. Have you heard of the great wall of China?"

Mexican wife

Ironically, what brought Burck to Mexico is a family vacation with his Mexican wife, who was herself an undocumented immigrant when he met her in New York five years ago.

She now has permanent residency, which he helped her gain, and sometimes joins his act as the Naked Cowgirl.

The man who describes himself as "the most celebrated entertainer of all time" said he sees no contradiction.

"She went over illegally, she was illegal for many years," he said.

"But she got a job when she got there, she went to college, she had a tax ID number, she married a gringo, and she is all good," he added, flexing his bulging biceps at the word "gringo" (American).

Looking on in amusement, passerby Renata Carmona said she was surprised by Burck's act, but not his apparent inconsistencies.

"The world is contradictory, we all are like that," said Carmona, 42.

"We all have two sides. Even the moon has a dark side to hide."Lahore: A Pakistani court has issued a notice to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly making an anti-judiciary speech in which he termed the Panama papers verdict a "piece of trash", according to a media report.

Advocate Azhar Siddiqi filed the petition in the Lahore High Court, stating that Abbasi's comments on the judgement amounts to committing contempt of court, Dawn News reported.

Presenting his case in the court of Justice Shahid Kareem, the petitioner said that by making such an inflammatory statement, Abbasi was trying to make the judiciary controversial.

He said that earlier ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had openly criticised the apex court and its judges in their speeches, and tried to whip up public sentiment against the judiciary.

He said that now Abbasi had also started talking against the apex court, in violation of the oath he took when he assumed the office of prime minister.

He requested the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Abbasi and said that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) should be directed to stop news channels from airing the prime minister's speeches targeting the judiciary.

The court issued notices to Abbasi, the federal government and Pemra and sought their replies by the next hearing scheduled for January 15.

The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of over 11 million files from the database of the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, reportedly showing how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.

On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench had ordered the National Accountability Bureau to file three corruption cases against Sharif.London: Preet Kaur Gill, Britain's first woman Sikh MP, has been elevated to the Shadow Cabinet by the Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Shadow Cabinet is the team of senior parliamentarians chosen by the Leader of the Opposition to mirror the Cabinet in Government.

Each member is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet. In this way, the Opposition seeks to present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting. Gill, 44, won her Birmingham Edgbaston seat for the Labour party in the June 8 snap polls last year. In July, she was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the British Parliament.

She was promoted to the post of shadow minister for international development in Corbyn's New Year reshuffle of what he brands as a "government-in-waiting".

"We had no Sikh MPs prior to this election. So, Sikhs had no representation and we had no female Sikh representation. Parliament must reflect the people it serves," Gill had said at the time of her election.

Since then, she has a busy tenure, being elected to the influential Home Affairs Select Committee the cross-party parliamentary panel that examines the workings of the UK Home Office. Gill is also the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs.

Her appointment was announced alongside that of Clive Lewis as shadow treasury minister. Lewis had resigned as the shadow business minister in February last year over wanting a vote against the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill and was one of 52 rebel MPs to defy Labour party orders to back the bill in a Parliament vote.

He was also accused in a sexual harassment scandal but cleared of wrongdoing by the party late last year. Others who moved up to the frontbenches of the Opposition include Jack Dromey as the shadow minister for pensions and Karen Lee as shadow minister for fire.

"Pleased to make appointments to strengthen Labour's frontbench which is a government-in-waiting. I look forward to working with them holding the Tories to account, developing our policies to transform our country and preparing to form a government for the many, not the few," Corbyn said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Theresa May had announced a reshuffle of her top team earlier this year, leading to the appointment of three new Indian-origin MPs -- Rishi Sunak, Suella Fernandes and Shailesh Vara -- to junior ministerial posts.Houston: The father of Sherin Mathews, a three-year-old Indian girl whose body was found near their suburban Dallas home less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage, was on Friday indicted for capital murder by a grand jury.

Sherin, reported missing on October 7, was found dead in a culvert about 1 km from her home on October 22 by a cadaver dog during a massive search for the missing toddler.

"We can't go into details, but based on that autopsy report, we were able to determine that we can seek capital murder for this case," Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a news conference announcing the indictment.

Dallas County court records show 37-year-old Wesley also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence.

Wesley, the toddler's adoptive father, was also indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence.

Wesley had initially told police that Sherin disappeared overnight after he ordered her to stand outside at about 3 am for not drinking her milk. When he returned, Wesley said she had disappeared and that her location was unknown.

Wesley Mathews is escorted by police during his transfer to Dallas County jail in Dallas. (AP Photo)

The Medical Examiner's office ruled last week the toddler died of "homicidal violence."

Prosecutors are not revealing what else they may know about how the little girl was killed.

"The evidence is still unfolding in this case. We don't want anything to jeopardize this case. We think that we have a great case, we plan to pursue this case vigorously, and we don't want anything to hamper it in any kind of way," Johnson said.

In a statement on Friday, Mitchell Nolte and Gregg Gibbs, attorneys for Sini Mathews, said, "The indictments handed down today by a Dallas County Grand Jury confirm what we have previously stated. Sini Mathews had nothing to do with the tragic death of Sherin Mathews."

Wesley was arrested and charged with felony injury to a child, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. He is still in the Dallas County jail on a USD 1 million bond.

His wife, 35-year-old Sini Mathews, is also in jail, held on a USD 100,000 bond for child endangerment/abandoning for allegedly leaving Sherin home alone while she, her husband, and their other daughter went to dinner on October 6, the night before Wesley reported Sherin missing.Johannesburg: Protesters angered by a "racist" H&M advertisement ransacked several of the Swedish fashion group's South African stores on Saturday.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) protesters targeted six H&M stores in the Gauteng province, where South Africa's economic hub of Johannesburg is located, tearing down shop displays and throwing clothes around, police said.

In one instance, officers fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, the police added.

H&M earlier this week issued an apology for the widely criticised ad, which featured a black child modelling a sweatshirt with the slogan "coolest monkey in the jungle", and said it had removed it from all its marketing.

But Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, spokesman for the ultra-left EFF, said that was too little, too late.

"The time of apologies for racism are over; there must be consequences to anti-black racism, period!" Ndlozi wrote on Twitter, posting pictures of a vandalised H&M store and video footage of chanting EFF supporters.

H&M South Africa did not respond to a request for comment, but its local website carried an apology for the advertisement.

"Our position is simple, we have got this wrong and we are deeply sorry," the apology read.

Police said they were monitoring the protests, but that they had made no arrests so far.

Protests over perceived corporate wrongdoing have a history of turning violent in South Africa, where some drivers for ride-hailing service Uber have had their vehicles torched over the past year by regular taxi operators.Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said a bipartisan Senate immigration plan would force the United States to admit people from "high crime" countries "doing badly," and denied using a vulgar reference in comments decried as racist.

Trump denounced the deal reached by a group of six Republican and Democratic senators as too weak and insisted he did not use the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and African countries.

U.S. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday where Trump reportedly made the remarks, confirmed to reporters on Friday that Trump used "vile, vulgar" language, including "shithole."

Reports of the president's language referring to people of color from the other countries drew criticism from U.S. lawmakers of both major parties and critics abroad who said they could not be described as anything but racist.

Amid the furor the president criticized the immigration proposal. "The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards," Trump said in a series of tweets on Friday.

The Senate group has been working for months to craft legislation that would protect 700,000 children who were brought to the United States as illegal immigrants and later given protection from deportation under a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

The tentative deal also addresses border security, including a border wall, the diversity visa lottery and chain migration.

"Wall was not properly funded, Chain & Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly," Trump wrote.

The Republican president sought to walk back comments he reportedly made to senators on Thursday at the meeting, saying, "The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used."

Trump had questioned why the United States would want to accept immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as "shithole countries," according to two sources familiar with the comments.

Trump on Friday denied saying "anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."

The reported language was the latest in a long string of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim comments by Trump that have been condemned as racist. He also blamed "both sides" after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent.

The president's latest comments drew reactions from abroad on Friday.

In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office said the "racist" remarks would incite xenophobia.

"These are shocking and shameful comments from the President of the United States. There is no other word one can use but 'racist,'" U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a Geneva news briefing.

Trump's comments are extremely offensive to South Africa, said Jessie Duarte, a senior official with the ruling African National Congress. "Ours is not a shithole country. Neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," she said.

At the White House meeting Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham briefed the president on the newly drafted, bipartisan immigration bill.

The lawmakers were describing how certain immigration programs operate, including one to give safe haven in the United States to people from countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

Trump said, "Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shithole countries ... We should have more people from Norway," according to one source briefed on the conversation.

"On behalf of Norway: Thanks, but no thanks," tweeted Torbjoern Saetre, a Norwegian politician on Friday.United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for establishing "balance of power" in the Security Council to make the world body more "democratic".

Speaking at a ceremony here on Friday at which Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China from Ecuador, the UN Secretary-General called for a more democratic UN, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all its bodies.

"We share the same concern of a more democratic United Nations, with power divided in a more balanced way and with more effective diversity in the regional representation at all bodies of the United Nations," he said.

"Of course, the centre of that is in the reform of the Security Council, it is in the revitalisation of the General Assembly," Guterres said.

As the UN Secretary-General, Guterres said he is strongly committed to make sure that, at the level of the Secretariat, increased diversity and balance of power is established.

Referring to the composition of the leadership and of the technical capacity of today's Executive Office, he said there is a much more effective regional diversity and a much more balanced distribution of the different responsibilities and posts.

"This is exactly the kind of development that I would like to see across the board in the UN system and one of the reasons why I am asking for a little bit more freedom in my own capacity of action, in order to be able to overcome bureaucratic impediments to make it more effective at a global level," Guterres said.

He hoped that the Group of 77 will be particularly attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives an effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic UN where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily.President Mnangagwa yesterday opened his official Facebook account and invited netizens to express thoughts as part of a new national dialogue.



Last month, Government urged the public to be wary of criminals opening false media accounts in the name of the First Family for purposes of extortion, but yesterday President Mnangagwa introduced himself in a short video clip.



To all my Facebook friends, I opened this page to communicate better with all the people of Zimbabwe. Leadership is a two-way street, I am here to listen to you to be part of a new national dialogue. So as we enter this new exciting area in Zimbabwe, I encourage you all to message me your thoughts as we move forward as one nation, together, said President Mnangagwa.

He joins peers such as Zambian President Edgar Lungu, Botswanas Seretse Khama Ian Khama and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.Ex-Cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo has lashed out at Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, expressing his disbelief and disappointment that the government has set up an ad-hoc committee led by the retired general to deal with the thorny issue of skyrocketing prices.



In a series of fiery tweets aimed at Chiwenga, Moyo also accused the VP of preventing him from re-burying his father, killed in the 80s genocidal rampage of violence in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces in which up to 20 000 people were killed or forced into exile.









The ex-minister  who told Zeinab Badawi in a BBC HARDtalk interview screened on Thursday that the November 15 army intervention spearheaded by Chiwenga had reduced Zimbabwe to a banana republic  also alleged in his blizzard of tweets that the fomer military commander was behind the torture of eight opposition Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) officials last week arrested for demonstrating against President Emmerson Mnangagwas involvement in the Gukurahundi genocide.





So Chiwengas soldiers in Mnangagwas now very nervy coup govt tortured the #Mthwakazi 8 anti-gukurahundist demonstrators in Byo & alleged that I sent the 8 to demonstrate. Does this torture inspire investors as defining a New Era in Zim under Mnangagwa? Moyo said on the microblogging site.





Moyo, speaking on HARDtalk from a secret location, alleged that Mnangagwa seized power unconstitutionally and was leading an illegal regime.





Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, they know only too well that they have come into power via the bullet and not the ballot, he said.





Moyo, who recently questioned the ex-defence chiefs PhD from University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, challenging him to come clean on the real authors of his dissertation, berated the Zanu PF politburo for putting up an ad-hoc committee headed by Chiwenga to deal with price increases decisively.





#TheNovemberCurse. Does the Zanu PF Couburo really believe that it can get a partisan ad-hoc committee to do what the Coubinet has failed to do to about crazy prices of basic commodities that started skyrocketing with the 15 Nov coup? #TheNovemberCurse! Moyo tweeted.





In Zimbabwe, November is sacred; Moyo said referring to the month Robert Mugabe was overthrown in after a military intervention. He suggested the new administration was doomed as a result.





Anything with spirituality done in the month is doomed. Its the #NovemberCurse. You ignore it only at your peril. A marriage in November fails; or worse happens. (Ian) Smiths November 11 UDI failed. So, the November 15 coup of Chiwenga & ED is doomed!





Moyo said Chiwenga, who retired as defence forces commander last month, but was swiftly promoted to vice president and is also the minister of Defence, had vetoed his attempts to rebury his father, who was a victim of massacres carried out by followers of Mugabe in the 1980s. He said he attempted to have the issue addressed in government but was stonewalled by Chiwenga.





Did I raise Gukurahundi issue in govt? One example: In 2016 our family sought & got from Tsholotsho RDC a permit to rebury my father Job Mlevu from a shallow gukurahundi grave. Chiwengas JOC blocked reburial, claiming it was a threat to national security!





Presidential spokesperson George Charamba has rubbished Moyos claims as rantings of a bitter man. He said the military stepped in to stop the cabal that had tried to take advantage of the former president to launch itself into power it had never legally campaigned for.





So really the issue of legitimacy or illegitimacy does not arise. You saw what happened at Zimbabwe Grounds; you saw what happened by way of an-across the political spectrum support.

The action that had been mounted, mounted to avert a major crisis that was actually a creation by people like Jonathan Moyo. So really this is a bitter, bitter defeated politician who suffers from what the late Eddison Zvobgo would have called power denial psychosis, Charamba said. Daily NewsZIMBABWE National Liberation War Veterans Association, (ZNLWVA) secretary-general Victor Matemadanda has accused former Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko of deserting his government position and therefore not deserving any exit package for his service.



In an interview with NewsDay, Matemadanda accused the former Vice-President of playing to the gallery by threatening President Emmerson Mnangagwa and government with court action over unpaid benefits.





He is just seeking public relevance. What we know is that at the time Operation Restore Legacy was initiated, he was in Japan on government business and he chose not to come back to the country and instead went AWOL, he said.





He was not fired from government and when President Robert Mugabe resigned he was supposed to be acting President, but he deserted.





Matemadanda said Mphoko should therefore not expect Zimbabweans to pay pension benefits for a person who allegedly absconded his government post.





He cant talk of a pension because he was not fired neither did he tender a resignation letter. By the time President Mnangagwa was appointed and inaugurated, Mphoko had deserted, he never bothered to come back and submit himself to government, he said.



Mphoko has through his lawyer, Welshman Ncube, written to government demanding his exit package.





The ZNLWVA secretary-general, a close ally of Mnangagwa, led the fight to dislodge Mugabe from power.





Matemadanda said Mnangagwa did not hold any grudges against Mphoko, saying he had shown this by honouring government obligations to main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.





He is a progressive leader who departed from the politics of hate when he did us proud by visiting MDC leader and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and giving him his dues which had been held back by Mugabe for years, he said.





Mphoko was not reachable yesterday while his lawyer, Ncube, was not answering his phone. Newsday(Newser)  "It was a miracle I was still alive." So writes a former journalist in describing his battle with opioidsexcept those words aren't coming from his mouth. They're what a doctor told him in 2012 after reviewing his intake: a prescribed 180 Oxycodone pills a month, and another 60 extended-release morphine pills. The addiction had its roots in a September 2008 diagnosis of Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease for which he was prescribed a chemo drugand Percocet for the pain. He took them as needed, and never too much. "I shouldn't worry," the doctor told him. "I needed the meds. I was in good hands," he writes for Mother Jones, which has withheld his name for privacy. In March 2010, in advance of a move to Wisconsin to head up news at a radio station, he was prescribed enough Percocet to carry him until his new insurance began. He consumed three months of pills in four weeks.

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He got back on the Percocet, only to be diagnosed shortly thereafter with drug-induced Lupus, a result of the chemo. He was referred to a pain clinic and left with the Oxycodone script. "Sometimes I would ask my pain management doctor what my 'exit' plan was for getting off these pills. I shouldnt worry, he saidI needed the meds." A 2012 move to Washington, DC, with its stricter stance on opioids, proved challenging, in terms of finding doctors willing to prescribe and pharmacies that had Oxycodone in stock, taking him to suburban and rural Virginia. Then his apartment was robbed, and "terror washed over me." The pills were gone. It was the end of his opioid use, but the start of his now 5-year reliance on Suboxone, which eases opioid cravings. "I'm not sure when I'll ever have the time for withdrawal and detox," he writes. The full piece is worth a read. (Read more opioids stories.)(Newser)  Jared Fogle would very much like out of prison please. TMZ reports the former Subway pitchman currently serving a 15-year sentence for child pornography and child prostitution is attempting to free himself via self-written legal documents that are "convoluted for sure." In the documents, Fogle claims the judge who accepted his guilty plea didn't have jurisdiction to hear the case. He also claims he shouldn't have been charged with conspiracybecause it doesn't apply to his crime of distributing child pornographyand shouldn't have been allowed to plead guilty to traveling in interstate commerce to have sex with minorsbecause he never left the state to do so. Fogle has served just over two years of his sentence. (A recent attempt to represent himself to gain his freedom didn't go so well, with a judge in November calling his claims "frivolous.")(Newser)  A KKK member responsible for the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi has died while serving a 60-year-sentence for manslaughter, the Clarion Ledger reports. The Mississippi Department of Corrections tells NPR that Edgar Ray Killen died Thursday night at the age of 92. He was suffering from congestive heart failure and hypertension. Killen, a tree-cutter and small-time preacher, was a founding member and main recruiter for the KKK in the Philadelphia area of Mississippi in 1964 when James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were investigating a church fire, the New York Times reports. The three civil rights workers in their early 20s were arrested and then released to Klan members, who shot them and buried the bodies.

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The killings were instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and were later dramatized in the 1988 film Mississippi Burning. Killen was one of 18 people put on trial in 1967 for the murders, but the jury was hung after one juror said she couldn't convict a preacher. The case was reopened decades later, and Killen was convicted in 2005 of three counts of manslaughter. He was the only one charged despite other suspects being alive. Goodman's brother calls it "an American tragedy" that none of the others ever faced justice. I pray to God that Edgar Ray repented and that he had peace with God, Chaney's daughter tells the Clarion Ledger. My ultimate desire is when I get to heaven and meet my dad for the first time, I pray that my dad and I could embrace Edgar Ray. (Read more klu klux klan stories.)(Newser)  The US ambassador to Panama will no longer have that title as of March 9. John Feeley has submitted his resignation and cited President Trump as the motivating factor. Reuters quotes from part of the longtime diplomat's resignation letter: "As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies. My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come." The State Department was made aware of his decision Dec. 27, with Reuters noting it had no connection to the president's alleged use of "shithole" in a Thursday discussion about Haiti and African countries.

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Per the BBC, Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein's only elaboration was to say Feeleydescribed as a Latin America specialistwas leaving for "personal reasons." It flags one other diplomat to recently resign: Elizabeth Shackelford, whom Foreign Policy called a "rising star" in the State Department, resigned her post in Nairobi for the US mission to Somalia in December, citing the administration's "stinging disrespect ... [for] our profession." (Read more US ambassador stories.)(Newser)  A New York City police official apologized Friday to a rape victim he helped discredit almost 24 years ago. Deputy Commissioner John Miller said in a statement sent to the woman's lawyer that he was wrong to tell reporters that police doubted the woman's account of being raped in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Police said this week that they had finally solved the crime by matching DNA found on the victim to serial rapist Edward Webb, who is in prison for other attacks. Miller, then the chief police spokesman, told reporters in 1994 that detectives believed there were inconsistencies in the woman's story. Per the AP, Miller said in his apology that "inappropriately sharing this information, which was the speculation of investigators, and ultimately proved to be incorrect, was a serious misjudgment on my part."

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He added, "It re-victimized a person who was already the victim of a terrible crime. I sincerely apologize to her for that." Miller, now the deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and intelligence, was a source for Daily News columnist Mike McAlary, who wrote that police believed the attack was a "hoax." McAlary wrote at the time that police sources had told him that the woman invented her story because she wanted to bolster a speech she was to give at a rally about violence against lesbians. The woman sued McAlary for libel but a judge dismissed the case in part because McAlary had been relying on information from police. McAlary died in 1998. The victim has also called for apologies from the NYPD and the Daily News.

(Read more rape stories.)(Newser)  Police believe the 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student found dead in a California park knew his killer. Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach was arrested Friday in the death of college sophomore Blaze Bernstein; the AP reports the two were friends who had gone to high school together. Per Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes, Woodward was the last person to see Bernstein alive, and DNA evidence spurred the arrest. Woodward had told police the two drove to Borrego Park on Jan. 2 and that Bernstein walked into the park by himself and did not return. Court filings back up initial reports: That a sheriff's investigator thought Woodward seemed nervous during their interview, that he had scratches on his hands and dirtied fingernails, and that he tried not to touch the building's doors.

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Bernstein had been home for winter break visiting his family in Lake Forest, and his mother had this to say to the Los Angeles Times in the wake of the arrest: "We ask the world to please honor Blazes memory by doing an act of kindness todaydont wait do it now. Celebrate the goodness that still exists in this world." Police have not provided a motive or details of the crime beyond saying Bernstein was found in a shallow grave. Woodward had previously attempted to explain the state of his hands. (Read more murder stories.)(Newser)  With President Trump facing fresh allegations of racism after reportedly calling nonwhite countries "shitholes" during a meeting this week, NBC News is sharing anecdotes from lawmakers and government officials that highlight Trump's history of what could be considered culturally insensitive or outright racist behavior. In one story shared by two officials, Trump was being briefed on a hostage situation in Pakistan by an intelligence analyst and expert in hostage policy last fall when he asked the woman where she was from. The officials say neither "New York" nor "Manhattan" were satisfactory answers for Trump, who then asked where "your people" are from. When she said her parents were Korean, Trump reportedly asked an aide why the "pretty Korean lady" isn't negotiating with North Korea for him.

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In another incident, attendees at a March meeting between Trump and the Congressional Black Caucus say Trump asked caucus members if they personally knew just one of his cabinet membersBen Carson, the only black person in his cabinetand was surprised when no one did, despite Carson never serving in Congress. During the same meeting, a caucus member told Trump that welfare cuts would hurt her constituents, "not all of whom are black." Trump reportedly replied, "Really? Then what are they?" NBC notes that incidents like these only seem to increase support from his base. Meanwhile, a presidential historian tells the AP that Trump is the most racist president since Woodrow Wilson, who left office in 1921. "In modern times, no president has been so racially insensitive and shown outright disdain for people who aren't white," Douglas Brinkley says. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)(Newser)  Echoing sentiments shared by French actress Catherine Deneuve earlier this week, Liam Neeson on Friday called sexual misconduct allegations in Hollywood "a bit of a witch hunt," the Guardian reports. The actor, during an interview on Ireland's The Late Late Show, used Garrison Keillor and Dustin Hoffman as examples. Theres some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girls knee, or something, and suddenly theyre being dropped from their program," Neeson said. Keillor claims he was fired by Minnesota Public Radio after a misunderstanding in which he accidentally put his hand on a female employee's bare back and it "went up" her shirt.

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(Read more Liam Neeson stories.)(Newser)  Police in Ohio are investigating what happened to a woman who went with her husband to see Elvis Presley's Graceland, the AP reports. The woman's husband told police in Hartville that they were in Memphis, Tennessee, just over a week ago when she died in a hotel parking lot. Philip Snider says his 69-year-old wife was in poor health and this was to be their last trip.

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Snider says he flagged down an ambulance after his wife died and rescue workers took her body. He says he returned to Ohio because he didn't know where they took her. But police in Hartville say Tennessee authorities don't have a record of the woman's body. Police tell the Akron Beacon Journal that Snider's memory might be suspect and it's not clear if he misled police.

(Read more Graceland stories.)Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.

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Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer.

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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.Bengaluru:

A delegation of Karnataka BJP on Friday afternoon, led by former Law Minister of the state Suresh Kumar met police commissioner Bengaluru T Suneel Kumar and submitted a complaint against Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and working president of Karnataka Congress Dinesh Gundurao for calling BJP a terror organization.



Suresh Kumar said, "CM Siddharamaiah has said some RSS and BJP members are ugragami which means militants and Dinesh Gundurao said BJP has become a terror organization, such statements of top Congress leaders are wrong. We have filed a police complaint under IPC Section 153a for spreading disharmony.



On January 10, when journalists in Chamrajnagar asked CM Siddharamaiah if he will ban PFI, the CM replied, "Even BJP and RSS have some ugragami (militants) elements in them. Whether PFI, SDPI, RSS or BJP, nobody is allowed to break the law.



On the same day, working president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Dinesh Gundurao had slammed the BJP while taking part in a protest rally organized by NSUI. Dinesh Gundurao said, They (BJP) kill people then ask people to migrate to Pakistan. They don't discuss real issues. BJP has become a terrorist organisation. I again say they have become a terror organization.



After meeting the police commissioner, Malavika Avinash, spokesperson of Karnataka BJP said, We expect Bengaluru police to act on our complaint in a professional way. CM is also a citizen like us. If police can act against the common citizens then why not against the CM? Nobody is above the law.Bengaluru:

On Saturday afternoon, dozens of BJP workers and leaders including BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje were detained by the Bengaluru Police at Mysore Bank Circle in the city when they were protesting against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and working president of Karnataka Congress Dinesh Gundurao.



Speaking to News Nation Shobha said, "They call us terrorists. I am from BJP, I am from RSS, Mr CM come and arrest me. We are protesting against CM Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundurao across the state. We have called for jail bharo andolan and that is why we are protesting here."



On January 10, when journalists in Chamrajnagar asked CM Siddharamaiah if he will ban PFI, the CM replied, "Even BJP and RSS have some ugragami (militants) elements in them. Whether PFI, SDPI, RSS or BJP, nobody is allowed to break the law.



On the same day, working president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Dinesh Gundurao had slammed the BJP while taking part in a protest rally organized by NSUI. Gundurao said, They (BJP) kill people then ask people to migrate to Pakistan. They don't discuss real issues. BJP has become a terrorist organisation. I again say they have become a terror organization.New Delhi:

In yet another incident of police taking on robbers in Noida, 2 criminals were shot during an encounter at Phase 2 on Saturday.

According to reports, the culprits had fired upon the vehicle of a factory owner and demanded extortion money of Rs 2 Crore.

2 criminals shot during an encounter in Noida Phase 2. The men had fired upon the vehicle of a factory owner and demanded extortion money of Rs 2 Crore, the news agency ANI tweeted.

Moreover, police have arrested 3 criminals including 2 injured during the operation. They have also rescued 3 pistols and phone which had been used to demand extortion money from the factory owner.

This is not the first encounter in and around Noida.

Earlier, on October 4, 2017, a 27-year-old noted gangster was shot dead by the police allegedly in a late-night encounter in Sector Chi 4, Greater Noida.

Also Read: Two terrorists gunned down in forest area of Anantnag's Larnoo in J&K

On December 14, a 30-year-old man was shot and injured during another encounter with Ghaziabad police in Vaishali.

On November 13, a robber sustained a bullet injury during retaliatory firing by police near Vaishali metro station. This was after a duo barged into the jewellery shop and shot the owner during the robbery bid.New Delhi:

While use of loud speakers at temples, mosques and other public places has sparked several debates earlier, Yogi Adityanath government is all set to ban amplifiers in Uttar Pradesh.

Armed with a high court order, the UP government is gearing up to ban loudspeakers at religious and public places without permission and set January 15 as the deadline to remove the same.

According to reports, if the permission to install loudspeakers at religious or public places is not sought before January 15, the government would start removing these from January 20.

Moreover, action will also be taken under noise pollution control laws. The idea is to stop the sound go beyond the periphery of the public or private place.

Apparently, a large number police has been deployed on the streets of Lucknow to investigate the same. They are enquiring whether loudspeakers from temples, mosques and other public places have been removed or not.

The loudspeakers installed in public places cannot have a sound level more than 10 decibels above the ambient noise level at the periphery of a public place and 5 decibels above the ambient noise level at the periphery of a private place, Kumar said.

Also Read | Fodder scam: Yogi Adityanath orders probe into alleged lobbying in favor of Lalu Prasad Yadav

The Lucknow bench of the high court had on December 20 sought to know as to what action has been taken against such unauthorised installations and also against the officers who failed to ensure mandatory requirement of obtaining written permission in their area.

It directed the principal secretary (home) and the chairman of the UP Pollution Control Board to file their personal affidavits along with the information sought on February 1.

The division bench of justices Vikram Nath and Abdul Moin issued the directions on a PIL moved by lawyer Moti Lal Yadav, seeking strict compliance of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules that had been framed in 2000.

Noting that the right to live in freedom from noise pollution and the right to sleep was a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution, the bench cautioned the officials to appear in person before it, if their personal affidavits were not filed till the next hearing.

"On the directions of the court regarding ensuring implementation of noise pollution control rules, a government order giving detailed instructions has been issued," earlier PTI quoted Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar.

Also Read: Yogi Adityanath government nod for Uttar Pradesh metro rail corporation

However, the decision has further given birth to a lot of debates and controversies and uncertainty still prevails over the same.New Delhi:

Delhi Police and Delhi Women Commission (DWC) in a joint raid rescued a 14-year-old tribal household helper and arrested a doctor for mentally and physically torturing her from a posh residential area in the national capital.

DWC chairman Swati Jai Hind confirmed the development to the media on Saturday.

We had received a call on Friday evening on our helpline no.  181  regarding a female doctor residing in Model Town of the city, torturing her household helper, said Swati.

She added, On receiving the complaint, we teamed up with Delhi Police and conducted the raid. We recovered the girl in horrible condition. She is from Jharkhand.

The DWC chairperson further informed the media, that the doctor had hired her with help of a placement agency. The victim told us that she came to Delhi from Jharkhand looking for a job as her parents are very poor.

Also read: Hyderabad girl trafficked to Dubai returns India, family thanks Sushma Swaraj



According to Delhi Police official, the doctor had confined girl for last four months in her house. The girl told us that her employer use to beat her everyday. On regular intervals the doctor used to throw hot water and burn her with iron and once had attacked her with scissors, said a senior police officer.

The tribal girl narrating her ordeal to the police and DWC team said, Once the doctor sat on me and banged her head with a sewing machine. She on regular intervals strangulated me.

Also read: DCW chief suspects human trafficking in Virender Dev Dikshit's ashrams



He added, We have found deep cut marks, bruises and injuries all over her body. The girl was rushed to hospital for medical attention.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Jammu:

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday lashed out at the Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat over his comments on Kashmir school students in the state being taught about two maps  India and other J&K.

Altaf Bukhari, Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister, said, Chief of the ARMY Staff (COAS) is not an educationist . The state government knows how to run schools.

The education minister further added, The Indian Army chief is a well-decorated officer in the country. I have no doubts on his professionalism. He should not give sermons on issues that are not his domain.

The education minister further said that all schools across the country teach students about India and the state they live in.

Every state has its own constitution. Every school in every state has two maps. You need to teach students about the country and the state as well, added Bukhari.

Also read: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat says India capable of handling China's assertiveness along border

The education minister further said, Separatism would not be anywhere if the army does its job properly. I will be very happy if they do what they are supposed to do.

Bukharis retort was in response to Army Chiefs statement that schools in Jammu and Kashmir were teaching two maps  Indias and Jammu and Kashmirs  to the students, which he said was radicalising youth.

Rawat had made the two map comment while addressing the media on the eve of Army Day on Friday. He had then said, Why do we need a separate map for Jammu and Kashmir. What does it teach the children? Two map is radicalising the youths.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Lucknow:

An adult leopard entered a private school premises in Uttar Pradeshs Lucknow creating panic among school staffs and student on Saturday.

A wild leopard has strayed into St Francis Girl School, Lucknow police said.

The officer added, the leopard was first sighted in the school campus around 10:15 am in the morning.

St Francis Girls School officials have sealed all entry and exit gates of the school building to prevent the leopard from entering the classrooms.

Police and forest officials have been rushed to the school campus to capture the wild cat and rescue the students trapped in the building.

Till the time news was filed forest officials had not managed to capture the leopard.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Nepal on Friday ended Indias decades-long monopoly on internet access and started using Chinese bandwidth to connect with the cyberspace.

State-owned telecom company Nepal Telecom (NT), in collaboration with the China Telecom Global, launched the new services after completing the process of acquiring internet bandwidth.

"This will give us an alternative to India for cyber connectivity and ensure uninterrupted connections," Reuters quoted Pratibha Vaidya, a Nepal Telecom spokeswoman as saying.

For decades, Indian telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications Ltd were the only internet service providers to the citizens of the Himalayan nation.

Nepali officials said internet dependence on India has made connections in the country vulnerable to network failure.

Also Read | Internet speed in India far below than claimed, amongst lowest internationally

After the new Chinese link, "Consumers can now look forward to a reliable service," Vaidya said.

Indian cyber experts feel the development is a big loss for India not just revenue wise but strategically too.

It is indeed a loss for India, both revenue wise and strategically too. Now India needs to set up a cyber army like China has, should be prepared for non-state & state actors targeting our computer systems, Cyber Expert Pawan Duggal said.

Recently, a study conducted by the 'Consumer Voice'  a voluntary action group working for consumer rights  had found that the internet speed in India is among the lowest internationally.

The study claimed that the internet speed the service providers are giving to the users are far below what they claim.

"The poor level of internet speed requires the government and the telecom regulator to devise a mechanism to improve internet speed in one way or another," the study said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif issued a nuclear threat to India while responding to a statement of Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Saturday.

Asif tweeted, Very irresponsible statement by Indian Army Chief, not befitting his office. Amounts to invitation for nuclear encounter. If that is what they (India) desire, they are welcome to test our resolve. The general's doubt would swiftly be removed, inshallah."

The Indian Army chief on Friday had dismissed Pakistan's reckless threats about its tactical nuclear weapons being an effective counter to India's conventional military superiority.

Very irresponsible statement by Indian Army Chief,not befitting his office. Amounts to invitation for nuclear encounter.If that is what they desire,they are welcome to test our resolve.The general's doubt would swiftly be removed, inshallah.  Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) January 13, 2018

Also read: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat says India capable of handling China's assertiveness along border

"Pakistan's nuclear bogey will be thoroughly exposed if it actually comes to a war, Rawat said.





For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Mumbai:

A Pawan Hans helicopter carrying seven people, including five senior ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) officers, crashed in the Arabian Sea on Saturday morning. Four bodies have been recovered from the sea after the debris of the chopper was located, according to the Coast Guard.

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA was on way to the offshore site of ONGC from the Juhu helicopter base and went missing after took off from Juhu airport at 10.25 am in Mumbai.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 AM, the sources said. Search operations are on, they added.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Tegfor the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being press into service.

The Coast Guard said that it has diverted ships which were at sea and also those sailing from Mumbai.

"A Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near Dahanu) have also been launched," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that "some debris has been located", but did not say if it belonged to the chopper. Four bodies have been recovered from the site. Rescue operation is still going on.

Indian Coast Guard continues Search and Rescue operations. Four bodies have been recovered at sea near debris of #ONGC helicopter. #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/KDzcXiKpzT  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured that all possible assitance will be provided by Indian Navy and Indian Coastal Guard.

@indiannavy and @IndiaCoastGuard are extending all possible assistance in the #SAR Search and Rescue of @ONGC_ helicopter and pax on board. Wish for their safety. @DefenceMinIndia @dpradhanbjp  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) January 13, 2018

Spoke to Defence Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharamanji & requested for help from Coast Guard and other agencies in the search and rescue operations ;CMDONGC has rushed to Mumbai;pray for safety of the ONGC officers and the pilots pic.twitter.com/sBNwfHGP0a  Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) January 13, 2018

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday attacked Opposition Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi for politicising Indias 'unprecedented' Supreme Court crisis.

"This is an internal matter of the Supreme Court, AG has given a statement. No politics should be played. The people of this country are watching Congress party exposing itself," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

BJP's attack came after Congress President Rahul Gandhis statement on the 'shock' press conference by four of the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court on Friday.

Rahul Gandhi said the issues pointed out by the four judges of the Supreme Court were extremely important and should be jointly discussed by the top court.

The points that have been raised by the 4 judges are extremely important. They mentioned that there is a threat to democracy. It needs to be looked into carefully, Rahul Gandhi said in a press conference.

The Congress President also sought an inquiry into the death of the CBI Judge Brij Gopal Loya in 2014.

They've made a point about Judge Loya's case. It needs to be investigated properly. It needs to be looked at from the highest levels of the Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi said.

Judge Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case when he died under "mysterious" conditions. BJP President Amit Shah was also an accused in the case.

Here is the complete two-page statement issued by the Congress party on the unprecedented Judges press conference.

AICC Press Release: INC Statement on the 4 SC Judges Press Conference on the functioning of the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/txekcEupkL  Congress (@INCIndia) January 12, 2018

Earlier on Friday, four of the five top most senior judges of the Supreme Court had addressed an unprecedented press conference and questioned the conduct of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra.

The Supreme Court Judges' Press Conference: As it happened

The four judges - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph  warned that Indias democracy is under threat because of the way CJI Dipak Misra is running the apex court.

"The four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country," Justice Jasti Chelameswar said at the press conference, held at his Delhi home.

The four judges also circulated a letter accusing the Chief Justice of assigning important cases selectively to benches of their presence with no rationale", hinting that CJI Misra had sought to influence the outcome.

CJI Dipak Misra has not responded to the allegations. However, there were reports on Friday that he may address a press conference but that could not take place.

The government has struck a cautious note on entire issue and Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhury, terming the issue as an internal matter of the Supreme Court, said the judiciary will sort out the matter itself.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Senior BJP leader and former Minister of Finance Yashwant Sinha on Saturday held a press conference at his Noida residence on the current judicial crisis.



Sinha described the press conference of the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court as absolutely unprecedented and that the most important take away when the national interest is at stake ordinary rules of business do not apply.



He, however, made it clear that he does not intend to interfere with the internal matters of the judiciary but whatever the judges said should be probed thoroughly and the findings should be made public in the larger interests of democracy and integrity and honour of judiciary.



He demanded a probe into the circumstances that led the judges to take this step and the cases that they alleged were being referred to selected benches and judges.



Taking on his party, Sinha said the senior members of the BJP and senior ministers of the Modi government should look into the matter with utmost urgency and transparency.



He said when four senior-most judges of the apex court are levelling such serious charges against the CJI and others then it seems that the country is heading towards the Emergency like it was way back in 1975.



I call upon senior ministers to shed their inhibitions and fears and come forward because this is the need of the hour. What the judges have said is the feeling of millions of Indians. They do not either have the opportunity or the courage to express themselves, said Sinha.

What the judges are hinting at is loud and clear. I hope we get at the truth of Judge Loya's death. I stand firmly with the four judges and instead of criticising them let us concentrate on the issues raised by them. If the highest court is compromised then democracy is in peril, added Sinha.

Where is the parliament of India? Why is there no debate in the Parliament? Who wants that a few cases should be heard by selected judges? These are very pertinent and serious questions that need to be answered.

Sadly everyone in the BJP and the government is scared of losing their post so no one is taking up this issue. The CJI should call a meeting of all the senior judges and address all the contentious issues to reach a lasting solution, suggested Sinha.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The mother of Bilal Ahmad Kawa, who was arrested from Delhi airport in connection with the 2000 Red Fort attack case on January 11, has alleged that her son was being framed in a fake case.

She, along with other family members, blamed the media for projecting an innocent man as a terrorist.

According to Bilals mother, he was not absconding and came to Delhi for a health check-up. He also owns a house in Delhi.

My son went to New Delhi for a check-up as he has a health problem. His brother who lives in Delhi told him to come and he was detained at the airport, said Ahmads mother Fatima Begum.

"He would not have done it if he was a militant? Would the government give an Aadhaar card to a militant?" she asked.

Also Read | Gujarat ATS arrests LeT terrorist involved in 2000 Red Fort attack from Delhi's IGI airport

Family members and other relatives of Bilal were protesting in Srinagars Press Colony demanding his immediate release.

A cousin of Bilal said all his documents including Aadhaar card were issued by the government against his own name. His house was located near a CRPF camp and he could have been arrested from there anytime.

He also said, They are forcing people of Kashmir to pick up gun, like they forced PhD scholar Mannan Wani and Burhan Wani.

37-year-old Bilal was arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday. He is suspected of having links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and was wanted in connection with the 2000 Red Fort attack case.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

India on Friday reaffirmed its space prowess and commercial launch capabilities by launching its 100th satellite but this is not enough as ISRO is preparing Chandrayaan-2 to undergo moon landing simulation tests at Mahendragiri.

Chandrayaan-2 is India's second lunar exploration mission after the famous Chandrayaan-1 launched in October 2008. Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), scientists will make a landing attempt in the first quarter of 2018.

The lunar mission will be launched using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk II) which includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all made in India.

India will also be the first country in last four years to land on the Moon. In 2013, Chinas unmanned Yutu rover had done this with month-long walk on the planet.

Chandrayaan-1 Launch| Watch Video

"It is on schedule. We have to find out whether it is in March or not," ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told reporters here in a response to a question.

Speaking after the successful orbiting of 31 satellites, including weather observation Cartosat-2 Series craft, by the PSLV-C40, he said the Chandrayan-II satellite was getting ready at the ISRO Satellite Centre.

Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu S Somanath said tests related to Chandrayan-2 were underway at the centre also.

"What we are trying to do is to prove the ability to do a soft landing (the rover). Tests are on to demonstrate soft landing in a simulated way," he said.

Terming it as a "wonderful task", he said "we are trying to complete it in a short span of time and that is going onright now".

To a query on whether there was possibility of ISRO carrying out manned space mission, Kumar said, "The possibility was always there for taking up such a mission but the government has to decide by giving resources."

On the future launches to be taken up by ISRO in 2018, Kumar said the next launch will be a communication satellite. The GSLV-MkII first stage had been assembled and already completed integration.

"They are going through process and it is targeted sometime next month (for launch)," he said.

Beyond that, there would be MkIII and another PSLV which will carry navigation satellite IRNSS-1I.

"We also have a number of launches almost every month one launch and we are going to work towards that", Kumar, who is retiring later this month, said.

"We are trying to push the launch envelope to such an extent so that we have three of GSLV category and nine of PSLV category (this year). It is still quite a tough task", he said.

Referring to the unsuccessful launch of IRNSS-1H on 31 August last year, he said it was a peculiar case.

"Very marginal deviation created a problem. Not withstanding that what we did is we went through a rigorous process of analysing and have made the system more robust", the ISRO chief said.

Kumar said to identify the cause of the incident, a team was formed which carried out various simulations and review process were taken up by the scientists.

"Each time you encounter a problem you come out of it. You need not worry about the failure. If you have not failed it means, you have not tried hard enough. So, we need not worry about set backs", he said.

Kumar said launch vehicle technology was a very complex thing and in spite of hundreds of successes, there can still be a failure.

"That is why it is called as risky business. So what we need to clearly understand is that each time make the system more and more robust, learn the deficiency and keep improving", he added.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K Sivan, who has been named the successor to Kumar, termed as 'excellent' today's launch and credited the entire ISRO team for the success.

He also noted that many international customers approached the ISRO for the launch immediately after the PSLV-C39 failure and it showed the confidence that they have in the agency's workhorse launch vehicle.

"We will be definitely meeting their expectations in the future also. This mission is definitely showing the green flag for the exciting high profile missions in 2018 such as the Chandryaan 2, GSLV mk 3 then GSAT-11," he said.

Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre P Kunhikrishnan lauded ISRO scientists for opening the year with a success. This mission proved the effectiveness of all corrective measures taken in PSLV C-40 "making the vehicle more robust and reliable," he said.

Multiple projects were underway at the spaceport to ramp up ISRO's launch capabilities, he said. He said the second vehicle assembly building project was in the final phase of completion and it would meet the future launch requirements from the second launch pad.

With PTI Inputs

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.One-person households in Japan are seen increasing to 19.94 million in 2040, accounting for nearly 40 pct of all households, a government-affiliated research institute said Friday.

The number of people aged 65 or over who are living alone is forecast to total 8.96 million in 2040, accounting for 45 pct of all those living on their own, due to an increase in people in the age group who have never married, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research , an affiliate of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

"Since the 1980s, it is not uncommon for people to remain unmarried," an official at the institute said, adding, "These people will get old by around 2040, leading to a rise in the rate of elderly people living alone."

The research institute updates household estimates every five years. The latest estimates are based on the 2015 census.

The total number of households is projected to increase from 53.33 million in 2015 to 54.19 million in 2023, but is then estimated to start falling and come to 50.76 million in 2040.

20404 201520235400YouTube says it was upset by the video posted by a US vlogger that showed the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan.

Logan Paul posted last week the video that showed him and his friends laughing about the body in Aokigahara-jukai in Yamanashi Prefecture, a dense forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. Suicide victims are often found in the forest.

The video received many complaints and was deleted.

Paul later apologized and said he should never have posted the video.

YouTube said Wednesday it is removing Paul from its Google Preferred platform and putting future projects with him on hold.

On Twitter, YouTube said it was upset by the video that was shared and suicide is not a joke. It adds that it was taking steps to ensure similar videos are never circulated again.

The 22-year-old's YouTube channel has more than 15 million followers and was reportedly worth more than 12 million dollars in advertising revenue last year.Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit Okinawa Prefecture in late March, it was learned Friday.

As part of the tour, the Emperor and the Empress are expected to make their first-ever visit to the island of Yonaguni, the country's westernmost point, Okinawa prefectural government officials said.

The upcoming visit to the southernmost Japan prefecture will be the couple's sixth since the Emperor's accession to the throne in 1989.

This is expected to be their final Okinawa visit as the Emperor and the Empress. Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate in April 2019. They have visited Okinawa 10 times, including trips they made when Emperor Akihito was Crown Prince.

During their last visit to Okinawa, in June 2014, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko paid tribute to more than 1,400 victims of a U.S. torpedo attack on a student evacuation ship during World War II. The August 1944 attack came shortly after the ship left Okinawa for Nagasaki, southwestern Japan.Japanese's foreign minister on Friday urged Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to guarantee the safe and voluntary return of Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in troubled Rakhine state.

While Foreign Minister Taro Kono is visiting Myanmar, the Japanese government announced a grant of $3 million to Myanmar's government to help facilitate the repatriation of the Rohingya.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees on Nov. 23, and Myanmar said it would start the process by Jan 23. The exact numbers and extent of the repatriation is still unclear.

"We have decided to provide the aid in response to the agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to represent an international message of support so that the repatriation can be carried out promptly," said Foreign Ministry official Shinobu Yamaguchi in a statement.

Kono's three-day visit to Myanmar includes traveling to Rakhine state. Humanitarian groups and independent media are prohibited from traveling to the area freely.

More than 650,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape a brutal crackdown in which security forces have been accused of systematic abuses tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

During a meeting on Friday, Kono asked Suu Kyi's government to allow humanitarian and media access to the affected area, the resettlement of returned refugees, and the implementation of recommendations made by former U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Kono also said Japan plans to give further aid to improve humanitarian conditions and development in Rakhine state.In the modern era, almost all Japanese homes have private bath/shower facilities. However, in some neighborhoods you can still find public baths.

Not to be confused with natural hot springs (around which resort towns are often built), public baths are a dying industry, but remaining examples stay in business thanks to customers who like the retro atmosphere of a trip to a bathhouse, or who simply want more spacious or luxurious tubs than they have at home, as fancier bathhouses have various types of baths, some with massaging air jets or pleasing aromas. A lot of their clientele consists of older local residents, and so there was nothing out of the ordinary when an unnamed 50-year-old customer, described as heavyset, paid the admission fee and entered a public bath in Sapporo's Chuo Ward at about 9 o'clock on the night of January 10.

The customer, who was wearing a black bob-cut wig and feminine cosmetics, went into the women's bathing area. At some point, another customer entered the women's bath, but noticed the 50-year-old was conspicuously hiding the lower half of the body. Finding this behavior unusual, the second customer informed the staff, and the investigating employee discovered that the 50-year-old customer was physically male.

The police were summoned, and placed the 50-year-old under arrest for trespassing. When confronted, the 50-year-old said, in a falsetto voice, "I am a woman."A newly appointed female judge on Japan's Supreme Court has said she will use her maiden name when handing down rulings, a legal first in a country criticised for its attitudes to gender equality.

Married couples in Japan are required to have a common surname under a law that was upheld in 2015, sparking criticism from activists who complain it is sexist and outdated.

Social conservatives defend the law as crucial to maintaining Japan's traditional family structure but critics say it reflects a society that is still male-dominated and lags behind other advanced nations in terms of equality.

Yuko Miyazaki, 66, the country's sixth-ever female member of Japan's top court, confirmed to AFP through a spokesman that she "will use her maiden name" for judgements.

"It is natural for me to keep using the name I used as an attorney," she told local media, adding it was important to have the "option" of keeping a pre-marriage name as traditional values change.

The Supreme Court allows its officials to use pre-marriage names but Miyazaki is the first top court judge to choose to do so.

Japan ranked bottom of the G7 countries in the World Economic Forum's latest "Global Gender Gap Report", coming 114th worldwide.

It scored poorly on women's participation in the economy and political involvement, as only around 10 percent of the lower house of parliament is made up of female MPs.

Miyazaki said she was inspired to go into the law -- at a time when it was difficult for women to find a job -- by her father, who told her there was "no difference between men and women in court".

After graduating from the University of Tokyo's faculty of law in 1976 and Harvard Law School in 1984, she registered as an attorney before marriage with her maiden name Miyazaki.

She has won global recognition in legal circles as a corporate and tax lawyer.

But she was reportedly once turned away from a hotel in a foreign country because her professional name was different from her legal name.STAMFORD  California Pizza Kitchen closed its restaurant at the Stamford Town Center on Sunday, highlighting the ongoing turnover at the malls dining row.

The company said it was shutting down the eatery because it was not renewing its lease. CPK had operated for about a decade at 230 Tresser Blvd.

We are sad to confirm the last day of business at our Stamford restaurant will be Jan. 14, as our lease term has ended, a company spokeswoman said in an email last Friday. We have loved serving the Stamford community and thank our guests for their patronage over the last 10 years. We look forward to serving you at our nearby Scarsdale, N.Y., restaurant and at our other CPK locations across the country soon.

The spokeswoman did not give additional information on the closing. Messages left for the malls owner, Taubman Centers, were not returned.

California Pizza Kitchen  headquartered in Playa Vista, Calif., and owned by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital  operates more than 250 restaurants in more than 30 states and 11 countries, according to its website. In Connecticut, it also runs establishments at Westfarms Mall in Farmington and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard.

The company continues to project an optimistic outlook on social media. In a recent tweet, it asked its approximately 36,800 Twitter followers to pick their fiery fave on the CPK menu, in a matchup of charred shishito peppers and spicy buffalo cauliflower.

The malls restaurant row has seen a number of changes in recent years.

Next door to California Pizza Kitchen, another pizza chain, Pieology, opened last November. Despite being neighbors, Stamford Pieologys franchisees said they were not trying to compete with California Pizza Kitchen.

California Pizza Kitchen is a sit-down, traditional restaurant. We are a fast-casual chain, Pieologys Regal Patel said in a recent interview. Its a completely different concept; they cater to completely different demographics.

In August, a Rascal Flatts restaurant debuted in the restaurant row, in the same space as a Mitchells Fish Market that had closed in 2014.

In October 2016, The Cheesecake Factory opened at the mall. It replaced a P.F. Changs restaurant, which had closed about six months earlier.

Around the time of Cheesecakes opening, fast-casual chain Cosi closed its restaurant in the spot now occupied by Pieology.

The Capital Grille, Kona Grill and Plan B Burger Bar comprise the other tenants in the dining hub.

The restaurant row was created in 2007, with the aim of giving the mall a more dynamic dining scene and more welcoming facade. The shopping center had long faced criticism for having an austere, windowless exterior.

A few blocks away stand restaurant corridors on Main Street, West Park Place, Summer Street, Atlantic Street and Bedford Street. Those thoroughfares have also seen high turnover among their dining tenants in recent years.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschottDANBURY - For Jesenia Rodriguez and her 4-year-old daughter, Sophia, the deadly force of Hurricane Maria was traumatic enough.

The Sept. 20 hurricane was the worst natural disaster that anyone in Puerto Rico could remember, killing 500 people and wiping out power to the entire island.

Rodriguez lost her house and everything in it. But it was the devastation after the storm that was so unbearable for the 29-year-old native of San Juan.

With no water or electricity - and whole days with no food for the kids - people became predators, robbing each other for gasoline and fighting each other for food.

We were only allowed outside until 6 p.m., because there wasnt any light, and because of the chance of getting robbed, Rodriguez said through an interpreter. We were constantly hearing about people being murdered.

Convinced that she couldnt stay another day, Rodriguez made the toughest decision of her life: She left her mother and brothers behind in San Juan for an unknown future in Danbury.

Today Rodriguez can manage a smile. Sitting with her boyfriend, William Figueroa, and her sister, Kristal Montanez, who made the trip here from San Juan with her, Rodriguez is putting her hope in a new city.

The three adults and three children are being housed in the La Quinta motel, courtesy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They are on the waiting list for subsidized housing, and are receiving health and food benefits. Montanezs 8-year-old daughter is enrolled in Danbury public school and is adjusting to classes.

And now that Rodriguez and Montanez have each found jobs and can start thinking about saving money, Danbury seems more like home, they said.

Rodriguezs story is like those of hundreds of others people are telling in Hartford, Bridgeport, and across Connecticut, which has a higher percentage of Puerto Ricans than any state.

The governor has asked us to treat this as though it was our own natural disaster, so we have developed a system using the governors unified command that involves FEMA, state agencies, regional coordinators, nonprofit groups, and local governments, said Brenda Bergeron, an attorney with the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. The numbers are changing daily, but we have a good system in place to help these families.

The states latest numbers show that 850 families from Puerto Rico are receiving government assistance with shelter, food health care and education in Connecticut.

The actual number of Puerto Ricans in Connecticut who have fled the island is larger; 1,925 children from Puerto Rico have recently enrolled in Connecticut public schools, for example, and the United Way has tracked 3,000 unique calls related to requests for assistance for Puerto Rican evacuees, Bergeron said.

The response in Connecticut is part of a national effort led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal to help Puerto Rico rebuild its infrastructure and retool its economy. Blumenthal is co-sponsor of a $150 billion Marshall Plan introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders to reverse what Blumenthal termed as a shockingly abysmal federal response to the island nations devastation.

Part of what my bill would do is provide relief and support for communities like Danbury for the burden (evacuees) are imposing on the schools and the system, said Blumenthal, who toured Puerto Rico earlier this month to survey the damage with Sen. Chris Murphy. We welcome people who are fleeing Puerto Rico and we are proud of Danbury another other communities that are accepting them.

In Danbury, the city has helped 12 families with coordinated services - enrolling their children in the public school system and helping their parents find housing, health care and jobs.

They are part of us as a country, and although they might live on a separate island they are still citizens of the United States, said Sandra Ferreira, associate director of Danburys Health and Human Services Department. We are trying to make them feel that they have a place to live - that there is a community here that wants to help them.

A new home

Rossy Abel admits that life in San Juan after the hurricane was better for her than it was for many on the island, because her home was only partly damaged and she had a generator to power some of her lights after dark.

But after two weeks of lawlessness, rationed water and gasoline, and no hope of getting electricity restored, the situation for the 30-year-old mother of two became hopeless.

There wasnt any government help in the streets, she said through an interpreter. I never saw the National Guard.

When the pediatrician said he couldnt vaccinate her four-month-old because he didnt have the electricity to run the refrigerator, Abel realized she could not help her children in the event of an accident or illness. She decided to fly to Danbury, where her mother and her sister live.

Abel, who worked as a nurse in San Juan, said she was pleasantly shocked by how much help she received from Danbury when she reached out to the city Health Department.

The city helped her find assistance programs for food, health care and subsidized housing. Her 10-year-old son is enrolled in middle school. She works as a health aid for a private client.

Although Abel imagines she will return home at some point once the islands infrastructure is restored, her life is here for the foreseeable future, she said.

Although this was never in my plans, I am going to take the opportunity of being here and having my two children here to better myself and provide more for them than I could in Puerto Rico, she said.

How many more families like hers are on their way to Danbury or contemplating a move to Connecticut is hard to know, Bergeron said.

The number of flights from San Juan to Connecticut increased from one per week to one per day to two per day, said Bergeron. We would assume as normalcy gets back to the island we would see fewer evacuees, but if the current conditions do not improve we will see more evacuees coming to Connecticut.

Blumenthal meanwhile called a meeting in Hartford on Friday to get an update about housing needs of displaced Puerto Rican families in Connecticut, and to urge FEMA to extend its transitional shelter assistance program to the end of the school year.

While Puerto Ricans are expected to continue to flee to Hartford and Bridgeport - two cities that have some of the largest Puerto Rican populations in the country - Danbury can also expect more evacuees, according to Rodriguez and Montanez.

The sisters were planning to go to Hartford, until friends told them that Danbury was a better place to raise children, because it is calmer and quieter here.

Has the advice proved true?

Yes, Rodriguez said. I love it here.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342NEWTOWN - State police made a mistake in setting up a command post in the middle of an active crime scene when they responded to the shootings at Sandy Hook School in 2012, a new report finds.

Relevant evidence was stepped on, including bullet casings and glass shards, which had yet to be processed and properly documented, reads the report, released by Connecticut State Police on Friday. Unnecessary personnel (law enforcement and civilian) [were] inside the school lobby area after the scene was rendered clear.

The report said state police learned dozens of similar lessons in reviewing their response to the worst crime in Connecticut history.

At no time should any type of command post be set up inside an active crime scene, reads one recommendation from the report. [C]ommanders should be prepared to set up command post locations ... outside of the crime scene and not widely accessible to the public.

The document, known as an after-action report, comes just weeks after the fifth anniversary of the massacre, when a troubled 20-year-old Newtown man named Adam Lanza murdered his mother, took her AR-15-style rifle from an unlocked closet and shot his way into the locked school, where he killed 20 first-graders and six educators before killing himself.

The report, which characterized the overall response to the shooting as commendable, was shared Friday morning with families who lost loved ones in the massacre and with state police officials, before being released to the public.

Newtown Police Chief James Viadero was among those who were briefed about the report. Viadero in turn held a short meeting at Newtown police headquarters to share the reports highlights with the department.

With these mass shootings, law enforcement is always learning something, Viadero said on Friday. This is a good opportunity to discuss what we have learned and what we can learn from.

The 75-page report, which took five years to complete, examines state police performance in six categories, from the tactics of responding to a mass shooting to the diplomacy of relating to grieving loved ones.

There was an overall sense of frustration, and at times anger, because of the amount of time it took for the families to receive the final word about the victims, reads the report, referring to the hours some parents waited to hear news about their children.

Some felt it was unnecessary and tortuous to have to wait for so long, the report continues. Some (parents) reported that it seemed as though the world knew what was going on and they were the last to find out.

The report noted a number of police actions that inadvertently created congestion and confusion, from parking their cruisers on the already jammed school driveway to repeatedly clearing the same parts of the building.

The report also cited several incidents where officers pointed their guns at other officers.

Law enforcement personnel should ensure they maintain weapon muzzle discipline when conducting room clearing and search operations, the report says.

In response, the report lists a series of recommendations in 12 categories, ranging from upgraded body armor to keeping at bay first responders who self-dispatch to the crime scene.

A major theme of the recommendations is limiting trauma for both law enforcement and civilians, through better training.

Accurate and timely death notification to victims families should be one of the highest priorities, the report says. Delays in notification were a great source of frustration for (police) at the firehouse command post location and added confusion, frustration, and stress for the family members.

The report also praised state police performance in communicating with other agencies, and helping grieving families endure the trauma of losing a loved one.

For example, state police assigned a trooper to each family to act as a liaison to the investigation.

Assigning a liaison to each family was very positive, Viadero said. That is something that is becoming standard practice in policing.

The report follows the FBIs release of 1,500 pages of documents in October, which included interviews agents conducted during the investigation.

Those FBI documents, which were heavily redacted, revealed that Lanza had become so estranged from the world by the time he was 20 that mass murder had become a fixation. It wasnt until Lanza withdrew completely into his bedroom for three months that his only friend  his mother  truly began to worry about him, and began sleeping with a gun, the FBI documents showed.

Three other reports about the shooting were completed in 2013 and 2014. Danbury States Attorney Stephen Sedensky released a 45-page report in 2013, finding that Lanza acted alone. That same year, state police released a 7,000-page report detailing events before, during and after the shooting.

In 2014, the state Office of the Child Advocate released a 140-page report documenting opportunities that the Newtown school district and Lanzas family missed to treat his mental illness, which included Aspergers syndrome, anorexia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The report found that Lanza alone was responsible for the shooting.

Sedenskys 2013 report said it took nearly six minutes for officers to enter the school after they arrived.

Experts have voiced differing opinions about whether those six minutes could have made a difference in saving lives. Some said that if police had arrived at the shot-out front entrance of Sandy Hook School with their sirens blaring, Lanza might have ended his rampage and committed suicide sooner.

Sedensky on Friday said he had not read the state police report, but was aware of some of its recommendations - including praise for the family liaison program.

The police liaison tells families ahead of time when information about the investigation is going to be released publicly, for example.

I think that is helpful, even if there is only limited information that you can provide, Sedensky said. It lets families know ahead of time so they are not surprised to read it in the newspaper.

The report also said it is important to minimize stressors at the crime scene - such as noise and lights - to help reduce confusion among first responders.

The report stresses that the Sandy Hook massacre presented numerous challenges to the state police.

The unique dynamics of this tragedy tasked the agencys resources and tested the capacity and capabilities of individuals and units alike, it said. The painstaking process of revealing personal and professional vulnerabilities as well as highlighting strengths is overshadowed by the necessity to be transparent and share valuable information with fellow law enforcement partners and the residents of Connecticut."

Staff Writer Dirk Perrefort contributed to this report.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342HAMDEN  Joy, love and the music of the Afro-Semitic Experience filled the sanctuary of Congregation Mishkan Israel Friday night, but with significant reminders of the people, especially immigrants, who have suffered in the past year.

The service honoring the life and work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was interfaith for the seventh year, but the synagogue has kept his spirit alive since the civil rights leader  assassinated 50 years ago this April  spoke there on Oct. 20, 1961, when the congregation was led by Rabbi Robert Goldburg.

Its a spectacular tradition thats been going for 65 years, said Jim Serling of Hamden.

The dream, though unrealized, still lives as he lived, said Rabbi Herbert Brockman, who will retire in June. We enter here to reaffirm the world in all its intended goodness. We celebrate simply being together and our love for one another.

The Afro-Semitic Experience began 20 years ago at the same service, said Brockman, and the group, along with Cantor Arthur Giglio, had the congregation singing and clapping, in between readings and prayers offered by those who follow the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Bahai, Quaker and Unitarian faiths.

Imam Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan of Hamden opened with a Muslim prayer: I witness that there is no God but one. .... And I bear witness that Muhammad and the other prophets were the messengers of God. ... Come to prayer. ... God is the greatest. ... There is no God but the one God.

We connect on a lot of bases, peace and trying to give them an understanding of what love and respect is, said Yahya Abdul-Shakoor of North Branford.

Marge Schneider of Branford said the services meaning lies not only [in] the magnificent music that brings us together in community, but its joining together with all religions, ethnicities. ... Its the bringing together with peace and justice ... the light that moves us forward. Our prayer is for peace in the world. Thats our prayer.

Brockman added to the list of people offered up for prayer that of Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition in New York City, who was arrested and taken away to an unknown location when he went to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his annual check-in. Ragbir, who immigrated from Trinidad in 1991, according to the blog Justice for Ravi, is a legal permanent resident.

Brockman said his family members have no idea where he is. They simply know that they called an ambulance and he was taken away. He prayed that we not become a country of the disappeared.

The guest speaker, Yale Law School professor Michael Wishnie, who heads the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at the school, spoke about the harrowing hours after President Donald Trump signed his first executive order, commonly called the Muslim ban, which was overturned by the courts, in no small part because of the rapid legal steps taken by Wishnie and his law students  energetic, fearless young people who dont know any better, Wishnie joked.

Wishnie said he and his wife, Cathy Edwards, had participated in the Womens March and left with energy and purpose and invigorated by all the people who were there and then, realizing Trumps intentions to ban refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries, I had such a feeling of dread and powerlessness and almost hopelessness. It was a terrible feeling, he said.

He and Edwards went to a Boston Celtics game and Wishnie told how, from a Cambridge, Massachusetts, hotel room, he led an effort to file a writ of habeas corpus and to find a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, who would rule that Trumps executive order, signed while a plane was in the air, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport, was illegal.

The students had been warned against filing a class-action lawsuit because they are not looked on well by many judges. The students said, But if not us, whos going to do it? No one else is working at 2 a.m., Wishnie said.

By midnight that Friday, 20 students were helping to draft the legal papers, realizing that the next flight out of JFK wasnt until 6 a.m. However, the court was closed on Saturday and a duty judge had to be identified and called.

Meanwhile, the images of tens, then hundreds, then thousands of people who rushed to the airports to protest the ban and to find relatives were broadcast nationwide. The story has sometimes been reported as this spontaneous outpouring of people, Wishnie said, but the action had been anticipated by organizers and community groups in New York ... They mobilized their networks and they sent people to the airport and then others followed. It was planned in advance.

The legal efforts ultimately were successful and images of the judges order, signed about 9 p.m. Saturday, were transmitted across the country via smartphone photos.

There were hitches during the chaotic hours, Wishnie said. One Iranian woman was put on a plane out of the country, but a first-year law student found the phone number of the airports control tower and called the air-traffic controllers. They brought it back and they let the Iranian woman off the plane, Wishnie said. Its not about constitutional arguments, its who can find the phone number, he joked.

Ultimately, 2,000 people who had arrived in the United States just after the executive order was signed were let in, Wishnie said.

Contact Ed Stannard at edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com or 203-680-9382.HAMDEN  The hilly terrain between Sherman and Shepard avenues known as Rocky Top was threatened with development last year, but residents who love the area fought hard to save it.

After months of the neighborhood making noise and voicing opposition, the developer listened, deciding to donate the property as a hold of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust, which will permanently protect the 18-acre wooded area as open space.

After a long, deliberate analysis and review of the project, hearing all of the community concerns and issues with the development, I made the tough decision to donate the property to the Hamden Land Conservation Trust, Mountain View Estates LLC developer Gary Richetelli said. It was a very controversial application process for the past year, involving a tremendous amount of time and energy and was ultimately difficult to abandon the Mountain View Estate project. ... But it seemed like the best solution for all parties concerned.

HLCT President Jim Sirch said, The community really decided they wanted to protect the property and that was key. Were grateful and honored to protect this property for the community.

Early in 2017, Richetelli applied to build 288 luxury apartments on the site, which wouldve involved removing hundreds of thousands of yards of rock and earth, essentially taking off the tip of the mountain that sits next to Quinnipiac Universitys York Hill campus.

However, residents who live in the neighborhood strongly opposed the application from its inception, crowding the public hearing at the Inland and Wetlands Commission meeting to demonstrate their opposition.

Tim and Roberta Mack moved to the neighborhood 24 years ago, falling in love with the woods and nature surrounding their new home.

I felt a special connection to it the first moment I saw it, Tim Mack said. Our children grew up playing in these woods and to have that gone was a devastating thought that compelled us to fight it and thats what we did for 10years.

The property has seen three applications for development since 2008. From the start, the community banded together to oppose each one, Mack said, and when the most recent application came along, the community was even stronger and more organized, raising awareness through social media and donations to hire a legal team.

At the first neighborhood meeting in January to fight the development, Tim Mack said it would be an uphill battle because the developer had comprehensive plans for the site while we had nothing, he said, calling it a David versus Goliath scenario.

After involving the HLCT and Connecticut Forest and Park Association and long negotiations, the developer eventually pulled the plug on the operation, agreeing to donate the 18 acres instead of developing it.

Were very grateful he decided to do that, Sirch said.

Rocky Top could be categorized as a traprock ridge, which means the land has a cliff and rocky area near the ridge good for certain species, Roberta Mack said.

The land is also unique because the geology consists of volcanic rock, which creates nutrient-rich soils that can have diverse flora and unique organisms that live in them, Sirch said. The step-like appearance of the weathered rock faces distinguish these landscape features, many of which, such as East Rock and the southern end of Saltonstall Ridge in East Haven, are easily viewed from some state highways.

We were ecstatic it was a storybook ending from this nightmarish plan to take down half the mountain and devastate and level 18 acres, Tim Mack said.

In preserving the land, its also protecting the watershed from soil erosion and the origins of the Connecticut Blue Trail system, which was established by a man who lived on the property and gave Rocky Top its name, Sirch said.

It has historical significance and benefit to anyone wanting to hike trail system and beautiful view, he said.

Lindsay Suhr, Forest and Park Association land conservation director, assisted in enabling the HLCT to become the permanent steward of the property. She said many things make Rocky Top special, including its value for conservation of endangered or threatened wildlife.

The oak-dominated forest provides an important food source for a wide array of wildlife. And there is an abundance of open space to the northeast and west that are connected to this site by the Quinnipiac Trail, which is important as a local wildlife corridor and for recreation, Suhr said.

Connecticut is losing forest every year and this would be another loss of wooded area, Tim Mack said. You cant just have house on house where people cant breathe. ... You want to have those land preserves that are untouched where you can go in and enjoy nature.

The HLCT still seeks support to pay for one year of back taxes on the property and costs associated with maintaining it. They are also asking for donations to help underwrite the cost of legal fees associated with the transfer. As the result of an anonymous donor, any gift made to the HLCT toward the Rocky Top conservation effort will continue to be matched dollar for dollar up to$10,000 collected.

If we didnt have the outpouring of support, it wouldve failed, Tim Mack said. We needed a whole community behind us because the whole community wouldve been affected and were proud to be part of the Rocky Top neighborhood.

mdignan@hearstmediact.comNEW BRITAIN  Connecticut Consumer Counsel has reached a settlement agreement with Eversource Energy that will reduce the size of the distribution rate increase the Hartford-based utility company is seeking.

Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz said the agreement, which was filed with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Thursday, reduces the the amount of additional revenue the company was seeking over a three year period by $182.4 million. The settlement also includes a 60 percent reduction in what the utility had been seeking in the first year of that three-year-period.

The new rates will take effect May 1, subject to review and approval by PURA. Under the terms of the agreement, the distribution rates of customers bills will increase by 6.57 percent in the first year, 1.27 percent in the second year and 0.98 percent in the third.

Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Eversource, said the company cant say how much more money the average customer will have to pay based on the increases agreed to in the settlement.

PURA still has to certify the increases across all of the rate classes, Gross said. And we have 20 different categories.

Gross said while Eversource made several concessions to its original application, which was filed at the end of October.

We believe this is a fair settlement that reduces the increase for customers while allowing us to expand our investments in the electric system to provide safe and reliable service, he said.

Its important to note that this settlement reflects savings from the recent change to the federal tax law that were pleased to pass along to customers, he said.

The Office of Consumer Counsel represents ratepayer in utility rate cases and Katz said that whenever there is an application for a rate hike, many consumers immediately worry.

We have worked very hard to reduce the bill impacts, she said in a statement. Our goal is to ensure a high-quality electric distribution system that meets consumers needs as cost-effectively as possible.

Eversource had proposed an increase in revenues of $255.8 million for the first rate year, which would have represented a 6.57 increase over currently authorized overall revenues. The settlement with the utility calls for an increase in revenues of $97.1 million for the first rate year, or roughly a 2.47 percentincrease over currently authorized overall revenues.

Katz said the Eversource application included the recovery of $700 million in recent investments to improve the reliability and safety of Eversources distribution network. Officials with the OCC and PURA have verified the amount that has been invested, she said, adding that some level of rate increase is warranted given the size of the investment.

PURA has scheduled four evening hearings in New Britain, Stamford, Branford, and New London, at which Eversource customers may provide public comment on the settlement agreement. The hearing in Branford is scheduled for Jan. 31 at the Fire Department headquarters at 45 North Main St.

A decision in rate case is scheduled for mid-April.

Eversource serves approximately 1.2 million electric customers within the 149 cities and towns in its Connecticut service territory.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comIt was a debate that many journalists likely never expected to face: How to properly quote the president of the United States saying the words "shithole countries."

Deciding what to do with his remarks - and whether to censor them in news reports - was tough enough for the press in the U.S. It was, after all, a vulgar phrase not usually fit for a newspaper or television.

But imagine trying to make sense of it in a different language. Every culture has its profanities, to be sure, but they do not always translate well.

That dilemma played out in newsrooms around the world on Thursday after The Washington Post reported that Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries" while discussing immigrant protections with lawmakers.

The main daily newspapers in El Salvador, one of the countries maligned by the president, went with the translation "agujeros de mierda," which essentially means "holes of sh - t."

"Why do we have all these people from countries (who are a) hole of sh - t coming here?" read Trump's translated remarks, from the Spanish news agency EFE.

"It's a bit literal," one Spanish-speaking reader tweeted.

Alex Segura, Washington correspondent for EFE, tweeted about the debate with his editors over how to translate "the pearl of the day from Trump." Other options they considered for the phrase? "Sh - tty countries," "unclean countries," and "pigsties," he said.

Another journalist, in Mexico, tweeted that he had debated at length with a least five editors over how to translate Trump's comment into Spanish. "#LaEraTrump," he said.

Indeed, the Trump era has created a headache for translators and interpreters again and again. On the one hand, the president's simple vocabulary makes his words easy to follow. But when they're combined into sentences and paragraphs, they are a jumble, jumping from topic to topic.

When a video was released capturing Donald Trump making lewd comments about women, news outlets across the world struggled with how to translate "Grab them by the p--."

In China, where there's no obvious word for p--, some news outlets published more sanitized versions using references to "private places" or "nether parts." Others opted for simply including the censored English word, "use p-- to grab them."

These cleaned-up versions fail to give foreign news consumers the full picture, which can prove problematic. Understanding the president's remarks is, after all, essential to readers worldwide - his words could lead to life-altering policies and decisions for people all over.

The two words from which "shithole" are formed are not that difficult to translate individually, according to linguist Juliane House, the former president of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies.

Most languages have some equivalent for the first part of the combination - or at least some profane variation of a word for excrement. "It's a bodily function," said House, who is a professor at the University of Hamburg.

Hole, by itself, is also easy enough.

But what happens when you put those two words together? Is it an adjective or a noun? And how does one use it in a sentence to describe certain countries?

Even then, House said, "that doesn't really mean that this gets through."

Editors from various news organizations need to approve the wording for publication. In many cultures, discussing excrement and using profanity - even when quoting the most powerful man in the world - may be a serious taboo. Depending on the political or moral leanings of a news organization, editors may choose to clean up the expletive.

"Translation is never neutral, so ideology comes in, and probably pressure from above," House said.

Some foreign news outlets took an easier approach - to disregard the "hole."

Most French media went with the phrase "pays de merde," which essentially means "sh - tty countries."

This meaning was quite clear, said Berengere Viennot, a professional French translator who has often been tasked to translate Trump's remarks. But previous words from Trump have left more room for ambiguity, such as the time he told France's first lady Brigitte Macron "you're in such good shape."

"Things have evolved: one year ago, maybe journalists would have developed or justified their choice of French swearwords for translating the American president; now it seems taken for granted that he uses a vocabulary that does not fit with the function" of the presidency, Viennot wrote in an email to The Post. "Vulgar is the new normal."

In Finnish, one translation of the phrase was "perslapimaat," which literally means "a - hole countries."

In Swahili, Trump's phrase would likely be translated into "Bongo land," a term used to describe poor or uncivilized places, Jan Blommaert, a Belgian linguistic anthropologist, told The Post. It's a phrase considered disparaging by many. The phrase "Bongo Bongo Land" was actually banned for its members by the UK Independence Party in 2013 after a member of European Parliament used it to describe countries receiving government aid.

Some of the oddest translations of Trump's latest crudity showed up in Asian news outlets.

Taiwan's Central News Agency went with niao bu sheng dan de guo jia, meaning "countries where birds don't lay eggs," as Quartz pointed out. Japan's Sankei used "Benjo no yo ni kitanai kuni," meaning "countries that are dirty like toilets."

As Anna Fifield, Tokyo bureau chief for The Washington Post, noted, South Korean media had to spell out the word in English.

In Germany, a common translation was "drecksloch," which conveys a garbage dump.

"We used that a lot back when he called the White House a dump (simpler times!), but it doesn't work for countries," one German interpreter argued on Twitter.

Reached by a reporter early Friday morning, House, the linguist in Hamburg, said she hadn't read Trump's original words in English yet - only the translation in a German daily.

"Is it dirthole?" she asked.

Close, but not quite.DERBY  A Watertown-based limited liability company that brings foreign high school students to the United States and places them in parochial and private schools will spend at least $1 million to turn a former nursing home on Marshall Lane into a dormitory, according to the founder of the business.

APEX International Education Partners, a for-profit-business, already has a smaller dormitory on the campus of Chase Collegiate School in Waterbury. APEX paid $450,000 for the former Marshall Lane Manor nursing home in Derby. The seller was Simonetti Realty, which operated the 120-bed facility for a number of years before it closed in June 2015.

The nursing home was operated by Anthony Simonetti and his brothers and sisters. Simonetti is Sheltons Republican Town Chairman and also a first ward aldermen.

Plans for the conversion from a nursing home into a dormitory were approved by the Derby Planning Board in December. David Guerrera, the founder of APEX International Education Partners, said he hopes to have the dormitory open by July.

3) 110 person occupancy.

Students attend classes at one of the five to seven schools that the company is affiliated with and are driven to and from the schools on buses that are provided by Apex. The students come to America on F-1 visas, which permit them to stay in the United States as long as they are attending educational institutions, according to Guerrera.

Guerrera acknowledged that some neighbors of the former nursing home were against having it turned into a dormitory.

My one goal right now is turn this building into a world-class facility and make sure that the residents of the neighborhood are happy, he said.

Guerrera said he is initially looking to hire five to seven people to work at the dormitory, including residence assistants, maintenance people and custodians.

The dormitory has been approved for 110-person occupancy, but Guerrera said he expects to have between 25 and 30 students living there this fall.

It will probably take at least three or more years before we reach full capacity, he said.

Simonetti said he had tried to pitch several potential uses for the facility between the time the nursing home closed and the present.

I thought it would make a perfect senior citizens center for Ansonia and Derby, Simonetti said. Then I thought perhaps it could be used as an adult day facility for seniors who cant be on their own during the day. But neither idea worked out.

He said turning the nursing home into a dormitory will bring something new into the community.

The people who live there will spend money and will employ local people, Simonetti said. And it will raise the profile of the community.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comNORTH HAVEN  A school playground should be a place where every child can stretch their imagination and build social skills. But not every child can always access such spaces.

Christina Montanari has a third-grade son attending Ridge Road Elementary School, where the playground doesnt welcome him the way it should, Montanari said.

He sits on the blacktop and doesnt engage with the kids because (the playground) is too big, too fast, too loud and it just doesnt feel safe and doesnt feel fun for him, Montanari said. He has some motor issues, some vision issues and also a lot of anxiety issues, so for him that big crowd is intimidating.

Montanari is one parent at the school whose child lives with a disability, and as the Parent Teacher Association vice president, she also is one of the people working to get a new playground built where her son and every other child can have a place to play.

The PTA has begun fundraising to build a truly inclusive play area that will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and accommodate children 2 to 12 years old.

The schools kickoff event Friday morning for the Super Spellers Soar spell-athon fundraiser saw each grade of students don superhero capes and become super spellers to raise money for the first $20,000 goal. So far, theyve raised more than $9,000. The total price of the playground is still being determined as land surveys are completed and specific equipment is explored, Montanari said.

PTA member Grace Gavigan saw the need for an inclusive playground two years ago after noticing some students werent able to participate on the playground, either because they live with a physical disability or are simply too young and small for it to be safe.

I think if one child doesnt have access, thats enough to fix the problem because thats wrong, she said.

When the playground was built 10 years ago, the school didnt have any students with special needs, Gavigan said, but since then, it has grown to include all types of students and having an inclusive play space is now a need the school community wants to meet.

Being able to play on a playground with other kids builds confidence, Montanari said. It builds your social skills, it builds your strength and agility and to not have a place where (my son) can do that at his own school where he plays every single day just doesnt seem good enough.

ADA standards for accessible design require that new playgrounds are built to be inclusive for individuals with disabilities. Creating an inclusive play area means adapting the space for children with a wide range of needs. The playground can feature wide ramps and adaptive ground to provide better physical accessibility to the structure and items such as outdoor musical instruments and speaking tubes benefit children who respond to sensory stimulation.

Erin Lambs son, who uses a wheelchair, isnt able to physically get to the playground where his friends could be playing, Lamb said. The current playground doesnt allow for him to access the area or play on the structure, but with the new playground hell be there right with them.

The focus of the project is to ensure all children, not only those with limitations, have a place to comfortably play and socialize with their friends, Principal Patrick Stirk said.

Were building a playground here for all our kids, he said. We have a population of kids that I dont ever look at them with any disabilities and they need to be together, so even if theres one or two kids in this building that cant access something the other 398 can access, we need to make accommodations for that.

When his typically able friends are able to play with him in a very interactive way, those disabilities kind of go out the window, Montanari said. They become not as noticeable. That builds his confidence and his social skills and decreases his anxiety.

Several school playgrounds in town were funded with from Small Town Economic Assistance Program grants, but such grants are not available, Gavigan said, so the responsibility of funding this playground falls solely on the school PTA raising money. They have gathered support from First Selectman Michael Freda and local businesses to help meet their goals.

Im very committed to this, Freda said. Im very happy they brought it to my attention because they worked so hard on it. I wanted to ensure they have my support.

mdignan@hearstmediact.comSir Ahmadu Bello

Sir Ahmadu Bello was a prominent northern Nigerian politician and only premier of the northern region who until his death held the title of Sardauna of Sokoto.

Sir Ahmadu Bello was born on the 12th of June 1910 and died on January 15, 1966. He was a Nigerian politician who was the first and only premier of the Northern Nigeria region. He also held the title of Sardauna of Sokoto.

He was also a leader of the defunct Northern People's Congress. According to HistoryVille, here are 50 things you didn't know about the late Nigerian politician.

****

1. Ahmadu Bello was born on June 12, 1909 in Rabbah, present day, Sokoto State.

2. He was the son of a concubine.

3. His father died when he was 6 years old.

4. He was the only surviving son of his father and mother, Mariyamu.

5. He was a great grand-son of Shehu Uthman dan Fodio, the great Fulani jihadist.

6. He got his Islamic and Arabic education as a teenager from Mallam Garba who was the Imam of Rabbah village.

7. He finished at the age of 16 top of his class.

8. He attended the Teacher's Training College, Katsina (later Barewa College) where he was a School Prefect and Class Captain.

9. Thereafter, he graduated as a Teacher in 1931 with a credit equivalent Grade III result.

10. He was appointed by the Sultan of Sokoto to work as a teacher at the Sokoto Middle School, where he was once a student and taught from 1931-1934.

11. He was appointed a rural administrator (District Head) at the age 25 in 1934.

12. He gave birth to a daughter after his death (posthumously).

13. He became a candidate for the succession to the throne of the Sultan of Sokoto at the age of 29.

14. He made attempts to become the Sultan of Sokoto but was not successful, losing to Sir Siddiq Abubakar III who reigned for 50 years until his death in 1988.

15. The new Sultan immediately made Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna (Warlord) of Sokoto, a honourary title and promoted him to the Sokoto Native Authority Council, these titles automatically made him the Chief Political Adviser to the Sultan.

16. Later, he was put in charge of the Sokoto Province to oversee 47 districts.

17. In 1943, a drama played out when he was thrown before the Sultan's court for misappropriating jangali (cattle) tax for the Gusau region where he was the Councillor.

18. He was sentenced to 1 year in prison, but spent 3 months in jail.

19. By 1944, he was back at the Sultan's Palace to work as the Chief Secretary of the State Native Administration.

20. In 1949, at the age of 40, he was nominated for a seat in the Regional House of Assembly.

21. He spoke impeccable English, and respected many European values.

22. Sir Ahmadu Bello keenly encouraged female education.

23. In 1954, Sir Ahmadu Bello became the first Premier of Northern Nigeria.

24. He never had material accumulation instincts, did not accumulate wealth and gave out whatever came into his possession. He was scrupulous and prudent with public finance but generous with his own money.

25. In 1955, he made his first pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

26. The Work and Worship motto on the Northern Nigerian crest was adopted by him.

27. He chose to remain the Premier of Northern Nigeria and gave the position of Prime Minister to his hand-picked candidate, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who was then the Deputy President of the NPC.

28. Sir Ahmadu Bello never sought the leadership of Nigeria.

29. He once stated that he would rather be the Sultan of Sokoto than to be the leader of Nigeria.

30. At various times, he made inflammatory statements about the Ibos as he once referred to them as the Jews of Nigeria whose sole purpose is to dominate wherever they find themselves.

31. In 1959, Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926) made him a Knight of the British Empire (KBE), and that explains the Sir in his title.

32. In 1962, he became Pioneer Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria.

33. He founded the Bank of the North (now Unity Bank).

34. He founded the Northern Nigerian Development Company.

35. He established the 16,000-seater Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

36. He established the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna (the only military university in Nigeria)

37. He established the University of Northern Nigeria, which stretched from Samaru in Kaduna State to Funtua in Katsina State, on the 4th of October, 1962 now known as Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

38. By the beginning of 1966, it was quite clear that the Sardauna was one of the most powerful figures in the country, and many believed that he was actually the most powerful, even much more powerful than the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

39. His party, Northern People Congress (NPC), held sway over 29 million out of 55 million Nigerians.

40. On his way to Umrah (the Muslim lesser pilgrimage), he received a letter with threats to kill him.

41. The letter was said to have stated: We have arranged to kill you and the Prime Minister (Alhaji Tafawa Balewa).

42. As a devout Muslim, the Sardauna believed that giving his life in the service of Northern Nigeria was worth the sacrifice and that death was a certain end.

43. He later said of the threat: Dont worry, continue to get useful information. I know what to do.

44. On the morning of 15th January, 1966, armed soldiers, led by Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, arrived at his residence at Lugard House, Kaduna, with the message of death.

45. He told his family to stay away in safety but they would have none of that. They all trooped behind him as he came out of the family quarters and in a matter of seconds, he was surrounded by the soldiers led by Nzeogwu who fired at his babanriga. And immediately, blood sputtered from the point of impact through the beard on his face.

46. At that point, his first and eldest wife, Hafsatu, threw herself at him in a final embrace. They were both shot.

47. He was believed to have been killed instantly when a bullet penetrated his spinal cord.

48. Brave till the very end, he had faced the soldiers and introduced himself as the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region.

49. He once referred to Nigeria as the mistake of 1914 but he later worked for and gave his best for the new nation of Nigeria.

50. He died leaving 10 in his bank account. Equivalent of 5,000 naira in todays currency exchange.Their names are Joy and Testimony. Both of them are two weeks old. Baby Testimony was so named because her mother said she passed through a lot of stress before her birth, while baby Joy, according to her mother, is the joy of my heart. Their names are Joy and Testimony. Both of them are two weeks old. Baby Testimony was so named because her mother said she passed through a lot of stress before her birth, while baby Joy, according to her mother, is the joy of my heart.

Both babies are examples of children returning from Libya without their fathers. What makes their stories sad is the fact that they may never see their fathers again. Their mothers are among the 373 Edo State-born returnees from Libya.

Unlike the previous batches of returnees taken care of by the International Organisation in Migration (IOM), these ones were released from an underground cell in Libya and returned to Nigeria immediately.

They looked unkempt and hungry as they started begging for food from people the morning they arrived Benin City.

The males among the returnees looked skinny, while some of the females are pregnant.

Carol Wisdom, aged 23, is the mother of Testimony, while Alice Monday, also 23, is the mother of Joy.

Both women sat separately from others, and from their looks, one could tell they were uncertain of their futures and those of their babies. They said they carried their pregnancies in an underground cell in Libya without any medication or antenatal care. What worsened their situations was the torture and beating they went through.

Carol said she trained as a hair stylist before embarking on her journey to Europe. She said Burger, the agent who collected N100,000 from her, did not inform her that there was no free movement in Libya. She said she could not find any job in the country until she met her babys father.

She said her babys father was a welder in Libya before both of them were arrested in March 2017 and led to separate cells. That was the last she saw and heard from him.

She further said: He is Igbo, but I have forgotten the state he comes from. I have his brothers contact. He does not know that I have given birth. I have not heard or seen him since we were separated.

The Libyans beat pregnant women. When I was in labour two weeks ago, they took me to a hospital. It was at the hospital that I was rescued.

When I leave here, I will call my husbands brother. I have not called. I called him last in March. We were not allowed to use mobile phones or call our relatives.

The brother did not know I was pregnant. Right now, I need help. I dont know where to start. I am very confused about what to tell this baby about her father. I call my child Testimony because of the stress I went through in the cell. No drug was given to me when I was pregnant.

For Alice, her problems are complicated by the fact that she only knows her babys father as Tunde. What she knows is that he used to live in Lagos before travelling to Libya. She has forgotten the state he hails from, and there is no way of reaching his relatives.

Alice said she worked as food vendor in Libya while her babys father was a doctor.

She said both of them were separated in May, 2017 when they were arrested and she had not heard any news about him, whether dead or alive.

Her words: They took us to different prisons. In the prison where I was, people were not allowed to make calls. It was there I lost the contacts of his family members. I dont have his photograph to show to my baby. I dont know the state he comes from. I only know that he lived in Lagos before coming to Libya.

I am thinking of what to tell my baby. Government should help me, so that I can take good care of my baby. I named my baby Joy because she is the joy of my heart. Inside the prison, I was not given any medicine. I was only taken to the hospital when I fell into labour.''Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday, received the newly posted state Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Prof. Francis Emeka Ezeonu.In a statement to newsmen in Owerri by Okorochas Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, also the governor advocated for a standing election time table in Nigeria.The release quoted the governor, given a sort of condition to governors and other public office holders seeking second term in office, saying that they should first be asked to present their score card.According to the governors statement, The Imo State Governor and Chairman, Progressive Governors Forum, Owelle Rochas has called for a standing INEC time-table for elections in the interest of governance.Standing election time-table has become necessary since once INEC announces its time-table for election, governance suffers a great deal and that the announced INEC time-table came somewhat too early.On his view about public office holders seeking second term, he said: All political office holders seeking for second term in office should be made to produce their score cards to INEC as part of the condition to Contest, otherwise, the mandate given by both the people and INEC would amount to nothing.He also said: My concern is that we spend more time talking about election than we spend talking about governance. The recent pronouncement by INEC in January of activities in August, is to the best of my knowledge, taking us off governance into election.And if you look at it we barely have spent two years in governance. And once this is pronounced, everybodys head goes to elections. So were virtually derailed the rest of the time for election.Former Plateau governor Jonah Jang says his constituents are opposed to the creation of cattle colonies as proposed by his successor, Si...

Former Plateau governor Jonah Jang says his constituents are opposed to the creation of cattle colonies as proposed by his successor, Simon Lalong.Jang, who represents Plateau North in the Senate, said in Jos on Friday that he had met with his constituents to gauge their feelings on the proposal.My people are against cattle colonies; they have said that they would not relinquish their ancestral lands for the purpose of grazing reserves or colonies, Jang said in a statement signed by his media consultant, Mr Clinton Garuba.Lalong had told State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday that he would introduce cattle colonies instead of enacting a law to ban open cattle grazing in Plateau.The colonies, Lalong argued, would check the clashes between herdsmen and farmers as the cattle would be restricted to particular areas which would reduce the chances of straying into farmlands.But Jang, who lamented the attacks on his people by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen over the years, said that victims of such attacks were not ready to accept the confiscation of their land by government.Cattle colonies are detrimental to the people and will not be accepted. The Plateau government is aware of this, he declared.According to him, Lalong was speaking for himself when he promised to establish the cattle colonies.As far as the people of my senatorial zone are concerned, Lalong spoke for himself and not for us.We have already suffered too much loss in the hands of attackers believed to be herdsmen; creating colonies for them will only worsen the situation, he said.He dismissed claims by the governor that people were already donating lands for the purpose of grazing and cattle colonies.If the Governor claims that people are already donating lands for the purpose of grazing reserves orcattle colonies, let him name the donors.The Plateau people are peaceful and have always rejected any policy that could undermine that peace.My constituents position is clear  Lalong is on his own and alone in this path that he has chosen, Jang said.Jang, however, advised Lalong to apologise to Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue over a statement credited to him (Lalong) in which he claimed to have warned his Benue counterpart against the anti-open grazing law.That statement was particularly unfair to the people of Benue, coming at a time they were mourning scores killed in the Jan. 1 attacks on villages in Guma and Logo Governments.The statement suggests that the killings took place because of the law. This cannot be true because the killings have been on for years while the law only took effect on Nov. 1, the statement said.Jang urged the federal and state governments to organise a meeting of stakeholders to seek a lasting solution to the incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes, and stressed the need for policies that would be fair and acceptable to all concerned. (NAN)President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed appreciation to all men and women of goodwill for their prayers and best wishes which have now ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed appreciation to all men and women of goodwill for their prayers and best wishes which have now seen his son, Yusuf, being discharged from the hospital. Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, conveyed the presidents appreciation in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.The statement reads: President Muhammadu Buhari, his wife, Aisha, and the entire family, thank all men and women of goodwill, both within and outside the country, for their prayers and best wishes, which have now seen their son, Yusuf, being discharged from hospital.The family appreciates the overwhelming show of love and solidarity which had come their way since Yusuf was involved in a motorcycle crash on Dec. 26, 2017.We thank Nigerians from all walks of life, both within and outside the country, leaders of many foreign countries, groups, organisations, individuals, and many others, who prayed, visited, sent messages, and generally stood by us at the trying time, praying that almighty Allah would reward them all.Yusuf had been discharged from Cedarcrest Hospital, Abuja, on Friday following what the Chief Medical Director, Felix Ogedegbe, described as his extremely speedy response to treatment.(NAN)The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has said that his ministry budgets about N1bn annually for the supply of water and sani...

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has said that his ministry budgets about N1bn annually for the supply of water and sanitation facilities to internally displaced persons ravaged by the activities of insurgents in the North-East.Adamu also stated that the Federal Government was working out measures that would enable it to transfer water from River Congo to Lake Chad in order to prevent the lake from drying up.The minister disclosed this when the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, according to a statement issued by the ministrys Director of Information and Public Relations, Margaret Umoh, on Friday.Speaking on the cooperation between Nigeria and the UN as regards reintegrating citizens ravaged by the insurgency in the North-East, Adamu stated that the ministry had been budgeting about N1bn annually for water supply and sanitation facilities for IDPs nationwide.He said the N1bn annual budgetary allocation had been on since the past two years, adding that the Federal Government on behalf of other governments of the Lake Chad Basin Commission was planning an international conference to proffer solutions that would save Lake Chad from drying up.Adamu said, In the next 50 to 100 years, based on hydrological perspective, if nothing is done now, the lives of people in that region, who depend on the lake as their source of livelihood, would be in danger as the lake faces the risk of drying up.The minister called for cheaper and workable solutions to save the lake from extinction.He noted that the memorandum of understanding signed between the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Power China International Group Limited in 2016 to save the lake from drying up could be actualised by the transfer of water from Congo Basin to Lake Chad Basin.Adamu said study done by Power China showed that it was technically feasible to transfer water from river Congo to Lake Chad, thereby increasing the level of water in the lake.By Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Looking for love? New Jersey isn't a bad place to visit.

Just less than half of the population is married, according to Census data. About a third have never been married, and the rest are widowed, divorced or separated. But those numbers vary; white and Asian residents are more likely to be married than black or Hispanic residents. Women in their 20s are more likely to be married than men of the same age. And women over 65 are three times as likely to be widowed.

The most single cities in New Jersey are also some of the youngest, and have a relativity high percentage of minorities. They also tend to be the larger cities in New Jersey.

A note about the data: Statistics from the 2012-2016 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census and includes towns with populations that are at least two-thirds single. Towns with a high percentage of their population in group quarters  such as prisons and dorms  were excluded.

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16. Pine Hill borough, Camden County

Percent single: 66.2 percent

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15. Paterson city, Passaic County

Percent single: 66.7 percent

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14. Lindenwold borough, Camden County

Percent single: 67.4 percent

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13. Pleasantville city, Atlantic County

Percent single: 68.1 percent

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12. Red Bank borough, Monmouth County

Percent single: 68.3 percent

Red Bank has a growing reputation as an urban hub for young people.

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11. Plainfield city, Union County

Percent single: 68.6 percent

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10. Trenton city, Mercer County

Percent single: 70.4 percent

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9. Atlantic City, Atlantic County

Percent single: 71.1 percent

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8. City of Orange township, Essex County

Percent single: 71.9 percent

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7. Newark city, Essex County

Percent single: 72 percent

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6. Irvington township, Essex County

Percent single: 72.5 percent

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5. Salem city, Salem County

Percent single: 72.7 percent

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4. Asbury Park city, Monmouth County

Percent single: 73.4 percent

Asbury Park is known for its growing community of young people and LGBT residents, as tourism and gentrification expand the city.

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3. East Orange city, Essex County

Percent single: 74.3 percent

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2. New Brunswick city, Middlesex County

Percent single: 76.9 percent

New Brunswick, home of Rutgers University, hosts a large number of students and recent graduates that form part of the city's single population.

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1. Camden city, Camden County

Percent single: 78 percent

Camden is one of the poorest cities in New Jersey and has a relatively low median age of 31.

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(Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media)

Read more N.J. data reportingBAYONNE -- The city council is set to introduce an ordinance during a council meeting next week that would require developers of projects exceeding $15 million to hire local labor unions to carry out the work.

The ordinance, if approved, would require private developers of residential and commercial projects receiving PILOT abatements to enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) with local labor unions seeking jobs on the project sites.

The agreement would apply to private projects that cost more than $15 million, and would mandate that 20 percent of the hired workforce come from local labor unions.

"If you look at this and compare it to other PLAs around the state, this includes one of the most aggressive local hiring clauses in the state," Mayor Jimmy Davis told The Jersey Journal.

But the ordinance faced immediate criticism from Jason O'Donnell, a mayoral candidate looking to unseat Davis in May's municipal election, who called the timing of the ordinance "completely disingenuous."

In a lengthy statement slamming the proposal, O'Donnell called the ordinance a campaign stunt that is an "insult to the intelligence of every working man and woman" in Bayonne and to members of organized labor in the state.

"For three and a half years and running, the Davis administration has, through its actions, denied the men and women of organized labor an opportunity to compete for work in the City of Bayonne," O'Donnell said, adding that Davis administration has approved well over 30 tax PILOT abatements with no PLA agreements.

"Let's be clear, PILOTs used as development tools should not just be for the benefit of wealthy developers while leaving Bayonne residents without community benefit agreements or good paying jobs," he said. "I would make sure that Bayonne residents benefit from Bayonne projects and that the projects are done responsibly and with quality union labor."

O'Donnell has been endorsed by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825, as well as the United Steel Workers Union Local 4-406.

Davis and his campaign manager, Joe DeMarco, rebuked this claim, telling The Jersey Journal that they have attached labor provisions to several projects on the Military Ocean Terminal, and others in the city, that encourage developers to seek out local union labor.

"But now this PLA will require it," DeMarco said.

Asked if the ordinance was presented to combat O'Donnell's criticisms of his administration, Davis said he doesn't "pay attention to what Jason O'Donnell says."

"I'm here working every single day to move this city forward like I have the past three years and for the first time in 10 or 15 years the development market in the city of Bayonne is hot," he said.

Additionally, Davis said his administration has been working to create PLAs -- pointing to the city's passing of a PLA agreement in 2015 for public projects in the city -- but were monitoring the status of an ongoing federal lawsuit against a similar PLA agreement proposed by Jersey City.

A federal court judge in June 2017 sided with a trade association's challenge of a city law, first approved in 2007, that required developers seeking certain tax breaks to hire union and local laborers, saying the PLAs violated portions of the federal National Labor Relations Act.

The city in August then adopted a revised ordinance that city officials argued will withstand legal scrutiny. Bayonne officials say they are mimicking the language of the Jersey City's new ordinance -- with some subtle differences -- and say it will withstand any legal challenges.

"Six months ago Jersey City was in the midst of a lawsuit regarding PLA's, so how do you pass an ordinance that you know wouldn't be approved by the courts until Jersey City resolved that court case," DeMarco said. "That really was an obstacle."

"No one has challenged that, so that's when we said 'OK, we now have a format we can follow,'" DeMarco added.

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.HOBOKEN -- As part of a series of events leading up to his inauguration, Gov.-elect Phil Murphy took a ride on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Jersey City this morning, highlighting inefficiencies of the state public transit system he's previously called a "national disgrace."

Murphy started off outside of City Hall, joined by his family and a number of public officials, including new Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Freeholder Anthony Romano, calling the day "a big transit day."

"As our infrastructure goes, so goes the state," he said, adding New Jersey is the fourth smallest state geographically, and the densest state, in the country. "We've got to get transit right. We have not gotten it right."

He visited a local book store before heading to the Hoboken Terminal, hopping on a train to Jersey City while speaking to local commuters.

Meeting residents all across the state today, talking about what we need to do to fix transit. #NewDayNJ pic.twitter.com/uaHzxqxbp0  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 13, 2018

"Mass transit is not optional; it's pass or fail," he told reporters aboard the light rail. "Getting that right is a huge priority for us and it's not where it needs to be."

Murphy made his first step in shaking up the NJ Transit system earlier this week, asking for the resignation of a number of senior staff members within the agency.

And in December, he introduced former Turnpike Authority Executive Director Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti as state Department of Transportation commissioner, and as chairwoman of the boards of NJ Transit, the Turnpike Authority and the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

He offered no immediate solutions to the public transportation system -- only telling reporters that "from the outside looking in, there seems to be a lot of untapped potential."

"We need new leadership, we need to get (NJ Transit's) vision and strategy set -- get an assessment of where the deficiencies are (and) get the commuter experience back to where it used to be and needs to be again," he said. "There's a lot of work to do."

When asked if he had an estimate of when commuters would see some improvements, he said that it's "hard to tell until we get there."

"We're not in there yet... try as you might through the transition to get the information you need -- we've gotten a lot, but we just can't tell until we're in there."

He stopped off at the Jersey Avenue Light Rail station and visited the packed Brownstone Diner on Jersey Avenue and Grand Street, meeting with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and a number of other Hudson County officials.

He will spend the rest of the day traveling parts of the state via the transit system, meeting public officials in Union City and North Bergen, among other towns.

He will be sworn into office as New Jersey's 56th governor in Trenton on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.JERSEY CITY -- The city has been awarded a $689,000 grant to expand lead testing for children in the city, according to a release.

This award for the Childhood Lead Exposure Prevention (CLEP) project comes in addition to the $198,000 the city has received in the past to operate the program -- representing a 247 percent increase in funding to the city, according to the release.

"This grant will allow us to expand our current lead prevention program, helping us to provide prevention and intervention for lead exposure, in addition to educating our communities about the dangers of lead exposure," Mayor Steven Fulop said in statement.

This new award will allow the city to expand its program to test children up to the age of 17. The original grant only covered children up to 5 years old.

The city has been operating a lead prevention program since 1977 and has tested over 50,000 children, according to the release.

This additional grant funding will allow for the City to provide nurse-based education, in a variety of languages, to the families with children of high Blood Lead Levels, allowing for early prevention and intervention strategies.

Funding for the project will come from the NJDOH, Division of Family Health Services, and Child and Adolescent Health Program.

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.A man found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Union County home the night of Jan. 3 previously dated a woman who was shot dead on New Year's Eve in Trenton, officials said.

Police and firefighters went to Federico Terribiles home on Terhune Road in Clark when his daughter went to check on him and found smoke and a burning smell, Clark police Chief Pedro Matos said.

Gladys Barrera and Frederico Terribile, Facebook photo

In the basement, the firefighters found a small fire and the 58-year-old Terribile, dead. The investigation into Terribiles death is ongoing in Clark, Matos said.

Terribile previously dated Gladys Barrera, the 45-year-old woman shot dead on Brown Street in Trenton on Dec. 31, Mercer County Prosecutors Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio confirmed Friday.

DeBlasio declined to discuss the investigation of Barreras death, or anything else about Terribile, only saying the two had a prior dating relationship.

The investigation into Barrera's killing and the wounding of a 37-year-old man who was with her continued Friday, DeBlasio said. They were both shot about 30 minutes before the new year.

The 37-year-old man, whom authorities did not identify, was released from a Trenton hospital the day after the shooting.

No arrests or charges have been made in the case.

Barrera's obituary, in which she was identified as Gladys Barrera Sandoval, said she would be laid to rest in Guatemala.

Terribiles obituary said he was born in Italy, lived in Plainfield, and settled in Clark. He was a general contractor for many years, enjoyed hunting and fishing, and was a member of the NRA. He is survived by two daughters.

On Jan. 1, Terribile posted a picture of himself with Barrera on his Facebook page saying hed received the news of her death and was thankful for all their moments together. Rest in peace, I love you, it said.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A 44-year-old woman died and three family members remained hospitalized Saturday after flames burned through a South Trenton row home during the early morning hours, the city fire department said.

The Trenton Fire Department received the call at 2:25 a.m. that four people were trapped inside the two-story home on the 200 block of Cass Street.

Fire Battalion Chief Gus Tackacs said police officers got to the house first and were treating three people outside with critical injuries who'd gotten themselves out when the fire department arrived.

Firefighters battled through "intense flames" on the first floor and made their way to a burning second floor, where they found the woman and brought her out, Tackacs said.

Three of the residents were taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where they remain in unknown condition Saturday, according to the fire department. The fourth woman died at another city hospital.

The chief described the residents as a family, a 54-year-old female is reported to have suffered a head injury, a 44-year-old male suffered a broken leg and a 15-year-old juvenile is being treated for smoke inhalation.

"We were faced with a lot of chaos when we got there and everyone worked well together, police, fire and (Trenton EMS), to care for these victims and get into the fire to find the other victim," Tackacs said.

"We did everything we could, but sometimes it doesn't work out," he said.

The fire was under control by 3:45 a.m. and its cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The Red Cross will be in contact with the family to provide assistance while they are displaced from their home.Gov.-elect Phil Murphy has demanded that NJ Transit postpone a vote scheduled for Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on the controversial purchase of Hoboken waterfront property for use as a ferry maintenance yard.

Murphy, a Democrat who is due to be sworn in Tuesday to succeed Republican Gov. Chris Christie, issued a statement blasting the proposed purchase as "irresponsible" in light of the transit agency's struggling finances, and insensitive to Hoboken residents and officials who want the property for a new Hudson River park and the last link in the city's waterfront walkway.

"This deal, being rushed through on the last day of the Christie administration -- and on a federal holiday, no less -- is emblematic of everything the public has come to loathe about NJ Transit and another reason why it needs a complete overhaul," Murphy said in a statement Friday.

"Giving away millions of dollars on the way out the door, when the current system isn't even adequately funded, is simply irresponsible," Murphy added. "Out of fairness to the taxpaying public, this vote must be postponed and NJTransit's board must follow a more thoughtful approach that listens to all voices, including those of local residents and elected officials."

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, the first Sikh to be elected mayor in New Jersey, said in a tweet that the timing of the meeting was "disgraceful."

DISGRACEFUL. Just learned NJT rescheduled the mtg for Mon, MLK Day- a fed holiday when we should be honoring Dr Kings legacy, not rushing an 11th hr secret deal. Sparked by a bus boycott in Montgomery but I dont think the dream was supposed to end with a ferry depot in Hoboken! pic.twitter.com/r0BWJRC1So  Ravinder S. Bhalla (@RaviBhalla) January 12, 2018

The measure being considered by NJ Transit's board of directors would authorize staffers to purchase the 3-acre Union Dry Dock site from New York Waterway, then lease the site back to the company for its use as a ferry maintenance yard. New York Waterway purchased the property in November for $11.5 million from the company that formerly operated the dry dock -- Hoboken's last working shipyard -- and NJ Transit was expected to pay about the same price.

New York Waterway says it ferries about 30,000 daily commuters between New Jersey and New York, and NJ Transit says the ferry system is a key component of the trans-Hudson transportation network, both on a regular basis and during emergency situations like last year's "Summer of Hell" rail service restrictions at Penn Station New York.

Purchasing the dry dock and leasing it back to New York Waterway would ensure it is used as a ferry yard by protecting it from seizure by Hoboken, where last fall the City Council authorized acquiring the property from its private owner, if necessary by the city's power of eminent domain. New York Waterway needs a new maintenance yard because the owner of its current location on the Weehawken waterfront is developing the site as housing.

The transit board had been scheduled to vote on the issue during its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday, but rescheduled the meeting for the following Friday when too few directors were present for a quorum. But the meeting was soon rescheduled yet again, for 9 a.m. on Monday.

State Sen. Ron Rice, D-Essex, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, called the King Day transit meeting "appalling." New Jersey Sierra Club Executive Director Jeff Tittel, who supports Hoboken's waterfront park plan, said the agency board was, "trying to slip this through on Martin Luther King Jr. day."

NJ Transit did not respond to a request for comment following Murphy's statement.

A spokesman for New York Waterway, Pat Smith, defended the proposed sale and leaseback arrangement, insisting that the company's ferry commuter-miles were responsible for $30 million in federal aid to NJ Transit since 2007. Smith also said state lawmakers had authorized $12 million for the purchase of a ferry maintenance yard in spending legislation approved last summer.

"New York Waterway has helped NJ Transit recieve $30 million from the federal government, and some small portion of that is coming back to New York Waterway under this transaction," Smith said in an interview.

Hoboken's waterfront park plan had been led by former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who stepped down this month after endorsing Bhalla to succeed her. Zimmer is now a member of Murphy's transition team.

Bhalla held a press conference on Monday, joining with other elected officials in criticizing the proposed purchase as "rushed at the 11th hour of an outgoing administration."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at

. Follow him on Twitter

. FindThe Trump administration has prohibited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using the phrases, "science-based" and "evidence-based," from its lexicon, a decision that can hardly help the agency carry out its mission to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and domestic. The CDC needs to ignore the ill-advised, politically-motivated instruction and continue its critical messaging to the public.



It's daunting enough as it is to cut through the flood of information available to people today -- a good deal of which can be inaccurate, unverifiable or intentionally false. So, to get its message heard, the CDC can use help from academics to reach over political and ideological divides to do just that. To advance critical vaccination programs, for example, the public needs access to the objective, evidence-based science that supports them.

Take the case of measles: Measles was eliminated in 2000 but outbreaks are anticipated as more parents refuse or delay vaccinations due to personal beliefs or the misguided idea that the disease no longer poses a threat. That threat, by the way, is real: If vaccination rates drop to 88 percent -- below the 90 to 95 percent needed to achieve herd immunity -- a total of 150 children may well contract measles each year, putting them at risk for pneumonia, hearing loss, and brain damage and costing government health programs an estimated 2 million dollars.

The MMR vaccine -- to prevent measles, mumps and rubella -- is safe and about 97 percent effective. Even so, the rate of parents opting out of the vaccination program has been increasing. In New Jersey, that number grew from 1,641 in the 2005-06 academic year to 8,977 in the 2013-14 year. (These are the most recent figures available).

New Jersey lawmakers have tried to make religious exemption rules to vaccination stricter, but any laws changing exemption requirements have failed to pass. Misinformation on the Internet, fueled by none other than the sitting president and unverified studies on vaccines cause some people to believe that vaccines do more harm than good.

The rise in parents choosing not to vaccinate their children has caused the American Medical Association grave concern, with many experts decrying the rise of so-called "exemptions of convenience." In some areas, nearly one out of five children have not received their recommended vaccines. The consequences are serious not only for those unprotected children, but for the rest of society as well. As more and more parents "free ride" off of the community's dwindling immunity, outbreaks of diseases that were thought to have been conquered have already occurred.

It's not just vaccinating against childhood diseases, however. Flu presents another challenge significant enough to have Dr. Brian Strom, the chancellor of Rutgers University's Biomedical and Health Sciences, issue this statement recently:

"You may have heard that the flu vaccine is not effective; flu vaccinations are the most effective way to prevent flu, lessen its symptoms, and cut down on its spread. It takes about two weeks for this immunity to kick in, so it is best to receive a vaccination sooner than later. The CDC also reinforces that flu vaccine cannot cause flu illness. As an epidemiologist, teacher, clinician, and former Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, I strongly encourage you to get the flu vaccine."

Where science is denied, disease spreads.

A quick look around the globe bears out the point. In Afghanistan, for example, the Taliban has limited access to vaccination and polio has taken hold, putting hundreds of thousands of Afghan children at risk. In South Africa, the premature deaths of 365,000 people earlier this decade could have been avoided if the government had provided antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients and widely administered drugs to help prevent pregnant women from infecting their babies. But policies that grew out of President Thabo Mbeki's denial of the scientific consensus regarding the viral cause of AIDS and the role of antiretroviral drugs in treating it led to this tragic result.

These situations lead one to wonder how it is that science, particularly about matters relating to human health, could be so compromised, especially when some science, say, about the occurrence of the next eclipse, are readily accepted. It's no coincidence that the many misconceptions and challenges to evidence-based knowledge that the Trump administration has raised parallels the growing lack of trust in some science.

Scientists marched on the nation's capital to object visibly and vigorously but they need to do far more than that.. To reduce public skepticism of science, scientists and public health professionals need to translate what they know and what they discover into understandable, meaningful language that is clear and credible so that, in short, it matters to the public. And scientists, like Strom, need to continue to reassure the public that there are sources to trust.

The kind of concerted effort that joined academia with media that lead to success in reducing cigarette smoking, for example, is what we need to keep public health concerns front and center on the nation's -- and the world's -- agenda. Vaccination is just one critical piece of that picture. That takes science and it takes evidence and it takes messaging to the public, here and abroad, to generate personal responsibility, to raise public awareness -- a critical role for the CDC aided by academics across the country -- to spread the word that vaccination is safe and that it is essential to protect the health of the public.

Linda Stamato is a faculty fellow at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, a co-director of its Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and a frequent contributor to NJ.com and the Star Ledger's Perspective.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.Gov. Chris Christie issued 26 clemency orders for people convicted of crimes in New Jersey in a last-ditch declaration made after 9 p.m. on a Friday at the end of his term.

The governor did not explain his reasoning behind any of the pardons, which came just days before Christie leaves office.

"In keeping with the administration's policies of creating second chances for deserving individuals, Governor Chris Christie today issued 26 orders for clemency including one order for a commutation of sentence," the pardon message read.

The commutation was given to Lisa Pyatt, an Ocean County woman convicted in 1993 of murdering her husband. Pyatt's attorney argued she had been a victim of domestic abuse, according to press accounts from the time.

The pardons included Meghan Fellenbaum, a Pennslyvania resident who according to gun rights advocates was arrested for having a firearm locked in the trunk of her car while driving to pick up her girlfriend.

They also included Hisashi Pompey, a New Jersey marine who faced gun charges stemming from a dispute at a Fort Lee night club.

The legal circumstances of many of the pardoned individuals were not immediately clear because the governor's office announced the clemency long after the state's courthouses had closed for the week. At least one was a campaign donor.

The crimes for which people were pardoned ranged from drug dealing and harassment, to weapons possession, robbery, arson and receiving stolen property.

Christie has offered clemency to 55 people during his tenure, according to the governor's office, many of them reformed drug addicts or firearms owners charged with violating New Jersey's stringent gun laws.

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy takes office on Tuesday.

Here are documents released by Christie detailing the nature of the crimes for which the 26 people were pardoned.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Gov.-elect Phil Murphy kicked off his inaugural weekend at a Newark reception Friday highlighting New Jersey's diversity and offering it as rebuttal to anti-immigration comments from President Donald Trump.

Standing in front of supporters seated in the pews of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, Murphy joined religious leaders of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other denominations for an interfaith prayer service.

"Boy, I would love to invite the leadership of this country to come into this cathedral and say, 'This is the United States of America,'" the Democrat said.

The remarks followed national media reports that Trump -- a friend of outgoing Gov. Chris Christie and a frequent target of Murphy's on the campaign trail -- had questioned in a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders why the U.S. accepts immigrants from "shithole countries" like Haiti and some African nations.

Murphy also denounced Trump's remarks earlier Friday, saying they left him "completely and utterly offended."

Murphy, who takes office on Tuesday, will spend the weekend holding events across the state before he takes the oath of office in Trenton. At a Monmouth County press conference Friday, Murphy announced Asbury Park schools superintendent Lamont Repollet would serve as his education commissioner.

Following the Newark prayer service, the governor-elect traveled just a few blocks to the Newark Museum for the reception, where Lt. Gov.-elect Sheila Oliver said she would visit as a young girl growing up in the city.

An ebullient Murphy -- a former theater student who did not shy from breaking into dance on the campaign trail -- joined his lieutenant and members of his family on stage as the band played the gospel song "Oh Happy Day."

"I want to remind out president that it's not about the color of your skin, or your religion, or the god you worship, or the person you love, or where you were born -- including Haiti," Murphy said. "We are all God's children."

On Saturday, Murphy and Oliver are scheduled to travel the state by public transportation, highlighting the importance of mass transit. The governor-elect has called NJ Transit a "national disgrace" and pledged to reform the troubled agency.

"Someone said, 'What are you predicting?'" Murphy told the crowd in Newark. "I said, 'I can predict we are going to be late.'"

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Two Algiers teens, including a student, were arrested Wednesday (Jan. 10) in a pair of armed carjackings last week in New Orleans East and on Algiers Point, according to Orleans Parish court records. A third teen, a 16-year-old juvenile, is also accused in the Algiers Point carjacking.

Karl Dickerson and Kevon "Cheeto" Blunt, both age 17, were both booked into the Orleans Justice Center jail with armed robbery and armed robbery with a firearm. In arresting documents, Blunt's occupation is listed as "student," but the name of his school is not included.

In the first carjacking, a black 2016 Jeep Cherokee with black rims was stolen about 9:50 p.m. Jan. 3 in the 7700 block of Lacombe Street in New Orleans East, court documents show. The victim told investigators that two males, one armed with a pistol, took the Jeep Cherokee at gunpoint.

Police believe that three days later, the robbers used the stolen Jeep Cherokee in a second armed carjacking on Algiers Point. That carjacking occurred about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Verret Street -- and was caught on surveillance video, according to court documents.

Surveillance footage shows four males riding in the Jeep and two of the males, both armed with handguns, getting out of the Jeep and taking the victim's black 2008 Infiniti M35 at gunpoint, court documents show. The robbers also took the victim's house keys and credit cards.

Investigators were led to the three tens, the stolen vehicles and other stolen items after police recognized the 16-year-old sitting in the back of the Jeep during the Algiers Point carjacking.

Though the Jeep's driver and the 16-year-old both remained inside the vehicle, the footage showed the juvenile's face, according to court records, and police knew his name and home address.

On Monday, investigators recovered four stolen vehicles, including the Jeep and the Infiniti, from an apartment complex in the 1500 block of Southlawn Boulevard, within walking distance from the 16-year-old's home.

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The following day, a confidential source told NOPD detectives that someone matching the description of the 16-year-old had been driving around in the stolen Jeep.

NOPD Detective Matthew Riffle then obtained a search warrant for the 16-year-old's home, where officers found the Algiers victim's house keys in the teen's bedroom. At that point, a juvenile judge signed an arrest warrant for the 16-year-old.

Wednesday afternoon, officers with NOPD's TIGER unit, a task force dedicated to combatting armed robberies, found the 16-year-old at a home in the 3400 block of Catalina Drive.

Inside the home, officers saw two other teens, later identified as Dickerson and Blunt, who matched the physical descriptions of two armed males who had taken the Infiniti in Algiers Point. A resident of the home told officers that Dickerson and Blunt had stolen the Jeep Cherokee, according to court records.

During an interview with Riffle and another detective, Dickerson admitted to getting out of the Jeep to commit the Algiers Point robbery, records say. He also implicated Blunt in the crime, saying that Blunt had also gotten out of the Jeep while carrying a gun and was "with him when he robbed the lady," according to court records.

Dickerson also told detectives that he had kept the Jeep and Blunt had kept the Infiniti, records say, and he said that after the robbery, he threw his gun in the Mississippi River.

"Dickerson stated he did not intend to hurt the lady but just wanted her car," according to court documents, which noted that he wrote an apology to the victim.

Friday night, Dickerson and Blunt remained in jail, each with a bond set at $100,000, court records show.A former attorney for a 20-year-old man killed in Thursday night's (Jan. 11) shooting in Algiers said his client was "a great kid," who "got messed up in some stupid things."

The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office identified the victim as Kwame Morris. Relatives gathered at the scene Thursday night in the 1700 block of Flanders Street, some of them frantically trying to confirm if the victim was their family member.

Morris was released from state prison Nov. 1 after serving time at River Correctional Center in Concordia Parish for a conviction on two counts of pandering and one count each of obscenity, misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile and possession of marijuana, according to Orleans Parish court records and Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections spokesman Ken Pastorick. The conviction stemmed from a 2015 arrest.

A preliminary NOPD report on Thursday's shooting states the man who was killed, now identified as Morris, and another person met up with two other people to buy a gun when an argument started and led to the shooting.

Morris' lawyer in the 2015 case, Jake Lemmon, said he believed Morris has a young son, who he had seen attend court hearings in his client's case. The case included an initial charge of sex trafficking of a juvenile, a charge that was later reduced. According to Lemmon, Morris dated the woman he was accused of pandering, and he did not know she was under 18.

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"He was a very ambitious, hard-working kid who went down the wrong path," Lemmon said. "He made a mistake and it appeared he had learned his lesson."

Orleans Criminal District Judge Byron C. Williams sentenced Morris in August 2017 to a total of four years in prison with about two years of credit for time served. As part of the terms of his sentence, Morris was prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm.

Lemmon said Morris called him when he was released from prison and thanked him for his work on the case. Lemmon was struck, he said, by Morris' politeness.

"That is disheartening," Lemmon said of the news that his former client had been fatally shot.

Morris' death marks the 4th murder of 2018 in New Orleans and the second in Algiers. By Friday afternoon, he was one of 16 people who had been shot, including the four who were fatally shot, in the city in the first 12 days of the year.The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is investigating three separate shootings that left four people wounded Thursday (Jan. 11), including a double shooting and the injury of 16-year-old boy.

No arrests have been made in the shootings, which were reported in Harvey and Marrero, according to Glen T. Boyd, spokesman for the department.

The first incident about 5:49 p.m. in the 1600 block of Majestic Place in Marrero, according to the Sheriff's Office. The 16-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound and was in stable condition.

Authorities suspect it was a self-inflicted injury. But the victim is not cooperating with investigators, Boyd said.

About 8:45 p.m., 911 dispatchers received another call reporting man wounded, this time in the 4000 block of Teton Street in Marrero. The victim, 20, told deputies he was walking when a person he didn't know approached and shot him in the chest, Boyd said.

The man was taken to a local hospital where he was in critical condition. But the victim is expected to survive his injuries.

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Deputies responded to a double shooting about 10:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of Clover Lane in Harvey, Boyd said. The male victims, both 26, reported they were talking on Clover when someone shot them.

One man suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. The other was shot in the leg and chest. Both were in stable condition, Boyd said.

Sheriff's Office detectives have no motives nor suspects in the shootings. The cases are still under investigation.

. . . . . . . .

Anyone with information about any of the shootings is asked to call the Sheriff's Office investigations bureau at 504.364.5300. The public can also call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.7867. Tips can be texted to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637); text TELLCS then the crime information. Callers or texters do not have to give their names or testify and can earn a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an indictment.An unidentified man, captured on surveillance video toting a gun, is wanted by police in connection with a Tuesday (Jan. 9) gun battle in the St. Claude area.

New Orleans police have reported no injuries due to the gunfire, which damaged several buildings and vehicles around the 1400 block of Congress Street, according to a Friday news release from the NOPD.

According to police, the man appeared in the 1400 block of Congress about 4 p.m., arriving in a dark-colored vehicle. He had loitered in the area "for a while" when a gun battle erupted between him and at least two other unidentified people.

Officers later found spent shell casings, along with the damage to buildings and vehicles, authorities said.

Friday afternoon, police released surveillance images of the man, who is suspected of illegal discharge of a weapon during a crime of violence.

Anyone with information on the identity or location of the suspect is asked to call NOPD's 5th District detectives at 504-658-6050 or submit an anonymous tip to Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.The Rex organization, which is best known for tossing beads, go-cups and doubloons as it parades on Mardi Gras, gave out much more valuable prizes on Saturday (Jan. 13) -- grants totaling $1 million to 63 local education-related organizations.

The awards, which ranged from $1,500 to $60,000, came from the Pro Bono Publico Foundation, which the Rex organization formed after Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild the education system in the New Orleans area. The name comes from the krewe's motto, which, in English, means "For the Public Good." The money comes from Rex members as well as nonmembers, said Dr. Stephen Hales, a founding member of the foundation's board.

"I'm proud to be a recipient," said Julia Walker, chairwoman of the development committee of New Orleans College Prep, a charter-school operator that was given $30,000 for three schools.

"I don't think there's another organization in town that does so much for the charter schools," Walker said.

Since the first distribution in 2008, the foundation has given out more than $6.5 million, said Hales, who spoke to about 100 people who had gathered in the chilly Rex den for the announcement. This year, he said, marks the third consecutive year in which the grant total reached $1 million.

The biggest 2018 grant -- $60,000 -- went to Teach for America, which, according to its website, has 185 teachers in New Orleans and Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes. The organization, which recruits teachers to work in low-income areas, has teachers in 70 percent of New Orleans schools and has been a regular recipient of foundation grants.

"Support from the Pro Bono Publico Foundation has had a meaningful impact in our community," said Joy Okoro, the interim executive director of Teach for America in the greater New Orleans area.

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Since Teach for America's arrival in 1990, "progress in New Orleans is undeniable," she said, "but we have so much more to do."

She spoke at a rostrum decorated with a huge purple papier-mache flower that stood next to the Boeuf Gras float, which depicts a white ox -- a symbol of the last meat to be eaten before Lent -- and is a perennial part of the Rex parade.

Before Hales and Okoro spoke, guests ate pasta and king cake, prepared by the students in the Culinary Arts department at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts; listened to a jazz trio; and wandered among the floats that will roll in this year's Rex parade.

The theme, inspired by the city's 300th birthday, will be "La Vieille Nouvelle Orleans," said Hales, adding that the floats will be devoted people and events in the city's first century.

Other grant recipients were as follows:Warning: This story contains language that some may find offensive.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, and other members of the House Democratic leadership said Friday (Jan. 12) they plan to pursue a vote of censure for President Donald Trump over his "shithole countries" remark, CNN reported.

In a statement cited by the network, Richmond and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat in the House Judiciary Committee, announced a plan to seek censure of the president. The move comes a day after reports that Trump, discussing an immigration proposal in the oval office, referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries."

"These remarks have compelled us to prepare a resolution of censure with our colleagues next week, to condemn President Trump for his racist statements," the statement said, according to CNN. "This censure resolution is important because America is a beacon of hope. We have to show the world that this President does not represent the real feelings of most of the American people which is part of the reason why he lost the popular vote."

Trump on Friday said he used "tough" language in his discussion, but not the slur reported first by The Washington Post on Thursday and later by other news organizations. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, who attended the meeting with Trump on Thursday, said Friday that the president's used the slur.

A vote of censure in Congress would be a public reprimand of the president.When she described President Donald Trump as "a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists" ESPN anchor Jemele Hill wasn't employing extrasensory perception. It was September 2017. She wasn't gazing into a crystal ball to see what Trump would eventually show himself to be. She wasn't using some kind of mind reader that granted her exclusive access to Trump's innermost thoughts and beliefs. She was calling him a white supremacist because it has long been obvious from his words and his actions that he is one.

If anything, Hill was like the little boy in "The Emperor's New Clothes," who chose to say the obvious to people too scared to say it. In this case, whole crowds of people - both Trump's supporters and those in the media - were characterizing Trump's words and policies as tough, as conservative, as immature, as unconventional, as pro-working class, as America-first, as populist. They were assiduously avoiding the words "racist" and "white supremacist" as if by not stating that truth they could somehow make it not true.

But just like it was obvious to the boy in the Hans Christian Anderson fable that the emperor was naked, it's been just as plain that Trump is nakedly racist. If you've been one of the people denying that fact, then you've got to ask yourself why that is.

On Thursday, after the Washington Post reported that Trump asked senators in an immigration meeting why the United States should admit people from "shithole countries," and why we couldn't bring in more people from, say, Norway, White House reporters said White House officials were boasting that what Trump said would go over great with his base.

Let that sink in.

The president says he doesn't want people from Africa, Haiti, El Salvador coming to America, and White House officials gloat and predict that the people who love Trump are going to love him for it. By Friday morning, though, the president was lying - as he reflexively does - claiming on Twitter that his words were "tough" but not derogatory.

Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, says Trump did, indeed, say what the Washington Post said he did, and, Durbin said, Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican from South Carolina, scolded him for it. In a written statement he released Friday, Graham didn't say what the president said, but he did write, "Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I've always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals."

Sen. Tim Scott, the junior Republican senator from South Carolina, said that he talked to Graham and that Graham said the Washington Post's report was "basically accurate."

Nobody - and I mean absolutely nobody - should profess to be shocked by what Trump said. The comments attributed to him are wholly consistent with the racism, the obnoxiousness, the mean-spiritedness and the ignorance he displays as a matter of course. He's gotten away with it, in part, because not a whole lot of people have done what Hill did in September and say what it is that they're actually seeing.

And there's still - even after "shithole countries" - a reluctance for people to say it.

The day after Trump's remarks were reported, CNN host Jake Tapper interviewed Ohio's Republican Gov. John Kasich, who ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Tapper said, "I know you're reluctant to label the president racist, but I just want to point out this is a president who suggested the first African-American president was born in Africa, he was sued by the Justice Department during the Nixon years for discriminatory housing practices against blacks in New York, he suggested they bring back the death penalty for the Central Park Five, black and Latino teenagers falsely accused of rape. This is the president who said there were, quote, 'very fine people' on both sides of the Charlottesville neo-Nazi Klan march. This is the president who suggested a judge with Mexican heritage wasn't able to be fair because of his heritage and now this. I understand your reluctance to label him a racist, but what would it take for you to call someone's words or actions racist?"

Why should Kasich be alone on that hot seat? That's a question that an untold number of Americans need to be asked and need to be asking themselves.

For his part, Kasich said, "I'm not a name-caller. What would it take? I don't know. I'm not into name-calling, I'm into policy."

And there we see the problem. Kasich says that labeling Trump racist would be name-calling.

But that's what he is!

By categorizing the word "racist" as a slur, many Americans continue to give cover to people whose words, deeds and expressed beliefs are obviously and undeniably racist.

Is Donald Trump a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with - and, indeed, has made naked appeals to - white supremacists?

Of course he is. And we know this not just because of what he said during this week's meeting about immigration but because of so many things he said before.

Jarvis DeBerry is deputy opinions editor for NOLA.COM | The Times-Picayune. He can be reached at jdeberry@nola.com or at twitter.com/jarvisdeberry.Prairieville lawyer Aaron Lawler became the third member of the Ascension Parish Council to have a recall petition filed against him in the past two weeks, as some residents revolt over the pace of new developments and their impact on floods and traffic.The village of Bardzrashen, in Armenias Shirak Province, has seen better days.

75 families used to live in the village. Only six remain today  the families of Mkhitar, Varazdat, Yeghish, Mrik, Khachik and Artak.

In 1981, Bardzrashen was incorporated in to the neighboring village of Isahakyan.

This is Yeghish.

The villages other families have since moved to Isahakyan, the town of Maralik, and to most distant shores abroad.

The 7th century St. Astvatzatzin Church is visible from all points in the village.

Mt. Aragats looms in the distance

Winter snows, up to one-meter, isolate Bardzrashen from the outside world. Villagers must warm their homes by burning wood and dung. Theres no natural gas.

There are no stores in the village. Thus, residents travel to Yerevan and Maralik to purchase necessary winter provisions. There is no kindergarten or elementary school in the village. Children must travel to Isahakyan or Maralik to attend class.

Today, menfolk of the village will gather for a khash party.

Residents mainly raise livestock, and get their water by hand, from wells. Bardzrashen is supplied with electricity, but using pumps to get water is an expensive luxury.

This is Gnel Mkrtchyan. Hes brought his animals to the well.

Varaztad Hakobyan is seen here fetching water by hand for his animals.

Each village family uses 300-500 liters of water for their livestock.

Families used to get 120 drams for each liter of milk they produced. Today, the price has reached 170 drams. Residents say Maralik villages are paid 250 drams for one liter.

Gampr dogs watch over the herds.

Mkhitar with his dogs.

A concerned mother dog watches intently as her one-week old pup is taken away. She then delicately grabs the pup in her maw.

Graves in the villages old and new cemeteries. Bardzrashen is slowly disappearing.

As we leave Bardzrashen, we spot this resident trudging through the snow.The love of hiking spurred the creation of a group called Network Hikings in Armenia.

IT employer Masis Margaryan came up with the idea two years ago while still going on hikes with other expedition groups.

Network Hikings began as a business initiative and then turned into a social project. The groups first hike was in October 2016, to Kechout and Gndevank. Months later, we decided to donate all the profits derived from the hikes to the Support Injured Soldiers Initiative.

By business-network, Masis has in mind an informal platform aimed at bringing together innovation professionals and business people that are young at heart and who are interested in pursuing an active lifestyle.

The artificial barriers between people are broken down while walking along the trail. An immediate link is created. For this very reason were thinking about using the slogan connecting trails for what we do, says Masis.

The group wants to reveal all the hidden places in Armenia that have potential for tourism and other uses. They also want to focus greater attention on the countryside and villages, attracting investment in these areas, and getting to know the people who live there.

Rural tourism is high on the groups list. Masis says its a win-win situation for all  villagers, tour operators, etc.

The group tries to find places off the beaten track to reconnoiter. If we go to Tavoush, we try to visit the Berd area. I we go to Sevan, we travel further than Shorzha. For spent New Years in the Kapan-Meghri-Shvanidzor area, the southern most part of Armenian, Masis told Hetq.

The hikers also stay at the homes of village residents. The group wants to meet the homeowners and see if the place is suitable as a guest house for future use.

12 hikers spent the night in the homes of villagers in the Meghri and Kapan area.

People get acquainted more quickly, interact more openly, in an informal environment, sharing the challenges of the road together, says Masis.

Those participating in the groups expeditions are a varied lot.

Our aim is to form a strong business community comprised of people with an active lifestyle. Its potential will be used within the community and without, for public benefit.

Staying true to the concept of networking, those participating in one of the groups hikes use the same bus to get to where theyre going. The hikers are announced in advance, by name and profession, so that all following participants get a chance to know one another.

Networking is our biggest motivator, says Masis.

Photos: Courtesy of Network HikingsBy Hratch Tchilingirian

The Primate of the Diocese of Tehran ordained a young woman as a deaconess in Tehrans St. Sarkis Mother Church on September 25, 2017. Even as the office of deaconess had existed in Armenian Church convents for centuries, this was a historic first. It is the first time that a lay woman, not a nun, was ordained a parish deacon.

Twenty-four-year-old Ani-Kristi Manvelian, an anesthesiologist by profession, was ordained  along with Mayis Mateosian  by Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, the Primate of the Diocese of Tehran.

What I have done is in conformity with the Tradition of the Church and nothing else, said Archbishop Sarkissian. This was his personal initiative as a diocesan primate in order, as he explained, to revitalize the participation of women also in our churchs liturgical life, adding, do not be surprised, a woman could also become a servant of the Holy Altar.

Deaconess Ani-Kristi has been involved in the life of the church in Tehran since she was very young. She used to perform the duties of an acolyte () during church services, such as reading the psalms and carrying the ceremonial candle.

In explaining the purpose of the ordination, Archbishop Sarkissian said: Today, our Church is confronting the imperative of self-examination and self-critique. It is imperative to rejuvenate the participation of the people in the social, educational and service spheres of the Church. It is our deep conviction that the active participation of women in the life of our Church would allow Armenian women to be involved more enthusiastically and vigorously, and would allow them to be connected and engaged. They would provide dedicated and loving service [to the people]. The deaconess, no doubt, would also be a spiritual and church-dedicated mother, educator, and why not, a model woman through her example. It is with this deep conviction that we are performing this ordination, with the hope that we are neither the first nor the last to do it.

According to the Primate, parish priests in Tehran are watchful and keen to recruit more women who fit the profile of prospective deaconesses.

What is special and novel about Deaconess Ani-Kristi Manvelian's ordination is that she is a "parish" deacon -- that is, she is not a member of a convent or a religious order, like the Kalfayan Sisters in Istanbul or Gayanyants Sisters at Birds Nest in Jibel, Lebanon, who have a few sisters among their ranks and are not ordained deaconesses.

Like her male counterparts in the Armenian Church, if and when Deaconess Ani-Kristi marries, she will continue to serve as a deaconess.

Deaconesses have been part of the Christian tradition from the early years of the faith. There are numerous references in the Epistles and early Church writings.

In the Armenian Church tradition, the development of the office of female diaconate is divided into four historical periods according to Fr. Abel Oghlukian, the author of a study on the subject: (a) 4th-8th centuries in Greater Armenia; (b) 9th-11th centuries in Eastern and Cilician Armenia, where the term deaconess is included in the book of ordination (); (c) 12th century and on, where there are literary references and rites for the ordination of deaconesses in liturgical texts in Cilicia and eastern Armenia; and (d) 17th century renewal of female diaconate.

The last ordained monastic deaconess in the Armenian Church was Sister Hripsime Sasounian in Istanbul. The late Patriarch Shnork Kalustian of Constantinople ordained Sister Hripsime of Kalfayan Sisters (established in 1866) as a deaconess in 1982, using the canon of ordination used for male deacons ( ). Damascus-born Deaconess Hripsime was 54 years old at the time. She passed away in 2007.

In North America, Seta Simonian Atamian was the first adult women ordained as an acolyte (), a lower rank, by Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian of the Western Diocese in 1984 at St. Andrew Armenian Church, in Cupertino, California. However, when in 1986 she moved to the East Coast of the United States, she was not allowed by the local diocese to serve on the altar in the Armenian Church.

Even as this is a most welcome step by Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian and the Diocese of Tehran (under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of Cilicia), the Armenian Apostolic Church has yet to formally restore the office of female diaconate.

Today the question is how to revive the female diaconate for the pastoral life of local parishes rather than in monastic settings or convents, which are virtually non-existent as viable institutions.

Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian is a scholar at University of Oxford (www.hratch.info).Farmers at work in eastern Uganda.

Legislators opposed to the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, 2012 say government should increase the budget for agriculture instead of introducing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to counter food insecurity and other climate change challenges.

The MPs who have vowed to fail the passage of the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill argue that it promotes use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), which are dangerous to lives and the environment.

The bill, which seeks to provide a regulatory framework for safe development and application of biotechnology research, development and release of genetically modified organisms was re-tabled in the House on Thursday following President Museveni's refusal to sign it after parliament passed it in October.

Museveni, in a letter to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga dated December 21, 2017, cited eleven reasons why the bill must be reconsidered by parliament.

The president sought, among other things, clarification on the title, patent rights of indigenous farmers and sanctions for scientists who mix GMOs with indigenous crops and animals.

Addressing a news conference at parliament, Bufumbira East MP James Nsaba Buturo and Ngora MP David Abala blamed their colleagues and Ugandan scientists for falling prey to the powerful GMO lobbyists although their peers in developed countries, such as the Netherlands, rejected GMOs.

Ugandan scientists, knowingly or not, are being used by some powers to create a suitable climate for the latter to dominate our country and impose various technologies that would serve their interests and not those of Ugandans, Buturo said.

The legislators argue that Uganda does not need GMOs as a means to achieve food security.

Uganda is ranked the worlds second best organic foods producer but if the GMO bill becomes law, this will gravely undermine the safe organic foods thereby endangering peoples lives. I regret that we as a government have failed to take agriculture seriously, Buturo said.

You see it in the investments we do or make. You see it in the absence of irrigation, improved seeds, and credit facilities for farmers. It is a whole range of issues we have failed to address. This climate change business cannot be answered by introducing dangerous GMOs, there must be other ways and the country must wake up and say where do we go next? he added.

Abala expressed gratitude to the President for returning to Parliament the GMO bill and insisted he will lobby colleagues to discard it given the serious impact he says GMOs have on humans and the environment.

I am happy it's back and we are going to continue where we ended by opposing it and saying it should not be discussed. It must be defeated in the House. If somebody says it will help us fight food insecurity, government must talk about what we must invest in agriculture, I am sure we shall have enough food, Abala said.

The agriculture budget stood at Shs 828 billion in the financial year 2017/18, accounting for about three percent of the Shs 29 trillion total budget, contrary to the Maputo declaration which recommends that at least 10 percent of the budget be allocated to agriculture.

namuloki16@gmail.comMarie Gulich's key plays in the final minute Friday at Gill Coliseum helped 22nd-ranked Oregon State end its first losing streak in four years and upset No. 18 Arizona State, 57-54.

Gulich scored a go-ahead bucket in the post for a 56-54 lead with 36 seconds remaining before grabbing a defensive rebound on Arizona State's next possession.

The Sun Devils quickly fouled Gulich, a 64.7 percent free-throw shooter, and she made one of two shots to put OSU ahead by three with 16.1 seconds remaining.

ASU ran the clock down to four seconds left before attempting a long three-pointer that never came close to tying the score, as point guard Mikayla Pivec got her hand on the ball.

The loss ended a six-game winning streak for ASU (13-4, 4-1 Pac-12), and ended a two-game losing streak for Oregon State (11-5, 3-2).

The Beavers next play Sunday at 1 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks) against Arizona.

-- Andrew GreifThe tax overhaul President Donald Trump signed last month will save Oregon taxpayers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to a new state analysis out this week.

That works out to $840 per tax filer, substantially more than state forecasters estimated last fall, though savings will vary enormously from taxpayer to taxpayer. And a small percentage of Oregon taxpayers actually face a tax increase under the new tax code, according to the new analysis from the Legislative Revenue Office.

Oregonians' higher savings apparently result from last-minute changes Congress made in the legislation, increasing a tax break for a certain type of business income and preserving more deductions for state income taxes and local property taxes.

However, late changes in the bill also wiped out the state's projected windfall in revenue. Oregon instead faces the prospect of a $100 million hit to state coffers in 2018, though the tax changes will raise revenues over the long run, growing to an additional $203 million by 2024.

Oregon lawmakers are already considering a legislative response to the new tax code, to maintain revenue for local services and preserve some valuable federal tax breaks for Oregonians.

It's far from clear, though, whether those changes would have the desired effect and whether lawmakers will pursue them during the short legislative session that begins next month.

Chris Allanach of the Legislative Revenue Office has been studying the bill since Congress approved the final version Dec. 20. It's an extremely complicated measure, with 115 provisions, and will affect different taxpayers quite differently.

For example, the state estimates that 70 percent of tax filers here will enjoy a federal tax cut in 2018 under the new law. But it also raises federal taxes for 10 percent of Oregon tax filers and raises state taxes for 40 percent of filers.

Congress made several late changes to the bill and substantial uncertainty remains about how some provisions will affect Oregon, especially the impact of corporate profits earned overseas returning to the U.S.

How the federal tax overhaul affects Oregon

Here are preliminary findings from the Legislative Revenue Office on how the tax overhaul Congress approved last month will affect Oregon:

 The tax changes will save Oregonians an average of $1.48 billion in federal taxes annually, and $29 million in state taxes. That works out to nearly $840 for the average Oregon tax filer. However, actual savings will vary considerably -- and some people will pay more.

 Overall, 70 percent of individual Oregon tax filers will have a decrease in federal taxes. Ten percent will pay more. The remainder will have no change (many of those had no federal tax liability.)

 Forty percent of Oregonians will pay more in state taxes. Thirty percent will pay less, and 30 percent will have no change.

 Savings will vary considerably by household. Big beneficiaries include people who can reclassify some of their income as pass-through income from businesses.

 Oregon expects to lose $100 million in state revenue this year. However, over time those effects will reverse. By 2023, the tax changes will produce nearly $200 million a year in new revenue for the state.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed Dec. 22, was the signature achievement of the Trump administration's first year in office. Highly contentious politically, it passed the House and Senate without a single vote from Democrats. Rep. Greg Walden is the only member of Oregon's congressional delegation, and its lone Republican, who voted for it.

The president and Republicans in Congress said the overhaul, which cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent, would put U.S. businesses on equal footing with rivals in other, low-tax countries. And they noted the bill will provide tax cuts to the vast majority of Americans, as it does for the majority of Oregonians.

Democrats and other opponents criticized the bill for reserving most of its tax breaks for large companies and wealthy individuals, and because it will add more than $1 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years. Critics fear that could trigger spending cuts to social programs and weaken the economy over time.

PERSONAL INCOME

The bill had special resonance in Oregon, which is unusual among states for its lack of a sales tax and its relatively high income tax. Prior law allowed residents here to deduct all of their state income taxes and local property taxes from federal taxes.

Early versions of the tax overhaul would have eliminated those local deductions, an especially painful prospect for Oregonians because of the state's distinctive tax structure. Ultimately, though, the final version allowed deductions up to $10,000.

Oregon's previous state analysis of the bill's effect on Oregon preceded that change, and others that had important implications for Oregon.

In the final bill, which included lower tax rates and a higher standard deduction and higher child tax credits than originally proposed, most Oregonians come out ahead, according to Jeff Dixson, founder and chief executive of NW Financial & Tax Solutions, a Vancouver firm with offices in Clackamas and Tigard.

The complexity of the new tax code produces widely divergent results among taxpayers. Looking at a representative sample of his clients, Dixson found a married couple living in Oregon with nearly $150,000 in annual income will save more than $1,500 a year  a 4.3 percent cut in federal taxes.

A married couple living in Washington, but with one spouse working in Oregon, earning nearly $100,000 a year will pay $318 more a year in federal taxes. That's a 3.9 percent increase from last year.

Allanach, in the Legislative Revenue Office, looked at some hypothetical examples. A single Oregon tax filer making $50,000 a year would enjoy a $1,100 annual tax break under the new law  a 20.4 percent reduction. A typical family of four making $75,000 a year also would save around $1,100 a year  a 40 percent cut in federal taxes, offset by a slight increase in state taxes.

A number of interrelated factors determine how much individual Oregon tax filers will pay in state taxes under the new law. One important one, according to Allanach, is that Oregonians who receive a big cut in their federal taxes will have less federal tax to deduct from their state income taxes. That's why state taxes may go up modestly despite a sharp cut in federal taxes.

Many workers will see a change in their paychecks starting next month, when employers start using new tax withholding tables from the IRS. But because the law is complex, Dixson said many will have to wait until they run the numbers after 2018 to understand exactly what the new tax code meant for them.

"You really don't know how this is going to impact you until you run your tax return," Dixson said. "From what we've seen so far, it really is going to benefit more people in a positive way."

Initial estimates last fall suggested Oregon might see an additional $150 million in state revenue this year because of ways the changes in the federal tax code would trickle down to Oregon. However, Allanach said subsequent changes to the bill altered the calculation  and turned the legislation's net effect on the state from a gain to a loss.

Chief among them, according to Allanach, was a change in how the bill treats personal income that taxpayers "pass through" from businesses. Initially, the bill lowered tax rates for such income. But instead of lowering rates, the final bill created a tax deduction for that income.

The tax can benefit a variety of business owners and contractors, ranging from real estate investors to physicians, freelance software developers and electricians who work independently.

That deduction lowers the taxable income for both federal filings and Oregon's state filings. And that made the pass-through tax break much more valuable for those taxpayers who can take advantage of it.

That's not everyone. The tax bill seeks to limit the kinds of income eligible for the tax break, and according to Allanach the value of the deduction goes down after $157,000 in income for doctors, lawyers and others in certain specialized professions.

That makes the new tax law more valuable to those who can classify at least a portion of their earnings as pass-through income. That could favor well-off business owners, but it may help others, too.

"(If) you've got a plumber who's a sole proprietor," Allanach said, "I don't see any reason why they wouldn't get it."

BUSINESS INCOME

Additionally, the new law treats certain business expenses differently. For Oregon, the most important provision deals with an obscure topic known as "bonus depreciation." That allows businesses to deduct the entire cost of certain property immediately, rather than over a period of years.

Businesses are likely to take advantage of the immediate tax benefit, and Allanach calculates that will produce a $76 million hit to state revenues this year, and a $77 million hit in subsequent years.

But the bill reduces the size of immediate deductions in future years  and businesses will have already taken the full deduction on some property that they would otherwise have deducted over a period of years.

So what had been a net loss for state revenue will ultimately turn into a net gain.

Beginning in 2020, Allanach forecasts the new tax law will produce a net annual gain in state revenue. It's a modest change at first, but will grow to $203 million more a year by 2024. That's a relatively small portion of the state's general fund spending, which is currently around $10 billion a year.

It's not clear how Oregon law applies to international business income repatriated by multinational corporations under provisions in the bill designed to bring profits stashed overseas back to the U.S, according to Allanach. That could apply to any large corporation doing business in Oregon with a tax liability here  but not limited to companies based here.

One important question, he said, is how Oregon will treat a provision in the new law on dividends corporations receive from other companies in which they hold ownership stakes.

"There's not universal agreement about how it would play out in Oregon law," Allanach said. The resolution of such issues could change assumptions about the bill's impact, but he said it's too soon to characterize their impact.

"It could be significant, but I'm not at the point where I'm ready to put a dollar amount on it," he said.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION?

Despite the late changes in the bill, the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions means some Oregonians will save less than taxpayers in other states  and some will pay more. Lawmakers in New York, California and other states in similar circumstances are considering workarounds.

The tax law did not limit the deductibility of most charitable contributions. So some states said they are contemplating changes to give taxpayers the option of making a charitable contribution to their state governments, and allowing them to deduct that contribution from their income tax bill.

At a House revenue committee hearing in Salem this week, lawmakers said they had received questions from constituents about whether Oregon might try something similar  and if it would be possible in the upcoming short session.

Committee Chairman Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, indicated he would like to explore the possibility although he said it's not clear whether the federal government would accept the workaround.

"Getting to a place where we're willing to let taxpayers take a risk is really not all that difficult," Barnhart said.

Rep. Knute Buehler, the leading Republican candidate for governor, noted that the proposed workaround amounts to "a tax decrease for high-income individuals." That, Buehler said, runs counter to standard liberal arguments that the wealthy should bear more of the tax burden.

Barnhart acknowledged the apparent contradiction, but said Oregon should fight for an underlying principle: That the federal government should not tax people on taxes they've already paid to state and local governments.

"Is this something the states want to accept without kicking about it?" Barnhart asked.

Neither he nor his colleagues have yet proposed specific legislation to preserve the state and local tax deductions.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699A man who rented a town home in Bend last winter is now facing a $120,000 lawsuit that accuses him of letting the temperature inside drop too low while he was away on vacation and allowing the pipes to freeze.

The lawsuit describes every renter's nightmare, but also every rental owners nightmare, given the six-figure repairs that someone will have to pay.

The suit says renter Benjamin Scicluna signed a lease for the $2,500-a-month, two-bedroom home agreeing that he wouldn't let the temperature inside dip below 60 degrees, that he would leave cabinets open so air could circulate around pipes in colder weather and that he would notify the rental company if he left for more than seven days.

Scicluna violated the terms of the lease, the suit claims, by doing none of those things in January 2017, just as a cold snap hit Oregon.

Central Oregon, especially, was in the middle of a cold snap. On Jan. 11, 2017, the low dipped to 5 degrees. The next day -- on Jan. 12, one year ago today -- the rental management company discovered the heat off and the homes pipes had frozen.

The townhome is listed for sale on Redfin and various other real-estate websites. (Screenshot of Redfin.com)

Owners Glenn Bell and Ruth Rice say they had to put more than $100,000 into repairing the damage. Their Bend attorney, Paul Heatherman, didnt respond to a request seeking more details about the suit.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Deschutes County Circuit Court.

In addition to Scicluna, Sciclunas friend, Jim Lauderdale is listed as a defendant. Lauderdale told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday that he didnt live in the home with Scicluna, but he co-signed the lease.

Lauderdale said Scicluna left last January for a few days to visit his family and didnt turn down the heat. Lauderdale believes the thermostat malfunctioned.

Lauderdale said the pipes in the home werent wrapped with insulation to protect them from the frigid temperatures.

Scicluna didnt have a place to live for a few months while repairs were underway, Lauderdale said.

Scicluna couldn't be reached for comment.

The threat of pipes freezing -- and the expanding ice causing the pipes to burst -- is an expensive and common winter menace. The problem is usually discovered when the pipes thaw and the flooding begins.

Lauderdale said the home Scicluna was living in wasnt the only home in the Bend area that suffered such damage last winter.

The rental owners, Bell and Rice, also are seeking more than $5,000 in travel costs and lodging expenses to deal with the frozen pipes.

The suit doesnt say where they live. In addition, Bell and Rice are seeking $15,000 -- alleging that Scicluna broke the lease by moving out six months early.

It's unclear if insurance coverage will play a role in footing some or all of the bill.

The 2,000-square-foot town home is now listed for sale for $569,900.

Read

.

-- Aimee Green

News researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this story.As a battle between Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the Trump administration played out over the White House's recent proposal to allow offshore oil drilling in the Pacific Ocean, it turns out waters off the Oregon Coast may not contain much worth fighting about.

The last time any oil companies tried drilling exploratory wells was 50 years ago, according to documents maintained by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

Four different firms, including Shell Oil, drilled eight exploratory wells off the coasts of Oregon and southwest Washington from May 1966 to August 1967.

They all came up empty-handed.

A spokeswoman for DOGAMI, the geology and mineral industries department, told OPB in 2008 that the "interest in anything offshore is a reflection of what you have on-shore."

And according to a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, the prospects of finding oil anywhere in Oregon aren't great. Michael Campbell told The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday that the department hasn't issued leases for any new oil exploration lately due to a lack of interest.

"It's just not economically feasible to get to the oil and gas deposits under us," he said, citing the difficulty of drilling through basalt layers throughout the state.

Negotiations between Brown and the Trump Administration may yield the same result.

On Friday, the Associated Press reported Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke agreed to visit Oregon and consider an exception to the administration's plans to explore offshore drilling off the state's coast. Zinke made the decision after speaking with Brown over the phone.

The previous day, the Oregon governor had blasted the administration's proposal in a CNN interview, saying the idea was "unacceptable."

"In what universe would this be okay?" Brown told Anderson Cooper. "Our coastal beaches are really important to Oregonians. They're very important to who we are and very important to our economy."

The governor made the appearance on "Anderson Cooper 360" following reports that Zinke and the Trump Administration had pulled the state of Florida from its list of drill sites after meeting with Gov. Rick Scott.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.comU.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer says he will not attend President Trump's first State of the Union address.

The bowtie-sporting Democratic congressman tweeted last week that instead of hearing "another destructive, divisive speech" by the president, he will stay in Oregon to meet with constituents.

"Hearing from Oregonians and working together to protect our values and advance policies that actually strengthen our communities is a more productive use of my time," said Blumenauer, 69.

Now in his 11th term in Congress, Blumenauer has long been a vocal opponent of Trump and his agenda.

He introduced legislation last year called the "No TRUMP Act" in response to reports that federal officials have spent taxpayer dollars at Trump-owned properties. He also introduced a bill that would make it easier to remove the president via the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows cabinet-level officials to declare the president unfit for duty. Neither bills have a shot at passing the Republican-controlled Congress.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedmanOregon lawmakers on Friday offered a tepid response to Gov. Kate Brown's new plan to beef up oversight of day cares, praising the effort while simultaneously questioning if it goes far enough fast enough.

Childcare regulators unveiled specific details of the plan during a meeting of a House committee on early childhood development. Among other things, the proposal would increase maximum fines for rule-breaking day cares while closing a licensing loophole that can allow bad providers to escape consequences.

But committee members questioned if the state's bid to create 14 new positions would actually move the needle and help ensure kids are safe.

Rep. John Lively, the Springfield Democrat who chairs the committee, bluntly assessed the unlikelihood of securing big money for more positions during the Legislative session that begins Feb. 5.

"The unfortunate part is going to be, we'll make very little progress in the short session," he said. "But hopefully we'll set ourselves up with the department to be better prepared in 2019 to make some much stronger arguments about what happens if we don't do it."

The push to improve childcare regulation comes on the heels of extensive coverage in The Oregonian/OregonLive exposing gaps across the system. An internal state audit warned that oversight in the Office of Child Care faced serious challenges as far back as January 2016. But officials dismissed several key recommendations from the audit and waited more than a year to begin considering fixes, leading to some of the proposals revealed Friday.

Oregon's Office of Child Care regulates about 4,200 licensed facilities that provide care to more than 100,000 kids. Gov. Brown last month acknowledged Oregon has "much more work to do to ensure children are safe" and pushed childcare officials to propose new initiatives.

Regulators have asked lawmakers to approve higher maximum penalties against day cares. Fines against a commercial day care center currently can't go higher than $1,000 per quarter, no matter how many violations are tallied. Regulators have said penalties aren't costly enough to serve as an effective deterrent, and records show that fines are rarely issued.

Under the new proposal, Oregon's maximum fine for a single violation at a day care center could reach $2,500 per day.

Regulators also want to close a loophole to ensure they can sanction a provider even after a childcare license expires. And they asked for the ability to issue cease-and-desist orders against providers who watch children without a license.

Dawn Woods, director of the Office of Child Care, said officials are already taking action. Regulators in 2017 doubled the number of licensing suspensions and revocations compared to a year earlier, she said.

"I think historically, we weren't looking at the full history" of a childcare provider when assessing how to respond, she told lawmakers. "And so really putting that safety first for all children, we've increased those actions."

State officials also detailed steps they're taking to improve child care regulation beyond proposals to change state law.

Miriam Calderon, Oregon's Early Learning Division director who oversees the childcare office, said officials are "constantly looking" for ways to provide better information on the state's website until a new parent portal launches in March.

The Oregonian/OregonLive last month revealed that the state's $2 million technology project is months behind schedule and officials didn't post information online to let parents see the number of serious injuries by day-care location.

Just this week, regulators began listing injury info, by facility, for 2017.

"There's been some sad articles in the paper recently," Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, said. "And it's partly, you don't have the tools. It's partly, you don't have the resources."

Keny-Guyer also questioned the Office of Child Care's plan for 14 new positions. Of those, five would conduct joint abuse-and-neglect investigations with the Department of Human Services at childcare facilities. The rest would be licensing specialists or managers to help deal with the agency's large caseload.

Officials say they'd ideally have one licensor for every 50 facilities. But the actual number is one per 147, they've said.

The hiring proposal would drop that ratio down to one for every 138, Calderon told lawmakers.

"That is still substandard," Keny-Guyer said. "And I'm concerned about that."

Calderon on Friday did not say what the hiring proposal might cost but acknowledged it would have a "conservative impact on caseloads." Any funding would need approval from the Joint Ways and Means committee.

Calderon said modest hiring in 2018 would give officials time to evaluate progress and make a stronger case for more staff later.

"What is a more realistic target and investment we need to make, to be able to have caseloads that will really support safety in childcare," she said, "and help our providers be successful meeting the requirements."

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidtUpdated: Jan. 16, 10:29 a.m.

Dylan Rivera, spokesperson for Portland Bureau of Transportation, said Friday afternoon that the city does not have any permits for protests on the weekend of Jan. 20 and 21. "We do not have any applications nor any permits," Rivera said.

The day after President Donald Trump's inauguration last year, an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people filled the streets of Portland to march for women, in solidarity with participants in Women's Marches across the country and the world.

Next weekend, many cities and towns that held Women's Marches in 2017 plan to do it again. But in Portland, instead of a unified Women's March, there will be at least four events.

Sunday, Jan. 21, will see the current iteration of the Portland Women's March, the Indigenous Womxn's March at 1 p.m. at downtown's Terry D. Schrunk Plaza.

"Portland's Woman's [sic] March has been cancelled," reads the Facebook event for the new event, "but the matriarch will continue taking the streets on our Indigenous lands wearing red."

Candi Brings Plenty, founder of the Two Spirit Nation, which is hosting the Indigenous Womxn's March, said over Facebook earlier this week that is march is a "response to the under represented womxn and allies who were offended by the white feminist narrative that took over the face of the march."

The Sunday event, Brings Plenty said, "is all inclusive and is a direct action to create unity and visibility that empowers indigenous womxn who have been doing this work with their livelihoods and have been silenced or eradicated for their leadership by patriarchy or privilege."

Brings Plenty said that the Portland Women's March leadership, which she is also part of, is "doing the right thing, and stepping out of the way so the underrepresented and marginalized voices could be seen and heard here in Portland."

"They are leading by example," she added, "and are not the same planning leadership as last year."

The group that planned last year's march was put into place just weeks before the event, when the original committee was removed after accusations of racism and transphobia led the NAACP to pull support for the march.

In the months after the march, organizers publicly argued about what happened to thousands of dollars raised by donations and t-shirts sales.

The Oregon Department of Justice began looking into the issue of the missing funds and confirmed this week that there is now an open investigation into the issue through their criminal justice division.

On Jan. 20, the day that most anniversary Women's Marches are happening in the state, there will be three more events. The NXT LVL X She Shreds J20 RALLY + PARTY is scheduled for noon at PICA in Northeast Portland, and the National March for Impeachment is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in "downtown Portland." The MeToo March and SpeakOUT is is set for 2 p.m. at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

None of these events are directly affiliated with the Women's March but all pull from the march's general themes.

The first march, the National March for Impeachment, celebrates a protest that took place on Jan. 20, 2017, in Portland.

That protest was not permitted and drew thousands to downtown Portland. While it remained peaceful during the day, once the sun went down it erupted into several incidents where police used pepper spray and tear gas.

Jacob Bureros, an organizer of the event, said over email that this year's march "will have a much different feel."

"We are working towards a family friendly event," he said, "that will include a marching band."

The current coalition of organizers, he said, "is made up of many veteran organizers, as opposed to last year where it was a large group of organizations, meticulous planning has been put into this event to ensure that we maintain a peaceful and powerful march that is accessible to everyone in the community."

Bureros said the coalition did work with Women's March organizers to make sure their events didn't overlap.

A Facebook page called the Women's March on Portland has also shared this event. There are also two Facebook groups associated with the march: a Portland Women's March general group with over 10,000 members and a group called Women's March PDX 2018 with 360 members. Both are closed groups.

"We honor the powerful statement millions of women and their allies made last year when we stood in solidarity across the country," he added, "and we have worked very hard to make sure that this is an event for everyone, an event for unity, an event focused on building a mass movement."

Another event promoted by the page Women's March on Portland is the NXT LVL X She Shreds J20 RALLY + PARTY. This event is billed as a rally and party to raise money and awareness for Brown Girl Rise. Queer Rock Camp Portland and Portland Menstrual Society.

Tickets for the rally start at $5 and for the party, which is 21 and over and starts at 7 p.m., start at $15.

"We are in solidarity with the Indigenous Womxn's March," said Letty Chicitonylotli Martinez, one of the planners of the event. "We are encouraging folks to attend."

The final event for Jan. 20, the MeToo March and SpeakOUT, is being organized by Portland Socialist Alternative and is not connected with the Women's March, at least not directly.

"The Women's March was extremely monumental in terms of demonstrating the kind of mass direct action we need to see to effectively fight back against systemic violence against oppressed people," said Socialist Alternative spokesperson Olivia Pace over email.

"At Socialist Alternative, we didn't see that there were any plans to replicate last year's Women's March in Portland this year," she said. "Because of this, we saw an opportunity to put on an action in a similar vein, but with some amendments to the political message which we believed would be more inclusive."

Pace said Socialist Alternative wanted to use the message of #MeToo, which they see as "the most current iteration of resistance to the violation of women's rights," as a hook for their march. But, said Pace, they wanted to make sure the name and politics of the event was broad enough to acknowledge people all along the gender spectrum experience sexual violence.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyackerAmazon plans to substantially boost its Portland outpost by leasing space in a new building across the street from its current location at the south end of downtown.

AWS Elemental, Amazon's Portland subsidiary, said Amazon will lease 85,000 square feet in the Broadway Tower. That's cater-corner from Elemental's current offices in the former Oregonian building at the corner of Southwest Broadway and Columbia.

Amazon employs about 400 at its current site, a mix of Elemental staff and Amazon workers. It has room to expand in its current office, which totals 100,000 square feet, and the new space could accommodate another 400.

The Portland Business Journal first reported Amazon's plans.

Elemental declined to comment on the new lease except to say Amazon is "leasing the space as a normal part of scaling to meet the needs of its customers." Also Friday, Amazon said it plans to lease more office space near its Seattle headquarters.

The company said the new Portland office is unrelated to Amazon's search for a second headquarters. Portland and hundreds of other cities submitted bids for that new headquarters complex, but Portland is an extreme longshot because of its proximity to Seattle.

The Broadway Tower is a 19-story building on the site of a former gas station. Due to open later this year, it will house a Radisson hotel and office space.

AWS Elemental provides tools for broadcasters to stream video online. Founded in 2006, Elemental sold to Amazon in 2015 for $296 million and has expanded considerably since. It moved to its current site last summer.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699WASHINGTON -- More than 150 years after the abolition of slavery and more than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, President Donald Trump's incendiary comments about immigrants have ripped open a jarring debate in the United States and around the world: Is the American president racist?

To Democrats and some historians, there is little dispute given the president's own words and actions. His political rise was powered first by his promotion of lies about Barack Obama's citizenship, then by his allegations that Mexican immigrants to the United States were rapists and murderers.

During a private meeting with lawmakers Thursday, he stunningly questioned why the U.S. would admit Haitians or people from "shithole" countries in Africa, expressing a preference instead for immigrants from Norway, a majority white nation.

"President Trump said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who attended the meeting and confirmed the president's comments.

On Friday, few Republicans defended the president's remarks, and party leaders were silent most of the day. Those who did speak out argued the comments were merely unvarnished statements on the economic blight in some regions of the world, not an expression of racial preference. Others said Trump, a 71-year-old who relishes rejecting political correctness, was voicing views held quietly by many.

"I've said all along the president many times says what people are thinking," Republican Rep. Jim Renacci, a candidate for Senate in Ohio, told Fox News. "Let's judge the president after what we've done. Let's not judge the president on what he says."

Trump has repeatedly denied he is a racist, declaring during the 2016 campaign that he was the "least racist person there is." On Friday, he offered a vague denial of his comments to lawmakers, tweeting that he said nothing "derogatory" about Haitians. He did not address the reports that he disparaged African nations and ignored questions about the comments from reporters.

Yet there's no doubt that the episode has added new fuel to the charges of racism that have dogged Trump for years, since long before he assumed the presidency. In the 1970s, the federal government twice sued Trump's real estate company for favoring white tenants over blacks. He aggressively pushed for the death penalty for a group of black and Latino teenagers who were accused of raping a white woman in Central Park but later exonerated.

Now, as president, Trump's words carry the weight of an office that has long helped guide the nation's moral compass and defined the American ideal for millions around the world. Although the United States has a complicated racial history, including slavery, segregation and persistent economic disparities between whites and minorities, Trump's most recent predecessors from both parties have used their position to promote equality and have endorsed immigration policies that brought millions of people from Africa and Latin America to the U.S.

"What Trump is doing has popped up periodically, but in modern times, no president has been so racially insensitive and shown outright disdain for people who aren't white," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. Brinkley said Trump was the most racist president since Woodrow Wilson, who served from 1913 until 1921.

Wilson supported segregation, including in the federal government, and his policies are blamed for rolling back progress for the emerging black middle class in the nation's capital at the turn of the 20th century. Decades after Wilson left office, President Richard Nixon made inflammatory comments about blacks, Jews and others in private discussions, including saying, "Do you know maybe one black country that's well run?"

Many of Nixon's comments only came to light years later, following the release of tapes from his White House years. Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian and the former director of Nixon's presidential library, said Trump's most recent comments were more jarring both because they were revealed in real time and because they came during the course of a discussion about the laws governing who can gain entry into the United States.

"This is not an example of a leak that shows the president to be a jerk," Naftali said. "This shows the president is using language that implies he's thinking like a racist while making immigration policy."

Notably, the White House did not deny Trump's comments and instead endorsed the spirit of what he appeared to be saying. In a statement, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Trump is "fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation."

Two of the Republican lawmakers who participated in the meeting, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, said they "do not recall" Trump's derogatory comments about Africa. Another GOP attendee, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, suggested the reported remarks were accurate: "Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him."

Trump's political allies have been through this dance before, grappling with how to position themselves after a president whose supporters they covet stakes out controversial positions. In August, after the president said "both sides" were to blame in clashes between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, many GOP officials condemned Trump's remarks but maintained their overall support for his presidency.

On Friday, several black supporters and advisers to Trump vouched for his commitment to the black community after a White House event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Paris Dennard, a senior director of strategic communications at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said Trump "understands this community. He wants to help our community."

But the participants pointedly did not address Trump's vulgar comments. And other Trump backers made clear they wanted to steer clear of questions about whether the president is a racist.

"That's not something I want to talk about," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.

In Atlanta, at the congregation once led by King, the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church and other faith leaders planned a news conference to condemn Trump's "vile and racist" remarks made on the eve of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

Warnock said it's hypocritical for Trump to sign a proclamation honoring King, given his comments.

"A giant of a man does not need a proclamation from a small man like Donald Trump," Warnock told The Associated Press.

--The Associated PressPASADENA, California - From a hitman who really wants to be an actor to "2 Dope Queens," Thursday's HBO panels at the Television Critics Association 2018 winter press tour included ambitious projects from an eclectic group of creators.

There's always keen interest in what HBO is up to, as the premium channel has become identified with the kind of prestige programs that have helped usher in an era of exciting TV content.

Here are highlights from some of the HBO press tour panels, in which creators and stars answered questions from journalists about new and upcoming shows.

Bill Hader's "SNL" anxiety and "Barry": Bill Hader has been a skilled comedy performer in everything he's done, including "Saturday Night Live" and "Documentary Now!," his collaboration with former "SNL" colleagues Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen ("Portlandia.")

But in a discussion of Hader's upcoming dark HBO comedy, "Barry," Hader said he'd battled nerves when performing on "Saturday Night Live," where Hader spent eight seasons playing such characters as Stefon, the overgrown club kid.

In "Barry," Hader plays an alienated hitman who's come to Los Angeles on a job. He stumbles into an acting class, and finds - to his and our surprise - that he likes being part of a community of hopeful thespians.

When he and co-creator Alec Berg ("Silicon Valley") were developing the show, Hader recalled, they discussed the idea of how "the thing you're really good at" is "kind of destroying you."

The character of Barry, Hader continued, is "good at killing people," and "it's actually kind of eating him away, and he doesn't understand that." In contrast, he's drawn to acting, a situation where he wants to be good at something he's not so good at.

Hader said, he "kind of related" to Barry's dilemma, adding, that he and Berg had "talked about this at 'Saturday Night Live.'"

"I did an okay job with the sketch stuff," Hader said modestly. "But the live television aspect of it was always really hard for me. Like, I have a lot of anxiety, and through the whole time I was on that show, I had a really hard time with that."

Berg thought it would be interesting for Barry to have a similar problem, "that he had this issue," as Hader said, "that the thing he was good at, he was kind of a prisoner of it? But then, conversely, the thing that he wants to do, he's terrible at."

"The bad acting thing" we see early on in "Barry" was the character learning about something he wants to do, Hader said. "You want to see if he's going to get any better, but his enthusiasm hopefully carries him over."

Henry Winkler costars on "Barry" as the acting teacher of the group Barry bumbles into. Playing this self-impressed instructor, Winkler said, was a treat because of the quality of the writing.

The script, Winkler said, "was like wearing cashmere instead of a blend."

During the panel, Hader and Winkler took turns heaping praise on each other. Hader praised Winkler's talent and temperament, saying, "He's beautiful and it was so awesome and he was so -"

Winkler then stood up from his chair, leaned over and kissed Hader on the cheek.

"Oh, here it is," Hader deadpanned, as Winkler leaned in. "I'm sorry you have to see this."

As the journalists in the hotel ballroom laughed, Hader joked, "We're buying a house together," then added, "Henry is just this beautiful kind of light in the room," who took younger actors in the "Barry" cast "under his wing."

"He was so sweet to everybody," Hader said. "If someone had a line or did something, Henry would go, 'I saw what you did and that was really good what you did there.'"

Winkler continued the lovefest, saying, "As an actor, you're on a lot of sets. These gentlemen (Hader and Berg) wrote the show. They produced the show. And they each directed two episodes and then Bill starred in the show. And it was effortless. I never saw either of these men ruffle their feathers. I never saw them get upset. They solved each problem. They kept us comfortable all the time. And I want to say that is a major achievement. That's a lot of jobs to do in a very short amount of time. And to do it that well, I thought, was astounding. Thank you."

"Again," Hader joked, "Henry and I are buying property."

"We're just deciding whether it's in the canyon," Winkler says, "or in the flats.

"I want the canyon actually," Hader said, "but that's another discussion."

"Barry" premieres March 25 on HBO.

"2 Dope Queens" podcast comes to TV: The podcasting duo of Jessica Williams ("The Daily Show") and Phoebe Robinson ("Broad City") were in high spirits answering questions and having playful fun with reporters' names during their session.

The pair, who have built an avid following for their "2 Dope Queens" podcast, will appear in four one-hour specials for HBO. The "2 Dope Queens" specials were filmed before a live audience in Brooklyn, and are directed by Tig Notaro (the comedian known for her own series, "One Mississippi.")

The four specials are each built around a theme, such as "Black Nerds," and feature guest stars including Uzo Aduba, Tituss Burgess, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jon Stewart.

"As two people that do comedy," Williams said of her and Robinson, "an HBO comedy special is, like, the pinnacle of comedy. So, we were really excited to work with HBO."

In the first meeting with HBO staffers, Williams recalled asking if HBO wanted something different from the podcast.

"They were like, 'We just want you guys to do the podcast,'" Williams said. "HBO was amazing because they gave us free creative reign. And I feel like they really honored our voices and gave us, like, the freedom to do what we normally do but with a makeup and wig budget, which was, like, so tight."

In answer to a question about "2 Dope Queens" having wide-ranging appeal, Robinson said she thinks there's a general tendency to assume that "if a project is created by a person of color or queer people or women, it's just for that, like, marker, that society uses to recognize our identity."

In contrast, Robinson said, they intended "2 Dope Queens" to be "relatable to everyone. I don't think white guys sit down in the home and go, 'I wonder if women are going to get my sense of humor.' They assume that everyone understands their perspective. And that's how we went into our show as well. We talk about dating. We talk about living in New York. We talk about racism. We talk about these universal topics from our specific points of view. And for me, I'm not surprised that people of all races love it, people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations. To me, I'm, like, yeah, most content that's created by nonwhite men straight white men is enjoyed by everybody. And that's just not recognized enough."

Williams agreed, adding, "I think the truth resonates. Truth in comedy is important, and truth is universal. And my favorite thing is when I get white dudes who come up to me and are, like, 'I really love '2 Dope Queens.'"

"2 Dope Queens" premieres Feb. 2 on HBO.

Other HBO premiere dates: The HBO press tour day also included Judd Apatow talking about his affectionate, insightful two-part, four-hour documentary, "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling" (airs March 26-27); "Succession," a drama about the family of a wealthy media mogul (airs in June); "Fahrenheit 451," a new movie version of Ray Bradbury's famous book about a dystopian future where "firemen" burn books (airs in the spring); and "Paterno," a TV movie starring Al Pacino as Joe Paterno in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal that engulfed Jerry Sandusky and Penn State University (airs in the spring.)

Stay tuned for more reports from the Television Critics Association 2018 winter press tour.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@KristiturnquistUpdated 6:41 p.m.

Police descended on a Washington County field Friday afternoon in a tense scene that ended with officers shooting and killing a man who earlier fired his gun when an officer tried to approach him.

The confrontation started to unfold around 1:30 p.m. when a Sherwood police officer responded to a report of a suspicious truck in a field near the intersection of Southwest Roy Rodgers and Scholls-Sherwood roads, said Deputy Jeff Talbot, a Washington County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

The area is in unincorporated Washington County just north of Sherwood.

When the officer tried to contact the man in the pickup, he fired his gun, then drove away, Talbot said. The officer was not injured.

The county's tactical negotiation team - its version of a SWAT team - and its crisis negotiation team responded.

Nearby roads were closed as police surrounded the area and created a large perimeter the size of multiple football fields, Talbot said. The suspect drove to different spots within the field multiple times, he said.

Around 3:30 p.m., he said, deputies with the tactical negotiation team tried to contact the man, who was still in his truck.

Video footage from a news helicopter showed an armored vehicle ramming the pickup in the field.

That's when officers fired on the suspect, Talbot said. It's unclear how many officers fired their weapons, how many shots they fired, or whether the suspect fired his weapon.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Talbot said. He did not provide any details on what led police to fire on the suspect. No officers were injured.

Authorities are investigating, and the names of the involved officers will be released in the coming days.

The officers will be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, as is standard practice in an officer-involved shooting, Talbot said.

Roy Rodgers Road was closed from Scholls-Sherwood Road to Cedarview Way.

Sherwood School District officials said students in nearby schools had already been dismissed for the day by the time they found out about the shooting.

Some buses were delayed due to road closures and returned to schools. Students on those buses were held inside the school, and their parents were notified.

-- Anna MarumThe man shot and killed by police in a field near Sherwood Friday afternoon has been identified as 54-year-old Remi Sabbe of Tigard.

Police say he fired multiple shots when an officer approached him, and that they found an AR-style rifle in his truck.

According to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, just after 1:34 p.m., a Sherwood police officer responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle driving in a field near the intersection of Southwest Roy Rogers and Scholls-Sherwood roads north of Sherwood.

When the officer approached Sabbe, he drove off in his truck while firing multiple times, and retreated deeper into the property.

The county's tactical negotiation team - its version of a SWAT team - and its crisis negotiation team responded. Officers closed nearby roads, surrounded the area and established a large perimeter as the man drove to different spots within the field.

According to police, around 3:30 p.m., officers approached Sabbe in his truck.

Video footage from a news helicopter showed an armored vehicle ramming the pickup in the field.

That's when officers fired on Sabbe, police say. He was pronounced dead at the scene. It's unclear how many officers fired their weapons, how many shots they fired, or whether Sabbe fired his weapon.

It's also unclear why officers shot Sabbe, though police found an AR-style rifle in the man's truck. No officers were hurt.

Authorities are investigating, and the names of the involved officers will be released in the coming days.

The officers will be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, as is standard practice in an officer-involved shooting.

Oregon court records show that Sabbe pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 1993, and to driving under the influence of intoxicants in 2008. Sabbe has no record of violent offenses in Oregon.

-- Anna MarumDue to our ever-increasing lifespans, many Americans will live decades after retiring. With pensions growing rarer, and people not saving enough for retirement, many worry that they will run out of savings before their time on Earth is up. While many of today's retirees feel that their money will last, tomorrow's retirees are nowhere near as confident.

"Retirees would rather die than run out of money," says Certified Financial Planner Brett Anderson, President of St. Croix Advisors in Hudson, Wisconsin. "Running out of money is a real fear for most people with whom I meet."

In an exclusive MoneyTips online survey, 452 Americans were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement:

Less than half (42.7%) of the people surveyed overall agreed with the statement, while more than one-quarter (25.8%) disagreed. Only about 1 in 8 (12.8%) strongly agreed.

Says Anderson, "I find it interesting that less than half the people surveyed agreed that their money would last as long as their lives. That's not good; period." As pessimistic as that is, the situation is more dire for the people who haven't yet retired.

While slightly more than half of the retirees (50.4%) believed that their money would last, less than one-third (32.5%) of those yet to retire did. The non-retirees were evenly split between thinking that their money would (32.5%) and wouldn't (32.5%) last. However, more of them strongly disagreed with the statement (11.9%) than strongly agreed (6.7%).

When we break down the respondents by gender, men (49.3%) were more likely to believe that their money would last than women (37.1%), who tend to have longer lifespans. Nearly 1 in 5 (19.3%) men agreed strongly with the statement, but only 1 in 14 (7.3%) women did.

Finally, we looked at how family income affected retirement financial security.

Not surprisingly, the more money one earned, the more likely they were to agree that their money would outlast them. While less than a quarter (23.3%) of people in families earning less than $30,000 annually agreed that their money would last through retirement, a clear majority (60.3%) of people in families earning more than $150,000 annually agreed.

Anderson, who is also a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), explains, "I've learned over the years; it's not about what you make, but rather how much you keep. No matter your income level, you should be financially prepared."

Says Dr. Michael Zey, Professor of Management at Montclair State University's Feliciano School of Business in New Jersey, "As the survey indicates, a significant proportion of Americans believe they will not have enough money to retire comfortably. These findings are supported by a number of studies demonstrating that Social Security, 401(k)s and private and public pension programs will simply not generate the income necessary for millions of Americans to enjoy an adequate standard of living over the two decades-plus they will most likely live after retiring at 65. People are already responding to this growing problem by working past 65 and even into their seventies."

Adds Anderson, "We are living longer, and we all know it. Therefore, we will either need to save more today or work longer. It's simple math.

"We need to understand our financial well-being today, and I suspect for most, take meaningful steps to place ourselves in a better financial position to have the financial future and retirement we desire."

Let the free Retirement Planner by MoneyTips help you calculate when you can retire without jeopardizing your lifestyle. For more of our exclusive retirement data and insights, visit MoneyTips Retirement Survey Findings.Trinity Episcopal Church in Bay City continues its Evensong Series with Contemplative Evensong at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, to celebrate The Confession of St. Peter the Apostle. Evensong is made up of organ music, hymns, scripture readings, prayers, Psalms, canticles and an anthem. The church will be dimly lighted and will use candles and icons to create the atmosphere for sung prayer.

Soprano Rayechel Berger will sing the service and Nicholas Schmelter will be the organist. Berger is the soprano section leader at Trinity and Schmelter is Artist in Residence. The canticles will be the "Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis" by Philip Moore (b. 1943) and the anthem is The God of Love by Eric Thiman (1900-1975). The appointed Psalm is Psalm 23 sung to Gregorian Psalm Tone VIII.I

Organ music will include "Stunde der Weihe" by M. Enrico Bossi (1861-1925), and "Chorale on Lead, Kindly Light" by Robert Hebble (b. 1934).

Hymns that are sung by the congregation are "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" (St. Peter) by Alexander Robert Reinagle (1799-1877), "To the Name of Our Salvation" (Oriel) by Caspar Ett (1788-1847) and "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" (Dominus regit me) by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876).

Other participants include The Rev. Susan Rich, officiant, Jett Whitehead, acolyte, Mary K Freel and Maureen Leibrand, lectors.

The service is open to the public free of charge. Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 815 N. Grant St. on the corner of Grant and Center Avenue in Bay City. Barrier free access is off of the church parking lot on the west side of the building. Friends of Music will host a reception in the Guild Room following the service. For more information call 989-892-5813.History is an old friend of Ralph Hillman. For over the past 40 years Hillman has made it his business to research and catalog family genealogies, including his own. The journey has introduced him to some remarkable people in his past.

"Every person has an interesting story to tell," he said.

Hillman's fascination of genealogy began at a young age. Every summer he and his parents would pack up the car and travel to Maine to visit family.

"As we were driving back and forth through Maine my dad and mother would make a comment about this town over there or that town over there. So I'd kept asking questions. 'Why are you interested in this town?'

They replied with stories about relatives and friends they knew from when they were growing up. Their responses intrigued Hillman and in 1971, after the death of his mother, he started to seriously study family lineages. He eventually became certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists in Washington, D.C. as a genealogical record specialist in 1987. His certification was renewed every five years, as required, until he registered as a retired geneaologist in 2011.

"During that time I did consult with people over the Internet and by phone and helped them to discover their family roots," Hillman said.

Locally, Hillman continues to be involved in the Midland Genealogical Society. Since he joined in the early 1970s, shortly after the group began, he has held several positions including one term as treasurer, five terms as program chair and two terms as president. From there Hillman traveled across the nation, visiting Maine, the public library and New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts; Fort Wayne Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Salt Lake City, Utah, to study the meticulous records kept by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His research encompasses information from websites such as Ancestry.com and local municipalities; the more types of records he can access, the better Hillman can portray a family's history.

"You can't rely just on the census records," he said. "You've got to look at vital records, deeds and probate records. It all makes sense to describe what the family was like."

Over the course of his career Hillman has spoken on several topics at local and national conferences, published 15 articles in genealogical journals as well as two books, "Vital Records of Troy, Maine, Prior to 1892" and "Veazie Genealogy: Some Descendants of William Veazie Who Settled at Braintree, Massachusetts in 1640." On Nov. 9 he received the 2017 Lucy Mary Kellogg Award, the top state award from the Michigan Genealogical Council for his contributions.

Hillman continues to keep his passion for genealogy alive. For the past four years he has worked almost solely on his own family's lineage, starting with John Hillman, a 16-year-old boy who was shanghaied in 1667.

"He was fishing on the Thames River. Another ship crew picked him up and took him as a crew member over to the colonies. He escaped and I'm now working on all of his descendants."

Hillman's project includes 40 years of research and follows six generations along the male line. According to Hillman, his book now comprises about 300 pages with 3,000 footnotes.

"Every statement of fact is footnoted," he said.

The project also extends to Hillman's wife and her family. Hillman is especially interested in the life and adventures of his wife's stepfather, Harold Grey, whom he was very close with.

"He was almost like a second father to me."

History is much more than facts to Hillman; it also contains interesting, intimate stories. For example, his third great-grandfather was the first clerk of Troy, Maine. His second great-grandfather was a ship captain and brought home treasures from all over the world, including an ivory-covered table that his grandmother kept until her death. Grey's grandfather established a candy store in downtown Detroit, was successful and eventually became the first president of the Ford Motor Co. Grey himself was a conscientious objector during World War I and went to prison for it.

"He was completely against war. One of the reasons he was because in the 1910s as a YMCA person he had served over in England in the YMCA and they worked with the German prisoners. He discovered that the German prisoners were people just like himself."

Hillman has been able to take cold, hard facts and turn them into something more relatable. Because of Hillman's thoroughness and dedication to his work, his family and many others are able to see history in a more personal way.Midland Community Family Ministries is bringing marriage and family speakers Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley to Midland Nazarene Church, 5700 Jefferson Avenue in March.

"The Weekend with the Smalleys" will consist of two individual events on two consecutive evenings, both programs from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

On Friday, March 16, the Smalleys will speak to complex and challenging issues unique to blended families, as well as offer encouragement and practical solutions. On Saturday, March 17, they will explore proven biblically-based strategies to navigate relationship roadblocks, improve communication and build a romance that lasts a lifetime.

Married since 1992, Smalleys are passionate to equip couples with the knowledge, skills and insights necessary to enjoy life together.

Greg Smalley serves as vice president of family ministries at Focus on the Family. He is the author of 17 books, including Fight Your Way to a Better Marriage, and The DNA of Relationships (which he co-authored with his father, the late Gary Smalley). He and Erin Smalley co-created The Focus on the Family Marriage Assessment. They also released Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage: 12 Secrets for a Lifelong Romance in 2016.

All are welcome. For more information and ticket pricing go to: mcfamilyministries.org or email mcfamilyministries@gmail.com

"In recent years, Midland Community Family Ministries has sponsored Fight Night (2017) with Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, Sweetheart Rendezvous (2016) with Dan Seaborn and the Ken Reynolds Band, and Marriage Tune-Up II (2015) with Jeff and Debbie McElroy."

Midland Community Family Ministries is a diverse coalition of Midland area Christian churches committed to working cooperatively on a community-wide basis, to encourage, empower and enrich marriages and families.Employees of Hemlock Semiconductor in Hemlock wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, calling on him to restore the polysilicon industry's access to China.

Doing so will sustain U.S. polysilicon manufacturing jobs and create opportunities for growth in Michigan and across the U.S., the letter states. The letter was signed by hundreds of Hemlock employees and delivered to the White House by Hemlock Semiconductor employees.

"We are in a fight for our future and need your help now," the letter states.

In 2012, the U.S. imposed duties on imports of Chinese and Taiwanese solar cells and modules. China also filed a trade action targeting U.S. polysilicon, the fundamental building block of solar cells and modules, imposing significant duties on imports from the United States beginning in 2014.

Since 2014, Hemlock Semiconductor Operations and other U.S. polysilicon producers have been unable to competitively access the Chinese market, which represents 80 percent of the global demand for polysilicon, according to a Hemlock Semiconductor press release.

"The U.S. polysilicon industry can again be a strong, strategically important contributor and exporter to the electronics and solar industries if we're allowed access to our customers in all parts of the world," said Mark Bassett, president and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor.

Hemlock Semiconductor has been operating since 1961 and has about 1,500 employees and full-time contract jobs at its Thomas Township headquarters and manufacturing operations. The trade dispute caused the company to shut down expansions of its operation, including a $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tennessee.The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame.

Friday, Jan. 12

2:37 a.m. -- Police were sent to the 6100 block of Eastman Avenue for a report of a loud party.

Thursday, Jan. 11

12:01 p.m. -- A Coleman man, 26, was arrested in Warren Township for driving while license suspended after he was stopped for speeding. He was cited for speeding and no insurance. A report was sent to the prosecutor's office requested a charge for improper plate.

12:03 p.m. -- A 36-year-old man was arrested in Lee Township for a condition bond violation and a warrant. A report requesting charges of driving while license suspended is being sent to the prosecutor.

12:42 p.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Homer Township school for a report of a 12-year-old student making threats against another 12-year-old student. The school handled discipline.

3:04 p.m. -- Animal control as sent to Jerome Township for a report of a pig loose in a road. The pig was on the owner's property when the deputy arrived.

3:21 p.m. -- A deputy checked the area of West McNally and North Alamando roads after a report of rapid gunfire. Nothing was seen or heard.

5:26 p.m. -- A deputy was called to a Greendale Township home after two pit bulls killed seven chickens. The dog owner compensated the owner of the chickens for the loss, and was warned for allowing the dogs to be loose.

5:55 p.m. -- A Bay County woman, 54, was arrested in Midland for driving while her license was suspended. She was stopped for an expired license plate registration. She was cited for that offense as well as driving without insurance.

7:02 p.m. -- A Midland man, 54, failed to verify his address with the state's sex offender registry. A report is being sent to the prosecutor's office for review.

7:03 p.m. -- A Midland man, 53, failed to verify his address with the state's sex offender registry. A report is being sent to the prosecutor's office for review.

7:24 p.m. -- A Midland woman, 57, failed to verify her address with the state's sex offender registry. A report is being sent to the prosecutor for review.

7:48 p.m. -- A deputy investigated a report of threats in Lee Township.

10:23 p.m. -- A motorist was arrested at Isabella Street and Currie Parkway for drunken driving.I used to be editor of the Huron Daily Tribune in Bad Axe.

That may not seem very important to most of you, but it might seem a bit more important to the people of Ingersoll Township. That's where the energy companies would like to erect some wind turbines, in fact lots of wind turbines. It's also where I own a home.

If you didn't know, let me tell you that Bad Axe is located in the center of Huron County in Michigan's Thumb, and Huron County is the center of wind energy in Michigan. The county has 472 wind turbines. That's more than any other county in the state -- and my job as editor of the local newspaper in Bad Axe was to keep people informed about it.

We had turbine blades stop working, break, and once an entire turbine tower fell over, which if I remember correctly was only the second time that has ever happened in the world, the other incident occurring in Europe. Now that was an interesting news day. I remember the local farmer saying his house shook like there was an earthquake.

One time, I received a phone call from a township board member near Lansing. She asked me, as editor of the local newspaper, what was my take about all this wind turbine talk. What was the straight story? Should we allow them to come to our community? Will we regret it?

And I gave it to her straight: Wind turbines will increase the tax revenue for both the local governing bodies and the school district. They also create steady revenue for the landowners who accept them.

And, finally, as a renewable energy form they are good for the environment. Remember, there is a law in Michigan that says we must have renewable energy, and turbines are the most efficient way to do that. If we don't want that, then we need to change that law.

There were a few drawbacks, but most people consider the wind turbines as more of a plus, than a minus. The drawbacks, as I told this board member from the Lansing area, probably start with the change of the scenery. Once they go up, you are going to pretty much always have them.

Now, some people actually like to look at them. But then others get tired of them. The blinking red lights at night can get to be annoying, although new technology can now prevent their blinking until an airplane or helicopter is nearby.

There is something called flicker, which results when the sun is low in the sky and a nearby turbine blade rotation interrupts the sun's rays. You pretty much have to close your drapes because the flicker can, for a short period of time, become very bothersome inside your home. It normally only occurs either early or late in the day, when the sun is shining and at a certain time of year when the sun's rays line up with a nearby turbine.

There is noise from the turbines, but I found that hardly discernible. And, finally, there are a few people that have said they actually were bothered (to the point of feeling ill) by the low frequency waves that emanate from the turbines.

This last side effect could actually be the most serious, yet it is so uncommon as to be considered fictitious, by some. But I would not completely dismiss the possibility.

There are not piles of dead birds or bats under the turbines. Talk to the farmers with the turbines on their land. They will tell you.

Now I figure most of you from Ingersoll Township that are reading this fall into three categories. Some are dead set against the turbines. Some would love to have them. And there are few people in the middle, kind of like me, trying to sort out wind energy and make a wise decision for all of us.

No, Ingersoll Township does not need wind turbines. But if we do have them, they will be out of sight and out of mind to a large share of the residents. For me? I will see them maybe one day a week, when I drive through the southern part of the township on Sundays on my way to Mass.

The township boards, the school district, the county board and the intermediate school district will all notice some more revenue. As will, as I said before, the landowners who see them and hear them the most.

It can be a difficult decision to make. Most townships in Huron County welcomed the turbines. But some did not.

As a resident of Ingersoll Township, I do not believe I will be disappointed in whatever conclusion our people and our leaders decide on.

The important thing is that the residents of the township feel that their voices have been heard and that the elected officials come to a decision based on what the majority of the people want -- not what outside interests on either side of the issue say.

Dave Shane is editor of the Midland Daily News. He can be reached at dshane@hearstnp.com.Uncoated Free Sheet: Second Round of Price Increases Taking Shape On top of the reduced capacity profile, U.S. net imports have declined sharply in recent months given the surge in non-US uncoated prices, further tightening the US market and providing increased export optionality for the North American producers. Jan. 12, 2018 - According to trade sources, Domtar has informed customers that it is raising prices on offset rolls and sheets by $40 per ton, effective with shipments on February 12th, said Chip Dillon, packaging and forest products analyst at Vertical Research Partners. Dillon offered the following insight on pricing in the uncoated free sheet (UFS) market in the U.S.: We believe [Domtar] is the first major player to work on a second round of price increases after the partially-successful price increase initiative that began in October. To be clear, the grades covered by this announcement cover about a third of Domtar's and the North American industry's uncoated free sheet market. That said, we would expect price increase initiatives spreading to the largest category, cut-size (or copy paper), in coming days and weeks. In fact, a major importer of white paper into the U.S., Portugal's Navigator, last week announced a similar (about $40/ton) price increase for January for cut-size grades. Three smaller players in white papers, Verso, Twin Rivers, and Norpac, in recent weeks have announced $40/ton price increases on various uncoated grades to be implemented in January and February, Dillon pointed out. Why Are Prices Moving Up? With Flambeau's announcement that it will close what amounts to another 1% of North American uncoated capacity this month, we now expect US capacity to fall about 4.5% for 2018 (versus 2017), with another 3.5% coming out in 2019. Again, these declines are based on (1) actual conversion (IP, PKG) and shutdown (GLT, Georgia-Pacific, Flambeau) announcements in recent months, plus (2) assumed 0.3% annual capacity 'creep', Dillon said. On top of the reduced capacity profile, U.S. net imports have declined sharply in recent months given the surge in non-U.S. uncoated prices, further tightening the U.S. market and providing increased export optionality for the North American producers. Keep in mind that most uncoated free sheet paper produced outside of North America is made from purchased (rather than self-produced backward-integrated) pulp and with market pulp prices up 20%-40% over the past year or so, either non-U.S. prices had to rise or there would be much, much less paper in the world  and certainly less than demand! For many months, we have been arguing that U.S. prices simply have to rise as long as market pulp and, therefore, non-U.S. uncoated prices remain elevated; if not, then the North American producers would simply increasingly bypass their domestic customers for the much better-paying foreign ones." Vertical Research Partners is the preeminent independent equity research and consulting firm focused on the Industrials and Materials sectors. To learn more, please visit: www.verticalresearchpartners.com . SOURCE: Vertical Research PartnersSorry queers, sorry queens  scientists are warning us about the environmental impact of glitter, and some even argue it should be banned altogether. Created from microplastic, or plastic that's less than 5 millimeters long, glitter becomes an enticing, but deadly morsel of food for animals in the wild. Some estimate a total 51 trillion microplastic fragments have infiltrated the ocean, many of which come from glitter waste.

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BioGlitz, an independent brand formed in 2015 by Saba Gray alongside friend Rebecca Richards, aims to change the glitter industry and create a brighter, biodegradable future. While most craft glitter is produced using aluminum-coated petroleum, BioGlitz is made from eucalyptus cellulose  and because it's plant-based, the brand's glitter is lighter and less irritating to the skin.

We caught up with Richards to talk about the origins of BioGlitz, and how she hopes it will develop into an inclusive LGBTQ-friendly movement.

How did you and Saba first meet?

Rebecca Richards: Saba and I met at the Bushwick vintage shop Collections, where we instantly bonded over our mutual passion for extravagant self decor and ecofeminist values. I was a studying sustainable fashion at NYU Gallatin at the time, and she was working at Manufacture New York: a fashion incubator/factory hybrid created by Women's March co-founder Bob Bland.

What event kickstarted BioGlitz?

One night Saba and I met up to play dress up before hitting the town  as per usual  but this time she packed our small jars of glitter to share on the dance floor. We ended up at one of those warehouse raves where most people are wearing all black and bobbing their heads to dark techno.

As we started to offer glitz to anyone who complimented us on our shine, we felt the vibe of the room shift. People began to let their guards down, open up, and allow themselves to embrace the simple joy of glitter. Soon we had glitz'd dozens of strangers into new friends, and we watched as the party glowed. From then on, we wore glitter every day and brought it everywhere we went.

But just as we began to realize the beauty of this substance, we also realized the danger in it, as glitter is just micro-particles of plastic which we knew would never break down. The more we wore it, the more guilty we felt, and that gave Saba the genius idea to create a biodegradable glitter.

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What do you see as the biggest issue with the glitter industry?

Our biggest issue with the current glitter industry is how much waste it creates. Regular craft and cosmetic glitters are made of plastics derived from petroleum, mixed with aluminum, then cut into micro-particles making them impossible to recycle. This chemical glitter, like all other micro-plastics, inevitably ends up in our waterways and landfills, polluting our environment, poisoning our food supply, and heating our oceans. As passionate glitter-wearers & earth-dwellers, we knew we had to make a change.

What's the process for creating BioGlitz?

BioGlitz is made by transforming the cellulose of eucalyptus trees into rolls of plant-based plastic, which are then coated in .1 percent aluminum and cosmetic pigments. The 36-inch rolls are then sent through a precision cutter, and the pieces are caught in a net as they are sliced out. Using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified plant-based ingredients, a tiny percentage of metalloids, and zero animal testing makes this formula 100 percent biodegradable, compostable, and guilt-free.

You've said BioGlitz is "more than glitter." What impact do you hope this will have as a larger movement?

BioGlitz is a step towards our dream future free of all plastic, divested from fossil fuels, and completely committed to the health of our planet. Every time we bring BioGlitz to an event, multiple people admit they had no idea glitter was made of plastic. One of our goals is to inspire people to ask how all things are produced, what resources are used in their production, and at what cost? We believe that if more people start asking these questions, more people will be inspired to create sustainable alternatives. Along with encouraging further consideration of nature, we also hope to encourage mindfulness in all aspects of life.

Photography: Dylan Thomas

Creative Direction: Rebecca Richards and Elce Shawe

Models: Mantra, Yera, and Slater

Clothing: ELCESamsung's mobile division CEO Koh Dong-jin held a small press conference at CES this week. On the question of their future foldable smartphone, Koh stated "We are preparing for an impeccable product that will dominate the market in the long run." While Patently Mobile has a special patent archive covering many potential future types of Samsung smartphones from foldable to scrollable and bendable, a steady stream of new patents from Samsung continue to be published by the U.S. Patent Office.

Being that a 'folding' smartphone is the one that Samsung's Mobile CEO was commenting on this week, we thought it the right time to publish both a recent patent win for a foldable smartphone and one that was just published yesterday.

The other patents covered in our report seem to favor mobile TV which is going to play a larger role in the market as 5G networks are made available sometime in 2019-2020 in the U.S. and other major markets around the world. This is likely why Apple is going all out to establish Apple Worldwide video with new content as a viable near future project so that they'll be ready for the 5G era. So on that market front, mobile devices supporting TV are going to be an important new service for both Samsung and Apple. We're also likely to see LG and Sony jump on this bandwagon as well. So the race is on to develop new kinds of display devices.

Foldable Smartphone #1

Samsung's granted patent published on Tuesday covers a lot of territory including a folding smartphone and tablet as noted in the patent figures below. In this particular version of a foldable phone design, the face display slightly wraps around to the back allowing it to be active while the phone is folded to show users they have new voice mail, email, text messages or updates.





Foldable Tablet or Smart TV

Another aspect to Samsung's granted patent relates to larger foldable devices such as a tablet of mobile smart TV which could be successful in the age of 5G networks. The icons illustrated on edges of the foldable device only show up when the device is folded. The icons could represent popular apps. If the device is used as a smart TV, then the icons could be replaced with popular channel buttons.





For more details and patent figures on this patent win, see our original report covering this invention as a patent application back in July 2016.

Foldable Smartphone #2





Samsung's second foldable smartphone is from a new patent application that was published on Thursday. It's a slightly different design in that it's closer to a tradition smartphone as noted in patent figures above.

In Samsung's patent FIGS 1A to FIG. 1C we're able to see a foldable (e.g., bendable) type electronic device #100 (foldable smartphone) which includes a first body #110 and a second body #120 which is foldable in a rotatable manner about a hinge assembly #130 in the first body.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first body and the second body may be foldable to face each other by rotating about an X-axis as a rotation axis by means of the hinge assembly and the first body and the second body may be disposed in general to overlap with each other.

The foldable smartphone may include a flexible touch screen that includes both a touch and force sensor. Components may include a speaker (#111), a camera (#112) and a sensor module (#113). The sensor module may include, for example, at least one of an illumination sensor (e.g., an optical sensor), a proximity sensor, an infrared sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor, or a second camera.

As shown in FIG. 1C, another camera device and a component may be disposed to a rear side of the first body. The component 115 may include at least one of a flash or heart rate measurement device.

A Rollable Device

Unlike many of Samsung's recent scrollable devices, the device presented in patent figures below is strictly rollable. Samsung notes that in general, a rollable display device is rolled to achieve a relatively small size when carried, and is unrolled to provide relatively large images to a user when used.

To this end, the rollable display device includes a rollable structure and a display panel structure that is attached to the rollable structure. Here, the display panel structure is rolled when the rollable structure is rolled by the user, while the display panel structure is unrolled when the rollable structure is unrolled by the user. In the rollable display device, a plurality of rolling cycles is formed as the rollable structure is rolled.





The key Samsung patent figure is that of FIG. 8B above where we're able to see a side view of the rolled up device using magnetic objects iB and oB attached to the bezel region BZ of the rollable structure #140. The magnets secure the rolled device from unravelling prematurely while protecting the flexible display.

Samsung notes in their patent application that the rollable device could be a smartphone, tablet, portable computer monitor or mobile TV.

Stretchable Device

Another granted patent this week reveals another category of device that allows the display to be stretched out to a fixed width by using a scrollable display. As the user grabs the grips located on the left side of the smartphone, as noted in the patent figure below, they're able to release the side so as to allow it to be scrolled out to increase the width of the smartphone to accommodate better viewing of television, other video content or even an application like a wide spreadsheet.





Samsung's granted patent was only filed in the U.S. in July 2017, so this was a rather quick approval by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

As flexible OLED display technology matures, new properties used to create the display will allow OEMs to design very creative devices like the ones noted above. Korea's Kolon Industries is a key player in developing technology to allow displays to fold without breaking or causing damage. They've said that they're working with five major OEM's and it was hinted that Apple was one of them. This was likely the technology that Samsung was waiting for in order to put their designs through testing to advance their folding smartphone.

At the end of the day, Samsung is trying to patent every conceivable device category possible for future devices. While Apple and other major OEMs are likewise patenting new device form factors, Samsung is by far the largest holder of patents regarding displays with new form factors.

If we go by what Samsung said earlier this week, then a foldable smartphone is likely what they plan on bring to market first to test the waters. Whether any of the other designs have a chance of winning in the market is unknown at this time.





Patently Mobile presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Comments: Patently Mobile reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.A report from Scotland tells us that Scottish Socialist Party plan to stage a demonstration outside the shop in Princes Street, armed with a 7ft replica iPhone X and placards demanding: "Give workers a bigger bite of the Apple."

Hugh Cullen of the Scottish Socialist Party said that "Apple is the richest company in the world. They made profits of $44 billion (32bn) last year, yet they do not even pay their staff here a living wage."

Edinburgh News noted Cullen further stating that "Leaving aside the slave wages they pay workers in China, we aim to draw attention to the poverty pay their staff endure here."

Update 6pm

In an attempt to put some perspective to the story, below is a UK, Scotland wage scale chart divided into minimum wage, national living wage and real living wage. 7.50 (UK Pounds) is roughly US$10.50; 8.75 (UK Pounds) is roughly US$12.02 and 10.20 (UK Pounds) is roughly US$14.01. According to Glassdoor Glasgow UK, Apple pays 8.24 (UK Pounds) hourly for floor reps at the Edinburgh store, which is on level of voluntary pay scale starting at 8.75 (UK Pounds). Apple's 8.24 (UK Pounds) is $11.32/hr. According to Indeed (bottom of page), Apple pays US Apple Store sales staff $14.51 and up. This isn't to be used as absolutes, but an overview according to data available.

I don't see "Poverty Pay" but rather Apple paying higher than minimum wage and in fact towards the higher voluntary pay scale. It's up to the Socialist Party to spell out their grievances in real wages and what they're demanding. Screaming fowl play isn't really going to win over people to their cause without specific grievances spelled out.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE



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.The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr David Asante Apeatu, has commended the Volta region for recording the lowest crime rate in the country.



The IGP who was addressing chiefs of the Asogli State in Ho as part of a duty tour of the Region, said statistics attested to the fact that the region did "extremely well" in crime management in the past year.



He said the feat was worth emulating and praised the chiefs for supporting the Police in maintaining law and order in the Region.



Mr Apeatu said the Service was working towards building a peaceful and business friendly environment and called for support from all.



Togbe Lakle Howusu XII, Chief of Ho Dome and Warlord of the Asogli State, said there was an increased use in narcotic drug by the youth and asked the Police to pay attention to the development.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen has named the persons who sat with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards which has caused some controversy in the last few weeks.



Mr Kyerematen gave the names on Friday when he appeared before the five-member Parliamentary committee investigating the matter.



According to him, 17 persons ranging from top business executives to key political figures.



Below is the full list of persons on the Presidents table at the awards night:



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo



Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremateng



Carlos Ahenkorah, Deputy Trade Minister



Mr Ashim Morton, President of Millennium Excellence Foundation



Mr. Amarh Hari, Chief Executive of IPMC



Mr. Ashok Mohinani, Chairman of Mohinani Group



Mr Salem Kalmoni, Chief Executive of Japan Motors



Jerry John Rawlings and his wife



Mr. Saied Fakhry, Executive Chairman of Interplast Ghana Limited



Ms. Roshi Motman, Chief Executive of AirtelTigo Ghana



Mr. Jim OBrien, Founder and Executive Chairman of Zenith Bank Group



Mr Bhagwan Khubchandani, Chief Executive of Melcom Ghana.



Mr. David Haper, Chief Executive of Geodrill Ghana



Mr. Mike Tacwani, Chief Executive of B Pipe Plus Ghana



Yofi Grant, CEO of GIPC



Yeo Ziobeieton, Chief Executive of Unilever Ghana



Ishmael Ashitey, Greater Accra Regional Minister



No wrongdoing



The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen also said his outfit did no wrong in the infamous cash for seat scandal.



According to him, a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry and the organizers of the event clearly spelt out which party was responsible for soliciting for sponsorship and collection of monies for the awards ceremony.



Making his submission to the committee probing the matter in parliament today, Mr Kyerematen said the Millennium Excellence Foundation, who were the event organizers, handled all issues of sponsorship.



Background



The allegation of extortion against expatriates at the awards ceremony was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, in Parliament in December 2017.



Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministrys accounts.



The issue was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.



The Ministry of Trade and Industry initially dissociated itself from these allegations.



The Trade Ministry, in a statement said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.



But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc 2,667,215 was realized from the event.



The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Source: Citifmonline.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One watercolor has wowed the curators at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

It's 235 years old, seven feet long. Its subject is the Continental Army encampment at Verplanck's Point in 1782. It was painted by Pierre L'Enfant, a French-American military engineer who would go on to come up with the original city plan for Washington D.C.

What makes the watercolor so special isn't necessarily its age or its painter. It's a small white tent on a hilltop. Just a few brushstrokes that mean so much more.

"If I had a defibrillator, it would have gone off I was so excited," said R. Scott Stephenson, vice president of collections at the Museum of the American Revolution, referring to when he spotted it.

That tent is Washington's field headquarters, which is the prize artifact at the Museum of the American Revolution. Prior to the watercolor, the museum had no pictures of the tent in action from Washington's era.

Now, it has an entire exhibit devoted to the L'Enfant work, which the museum discovered and identified.

"Among His Troops" is a temporary exhibit, open at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia from Jan. 13 to Feb. 19. It is free with museum admission.

Take a video tour of the exhibit with gallery educator Dan Center

The L'Enfant watercolor is more than just a look at the field headquarters tent. It's a snapshot of a moment in time, and a look at the Continental Army at its very best.

When L'Enfant painted the army, Washington's troops were on a mission to impress the French, so that the army could continue to enjoy French military and financial support.

"They worked really hard to get those guys spit and polished," Stephenson said.

Washington wanted to show that "this army can win and we are prepared," said Philip Mead, chief historian for the museum. "We can produce this extraordinary encampment. We're well supplied. We're not the beleaguered troops of the past."

That need to impress isn't something you would expect from the time period. The watercolor depicts the army in 1782 -- one year after the Battle of Yorktown and the defeat of General Charles Cornwallis.

"We tend to think the war and all the crises that went along with that ended with Yorktown, but in fact at this moment everything was uncertain," Mead said. "It looked like the war could fail, Americans might not achieve their independence and, even if it succeeded, the republican experiment of the United States would fall apart in the breach."

The French fleet had been defeated by British in West Indies. The British army had defeated the Spanish and French in Gibraltar. The British government was considering refocusing its military energy on the United States, Mead explained. In the meantime, Congress had stopped paying the Continental Army troops.

That's part of the reason Washington is shown in his tent on the field, rather than a nearby house where he'd be much more comfortable.

"In the middle of all of that crisis, he knew that he was the most powerful unifying symbol in the nation," Mead said. "He wanted every one of those troops in those encampment, all spread out... he wanted all of them to see that he was with them, that he had their back."

"What we see here in this watercolor is a moment that looks very peaceful," Mead added later. "But it is in fact a moment where Washington is expressing the unique form of leadership that navigated the country through its major crisis and the most underappreciated one in American history."

The exhibit goes into detail about the watercolor, magnifying certain aspects and providing context. It also showcases another L'Enfant work, a watercolor of the Continental Army at West Point in 1782. There are artifacts on display that likely would have been onsite at the Verplanck's Point camp. There are also hands-on activities, including a chance for kids to dress up as Revolutionary War soldiers, hang out in tents and roll their own ammunition cannister.

There are multiple interactive programs tying into the exhibit during its run at the museum, including:

Opening Weekend,

Makers' Night,

Making Washington's Tents,

African American Patriots lecture by Judith L. Van Buskirk, PH.D.,

Mapping the War,

"Among His Troops" with R. Scott Stephenson and Philip Mead

President's Day Weekend Programs

DETAILS: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 13-Feb. 19 at the Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia. Cost: Free with museum admission ($19 for adults; $17 for seniors, students and military and $12 for children (6-17)). 215-253-6731 amrevmuseum.org.

Want more stories about Philly? Click here for all our coverage of the City of Brotherly Love.JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Edgar Ray Killen, a 1960s Ku Klux Klan leader who was convicted decades later in the "Mississippi Burning" slayings of three civil rights workers, has died in prison at the age of 92, the state's corrections department announced Friday.

Killen was serving three consecutive 20-year terms for manslaughter when he died at 9 p.m. Thursday inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. An autopsy was pending, but no foul play was suspected, the statement said.

His conviction came 41 years to the day after James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, all in their 20s, were ambushed and killed by Klansmen.

The three Freedom Summer workers had been investigating the burning of a black church near Philadelphia, Miss. A deputy sheriff in Philadelphia had arrested them on a traffic charge, then released them after alerting a mob. Mississippi's then-governor claimed their disappearance was a hoax, and segregationist Sen. Jim Eastland told President Lyndon Johnson it was a "publicity stunt" before their bodies were dug up.

The slayings shocked the nation, helped spur passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and were dramatized in the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning." The movie title came from the name of the FBI investigation.

Killen, a part-time preacher and lumber mill operator, was 80 when a Neshoba County jury of nine white people and three black people convicted him of three counts of manslaughter on June 21, 2005, despite his assertions that he was innocent. Prosecutors said Killen masterminded the slayings, then went elsewhere so he would have an alibi.

Killen was the only person ever to face state murder charges, and even then, it was the lesser charge of manslaughter that put him in state prison.

"It wasn't even murder. It was manslaughter," David Goodman, Andrew's younger brother, observed Friday.

"His life spanned a period in this country where members of the Ku Klux Klan like him were able to believe they had a right to take other people's lives, and that's a form of terrorism," Goodman said. "Many took black lives with impunity."

FILE-In this 1964 file photo released by the FBI, the bodies of three civil rights workers are uncovered from an earthen dam southwest of Philadelphia, Miss. The photograph was entered as evidence by the prosecution in the trial of Edgar Ray Killen, who was convicted in 2005 for three counts of manslaughter in the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Schwerner, a white New Yorker, moved to Mississippi in early 1964 to work on black voter registration and other projects. Chaney was a black Mississippian who befriended him. Andrew Goodman, another white New Yorker, underwent civil-rights training in Ohio and arrived in Mississippi a day before he, Schwerner and Chaney were killed.

Investigators searching for their bodies found bodies of other black men who had been killed in Mississippi, including two who were brutalized before being dumped in the Mississippi River.

Schwerner's widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, said on the day Killen was convicted that the slayings were part of a larger problem of violence in Mississippi against black people and others who challenged the segregationist status quo.

"Preacher Killen did not act in a vacuum and the members of the Klan who were members of the police department and the sheriff's department and the highway patrol didn't act in a vacuum," she said.

Goodman said Friday that Killen's passing is a reminder that issues of racism and white nationalism remain today. He pointed to the violent rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., as an example.

Killen wouldn't say much about the killings during a 2014 interview with The Associated Press inside the penitentiary. He said he remained a segregationist who did not believe in racial equality, but contended he harbored no ill will toward black people. Killen said he never had talked about the events that landed him behind bars, and never would.

Long a suspect in the 1964 slayings, Killen had made a livelihood from farming, operating his sawmill and preaching to a small congregation at Smyrna Baptist Church in Union, south of Philadelphia, Mississippi.

According to FBI files and court transcripts from a 1967 federal conspiracy trial, Killen did most of the planning in the ambush killings of the civil rights workers. According to testimony in the 2005 murder trial, Killen served as a kleagle, or organizer, of the Klan in Neshoba County and helped set up a klavern, or local Klan group, in a nearby county.

Nineteen men, including Killen, were indicted on federal charges in the 1967 case. Seven were convicted of violating the victims' civil rights. None served more than six years.

Killen's federal case ended with a hung jury after one juror said she couldn't convict a preacher. During his state trial in 2005, witnesses testified that on June 21, 1964, Killen went to Meridian to round up carloads of Klansmen to ambush Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, telling some of the Klan members to bring plastic or rubber gloves. Witnesses said Killen then went to a Philadelphia funeral home as an alibi while the fatal attack occurred.

The three bodies were found 44 days later, buried in a red-clay dam in rural Neshoba County.

In February 2010, Killen sued the FBI, claiming the government used a mafia hit man to pistol-whip and intimidate witnesses for information in the case. The federal lawsuit sought millions of dollars in damages and a declaration that his rights were violated when the FBI allegedly used a gangster known as "The Grim Reaper" during the investigation. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

In the AP interview, Killen repeated his contention that he was not a criminal, but a political prisoner. He spoke of his many friends, Sen. Eastland among them. Of one thing he was certain: "I could have beat that thing if I'd had the mental ability."

When she learned of Killen's death, Chaney's sister, the Rev. Julia Chaney Moss, said her first thought was that "God has been kind to him. And for that I am grateful."

"My last thought on this is just that I only wish peace and blessings for all the families as well as the families of the perpetrators," she said.

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and REBECCA SANTANA, Associated PressAfter a brief hiatus, winter weather has returned to central Pennsylvania.

High temperatures that were in the 60s on Friday, will be replaced by below freezing temperatures for Saturday through Monday.

"Just a coating of around one-quarter of an inch layer of sleet and freezing rain is expected across much of the region to the southeast of the Interstate 81 and Interstate 78 corridor with little or no snowfall," according to the National Weather Service at State College.

The high for Saturday in the Harrisburg area is expected to reach about 30, with wind gusts of up to 33 mph.

The low tonight is expected to be about 10, with wind chill values reaching zero in some areas.

SUNDAY: Sunny, with a high near 22. Wind chill values as low as zero. Low around 7.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. There will be a 40 percent chance of light snow. Low around 21.

TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. There will be a 40 percent chance of light snow. Low around 15.

WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 25. Low around 13.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.A departure ceremony was held on Saturday morning in Harrisburg for about 500 members of Pennsylvania National Guard who will soon be shipped to the Middle East.

Members of the 28th Infantry Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion were honored during the ceremony at the Zembo Temple.

The ceremony was attended by several thousand people, including family members, Pa. National Guard leaders and Governor Tom Wolf.

Officials said the battalion will be headquartered in Kuwait as part of Operation Spartan Shield, and provide support services for several thousand troops stationed in the area including training and logistics.

The 28th Division, stationed in Harrisburg, earned its nickname, the Iron Division, during fierce fighting in World War I.

"Now, a century later, you embark on this major commitment to defend freedom and liberty throughout the world," said Maj. Gen. Tony Carrelli, Pennsylvania's adjutant general.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 35,000 members of the Pa. National Guard have been deployed overseas, Carrelli said.

"As Pennsylvanians, we are honored and proud to support our service members, veterans and their families," said Governor Wolf. "Thank you, 28th Infantry Division, for your willingness to serve and your dedication to your fellow man. Know that while you are deployed, Pennsylvania will pray for you and continue to support your families. Best wishes for a safe deployment."WILLIAMSPORT - The government is accused of "manufacturing" a crime to obtain charges against purported members of a white nationalist organization.

The government did not infiltrate an ongoing criminal enterprise but "it concocted and set up the entire crime" that included a meeting in Harrisburg, assistant federal public defender D. Toni Byrd contends.

"Without the government and its supply of methamphetamine, machine gun parts and interested buyers, there would be no crime," she wrote in a motion filed Friday in U.S. Middle District Court.

She asked Judge Matthew W. Brann to dismiss the indictment handed up April 27 against Justin Daniel Lough due to "outrageous government conduct."

Lough, of Waynesboro, Va., is one of six purported Aryan Strikeforce members awaiting trial on charges that allege they wanted to obtain firearms, ammunition and funds to carry out activities of the organization.

Lough and his co-defendants may have a common belief but were not engaged in an ongoing criminal enterprise when first approached by government agents in Staunton, Va., Byrd claims.

It was there an undercover individual asked if they were willing to assist in the transportation of narcotics in return for pay, the indictment states.

The government last Jan. 17 provided simulated methamphetamine, a person in Pennsylvania who purchased it, instructed the five to buy gift cards with the proceeds and told them who was to get them, Byrd wrote in a brief.

The indictment alleges the same thing happened March 12 when simulated marijuana was obtained from an agent in Pennsylvania, delivered to a law enforcement officer in Maryland and the proceeds used to buy gift cards, she points out.

The Harrisburg meeting, according to the indictment, occurred March 30 and included a discussion on opportunities to generate funds to purchase firearms.

Lough and the others are alleged to have received machine parts from an undercover agent on April 7, delivered them and simulated methamphetamine to an officer in Maryland, received cash and bought gift cards.

At a September hearing at which Lough's motion for bail was denied, Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel said evidence will show the accused participated in a reverse sting.

He claimed the gift cards were to finance the strikeforce's activities.

Lough, at the Harrisburg meeting, was given the opportunity to back out because of potential criminal liability, the prosecutor said.By Eugene Robinson

If you want to know President Donald Trump's position on any given policy issue, the last person you should ask is President Trump. He has no idea what he thinks.

Eugene Robinson (PennLive file)

Let me amend that. He does know that he wants more immigrants from places such as Norway and fewer from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador, which he called "shithole countries" in a meeting with lawmakers Thursday, according to The Post.

So in terms of racism, he's crystal clear. On most other things, though, he's fuzzy to the point of cluelessness.

It was an astonishing moment Tuesday, at Trump's televised "negotiation" with congressional leaders on immigration, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked whether the president would support a "clean" or stand-alone bill providing relief for the estimated 700,000 "dreamers" who were brought to the United States illegally when they were children. Legislation that would let them stay is known in Washington acronym-speak as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

"I have no problem . . . We're going to do DACA, and then we can start immediately on the phase two, which would be comprehensive," Trump said. When Feinstein asked again if he would be agreeable to this approach, Trump said, "Yeah, I would like to do that. I think a lot of people would like to see that. But I think we have to do DACA first."

Republicans around the table freaked out. Trump had adopted the Democrats' position and abandoned his own, which is, or was, that any action to help the dreamers had to be accompanied by tough-on-immigration measures -- such as funding for Trump's border wall. (Never mind that Mexico was supposed to pay for the wall, according to Trump's campaign rhetoric.)

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) quickly jumped in to clarify that what the president obviously meant by "yes" was "no."

The televised part of the session lasted 55 minutes, and the president seemed uncharacteristically agreeable throughout. As in, agreeable to anything: He actually said at one point that he would sign whatever immigration bill the assembled legislators managed to pass.

On another issue, the White House made clear what it wanted Congress to do about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: reject a measure that would restrict the government's ability to conduct domestic surveillance of Americans. But on Thursday, Trump undercut his own position with a morning tweet:

" 'House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.' This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?"

So it sounded as if Trump might be in favor of limiting potential FISA abuses. But a couple of hours later, the president tweeted again to say, basically, never mind. It was widely speculated that the first, rogue tweet had been prompted by a headline crawling by on "Fox & Friends."

[There is nothing 'professional' about this president]

When Trump convened a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, he had an odd greeting for the media pool that had been admitted to cover the session: "Welcome back to the studio."

Could he actually see the West Wing as a television studio? Or as being similar enough to a studio that he confuses the two? In December, the New York Times reported something that made my jaw drop: "Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals."

I want to be fair here. Of course all presidents would rather win fights than lose them, and, since they're politicians, they want to be seen as winning those fights. But seeing each day as an "episode" of a reality-show presidency is a recipe for chaos, inconsistency, discontinuity, incoherence -- a recipe for what we've seen in the first year of the Trump presidency.

Tuesday's immigration summit was "the episode in which Trump shows he's a serious leader involved in weighty issues, not the looney-tunes airhead depicted in Michael Wolff's book." Wednesday's Cabinet meeting was "the episode in which Trump shows his leadership but this time doesn't contradict his own policy."

Needless to say, this is no way to run a country. But it may be all the Trump administration is capable of.

Trump had no ideas for reshaping the health-care system, with the result that Obamacare is still in place. He had no ideas for reshaping tax policy except "cut, cut, cut," with the result that Republicans came up with a bill that balloons the national debt while offering caviar to the rich and peanuts to the middle class.

They say ignorance is bliss. Trump must be very happy.

Eugene Robinson is a columnist for The Washington Post. His work appears on Saturdays on PennLive Opinion.ISSUES....

Inside, confidential and off the record

S imply indefensible



Cinemateque Films



The mask gets ripped off America's fucking ugly face.

Oh, he's king alright. King of a shit hole. Trump: King of a Shit Hole

ON THE POLITICAL FROM sometimes things that President Trump says are simplyindefensible and in the course of the past twenty four hours we fear hes gone to new lows in this regard.

Firstly and this is not denied by the White House he said regarding Haiti, El Salvador and generic African countries, Why are we having these people from shithole counties come here. We apologise for the vulgarity but the White House press room did not deny

that the President said this and released the following statement.

Certain Washington politicians chose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people. Like other countries that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.



He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United

States through a legal pathway.



That hardly is an excuse. Presidents should know better. Presidents should obviously speak better. We understand that Ms. Mia Love, the only Republican member of Congress of Haitian descent, has called upon the President to apologise, and well she should.



Secondly, the President has decided not to travel to the UK next month for a long scheduled meeting with Prime Minister May, stating simply that he is Not a big fan of the new Embassy there where hed have stayed overnight. The Queen herself had extended the invitation to visit the UK and so this is an affront to the Queen as well as to Ms. May. After Canada and perhaps Australia is there a more constant ally of the US than the UK? We think not. This is inexcusable and it is an embarrassment to the US Ambassador to the UK, Mr. Woody Johnson, who only recently had said that that the President was absolutely certain to visit the UK this year. Now, Mr. Johnson appears either foolish or wholly out of the diplomatic loop.



Finally, regarding the mid-term elections later this year, the prospects for the Democrats are growing more and more certain, and we turn to the comments yesterday by our friend, Mr. Greg Valliere, who wrote regarding the recent series of retirement notices on the part of

long standing Republican members of Congress, including the politically powerful Mr. Daryl Issa of California. Greg wrote:



TIME TO LEAVE? Not surprisingly  in light of these and other hypocrisies  the anti-incumbent mood is still very much alive; Trump has not drained the swamp. So there's an increasing chance of a "wave" election this fall, with Republicans losing control of both the House and Senate. Two GOP veterans in California announced their retirements this week in districts that are likely to shift to the Democrats.



THERE ARE NOW 29 OPEN GOP SEATS, with a few more to come, compared to 14 open Democratic seats. And eight GOP House committee chairmen are stepping down  a sign, perhaps, that they have no interest in working for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019. Since FDR, the party that controls the White House has lost, on average, 23 seats in the first midterm election. The Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats to recapture the House  now within striking distance.



THE SENATE APPEARED TO BE AN EASY CALL for the past few months, with the Democrats looking vulnerable in up to 10 states; they have to defend 25 seats compared to only 8 held by Republicans. Even this now looks close, with the GOP still the slight favorites to maintain their slim 51-49 seat majority, perhaps adding a seat or two  not the possible five or six seat gain Republicans had been hoping for.

THERE'S NO GREAT LOVE FOR DEMOCRATS, who still don't have much of an agenda other than "we hate Trump." They desperately need fresh blood, but Democrats have one very big advantage  a highly motivated, angry base that will turn out to vote. Chances of a "wave election" continue to grow.

We are life-long Republicans here at TGL, having voted for every Republican candidate in our voting lifetime save for two votes cast for Mr. Clinton. We have voted for one Republican senator after another; weve supported every Republican congressman in our districts. We are center-right; we believe in free markets; in states rights; in small government and local, hence we were overjoyed to find a Republican House, Senate and President at the November election fifteen months ago, but that joy is gone as the prospects grow dire with each passing day.

Dennis Gartman / The Gartman Letter / Friday, January 12th, 2018









ISSUES.... 01/ 15/ 2017 - Send Us Your Issues



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Maximo Anderson: In Colombia,

marxist rebels hold the oil industry hostage Ramon Campos Iriarte



An ELN flag marks the limit of the rebels' territory along the Atrato river Guerrillas have resumed attacks on critical energy infrastructure,

threatening the government's pursuit of foreign investors. From a distance, the muffled sounds of laughter could be heard along with the loud crackle of a microphone. Marxist guerrillas from the National Liberation Army were hosting an event for residents of Noanama, a village in the rainforest in northwestern Colombia. After updating the audience on the latest developments in peace negotiations with the government, rebels took turns at the mic taunting each other with rhyming ditties that were met with raucous laughter and applause. Among those trying out their wit that evening was an Afro-Colombian rebel whose nom de guerre is Negro Primero. He joined the group, which is best known by its Spanish initials, ELN, when he was 15 years old, he said, but would not share his current age or where he was from. He did concede that he'd previously been stationed in Arauca, an oil-rich province that's been the group's stronghold for the past 35 years. Asked what kept him and his comrades in the bush more than a year after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had agreed to lay down its arms he responded: Let me ask you something, my little gringo. What would you do if you were born here, amid this misery and injustice? A three-month cease-firethe first in three years of negotiations between the ELN and the governmentexpired on Jan. 9. While the group's leadership, which claims around 4,000 fighters, had pledged to carry on with talks, rebels resumed attacks on a vital oil pipeline that runs through Arauca just hours after the deadline expired. Since it was inaugurated in 1986, the 485-mile conduit, which connects the Cano Limon oil field operated by Occidental Petroleum Corp. to the port of Covenas on the Caribbean Sea, has been dynamited about a thousand timesor once a week, on average. There have been so many holes made in it some locals refer to it as la flauta (the flute). The attacks have claimed 167 lives and put the pipeline out of commission for 3,800 days, or 10.4 years, according to the state oil company, Ecopetrol SA , depriving it and its private-sector partners of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Some 1.5 million gallons of crude have been spilled since 2000 alone, which hasn't endeared the ELN to environmentalists. The group was founded in 1964 by students inspired by the Cuban revolution and Catholic priests steeped in liberation theology. Unlike the FARC, which relied heavily on drug trafficking to fund itself, the ELN has supported itself through a combination of kidnapping, extortion, and voluntary contributions. Victor de Currea-Lugo, a professor at the National University of Colombia in Bogota and a leading expert on the group, points out that Arauca is virtually the only place in the country with little to no coca crops, thanks to an eradication campaign carried out by the ELN. Bombings have taken a 485-mile Colombian pipeline out of commission for 3,800 days The distinction never made much difference in Washington, which designated both the ELN and the FARC as terrorist organizations in 1997. Under President George W. Bush, Washington sharply ramped up military aid to Colombia, with just shy of $100 million earmarked for training and equipping a Colombian brigade dedicated to protecting the pipeline. The resumption of attacks in Arauca complicates matters for President Juan Manuel Santos, who's been working to lure foreign companies to Colombia to explore for oil and minerals. The Colombian Petroleum Association , an industry group, expects investment by private oil companies to jump as much as 45 percent in 2018, to $4.9 billion, spurred by an improvement in security and the introduction last year of tax breaks for those investing in former conflict zones. Yet in a meeting with reporters in December, the association's president, Francisco Jose Lloreda, said that's still too little to replenish crude reserves, which have dipped to the equivalent of five years of production. Colombia's neighbors, Ecuador and Venezuela, have about 40 years and 340 years of reserves, respectively. We have used the pipeline as a strategy to influence government [policy] and to pressure multinationals, says Negro Primero. But we are not using it as a tool to influence the negotiations. After more than 40 attacks in the first nine months of 2017, including one that shut down the pipeline for seven weeksthe longest it's been non-operational in 30 yearsthere were no incidents during the cease-fire. The show of goodwill didn't mollify Juan Carlos Echeverry, who stepped down as president of Ecopetrol in August. He calls the ELN an anachronism and says the group needs to stop its irrational violence. Bruce Bagley, a professor at the University of Miami who's an expert on the conflict, says he feels optimistic about negotiations. While the rebels are often portrayed as intransigent, Bagley says the ELN is serious about peace. And so is the government: Peace could attract lots of foreign investment, which Santos needs ASAP. Negro Primero says a treaty like the one struck with the FARC in 2016 will amount to surrender or, even worse, could lead to the ELN's annihilation. Since laying down arms, 11 former FARC fighters have been assassinated, presumably by right-wing paramilitaries or paid hitmen working for landowners or politicians who would prefer to see the rebels behind bars or dead rather than reintegrated into society. The ELN rebels are demanding guarantees of their safety if they disarm. Bagley acknowledges that Santos hasn't fulfilled many of the pledges made in the peace process with the FARC. In particular, the government has dragged its feet implementing land reform and ensuring security. The ELN argues its struggle is necessary to help bring about racial and environmental justice and fairer land distribution, and to resist exploitation by foreign corporations. In an end-of-year address posted online, the ELN's jefe maximo , who goes by the alias Gabino, promised to continue negotiations even if hostilities resumed. Meanwhile, Colombia's defense minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, said in a speech in December that the army would confront [the ELN] with full force if the cease-fire isn't extended. For his part, Negro Primero seems less than eager to lay down the U.S.-made M16 rifle that lies by his side during our conversation. We're proud to be the last armed insurgency on the continent, he says. We'll fight to the end if we have to. (Updates throughout to reflect renewal of rebel attacks hours after the ceasefire expired.)



Maximo Anderson is a freelance journalist focusing on social and environmental conflict. Bogota, D.C., Colombia. Maximo has worked among indigenous communities in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon and has reported on Colombia's rebel groups. He has written and produced for Univision News, HBO among others. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views. Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by Bloomberg BusinessWeek , on January 10, 2017. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Petroleumworld and its owners.



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Pennsylvania will no longer provide the names of medical marijuana patients to law enforcement agencies.

The state Department of Health made the announcement late Friday afternoon in the wake of an Inquirer and Daily News story that called attention to the fact that marijuana patients would not be able to buy firearms.

The department also called for the federal government to reclassify marijuana, essentially demanding that it legalize cannabis on a national level. Currently, the Drug Enforcement Administration considers all forms of the plant to be "without any accepted medical use," "highly addictive," and on par with LSD and heroin. Last week U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed Obama-era policies and said federal prosecutors had the discretion to crack down on participants in state-legal marijuana programs.

"Pennsylvania, and the other 28 states where medical marijuana is legal, need the federal government to recognize what voters and bipartisan legislatures across the nation have overwhelmingly called for, and that is that medical marijuana must be rescheduled as a Schedule II medication," the Health Department statement read. Other Schedule II drugs include oxycodone and fentanyl.

About 13,000 Pennsylvanians have applied to participate in the state program. If all goes as planned, the first crop of medical marijuana will be harvested Jan. 27 and shipped to dispensaries the second week of February.

Initially, the state's medical cannabis regulations required the Health Department to post a database of patient names to an online portal called JNET, used by 38,000 law enforcement professionals in the state.

The idea had been to provide some legal protection for patients. If a patient was stopped carrying doctor-recommended marijuana, an officer would have scanned a medical marijuana ID card to learn if the holder was a current participant in the program. In theory, that would have provided the patient with some immunity.

But the JNET information also would have stopped a patient from buying a gun. The data could be accessed in a background check while buying a firearm. A positive result would have stopped the patient from owning a weapon and obtaining the ammunition to load it. In addition, federal law enforcement agencies would have had access to the information.

"Keeping the patient registry out of JNET vastly improves privacy," said advocate Chris Goldstein, who writes the "Philly420" column for Philly.com. "No one should be entered into a law enforcement database just for being seriously ill."

A bipartisan outcry led by marijuana, gun and privacy advocates spurred state officials to reshape state policy. Patient medical marijuana cards will no longer be scanned and run through the state computer network.

"In the case that law enforcement needs to verify a patient's participation in the program, they will rely on the patient's medical marijuana ID card," a Health Department spokeswoman said. "While federal law prohibits anyone to purchase a firearm while using medical marijuana, a patient's status in the program will not be verified during the background check process through JNET."Tara Pellegrino, a newly elected school board member from Warminster, is one of the new breed. Democratic Party voters dont want to hear watered-down propaganda, says Pellegrino, with son Giovanni. Read more

If they haven't already, leaders of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party might want to put the champagne down. Their shotgun wedding to a coterie of new-to-the-system Democrats could be at risk of a nasty Vegas hangover.

Reality Check No. 1: The Trump-incensed mob of Democratic upstarts who delivered historic turnout and unseated Republicans in counties and municipalities across the voter-rich Philadelphia suburbs in November look nothing like the mostly baby-boomer men who have led the party for years.

Reality Check No. 2: The upstarts are in no mood to start taking top-down orders from them, either.

Newbies gave the state's flaccid party youthful vitality thanks to people like Tara Pellegrino of Warminster and the largely women who ran for local office and won as Democrats last fall. Because of them and the psyched voters behind them, the party may now have a shot at high-enough turnout to win Republican congressional seats this fall.

But will the party give these newcomers a seat at the table when picking primary candidates? Will it move its policy priorities and rhetoric sharply to the left, as some of these women insist? Will it deliver a unifying economic message for everyone  or just keep dishing out muddled, middle-of-the-road platitudes while it searches for a cohesive, winning identity?

The way Tara sees it  and who can really argue with her?  the party has no choice but to change its ways. And grow a backbone.

She thinks the party doesn't make it easy enough for a diverse group of people to run for office, even though the ultimate outsider, Donald Trump, just showed everyone you can win bigly without decades of genuflecting to party chieftains.

Tara also thinks the party is too preoccupied with polls that size up "electability." [The only reason she got the nod to run, she says, was that no one else was interested. She ended up flipping a Republican school board seat in Bucks County.]

Now that she's won as a Democrat in the predominantly Republican Centennial School District, Tara says she  and many others who ran and won last year  expect more than lip service from her party in return.

They want clout over how the party redefines itself.

"We're missing people that are willing to get rid of the party line and do what they need to do to help everybody," Tara told me as we spent a few minutes in her Warminster kitchen Friday morning before she rushed out the door, before dawn, to take her son to school and get herself to work in Chester County.

She's among a fairly young group of renegades at the battle front. Young, at least, when compared with the septuagenarians and octogenarians whose grip on congressional incumbency symbolizes just how much Democratic Party leaders can blame themselves for the party's failure to pass the torch.

Tara is 33.

She has an Ivy League education but is a single mom who gets by on three jobs because she has no great financial pedigree and unpaid student loans. I interviewed her inside the $400-a-month rowhouse she calls home  a tiny house that used to be part of a cluster of modest housing built for U.S. soldiers.

Raised by Bucks County Republicans  her dad was a former Doylestown Township mayor  she embraced the Democratic Party as an undergrad at Penn.

But she is no party soldier. She voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and Hillary Clinton only after he'd been knocked out by intraparty machinations. When Trump eventually won, she got moving.

She chartered a bus to take a crew to the Women's March in Washington last January. Did it with her own money. Soon enough, she'd become a regional organizer for the march. Then, candidate for school board.

On Jan. 13, she planned to spend the day in Philadelphia for her first-ever training session for women seeking higher political office.

She thinks voters  even the working-class men who abandoned the Democrats for Trump  would embrace a crackling Democratic message if it identified a single enemy: corporate interests.

"Democratic Party voters don't want to hear watered-down propaganda," she says.

She and the other women are, in effect, the Democratic succession plan that the party never bothered to craft for itself. They're being stuffed down the old guard's throat. Now the question is: Can they fall in love?In this Aug. 13, 2017, file photo, Logan Paul introduces a performance by Kyle & Lil Yachty and Rita Ora at the Teen Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles Read more

PASADENA, Calif.  Logan Paul, the 22-year-old YouTube vlogger who posted a video from Japan's Aokigahara Forest showing a corpse hanging from a tree, isn't facing a permanent ban from his former perks on the streaming video-sharing website.

At least not yet.

"We've put all his projects on hold, and we'll see in the future" what happens with Paul, Robert Kyncl, chief business officer of YouTube, told reporters Saturday during the Television Critics Association's winter meetings.

Besides being removed from two YouTube Red projects, Paul was also pulled from the Google Preferred advertising platform, though Forbes.com reports that he can still expect to make millions this year. (YouTube Red is a paid subscription streaming service offering scripted and unscripted series and movies.)

The furor over Paul is hardly the first for YouTube, which last fall had to deal with gamer Felix Kjellberg  known as PewDiePie  using a racial slur in a video. But it goes to the heart of a dilemma for the service, which built its audience on the expectation of its contributors' creative freedom, but whose business requires it to be sensitive to the concerns of advertisers.

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"Some of them are very young, and sometimes get themselves in hot water," Kyncl said of contributors. "I want to make sure that a few missteps don't spoil" things for its other creators.

"We believe he's made missteps, unfortunate missteps," he said of Paul.

As for whether YouTube would be interested in again partnering with Paul in the future, "I couldn't really answer that. Everything is evolving so fast," he said, including YouTube's community guidelines.

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"YouTube manages the largest set of partners of any company in the world," ranging from young people trying to get started "all the way to Disney," Kyncl said. "Of course we don't like to see any missteps, and when we see them, we move to correct them."

Paul, who has 15 million subscribers to his YouTube videos, hasn't uploaded a daily video since since Jan. 2, when he posted an apology.Welcome to Bensalem, on Hulmeville Road. The diverse township is considering an immigration partnership that some fear will be divisive. Read more

Golnaz Fakhimi has some advice for Bensalem officials who want their police officers to help federal immigration agents arrest and detain undocumented immigrants:

Be careful  these kinds of partnerships can get unexpectedly pricey.

Fakhimi knows. She's the immigrant-rights lawyer at the Pennsylvania ACLU, which successfully sued Lehigh County and Allentown authorities for keeping a man of Puerto Rican descent in jail  even after he posted bail  so U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could investigate whether he was in the country illegally.

It turned out that Ernesto Galarza was born in New Jersey. His settlement for three days behind bars in 2008 totaled $145,000.

"Whatever the intentions under these partnerships, in practice we've seen there are lots of problems with how they're implemented on the ground," Fakhimi said.

In Bensalem, a Bucks County community of 60,354 that hugs the border of Northeast Philadelphia, township leaders say they're moving toward an agreement to have the police enforce federal immigration laws  confident that it will make people safer. They say officers will be able to identify and arrest dangerous criminals without infringing on individual rights or even bothering law-abiding, undocumented immigrants.

"We will stay within the law," said Mayor Joe DiGirolamo, the son of Italian immigrants. "No profiling, we would never do that.  I'm OK with arresting a criminal, and if they're an illegal immigrant, then certainly you turn them over to ICE."

It's unclear how quickly the township and federal government could reach an accord, formalized through a signed memorandum of agreement. If approved, Bensalem would be the first Pennsylvania police agency to partner with ICE under a program known by its legislative clause  287(g). And it would bring an often-controversial initiative to a township proud of its diversity.

Bensalem is about 75 percent white, 11 percent Asian, 8 percent Latino, and 7 percent black, Census figures show. One out of every five residents is foreign-born. The township is home to a Buddhist temple and a gambling casino, to the Neshaminy Mall and the Nicholas Biddle estate, Andalusia.

DiGirolamo and township Public Safety Director Fred Harran say officers would not go barging into local businesses or restaurants to check workers' statuses  precisely what ICE agents did last week when they raided almost 100 7-Eleven stores across the country, including four elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

The Bensalem leaders said the ICE partnership would come into play only in situations where an officer would normally make an arrest. For instance, a motorist pulled over for an expired inspection sticker would be ticketed and fined. That's the penalty for everyone. A driver stopped and arrested for drunken driving, if undocumented, would be turned over to ICE.

But advocacy groups, including the Bucks County NAACP and Buxmont Inclusive and Progressive, say the alliance is not only unneeded, but certain to create fear in immigrant communities and hurt relations between police officers and residents.

"The only thing that 287g adds is the ability to do racial profiling," said Adanjesus Marin, state director of Make the Road Pennsylvania, which supports Latino and working-class communities. "They're talking about opening up the township to a big liability."

Many jurisdictions want no part  including the sanctuary city next door. In November, Philadelphia officials won a preliminary court injunction to block the Trump administration's effort to withhold grant money from sanctuary cities.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross testified that Philadelphia officers arrest people who commit crimes  period. At the same time, the department depends on tips and information from law-abiding citizens, he said, and part of that trust is built on the fact that police do not routinely collect and store data on whether people might be in this country illegally.

"There's no way in the world you'd want to come forward as a source of information or criminal activity if you learned you would be deported," Ross testified.

ICE officials say alliances with state and local police strengthen public safety, make immigration enforcement more consistent, and serve as force-multipliers  allowing a given number of personnel to dramatically increase their effectiveness.

Despite its fearsome reputation, ICE has only about 20,000 employees, spread across the United States and 46 foreign countries. In comparison, 51,000 people work for the New York City Police Department.

More local police agencies have signed on during the last year, as what was a dormant 287(g) program has been revived by President Trump, amid his administration's tougher stance toward immigration and immigrants. ICE now has agreements in 18 states with 60 law-enforcement agencies including sheriffs' offices, corrections departments and detention centers, and has trained and certified more than 1,822 officers.

Too often, however, the partnerships deliver more trouble than benefit, adding expense and paperwork and potentially opening the locality to liability, said Tanya Golash-Boza, a sociologist at the University of California-Merced and the author of Immigration Nation.

In 2014, Salt Lake County, Utah, paid $75,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a college student who was kept in jail by an ICE detainer for 46 days after he posted bail. An Oregon woman won $30,100 in a similar case in 2015.

Pennsylvania taxpayers footed the bill in 2014 for an incident six years earlier.

On Nov. 20, 2008, court records state, Ernesto Galarza, then 34, was working at an Allentown construction site when the contractor was arrested for allegedly selling cocaine to an undercover police detective. Galarza also was arrested  and later acquitted.

The detective followed what was then Allentown policy, contacting ICE when arrests were made of people suspected of being "aliens subject to deportation," court records show.

That evening Galarza was moved to Lehigh County Prison and his bail set at $15,000, even as he insisted he was a U.S. citizen. ICE filed an immigration detainer that described Galarza as a suspected alien and citizen of the Dominican Republic.

A surety company posted Galarza's bail, but he was not allowed to leave. Three days after his arrest, Galarza was questioned by two ICE officers. The detainer was lifted. He was released that night.

"The policy of 'getting criminals off the street,'" said Fakhimi, the ACLU lawyer, "doesn't hold up."John Schmiechen (left) and Ted Lewis enjoy entertaining on the rooftop deck of their South Philly home. Read more

It is a rare sight, indeed, visible only to a few Passyunk Square residents, and then not in the coldest weather.

As two or three dozen partygoers wait in anticipation on a rooftop deck, two immaculately dressed gentlemen guide a large "rolling kitchen" storage unit filled with unmistakably high-end food and liquor three stories up by an electric winch cable.

The hosts are Ted Lewis and John Schmiechen, who have spent almost half their 15 years as a couple turning the corner rowhouse into a fascinating blend of taste and technology.

"The house was purchased 'as-is' and was literally in danger of collapsing," Lewis wrote in an email to the Inquirer. "It was carved up as a rooming house with dangerously installed utilities, multiple layers of old carpet and flooring, a dirty and dank basement, and ancient windows and doors."

The challenge was fitting the needs of Lewis, a computer engineer, and Schmiechen, a retired charity fund-raiser for the arts and now a painter, into 1,800 square feet.

They had to find places for storage, exercise, office work, guest accommodations, a studio for Schmiechen, and a study for Lewis, who bought the 129-year-old house in 2003, the year after the couple met.

They spent the next six years living in Schmiechen's 600-square foot Rittenhouse Square trinity. "We figured that if we could survive this, we can survive together," he said.

They were married in 2014 at their home parish, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, on Locust Street.

Serving as their own general contractor, the couple gutted the Passyunk Square house down to the studs, brick and joists; added new roofs; rebuilt all the interior walls, and buttressed the house with structural steel. Schmiechen installed crown moldings.

They moved in in 2009 as they made renovations including:

An open floor plan on the first floor with a bar and hanging glass cabinets separating the kitchen and dining room.

Two bedrooms on the second floor with a Euro-style ceiling.

A large, gold-tiled full bath with floor heating on the second floor.

A third-floor master suite, including a full bath with steam/massage shower for two and an automatic back-lit Corian vanity countertop.

Self-watering window boxes, with a timer in the basement delivering water through tubes concealed in the walls.

An electric vehicle charging station.

An exercise room in the re-poured basement with gym-quality rubber flooring and LED lighting.

A roof deck with pergola constructed of plastic wood and wind curtains, shade canopies and side curtains, in addition to the winch, which Lewis designed.

A back yard with an enclosed patio/eating area with a grill fed by a natural-gas line.

New electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and separate Mitsubishi split system for the master suite.

Stacked laundry in the second-floor hall with plumbed overflow pan and water leak shutoff system.

A wired alarm system with cameras, motion detectors, and window/door contacts throughout.

Restored original Philadelphia yellow pine floors.

They used 12 subcontractors, in all. The installer of the onyx tiles was such a perfectionist, Schmiechen recalls, that "he almost lived with us for three weeks."

One lesson they learned from a bad experience with a kitchen designer: Check all subcontractors' credentials, Lewis advised. Don't be misled by a slick website.

Much of the work is barely visible, if at all, to the naked eye, including a picture-hanging system that allows easy rotation of Schmiechen's paintings and telephone controls for the speaker system and the security system, which allows the house to be monitored when the occupants are away.

The kitchen speed-cook oven uses advanced algorithms to prepare a variety of dishes, and there is a wireless water leak alarm system with sensors throughout the house.

A custom-poured griffon statue stands guard on the parapet.

Future renovation plans?

"Now we can enjoy living in the house," Lewis says.A plow truck clears snow on westbound Germantown Ave as SEPTA buses follow close behind in order to navigate the slippery streets on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018. Read more

Regional Rail riders using SEPTA's app during last week's snow and extreme cold likely experienced a fair amount of frustration.

Trains disappearing, then reappearing, on the app. A delay of a few minutes extending to much longer in the blink of an eye. App information not matching the announcements at the station or the website. It all added up to confusion at a time when trains were frequently running much later than scheduled.

SEPTA acknowledged that using the app could be confusing. Another big temperature drop is expected Saturday, which often leads to mass transit problems, and SEPTA officials said they were working to offer clearer information.

"We have to make sure everything is being communicated clearly," said Andrew Busch, SEPTA's spokesman.

The information riders rely on comes from GPS devices on all of SEPTA's vehicles and dispatchers at SEPTA's Market Street headquarters. The GPS data feed three sources of information: the boards at Regional Rail stations; the app's "Next to arrive" function, which reports whether a train is on time or delayed and how late it will be; and the TrainView function, which allows users to watch a train's progress on a map. Announcements at the stations, meanwhile, are generated by information dispatchers provide.

Different origins of information for the app and the announcements can be one source of contradictions, officials said. And the app itself can become confusing as it is tasked with adapting to sudden changes in service that happen during bad weather.

"We're in an extreme weather situation where we have a lot of things happening at once," Busch said. "We had service delays and cancellations."

The app has existed since 2013 but received a facelift last fall. New features included the ability to save favorite routes and the availability of more accurate real-time data, which updates vehicles' locations more frequently. Last week was one of the app's first experiences with widespread scheduling confusion, Busch said.

Among the incidents that caused problems: A car hit a train on the West Trenton Line on Jan. 4, which shut down a portion of that line, leading to incorrect information both on the app and through announcements. In general, trains that are late may be canceled to avoid backups on the rest of the system, or SEPTA can decide to keep them in service, which leads to sudden changes in arrival estimates. Some canceled trains were quickly subbed by backup vehicles that ran the same route but were labeled slightly differently on the app.

All those variations coming through the app can leave users feeling lost as trains' statuses shifts without explanation. The problems, design experts said, indicate an app that isn't providing riders with the kind of information they want to stay abreast of their ride's status.

"It's not more complicated from a technical standpoint," said David Schuff, professor of management information systems at Temple University's Fox School of Business. "What it's a matter of is being in tune with what the users of the app, what information they actually need."

Schuff pointed to Waze, a navigation app, and Venmo, a digital payment app, as designs that are easy to understand and in tune with how people use their mobile devices.

Mobile apps have a limited amount of space to provide information, and designers have to prioritize how to use that space. SEPTA's app was designed largely in-house, Busch said, with input from consultant CapTech of Wayne.

SEPTA's app is being fed a lot of information from a lot of sources, and knowing how to prioritize it for the rider is an ongoing challenge, said Gabriela Marcu, assistant professor in Drexel University's College of Computing and Informatics. A common mistake in app design, she said, is that it's often done from the perspective of the creator, not the user.

"The way that the information is organized doesn't really make sense from my point of view as a rider," she said. "SEPTA's conceptual model of how they keep track of everything is different than the users' conceptual model."

She noted that the app does connect to SEPTA's Twitter account, which reliably provides detailed, nuanced information about the causes of delays, but she had to tap several links to get to it. Having a feed from Twitter front and center on the app could help riders quickly make sense of train scheduling changes. On the other hand, Schuff said, SEPTA's TrainView function labels trains by number, information many riders likely don't use to identify the train to board. Schuff noted that SEPTA's other tech venture, the SEPTA Key, has some of the same problems with its kiosks, which he said are also not very user-friendly.

SEPTA officials are looking at ways to make the app more accurate and more informative, Busch said, and to make adjustments to keep schedule and route changes from making a train drop off the system entirely. They're also working to improve communication to better sync the station announcements and digital information.

"That's going to be a constant work in progress to ensure we're improving that as much as we can," Busch said.SANTA ANA, Calif. Authorities on Friday arrested a friend in the killing of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student whose body was found buried in a shallow grave at a California park.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach, was taken into custody for investigation of homicide after DNA evidence linked him to the death of college sophomore Blaze Bernstein, Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes said.

Woodward was the last person to see Bernstein alive, Barnes said.

Woodward was interviewed by investigators after Bernstein was reported missing by his parents on Jan. 3.

A sheriff's investigator wrote in court filings that Woodward appeared nervous, had scratched hands and dirt under his fingernails, and avoided touching doors with his hands while leaving the sheriff's office building.

Bernstein was home visiting his family in Lake Forest during winter break when Woodward picked him up on Jan. 2 and drove with him to several places before winding up at a park.

Woodward told investigators that he left the park after Bernstein went out and didn't return or respond to social media messages.

The two knew each other from high school, Barnes said.

He said investigators were still trying to determine a motive and would not release details of the crime, which he called a murder.

Prosecutors said they would review evidence as they determine what charges to file. Barnes said Woodward had asked for a lawyer.

It was not immediately possible to reach Woodward in custody, where he listed his occupation as "Nerf games," according to the jail's website.

Authorities searched for Bernstein for nearly a week with assistance from drone pilots and found his body on Tuesday after recent rains partially exposed it.

The death of Bernstein rocked the tight-knit community of Lake Forest, 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil to remember him.

It was the only homicide reported in Lake Forest in at least the past four years, according to authorities.

Bernstein had attended Orange County School of the Arts for creative writing.

At Penn, he worked at Kelly Writers House, a center at Penn for creative writers and artists, and was on the editorial board for the Penn Review, the university's literary magazine, and was managing editor of the student-run food magazine Penn Appetit.

Thursday afternoon, nearly 30 students, faculty, and administrators gathered at Penn's Houston Hall to honor Bernstein.

His parents urged community members to keep his memory alive by working to improve the world.

"With his death, a beautiful light has been extinguished and we encourage you to continue to shine his light, through acts of loving kindness," the family said in a statement read by attorney Annee Della Donna.A former elementary school teacher has been indicted on charges of making child pornography by hiding a camera in the boy's rest room at a Gloucester County theater camp where he was an adviser and stage manager for youth productions, officials said Friday.

Thomas Guzzi Jr., 38, of Pitman, also was charged with possessing hundreds of images of child pornography, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement.

Guzzi, who taught fifth grade at Winslow Elementary School, was among those arrested last year in a swoop dubbed "Operation Safeguard."

The indictment was kept sealed until Friday because the investigation remained open, Porrino said. Guzzi was rearrested on Friday and jailed pending a detention hearing.

Officials said the 10-count indictment against Guzzi alleges, among other things, that he used three hours of footage recorded in the restroom at the Broadway Theater in Pitman during the summer camp program to create a collection of photos and a music video depicting boys' genitals.

"Guzzi allegedly stalked underage teenage boys for his sexual gratification, using a hidden camera to invade their privacy and capture images that he used to create child pornography," Porrino said. "Guzzi's alleged heinous conduct highlights the alarming fact that child predators often seek positions in which they are entrusted with the supervision of children, only to betray that trust by sexually exploiting vulnerable young victims."

Officials believe there may be more victims and asked that if anyone suspects one to contact the Attorney General's Office.

The charges against Guzzi include eight second-degree felony counts and two third-degree counts. The second-degree counts each carry a prison term of 5 to 10 years while it is 3 to 5 years for each of the third-degree offenses.

Guzzi's attorney of record, Edward Crisonino, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.The iconic milk bottle water tower atop the former Harbisons Dairy in Kensington has been given historic designation by the city. Read more

Kensington's giant milk bottle has been added to the city's list of historic places.

The Philadelphia Historical Commission voted unanimously Friday to give a historic designation to the former Harbison's dairy plant and its iconic water tower on Coral Avenue, meaning it can't be knocked down or significantly changed without the commission's green light.

Preservationist Oscar Beisert, who heads the Keeping Society of Philadelphia, described the 25-foot bottle as "an Eiffel Tower of Kensington." It's become an icon for the neighborhood, printed on pint glasses and T-shirts and used to promote local art shows and festivals.

The plant, composed of four connected buildings, dates to the early 1900s with brick, concrete and terra-cotta plaques with the letter 'H' for Harbison's.

The current owner of the building, Fozan Ehmedi, fought its designation, though he agreed the water tower should be protected. Ehmedi bought the plant to use as a warehouse for his grocery store, Cousin's Supermarket. The building is vacant and in serious disrepair, he said.

Ehmedi's attorney, William Martin, said the plant had been patched up several times over the years without any historical consideration and is now a "mish mosh" of bricks and concrete.

"Designate the water tower, don't designate the building," Martin told the commission.

But protecting the water tower means also protecting the building it sits atop, argued Jim Duffin, an archivist at the University of Pennsylvania, who spoke in favor of adding both to the list. If the building is demolished, the water tower becomes a "tombstone  a symbol of loss," he said.

"The milk bottle without the building completely destroys the context of what the milk bottle is," Duffin said.

The water tower was installed to feed the building's sprinkler system. The architect at the time suggested the steel tower take the shape of a white milk bottle.

The plant's founder, Robert Harbison, was an Irish immigrant who moved from Gwynedd Township to Kensington to open the plant at a time when people living in cities didn't have refrigeration or dairy cows. Harbison's delivered glass bottles twice daily across the city.

Thomas Harbison expanded his father's company into a regional dairy empire with five plants, pasteurizing and delivering milk, ice cream and butter. Only the Kensington plant remains.

The family sold the company in 1968 to Southland Dairy, which went bankrupt in the early 1990s.

At one point in the hearing, Martin questioned whether Harbison's business legacy, while impressive, really made the warehouse historically significant to the city.

"Much has been made about Mr. Harbison as a successful businessman in Philadelphia and I think we can say he was," Martin said. "I guess the question I would ask is whether that is a sufficient standard."

Beisert noted that a stretch of Aramingo Avenue was named after Thomas Harbison. "In Philadelphia," Beisert said. "they generally don't name streets after insignificant people."Ron Israel, an attorney with the law firm of Chiesa, Shahinian and Giantomasi, at a court hearing in which the state was seeking permission to cut Atlantic City fire fighters salaries 11.3 percent. Israel's share of the $4 million in billings by the West Orange law firm running Atlantic City for the state topped $300,000. Read more

ATLANTIC CITY  The North Jersey law firm appointed by departing Gov. Christie to oversee a state takeover of Atlantic City has now billed more than $4 million for its services, according to invoices released by the state late Friday in response to an Open Public Records Request by the Inquirer and Daily News.

In November 2016, Christie designated Jeffrey Chiesa, a former U.S. senator and a close ally, to run Atlantic City under a new state takeover law that gave the state powers over Atlantic City government, assets, payroll, and operations. Chiesa negotiated a contract that paid him $400 an hour and allowed partners, associates, and paralegals in his law firm, Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, to bill at slightly lower rates.

In all, the West Orange-based law firm submitted invoices that now total more than $4 million, nearly a quarter of that spent in litigation battles with the city's firefighter and police unions and others. These latest invoices  billings approved since mid-September and released Friday  total about $908,000. The total from previously released invoices was $3.1 million.

The future role of the law firm in Atlantic City remains unclear.

Incoming Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who takes office Tuesday and will oversee the Department of Community Affairs, has said she will take a hard look at the law firm's spending and activities in Atlantic City, as well as reviewing the state's role. Oliver and Gov.-elect Phil Murphy have both criticized the takeover, but it will remain in place in some form without a legislative repeal.

John Varallo Jr., president of Local 198 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said Friday evening he hoped Murphy and Oliver would come in and "really sit down and analyze what's going on."

"Four million dollars is ridiculous for what's going on in this town," Varallo said. "The new governor has to come in and really examine what's going on here, because it can't continue."

In all its billings to date, the law firm billed about $118,000 for reviewing City Council agendas, more than $680,000 on its court fight against the firefighters, whose pay the state is seeking to cut an additional 11.3 percent. The state recently settled with the police union; the Chiesa law firm has billed about $210,000 related to the negotiations.

Ron Israel, the lead attorney battling in court for reduced salaries for the city's firefighters, has billed more than $300,000 at the $350-an-hour rate since November 2016.

Melissa Salimbene, another partner in the law firm who bills at $350 an hour, submitted invoices for more than $408,000. She worked on City Council issues, and various litigation and other activities.

Chiesa's billings total about $207,000.

John Lloyd, the attorney who negotiated a favorable settlement of a tax appeal with Borgata and other casinos, billed a total of $408,000 at a rate of $350 an hour.

It is those settlements that Christie has cited as negating any criticism of the cost of the Chiesa law firm, as they saved Atlantic City about $150 million. On Tuesday, in his final State of the State address, Christie said Chiesa has "produced phenomenal results" and credited him with turning around the fortunes of the near-broke resort where five casinos closed since 2014. Two casinos, Hard Rock and a new owner for the Revel, plan openings in 2018.

A spokesman for Christie did not respond to a request for comment Friday evening. Dan Bryan, a spokesman for Murphy, deferred any comment until after Tuesday's inauguration

As to whether the state takeover should continue under the new state administration, Christie said those who advocate "reversing course" are "just as wrong now as they were before."

"Atlantic City is ready for a revival. Let's not screw it up," Christie said.

City elected officials and other state officials have argued that the achievements under the takeover were all either already set in motion or things that could have been accomplished without the usurping of power and the millions sent to a politically connected out-of-town law firm with ties to the governor. Former Mayor Don Guardian has said the city was already prepared to hire Lloyd when the state took over.

"As I stated from the very beginning I didn't want the state of New Jersey here," said City Council President Marty Small Sr., who took many trips to Trenton fighting against the takeover. "I have to give credit  they have made some positive changes, particularly with the Borgata settlement, and some of the bonding issues.

"All is not lost," he said, "but this could have been done without the $4 million price tag."WASHINGTON  Prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller said Friday they will ask a federal judge to set a May 14 trial date for President Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and a business partner on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The government stated its intention in a court filing Friday that also summarized how much evidence prosecutors have turned over as required to Manafort's co-defendant, Rick Gates. The filing comes ahead of a hearing Tuesday to update U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington on the status of the case.

Manafort, 68, and his longtime deputy Gates, 45, have pleaded not guilty and remain under home detention while final details are worked out for their release on secured bonds of $10 million and nearly $5 million, respectively.

The two were indicted Oct. 30 in connection with Manafort's secret lobbying for a Russian-friendly political party in Ukraine in the first publicly disclosed criminal charges in Mueller's investigation probes into possible Russian influence in U.S. political affairs.

Separately, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump campaign foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about their foreign contacts and are cooperating with investigators.

On Friday, Mueller's team said it has turned over more than 590,000 records to Gates including emails, financial and corporate records, including 2,200 designated by prosecutors as "hot" or high priority records, and copies of information on 87 electronic devices such as laptops and phones collected through 19 search warrants. Thirty five of the devices were seized from Manafort's house, the filing says.

The number of records in the case has ballooned since prosecutors made a similar disclosure Dec. 8, when it gave both defendants about 400,000 items, including contents of 36 memory devices, and disclosed 15 warrants.

The latest four-page filing states that the government's investigation has continued and that on Friday, prosecutors stated, the government turned over a sixth batch, including foreign bank records obtained since the two men were charged.

In a footnote, prosecutors noted they are not turning over to Gates records that they obtained from Manafort that are not relevant to Gates's case, and vice versa. They also noted that "electronic evidence seized from Manafort's residence was previously made available to Manafort earlier this year (to the extent that the FBI was able to access the devices/media seized at that time)."

The special counsel's office recently added a veteran cyber prosecutor to its team.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that prosecutor Ryan Dickey was assigned to Mueller's team in early November from the Justice Department's computer crime and intellectual-property section, joining 16 other lawyers.This story originally appeared in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Pointe.



When Pacific Northwest Ballet School student Madison Abeo was accepted into San Francisco Ballet Schools summer session on a partial scholarship, she was thrilled. But then she added up the remaining cost for the program and realized she didnt have the funds. I really wanted to go, she says, but we just couldnt make the other half of it work.

Ballet training is expensive. For many families, a trip to a dream summer intensive simply isnt in the budget. SFB was $2,500 out of Abeos reach. But she was determined. At the suggestion of her aunt, Abeo created a Facebook fan page where she asked for opportunities to babysit or perform odd jobs, and included a link to a PayPal account where friends and family could make donations. Two local dancewear businesses, Vala Dancewear and Class Act Tutu, offered to outfit her for fundraising photos, which a photographer took for her Facebook page for free. By June, Abeo had raised enough for tuitionplus plenty of pointe shoes.

Affording your dream intensive isnt as difficult as you might think. There are a surprising number of eager dance supporters out there. Case in point: On Kickstarter, dance projects have the highest success rate of any type of campaign, with dancers receiving over $4 million in donations through the site since it began. You can also apply for need- or merit-based grants and scholarships, either through your summer program or an outside foundation. Most dancers who want it badly enough can make it happen.

Madison Abeo with other Pacific Northwest Ballet School students in the 2013 School Performance of an excerpt from Serenade, choreography by George Balanchine. Photo by Rex Tranter, Courtesy Abeo.

Take Your Cause to the (Online) Streets



The concept of crowdfunding, or accumulating donations from many small sponsors, isnt new, but the internet has revolutionized its potential. While the most famous site, Kickstarter, is meant for groups and specific projects, sites like Indiegogo, GoFundMe and RocketHub allow individuals to launch campaigns for almost anything.

To crowdfund your summer, sign up on a site, set a funding goal and deadline and write a personal statement. (Most sites include tutorials on how to use their particular setup most effectively.) On some sites, you must reach your goal to receive any of the money your supporters have pledged, but on most, the donated funds are deposited directly into your bank account regardless of whether you meet your goal.

Showing your personality on your donation profile is key. Upload photos and maybe even a video about your summer goals. Most of all, show your gratitude. Offer something to sponsors in return for their donations, such as a weekly update email about your experience at the intensive. If youre hesitant to ask for donations, ask for jobs like Abeo did. And dont be afraid to tell everyone you know about your page, both through social media and in person. Ultimately, Abeo says that the majority of her funding came from people she knew.

Find Free Money (Its Out There)



A number of foundations offer need- and merit-based scholarships that can be applied to any summer intensive. The Dance Council of North Texas, for example, offers more than 20 scholarships for summer intensives that are available to dancers anywhere in the country. Each month, the American Harlequin Corporation offers a $250 scholarship to four dancers who post their performance videos on its website. Just be sure to check the application deadlines earlymany fall in February and March.

To increase your chances of winning a grant or general scholarship, you should also look for local foundations and donors who support young artists. Metropolitan Ballet Academy student Sophie Lane, for example, attended Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballets summer program on a full scholarship awarded by the local nonprofit Philadelphia Dance Access in 2011. Last summer she received free housing for American Ballet Theatres summer intensive through a New York City family who sponsors MBA students each summer. Check with the director and teachers at your home studio to see what opportunities they know about in your community.



Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive. Photo Courtesy Joffrey Ballet.





Find Free Money (Its Out There)



A number of foundations offer need- and merit-based scholarships that can be applied to any summer intensive. The Dance Council of North Texas, for example, offers more than 20 scholarships for summer intensives that are available to dancers anywhere in the country. Each month, the American Harlequin Corporation offers a $250 scholarship to four dancers who post their performance videos on its website. Just be sure to check the application deadlines earlymany fall in February and March.

To increase your chances of winning a grant or general scholarship, you should also look for local foundations and donors who support young artists. Metropolitan Ballet Academy student Sophie Lane, for example, attended Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballets summer program on a full scholarship awarded by the local nonprofit Philadelphia Dance Access in 2011. Last summer she received free housing for American Ballet Theatres summer intensive through a New York City family who sponsors MBA students each summer. Check with the director and teachers at your home studio to see what opportunities they know about in your community.





Go Straight to the Source





In some cases, your chosen summer intensive can play a key role in your funding campaign. Some schools offer need-based financial aid you can apply for if your family qualifies. But almost every program also offers merit scholarships, which any student with enough talent can win. For these, schools look for more than killer techniqueyou must show that youre a good investment. When we pay a students tuition, its because we are looking at them long-term, says Shelly Power, academy director at Houston Ballet Academy. Schools typically offer merit scholarships to dancers who show potential to be a good fit for their school, or even their company, in the future.

Students at the Boston Ballet Summer Intensive. Photo by Igor Burlak, Courtesy Boston Ballet.

One of the best ways to increase your chances of earning a scholarship, according to Power, is to build a relationship with teachers and administrators. If the school is new to you, consider visiting and meeting them. It shows a reciprocal interest, says Power. Later at the audition, the administrators will remember you, and if you are a contender for a scholarship, that extra commitment might be what raises you to the top of the list.

Returning to an intensive where youve already had a great experience also increases your chances of earning a scholarshipand can boost the amount of that scholarship. We invest slowly in students, to make sure they like it here as well, says Power.

Some schools, like Canadas National Ballet School, take a personal interest in helping students with their fundraising. Although NBS does not offer merit scholarships and first-time students are not eligible for summer financial aid, it provides fundraising models and ideas to students who request them, as well as written endorsements that students can share on their websites or in community newsletters. We are certainly happy to provide letters of support that say, This is a young person that we really believe deserves this opportunity,' says Mavis Staines, artistic director of NBS. Just last summer, the school had several students who initially thought that they could not afford the program, but by getting creativesuch as asking family and friends to donate unused air miles or hosting community garage salesthey were able to attend.



Staines suggestion? Pursue the program that youre most excited about, and then money challenges generally can be worked out, she says. Its amazing how creatively we can get through constraints.

Its About More Than Technique



When schools decide whom to award merit scholarships to, they consider a number of factors beyond technique. Here are three that can have a major impact on your chances at an audition.

Appearance:

Studies show that people subconsciously form opinions about others within seven seconds of first seeing them. This means you must make a great impression before you even start dancing! A neat, secure hairstyle and a clean-cut, attractive leotard demonstrate respect for the school and a readiness to learn.

If 90 percent of the dancers are in black leotards, dont wear neon. People think it gets noticedand it does, but not for the right reasons, says Melissa Bowman, assistant principal at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. Dont wear eye-catching clothes that could make you look like youre desperate for attentionand possibly a troublemaker in the classroom. Bring extra supplies in your dance bag so you can change into a different look if necessary.

Responsibility:

Bowman sees a surprising number of students at January auditions who have fallen out of shape over the winter break, which leads auditioners to wonder if the student will fall out of shape again before the intensive. Yawning or looking tired can make the adjudicators wonder if youll be able to handle five weeks at the school. Arrive alert and in shape to show that youre ready to take on any challenge.

Personality:

Auditioners look for students who are excited, eager to learn and happy to be at the audition. From the moment you step in the building, smile and be friendly with the audition organizers (you never know how much power they may have). After youve seen so many dancers, your eye goes right to the dancer who listens. Shes someone we want to work with, says Bowman. Once you reach the dance floor, show that youre more than a technicianyoure an artist. Shelly Power, academy director at Houston Ballet Academy, says, Students with that sparkle in their eyes, that deep involvement in their classworkthose people are going to rise to the top first.Its finally the weekend, and were celebrating the best way we know howa new ballet video. Juliet Doherty (who trained with San Francisco Ballet and Master Ballet Academy, and is set to star in the dance film, On Pointe), teamed up with Cartoon Network for her latest project.

Cartoon Network contacted me about their show, Steven Universe, which was coming out with a new vinyl album of the soundtrack of the show, Doherty shared with Pointe. They told me about one of the shows main characters named, Pearl, who is a strong-willed character but has the grace inspired by a ballerina.

Becoming the real-life version of Pearl, Doherty choreographed a dance to one of the songs from the show. I choreographed the piece in my kitchen in about 30 minutes! My goal was to achieve a balance of her vulnerability without losing her beautiful, strong warrior quality, Doherty explained. Anthony and Tati Vogt (producer and director of my soon-to-be-released film, On Pointe) met me in my hometown of Albuquerque, NM. The video was shot by our amazing cinematographer, Aiden Chapperone, in one 12-hour day, and the editing was done by Tati and Anthony.

Dressed just like the animated version of Pearl in a light blue leotard and skirt combo with cut-off yellow tights and pink leg warmers, Doherty shows off her technique with sky-high extensions and an impressive pique turn sequence at the 1:15 mark.

In the cartoon, Pearl is one of the three Crystal Gems (Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst), who use their magical powers to protect the world. The cartoon version of Pearl is described as a perfectionist, so it only seems fitting that the Cartoon Network chose Doherty and her practically-perfect dancing to represent the character.

Watch the full video, and check out more of Juliets dance clips on her swoon-worthy Instagram page.A reputed Aryan Nations gang member is reportedly on the run after wounding a Knoxville (TN) Police Department officer in a Thursday night shooting, reports Knox News.

Officer Jay Williams has been released from the hospital and is recovering from a single gunshot wound he suffered to his shoulder during the attack, police said.

Officer Jay Williams (Photo: Knoxville PD)

Williams was shot about 8:30 p.m. as he attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding along Washington Pike in front of the Target store in Northeast Knoxville, Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said.

Ronnie Lucas Wilson, 31, opened fire on Williams with a shotgun while being pursued by the officer, Rausch said. He then stopped his car, got out, and fired multiple rounds at the officer before driving away, the police chief said.

"The officer, as far as I'm aware, did not fire his weapon," Rausch said.

Wilson, who faces a charge of attempted first-degree murder, was added to the state's most wanted list Friday morning, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Police said the suspect might be on the run with a woman who's in danger. A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to Wilson's arrest.A years-old debate over use of force by police could resurface in the coming 30-day legislative session, as Gov. Susana Martinez plans to push legislation that would grant legal immunity to New Mexico law enforcement officers for actions in the line of duty.

The Republican governor, a former prosecutor, says the legislation would provide a shield of sorts for law enforcement officers  provided they're adhering to training  in a state that has one of the nation's highest violent crime rates, reports the Las Cruces Sun-News.

"I don't believe that police officers should be under this constant threat of lawsuits that will often cause them to pause," Martinez recently told the Albuquerque Journal. "If they're following their training, there should be something that protects them."

The governor said the immunity bill would not shield officers who intentionally disregard internal law enforcement policies and training.692 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

(Note language that may offend some readers)

By Ed Stoddard and Chris Mfula

JOHANNESBURG/LUSAKA (Reuters)  African politicians and diplomats labeled U.S. President Donald Trump a racist on Friday after he was reported to have described some immigrants from Africa and Haiti as coming from shithole countries.

Trump reportedly made the remarks at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday and a U.S. senator who attended the gathering said on Friday that the president used vile, vulgar language, including repeatedly using the word shithole.

Trump denied on Friday using such derogatory language, but he was widely condemned in many African countries and in Haiti and El Salvador, and by international rights organizations.

Ours is not a shithole country and neither is Haiti or any other country in distress, Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of South Africas ruling African National Congress told reporters at a news conference in East London.

We would not deign to make comments as derogatory as that about any country that has any kind of socio-economic or other difficulties, Duarte said, adding that much like their African counterparts, millions of U.S. citizens were affected by problems such as unemployment.

Botswanas foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador in protest and called the comments highly irresponsible, reprehensible and racist.

In a statement it said it had asked the U.S. government, through its ambassador, to clarify if the derogatory remark also applied to Botswana given that there were Botswana nationals living in the United States and others who wished to go there.

Senegals foreign ministry also called in the U.S. ambassador in Dakar to demonstrate its displeasure, a U.S. State Department official said.

The African Union (AU), an organization which promotes cooperation on the continent, said it was alarmed by Trumps very racist comments.

Given the historical reality of how African Americans arrived in the United States as slaves, and the United States being the biggest example of how a nation has been built by migration  for a statement like that to come is particularly upsetting, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said.

The AUs mission in Washington expressed its infuriation, disappointment and outrage at the comment and demanded a retraction as well as an apology.

In Haiti, on the eighth anniversary of a devastating earthquake that killed about 220,000 people, the government also summoned the top U.S. diplomat for an explanation, while the Haitian ambassador to Washington called for an apology.

Haitians dont deserve such treatment, said Ambassador Paul Altidor. Haitians should not be seen as a bunch of immigrants who come to the United States to exploit U.S. resources.

Special status given to about 59,000 Haitian immigrants, that has protected them from deportation following the 2010 earthquake, will end next year following a Trump administration ruling last month.

El Salvador, also facing an end to protected status for its 200,000 citizens living in the United States, sent a formal letter of protest to the U.S. government over the comments.

El Salvadors foreign ministry said the U.S. president had implicitly accepted the use of harsh terms detrimental to the dignity of El Salvador and other countries.

HARSH AND OFFENSIVE

Since taking office a year ago, Trump has pursued controversial policies aimed at curbing immigration into the United States as part of a hard-line America First agenda.

Trump said on Twitter on Friday he merely used tough language when discussing a new immigration bill with a group of U.S. senators.

He said the bill was a step backwards because it would force the United States to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly.

The Trump administration has spoken little about how it wants to engage with African countries, focusing its foreign policy instead on issues like North Korea and Islamic State.

On the streets of Lusaka, capital of the southern African country of Zambia, Trumps reported remark reinforced long-held views about the U.S. leader.

Trump has always been a racist, only a racist can use such foul language, said Nancy Mulenga, a student at the University of Zambia.

Retired Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselasse, who won his first 10,000 Olympic gold medal in the U.S. city of Atlanta in 1996, told Reuters Trumps comments did not reflect the views of all Americans.

The United Nations human rights office said it had no doubt Trumps remarks were racist, while the Vatican newspaper branded them as particularly harsh and offensive.

You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes, whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome, said U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard in East London, Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa, Eric Beech, Arshad Mohammed and Warren Strobel in Washington; Writing by Alexander Winning in Johannesburg and Mary Milliken in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff and James Dalgleish)6.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

A report that Trump paid off a porn star a month before the 2016 election is straw that will break the Republican Partys back in the midterm election.

The Wall Street Journal reported, A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Every Republican on the ballot was already going to be asked about Donald Trumps shithole countries comment, but now they are also going to be asked about Trump paying hush money to an adult film star.

Those who wonder if this will hurt Trump with his base are looking at the story from the wrong perspective. Trumps base is never going to leave him. Those 35% of voters are locked in.

The problem for Republican candidates is with the other 65% of voters who disapprove of Trump. Republicans still need to win 15%-20% of those voters to win their campaigns. Trumps base is going to scream fake news in response to the story. The issue for anyone on the ballot with an (R) beside their name is that the story of Trumps hush money to the adult film actress is going to make it even more difficult for those people to get the votes that they need to have to win.

Instead of Democrats winning 30 House seats, because of Trump, they could win 40.

Each Trump scandal has a cumulative impact. Voters who were already disapproving of Trump become committed to seeing his party run out of Congress in November. Nothing will move Trumps base away from him, but each new revelation adds steam and power to the blue tidal wave that is coming to clean up Trumps Washington on Election Day.2.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

MSNBCs Joy Reid epically shut down Pastor Mark Burns, a diehard Donald Trump supporter, who quoted the Bible to defend the presidents recent comments that Africa is filled with shithole countries and Haitians, in particular, should be sent back.

Reid asked how a man of God could support Trumps proposal to send Haitians back to their broken country.

Video:

Joy Reid Epically Smacks Down Pastor For Using The Bible To Defend Trumps S**thole Remark #amjoy pic.twitter.com/TYyPfj8PS6  Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) January 13, 2018

The tense exchange between Reid and Burns:

BURNS: We do love thy neighbor. We do help. We dont leave people destitute. Those millions of dollars could be coming to America to help other black people, other minorities in our own country. REID: You quoted first Timothy 5:8, and that verse refers to a man who would not take care of his own family and immediate family. Theres another verse in the Bible and Im a church girl. I used to teach Sunday school in Denver, Colorado when I was in high school, so I love a Bible verse myself.  REID: Isaiah 10:2, in the Bible says whoa to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of my people of their rights so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder orphans.  The Bible verse you talked about talking about caring for ones own family and immediate family. This Bible verse that is repeated much more in the Bible talks about caring for the least of these widows and orphans. You talked about Haiti, specifically being a country thats not caring for its own people and that it has a government that is corrupt and a system that is broken. How can you as a man of God justify sending people back to such a country? If the country is so broken, then how can you as a man of God justify sending people back to that country? BURNS: This is not about sending people back to the country. REID: Thats what Donald Trumps policy is.

Burns was hoping to use the Bible as a twisted way to defend the presidents hateful and racists comments about brown-skinned countries, but Reid immediately shredded his argument to pieces.

The truth is that there is no religious defense for Trumps recent comments, his overall policy agenda, or for the amoral scam artist he has shown himself to be throughout his lifetime. He is a godless man through and through.

Religious figures like Mark Burns have all the right in the world to continue supporting Donald Trump, but they should stop doing it under the guise of religion. There is not a holy book on the face of the planet  certainly not the Bible  that can justify Trumps words or deeds.3.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Trump has made a couple of weak attempts to distance himself from the shithole countries comment he reportedly made about Haiti and the African continent, but almost nobody is believing his denials, including neo-Nazis who endorse his words.

This is encouraging and refreshing as it indicates Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration, said The Daily Stormer, the biggest neo-Nazi website out there. The real issue is all of these shitty brown people who come to the country exclusively to parasite off of us.

Well-known white supremacist Richard Spencer also recognized the racial overtones of Trumps words. Its obviously all about race, and to their credit, liberals point out the obvious, he said to The New York Times.

After The Times published a report on the insults Trump launched against the aforementioned primarily black-populated places, he first claimed that while his language had been tough, the comments in The Times article were not accurate. He later claimed to have not said anything derogatory about Haitians and insisted that the story was made up by Dems.

Still, numerous people who were in the Oval Office during the meeting covering immigration, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, have basically confirmed that Trump did indeed use the words The Times reported. Democrat Dick Durbin explicitly said the report was true.

Given that Trump kicked off his presidential campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and criminals, has continued to make bigoted remarks toward different ethnic groups, and repeatedly shows an unwillingness to disavow white supremacists without having to be pressured into doing so, its not at all hard to believe that he referred to Haiti and Africa as shithole countries. It would only be a continuation of ideas he repeatedly expresses.272 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

(Note language that may offend some readers)

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  After talking on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday morning, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin was optimistic that a compromise deal with some Republicans to protect young Dreamer immigrants was on the verge of success.

Less than three hours later, Durbin and a Republican colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham, drove away from the White House with the deal in pieces and a controversy over offensive language about to reverberate worldwide.

At their Oval Office meeting, two sources said, Trump questioned the value of taking immigrants from Haiti and African nations, and referred to them as shithole countries.

The remarks leaked out, transforming a debate about saving from deportation some 700,000 young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children into another drama about Trump himself.

His comments drew a chorus of condemnation inside the United States and internationally, especially in Africa.

Nearly a year into Trumps presidency, members of Congress are still struggling to relate to the unorthodox Trump and his spontaneous, often crude remarks.

In a tweet on Friday, Trump denied using the word shithole, but Durbin insisted that the president had indeed said it.

SHIFT IN TONE

The tone of discussion had looked very different early on Thursday.

Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, called the White House to tell Trump that a bipartisan group of senators had struck a deal to put Dreamers on a path to citizenship, beef up border security and take other steps to change immigration laws.

Around 10:15 a.m., Trump returned Durbins call and was told about the main elements of the deal.

Ben Marter, a spokesman for Durbin, did not provide details of the conversation but said the senator was encouraged by Trumps reaction.

Trump said Durbin and Graham  two seasoned lawmakers  should come to the White House for a meeting at noon. Durbin thought it would just be the senators and Trump in the room.

Instead, Trump had also invited some of Congress hard-line opponents of the bipartisan agreement being put together by the six-member working group led by Durbin and Graham.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte were both there, as was White House aide Stephen Miller, a proponent of severely limiting immigration.

Graham and Durbin laid out the details of their proposed legislation. But instead of winning Trumps support, as they had expected, the president launched into a broadside against immigration from Haiti and Africa.

At one point, Trump, according to two sources, said: Why do we want all these people from Africa here? Theyre shithole countries.  We should have more people from Norway.

Durbin said Graham immediately spoke up against Trumps comments, and he commended the Republican senator for doing so.

Commenting on the White House meeting, Graham said on Friday that diversity had always been the United States strength.

Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel, Graham said in a statement.

Once it was clear by mid-afternoon on Thursday that Trump was not going to support the bipartisan deal, the group led by Durbin and Graham issued a terse statement.

We have been working for four months and have reached an agreement in principle that addresses the main policies Trump sought, they said. We are now working to build support for that deal in Congress.

There was no mention at that time of the language that sources said Trump had used, details of which were soon leaked.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney)1.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu warned Donald Trump on Saturday that he and high-level associates look to be in increasing legal trouble as Steve Bannon could be the next ex-Trump official to flip on the president.

According to Lieu, Bannon is likely to join Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos in cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller and flip on the president.

Video:

Ted Lieu Warns Trump That Hes In Deep Legal Trouble As Steve Bannon Could Be The Next To Flip #amjoy pic.twitter.com/yWh0LgAlIO  Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) January 13, 2018

Rep. Lieu said:

Let me first say that I believe high-level Trump associates, including potentially the president himself, are in increasing legal jeopardy. Thats because insiders have turned on them. We already know that Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos have flipped and are cooperating with the special counsel. And now we know that Steve Bannon is going to fully cooperate with House investigators. This is at a time when Steve Bannon has been abandoned by the president and his allies. We all look forward to what hes doing to say.

Like Lieu said, as Trump continues to burn bridges and abandon his former associates, there is nothing forcing them to remain loyal to this White House.

In fact, the Russia investigation has turned into an every-man-for-himself situation, where in order to save their own skin, Flynn, Papadopoulos, Bannon and potentially others will throw the president and his allies under the bus.

Its still not fully clear what these ex-Trump associates have given to Mueller, but its increasingly obvious that they are now working in their own self-interest  not out of loyalty for the president.

As the congressman said on Saturday, thats a dangerous place for this White House to be.1.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Shortly after MSNBCs Joy Reid laid an epic smackdown on Trump supporting pastor Mark Burns and eventually kicked him off the show, Burns fled to the safety of his Twitter page to attack the cable news host.

In the video, the pastor told Reid that she should move to Haiti since shes more concerned about Haitian immigrants than black Americans here in poverty.

The full video:

A portion of Burnss post-interview comments:

Just wanted to say to Joy, who I consider a friend, shes always been very kind and I think fair to me, but I think obviously in the interview you just saw, if you watched Joy Reid, that she should just move to Haiti since shes more concerned about Haitian immigrants than black Americans here in poverty, in America. IF youre so concerned about the Haitians then you should move to Haiti and donate your checks to those families who are in need in Haiti.

The offensive attack on Reid by Burns comes after Reid called him out for using religion to defend both Trumps racist shithole comment and his policy position that the United States should send Haitians back to their country.

If the country is so broken, then how can you as a man of God justify sending people back to that country? Reid asked during the interview.

Burns didnt have an adequate response and the interview unraveled from there, with the MSNBC host eventually ending the interview by telling the pastor, Youre wasting my time. Goodbye.

In an on-air response to Burns Twitter video, Reid said this, quoting a verse of the Bible: Let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and in truth and that is what Im doing when Im concerned about the people of the world.

Mark Burns can call himself a pastor all he wants. He can selectively quote the Bible and claim that hes doing Gods work. But lets be clear: There is not a holy book in the world that justifies Trumps heinous comments this week, his actions as president, or his lifetime of personal conduct as a man.President Trump denies that he referred to certain countries as s***holes during a meeting with Senators about DACA. He admits using tough language, but not that particular word.

Originally, the quote was attributed to Trump by anonymous sources not present at the meeting. However, Sen. Durbin, who was there, now says Trump did say s***holes.

Frankly, I dont consider either Trump or Durbin honest. So for now, Im agnostic as to whether the president used the particular offensive word ascribed to him. But at least Trump seems to recognize that its inappropriate for the president to speak this way about other countries.

Is it racist, though? Yesterday, in a brief add-on to a post by Steve, I argued that Trump likely described the countries this way because of how he views the objective conditions there, not because of the race of the residents. I would add that the very premise of the current preference for immigrants from some of these countries is the hellish nature of life there for ordinary people.

But is it racist for Trump to be unhappy with current levels of immigration from Haiti and/or certain African countries while, reportedly, saying there should be more immigration from Norway? Ramesh Ponnuru notes that American immigration policy has typically rejected the idea that we should discourage immigration from places that are poor or badly governed.

Hes right. And it my view, it would be a bad idea, though not necessarily a racist one, to stop admitting people from such places.

But almost everyone agrees that there are limits to how many people we should admit from places that are poor or badly governed. Such limitations are in place now. I dont think its racist to say that the line should be redrawn to reduce the number of immigrants from these countries.

Its true that most of the immigrants in question are Black. But that doesnt mean Trumps motive for wanting to cut back on this immigration is race-based. The motive may be (and probably is) the view that these immigrants, as a group, dont bring much to the table  that, compared to immigrants from certain more advanced nations, they bring fewer skills, are less easily assimilated, and so forth.

Reasonable people can disagree about how to balance our humanitarian desire to admit people from hellholes, our pragmatic desire to admit people who are easy to assimilate, and our desire to protect American workers from pressure on their wages. It isnt necessarily anti-Black to lean in a direction that favors less immigration than we now have from hellholes; nor is it necessarily anti-White to lean in the opposite direction.

It is cynical for Democrats and anti-Trumpers to play the race card in what is a legitimate policy dispute about immigration.I dont know whether President Trump called any countries s***holes yesterday. However, I wouldnt be surprised if he disparaged certain countries, as is his wont, and he may well have done so profanely.

If he did, and if doing so hurt America, then Sen. Durbin and others in the room should have kept Trumps statement to themselves. No patriotic American would hurt this countrys international standing just to embarrass the president or in the hope of gaining a little leverage in negotiations (which, Im pretty sure, Durbin has failed to do).

But patriotism has never been Dick Durbins long suit. During the Bush administration, he compared American soldiers to Nazis, Soviets, and Pol Pot. (See video below).

Now that the alleged s***hole comment is out there, were starting to hear, inevitably, about comparable remarks made by others. The Daily Caller reminds us that President Obama referred to Libya as a s***show, which it surely was. In 2016, Atlantic, quoting Obama, reported:

So we actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1 billion  which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap. We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess. Mess is the presidents diplomatic term; privately, he calls Libya a shit show, in part because its subsequently become an ISIS haven  one that he has already targeted with air strikes. It became a shit show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of Americas allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.

(Emphasis added)

Obamas profane disparagement of Libya received little attention, nor should it have. No one claimed it demonstrated racism against Arabs. Nor should anyone have.

Lindsey Graham used language less profane but equally disparaging to describe Mexico, a major ally and one of the most important countries in our hemisphere. In 2013, during debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, he declared:

The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They dont like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we cant have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America.

Jeff Session took exception to Grahams language. He said: Its not a hellhole, it has great things going on in Mexico, were proud of the people in Mexico. Graham then tried to walk his statement back, claiming that he wasnt slandering Mexico but rather talking about all the places people want to leave, for whatever reason. In other words, all the countries that people want to leave are hellholes.

Trump should not have used profane language to describe Haiti and/or African nations (if thats what he did). Obama should not have used profane language to describe the mess in Libya. Graham is just a Senator, not the president, but he too should have chosen his words more carefully.

None of these statements is that big of a deal, though. Way too much is being made of Trumps alleged remarks.

And if Im wrong about this  if Trumps comments have materially harmed the U.S. in its foreign relations  then Dick Durbin should not have let word of the comment leave the room.

We have followed recent events in Wisconsins scandalous John Doe investigation of Governor Walkers allies and supporters here (also citing background on the scandal) and here. State senator Tom Tiffany then updated us on the scandals aftermath. Now Senator Tiffany has directed our attention to Matt Kittles current MacIver Institute report In John Does shadow: Showdown looms in bitter battle over bureaucrats jobs.

Senator Tiffany has also forwarded Deborah Hawley Jordahls column commenting on current developments. Ms. Jordahl was herself a victim of the secret John Doe investigation. Her home was searched and turned upside down in a pre-dawn raid by armed deputies in 2013 in the course of the investigation; the Wall Street Journals Kim Strassel takes up Ms. Jordahls ordeal in chapters 19 (Raid Day) and 20 (Fight Club) of her invaluable Intimidation Game. Ms. Jordahl writes:

What do a former attorney general, two former judges, two licensed attorneys and a former state legislator have in common?

They presided over the Wisconsin Ethics Commission when it opened its doors on July 1, 2016. This agency and the Wisconsin Elections Commission were created to replace Wisconsins Government Accountability Board (GAB) following its participation in an unconstitutional John Doe investigation into Republican Governor Scott Walker, his aides and allies.

As a longtime conservative strategist and consultant, I had a front row seat to what the Wisconsin Supreme Court called a perfect storm of wrongs, visited upon people who are wholly innocent of any wrongdoing. The court noted:

Deputies seized business papers, computer equipment, phones, and other devices, while their targets were restrained under police supervision and denied the ability to contact their attorneys. The special prosecutor obtained virtually every document possessed by the Unnamed Movants relating to every aspect of their lives, both personal and professional, over a five-year span [from 2009 to 2013].

The court ordered prosecutors to return all private property seized in the investigation:

We require that Attorney Schmitz (the former John Doe special prosecutor) gather all documents and copies thereof (whether in hard copy or in digital form) and all electronic data and copies thereof obtained as a result of the John Doe II investigation from all persons who worked for or were associated with him and the prosecution team in the John Doe proceedings/investigations.

Recently the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DoJ) conducted a criminal investigation into the illegal leak of court sealed John Doe records and found the Wisconsin Ethics Commission had not complied with the courts order.

Not. Even. Close.

Apparently Wisconsin ethics officials dont grasp the significance of a Supreme Court order or fully comprehend the meaning of words like require, shall and all.

DoJs report said the agency had not properly secured documents and electronic records. In addition, at least one external hard drive containing illegally obtained private records had gone missing on its watch. After DoJ made several attempts to collect documents from the commission, its top administrator and general counsel refused to speak to investigators without a lawyer.

The agency then hired a lawyer who specializes in defending government in cases involving civil rights violations. In other words, the Wisconsin Ethics Commission was more concerned about its civil liability than potential crimes committed by other government officials.

Not only did DoJ conclude the illegally leaked records came from the GAB or its successor agency, but also the ethics commission had millions more records seized in investigations going back 27 years.

Instead of taking responsibility for the undisputed facts in the DoJ report, ethics commissioners circled the wagons around their staff, attacking the Attorney General for omissions and inaccuracies. DoJ refuted the so-called inaccuracies. As for omissions, commissioners complained that DoJ didnt give them a gold star for having better security practices than its predecessor.

All but two of the current commissioners, the agencys top administrator and its general counsel were in charge when illegally seized records were leaked to a British newspaper, when those records were to be surrendered to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and in February 2017 when DoJ first discovered the agency had not complied with the Supreme Court order.

Im not a lawyer, but the court order looks straightforward to me. Not so much to a former attorney general, two former judges, two licensed attorneys and a former state legislator. They wont even ask the commissions administrator and general counsel to resign because the men

exceeded expectations in recent performance reviews.

Failing to comply with a court order, misplacing a hard drive filled with sealed court records, and changing stories before lawyering up in a criminal investigation exceeds expectations for the states top ethics officials?

A friend of mine calls the FBIs report regarding Hillary Clintons emails a Comey-over. It appears Wisconsins ethics officials are trying to cover their bald spot. Expect more judges, lawyers, state legislators and attorneys general to get involved before this shameful episode finally concludes.BURR RIDGE - Republican House leader Jim Durkin is being challenged in the GOP primary by Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub . Durkin's campaign literature attacking Straub has set off a firestorm as members of the Burr Ridge Village Board consider suing Durkin - their state representative.

"As Mayor of Burr Ridge, Im appalled one of our elected officials would make false claims against our well-governed village. What wont Durkin do to get elected?"

Rather than acting with integrity and transparency, in the 20 years hes been in office Durkin has only acted with his self-interest in mind, Straub said in a statement. Under Durkin's tenure, the state has raised income taxes, property taxes have skyrocketed, and Durkin passed controversial bonding legislation to the financial benefit of his law firm and the fiscal detriment of local taxpayers.

Burr Ridge board members are not happy with Durkin's claims.

Board member Zachary Mottl pointed out in a Tribune story that the village is collecting more in taxes but not because of rising property tax rates.

"Any increase Burr Ridge has collected is due to land we annexed and new houses, not because of an increase in property taxes," Mottl said. "We grew our village. We added new land. We added new homes. And anyone who says otherwise, they're outright lying."

Aaron DeGroot, an Illinois Republican Party spokesman, told the Chicago Tribune residents of Burr Ridge and the 82nd District have a right to know the facts about Straub's leadership.

"That is what campaigns are about," DeGroot wrote in an email to the Tribune. "Mickey Straub should not be using his taxpayer-funded Village Administrator and his taxpayer-funded Village attorney to fight his political battles  that needs to be on his dime.

Village boards across the state, including members of the Burr Ridge Village Board, work hard in the best interests of their communities, unlike career politicians like Jim Durkin who are more concerned with winning elections than truly serving the families and taxpayers who need them," Straub said.

Board member Albert Paveza said he expects an apology by or during the next board meeting on Jan. 22, and if that doesn't happen, legal action might.Enigma Software Group initiates French lawsuit against Malwarebytes for unlawful predatory business tactics.

Enigma Software Group vows to protect and vindicate consumers' free choice rights.

PARIS, Jan. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Enigma Software Group USA, LLC ("ESG") has initiated a lawsuit against Malwarebytes Inc. and Malwarebytes Limited (Malwarebytes) in the Commercial Court of Paris over Malwarebytes' unlawful, predatory business practices in France, which are hurting French consumers and ESG. ESG's lawsuit against Malwarebytes asserts claims under French law for Malwarebytes' unlawful conduct of falsely labeling ESG's programs as "potentially unwanted programs" and blocking and interfering with them. Malwarebytes' tactics limit French users' ability to install multiple computer security programs on their systems, thereby not only disregarding consumers' choice but also leaving users more vulnerable to potential cyber attacks.

ESG's spokesperson Ryan Gerding commented that "Although Malwarebytes may attempt to bully ESG by targeting it because it's a strong competitor, ESG will not stand by silently while Malwarebytes improperly blocks French consumers' access to anti-malware programs of their choice  particularly when Malwarebytes is using unlawful anti-competitive tactics purely to increase its own profits at the expense of ESG and French consumers. ESG has customers worldwide and will not hesitate to press claims wherever consumers are hurt to vindicate their rights."

As part of the French lawsuit, a detailed technical report has been submitted by the French Bailiff showing how Malwarebytes blocks users from accessing SpyHunter 4 and makes it difficult for users to get around Malwarebytes' block.

ESG's lawsuit against Malwarebytes in California is still proceeding before the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. As to that pending lawsuit, Gerding commented that "Malwarebytes' alleged statutory defense in the California lawsuit that it can block any program that it doesn't like for any reason is a distortion of U.S. law and, in any event, has no applicability in the French Courts."

About Enigma Software Group USA, LLC

Enigma Software Group USA, LLC is a privately held international systems integrator and developer of PC security software, with offices in the United States and the European Union. The company's specialties are the development of PC security software, online security analysis, adaptive threat assessment, and detection of PC security threats, as well as malware custom fixes for its millions of subscribers worldwide. ESG is best known for SpyHunter 4, its anti-malware software product and service. SpyHunter 4 has repeatedly scored top grades in comparative testing by independent third-party testing labs such as AV-Comparatives and AV-TEST. SpyHunter 4 has also been certified by OPSWAT and TRUSTe.



Connect with ESG on Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | YouTube

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452052/Enigma_Software_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Enigma Software Group USA, LLCNEW DELHI, January 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

New Delhi, 13th January 2018: Eminent international jurist, Hon'ble Mr. Michael Kirby AC CMG, Former Judge, High Court of Australia has been appointed as Honorary Adjunct Professor of Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU).

Hon'ble Mr. Kirby joins Hon. Mr. Justice Michael D. Wilson and Hon. Ms. Justice Sabrina S. McKenna, distinguished Judges of Supreme Court of Hawai'i in the United States of America, distinguished Indian judge, Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Judge, International Court of Justice at The Hague, eminent jurist and parliamentarian, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, distinguished lawyer, Mr Gopal Subramanium, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India who have earlier been appointed as Honorary Adjunct Professors at the Jindal Global Law School.

Mr. Kirby is credited with frequent citations of Indian judgments, during his tenure as a judge. According to a recent study by Australian and Indian professors, his citations of Indian judgments alone constitute 64% of the total citations of Indian judgments by the Judges of the High Court of Australia, which is the apex court in the country. In addition to his longstanding connection to India, in 2014, Justice Kirby was also appointed as the presiding arbitrator in the KG basin dispute.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) and Dean of Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), said, "The founding vision of JGU is to promote global education across different disciplines led by appointment of faculty members from different parts of the world with outstanding academic qualifications and experience. The appointment of Hon'ble Mr. Michael Kirby AC CMG, as Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School is a demonstration of our commitment towards global legal education while recognizing the need for giving opportunities to our students to gain perspectives and experiences that transcend geography and jurisdiction."

"It is our proud privilege to welcome Hon'ble Mr. Michael Kirby as "Honorary Adjunct Professor" to our university," he noted.

The citation for his appointment as Honorary Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School appreciated his contributions and reads as follows: "For his significant contribution to the judiciary, comparative and international law, the India Australia legal relationship and legal education."

Professor Shaun Star, Executive Director, CIAS and Assistant Dean, Jindal Global Law School, observed, "There has been no greater advocate of the India Australia bilateral legal relationship than Justice Michael Kirby. We are delighted to host Justice Kirby once again in India. His involvement as a member of the advisory board of the Centre for India Australia Studies and more recently as an Honorary Adjunct Professor of Jindal Global Law School underscore his commitment to promoting stronger ties between our two jurisdictions. By hosting public events and activities with eminent jurists, academics and policy-makers, the CIAS hopes to further strengthen the awareness and interest in the bilateral relationship for future generations."

Hon'ble Michael Kirby AC CMG is an international jurist and former judge. He served as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (1975-83); Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-84); Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-4); President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal (1984-96); President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands (1995-96) and Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009).

Mr. Kirby has undertaken many international activities for the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the OECD and the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He has also worked in civil society, being elected President of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-8).

His recent international activities have included member of the Eminent Persons Group on the Future of the Commonwealth of Nations (2010-11); Commissioner of the UNDP Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2011-12); Chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on DPRK (North Korea) (2013-14); and Member of the UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Access to Essential Healthcare (2015-16).

In 1990 he was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. In 1998, he was named Laurette of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education. In 2010 he was named co-winner of the Gruber Justice Prize. In 2011 he received the inaugural Australian Privacy Medal. The honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters, Doctor of Laws and Doctor of the University have been conferred on him by universities in Australia and overseas.

Mr. Kirby's visit to India and appointment as Honorary Adjunct Professor of JGLS comes at a time when over 40 Australian students are also visiting JGU under the 'India Immersion Programme' being convened by the Centre for India Australia Studies (CIAS).

The annual 3-week residential programme aims to introduce Australian students to the many different facets of India and is funded by the New Colombo Plan of the Australian government which enables undergraduate students from leading Australian universities to visit and study in the Indo Pacific region.

The CIAS is the first and only Centre with a focus on the India-Australia bilateral relationship that is embedded in an Indian Higher Education Institution.

The CIAS engages with stakeholders from Australia and India to promote deeper ties and meaningful collaborations in the India Australia relationship.

About O.P. Jindal Global University

O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) is a non-profit global university established by the Government of Haryana and recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC). JGU was established as a philanthropic initiative of its Founding Chancellor, Mr. Naveen Jindal in memory of his father, Mr. O.P. Jindal. JGU has been awarded the highest grade 'A' by the National Accreditation & Assessment Council (NAAC).

JGU is one of the few universities in Asia that maintains a 1:13 faculty-student ratio and appoints faculty members from India and different parts of the world with outstanding academic qualifications and experience. JGU is a research intensive university, which is deeply committed to its core institutional values of Interdisciplinarity and innovative pedagogy; pluralism and rigorous scholarship; and globalism and international engagement. JGU has established eight schools: Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), Jindal Global Business School (JGBS), Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP), Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities (JSLH), Jindal School of Journalism & Communication (JSJC), Jindal School of Art & Architecture (JSAA) and

Jindal School of Banking & Finance (JSBF).

SOURCE O.P. Jindal Global UniversitySPRINGFIELD - State Rep. Steve Reick, who represents most of McHenry County, is celebrating Governor Rauner's veto of HB 171. The bill would have granted more power to specific county board chairmen - something to which Reick was opposed.



I spoke out against this bill when it was discussed on the floor of the House of Representatives, and urged the Governor to veto it after it was approved by the General Assembly, said Reick. The bill was written to specifically apply to McHenry County, in spite of the fact that in 2012 county voters voted 2:1 against a referendum that would expand the powers of the leader of the McHenry County Board. Today the Governor sided with the 75,010 McHenry County voters who resoundingly defeated the idea of an all-powerful County Board Chairman. Voter intent was heard and respected by Governor Rauner today.





In his veto message to the General Assembly, Rauner condemned the practice of codifying in state law carve-outs and special solutions that only apply to certain counties and that respond to specific local concerns. Passing state law on such specific question of local authority undermines local control and the ability to create rules as elected Boards may deem appropriate, said Rauner.



The Governor went on to say, Questions concerning the balance of power within local governments can be most appropriately reconsidered by local voters. Just as the citizens of a county can vote via referendum on whether their county adopts an executive form of government, so too should they be able to determine the appropriate power balance in question in this bill.



When HB 171 was delivered to Rauner for final action, Reick launched a petition drive that was signed by more than 100 citizens who asked the Governor to veto the bill. All the credit goes to the citizens who saw HB 171 for what it was: a pure power grab; and who responded by urging a full gubernatorial veto, said Reick, who delivered the petition signatures to the Governors office. This was a good example of how a few voices can make a big difference in government. The message that McHenry County wants a county board chairman with limited powers was heard, and Governor Rauner responded appropriately. I appreciate his full veto.



HB 171 can return to the House and Senate for an attempted veto override, but a 2/3 vote in each chamber is required. The November House vote on HB 171 was 63-48-1, and in an override, 71 votes will be needed.Proactive takes a look at some of the highlight news stories from the small cap mining sector

What happened in the small cap mining sector this week..?

Closely followed potash mine developer Sirius Minerals ( ) was in focus as the week ended - saying it was confident production of polyhalite at its York Potash project will start on time and budget.

A quarterly update indicated there had been some delay to excavation of the mine, called Woodsmith, due to the weather in Yorkshire, but Sirius is confident it can make up the time lost.

The mine is estimated to host to an estimated 2.6bn tonnes of fertiliser rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium.

First production is expected to get underway in 2021.By 2024 Woodsmith is expected to be producing 10mln tonnes of POLY4 fertiliser with output eventually expected to rise to 20mln tonnes a year.

It was one of a number of releases from the mining sector this week. Here are some highlight.

( ) has been busy over the past 12 months.

Its flagship Mbeya thermal power station project in Tanzania is ready to go once a power purchase agreement (PPA) can be agreed with the countrys electricity company.

Katoro, the companys gold assets, were spun out in May with a separate listing, while in November it acquired a power station development in Botswana to leverage the knowledge acquired from Mbeya.

The group also picked up an 85% stake in Mabesekwa from Sechaba, a subsidiary of Shumba Energy, for about 9mln to be paid in shares.

Speaking of power, Power PLC ( ) is to take full ownership of the company that owns the mining lease for the Thar coal to power project in Pakistan, it emerged this week.

Anthony Scutt, Oracles chairman, said: "The move to 100% ownership of SCEL is a material development for Oracle, clearing a significant hurdle as the company moves to financial close.

Sindh Koela Limited now stand to benefit alongside existing Oracle shareholders as the project advances and the current disparity between the market valuation and that of the project narrows.

Oracle will pay 3.6mln to Sindh Koela Limited (SKL) for the outstanding shares in Sindh (SCEL).

To Portugal and lithium, where Savannah Resources ( ) said it has secured a very "exciting project"

"It could be the best lithium project in Europe," said David Archer.

Its a bold claim to make, given the strength of the competition from the likes of European Metals Holdings and European Lithium.

Our Mina do Barroso project in Portugal is in spodumene, he explains. Hard rock spodumene is a demonstrably successful mode of producing lithium from mines. The product is highly sought.

In other news, ( ) made a breakthrough in its dispute with Rand Refinery, as the pair have agreed a proposed full and final settlement.

"We are very pleased to have been able to progress discussions with Rand Refinery to this point and to have agreed terms for a settlement of the dispute," said Gerard Kisbey-Green, chief executive of the gold recovery specialist, after the memorandum of understanding was signed.

"While the proposed amount is less than the full amount claimed by us, we believe that the proposed settlement and expected consequent expeditious conclusion of the arbitration process will not only alleviate the time and costs of the agreed legal process and free up valuable management time, but it also will allow business between the two parties to resume on the basis of a fresh start with renewed energy and focus in all areas to further strengthen and build the long standing relationship that exists between the two companies."

Elsewhere, Company PLC ( ) saw its shares advance this week as it reported high gold grades from one of three holes drilled recently at its Mine River prospect in Wicklow and Wexford in Ireland.

Assay results from the hole at the Tombreen target indicated an 8m section grading 4.53 g/t gold, which included 2m at 16.1 g/t.

Mineralisation ranging from 0.17 g/t to 0.25g/t over several intersections was also confirmed in a hole at nearby Gibbet Hill, while surface samples from the surrounding area contained grades as high as 5.08 g/t.

Supply shortages helped Aussie-based mineral sands miner Limited ( ) achieve record prices for its spread of base metals.

Base produces ilmenite, zircon and rutile from the Kwale mine in Kenya and a combination of two bulk rutile sales and higher zircon prices increased the average revenue per tonne to a record US$323 per tonne (US$271) in the three months to December.

Base added it has also secured significant price rises on its zircon contracts for the current (March) quarter.

Operationally, the quarter was characterised by consistent production and continuing improvement in zircon markets, variable ilmenite prices and a positive outlook for rutile, said the company.

To exploration news and Ltd told investors it has continued to unearth high grade base and precious metal mineralisation at the BKZ project in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The company, in a statement, noted that the mineralisation has been confirmed over a 300 metre strike length and across 110 metres of width.

Five drill holes have now intersected high grade copper-silver mineralisation, underlying a high grade polymetallic mineralisation. The mineralisation remains open to the south, east, west and down-dip.

The company highlighted that new assays included up to 7.9% copper over 1-metre sample intervals.Mark Colonnese, sales & marketing director, Aquarium Software. Our insurance technology solution is instantly configurable into Spanish, Portuguese or any other language, with the similarities in global policy admin and claims processing meaning we are watching this market with interest.

Recent research shows that Latin America is experiencing a burgeoning e-commerce market - increasing at an average of 30 percent annually  and subsequently transforming the B2B sectors, predominately air travel. However, the travel insurance market is minuscule in comparison, with an estimated paltry 10 percent of travellers buying travel cover. This leads insurance technology specialist Aquarium Software to suggest international companies could take advantage of such a gap in the South America travel insurance market  which industry commentators believe could be worth up to $2bn a year.

With an average policy price of $96 for a one-week trip, the total current Latin American market size is $192 million at only 10 percent penetration. It is clear to see that the industry has a potential for exponential growth. With Latin American consumers often preferring to deal with multi-nationals, this a fantastic opportunity for international insurers to seize, said Aquarium Software Director, Mark Colonnese. However, they must demonstrate expert local knowledge and be in tune with language and cultural differences, in order to be competitive and win trust, he added.

Customers in the South Americas are looking for reliable, transparent insurance vendors, and many leading companies have already found success in the region, including Allianz; MAPFRE; and AXA. Allianz launched direct sales in 2012 after it began offering travel insurance in Mexico in 2008, and it has seen high rates of success, with its online channel reportedly growing by 70 percent annually.

Other businesses must acknowledge the fact that Latin American consumers are becoming far more sophisticated and comfortable with the idea of e-commerce, added Mark. With such a low travel insurance penetration level of 10 percent, there is huge potential for global insurers to make great leaps in the region. Our insurance technology solution is instantly configurable into Spanish, Portuguese or any other language, with the similarities in global policy admin and claims processing meaning we are watching this market with interest, Mark concluded.

Aquarium Softwares specialist niche general insurance solution spanning: rating, policy admin, billing, claims and mobile apps has been implemented by a number of insurers around the globe. For further information contact Aquarium Software on +44 (0)161 927 5620 or visit http://www.aquarium-software.comQuantocoin The bank is dedicated to providing, amongst other things, merchant payment services, microfinance facilities, debit cards, international money transfers and currency exchange services

The swift adoption of the blockchain technology is disrupting many markets, especially the segment of banking & financial services. QUANTOCOIN takes digital banking services to the next level by incorporating the key advantages of this state-of-the-art technology, the internet, and smartphones to create QTC Bank. With a special focus on the sector of remittance that traditionally suffers from high cost.

Global remittances are projected to grow by 3.4 percent to $616 billion, in 2018. One of the top three countries in the world in remittance-receiving is the Philippines with $32.8 billion this year, as estimated by the World Bank. Last year, cash sent home by overseas Filipinos through banks reached a record-high $32.8 billion, 5.3-percent higher than 2016s $26.9 billion. Remittances in the Philippines are thriving, and so is their cost.

The cost of remittance worldwide is estimated to 7.1% of the sending amount. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the fees are estimated at $215 million. Statistical calculations reveal that a price cut by at least 5% can save up to $16 billion annually.

Now, QUANTOCOIN leads the way in reducing significantly the remittance fees by preparing the launch of one of the worlds most comprehensive virtual banks, QTC Bank. As Pablo V. Dana, Partner in QUANTOCOIN, explains The bank is dedicated to providing, amongst other things, merchant payment services, microfinance facilities, debit cards, international money transfers and currency exchange services to individuals located where internet services (hence, connectivity) are available, but where traditional banks have failed to enter sufficiently.

To support the development of QTC Bank, QUANTOCOIN launched a global Initial Coin Offering (ICO) campaign where investors can benefit from large bonuses. There are only a few days left for the campaign till its end.

For further information, to read the whitepaper and participate in the ICO visit http://www.quantocoin.io today.

About

The QUANTOCOIN Project ensures the merging of the current benefits of traditional banking with the potential of investing in a crypto-financial future. The main goal of the Project is to integrate and connect QTC into the traditional financial world, and to create a single gateway through a QTC platform for users, traders, investors and financial institutions with a whole range of add-on services.BMOC, Inc. and Tri-North Builders announce a groundbreaking ceremony on January 17TH, 2018, at 10:00 AM for the new Newman Heights Student Housing Apartments that will be located at 185 S Hickory Street in Platteville, Wisconsin.

This development represents a unique partnership and will bring much needed student housing to the University of Wisconsin - Platteville area. Newman Heights Student Apartments will be beautiful brand new building with 47 apartment units/ 144 beds consisting of studio and 4 bedroom apartments. Opening for Fall 2018, the building will offer a community lounge area, fitness center, conference room/group study room and study rooms on the second and third floors.

Newman Heights will serve the students of the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. Founded in 1866, UW-Platteville is the fastest growing UW System school, with current enrollment over 8,600 Pioneers."

UW-Platteville is known as a leader in science, technology and engineering fields, with unique initiatives in Microsystems and Nanotechnology, forensic investigation, and renewable energy.

BMOC, Inc. was selected to manage the operations of Newman Heights Student Housing Apartments. BMOC, Inc., an IREM based company, was created 24 years ago in 1984. BMOC, Inc. is the fastest growing property management and student housing management in Wisconsin with over 26 properties on 14 campuses. BMOC Inc. has experience in managing over 196,000 beds throughout the US.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Wednesday, January 17th, 2018 at 10:00 am

Lunch and refreshments will be served.

Contact: Leah Orsbon, National Marketing and Leasing Director, BMOC, Inc.

PH: (850) 420-8848

E:-mail: Leah.Orsbon(at)BMOCinc.com

###Economic Group Pension Services (EGPS), a national independent consulting firm that designs and administers retirement plans, is pleased to announce the expansion of their growing Orange County, California office with the addition of four experienced and highly-qualified employees. Each individual brings specific talents and skills that make them a perfect fit for EGPS and their clients.

EGPSs new employee additions include Monica Saint, CEBS, Janette Holm, ERPA, CEBS, and Tammy Deden, who will each serve as a Retirement Plan Consultant. Barbara Crittenden, QPA, QKA, also joins the EGPS team as Senior Actuarial Consultant. Economic Group Pension Services is honored to welcome these new members as part of our growing Orange County team, says Daniel Liss, President and CEO. Their talents and extensive knowledge of the business and client needs will help secure continued growth and a successful future for EGPS, our clients, and our employees.

With over 25 years in the business, Monica Saint, CEBS, specializes in 401(k) plan administration and ERISA/IRS/DOL regulatory compliance. She received her Bachelor of Science and Masters degree from the University of Southern California. She also received her certification from the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (CEBS).

Janette Holm, ERPA, CEBS, brings over 25 years of administration experience working with companies that have 401(k) and profit sharing plans for their employees. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Biola University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine. Janette also holds designations as an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) and is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS).

Tammy Deden has expertise working on retirement plans since 2001. Her experience includes all aspects of qualified plan compliance testing and managing four case managers serving more than 400 clients. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton.

Barbara Crittenden, QPA, QKA, who will serve as Senior Actuarial Consultant, has over 20 years of experience in plan administration with a focus on defined benefit pension, cash balance pension, and 401(k) profit sharing plans. She prides herself on effective client interactions and her ability to work well with numerous financial advisors and CPAs. Barbaras designations include being a Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) and a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA).

About Economic Group Pension Services, Inc.: Founded in 1971, Economic Group Pension Services is a national independent retirement plan consulting and administration firm. With plan administration offices in New York, Alabama, Louisiana, and California, the company manages over 3,400 employee benefit plans for business owners and their employees across the country. For more information about the company, please visit https://egps.com/.To kick off the new year, Taiwan Tourism Bureau will be participating in the San Diego Travel & Adventure Show this weekend, January 13-14 at the San Diego Convention Center, sharing the latest Taiwan travel information at the nations most popular event of tourism.

This year is Taiwan Tourisms 2018 Marine Tourism Year. The Taiwan Pavilion will feature Taiwans rich and ravishing marine life, and her unique marine tourism resources. Booth visitors will get a glimpse of Taiwans diverse geography and will sure spark great interest in visiting Taiwan. Travel gurus will be on site to recommend the best itineraries for you and answer any questions you may have about touring Taiwan.

Visitors to Taiwan Pavilion can also enter the grand prize drawing of Los Angeles-Taipei round trip tickets offered by China Airlines and Eva Air, or a chance to win Taiwan travel package vouchers of $500 value sponsored by Gala Holidays and SITA World Tours. If Taiwan is on your travel list, you should definitely not miss out on this amazing opportunity.

The Bureau also joined forces with Ten Ren Tea - Tea Station. Besides offering free sampling of pearl milk tea at the Pavilion, a special cooking demonstration and tasting of the Pu-erh tea flavored beef with green tea noodle soup at the Taste of Travel Theater. The talented chef takes a different approach to the traditional recipe of Taiwanese beef noodle soup by infusing the broth with Pu-erh tea and replacing regular noodles with green tea noodles. It will blow your noodle experience to a whole new level! On the Global Beats Stage, the STC foundation will present a Techno Third Prince dance showcasing Taiwans charming folk culture. Dancers will be dressed in traditional style costumes with mesmerizing choreography that will surely take viewers breath away.

Bring your friends and family to experience the charm of Taiwan at the San Diego Travel & Adventure Show, and seize the great opportunity of amazing travel deals. Please LIKE our official Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/TourTaiwan for the most updated Taiwan Tourism news.CHICAGO - Governor Bruce Rauner will be featured at a luncheon the Lincoln Forum is holding on January 22. Lincoln Forum's board of directors consists of Republicans, Democrats and Chicago media personalities.

One of the group's leaders is former IL GOP State Chairman Pat Brady, who resigned from the position and contracted with the Illinois ACLU to promote same sex marriage and later promoted Ohio Governor John Kasich's presidential bid in 2016.

The same Pat Brady that said in a radio interview during the primary, "If you're going to take on Donald Trump, you've got to take him out with a head shot."

The luncheon featuring the governor will be held January 22, 2018:H&M became embroiled in a racism controversy after an advertisement showing a black child model wearing a hoodie that said "coolest monkey in the jungle" was posted to the clothing chain's website.

While the mother of the boy has told people to 'get over it', it hasn't stopped people across the world calling H&M all the names under the sun.

Groups of protestors believed to be member of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have stormed various H&M stores across the country.

They pushed over mannequins and tore down racks of clothing.

Here is what the H&M shop in Menlyn mall looks like.Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!Contemporaneous notes taken by President Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort at a meeting with a Russian lawyer and lobbyist at Trump Tower during the election reference Cyprus, "active sponsors of RNC," and "Russian adoptions by American families," according to an interview transcript released by Congress earlier this week.

Senate Judiciary Committee investigators showed the notes to Glenn Simpson, the cofounder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and asked him whether he recognized any of the terms or phrases Manafort wrote down during the June 9 meeting and later provided to congressional investigators.

The notes mentioned "active sponsors of RNC" and referenced Juleanna Glover, a political strategist and lobbyist who served as Dick Cheney's press secretary during the Iraq war, according to the transcript. There was also a reference to "133 million," according to Simpson.

"We understand these are meeting notes," said Jason Foster, the chief investigative counsel for Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley.

"Do these phrases about -- including Mr. Browder, mean anything to you or relate to any of the research that you conducted or otherwise aware of regarding Mr. Browder?" Foster asked.

Bill Browder, a wealthy American banker who renounced his US citizenship and became a British citizen in 1997, was the target of opposition research conducted by Fusion GPS on behalf of a US law firm representing the Russian holding company Prevezon. Browder had accused Prevezon of being involved in a $230 million tax-fraud scheme and laundering the stolen money into New York City real estate.

"I could tell -- obviously you know who Bill Browder is," Simpson told the committee, after being shown the Manafort meeting notes. Simpson had told the committee earlier that his work for Prevezon's American lawyers was focused "on trying to get William Browder to testify under oath about his role in this case and his activities in Russia."

"Cyprus Offshore, Bill Browder's structure, you know, investment -- Hermitage Capital, his hedge fund, set up numerous companies in Cyprus to engage in inward investment into Russia," Simpson said, "which is a common structure, both partially for tax reasons but also to have entities outside of Russia, you know, managing specific investments."

"I can only tell you I assume that's what that references," Simpson added. "I don't know what the 133 million --"

Foster cut Simpson off.

"Do any of the other entries in here mean anything to you in light of the research you've conducted or what you otherwise know about Mr. Browder?" he asked.

Simpson said he could guess:

"So, 'Value in Cyprus as inter,' I don't know what that means," Simpson said. "'Illici,' I don't know what that means 'Active sponsors of RNC,' I don't know what that means. 'Browder hired Joanna Glover' is a mistaken reference to Juleanna Glover, who was Dick Cheney's press secretary during the Iraq war and associated with another foreign policy controversy. 'Russian adoptions by American families' I assume is a reference to the adoption issue."

Simpson added that "a couple of items" in the notes referenced things his firm had worked on, including Cyprus and Bill Browder's financial ties to the country.

Glover confirmed on Friday that she served as the Ashcroft Group's lead lobbyist pushing for the Magnitsky Act's passage between 2011 and 2012, and had worked with Browder in that capacity.

It is not clear why the "RNC"  possibly a reference to the Republican National Committee  was brought up during the meeting. Manafort's spokesman Jason Maloni declined to comment.

Donald Trump Jr., who was also at the meeting, said in a statement last summer that the Russian lawyer who had promised the campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton spoke only of Russia's adoption policy. The policy was altered to bar American families from adopting Russian children in retaliation for the signing of the Magnitsky Act in 2012.

Manafort gave his notes, which he took on his iPhone, to the Senate Intelligence Committee last July when he appeared before the committee to testify. He has since been indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller on charges including money laundering, tax-fraud, and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!This story has been updated with new information. It was originally published on January 13, 2018, at 11:15 a.m. ET.

A little more than a year ago, Donald Trump made two of the most alarming statements of his political career. Now they appear poised to become US policy, in light of a government document leaked to HuffPost.

The first statement occurred on December 22, 2016, when Trump tweeted that the US "must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

Trump's aides claimed he wasn't starting a nuclear arms race. But he betrayed their spin the following day with a second statement.

"Let it be an arms race," Trump reportedly told MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski over the phone, adding: "We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all."

Both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations have worked for decades to reduce US and global nuclear weapons stockpiles, so Trump's views represented a reversal of longstanding efforts at denuclearization. Because he was president-elect at the time, doubts existed as to whether he  once sworn in and surrounded by presumably experienced and competent cabinet members  would act on them.

But what little room for doubt is left has shrunk considerably.

On Thursday, HuffPost senior reporter Ashley Feinberg published what appears to be a January 2018 draft of the Nuclear Posture Review.

An NPR, as it's also called, is a roadmap for US nuclear strategy published every four years. It is assembled by the Secretary of Defense, who is currently Jim Mattis, and other administration officials based on the president's input.

The 64-page document is not a call for stockpiling massive numbers of new atomic bombs, but it outlines the Trump administration's plans to not only expand nuclear weapons capabilities, but also make the devices eminently easier for military forces to use.

When asked about the document's authenticity, Feinberg told Business Insider via tweet that it "comports with what industry people/lobbyists/the people quoted in my post have heard and seen."

A final version of the NPR is slated for publication in February, according to HuffPost, and  given a year of work put into the report  it is unlikely to change much by that time.

And that should frighten us all, with some members of Congress going so far as to label it "a roadmap for nuclear war."

Why Trump thinks the US needs more nukes

Trump is worried about the nuclear weapons modernization efforts of Russia, which in 2014 violated a key arms reduction treaty. He's also concerned with North Korea's maturingintercontinental ballistic missile and nucleartest programs.

His tough-guy response to these threats, however, echoes escalatory Cold War-era logic: outmatch your adversaries, or risk a nation-destroying preemptive strike.

For example, during a gathering of national security officials in July 2017, NBC News wrote that Trump said he wanted the US to boost its active stockpile to 1960s levels (a tenfold increase). This was reportedly after Trump was shown a chart of the US nuclear arsenal since 1945, and how its size changed over time.

His attitude not only ignores disquieting facts about nuclear weapons and risks their proliferation in foreign countries, but also threatens to increase the chances of nuclear accidents and catastrophes.

The draft 2018 NPR is far from a rubber stamp of Trump's desires. Its goals resemble former President Barack Obama's 30-year, $1.2-trillion plan to modernize the US nuclear arsenal along with the sorely outdated command-and-control systems required to use the weapons. The text also acknowledges international agreements not to create more weapons.

But the report contains notable differences  such as reversing Obama's move to limit "low-yield" nukes  and is lined with contradictions and "dark perspective," arms control experts told HuffPost.

The biggest problem is its logic behind giving the US arsenal more nuclear weapons which pack smaller blasts and are easier to use.

The slippery slope of flexible, low-yield nuclear weapons

The US and Russia have committed to taking thousands of warheads offline since 2010 (as part of the New START treaty). However, technological proliferation can occur when the total number of nuclear weapons decreases.

The new NPR cites the advances in Russia's battlefield-ready nuclear arms, then effectively reverses the Obama-era position of not making similar "low-yield" and "flexible" nuclear weapons to match them.

"To be clear, this is not intended to, nor does it enable, 'nuclear war-fighting.' Expanding flexible U.S. nuclear options now, to include low-yield options, is important for the preservation of credible deterrence against regional aggression," the NPR states. "It will raise the nuclear threshold and help ensure that potential adversaries perceive no possible advantage in limited nuclear escalation, making nuclear employment less likely."

But "low-yield" is a misnomer: This category of weapons can rival the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945, each of which led to about 100,000 casualties.

Modern low-yield weapons are also easier to deploy than larger, more powerful weapons, leading to a higher likelihood that they will be used in what may have previously been traditional combat. They're also more accurate.

For example, the US military's B61-12 gravity bomb  available to fighter jets in 2021  will recycle four older-style bombs that fell to targets with a precision of about 300-550 feet. But weapons experts say the gravity bomb is effectively a new weapon with new capabilities, since the rebuilt bombs will have new pop-out fins and thrusters to guide them to a target with a precision of under 100 feet.

The military can also "tune" the B61-12's blast yields from several times higher to several times lower than the first atomic bombs. Submarine cruise missiles with "low-yield" warheads are also in the works, the NPR states.

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has previouslycriticized the enormous cost of the US nuclear weapons modernization effort, spoke out against the NPR on Wednesday, calling its contents "a roadmap for nuclear war" in a statement.

"Simply put, President Trump wants new nuclear weapons and more ways to use them. We don't need new nuclear weapons, 'low yield' or otherwise, and we certainly should not be creating more ambiguity about the military scenarios in which we might use our nuclear weapons," Markey said in the statement." Threatening to use nuclear weapons to respond to and deter conventional threats is unnecessary when we have the most powerful conventional military in the world. President Trump's approach is destabilizing, makes the world less safe, and increases the risk of nuclear war."

In addition to lowering the threshold for use and making the taboo against use of any nuclear weapons likely to fall apart, the NPR  if followed  may also increase the chances for catastrophic miscalculation.

People and machines are flawed

Official Theatrical Trailer - Command and Control

Right now, hundreds of US nuclear weapons are already primed to use at a moment's notice. This dangerous Cold War-era policy means such weapons can be launched within a few minutes of detecting an adversary's preemptive nuclear strike  or a false signal of one.

Many strategic weapons, like Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) deployed across middle America, can't be disabled once they leave a silo.

Yet no human creation is perfect. You can build the world's smartest, most seemingly foolproof machine, and it will still contain flaws. In the case of nuclear weapons systems, such flaws run the risk of accidental launch, detonation, and incredible loss of life.

Tallying up nuclear weapons accidents is exceedingly difficult, especially due to their classified nature, but information that has been released is alarming.

"[M]any dozens of incidents involving nuclear warheads are known to have occurred in the United States  and likely many more that have not been made public," according to a 2015 fact sheet by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Thirty-two known incidents were "broken arrows," when a nuclear weapon was accidentally launched, fired, detonated, stolen, or lost. Eleven are weapons the US military never recovered, including one of two powerful thermonuclear bombs it accidentally dropped and nearly detonated over North Carolina.

Writer Eric Schlosser has chronicled some of these all-too-common misadventures in "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety". The 2014 book closely follows the story of a Titan II ICBM that exploded in its silo, nearly setting off a powerful warhead that could have laid waste to Arkansas and nearby states. (The cause? A maintenance worker who accidentally dropped a tool.)

In light of Trump's statements as president-elect in December 2016, Schlosser revisited some of his book's material in a recent piece for The New Yorker, in which he described alarming, ongoing technical problems with "aging and obsolete" nuclear weapons and their command-and-control systems.

Schlosser also highlighted the risks of being human. Using Minuteman III system as one example, he wrote for The New Yorker:

"[In 2014], almost a hundred Minuteman launch officers were disciplined for cheating on their proficiency exams. In 2015, three launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, in Montana, were dismissed for using illegal drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamines. That same year, a launch officer at Minot Air Force Base, in North Dakota, was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for heading a violent street gang, distributing drugs, sexually assaulting a girl under the age of sixteen, and using psilocybin, a powerful hallucinogen. As the job title implies, launch officers are entrusted with the keys for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles."

National leaders who can order nuclear strikes are also fallible humans.

Take Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who publicly rattled his nation's nuclear sabers in late December after reading (and apparently believing) a fake news article about Israel threatening his country with nuclear weapons.

Making more lower-yield nukes in any country  whether Pakistan or the US  would also heighten the risk of a smaller weapon falling into the hands of terrorists and attacking a city.

What is the solution?

The more nuclear weapons that exist  and the easier they are to use  the more likely they are to intentionally or accidentally explode and lead to catastrophe, perhaps a global one.

As Alexandra Bell, a former senior adviser at the State Department and current senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, told HuffPost: "[W]e have 4,000 nuclear weapons in our active stockpile, which is more than enough to destroy the world many times over ... I don't think you can make the case that this president needs any more capabilities."

The solution is not easy but straightforward: Do not expand any nuclear arsenals or their capabilities. Instead, continue to reduce weapons stockpiles, ideally until they are all gone, while making the ones that remain safer.

Plenty of non-nuclear alternatives exist to keep adversarial countries in check until the world rids itself of nukes.

Take cyberwarfare. Given the cleverness and scope of Stuxnet, a computer virus that took down Iran's uranium-enriching centrifuges, it's not unreasonable to suggest covert and preemptive attacks on nuclear weapons systems themselves are possible or even ongoing.

Diplomacy, sanctions, embargoes, and treaties may not always be popular, but they have helped prevent countries like Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. They've also helped reduce weapons stockpiles by more than a factor of 10. Conventional warfare can also help strip a nation of its nuclear weapons facilities.

Most importantly, however, as Schlosser and others argue, it's past time that we stop assuming nuclear weapons are safe and irrelevant relics of the Cold War."We have great respect for the people of Africa. Our commitment to Ghana and all our African partners remains strong," the embassy said in a tweet Saturday.

It added: "Its an honor for our staff to serve here alongside Ghanaians, and we deeply value our relationship with them."

The tweet comes after the US President Donald Trump is reported to have said African nations are "shithole" countries.

On Friday, Trump tweeted an implicit denial, saying "this was not the language used".

On Saturday, President Nana Akufo-Addo tweeted that Trump's reported slur comments were "unfortunate."His appointment as chancellor of the university has been described as "appropriate" by President Nana Akufo-Addo, who witness the installation ceremony of ex-President Kufuor.

It is a well-deserved honour, given in recognition of the immense work you did, during your time as President of the Republic, not only for UMaT, but also for Mother Ghana. Ayekoo. I commend the authorities of the University for this admirable gesture, he said.READ MORE: Parliament finally passes Special Prosecutor Bill

Speaking on Joy FM's "Newsfile" Saturday, he predicted that the board will interfere in the work of Martin Amidu, which will lead to his exit from office.

Per the bill, the Office of the Special Prosecutor will have a board and the Special Prosecutor is answerable to it.

This provision, Mr Ndebugri said on Joy FM's Newsfile, will cause Martin Amidu to leave his office.

Speaking to the same show, Ace Ankomah, a private legal practitioner, disagreed that the nature of the office of the special prosecutor law will cause Martin Amidu to leave office.The troops have been given the mandate to push back the herdsmen from new areas they have occupied, arrest perpetrators of recent acts of violence for prosecution and augment the efforts of Operation Cowleg, an ongoing security operation aimed at dealing with the operations of the herdsmen in the area.

READ MORE: Two police officers killed in Drobonso

The latest deployment to Agogo in the Ashanti Region follows the shooting of three military men and one policeman, who are currently on admission at the 37 Military Hospital.

The shooting happened after the Police were engaged by some suspected Fulani herdsmen in Agogo in the Asante Akyem North District of the Ashanti Region, believed to have taken siege in the area.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Fulani herdsmen have gone on a rampage in Agogo.

Last year, residents in the area complained bitterly about herdsmen invading their lands with their cattle.READ MORE: Bimbilla residents banned from the streets between 6pm to 6am to prevent killings

The Nanumba North District Crime Officer, ASP Ebenezer Pepprah, who confirmed the arrest to Accra-based Starr FM said the arrest were made by a team of police officers and investigators from the regional headquarters who stormed the town earlier today in a dawn raid.

The Regional CID came down this morning and made some arrest, ASP Pepprah said. "Some personnel came from Tamale and made the arrest and they are in police custody in Tamale."

Meanwhile the Regional commander, DCOP Patrict Adusei Sarpong has said the suspects are under interrogation.

On Friday, the Interior Minister renewed the curfew on the Bimbilla township by restricting activities from 6pm to 6am."If you come to look at the pedigree of Mr. Martin Amidu, I have no doubt at all about his competence and his courage to perform," he told Ghanaweb.

He added: "I came to work with honourable Martin Amidu for the first time when we came to the Consultative Assembly in 1991 several years ago and that is where I knew at close range

"Hes been somebody who does not compromise on his positions. If he believes in a position, he believes in it, no matter what happens hell pursue what he believes in whether hes right or wrong hell still pursue in what he believes in."

Mr Amidu was on Thursday nominated as Ghana's first Special Prosecutor by President Nana Akufo-Addo, a new office created to fight public sector corruption."CARICOM condemns in the strongest terms, the unenlightened views reportedly expressed."

At a White House meeting with Trump on Thursday, lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

Trump then reportedly demanded to know why the US should accept immigrants from "shithole countries" rather than -- for instance -- wealthy and overwhelmingly white Norway.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the meeting, said Trump specifically asked, "Do we need more Haitians?" before launching into a diatribe about African immigration.

As his remarks sparked a global firestorm, the president on Friday denied he ever said "anything derogatory" about the people of Haiti, whose government called Trump's reported remarks racist.

CARICOM expressed full support for the Haitian government's reaction "to this highly offensive reference," said the bloc which includes former British, Dutch and French colonies.

"It should be recalled that Haiti is the second democracy in the Western hemisphere after the United States and that Haitians continue to contribute significantly in many spheres to the global community and particularly to the United States of America," CARICOM said.

The bloc "therefore views this insult to the character of the countries named and their citizens as totally unacceptable."According to Deutsche Welle (DW), the UN diplomats met for an emergency session and jointly issued a statement calling president Trump to retract this remark and tender an apology to affected countries.

The African Group of Ambassadors to the United Nations met in emergency session on 12 January 2018 to consider the remarks made by the President of the United State and It is extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous racist and xenophobic remarks attributed to the president of the United States of America as widely reported in the media.

"We demand a retraction and an apology.

An African ambassador told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "For once, we are all on the same page. "

Donald Trump was reported to have called Africa, Haiti and El Salvador as shithole countries during a meeting with lawmakers to discuss a proposal for an immigration plan.

"Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?" he asked, according to multiple sources present at the White House meeting.#

Many African presidents and personalities have called out president Trump for this remark. Botswana and Senegal also summoned US ambassadors in their respective countries in protest of Trump's remarks.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said about Trumps remark: "it is extremely unfortunate. We will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful.

Mr Donald Trump denies making such remark

Due to the negative reactions to this remark, president Donald has come to debunk making such comment about Africa and other regions. He, however, said he used some strong wordings but not a shit-hole description.

Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki, said US is not a position to make such remark as the country built by migrants.According to a circular released by the border service on Friday, January 12, 2017, the move is to ensure affected personnel properly disengage from the service and proceed on the compulsory three-months pre-retirement leave as stated by the law.

The circular titled: CIRCULAR NO/HRD/2017/003-LIST OF OFFICERS/MEN FOR STATUTORY RETIREMENT IN THE YEAR 2018 and signed by Sulaiman M.S.J, Comptroller Establishments.

I am directed to forward the attached list on the above subject as a Pre-Retirement notice to all affected officers.all affected officers due for retirement in 2018 are to disengage from active service and proceed on three-months pre-retirement leave, three months to the effective date of retirement, the circular reads in part.

A Deputy Comptroller General, an Assistant Comptroller General, 11 Comptrollers, 27 Deputy Comptrollers, 27 Assistant Comptrollers and 23 Chief Superintendents of Customs are due for retirement.

file officers listed on the retirement notice include five Chief Inspector of Customs Terminal (CIC T); 21 Chief Inspector of Customs (CIC); 21 Superintendent of Customs (SC); 36 Deputy Chief Inspector of Customs (DCIC); 23 Deputy Comptrollers (DCs); 121 Assistant Chief Inspector of Customs (ACIC); four ACIC1; 131 Deputy Inspector of Customs (DIC); and one Assistant Superintendent of Customs 11.

Also Read: Nigeria Customs Service begins auction of seized goods on July 1

83 Senior Inspector of Customs (SIC); two Chief Customs Assistant (CCA T); 18 Inspector of Customs (IC); six CC; three Assistant Inspector of Customs; two Senior Customs Assistant (SCA); and one Customs Assistant (CA).

The affected officers are to be disengaged either on the basis of mandatory 60 years of age or 35 years in service, in line with the civil service rules. Those affected are expected to report to the headquarters with their notice of retirement on or before the end of March this year.

All affected officers are to ensure compliance and forward their three months pre-retirement notice to the Comptroller General of Customs accordingly. Any observed error, omission or legitimate complaints should be forwarded to the office of the Comptroller General of Customs on or before 31st March 2018.

All those due for retirement must proceed on the mandatory three months pre-retirement leave, starting March 2018.

Performance of the New Custom Service

The NCS has recently recorded many achievements. In 2017, the service remitted over N1 trillion to the Federal government as revenue for the year. This is the highest revenue since its establishment.A Mississippi lawmaker is proposing a solution that he hopes will finally bring an end to one of the state's most divisive issues, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Earlier this month, Republican Rep. Greg Snowden filed a bill that would allow two flag designs to officially represent the state. If the measure passes, Mississippi would be the only US state with two flags.

Mississippi's current flag, which features the symbol for the Confederacy, would be left untouched. A proposed second flag would bring back an old design used on the state's official flag from 1861 until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

That design features a magnolia tree in the center of the flag and a white star against a blue background in the top-left corner, replacing the controversial Confederate emblem currently in its place.

"We feel that it is most appropriate to adopt the historical Magnolia Flag as an additional design of the official state flag that may be flown with equal status and dignity to represent our state as we are beginning our third century as a member of the United States," the bill says.

Snowden argued that his solution will appease both sides of the flag debate. While some Mississippians consider the current flag to be a historical tribute to their ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War, others believe it glorifies slavery and the systematic oppression of black people.

The two-flag proposal would allow people to choose which flag they want to represent them. Snowden's bill says that both flags could be flown together or individually.Hundreds of pages of search warrant documents related to the deadly Las Vegas mass shooting were unsealed on Friday. The documents reveal that police investigators have not yet found a motive for the October 1 massacre that left 58 people dead and hundreds injured.

Gunman Stephen Paddock fired on concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Police searched Paddock's room, his vehicle, and two homes he owned in Reno and in Mesquite, Nevada, where they found a cache of weapons.

Inside his hotel room, investigators found two unlocked cell phones. Neither contained significant information that allowed investigators to determine the full scope of Stephen Paddocks planning and preparation for the attack, the documents said.

A third cell phone, which was locked, could not be accessed, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper also said investigators identified an email inbox belonging to Paddock that contained a message from a Gmail account officials believe was related to Paddock's preparations for the attack.

The message read in part: for a thrill try out bumpfire ars with 100 round magazine, an apparent reference to the "bump stock" device police say that Paddock affixed to a number of the firearms found in his room.

Investigators have interviewed Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, several times in the ongoing investigation, the court documents show.

Danley has not been named a suspect or charged with a crime, but investigators identified her as "the most likely person who aided or abetted" Paddock because she told police that "her fingerprints would likely be found on the ammunition used during the attack, The New York Times reported Friday night, citing the search warrant documents.

Though Danley initially told investigators that she sometimes helped Paddock load magazines, the FBI said nothing indicated that she knew about Paddock's plans to carry out a mass shooting.

Ten pages of the search warrant documents remained sealed ahead of a Nevada state court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.There have been several deadly clashes recently between herders and farmers with the latest leading to the death of 73 people in Benue.

According to Reuters, the Presidency said the limited availability of land prompted both parties to adopt all means to meet their need.

President Buhari holds the view, as do many experts, that these conflicts are more often than not, as a result of major demographic changes in Nigeria, said the presidency in an emailed statement.

Nigerias population was around 63 million when the West African country gained independence in 1960, compared with a population now estimated at close to 200 million.

While the land size has not changed and will not change, urban sprawl and development have simply reduced land area both for peasant farming and cattle grazing.

The United Nations estimates that Africas most populous country is set to become the country with the worlds third largest population, behind India and China, by 2050.

Towards addressing the situation, the presidency said it will organise a conference in an attempt to proffer short and long-term solutions to the problem.

How bad is the situation?

The middle-belt region of Nigeria is a vastly green field, thus a designation point for most nomadic herders looking to feed their cattle. Thus, leading to a frequent clash between the farmers and herders. Winfrey and Graham got engaged in 1992, but ultimately decided against marriage.

 Graham's suggestion that Winfrey run for president at the 2018 Golden Globes isn't the first time he's encouraged her to enter the realm of politics.

Interest in media mogul Oprah Winfrey's hypothetical 2020 presidential run is surging.

Even US President Donald Trump has weighed in. While Trump asserted he'd beat Winfrey, in past years he said the former queen of daytime talk would be his ideal running mate, Business Insider reported.

Still, Winfrey's well-received Golden Globes speech, which touched upon the #MeToo movement, the free press, and the importance of combatting injustice, has catapulted her name to the forefront of this early presidential speculation.

And her longtime partner Stedman Graham's comments to the The Los Angeles Times also helped fuel widespread interest in her political prospects.

Graham, who runs management and marketing consulting firm S. Graham and Associates, has been with Winfrey for 32 years.

Here's a look inside their relationship:

Harper's Bazaar reported that the couple first met at a charity event in 1986, the same year The Oprah Winfrey Show launched. They began dating that year.

Source: ,

Winfrey told People magazine that some people in her circle questioned her boyfriend's intentions because of his good looks: "They figured if he looked like that, he either had to be a jerk or want something."

Source: ,

But that didn't deter Winfrey. According to People, in the early days of their relationship, Graham would spend weekends at her "lavish condo on Chicago's Gold Coast," and even began leaving a toothbrush there.

Source:

As her national profile rose, Winfrey's personal life  including the question of when she would marry  became the talk of the tabloids.

Source: , ,

After years of dating, Graham reportedly proposed to Winfrey in the kitchen of their Indiana home in 1992. "I want you to marry me. I think it's time," Graham told her, to which Winfrey responded: "Ah, thats really great," according to People magazine.

Source:

But the wedding never happened. And Winfrey and Graham have since revealed that they intend to keep it that way.

Source:

In August 2017, Winfrey told Vogue that after the proposal, the couple talked and decided to postpone marriage. After that, they simply didn't talk about it again. "What I realized is, I don't want to be married," she said.

Source: ,

"The only time I brought it up was when I said to Stedman, 'What would have happened if we had actually gotten married?'" she told Vogue. "And the answer is: 'We wouldn't be together.' We would not have stayed together, because marriage requires a different way of being in this world."

Source: ,

Winfrey went on to tell Vogue that her longtime partner's "...interpretation of what it means to be a husband and what it would mean for me to be a wife would have been pretty traditional, and I would not have been able to fit into that."

Source: ,

Still, that hasn't stopped speculation over the years. Back in 2016, Winfrey took to Twitter to shoot down one such rumor, writing: "6 people who know me well have called today congratulating me or surprised they weren't invited to my wedding. IT'S NOT TRUE!!"

Source: ,

Back in 2012, Graham spoke with CNN about what it's like to be one half of such a highly-scrutinized couple, saying he doesn't base his whole identity off his relationship with Winfrey. "I'm with a very special person who is  she's just so unbelievable but that has nothing to do with my life. That's her life. I just support her in her life. And she supports me in my life."

Source:

This month, Winfrey's rousing Golden Globes speech prompted whispers that she might run for the White House in 2020. Graham helped to fuel speculation, telling The Los Angeles Times that his longtime partner's presidential bid would be "... up to the people. She would absolutely do it."

Source: , ,

Longtime Winfrey confidante Gayle King later said that while Winfrey was "intrigued" by the idea of entering the realm of politics, she currently has no concrete plans to do so.

Source:

But it's apparently not the first time Graham has hinted at his political ambitions for his partner. He's suggested that Winfrey would make an excellent president for decades.

Source:

"He's a very special man in that he's not the least bit intimidated by me or what I do," Winfrey said during a 1987 interview on the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show. "He says to me all the time, 'Look, I want you to be president... you want to president? Run for president, I'll work the campaign.'"

Source:

The Daily Mail reported that Winfrey has referred to her and Graham as an "old married couple," at this point. She added that he's learned to navigate the pressures of fame with her, saying, "That takes a confident man."Marijuana legalization could create $132 billion in federal tax revenue and inject over a million jobs into the US labor market by 2025 if it becomes legal nationwide, a new study says.

The study, from cannabis industry analytics firm New Frontier Data, seeks to estimate the total economic impact of the nascent industry. Cannabis is legal in eight states, including California, which legalized recreational sales on January 1. Vermont is likely to join that list once Gov. Phil Scott signs a bill legalizing the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana into law.

The study assumes the tax revenue, which will add $131.8 billion cumulatively to the US Treasury by 2025, will come from a 15% retail tax, payroll tax deductions, and a 35% business tax. Sales tax alone on cannabis would add $51.7 billion to US coffers between 2017 and 2025.

While commercial cannabis markets are up-and-running in eight states, the federal government can't collect any taxes on the industry since cannabis is considered an illegal, Schedule I drug. That means cannabis would be an entirely new revenue source for the US government.

"Outside, there over 500 people wearing SMVP T-shirts and hats, looking very serious and running around with walkie-talkies. They were either yelling or screaming at each other, with exhaustion in their voices and weariness in their eyes. It takes a lot to put this type of show together, and the people who usually bear the toll are the foot soldiers.

I hugged my friend Juliet (not real name), who was wearing the uniform, and she held on to me for dear life. I am so tired, I cant wait for this thing to end." There was a hint of pride in her voice as she said: We did it ohwe did it.

I nodded. Soundcity were really doing it. When I met Awazi, a friend and colleague I respected who works at Soundcity Radio, she looked like the stress was making her lose colour. And while we hugged and spoke briefly, she reminded me that although she had given a hundred to the creation of the show, she was still going to slay. And then she hugged me tightly and said, Let me go and change. I am tired. Of course, she would come out, transformed into a Disney princess.

Somewhere else, while the soldiers of the MVP ran along in battle formations, and made sure what you saw on TV looked like its finest, there was a room filled with artists and their managers. A huge sign read Green Room, and as I walked in, it felt like the entire music industry was there, waiting to be called upon to contribute their parts. But there was something in the air; While the biggest artists were all there in that spot, they werent truly in that room together. Seyi Shay stared into her phone sitting alone and responding to emails.

I dont like it here, this place is a community centre. When will they call me out? Im waiting to do the red carpet, but my people are fixing it. She would later be called upon to slay on the carpet, and show up on stage to perform Yolo Yolo in a white dress.

Elsewhere 2face Idibia stood on the red carpet, with many fans begging to interrupt the official photographers, and take personal photos for Snapchat, Instagram, and bragging rights. But there was a stern female soldier, with a book, and a walkie, who was making sure he wasnt mobbed. Wait she yelled. Let the photographers take their pictures.

One girl whispered to her friend in disgust, Why is she doing like that na? Does she know my mother will be very proud of me if I take a photo with 2face?

Well, she didnt. Her mother will have to look for joy elsewhere. 2face was ushered quickly away into the venue, where he later performed Coded tinz, Holy Holy, and Gaga Shuffle. When he was done, he switched into protest mode. We cannot sit down, enough is enough. Our government and security forces, stop the killings in Benue.

The previous day, in Benue State, a mass burial was held for 73 people, slaughtered by the marauding Fulani herdsmen, who dragged men, women and children out of their beds, slit their throats, and pumped bullets into their writhing bodies. A wave of sadness washed over the hall as 2face Idibia reminded Nigeria, that while we were gathered here, drinking our spirits and basking in the unity of the music, somewhere, unchecked criminals and bloodthirsty villains were slaughtering our brothers and sisters. It was a moment of reality that was markedly needed from the show.

During the awards, I stayed in the regular category, where the people are expressive, and the energy was at a 100. One guy lit up a blunt, dragged it in, rolled the smoke in his lungs, looked up at the roof, and exhaled. This wasnt just an award show, it was a street turn up for him. Beside me, as DJ Neptune switched tunes, people formed a dancing circle. A guy piggybacked his girlfriend, hopped into the circle, and pulled moves that I only see on Jamaican party clips. Bomboclart blood-clart dancer!

When they announced Diamond Platnumz as the winner of the Best Male MVP category, there was a riot in the hall. Everyone was shocked. He beat Runtown, Sarkodie, Wizkid, Davido, Olamide and more to pick up an award. Everyone felt a sense of instant injustice. Everywhere people stood up and chanted OBO, OBO, OBO, OBO

Diamond was nowhere to collect his trophy, but he made a video to acknowledge the win. As the visual was cued in on screen, the guy smoking his blunt, yelled Common, GET OUT FROM THERE!

Wherever Diamond was, Im sure his blood pressure would have jumped up. That scream was enough to make evil things happen to him. Even alter the good things that God is doing in his life.

But we moved on when Davido was called for his final and biggest award of the night. He was awarded the Best African Artist, and the hall shook as he walked onstage with the entire members of the 30 Billion Gang. Everyone in the crowd was proud of him. All around, the chants of OBO rang out.

A guy, was laughing beside me, asking the question Where is Wizkid? I thought he was the biggest African artist?

As if on cue, Davido shut him up with his acceptance speech: I want to give a shout out to my brother Wizkid. He is one of the people that put Africa on the map.A judge at the Tinubu Chief Magistrates Court gave an order instructing that Adebiosu, 34, be remanded at the Ikoyi prison located in Lagos, Nigeria, as a result. The accused was slammed with a two-count charge of domestic violence and assault, reports the Premium Times News.

He reportedly committed the offences on Tuesday, January 9, 2018, a prosecutor Nurudeen Thomas told the court. The latter added that the incident occurred at the couple's residence situated at the undefined

According to reports, the pair who have been married for a period of 11 years developed issues in their marriage after the complainant identified as Bukola got a job at a hospital.

Adebiosu who is a boutique owner reportedly started having a problem with his wife's style of dressing which often led to matrimonial fights.

Adebiosu beats his wife and does not provide for the family, Thomas told the court.

The defendant however had a different explanation to the allegation leveled against him stating that a lack of respect from his wife was responsible for his action. He added that the nose biting incident was an accident while also refuting claims that he doesn't take care of his family.

I met my wife finishing off her fourth bottle of Stout in the midst of men; I had to force her home and during the struggle I mistakenly bite her nose.

I do the best I can to take of our family but my wife does not give me the respect that I deserve as her husband," he said.

A further hearing on the case has been suspended until Monday, February 12, 2018.

Adebiosu is expected to remain in prison until this day.

Violence in marriages

In Nigeria, violence in marriages which often puts women on the part of blows, or even death, has been a major theme in an African society will little regard for the female gender.

One of the results is a country with an increasing pool of feminists who are calling for equal opportunities for a man and a woman. Being a nation where the power to drive things lies in the hands of men, the need to call for equality has been mainly from the camp of women.

Their strong activism has unfortunately not protected the latter gender from been murdered and even assaulted by the police.

An assault by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), on a woman expecting quadruplet in Delta State, has allegedly caused the latter to lose her pregnancy.

An Instagram user, Jane Mena, who is a friend of the victim revealed how the incident occurred in a long post. She explained that the expectant mother went into a coma following a violent treatment in the hands of the police.

ALSO READ: Sports fanatic murders wife for changing football programmeNews reports have revealed that all helpers and receivers can use local currency, bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum and bitcoin cash to transact on the platform.

That's not all.

Konbini reports that MMM will soon be joining the over 1400 cryptocurrencies in existence.

Sergei Mavrodi, founder of MMM, reportedly revealed that the website was scheduled to launch the coin, called The Mavro, on January 21, 2018.

The Mavro is being sold as the planet's first decentralized multi-level marketing structure which will be based on both ethereum and the popular blockchain.

MMM previously the platform initially released an MMM coin, which Mavrodi claims will be bigger than Bitcoin.

Sergei Mavrodi also said that it wouldn't be fully operational till he had 10 million users in the system. He hopes this happens before his 63rd Birthday on August 11, 2018.

Sergei Mavrodi, Vyacheslav Mavrodi, and Olga Melnikova founded MMM (Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox) in Russia back in 1989. It in 1994 and was shut down by authorities.

It later moved to South Africa and several other countries before starting operations in Nigeria in January 2016.

ALSO READ: Notorious Ponzi scheme is still alive

Participants were promised a monthly return of 30%, however, MMM abruptly shut down in December 2016, with an estimated 3 million Nigerians losing their funds.With stunning performances from artists including Tiwa Savage, Kiss Daniel, Davido and Seyi Shay, the awards was a success. Davido walked away with three gongs whilst Tiwa Savage, who came dressed in everything Gucci clinched the Best Female Award.

Bad Sport

Not everybody walked away happy however. Producer Kiddominantfelt slighted by the Soundcity Awards team after missing out on Best Producer. The 'Che Che' and 'Fall' producer lost out to Young John and took to twitter for an impassioned rant about the situation.

Impressing on the Red Carpet

The first big awards show of the year had all eyes on it and our favourite celebrities did not dissappoint. From South African rapper Cassper Nyovest to celebrated music producer Maleek Berry, it was a vision of style.In a love story like never before shared on Facebook on Friday, January 12 2018, Eze Udo aka Sochi Infiniti narrates how it all began between him and the love of his life.

Love at first sight

I saw her pictures somewhere in 2014, his story begins.

Something [struck] my heart that she is the one but the fear of the unknown [kept] slapping my fearful face.

Getting her attention was like passing WAEC because she never gave me the chance to come closer. A girl has never frustrated me like she did on Facebook.

I kept pressing on but she [kept] turning me down for months with frustrations.

Leap of faith

I decided to come back to Nigeria and requested to see her face to face [and] she agreed but on one condition that I come to PH and see her in her fathers house.

Na so I put hand for head ayemi Temi bami

You know we guys like to invite babes to our one corner for testing the microphone.

Infact I vex reach down but after some days, her family travelled to the village for Xmas and to worsen the situation, she told me to come to their village so we can see briefly.

I wanted to give up but [I was] still convinced that she is the one for me. But remember I have not seen this girl in person oo.

I decided to take it to the next level with her."

Unusual first date

I called her that I would be coming with my people to see her parents but she thought I was joking.

I called my dad and mum, . We bought some drinks and my parents agreed to follow but never knew it was a blind date/ blind introduction.

To make it short, we arrived at their compound and my father-in-law came out to welcome his unknown guest. Funny, right?"

First of all introduction

We came in and introduced ourselves, brought out drinks and stated our mission. My wife was certainly confused because she never believed what was happening though she thought it was all a joke or a game from abroadians,

Oh the beautiful mother-in-law came out to welcome us and my wife was still confused and she was all smiling but hiding in a room.

Omo, suspense full my body make the girl no come dey disfigured ooo.

Finally she came out and OMG, my heart almost jumped out of my innocent body upon seeing the beauty she possessed.

She gave her consent and hugged me with smiles.

Remember that was the first time I saw and met her. Same day I did my introduction sharply before story go enter because I dont like what I hate.

At that point, my kidney, lever, lungs and heart returned to their original positions."

Wedding ceremony

I left the country back to base and came back few months after for my wedding and today this beautiful woman has given me [two] beautiful children.

She is so loyal and has never disappointed me. She is the best any man could wish for.

"In fact she is rated [number one] in my family. Men and women love her so much. My mum and dad adore her."

Second wedding anniversary and happily ever after

"Let me blow your bubbles, fam, for [three years] now, we've had no major quarrel because we are quick to corrections. No one has settled any dispute for us. (In fact, I cant remember having any dispute with her.)

"Facebook fam, sometimes it works here and no need to date long before you are convinced she is the one.

"I love you wify and happy anniversary to us.

"Please share and wish us well."[No available link text]

Everyone loves a good love story

As per his humble request, Eze Udosstirring love-at-first story has now amassed over 3000 likes and shared multiple times on Facebook at the time of publishing.

The love story has garnered so much attention that the proud husband has even been taken aback by all the good wishes pouring in.

In another Facebook post, he expresses his surprise when he says I am just speechless.According to Sun News, Bosso said that the Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom flouted international agreement that created a grazing route from Niger to the eastern part of Nigeria.

Bosso also said We, the association wrote a letter to him, even met him. We told him that this law cannot work. We told them that there is an international cattle route from Niger to Eastern Nigeria. He said he will not allow cattle to pass through Benue state even if it is the cattle route.

"We told him that if he wants to implement that law, he must provide a land for us to rent. He did not provide any land for cattle herders. They have been in that state even before colonial days and co-existing peacefully. We advised him and he refused to listen to us. We are not against that law but he has to provide a land for these people before implementing such a law. If there is no land, there is a problem.

The land guards that he introduced who we all know as the civilian Joint Task Force, they are inflicting pain on the Fulani herdsmen. They attack and seize their animals. They drag them to the nearest police station where huge amount of money is collected before they are granted bail. This is the cause of this problem. If you attack a cattle herder and collect his cattle, he has no choice but to attack.

ALSO READ:11 killed in fresh Fulani herdsmen raid

The law is saying that herdsmen should not pass through the state even if its a route to another area. In the past , if there was damage by the cattle , we had ways to settle the matter. When you damage a farm, you have to beg the owner , if they refuse, you pay for the damages. This has worked for us for years till Benue State decided to implement the anti-grazing law. We have challenged the law in court and till court decides which way forward, Governor Ortom will be held responsible for any further bloodshed, he added.

No going back

Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has said that the anti-grazing law will not be scrapped.

The Governor also said that no amount of violence and killings will make him repeal the law.El-Rufai and the other Governors paid a courtesy visit to the President at the Aso Villa on Friday, January 12, 2019 to show their support for his re-election bid.

He said No fuel, killings in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Rivers, etc. But some peoples response to all these is to endorse President Buhari for second term. What a way to treat Nigerians with contempt.

APC Senator, Shehu Sani condemns Buharis re-election bid

Senator Shehu Sani has also told President Buharito forget about the call for him to run in 2019, and work towards ending the clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.

The Senator also criticised the campaign for Buharis second term, describing it political sacrilege and an insult on the conscience of Nigerians.This is following the condemnation of attacks reportedly carried out by Fulani herdsmen on villages in Benue state and other parts of Nigeria.

According to The Guardian, Sani also said that it is not right to be talking of re-election, when people are losing their lives and properties are being destroyed.

The Senator also criticised the campaign for Buharis second term, describing it political sacrilege and an insult on the conscience of Nigerians.

Sani said It is wrong to be talking of the re-election of Buhari as President when hundreds of lives are being lost and people are being massacred in different parts of the country.

In time of bloodshed like this, the issue should be how to come together and address the problem. But those marketing the President at a time of this bloodshed are like people dancing on the graves of Nigerians.

Campaigning for Buhari for next years election when people are being killed, when orphans and widows are being produced as a result of the tragedy of these circumstances and people are being kidnapped, I think amounts to political sacrilege.

It is an insult on the conscience of Nigerians and it is an insult on the moral integrity of Nigerians for anybody to ignore what is happening and simply walk to the President and tell him that what is important at this material time is his re-election campaign for next years election.

I advise people advising the President and strategising for him to contest the elections to spare him some time, advise him well and provide a solid strategy to end the carnage and atrocities that is going on in the country today.

Human life is important that politics

Senator Sani also said that lives of Nigerians are more important than the Presidents second term campaign.

He said Human life is more important than politics, because you cannot preside over dead people. The images we see in both social and traditional media is heart-rending and despicable.

I can tell you that over a year ago, the President was in Zamfara State in military fatigue to address the problem of banditry and mass killing. The President should be seen in any part of the country where such violence occurs.

The President must visit Southern Kaduna, Birnin Gwari, Taraba, Benue, Rivers and Adamawa states. It gives people some hope that their Commander-in-Chief is determined and committed to defend and protect them.

Governor El-Rufai, others beg Buhari to run in 2019

On Friday, January 12, 2018, Governor Nasiru el-Rufai led six other governorsto meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the need for him to re-contest in the 2019 election.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was attended by Christian and Muslim leaders in the state.

The governor also called for peace, harmony and sustainable development at the state and national levels.

Peaceful coexistence and religious harmony will be enhanced, if clerics, leaders and ordinary citizens can live by example in their day to day activities.

Peace is a necessary requirement for development.

So, I urge you all to support the government in its effort to ensure peace in the state, he said.

Ganduje called on Islamic and Christian clerics to enlighten their followers on the importance of peaceful coexistence.

He used the occasion to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts in fighting insurgency and corruption in the country.

The newly elected chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samuel Adeyemo, called for religious tolerance among Nigerians.

Adeyemo said that the conference was an opportunity to create harmony among the followers of the two religions.

He also commended Ganduje for his efforts in promoting peaceful coexistence among different tribes and religions in the state.

Nigerians should embrace peace, irrespective of their different religions, as no religion preaches violence or chaos, he said.

The Chairman of Hisbah Board, Sheikh Bashir Usman, called for sustained inter-religious dialogue, saying that it was crucial to resolving conflicts.

ALSO READ:

Usman urged Muslim and Christian leaders to propagate mutual understanding among their followers.

He commended the governor for his efforts in uniting residents of the state, irrespective of their religious background.

In his remarks, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi, stressed the need for Nigerians to desist from activities capable of breaching peace.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor projected N510 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, recording an increase of N40 billion against 2017 budget of N470 billion.

Princewill told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Friday that presenting budget speech without making the document public was not new to the governor.

Gov. Wike presenting a budget speech is nothing new; what will differ this time is, we will no longer be satisfied by hearing a budget speech.

The Labour Party governorship candidate in the 2015 general election in Rives said that there was no need talking about the importance of making the budget public.

I will not even talk about the importance of why a budget needs to be made public because it is the equivalent of saying why we need to breathe air to survive.

If Rivers people do not know, why Wike, cannot hide our budget, then they are finished and deserve no education from me, he added.

The APC chieftain alleged that the Rivers governor had not taken the people serious since 2015.

He is hiding behind peoples anger with APC and the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Amaechi to tell Rivers people he is the Messiah who is here to save us from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Let me see whether, in 2018, that idiocy will continue.

I represent a growing number of people who will rather work with APC than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because being neutral and silent is an endorsement of Wike.

A marriage without conscience, a triumph of belle above brain and an acceptance of dictatorship, he stated.

According to Princewill, the constitution states clearly that the presentation of a bill to the legislature should proceed the next financial year and it goes further to say when the financial year starts Jan. 1.

Wikes mates have submitted theirs since, and many have passed theirs into law.

But look at the Rivers case, January has entered double digits before he presented the appropriation bill, he saidThe Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, who made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, said already a fake message was being circulated on the fake twitter handle.

The statement read: The spurious message seeks to justify attacks by herdsmen, saying they were only defending themselves.

Evil doers and enemies of our country are obviously at work, seeking ways to further advance their pernicious acts.

The message is denounced in its entirety, and President Buhari stands by his earlier condemnation of the killings in Benue and other parts of the country as dastardly and unacceptable before God and man.

ALSO READ:7 ways Wole Soyinka bashed Buhari over Fulani herdsmen

Those behind the concocted message are also enemies of God and man, who have no place in a decent society.This is coming after unconfirmed reports of his death spread on social media recently.

This is the first time the Shiite leader is speaking in public after he was arrested, following a clash between his members and the Army in Kaduna.

El-Zakzaky, who has reportedly been in the custody of the DSS, thanked Nigerians for their prayers.

According to Channels TV, the Shiite leader, who spoke to newsmen on Saturday, January 13, 2018, said that he is alive and well.

You will recall that a Federal High Court had ordered that El-Zakzaky be unconditionally released in 2016 but the Shiite leader is still in detention.

FG is taking good care of El-Zakzaky

In June 2017, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed said that Ibrahim El-Zakzaky was not in detention as.According to reports, the clash occurred when a Hausa man was killed after he was hit by a car.

Speaking on the incident, an eyewitness who spoke to Cable News, said Earlier today, a Fulani man was hit dead by a car in Wuruku market. Before we know it, hundreds of Hausa people all came out with their weapons and the whole area is now upside down.

Some youths who spoke to newsmen, said that they had no choice but to defend themselves from the Hausas.

Benue Governor blocking international grazing route

The National Vice President of Miyetti Allah Cattle Herders Association (MACBAN), Husaini Yusuf Bosso has accused Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state of flouting an international agreement that created a grazing route from Niger to the eastern part of Nigeria.

Bosso also said that in Benue state if the anti-grazing law is not scrapped.Olutope, INEC Electoral Officer in-charge of Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra, told NAN at Ogidi on Saturday that all materials for the election were supposed to have be moved to polling units at 5 a.m on Saturday.

Olutope regretted the hitches recorded, noting that while some transporters conveyed the materials, some refused on the grounds that the part payment were insufficient for the job.

He also said that some NYSC member engaged as ad-hoc workers also demanded that their stipend be paid before they commence work.

A transporter, who gave his name as Johnson Uchendu, said because of the hike in the price of petrol, 50 per cent of the amount he agreed for the job was not enough to fuel his vehicles for this job.

He noted that it was for this obvious reality that he demanded that INEC pay him complete to enable him buy enough petrol for the job.

ALSO READ: Fracas in Delta state amidst LG polls

NAN reports that as at 10.30 a.m electoral materials were yet to arrive at some locations, including Central School Nkpor-Agu, Nkpor Ward two all in Idemili North Local Government Area.

Mr Nwachukwu Enekwuwa, agent of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), expressed concern over the delay in arrival of materials, and called on INEC to sort out the problem before it affect the outcome of the election.According to a report by TheCable, the seven governors met with the President at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Friday, January 12, 2018.

El-Rufai, who spoke to state house correspondents after the meeting, said governors want Buhari to continue running the country beyond 2019.

He said: We are politicians and those of us you see here want the president to contest the 2019 election, we have no apologies for that.

We believe in Mr President, we want him to continue running the country in the right direction. People can speculate about 2019, we have no apologies.

Whether they are right or wrong is beside the point. Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion but as governors, and most of us here with the exception of Yobe governor, are first-term governors.

We are interested in continuity and stability and we want the president to continue with that.

Like our leader, the governor of Kano said, we just happen to be here by coincidence and we went to pray and decided to felicitate with the president and we feel satisfied that anytime we see him, he is getting better and better.President Akufo-Addo tweeted that Trump's reported language was "extremely unfortunate", adding: "We are certainly not 'a shithole country'."

"We will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful."

Ghana is widely seen as a stable, peaceful country in an often turbulent region, and has close ties to the United States.

In 2009 Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, chose Ghana's capital Accra to set out his foreign policy goals for Africa in a speech in which he said he saw Africa "as a fundamental part of our interconnected world".

Africans were "partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect", he said.

Akufo-Addo's comments follow a strongly worded African Union statement on Friday and a demand from African ambassadors at the United Nations for a retraction and an apology.

The group of UN diplomats said it was "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks".

Ghana's former president John Dramani Mahama, whom Akufo-Addo defeated in elections just a month after Trump's own win at the polls, on Twitter asked: "Isn't Trump demonstrating that he's nothing but a racist and pursuing a policy of 'Make America White Again'?"

He also highlighted the contrast between Trump's praise for Africa last year when he met leaders from the continent on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"Shithole? Thought they said he was so impressed with us just last September?" Mahama tweeted under a mocked-up photograph of Trump being shown a map of Africa in which all the countries were labelled "Nambia".

Trump was widely derided last year after twice referring to Namibia as "Nambia" at the September meeting.

Namibia on Saturday added its voice to the chorus of complaints, saying the president's language had "no place in diplomatic discourse" and was "contrary to the norms of civility and human progress".

"The Africa we know and live in is one that is recovering economically and rising," it added.

"The USA we know is one that was built with blood and sweat of African slaves and immigrants from all over."

jpegMpeg4-1280x720Trump reportedly demanded to know why the US should accept immigrants from "shithole countries", after lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

He has since denied using the reported language.BBC News, December 28, 2017

A Shia cultural organisation was the target but the Afghan Voice news agency was also hit. So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack.

The interior ministry told the BBC an explosion at the Shia centre was followed by at least two more blasts.

IS has been behind a number of attacks on Shia targets across the country in recent months.

What do we know about the attack?

The main blast went off inside the Tabayan cultural centre, but offices of Afghan Voice are also at the location of the attack.



Two women console a man outside a hospital following a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017. Authorities say attackers stormed the Shiite Muslim cultural center in the Afghan capital Kabul, setting off multiple bombs and killing dozens. (Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP) Two women console a man outside a hospital following a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017. Authorities say attackers stormed the Shiite Muslim cultural center in the Afghan capital Kabul, setting off multiple bombs and killing dozens. (Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP)

Students were among those who had gathered at the Shia centre for a discussion forum.

The interior ministry said the event was to mark the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The initial explosion was followed by at least two others, although the ministry said these did not cause any fatalities.

The health ministry's latest figures say 41 people died and 84 were hurt, with women and children among the casualties.

Student Mohammad Hasan Rezayee told Tolo News: "We were inside the hall in the second row when an explosion from behind took place. After the blast there was fire and smoke inside the building and everyone was pleading for help."

Another witness, Sayed Jan, told reporters from his hospital bed: "There was a book reading event and academic discussion, and I was one of the participants. During the speech a huge bang was heard and smoke rose from inside the hall.

"My face was burning. I fell down from the chair and I saw the other colleagues around me on the ground. The smoke was everywhere."

Sayed Abbas Hussaini, a journalist at Afghan Voice, told Reuters that one reporter at the agency had been killed and two wounded.

Distraught relatives gathered at local hospitals, which are treating the dozens of wounded people.

Who carried it out?

The Islamic State group said on its propaganda outlet Amaq that it had targeted the Shia centre with a suicide bomber and other bombs.

The Taliban had earlier issued a statement saying they were not involved.

The Taliban are not known to specifically target Shias, although both militant groups have carried out frequent attacks across the country.

Shia fears

Analysis: Zia Shahreyar, BBC Persian, Kabul

In recent months IS has attacked many Shia targets in the west of Kabul, where the majority of the city's Shia population live.

The Tabayan centre also has offices in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad and is believed to have close ties with religious and cultural centres in Iran.

There are growing fears that IS is trying to spark a Sunni-Shia sectarian war in Afghanistan and the Shia community is increasingly dissatisfied with President Ashraf Ghani's government for failing to protect them.

US-led foreign forces meanwhile continue to engage IS in eastern Afghanistan and President Trump, in his new Afghan strategy, has pledged to root out IS in the country, as it has been in Iraq and Syria.

How is IS involved in Afghanistan?

IS announced the establishment of its "Khorasan" branch - an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas - in January 2015.

It initially gained ground in the east and north, although it has lost territory there and was largely eliminated from southern and western Afghanistan by the Taliban and operations conducted by Afghan and US/Nato forces.

IS has since resorted mainly to guerrilla tactics and is estimated to have a force of between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters.

IS considers Shia apostates and aims to turn the conflict in Afghanistan into a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias.

In October, at least 39 people were killed in an attack on a mosque belonging to the Shia minority.

In April, the US said it had dropped the "Mother of All Bombs" on IS in eastern Afghanistan, but the group continues its attacks.

What has the reaction been?

President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman issued a statement describing the latest attack as an "unpardonable" crime against humanity.

Amnesty International's South Asia director, Biraj Patnaik, said: "This gruesome attack underscores the dangers faced by Afghan civilians. In one of the deadliest years on record, journalists and other civilians continue to be ruthlessly targeted by armed groups."

Nato's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan called the attack "heinous".

Are the media under specific attack?

It is unclear whether Afghan Voice was a specific part of the target, but it has been a difficult year for the media. Afghanistan remains one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers.

In November, IS said it was behind a gun attack on the Shamshad TV station that killed one staff member.

In May, two media workers, including a BBC driver, were killed in a massive bomb attack in Kabul.

The first six months of 2017 saw a surge in violence against journalists, with local monitor the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee recording 73 cases, an increase of 35% in comparison to the same period in 2016.

Last year seven members of staff from the private Tolo television station were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul.BBC News, December 29, 2017

The shame of Afghanistans virginity tests

"My life has been turned upside down. I used to have a good life. But now everything has changed for me."

By Aria Ahmadzai & Camelia Sadeghzadeh Neda sits on a threadbare Afghan rug. A shy 18 year old from Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, she adjusts her headscarf as she recalls the day doctors forcibly subjected her to an intimate and degrading "virginity test". It was 2015 and she had just finished a late-night theatre rehearsal. The walk home would have taken nearly two hours. So, together with another girl, she accepted a lift from two male friends. Coming from a working-class background, Neda says her weekly pocket money didn't cover her everyday costs. Her mother often asks her to go without lunch if she has to pay for a ride back home. "Even to this day, I sometimes blame myself for being in this situation for getting in a car with men. I blame myself for bringing shame upon my family. But I also know that was my only way of getting home". After receiving a complaint, Bamiyan authorities suspected that they had engaged in premarital sex on their journey back home. Neda and her friend were taken in for questioning. "I was accused of debauchery and sent to the medical centre for a virginity test," Neda says as she clasps her hands around her tea cup. The doctors reported that her hymen was still intact. Her case, however, is still travelling through Afghanistan's judicial hierarchy. Neda has been cleared of the charges by the local prosecutor's office. But, astonishingly, her case now has to be ruled on by the state Supreme Court. It is yet to make a decision. 'No place for tests'



A room in an Afghan health clinic where virginity tests are carried out. (Photo: BBC News) A room in an Afghan health clinic where virginity tests are carried out. (Photo: BBC News)

Despite the absence of official statistics in Afghanistan, anecdotal evidence suggests that the tests are a common occurrence.

Bobani Haidari, a gynaecologist practising in Bamiyan Province, told the BBC that she can be asked to carry out 10 virginity tests in a single day.

Some women are reported to have undergone multiple tests.

The tests, often done without a woman's consent, have drawn widespread condemnation, with opponents saying they are inhumane and fail to protect the dignity of women.

Studies have also discredited the practice. The World Health Organization says "there is no place for virginity or 'two-finger' testing" as it has no validity.

"Virginity tests don't have any scientific basis and should be banned. The test is in violation of the country's Constitution, Islamic law and international regulations," Soraya Sobhrang, a commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, told the BBC.

The practice has given rise to underground businesses that promise to restore women's virginity by repairing their hymen. As well as being illegal and invasive, it is also dangerous and expensive.

Embarrassed and ashamed

Neda still struggles to talk about what happened, even two years on.



Neda, 18, took a lift home with two male friends and was later forced to undergo a virginity test. (Photo: BBC News) Neda, 18, took a lift home with two male friends and was later forced to undergo a virginity test. (Photo: BBC News)

"Even if you haven't done anything wrong, this is a very difficult examination," she says as she nervously plays with her hands in her lap.

"But it was made even more insulting for me as I knew the local doctors at the clinic. I was so ashamed. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong but I was still so embarrassed."

Women are expected to remain virgins until marriage in Afghanistan's deeply conservative society. A woman's virginity remains a highly prized possession, seen as a symbol of modesty and purity.

Women believed to have had premarital sex face public shame, prison, or may even become victims of so-called honour killings.

Forced virginity tests remain legal despite President Ashraf Ghani's pledge to end the invasive examination. The test is frequently ordered by prosecutors and law enforcement officers in cases where women are accused of committing "moral crimes".

Destroying lives

Afraid of what other people thought about her in the wake of the test, Neda became a recluse and started skipping school.

"Because I was a good student, I used to have a good relationship with my teachers. But after the test I thought all my teachers were judging me. Even all of my best friends kept a distance from me. It felt like everybody hated me.

"Everything has changed now. I have drifted apart from all of my friends."

She continues to feel guilty about her situation and says her family blamed her for bringing shame and dishonour to their name.

"My mother told me because of what I had done they had to deal with courts and law enforcement. My family has to hang their heads in shame and that's all because of me."

Despite her experience, Neda is determined not to be beaten by her ordeal.

"This test destroys the lives of young girls. It doesn't really have an impact on men. But it destroys all future prospects of a woman.

"I will do my best to fight it. I will continue my singing in the theatre and will try to make a better future for myself but I can't be sure what the future holds for me."TOLOnews.com, December 31, 2017

By Abdullah Achakzai

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Sunday said that over 1900 civilians have been killed or wounded in the southern province of Helmand last year.

All the victims were killed or wounded as a result of the war, including explosions and terror attacks, AIHRC site office in Helmand said in a statement on Sunday.

Meanwhile residents in Helmand have called on the warring factions to ensure the security and safety of civilians during the conflict.

From the figures, over 200 civilians killed and 1700 others were wounded, said the AIHRC site office.

Helmand has had two bloody years. The number of civilian casualties, among them women and children, have been higher and we are very concerned about it, said Afifa Maroof, AIHRC site office chief in Helmand.

Both sides have used civilian homes as shields. Civilian casualties have been on the rise because the warring sides do not respect the rules of war, said a civil society activist in Helmand Nazar Mohmammad Rodai.

But, local officials in the province have blamed the Taliban for most of the fatalities among the civilians.

Our security forces have always tried to ensure the security of the civilian population. The majority of the casualties have been inflicted by the Taliban, said Omar Zuwak, spokesman for the governor of Helmand.

Our forces are trying to always protect the lives of civilians and they have largely been killed due to attacks by the Taliban.

The new casualty count in Helmand province comes at a time that the Afghan security forces are still tackling insurgents in the suburbs of provincial capital Lashkar Gah and some other strategic districts. The Taliban has constantly attempted to expand their insurgency in key areas of the province.Property details:

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Nearby CaliforniaFranklin Armory gets an A+ in marketing (for now). With one press release, they have blogs, forums, and social media buzzing with speculation about how its new product, the Reformation, is approved by the ATF. Heres the simple answer: its not.

We reached out to Franklin Armory for comment and were told via phone and email that they will not be releasing any more information on the Reformation until SHOT Show.

Multiple sources within the ATF have confirmed that there has been no approval for this product as a non-NFA firearm.

This, of course, doesnt mean that an approval wont come in the future. Perhaps that is why Franklin Armory is waiting until SHOT Show. Also, the press release only claims that ATF confirmed that the product is not a rifle.

WHAT WE KNOW

For now, we can only guess what unique feature(s) the Reformation has that makes it neither a rifle, shotgun, nor an NFA firearm based on their press release.

Heres what we know so far that is relevant to the legal analysis: The Reformation is a firearm, it has an 11.5-inch barrel, and it has a Magpul buttstock.

We also know that Franklin Armory claims that it isnt a rifle, a shotgun, nor an NFA firearm and that it is part of an NRS series of firearms with patent-pending NRS technology.

LEGAL BACKGROUND

Lets start with some basic firearm definitions as a foundation. Because they already tell us its a firearm, well skip the definition of a firearm and jump straight to definitions of types of firearms.

In the space of this article, we can only scratch the surface of firearms law  were going to have to skip quite a bit. If youd like to learn more, check out some of my articles and courses on ATF Compliance.

Rifle: a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of an explosive to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger. 18 USC 921(a)(7) Shotgun: a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of an explosive to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger. 18 USC 921(a)(5) Short-Barreled Rifle: a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches. 18 USC 921(a)(8) Short-Barreled Shotgun: a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches. 18 USC 921(a)(6)

Simply, these definitions mean that if a firearm has a buttstock (designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder) and a rifled barrel its a rifle and if it has a smooth barrel its a shotgun.

If a shotguns barrel is less than 18 inches or its overall length is less than 26 inches, its an NFA firearm called a Short-Barreled Shotgun (SBS). If a rifles barrel is less than 16 inches or its overall length is less than 26 inches, its an NFA firearm called a Short-Barreled Rifle (SBR).

If a firearm is designed an intended to be fired by one hand, it is a handgun. Therefore, adding a forward pistol grip to a handgun would typically make it an Any Other Weapon (AOW) because it is now meant to be fired by two hands. However, if a firearm is over 26 inches long, it isnt readily concealable and cant be an AOW.

WHAT ISN'T IN THE REFORMATION?

By looking at the picture, it appears to be a Short-Barreled Rifle. After all, it has a buttstock (not an arm brace) and a barrel shorter than 16 inches. Ive read many speculations online that arent legally significant so Id like to get those out of the way now.

Some have said that it might be a muzzleloader. Although that would make it legal, Franklin Armory has already said that it is a firearm, which means its not a muzzleloader because true muzzleloaders are considered antique firearms, even if they were made this morning, and are exempted from the definition of a firearm.

Others have said that the barrel must be smooth. It seems that they are making this guess because they are trying to figure out a way that the Reformation isnt a Short-Barreled Rifle (SBR). From the definitions above, we know that a rifle needsrifling. Therefore a smooth barrel would keep it from being a rifle, but it wouldnt keep it out of the NFA definitions because it would then be a Short-Barreled Shotgun.

Ive even seen guesses that it fires .410 shotgun shells and it has a rifled barrel. If this is true (it doesnt appear to be the case from the magazine pictured) then that only helps it solve an AOW issue wherein smoothbore pistols designed and intended to fire shotgun shells are considered AOWs.

The most common comments Ive seen so far refer to the length of the firearm being over 26 inches. The length being over 26 inches is only significant to keep the firearm from being an Any Other Weapon (AOW). The overall length isnt relevant to the SBR or SBS analysis because the barrel is already short enough to make it either one.

However, to get to the AOW analysis for the above two scenarios, it needs to not be a rifle or a shotgun and with that buttstock, its unclear how it escapes the rifle or shotgun definition. Therefore, the guesses above may be significant later, but there must be something more first that allows it not to be considered a rifle or shotgun.

WHAT IS THE REFORMATION?

So, what could it be? How is this firearm not a rifle or a shotgun?

Knowing what I know now, I think that the Reformation must be unique in its rifling, its trigger, and/or its stock.

We also should look to the name because Franklin Armory names their products with acronyms that stand for something. For example, their two previous legally-creative products are the X0-26 pistol and their BFS trigger.

The XO-26 pistol had a forward pistol grip and wasnt an NFA firearm (an AOW) because it was just over 26 inches (thus the 26 in the name). Their BFS trigger, which stands for Binary Firing System, allows a firearm to fire on both the pull and release of the trigger and is not a machine gun because it only fired one round per operation (pull and release) of the trigger.

Rifling: If the Reformation has straight lands and grooves (that do not twist/rotate), then I could see how it is technically neither a rifle nor a shotgun. With straight grooves, it wouldnt be rifling because rifling spins a bullet. If theres no rifling, it cant be a rifle (nor an SBR). Also, straight grooves would keep the barrel from being smooth. If its not smooth, it cant be a shotgun (nor an SBS).

Perhaps NRS stands for Not Rifled or Smooth? If this is how they got around the law, Im very interested to see how far this firearm is effectively accurate.

Trigger: Franklin Armory is known for unique triggers and perhaps this is a release-to-fire trigger, a trigger that requires more than one pull, or some other variation of their binary system. The definition of a rifle refers only to a single pull of the trigger. Therefore, its a stretch, but maybe Franklin Armory is claiming that it isnt a rifle or shotgun because theres no trigger pull which fires a round.

This is my bet. Not only because they are known for creative triggers, but also because the hashtag #newtrigger was spotted on their Instagram post.

In this case, NRS could stand for N*? Release System?

Stock: Franklin Armory may have fixed the buttstock and they are claiming that at the short-length, it is not designed to be used as a buttstock and is therefore not a rifle nor a shotgun. This is also a stretch because the product they are using is already designated as a buttstock.

In this scenario, NRS might be Non-Removable Stock?

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Why might Franklin Armorys current A+ marketing grade change?

For one, the ATF may never approve the Reformation and all of the attention theyve grabbed will be focused on an unsuccessful attempt.

Second, and especially if they are successful, they risk the Reformation hurting the industry as a whole by poking the bear. If this effectively allows SBR-like firearms without SBR registration, it will likely attract new legislation (especially at state levels). And, if weve learned anything from history, knee-jerk legislation is usually over-broad and ends up affecting much more than the original target.

Dont get me wrong, I love finding loopholes and also expanding our gun rights. In fact, I make my living doing it as a firearms attorney. However, theres a right and a wrong way and time to go about it.

Stay tuned for updates as we learn more about the legality of Franklin Armorys Reformation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Ryan Cleckner is a former special operations sniper and sniper instructor. Currently, hes a firearms law attorney, best-selling author, RECOIL/Carnivore contributor, university lecturer, Trigger Words podcast host, and entrepreneur. He runs both RocketFFL which helps people get an FFL and stay compliant and RocketCCW which gets people qualified for a CCW online. His newest project is focused on family and organizational safety at Mayday Safety.

Website: RyanCleckner.com

Instagram: @Cleckner

FaceBook: facebook.com/ryan.cleckner/Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.Equity NFOs had a boom period in 2005-2008 where over 170 new equity schemes hit the market.

Sector experts appear to have learnt a big lesson from the mistakes of the previous bull run, says Chandan Kishore Kant.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Asset mobilisation through new fund offers (NFOs) in the equity segment has hit a nine-year high.

India's burgeoning fund industry collected nearly Rs 16,700 crore last year -- the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Fifty-two new equity schemes were launched in 2017; most of these are close-ended.

The total NFO count last year was less than that in 2014. However, the average offer size helped the industry mobilise almost double of what it did in 2014.

The average NFO size in 2017 has been Rs 321 crore.

Sector experts said NFOs were something the industry cannot do away with. This is in contrast to the view in circulation after 2008, which held NFOs were going out of fashion.

In fact, NFOs had taken a back seat between 2009 and 2013.

However, the unprecedented inflows from domestic investors have helped reverse the trend.

"The rising trend of NFO launches will continue," says Swarup Mohanty, chief executive officer, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund. "As long as the markets remain strong, I believe the trend will only rise."

Fund houses that have recently offered equity NFOs include Axis, IDFC, Sundaram, ICICI Prudential, BNP Paribas, Reliance Nippon Life, Aditya Birla Sun Life, HDFC, and DSP BlackRock, among others.

The recent housing fund from HDFC has led to a lot of action among investors.

Industry sources said the new offer from the fund house had raised nearly Rs 3,500 crore.

If this amount is added to the total mobilisation, the overall money raised will easily shoot up beyond a staggering Rs 20,000 crore -- bringing it very close to what the fund houses garnered back in 2008.

Though equity NFOs are coming back strongly, sector experts do not see it as a strong and preferable mode of increasing investors' money.

No doubt, a set of investors are still looking for equity NFOs.

However, when seen in the perspective of total inflows in equity schemes, money coming in through new launches looks quite dwarfed.

For instance, so far, only about 12 per cent of overall flows in equity have come through NFOs.

This suggests that a majority of investors -- new and existing -- prefer established schemes with a performance track record.

The total inflows in equity schemes stand at Rs 1.36 lakh crore.

"Though NFOs have gathered quite a sum this year," says Dhirendra Kumar, CEO of fund-tracking firm Value Research, "I won't go on to say that new launches are making a big comeback. Though NFOs, mainly close-ended, will keep coming from fund houses, dominant inflows will go for existing schemes."

Equity NFOs had a boom period in 2005-2008, where over 170 new equity schemes hit the market, raising Rs 1.12 lakh crore.

Sector experts appear to have learnt a big lesson from the mistakes of the previous bull run.

Investment experts are discouraging investors from making huge investments, with stocks going up sharply.

Instead, impetus is being given on systematic investment plans (SIPs) and disciplined investing.

Results are positive, as the industry now enjoys a substantial 18 million SIP accounts, which bring in nearly Rs 6,000 crore of consistent, sticky, and long-lasting monthly inflows.United States President Donald Trump has kept alive the Iran nuclear deal by waiving economic sanctions, but warned European allies and Congress that it will be "for the last time" if they fail to fix the "disastrous flaws" in the landmark 2015 pact.

The White House said that Trump will waive the sanctions against Iran for the "last time", unless an agreement can be reached between the US and Europe within the next 120 days that would strengthen the nuclear deal.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the US from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement.

He told the international community, in particular his European allies, either to fix the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or he would withdraw the US from the nuclear deal.

"Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw," he said.

"This is the last chance. In absence of such an agreement (between the US and European powers), the US will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal," he said in a lenghty statement.

The announcement came as the Treasury Department placed sanctions on 14 individuals and entities for alleged offenses unrelated to Irans nuclear industry. The new measures concern human rights abuses and censorship in Iran and the arming of groups throughout the region.

Issuing designations for 14 individuals and entities, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice.

The entities sanctioned include Irans Supreme Council of Cyberspace and its subsidiary, the National Cyberspace Center, which police the Internet, restricting access to websites that challenge the regime.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif describe Trump's decision as "desperate attempt" to "undermine" the deal.

"Trumps policy & todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, he tweeted.

He said the nuclear deal is "not renegotiable and rather than repeating tired rhetoric, the US must bring itself into full compliance -just like Iran."

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was struck between the US, under the administration of former President Barack Obama, Iran and five other countries. It prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons while offering sanctions relief to allow it to participate in international commerce and banking.

As a signatory to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has committed to not building nuclear weapons, even after the restrictions on its programme lapse, and it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

To keep the 2015 deal alive before he is required to sign another waiver in 120 days from now, Trump outlined four "critical components" that must be included in US legislation regarding Iran.

Trump outlined four "critical components" that must be included in US legislation regarding Iran.

The changes Trump has demanded include immediate inspections at all sites requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency; ensuring that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon; automatic resumption of US sanctions if Iran does not comply and Irans development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

Trump said he is open to working with Congress on bipartisan legislation regarding Iran. But any bill he sign must include these four critical components.

"I have been very clear about my opinion of that deal. It gave Iran far too much in exchange for far too little. The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the deal -- access to more than USD 100 billion, including USD 1.8 billion in cash -- has not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people. Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders, he said.

In his statement, Trump said he is waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure USs European allies agreement to fix the "terrible flaws" of the Iran nuclear deal.

"This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately, Trump warned, adding that no one should doubt his words.

"If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran. Those who, for whatever reason, choose not to work with us will be siding with the Iranian regimes nuclear ambitions, and against the people of Iran and the peaceful nations of the world, Trump said.

Trump alleged that in 2015, the Obama Administration "foolishly traded away" strong multilateral sanctions to get its weak nuclear deal.

By contrast, my Administration has engaged with key European allies in seeking to secure a new supplemental agreement that would impose new multilateral sanctions if Iran develops or tests long-range missiles, thwarts inspections, or makes progress toward a nuclear weapon -- requirements that should have been in the nuclear deal in the first place, he said.

Trump alleged that Iranian regime is the worlds leading state sponsor of terror and enables Hezbollah, Hamas, and many other terrorists to sow chaos and kill innocent people.

"It has funded, armed, and trained more than 100,000 militants to spread destruction across the Middle East. It props up the murderous regime of Bashar al Assad, and has helped him slaughter his own people," he said.

"The regimes destructive missiles threaten neighbouring countries and international shipping. Within Iran, the Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Irans people. Irans ruling elite has let their citizens go hungry while enriching themselves by stealing Irans national wealth," said the US President.

The US, he said, is countering Iranian proxy wars in Yemen and Syria.

"We are cutting off the regimes money flows to terrorists. We have sanctioned nearly 100 individuals and entities involved with the Iranian regimes ballistic missile program and its other illicit activities, he said.

Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersLatching onto media reports that the prime minister's principal secretary turned up at the chief justice of India's residence, the Congress on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to the CJI.

TV visuals showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra driving to the residence of CJI Dipak Misra.

However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, he left.

The development came a day after four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against the CJI, raising questions over "selective" case allocation.

After the TV visuals were aired, the Congress was quick to criticise the government.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

Terming the concerns raised by the four judges as "unprecedented and sensitive", the Congress had demanded a probe into the issues flagged.

On the other hand, the BJP had charged the Congress with "politicising the internal matters" of the judiciary.

Image: Principal secretary to PM, Nripendra Misra, seen outside Chief Justice of India Dipak Misras residence in Delhi. Photograph: ANIIn contrast with China's formidable build up, the Indian Army was struggling to send to the border an inadequate formation of 2,400 soldiers -- the ill-fated 7 Infantry Brigade -- which was short of soldiers, arms, equipment and acclimatisation for high-altitude combat.

Ajai Shukla looks back at the 1962 War.

PART 1: How China prepared for the 1962 War



IMAGE: V K Krishna Menon, then India's defence minister who was blamed for India's ill preparedness during the 1962 War, meets with senior army officers

On October 20, 1962, when China attacked Indian posts on the Namka Chu rivulet near Tawang, marking the start of the disastrous Sino-Indian war, the troops that conducted that attack -- the People's Liberation Army's 11 Infantry Division -- prepared for it in three years of battling Tibetan guerrillas, called the Chushi Gangdruk.

Earlier, on August 25, 1959, the first-ever armed clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers took place, when an Indian patrol ran into a Chinese company (roughly 100 soldiers) stationed in Migyitun -- for work with the masses -- as Beijing euphemistically termed operations against the Chushi Gangdruk.

PLA General Yin Fatang reveals that, on June 11, 1962, the Tibet Military Command constituted the 'Advance Command Post for China-India Border Self-Defence Counter-attack 'code-named Z419 (Z stands for Xizang, or Tibet). Yin was appointed its political commissar.

Four days earlier, PLA General Tan Guansan, who had brutally put down the Lhasa revolt in March 1959, relayed orders from the Chinese Communist party's central committee and central military commission to prepare to fight the Indian Army.

These are from a range of new details of the 1962 Sino-Indian war gleaned by Chinese scholar Jianglin Li, from Chinese Communist party documents and interviews with People's Liberation Army veterans.

Li's research is posted on the War on Tibet Web site in a research article entitled 'Suppressing Rebellion in Tibet' and the China-India Border War.

The war clouds began gathering in May 1962 when Beijing decided to 'create conditions for peacefully resolving the border dispute' by 'resolutely fighting back' against the advancing Indian Army, says Wei Ke, director of Z419's political department.

Then itself, it was decided that the main front would be the eastern sector, specifically the Tawang and Walong areas.

By October, 10,300 Chinese soldiers were placed under Z419 command post, charged with attacking India in Kejielang (the Nyamjang Chu valley) and Tawang, according to a PLA 'Studies on Battle Examples'.

Yin says: 'From mid-June 1962, Z419 command post started to collect intelligence in the battle zone and work on a battle plan.

Intensive military training began, including individual training, unit training and battle exercises at regimental level. Based on the experience of fighting the Chushi Gangdruk, Z419 replaced physically unfit officers and soldiers.

Well-trained rocket launcher operators were dispatched to Tibet from Wuhan, and artillery personnel were sent from several military commands.

Beijing military command sent communications equipment and operators. Over one hundred English, Hindi and Tibetan interpreters from different areas were sent to Tibet for the coming 'self-defence counter-attack'.

Meanwhile, in contrast with China's formidable build up, the Indian Army was struggling to send to the border an inadequate formation of 2,400 soldiers -- the ill-fated 7 Infantry Brigade -- which was short of soldiers, arms, equipment and acclimatisation for high-altitude combat.

Beijing took the final decision to go to war in two meetings.

The first was on October 8, between Mao Zedong and China's top leadership -- Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, He Long, Nie Rongzheng and Luo Ruiqing.

The next day, Z419 received the pre-order for battle.

The die was cast, according to General Zhang Guohua, who was selected to command the battle; he flew back to Lhasa from Beijing on October 13. A 'Frontline Command Post', positioned at Tsona, replaced Z419 for the battle.

The second meeting, at which the final go-ahead was given, took place at 1:30 pm on October 17.

The central military commission and Mao himself approved General Zhang's battle plan.

Besides the PLA's overwhelming advantage in combat soldiers numbers, Li's research reveals the Communist party's Tibet work committee supported the frontline with a major logistic effort.

It dispatched 1,280 party cadres to lead civilian workers functioning as logistical support teams.

32,237 Tibetans and 1,057 pack animals were drafted to load, unload and transport supplies, carry wounded soldiers back from battlefront, and clear up battlefields, etc.

Over 10,000 civilians were drafted to repair and construct roads.

It is hardly surprising that, on October 20, Indian defences in the Tawang sector crumbled in hours.Friday's protest in public by the four senior-most Supreme judges is the first instance in which a group of judges are raising allegation against the Chief Justice of India.

Shine Jacob lists other instances where judges 'went one against the other in public'.

The outcry by four Supreme Court judges against the functioning of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however unprecedented, is not the first instance in history where judicial persons have gone one against the other in public.

The arrest of former Calcutta high court chief justice C S Karnan for contempt of court, for instance, had grabbed headlines in recent times as he became the first Indian judge to be sent to jail in India.

Another case of a direct attack on the Chief Justice himself came way back in 2009 when Karnataka high court judge D V Shylendra Kumar fired a salvo at the then Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan for not making his assets public stating that 'he is more like a serpent without fangs, who can only hiss, but not bite'.

However, Friday's protest in public by the four senior-most judges Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Bhimrao Lokur and Kurian Joseph is the first instance in which a group of Supreme Court judges are raising allegation against the Chief Justice of India.

Currently, there are 25 sitting judges and seven out of the full strength of 31 are retiring this year.

Justice Chelameswar is set to retire in June. Justices Lokur and Joseph will retire in December.

Earlier, there were reports alleging Chief Justice Misra had intervened to ensure only judges of his choice heard a sensitive case about corruption involving a retired high court judge.

But Justice Karnan's case was the most controversial so far.

In January 2017, Justice Karnan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra D Modi flagging the names of 20 judges alleging corruption. Even though he failed to provide any evidence, he urged the government to investigate the matter.

After a series of allegations in public, including an unprecedented order by him sentencing India's chief justice, and seven other judges of the Supreme Court, to five years in prison, the top court even barred the media from publishing Justice Karnan's statements.

Later, he was arrested in June 2017.

Justice Chelameswar had a clash in November over the assignment of a sensitive case.

Two petitions seeking a special investigation team to look into allegations contained in a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation were listed before two different benches.

While one bench referred the petition before it to the Chief Justice to set up an 'appropriate' bench, the bench presided over by Justice Chelameswar directed the petition before it to be heard by a five-judge bench of senior judges.

Within hours, Chief Justice Dipak Misra rose from the Constitution bench he was presiding over and set up a five-judge bench which annulled Justice Chelameswar's order.

Chief Justice Misra asserted that it was the Chief Justice of India's prerogative to set up a Constitution bench and he could pick the judges to fill it.

The order was passed in the Chief Justice's jam-packed court room amid shouting matches by the men in black.

Old timers remember an instance in the 1980s in which one judge stormed out of court while hearing a case because his senior colleague was dominating the court and the junior was not given any say.

While walking out, Justice E S Venkataramiah, who later became the Chief Justice, uttered unkind words about his senior, embarrassing the bar and making front page headlines.

Later he called the media and explained that he was not against the senior, but only wanted brother judges to be heard.

Controversies over comments by judges are not new.

For instance, then chief justice R M Lodha had gone all out in 2013 against the government observing that the CBI is like a 'caged parrot speaking in its master's voice'.

And then, Justice Markandey Katju had said 'hang the corrupt to the lamp posts' while hearing a bail plea connected to the fodder scam.

Another recent comment by a judge that raised eyebrows was by Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma of the Rajasthan high court, stating that the cow should be declared the national animal.

IMAGE: Supreme Court Justice Jasti Chelameswar with Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph at the press conference in New Delhi, January 12, 2018. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI PhotoOne month ago, frustrated by the stigma and silence that often surrounds mental health disorders, John Sciarretta created an Instagram account that asks people to share their stories about how they cope with their illnesses.

The account, called The Mental Minute Project, allows people to post one-minute videos describing their struggles and how they deal with them.

Explain what you suffer from and how you cope with it, said Sciarretta, who himself has suffered from addiction and mental health disorders, in the video that launched the project. Ill share it on the page and well go from there as a team.

Sciarrettas hope was to build a community and let people know they are not alone, but even he did not expect what happened next. Within weeks, nearly 100 videos flooded the page, with submissions from at least 21 states and six countries, including Nigeria, Switzerland and Canada.

Mental health professionals from as far as Australia reached out to Sciarretta or posted their own videos, explaining that the page had become a tool in helping their own patients. One Texas doctor said it even helped save a suicidal patients life.

People of all ages  even a therapy dog with a voice-over from its owner  opened up about tackling illnesses such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

We are one big family, and family and love is most important when youre suffering, said Chris Stockil, who lives in England, in one recent video.

In another, a 27-year-old from New Jersey shared her journey with depression.

I normally dont talk about it, but I think not talking about it further perpetuates the stigma, she said. Im here to tell you: You are not alone.

In addition to submitted videos, Sciarretta does several live-streams a day to discuss mental health with people all over the world. He also recently appeared on an ESPN radio podcast to talk about the project.

Sciarretta, who lived for a time in Ridgefield, said hes discovered that people are more likely to share their stories via video because it can be less intimidating than talking face-to-face. But for those watching, the videos are more powerful and relatable than written stories, he said.

(Its been) a domino effect of help, love and No. 1, hope, Sciarretta said. I look in their eyes and I see pain, and I see that theyre struggling, and I see relief. Thats whats making the difference and what is slowly helping people come out and break the silence."

And while allowing a space for others to open up was his main goal, Sciarretta said, sharing his own story has helped him cope, too.

Born in Stamford, Sciarretta was raised by his mother, who at the time suffered with addiction, after his father died when he was 4 years old. After repeated abuse by a babysitter and his mothers boyfriend, Sciarretta began acting out in school.

His family moved to Ridgefield when he was 11 with the hope of giving him a fresh start. Sciarretta said things started to turn around as he got involved in sports, but by 15 he was using drugs and alcohol.

Over the next few years, Sciarretta was sent to a military boot camp, spent time in prison on alcohol-related offenses, lived in a halfway house, became homeless and went to rehab three times.

But now, sober for almost four years, he said hes at a point in life where hes ready to share his past and help others.

Sharing is the number one coping skill, the number one tool, he said. I struggle every day, but Im a survivor. Thats how I look at it. Its a duty for me to be alive and be able to give back to the community and to help other people.

Sciarretta now lives in Norwalk and focuses on giving the life he never had to his 4-year-old daughter, Lyla. His mother, who is now clean and lives nearby, was the person who encouraged him to start The Mental Minute Project.

He isnt sure what the next step will be for the project, but has high hopes it will continue to grow.

One of the therapists, Alyse Price-Tobler, of Australia, said she might use the platform to offer online Q & As for those who cannot afford mental health treatment, Sciarretta said. He also has ideas of turning the posts into a book or starting a GoFundMe.

As long as its helping other people and moving the project forward, Im up for it, he said. Wherever it goes, it goes.

aquinn@newstimes.comSHEFFIELD, Mass.  Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation has announced the first round of deadlines for competitive grants. Regional nonprofits, students, individuals and schools are invited to apply for funding from January through March.

Nonprofits: Harvard Business Schools Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations program is designed for senior nonprofit leaders who are committed to implementing effective performance measurement and management in their organizations. Berkshire Taconic is offering one scholarship for the four-day program, which runs from May 29 to June 1 on the Harvard Business School campus in Boston, Mass. The value of the program is $4,500. Applications are due Feb. 1.

The Green Pastures Fund supports nonprofit organizations or public entities that encourage or preserve small, community-based agricultural ventures. Grants range from $1,000 to $3,000. Applications are due March 1.

Student scholarships: The Andrea Wagner Women in Science Scholarship Fund awards $1,500 scholarships to female residents of the Berkshire Taconic region who are enrolled at a four-year college and majoring in natural or physical science or engineering. Applications are due March 15.

The Ferris Burtis Scholarship Fund sponsors graduating high school seniors who have been accepted at a conservatory or school of music to pursue a career in classical music. Scholarships of $2,000 will be awarded. Applications are due March 15.

The George H. and Lucille E. Buterbaugh Scholarship Fund awards $1,000 annually to graduating seniors who are residents of Salisbury. Applications are due March 15.

The Karen Kisslinger Scholarship Fund supports graduating seniors from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Webutuck High School and Monument Mountain Regional High School who have a demonstrated interest in community health. Scholarships begin at $1,000. Applications are due March 15.

The Moe England 53/England Scott Family Scholarship Fund awards $1,500 to graduating high school seniors who are planning to attend Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Applications are due March 15.

The Teddy Lee Drumm Memorial Scholarship Fund awards $1,500 annually to residents of Sharon who have been accepted at an accredited college, university, vocational-technical or professional institute, as well as prior Drumm recipients. Applications are due March 15.

Students, individuals: The Alice and Richard Henriquez Memorial Fund and Youth World Awareness Program provides grants to students ages 14 to 22 for international travel and service. Grants range from $500 to $1,500 for individual applicants; larger grants may be considered for groups. Applications are due Feb. 1.

The Simple Gifts Fund awards grants to young people ages 13 to 19 for participation in cultural or creative summer programs. Grants range from $200 to $800. Applications are due March 15.

Schools: The James C. Kapteyn Endowment Fund honors excellence in teaching with a $10,000 prize for study or travel. Nominations from school principals or chief administrators are due Feb. 9. Nominees must complete their applications by March 30. Contact grants@berkshiretaconic.org to nominate an educator.

The application process for all grants is online at www.berkshiretaconic.org/SearchGrants. The application process for all scholarships is online at www.berkshiretaconic.org/SearchScholarships.

Now in its 30th year, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation builds stronger communities by inspiring charitable giving in northwest Litchfield County, Berkshire County, Mass.; and Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, N.Y. A nonprofit public charity with $150 million in assets, the foundation distributed a total of $8.8 million through grants and scholarships in 2016 to nonprofits and individuals in the arts and education, health and human services, and environmental protection. Visit www.berkshiretaconic.org

Ballet repertory school to hold auditions

TORRINGTON  Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, brings its 2018 Summer Intensive U.S. audition tour to the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, 58 Main St., Torrington, on Feb. 3. Registration at 4 p.m., followed by auditions from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Leading the audition will be ARB Resident Choreographer Kirk Peterson, principal dancer and choreographer with the American Ballet Theatre.

First held in 1982, Princeton Ballet Schools summer intensive is one of the longest running summer intensive programs in the United States. Based in Princeton, N.J., the summer intensive runs from June 25 to July 27.

The summer intensive offers serious study in a warm and companionable atmosphere. The faculty provides instruction conductive to technical and artistic progress. In seeking to maintain a feeling of community, Princeton Ballet School purposely limits the number of students in class. Students receive individualized attention and intensive training led by ARB Artistic Director Douglas Martin, Resident Choreographer Mary Barton, and master teachers Kathleen Moore and Maria Youskevitch. Guest faculty have included Franco De Vita, Raymond Lukens, Kirk Peterson, Trinette Singleton, Aydmara Cabrera,Sterling Baca and Unity Phelan..

The Summer Intensive has always been my favorite time spent in the classroom both as a student and as a faculty member, said Martin, a former principal dancer for Joffrey Ballet. As a student I was excited to spend my entire day focused on dancing and I couldnt wait to experience the intensity of the workload and feel the daily progress that I was making through that intense study. As a faculty member, I get a similar thrill from seeing the students tremendous progress over the course of the five week program.

Auditions are conducted by Princeton Ballet School faculty members throughout the United States and Europe to select 100 students for the program. Students must be 13 and older; classes are held at the Princeton Studio location with optional housing at Princeton University. Audition fee is $30;advance registration audition fee is $25.

For those unable to make the in-person audition, a video audition is possible.

To register and for information, visit www.arballet.org/summer-program or call 609-921-7758.Michael Harris, 30, was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday for a nine-town robbery spree that lasted four months.

The sentences from several jurisdictions will run concurrent with one another.

Felony charges against Harris included 13 counts of first-degree robbery with a firearm, from Nov. 20, 2016, to Feb. 1, 2017.

He robbed businesses along a corridor of routes 8 and 84, Milford States Attorney Kevin D. Lawlor said Friday. Miller hit Derby, Middlebury, Milford, Naugatuck, Shelton, Waterbury, Southington, Torrington and Winchester.

After an investigation, Naugatuck police got the first arrest warrants.

We caught him, Naugatuck Deputy Chief Joshua Bernegger said Friday.

The robberies had several things in common: a man seen wearing a gray hoodie, carrying a large handgun, and driving a green car, possibly a 2009 or 2010 Toyota Carolla four-door with Connecticut plates. Also, he was wearing blue Nike sneakers, Bernegger said.

 In Superior Court, Milford, Judge Frank Iannotti sent Harris to prison for 15 years, with eight to serve, and five years of probation. Harris, who did not appear in court, was sentenced for first-degree robbery, including three cases of threatening with a firearm. Lawlor said the robberies netted Harris $300-$3,000.

 In Superior Court, New Britain, he was sentenced without an appearance, to 10 years.

 In Litchfield Superior Court, Torrington, Harris appeared and received a total of 17 years in prison, suspended after 10 years, minimum mandatory and five years probation.

 In Waterbury Superior Court, he appeared and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Harris has been held since February 2017 at Northern Correctional Institution, Somers, in lieu of $1.37 million bail.Grant Verstandig's transformation into a digital health entrepreneur began with seven knee surgeries.

As a freshman at Brown University in 2010, Verstandig was told he'd never run normally again after multiple operations for a chronic knee injury.

He looked for a secure website where patients with similar injuries could share their experiences. Finding none to his satisfaction, Verstandig dropped out to start his own, Audax Health - never mind that, at 21, he'd never held a job in health care.

In the young and fast-growing industry of digital health, doctors and insurance executives are launching startups. But many other founders, such as Verstandig, have little or no health background.

They may have cut their teeth in social networking, gaming or finance, but above all, they believe in the power of apps, websites and devices to capture audiences and turn profits. Driven by a mix of humanitarianism and Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" ethos, these digital natives are now seeking to improve patients' health and fix the nation's notoriously tech-resistant health care system.

"With the last four years of tech trends, whether it's Uber or Facebook or Dropbox, a lot of tech companies have proven you can disrupt major systems. People say, 'Hey, what if we apply the same principle to doctors?' " said Verstandig, whose San Francisco and Washington, D.C., company tries to instill healthy habits in users by offering motivational tools and rewards. After raising $55 million, Verstandig recently sold a majority stake of Audax to insurance giant United Health.

Many outsiders

In the last year, dozens of digital health startups have pitched Beth Seidenberg, a partner at powerhouse venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Three-fourths of the founders are not from health care, she said, but that lack of experience doesn't necessarily hurt their chance of getting funded.

"It's fascinating to me, as a more traditional life science investor, to see the shift," she said. "I'm very excited about it, because you're getting all of these entrepreneurs who clearly want to do something meaningful and do good in the world, and they see this giant chasm of sophisticated technology and almost lack of imagination in the health care space."

Digital health is expanding at an astonishing rate. Companies raised almost $2 billion in venture financing in 2013, more than double the amount in 2011, according to Rock Health, a San Francisco accelerator that provides seed funding to startups in that industry. California is home to one-third of all funding in the sector.

While it is difficult to comprehensively track entrepreneurs' backgrounds, Rock Health estimates that people with doctoral or medical degrees make up fewer than 20 percent of all CEOs of funded digital health companies.

Investors attribute the influx of activity in part to the Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law has sought to make the country's health care system more efficient through, for example, digitized patient records, online exchanges where people can compare insurance plans, preventive health efforts and financial incentives for hospitals to provide better care. These changes, programmers believe, could be best carried out by new apps and other electronic tools.

At Reputation.com, Noah Lang oversaw a site that helps users protect their online reputations by suppressing negative search results. When he left in 2013 and needed to sign up for his own insurance, he was surprised by how difficult it was to pick a plan that suited him, even on the government insurance exchanges.

So he and Matt Butner, a data scientist who had worked in advertising, founded Stride Health, a site that offers personalized insurance recommendations, a la Amazon.

"That was what struck me as a dissonance between the rest of the consumer Web and the health care consumer Web," said Lang, whose San Francisco company emerged from stealth mode this spring. The industry is "forcing people to make these decisions based on national-level metrics or even just gut checks, but never personalized transactions built around their lives."

Finding meaning

Financial motivations aside, several entrepreneurs said they wanted to do something more meaningful than invent ways to share pictures or outsource chores. "Most venture capital firms, most startups, are really insular," said Graham Melcher, an engineer who started in financial software. "They don't really solve problems that exist outside of Silicon Valley and San Francisco."

Melcher is now creating a website for a health care model in which members pay monthly fees for primary care. "The amount of cost and overhead for our current health care system is basically tanking our economy," he said.

Marco Peluso was inspired by a scare in the family: His father had a stroke. He quit his job as a partner at a hedge fund to co-found Qardio and make wireless blood pressure monitors.

But enthusiastic entrepreneurs are learning that disrupting health care can be unexpectedly hard. National privacy laws protect patient information to a much higher degree than restaurant reviews or car rides. That's why "innovating in this space is much, much harder than it is in any other space," said Ryan Howard, who founded Practice Fusion in 2005 after mostly working in product management for software companies.

Practice Fusion, which has raised almost $150 million, is a free health record website for doctors. "It's not a picture, it's not a contact list, it's not a posting to a wall," Howard said. "It's incredibly sensitive, precious data to human beings that we need to guard in a very specific way."

In addition, not all doctors are thrilled to take calls from twentysomething programmers who think the Internet will solve society's woes. As Melcher described it, "There is a lot of 'I'm not willing to change. You're an S.F. startup, who do you think you are?' "

Getting partners

But he, and others, said that showing humility and taking the time to learn the industry's nuances helps forge partnerships with physicians, hospitals and other health care leaders.

What also helps, entrepreneurs said, is hiring people who do know a lot about health care and share the founders' vision. Verstandig, for instance, recruited the former head of insurance giant Aetna to be a board member and investor for Audax.

Both sides need each other if health care is going to improve, said Halle Tecco, Rock Health's founder.

"The old guard in health care wants to believe there's a group of people that knows everything about the system and then there's everyone else," she said. "In reality, each and every one of us is part of the health care system."Jacob Weiss (August 21, 1750  January 9, 1839) was Revolutionary War officer and an early coal businessman. During the Revolution, Weiss served as the Quartermaster-General under General Nathanael Greene. After the war, he and several business partners ran coal mining operations in the Lehigh Valley.

== Early life ==

Jacob Weiss was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 21, 1750. He was the son of native German physician John Jacob Weiss (July 20, 1781  September 22, 1788), who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1740. His father became a citizen on September 27, 1740. He later married Rebecca Cox on October 14, 1746, and purchased land in the area of Fort Allen, which would become later known as Lehighton and Weissport. They had 11 children, one of whom was Jacob Weiss.

== Military career ==

Early in his military career, Jacob Weiss served for the first company of the Philadelphia Volunteers under Captain Cadwalader. He was then appointed acting Quartermaster-General by General Mifflin. After only serving one tour of duty, he was appointed Quartermaster-General and served under General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army. After serving under Gen. Greene, Mr. Weiss was assigned a post in 1780 as the Deputy Quartermaster General in Easton, Northhampton County, Pennsylvania. This was under considerable recommendation of his previous post served under General Greene. His last move of the service was in 1780 to a place called Nazareth, Pennsylvania, with his family. Mr. Weiss then concluded service there in 1783. He returned to his home in the Lehigh Valley and purchased a tract of land next to the Lehigh River, then called New Gnadenhuetton, from the Moravians who lived there.

== Coal Industry founding father==

Philip Ginder, often called Ginter, made the early discovery of coal in this remote area in 1791 according to local historians. Ginder was a local miller who was out hunting along Sharpe Mountain and found an outcrop of a hard rock that was called stone coal, or anthracite, which he recognized as possibly being coal. To verify this discovery, Mr. Ginder gave it to Col. Weiss the very next day. Col. Weiss said he would give Mr. Ginder {convert|300|acre|km2} of land if he showed where the coal was found, and Mr. Ginder agreed to the deal. Col. Weiss took the specimen by horseback to Philadelphia and had it further inspected by John Nicholson, Michael Hillegas, and brother-in-law Charlie Cist; Hillegas had been the Treasurer of the United States under the Continental Congress through the American Revolution. Upon authentication, Weiss was authorized to grant Ginter what he propositioned for his discovery upon pointing out the exact location where it was found. Ginter built a mill on the tract of land he acquired but was later deprived of it by the owner who had filed a prior claim at the US patent office.

Weiss, Hillegas, and Nicholson in 1791-92 were some of the original investors in the Lehigh Coal Mining Company (LCMC) which was later part of the historic merger which formed the influential and historically important Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N)anthracite was known of, but it was not known well. How to get Stone Coal to burn easily or reliably was another question, yet the Eastern Seaboard was suffering the same sort of deforestation that had occasioned the use of coal in Great Britain. Unlike Europe, the young American nation did not have millennium of commerce to wear cart navigable, if poor and muddy, roads between cities. Most roads were still trails unfriendly to any vehicle with axles. Travel by water was the only fast way to get anywhere, and the only effective way to ship heavy or bulky goods, and anthracite coal was both.

Meanwhile, infant American industries and the wealthy in the other former colonies were importing fuels. Companies were even shipping coal from England and Virginia for American cities to use for heat or power. Early on in 1792 this new LCMC company attempted to be the first that regularly brought coal down from Summit Hill, Pennsylvania across Pisgah Ridge in the rough terrains typical of the ridge channeled mountainous areas of the Southern Anthracite Coal Region of Northeast Pennsylvania. The trip down from the mine necessitated the use of pack mules and then later with some road improvements, oxen and carts to transship the sacks or baskets of coal down hill 89 miles (12.914.5 km) to load the coal into sturdy boats, probably along the river banks now occupied by the village of Packerton at the mouth of Beaverdam Run or along the nearly parallel Mahoning Creek (which bisects nearby Lehighton)both are right bank tributaries on the Lehigh River on the opposite shore from Colonel Weisss Weissport, Pennsylvania.

Getting the anthracite mined and then down to the Lehigh River; a right bank tributary of the Delaware River, and so a way down to Philadelphia or even the relatively nearby Iron foundries of Allentown and Bethlehem was only part of the transportation problem & solution for the river had spates of rapids and was infamously treacherous. As recently as 1817 3 of 5 barges foundered on their way down the river, an event which triggered the founding of the Lehigh Navigation Company, and occasion a new management team taking over the LCMC in 1818this eventually led (1820) to the formation of the company which built the Lehigh Canal and the Americas second railroad when the LCMC couldnt deliver coal regularly nor reliably.

== Later life ==

Weiss died in Weissport, Pennsylvania on January 9, 1839.

Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_WeissRohingya wait for food aid at the Thankhali refugee camp in Ukhia, in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, Jan. 12, 2018.

Bangladeshi and Myanmar officials are to meet next week in Naypyidaw to hash out logistics for repatriating thousands of Rohingya refugees sheltering in southeastern Bangladesh, but with no clear date for the process to begin.

The 30-member joint working group (JWG) is to hold its first round of meetings Monday and Tuesday in Myanmars capital, days before the Jan. 22 scheduled deadline for the first 100,000 refugees to start returning to their home state of Rakhine. Both countries have touted the process as a voluntary one, by which refugees could choose to stay in Bangladesh or go back to Rakhine.

Despite agreeing in November to begin the repatriation process later this month, the two countries have not established the necessary protocol for the first batch of refugees to return.

Bangladeshi officials said they planned to iron out some related questions at the meeting, including getting clarification from their Burmese counterparts about a sample repatriation form needed to expedite the process, and which they had received from Myanmar officials.

The form contained inconsistencies such as a requirement to list refugees nationality, Bangladeshi officials said.

We have to discuss about this nationality issue: what is the nationality of the refugees? Is it Rohingya or something else? We will discuss the inconsistencies and prepare a commonly agreed-to repatriation form, Mohammad Abul Kalam, Bangladeshs refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Collecting data about the returnees will begin after we get a mutually agreed repatriation form. We will deploy people to collect data to fill the form, if necessary, said Kalam, who will be part of his countrys delegation to the JWG meeting.

Bangladeshs immigration department has a database of biometric and other information about Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, according to Manjurul Kamrim Khan Chowdhury, director general in-charge of the Southeast Asian desk at the foreign ministry.

From that database, authorities are expected to send to a list of 100,000 names of Rohingya individuals and families, along with their residences in Rakhine, to the Myanmar government, he said.

In the verification process, Myanmar will confirm whether the people mentioned in the list used to live in Myanmar. We will then ask the persons, verified by Myanmar, whether they are interested in returning to Rakhine, Chowdhury told BenarNews.

Our proposal is: at the next step we will fill repatriation forms containing the names and other information about the people who consented to go back, he added. But the Myanmar government may have a different approach. At the JWG meeting, we will discuss our proposal and work out the course of actions in the repatriation process.

In addition, the JWG will discuss what role the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will have in the process, according to Chowdhury. The agreement signed in November by both countries called for including UNHCR in the repatriation effort.

The Nov. 23 agreement set a two-month deadline for expediting the process.

I do not see any chance that repatriation will start before Jan. 22 according to the timeframe referred to in the repatriation arrangement, Chowdhury said Friday.

But this does not mean that the repatriation cannot start after Jan. 22. A complicated work like repatriation cannot always be done within a deadline, Kalam said.

The 100,000 refugees targeted for the first wave of repatriation are among about 1 million Rohingya Muslims sheltering at cramped and squalid refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, who fled cycles of violence in neighboring Rakhine state.

These refugees include at least 655,000 Rohingya who crossed into Bangladesh since late August 2017 amid a brutal military crackdown that followed attacks on government security posts by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents.

Next weeks meeting in Naypyidaw follows an announcement by Myanmar this week that housing for 5,000 returning Rohingya was ready and the government was waiting for Bangladesh to send lists of refugees who were eligible for repatriation.

To start, Myanmar will accept refugees at two reception centers in Taung Pyo Let Wae and Nga Khu Ya villages in northern Rakhine state, Myanmar officials said.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.In August 2017, when six-piece instrumental outfit The Revisit Project released its first music video Here We Go , little did they know that the feat would not only reach to the right and intended target audience but also lead to comparisons with their influences like Weather Report and Snarky Puppy. Facebooks algorithm had done its trick, but most of the credit, naturally, went to the sound that arrived with the music video. In the next four months, the video received over 100k views, and Here We Go evolved into an album

Today, on 13 January, the band released its debut studio album which looks like a desirable attempt to redefine the nature of jazz. Frequently, bands pop up in metropolitan cities and experiment with one of the oldest musical genres and more often than not, the approach lays fruitful sonic output. The Revisit Project is no different. A month after releasing the title track, the outfit continued to create the buzz prior to the album release with the launch of another single Take A Leaf . Not moving away from jazz entirely, the single subtly incorporates essential elements to provide a neo-soul vibe to it. And thats what the bands saxophonist and co-founding member Abhay Sharma finds most fascinating about the entire cohesive set-up. We get bored of the same sound, says Sharma, with six members, we bring our respective ideas and that leads to some amazing results. Mixed and mastered in Ferris Wheel Studios, the band has laid no stone unturned as far as the production is concerned, and the uncompromising stance on quality of the same reflects on the album.

One would wonder, listening to the sound, that the band has obvious inspirations  as mentioned in the first paragraph, but thats far from the truth, argues Sharma. In fact, in my case, my father introduced me to the 40s, 50s and 60s Indian music composers like C. Ramchandra, Shankar Jaikishan, R.D. Burman and others. A lot of my education has arrived from listening to old school Indian film music, adds Sharma. The saxophonist, who also performs as a session musician with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy emphasizes that theres a lot to learn from how Bollywood composers approach their live set-ups. When theyre on the stage, its like they only speak the language of music. Its of course great to share the stage with them but you feel so intimidated, it acts as a reminder that we have a long way to go, confesses the young instrumentalist on The Revisit Projects journey. Not just Bollywood or western experimental jazz acts, Sharma believes one does not have to look too far to get inspired. Look at Kush Upadhyay and what hes doing. Musicians like him drive you to work harder and enjoy music at the same time, says Sharma.Report : 2 civilians killed in 17 Saudi aggression airstrikes on Yemen over Thursday [12/January/2018]



SANAA, Jan 12 (Saba)  Two Yemeni civilians were killed when the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition waged airstrikes, artillery, missile shelling on several province over the past 24 hours, a military official told Saba on Friday.



In northern province of Saada, two civilians were killed in three airstrikes targeted tents of travelling shepherds in Akwan area of Safra district.



Also in Saada, the aggression warplanes launched a strike on Majaz district, another one hit Aal-Sobhan of Baqem district, and five airstrikes waged on Aal Abu-jabara valley and Farea area of Kutaf district.



Meanwhile, the west areas of Munabeh border district were targeted by the Saudi artillery and missile shelling.



In northwest province of Hajjah, the fighter jet of aggression launched a strike on Mostaba district.



In Bayda province, some 268 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, an airstrike hit on Shabakat-Nadea mountain.



In capital Sanaa, the warplanes of aggression waged two strikes on the building of military works in Shoaub district, causing heavy damage to houses.



In central province of Taiz province, the Saudi aggression launched two airstrikes on Haifan district.



In border province of Asir, the warplane of Saudi aggression waged a strike on Mazaja area.



Finally, in Jizan border province, the apache helicopters fired 31 rockets on Hamedha and Qamar

Villages.









Writing by Sameera Al-Mahdi, Editing by Zak





















SabaReport: Army sniped 27 Saudi soldier, mercenaries in attacks, ballistic missile at Special Forces camp in Najran during one day [12/January/2018]

SANAA, Jan 12 (Saba)  A Saudi soldier and 26 were sniped when the army and popular forces have launched military operations, including artillery, missiles and snipping attacks to frustrate US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition mercenaries and soldiers infiltration attempts into several frontlines, fired a ballistic missile on Najran border province, over the past 24 hours, military officials told Saba in Friday.



The information of the Saudi aggression admitted the death of four of its soldiers whom are censors chief / Amer bin Hassan al-Qahimi, first sergeant / Mohammad Qirtan al-Fataih, Hezam Ayedh al-Farwan, wahif Abdullah al-Qahtani, and the injured of Wali Hakami and Khaled Ahmad Hamlan in clashes between the army and the Popular Committees.



In border province of Najran, a ballistic missile, Qaher m2, was fired on the special forces camp and the military airport of Apache helicopters, and rocket attack targeted groups of Saudi soldiers in Mostahdeth-Makhroq and Rejla camp.



Also in Najran, artillery shelling waged on Saudi soldiers gatherings and fortifications in Shabakah .site, and on Saudi-paid mercenaries in Boqea desert



In addition, an explosive device exploded with a number of Saudi soldiers on the Nahuqa road, and a Saudi military vehicle loaded with mercenaries was blown up in Boqea desert in front of Khadhraa crossing point.



In Jizan border province, artillery shelling fired Saudi soldiers gatherings in Moanaq, Qewa and Hamedhah areas.



In Asir border province, the sniper unit shot dead a Saudi soldier west of Mazaza area.



In northern province of Jawf, the army and popular forces broke two mercenaries attempts to infiltrate into Utemah front line in Khub-washaaf district, the enemy was backed by air force, inflicted them heavy casualties.



Also in Jawf, an unique operation was carried out on mercenaries sites in Sabeen area of Kub-washaaf which was preceded by combing weapons, killing them and seized military equipments, also the army and committees carried out an attack on mercenaries sites in Shawaq valley of Ghail district, causing deaths and injuries in enemy ranks.



In Bayda province, the army and committees sniped six mercenaries in Maslub and Mtoon districts, and two others in Mekras area, also an infiltration attempt towards the army and committees sites in Thi-Naem area was foiled, inflicted the enemy huge casualties.



In Central province of Taiz, the army and the committees attacked mercenaries sites in Zahari, area of Makha district, which led to the capture of two mercenaries and dozens of dead and wounded, burning a military vehicle, destroying two others, while a mercenary was sniped in Sarmain site.



Also in Taiz, artillery shelling targeted mercenaries gatherings in the west top hill of Saiar area on Salw district, and two infiltration attempts towards the sites of the army and committees in Shaqb and Mafalis frontlines of Haifan district were repulsed.



In Marib province, sniper unit gunned down ten mercenaries in different areas of Serwah district, killing the mercenary leader Saleh Abdullah al-Jahmi officer of the police in the province and the leader of Thana site who died of his injuries sustained in Serwah frontline.



In addition, a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries was destroyed by a missile fired at the Matar top hill in Serwah distrit, killed who were on board, as well as artillery shelling targeted enemy gatherings behind th top hill.



In Harib-Garamish district of Marib province, the army and committees failed two mercenaries' attempts to infiltrate into a series of Shargi mountains and Sanumah area.



In Nehm district, some 50 km north Sanaa, three mercenaries were sniped in the frontline.

In Hajjah province, the sniper units of the arm and popular forces fired at four Saudi-paid mercenaries in northern desert of Medi district.







Writing by Sameera Al-Mahdi, Editing by Zak

Saba

Congress questions Modi for sending his Principal Secretary to CJI Congress on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he sent his Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra to Chief Justice Dipak Misra's residence here a day after four senior judges told the media that all was not well with the Supreme Court. Nripendra Misra was seen on Saturday sitting in his car outside Justice Misra's residence in New Delhi. "As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. The development came a day after Justice J. Chelameswar along with three other sitting senior Supreme Court judges took on Justice Misra over the allocation of benches, among other issues. On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court. Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they wrote to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues". The four judges were Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.



Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said a meeting of the members is being held on Saturday evening, after which a delegation will meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and the four senior judges, who spoke against the CJI on Friday.

Kumar said: "We have a meeting at today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). Our delegation will meet Chief Justice Dipak Misra and those four senior judges to request them to resolve the issue internally."

He said it was "most unfortunate" that four senior judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court and that the issue should have been "sorted out internally", the BCI Chairman said.

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they had written to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

The four judges are justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.As the crisis triggered by the revolt of four Supreme Court judges lingered, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the rebel judges may meet on Sunday to resolve the problems raked up by them as two of the dissenting judges on Saturday sought to play down the issue.

Three of the four judges, who had attacked the Chief Justice at a press conference here on Friday, were away from the capital and are expected to return on Sunday afternoon. There was no official confirmation about reports that Justice Misra will be meeting with the rebel judges.



But indications were available that a resolution could be worked out from the remarks made by Justices Kurian Joseph and Ranjan Gogoi and Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, the government's highest law officer.



Justice Joseph said in Kochi that there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and the issues they had raised appeared to have been sorted out.



"We did this for a cause and I think (the) issues appear to have been sorted out. This was not against anyone nor are we having anything personal. It was meant to see that more transparency is there," said Justice Joseph.



He, however, did not elaborate.



Justice Joseph said the issues they had raised in an unprecedented press conference on Friday triggered no constitutional crisis.



"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected."



He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.



Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, he said: "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."



In reply to a question on why they failed to brief the President of the issues, he said the President is only the appointing authority.





Ranjan Gogoi, who was in Kolkata for a meeting of legal services authorities, also ruled out any crisis hitting the top court. "There is no crisis," he said, but refused to make any further comments.



The Attorney General, meanwhile, expressed the hope that the problems in the top judiciary would be "settled" by Monday.



"Unity among Supreme Court judges will return by Monday. We hope the entire issue will be settled in the larger interest of the institution. Judges are persons of wisdom and statesmanship and experience. We hope they won't allow the issue to escalate," Venugopal said here.



Venugopal on Friday had said the judges could have avoided going public with their complaints against Justice Misra.



The Bar Council of India (BCI) met here on Saturday and unanimously decided that a seven-member delegation of the bar would try to meet majority of Supreme Court judges on Sunday in an attempt to persuade them to resolve the issue at the earliest.



"We are ready to offer our mediation," Manan Misra, BCI President, told the media after the meeting. He said the matter should not be politicised.



Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra was on Saturday morning seen driving to the residence of the Chief Justice. He was seen sitting inside his official car which returned from the gate of the Chief Justice's residence without entering the premises.



The Congress asked Modi to explain why he sent his aide to Justice Misra's residence.



"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg. (The) PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to (the) Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.



The revolt by Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur surfaced in a press conference in which they accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.



Senior BJP leader and former minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday said it was "our bounden duty to take note of what the judges have said and raise our voice for corrective action".



Sinha, who finds himself at variance with his party's stand and policies, said fear stopped people from speaking out.



"If four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter? It is a serious matter. If they say anything to the people of the country, it is our bounded duty to take note of that."Dear Editor,

Re: P.M. rubbishes claims about debt to China

Is it Chinese Aid or Debt Entrapment?

I hope our Prime Minister prayed and thought hard about what he is doing? I hope he thought about the consequences and the outcome of his decisions? For him to put our small Island Nation into so much debt is irresponsible, foolish and negligent. It may seem like easy money with no strings attached but we all know there is no such thing.

The Dragon is on a mission to establish itself as a world superpower by increasing its presence in strategic locations including the Pacific. We would be naive and ignorant to think that China has no hidden agendas.

Splurging out billions in Aid with no strings attached is just another way China holds political leverage and using sovereign debt to bend other states to its will. Chinas economic and diplomatic footprint in the region is nothing new but in the last 10 years it has increased dramatically through its Aid programmes.

Just look at Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati and other pacific countries including our own to see government buildings, hospitals, stadiums going up with Made in China signs. Some of these white elephants are vacant with no maintenance programs in place.

My concern is the massive O.D.A. loans from Exim Banks our government uses to fund some of its infrastructure and building projects. These contracts have clauses or conditions that the projects are to be built largely by Chinese companies and labour.

So who benefits more out of these so-called Overseas Development Aid or Assistance? Why the Chinese themselves of course, they provide the loan, import the materials and provide the labour. And what do we get? A few nice shinning white elephants and a massive debt that we may or may not be able to repay. With these O.D.A. loans some recipient countries have experienced debt distress, local business frustration, poor aid management, quality complaints and high-level corruption. Chinas assistance is largely through soft or concessional loans that could offer an interest-free period of 3 to 8yrs and then low rates for up to 20 or 30 years. All nice and dandy if using the right funding source, how and whether it is funded through the.

Private Sector - Consortium or syndicated loans are put together by financial institutions and if its defaulted the loans will be worked out through loan restructuring.

Bilateral - these are put together after country to country agreements and normally take the form of Exim bank credits or O.D.A. (overseas development aid).

When default occurs the creditors move in and gain control of assets using debt-reduction strategies like swapping debt with equity just like the port in Sri Lanka when the country couldnt repay its loan, it turned out to be a white elephant, but the Chinese dont care because they now have a port where their naval ships can drop anchor and project maritime influence in the Indian Ocean. Another port is Darwin, the Chinese gained control and signed a AUD$506m 99-year lease deal. Kenya under threat of loosing its busy port of Mombasa, the gateway to East Africa, to China.

Multilateral - these are from institutions like IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. The good part is the borrower is tied to strict terms of accountability, transparency and legalities. But when default occurs you can be sure of some economic recovery programs like austerity that will do more damage than good and the International Financial Institutions status as preferred creditor means payments to them must be given first priority, over private and bilateral debt.

And another downside is their by-laws prohibit them from granting debt relief or writing off debts unlike Private and Bilateral creditors. Governments do have special incentive to stay current with their multilateral debts, since I.F.Is determine the credit score of countries, until the IMF gives its stamp of approval, which usually requires adherence to the economic policies it recommends, the poorer countries generally cannot get credit or capital from other sources. This type of economic policy is where the A.D.B aligns to the government in regards to the L.T.R.A. 2008 recommendations.

And theres the issue with Chinese businesses sprouting up everywhere. Some say theres nothing wrong with that its good for Samoa and we should see Chinese investments as a valuable and alternative source of income. They bring competition and help drive the cost of living down with cheap imports. But those things dont always benefit us and the local businesses; especially when foreign businesses get special privileges, yes weve all heard about the green lane at Matautu wharf. Im not saying all Chinese investors are bad, there are a lot of honest Chinese investors that want to help our country and make a profit at the same time. Nothing wrong with that too. Its not all negative though, I mean China has funded projects that has economic benefits and health benefits to our country like government building built in the 90s, our National

Hospital in Motootua a sprawling modern complex paid for with a NZ$42m concessional loan from Beijing. China also signed a further agreement of economic and technical cooperation, worth NZ$23m, to build a new police academy. Also the much needed infrastructures like the bridges and wharf on the books to be built in the near future.

So I guess my point is Samoa should tread carefully when it comes to these big O.D.A. loans. Do we want to gain economic development and prosperity in the short term but later loose it all to the ones providing the loans? What will our government use as collateral? Land? Infrastructure? Can you picture a nice new Toamua/Vaiusu wharf and then in 5 years time we default and lose control to the Chinese? Mind you they know the importance of Samoas strategic location in the centre of the Pacific, its probably already on their radar.

So what China really want is commercial penetration into the Pacific, Central and South America plus strategic diplomatic presence in key locations. China could also encourage Pacific Nations to shift allegiances away from traditional Western powers. Again nothing wrong with that just dont take our lands and wharf.

Oi SoleChanges in young people are more evident today than the past.

Tamapolutoso Fonoti Salimu, a grandfather and father of 11, says young peoples attitudes towards life is different these days.

The knowledge young people inherit these days does not only bring out the good, but also the bad in them, the 79-year-old from Nofoalii told the Village Voice team yesterday.

Mr. Salimu says the influence of todays world has made them lose focus of themselves and their respect for elders.

Some youths today are just mucking around the streets and getting drunk without thinking of their families, he added.

I remember back then when I was in my youth, we use to compete with whoever gets to work in a huge plantation, but now the youths are competing with who can drink the most beer.

They are getting addicted to drugs and alcohol instead of trying to support their families.

Mr. Salimu says more Samoans are migrating overseas for better opportunities.

They are moving to overseas countries to look for jobs and for a better environment for their families.

He also commented on the changing weather patterns in Samoa nowadays.

Back then, we never hear of a tsunami or even earthquake except from the Bible, but today we are so vulnerable to these natural disasters.

Another major change is that for our plantation back then, we hardly use chemicals to make our crops grow well, but today, if you dont have the right chemicals, then its not good.

Mr. Salimu added people should prioritize whats important for their familys daily survival.

Our Prime Minister once said we struggle because of our culture.

How can a family that grieves for a deceased, spend so much on the funeral, I think thats too much.

Nothing is wrong with just serving a cup of tea during funerals.CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  China has protested an Australian minister's criticisms that Chinese aid programs in poor Pacific island countries were creating "white elephants" that threatened economic stability without delivering benefits.

Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, minister for international development and the Pacific, told The Australian newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that China was lending to Pacific nations on unfavorable terms to construct "useless buildings" and "roads to nowhere."

"You've got the Pacific full of these useless buildings which no body maintains, which are basically white elephants," she told the newspaper.

Fierravanti-Wells later said sustaining debt was a significant threat to economic stability of countries in the Pacific.

"We work cooperatively with China and we encourage China to utilize its development assistance in a productive and effective manner," she told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"We just don't want to build something for the heck of building it. We just don't want to build a road that doesn't go anywhere," she added.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang later said Fierravanti-Wells' published comments "show scant regard for the facts and are nothing but irresponsible," adding that China had made an official complaint to the Australian government.

"For a long time, on the basis of fully respecting the will of the Pacific island countries' governments and people and taking into full account their development needs, China has offered a great deal of assistance to them," Lu told reporters.

Chinese aid had "significantly fueled the economic and social development of these countries and delivered tangible benefits to the local people," assistance that has been warmly welcomed by those countries, Lu said.

"We hope that certain people in Australia should engage in self-refection instead of pointing fingers at and making irresponsible remarks about other countries," Lu added.

The diplomatic row follows a Chinese protest last month at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's announcement that Australia will ban foreign interference in its politics  either through espionage or financial donations. The move was motivated largely by Russia's alleged involvement in last year's U.S. election and China's growing influence on the global political landscape.

The Chinese foreign ministry said then that Turnbull's remarks were prejudiced against China and had poisoned the atmosphere of China-Australia relations.

Australia's opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said on Wednesday that Fierravanti-Wells' comments demonstrated the Australian government's clumsy approach to foreign policy.

China is Australia's largest trading partner, and the close bilateral relationship has affected Australia's relations with the United States, its closest defense ally.

China transferred at least $1.8 billion in aid and loans to South Pacific countries in a decade through 2016, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute international policy think tank found.

Jonathan Pryke, director of the Lowy Institute's Pacific islands program, said Fierravanti-Wells' concerns about the terms of the Chinese loans were "quite legitimate."

"One of the big problems about Chinese aid in the Pacific is that a lot of it comes in the form of loans and a lot of those loans, we don't actually know what the conditions are," Pryke said.

Pacific countries including Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa were "already experiencing significant debt stress as a result of taking out these major loans," he said.

"It does raise significant questions about: will China forgive these loans, what are the actual terms?" he added.

Fierravanti-Wells called on international development agencies including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to increase their presence in the Pacific.

"The expansion of the World Bank and ADB's loan book to the Pacific is very important because it will afford the opportunities for the banks to have visibility of the existing loan books of the countries and to assess the viability and the sustainability of repaying those loans," she said.Dear Editor,

I applaud the Prime Minister who is the Minister of Police for his decision to make redundant the couples and siblings working within the Ministry of Police.

The decision came into effect on 31st December 2017 where either of the couple or siblings has to leave the service.

My brother has been one of them and has landed a job in a non-government organization although he was very passionate about police work.

However, where is the consistency and fairness of this decision? I ask this because the husband of the Acting Assistant Commissioner Monalisa Keti is still being employed by the Ministry?

He is deployed on peacekeeping mission in Darfur Sudan and this decision has not affected him in any way because Im sure he is still receiving his salary here in Samoa along with privileges of being on mission.

Peacekeeping mission under the United Nations is an opportunity made available only for employees of the Samoa Police Service.

So why is he still in Darfur? Why hasnt either he or his wife left the Ministry?

Did the Acting Assistant Commissioner know well in advance about the decision made against couples in the Ministry?

As the Head of the Training Unit, isnt it a coincident that her husband got the nod to go ahead on mission, potentially avoiding all this? Couldnt another officer perhaps have been sent?

Police officers who have served for more than 20years have been made redundant, sadly as it is but they had no choice, why is there an oversight by the Police Commissioner on his Acting Assistant who is just beneath his nose?

O fea ea o iai le amiotonu o nei faaiuga, o ai e sii ao ai e toso?

Or is it because these people have connections higher up?

Aisea ua le laugatasia ai nei faaiuga i leoleo uma ae ua faapito manu ia Tasi?

Lualua SimoneThe family of the suspects charged in connection to the brutal murder of a 15-year-old boy in Satapuala has been ousted by the Village Council.

And while tensions rise in the village following the killing, one of the suspects homes was burnt to the ground yesterday afternoon.

The Police were called and they have launched an investigation. Arson is suspected.

In the meantime, Satapuala Village Mayor, Vaili Mimita, told the Sunday Samoan that the Village Council met on Friday after the discovery of the deceaseds body.

He said they opted to give the family an ultimatum.

They had to pay a hefty fine of $20,000 by 4 p.m. (Saturday) or the village will demolish (mu le foaga) all their personal belongings, Vaili said.

However, with God in mind, there was a change of hearts by the chiefs."

So we have opted to banish them instead of demolishing what this family owns, such as burning their homes and damaging everything on their family land.

Vaili said they will formalise their decision on Monday.

Yesterday, the Sunday Samoan arrived at Satapuala as the Chiefs and more than 30 untitled men were coming back from the area called the Poloka, where the five suspects, who have been arrested, reside.

Vaili confirmed that one of the family homes of the suspects was burned to the ground.

He assured that the Village did not have anything to do with the fire.

As you can see, we just came back from officially informing the family they will be removed from Satapuala, Vaili said.

According to Vaili, members of the family in question are allegedly behind the death the young boy.

At the same time, we are leaving the matter to the law to runs its course."

However the (Satapuala) village will not wait for the Court case to finish before we act, no that will not happen."

The Village Council has opted to remove this family from Satapuala, also we are not guessing what had happened, we know who is behind the murder of this young man."

From what I have been told, the young boy was assaulted and he was left to die and they succeeded, he died.

The Village Mayor said they have consulted the family of the deceased not to avenge the death of the young boy.

We comforted the two families, the mothers and fathers family of the young boy who died."

We have told them to pray for Gods comfort because getting revenge will not do any good for anyone."

The Village Council has also asked the deceaseds family to forgive them. Just as well for the suspects family, we have also consulted with them to keep the peace."

If anyone does not heed the humble request by the village to keep the peace and if anything happens, we will not hesitate to levy hefty penalties.

Police Superintendent and Media Spokesperson, Auapaau Filipo Logoitino, said they have not ruled out arson in yesterdays fire.

The investigation of the fire is now underway, he said.

The Police and Village Council are working to maintain peace in the village.Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi has strongly defended Chinas role in the Pacific amidst a deepening diplomatic row involving Australias International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

Last week, Ms. Fierravanti-Wells launched an unprovoked scathing attack on Chinas aid to the Pacific countries  including Samoa.

She accused the Chinese of building "roads to nowhere" and constructing "useless buildings" which will only leave Pacific countries with debts they cannot pay.

But Tuilaepa disagrees.

He launched a broadside at Ms. Fierravanti-Wells in an interview with the government-owned Savali Newspaper, released to the media last night.

I am certainly surprised with the comments made by Australias Development Minister, Tuilaepa said.

They are quite insulting to the leaders of the Pacific Island nations.

To me as Chairman of the Pacific Leaders Forum, the comments question the integrity, wisdom and intelligence of the leaders of the Pacific Islands to judge what is good for our own people.

These types of comments can damage the excellent relationships that exist between Australia and the Pacific Island countries, particularly Samoa.

Tuilaepa said he can only speak for Samoa and as the Prime Minister, he welcomes assistance from China.

In fact, China comes to our assistance on the basis of our requests, on what we know is suitable for Samoa.

The Australian Development Minister has made reference to useless buildings and roads to nowhere. The buildings funded by China e.g. the courts; T.A.T.T.E., hospital and central Government building have provided modern facilities which considerably raise the excellent working environment for our officials, raising the quality of work and productivity.

It improves the work ethic of our people and raises the beauty of our own city, which now becomes something of a modern city.

Reference has also been made by the Minister to the fact that these are very, very expensive in terms of the loans made to build them. In fact, the assistance given by China comes in both grants and concessionary loans.

Concessionary loans from China mean the grant element is about 27% compared to the grant element of 35% on loans from the soft windows of the World Bank, the I.D.A., and the A.D.B.

And this is something that we have been talking to the Chinese leaders about to increase the grant element of their loans to us  the very small Pacific Island states who are in the frontline of the fight against Climate Change, for we are the first to sink below the ocean when the sea-level rises.

Tuilaepa referred to a meeting hosted by China in Fiji a few years ago.

Several years ago, the leader of China met with the leaders of the Pacific in Fiji and he informed us, the members of the Pacific Island Forum having relationships with Beijing, of the availability of US$2 billion grants and US$2 billion soft loans for our developments.

So there is quite a lot of assistance given on the basis of grants and it is in the concessionary grant element of the loans that we have been requesting the Government of China to reconsider for some of our projects.

The full interview will be published in tomorrows edition.The Chairman of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.) Board of Directors, Pepe Fiaailetoa Fruean, has been given a directive by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi.

It is what appears to be an angry letter from the Prime Minister, Pepe has been asked to submit all pending matters to Cabinet who will have the final say on them.

A copy of the letter written in Samoan, dated 22 December 2017, has been obtained by the Sunday Samoan.

You are so busy that you have micromanaged the E.P.C, reads a translation of the Prime Ministers letter.

The government could be sued for liability worth millions of dollars as a result of projects that have been stopped by the Board.

The Prime Ministers letter does not detail what the projects are.

But he did not mince words in his instructions to the Chairman.

This is a directive now, he wrote. Bring all the matters to Cabinet who will make the final decision.

Attempts to get a comment from Pepe were not successful. An email with questions sent to him has not been responded to.

Phone calls were also not answered.

But the Sunday Samoan also obtained a follow up letter from the Minister of E.P.C, Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang, informing Pepe that he is no longer the Chairman of E.P.C. Board.

The letter is dated 4 January 2018.

I had been instructed by the Honourable Prime Minister today to inform you about a change to your role as Chairman for the E.P.C. Board, Papalii wrote.

You will now be transferred to join the Samoa Airways Board of Director as a member, as the Honourable Prime Minister and I strongly believe that your vast expertise in management, finance and economics is more relevant to our new Samoa Airways Company than E.P.C.

Contacted for a comment, E.P.C's General Manager, Tologata Tile Tuimaleali'ifano, said he wasnt aware about the change.

He said they have not received an official word from Cabinet that the Chairman of the E.P.C. Board has been replaced.

Our Chairman is overseas and we have not received any official word about that, Tologata said.

As far as I know, Pepe is still the Chairman for E.P.C."

As for the letters you had mentioned from the Minister and the Prime Minister, that is between them. We have not been officially informed about any changes.

Probed about projects Tuilaepa was referring to in his letter, Tologata declined to comment.

I cannot comment on that again until we receive an official word about what is going on.

Tologata also wondered how the letters were leaked to the Sunday Samoan.

And how did you get your hands on those letters? For now I cannot comment until we receive an official word.

Pepe wears several hats. Apart from being the Chairman of the E.P.C. Board, he is also the Chairman of Digicel Samoa, a Board member of the Samoa Submarine Cable Company among many other senior roles.The importance of unity, faith and family values were highlighted during the annual thanksgiving service for the family of Gatoaitele Savea Leuluaialii Tuivaiese II at Afega, yesterday.

Held at the Maota o Tanumafili le Tolotolo, the service was conducted by Reverend Luapene Nepo, of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, Afega.

The gathering was an opportunity for family members in Samoa and from abroad to give thanks for Gods blessings in the past and seek his divine guidance with the year ahead. More than a hundred family members attended.

Rev. Luapene reminded the family about the importance of having faith in God and compassion for others.

Family member, Fata Ueligitone Malifa, said the annual event is something the family looks forward to every year.

This family prayer service started more than a hundred years ago and it is a special service that our family members cannot afford to miss, he said.

In this thanksgiving service, we pray for the younger generations. We also pray for the children of our family who are ministering and doing Gods work here and all over the world.

Fata Ueligitone said many family members are based outside Samoa and they cannot attend.

Not all of our families are here but that does not deviate us from continuing to pray for their safety and Gods love and mercy upon them, he said.

This service also serves as a reminder to all of us about the importance of family and why we need to continue with this tradition. We continue to pray for our family members as the New Year kicks off. We know that nothing is more powerful than prayer.

The family enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship and catching up after the service.

A feast was enjoyed by all.The Oka Festival was the place to be yesterday.

And so hundreds packed onto the Home Cafe compound at Malifa where the all popular annual Oka Festival was buzzing. There was something for everyone  not just food and drinks too.

For the third time running, Rokos Restaurant team made up of Lolesio Tapusoa, Sole Faleolo and headed by Chef Aukistino, took out the most coveted title of the best oka on the island.

They impressed the Judges by showcasing their ability to deliver, yet again, on the art of making oka, scoring high marks in preparation, method and presentation.

Other teams came from the two Sheraton properties at Mulifanua and Apia, Taumeasina Island Resort, Scallinis, Return to Paradise, Sinalei and Tanoa Tusitala.

Home Cafe in Malifa was taken over by food lovers from all walks of life gathering to enjoy the summer vibes of a food festival complete with cool sounds of their favourite island reggae tunes.

The intense competition between the oka teams at the center of the Oka Festival was offset by the assorted stalls surrounding the flurry of activity taking place.

The competition resembled a cross fit work out as competitors raced to prepare the coconut milk in the old traditional way of manually scraping and squeezing the coconut gratings.

Among it all was Managing Director of Aga Reef Resort, Vaatuitui Apete Meredith, who spoke to the Sunday Samoan and being caught up in the spirit of oka fever, he described the event with his own unique play on the word of the day.

Oh its a great buzz here, I think Samoa Culinary Association has done a really great job of oka-nising this fabulous oka-eation, we hope that everyone enjoy some oka-licious food, he laughed.

Its just really good to see the passion behind it, I mean everybody was behind it and well see how we go next year, well show our hand next year.

The Festival featured a diverse display of local food and beverage businesses serving up gelato, curry, tropical fruit jams, and local fresh produce and to everyones surprise, oka burrito.

Adding to the dynamic atmosphere were some jewelry stalls and even a barber station ready to serve up some quality cuts to the festival goers.

Moemoana Schwenke, visiting from New Zealand, was enjoying all that was on offer and told the Sunday Samoan that she hoped to see more of these events in the future.

I like it; I think its good for outsiders, people from other countries to see how we do it in Samoa, especially since we are doing it from scratch."

I love oka, especially with lots of lemon, its like my favourite food. I also like that theres a lot of variety of food here."

I saw some curry back there and Im seeing a lot of hotel stalls and there are even jewelry stalls. Ill definitely come back and I think they should have more things like this.

No local food festival would be complete without a few Taula brews as Home Cafe regulars joined in the festive vibes of the event, enjoying a few beers with their food.

Gabby Bush of New Zealand was doing just that with her friends when she spoke to the Sunday Samoan.

Its such a gorgeous atmosphere here, beautiful sunny day. Home Cafe is so lovely during the day. Im just having an afternoon beer first and then Im going to try some oka after they finish competing.

First time festival goer, Jack, was impressed with the event saying.

Its my first time being here at the Oka Festival."

"Its pretty good; they need more events like this in Samoa. I think the food and wine festival was quite good, its good for the small businesses to come out. I just think they need more space for people to see whats going on."

My favourite part about today is the beers."

"Anything tastes good with beer in Samoa, its just so hot compared to drinking beer in somewhere like Dunedin. Cold beers on this hot day and second to that are the oka burrito.

Combining all the ingredients for a successful outdoor event, the Oka Festival was a hit again this year with satisfied festival goers staying well beyond the finished time of the event promising an even bigger and better festival celebrating the much loved oka.The Samoa Law Reform Commission (S.L.R.C.) has completed its Drugs Reform (Review of the Narcotics Act 1967) Final Report.

This is according to a public notice they have posted on their Facebook page.

The notice was issued after a call by Senior Lawyer, Unasa Iuni Sapolu, to legalise marijuana for medical treatment in Samoa.

In light of the recent debate on the legalisation of marijuana in Samoa, the Commission recently completed its Drugs Reform (Review of the Narcotics Act 1967) Final Report and issues on medicinal use of drugs are being considered, the notice reads.

The Commissions report is now before Cabinet for approval, says the notice.

In addition to the issue of medicinal drugs, other matters including offences and penalties for drug offending, exemptions to prohibition, enforcement, rehabilitation and treatment of addicts as well as the role of the village community are also being considered and recommendations are made accordingly, according to the notice.

Ministry of Health Director, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri told the Samoa Observer last week that the Health Sector has always entertained the idea of legalising marijuana for medical purposes in Samoa because there are cases that have been approved by the Narcotics Board.

However, there is not enough evidence indicating that marijuana can be extensively used as medicine.

That is the response of the Its just hearsay and literally superficial evidence and like every other drug, there are pros and cons, he told the Sunday Samoan.

He cautioned that Samoa should be careful when it comes to narcotics.

Medical marijuana is for relief and yet other people use it to get high, he said.

Medical marijuana from a healths perspective is any part of the marijuana plant which you use to treat health problems.

And most people use it to get relief, not just to get high and that is the difference.

In Samoa, the current law permits the legalising of a specific dosage.

For narcotics such as marijuana, heroin or morphine, we take it case by case, he said.

The law has its acceptations, especially when its a matter of life and death and we look on the grounds that it does relieve pain especially with chronic pain.

We prescribe for specialised cases, but we are not saying that we will prescribe for everyone. Now that is not allowed.

The S.L.R.C. report issued last year indicates that aside from medicinal opium, the Narcotics Act is silent on situations where an illegal drug can be requested for medicinal purposes.

The Narcotics Act only provides for the supply of opium by the C.E.O. of Ministry of Health to register persons already addicted to the quasi medicinal use of opium before the Act was passed.

The Act provides that the C.E.O. may supply a certain quantity of medicinal opium to a person on the register whom he/she thinks fit to be supplied thereof.

Accordingly, the conditions in which a person in Samoa can be prescribed opium are incredibly limited because they are only provided to persons on the register.

The S.L.R.C. report also points to other medicinal drugs there is scope under the Narcotics Regulation 1967 for an approved licensee to prescribe drugs, for example medicinal marijuana.

Preliminary consultations with M.O.H. revealed that patients have requested medicinal drugs from their doctors.

There has only been one request for medicinal marijuana in 2015.

This request involved a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She requested the supply of medicinal marijuana (cannabis oil) for pain relief.A fisherman from the village of Manono-Uta says life in Samoa these days is tough.

Ioane Tagiilima, 20 years old, says its even tougher when the sea is the only source of income and sustenance for your family.

If you think that the cost of things that we have now is unaffordable, if you dont go out and work or even search for food, you will starve.

Mr. Tagilima says his family is struggling in terms of money because no one has a formal job.

The only way we get money to support our family is from the sea because my older brother and I are fishermen, he told the Village Voice team yesterday.

Life is really tough here in our family because if we dont go fishing, then clearly we will starve and have no money.

I was out there fishing last night with my older brother because we have an uncle who will be going to New Zealand tonight (last night).

We were also able to catch a few for our Sunday feed, so now Im resting because I will be going to the plantation tonight (last night).

Mr. Tagilima also mentioned that his family does not have running water at the moment.

We dont have access to running water at the moment because we couldnt afford to pay our previous bill.

Mr. Tagilima adds their catch is not the same anymore.

Our area here in Falelatai and Aiga i le Tai are mostly dependent on the sea for food and money.

Recently we have been witnessing changes in our catch.

Back then we used to catch lots of fish, but now if you want to catch more, then you will have to spend more time out in the sea.San Diego Fintech startup LoanHero, whose online lending platform makes it easier for shoppers to get in-store loans, has been acquired by consumer credit rival LendingPoint. The price was not disclosed.

The deal announced Thursday aims to speed up Georgia-based LendingPoints expansion into point-of-sale financing  an estimated $500 billion market globally.

Founded in 2014, LoanHeros platform allows merchants to offer credit to customers as they check out  usually in the $1,000 to $25,000 range.

It targeted mid-prime borrowers with credit scores of roughly 640 to 700. The company used a $20 million credit line to fund loans, which it later sold to investors. Its software also linked to a network of credit unions, which also funded the loans.

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LoanHero said its platform speeds up the approval and funding process. It targets home improvement, pet purchases, alternative medicine and auto repair merchants. For example, if a pet store customer wanted to buy a $3,000 English bulldog, LoanHeros could provide financing at the store.

The company employs about 20 workers in San Diego and had raised $4.6 million from investors.

LendingPoint specializes in consumer financing for borrowers with a wide range of credit scores. It typically makes two- to four-year loans in the $2,000 to $26,500 range.

The 130-employee company believes its underwriting technology allows it to better assess credit risk. The four-year-old firm has raised $125 million from its founders and other investors and last fall secured a $500 million credit facility, arranged by Guggenheim Securities, to fund loans.

A LendingPoint spokeswoman said no layoffs are planned in San Diego.

LoanHeros merchant platform is the perfect complement to our consumer portfolio, said LendingPoint Chief Executive Tom Burnside in a statement. The combination of the two companies doubles our origination channels and current customer base and triples the number of consumers we can serve, with credit and payment solutions for folks with credit scores from 450 all the way to 850.

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mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

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760-529-4973Ferrets are still not legal in California, but Pat Wright of La Mesa continues to push for change.

Wright, who heads a local pro-ferret group, appealed Tuesday to the El Cajon City Council to declare the city ferret friendly, similar to what neighboring La Mesa did last year.

For more than 20 years, Wright and Legalize Ferrets, a group of California ferret owners and supporters, have been lobbying across the state to have the animal taken off the restricted species list of the California Fish and Game Commission.

They have not been successful  and have been actively seeking local support similar to La Mesas City Council, which in the fall agreed unanimously to pen a proclamation declaring La Mesa a ferret-friendly city.

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The animals are legal in 48 states. Hawaii has also banned them because of concerns about the animals being potential carriers of rabies.

The animals are restricted by some individual cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Ferret ownership can carry up to a six-month jail term and a $1,000 fine in California. Wright said that as far as he knows, No one has been fined or jailed for about five years.

Mayor Bill Wells did not promise to follow La Mesas lead, but said that he and the members of El Cajons City Council would look over information Wright shared about ferrets.

I have nothing against ferrets, Wells told Wright and Anita Higuera, another speaker who touched on the benefits of legalizing ferret ownership.

He agreed to meet with Wright to talk more about the issue, but later noted that he wanted to discuss the matter with City Manager Doug Williford and the city attorneys office.

Wright explained briefly about the ferrets plight in California and misinformation surrounding the animals. He also acknowledged that the legalization of ferrets in California is considered a joke issue by most legislators.

Wright has expressed interest in bringing the issue up for local friendly approval in Encinitas and further north in Culver City.

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El Cajon, unlike Encinitas, is very fertile ground for ferret legalization, Wright said. There is at first a little incredulity as Here come the crazy ferret people, but the request and the reason behind it make a lot of sense. A proclamation from the city of El Cajon gives us credibility.

Legislators dont take us seriously. This would help a lot and we like being respectfully listened to.

Ferrets are members of the mustela family, which starting in 1933 in California were deemed wild and prohibited to be kept as pets.

The Fish and Game Commission maintains that animals like ferrets pose a threat to native wildlife, the states agricultural interests, and public health and safety.

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The department permits ferrets, but only under special circumstances, such as medical research or to take confiscated or rescued ferrets out of California.

Legalize Ferrets started a ballot initiative in 2015 with a goal of 92,000 signature but didnt collect enough to move it forward. They have been pushing for regulation changes in the state since 1995.

Ferrets are the only domestic animal regulated by Fish and Game, and Wright believes the issue should instead belong under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture.

Wright said no actual numbers are kept on how many ferrets are in California homes, but he said he is certain that the state has more ferrets than any other state. He said that nearly one-quarter of the nations ferret supplies are sold to people in California.

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Wright said that the moniker of a city being ferret friendly is only symbolic but hugely so.

We need legislators to take us seriously and this helps, he said.

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karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.comLess than a week before Escondido is scheduled to transfer management of its public library to a private company, a city 140 miles to the north is doing the opposite by opting to end its contract with the same Maryland-based firm.

Meanwhile, a request for a temporary restraining order to block the companys contract from beginning next week was denied Thursday by a Vista Superior Court judge.

Santa Clarita Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez said that city of 225,000 people went with Library Systems & Services LLC in 2011 when it switched from the Los Angeles County library system to a city one.

For the first four years of our contract, we were happy with the progress we were making, Hernandez said. After that, we began to see more issues.

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He said all 17 full-time librarian positions in the Santa Clarita library system have turned over since the contract went into effect and just a few months ago five positions were vacant, including two of the three branch manager spots.

He said all the librarians, except one who retired, left for mostly lateral positions in other cities for better pay and benefits.

He also said in the past several years the number of patrons served at the Santa Clarita branches has dropped dramatically and that LS&S management has been slow to respond to city complaints.

In this last year, morale has gotten so bad that it became a downward spiral, he said. There have been a lot vacancies and staffing shortages.

Calls to LS&S Chief Operating Officer Todd Frager were not returned.

The Santa Clarita City Council voted unanimously not to renew the contract with the company effective this summer.

Hernandez said Escondido never contacted Santa Clarita for a reference.

Interestingly, however, on Escondidos website, one of about a dozen reference letters endorsing LS&S was written last August by the Santa Clarita City Librarian Matthew Hortt, who is an employee of the private company.

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Hortt praises LS&S, calling the company innovative and said he is proud to work for them.

Hernandez said the reference letter was not cleared through Santa Clarita City Hall and he knew nothing about it until recently.

Escondido City Manager Jeff Epp said the reference letters that appear on the website were received unsolicited by the city. He said informal inquiries of a number of communities serviced by LS&S were made by staff members, but the city did not actively seek out references. Many of the letters listed on the Escondido website were written by LS&S employees.

Thousands of signatures were gathered last year in Escondido from residents opposed to the library outsourcing plans, but the City Council voted 4-1 to move forward anyway, saying it believed services would be enhanced by the company and that the city can save $400,000 a year or more by decreasing city staff and their benefits, most importantly pension benefits.

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Opponents repeatedly brought up at public meetings how various systems run by LS&S around the country were not happy with the services, but the city maintained they had received almost unanimous good references from other communities.

In Santa Clarita, they estimate ending the LS&S contract will save the city about $400,000, mainly because new city employees would be hired under new rules that diminish the citys pension liability.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, a Vista Superior Court judge denied a last-minute request for a temporary restraining order that would have barred the city from enacting the contract, which goes into effect on Tuesday.

If it had been granted, the order would have delayed implementation of the contract with LS&S while a lawsuit filed in October was fully litigated that claims the council exceeded its authority by eliminating the city department.

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The lawsuit cites a part of the states education code that indicates it is up to a Library Board of Trustees, not a City Council, to make such decisions. The Escondido library trustees unanimously agreed to recommend to the council that they not outsource library management.

The city has maintained the code is being misinterpreted and misapplied and they remain confident the lawsuit will eventually be dismissed.

In his ruling Thursday, Judge Earl H. Mass said based on what he has been presented so far, it does not appear the lawsuit will be successful. He also said a restraining order would affect not only the city but numerous people who have made employment plans and decisions, as well as LS&S, none of which are parties to the legal action.

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jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjonesHeaven Dawit stepped alone to a microphone, stared out toward the far reaches of the San Diego Civic Theatre, and  for one long moment  stood silent.

If Heaven seemed temporarily in peril of forgetting her voice, her fellow high-schoolers were more than ready to lift her up with theirs.

As one, the 2,800 students and teachers in the packed house raised a roof-rattling, soul-affirming roar that carried the 16-year-old Preuss School junior straight into a recital Thursday of her original poem about the American Revolution-era hero Thomas Paine.

It was just awing, Heaven said after her performance. I couldnt see anybody, but I could (feel) everybodys energy up there.

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The Civic is hosting plenty of fired-up audiences just now, as the touring production of the musical Hamilton  one of the most fervently followed works ever to come out of Broadway  continues its sold-out run.

And Heavens performance was closely connected to the show: It was part of EduHAM, a national program that uses the rap-inflected musical about the war hero and founding father Alexander Hamilton to help teach advanced-placement American history.

1 / 17 About 2, 800 high school students studying American history attended EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at The San Diego Civic Theatre for a day long program which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members of the play. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 17 Jodi Nelson, a University City High School 11th grader cheered during student performances, part of EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history. The program also included a special performance of the hit play, Hamilton at the San Diego Civic Theatre. In addition to seeing the play, and student performances, the students listened to cast members as they answered submitted questions before the play began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 17 Mira Mesa High School 11th graders, Alan Ta, Hanson Truing, and Darren Redic, have fun in front of the Hamilton poster on the side of the San Diego Civic Theatre. They were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members of the play. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 17 About 2, 800 high school students studying American history attended EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at The San Diego Civic Theatre for a day long program which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 17 San Ysidro High School students, Denita Wiggins, Selena Ramirez, Joanna Castillo, Fernannda Zendejas, and Ashley Ramirez, pose in front of the Hamilton poster on the side of the San Diego Civic Theatre. They were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 17 Monarch School 12th graders, Jasmine Walker, left, Tatyana Johnson, Brianna Rucobo, hidden from view, and Sophia Johnson, right, take a selfie photo in front of the San Diego Civic Theatre where they were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 17 High school students cheered during student performances, part of EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history. The program also included a special performance of the hit play, Hamilton at the San Diego Civic Theatre. In addition to seeing the play, and student performances, the students listened to cast members as they answered submitted questions before the play began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 17 Valeria Vargas, a student at High Tech High School in Chula Vista takes a photo of her ticket to the hit play, Hamilton, at the San Diego Civic Theatre. She and other students were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 17 About 2, 800 high school students studying American history attended EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at The San Diego Civic Theatre for a day long program which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members of the play. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 17 High school students performing as part part of EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history stand on the stage at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The program also included a special performance of the hit play, Hamilton and students listened to cast members as they answered submitted questions before the play began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 17 Lincoln High School student Carlos Garcia holds a school sign so other Lincoln students can find each other in front of the San Diego Civic Theatre before going into the theatre for a special performance of the hit play, Hamilton, part of EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history, which included the play, student performances, and a discussion with cast members of the play. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 17 Actor Rory OMalley, who plays King George in the hit play, Hamilton was the master of ceremonies for the students attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the San Diego Civic Theatre for high school students studying American history which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members of the play. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 17 Actress Afra Hines, center, part of the ensemble in the play Hamilton, along with other cast members answers student questions as part of EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history before a special showing of the hit play, at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 17 Patrick Henry High School students, Jonathan Marshall, Kayla Gunter, and Tiffany Pham, one of the performances during EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history during a special showing of the hit play, Hamilton at the San Diego Civic Theatre. In addition to the student performances and seeing the play, the students listened to cast members as they answered submitted questions before the play began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 15 / 17 Hoover High School students, Bernard Drake, left, and Alexis Harnage, right, one of the performances during EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program for high school students studying American history during a special showing of the hit play, Hamilton at the San Diego Civic Theatre. In addition to the student performances and seeing the play, the students listened to cast members as they answered submitted questions before the play began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 16 / 17 El Cajon Valley High School students pose for a photo in front of the San Diego Civic Theatre where they were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history which included a special performance of the hit play, student performances and a discussion with cast members. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 17 / 17 Valeria Vargas, a student at High Tech High School in Chula Vista takes a photo of her ticket to the hit play, Hamilton, at the San Diego Civic Theatre. She and other students were attending EduHAM, the Hamilton Education Program at the theatre for high school students studying American history. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Hoover High School students Bernard Drake (left) and Alexis Harnage take the Civic Theatre stage to perform in EduHAM. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune )

On Tuesday, buses from 46 high schools in San Diego County and the Inland Empire converged on the Civic for the culmination of the multiweek program: Performances of 15 student-created works inspired by the themes and people of Hamilton, followed by a Q&A with members of the shows cast.

And then, a coveted chance to see the musical itself  for free, no less  in a special matinee performance.

EduHAM, a project of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History along with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and producer Jeffrey Seller, was funded locally by Qualcomm, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Toys R Us Childrens Fund.

The program focuses on schools that have a higher proportion of students from low-income families, and the participating students broad range of ethnicities mirrored the multiracial makeup of the shows cast.

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Before the student performances, emcee and Hamilton cast member Rory OMalley (who plays King George III) told the audience, Youve already made history today, revealing that San Diegos EduHAM was the biggest-ever in terms of attendance.

The students impressive original works took cues from Hamilton and mixed history with modern forms: Its not every day one hears a Connecticut Compromise Rap, as presented by a trio from Patrick Henry High.

The crowd reacts after a student performance. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune )

Hip-hop was a dominant force: Alexis Harnage and Bernard Drake of Hoover High rapped nimbly about taxation, George Washington and more, while Klaire Revillo of Morse High meditated on discrimination in her spoken-word piece about Crispus Attucks, a mixed-race American often called the first casualty of the revolution.

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Mackenzie Batliner of Point Loma High performed a lyrical, beautifully sung solo piece for voice and guitar about Hamilton and his wife, Eliza.

Ive been a fan of the musical forever, the Berklee College of Music-bound senior said later of Hamilton, which shed never had a chance to catch live before. Definitely, to see it was amazing.

That sentiment was shared by Gabriel Hernandez, part of a contingent from the MAAC Community Charter School in Chula Vista.

Im not going to lie, I had never seen a play, and I didnt have that many high expectations for it, Gabriel said. And I was really amazed by it.

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He was particularly moved by the story of the Caribbean immigrant Hamiltons rise from poverty to greatness through his writing and sheer force of will.

It really shows that no matter where you come from, said Gabriel, you can actually make it big in this world.

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jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebertPhilip Pumerantz, a former high school teacher who helped resurrect the once-maligned practice of osteopathic medicine in California by founding whats now a bustling medical school, has died at his home in Upland.

Pumerantz, who was one of the longest-serving university presidents in the country when he retired in 2015, died Dec. 26. He was 85.

Under his guidance, whats now Western University of Health Sciences grew from a school of 36 would-be osteopaths studying in the bowels of a shuttered J.C. Penney store in downtown Pomona to a campus of 3,900 students.

The university now sprawls over a 25-acre campus in the heart of Pomona and consists of nine colleges, including Southern Californias only college of veterinary medicine. The university has a second campus in Oregon.

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Osteopathy had been shoved to the margins by traditional medical practitioners when Pumerantz was recruited to raise the profile of humanistic medicine by opening a school for osteopaths.

Condemned to certain extinction when California banned further licensing of osteopathic physicians in 1962, the practice had been given new life when the state Supreme Court overturned the ban.

The Pomona university, known as the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific when founded by Pumerantz in 1977, supplied much of the energy  and training  for osteopathy to become a credible alternative to traditional medicine.

As fully licensed physicians, osteopaths must meet the same licensing standards of all doctors and are trained to prescribe drugs and perform surgery just like traditional doctors. Many bring a humanistic approach to medicine by considering the bodys muscular and skeletal structure in diagnosing and treating an illness or disease.

Philip Pumerantz greets an incoming student in the inaugural class at the Western University of Health Sciences campus in Oregon. (Jeff Malet / Western University of Health Sciences )

As founder of Western University, it was Pumerantzs mission to achieve a peaceful working relationship between osteopathy and traditional medicine.

Born Nov. 3, 1932 in New London, Conn., Pumerantz had to grow up quickly when his father died young. He worked odd jobs to help the family, served overseas with the U.S. Army during the Korean War and ultimately became the first in his family to attend college.

After earning a degree in history from the University of Connecticut, Pumerantz became a teacher and later a high school principal. Chipping away at his education as he worked, he went on to earn a masters degree and doctorate from the University of Connecticut in education administration.

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Pumerantz was well into a career as an education consultant when he was named director of education for the American Osteopathic Assn. in Chicago. And when a group of osteopathic physicians in California went looking for someone to help establish the states first osteopathic medical school after the overturned ban, he seemed like a natural fit.

But when he arrived in Pomona and took a look at what would be the future home of the school, he winced.

The Pomona Mall was a tired-out shopping center. Stores had fled or boarded their windows. The few remaining retailers were just hanging on. If there was a future here, it was tough to immediately spot.

This shopping center, this mallthere was nobody there, he told the universitys magazine in an interview shortly before his retirement. There were tumbleweeds going down the center of the street.

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Nestling into the old J.C. Penney, Pumerantz and others carved out space for classrooms, offices and an anatomy lab, just enough to serve the first wave of students.

The nonprofit school grew rapidly, adding programs for nursing, dentistry and biomedical sciences. In keeping with the core principles of osteopathic medicine, future doctors were offered courses such as Literature in Medicine, in which students read Tolstoy, Kafka and Camus to heighten their empathy.

Patients are people with feelings, dreams and fears, Pumerantz told The Times in a 1987 interview. It is essential that their doctors have a sensitivity to their social and psychological needs.

In 2003, Western University and Chapman University in Orange County considered a merger. The idea of combining an undergraduate liberal arts college that could steer students to a nationally accredited health sciences university initially seemed attractive to Pumerantz and his counterpart at Chapman, James Doti. But the proposal was halted when both schools decided to remain independent.

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During his career, Pumerantz won numerous awards, wrote textbooks and made a point of mingling with students on campus.

He is survived by his wife, Harriett; their three children, Andrew, Beth and Richard; five grandchildren, Zachary, Alexander, Clarice, Shayna and Zoe; and a brother, Howard.

steve.marble@latimes.com

@StephenMarbleA company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The decision to award contracts to Windham Professionals and Performant Financial Corp.  a company DeVos invested in before becoming secretary  arrives a month after a federal judge ordered the department to complete its selection of a loan collector to put an end to a messy court battle. Windham and Performant beat out nearly 40 other bidders for contracts valued at up to $400 million, but their win may be short-lived if the losing companies fight the decision.

The selection of only two [companies] opens the door to protests from the unsuccessful bidders, Michael Tarkan, senior research analyst at Compass Point, wrote in a research note on Performant. Based on prior contract awards, we would not be surprised to see protests, lawsuits and appeals which could all delay the start date for the new contract.

Historically, the department has used as many as 17 companies to recoup past-due student loans. Earlier attempts to whittle down the number of firms have been met with resistance. Companies that lost out on a 2016 debt-collection contract have been embroiled in a lawsuit that has prevented the federal government from assigning new accounts.

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The department selected seven companies to manage the portfolio two years ago, sparking protests at the Government Accountability Office, which faulted the agency with mismanaging some of the bids. A few firms filed complaints with the federal claims court, leading authorities to put a hold on all new assignments. The Education Department had estimated that the order cost taxpayers $640,000 in collections in one month.

The newly awarded contracts are supposed to resolve the litigation, but the selection of Performant could raise eyebrows.

Performant is linked to LMF WF Portfolio, a limited liability company that once counted DeVos as an investor. LMF was one of several firms involved in providing Performant with a $147 million loan in 2012, according to regulatory filings. DeVos was required to divest from LMF within 90 days of her confirmation as secretary, but at the time of her appointment, Democrats said they were uneasy about the influence she could still wield over companies with which she has had a relationship.

Education Department spokesman Nathan Bailey said Thursday that DeVos had no knowledge, let alone involvement, in the new debt-collection contract. Richard Zubek, who heads investor relations at Performant, said in an email that the company has never had any direct or indirect contact with Secretary DeVos or anyone related to Mrs. DeVos.

Performant was among the companies that protested to the GAO about the Education Departments 2016 contract decision. In its response to the protests, the GAO outlined the Education Departments evaluation of the dozens of companies that submitted bids at the time. Windhams management was rated satisfactory and its past performance deemed exceptional, earning the company a spot among the seven firms selected then. Performants management was rated marginal, while its past performance as a contractor was deemed satisfactory.

It simply does not make sense that the agency would choose to work with lower-rated [companies] with marginal ratings that do not have an exceptional past performance record, said Todd Canni, an attorney for Continental Service Group, one of the bidders. While we continue to await more facts, we are deeply troubled by the optics and appearance issues associated with the agencys award decisions.

Canni said his client has asked the Education Department for a briefing to explain how the company was evaluated. Continental Service Group is weighing its options, including protesting the contract award with the GAO or taking up the matter with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

It is beyond dispute that the [Education Departments] decisions have, at a minimum, created the appearance of a conflict of interest, Canni said. Given the fact that Performant was not a highly rated [company] and, in fact, was rated fairly low . . . the agency will be under intense scrutiny and will need to explain how suddenly these ratings changed so significantly to allow Performant to leap frog over so many other qualified [companies].

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In awarding the contract Thursday, the Education Department said in court filings that Performant and Windhams proposals were the most advantageous to the government.A dreamer who had two classes left to finish his degree at UC San Diego was released from immigration detention on Friday after spending about five nights in custody.

Orr Yakobi, 22, who had temporary protection from deportation under an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was arrested at the border after his roommate made a wrong turn and accidentally drove the pair into Mexico. DACA does not give recipients permission to leave the U.S.

Its unbelievable, said Jacob Sapochnick, Yakobis attorney. I think it was a combination of everything, the political pressure, the logical argument, just trying to get him to finish his school.

Sapochnick went to visit his client Friday morning at Otay Mesa Detention Center and was pleasantly surprised when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer told him that Yakobi would be released that day.

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Generally detainees are released in the evening, but ICE officers let Yakobi walk out with Sapochnick.

Hes doing OK, Sapochnick said. Hes a little bit stressed. Hes resting right now.

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for ICE, confirmed Yakobis release and that his DACA status remains valid.

Yakobi came to the U.S. from Israel on a visa with his family when he was about five. He grew up in the Los Angeles area, and he became an unauthorized immigrant after his visa expired.

A computer science major, Yakobi was already working as a freelancer in programming and had a side business as a DJ that he started in high school with a friend.

Yakobis roommate Ryan Hakim, who accidentally turned onto Interstate 805 going south after the two went shopping at Las Americas Premium Outlets, organized a petition that gathered more than 7,000 signatures calling for Yakobis release.

The chancellor for UC San Diego and several politicians, from local leaders to members of Congress, spoke out about Yakobis detention.

Congress has been debating DACA recipients future since President Donald Trump ended the program in September. Yakobis DACA permit expires in April, according to his attorney, but a recent court decision temporarily reinstating the program may allow him to renew it for two more years.

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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

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kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on TwitterRep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced this week that he wont seek re-election to his congressional seat. Heres a look back at his life and career:

1953: Darrell Edward Issa was born Nov. 1 in Cleveland, Ohio, as the second of six children in a Lebanese-American family. He grew up in the upper middle class Cleveland Heights suburb.

1970: At age 17 he left school and enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he got his start in electronics by learning how to disarm bombs. While there, he earned a general equivalency degree.

1972: After his father suffered a heart attack, Issa obtained a discharge and returned to Cleveland. That year Issa and his brother were arrested for alleged car theft  charges which were later dismissed. I was exonerated of all wrongdoing, Issa told the Los Angeles Times.

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1976: Issa attended Kent State University Stark in North Canton, Ohio, and Siena Heights College, a small school in Adrian, Michigan, on an ROTC scholarship, earning a bachelors degree in business administration in 1976. He returned to active Army service from 1976 to 1980.

1980: According to later reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, Issa was prosecuted with his brother in San Jose in 1980 for allegedly faking the theft of Issas Mercedes when he had sold it to a car dealer. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence. The same year, he invested in a struggling Cleveland electronics business and acquired it when the owner failed to repay a loan. Within a decade he transformed the company to produce the popular Viper automobile anti-theft device, with Issas voice as the warning to would-be thieves to stand back.

1982: According to later reporting by the Los Angeles Times, Issa benefited from a suspicious fire in 1982 at his Ohio factory. Issa denied the report.

1985: He and his wife, Kathy, moved to San Diegos North County. By 1990, Issas Directed Electronics Inc. was the nations largest manufacturer of after-market auto alarms.

1996: Issa headed the volunteer committee of the Republican National Convention in San Diego and served as co-chairman of the Proposition 209 campaign to end affirmative action.

1998: Ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, spending $9 million of his own money and losing in the GOP primary. On April 7, Issa characterized President Clinton as a slut during a lunch appearance at a Sacramento business group. He said the nation should spend less time worrying about the Clinton sex scandal and more time on important business. The comment drew headlines.

1999: On Dec. 22, Issa sold the majority of his company to Trivest Inc., a Miami-based holding company, in order to concentrate on a congressional bid.

2000: Elected Nov. 7 to 48th Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Ron Packard, R-Carlsbad.

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2001: As a freshman in Congress, Issa gained a reputation for ambitious ideas and outspoken views about the onerous bureaucracy on Capitol Hill. In October, Issa said he was a victim of ethnic profiling when he was barred from an Air France flight to Paris. He sought an apology from Air France; the airline said it could not let him board because he was late. On Dec. 12, the leader of the Jewish Defense League and an associate were charged with plotting to blow up Issas district office in San Clemente and a Los Angeles-area mosque.

2002: As a member of the House immigration subcommittee, Issa proposed closing the Border Patrols inland checkpoints on Interstates 5 and 15, drawing protests from Immigration-control activists. The Bush administration and lawmakers eventually agreed to reduce checkpoint hours amid complaints the 24-hour operations tied up traffic and yielded few arrests. On Nov. 5, Issa won re-election in the newly redrawn 49th Congressional District with 77 percent of the vote.

2003: Issa financed the successful petition drive to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. In May Issa said he would run as replacement candidate in the gubernatorial recall election. A week later, he donated $445,000 to an anti-Davis campaign. Issa eventually pumped $1.7 million of his own money to the recall effort. On Aug.7, one day after Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would run for governor of California, Issa held a tearful press conference to say he would not be a candidate in the Oct. 7 recall election.

2007: Issa, who holds 37 patents related to the electronics industry, co-sponsored a patent reform measure with Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles. The bill passed the House and died in the Senate. He was also a co-sponsor of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, passed in 2011.

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2009: After the 2008 election, Issa was named ranking Republican member for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Vista Republican became a fixture on the cable news channels as one of Congress most visible and vocal critics of Obama administration policies.

2011: Issa became nationally known for his dogged pursuit of perceived problems in the Obama administration after taking over as House oversight committee chairman. He took the administration to task over green energy aid for Solyndra, the bankrupt Fremont solar-panel manufacturer, the Benghazi attacks, IRS treatment of conservative groups, and the Fast and Furious failed gun sting. He would issue more than 100 subpoenas in four years, calling Obama one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.

2013: On May 22, Lois Lerner, a key IRS manager, invoked her right to not testify about the agencys targeting of conservative groups during her scheduled appearance before the House oversight committee. On May 28, Issa subpoenaed documents from 10 current and former State Department officials to find out what they knew about the fatal terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.

2014: Issa cut off the microphone of ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland during a tense hearing on the IRS matter, drawing protests from the Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Issa is a disgrace and should not be allowed to continue in a leadership role, wrote Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio.

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2016: In May, Issa endorsed Donald Trump for president and campaigned with him during a campaign rally at the San Diego Convention Center on May 27, 2016. On Nov. 8, Issa won a ninth term by roughly 1,600 votes, the closest House race in the nation. The margin immediately made him a target for Democrats hoping to win seats in Congress.

2017: On Feb. 21, after weeks of criticism from constituents who held protests outside his Vista office each Tuesday accusing him of failing to hear their concerns and requesting a face-to-face meeting, Rep. Issa spent nearly 90 minutes answering questions. On May 30, Issa stepped out on the roof of his Vista office building to snap a few photos of hundreds of people protesting his stance on health care reform and other issues. The rooftop excursion was captured in a photo that soon ricocheted around Twitter.

2018: Issa announced on Wednesday that he would not seek re-election to his congressional seat. Because his statement said he would not seek re-election in the 49th District specifically, speculation immediately began that he might seek election in a district thats more solidly Republican.With more than 2 billion users, Facebook for years gave media outlets a shot at a vast audience that could help offset declining circulations.

But after a year in which the spread of fake news, Russian interference and divisive politics sullied Facebooks reputation and user experience, efforts to deliver media content over the platform may have felt like more trouble than they were worth.

On Thursday, Facebook said it would change its News Feed algorithm to prioritize posts from friends and family that spark the most interaction over posts from brands and publishers.

The company said the move was aimed at improving users well-being, even at the cost of diminished advertising revenue. The change will also help distance the company from the pitfalls of politically charged content that has saddled the platform since the 2016 presidential campaign.

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In a post Thursday, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the changes were spurred by research that showed people had a more positive response to social media when interacting with people they cared about.

We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long term measures of happiness and health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos  even if theyre entertaining or informative  may not be as good, Zuckerberg said.

The change will benefit Facebooks long-term prospects, analysts say, but it will almost immediately harm news publishers that increasingly turned to the social network for distribution.

What it means for publishers

With circulations dwindling, publishers flocked to Facebook in recent years as an imperfect alternative to reach a wider audience that had grown more reliant than ever on the social network to remain informed.

Publishers often did this begrudgingly, knowing that they were delivering free content to Facebook in hopes visitors would click it, bringing traffic to their own websites.

Now with Facebook returning to its roots by prioritizing the baby pictures and rants of relatives so common before, publishers will have an even harder time reaching audiences.

These businesses are hugely vulnerable to the whims of a third party, and thats not a position any business wants to find itself in, said Richard Broughton, research director of research firm Ampere Analysis.

There are various reports that some 25% of news publication referrals come from Facebook, a sign that publishers need Facebook more than Facebook needs publishers. And while publishers decisions seem to have little effect on the social network and its ability to generate billions in revenue, Facebook has the ability to make or break certain publications.

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Digital media publishers have been burned before by changes to Facebooks newsfeed algorithm. In late 2014, the social network tweaked its algorithm to focus on high-quality content. Shortly after the change, viral news site Upworthy, best known for its You wont believe what happened next headlines that spread like wildfire on Facebook, saw its traffic plummet from 90 million in November to 48 million the following January  a drop of 46% in two months.

To safeguard against this kind of volatility, an increasing number of publishers have tried to wean themselves off advertising dollars by building branded content arms or a strong base of paid subscribers. Few have been successful, though, and the subscription model is unlikely to work for everyone.

Major news organizations and specialized publications have the ability to court loyal customers. Some medium-sized companies might be able to band together, like some broadcasters in Europe have, to collectively sell advertising. But it will be a challenge for anyone going at it on their own, analysts say.

Its the sites in the middle theyre the ones that are really stuck, Broughton said.

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What it means for Facebook

Facebooks advertising revenue will take a hit from the changes to the News Feed, but analysts say it will help de-clutter the platform and give users a more positive experience. The companys shares fell 4.4% Friday to $179.37.

We believe these changes will be beneficial to Facebook in the medium and long term, said Mark Mahaney, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets. In our view, making the feed more relevant should boost user and engagement growth over time. Facebook is making the service more social and less media, and thats likely a positive for the vast majority of users.

Mahaney said a recent survey his investment bank conducted showed 11% of Facebook users were extremely satisfied with the platform, down from 15% a year ago.

De-emphasizing news could also allow Facebook to withdraw from the controversies that saddled the company the past year  which included widespread criticism that the company did not do enough to mitigate hoaxes, propaganda and content planted by Russian operatives aimed at dividing the American public.

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Change was needed before Facebook becomes irrevocably associated with things like fake news, experts said (though making it even harder for news organizations to reach audiences wont do anything to amend charges Facebook is contributing to the decline of journalism).

By prioritizing posts from friends and family people are more inclined to respond to, Facebook believes it can deliver a more meaningful experience to its users.

At its best, Facebook has always been about personal connections. By focusing on bringing people closer together  whether its with family and friends, or around important moments in the world  we can help make sure that Facebook is time well spent, Zuckerberg said.

The changes doesnt mean news articles will disappear from Facebook. But in order for them to be seen in News Feeds, they have to be posted by friends and family and represent content Facebooks algorithm believes a user will engage with.

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And depending on a persons network of friends and family, that potentially ensures users remain in ideological silos  one of the chief criticisms about Facebooks social impact in recent years.

I wish that Facebook would not just connect us with the people we know and agree with  our social filter bubbles  but also would devote effort to making strangers less strange, to robbing the demagogues and hate mongers of their favorite weapon: the Other, Jeff Jarvis, a professor at City University of New Yorks Graduate School of Journalism, wrote in a blog post.

david.pierson@latimes.com

@dhpiersonU.S. Border Patrol agents patrolling in Boulevard this week discovered one of three people they had arrested was wanted for kidnapping in Mexico.

On Tuesday, agents on patrol near the border arrested three individuals on suspicion of illegal entry into the United States and transported them to a nearby station for processing.

A check of records at the station revealed that one of the men had an outstanding warrant originating from Mexico and was a fugitive wanted for aggravated kidnapping.

U.S. Border Patrol, in coordination with the Mexican Attorney General, San Diego Attache Office, turned over the man to Mexican authorities.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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760-529-4939Embattled U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Hoekstra apologized Friday for making unsubstantiated anti-Muslim claims at a conference in 2015, comments that have clouded his early days in his post after reporters confronted him about them.

Hoekstra, a former Republican congressman from Michigan and recent political appointee, made the apology during an interview Friday with De Telegraaf, one of the largest Dutch newspapers, at the end of a particularly rough week for the new ambassador.

Looking back, I am shocked I said that, he told the newspaper Friday. It was a wrong statement. It was wrong.

Hoekstra made the remarks in question in 2015 during a conference on terrorism, talking about the supposed chaos brought to Europe by immigrants from Islamic countries and repeating a baseless nostrum about so-called no-go zones that is popular in right-wing media.

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Chaos in the Netherlands. There are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned, Hoekstra said at the time. With the influx of the Islamic community - and yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands. All right? There are no-go zones in France.

Hoekstra said that he couldnt recall what his remark was based on.

I mixed up countries. I was wrong. I cant recall how that could happen. I know: I was wrong, he said.

It wasnt immediately clear whether Hoekstras apology extended to the other instances where he had repeated the no-go zone theory during appearances in conservative media, or other baseless remarks he had made about Muslims, such as speculating that 10 to 15 percent of the Muslims in the world - potentially hundreds of millions of people - were radical Islamist militants.

The State Department distanced itself from Hoekstras remarks Thursday during a briefing in Washington but had declined to call them inaccurate.

The ambassador made mistakes in 2015, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Steve Goldstein told reporters. Those comments were not the position of the State Department, and you will never hear those words from this podium.

The remarks have clouded Hoekstras early days in the Netherlands, bringing criticism and controversy to the otherwise routine ritual of installing a new ambassador in a closely allied country. The Dutch media in particular has homed in on them, repeatedly questioning Hoekstra to provide the names of the politicians he said were being burned in their country, or retract the statements.

Before Hoekstras arrival in The Hague in January, he told a Dutch journalist who questioned him that he had never made the statements and that they were fake news. He later apologized. And during his first news conference with Dutch media at his new residence on Wednesday, his refusal to answer basic questions about the remarks - and the Dutch press corps tenaciousness as they continued asking about it - drew a strong reaction in the United States.

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This is the Netherlands - you have to answer questions, one reporter said during the tense meeting.

The State Department announced the interview with De Telegraaf on Thursday after it, too, faced questions about Hoekstras comments.

Hoekstra talked to the newspaper about his performance during the news conference, saying he felt like he had already apologized.

How many times do I have to say sorry? he said. The newspaper will publish the full interview Saturday, it said.

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Goldstein, also a political appointee of President Donald Trump, had said during a Washington briefing that it was his belief that the ambassador should answer reporters questions in the future.

I have advised, as Ive advised most people, that when reporters are in front of you, just as you are in front of me, that its always good to answer questions, he said.The San Diego County Sheriffs Department incurred nearly $900,000 of added costs to provide patrols and security during the month-long construction of eight border wall prototypes by the federal government on Otay Mesa, records show.

Those costs pushed the total local law enforcement extra expenses  primarily overtime and supplies  to more than $1 million for the project.

Most of the expense for the sheriffs department came in overtime pay for deputies. The county paid out $764,278 in overtime during the month  more than it paid deputies in the regular wages, which amounted to $715,170.

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The overtime costs were not the only expenses for the county, which patrolled the area between Sept. 26 and Oct. 26 near where the prototype walls were constructed. Other costs were:

$118,092.66 for miles of chain link fencing, k-rail barriers and signs installed before the prototype building began. The fencing wrapped around large parcels of private property on Otay Mesa. The county said it was needed to protect environmentally sensitive habitats in the event that large-scale protests against the project materialized.

$11,101 for services and supplies.

$4,470 for an environmental consultant and permits.

Adding it all up, the county paid out $897,942.22 in overtime, supplies, consultant and permit costs for the project. With the $715,000 in regular wages that would have been paid anyway, the total comes to $1.6 million.

The costs to the county, provided under a California Public Records Act request by The San Diego Union-Tribune, far exceed the costs to the City of San Diego, which also had police patrolling the streets near the building site off Enrico Fermi Drive.

The city paid out $277,898 in overtime, services and supplies. It paid out another $548,446 in regular salaries and fringe benefits to officers scheduled to be on duty anyway and re-assigned to the border project. That brought the citys total expenses to $826,345.

Adding the overtime, supplies and other non-salary costs for the two agencies together shows that the city and county spent $1,175,840 in security costs for the border wall project.

The city said it is unlikely it will be reimbursed for those costs, though it is exploring options. A spokeswoman for the county could not say whether the county would be reimbursed.

The prototypes were constructed on a small plot of federal land on Otay Mesa, a stones throw from the border with Mexico. As the first tangible examples of President Donald Trumps centerpiece promise to construct a big, beautiful wall on the southwest border, the project was the subject of national and international interest.

In the weeks before the work began, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo to local law enforcement, warning of the possibility of large-scale protests that could turn violent and might resemble the weeks-long protest over the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

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The county took that to heart and developed security plans near the site, said Alex Bell, the county spokeswoman.

In the current environment of social media driven events and pop-up demonstrations, the Sheriffs Department evaluated the need to staff law enforcement in sufficient numbers during the initial phases of the border wall prototype construction, Bell said in an email that accompanied release of the data.

During the 30 days of construction there were no protests or demonstrations, and no one was arrested for protesting at or near the site.The only regular visitors were local, national and international media crews.

When work began, both the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Sheriffs Department were out in force. Dozens of patrol vehicles circled the streets near the access point to the building site. In addition Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents traversed the area in SUVs. Streets were blocked off and designated no parking zones for a month.

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Local activists opposed to the wall and Trumps immigration crackdown dismissed the security concerns. In interviews with the Union-Tribune leaders said they were not aware of any protests because activists did not want to draw more attention to what they said was political theater for a project that had little chance of ever being fully built out.

Nonetheless, Bell said the county planning and precautions were worth it.

We are convinced that this uniformed presence coupled with the temporary fencing eliminated any inclination by individuals interested in establishing encampments similar to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, as well as polarizing demonstrations, she said.

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Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.comSix months before it would take effect, Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his new state budget this week, and it was as cautious as expected. The main takeaway from the $190 billion annual spending plan  $132 billion in day-to-day general fund spending and the rest in special fund and bond fund spending  is that it sets aside more money than ever for the states rainy-day fund instead of expanding a range of government services. Thats smart given the likelihood that a recession will send Californias revenue roller coaster plunging in coming years and yield brutal cuts, as has happened repeatedly due to the governments over-reliance on volatile income taxes.

With education, however, Brown was less predictable. To address a chronic shortage in special education teachers, he proposed $100 million in one-time funding for a recruitment and training program. To help 2.5 million young Californians improve job skills, he proposed $120 million to establish the states first fully online public community college by fall 2019. And to address years of concerns about his signature 2013 law, the Local Control Funding Formula, Brown is finally ready to require that school districts be more transparent about how the funds are used and how this spending promotes the stated goal of the law: to get more help to English-language learners, foster students and students from impoverished families.

Given that Brown has been critical of the University of California over its lack of fiscal transparency, his opposition to K-12 spending transparency has never made sense. In 2016, Brown vetoed Assembly Bill 2548  a measure introduced by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego  that would have required districts receiving extra funds for high-needs students to show exactly what they were doing to help them. The bill had near-unanimous support from state lawmakers beforehand. Only one Assembly member voted against it.

Last week, Weber praised the governors move in an interview with CALmatters. But in an interview with an editorial writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, the governors budget spokesman, H.D. Palmer, downplayed any idea that the state was backing away from Browns hands-off approach to local school decision-making.

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This is no surprise. The governor has already made clear that he doesnt mind if school districts dont use their local control funds to help high needs students. In 2015, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson  with Browns support  said the funds could be used for raises by districts that had difficulties in recruiting, hiring or retaining qualified staff  a very loose standard.

Given this history, its no wonder that school reformers like Bill Lucia, the president of EdVoice, were let down by Browns budget actions. Nothing in the state budget, Lucia said, ensures that schools will be held accountable for improving student learning [or shows] the state itself is serious on working to close academic achievement gaps.

Further undercutting the idea that Brown and Torlakson now support school accountability is their embrace of the complicated, confusing California School Dashboard  a tool thats meant to make evaluating a schools performance easier for parents but instead makes it more difficult.

Yes, Browns movement toward some form of Local Control Funding Formula transparency is welcome. But its not nearly enough.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionSan Diego County politics are in for an overhaul. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, isnt running for a 10th term. Four Republican county supervisors  Greg Cox, Bill Horn, Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts  are termed out after more than 20 years. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, faces a serious campaign finance scandal that could cost him his job after nearly a decade. And longtime county GOP chairman Tony Krvaric said he may also quit this year.

This turnover presents a wave of new Republicans with a basic question: Will they be content to run in safe seats and stick to the standard party script? Or will they get in the arena, as Teddy Roosevelt would say, and slug it out with Californias dominant Democrats to try to force change?

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board suggests the latter. Local Republicans often dont fit the cookie-cutter mold of the modern GOP  socially conservative, pro-business and above all anti-tax  forged by Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. Roberts, Cox and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer have moderate and even liberal views on some issues, starting with the environment. But California Republicans have little say on many state issues because they isolate themselves with their reflexive default to standard conservative positions.

There are some encouraging signs that some state Republicans realize that there is another way. In July, eight GOP lawmakers voted to extend the states landmark cap-and-trade program for a decade after winning a concession that could lead to an up-or-down vote by Californians on whether to scrap the states hugely troubled bullet-train project. This is the sort of practical horse-trading that the Capitol  and the state  needs.

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But instead of winning applause for extracting this concession, Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley faced intraparty vilification. Less than six weeks later, he lost his post.

GOP orthodoxy is perhaps most maddening as it relates to the gas tax approved by the Legislature last April. Only one Republican lawmaker voted to support the plan to raise $52 billion over 10 years with higher gasoline taxes and fees, with the bulk of the money going to upgrade roads and transportation infrastructure. The California Chamber of Commerce  normally a GOP bulwark  argued that such improvements were crucial to Californias economy, but anti-tax Republicans simply ignored the business groups plea. Now a local Republican  former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio  is leading a signature-gathering effort for a ballot measure to repeal the gas tax.

These Republicans dont grasp the stealth truth about the gas tax hike: It amounts to an implicit and badly needed acknowledgment that despite dreams of environmentalists to abandon cars in favor of mass transit, cars will remain crucial for decades.

Heres hoping the new GOP voices that will begin to emerge locally have a level of sophistication about their politics that can be missing in a party addicted to simplistic litmus tests. Such voices have potential to give Republicans far more influence than they now wield  and to give California voters both more nuanced decisions to make and a much-needed opportunity to pick pragmatism over dogmatism.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionPresident Donald Trumps reported statement about the need to block immigrants from s***hole nations like Haiti, El Salvador and those in Africa is a painful reminder that America has a loutish, unrestrained and ignorant leader who is tearing down Americas image around the world. Coming days before the national holiday celebrating slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Trumps remarks, which he halfheartedly denied, set a new low.

In the short term, Trumps vulgar comments are likely to make it even more difficult for Congress and the White House to cut a deal to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while also increasing the federal debt ceiling. But in the big picture, Americans should be profoundly troubled by the number of Trump supporters who mocked the criticism coming his way and said his remarks werent racist, just politically incorrect.

This exposes a huge cultural gap between views of what is and what isnt acceptable in todays society. Trump realized this gap existed in 2015  and exploited it  when he launched his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists who bring crime and drugs to America, and by saying all Muslim immigrants should be banned from the U.S. The presidents casual racism isnt a bug in his public persona. Its a feature. And the Americans who welcome it will still be there after Trump leaves office.

Are these Americans deplorables, to use Hilary Clintons term  men and women who should be shunned and marginalized whenever possible? Or is former President Barack Obamas more charitable assessment accurate? In 2008, while campaigning in Pennsylvania, he said in remarks at a private fundraiser that after 25 years of economic stagnation or worse in the Midwest, its not surprising that disaffected whites get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who arent like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

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At the time, Obama drew sharp criticism for words that belittled Americans, gun owners and religion. But in retrospect, there is a quality of detached empathy in his remarks that is worth contemplating in the Trump era.

Liberal commentators like The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Vox co-founder Matthew Yglesias ridicule what they shorthand as the economic anxiety argument as being far too charitable to racists who disgrace America. But American politics would be healthier and more prone toward some gradual reconciliation if pundits and politicians can avoid what Ross Douthat, another columnist from The New York Times, called racial reductionism: the idea that in analyzing American politics we have to choose between claiming that all Trump voters are entirely innocent of racism and damning them all as white nationalists.

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is appropriate to remember his deeply thoughtful views: We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board appreciates that quite a few Americans will be unable to forgive Donald Trump. His habit of hateful, dismissive, cruel attacks on minorities and Muslims in particular have already made him one of the most reviled and divisive figures in modern U.S. history.

He wont be president forever, but the tens of millions of Americans who for whatever reason rallied to his side will still be among us. In reaching out to them, we hope other Americans start with this thought: What would Martin Luther King Jr. do?

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionAfter 30 years in the San Diego Sheriffs Department, I am generally skeptical of pronouncements by labor union leaders. But I have to say that Ed Harris remarks (Lifeguards must be an independent unit, Jan. 5) have the ring of validity.

Clearly, the hierarchy of the San Diego Fire Department views the lifeguards as subversives rather than colleagues. While at first glance combining the two public safety units under one leadership seems sensible, the unique mission and operations of lifeguards in the San Diego environment argues otherwise.

Organizational tradition has been played into hyperbole for political and budgetary advantage, but my own public safety experience argues strongly for the values of tradition and morale represented by a singular, committed department identity. The happy coastal nature of our community requires a proud, professional and stand-alone lifeguard service.

Bill Southwell

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Mission Hills

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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.Other new pre-/post-cruise packages for Azamara Pursuit feature Machu Picchu in Peru and Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil.

The Galapagos, Machu Picchu and Iguazu are all UNESCO World Heritage listed, plus with Machu Picchu the brand will be able to offer all Seven New Wonders of the World in 2018/19, according to Azamara president and CEO Larry Pimentel.

Azamara Pursuit passengers can add a post-cruise experience in the Galapagos to the 11-night 'Colombia, Panama & Peru' voyage that sails Nov. 20 from Miami to Callao (for Lima). The islands are visited on a 10-night inner loop, all-inclusive package aboard the 100-passenger Celebrity Xpedition.

The five-night Machu Picchu package starts with the opportunity to visit Peruvian artists ceramics and weavers' workshops, to explore the Maras Salt Mines and to view the Huaypo Lagoon. Visits to Machu Picchu, the Temple of the Sun and Inca Bridge will take up the second half of the land stay that ends in Cusco, the capital of the Incan Empire.

The four-night Iguazu Falls experience will explore the most expansive waterfalls in the world from both the Argentine and Brazilian perspectives. An exhilarating boat ride and a journey to the Jasy Pora Guarani Indigenous Village in the middle of the Yriapu rain forest are other highlights.

These 'Land and Sea' packages can only be purchased through Azamaras call center and can be added to sailings already purchased.Press Release

January 13, 2018 Dispatch from Crame No. 221

Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on Solicitor General Calida reneging on his commitment to give drug war records to SC 1 / 13 / 18 Just like his master Duterte, Solicitor General Jose Calida has no word of honor. On Dec. 5 last year, during the Supreme Court's hearings on the petitions against the legality of the war on drugs, the State's lawyer agreed to turn over and give official reports and other relevant documents related to the death of around 4,000 drug suspects during police operations. One month later, he reneged on his commitment citing that government compliance would endanger national security and the success of future operations. Malinaw na COVER-UP ito dahil pag nabunyag ang mga investigation records na yan, mako-confirm ang matagal na nating hinala na karamihan sa mga napatay na drug suspects ay hindi nanlaban. Besides, national security is a lame excuse to defy the order of the Supreme Court. No national security is involved in ascertaining the legitimacy of these police operations; particularly in light of the magnitude and pervasiveness of the killings. Lalo na ngayon, magreresume na naman ang 'Oplan Tokhang' at 'Double Barrel'. Some SC Justices, such as J. Carpio, were asking the right questions--tough and searching questions--in the course of the oral arguments. The answers to some of those questions may, or will surely, be found in the reports which the Solgen has committed to produce. I've seen some of the SOCO and after-incident reports as part of PNP's initial compliance when I was still Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights which was then looking into the spate of killings. And in my Dissenting Report to the Gordon/majority Committee Report, I took note of certain entries in a random sampling of SOCO reports that bear telltale signs of summary execution, and accordingly pushed for a closer scrutiny of said reports, but to no avail. Calida, in justifying his refusal to divulge these investigation reports also claimed that the 1987 Constitution mandated that the people's right to information should be "limited to matters of public concern." Simple lang po ang tanong ko, Solgen, hindi po ba 'public concern' ang pagpatay sa libo-libong mga Pilipino lalo na kung mapatunayang labag sa batas at 'due process' ang kanilang pagkamatay?A church hoping to build affordable senior housing at the foot of San Franciscos well-to-do Forest Hill neighborhood is going forward with the project despite a new report that says the hillside above would have to be extensively strengthened so the project doesnt destabilize the sandy slope.

Christian Church Homes of Northern California has filed plans to build a five-story affordable complex at 250 Laguna Honda Blvd., a long, skinny parcel now home to a church, preschool and parking lot.

The engineering report recommends the developer use deep soil mixing, where existing soil is mixed with cement grout. In addition, Langan Engineering recommended the installation of a buttress at the bottom of the slope, which, along with the stronger soil, would resist lateral soil movement.

Eden Powell, who is leading the project for the developer, said it would be redesigned to take into account the recommendations. Whether the additional costs make the project infeasible remains to be seen. She said it would be 12 to 24 months before the environmental study is completed and the costs are known.

At this point, we dont have the information to be able to price it out, Powell said.

The report comes after a year of acrimony between the developer and nearby residents. While some neighbors have objected to having an affordable development at the bottom of the hill  20 percent of units would be set aside for the formerly homeless  the developer has also faced other challenges.

While the original plan called for 150 units and the demolition of the church, the city Planning Department has made it clear that it would oppose the church demolition. In a response to the preliminary proposal, Planning Department staff called the 12,000-square-foot church from 1962 an exceptional, rare and intact example of Expressionist architecture and a monument of midcentury modernism.

In addition, the developer has decided to include a preschool, which was not part of the original plan.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Kate Hartley, who heads the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development, said the project is definitely still on. She said the developer, its consultants and the city are analyzing the geological issues to ensure a safe building design.

She said that the monthly meetings between the developer and neighbors, convened by Supervisor Norman Yee, have helped build trust. If the project has to shrink to assuage some of the neighborhoods concerns, that is something the city could live with, she said.

We had hoped for 150 (units), but if its smaller that is OK, too, she said.

The instability of the hillside has long been of concern for residents who live perched above Laguna Honda Boulevard on Castenada Avenue. The hillside has been weakened by vertical and lateral creep of the underlying sand dune. One home on the hill, 69 Castenada Ave., was destroyed by a gas leak after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

David Yoo, who lives on Castenada Avenue and is on the board of the Forest Hill Association, said his opposition to the project has always been about safety. Yoos sewer main, which is buried in the hillside, snapped two years ago because the hill had shifted so much.

We have always been advised by geotech engineers that you have to be thoughtful and do as little as possible to disrupt the hillside, Yoo said. None of us are against affordable housing or senior housing, but my house is on the hill. I have a 5-year-old daughter and another one on the way, and we dont want our house sliding down the hill because some developer didnt take precautions.

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.

While Yee is on the record as having opposed the original proposal, he now says that he is open to supporting it if issues with the neighbors can be worked out.

The immediate neighbors who were opposed now feel they are being listened to, Yee said. There will always be a percentage who want nothing done there. My position is always about brokering a compromise.

Powell, the developer, said her group is committed to ironing out differences with neighbors while not losing sight of the big picture.

Adding to the affordable housing stock and finding ways to address the homeless problem are both big priorities not just in San Francisco but the whole Bay Area, said Powell. Those two things, in combination, make this project something that needs to happen.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineenThe first person to approach the kiosk marked Unofficial Department of Handshakes in the lobby of San Francisco City Hall was not interested in shaking anyones hand.

Im looking for Room 168, she said to the uniformed woman at the information desk, while keeping hands in pockets.

The directory is over there, responded Hannah Ireland, knowing instantly that a handshake would not be forthcoming.

It was not a victorious start for the Unofficial Department, which will be open every Friday for a month, as an art intervention by Ireland and Alison Pebworth, under the authority of the San Francisco Arts Commission. Both women have installations on display at the commissions Main Gallery in the Veterans Building and were asked to create a project together.

It was a blind date meeting, Pebworth said. We started walking together and came into City Hall. We thought, We need a uniform and a role.

When they arrived for their first day of work Friday morning, each artist was wearing an apron with a handshake logo on it over park ranger-tan shirts with official-looking orange Unoffical Dept. of Handshakes shoulder patches.

The handshake is one of the few acceptable means of contact with strangers, explained Pebworth. But as she stood there, behind the Van Ness Avenue entrance security check and beneath the bust of Frederick Funston, she quickly learned that the handshake might not be as acceptable as she thought.

After eight minutes, nobody had bothered to stop or even slow down, so Pebworth recruited her first customer in the ladies room. She was Lydia Lozana, who works in the tax collectors office. Lozana estimated that she had shaken 15 hands a day for 26 years in various city jobs, so one more wouldnt hurt.

Its an improvisational project, said Ireland. We are going to try to be flexible to how people want to engage with us.

Thats when the mobile unit came into play. After a while, the artists decided to abandon their kiosk and push their easel on wheels into the hallway outside the county clerks office.

A captive audience was waiting on benches to be married. Couples immediately saw the mobile unit as a backdrop for wedding photos and were more than willing.

Business was so brisk that Pebworth decided she needed a clicker to hold in her left hand to keep count of all the shaking her right was doing.

They just called me over for a photo. I didnt know what it was for, said Monica Valdiviez, who was there in a white wedding gown with the name of her daughter, Andrea, tatooed on her shoulder.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Interesting and heartwarming, said Adam Wise of Tel Aviv, there to stand witness.

One artists job was to snap a picture, to be posted to Instagram with the hashtag #handshakeSF. The other artists job was to hang onto the strangers hand long enough to engage in conversation.

This was not a stunt. The motivation was educational. They wanted to learn about their subjects experience with the handshake, the famous hands they may have shaken, the preferred grip.

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.

Were just starting this project, said Pebworth. My handshake vocabulary is very small.

But she does know the shake of the Choctaw Nation, where her father was born. It does not involve touching hands, which appeal to the germ-phobic. Shes happy to teach it to anyone who drops by.

Its a favorite, she said. Very secure.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art

Unofficial Department of Handshakes: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays. Through Feb. 2. Van Ness Avenue entrance to San Francisco City Hall. Free. http://sfartscommission.org

To see Alison Pebworth demonstrate the Choctaw handshake: http://bit.ly/2Da22cv16 killed in Chhintang named martyrs after 39 years

The government has decided to give martyr status to 16 people killed in the Chhintang massacre in Dhankuta district during the partyless Panchayat era on November 13, 1979.Monday marked a watershed in the life of San Francisco. It was the day the first workers moved into Salesforce Tower, that thousand-foot-tall landmark that dominates the citys skyline.

Salesforce Tower is in every way a symbol of todays San Francisco. Its either a towering example of a new San Francisco or the worst thing thats happened since an earthquake rearranged things in 1906.

Ive been watching that building go up for a long time. I remember waiting for the bus at the corner of First and Mission streets, when Salesforce Tower was just a hole in the ground, where the clunky old Transbay Terminal used to be. The construction site had a fence around it with a famous quote from Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane: San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality.

Wow, I thought to myself, that must be some building they are putting up behind that fence.

Like everybody else, I watched it go up. Its huge. We could see it from Sausalito, from a BART train in Oakland, from the top of Mount Tamalpais in a fog so thick that the only part of San Francisco that was visible was the top of the tower.

Weve seen it from the Richmond District, from Treasure Island, from Mount Diablo, from a ship at sea, from a jet plane. It reminds me of the old George Sterling poem about San Francisco: At the end of our streets is sunrise ... it begins. Now at the end of our streets is Salesforce Tower.

Its the talk of the town. Everybody has an opinion. Heres mine: I think Salesforce Tower is a great thing, an example of a new San Francisco. This is not just a beautiful and very different city. Now its a world city, one of the capitals of technology.

San Franciscans used to worry about Los Angeles. Theyd chant Beat L.A. when the Dodgers came to town. Now we have beaten L.A. to the industry of the future. Then we worried about a resurgent San Jose, the center of Silicon Valley. But San Jose is still San Jose, and San Francisco has reinvented itself.

But thats the crux of the problem. It isnt just Salesforce Tower that bothers people. Its the idea behind it. Its high tech, its traffic, its Google buses, its Uber, Airbnb, Twitter, gentrification, an unaffordable city. Techies, a new high-salaried, technology-driven class working for firms run by youthful millionaires, as one critic put it.

Whats the alternative? The city of the 1970s, which the critics fondly remember, was in decline. The shipping industry had moved to Oakland and manufacturing was fading, done in by competition from overseas. Jobs were leaving. Remember the steel mills and the machine shops South of Market? The plants where they sewed and finished Levis jeans? Gone. The last one was on Valencia Street.

And there was a huge demographic shift. Thousands and thousands of San Franciscans moved away  from the fog, the bad schools, the parking problems, the old houses. See ya, San Francisco.

I was at a luncheon during the holiday season. Maybe 30 people were there, all with deep roots in the city. I conducted a little poll. How many were born in San Francisco? Twenty-nine of them put up their hands. How many live here now? Just one.

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.

And who moved into the Sunset and Eureka Valley and the Mission when the old families moved out? Asians, who finally were able to break out of the Chinatown ghetto and now make up a third of the citys population. Gay people attracted by the citys tolerant atmosphere  and available housing. Latinos, who found homes in the Mission.

The other pillar of the new San Francisco is the techies, who liked the citys reputation for innovation.

The people who dont like the new city will tell you these people are all from somewhere else. They forget that Marc Benioff, the Salesforce guru, is a fourth-generation San Franciscan, and his company was founded in a one-bedroom apartment on Telegraph Hill. And Steve Jobs, who needs no introduction, is also a native son.

St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, the Rust Belt illustrate what happens to cities and regions that stuck with the old economy and did not change.

San Francisco continues to have problems, which are obvious to everyone. The trick is to solve them by blending the new San Francisco with the best traditions of the older city. Is this possible? Sure. The best day of the week is always tomorrow.

Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His column appears every Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carlnoltesfWhen Scott Goldie was just a boy, he waited by the railroad tracks in Montana and as the Milwaukee Road rolled by, his grandfather  a train engineer  would hoist him onto the locomotive.

Now, Goldie is operating his own train, one where tickets sell for hundreds of dollars and riders clink glasses of the fine vintages sold by the wineries dotted along its rails. Roughly two years ago, Goldies firm, Brooks Street, and Noble House Hotels and Resorts bought the Napa Valley Wine Train for an undisclosed amount, scooping up a history-laden tourist attraction. One of their first orders of business was settling an $11 million discrimination lawsuit filed by a mostly black group of women who said they were kicked off in August 2015, shortly before the sale, for talking too loudly.

Thats totally behind us, said 53-year-old Goldie. Our whole goal is to create new experiences. ... I think people will really see its a new day. Its a new ownership.

The trains new owners have ambitious plans. They added new tours, boosting the number of annual train trips from 400 to 1,100 last year, serving 110,000 passengers. Goldie says the train business is profitable, but would not disclose annual sales. The owners envision a $100 million project to rebuild the station  currently a large carpeted room with brown couches  into property that includes a glass atrium and a 148-room luxury hotel. They are also exploring a commuter rail service that would transport workers from Napa, where many live, to areas like St. Helena, where affordable housing is scarce.

But challenges remain. Octobers wildfires destroyed 8,900 structures and killed 44 people. The fires have long since been extinguished, but out-of-town visitors are still concerned that the area hasnt recovered. For several weeks after the fire, the train line got hundreds of phone calls from tourists asking about the fire, said Goldie, who escaped the Atlas Fire with his dog and briefcase, losing many of his belongings inside a rental home. While train sales increased in 2017 over the previous year, they missed the companys projections because of the fires.

That just killed the rest of the year, said Goldie, who now lives in Walnut Creek. Months after the fires, a small number of people are still calling asking about conditions, he said.

Goldie, a co-owner and principal at commercial real estate firm Brooks Street, never thought he would run a train. When he was first asked to buy the Napa Valley Wine Train, he rejected the idea. What changed his mind were 17 pieces of property that came with the railroad  but werent essential to its operations.

This could be a real estate opportunity, Goldie said.

Goldie says hes committed to preserving the Wine Trains legacy, which means tourists can count on wining and dining along the rails. If anything, he and the other new owners have been enriching the train experience, adding new stops along the way. Now, passengers can step off the locomotive onto platforms and walk to wineries such as Robert Mondavi in Oakville and Charles Krug in St. Helena. Before, aside from a stop at Grgich Hills en route, shuttle buses took customers to most winery visits. Tickets with a meal and a least one winery visit can range from $209 to $372 per person.

The bigger challenge may be getting the word out. Only 1 in 7 visitors surveyed by Visit Napa Valley planned to ride the train. Goldie said he wants to capture more market share.

The potential for us to grow is really, really strong, he said.

The 2015 incident, where members of a mostly black womens book group said they were kicked off the train for talking too loudly and later filed a lawsuit, provoked an outcry. Since the lawsuit has been settled, none of the women has decided to ride the train again as far as he knows, said attorney Waukeen McCoy, who represented the group.

On a weekday train ride in December, some passengers were not even aware of the discrimination lawsuit. Courtni Dedeaux was one of the few who knew about it. After some research, the 22-year-old Fairfield resident still wanted to ride the train. Her excursion included visits to wineries Robert Mondavi, Charles Krug and V. Sattui.

I love it, Dedeaux said. Its pretty out here.

She ate honey-fennel cracked mustard-glazed Pacific salmon as the train headed to St. Helena, sitting in a comfortable seat with large picture windows revealing lush vineyards. The commute for Reynaldo Hernandez, a server at Harvest Table restaurant, from St. Helena back to Napa was much less luxurious. He sat for roughly an hour on a $1.60 public bus back home.

Its all I got right now, said Hernandez, who doesnt own a car.

John Storey/Special to the Chronicle

The Wine Train is exploring a commuter rail service that could transport the areas workers from Napa to St. Helena. About 78 percent of St. Helenas workers come from outside of the city, according to 2016 Census Bureau data.

Goldie envisions the train working with businesses to transport employees in the morning and evening. The round trip cost would be $20 to $25 per person  ideally paid by employers, in Goldies thinking. The commuter train could initially go up to 25 mph, taking about 45 minutes to get from Napa to St. Helena, he said. Thats much faster than the bus and slightly faster than a car during rush hour.

To be sure, starting a commuter rail service could require significant investment. To run trains frequently on the tracks, the business will need to invest millions of dollars in sidings, areas where trains can be parked near the tracks, said Kate Miller, executive director of the Napa Valley Transportation Authority.

Miller said its possible the authority could provide connecting bus service to the commuter rail if it is open to the public and meets certain business criteria. The authoritys bus system has a million riders each year and if a commuter train line exposes more people to the buses, Im all for supporting their efforts, Miller said.

Commuters could also get work done with wireless Internet on the train, said Tom Davies, president of winery V. Sattui, whose front entrance the train tracks cross. Most of his employees live in Napa, and many drive their own cars to work. That has resulted in late arrivals at meetings, which he finds frustrating.

Its a loss of productivity, Davies said.

V. Sattui would probably be willing to subsidize half of the ticket price, and possibly more, Davies said.

But even at half the price, V. Sattui marketing director Ali Paterson said the price is too high. Paterson spends $25 to $30 a week in gas, and can go much faster in her Subaru than the train.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Its going to be tough to convince people to do this at that rate, Paterson said.

John Storey/Special to the Chronicle

The noise surrounding the train is also an issue for some residents. Seventy-five-year-old Norman Manzer doesnt like how the train sounds its horn as it visits the Charles Krug winery, a stop the new owners added.

Its an annoyance, Manzer said.

Goldie said that Manzers point is well taken, but the train has to sound its horn for safety reasons following federal rules. He said the train is not planning to add more tours to that part of St. Helena.

Under federal rules, St. Helena could establish a quiet zone for the area that would allow trains not to sound their horns in that area. That would require the city to work with the local transportation authority to determine how to reduce safety risks in the area, a step the city hasnt taken.

Napa Valley is bouncing back from the October wildfires, which cost the region more than a third of its usual revenue from lodging that month. In November, revenue was down just 4.1 percent from a year earlier, said Clay Gregory, CEO of Visit Napa Valley, citing information from Tennessee firm STR Inc., which tracks hotel data.

Its a really good sign, and we think it will keep going up, Gregory said.

In the meantime, the trains future may be secured by the land it owns.

Goldie envisions moving the trains kitchens, currently located south of Eighth Street in Napa, and one day building condominiums there. More housing may go up on other properties. He also wants to renovate the Rutherford train station as a potential stop for the Wine Train.

One day, he even hopes to learn how to drive the train himself. But he acknowledges theres only so much he and his team can do at once.

I need to slow down, Goldie said. The machine can only go so fast.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendyleeA bill that would let Californians circumvent the limit placed on state tax and local deductions under the new federal tax law was passed by a state Senate committee last week after a group of law school professors defended the idea in a paper.

But the proposal still faces an uncertain future. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has called the idea ridiculous. The Internal Revenue Service reports to Treasury.

The Republican-crafted tax overhaul limits the itemized deduction for all state and local income, property and other taxes combined to $10,000 per federal return starting this year. Previously, this deduction was unlimited. The bill also reduces federal tax rates, partly in exchange for reducing deductions.

SB277, by state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, would let California taxpayers donate money to a new state fund and get a dollar-for-dollar state credit on their tax return. Theoretically, the donation would be deductible as a charitable contribution on their federal (but not state) tax return. This would let taxpayers offset the loss of any state income tax deduction while recouping their entire donation.

If youve been wondering how this would work, here goes:

Suppose you owe $13,000 in state income taxes and $10,000 in property taxes this year. In calendar 2018, you pay $13,000 in state income tax through payroll withholding. You pay your property taxes as usual.

Under the old law you could have deducted $23,000 in state income and property taxes on your federal return. Under the new one you can deduct only $10,000, so you have lost $13,000 in deductions.

To make up for this, before the end of 2018 you donate $13,000 to a newly created California Excellence Fund.

When you file your 2018 taxes, you deduct $13,000 as a charitable contribution on your federal return. If you are in the new 24 percent federal tax bracket, this saves you $3,120 and replaces what you lost.

On your state return, you claim a $13,000 tax credit, which unlike a deduction reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar. Because you already paid $13,000 through payroll withholding, you get a $13,000 refund.

Some caveats: This works only if all of your itemized deductions will exceed the new federal standard deduction of $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for married filing jointly.

You cant use this credit against property taxes.

If you donate an amount over your state income tax liability  in this example $13,000  you cannot get a refund for the excess, but you can use it to reduce state taxes in future years, said Darien Shanske of UC Davis, one of eight law school professors (six in California) who wrote the paper.

You cannot deduct this donation as a charitable contribution on your state tax return; backers say that would be double dipping. But it also seems to undermine the idea that this is a donation.

If you gave $1,000 to the United Way and the United Way gave you $1,000 in cash or $1,000 worth of Hamilton tickets, you would get no charitable deduction. If the United Way gave you $200 worth of Hamilton tickets you could deduct $800.

Federal tax law makes it clear that donors cannot deduct the fair market value of the goods or services the (charitable) organization provides in return for a donation. This is known as a quid pro quo.

So why would California taxpayers get to deduct their entire donation to the Excellence Fund if they get back the same amount as a credit?

Treasury regulations dont specifically address whether a reduction in state tax liability constitutes a good or service, instead defining goods and services to mean cash, property, services, benefits, and privileges, an analysis of the de Leon bill says.

An IRS Chief Counsel Advice Memoranda published in 2011 suggested that a contribution to a state agency would be deductible even if the taxpayer received a state tax credit in return.

The theory goes something like this: A donation to the Red Cross generates a state and federal tax deduction. The state deduction has value because it reduces your state taxes. But the IRS does not reduce your federal tax deduction because you are getting something of value from your state. By the same token, a state tax credit for a charitable donation should not reduce your federal deduction.

In the chief counsel memo, The IRS gives itself an out, said Dennis Ventry, another UC Davis professor who co-wrote the report. It ruled that these contributions for tax credit programs are valid  except in unusual circumstances, but it never defined unusual circumstances.

The bill analysis also noted that chief counsel advice memos have no precedential value and cannot be relied upon by taxpayers.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The academic paper analyzed numerous court decisions that upheld what it calls the Full Deduction Rule. It noted that more than 100 programs in 33 states have charitable tax-credit programs that take advantage of this rule to support a variety of causes, including ones that benefit private and religious schools. Almost all of these programs, however, offer less than a dollar-for-dollar credit, which means donors are not made whole and the program does raise money for a cause.

One such program is the California College Access Tax Credit Fund. Donors can write off 100 percent of their contribution as an itemized deduction on their federal, but not state, return. They get a state tax credit equal to 50 percent of their donation. Taxpayers gave $6.4 million to the fund in 2017 and $5.4 million in 2016. Half of that went back to taxpayers, the rest went to Cal Grants for college students.

Shanske and Ventry recommend that the state reduce the credit to less than 100 percent for the new Excellence Fund as well.

Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation said in a paper that the de Leon proposal is clever but would face serious headwinds. Contributions to governmental entities can qualify for the charitable deduction if the contribution is solely for public purposes, such as reducing the debt or maintaining a park, he wrote. But in this case the contribution serves no public purpose (it has no net effect on state revenue) and is intended to leave the giver in better shape financially. This flies in the face of what the IRS considers a charitable contribution.

State Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa (Orange County), was the sole vote against the bill in the Governance and Finance Committee last week. As a former accountant, he said he had difficulty with the contrivance component of this. State Sen. Janet Nguyen, another Orange County Republican, voiced concerns but did not vote on the bill. All five Democrats voted for it.

The bill, if it passes, would put tax advisers in a really precarious place, said Gina DeRosa, a CPA in Torrance. A litigious client could sue us for either not recommending they contribute or recommending a contribution that is then reversed. Its the impossible quandary.

Greg Turner, a state and local tax attorney in Sacramento, said, Without some IRS guidance, its going to be hard to recommend to a client to utilize this strategy.

Ill leave you with Mnuchins remarks at a press briefing last week. Let me just say again from a Treasury standpoint and IRS, I dont want to speculate on what people will do, but I think its one of the more ridiculous comments to think you can take a real estate tax that you are required to make and dress that up as a charitable contribution.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpenderSan Francisco police are asking for the publics help finding a man suspected in the shooting death of an activist last fall.

Anthony Torres, known by the gender non-conforming alter ego Bubbles, was shot and killed on the corner of Larkin and Myrtle streets in the Polk Gulch neighborhood on Sept. 9.

Homicide investigators with the San Francisco Police Department on Friday identified a suspect as 30-year-old San Francisco resident Hieu Trung Nguyen. The agency issued a $15 million warrant for his arrest.

Police had said a preliminary investigation suggested it was not a hate crime, but at the time of Torres death, friends said they were concerned he was killed because of his identity.

Torres created the Bubbles persona after moving to San Francisco from Phoenix about two decades ago. It included wearing blond wigs, dresses, heavy makeup and oversize sunglasses.

Torres was active in the Bay Area club scene and regularly performed as a DJ at house parties, civil rights marches and other events.

Torres attorney, Jim Reilly, said friends and family of the victim were sharing what information they had about the suspect and were eager for a break in the case.

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.

I think this greatly enhances the chances of him being picked up, Reilly said.

Nguyen should be considered armed and dangerous, according to police. Anyone with information that can help the investigation can call the departments 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the message with SFPD.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJournoOne year ago, I passed through the visitor entrance to the San Francisco Federal Building at 90 Seventh St. I greeted the security guards and asked them if I could take a picture of the western wall of the lobby. On that wall, two portraits  then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden  smiled out at visitors. The portraits were flanked by American flags.

Since the Civil War, an official portrait of the president has hung in the lobby of every federal building. Id wanted to capture the presence of those two portraits before the moment passed into history.

Apparently I wasnt the only one. As the guard shepherded me through security and removed the velvet rope separating the portraits from the public, he told me hed been doing this for a lot of guests in recent days. We exchanged a grim joke about how few requests he was expecting for the next four years. I snapped my picture and went away.

Six months after that day, a friend of mine who lives in the South of Market neighborhood sent me a text message.

Hey, have you noticed the federal building at Seventh and Mission hasnt hung the new presidential portraits yet?

I had not. So later that day, I strolled over to the building and poked my head in.

The American flags were still standing next to the lobbys western wall. But the space they flanked was empty.

Just stopped by, I texted back. Youre right, no pictures. Thats weird.

Maybe you should write a column on it.

If I write a column about it, I could get the people who work there in trouble, I said. Dont you see enough of his face everywhere else?

He agreed, and from that point the topic became a running joke between the two of us.

Every few weeks or so, whenever one of us was passing by the Federal Building, wed check on the status of the portraits.

If the wall was still empty  and it was  wed text each other with a new idea about why that might be.

Maybe they couldnt find a janitor who was willing to hang them.

Maybe they couldnt find a security guard who was willing to sit next to them all day.

Do you think so many people were running in and throwing tomatoes at them they decided it wasnt worth the effort?

On and on it went.

Until this week  when I received a message from my friend saying, with great sadness, that hed just walked by the Federal Building. The portraits, he said, had finally been hung.

I told him that it was time for me to finally write that column.

I walked to the building and entered the lobby. Between the two American flags standing next to the western wall were the presidential and vice presidential portraits, in their customary silver frames.

I studied them. Two elderly men grimaced at me. Their skin was oddly textured. Their teeth were far too white.

I glanced over at the security guard. He shrugged his shoulders. I snapped a picture and went away.

Back at the office, I emailed the Federal Buildings manager to ask when the portraits had gone up.

Andra Higgs, a public affairs officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, told me they had gone up on Dec. 20.

She added, The GSA hung the official presidential portraits shortly after the portraits were received from the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

Dec. 20? I did a little more homework.

Usually, federal agencies (including courthouses, military facilities, labs, offices and ports of entry) hang the portraits of a new president and vice-president within a few months of their assuming office.

Last year, federal agencies placed orders for their new presidential portraits shortly after the inauguration. But the reason all of them, including the building at 90 Seventh St., couldnt hang the portraits is that they didnt arrive.

The government publishing office couldnt fill their orders  because they hadnt received any pictures from the White House. A man completely entranced by his own image didnt have the discipline to sit for a photo session.

I told my friend that all of our jokey conspiracy theories were far more complex than the real answer to the mystery of the missing portraits.

The answer is that the administrations chaotic and disorganized, I texted.

Oh, he said. I was hoping for a new reason.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.comSan Franciscans, get ready.

You have just 20 weeks to decide who should lead our economic powerhouse of a city, who should decide how its $10 billion annual budget is spent, and who should set the agenda on cleaning its filthy streets, rectifying its shameful homeless problem and ensuring that not just those whose trust funds have trust funds can afford to live here.

He or she will complete the rest of the late Mayor Ed Lees term and have the chance to run for two more four-year slots. Any glance at how dramatically San Francisco changed under Lees seven-year tenure shows you just how much the next mayor could affect our city  for better or worse  if he or she remains in Room 200 until January 2028, a good bet in a city that last booted an incumbent in 1995.

So, you know, no biggie.

Considering the dramatic consequences of the first wide-open mayors race in San Francisco since 2003, I was surprised more potential candidates didnt throw their hats in the ring. In the end  5 p.m. Tuesday  just four household names entered the race.

Other candidates may have been scared off by the quick pace of the race, moved up 17 months because of Lees death. Or acting Mayor London Breeds strong early showing on the job and in gaining support from the tech and business worlds. Or former state Sen. Mark Lenos early jump into the race last spring and his $415,000 in campaign cash.

And so were left with Breed, Leno, Supervisor Jane Kim and former Supervisor Angela Alioto (plus four other, far lesser known candidates) who so far dont have a whole lot of policy differences. But then, thats how it often works in San Francisco, where small disagreements between liberals and even-more-liberal liberals are blown up into huge deals. Theyre all talking about addressing homelessness, cleaning the streets, building affordable housing and addressing gentrification.

In seeking out what differentiates them, I found their appearances at the Department of Elections to file their papers to enter the race somewhat illuminating. Heres a quick snapshot of each.

London Breed: The acting mayor brought 10 little girls with her and positioned them around a wooden conference table.

Guess what? she said, raising her eyebrows and leaning in as if to divulge something juicy. Im running for mayor!

When I was a little girl growing up in San Francisco, I never thought it was possible that someone like me could be your mayor, she continued. I want all of you to know that its possible that you can be mayor too.

Its a great message in 2018, dubbed the Year of the Woman. Breed would be the second female mayor in San Francisco history. The first was Dianne Feinstein, who became mayor in 1978 after the assassination of George Moscone. Both Breed and Feinstein were president of the Board of Supervisors and therefore took the top post when the mayor died. By the way, why does it take the death of a man for a woman to claim Room 200?

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Breed would become the citys first African American female mayor, following a small but growing group of black female mayors in major cities. The fact that she grew up in public housing in the Western Addition makes her story even more inspiring.

Thats why the boards discussion about picking an interim mayor  someone different  to serve until June has bothered some women. Comedian Chelsea Handler tweeted, I stand with London Breed ... Perfect opportunity to show up for a woman. She deserves us. Actress Lena Dunhams feminist blog, the Lenny Letter, published a piece entitled San Francisco Is Failing London Breed.

Maggie Muir, whos managing Breeds campaign, said the progressives charge that Breed would be a continuation of the past three moderate, downtown-backed mayors  Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom and Lee  is sexist and disappointing.

For this undecided city voter, Breeds history and identity are pluses, but dont put her over the finish line. I want to hear far more about how this unpredictable voter on the board, with a somewhat thin legislative record, would run the city.

Jane Kim: The progressive supervisor would be the citys first Asian American female mayor. She filed her papers alongside some well-known progressives and stressed her ideology of going big, even if she loses. She backed the successful effort to make City College free, but some other ideas, like free birth control and a tax on CEOs, havent gone anywhere.

I have a track record of being bold and fighting for really big ideas for the city, Kim said. I havent been scared to go big and to lose, but Ive also won for our residents.

Shes sure to be the natural candidate for the Bernie bros who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders in his campaign for president. Sanders endorsed Kim in her failed state Senate run. Kim even posed for selfies with a few of them in City Halls basement elections office and discussed the merits of the new iPhones with them.

Mark Leno: The only serious contender in the race whos, gasp, a man, showed up to file his papers in black motorcycle boots and his trademark beaming smile. (The guys dentist should get a cut if he wins.)

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

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.

Leno would be the citys first openly gay mayor. He was accompanied by several well-known members of the LGBT community, including a couple of drag queens, and talked about losing his life partner, Douglas Jackson, to complications related to AIDS in 1990.

San Francisco has given us acceptance, a feeling of belonging, a community and a place to call home, he said. I met the love of my life here, and I lost the love of my life here to HIV in an epidemic that has impacted all of us and tragically continues to this day.

Leno pledged to reject support from independent expenditure committees and is positioning himself as a progressive who would lead the city in a different direction. Look for him and Kim to use ranked-choice voting to their advantage, telling their supporters to choose the other as their No. 2.

Angela Alioto: She showed up with scores of supporters, who posed for pictures on the City Hall steps carrying yellow and blue signs reading, The heart of S.F., with the word heart represented by the shape of a red heart.

She says shes running solely because the citys homelessness epidemic is so dire, but get her talking (not hard to do), and she is clearly nostalgic for old-time San Francisco. She talks about the flower stands and street artists that have disappeared, about kids who cant play in sandboxes because of dirty needles, and about the days when Summer of Love-style hippies were embraced rather than ridiculed.

Theres a love of life, a joie de vivre that San Francisco always had thats been lacking in the past 20 years, and its just getting worse, she said. Its a heartbreaker for someone like me.

Election day on June 5 will be a heartbreaker for three of these people, but lets hope it leads to some heart-swelling pride for San Francisco. We could sure use it.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

Online extra

Heather Knight on the San Francisco mayors race, an Its All Political podcast: http://bit.ly/sf-mayoral-raceBy now the arguments on warrantless surveillance are numbingly familiar. Fighting terrorism cant be effective if intelligence agencies have to ask a judge for permission to dig through phone records and computer logs in tracking dangerous threats.

This urgency and the need to dispense with constitutional rules that protect privacy is working again, casting a spell on Congress, where personal rights crumble next to the terrorism fight. The House voted to approve an extension of one of the worst aspects of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, passed in 2008.

That act and later changes govern this countrys hugely powerful intelligence machinery that sifts through emails, phone logs and other data to spot connections with overseas terrorism suspects. Drop in a name, and the National Security Agency can chase it through Google or AT&Ts pipes to see if that person is mentioned by someone in this country. The methods of intelligence gathering, as revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, have profoundly changed.

The wholesale data gathering has eased somewhat since Snowden revelations showed how unsupervised spy agency conduct was. But presidents and lawmakers from both parties have tolerated such practices for obvious reasons. No one wants to miss the smallest signal of trouble, and the spook world in Washington has persuasive power.

That view runs roughshod over due process and privacy concerns that are obvious. Just as law enforcement needs a judge to approve a wiretap, spy agencies should expect the same. In this case, the House vote to renew no-warrant searches came after a counter-idea to require warrants was voted down. Now its on to the Senate, which should reject the idea that unvetted surveillance is permissible.

The debate comes with a head-smacking sideshow. Though the White House favored extending the law, the president suddenly flipped the other way. He issued a critical tweet denouncing the intel gathering moments after a Fox News opinion maker tried to link the surveillance program with Russian involvement with his campaign. A hurried reminder from aides and others that it was about something else brought a 180-degree switch putting the president firmly in favor of the FISA program.

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 youre familiar with the phenomenon called vocal fry  a mode of speaking commonly attributed to members of a generation younger than oneself and characterized by a gravitas-affecting growl  the timbre adopted by Louie Anderson in Dear Dad goes a degree further. Call it vocal curdle.

Some of the best moments in the solo show, which the comedian and actor adapted from his 1991 memoir and which opened Thursday, Jan. 11, at ACTs Strand Theater, are assiduously distilled noises, noises that instantly summon the whole essence of one of his myriad family members (he was one of 11 kids, in a Minnesota public housing project). Frequently and apropos of nothing, his mother lets loose a passive-aggressive sigh that seems to simultaneously say, Woe is me, Well, Ill make do and Why doesnt anyone ask me whats wrong? His grandmother prefers to vocalize with only a spitting-qua-flatulence sound, and in case there was any doubt that shes directing it at Andersons father, she also points at her son-in-law while she does it.

Still the best utterances come from Andersons father himself, whose voice is like sludge gurgling down a drain. Such is the communicative power of this characters argot of grunts and mutterings that words are often superfluous. He simply barks, or disgorges some other glottal sound, and you lean in a little to listen harder, but youre convinced youve heard an entire sentence. And when he does speak English, its terrifying. Taunting a young Anderson with the epithet lard-ass, he uses the raspy singsong of a troll under a bridge; hes a nightmare lying in wait.

Yet if Andersons characterizations are rich, at once comic and poignant, mining the universal from the specific, the show as a whole needs a stronger narrative drive, a clearer raison detre. In his curtain speech, ACT associate artistic director Andy Donald emphasized that Dear Dad, part of ACTs @TheStrand series, was still a work in progress, with some material getting performed for the first time on opening night. In its current form, directed by Abraham Geisness, the piece has the feel of a random assortment of character sketches that occasionally tries to be another kind of show altogether. Once or twice, its a faux self-help seminar, complete with a PowerPoint slide with a list of enjoinments like Dont speak unless you can cause conflict. And all of a sudden toward the end of the show, Anderson vaults in perspective from outward observer to soul searcher, attempting to fashion a bildungsroman about his own formation as a comic, but the effort never rises above afterthought.

And for all his finely wrought descriptions of his family, Andersons humor periodically takes shortcuts, with some tired jokes about the differences between dogs and cats, an easy aside or two about Trump. Once, he offers nothing more on why he shares an anecdote about an early gig than, Anyway, so that was a really good job.

But as a portrait of another time, when parents could be gleefully cruel to their children without fear of Child Protective Services, when a father would sooner tell a stranger of his pride in his son than he would the son himself, when driving blackout drunk was less crime than irksome quirk, Dear Dad is vivid and Anderson a wry and, somehow, loving conjurer.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

Dear Dad: Written by Louie Anderson. Directed by Abraham Geisness. Through Jan. 14. 90 minutes. $25-$55. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

To see Louie Anderson on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmBxxldAXs4

To see Anderson on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1984, in his first national television appearance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDyWKzRj1wg

To see Anderson talk to Conan OBrien about playing Zach Galifianakis mom on Baskets: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge9kMAD7hMQThe nation is experiencing an extraordinary moment  many Americans are openly calling their president a racist. The question is whether enough voters will be sufficiently outraged to punish President Trump or his supporters at the ballot box.

The racism displayed this week when Trump referred to Haiti and some African nations as shithole countries isnt unique among his predecessors. Americas Founding Fathers owned slaves, and another president, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, ordered the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon frequently used racial slurs.

But Trump is the first president to be defined in large part by his outright hostility to people who are not white and are not Christian. He dive-bombed into the national political conversation by falsely accusing President Barack Obama of being born outside the United States, then opened his presidential campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists and proposing a blanket ban on Muslims entering the country. As president, he has attempted to turn these sentiments into policy.

Trump and his supporters have frequently tried to explain away his past statements as being misunderstood or awkwardly phrased. But the reaction to Trumps demand, during a policy meeting with members of Congress, to know why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries  most with majority black populations  is what makes his remarks so toxic and powerful.

It denies the ability to deniers to continue to say that racism is a thing of the past, said James Taylor, a professor of political science at the University of San Francisco and author of Black Nationalism in the United States: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama. Donald Trump is showing  at the most important symbolic position in the country  that this kind of racial feeling and resentment is alive and cant be dismissed.

The failure of Republican leaders to condemn Trump  there has been silence from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, while usually talkative Sen. Lindsey Graham, who attended the meeting, went no further than saying the media accounts of the presidents words were being basically accurate  normalizes language that has offended so many people in the United States and around the world. And that could drive voters in the other direction.

A December survey from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 60 percent of Americans feel Trumps election has led to worse race relations in America. And while the president is fond of saying that his base of supporters is unswervingly with him  I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldnt lose voters, he said during the 2016 campaign  his attitudes on race are increasingly alienating his fellow Republicans.

Most of the increase in negative opinions has come among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, the Pew surveys authors wrote.

Others say Trumps vulgar description could indeed hurt him with the voters he needs to survive politically. He doesnt have much room for error, as his approval rating is at 39 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics.com average of major polls.

It will hurt him with college-educated female (Republican) voters. And dont rule out college-educated male Republican voters, either, said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, a state Trump narrowly won. This is the type of stuff that drives the suburban voters away. Theyre much more attuned to the language thats used.

Thats important in the swing districts that elected Trump, because his core supporters arent as likely to abandon him.

Theyre relatively immune to those kinds of remarks from him, Madonna said. The question is, are those voters going to come out for him in the midterm elections? If they dont, and swing voters are driven away, Trump and his Republican allies will be in trouble.

The first test will be March 13, during a special congressional election in a suburban Pittsburgh district that Trump won with 58 percent of the vote. The race pits Democratic former federal prosecutor and Marine Corps veteran Conor Lamb against former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence officer and GOP state Rep. Rick Saccone, who has described himself as Trump before Trump was Trump.

There is doubt, however. Trump has survived many previous firestorms related to his racial views.

UC Riverside political science Professor Loren Collingwood found public attitudes toward immigrants softened last year after Americans heard an influx of information portraying (last years proposed travel ban from some Muslim-majority nations) as being at odds with egalitarian principles of American identity and religious liberty.

Part of the reason for that was heavy media coverage filled with images of older people in wheelchairs and young children who could have been banned from entering the country, Collingwood said.

People saw all of that and said, This (ban) makes no sense at all, he said. But with (Trumps shithole remark) there is no visual focus like we had with the Muslim travel ban. So I wouldnt expect a public opinion shift like we did with the Muslim ban.

Instead, when people think of the president, they will also think of his racist remarks.

The unabashed white nationalism of the president isnt new, nor is his policy of collective punishment of entire nations of people. Whats new is the growing awareness of a larger and larger group of people that presidential bias has become national policy, said Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice in Oakland.

Trumps former attacks on Mexico and Muslim countries and his current attacks on Haiti, El Salvador and various African countries are all evidence that the racist rhetoric of the president unreasonably shapes international policy, just as it does domestic policy, Cyril said.

This is a pattern, this just didnt just start, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, told The Chronicle on Friday. Its despicable. This is who (Trump) is. And racist attitudes lead to racist policies.

But whether Trump or his allies pay an electoral price for those policies is a question that will be answered by those who turn out to vote in the midterm elections this year.

If Donald Trump doesnt suffer a resounding electoral punishment in 2018, said Taylor, then it tells us that Donald Trump knows this country a lot better than Barack Obama did.

Chronicle staff writer

John Wildermuth contributed

to this report.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

Editors note: The Chronicle ordinarily refrains from publishing vulgar language unless it is judged to be an essential part of the story. In this story, the term President Trump used in his discussion of immigrant communities this week meets that standard.1950 Treaty to change

The Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India relations has agreed to change the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship even as the eight-member task force is yet to agree if the treaty should be replaced or amended.Instead of squiggling away like the others, one greenish-gray salmon that Gabriela Dunn released into Marin Countys Redwood Creek on Friday turned around and swam back, almost as if to give the Golden Gate National Recreation Area intern a last heartfelt goodbye.

She doesnt want to go, said Dunn, 26, who held out her hand for the fish, which was on the last leg of a harrowing journey that would soon end in its death and, against all odds, breathe new life into a beleaguered waterway.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service released 188 coho salmon Friday into the creek that flows down from Mount Tamalpais, through Muir Woods, across Muir Beach into the ocean.

It is a desperate attempt to save a cherished run of fish that for thousands of years migrated yearly through this redwood-lined coastal watershed and then nearly vanished. The 3-year-old salmon were among the last survivors when they were plucked from the creek in 2015 and raised at the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery in the Sonoma County community of Geyserville.

Their relocation to a hatchery saved the coho from making the perilous journey to the ocean, where 98 percent of migrating salmon are typically killed by predators, pollutants or sickness, according to Manfred Kittel, a coho salmon recovery coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

These fish are going back into the creek as adults now, and we are hoping that they will be able to swim upstream in the creek, spawn naturally and the progeny will then have an opportunity to grow up in the stream and imprint on the stream, Kittel said. It is really a collaborative effort to prevent the extinction of these coho salmon in Redwood Creek.

Now Playing: Rescued coho salmon are released in Redwood Creek, in Marin County, where they are on the verge of extinction. Video: SFChronicle

Redwood Creek is the historic home of the southernmost continually returning natural population of coho salmon in the western United States. Coho, which are also known as silver salmon, were once so plentiful that Miwok Indians used the area as a seasonal fishing village, competing with grizzly bears for the bounty. The fish thrived in a network of wetlands, dunes and a 13-acre freshwater lagoon.

Coho typically return from the ocean at age 3 during the first rains of the year and swim up the streams where they were born to spawn and die. The three-year coho life cycle means there are three separate generations of spawning fish.

Over the past century, the creek was forced into a narrow channel as road construction, agriculture and recreation eliminated the natural floodplain. Pollution and drought made the situation worse.

Although coho have been disappearing throughout their range, the decline in Redwood Creek has been precipitous. Fewer than 10 fish returned to spawn in five of the seven years before 2014, when the once abundant species stopped spawning in the midst of Californias five-year drought. Thats when the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service and California State Parks decided to rescue all the baby fish in the creek.

Problem was, no salmon eggs, called redds, were spotted in the shade of the world-famous redwood grove, and not a single baby coho could be found that summer. Instead, fisheries biologists removed 1- to 1-year-old fish that had been unable to migrate out to the ocean because the water level was so low. Biologists collected 200 fish in each of the next two years in an effort to make sure each year-class was safe.

Kittel believes the 2013 generation of coho went extinct. The 106 fish collected in 2014 were released a year ago in an attempt to replenish the extirpated population. The release Friday is part of the effort by fisheries biologists to play coho cupid.

A crowd of beachgoers, biologists and locals gathered Friday as the coho were brought over in a tanker truck, plopped two at a time into ice chests, wheeled over to the creek, and let go.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

By cutting out the portion in the ocean where a lot of them get eaten, we now have a lot of big, healthy fish, Naomi LeBeau, a restoration specialist with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, said as she netted the writhing fish and placed them in ice chests. I think the future is bright. I have hope.

The calamity in Redwood Creek is all the more troubling to conservationists in light of the recent restoration of the historic marshlands and tidal lagoon at Muir Beach, which was supposed to be a bonanza for coho. The $15 million project by the National Park Service and the parks conservancy included the rerouting into the ocean of the creek, which flows past the cozy Pelican Inn on scenic Highway 1.

Kittel said the restoration work could help as the planted fish and their offspring struggle to survive. He is waiting for lab results of tissue samples taken from juvenile fish captured in the creek last summer to determine whether they are the offspring of the fish released a year ago.

Although coho spawning has so far been pretty dismal all up and down the coast, the rains this week appear to have prompted a surge of activity.

On the other side of Mount Tamalpais, coho are just now beginning to swim up Lagunitas Creek, a waterway that has long been considered the bellwether of wild salmon health in Central California.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The coho have arrived, said Eric Ettlinger, an aquatic ecologist for the Marin Municipal Water District, which oversees the creek. Its likely that when all streams have been surveyed our count will exceed 100 coho redds, which would still be below average but no longer disastrous.

Dunn, the intern who spent her day releasing salmon into Redwood Creek, said she is honored to do her part.

I picked this job so I could contribute to preserving the Earth, she said as she stood thigh deep in the water with her net, so this is a great moment for me.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite

Smattering of salmon facts

Range: Coho salmon are found on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean from Hokkaido, Japan, and eastern Russia, around the Bering Sea to mainland Alaska, and south all the way to Monterey Bay.

Description: Adults typically weigh 8 to 12 pounds and are 18 to 30 inches long, though individual fish weighing 31 pounds have been caught.

Life cycle: Anadromous, meaning adults re-enter natal freshwater streams to spawn after spending half of their three-year life cycle in the salty Pacific Ocean. Adults die within two weeks of spawning. Fry grow to 4 to 5 inches long before heading to the Pacific.A small dog missing for three years after he was stolen from his owner was returned to her this week thanks to the pup's microchip.

The dog, a Maltese and Yorkshire terrier mix named Elliot, was nabbed away from Patricia Griffin's side years ago when they were leaving a hotel in Livermore.2001-06-14 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- In a symbolic bow to the energy crisis, the decorative lights on the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate are being turned off a little earlier these days.

The Golden Gate cut back on its lighting several months ago, and the Bay Bridge followed suit earlier this month.

Both bridges have been lit up at night since they celebrated their 50th anniversaries -- in November 1986 for the Bay Bridge and in May 1987 for the Golden Gate.

Until this month, the state-owned Bay Bridge turned on a string of 848 lights along the bridge cables at sunset every night, and turned them off at dawn.

But now in response to what Caltrans spokesman Bob Haus called "political pressure" from citizens, bridge staff members are turning the lights on at 9 p. m. -- about a half hour after sunset -- and off at 3 in the morning -- more than 2 1/2 hours before dawn. This means the lights are off for nearly three hours when they would normally be turned on.

This is not much of a saving in June, the month when the days are longest. Turning off the decorative lights early means the state is saving a grand total of $1.09 every night.

"These are very low-energy lights," said Haus, "the change is mostly for symbolic reasons."

He said Caltrans got a lot of calls from citizens wanting to know why the bridge lights were on in a time when the state government had asked businesses to cut decorative lights.

"We also got a lot of calls in a spirit of defiance, people shaking their fists at the energy crisis. A never-say-die attitude," Haus said. The cutback was "kind of a compromise," he said.

The days begin to get shorter after the summer solstice next Thursday, but the lighting won't change for awhile, he said. A decision hasn't been made about what to do when the world turns. Perhaps the energy crisis will have gone away by then.

Meanwhile, on the Golden Gate, the towers used to be illuminated from dusk to dawn. When the energy crisis hit, the bridge district cut back the hours. Now the lights go on at 9 and are turned off at dawn. On days where there is a Stage III power alert, the lights are not turned on at all, said deputy district manager Kary Witt.

The cuts don't save much power, Witt said. It only costs $2.20 an hour to light the bridge towers, and the energy saved, he says, is only enough to power 13 hair dryers. "But every little bit helps," he said.

"This is mostly symbolic," he said.

The Golden Gate Bridge lights, part of the original design of the bridge that called for "flooding the towers with beams of light," were installed in 1987 as a gift from Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

The roadway lights on both bridges are not affected.Oakland residents have mixed feelings about the installation of a bike share docking station near an Oakland firestorm memorial at the Rockridge BART station. In response to the outcry, city officials said the current location will be temporary while they determine a new site.

The Ford GoBike rack was installed Thursday morning just a few feet in front of one of three walls covered in tiles dedicated to the memory of the people and homes lost in the 1991 inferno.

Residents have taken issue with the GoBike station's proximity to the mural, composed of 2,300 tiles hand-painted by everyone from Oakland schoolchildren to former President Bill Clinton.

"There are some people who are overjoyed to have the bike station there and don't care where it is," said Rockridge community planning chairman Stuart Flashman. "There are also people who feel that, though a bike station is a good idea, that's not the right place to put it."

Flashman said the biggest issue stems from a lack of communication between the city and the bike share contractor, Motivate, and residents. He said officials held a town hall about a year ago indicating plans to install a GoBike rack at the Rockridge station, but they did not provide specific details of where the rack would be located.

"Then they never bothered to come back and ask anyone," Flashman said.

Former Oakland Public Works Director Brooke Levin spearheaded the creation of the memorial, in collaboration with CalTrans, BART and the city of Oakland, shortly after the firestorm. It was installed in 1994.

Levin said the placement of the rack obstructs the viewshed and interrupts the viewer's experience of the 24-year-old mural.

"It's like looking at a quilt square versus the entire pattern," Levin analogized.

In a Friday statement, the Oakland Department of Transportation acknowledged the community's concerns, saying the organization planned to "make the current installed location temporary."

"We will be coordinating with Ford GoBike, Motivate and BART to engage with community members in a process aimed toward an improved design, including reevaluation of the current site, or relocation to another nearby location that would serve the needs of the bike-share program and the community benefits it strives to provide," the statement said.

The city invites residents to provide additional feedback by emailing bikeshare@oaklandnet.com.

When Ford GoBike docking stations first arrived in Oakland last year, some welcomed the arrival of greater transportation accessibility. Others decried the bikes as symbols of gentrification. Read more about the controversy in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.SEATTLE  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday injected himself into one of the most contentious political debates in the United States, announcing that he and his wife had donated $33 million to a college scholarship program geared toward young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, gave the money to the nonprofit Dream.US. The group said the donation, the largest in its history, would finance scholarships for 1,000 high school graduates who have been allowed to stay in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.

The roughly 800,000 Dreamers affected by the program face an uncertain future after President Trump said last year that he planned to end the protections.

Uncertainty continued to swirl around the program this week, with a federal judge ruling that the Trump administration must maintain it as a legal fight over the presidents decision proceeds and Trump sending mixed signals about his willingness to strike a deal with Congress that would offer the immigrants a path to citizenship.

Trump has regularly criticized Bezos, both for his role at Amazon and for his ownership of the Washington Post, which he bought in 2013. Trump has accused Amazon of sidestepping taxes and the Post of covering him unfairly.

Don Graham, publisher of the Post when Bezos bought the paper, is a founder of Dream.US.

Bezos said in a statement that the donation was inspired by the example of his father, Miguel, who came to the United States from Cuba in the early 1960s as part of a wave of thousands of unaccompanied minors.

My dad came to the U.S. when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, Bezos said in the statement. He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination, and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware, my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways. MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help todays Dreamers by funding these scholarships.

Two years ago, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, gave the group $5 million.

Nick Wingfield is a New York Times writer.On an initial walk-through, this years CES electronics trade show was reminiscent of years past. Thousands of tech and gadget enthusiasts flooded the Las Vegas Convention Center for the four-day event, which began Tuesday, to see the newest electronics being introduced on the market.

And many products were unveiled. Samsung highlighted a smart refrigerator with a large touch screen and voice controls. Huawei, the Chinese manufacturer, showed its first high-end smartphone for the United States. And LG demonstrated a TV that can be rolled up like a yoga mat.

Yet the clear darling of this years show was not a gadget but the growing amount of artificial intelligence software helping these products run. The race between Amazon and Google to be the go-to service for integration of consumer products was on full display. In many booths, signs prominently advertised that products worked with Google Assistant or Amazons Alexa. The smart home, car and TV all seemed to have been touched by Amazon or Google.

Its the year of AI and conversational interfaces, said J.P. Gownder, an analyst for Forrester Research.

Zipping along the convention floor were robots yielding a host of skills. One robot, Nimbo, works as an intelligent security system that can be programmed to patrol specific routes. Another robot, iPal, serves as companion to older and younger users. Designed by AvatarMind, the $1,500 humanoid robot can remind elders to take medicine or greet children at the door.

Sonys new robot dog, Aibo, also stopped convention-goers who took time to rub their hands on its hard-surface head.

Googles presence was easily identifiable with activation centers, games and presenters walking around the convention floor, but Amazon dominated the arena by the sheer volume of products that worked with the Alexa voice assistant, like robovacuums, light dimmers and even mosquito zappers.

This years event featured more than 4,000 exhibitors, including 800 startups, and covered more than 2.6 million square feet.

Home appliances like coffee makers, vacuums, ovens and even the cat litter box also received an AI upgrade. Samsungs smart refrigerator, which was on display, allows consumers to control other home devices with their voice and a large touch screen.

The Mercedes-Benz User Experience was one of many vehicle systems showcasing connected car technology, was a crowd favorite. The in-vehicle system includes a touch screen and understands voice commands.

On Wednesday, the power went out for a large portion of the convention center for more than an hour. Many attendees mocked the irony of a giant electronics show lacking electricity.

Whitney Richardson and Brian X. Chen are New York Times writers.After receiving 6,960 entries from 35 states across the country, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC), presented by BevMo!, has once again successfully narrowed thousands of wines down to an exclusive few.

In the second week of January, 67 independent judges from a variety of fields including trade, education, media, retail and hospitality traveled to the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds in Sonoma County to determine the best wines in the USA. Utilizing an extensive process that divides the varietals into several categories and subcategories, the event gave the panels the chance to rate entries as Bronze, Silver, Gold or "Double Gold"(equivalent to a unanimous rating by all panel members).

Three full days of judging were followed by the Sweepstakes judging, which took place on Friday morning. 47 judges participated in this portion, and an astounding 3,478 glasses were used in the final tasting for the best of the best. Only 7 entries were honored with the prestigious Sweepstake Award in the categories of Label, Sparkling, White, Pink, Red, and Dessert/Specialty wines. For the first time, in 2018 the SFCWC has also added a Cider Sweepstake winner.

The 2018 Sweepstake Award Winners are:

Red Sweepstake Winner

O'Shaughnessy Estate Winery (CA) 2014 Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

White Sweepstake Winner

Brick Barn Wine Estate (CA) 2016 Santa Ynez Valley Vermentino

Sparkling Sweepstake Winner

Rack & Riddle (CA) NV Sonoma County Blanc de Noirs

Pink Sweepstake Winner

Barnard Griffin (WA) 2017 Columbia Valley Rose of Sangiovese

Dessert/Specialty Sweepstake Winner

Merritt Estate Winery (NY) 2015 Lake Erie Vidal Ice Wine

Wine Label Sweepstake Winner

Rodney Strong Vineyards (CA) 2015 Sonoma County Upshot

Cider Sweepstake Winner

Goose Watch Winery (NY) NV Finger Lakes Flying High Semi-Sweet Cider

Some amazing American Viticultural Areas are bringing in wines of extraordinary quality, resulting in 173 Best of Class awards. In addition to California and Oregon, major regions which won numerous awards and Best of Class designations include New York, Washington, and Texas. Each of the Best of Class winners have been categorized to provide consumers with an easy reference guide to delicious and affordable wines based on insights from industry specialists.

The 2018 SFCWC Best of Class Awards are:





Founded in 1983 as the modestly sized Cloverdale Citrus Fair Wine Competition, the SFCWC has expanded tremendously over the years, finally gaining title sponsorship from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000 and bringing on BevMo! as a presenting sponsor since 2013. Now celebrating the 18th anniversary of the competition, the SFCWC is considered the barometer of how consumers select and measure their wine.

The public will have a chance to taste many of these award winning wines at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition's Public Tasting, happening February 17 from 1:30-5pm at the Fort Mason Center's Festival Pavilion in San Francisco.

WHAT: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting

WHEN: Saturday, February 17, 2018

WHERE: Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco

TIME: 1:30 p.m.  5 p.m.

COST: $70 Advance Purchase, $95 at the door (the event has sold out for the past eight years; advance ticket purchase is recommended.)

INFO: For tickets and additional information, visit www.winejudging.com

About the SFCWC: Founded in 1983 as the modestly sized Cloverdale Citrus Fair Wine Competition, the current competition has evolved immensely overProvided by Alameda County Sheriff's Office

The man charged in a crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer on Christmas Eve has been released from the hospital and booked into Santa Rita Jail, officials said.

Mohammed Abraar Ali, 22, of Hayward, was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs when he slammed into a CHP cruiser while traveling in excess of 100 mph on Dec. 24. CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri was killed in the crash.21 parties registered for National Assembly vote

A total of 21 political parties have been registered with the Election Commission for the National Assembly elections scheduled for February 7, the EC has said.The federal judge who blocked President Trump from eliminating a program that protects nearly 700,000 young immigrants from deportation issued a follow-up ruling Friday saying the lawsuits challenging the presidents order can seek to prove discrimination, based on Trumps disparaging comments about Latinos.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction Tuesday preserving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, while suits against its repeal continue.

The program allows youths who entered the United States without documentation before age 16, and who had attended school or served in the military and had no serious criminal record, to obtain renewable two-year reprieves from deportation and work permits.

Trump announced in September that he would abolish DACA in March unless Congress passed it as a law. In his Tuesday ruling, Alsup said Trump had offered no reasoned explanation for his action and had no basis for his assertion that former President Barack Obama had acted illegally in a 2012 order establishing the program.

In Fridays order, Alsup dismissed some claims in the lawsuits  that a repeal would violate the constitutional rights of DACA recipients, and that the public was entitled to advance notice and an opportunity to comment on the repeal. He said a new administration can change an earlier immigration policy, as long as it follows legal procedures, and noted that Obama had not provided notice and a comment period before launching the program.

But the judge reiterated his previous assessment that the plaintiffs were likely to show that Trumps action was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law because he offered no plausible rationale to show a repeal was in the national interest. And Alsup also refused to dismiss a claim that Trump was violating DACA recipients constitutional right to equal protection of the law.

Latinos make up 93 percent of DACA recipients, Alsup said, and some of Trumps statements might be used to show a racial motivation. He cited the presidential candidates charge in 2015 that Mexican immigrants are drug dealers, rapists and killers, his assertion during a Republican debate that the Mexican government was sending the bad ones to the U.S., and his description in August of undocumented immigrants as animals.

Although judges should be cautious in considering campaign rhetoric as evidence of presidential motives, Alsup said, they need not disregard clear-cut indications of racial prejudice on the campaign trail.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelkoHARTFORD, Conn.  After the 2012 school massacre in Newtown, police officials not involved in the investigation and dignitaries were allowed into the building and potentially contaminated the crime scene by stepping on bullet casings and glass shards that had yet to be processed as evidence, according to a report state police released on their response to the mass shooting.

The long-awaited report, released Friday, concludes state police handled the response effectively, but it recommends improvements to protecting crime scene integrity, dealing with victims families and other issues. A 2013 report on the response by Newtown police said that department responded rapidly and followed policy.

Gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their Newtown home before shooting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, and killing 20 first-graders, six educators and himself. Investigators never found a clear motive but said Lanza suffered mental health problems and was obsessed with mass shootings.

The unprecedented nature of this incident posed numerous challenges, the state police report says. The unique dynamics of this tragedy tasked the agencys resources and tested the capacity and capabilities of individuals and units alike. ... Had it not been for the heroic actions of the teachers, school staff and the response force, the number of victims could have been higher.

One recommendation is to limit crime scene access to authorized personnel. The report says uninvolved state police command staff, members of outside agencies and dignitaries were allowed into the school in the hours and days after the shooting, potentially contaminating the crime scene and unnecessarily exposing personnel to the disturbing scene.

Relevant evidence was stepped on, including bullet casings and glass shards, which had yet to be processed and properly documented, the report says.

The report also recommends training and developing a checklist for notifying families of the deaths of their loved ones. In Newtown, troopers notified the families of the victims professionally and with compassion, but some mistakes were made, the report says. In one case, a trooper did not know the correct relationship between a victim and the family member he was notifying, it says.

Establishment of a statewide family liaison program also is recommended. After the school shooting, family liaison officers were assigned to each victims family and were critically important to coordinating resources to the families, the report says.

Michele Gay, whose daughter, Josephine, was one of the 20 children killed, said she hopes state police learn from both what they did well and what they were not prepared to handle in the aftermath of the tragedy.

She said her family and others appreciated being assigned a trooper to act as a liaison who kept them informed and relayed their needs to authorities. But, she said, it was clear there were no protocols or procedures in place for handling this type of situation.

We were very fortunate that they were such principled, trustworthy and loyal individuals that we were working with at the state police, she said. But I feel a lot of them look back and wish they didnt have to be making it up as they were going along, that they had more mental health support in terms of how to communicate with families and deal with land mines that they might encounter.

Gay said it was heartbreaking to hear about problems with the crime scene access, including the bullet casings being stepped on.

Those things have to be part of planning ahead of time, so its not even a question or decision to make in the middle of chaos, she said.

A state police spokeswoman said many of the recommendations already have been implemented or are being implemented.

Dave Collins is an Associated Press writer.WASHINGTON  President Trump on Friday denied using certain language during a private meeting with lawmakers as fury spread over his comments about immigrants. But neither he nor the White House disputed the most controversial of his remarks: using the word shithole to describe African nations and saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

Trumps comments came during an Oval Office meeting when he questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to one participant and people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, Trump insisted in a series of Friday morning tweets. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made  a big setback for DACA.

But Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the only Democrat in the room, disputed the presidents account. He said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly, Durbin said,

Trump took particular issue with the characterization of his comments on Haiti. The Washington Post reported that, during the meeting, Trump said immigrants from Haiti should be left out of any new agreement approved by Congress.

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems, Trump wrote. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who attended the meeting, said in a statement that they do not recall the president saying these comments specifically. What Trump did do, they said, was call out the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whom Durbin said had voiced objection to Trumps comments during the meeting, issued a statement that did not dispute the remarks.

Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel, he said, adding: Ive always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals.

Trumps contemptuous blanket description of African countries startled lawmakers in the meeting and immediately revived charges that the president is racist.

Florida GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Trumps comments were completely unacceptable, telling WPLG-TV in Miami: If thats not racism, I dont know how you can define it.

The words used by the president, as related to me directly following the meeting by those in attendance, were not tough, they were abhorrent and repulsive, Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake said in a tweet.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the vulgar language was very unfortunate, unhelpful.

Trump did not respond to shouted questions about his comments as he signed a proclamation Friday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Monday. He called King a great American hero.

His comments on Thursday also threatened to further imperil immigration talks aimed at extending protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to the country as children and now are here illegally. Trump last year ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provided protection from deportation and the ability to work legally in the country. He gave Congress until March to come up with a legislative fix.

These comments are highly inappropriate and out of bounds and could hurt efforts for a bipartisan immigration agreement, said Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Trumps comments came as two senators presented details of a bipartisan compromise that would protect DACA immigrants  and also strengthen border protections, as Trump has insisted, providing $1.6 billion for a first installment on his long-sought border wall.

The lawmakers had hoped Trump would back their accord, an agreement among six senators evenly split among Republicans and Democrats, ending a months-long, bitter dispute over protecting the Dreamers.

But Trump rejected the deal, plunging the issue back into uncertainty just eight days before a deadline that threatens a government shutdown.

Trump took particular issue with the idea, explained by Durbin of Illinois, the Senates No. 2 Democrat, that as part of the deal people who fled to the U.S. after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti, would be allowed to stay.

The administration announced last year that it would end a temporary residency permit program that allowed nearly 60,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S. in the wake of a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Trump also took issue with the idea that, while a lottery that benefits people from Africa and other nations would be ended, there could be another way for them to apply.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump has called himself the least racist person that youve ever met. But his political rise was fueled in part by the inaccurate claim that Barack Obama, the nations first black president, wasnt born in the United States. He launched his campaign with a speech that accused Mexico of sending its rapists across the border and at one point proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. He also claimed there were very fine people on both sides after violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., left one counterprotester dead.

Trump on Friday panned the so-called bipartisan DACA deal as a big step backwards.

Wall was not properly funded, Chain & Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime ... countries which are doing badly, he wrote.

Jill Colvin and Alan Fram are Associated Press writers.WASHINGTON  President Trumps White House physician declared him in excellent health after the president received his first medical checkup at Walter Reed military hospital on Friday, undergoing a physical examination amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that hes mentally unfit.

Dr. Ronny Jackson, in a statement released by the White House, said the examination went exceptionally well. The President is in excellent health and I look forward to briefing some of the details on Tuesday.

Trump spent about three hours at the medical facility in Bethesda, Md., outside Washington, for the checkup, his first as president, before departing for Florida for the weekend.

The fairly routine exam for previous presidents has taken on outsized importance in the age of Trump, given the tone of some of his tweets, comments attributed to some of his close advisers and Trumps recent slurring of words on national TV.

Some of the comments were published in a new book about Trumps first year, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, which White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has denounced as complete fantasy for portraying her 71-year-old boss as undisciplined and in over his head as president.

Trump himself has pushed back hard against any suggestion that hes mentally unfit, declaring himself a very stable genius. He told reporters on Thursday that he expected the exam to go very well. Ill be very surprised if it doesnt.

The examination measured things like Trumps blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, heart rate and weight. The White House did not provide specific results of those tests. Jackson, who also provided care for President Barack Obama and became a White House physician in 2006, is expected to provide a detailed readout of the exam on Tuesday and answer questions from reporters.

But conclusions about Trumps mental acuity were not expected. The White House said Trump would not undergo a psychiatric exam. Officials did not address a different type of screening: assessments of cognitive status that examine neurologic functions including memory. Cognitive assessments arent routine in standard physicals, though they recently became covered in Medicares annual wellness visits for seniors.

While the exams are not mandatory, modern presidents typically undergo them regularly and release a doctors report declaring they are fit for duty.

Two months before the November 2016 election, Trump released a five-paragraph letter from his longtime physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, who concluded that Trump was in excellent physical health. A year earlier, Bornstein said in a December 2015 letter: If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.

Trump was 70 when he took office on Jan. 20, 2017, making him the oldest person ever elected to the nations highest office.

Darlene Superville and Ken Thomas are Associated Press writers.CBS to conduct Economic Census from April 14

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the government agency that collects, processes, analyses and disseminates data, is conducting Economic Census for the first time beginning April 14 to ascertain the number of commercial enterprises andDr KC ends hunger strike following 5-point deal with govt

Orthopedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC has ended his hunger strike on Saturday. He ceased his 14th hunger strike on the sixth day following an agreement reached with Health Minister Deepak Bohara on Friday night.Five die of viral fever in Bajura village

Five persons have died and many more have fallen ill after being struck down by viral fever at Jagannath Rural Municipality-2 in Bajura over the past few days.SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A prisoner slain by fellow white inmates at a California prison was a founder of Public Enemy Number 1, a white supremacist prison and street gang, law enforcement and watchdog groups confirmed Friday.

Devlin "Gazoo" Stringfellow, 48, helped start the group known as PENI, which grew from the Southern California punk music scene in the 1980s into what the Anti-Defamation League calls a hybrid, racist, skinhead gang.

Stringfellow was stabbed repeatedly in an exercise yard Wednesday by two other prisoners armed with inmate-made weapons, said Lt. L.A. Quinn, a spokesman at California State Prison, Sacramento.

He identified them as Jacob Kober, 29, and Stephen Dunckhurst, 49. No charges have been filed, and experts could not immediately say if they are gang members.

Quinn said officials didn't have a motive.

All members of PENI were previously made members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, said Matthew Buechner, a former gang investigator with the California corrections department.

Stringfellow was the second high-profile gang leader slain at the maximum security prison east of Sacramento in recent years.

Hugo "Yogi" Pinell, 71, a purported member of the Black Guerrilla Family, was slain in 2015 after he was freed from decades in isolation following a bloody escape attempt at San Quentin State Prison in 1971. Pinell denied gang involvement.

Buechner said Stringfellow had been a target of fellow gang members for years.

"He was a loud mouth and (the Aryan Brotherhood) does not want attention," Buechner said in an email. Its members lure targets into thinking they are safe, "then strike as violently as possible to send a message to enemies and membership to stay in line."

Stringfellow had been in and out of prison repeatedly since 1991, mostly on drug and weapons charges with added time for engaging in gang activity. He was set to be released in 2020 after completing a six-year sentence on drug, weapons and assault charges.

His attorney in that case, Nima Farhadi of the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, did not return telephone messages Friday.

Kober is serving a life sentence for a 2012 Alameda County murder. Dunckhurst was initially serving a three-year term for a Shasta County robbery but now has a life sentence for vehicle theft and a weapons conviction.

Internal gang slayings are not uncommon, said Joanna Mendelson, a senior investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism who was among those identifying Stringfellow as a PENI founder.

"The movement is characterized by paranoia, infighting and violence both directed against enemies as well as even their own members," she said in an email. "Putting a hit on their own 'brothers' is not uncommon."SAN MATEO (BCN)

Officers arrested an alleged package thief in San Mateo with help from an alert resident, police said.

A resident called police around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday and told them he had just spotted a man who was captured on surveillance video stealing packages from his porch several days earlier.

The suspect was walking in the vicinity of State and Delaware streets, according to police.

Officers sped to the scene and located Tommy Galia, 36, who they identified as a San Francisco transient, allegedly carrying a package addressed to a local resident, police said. Galia had additional property that didn't seem to belong to him, according to police.

Police arrested Galia on suspicion of theft, possession of stolen property and multiple warrants. He was taken to San Mateo County Jail, police said.

The suspected stolen property was collected for observation and photos have been posted on a Pinterest page, police said. Residents who have had packages stolen from their porches should review the property list and contact Officer Jeffrey Emley if any of the items appear to be theirs.

The Pinterest page is at https://www.pinterest.com/sanmateopd/property-for-viewingThe State Bar of California has charged a South Bay attorney with misconduct after he allegedly deceived his elderly client into signing over 70 percent of her estate in a living will, according to State Bar spokesman Jonah Lamb.

Paul Van Der Walde, a Campbell injury attorney who is a founding partner of Caputo & Van Der Walde LLP, was charged with several counts of misconduct after drafting a living will for his client Mary Exum, which rewarded the attorney with $185,621 dollars to himself as interest, according to the case's notice of disciplinary charges from the State Bar Court Clerk's office.A Bay Area scientist is the first veterinarian to be chosen as a TED Fellow, officials with her employer the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County said.

A TED Fellow is a young innovator who displays outstanding achievement and exemplary character.

"It is absolutely a dream come true," Dr. Claire Simeone, 32, conservation medicine veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Center, said Friday.

Simeone is one of the newest class of 20 TED Fellows from four continents who will give talks at TED2018 in April in Vancouver.

Simeone's work largely focuses on the connection between marine mammal health and the health of humans and the health of the ocean.

For example, understanding cancer in California sea lions may lead to a better understanding of cancer in humans.

Simeone said sea lions could develop a certain type of cancer that is similar to cervical cancer in women.

"What is happening to marine mammals is connected to the greater health of the ocean, the planet and all of us," TED Fellows director Shoham Arad said. "We are compelled by Claire's holistic approach to ocean health and the way in which her work can contribute to the Fellows community."

Simeone said she is still preparing her talk for TED2018 but it will involve the intersection between marine mammal health, ocean health and human health.

"I'm super excited," she said.

Simeone work obviously involves caring for marine mammals but also includes research.

In a paper published last year in Veterinary Ophthalmology, Simeone and others studied how a thermodynamic gel used in human medicine can keep an antibiotic in place on sea lions suffering from eye ulcers.

Simeone said using the gel can help sea lions heal without having to be treated as frequently since they don't like to sit still.

"It's really revolutionized how we treat eye ulcers in marine mammals," Simeone said.

The TED Fellows program started in 2009 and includes 453 fellows from 96 countries.

Talks by the fellows have collectively been viewed more than 178 million times.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The chief executive of a San Mateo-based bike sharing company blasted the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's permitting process after the agency issued a permit to an out-of-state competitor.

On Tuesday, SFMTA announced it had awarded Social Bicycles, operator of the JUMP system, the sole dockless bike sharing permit in San Francisco for the next 18 months. The agency also closed the permitting process to all other vendors, including San Mateo-based LimeBike.

"SFMTA's decision to award a sole-source contract to a non-SF Bay Area-based company fails all aspects of a transparent and fair review process," Toby Sun, the CEO and cofounder of LimeBike, said in a statement.

Sun said the award limits dockless bike sharing choices for the city, leaving members of the community underserved.

The chief executive called for the city to review the entire dockless bike sharing permitting program, seek community input and re-open the permitting process.

"No one should operate until a fair process is conducted," Sun said.

An SFMTA spokesman defended the decision.

"JUMP Bikes has demonstrated a commitment to San Francisco's priorities of providing a safe, equitable and accountable bike share system and is the only company to have fulfilled the requirements of SFMTA's stationless bike share permit application," spokesman Paul Rose said.

"Since this will be the first stationless bike share permit issued by the SFMTA, we are providing this permit as an 18-month pilot to evaluate, collect data and assess whether further increases would serve the public's interest," Rose said.

Rose said JUMP is unique in its offering of electric stationless bikes and could complement the pedal-based Ford GoBike system, which will continue to expand in the city.

According to SFMTA officials, the JUMP permit will allow for up to 250 stationless bikes in the city, with the possibility of adding an additional 250 more bikes after nine months of the 18-month pilot period.

Stationless bike sharing doesn't rely on fixed docking stations, so the bikes are parked at a bike rack or in the section of the sidewalk between the curb and pedestrian through zone.A man with four prior felony convictions was sentenced today to 14 years in state prison for assaulting his ex-girlfriend's sister during an argument at an apartment in Berkeley in 2016.

Alameda County prosecutors said that on the morning of Dec. 22, 2016, Aaron Tingle, 34, and his girlfriend were asleep in the apartment when the victim, who lived there with her sister, stopped by to pick up the last of her belongings.

They said the apartment building had recently changed ownership and all the tenants were being evicted and the victim was in the process of moving into a new apartment.

Prosecutors said Tingle opened the front door and let the victim into the apartment but a short time later he and the victim got into an argument he began punching the woman.

Prosecutors said the victim, who is 5-foot-4 and weighs 145 pounds, tried to fight back but was easily overpowered by Tingle, who is 6-foot-6 and weighs 340 pounds.

After Tingle repeatedly punched the woman, he grabbed a fire extinguisher and hit her in the head with it two or three times, according to prosecutors.

A concerned citizen heard the victim yelling for help and informed a nearby Berkeley police officer and a neighbor also called 911 and numerous officers arrived within minutes, prosecutors said.

The woman was taken to a hospital and needed 11 stitches for her wounds, according to prosecutors.

Tingle was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon last August and was sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner today.

Prosecutors say Tingle has prior convictions between 2002 and 2011 for assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree robbery of a transit operator, selling drugs and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Tingle also was charged with murder for allegedly using a crowbar to kill 51-year-old Anthony Kalaote at his apartment in the 1600 block of 82nd Avenue in East Oakland on April 2, 2015.

The murder charge was later dismissed but authorities said today that Oakland police are still investigating the case to see if they can develop enough evidence to have Tingle charged in connection with that crime again in the near future.

Oakland police said in 2015 that officers who responded to a report of a trauma victim found Kalaote at his apartment at about 11 a.m. on April 2, 2015.

Police said Kalaote was unconscious and wasn't breathing and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sgt. Eric Milina wrote in a probable cause statement that a witness told police that Tingle struck Kalaote in the head with a crowbar.

Tingle, who lived in the 9700 block of MacArthur Boulevard, about a mile away from Kalaote's apartment, was arrested at the scene, according to Milina.

272-6213A Lufthansa flight heading from Germany to San Francisco was diverted to Oakland today because of weather delays at San Francisco International Airport, airport officials confirmed.

The plane had to refuel and did so in Oakland before leaving at 3:35 p.m. for San Francisco airport, where it landed safely.OAKLAND (BCN)

A man was transported to a hospital in stable condition after he was struck with a blunt object in East Oakland on Thursday night, police said.

The assault was reported in the 1600 block of Sunshine Court at about 9:55 p.m. on Thursday, according to police.

The victim suffered lacerations, police said.

No one is in custody for the incident and police said they haven't determined how many suspects were involved.PITTSBURG (BCN)

A neurologically impaired immigrant who was living in Pittsburg and who was jailed in 2016 is being denied release by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials even though a judge said he could be released if he is monitored electronically, the man's attorney said today.

Jose Jimenez Garcia, 35, is "low-functioning" and he has some trouble with language, according to his attorney Helen Lawrence.

Jimenez Garcia is being held in a Sacramento County jail.

Immigration officials believe he will not show up for court if he is released, but Lawrence said she will continue to be his attorney and that minimizes the chance that he will flee.

"They think he's a flight risk," Lawrence said.

ALSO: Chorus of condemnation follows Trump's 'shithole' slurs (story continues below)

Additionally, according to Lawrence, an immigration official told her they want to know whether he's loved enough that someone will check on him if he is released.

Immigration officials want Jimenez Garcia or someone to pay a $7,500 bond instead of allowing him to be electronically monitored.

"That's a lot," Lawrence said.

Jimenez Garcia and his family, a brother and cousin in Pittsburg, are all indigent. Lawrence is appealing for lower bail amount.

Jimenez Garcia, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2002 and was deported in 2008, was picked up by Pittsburg police in 2016 when he was homeless. He was arrested for resisting arrest and booked into the county jail but was not convicted of the charge, according to Lawrence.

An organization that has access to jails, visits people who get no visitors and raises money for bail has started a YouCaring account for Jimenez Garcia, which can be seen at https://www.youcaring.com/civic-1058644.

So far the organization Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement has raised $940 as of late Friday afternoon.

"Jose suffers from neurological impairments that make his days in detention extremely difficult," fundraising organizer Christina Mansfield said on YouCaring.

Jimenez Garcia would go to an inpatient, Spanish-speaking rehabilitation center in Oakland for six months if he was released. There, he would learn how to stay drug-free in the community before going to live with family in Pittsburg, Lawrence said.

According to Lawrence, in jail Jimenez Garcia is not learning how to stay sober once he's released.

The rehabilitation center, Mi Segunda Vida, has given Lawrence a letter saying he can get treatment there after immigration officials release him.

He is not a danger to the public, according to Lawrence, and, she said, that's been determined in two bond hearings.

Jimenez Garcia has a handful of misdemeanor convictions all of which occurred more than 10 years ago. None have to do with stealing from someone or DUI. Lawrence said his convictions involve things like stealing toiletries from a store.

Lawrence said sending Jimenez Garcia back to Mexico would send him into harms way because people with his kind of impairment are treated so poorly in Mexico.

Immigration officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.SANTA ROSA (BCN)

A Petaluma man who allegedly tried to smother his wife and help hang her was charged in Sonoma County Superior Court today with voluntary manslaughter and assisting her suicide.

David O'Connor Clement, 64, did not enter a plea to the two felony charges and is scheduled to return to court Wednesday.

Clement called the sheriff's office around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to report that 52-year-old Debra Bales of Petaluma had just hanged herself from a tree near the Inn at the Tides parking lot on state Highway 1 in Bodega Bay, Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

Detectives responded and determined Clement and his wife were staying at the inn for the past three days with the intent of Bales committing suicide, Crum said.

Bales was not terminally ill but she had recently come off opioid medication, Crum said.

Clement tried to smother his wife with a pillow three times over the three days, and when that failed, Clement and Bales bought a rope, Crum said.

Clement fastened the rope to a tree near their hotel room and tied the knots that helped bales hang herself, Crum said. Clement called 911 after the successful hanging, Crum said.

Clement was booked in the Sonoma County Jail for attempted murder and aiding his wife's suicide.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell would not discuss the facts of the case and the basis for the charges.

"The charges are based on the facts as we know them at this time," Staebell said.

"We are continuing to work with the Sheriff's Office to investigate what occurred as well as the reason behind the defendant's actions and we will present the facts when we are asked to do so by the court," Staebell said.

Clement is being held on $1 million bail in the Sonoma County jail.

565-2396

Attorney Nathan Poulos for Clement (707) 565-6220SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Police in San Francisco have arrested a man in connection with a stabbing death that occurred Thursday in the city's Mission District.

Jesus Ramirez, 48, was arrested Friday on suspicion of murder, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

On Thursday at 8:14 p.m., officers responded to the 1200 block of Potrero Avenue on a report of a man who had been stabbed and was bleeding from the neck and torso, police said.

The victim, identified as Mark Camacho, 59, was transported to the hospital and later died.

Investigators were able to identify Ramirez as the suspect, and he was taken into custody Friday.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A San Francisco police officer accused of sexually assaulting a person while they were unconscious last year was arraigned in court this afternoon, where he entered a plea.

Justin McCall, a 30-year-old San Francisco resident, pleaded not guilty to sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual penetration by a foreign object, prosecutors said.

McCall, a four-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, was arrested Monday afternoon in connection with the Sept. 6 incident.

That same month, the police department's Internal Affairs Criminal Division investigated the allegations and he was placed in a non-public contact position, police said.

McCall is currently suspended without pay, according to police.

He remains out of custody on $200,000 bail, prosecutors said.A San Francisco police officer accused of sexually assaulting a person while they were unconscious last year was arraigned in court Friday afternoon, where he entered a plea.

Justin McCall, a 30-year-old San Francisco resident, pleaded not guilty to sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual penetration by a foreign object, prosecutors said.

McCall, a four-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, was arrested Monday afternoon in connection with the Sept. 6 incident.

That same month, the police department's Internal Affairs Criminal Division investigated the allegations and he was placed in a non-public contact position, police said.

McCall is currently suspended without pay, according to police.

He remains out of custody on $200,000 bail, prosecutors said.

A 70-year-old woman died in a collision with a City of Berkeley vehicle Friday afternoon, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Someone called the CHP at 1:21 p.m. to report the collision at Channing Way and Fulton Street near the University of California at Berkeley campus, CHP Officer Matthew Hamer said.

A city employee was driving a city sedan that struck the woman, who was crossing the street in a crosswalk.

The victim was pronounced dead at 1:31 p.m.

According to Hamer, witnesses told investigators that the vehicle was going at about 15 mph. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with investigators.

Hamer said neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the collision.

A Petaluma man who allegedly tried to smother his wife and help hang her was charged in Sonoma County Superior Court Friday with voluntary manslaughter and assisting her suicide.

David O'Connor Clement, 64, did not enter a plea to the two felony charges and is scheduled to return to court Wednesday.

Clement called the sheriff's office around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to report that 52-year-old Debra Bales of Petaluma had just hanged herself from a tree near the Inn at the Tides parking lot on state Highway 1 in Bodega Bay, Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

Detectives responded and determined Clement and his wife were staying at the inn for the past three days with the intent of Bales committing suicide, Crum said.

Bales was not terminally ill but she had recently come off opioid medication, Crum said.

Clement tried to smother his wife with a pillow three times over the three days, and when that failed, Clement and Bales bought a rope, Crum said.

Clement fastened the rope to a tree near their hotel room and tied the knots that helped bales hang herself, Crum said. Clement called 911 after the successful hanging, Crum said.

Clement was booked in the Sonoma County Jail for attempted murder and aiding his wife's suicide.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell would not discuss the facts of the case and the basis for the charges.

"The charges are based on the facts as we know them at this time," Staebell said.

"We are continuing to work with the Sheriff's Office to investigate what occurred as well as the reason behind the defendant's actions and we will present the facts when we are asked to do so by the court," Staebell said.

Clement is being held on $1 million bail in the Sonoma County jail.

There have been 176 positive influenza tests between October and December and one death associated with the flu in Marin County, the county's Department Health and Human Services said Friday.

There were 128 positive flu tests during the same period in 2016, health officials said.

California health officials reported 27 flu deaths in persons under 65 years old during the current flu season compared with three deaths last year, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

The lone flu death in Marin County this year involved a person under 65, and it's not known if the person was vaccinated.

"It's not too late to get vaccinated," Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matthew Willis said. "Even if the vaccine does not prevent you from getting the flu, it will make it less likely for you to become seriously ill or require hospitalization."

The flu strain circulating in Marin County, A(H3N2),is known to cause more hospitalizations and deaths, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

People at higher risk are those with chronic medical conditions, pregnant women, children under age two and people over 65.

A Lufthansa flight heading from Germany to San Francisco was diverted to Oakland Friday because of weather delays at San Francisco International Airport, airport officials confirmed.

The plane had to refuel and did so in Oakland before leaving at 3:35 p.m. for San Francisco airport, where it landed safely.

Oakland International Airport spokeswoman Keonnis Taylor said, "This is routine practice when SFO has a weather delay program in place."

The plane was an Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, which Oakland International Airport can receive and service on runways, taxiways and at Boarding Gate 1.

Taylor said it was up to Lufthansa whether passengers got off the plane in Oakland or waited to get off at San Francisco International Airport.

"It is very common for an airline to choose not to deplane passengers while awaiting clearance to arrive at their original destination," according to Taylor.

Del Monte Beach in Monterey reopened Friday after samples taken from the water indicate it is safe again after sewage spilled into the storm drain system on Thursday morning, the Monterey County Health Department says.

The beach was closed due to an estimated 1,500 gallons of sewage spilling into the drains on Casa Verde Way at Del Monte Avenue. The incident was reported around 9 a.m. by the Monterey fire department and the Environmental Health Bureau was notified at that time.

The contaminated waters were off limits because of the possibility that contact could cause gastroenteritis and other water borne illnesses.

The water samples taken Friday clear "recreational contact" according to state guidelines.

For more information on Monterey Peninsula beaches, please call the toll-free hotline at (800) 347-6363 or visit the health department website at www.mtyhd.org/beaches.

The chief executive of a San Mateo-based bike sharing company blasted the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's permitting process after the agency issued a permit to an out-of-state competitor.

On Tuesday, SFMTA announced it had awarded Social Bicycles, operator of the JUMP system, the sole dockless bike sharing permit in San Francisco for the next 18 months. The agency also closed the permitting process to all other vendors, including San Mateo-based LimeBike.

"SFMTA's decision to award a sole-source contract to a non-SF Bay Area-based company fails all aspects of a transparent and fair review process," Toby Sun, the CEO and cofounder of LimeBike, said in a statement.

Sun said the award limits dockless bike sharing choices for the city, leaving members of the community underserved.

The chief executive called for the city to review the entire dockless bike sharing permitting program, seek community input and re-open the permitting process.

"No one should operate until a fair process is conducted," Sun said.

An SFMTA spokesman defended the decision.

"JUMP Bikes has demonstrated a commitment to San Francisco's priorities of providing a safe, equitable and accountable bike share system and is the only company to have fulfilled the requirements of SFMTA's stationless bike share permit application," spokesman Paul Rose said.

"Since this will be the first stationless bike share permit issued by the SFMTA, we are providing this permit as an 18-month pilot to evaluate, collect data and assess whether further increases would serve the public's interest," Rose said.

Rose said JUMP is unique in its offering of electric stationless bikes and could complement the pedal-based Ford GoBike system, which will continue to expand in the city.

According to SFMTA officials, the JUMP permit will allow for up to 250 stationless bikes in the city, with the possibility of adding an additional 250 more bikes after nine months of the 18-month pilot period.

Stationless bike sharing doesn't rely on fixed docking stations, so the bikes are parked at a bike rack or in the section of the sidewalk between the curb and pedestrian through zone.Lumbini saw more than 1.55m tourists in 2017

More than 1.55 million tourists visited Lumbini in 2017, representing a 20.75 percent rise as compared to the 2016 figure.WALNUT CREEK (BCN)

A woman was injured but survived an attempted sexual assault on the Iron Horse Trail just south of Newell Avenue in Walnut Creek Thursday, and police are asking for help in finding the suspect.

The woman told police that she was walking from the Broadway Plaza area around 5:30 p.m. when a man crept up behind her and assaulted her. From his actions and comments, it was clear he intended to sexually assault her, she said.

For an unknown reason, the man suddenly fled, running northbound on South Broadway, according to police. The woman was treated for injuries not considered to be life-threatening.

Walnut Creek police and officers from the East Bay Regional Park District searched the area, but couldn't find the suspect, police said.

The suspect is described as an African American man of thin build between the ages of 30 and 40, with a beard or unshaven, wearing a black beanie, a black zip-up sweatshirt, a white T-shirt, dark jeans and brown shoes with white tips.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department's tip line at (510) 690-6521.National Unity Day

The late King Prithivi Narayan (PN) Shah was until a decade ago considered the person who unified this country. Instead of more than two dozen kingdoms, we became one country and the folks from Gorkha got to enjoy the power and the freebies that comes with it.Nepal ends Indias internet monopoly with Chinese link

Nepal has joined hands with China to offer internet services to its citizens, officials said on Friday, ending Indias decades-long monopoly of the Himalayan nations cyber connectivity network.Political leaders in democracies have a few core obligations. They are charged with solving todays problems and preparing their nations for the future. They are responsible for creating some sense of shared purpose and mutual respect among their citizens  above all a common commitment to preserving the very freedoms on which democracy depends.

Within this context, citizens exercise their right to argue about how to define the public interest, how to identify the central problems, and how to choose among competing values.

Given my social democratic leanings, I would assert, for example, that equal opportunity  including the opportunity to participate fully in self-government  demands a far greater degree of economic security and equality than we currently enjoy. This is particularly true when it comes to access to health care, education, family time away from paid labor, and the chance to accumulate wealth.

You might push back and say that my proposals toward these ends impinge more than they should on individual freedom and require higher levels of taxation than you are willing to put up with. Or you might insist that I am focusing too much on economics and that promoting better personal values society-wide is more conducive to the nations well-being than any of my programs for greater equity.

And, yes, we might quarrel about who has a right to join our political community and become part of our nation. We should not pretend that our current battles about immigration are unique to our time. In the United States, we have been wrangling over immigration since at least the 1840s. I suspect (and may God preserve our republic) we will be having at least some contention around this subject in the 2140s as well.

Such debates can be bitter, but democracys health depends on our ability to hold our passions against each other in check and to offer each other at least some benefits of the doubt.

As the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt emphasize in their timely new book, How Democracies Die, democracy requires mutual toleration, which is the understanding that competing parties accept one another as legitimate rivals, and forbearance, which means that politicians exercise restraint in deploying their institutional prerogatives.

Which, alas, brings us yet again to President Trump, who (no matter how much we want to) cannot be avoided at this moment because he threatens the conditions under which democracy can flourish.

Our current debate is frustrating and not only because Trump doesnt understand what mutual toleration and forbearance even mean. By persistently making himself, his personality, his needs, his prejudices and his stability the central topics of our political conversation, Trump is blocking the public conversation we ought to be having about how to move forward.

And while Trumps enablers in the Republican Party will do all they can to avoid the issue, there should now be no doubt (even if this was clear long ago) that we have a blatant racist as our president. His reference to immigrants from shithole countries and his expressed preference for Norwegians over Haitians, Salvadorans and new arrivals from Africa make this abundantly clear. Racist leaders do not help us reach mutual toleration. His semi-denial 15 hours after his comment was first reported lacked credibility, especially because he called around first to see how his original words would play with his base.

But notice also what Trumps outburst did to our capacity to govern ourselves and make progress. Democrats and Republicans sympathetic to the plight of the Dreamers worked out an immigration compromise designed carefully to give Trump what he had said he needed.

There were many concessions by Democrats on border security, chain migration based on family reunification, and the diversity visa lottery that Trump had criticized. GOP senators such as Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., bargained in good faith and were given ample reason by Trump to think they had hit his sweet spot.

Trump blew them away with a torrent of bigotry. In the process, he shifted the onus for avoiding a government shutdown squarely onto his own shoulders and those of Republican leaders who were shamefully slow in condemning the presidents racism.

There are so many issues both more important and more interesting than the psyche of a deeply damaged man. We are capable of being a far better nation. But we need leaders who call us to our obligations to each other as free citizens. Instead, we have a president who knows only how to foster division and hatred.

 2018 Washington Post

Writers Group

Email: ejdionne@washpost.com Twitter: @EJDionneThese articles and photo collections on SFGate.com and the premium SFChronicle.com got the most visits in the week ended Thursday at 10 a.m.

SFChronicle.com

1. Four Barrel Coffee founder accused of sexual assault and harassment

2. The French Laundry has successfully reinvented itself

3. M&R: Pelosi's son hobnobs with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago

4. The 52 California wineries you need to visit in 2018

5. Homes in SF, some historic, illegally demolished by developers

SFGate.com

1. Early-morning 4.4 Berkeley quake jolts Bay Area awake

2. Woman headed to San Jose, Calif., lands in San Jose, Costa Rica, instead.

3. Olympic skater Castelli loses custom costumes, skates in SF car burglary

4. 7 treated, 50 evacuated after iPhone battery overheats in Apple Store

5. Wettest storm of the winter season to soak Bay Area

Most popular searches

1. Jon Gruden (Raiders introduce new old coach).

2. BottleRock 2018 (lineup for concert announced).

3. California flu (several deaths statewide).

4. Fire and Fury (new tell-all book on Donald Trump White House).

5. Najee Harris (former Antioch star plays big role for champs Alabama).

By Peter Hockaday, SFGate Deputy Managing EditorNotes from the depths

To dive and discover the underneath. To see what hasnt speared the surface. Chang was from mainland China, soft-spoken, sophisticated. Muy was a Hong Kong native;(Routes is our weekly roundup of new airline routes to/from the Bay Area and across the country)

In domestic route news, United adds service at San Francisco and elsewhere; Hawaiian Airlines debuts a new aircraft at Oakland and plans another California route; American adds spokes at its LAX and Dallas hubs; Southwest starts flying a new transcontinental route; Delta and JetBlue enter new markets; and Frontier adds a bunch of new routes.

United Airlines already has one daily flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, but it will add a second daily departure next summer. The new flight will operate from June 7 through August 20, and the eastbound segment will be a red-eye. The airlines current Pittsburgh flight  the only non-stop in the market  will be re-timed starting April 9; its current 10:30 p.m. departure will be switched to 8:40 a.m.

United also announced several new routes to secondary destinations, all due to start on June 7. That will include a new daily flight from San Francisco to Madison, Wisconsin, operated by an Embraer 175 regional jet (a 3-4 hour flight). At its Denver hub, United will kick off new daily service to Norfolk, Virginia, using an A319, and daily flights to Appleton, Wisconsin, with a Canadair regional jet. Other new markets include Chicago OHare to Bismarck, S.D.; Houston Bush Intercontinental to Akron/Canton and Dayton, Ohio; and Los Angeles to Eureka, Calif., all using regional jets. And at Newark, United will begin weekly seasonal flights on Saturdays to Rapid City, S.D.

Hawaiian Airlines has put the first of its new A321neo aircraft into mainland service, and is now operating the aircraft on its Oakland-Maui route. On January 18, Hawaiian will deploy the new plane on its Portland-Maui route as well. Hawaiian will be adding a total of 18 single-aisle A321neos to its fleet over the next few years. Meanwhile, Hawaiian is also planning to add another California route to its network. According to Routesonline.com, the carrier will start a new daily flight between Honolulu and Long Beach on May 31. That route will also use a new A321neo.

Headed to Flagstaff, Arizona, for a visit to the Grand Canyon? American Airlines plans to begin flying to Flagstaff this spring from both Los Angeles and Dallas/Ft. Worth, but the initial schedule calls for Saturday-only service to see how much market demand it finds. The carrier will use two-class, 70-seat regional jets for the new flights.

Travel Tips with Chris McGinnis sponsored by: See More Collapse

Southwest Airlines has kicked off new daily non-stops between San Diego and Tampa, Florida. Previously there was no non-stop service in the market. Southwest is a big operator at Tampa, serving 38 destinations from that airport, but this is its first non-stop to the West Coast.

Delta Air Lines plans a May 1 start for new service between Cincinnati and Austin, Texas, operating six flights a week with a Delta Connection/Skywest Airlines CRJ-700. And JetBlue has added a new route at Syracuse, N.Y., now offering a daily flight to its Boston hub with a 100-seat E190.

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has unveiled plans for a number of new routes starting this spring, including daily service from San Francisco to Chicago OHare starting April 8; four flights a week from SFO to Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 4; and three a week from SFO to Des Moines, Iowa, as of June 5. Also on tap is new service from Chicago OHare to El Paso, Jacksonville, Pensacola and Washington Dulles; Cincinnati to Jacksonville; Denver to El Paso, Jacksonville, and Pensacola; Omaha to Las Vegas and Philadelphia; and Philadelphia to Madison and Memphis.

Get TravelSkills via email! Daily or weekly updates. Sign up here

Chris McGinnis is a travel blogger and editor of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.Lateefah Simon wakes up at 4 a.m. to an email inbox that sometimes has over 200 emails in it. At 7 a.m., she takes her daughter to school on BART. Although her official workday starts at 9 a.m., it can sometimes last until 11 p.m. because of after-work meetings. Her days might be crammed and her sleep might be minimal, but by all accounts, Simon's heart is full.

"Yeah, I don't sleep a lot," Simon said.

"But I am supposed to serve."

Its been three years since Lateefah Simon was nominated for the VisionSF award  and since then, she's added quite a bit to her resume. In 2015, Simon was busy running for BART Board of Directors District 7 seat  ultimately elected to the position where she was the only candidate who completely relies on public transportation.

"The last year has been a whirlwind," Simon said.

"For me, running for the BART board was a very cathartic experience. I didn't want to be on city council and I didn't want to be mayor. I wanted to be at BART. So, I've been working on developing relationships with leadership and other members of the BART board."

In her role as district director for BART District 7, Simon said she often spends time at stations to learn the ins and outs of the system in hopes of making it better. So far, she's made it her goal to improve cleanliness and extend the youth fare. However, Simon explained that her role is not immune to challenges.

"It has been a huge awakening because I can't move things as easily as I thought. My agenda is not the BART board member agenda, and finding and understanding my place is humbling."

One of Simon's proudest moments so far was working on BART's "Safe Transit" sanctuary policy in June, which also quickly became a learning experience.

"I did not expect the pushback I got from all over the Bay Area. It was shocking for me to learn how many don't consider immigrants as their neighbors," Simon said.

Aside from her work at BART, Simon became the president of Oakland's Akonandi Foundation in August 2016. There, Simon oversees $3.5 million in grants the foundation gives annually in order to untie racial inequity and improve education for young people in Oakland.

"We want to change the pathway for young people in Oakland," Simon said.

"Things are not getting better for poor or people of color. (Akonandi's) sole duty is to fund and support, working to dismantle institutional racism. We want to get even more serious, identifying specific policies that amplify inequity and go after them. We want to continue to work making monumental investments in specific organizations that double down, identifying those policies and lead us forward. I am excited to be with my team and grantees all over the city listening and understanding what change can look like."

Simon's work at Akonandi was recently recognized by Inside Philanthropy, as she was named Most Promising New Foundation President for 2017.

Simon is also working for change in her new role as California State University Trustee, a position Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to in 2016. As a trustee, Simon is responsible for oversight of the 23-campus system, proud to be representing students across the state, as she has a college-aged daughter and sees their struggles firsthand. Simon was one of the only trustees to vote against tuition hikes that were ultimately passed this March.

"I tend to go over and huddle with the student association," Simon said.

"I see young people as my peers and constituents."

Three years have also passed since Simon's partner, journalist Kevin Weston, passed away from a rare form of leukemia. Shortly after that, Simon's father and aunt also passed away. Through the terrible loss she has experienced, Simon explains that she continues to draw inspiration from her two daughters, along with the people she is lucky enough to interact with every day.

"I'm in a good space. Things are getting more difficult, and I'm staying. Change is happening and I want to be here, on the other side of it," Simon said.

"I'm going to fight really hard for a long time to make sure people without a voice have a seat at the table."

About VisionSF Spotlight Series: Although Lateefah Simon isn't nominated for a Visionary of the Year award, her vision, mission and work is a powerful example of Bay Area leaders working to drive social and economic change everyday.

The Chronicle's VisionSF program and its 4th annual Visionary of the Year award:

Mission statement: "Visionary leaders are paradigm changers  individuals who strive to make the world a better place by employing new, innovative business models and practices. As the world faces an increasing number of widespread social and economic challenges, visionary leaders understand the broad impact of the business community and recognize its potential to drive great change."

How nominees are selected: A group of prominent Bay Area leaders is selected by The Chronicle to identify visionaries who are making a difference in their respective fields. Each of the nominees will be profiled in a series of stories, in the newspaper and on SFChronicle.com, beginning January 2018.

How winner is decided: Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson, Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and Editorial Page Editor John Diaz will select the winner from six finalists. The winner, who will receive a $25,000 grant, will be announced at the end of March 2018.

Past winners: Evan Marwell, founder of Education Superhighway (2015), Chase Adam founder of Watsi (2016), and Priscilla Chan co-founder of Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (2017).

Presenting Sponsor: Pacific Gas & Electric. For more information visit PGE.com

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For more on VisionSF visit SFChronicle.com/VisionSFPRAGUE  Czech President Milos Zeman failed to win re-election Saturday during the first round of the countrys presidential vote and will face a runoff in two weeks against the former head of the countrys Academy of Sciences.

Zeman and Jiri Drahos advanced to a second round of voting after none of the nine candidates seeking the Czech Republics largely ceremonial presidency received a majority of votes in the first round held Friday and Saturday.

With almost all ballots counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Zeman had 38.6 percent of the vote, a commanding lead over Drahos 26.6 percent.

A former diplomat, Pavel Fischer, was a distant third with 10.2 percent. Songwriter Michal Horacek finished fourth with 9.2 percent, ahead of physician Marek Hilser, who had 8.8 percent.

Zeman congratulated Drahos and announced he was ready to face him in public debates before the Jan. 26-Jan. 27 runoff. Zeman didnt take part in any debates ahead of the first round of voting.

Mr. Drahos said that he would like to meet me face to face. I am happy to oblige him, the president said.

Election officials said voter turnout was 61.9 percent in the preliminary election. Drahos called on all those who want a change to cast ballots in the runoff.

The final is still ahead of us and thats what matters, Drahos said.

Zeman, 73, was elected in 2013 during the countrys first direct presidential vote, a victory that returned the former left-leaning prime minister to power. As president, he has become a strong anti-migrant voice and major pro-Russian voice in European Union politics.

Drahos, 68, is seen as more western-oriented.

The previous two presidents of the republic created in 1993 after the split of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus, were elected by Parliament.

Under the Czech Constitution, the president picks the prime minister after a general election. The president also appoints members of the Central Bank board and selects Constitutional Court judges with the approval of Parliaments upper house.

Otherwise, the president has little executive power since the country is run by a government chosen and led by the prime minister.

In office, Zeman become known for strong anti-migrant rhetoric that won him support from the populist right. He has divided the nation with his pro-Russian stance and his support for closer ties with China. He was one of the few European leaders to endorse Donald Trumps bid for the White House.

Drahos is a political newcomer who is not affiliated with a political party and has said he wants the values of truth, reason and decency to win. He says he is worried about the rise of extremism and populism.

Karel Janicek is an Associated Press writer.LIMA, Peru  A giant Christ statue in Perus capital that was donated by a construction company at the center of Latin Americas largest corruption scandal was damaged Saturday in a fire, days before Pope Francis is to arrive in the South American nation.

Peruvians awoke to find nearly the entire back of the statue, perched on a barren desert bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, charred black.

A representative of Perus firefighting corps told RPP Noticias that two dozen firefighters responded to the blaze. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but one working theory is that Christ of the Pacific was purposely set aflame.

But police later told state news agency Andina that electrical cables for the statues lighting had short-circuited because of humidity.

The 69-foot statue was donated by Brazilian company Odebrecht in 2011, and for many Peruvians it has become a sour reminder of the companys illegal maneuverings to court and bribe high-ranking officials in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.

In January 2017, vandals covered the statue in messages like Out of the country Odebrecht.

Two former Peruvian presidents are accused of accepting money from Odebrecht, and current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski narrowly escaped impeachment in December over his ties to the company. Opposition lawmakers uncovered documents showing Kuczynskis private consulting firm received $782,000 from Odebrecht more than a decade ago when he was serving as a government minister.

Kuczynski has denied knowing anything about the payments, saying he recused himself from all consulting business while in the position.

The Christ statues burning comes five days before Francis is scheduled to arrive in Peru. The pope hopes to highlight the need to protect the Amazon rain forest during his visit, but Peruvians will be paying close attention to whether he addresses corruption. Its an issue close to his heart, and he has called graft more insidious than sin and a plague that hurts the poorest the most.

The statue cost about $1 million, Odebrecht said in 2011.

Francis will arrive first in Chile on Monday. Authorities there are on guard after several Roman Catholic churches in the capital, Santiago, were firebombed, with pamphlets left at one scene threatening the pontiff: The next bombs will be in your cassock.

Mauricio Munoz and Martin Mejia are Associated Press writers.Tajikistan shows interest in Nepals hydro sector

Tajikistan has expressed interest to play a contributory role in the development of Nepals hydropower sector.The Indian Coast Guard confirmed that four bodies have been fished out and it has launched three helicopters, Dornier surveillance aircraft and three ships in search of the other three missing people on board the helicopter.

: At least four people were killed on Saturday after the Pawan Hans Dauphin N2 helicopter, crashed off the Mumbai coast.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being pressed into service.

"Two Immediate Support Vessels (ISV)s deployed for patrol in the area have been diverted for search and rescue operations along with three Coast Guard units. Seaking 42B helicopter is being launched in addition," a Navy spokesperson said.

The aircraft, carrying five employees of Indias state-run oil exploration arm ONGC and two pilots, lost contact with air traffic control 15 minutes after taking off from the western city at around 10:25am local time Saturday.

The helicopter had been leased to ONGC by the state-owned Pawan Hans helicopter firm.

Seven people were on board including two pilots. Currently search and rescue operations are on, so, we hope to have an update soon, Pawan Hans chairman, BP Sharma, said without giving further details.

The chopper was supposed to land at offshore oil rig Bombay High at 11am, the Press Trust of India reported citing unnamed sources.

It was reportedly 30 nautical miles off the western coast before going off-radar.

@indiannavy and @IndiaCoastGuard are extending all possible assistance in the #SAR Search and Rescue of @ONGC_ helicopter and pax on board. Wish for their safety, Nirmala Sitharaman, Indias defence minister, said on Twitter.

The navy and coast guard deployed a ship, several boats and aircraft for search and rescue operations.

A Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near Dahanu) have also been launched, a Coast Guard spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that some debris has been located, but did not say if it belonged to the chopper.

In 2003, dozens were feared dead when an ONGC helicopter crashed into the sea on its way to an offshore exploration site.UML leader Nembang accuses govt of trying to defer NA election

CPN-UML leader Subas Chandra Nembang has alleged the government of trying to postpone the election of the National Assembly, the Upper House of parliament.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's another Friday night out on the Staten Island social circuit, and although some may opine January is customarily the slowest month for the restaurant industry -- Bocelli Ristorante defies that phenomena:

The well-appointed Grasmere dining spot continues to brim with diners in search of the "whole package."

FYI: Over the last year it was the recipient of two awards from OpenTable.com, a popular digital restaurant-reservation service, and ranked among the "Top 10 Best Italian Restaurants" in the New York/tri-state area.



In the "Loved For" category, it won the Diner's Choice Award as one of the "Best Italian Restaurants" in the New York area. Plus, the eatery earned another Diner's Choice Award for the "Most Booked" restaurant on Staten Island.



Interestingly, foodies use the online service to find, explore, reserve, and manage restaurant reservations free and instantly -- anytime, anywhere. And the mobile app helps diners discover new eats and view menus, customer reviews, and photos.

And many will recall after more than 6,000 reader votes were cast in a Best of Staten Island Awards polls for "Best Italian Restaurant." Bocelli won in 2014 and 2015.

Vincent Demonte, general manager of Bocelli Ristorante, Grasmere, invites diners to come and enjoy the very best in traditional Italian cuisine in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere."

Demonte continues:

"Our menu is geared for all ages and singles, couples, families and their guests leave with wonderful and delicious memories. We offer an extensive menu and a full inventory -- in addition to a beautiful selection of fine wine."

Demonte goes on to explain:

"Coming soon will be a "Happy Hour" on Mondays to Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. with selections under $10 and reduced prices on beer, wine and cocktails."

Soon to celebrate its 20th year in business, Bocelli opened its doors in 1998.

The eatery bears the namesake of renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and to make it all official, several of Andrea's autographed photos adorn the walls of the restaurant.

The handsome mahogany bar and eye-catching spiral staircase dot the refined, yet relaxed setting, amid a backdrop of vintage Tuscan murals.



The dining spot now owned by Angelo Nicastro and Lenny Theodoulou offers an authentic selection of down home appetizers, pastas, entrees and home made desserts.

Of their signature dishes: Pasta Bocelli, remains one of the dining spot's most requested first courses.



This sought-after dish is prepared in grand style:

An eye-catching gold cart is wheeled table side by a member of the wait staff who proceeds to carve the Grana Padano Cheese wheel with care.

Basic ingredients? Brandy or vodka, depending on your liking, spaghetti, the legendary, Grana Padano Cheese, red, ripe, cherry tomatoes, virgin olive oil and fresh garlic. Fresh zucchini is an option, as is salt and pepper and grated cheese to taste.



Check out a video on SILive.com to see how it's prepared. What is 'cheese wheel' pasta?

And because pictures are still worth a thousand words, check out our latest fun photo gallery that showcases it all.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Immigration officials should be focusing their efforts on criminals instead of raids of legitimate businesses, an Island advocate for the immigrant community said.

His comments came after immigration agents conduced a sweep of 7-Eleven locations early Wednesday morning.

The Advance has confirmed the officers visited at least two Port Richmond stores and another in Meiers Corners. No arrests were reported on Staten Island.

The action was part of a joint effort between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security at 98 locations across the country, including 16 in New York City, according to an ICE spokeswoman.

Special agents served audit notices and conducted interviews with workers and managers to make sure businesses are operating with employees who have proper work authorization.

Nationwide, 21 individuals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally were administratively arrested and given notices to appear in immigration court.

'PEOPLE WILL BE FEARFUL'

"If it continues happening it will mostly damage the businesses," said Favio Ramirez-Caminatti, executive director of El Centro del Inmigrante in Port Richmond. "I think ICE should focus (on) and target people who are a threat to the public safety -- people who are a national security threat."

"This was a surprise. It was something most people didn't expect. I think it's a big mistake going after the job creator," he continued, pointing out that, in Port Richmond, many small businesses are owned by immigrants. "In the North Shore many of the business owners are immigrants. They're creating a lot of jobs for Americans. This is focusing on people who are paying their taxes."

On Thursday, the Advance visited a dozen businesses in the Port Richmond area to get their takes on immigration officials' recent action.

'WORK FOR OUR FAMILIES'

Aurlio, the owner of Feelin' Saucy Pizza on Forest Avenue, has been in business for a little over a year. He said that it's true that members of the community were shaken by yesterday's actions, but immigrants have no choice but to continue working.

"It's a concern for everyone, a lot of people are scared," said Aurilo. "In my opinion we don't have to worry about it, because we don't do anything. We try to work for our families, we don't ask anything of the president.

"People have to continue working for their families and live their own life," he said.

Ramirez-Caminatti said that his organization or the community have no idea if actions like this will become more common or not.

"Stability is not a word that can define this presidency. So we just need to be ready for everything," he said.

The sweep of 7-Eleven stores was not the first time ICE agents conducted an action on Staten Island.

In February 2017, two Staten Island residents were arrested. One of the men served eight years in prison for raping a young girl and family neglect.

The second man served six months in prison for assault and had been arrested for a DWI.

Scott Mechkowski, deputy field office director for ICE's New York area office, told the Advance in February that "we're going to be on Staten Island again, we're not going to stop going."STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York released a statement Friday assuring parents that borough Catholic high school principals are working toward a solution for the placement of current and would-be St. John Villa Academy students.

Dr. Timothy McNiff said he understood the outpouring of sadness from the community.

"I know the recent announcement from the Sisters of St. John the Baptist has been met with understandable feelings of sadness,'' said McNiff. "However, I'm pleased to share that at a recent meeting with the SJVA administration and Staten Island's Catholic high school principals, all principals were united in their enthusiasm and willingness to welcome SJVA students who will be seeking placement in another Catholic high school," said McNiff.

He said other borough principals will make "special considerations" to current Villa student's current tuition rates.

"The families of SJVA hold a very special place in Staten Island's Catholic school community, and any one of our many other excellent Catholic schools would be privileged to welcome them," he concluded.

The Sisters of St. John the Baptist is the religious order that exercises wide autonomy over the school's financial, operational and administrative matters, and works in connection with the Archdiocese.

"The Sisters of St. John the Baptist are sad to announce the closure of St. John Villa Academy Elementary School and St. John Villa Academy High School at the end of the current 2017-2018 academic year," Sister Claudette Jaszczynski, provincial superior of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, American Province, said in a release sent to the Advance.

"Lack of adequate Sister personnel, a declining enrollment, and growing maintenance expenses of an aging facility have led the Sisters to this difficult, but inevitable, decision,'' Sister Claudette added. "After 94 years of devoted ministry to families and their children, the Sisters deeply regret having to make this decision."

PLAN FOR 8TH GRADE STUDENTS' PLACEMENT

St. Joseph by the Sea High School posted a Facebook update Friday afternoon regarding eighth graders who listed Villa as their first choice following their Test for Admission into Catholic High Schools.

"Eighth graders who listed Villa on the TACHs test were moved up - if they put Villa first and Sea second; we treated them as if they put Sea first. If they put Sea third and Villa first or second, we treated them as if they put us second," the Facebook post said.

Sea reiterated the superintendent's words, saying that they will honor the Villa tuition.

"Students would be settled in where they are going by Easter," the post went on to say.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Student veterans attending college on Staten Island will soon be getting their fair share of housing allowances.

Rep. Daniel Donovan visited the College of Staten Island Friday afternoon to call on the Department of Defense to expedite a new analysis of Staten Island's housing allowances for student veterans.

"I'm calling today upon the Department of Defense to expedite their rental analysis,'' said Donovan. "The faster the DOD has all the information they need to analyze the housing costs on Staten Island, the quicker they will hopefully fix this gross negligence."

Donovan has worked extensively to ensure Staten Island's student veterans get their fair share, passing an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act this past July requiring a re-analysis of the borough's housing allowances.

As currently configured, veterans enrolled in Staten Island colleges receive far less for their housing stipends than elsewhere in the five boroughs.

The Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, is part of the GI bill, and gives a higher maximum allowance for students enrolled in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens than it does for Staten Island.

According to Donovan, student veterans enrolled in Staten Island colleges are receiving a 52 percent lower housing allowance than those in the other four boroughs.

"I think there's this false impression that housing is less expensive on Staten Island than elsewhere ... but that's just not true," said Donovan.

Donovan argues that the disparity gives student veterans an incentive to attend school elsewhere, even if Staten Island institutions better fit their educational needs.

The DOD has a formula to determine BAH payments by calculating average rental prices in 300 different Military Housing Areas.

New York City is divided into two Military Housing Areas: One consisting of Staten Island, and one made up of the four other boroughs.

"This isn't the end of the fight, but it's a step in the right direction,'' said Donovan. "The Department of Defense needs to merge Staten Island's military housing area with the rest of New York City."

Donovan hopes to have the analysis completed and new housing allowances in place by the upcoming summer or fall semesters.

CSI has quickly become the gold standard for student-veteran services, ranking as 2018's number one military-friendly large public university in the country, according to Victory Media.

According to Kennedy Ochanda, a U.S. Army veteran and a CSI graduate student, his transitional experience on Staten Island has been an easy one.

"The first school I went to had no veteran support,'' said Ochanda. "I just went to classes and that was it. But, when I came here for my master's it was easy because of all of the veteran support and services they provide."

Terry Kong, a U.S. Army veteran and CSI undergraduate student, said it means a lot to know that our local congressman supports veteran students so strongly.

"It means that not only the country supports us, but even the city and the state,'' Kong said. "That's a lot of support. And I'm sure it makes not just me, but every veteran in the United States, happy."STATEN ISLAND N.Y. -- News of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio's monuments commission's recommendations for what to do with controversial statues and monuments on New York City property is being cautiously celebrated by many Staten Island politicians.

On Thursday, De Blasio's commission recommended that most controversial monuments and statues be kept where they are with historical markers added to give additional context.

The Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers was put together by de Blasio following nationwide protests over Confederate statues.

The commission has recommended that the Christopher Columbus statue located in Columbus Circle remain, but it plans to add historical markers around the circle to provide context.

The only statue that will be moved is the statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims, who operated on slave women to develop advances in gynecological surgery. It will be relocated from Central Park to Green-Wood Cemetery, where Sims is buried.

Some Staten Island politicians celebrated the news, while others lamented over the commission, which they believe was a waste of taxpayer money.

Borough President James Oddo

"It is now time to focus all our energies on the real issues impacting the lives of New Yorkers. As you will recall, at the Nov. 28, 2017 Commission meeting, I noted numerous other important issues that actually affect the day-to-day lives of Staten Islanders that are not the subject of a commission, but are certainly deserving; issues such as Fast Ferry service, our hellish commutes, delays in city capital projects, street cuts, the lack of civics education in our schools, and Sandy recovery."

Councilman Steven Matteo

"I am glad the Commission heard the concerns expressed by my elected colleagues and I, as well as by many New Yorkers, about removing public statues or monuments. As I said in my testimony in November, we cannot change or sanitize history. Removing these statues or monuments does not erase any wrongs of the past. Our history can be messy. It is certainly not easy. But it is also instructive. I believe it is important that we let these statues stand so they may educate those who pass by about our history - the good and the bad."

Councilwoman Debi Rose

"The recommendation to add historical markers to many of our city's statues in most cases strikes an appropriate balance, preserving art that is meaningful to many New Yorkers while explaining the context, that these historic figures have not always acted in a way that deserves veneration. I also support the recommendation to move the statue of Dr J Marion Simms, who conducted experiments on slaves, away from a place of prominence to Greenwood Cemetery. I also fully support Mayor de Blasio's proposal to commission a statue to honor the contributions of indigenous people, placed prominently near Columbus Circle. In addition, this is excellent time for us to revisit the monument to Native Americans overlooking the Narrows at Fort Wadsworth, first proposed more than a century ago."

Councilman Joe Borelli

"I am happy to hear Columbus is saved, but it seems we are just right back where we started before this commission was ever formed. I question why it was needed in the first place."

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis

"While, as I've said numerous times before, I don't believe a statue commission was a good use of taxpayer money and government time, I am pleased to learn that the committee has decided that the Christopher Columbus statue at Columbus Circle should remain. This is a victory for Italian-Americans and those who appreciate his contributions and recognize the explorer represents the immigrant experience. Additionally, I thank Mayor de Blasio for casting the deciding vote against removing the Theodore Roosevelt statue outside the Museum of Natural History. The former assemblyman, police commissioner, governor and president is one of the most honorable public servants in New York's history and I'm delighted that the tribute to his legacy will remain."

Assemblyman Ron Castorina

"I was proud to be at the tip of the spear in this fight against revisionist history, political correctness, and the denigration of an icon chosen by an immigrant group that gave so much to this city, state, and nation. In solidarity with my fellow elected colleagues, we sent a strong message to the mayor that Italian Americans would not waiver or falter on this issue. This is a great victory for Italian Americans, as well as for the entire City of New York. As absurd as this sounds, I would also like to thank the mayor for breaking the tie, and allowing Teddy Roosevelt to make the cut. What a ridiculous waste of your tax dollars!"

Assemblyman Matthew Titone

"I think it's a fantastic solution, however, the devil's always in the details."

State Sen. Diane Savino

"From the perspective of the Italian-American community, the decision to keep the Columbus statue is a victory. But, I think at the end of the day, we should look at this in terms of what this really was. This was a monumental waste of time and effort on the part of the administration and the taxpayer to examine these things."

Rep. Dan Donovan

"I'm glad the Columbus statue is staying where it is. Sanitizing history is no way to handle questions about our shared past. I don't think this commission was particularly worthwhile, but hopefully now we can all move on with our lives."

Andre' DiMino, communications director of Italian One Voice Coalition

"We are pleased that the statue is going to remain, but we're absolutely not pleased about the idea of putting up a plaque in order to put historical information. The historical information, it depends who the writer is, how it's written and so forth. Are they going to be applying today's standards to something that happened 500 years ago?"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In a pre-sentencing interview with the city Probation Department, Howard Bannister said he wasn't sad about sexually attacking a 12-year-old girl on New Year's Eve 2016 in Stapleton.

In fact, Bannister told Justice Mario F. Mattei on Friday he didn't feel guilty about the incident and complained about losing his apartment and job over his arrest and conviction by plea of attempted rape.

Incensed, Mattei lit into the Brooklyn resident and ex-convict before sentencing him to eight years in prison under a plea agreement.

"It's one of the most despicable things I've ever seen, and your attitude is even worse," Mattei said. "You show no remorse for what you've done. In your statement to the Probation Department you admit your guilt, and you fluff it off as though it was consensual between you and a child. You have no idea of the harm you caused (the victim)."

According to a criminal complaint, the incident occurred inside a Chestnut Street home at about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2016.

Bannister, then 57, touched the girl's genital area, said authorities. The defendant abused the victim on other occasions, according to statements made in court.

Bannister was subsequently busted on June 15 of last year after an investigation.

He was indicted on charges of attempted rape, sexual abuse and child endangerment.

In November, Bannister pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted first-degree rape, the top charge against him.

Besides prison time, the defendant was sentenced as a second-felony offender to 10 years' probation and must register with state authorities as a sexual offender.

During the proceeding, the stocky, bespectacled Bannister admitted to being previously convicted in Brooklyn of grand larceny in 2006.

Assistant District Attorney John Signoriello prosecuted the Staten Island case.

Philip Ohene represented the defendant.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!This is bringing cool air to the region and the ACT and most of NSW are experiencing temperatures well below average.

A large front is currently moving through NSW and will hit Canberra early on Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to storm activity in the region Canberra can expect a much cooler weekend before temperatures rise again from Tuesday.

On Sunday it will reach a maximum of 22 degrees, six degrees below average, something that Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Rob Taggart said only occurred three times on average during the month.

Canberra might receive another storm on Saturday night however it is unlikely to bring the damaging winds that parts of the ACT experienced on Friday.

This rainfall is a major reason for the cooler temperatures this weekend. Mr Taggart described the function of cooling caused by rainfall as an evaporative cooling mechanism very similar to the body cooling itself by sweating.

Looking ahead, the forecast is for Canberra to remain dry throughout the rest of the week.

Despite the cooler temperatures this weekend Canberra seems destined to record another warmer than average summer, Mr Taggart said. Last summer was the third warmest on record for Canberra.When Matt Pridham was left with a serious brain injury after being assaulted in downtown Canberra in 2013, his family had prepared for the worst.

But almost five years later, on Saturday afternoon Mr Pridham married his long-time girlfriend and his carer, Danielle Poulet.

Matt and Danielle Pridham on their wedding day on Saturday. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Ms Poulet had only known Mr Pridham for three months before the assault and she has stuck by him ever since. The couple were sharing their happy ending to let others know there are good outcomes for people who have a disability.

Ms Poulet said when Mr Pridham popped the big question to then-Ms Poulet, it was pretty low key.A man will face the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday morning after allegedly speeding on Northbourne Avenue on Friday.

At about 2.50pm police detected a black Holden sedan driving at 87 km/h on the 60km/h stretch of road in Braddon.

Officers stopped the car and spoke with the 31-year-old driver, who said he was late for an appointment.

After additional police inquiries the man was taken into custody at the ACT Watch House.

He will face the ACT Magistrates Court charged with exceeding the speed limit, driving while disqualified, using an unregistered vehicle, using an uninsured vehicle, and arrest without warrant person on bail.Would you burn $1 of petrol driving to the other side of the city so you could save 50 cents filling up? Would you recommend to a friend that they buy the cheapest printer, knowing it has the most expensive ink cartridges? Do you advise family to save money by not getting the flu vaccine?

Of course not. Fortunately, we're familiar with the idea of a false economy: a saving that turns out to be illusory because it eventually costs you more.

Federal government spending on consultancies doubled in the last four years. Credit:Paul Jones

Unfortunately, not everyone seems to have cottoned on to what this means for the Australian Public Service. While public service jobs have been decimated, spending on consultants has ballooned. Work that used to be at the core of the public service, like policy development and stakeholder engagement, is increasingly outsourced.

First, a bit of background. During Labor's last term in office, from 2007 to 2013, the number of federal public servants grew from 155,087 to 166,139. Outside Canberra, the Liberal Party decried this increase as a wanton waste of public resources. The critique insults those public servants who built the national disability insurance scheme, devised a fiscal stimulus package that kept Australia out of recession, and all those who serve Australians daily. It also misses the fact that the number of public servants per Australian fell during these years.The truck industry has demanded a cash injection of more than $12 million from the government for road safety, as industry leaders concede there is a "problem" with truck deaths and slow uptake of safer vehicles.

The Australian Trucking Association has called for the formation of a National Road Safety Commission, and says the Australian Transport Safety Bureau should take over responsibility for investigating truck accidents.

An accident involving a sedan and a truck on the Princes Highway near Berry, NSW, last year. Credit:Adam McLean AMZ

The government should spend another $8 million over the next four years on safety initiatives for heavy vehicles, the association argues in a pre-budget submission, as well as giving an extra $4.3 million to the ATSB.

Separately, the Truck Industry Council told the government it could save four lives a year by subsidising the modernisation of Australian truck fleets.A controversial pesticide allegedly linked to bee deaths will be pulled from Bunnings' shelves by the end of this year, a spokesman has confirmed.

The canned product Yates Confidor is a class of pesticide which some studies suggest affects bees' navigation and immune systems, resulting in colony death.

Bunnings will pull a pesticide that has allegedly been linked to the deaths of bees. Credit:Louie Douvis

Bunnings made the decision in November last year to remove the product from its UK and Australian stores amid declining British bee populations, however admitted their decision was based on precautions rather than scientific evidence.

"There's a lot of conflicting science out there," a spokeswoman said, "we decided to err on the side of caution."The Golden Globes were abuzz this year with talk of the nominees' efforts to get their parts right: the eight months Gary Oldman spent becoming Winston Churchill, for instance, or Daniel Day-Lewis learning to stitch a Balenciaga gown from scratch.

Not so for Christopher Plummer, who was nominated for best supporting actor at Sunday's awards for playing the octogenarian oil tycoon J Paul Getty in All the Money in the World. When he was cast in the role, he just put down the telephone and packed his suitcase. And "three or four days later", he wryly explains, he found himself on set.

Christopher Plummer, left, and Charlie Shotwell star in All the Money in the World. Credit:Fabio Lovino

This isn't how the 88-year-old veteran prefers to work. His career has been something of a lifelong slow burn: theatre in his mid-20s, then popular stardom 10 years later, thanks to The Sound of Music, in which he played Captain von Trapp. Widespread critical acclaim followed only in his seventies thanks to a series of notable screen roles  in films like The Insider, A Beautiful Mind and Syriana  which captured a grandeur honed by years of stage Shakespeare.

But in this unprecedented case, slow burn was no good. The story begins last October, when the original version of the film  a true-life thriller about the 1973 kidnapping of Getty's teenage grandson  was all but complete, with 58-year-old Kevin Spacey in the role of Getty, beneath a mask of old-age make-up. But then allegations of sexual assault were made against Spacey, which director Ridley Scott realised had made the film untouchable six weeks before its US release.An 11-year-old girl who disappeared after running away from a north Queensland water park on Friday afternoon has been found safe and well.

Police ramped up their efforts to find the young child on Saturday after several leads from members of the public failed to lead detectives to the girl.

She disappeared about 5.15pm from the Strand Water Park in North Ward, while wearing a pink two-piece swimsuit and white towel.

Police had held concerns for her welfare due to her age, but said in a statement just after midday on Saturday that the young child had been found.Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle is under investigation for declaring a $40,000 donation he made to his own election campaign more than a year after the poll was held.

In yet another blow for the embattled mayor, Victoria's local government watchdog is probing the belated disclosure, which was made on January 8 while Cr Doyle was on leave amid an inquiry into sexual harassment allegations by a former female councillor.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle Credit:Paul Jeffers

"I write to update the 2016 election campaign Donation Return received by Team Doyle as I contributed an additional $40,000 to the campaign," Cr Doyle wrote in the declaration this week.

The declaration has prompted an investigation by Victoria's Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.The state government on Saturday announced an independent review of laws governing surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology in Western Australia.

There was considerable public interest in surrogacy and ART as about one in six couples had difficulty conceiving a baby, and about four per cent of births in Australia occurred through ART, Health Minister Roger Cook said as he announced the "long overdue" review.

The state government is reviewing surrogacy laws. Credit:afield@fairfaxmedia.com.au

"We've had advances in technology ... and a whole range of community attitudes have changed. We want to make sure these acts are servicing the community properly," he said.

"We need them to be consistent with other states and federal laws.Santo Domingo: Members of Venezuela's leftist government and opposition leaders have resumed talks in the Dominican Republic, seeking to reach an agreement to ease a deep political and economic crisis plaguing the country since 2012.

The two sides failed to come to terms in a prior round of talks last December. Expectations among Venezuelans for a deal this time around are low.

A customer reaches for pumpkin slices for sale near empty shelves at a grocery store in Caracas last week. Credit:Carlos Becerra

Opposition coalition Democratic Unity "is attending the meeting in good faith, to seek a way of allowing Venezuelans to build a route to the future," tweeted party lawmaker Luis Florido said.

The opposition leaders are demanding that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accept humanitarian assistance from abroad to ease a crisis that has led to shortages of food and basic goods for millions of people. They are also calling for the release of several hundred jailed political activists.A judge said maybe racism was behind President Donald Trump's decision to shut down a program protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Trump decided in September to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA

However, US District Judge William Alsup ruled in San Francisco last week that the program must remain in place while litigation over Trump's decision unfolds.

Days after blocking the policy, Alsup said comments by the president since his inauguration suggest he may harbour "racial animus towards Mexicans and Latinos."Washington: Apart from drawing condemnation from around the world, US President Donald Trump's comments about African countries and Haiti have put the White House and Republicans on the defensive while blowing up negotiations on a potential immigration deal.

That in turn, pushes both sides to harden their positions and raises the risk of sinking talks aimed at averting a government shutdown at the end of next week.

The ill-will was illustrated on Friday when a senior Democratic senator said the President used "hate-filled, vile and racist" language about immigrants from African nations and Haiti in a meeting with seven lawmakers on Thursday. He essentially called Trump's subsequent denial that he used such words a lie.

"My thought that we might get a bipartisan agreement approved by the White House died yesterday," Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told reporters. He denounced the comments again in a later statement, adding that "the clock is ticking" toward a shutdown in seven days.GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is calling on the community to practice hand hygiene and cough etiquette in order to prevent the spread of influenza.

Symptoms of the flu include sudden onset of fever, cough (usually dry), headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and a runny nose. The cough can be severe and can last two or more weeks. Most people recover from fever and other symptoms within a week.

However, influenza can cause severe illness or death in high-risk groups such as pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy; children younger than five-years; people older than 65-years; people with chronic medical conditions such as HIV/AIDS, asthma, heart and lung diseases and diabetes; people with increased risk of exposure to influenza, which includes healthcare workers.

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene and cough etiquette which are two of the most important steps one can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Washing your hands should take 40 to 60 seconds.

Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. You can also use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol to clean hands.

Your hands should be washed before, during, and after preparing food; before eating food; after using the toilet; after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

Flu viruses are thought to spread mainly from person to person through the coughing, sneezing, or talking to someone with the flu.

Hand hygiene is a simple and effective solution to reduce both the spread of infection and multi-resistant germs, and to protect the community.

Flu viruses also may spread when people touch something with the flu virus on it and then tough their mouth, eyes, or nose. Many other viruses spread these ways too.

People infected with the flu may be able to infect others beginning from day one before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick. That means you may be able to spread the flu to someone else before you know you are sick.

Preventive actions entails: try to avoid close contact with sick people; cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze (cough etiquette); throw the tissue in the trash after you use it; clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.We Shall Overcome

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening and welcome to this new years reception.

To begin this NEW YEAR, Marie-Louise and I, are pleased to extend warm greetings and best wishes to you and to the people of Sint Maarten. May our coming together from various sections of our community this evening, serve to help reignite the progress our country needs in the days, months and years ahead. For what better way to reignite our shared aspirations for a brighter tomorrow than through our coming together to bond.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Tonight we gather at a pivotal moment in our nations history. At one of the most difficult periods in the lives of our people. Hurricane Irma and her aftermath have set our country back in no small way. In doing so it left you and I, all of us, with a most daunting and urgent challenge; the challenge to rebuild many years of development. As such we stand at the start of 2018, having lived through the strongest hurricane on record looking for answers. As we face that challenge I encourage you to tap into the immense power and promise of one of my favorite gospel songs: we shall overcome. I encourage you to do so because I am confident that we, like generation of Sint Maarteners before us, will find answers in the promise of the words: we shall overcome.

Looking back there can be no doubt that we have made great strides in responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma to our island. As a result our daily life throughout the island has in large part been restored. And each day we see signs of improvement and promise. This thanks to the hard work and dedication of many persons and organizations some present and represented here tonight. Persons who, having suffered damage to their property themselves, came out and continue to come out under difficult circumstances to make progress possible. Persons, such as, the members of the disaster management team and their support staff, medical professionals, law enforcement officers, firefighters, technicians, volunteers of NGOs, business-owners and their employees, and military and police officers from our Kingdom partners, The Netherlands, Aruba, and Curacao. To all who contributed and continue to do so I say thank you for your invaluable service to the people of Sint Maarten.

Having closed off 2017 we are all aware, however, that we face an uphill climb as we move ahead. For many of our people the traditional merry and happy Christmas and new year holidays have been everything but that. Instead, we see our family, friends and neighbours who have been displaced, who live in damaged homes, and/or who have lost or face losing their jobs. This while the cost of living has increased. Meanwhile, many businesses, as well as government, have seen their revenues and liquidity dwindle.

Recovering the lost ground, ladies and gentlemen, is therefore an urgent matter. The question, therefore, is how do we plan to meet this challenge?

The answer will vary from person to person, from family to family and from organisation to organisation. There will be differences in views and approaches between and within the public and private sectors. There will be those who believe that their plans or approaches are the only way and there will be those who believe that there is no role, place or opportunity for them. There are those who will on a daily basis continue to give their all in pursuit of rebuilding our island, while there are and will be those among us who have lost confidence and as a result are losing hope.

Whatever your answer or plan, I hereby remind you that we are in this together. Together with a shared responsibility and a common purpose: the rebuilding of Sint Maarten. This ladies and gentlemen dictates that we need each other now more than ever to chart our path and pursue our shared aspirations. Let us therefore, anchored in our common purpose to rebuild Sint Maarten, resolve to not breakdown but to build each other and thus build our country up. And in so doing reach out to each other to work with each other. For unity ladies and gentlemen is the key to tapping into the promise that we shall overcome.

Guided by our common purpose let us as a people of St. Maarten rally to convert our shared challenges into shared opportunities. At this pivotal period in our history I encourage you, as individuals, corporations, public organizations, and government, to stand up for the broader societal objectives of our people. Let us therefore:

act to create more and better jobs to sustain our people; move to construct stronger, more resilient homes and structures to protect us from harm; and invest in cleaning up our environment to protect our health and viability as a nation.

To do this we must stand together in mutual respect honoring each others rights and sustaining each other in our individual and collective obligations. We must conduct social and political discourse with civility, with decorum and with respect for the rule of law. For that will foster the harmony necessary for the development and implementation of concrete national programs to realize our broader societal objectives.

Reflecting on the last few months I trust that we will learn from our good and not so good experiences; and that we will continue to build and improve on the progress we have made thus far. In doing so it will be imperative that we apply best practices in the governance of our recovery through an innovative national social-economic program. A program  grounded in effective fiscal, responsible business, balanced social, and sustainable environmental policies  all aimed at rebuilding our economic base and restoring Sint Maartens position as a premier tourist destination and regional commercial center. To achieve that our policies must support a number of national priorities. In that regard I wish to, among others, emphasize:

that we must stand hand in hand to rebuild our airport and primary gateway to recovery; that we must stand hand in hand to secure the reinvestments needed for the reopening and upgrading of our hotel properties, large and small; that we must stand hand in hand to restore, renew and revitalize Philipsburg, our nations capital and commercial center; and that we must walk hand in hand with and in support of our brothers on the northern side to secure the overall recovery of our shared island.

To achieve this we will need everyone to join in to rebuild our nations infrastructure one day at a time. Today, tomorrow and each day thereafter we must, and I trust that we will, continue to take steps to secure the full recovery of our island. As we face this challenge we can do so with the knowledge and resolve that we have been down difficult paths before and we overcame. I, therefore, believe in the promise that: we shall overcome stronger together again. This by walking hand in hand at home and by constructive cooperation with Kingdom and international partners. And for that I am, as always, counting on my trust in the boundless strength and resilience of We the People of Sint Maarten.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In closing, as the New Year 2018 begins, let us thank God for bringing us thus far and ask him for his continued guidance. And at the same time let us individually and collectively recommit to do our part to realize our common purpose and rebuild Sint Maarten. This is your duty, my duty, our shared obligation. In my role as your Governor I hereby reaffirm my pledge to continue to work with government and other stakeholders to serve the people of St. Maarten, so that we will overcome.

With that pledge, I hereby on behalf of Marie-Louise and myself, wish the people of our beloved island a year of health, happiness, and growth.

Thank you, God bless you, and May God bless Sint Maarten and protect its coast.The Treaty of Cahuenga ended the fighting of the MexicanAmerican War in Alta California in 1847

Today is the 170th anniversary of the treaty of Cahuenga, which resulted in brief California independence and then US statehood the next year.

AdvertisementPico Blvd is named after the last Spanish governor of California, Andres Pico. Like nearly all the Californios, became an American citizen with full legal and voting rights. Pico later became a State Assemblyman and then a State Senator representing Los Angeles in the California State Legislature.

The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the MexicanAmerican War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting. The treaty was drafted in English and Spanish by Jose Antonio Carrillo, approved by American Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Fremont and Mexican Governor Andres Pico on January 13, 1847 at Campo de Cahuenga in what is now Universal City, California.

The treaty called for the Californios to give up their artillery, and provided that all prisoners from both sides be immediately freed. Those Californios who promised not to again take up arms during the war, and to obey the laws and regulations of the United States, were allowed to peaceably return to their homes and ranchos. They were to be allowed the same rights and privileges as were allowed to citizens of the United States, and were not to be compelled to take an oath of allegiance until a treaty of peace was signed between the United States and Mexico, and were given the privilege of leaving the country if they wished to do so.

Under the later Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico formally ceded Alta California and other territories to the United States, and the disputed border of Texas was fixed at the Rio Grande.Ogden's Own gets new leader; liquor-maker still focused on growth

OGDEN  A new leader is at the helm of Ogden's Own distillery as the local liquor manufacturer moves to grow and expand. Ogden's Own, most known, perhaps, for its Five Wives Vodka, moved into a new production facility in west Ogden last year and now Steven Conlin, co-founder of the firm, has stepped down as president. Mark Fine, a veteran of the wine and spirits industry, has taken over as company president. "We want to show what's happening here in beautiful Ogden at the base of the Wasatch mountains," Fine said. One of his missions, he said, is to showcase the company's many ...In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation.1. Yes. The bus service is underfunded, and the money will ensure another route.

2. Yes. Its COVID relief money, and plenty of people depend on public transportation.

3. No. The COVID funds are a short-term fix. The city cant afford a big outlay next year.

4. No. The city isnt getting much for its money. Another transit solution is needed.

5. Unsure. Its a hard to say whether HOP ridership will validate the expenditure.

Vote

View ResultsFrance seeks Lankan support for World Expo bid By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

France is optimistic in garnering international support including Sri Lanka for its bid to host 2025 World Expo, 125 years after the 1900 World Expo in Paris, the inter-ministerial delegate for the French candidacy Pascal Lamy said in Colombo recently.

Mr. Lamy, a former Director General of the World Trade Organisation who visited the island last week, met Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development and Tourism Minister John Amaratunga in a bid to secure Sri Lankas support.

The other competitors for the bid are Japan, Azerbaijan and Russia and Lamys visit to Sri Lanka coincided with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Konos official tour of the island nation.

However Sri Lankan authorities are yet to announce their stance in relating to Frances environmentally-sustainable proposal for Expo 2025. France will get a great opportunity to highlight the countrys traditions, openness and world class status, if it is selected to host the World Expo 2025, Mr. Lamy told a media conference in Colombo.

France has put forward an innovative economic model for the Expo 2025 Grand Paris France project involving multiple stakeholders including the French government headed by President Emmanuel Macron and entrepreneurs; he disclosed adding that the overall budget stands at Euro 3.5 billion.

This money would be raised by private businesses and revenue from the Expo; he revealed pointing out that the proposed budget less than the estimated cost to stage Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The work on the Expo has been coupled with an infrastructure renewal project of unprecedented scale in the Paris region.

The Global village which is to be built Expo 2025 will become a world campus and participating countries may convert their pavilions.

It will remain at Paris- Saclay to receive students or innovative businesses from their country in order to contribute to the areas intellectual and entrepreneurial vibrancy.

100 youth aged 20 to 25 years have been selected from 70 countries including Sri Lanka as ambassadors for Frances World Expo 2025 bid.

They have all pledged to promote this ambitious goal for 2025 all over the world, supporting the initiatives of the diplomatic network mobilised in support of this bid.

Sri Lankas Ganga Harshani Mahawatta and Kavishka Thathsarani Dias have been selected as local ambassadors towards this end. Two of them noted that they were given an opportunity to become acquainted with the bid during their 5- day tour of Paris.

Ms. Mahawatta and Ms. Dias said that they were highly excited and impressed on their new assignment and pledged to promote Frances bid in Sri Lanka.SL- Japan negotiations on Ceylon Tea By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankan authorities are negotiating with the Japanese authorities to resolve concerns regarding the residue levels of pesticide found in Ceylon Tea.

Japan has introduced a set of revised regulations impacting on Ceylon Tea as well since the authorities have requested that residue levels of certain types of weedicides need to be at very low levels, industry sources said.

During the recent visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to the country, Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake had requested more time be granted to enable tea growers to adjust to the revised regulations introduced by Japanese authorities on very low residue levels in tea which were enforced last October.

The visiting minister had stated that he would consult the relevant authorities in this regard.

Japan is one of the strongest buyers of Dimbula teas in the western high growns and Uva and Udapussellawa regions. Sri Lankan tea growers have been using a number of weedicides since the ban on glyphosate was enforced by the government last year.

As a result of this now the plantations need to conform to the revised regulations introduced by Japan for which they would require a period of at least six months to one year, sources said.

The impact on the plantations would be a short term problem as they would have to now change their agricultural practices.

Due to revised regulations Japanese authorities have indicated that they would start testing Ceylon Tea imports pertaining to the residue levels. Such testing was not carried out in the past as the teas were in conformity under the previous regulations.

The tea industry faced a number of setbacks in December due to the Russian authorities imposing a ban on agricultural imports from Sri Lanka after they found a beetle in the Ceylon Tea packaging. However, following a series of negotiations between the two nations matters were resolved and Colombo continues to sell Ceylon Tea to Russia now without hindrance.

But it is learnt, that unlike their Russian counterparts who could be stern in taking action against Sri Lankan imports if necessary, the Japanese were found to be cautious in their approach in resolving the matter due to their close ties with the island nation.Tourism: Ready, steady  no go! View(s):

The distractions were a-plenty but for me, there was a singular purpose this morning; I mean the topic for discussion.

Kussi Amma Sera had brought the morning tea and in her usual style tried to get me interested in a conversation about a change in policy where the Government this week cancelled an archaic law barring women from purchasing liquor and also working in places where alcohol was sold.

On the face of it, this law looked silly, unbelievable. In fact, one female commentator on social media said, this cant be (the existence of such a law). I have always been able to buy my liquor.

Similarly, women have worked in restaurants, pubs and hotels where liquor is served and female bartenders have in fact won awards at widely, publicised local bartender competitions.

The Sunday Times Business first raised alarm bells on this obnoxious law in an April 21, 2002 article strongly urging that this law be scrapped particularly in the context that this is a blatant violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the 1978 Constitution, which include the right to equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of sex.

After a few more failed writing attempts to undo the law, Kussi Amma Sera (KAS) entered the fray and on November 19, 2017 wrote that the law seems ridiculous since the new Excise Chief is a woman who, by this law, can order raids on establishments and enforce regulations like drinking hours, etc but cannot buy a bottle, nay a tot of toddy from a tavern. Interesting times indeed, today and for readers who relish a good yarn, read about our related saga on toddy on Page 9 which refers to the recent restriction on toddy tapping and of a product that even elephants drank during ancient times to give them strength during battle!

Yep, KAS is happy that the Government finally overturned a 62-year-old (1955) law barring women from buying alcohol and a 1979 rule preventing women working in places where liquor is sold.

Crisis in tourism

Much as I would have loved to engage in a conversation with KAS on scrapping the liquor ban as she kept on asking Mahattaya, meka hondai neda? I couldnt.

The phone rang and my good friend, Mr. Tourism-Know-All (TKA) was on the line, in fact, to continue a conversation that ended abruptly the previous evening owing to a home emergency. And the issues we were discussing were fresh on Thursday morning, the reason why I steered away from the liquor debate.

The tourism sector seems to have got messed up with marching orders being given to Udaya Nanayakkara, TKA said, picking up from Thursday where we discussed the Sri Lanka Tourism chiefs dismissal from his post by Tourism Minister John Amaratunga.

It was ironic for Nanayakkara, a veteran in the trade, to leave for the second time in controversial circumstances. He was Tourism Chief in 2005 when the new Tourism Act was approved by Parliament. Just before taking up the post (being a member of the tourism private sector), he had backed the proposed law but opposed it when he became Tourist Board chairman, for the simple reason that the powers of this position were being clipped with the private sector having a bigger say in the affairs of tourism. The implementation of that Act had to be made effective through a gazette notification which was delayed for two years with Anura Bandaranaike at that time being in the ministerial seat. When Milinda Moragoda took over as minister, he ordered the gazette setting up the four structures  development, promotion, convention and training.

It hasnt been an easy ride since then. The Act itself has a peculiar format. For example it first deals with development (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority  SLTDA), then the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) in chapter 6 followed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) in chapter 7 and thereafter the Sri Lankan Convention Bureau in chapter 8. In todays context, promotion needs as equal importance as development but drafters of the proposed law, given that Sri Lanka was confronted by violence and conflict at that time, may have felt that development required more prominence and that trying to engage in costly promotion campaigns at that time was like pouring water on a ducks back.

The ministerial seat has also been a hot one apart from incumbents making statements that border on absurdity and stupidity. For example then Tourism Minister Nandana Gunatilleke, clueless on the subject and who thankfully served only a few months around 2009, wanted to scrap the 2005 Act and take back powers to the state. He was quoted as saying that decisions were not suited to the government agenda. I would not tolerate such decisions and once the existing laws are amended I could implement the Mahinda Chinthanaya in the Tourism Ministry, he reportedly said.

Such gut-wrenching statements continue to be made by different ministers to this day. The other day, Minister Amaratunga, that is if he was correctly quoted and not out of context (on the other hand ministers are quick to deny what they have said if their comments become unpalatable to the public) said that female tourists shouldnt walk alone on Sri Lankan roads. He was alluding to a report where a female tourist had been sexually assaulted.

This is a political jester Mervyn Silva-without-thinking, type of comment. If one is to take the ministers word, then Sri Lanka is not safe for anyone, let alone tourists. Coming from a minister promoting tourism and who should be assuring that Sri Lanka is a perfectly safe place, by Gad Sir, this is not done!

Nanayakkaras abrupt departure from the hot seat has a long story to it which involves alleged interference in day-to-day operational issues by advisors of the minister and their hand-picked officials which has been chronicled in the local media for many months. The minister has defended his decision, saying he was acting on industry complaints that the long, awaited promotion campaign was being delayed. Nanayakkara believes failed attempts to get the government to host a private dinner to 100 Chinese couples who were married in a colourful event in Colombo and inability to get the ministers advisor to sit at board meetings of the SLTPB as an observer were the straws that broke the camels back.

Rather than get the act together in coming up with a marketable tourism policy after the war ended in mid-2009 and Sri Lanka was open for trouble-free overseas traffic, tourism development and marketing have been trapped in egos, bureaucracy and bureaucratic bungling and ad-hoc decision-making.

There are too many cooks today  three separate committees looking at tourism promotion and development apart from the institutions under the Tourism Act, in addition to several local and foreign consultants. The law has not helped either, having many gaps that need to be amended.

Removal of an official by the minister in charge is complex and inconsistent throughout the Act. For example Section 5 (6) of the Act pertaining to the affairs of SLTDA provides a removal mechanism. It says: The Minister may, if it is expedient to do so, remove from office any member of the Authority other than the Director-General.

However, in the section on the SLTPB, the law is silent on a removal mechanism. In the case of the SLTPB, any member of the Bureau may resign from office by letter addressed to the Minister. Thus, unlike the case of the SLTDA chairmans post, the minister cannot remove a member of the SLTPB.

While ministers can be erratic (not sometimes, but most times) and dismiss people as and when they please, laws need to have a clear appointing and removal mechanism. The recent issues pertaining to the Central Bank Governor who cannot be removed, unless for reasons of insanity or misconduct, is a case in point. There is no provision for removal on the grounds of inefficiency or incompetence.

Tourism approvals go through very complex procedures. So much so that if a member of a tender or procurement committee cannot understand a proposal, he or she can raise objections and then it is back to the drawing board. Mark my words, this promotion campaign will take months, maybe years to start, said a tourism veteran familiar with current government procedures.

Firing Sri Lankas tourism chief came just as two powerful industry bodies in a joint statement on Monday welcomed the new campaign and urged that it be implemented without delay at a time when arrivals have slowed down, room stock has increased and regional competitors are upping their game. Reading between the lines of this statement, one got the impression that the industry feared all hell to break loose and was pleading for sanity among stakeholders.

Short of a miracle, Sri Lankas tourism marketing promotion will again take a back seat while political manoeuvring takes precedence. Thats Sri Lanka for you, where the only thing certain is uncertainty.Yahapalana rule under siege; vagaries of cohabitation politics take heavy toll of Presidents political career

President faces the unenviable task of uniting the SLFP while drawing criticism from within and from without

Much needs to be done in the remainder of his presidency forhim to be remembered as a great

Unfulfilled promises, mixed achievements in the anti-corruption battle, some notable progress on the democracy front

Sometimes, politics is all about being in the right place at the right time. Since Sri Lanka embraced a presidential system of government forty years ago, three of our six Presidents have been elevated to the highest office in the land by being in the right place at the right time.

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga was rewarded for his loyal service to the United National Party by being appointed as the Governor of the North Western Province where he was to spend his retirement. He was then summoned by Ranasinghe Premadasa, perhaps with an eye on the future, to contest the 1988 general election. He returned to Parliament, was appointed Prime Minister and was suddenly sworn in as President when Premadasa fell victim to a suicide bomber on May Day in 1993.

After her husband Vijaya was assassinated. Chandrika Kumaratunga fled the country and was living in Britain. Her brother, Anura Banadaranaike, was bearing the brunt of the United National Party (UNP)s domineering tactics under Premadasa. However, by the time the next elections were called Bandaranaike had crossed over to the UNP, Kumaratunga had returned and with her charming smile, an important double-barrelled surname, was catapulted from having never held public office to being President within a short span of eighteen months.

A few months prior to November 2014, in most peoples opinion, Maithripala Sirisena was destined to be a faithful servant of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in much the same way Wijetunga was loyal to the UNP. He too could have aspired to spend his retirement as a Governor, or if he so wished, even as an ambassador overseas. However, at the insistence of Maduluwave Sobhitha Thera and Kumaratunga, he took the plunge and decided to contest Mahinda Rajapaksa. The rest is recent history.

Sri Lankas three other Presidents had earned their titles the hard way. J.R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa and Mahinda Rajapaksa all toiled long and hard, endured long years in the Opposition and overcame plots and backstabbing within their own political parties to reach the top. Did this equip them better to deal with the tests and travails of a Presidency and as a result did they perform better?

JR, for all the vilification he endured, engineered economic and constitutional revolutions which survive to this day. Premadasa is still remembered as the leader who did some tangible work in the few years he presided while at the same time despatching Indian troops from the country and crushing the second Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection. Rajapaksa, no matter what he does in the future, will be remembered gratefully for annihilating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Their performances beg the question as to whether those who stumbled upon the Presidency by happenstance didnt perform that well when they had the opportunity to chart the destiny of the nation. Wijetunga was more or less a caretaker President whose greatest achievement was ensuring a transition of power after over a decade and a half of UNP rule and in Kumaratungas 11-year Presidency it is difficult to recall a significant achievement during her tenure other than, maybe, winning back control of the North from the LTTE and some positives on the foreign policy front. Now, after completing three years at the helm last Monday, Maithripala Sirisena is in danger of being categorised under mediocre rather than great or good.

Sirisenas election victory over Rajapaksa did not mean that Sirisena was the better politician of the two. What it meant was that the country was growing tired of the Rajapaksa oligarchy encroaching on every aspect of life in the country at the expense of law and order. They also took a dim view of some of Rajapaksas actions such as amending the Constitution so he could virtually rule for life, the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and the persecution of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka. Corruption in government had become the talk of the town  and the village. So, the same electorate that gave Rajapaksa a resounding endorsement in 2010, sent him packing to Medamulana in 2015.

When Sirisena assumed the high office on January 9, 2015, there were great expectations. He had pledged to abolish the Executive Presidency. The electorate had been regaled with tales of massive corruption by cronies of the Rajapaksa regime and waited with bated breath for the offenders to be prosecuted. They would have been ecstatic when Sirisena announced shortly after taking oaths that he would not run again for President, a pledge he repeated in Kandy, a day later. With great expectations come great disappointments.

Three years on, Rajapaksa loyalists are running rings around Sirisenas SLFP instead of being behind bars. Sirisena is at loggerheads with a faction of his own party as well as the UNP. Economic hardships imposed on the general public are mounting by the day and there is a general sense of dissatisfaction. Whether it is laid at Sirisenas doorstep or that of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP faction of the government is a moot point for the average citizen.

To be fair, Sirisena did make some significant changes in the first few months of his Presidency. Perhaps his most notable achievement to date has been enacting the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that reimposed the two-term limit on an individual holding office as President, pruned some of his own powers and provided the Constitutional Council and independent commissions more teeth. Sirisena was passionate about these changes and personally supervised negotiations with MPs in Parliament late into the night to ensure the amendment was passed in April 2015.

The August 2015 general elections saw him struggling to rein in his party stalwarts who were fighting for their political life. A glance at the electoral map showed that more southern electorates voted for Rajapaksa than Sirisena even in the presidential election that Sirisena won. The general secretaries of the SLFP and its alliance, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premajayantha were openly defiant and packing nomination lists with Rajapaksa loyalists.

Cornered by his own party men, Sirisena took the unprecedented step of broadcasting an address to the nation to lambast Rajapaksa, declaring that even if the SLFP emerged as the single largest party at the poll, Rajapaksa would not be appointed Prime Minister. SLFP MPs were livid because with a few carefully chosen words, Sirisena had scuppered their chances of re-election.

With many Rajapaksa loyalists  and Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, along with Chamal and Namal  being returned to Parliament despite this tirade, Sirisena was becoming increasingly isolated from the SLFP. It is perhaps at this juncture that Sirisena committed a crucial mistake. Instead of detaching himself from the party politics of the SLFP, he took on the project of unifying the SLFP because, as he said, he didnt want to be the person who presided over the division of the party. Having been elected as President on the strength of mostly UNP votes, Sirisena was trying to project himself as the undisputed leader of the SLFP.

As a first step, he purged the SLFP National List of Rajapaksa nominees and appointed his own men instead. Among them were five candidates who had swiftly switched allegiances from Rajapaksa to Sirisena, only to lose at the general election: Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane (Matara), S.B. Dissanayake (Nuwara Eliya), Mahinda Samarasinghe (Kalutara), Vijith Wijayamuni Soyza (Moneragala) and Thilanga Sumathipala (Colombo). There were questions marks over the integrity of some of these candidates and this exercise raised, for the first time, questions about Sirisenas own integrity.

After the election, Sirisena dangled the carrot of Cabinet portfolios before SLFPers loyal to Rajapaksa. Most of them did not bite. He then committed yet another error. Having decided to unify the SLFP, he failed to wield the big stick against SLFP dissidents who were now literally taking to the streets against him, launching Mahinda sulanga and paada yathras from Kandy to Colombo. Emboldened because the rebels faced no consequences for their actions, they have now metamorphosed into a fully-fledged political party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that is taking Sirisena head on. The sheer incompetence in bringing the Rajapaksa loyalists to book was put on the delays inevitable with the Rule of Law.

Today, Sirisena may be the sixth Executive President of Sri Lanka and the leader of the SLFP but he is aware that the groundswell of support he had three years ago is diminishing fast. After years of ranting against the Rajapaksas and faced with the prospect of finishing third  if not fourth, in the forthcoming local government elections, Sirisena sought to reconcile with them, speaking personally to Basil Rajapaksa and sending emissaries to talk to Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was strung along, but firmly rebuffed at the end.

Shunned by his one-time leader and his former colleagues, Sirisena has resorted to try and do what he does best: take the moral high ground. This he has done by focussing on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the sale of Central Bank bonds. This is a political hot potato but to his credit, Sirisena has come out on top, at least on this issue.

When Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was pushing for an extension for former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, it was Sirisena who intervened and appointed Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy instead. By then, Sirisena had found his feet in the Presidency, and was prepared to put his foot down as well. When the probe into the sale of Central Bank bonds was stuck in a quagmire of lawyers inquiries and parliamentary committees, it was Sirisena who appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry. Having first said he would use madu-walige (a sting-rays tail) to whip the corrupt, he upgraded the threat recently to say he would use a sword.

Last week, Sirisena made yet another address to the nation on the findings of the Commission. He promised to make the findings of the report public. He also promised legal action to punish the offenders  through laws passed in Parliament, if necessary  and to recover the stolen billions.

If the SLFPers were livid  and UNPers were applauding  at Sirisenas address to the nation in 2015 prior to the general election, UNPers are livid now and the SLFPers are applauding. UNPers say the timing of Sirisenas outburst, with weeks to go for the local government election, damages the UNP just before the poll so that the Sirisena faction of the SLFP can better its chances. On the other hand, Sirisena could not have locked the report up. That would have resulted in accusations that he was protecting the rogues. To show he was not making use of the report for political advantage he could have avoided the virtual address to the nation.

UNPers are in a dilemma. Defending the Central Bank bond scam is to argue a black brief. But they see in Sirisena a definitive move to embarrass the UNP on whose votes he rode to the high office he holds. And all this when those who were allegedly corrupt in the Rajapaksa regime have not been prosecuted and still roam free, some of them are sitting SLFP ministers as Sirisena desperately tried to cosy up to Rajapaksas and the SLPP for the local government election?

At last Sundays 70th anniversary celebrations of the UNP, it went on the offensive, in what was obviously a response to Sirisena. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he would request Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to convene Parliament to debate the Commissions report and wanted Central Bank transactions during the Rajapaksa era probed.

Former Finance Minister Karunanayake was defiant saying that those who did not have the experience of operating a bulath kadey are trying to implicate him. On Tuesday, Karunanayake was at the Presidential Secretariat requesting a copy of the Commission report under the Right to Information Act, which was promised to Parliament this week has now been promised next week.

Sirisena cannot be faulted for what he has done with the bond scam. He has done what he should be doing. He promised yahapaalanaya and a county free of corruption and he has succeeded in unearthing a scam running into billions of rupees and draining the countrys economy dry. It was daylight robbery after all. He deserves all the kudos he gets for it and the UNPers should not be complaining. Instead, it is their fault that their people  those handpicked for top jobs  indulged in unethical if not illegal activities and that the Minister who is responsible for managing the countrys finances is unaware that something so bad happened in the economy.

Still, Sirisenas Presidency is one under siege. There is fire from within and fire from the outside. The fire from within comes from two flanks, the UNP and the SLFP. The UNP is annoyed that the President who made it to where he is because of their partys votes is now trying to prosecute UNPers. They feel Sirisena, given half a chance would ditch them and embrace the Rajapaksas at any time, if only the latter agrees.

SLFPers are not a happy lot as well. They feel that their own political prospects could be better with Rajapaksa and some ministers repeatedly and openly speak of forming a purely SLFP government. Others, such as Minister Susil Premajayantha, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, W.D.J. Seneviratne and many others are with one foot in the Rajapaksa camp and the SLPP on key issues though remaining within the government. They are the ones pushing a hapless Sirisena to break his moorings with the UNP.

The fire from without comes from the SLPP. They have stuck to a winning strategy: marketing the Rajapaksa brand. It didnt work in 2015 but now, with a government high on promises but low on performance, they are rekindling the memories of the Rajapaksa era where highways, ports, airports and stadia  most of them named after Rajapaksa  were built, the garbage was collected on time, Colombo and the main towns looked spick and span. In as much as the SLPP targets the UNP there is no coyness about their ultimate objective: oust the UNP, reinstall the Rajapaksas in power, an equation where it would be difficult to fit Sirisena in.

To Sirisenas credit, all this is possible because he opened the floodgates of democracy. The fear of white vans is no more and the private media, particularly the electronic media, appears to pander more to the Oppositions cause. True, the war is over and threats to journalists subsided thereafter, but journalists dont fear an abduction nowadays  just a slap from the former Navy Commander or their notes confiscated by a court sergeant for doing their job. The culture of impunity and intimidation that pervaded life in this country during the later years of Rajapaksa rule has vanished. Unfortunately for Sirisena, the memories of Sri Lankans are notoriously short; they now take this freedom for granted and complain about the rising price of coconuts, some foodstuffs competing with the rising dollar, and how disorganised the government is.

Disorganised is an understatement to describe the state of the yahapaalanaya government. It is true that it is difficult to govern when the partners in the coalition are two political parties which have been at loggerheads with each other for more than sixty five years and have different philosophies, policies and political agendas. The biggest critics of one another are the converts  S.B. Dissanayake (SLFP-UNP-SLFP); Dayasiri Jayasekera (UNP-SLFP), Mahinda Samarasinghe (UNP-SLFP), Mangala Samaraweera (SLFP-UNP), Lakshman Kiriella (SLFP-UNP), Gamini Lokuge (UNP-SLPP), Keheliya Rambukwella (UNP-SLPP) and the like.

The constant sniping, backbiting and public bickering has reached a level where its performance suffers as a result. The controversies over the Value Added Tax (VAT), the Port City in Colombo, the appointment of the Central Bank Governor, SriLankan Airlines and the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) are examples where the two parties have differed in policy and most of these issues are still festering, with no solution in sight.

Contrast this with the Rajapaksa era. The nation owed its freedom to Rajapaksa who delivered the final blow to the scourge of terrorism and his acolytes ensured that the masses marched to a single drum, the tune of which was composed by a Rajapaksa, be it Mahinda, Gotabaya or Basil. No minister dared to utter a whimper of protest and organisations such as the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) which now yowl at the slightest hint of authority were kept kittens, purring in admiration.

Sri Lankans are therefore faced with a difficult choice: do they opt for Sirisena, committed as he is to democratic freedoms but who is sluggish on efficient government, economic growth and even constitutional reform. Or, do they revert to the Rajapaksas where there was visible development and much less chaos in government but at the cost of the right to dissent?

That will depend, to a large extent, on what Sirisena himself decides to do. A cornerstone of his 2015 campaign was constitutional reform but progress on this front has been painstakingly slow. A Parliamentary Select Committee is formulating those changes but, with all political parties having an eye on their prospects under a new Constitution and a new system of elections, discussions are nowhere near a consensus.

If matters progress at the same pace as it has done for the past three years, it would be a supreme optimist who will expect a new Constitution by 2020, when the next national elections are due. The contours of the next Constitution will obviously have an impact on the political direction of the country: will the Executive Presidency as we know it be abolished and will he or she be elected by Parliament? Sirisena loyalists in the Cabinet keep announcing from time to time that he will be their candidate at the next presidential election. Sirisena remains silent on this issue and has neither confirmed nor denied his intention to run for President again.

However, a distinct insight into Sirisenas thinking emerged this week. On Tuesday, Sirisena wrote to the Supreme Court, requesting an opinion on whether he can stay in office as President for six years  till January 2021. The question as to whether Sirisenas term ends in 2020 0r 2021 arises because of the 19th Amendment. Section 3 of the 19th Amendment dictated a reduction in the Presidents period of office from six years to five years. The issue now is whether this applies to Sirisena as well. The Supreme Court will make a determination about this shortly.

So, it appears that Sirisena wishes to remain in office for as long as he can, at least for his first term. That is a volte-face for someone who railed against the Executive Presidency and made it the central issue of his election campaign. Television stations have begun broadcasting his 2014 campaign promise to abolish the Executive Presidency in 100 days, if elected. But then, politicians have skins of Rhinos. Had Maduluwave Sobhitha Thera  who coaxed Sirisena into running for President  been alive today, he wouldnt have been impressed and would probably have told Sirisena that he would rather have the Presidency abolished than have the Rajagiriya flyover named after him  which was a directive Sirisena issued on Monday.

There is also a sense of deja vu about this. Even Chandrika Kumaratunga who labelled the Jayewardene Constitution a bahubootha viyawasthaawa and pledged to abolish the Executive Presidency tried to extend her second term of office by one year, only to be told by the Supreme Court she could not do so. The instigator for the Supreme Court action then was Mahinda Rajapaksa and Rajapaksa is up to his old tricks again, because he had already flagged the issue in a recent statement, stating that the next presidential election is due to be called in November 2019, so a President could be elected in January 2020.

Apart from dealing with these constitutional intricacies, Sirisena has to decide, once and for all, what political stance he would be taking. Does he act neutral and leave the UNP and the SLFP to fight it out or does he involve himself in the cesspit of party politics, from where he wont emerge smelling of roses? What is his policy vis-a-vis the UNP? Will he sacrifice the party that propelled him from mundane minister to powerful President, if that ensures his political survival in the face of the re-emerging Rajapaksas?

In the past three years, Sirisenas singular weakness has been his lack of consistency and his vacillation when taking political decisions. If he dealt with SLFP dissidents when their rebellion began, the SLPP might not be the force to reckon with that it is today. Had he stuck to the SLFP faction loyal to him instead of pandering to the SLPP  as he did a few weeks ago  he would have projected the image of a strong leader. Underlying these politically flawed actions is a lack of understanding of the reason he was elected to office: he won not because of his charisma but simply because the electorate thought the time was right for a change from the Rajapaksas.

That does not mean that Sirisena cannot still succeed. Before him, D.B. Wijetunga, an unlikely President if ever there was one, left office with much goodwill, even though he had little to show in terms of achievements in his short eighteen month stint. Those who initially lampooned him as Deaf and Blind and Dunnoth Baaragannam playing on his initials, later called him Doing Bloody Well.

Among his predecessors, Sirisena is closest to Wijetunga in terms of his personality. Wijetunga was a cooperative inspector before taking to politics and remained a self-effacing modest man who identified himself as a simple villager throughout his political career. It is a description that would fit Sirisena too, except that he was a Grama Niladhari before transitioning to politics.

If Sirisena is to be remembered for doing bloody well during his Presidency, he will have to do much more in the remaining years of his presidency than what he has done in the past three  and keep his promises to the nation. The time has come for Maithripala Sirisena to transition from politician to statesman  and that time is right now.

Political editor on leave

The Sunday Times Political Editor is on leave this week and therefore, the political column isnot published today.SAITM issue: Harsha explains three-party MOU to be made public next week By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Oshani Alwis View(s): View(s):

The three-party Memorandum-of-Understanding (MOU) to bury forever the saga that has been the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) is with the Attorney-General (AG) and will be released to the public next week, the Sunday Times learns.

The MOU signed on December 30 by the government, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) and SAITM has been sent to the AG to look at the legal aspects and will be made public next week, said National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva, when asked by the Sunday Times why the MOU was being kept a secret.

Dr. de Silva headed the nine-member committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 29, last year, to end the SAITM issue and bring about a solution amicable to all.

While there were rumblings and mumblings about the MOU among many quarters involved in the SAITM issue, Dr. de Silva, when asked said that the sunset mechanism has been proposed for the whole of SAITM. (The Sunday Times reported the protests against the solution last week)

When the Sunday Times pointed out that Dr. de Silvas mandate should only have covered the controversy-ridden private medical faculty, he stressed that when they tried to structure the financial transaction, they found it impossible to isolate it because the assets and the liabilities were common. All financials are in one entity. The loan doesnt say this part is for the Medical Faculty and this is for the Engineering Faculty. The loans taken are in the billions, both for the medical faculty and for the hospital (Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital).

People criticise me and throw mud at me without knowing the complexity of the problem, he pointed out, explaining that the committee had to consider all aspects from the extreme groups to parents, from the banks to the government side. The medical faculty cannot be taken as a separate entity because the medical faculty, the hospital and the others are all linked. They fall under one entity, financial-wise, including assets such as buildings.

He recaptures what happened over the latter half of last year and says that the first committee he headed came up with some proposals which were handed over to President Sirisena who then studied them and brought in amendments.Thereafter, President Sirisena appointed the nine-member committee, through a communique on October 29, to work out the details of implementation.

The main points are:

The assets and liabilities, staff and students of SAITM will lock, stock and barrel be transferred to SLIIT to form an entity that will be different to SAITM because the protests against SAITM were the issues of quality  that it did not meet quality standards and that it was a kade  a profit-making enterprise. This is the sunset part of the solution.

A new entity to carry out medical education that is a not-for-profit institution, which would be in keeping with the governments policy for some amount of non-state medical education. This is the sunrise part of the solution.

The issue of quality will be sorted out with the minimum standards for medical education and training as defined by the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) being met. The issue of profit-making will be settled as it will be a not-for-profit institution.

Asked what has happened to the fees charged when admitting students to the medical faculty of SAITM, he said that the money had been utilised for operational expenses, to build the hospital, to offer scholarships and for many things in running the enterprise.

Getting down to basics, Dr. de Silva says that all assets and all liabilities and students and staff will be taken over by SLIIT. The earlier owners of SAITM, Dr. Neville Fernando and his family, will have nothing to do with the new entity. They will not be on the board, not in management and have no involvement whatsoever.it will be zero, zilch. They are completely out of the picture, he said.

There will be no screening of the SAITM students, for if they meet the minimum admission requirements, whatever was existing at that time, they will be taken in, he said, adding that what degree the students will secure is outside the scope of the committee and the matter is currently in court for the three batches which have already secured the SAITM Degree. The other batches who will be part of the sunset institute will receive a degree from whatever name is given to that institute. This degree will only be given until the final SAITM student moves out of the institute. This degree will only be given until the final SAITM student moves out of the institute and then this entity will cease to exist. The sunrise institute will be the new entity to which students will be admitted from 2019. They will get the degree from whatever name that institute takes.

According to Dr. de Silva the minimum standards for medical education and training as set out by the SLMC have not undergone any changes. The criticism has been over the admission criteria which is the job of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The SLMC has proposed that the admission criteria should be based on the results of the last student eligible to enter a state medical faculty the previous year. The current entry criteria are 3 minimum passes for universities. What they have agreed is to review this in the coming three years and to set the criteria at 2Cs and 1S. This has been generally agreed upon by the SLMC. The committee has no view on this, as this matter has to be sorted out by the UGC.

When asked whether SLIIT has begun the process of seeking SLMC recognition as it is hoping to recruit its first batch of medical students in 2019 to the sunrise institute, Dr. de Silva said no. That process would have to begin once the AGs views have been given on the committees implementation mechanism.

To the query how and why SLIIT was selected, without being an institution that offers medical degrees or having any medical teaching experience, the Deputy Minister said that Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella had asked SLIIT whether they were interested because that seemed to be the only non-state, not-for-profit university of repute as an option. SLIIT has been in operation for 20 years and thousands of students have passed out from there and the SLIIT degree is recognised.

SLIIT has been overseeing lots of courses in engineering and management. Its a big institution and they have been successful so far. This can be taken as proof that SLIIT would be able to manage the task of overseeing medical teaching as well, was his view.

SLIIT, meanwhile, will use the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital to provide clinical training to the medical students, while the government will also allocate state hospitals for such training to overcome any gaps that may arise.

When asked whether the state medical faculties were asked whether they would accept the SAITM students, he was categorical that they were asked but the response was a strong no, stressing that the committee had their representation in the form of the Vice Chancellors of Colombo and Sri Jayewardenepura and Deans of the Medical Faculties of Colombo and Ragama.

To a query about the Kotelawela Defence University (KDU), he said that he himself held a two-hour discussion with the KDU authorities and it was an absolute no.

The other members of the nine-member Harsha de Silva Committee were Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Sugathadasa; Higher Education Ministry Secretary D.C. Dissanayake; University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof. Mohan de Silva; Sri Lankan Medical Council (SLMC) President Prof. Colvin Goonaratna; Colombo University Vice Chancellor Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake; Sri Jayewardenepura University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sampath Amaratunga; Colombo Medical Faculty Dean Prof. Jennifer Perera; and Ragama Medical Faculty Dean Prof. Nilanthi de Silva.

The Association of Medical Specialists (AMS), the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), the Federation of Faculty of Medicine Teachers Association (FFMTA), the Government Medical Students Parents Association and the SAITM Medical Students Parents Association were observers at the three meetings that the nine-member committee held to debate and improve the solution .

What role will SLIIT play? The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) will take over both the assets and liabilities of SAITM and the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital, said Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva, explaining that while SLIIT will own SAITM, the hospital will be owned by the governments Health Ministry.SLIIT may end up paying some money to Neville Fernando as the government is not in the business of expropriating private enterprises. Part of the transaction in terms of the cost is really the hospital. The government will receive Rs. 3.2 as it currently stands from SLIIT and the government receives an asset (the hospital) at no cost, he said, adding that SLIIT is taking on the liabilities including the repayment of the loan, with the Bank of Ceylon being part of the agreement.In turn, SLIIT will use the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital for their clinical training needs. After the loan is paid back, SLIIT will be charged a fee for each student who uses the hospital for clinical training. If there are inadequacies, the government will allocate other state hospitals for the training of their students.Stepping into our own magical world of nano Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) branches into academia, opening a new chapter in its field of research. Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports View(s): View(s):

A top a small hill in Pitipana, Homagama, off the Thalagala Road set amidst a lush 50-acre block is a building, the sight of which stops the visitors in their tracks. It looks like a space station but a closer view makes it crystal clear that it is all to do with science and technology. A top a small hill in Pitipana, Homagama, off the Thalagala Road set amidst a lush 50-acre block is a building, the sight of which stops the visitors in their tracks. It looks like a space station but a closer view makes it crystal clear that it is all to do with science and technology.

Taking the shape of a hexagon with atoms aplenty adorning it, we are on the doorstep of the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), just about to enter into a world of wonder right here in Sri Lanka. It nestles within the Nanotechnology & Science Park of the Techno City designated by the Megapolis Ministry.

Several are the groundbreaking patents in the agriculture and apparel sectors that have emanated from SLINTEC, a private company formed through a public-private partnership, said Chief Executive Officer Harin De Silva Wijeyeratne.

While SLINTEC is the first public-private research institute in the country, making significant progress, it has brought under its wing another vital aspect, academia, with the launch of the SLINTEC Academy in September last year.

SLINTEC Academy has taken the initiative of introducing Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree Programmes in Nano and Advanced Technology to provide high-quality post-graduate education to those interested in this field, explains Vice Chancellor Prof. Veranja Karunaratne.

The academys Chancellor is MAS Holdings Chairman Mahesh Amalean who is also SLINTECs Chairman.

The need is obvious, with Sri Lanka estimated to be having only about 5,000 scientists currently but requiring at least 20,000 to increase high-tech exports which would be facilitated by more and more research and development activity, it is learnt. Research capacity building with highly-trained scientists in nano and advanced technologies should be a top priority as it is the need of the hour for Sri Lanka.

Pointing out that the vision of the SLINTEC Academy is education and discovery through research and innovation, Prof. Karunaratne stresses that true education must lead to discovery. After learning from books, one must discover new knowledge. (See box please)

A days walkabout at SLINTEC provides us with an insight into the unique facilities available here and also the academic-industry amalgam at work.

Last November, the success story of the Nanotechnology Laboratory that is SLINTEC was presented to the world by Science, Technology and Research Minister Susil Premajayantha under the theme Innovating Sri Lanka when he met the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi.

Placing SLINTEC, well and truly, as a pioneer and trendsetter in nanotechnology and advanced technology research, with the vision of Inventions  Beyond the Horizon, Minister Premajayantha has explained how this Nanotechnology Laboratory was initially capitalized by government funds, but where the private sector is successfully running its operations and that the country is planning to follow similar approaches for other technologies as well.

Before the mind-boggling tour, SLINTEC Academy Provost Prof. Nilwala Kottegoda goes back to 2005 when Minister Tissa Vitarana suggested through a Cabinet paper how Sri Lanka could benefit from the 5th Industrial Revolution that is Nanotechnology by setting up a National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

However, it would need a lot of money and the government could not afford it. Then a Sri Lankan expatriate scientist, Prof. Ravi Silva, of the University of Surrey came on board and coaxed the private sector which would be the target industry of the NNI to throw in their dice with the government. A textile industry giant, MAS Holdings, did so along with four more major corporates  Brandix, another textile industry giant; Dialog which was interested in health monitoring and remote health care; Loadstar, one of the largest solid rubber tyre manufacturers; and Hayleys dealing in agrochemicals. Later joined Lankem.

By 2008, the Cabinet paper was approved and the first Public-Private Enterprise (PPE) in the country saw the light of day in a garage in 2009, with 50% investment from the government and 50% from the private sector.

Eight months later in August 2009, a well-equipped laboratory was constructed in Biyagama and the government picked a few scientists to work there. It was in 2013 that SLINTEC moved to its beautiful home in Pitipana and now many more drawings are on the table, with a second hexagon due to come up in 2019.

Prof. Kottegoda opens the magical world of nanotechnology to us when she describes how the word nano indicates very small. Nano with the symbol n is a unit prefix meaning one billionth in the metric system for time and length. One nanometre is about the length that a fingernail grows in one second. Nanoscience and nanotechnology, meanwhile, are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science and engineering.

Numerous examples she provides us, the uninitiated. The diameter of a cross-section of a human hair is 80,000 nanometres. If you make something small enough between 1 and 100 nanometres, it is a magical range and its behaviour will be different from its bulk counterpart. Gold bangles, if broken into two are still gold but broken into 100 nanometres will change its colour to red-blue as in a rainbow.

Nature is full of nano technology, says Prof. Kottegoda. Nelum lives in the mud but is clean  the water droplets on its leaves glimmer like crystal. The self-cleaning surface does not allow the water or dust particles to be absorbed. This is the technology that is being used to produce self-cleaning textiles, with no dirt or sweat getting adhered to the material.

The gossamer wings of butterflies and the rainbow-coloured feathers of peacocks are nano-scale optic concepts, she says, urging us to look at the gecko, the humble huna, on the ceiling. Why doesnt it fall off, she asks, explaining that the gecko grips the ceiling with its millions of nano-level tiny hairs on its feet, as it moves with ease. This is the basis for Spider Man. The spider-web, meanwhile, is the strongest and most flexible nano material spray adhesive.

Thereafter, we get a close view of all the sophisticated instruments and techniques.

SLINTECs achievements include filing for 15 patents, 13 in America and two in Sri Lanka, with the jewel being three patents on nano-fertilizer being sold to Nagarjuna Corporation Limited in India for US$1 million and generating the first royalty revenue (Rs. 7.8 million) stream from a successful research project with Textured Jersey, according to SLINTECs Chief of Research & Innovation, Prof. Gehan Amaratunga who is Professor of Electronics Engineering at Cambridge University in England and spends half the year at SLINTEC.

The other vital members of the SLINTEC team are Chief of Process & Engineering Systems Ananda Hettiarachchy and Science Team Leader Prof. K.M. Nalin de Silva.

SLINTEC, meanwhile, has also expanded its research portfolio to include synthetic organic chemistry to develop Advanced Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and nutraceuticals. A contract has also been signed with Laugfs Gas to build a pilot plant to check the feasibility of converting Ilmenite to Titanium Dioxide.

Another major move is the creation of an Endowment Fund through the concept of sponsoring a Brick for Science at Rs. 1 million each.

Balancing lab knowledge with real world industries The totally Sri Lankan venture that is the SLINTEC Academy, approved by the University Grants Commission, is SLINTECs degree administration and knowledge dissemination arm. It is a private but not-for-profit degree awarding campus dedicated to creating world-class research graduates.The MPhil in Nano and Advanced Technology, open to graduates of all branches of Science, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine, is a full-time two-year research programme. It is need-blind but financial assistance provided is need-based and applicants with exceptional merit are being offered full or partial scholarships. The MPhil holders can next move to a PhD Programme within the SLINTEC Academy itself; seek an opportunity in any best-ranked international university or work within the Sri Lankan industry, government agencies and organizations with a strong research culture. Nano and Advanced Technology is the way forward, says Prof. Veranja Karunaratne, explaining that through the understanding of its theory and application, students will carry out research in Smart Agriculture, Apparel, Water Purification, Healthcare and Mineral Resources, Innovative Rubber Products, Advanced Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Synthetic Biology, Energy Harvesting and Storage, Advanced Engineering Materials and Advanced Surface Coatings and Packaging. Of the internal faculty of 30, 27 are PhDs from leading universities who prepare students to read, analyze and critically understand published scientific papers (accessed through Science Direct), empowering them to learn the art of scientific writing and publish their research findings in high-impact journals. Here, with the academic-industry amalgam, students will learn how to balance scientific knowledge gathered in the lab with the research demands of real-world industries. How to manage scientific expectations of the industry and work with them to take the laboratorys proof of principles to development, leading eventually to commercialization, he adds.Asbestos isnt always harmful to health By Prof. Ravindra Fernando View(s): View(s):

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals.They are, thin fibrous crystals, with each visible fibre composed of millions of microscopic fibrils. Asbestos mining existed more than 4,000 years ago, but large-scale mining began at the end of the 19th century, when manufacturers and builders began using asbestos for its desirable physical properties: sound absorption, average tensile strength, resistance to fire, heat, electricity and affordability.

Sri Lanka uses only the white chrysotile asbestos in our roofing sheet manufacture. All over the world, the only form of asbestos in commercial use is chrysotile, which is not harmful or hazardous to health. Hazardous blue and brown asbestos under poor worker safety conditions in the 20th century led to the understanding that asbestos dust inhalation from these forms can cause serious health concerns. As a result brown and blue asbestos varieties are banned globally.

However, chrysotile is used in over 140 countries  including the USA, Canada, Russia, India, China, Brazil, etc.

Over the last 50 years, world production of asbestos has not declined. The world production in 1960 was around two million tonnes, and still approximates to two million tonnes. However, while world production in the early 1960s included all major forms of the production of the hazardous amphibole varieties, crocidolite and amosite has ceased since 1987 and 1992 respectively.

Today, millions of workers are involved in international chrysotile asbestos industries. Taken together, these countries represent more than two-thirds of the total world population. For all parties of interest to be involved this means including and respecting the views of workers, their organisations, governments and industry.

Over the last three decades, there has been consistent published evidence that chrysotile can be used safely and under conditions that present no measurable risk to health. Many examples of safe use have been studied, noted, recorded and replicated at the factory, mine, regional and national level.

An investigation on 5,645 asbestos-cement manufacturing workers by Weill and others showed no raised mortality resulting from exposure for 20 years to chrysotile asbestos. The authors stated that,The demonstration that low cumulative and short-term exposures did not produce a detectable excess risk for respiratory malignancy may be of assistance in the development of regulatory policy.

Another follow up study of 2,167 workers employed in a factory manufacturing chrysotile asbestos cement products between 1941 and 1983 by Gardner and others showed no excess of lung cancers or other asbestos-related excess deaths.

Recent toxicology studies demonstrate that chrysotile asbestos has a relatively short bio-persistence and does not result in pathological response even through 90 days of exposure.

This explains what science affirms, that chrysotile, which is rapidly attacked by the acid environment of the macrophage, falls apart in the lung into short fibres and particles.

In the USA, the use of chrysotile has been attacked for many years by anti-asbestos lobbyists and various activists (including within the Environmental Protection Agency  the EPA) wherein they exerted great effort and enormous pressure to pass a full and total legislative ban. That effort did not succeed.

On October 18, 1991 the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal was clear in its ruling when it refused this request based on a meticulous examination of scientific evidence, facts and the realities associated with risk  not conspiracies and conflated narratives.

The court struck down the crusade, and the EPA against the use of asbestos in the USA. The court concluded that the EPA failed to muster substantial evidence to support this abusive request.

In India, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition to ban the white chrysotile asbestos in the country as there was no evidence to prove that it was dangerous to human health. In January last year petitioners to the Supreme Court in India tried to use the same so-called scientific analysis to ban asbestos. The judges asked to see the evidence to support their petition but nothing was found. The petitioners were charged with perjury, and fined with a short custodial sentence.

The amount of airborne chrysotile fibres, atmospheric conditions etc. are the critical factors in determination of its health risk. In Sri Lanka, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) conducted an Air Quality Study on chrysotile fibre.

This study covered three different scenarios of chrysotile fibre exposure at a:

1. Chrysotile-cement roofing sheets production factory environment

2. Chrysotile-cement roofing sheets used house environment

3. Chrysotile-cement roofing sheets used construction or demolition site environment

The study was done in two factories. The first factory was located in Ratmalana. The second factory was located in Ja-ela.

The production technology is called Hatschek technology. The fibres are imported from Russia, Kazakhstan and Brazil.

For the household study, ten houses had been selected which used chrysotile cement roofing sheets which should be used for the roof, that should not be covered by a ceiling and they had different ages of roofing.

This study clearly showed that the ambient fibre levels are much below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Standard of Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for asbestos in all three studies, which is 0.1 fibre per cubic centimetre.

The household environment showed the lowest levels of ambient fibres of chrysotile while construction sites showed the highest values of that.

According to the information provided by the factory management and the observations made at inspections, two factories are maintaining high level of safety to control possible emission and exposure to dangerous fibres.

All the fibre levels in this study were well below the threshold level.

To ban a substance, product, or natural resource implies that research, evaluation and serious study has taken place; and that prior to making a decision, that the overwhelming body of scientific evidence and policy options concludes there is no other possible choice but a ban. Such a decision is generally taken as a last resort, when other available policy options are ineffective in the face of a verified and dramatic threat.

The latest scientific evidence published internationally strongly supports the following views:

1. Chrysotile is significantly less hazardous than crocidolite and amosite, which is not imported to Sri Lanka.

2. When properly controlled and used, chrysotile asbestos in its modern day high-density applications does not present risks of any significance to public or workers health.

Today, a large number of countries use chrysotile fibres and products containing chrysotile and it is their firm intention to continue to do so in a safe and responsible manner.

Therefore, Sri Lanka should not ban the use of chrysotile asbestos as there is no scientific evidence of health risks.

(The writer is an emeritus professor of forensic medicine and toxicology at the University of Colombo.)President Sirisena inaugurates Pakistan Single Country Exhibition View(s):

President Maithripala Sirisena, along with Pakistans Commerce Minister Mohammad Pervaiz Malik and Pakistan High Commissioner Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat, inaugurated the third edition of Pakistan Single Country Exhibition at BMICH on Friday.

The exhibition features leading Pakistani companies and manufacturers of engineering products, auto parts, agro products, textile and clothing, designer wear, handicraft and Traditional Textiles, pharmaceuticals, cutlery, furniture, carpets, marble and services.

In his opening remarks, High Commissioner Hashmat said this exhibition is aimed at promoting and strengthening the Sri Lanka-Pakistan business interests. He underscored that the exhibition would provide a great opportunity to Sri Lankan business houses to meet visiting companies from Pakistan through B2B interactions.

In his welcome address, Minister Pervaiz Malik said that for Pakistan, Sri Lanka is amongst the top focus countries for greater trade relations. He said that Pakistan is one of the rapidly emerging economies of the world with friendly business environment created by the current government through policies aimed at achieving micro-economic stability in the country.

He expressed the hope that such events would set the foundations for greater people to people connectivity and mutual economic growth.

After the inauguration, President Sirisena and other invitees visited the stalls, particularly a special stall on Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan. The President was presented a book, DVD and leaflets on Pakistans Buddhist Heritage.The reality of North Korea as a nuclear power state By Thalif Deen View(s): View(s):

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)  With a track record of six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, North Korea is desperately yearning to be recognized as the worlds ninth nuclear power  trailing behind the US, UK, France, China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Israel.

But that recognition seems elusive despite the increasing nuclear threats by Pyongyang and the continued war of words between two of the worlds most unpredictable leaders: US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Arguing that North Koreans have little reason to give up their weapons program, the New York Times ran a story last November with a realistically arresting headline which read: The North is a Nuclear Power Now. Get Used to it. But the worlds five major nuclear powers, the UK, US, France, China and Russia, who are also permanent members of the UN Security Council, have refused to bestow the nuclear badge of honour to the North Koreans.

North Korea, meanwhile, has pointed out that the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, were perhaps facilitated by one fact: none of these countries had nuclear weapons or had given up developing nuclear weapons.

And that is why we will never give up ours, a North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying.

Dr M.V. Ramana, Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, told IPS there is, however, hope in the recent placatory moves by North and South Korea.

I think that the situation can return to a calmer state, although it is entirely possible that this calmer state would involve North Korea holding on to nuclear weapons. I suspect that for the time being the world will have to live with North Koreas nuclear arsenal, he added.

Although that is not a desirable goal, there is no reason why one should presume that North Korea having nuclear weapons is any more of a problem than India, Pakistan, or Israel, or for that matter, China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, or the United States, said Dr Ramana, author of The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India, Penguin Books, New Delhi (2012).

I think the greater problem is the current leadership of the United States that has been making provocative statements and taunts. I think it is for the powerful countries to start the process of calming down the rhetoric and initiate negotiations with North Korea.

Also, any peace process should be based on reciprocal moves: one cannot simply expect North Korea to scale down its programs without corresponding moves by the United States, he declared.

Jayantha Dhanapala, a former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs (1998-2003), told IPS there is little doubt that North Korea, (also known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea), has acquired a nuclear weapon capability and the means of delivering it to the mainland of the USA.

That this is clearly in defiance of international norms and a violation of international law and Security Council resolutions is also clear, he noted. Those norms, quite apart from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), now include the recently negotiated Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.

It was adopted on 7 July 2017, but neither the USA nor the DPRK have acceded to it, said Dhanapala a former President of Pugwash (2007-17),

He also pointed out that the persistent efforts of the DPRK since the end of the Korean War to conclude a just and equitable peace with the USA have been rebuffed again and again.

Past agreements and talks both bilateral and multilateral have failed and we are now witnessing the puerile antics of two leaders engaged in the mutual recrimination of two school-yard bullies asserting that one mans nuclear button is bigger than the others while tensions reminiscent of the Cold War build up alarmingly.

Such escalation reached dangerous proportions at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis where the historical record proves that the world was saved from nuclear catastrophe by sheer luck. We cannot trust to luck anymore, he warned.

Some small steps between the two Koreas hold promise of a dialogue beginning on the eve of the Winter Olympics. This must be the opportunity for all major powers to intervene and resume negotiations. The Secretary-General of the UN must act and act now, he added.

The number of nuclear weapons in the world has declined significantly since the end of the Cold War: down from approximately 70,300 in 1986 to an estimated 14,550, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

According to US intelligence sources, North Koreas nuclear arsenal is anywhere between 20 to 50 weapons. The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) estimates a total of over 50 weapons.

Joseph Gerson, President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, told IPS that successive North Korean governments have pursued their nuclear weapons programme for two primary reasons: to ensure the survival of the Kim Dynasty and to preserve the survival of the North Korean state.

As Scott Snyder (a Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy Council on Foreign Relations) taught us years ago, there is a logic  potentially deadly as is the case with any nuclear weapons programme  to the development of North Koreas deterrent nuclear arsenal.

Beginning with the Korean War, the United States has threatened and or prepared to initiate nuclear war against North Korea. These threats have added resonance for North Koreans as a consequence of the United States military having destroyed 90% of all structures north of the 38th parallel during the Korean War.

Gerson said it is also worth noting that in the wake of the 1994 U.S.-DPRK nuclear crisis, North Korea was prepared to trade its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for security guarantees, normalisation of relations and economic development assistance.

The United States failed to fulfill its commitments under the 1994 Agreed Framework, by refusing to deliver promised oil supplies and endlessly delaying its promised construction of two light water nuclear reactors in exchange for the suspension of the DPRK nuclear weapons program.

In 2000, former U.S. Secretary of Defence William Perry and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright negotiated a comprehensive agreement with North Korea. And President Clinton was to travel to Pyongyang to finalize the agreement, but with the political crisis caused by the disputed outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election, he did not make that trip.

Among the first disastrous orders of business of the Bush Administration was the sabotaging of that agreement. This, in turn, led to North Koreas first nuclear weapons test, said Gerson, author of Empire and the Bomb: How the US Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World, The Sun Never SetsConfronting the Network of U.S. Foreign Military Bases, and With Hiroshima Eyes: Atomic War, Nuclear Extortion and Moral Imagination.

While expectations for the meeting of North and South Korean officials, currently underway, are low, said Gerson, the world should be celebrating South Korean President Moons winter Olympic-related diplomatic initiatives and the resulting functional Olympic Truce.

By welcoming North Korean athletes to participate in the Olympics and by postponing threatening U.S.-South Korean military exercises, President Trumps my nuclear button is bigger than yours ratcheting up of dangers of war have been sidelined he pointed out.

Following his inauguration last year, President Moon announced that he had a veto over the possibility of a disastrous U.S. initiated second Korean War. Having exercised that veto and forced Trumps hand, he has opened the way for deeper diplomacy and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

With this foundation in place, future diplomacy can address finally ending the Korea War by replacing the Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty and building on numerous proposals for the creation of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

In the end, Gerson said, the only way to prevent similar nuclear weapons proliferation crises is for the nuclear powers to finally fulfill their Article VI Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligation to negotiate the complete elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

The writer can be contacted

at thalifdeen@aol.comRotorua has been named as one of the top places to see in the prestigious New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2018 list.

The list, described as a starter kit for seeing the world features Rotorua at number 45  the only New Zealand destination to make the list.

Destination Rotorua chief executive Michelle Templer says it is fantastic to see the city make the list, reinforcing Rotoruas international reputation as a world-class destination.

With a daily readership of more than 9 million people, and more than 220,000 following The New York Times Travel Facebook page, Michelle says the exposure in the list is phenomenal recognition for the solid work that has been undertaken by the industry, Destination Rotorua, Rotorua Lakes Council and others.

This will open the eyes of a new sector of travellers who may not have previously considered Rotorua as a destination.

The blurb talks about the sulphurous geysers and mineral-rich hot springs which scent Rotorua, a hub of Maori culture.

It also pays tribute to the Redwood Treewalk nightlights as another example of the way nature is animated.

Thirty dramatic lighting installations from the designer David Trubridge romance the majestic trees after dark.

Regular contributors for The New York Times were asked for ideas on places to make the list, with hundreds of submissions, which are then whittled down to the final 52.

It is the 13th year such a list has been compiled and this year, for the first time, a 52 Places Traveler has been selected to travel to every place on the list during 2018.

Michelle says the article ties in well with ongoing international activity to ensure Rotorua stays top of mind with trade and international agents.

Rotoruas tourism target is $1.5 billion in visitor expenditure by 2030, with the city on target to achieve that goal.

Rotorua has a great deal to offer a wide range of stakeholders from around New Zealand and the world, and we will continue to work hard alongside our industry to showcase the city and its opportunities in 2018.

Rotorua Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson isnt surprised to see Rotorua feature.

We have a long, proud history of tourism and manaakitanga/hospitality with our strong culture and unique natural environment at the forefront.

Tourism remains a cornerstone of the local economy and a lot has been invested in refreshing Rotoruas offering and lifting its profile nationally and internationally, he says.

Rotorua is a place where you can be as active or passive as you like with waterways, forests, geothermal wonders, spas, and a multitude of attractions and activities  thats why people visit and why we live here.

Signature events showcase the best of our destination, adding to exposure like this, and we have a lot of great ambassadors like cultural groups and home-grown sportspeople competing and performing on the world stage.

Redwoods Treewalk co-founder and director Bruce Thomasen says it is amazing recognition to be picked up in a market like that.

Its great for New Zealand and it is great for Rotorua.

Bruce says it highlights the value of working with design champion David Trubridge, enabling the Treewalk to be a world class attraction.

The iconic local beauty of the Redwood forest, just five minutes from town, combined with the award-winning designer Trubridge lights (one of which, Titi, won Gold at last years premier design awards, the Best Awards), has proven to be a perfect formula. During the day time the experience is about nature, at night it becomes magical.WeatherWatchs complaint that taxpayer-funded agencies MetService and NIWA are using taxpayer-funded data for their own commercial gain is upheld by an independent review by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.

The review was completed nearly a year ago but was not made public until now due to election/political reasons.

"This report validates, vindicates and shows true value to everything we have said publicly about how government agencies MetService and NIWA unfairly commercialise tax funded data for their own commercial gains, says WeatherWatch head forecaster Philip Duncan.

The report says no other country does it this way. Finally an official government report fully understands and details what we have been saying for a decade - this is tremendous support to our campaign to free up data like the rest of the western world.

The full report Weather Permitting: Review of open access to weather data in New Zealand, is here.

In previous years former Prime Minister John Key supported the fight for open weather data, as did former Minster Steven Joyce, former party leader and Senior Minister Peter Dunne and new Labour Minister Clare Curran.

"This fight has support on both sides of the aisle, now the government needs to decide what is more important - open data that tax payers have already funded, or continuing to allow MetService and NIWA to have exclusive commercial access to data New Zealanders all collectively tax fund," says Philip.

Over the past few months MBIE has ignored repeated formal emails from us about the review and in recent weeks WeatherWatch.co.nz was forced to air our concerns publicly on Twitter due to the Ministers office also ignoring us.

Its been a very frustrating several months with the previous National Government ignoring OIA requests for months.

WeatherWatch is especially pleased that new Minister, Dr Megan Woods, will be taking matters further this year, says Philip.

We hope to meet with Minister Woods in the near future and are very keen to have positive and fair discussions about the New Zealand weather set up.

In an email to WeatherWatch Richard Walley of MBIE says the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, Dr Megan Woods, indicates she wants to explore how to address some of the recommendations of the report, and has asked MBIE to look at this.

The Minister also wants to ensure that the costs of any changes, likely to be met by the taxpayer, are proportionate to the benefits, says Richard.

In our view the costs to make this data freely available are being grossly exaggerated to protect the current set up, says Philip.

One important line to focus on at the beginning of this report entirely backs up the complaint WeatherWatch.co.nz has had for well over a decade: The New Zealand model is at the most commercial and restrictive end of cost and limitations on data use [in the world, says MBIE and the Official Review.

While it was disappointing we were kept in the dark for so long on the supposed transparent review, we sincerely appreciate being given immediate access to the report today. We also a very enthused that Dr Woods will be taking a closer look at this.NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump's vulgar remarks questioning why the U.S. should admit immigrants from Haiti and Africa have spotlighted the bitter divide among American evangelicals about his presidency.

While some of his evangelical backers expressed support for his leadership, other conservative Christians are calling the president racist and say church leaders had a moral imperative to condemn him.

"Your pro-life argument rings hollow if you don't have an issue with this xenophobic bigotry," tweeted pastor Earon James of Relevant Life Church in Pace, Florida.

Trump won 80 percent of the white evangelical vote in the 2016 election. But recent polls show some weakening in that support, with 61 percent approving of his job performance, compared with 78 percent last February, according to the Pew Research Center.

Still, conservative Christians remain as polarized as ever over his leadership.

Many evangelical leaders who defended him in the past would not comment on Trump's remarks to a group of senators. A few offered some criticism. Pastor Ronnie Floyd, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said it was "not good" to devalue any person.

Johnnie Moore, a public relations executive and a leader among Trump's evangelical advisers, said the reports of what Trump said were "absolutely suspect and politicized."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who attended the Oval Office meeting Thursday, and peopled briefed on the conversation said Trump did make the comments as reported: He questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who Durbin said objected to Trump's remarks at that time, did not dispute Durbin's description.

Pastor Mark Burns from South Carolina remained skeptical, but said if the remarks were true, Trump was only reacting to poor conditions in Haiti and Africa that were the fault of "lazy governments" there.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas and a frequent guest at the White House, said that apart from the president's choice of words, "Trump is right on target in his policy," putting the needs of the U.S. above those of other countries.

Yet anger spread among other conservative Christians.

They posted family photos on social media and proudly noted immigrant relatives. Bishop Talbert Swan of the Church of God in Christ, or COGIC, the country's largest black Pentecostal denomination, tweeted a photo of one of his grandchildren born to what Swan said was his "educated, hard-working" Haitian-American daughter-in-law.

Swan, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, called Trump's comments "vile, foul-mouthed, racist," and posted the hashtag #ImpeachTrump.

A significant number of African immigrants are Christians who joined U.S. evangelical congregations, and many have become advocates for more generous immigration policies and critics of Trump's views on the issue.

Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor of Anacostia River Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Washington, said his church includes Christians from Rwanda, Nigeria, Guyana, Cameroon and Zimbabwe.

"This is my immigrant family, my true brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus," he wrote on the site of The Gospel Coalition, an evangelical group. "As a shepherd, I cannot abide the comments our president makes regarding immigrant peoples and their countries of origin. I cannot leave them alone to hear racist barbs, evil speech, incendiary comment, and blasphemous slander against the image and likeness of God in which they are made."

American connections with Christians overseas also have grown in recent years through mission projects often in Haiti and Africa.

In one of the more dramatic examples, Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," created a partnership between his Saddleback Church in California and the government of Rwanda that involved short mission trips by more than 2,000 congregants. Church members worked with more than 4,000 Rwandan churches providing health care, training pastors and helping orphan, among other projects.

At the same time, evangelicals are increasingly aware in a geographical shift in global Christianity. As its numbers shrink in North America and Western Europe, the Christian population is exploding in Africa, Asia and elsewhere, creating ties across borders.

Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, said African Christians closely follow evangelical voting in the U.S., and have deep concern about American evangelical support for Trump.

"I heard many Africans say they were dumbfounded by this," Johnson said.

The Rev. Tish Harrison Warren, an author and Anglican priest who serves at The Church of the Ascension in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, worried about the fallout for the fellowship of evangelicals outside and inside the U.S. Her denomination, the Anglican Church in North America, was formed under the leadership of African Anglican bishops to serve conservative U.S. Episcopalians and others. Her local church includes parishioners from Uganda, Iran, Turkey, China and other countries.

"It hurts evangelism," Warren said of the president's comments. "I've sort of come to expect him to say outlandish things. I sort of expect that from him. But I do expect more from the church and from Christian leaders."CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. -- The senior partner of an Albany law firm is facing a public lewdness charge, following an incident at an Upstate New York hotel, according to New York State Police.

Sanford Rosenblum, 80, of Albany.

Sanford Rosenblum, 80, of Albany, is the senior partner at Rosenblum & Partners LLP, a law firm specializing in personal injury cases.

According to State Police spokesman Trooper Mark Cepiel, the complaint Thursday against Rosenblum states that he had scheduled an appointment with a female client at a Clifton Park hotel, and when she arrived at the hotel room -- with her boyfriend -- he greeted them wearing nothing but a T-shirt.

Cepiel, who would not identify the hotel at which the incident is alleged to have happened, said Rosenblum immediately "gathered himself up" and drove to the trooper barracks in Clifton Park in Saratoga County, where police had already received a call about the incident. He turned himself in and requested a lawyer.

A website for the firm of Rosenblum and Partners said Rosenbaum, a Cohoes native and 1962 University of Buffalo School of Law graduate, is its senior partner and founder. Rosenblum, referred to as Sandy, has nearly 40 years of experience in "personal injury law, actively litigated civil and criminal cases for many years," the site says.

Rosenblum was given an appearance ticket returnable to Town Court at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17, according to the police report.

The Albany Times Union reported in 2009 that Rosenblum invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their case against ex-state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo, who was later convicted of attempted extortion and attempted bribery of attorneys and sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

Rosenblum was never charged in the case.

-- The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y. and Albany Times UnionVAN BUREN, N.Y. -- Route 690 south in Van Buren has reopened after flooding shut the highway down on Friday, according to a state alert system.

Flooding was reported on the highway at 9:53 a.m., Onondaga County 911 dispatch logs show. The southbound lane was closed at 10:40 a.m., before the northbound lane was shut down at 11:10 a.m. The southbound lane reopened at 4:35 p.m, while the northbound lane reopened at 3:10 p.m.

Roads across Central New York have flooded and closed as snow and ice melted on Thursday and Friday.ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - President Donald Trump's dismissal of Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries" whose inhabitants are not desirable for U.S. immigration shocked people around the world and provoked swift condemnation.

The president made the remarks Thursday during a White House meeting with lawmakers and suggested that immigrants from Norway would be preferable. Trump has since apparently denied making the off-color remark, describing the language he used only as "tough."

"The African Union Commission is frankly alarmed at statements by the president of the United States when referring to migrants of African countries and others in such contemptuous terms," said Ebba Kalondo, the spokeswoman for the African Union. "Considering the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the U.S. during the Atlantic slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice."

She added that the statement was particularly unpleasant coming from the leader of a country that is a "global example" of how a strong and diverse country can be the product of migration, and she expressed hope that eventually "the values the U.S. is known for because of its particular experience with migration will come to bear."

The reaction from the United Nations human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, was uncharacteristically blunt. He described the remark as "racist."

"There is no other word one can use but 'racist,' " he said at a briefing in Geneva. "You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes,' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome."

In Haiti, people took to Twitter to share pictures of their country - verdant green hills, palm trees in the sunset, and sparkling turquoise water.

Haiti's ambassador to the United States condemned the statement and said his country has asked for an explanation of Trump's comments from U.S. officials.

"In the spirit of the people of Haiti we feel in the statements, if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people, " the ambassador, Paul Altidor, said in a statement.

Altidor said the Haitian Embassy in Washington was inundated with emails from Americans apologizing for Trump's remark, which he found heartening.

Haiti's largest newspaper condemned it as "racist and disgraceful" and said such comments have "no place in the relations between nations or people, even less so in the mouth of a president of a nation friendly to Haiti."

In Africa, there were similar reactions celebrating the beauty of the continent's countries. A well-known presenter for South Africa's broadcaster SABC tweeted: "Good morning from the greatest, most beautiful 'shithole country' in the world!!"

The deputy secretary general of the African National Congress, the party once led by Nelson Mandela, hit back at Trump's comment during a news conference in South Africa.

"Ours is not a shithole country. Neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," Jessie Duarte said.

Meanwhile, the Daily Maverick, a Johannesburg-based news site, wryly suggested that "Casual Friday at the White House is soon to include hoods and tiki torches at this rate."

Botswana gave a rare official response to the remarks, summoning the U.S. ambassador there "to clarify whether Botswana is regarded as a 'shithole' country" as well, and wondering why "President Trump must use this descriptor and derogatory word when talking about countries with whom the U.S. has had cordial and mutually beneficial bilateral relations for many years." The statement concluded by calling the remarks racist.

A State Department official said Friday that Senegal had also summoned the U.S. ambassador to that country for an explanation. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Kenyan political cartoonist Victor Ndula, who has criticized Trump's immigration policies in the past, drew a " 'White' House map of Africa," with regions labeled as "west of the shithole," "southern shithole" and "horn of the shithole" for Kenya's Star newspaper.

"It's derogatory and sad to belong to countries that have been labeled 'shithole' countries," lamented Moses Osani, a communications specialist on his lunch break in Nairobi. "Immigrants also contribute to the economy of the U.S. We have relatives who work so hard, some three jobs a day, working and hoping for a breakthrough for their families back home."

On the other side of the continent, Senegal's president, Macky Sall, said he was "shocked" by Trump's comments. Africa and those of African ancestry "deserves the respect and consideration of all," he wrote on Twitter.

Vicente Fox, a former president of Mexico and a harsh critic of Trump, also noted on Twitter America's immigrant history. "Your mouth is the foulest shithole in the world," he wrote, addressing Trump. "With what authority do you proclaim who's welcome in America and who's not. America's greatness is built on diversity, or have you forgotten your immigrant background, Donald?"

In El Salvador, news of the comments quickly shot to the top of media websites. "Donald Trump insults El Salvador," read one headline.

El Salvador's foreign minister, Hugo Martinez, said he is seeking an official response from U.S. authorities.

"It's always been a foreign policy priority of our government to fight for the respect and dignity of our countrymen independent of their immigration status," he said. "Our countrymen are hard-working people, who are always contributing to the countries where they're living and, of course, also in our country."

In light of Trump's alleged preference for immigrants from Norway, a number of users on social media were resharing a Norwegian website launched in 2016 aiming to persuade Trump-skeptical Americans to immigrate to Norway. "We are offering acute aid to descendants of emigrated Norwegians, and other Americans, considering a new start abroad," read a welcome message on the website, "in light of the results of the U.S. presidential election."

One Norwegian official in Brussels deadpanned that the country might consider changing its official tourism slogan from "Powered by Nature" to "Not a Shithole," before saying that the whole situation was a bit awkward.

Norwegians on social media also questioned the attractiveness of immigrating to a country without free health care, paid parental leave or gun control."I'm a Norwegian who enjoyed studying & working in the US. The only thing that would attract me to emigrate to the US is your vibrant multicultural society. Don't take that away," tweeted Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Reaction across the United States, home to a large population of immigrants from these countries, was emotional.

Illinois state Sen. Kwame Raoul, the son of Haitian immigrants, said there was no "apologizing out of this."

"He's demonstrated himself to be unfit, unknowledgeable about the history of this country and the history of contributions that immigrants, particularly Haitian immigrants, have made to this country," Raoul, a Democrat, told CBS. "It makes me embarrassed to have this guy as the president of my country."

Republican pollster Frank Luntz quoted a report and said that 43 percent of immigrants from African countries have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 33 percent of the U.S. population overall.

Farah Larrieux, a Haitian immigrant and organizer in Miami, referenced statements Trump made in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood while campaigning before the 2016 election that he wanted "to be the biggest champion" for Haitian Americans.

"This is beyond politics. The guy has no respect for anyone. I am trying not to cry," she told CBS. "I can't understand how someone goes from making a statement in Little Haiti saying I want to be the biggest champion of Haiti to calling Haiti a 'shithole.' It makes me sick."

Journalist Amelie Baron ran down a list of stereotypes promoted about the country in recent years, referencing a flap in which a Weather Channel meteorologist claimed that Haitian children were so hungry they ate trees, another statement reportedly made by Trump in 2017 that Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS" and Trump's remark Thursday.

"How bad some US citizens judge Haiti," she wrote.SYLVAN BEACH, N.Y. -- Flooding has forced firefighters to evacuate residents near Oneida Lake from their homes.

Ice jams caused Fish Creek overflow around 4 a.m. Saturday -- causing flooding in Sylvan Beach, Vienna, New London and Taberg. The National Weather Service reports "several" homes near Vienna Road, Haskins Road and Cove Road were evacuated.

Firefighters were also called to help residents escape flooding on Waterview Drive in Sylvan Beach.

It was not immediately clear how many residents were evacuated. Around 10:30 a.m., a Sylvan Beach firefighter said the department's chief was "literally and metaphorically" waist-deep into dealing with flooding.

An update to a story we first reported earlier this morning... Posted by WKTV NEWSChannel 2 on Saturday, January 13, 2018

A flood watch remains in place across Central New York -- including Oneida County -- until 7 p.m. More flooding caused by ice jams is possible, the weather service warned.

Residents in as many as 75 homes were evacuated Friday in Whitesboro after ice jams caused flooding on Sauquoit Creek.Update: Cayuga County's travel advisory was lifted around 11:30 a.m. The travel advisories issued in Madison and Oneida counties will end at 1 p.m.

AUBURN, N.Y. -- Flooding closed roads Friday across Central New York. Today, residents are facing a more seasonal hazard: Snow.

A snowstorm has blanketed CNY with snow. Roads across the region -- including major highways like the New York State Thruway and Interstate 81 -- are slippery with ice and snow, making it difficult to drive.

Here are the counties that have issued travel advisories so far in CNY:

Madison County

Cayuga County

Oneida County

A winter storm warning is in place in Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca and Tompkins counties. The warning expires at 4 p.m.Posted on Friday, January 12, 2018

Four Texas A&M University- Kingsville students look to add to the universitys winning record as they participate in the upcoming Rangeland Cup competition. The Rangeland Cup competition takes place each year at the Society for Range Managements annual meeting.

For the past 2 years, Dr. Benjamin Turner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Agribusiness, and Environmental Sciences and King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management has mentored the A&M-Kingsville participants.

Last year, three A&M-Kingsville students took home the 1st Place High Team score and the 2017 Rangeland Cup. Since the competition, they have developed a manuscript based on their poster which is in the second round of peer review with the journal Rangelands.

Each October, the competition committee releases the upcoming contests topic regarding a contemporary issue related to natural resource management. The students then research the topic and develop a poster to be presented at the meeting. The top two teams are recognized, with the highest finisher receiving the Rangeland Cup trophy, which rotates annually to the winning institution.

This year, participants from A&M-Kingsville will compete against universities such as Oregon State, University of Nevada, Utah State, University of Nebraska, Oklahoma State, New Mexico State and Texas A&M-College Station as they look to retain the Rangeland Cup. The competition will begin January 29, 2018 in Sparks, Nevada.Samsung has officially released a new Android 8.0 Oreo beta for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, and it could be the last beta before the final update is ready to roll out.

The company had previously announced that its Android 8.0 Oreo beta program for the Galaxy S8 series will end on Monday, Jan. 15, which means that this new beta that rolled out is likely the last. If everything goes smoothly, the official Android 8.0 Oreo update could hit the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in just a couple of weeks or so.

Galaxy S8 Android 8.0 Oreo Beta Program

The latest beta started hitting Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ devices on Thursday, Jan. 11. SamMobile has confirmed getting the beta on its Indian Galaxy S8, but the build is likely available in other countries as well.

The new beta comes with software version ZRA5 and in addition to various bug fixes, it also brings the latest Android security patch for the month of January. If this build manages to fix all bugs that slipped through the cracks until now, Samsung could soon release the official Android 8.0 Oreo update shortly after the beta program concludes on Monday.

With the Galaxy S7, for instance, it took roughly two weeks for the official update to roll out after the beta program ended. According to SamMobile, the new Galaxy S8 Oreo beta seems to be stable enough, so an imminent release for the official update looks likely.

Android 8.0 Oreo Update

Google's new Android 8.0 Oreo brings a slew of new features and improvements over the previous version of the OS, including a new emoji set, better notifications control, improved battery life, a revamped keyboard, and more.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users enrolled in the Android 8.0 Oreo beta program can grab the latest beta update by accessing their smartphone's Settings > About phone > Software update > Download updates manually.

As always with beta builds, however, users should be aware that beta software comes with risks and can include plenty of bugs and hiccups. Beta builds aim to test the software and fix any potential problems before the public release, so they might not always be stable.

That said, if you decide to grab the latest Android 8.0 Oreo beta for your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, drop by our comments section below and let us know how it works out.



 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched its 100th satellite into space.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off 31 satellites from Sriharikotas Satish Dhawan Space Center at 9:29 am IST. The launch marks ISROs first mission in 2018.

The launched satellites include the weather observation Cartosat-2 series, two more satellites from India and 28 other nations. The total weight of the liftoff was reportedly about 1323 kilograms.

"My heartiest congratulations to @isro and its scientists on the successful launch of PSLV today. This success in the New Year will bring benefits of the country's rapid strides in space technology to our citizens, farmers, fishermen etc, tweeted Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister.

Benefits of India's success are available to our partners! Modi stated in another tweet. Out of the 31 Satellites, 28 belonging to 6 other countries are carried by today's launch.

New Satellites Launched

The 28 satellites from other countries were launched as a part of a commercial arrangement made between Indias space agency and Antrix Corporation Ltd. The latest satellites will be used by India to obtain high-resolution images of the planet and for better border surveillance.

Experts have said that the PSLV-C40 is a very sophisticated surveillance tool. It will enable the government to keep a track of the progress of its infrastructure projects and also keep a better lookout on the Indian borders.

ISRO scientists have said that the images, which the satellites collect, will enable Indian security agency to keep a track of military activities in neighboring Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan.

Indias Space Program

Indias space program is reportedly one of the most cost-effective in the world. For instance, ISRO successfully launched the Mars Orbiter Mission called Mangalyaan in 2014 at a cost that was just a fraction of the budget of Hollywood Sci-Fi thriller Gravity.

Indias space agency has steadily increased its satellite count and even taken to launching foreign satellites. In February 2017, ISRO set a world record for sending 104 satellites on a single rocket.

The space program budget of India is around $4 billion and Modis government is hopeful that the latest launches will help in improving Indias prospects of gaining an even larger share of the global space industry, which costs over $300 billion.

2018 is going to be one of the most ambitious years for ISRO as it plans to launch a minimum of one satellite every month. The space agency is also gearing up for launching its second unmanned mission to the moon, Chandrayaan 2, in March.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool 2 has received a new release date. 20th Century Fox announced that the 2016 sequel hits theaters on May 18, 2018, instead of its previous release date of June 1, 2018, allowing fans to see the action movie two weeks earlier.

Deadpool 2 Competes With Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story

Why did 20th Century Fox change Deadpool 2's release date? The studio wanted to compete against Sony's Slender Man, as well as, Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story. Most importantly, Fox didn't want the film to clash with its X-Men movie New Mutants.

Reynolds released a Wet On Wet teaser trailer impersonating Bob Ross, a famous painter who hosted PBS's The Joy of Painting in the mid 90's. In the trailer, we see other Deadpool stars from the movie, including Josh Brolin, Brianna Hildebrand, and Leslie Uggams. The superhero film also stars newcomer Zazie Beetz as mutant Domino. Reynolds' gives advice to Deadpool fans saying, "hugs not drugs!"

Deadpool's original director Tim Miller left the film over creative differences with Ryan Reynolds. "He hadn't formally signed a deal to continue, but he was developing the script and by all accounts had planned to return behind the camera for a film Fox will release in 2018." Co-director David Leitch joined the Deadpool team after Tim Miller dropped out.

Ryan Reynolds announced Deadpool 2 began production on June 27, 2017. The star took to Instagram to tease an image for the film, which says, "The sun sets on day 1. Feels good to be back. This dog can hunt." Deadpool 2 hits theaters on May 18, 2018.

Another Movie, Another Director Dropout, Just A Day In Hollywood

Lastly, Channing Tatum's Gambit release date changed to June 7, 2019. The film, which has been through a handful of directors, is looking to replace Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean). We're not sure who will replace Verbinski, but we'll be sure to let you know once we hear anything from the studio.

Created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, the New Orleans native became well-known for being able to mentally manipulate kinetic energy. Gambit first appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Taylor Kitsch.

What film are you most excited to see in theaters this year? Ryan Reynold's Deadpool 2, Channing Tatum's Gambit or Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story? Let us know in the comment section below.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.From action films to comedy and highly-anticipated suspense/thrillers, here are 6 new movies playing in theaters this weekend, including Ang Larawan, Condorito, Humor Me, Inside, My Art, and the Commuter.

6 New Movies Playing In Theaters

Ang Larawan

Directed by Loy Arcenas, Ang Larawan takes place in pre-World War II in Old Manila. Don Lorenzo Marasigan, a highly-talented painter, has been out of work for a while, so the family has been going through some financial stress. Marasigan's daughters Candida and Paula Marasigan, see the hardships of what it's like going through an artistic/financial drought.

Condorito - The Movie

Condorito (Omar Chaparro) wants to propose to his girlfriend Yayita (Jessica Cediel), but his mother-in-law Tremebunda (Coco Legrand) isn't fond of the idea. Turns out, she gets abducted by aliens, and now Condoroitos is on a mission to help save her and the world.

Humor Me

Playwright, Nate (Jemaine Clement) struggles with writer's block after his wife (Maria Dizzia) divorces him. Unable to pay the bills, Nate moves in with his father, Bob (Elliott Gould) to figure out how to deal with some of the challenges being thrown at him. Like most people, Nate tries to use humor as a way to cope with stress but it's becoming too much. Will Nate reach a breaking point?

Inside (2018)

A pregnant widow is working on starting her life over after losing her husband in a tragic accident. Bound to go into labor any day now, she receives an unexpected visit from a creepy woman with plans of "rip the child she's carrying from inside her." This suspense/thriller hits theaters on Jan. 12, 2018.

My Art

Artist Ellie Shine (Laurie Simmons) house-sits for a friend in upstate New York. Going through a midlife crisis, she does projects around the house like turning her friends barn into a new office. Mixing business with pleasure, Ellie finds herself surrounded by three local men who become romantically interested in her.

The Commuter

Businessman Michael (Liam Neeson) is on his commute home when his daily routine gets thrown off. Contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to solve the puzzle, but if he doesn't in time, things could get deadly for fellow passengers on the train ride. Will Michael and the passengers surive this action movie?

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A video of a humpback whale making close interaction with a diver surfaced recently, along with the touching story of how the creature was apparently attempting to protect the diver from a nearby tiger shark. Despite capturing the hearts of millions of people who have seen the video, some scientists are skeptical as to the possible true motives of the whale.

Close Encounter

Nan Hauser is a marine biologist who has spent years of her life fighting for whale conservation as president and director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation. With such a background, one would think that Hauser has had every type of experience with the marine giants, and yet she recently had an experience that stirred the hearts of many.

While conducting her research and working on a nature film in Cook Islands, Hauser and a fellow diver were joined in their dive by a massive humpback whale. In the video of the encounter, it's easy to see that this was no ordinary encounter, as the humpback whale was directly swimming toward the divers. In fact, it can be seen nudging Hauser with a closed mouth multiple times, and at one point, the whale even practically pushed her out of the water with its massive pectoral fin.

Hauser was unsure of the reasoning behind the whale's behavior and was worried that she might get injured but made it safely to the boat where she realized that they were also joined by a tiger shark. After reviewing the footage and examining her experience, Hauser believes that the motive behind the whale's unusual behavior was altruistic, as it was likely attempting to save her from the tiger shark that she did not even see.

Altruism, Protection, Or Mother's Instinct?

There are, however, other possible explanations for the whale's behavior. For instance, in the past, humpback whales have exhibited the same protective behavior toward other species such as sea lions and seals. Further, they could also be doing so as a response to distress calls or as their way of protecting others who are at a "weaker" life stage.

Given the past evidences of humpback whales' possibly protective and altruistic behavior, it's possible that it was knowingly protecting Hauser, but others are questioning whether the act was purely altruistic or something different altogether.

Martin Biuw of the Institute of Marine Research in Norway is doubtful of the supposed altruistic motives of the whale. According to him, as the whale appears to be a female, it's possible that she may have recently lost a calf and was protective of the human as a result of the hormonal changes. Based on the video alone, he states that there is no concrete evidence of altruism, while another whale researcher, Jim Darling, finds the whale's motives difficult to read.

"I'm a scientist, and if anyone told me this story, I wouldn't believe it," said Hauser, standing by her account despite doubts from others. After all, regardless of the reasoning behind the whale's seemingly protective actions, it is still fascinating to see such an encounter between two different species.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Geological features comprising 300 feet of thick ice was exposed in the surface of Mars.

Eroded slopes of pure water ice called scarps were scanned by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. At least eight scarps were found in both northern and southern hemisphere of Mars' middle latitudes.

Pure Water Ice Discovered From Mars' Surface

The pictures sent back to Earth by MRO showed a more detailed cross-section view of thick ice sheets below a layer of ice-cemented rock and dust on Mars' surface. The 3D images were studied by scientists using the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.

In 2001, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovered that a third of Mars' surface is covered in shallow ice. Also, its poles are full of ice deposits through the detection of hydrogen using gamma rays.

In 2008, the Phoenix lander analyzed and confirmed the Odyssey findings as it discovered buried water ice at 68 degrees north latitude or about one-third into the planet's pole. However, previous scans using the MRO's Shallow Radar instrument were not enough to determine the extent and makeup of ice on the Red Planet.

Scientists were astonished to discover that Mars' mid-latitudes contained pure water ice.

"It was surprising to find ice exposed at the surface at these places. In the mid-latitudes, it's normally covered by a blanket of dust or regolith," loose bits of rock atop a layer of bedrock, said Colin Dundas, research geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The ice sheets appear bluish in the high-resolution images and look like steep cliffs of glaciers, up to 100 meters tall. The discovery points to a vast area of underground ice buried only a meter or two below Martian ground surface. The location of the scarps was at 55 to 58 middle latitudes or the equivalent of Scotland or the tip of South America on Earth.

Shayne Byrne of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson said the discovery was like looking at an ant farm from a glass on the side and seeing what's hidden beneath the ground.

How Scarps Were Formed

No definitive information was provided on how the scarps were formed. Scientists said once the buried ice is exposed to Mars' atmosphere, a scarp likely grows wider and taller as it retreats. It is also possible that layers of snow were compressed every climate cycle, resulting in the building deposits of ice over time.

The varying shades of light to a dark blue color of ice as shown on the images suggest that the thick slabs of ice are stacked. The ice could also be remnants of glaciers that existed millions of years ago.

Unlimited Source Of Water And Possible Life On Mars

The discovery is considered a game changer in mankind's exploration of Mars. Scientists have raised the possibility that the thick ice sheets could become a potential accessible source of water for future scientific exploration and visit to Mars. Byrne suggested that would-be visitors to Mars can just use a bucket and shovel and collect water from the sources.

The latest research gave scientists a glimpse of Mars' climate history and would be the basis for further study of its water sources. It will also help NASA and other agencies plan upcoming rover and human missions to Mars.

The study was published in the journal Science.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A thousand undocumented immigrant high school graduates are the fortunate recipients of a $33 million scholarship fund courtesy of Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO.

Along with Mackenzie Bezos, his wife, the couple donated the money to TheDream.US, a nonprofit group that likes to call its beneficiaries sent to college as Dreamers. According to reports, there are close to 3,000 individuals that are now in college courtesy of the scholarships being funded by other technology bigwigs.

Personalities such as Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Pierre and Pam Omidyar are just some of the notable benefactors.

Honoring Family History

Jeff Bezos reportedly wanted to honor his adoptive father, Miguel Bezos, who was an immigrant himself. He apparently moved to the United States from Cuba at the age of 16.

"My dad came to the U.S. when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan," shared the Businessman. "He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination - and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware - my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country he feels blessed him in so many ways."

Fighting For Immigrants' Rights

Several reports also document Jeff Bezos' attempts to urge the government to reinstate laws to protect the Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants whose college education is being sponsored by the nonprofit group.

The Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) is a government program that is on its way out after a controversial decision of the Trump administration last year. Now, Congress is reportedly in conflict as to what should be the government's course of action once the Dreamers are no longer protected from deportation.

Individuals who qualify are children who were brought into the country illegally before 2007 and were under the age 16 at that time. Additionally, applicants for the program should not have any serious criminal records.

Bezos, along with other executives, signed an open letter to President Trump asking the legislators to draft a law for the protection of those affected.

The World's Wealthiest

Political analysts have noted that Jeff Bezos, currently the world's richest man, announced his donation at a critical time wherein Congress and the Trump administration are at odds regarding DACA. Nevertheless, the $33 million charity donation from the couple is certainly considered a big help for the nonprofit group in order to send another group of Dreamers to college.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Boiling a lobster alive will soon be considered illegal in Switzerland. The country has revamped its laws to further protect animals, including large marine crustaceans.

Swiss Government Bans Boiling Of Live Lobsters

Boiling live lobsters is a common culinary practice in restaurants. However, chefs and restaurateurs in Switzerland are now required by law to follow a more humane way of cooking lobsters other than throwing it alive in a pot of boiling water.

The Swiss government has ordered a ban on the boiling of live lobsters as part of efforts to reform its animal welfare laws.The landmark legislation comes amid growing scientific evidence that invertebrates such as lobsters, crabs, and crayfish are capable of feeling pain.

Starting March 1, Swiss laws require that crustaceans be stunned first before they are put to death through cooking. It will be also illegal to transport lobsters in ice or icy water as the revamped laws rule that all aquatic species must always be in their natural environment.

This new lobster law is part of an overall reform in Switzerland's animal protection laws. According to Swiss cabinet officials, animals are sentient and therefore, must not be allowed to suffer unnecessarily.

The new law also bans the use of automatic devices that punish dogs for barking. Illegal puppy farms in Switzerland will also be apprehended.

Can Invertebrates Sense Pain?

This legislation in Switzerland has sparked a debate on whether invertebrates including crustaceans can feel and sense pain.

"Crabs and lobsters deserve protection from being cooked alive," says Dr. John Birch, an assistant Philosophy professor at the London School of Economics.

Various experiments conducted at Queen's University in Belfast showed that crabs gave up a dark hiding place they inhabited when exposed to electric shocks. This indicates that crustaceans manifest rapid avoidance learning to keep away from certain stimuli such as pain.

"The lobster has a rather sophisticated nervous system that, among other things, allows it to sense actions that will cause it harm," explains invertebrate zoologist Jaren G. Horsley, who also said he is certain that lobsters can sense pain.

While there is no absolute proof that lobsters can feel pain, constant experiments ran by scientists indicate an idea of pain in lobsters and similar animals. Queens professor and animal behavior expert Robert Elwood supports a more humane approach with lobsters.

Crustaceans may endure stress due to low oxygen levels and overcrowding in tanks when kept in confinement.

PETA Lauds Pro-Animal Laws

Animal welfare advocates praised the new law and said other countries should follow suit. PETA has lauded the new Swiss animal welfare law, saying it is long overdue.

The group that is known for its active campaign to stop cruelty against animals also took a swipe at the U.S. government for not enacting laws to protect crustaceans. It said the best way to help animals is to avoid eating them.

Italy also approved a similar law in June, ordering that crustaceans can't be kept on the ice and be subjected to unjustifiable suffering before facing an instant death in fine dining restaurants.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Helen Plummer's daughter filed a lawsuit Friday alleging theft, fraud and negligence on the part of the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging, the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs, the East Baton Rouge Metro Council and those who helped Plummer draft a will that has stirred controversy over the past year.

The family of 95-year-old Plummer claimed in March 2017 that Council on Aging Executive Director Tasha Clark-Amar pressured the elderly woman into allowing Clark-Amar to collect hefty fees to oversee her estate and trust. Plummer was an East Baton Rouge Council on Aging client who died in March of last year.

Council on Aging 2018 budget amounts to more money than once thought, revenue tripled The East Baton Rouge Council on Aging is ending up with an even bigger budget than originally anticipated for 2018  one thats more than trip

The ensuing fallout has led to multiple lawsuits and investigations by the State Office of Inspector General and the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Attorney Dorothy Jackson, who drafted the will through Southern University's Elder Law clinic, is on leave and a faculty panel recently recommended that she receive a yearlong unpaid suspension and a demotion in rank.

Clark-Amar and Jackson have both tried to step away from the controversy. Clark-Amar removed herself as executor and trustee of Plummer's estate after intense media scrutiny, and Jackson also removed herself as the attorney for the succession.

Plummer's family has also recently reached a settlement agreement that divvies up her estate with family members.

Agreement reached to settle Plummer's estate, money to go to family instead of COA head The family of Helen Plummer finally hashed out a settlement agreement Wednesday that leaves Plummer's money to her daughter and great-grandchi

But a lawsuit filed Friday in 19th Judicial District Court by an attorney for Plummers daughter, Jacquelyn Antoine, says the lack of oversight from multiple governmental agencies led to the creation of Plummer's much-disputed will. The suit filed by attorney Robert Garrity describes Clark-Amar and Jackson as "co-conspirators."

The suit alleges that Clark-Amar learned of Plummer's financial status through their relationship at the Council on Aging, and claims that Clark-Amar "through fraud and deceit" took Plummer to "her local bank to examine records of her accounts." Clark-Amar convinced the elderly woman that her family was stealing from her, according to the lawsuit.

Clark-Amar's attorney did not return calls seeking comment Friday about the lawsuit.

Jackson used her position at Southern "to personally enrich herself" and to benefit Clark-Amar, the lawsuit claims. Jackson's attorney said Friday that the lawsuit is littered with factual inaccuracies.

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

Southern Law panel recommends one-year suspension for professor involved in Helen Plummer controversy A group of Southern Law Center faculty members has proposed stiff penalties, including a year off work without pay, for Dorothy Jackson, a pro

"We deny the allegations there was any conspiracy," said Bill Aaron, Jackson's New Orleans-based attorney. "And we're prepared to bring 20 witnesses to court who were there when Ms. Plummer said she wanted to write her daughter and granddaughter out of the will."

Aaron also maintained that Antoine has not sustained damages. While Plummer's original will excluded Antoine, the recent settlement agreement from the family allows Antoine to keep two homes  a significant portion of Plummer's estate. He said Plummer's great-grandchildren, who originally stood to receive the money from the homes, are the ones who should be suing their family members for lessening the amount of money they will receive from Plummer's estate.

Antoines lawsuit also points a finger at City Hall. It says the Metro Council was negligent when it "failed to enact policies and procedures that would prevent the employees and the management of the East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging from taking advantage of elderly clients for their own gain and profit."

Former city-parish official James Gilmore lands one of Council on Aging's top jobs A consultant who just a few months ago advised the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging on how to address staffing needs has been hired as the or

Baton Rouge Parish Attorney Lea Anne Batson said Friday that she had no comment on the lawsuit.

The suit makes similar claims about the Council on Aging, the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs and goes even further with Southern University. The lawsuit says Southern has "continued to participate in the scheme of conspiracy and fraud" by conducting its own, secretive investigation.

Gov. John Bel Edwards' spokeswoman Shauna Sanford said Friday that they had just become aware of the lawsuit and needed time to receive and review it. Southern University Law Center Chancellor John Pierre said he had no comment.

The lawsuit alleges Antoine has had to spend "substantial amounts of personal funds" to dispute the will and to challenge Clark-Amar and Jackson's conduct. It requests a jury trial and asks the defendants to pay the costs of attorneys' fees and all the other costs of the legal proceedings.

The case has been assigned to State Judge Wilson Fields.NAPOLEONVILLE  In a blistering new ruling, a state district judge criticized three companies for putting "economic interests over environmental and safety concerns" in operations that led to the formation of the 2012 Bayou Corne sinkhole, blaming longtime salt mining operator Texas Brine, Occidental Chemical and Vulcan Materials for the flawed underground mine that sparked the giant hole in the Louisiana swamp.

The sinkholes appearance overnight on Aug. 3, 2012, led Texas Brine to eventually agree to buy out dozens of home and camp owners in the scenic Assumption Parish fishing and retirement hamlet, as the dramatic and unprecedented failure of the salt cavern gained international attention.

+6 Residents reluctantly let go of cherished way of life on Bayou Corne BAYOU CORNE  After 2 years stuck in sinkhole limbo, life is busy and headed toward change for Nick and Brenda Romero.

But Judge Thomas Kliebert Jr. of 23rd Judicial District Court found that Texas Brine wasn't the only company that should bear responsibility. Texas Brine, Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) and Vulcan all failed to heed warnings about potential problems with the salt cavern from its conception in the mid-1970s to its eventual shutdown about a year before the sinkhole appeared and converted acres of cypress swamp into a lake nearly 180-feet deep, the judge wrote in his 20-page ruling.

In reaching his conclusion of shared fault, Kliebert cited testimony from more than 40 witnesses in a bench trial over liability this fall and decades worth of internal warning emails, reports and memos going back to 1976, six years before the access well for the cavern was even drilled.

One internal Vulcan memo in 1980 called the then-planned cavern a multimillion dollar gamble that could not be recommended in good conscience.

Kliebert found that Texas Brine had the expertise in the field of solution mining, the day-to-day experience with the cavern and knowledge of long-standing concerns since the cavern was first dug.

But OxyChem and Vulcan exercised ultimate control over mining decisions and also had knowledge of the cavern's increasingly precarious status, he wrote.

The warning signs were present for each party; however, each party was blinded by the financial implications of their actions, Kliebert wrote.

Texas Brine was salt-mining operator of the failed salt cavern and two others nearby at a site off La. 70 just east of Bayou Corne. But salt from the caverns went by pipeline to a chloralkali plant in Geismar owned by Vulcan until a 2005 sale to an OxyChem subsidiary.

The production site land and underground mineral rights were owned by OxyChem, but the mineral rights were leased to Vulcan Materials until OxyChem took control of the Geismar plant and caverns after the sale.

The ruling recently came out of the first trial phase for consolidated lawsuits that Florida Gas and other pipeline companies brought against Texas Brine and other companies over the sinkhole. As it grew from just a single acre to nearly three dozen, the plaintiffs allege the lake-like hole undermined the earth around their transmission lines, destroying them. The suits are among a few dozen in state and federal court over the sinkhole. Many remain pending.

As the operator of record, Texas Brine has, for years, been held by state regulators and the public as the responsible party for the sinkhole response. The company has paid buyout, remediation and monitoring costs estimated at more than $225 million, a company attorney said.

But, in a legal victory for the Houston-based company, Kliebert found Texas Brine 35 percent at fault. OxyChem was found to have the largest share of liability at 50 percent. The judge repeatedly cited OxyChem for its "culture of pecuniary interest first" and concluded the chemical giant had a "superior capacity" to prevent the sinkhole. Vulcan was found 15 percent at fault.

OxyChem and Vulcan had already settled with the pipeline plaintiffs before trial, but the ruling will have a bearing on what Texas Brine has to pay. Also, Texas Brine has countersued OxyChem and Vulcan for about $120 million in sinkhole costs that insurers have not reimbursed, Texas Brine attorney James Garner said.

Garner welcomed the ruling. He added that though the company immediately "stepped up" in the sinkhole response for the betterment of the community, the company never accepted it was solely at fault for the sinkhole.

"We presumed we would let the legal system deal with that, and it ultimately did," he said.

OxyChem spokesman Eric Moses said in a statement the company was planning a vigorous appeal. Moses said Kliebert's ruling was "unsupported by the facts, expert testimony and law," including his finding that a nearby oil and gas well drilled in 1986 on OxyChem land played a role in the sinkholes formation. Moses added the judge also failed to account for some of his own conclusions that Texas Brine mismanaged the salt cavern and ignored warning signs.

This finding is wrong on the facts and the law, Moses wrote. The Courts decision to assign additional responsibility to OxyChem  a landowner and mineral lessor with no role in the operation of the oil and gas well at issue  is a dramatic departure from established Louisiana law and industry practice.

Spokespersons for Florida Gas and the corporate parents of other pipeline companies in the lawsuits, Enterprise Products and EnLink, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

Though Kliebert is expected to take up the damages in a later phase, Florida Gas and OxyChem, which each had argued Texas Brine bore all or the vast majority of the liability, have already filed motions for new trial just weeks since the Dec. 21 ruling.

Previous warnings

The years of warnings Kliebert referenced ranged from initial concerns about the underlying geology and whether the area would make for a financially viable and geologically stable salt cavern to warnings decades later airing at least some concern that rapid subsidence could occur in connection with the cavern then leaking brine thousands of feet underground.

Kliebert's review of this evidence also brought to light what he saw as growing distrust between OxyChem and Texas Brine near the end of the cavern's life and, often, a failure by all three companies either to believe the warnings of each other's experts or always share critical information.

The cavern, which eventually approached the volume of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, was carved from a giant underground, column-shaped salt deposit known as the Napoleonville Dome. A well was drilled nearly 6,000 feet deep and fresh water was pumped down to dissolve the salt. The resulting watery brine was sent by pipeline to Vulcans and then OxyChem's chemical plant in Geismar as a raw material.

But, even before the drilling started for the Oxy-Geismar No. 3 cavern in 1982  when experts knew far less about the underlying geology  the ruling noted that internal consultants worried the site for the cavern was too close to the outer face of the salt dome, or salt edge, and the salt could eventually be eroded away to surrounding rock and sediment as the mine grew over the years.

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Even though Vulcan never shared its 1980 "multimillion dollar gamble" memo and others with Texas Brine, Kliebert noted Texas Brine had received a warning from a geologist in the early 1980s that creating the cavern was "likely a risky proposition." He added the record was "replete" with warnings to both companies before the cavern was created that the edge of the salt dome was a "serious issue that would require the parties to proceed with caution."

Joe Ratigan, a salt-mining expert hired first by Vulcan and then by OxyChem, issued internal analyses in 1998 and 2008, at least partially shared with Texas Brine, offering increasingly dire warnings about the caverns stability due to its growing proximity to the salt edge.

In 2008, armed with new seismic data, Ratigan advised OxyChem to halt production completely, which didn't happen. Ratigan testified at trial, however, that he never thought a sinkhole would form, though he discussed sinkholes with OxyChem in 2008 when he recommended shutting the well down, court transcripts say. Ratigan declined to comment last week.

The companies halted mining in June 2010 and closed the salt mine in June 2011.

Simply stated, all three defendants possess the capacity and multiple opportunities to terminate solution mining of the ... cavern in the face of warning after warning, Kliebert wrote. Through the life of (the cavern), each defendant exercised their capacity over the other defendants to further their corporate interests.

Inversely, after the once hypothetical risks of operation became reality, each defendant attempted to shield themselves from liability by proclaiming their apparent lack of capacity over the situation. The fact remains that no party prudently stepped up to the plate and terminated the ... operations at the most critical stages of operation until it was far too late, Kliebert added.

In answering Kliebert's finding that the companies knew of the risks associated with the cavern, each of the companies suggested the others were in a better position to know about the cavern's status or had more control to address problems.

Moses, the OxyChem spokesman, pointed out that the judge found "the vast majority" of the cavern's growth happened under Texas Brine's and Vulcan's watch before OxyChem took control in 2005 and cavern growth afterward was "negligible."

"OxyChem acted responsibly and prudently, and immediately instructed Texas Brine to stop running the brine well when it learned of the risk of continued operation," Moses said.

Garner, the attorney for Texas Brine, said that while there were concerns about subsidence in the shallow rock layer above the cavern, even Kliebert found a sinkhole-inducing failure along the cavern's side at more than 5,000 feet deep was "unprecedented." Meanwhile, Vulcan hid information from Texas Brine and OxyChem and Vulcan retained control over the cavern, Garner added.

As perhaps the best indication of Texas Brine's inability to foresee the sinkhole, Garner pointed to the testimony of Ratigan. Known as "Dr. Salt," the OxyChem expert said he told state officials days before the sinkhole appeared in 2012 that a sinkhole was "highly unlikely." It was "a sentence," Ratigan added, "I live to regret."

"So how could the operator (Texas Brine) have been in any better position than Dr. Joe Ratigan?" Garner asked.

Vulcan, in a statement, said that the company approached Texas Brine in 1975 to dig three salt caverns, including Oxy-Geismar No. 3, and that Texas Brine "designed, located, drilled," and got the permits for the caverns and, then was contractually obligated for all "aspects of the operation, maintenance, and development," including testing and analysis.

"Texas Brine repeatedly and routinely reported to Vulcan that the operation of the No. 3 well posed no environmental and safety concerns," the statement said.

The statement added that it was the actions of OxyChem and Texas Brine after Vulcan sold the cavern that caused the sinkhole, noting Texas Brine officials testified in open court last year that had the cavern remained in its condition from 2005, "there would have never been a sinkhole."

Vulcan also contended there was no reliable evidence before the sale to show how close the cavern was to the salt dome's outer face and suggested that their 1980 memo calling the then-proposed cavern a "multimillion dollar gamble" was based solely on how much brine the future cavern could produce.

"No one ever raised the risk of a sinkhole event with Vulcan," the statement said.

Oil well part of failure?

In divvying up responsibility, Kliebert found the decades of mining by Vulcan and Texas Brine through 2005 brought the cavern close to the salt edge.

But he also accepted a theory put forward by Texas Brine's expert that the old oil and gas well on OxyChem's property and near the caverns thin salt walls played a critical role in the cavern's unprecedented failure.

Salt caverns are often filled with highly concentrated brine when they are closed. Like the air in a balloon, the brine helps maintain a shut cavern's supporting salt structure against geologic forces that naturally press down on the underground cavity.

Kliebert accepted the Texas Brine expert's theory that an oil formation, depleted and depressurized from the old well, was tied into the cavern due to fractures in the thin salt wall. The oil formation provided a place for leaking brine to go that otherwise would not exist so deep underground.

Kliebert found OxyChem and its corporate allies were the only parties with financial interests in both the oil well and the salt cavern, but they failed to keep other companies involved in the cavern informed about the oil well's long-term status. He found OxyChem fully liable for the well's part in the failure and dismissed the drilling companies involved with the well.

Later, in 2011, the plugging and abandoning of the cavern sealed" its "fate, denying any chance to compensate for lost brine, Kliebert found. He wrote Texas Brine and OxyChem shared responsibility for this decision, instead of following Ratigans recommendation to monitor the well as long as possible.

The judge concluded that while salt mining is intricate, it doesn't take "a post-graduate degree in mining engineering to be aware of the risks associated with creating these massive caverns." Yet, he found, all three companies had plenty of experience and forewarning about the cavern that eventually failed and created the sinkhole.

"The totality of the evidence and testimony makes it clear that OxyChem, Texas Brine and Vulcan were each aware of the substantial risk associated with their conduct," he wrote.Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has created a Women's Advancement Commission. The first elected female mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish said she wants input on the types of City Hall policies that could help Baton Rouge women.

Women are joining forces nationwide to address gender inequality issues, and their voices are being heard, said Mayor-President Broome. When I took office, I pledged to listen, learn, and lead. The advancement of women is critical to the success of our city and is certainly a priority of my administration.

The group includes women who work in health care, domestic violence protection, education, art, the nonprofit sector and more. One man who runs a domestic violence center will also serve in the group.

+2 A horrible record to break: Homicides in EBR reach all-time high after woman dies days after shooting With the death Thursday of a woman who was shot earlier this week by her boyfriend, the number of killings in East Baton Rouge Parish hit a re

Those who will serve on the commission include Shon Baker, Dima Ghawi, Twahna Harris, Racheal Hebert, Valerie Jackson Jones, Mary Moss, Dianna Payton, Leigh Phillips, John Price, Shanta Proctor, Valerie Richardson, Jan Ross, Summer Steib, Deborah Sternberg and Yao Zeng.

The group will meet for the first time at 10 a.m. January 31.In a case that drew national attention and accusations of "political correctness run amok," a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former LSU professor fired in 2015 for, among other things, using vulgar language in her classroom.

Teresa Buchanan, who was a tenured education professor, claimed LSU violated her First Amendment free speech rights and also alleged the university's sexual harassment policies are unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who heard arguments from both sides in September, ruled against Buchanan on both points Wednesday.

In a lengthy decision, Dick said Buchanan's use of profanity and discussions regarding her own sex life and the sex lives of her students in the classroom "do not constitute First Amendment protected speech, are not matters of public concern, and are not, as claimed by Plaintiff, part of her overall pedagogical strategy for teaching preschool and elementary education to students as there is no ... evidence to support such a claim."

LSU President F. King Alexander said the judge's ruling demonstrates the university's actions were appropriate.

"As we have stated many times, we take our responsibility to protect students, faculty and staff and to ensure that they have a safe educational and harassment-free environment very seriously," Alexander said.

+3 In case involving fired professor, federal judge weighing legality of LSU's sexual harassment policies LSU's sexual harassment policies are unconstitutionally broad and were used in 2015 to fire a tenured education professor who used vulgar lang

Alexander called academic freedom the cornerstone of university teaching and research but said Buchanan's case was not about such freedom or the rights of tenured professors. LSU presented documented evidence of a history of inappropriate behavior that included verbal abuse, intimidation and harassment of students, he said.

The advocacy group FIRE, or Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, sponsored Buchanan's suit and voiced displeasure with Dick's decision, saying the group is reviewing its options.

"FIRE is deeply disappointed by the district court's ruling and believe the case was wrongly decided," the group said in a statement.

The American Association of University Professors had come to Buchanan's defense, criticizing her firing and pledging money for her legal defense. A five-member faculty panel had recommended that Buchanan not be fired, but a unanimous LSU Board of Supervisors voted to terminate her employment.

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Buchanan was seeking monetary damages and reinstatement to her former job, something Dick squelched in her ruling.

The judge noted that students complained about Buchanan and "avoided her class, avoided speaking up in class, and felt embarrassed and/or harassed" by her conduct.

Buchanan's controversial comments included saying "f*** no" repeatedly in the presence of students, using a slang term for vagina that implies cowardice, and joking that the quality of sex declines the longer a relationship lasts.

"There is no argument or jurisprudence before the court which support Plaintiff's claim that using the word 'pussy' and `f***', or discussing her own or students' sex lives and/or reproductive decisions, are relevant to educating students on becoming teachers of preschool through third grade students," the judge wrote.

Dick pointed out that the LSU Lab School as well as schools in Zachary, Port Allen and Iberville Parish had either banned Buchanan from their campuses or requested that LSU not allow her to mentor their student teachers due to her conduct and speech.

Buchanan's behavior and speech "interfered with the educational opportunities of her students both in the classroom and in the student teacher or field setting," the judge added.

The argument that Buchanan used such language "because her students would encounter same by their future preschool through third grade students and parents is unsupported by any record of evidence and rejected by the Court as spurious," Dick said.

The judge further found that LSU's sexual harassment policies, "when read together, are not unconstitutionally broad or vague" as Buchanan claimed.

"While the LSU policies could arguably have been crafted better, the Court does not read the language in LSU's policies to be lacking an objective standard " she stated. "The definitions and examples set forth in the policy emphasize that the offending conduct must be severe and pervasive as expressed by the words `unwelcome,' 'persistent,' 'unwanted,' 'deliberate,' 'repeated,' 'intimidating,' and 'demeaning.'"Attorneys for the Alton Sterling family filed a subpoena Tuesday with the state Attorney General's Office asking that they turn over documents and videos pertaining to the July 2016 officer shooting of the 37-year-old black man, in hopes of moving forward the now-18-month old case.

Attorney Brandon DeCuir, one of the attorneys representing the Sterling family, said the family wants to review the footage and information gathered from the July 5, 2016, fatal shooting to advance their civil lawsuit. DeCuir said he believes that both cases could move forward simultaneously  the Attorney General's criminal investigation into the Sterling shooting and the family's civil case.

"We're going to continue to press forward and see if we can find some information," DeCuir said. "I'm not trying to get in (Attorney General Jeff Landry's) way, I'm just trying to get information to proceed with my civil suit."

However, legal experts doubt whether the state Attorney General's Office will turn over any of the requested material  which included nearly all of the investigative files in the case.

"I have pretty good confidence the attorney general is not going to turn over any documents," said Michael Walsh, a Baton-Rouge based criminal and civil attorney. "(Most likely) the office of the Attorney General of Louisiana is going to file a motion to quash the subpoena."

+3 Alton Sterling family sues Baton Rouge, two police officers, says shooting shows racist behavior The children of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was fatally shot by a white Baton Rouge police officer just under a year ago, alle

Sterling was shot outside a convenience store on North Foster Drive after an encounter with two white Baton Rouge police officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II. The case was first considered for almost 10 months by the U.S. Department of Justice, but after declining to file criminal civil rights charges, the investigation was turned over to the state Attorney General's Office in May.

In the civil case, which was first filed in June, Walsh said he expects the state's Attorney General to file a motion to quash, or to invalidate, the subpoena based on the state's ongoing criminal investigation, a valid reason under Louisiana statute. While a civil and criminal case can go on simultaneously in theory, LSU Law Professor Ray Lamonica said it rarely happens.

Lamonica said if the state Attorney General's Office decides to go further than the motion to quash  which he also said is a likely move  state prosecutors could also ask to halt the civil proceedings entirely until their criminal case has been completed. He said the state Attorney General's Office would need to prove the civil proceedings are interfering with its criminal proceedings. A state district judge could halt the civil case until the criminal case is completed.

According to the subpoena, the Attorney General's Office has until Jan. 29 to produce the requested documents.

DeCuir, who represents Sterling's five children, said his team has yet to hear anything more from the Attorney General's Office since May, and DeCuir's clients  and much of the community  are tired of waiting.

"We still are being respectful with the Attorney General and any criminal charges, but we're civil lawyers," DeCuir said. "If (Landry) is going to be further delayed because of the volumes of information  we're not trying to stop him."

DeCuir said he believes looking at the documents at the same time would expedite the entire process.

Baton Rouge state Rep. Ted James, a Democrat, sent a tweet in late December to Landry, asking where did the investigation into the Sterling case stand.

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"We had meetings with Jeff Landry in May of last year, and he promised this wouldn't linger on," James said. "He promised he'd keep us up to date  and that hasn't happened."

James said he has seen Landry focus his attention elsewhere these last few months. He said the Sterling case was handed to the Attorney General's Office with most of the "leg work" already completed by federal investigators.

"He continues to stall and not make it a priority," James said. "If it was a priority, a decision would have been made."

East Baton Rouge Councilwoman Barbara Freiberg quizzed Landry at a Rotary Club meeting Wednesday on the progress of the case, according to the Baton Rouge Business Report. Landry declined to give her a substantive update then, saying his office is continuing to "work diligently" on the case.

"What prompted me to ask him is that it seems to be an issue that comes up at every Metro Council meeting one way or another," Freiberg said. "We petitioned last summer to ask him to expedite this.  We've had no feedback. We've been given no information."

Joel Porter, attorney for Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S convenience store where Sterling was shot, said his client has not been contacted or interviewed by the Attorney General's Office. Porter said he and his client, who was a witness to the shooting, were contacted multiple times by federal investigators.

John McLindon, who represents Salamoni in the criminal case, declined to comment on the civil case. However he said it seems like the Attorney General's Office is "being thorough." Lake's attorney Fred Crifasi could not be reached for comment.

Both officers remain on paid administrative leave.

The federal investigation in May found the confrontation with Sterling, Salamoni and Lake lasted less than 90 seconds.

The officers approached Sterling at about 12:30 p.m. July 5, 2016, about a call that a black man selling CDs had threatened someone with a gun. They struggled with Sterling after he didn't comply with commands to put his hands on the hood of a car, then wrestled him down after Lake shocked him with a Taser, federal authorities said.

Investigators found that Salamoni shot Sterling three times after saying Sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket, and fired three more shots into Sterling's back when he began to sit up. A loaded revolver was recovered from Sterling's pocket.

A spokeswomen for both the Attorney General's Office and legal counsel for the City-Parish government and Baton Rouge Police Department declined to comment on the recent subpoena or the progress of the cases due to the ongoing litigation.

"We are now a year and half from the date of the incident," DeCuir said. "Something needs to move forward. We need to bring this whole chapter some closure, whether on the criminal side or the civil side."In the space of less than 72 hours, Deyshia Hargrave went from being an anonymous Vermilion Parish language-arts teacher to an internet sensatA resolution to avoid doing business with companies that have violated human rights has put the New Orleans City Council and Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell in hot water with local and national Jewish advocacy organizations.

The resolution, passed Thursday without dissent, also drew a sharp rebuke Friday from Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who said he hadn't seen it before the council's vote. He said it was "ill-advised, gratuitous and does not reflect the policy of the city of New Orleans."

However, Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, who will succeed Landrieu in May, said the measure is a step toward an inclusive process in which city contracts will be judged by a set of community values.

The councils resolutions do not have the force of law and have little practical effect.

The resolution encourages a review of the city's contracts and direct investments to determine if companies doing business with the city violate human, civil or labor rights.

While it doesnt mention Israel specifically, local and national Jewish groups fear it will be interpreted as a show of support for a highly controversial movement to boycott, divest and sanction that country.

The boycott movement calls for Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank, provide equality under the law for Palestinian citizens of Israel and allow all Palestinian refugees the right to return to Israel.

Many Israelis denounce the movement as anti-Semitic and as a call for Israels obliteration, and at least 24 U.S. states have passed laws condemning it.

The New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee, the Congress of Day Laborers and the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition all supported the council's resolution, describing it as a step toward opposing human and civil rights violations in general.

The Palestinian group wants to end city contracts involving equipment made by Caterpillar, the Illinois-based company whose bulldozers have been used to raze Palestinian homes.

But the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the Anti-Defamation League condemned the council's action, saying that it could be interpreted as a show of support for the boycott, divest and sanction movement, even though the council said that was not its intention.

The BDS movement, which has inherently anti-Semitic components, is designed to challenge Israel's economic viability and very right to exist," the federation said in a statement.

The two groups also took issue with the timing of the resolution, which was introduced and voted on at the end of Thursdays six-hour council meeting, hours after the federation itself gave a presentation to the council on its work in the New Orleans area.

Only the resolutions supporters had a chance to make comments, the Anti-Defamation League said.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of 51 co-sponsors of a bipartisan bill in Congress to counter the boycott movement, also urged a reversal, called the council's measure "rooted in anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel."

Landrieu said he will not change the city's contracting or investment policies in the four months he has left in City Hall, drawing a line between him and Cantrell.

He said the resolution "does not reflect the citys history of inclusion and diversity."

The resolution was sponsored by Cantrell along with Jason Williams, Jared Brossett, James Gray and Stacy Head. Nadine Ramsey and Susan Guidry did not affix their names to it, though they, along with Williams, Brossett and Gray, voted for it. Cantrell and Head were absent for the vote.

Cantrell, in a statement late Friday, said she viewed the resolution as being in line with the city's 2015 declaration that it is a "welcoming city" and its commitment to generally be more inclusive.

"The resolution adopted takes no position as to which securities the city of New Orleans may choose to divest from its investments," Cantrell said. "The council did not single out any particular companies, countries, nations, issues, conflicts or existing contractors. The resolution simply seeks to keep city contracts and investments in line with our commitment to upholding universal human rights."

Williams said during Thursday's meeting that Cantrell envisions the resolution as a step toward a broader process in which a committee  overseen by the city's Human Relations Commission  might review city contractors and city investments, and determine the criteria by which they might be judged.

Cantrell expanded on that idea Friday, saying such a committee would "consist of a cross-section of community members and stakeholders, including members of our faith communities."

Williams added that his support of the measure "was not intended to in any way be reflective of either an anti-Israel or pro-BDS sentiment."

Only Guidry expressed concern about the resolution ahead of her vote for it.

"Im going to vote for it because its not a law, it's a resolution, and of course I want the city to be making investments that are investments in companies that are anti-discrimination," she said. "I am just concerned about the possibility for abuse of this."Here in Louisiana, we know what its like when those who live elsewhere dismiss us, sometimes crudely, as a global backwater.

So were naturally saddened by reports that President Donald Trump, during negotiations on immigration reform, asked why the United States should permit more immigrants from s***hole countries such as Haiti and the nations of Africa. Trump has denied using the slur, but senators from both parties present at the meeting say he did.

Haiti and many parts of Africa are, indeed, deeply distressed, which is why a number of people who live there seek a better life in America. Those aspiring immigrants are, by definition, some of the worlds most ambitious souls, bringing with them the kind of energy and resourcefulness that has made the United States, a nation of immigrants, into a global superpower.

Slavery first brought Haitians and Africans to Louisiana. In a sublime miracle, that legacy of bondage produced perhaps the liveliest and most liberated culture on the planet, creating the cradle of jazz and Creole cuisine.

Immigrants have and will always be the wellspring of civic renewal  here in Louisiana, and across America. The president ignores that reality when he speaks of places beyond our borders in language more befitting a bar stool, not the highest office in the land.A man will face court after allegedly attempting to steal a car in Canberra's north in the early hours of Saturday morning.

At about 4am police spotted the 37-year-old sitting in a parked black Mazda 3 on Catchpole Street in Macquarie.

The man allegedly told officers a friend had given him a key to the car however, he was unable to show police the key.

Following additional police inquiries, the man was taken into custody at the ACT Watch House.

He has been charged with attempting to take a motor vehicle without consent and unlawful possession of stolen property.Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced he is donating $US33 million ($42 million) to a scholarship fund for young "dreamers," immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

The donation comes amid fresh pressure from business leaders as talks on Capitol Hill over how to resolve the legal status of dreamers are foundering. The White House and some GOP lawmakers rejected a tentative deal from a bipartisan Senate group on Thursday - the same day President Donald Trump made incendiary remarks about people from developing countries.

Bezos, who is the wealthiest person in the world, and his wife, MacKenzie, will be donating the sum to TheDream.US, a scholarship program that has awarded more than 1,700 immigrants more than $US19 million in financial assistance since it launched in 2014.

The money will help fund 1,000 college scholarships and is the largest donation yet to a fund established by Donald Graham, the former publisher of The Post who sold the company to Bezos in 2013.While the buzzword that formerly dominated the debate on selective schools was "Asian", recently it seems to have been replaced by "wealthy". The recent suggestions of a policy change on selective schools is in no doubt fuelled by the public asking a different but infinitely more valid question regarding their existence  do they still serve their original purpose of providing a high-quality education to children regardless of their family background and income?

An often used acronym in this debate is ICSEA, a number that is freely available on the MySchools website which measures a school's socio-educational advantage. On first glance, it does indeed show the top selective schools in Sydney vastly outstripping even the most expensive private schools in advantage. The nature of this advantage, however, has been deeply misunderstood.

The class of 2016: James Ruse Agricultural High School achieved the triple  first overall, first in higher English and first in Maths. Credit:Isabella Lettini

The prevailing view is that the ICSEA values show how selective schools have become the exclusive domain of the wealthy and are no longer meritocratic institutions. But socio-educational advantage, while undoubtedly important, is fundamentally different from socio-economic advantage, and using them interchangeably provides a deeply skewed view on educational inequality.

Nowhere in the ICSEA methodology is parental income mentioned. Instead, what is given by far the heaviest weighting in calculating the final value is whether the students' parents have received a tertiary degree. It is here where we must factor in the simple reality that selective schools are overwhelmingly attended by second-generation Australians from Asian backgrounds. As a consequence of Australia's skilled migration policy, a tertiary education is very common among their parents.Yes Canberra has an ostalgia equivalent, still alive and well in the bosoms of lots of older, crankier Canberrans (I like to call this cohort our city's GDs, the Grey Disgruntled). It is a nostalgia for the dear little paradise the federal capital city supposedly was before the tyranny, the horror of self-government was imposed on us and spoiled everything.

I will call Canberra's version of this syndrome 'Hodgmanalgia' and will explain my invented word (of which I am rather proud) in just a moment.

Ever-fascinating Canberra has a its own version of 'Ostalgia,' the fascinating phenomenon that has lots of older Germans feeling nostalgia for the way they lived in the old East Germany.

Hodgmanalgia is a good name for this syndrome because in the blissful days before ACT self-government every decision for and about our city was made for us by a federal government Minister for the ACT. It was like being an estate run by a squire. The personable Michael Hodgman was the ACT's squire/minister from 1980 to 1983 when the system the GDs miss so much enjoyed its gorgeously irresponsibly undemocratic heyday.

I move in grey circles (for I am 72 and am myself an attractive shade of battleship-grey) and so often come across these GDs pining for the ye olde Canberra. And they are especially well-represented in the Letters pages of The Canberra Times (the natural habitat of the GDs) and there has been a spate of hodgmanalgiacal letters lately.

One beauty in recent days, typical of its genre and a masterpiece of hodgmanalgia, complains that our self-governed city is a dishevelled disgrace now, the grass in our parks woefully unmowed. But in the golden days before self-government, the letter-writer reminisces, the city was always polished, immaculate and mowed and a joy to live in and show visitors around.

Ostalgia is a much-researched phenomenon and of course all those who now think the old German Democratic Republic (the Berlin Wall fell, to German and worldwide raptures, in 1989) was wonderful are to various extents deluding themselves.

But ostalgia is a complex syndrome because of course even in the hellish GDR there were pockets of pleasure to be enjoyed. If one was young and healthy and in love in those days (and finds oneself old and wobbly and with no libido at all today) then of course there are some good old days to recall with fondness.Federal minister Greg Hunt, whose day job is Health Minister and who last year had to apologise to the Supreme Court for calling it soft , says African gang crime is "out of control". Prime Minister Turnbull says he is alarmed by "growing gang violence". And Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says people are scared to go out to restaurants " because they are followed home by these gangs ".

In case you haven't been paying attention, Melbourne is supposedly in the grip of a crime wave. Not on the basis of statistics, which show arson, property damage, burglary and theft down (sexual offences and robbery are up), but on the basis of a series of front page articles over summer in the Herald Sun and also The Australian about African gangs, most of them South Sudanese.

It's feeding on itself. A nationalist group says it's planning a rally on Sunday in order to "take a stand on the streets". African Australians are being harassed and worse by vigilantes who are suddenly emboldened. Police say a Daily Mail photographer helped create the latest "flare-up" by taking close-up photos of a group of Africans socialising.

"The teenagers had been doing nothing of public interest prior to the photographer's decision to move in," a memo reported by The Guardian says. The Mail labelled the scuffle that it helped create "the latest gang flare-up" and boasted that its pictures were "exclusive".

It is familiar because it happened in Sydney with Lebanese Muslim youths (remember the Cronulla riots?) and before that with "Asian gangs" in Cabramatta. In Adelaide a decade ago it was the "Gang of 49". There never was a Gang of 49, but The Advertiser coined the term to describe 49 mainly Aboriginal youths the police said they were looking for.

The catchphrase had incredibly unfortunate consequences. Former police say it created gangs. Dispossessed, often homeless, youths started saying they were part of Gang of 49 and stealing cars and doing ram-raids to prove it.

"It hypes them up, they think they are famous, it's them against the police," a grandmother of one of the self-described members told the ABC. Very young Aboriginals, too young to be part of a gang, started romanticising the idea and looking forward to the day when they could.Six people have been injured in a hot air balloon crash in the Hunter region on Saturday morning, including two seriously injured women.

Up to 15 people were on board the hot air balloon when it struck a bush in strong winds while attempting to land.

The balloon made a hard landing near Camp Road outside Greta, 21 kilometres north of Cessnock.

A 24-year-old woman is being treated for suspected spinal injuries and is in a stable condition. An 80-year-old woman sustained multiple fractures and is in a serious but stable condition. Both are being treated at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.More than 1 million calls, emails, tweets and Facebook messages were sent to Brisbane City Council in less than a year.

And it was wheelie bins, parking issues and animal permits that prompted the most Brisbane residents to contact the council.

Residents contacted Brisbane City Council more than 65,000 times to ask a question about their wheelie bins. Credit:Ken Irwin

The latest data for the contact centre revealed more than 1.1 million inquiries were made between January and September 2017.

On average, 4121 inquiries were made a day, but the councils busiest day was March 31, when contact was made 7886 times.Melbourne's African-Australian community say they've been "hammered" by weeks of political furore over youth crime, and that claims of "gang" violence aren't helping.

"Over the last few weeks, it's just really been hard the way the media has hammered the African community," Victorian Multicultural Commissioner Dr Mimmie Watts told a community meeting in Melbourne on Saturday.

Dr Watts, herself a migrant from Cameroon, made the comments a day after community leaders met police to discuss a newly announced African-Australian taskforce aimed at tackling youth crime.

The issue is not a new one in Victoria but debate has intensified over the past two weeks with a series of high-profile incidents and pointed commentary from the federal government.Videos and photos of the gatherings showed people demonstrating outside or marching through a store. Others showed people toppling mannequins, overturning racks and scattering clothes.

The image touched off an uproar on social media this week, and on Saturday demonstrators representing South Africa's second-largest opposition party, Economic Freedom Fighters, gathered at H&M locations across the country.

The image showed a black child modelling a hooded sweatshirt that said "coolest monkey in the jungle." Two other sweatshirts that were also jungle-themed but did not mention monkeys were modelled by white children.

New York: Swedish clothing company H&M temporarily closed several stores in South Africa on Saturday after protests erupted over an image in its online store that critics said was racist.

"Out of concern for the safety of our employees and customers we have temporarily closed all stores in the area," H&M said in an emailed statement Saturday.

"None of our staff or customers have been injured," the statement said. "We continue to monitor the situation closely and will open the stores as soon as the situation is safe again. We strongly believe that racism and bias in any shape or form, deliberate or accidental, are simply unacceptable. We stress that our wonderful store staff had nothing to do with our poorly judged product and image."

Demonstrations were reported at shopping centres in Cape Town and Pretoria, and at several areas in and around Johannesburg, including Sandton, Midrand and Boksburg. On social media, some supported the protesters while others argued that the destruction was counterproductive.

"EFF's message was loud and effective but went against what should be happening which is discussions," one Twitter user wrote. "H&M contribute to the country and money that flows. They provide jobs and give people access to funds  even if only one H&M store closes or closes for a while it affects a family."

Julius Malema, the party's charismatic but controversial leader, who was once a member of the governing African National Congress, said in a speech Saturday, "We make no apology about what the fighters did today against that store called H&M" and said targeting the stores was "just the beginning."if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...NORWALK  The day Mark Leondires first held his baby in his arms, he felt a surge of love and responsibility. Finally his dream of being a father had become reality.

Like countless parents before him, he and his partner learned how to give a bath and change a diaper, guided by a helpful nurse. And like countless parents before him, he marvelled over his newborn son.

However, they were unusual patients at the Magee-Womens Hospital in one regard. We were two men staying at a womens hospital, Leondires recalled with a laugh. All the other patients there were women.

Leondires and his husband, Greg Zola, began their journey to that postpartum ward in a womans hospital years before. For a gay couple to have a biological child takes an extended family  an egg donor and a surrogate, but also mental health professionals to screen both and lawyers to ensure both fathers have parental rights. The entire process takes two to three years and between $100,000 and $200,000.

Reading through 15-page profiles of potential egg donors and poring over childhood photos, imagining how their own children might look, were sign posts on the path that led the Westport couple to the Pittsburgh delivery room where they became parents.

And similar journeys have been on an upswing, part of what has been called the gay baby boom  though the term implies an ease and speed that gay parents who have been through the process are quick to dispel.

The gay baby boom

While there are no official numbers on how many same-sex couples are having biological children, fertility clinics in Fairfield County can describe the increase in gay clients in recent years.

Leondires himself is a doctor at Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut, a fertility clinic based out of Norwalk with satellite offices in Stamford, Danbury and Trumbull (Obviously, I had an inside track, he admitted regarding his path to fatherhood).

In recent years, he has seen the percentage of his clients who are same-sex couples rise from 0 to 80 percent. Roughly two-fifths of those same-sex couples are women, who use sperm donors and sometimes opt to carry embryos from their partners eggs, a process known as reciprocal in vitro fertilization.

Melvin Thornton, a doctor at CT Fertility out of Trumbull, has seen the same in his office. Weve seen probably a 40 to 50 percent increase in the past few years, he said.

And while Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology does not track whether procedures are for heterosexual or homosexual families, it reports that surrogacy embryo transfers in the United States increased more than 250 percent between 2005 and 2015.

Leondires believes that the growing number of LGBTQ couples choosing to have children is due in part to growing acceptance of the LGBTQ community and the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

It became a safer place not only to be yourself, but to raise a child, he said.

Chris Buckley, a father of twins living in Westport, can attest to that change. When his partner, Mark Ciano, raised the idea of having kids in the 1990s, Buckley was afraid stigma would be harmful to their children. I didnt think it would be fair to our kids, he said.

But during the 2009 National Equality March for LGBTQ rights in Washington, D.C., he felt the tide had turned.

It was being part of that march and being in the company of other couples, same-sex couples with kids, that really made it feel like it could be something for us. And that it was a possibility for us.

Connecticut a hub

Connecticut is a destination for gay parents-to-be around the world.

Both Leondires and Thornton said they receive patients from as far as Europe and China.

The reasons come down to issues of female autonomy, Leondires said. Surrogacy is illegal in every country in the world except the United States and Canada.

But many who travel to receive services in Connecticut are from nearby New York and New Jersey, where surrogacy contracts are unenforceable.

The demand in New York is so high, Leondires travels to New York City once a month to do free consultations for gay parents-to-be. Everybody who wants to have a child in their home should have all the tools they need to succeed, he said.

Connecticut is a very friendly state for surrogacy, Thornton said. So thats why you see all of these centers in Connecticut.

A costly prospect

While marriage equality has been affirmed, that does not mean that all people have the resources to become a parent. The six-figure price tag is prohibitive for many  the cost is more than what half of the married-couples in Norwalk make in a year, according to Census estimates.

Costs for lesbian couples to have a child are significantly lower, since there is no cost for an egg donor or surrogate, but in vitro fertilization and attorneys still rack up costs in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Connecticut is one of 15 states requiring insurance companies to offer fertility coverage for couples who have tried to conceive for a year without success. While that coverage applies to couples of any age, it does not yet extend to same-sex couples, who have no chance of conceiving from the outset.

But while not required to do so, some companies, including NBCUniversal and Google, have taken a step toward what is being called equal access to fertility treatment. LGBTQ employees there can access the same benefits, such as in vitro fertilization, as their heterosexual coworkers.

However such coverage is rare, and Hawaiis attempt to pass a bill for equal access to fertility treatment failed in April.

Thornton said that a more likely way for couples to reduce their bills is for them to look for whats known as a compassionate surrogate  a friend or family member who would be willing to carry the child without a fee  or to find their own egg donor.

Right there, they may save themselves $45,000, he said.

In addition, Men Having Babies offers the Gay Parenting Assistance Program, which annually facilitates over a million dollars worth of financial support for gay dads-to-be.

Family experience

In Leondires and Zolas home, a map of the United States hangs on the wall. The couple had a second son, and at 4 and 6, the two can already point to where they were born (Pennsylvania and Idaho) and explain that they spent time in a womans tummy far away.

When the oldest, who recently met his surrogate this past summer, is asked who his mom is, he has no problem setting them straight. No, he says, I have two dads.

While some people worry that having gay parents will impact childrens well-being, Ellen C. Perrin, a professor at Tufts University, has concluded that childrens relationships with their parents and the social and economic stability of the family are much more important factors  factors that are nearly assured by the intense planning it takes for gay families to have children.

This is kind of a joke, but there are no accidental pregnancies in the LGBTQ community, Leondires said.

And at least some area schools have already begun to adjust to the change.

When Leondires and Zolas first son went to a Westport preschool program called A Childs Place, he wasnt the only child with two dads. Buckley and Cianos twins were also in the class of eight.

The program had taken the families in stride. On Mothers Day, the school announced that it had made up a new holiday: Family Day. The children drew portraits of their families, which were hung up in the school for a big reception.

Buckley still has the preschool portraits  wobbling figures in red and blue, labeled neatly in an adults handwriting: Ayla, Connor, DaDa and Daddy.

Theyre lovely, he said. It tears me up when I think about it.

rschuetz@hearstmediact.com; @raschuetzNORWALK  A Greenwich man is facing charges for a visit to the hospital in which he assaulted two people, shoved a third and damaged hospital property, police said.

Norwalk Police responded to reports of a disturbance in Norwalk Hospital Emergency Room around 8:58 p.m. on Jan. 1.

Witnesses told police that 51-year-old Sean Byrne came to Norwalk Hospital seeking a morphine-like drug called Dilaudid. Police said when doctors refused Byrne the drug, he grew agitated and shoved a woman, whom had accompanied him to the hospital.

When hospital employees removed the female to a separate room, police said Byrne continued his outburst in the hospital room. At one point, according to police reports, Byrne threw his iPhone at nearby television and smashed the screen.

Police said that Byrne then tried to leave the hospital room, at which point a male nurse tried to restrain him. Instead of complying, police said Byrne punched the male nurse in the face. In the ensuing struggle, two nurses worked to restrain Byrne on a hospital bed, at which point both nurses received kicks to the abdomen.

Byrne was held by the hospital overnight for a psych evaluation, police said. On Friday, police received an arrest warrant for Byrne and he was taken into custody by Greenwich Police.

Byrne was charged with assault of a public safety official, two counts of disorderly conduct and third-degree criminal mischief. He was held on a $35,000 bond, and he was given a court date of Jan. 12.Edwardsville High School seniors Meghan Ide and Cole Frizzo were selected to participate in the 43rd Annual Illinois High School Theatre Festival Production of Big Fish this weekend at Illinois State University.

Ide and Frizzo were selected from over 350 students who auditioned from 57 high schools in Illinois.

The two EHS students have been traveling to Chicago one weekend each month since August to join other selected students chosen from all over the state to build the Big Fish Broadway musical set as well as work on the production. Ide is on the construction crew and Frizzo is on the sound crew.

Ide and Frizzo drove to frigid Chicago last Thursday to load the show into semis that then transported it to Illinois State University where the production will be performed this weekend.

Ide explained that disassembling and packing the show onto the trucks was a big job. We could keep walls together but anything that sticks off the wall had to come off, and the wagons or those big rolling platforms had to be separated. They all got shoved on to the truck as quickly as possible, Ide noted. Props had their own truck and costumes had to fit all their stuff on racks.

Reassembling the show in Normal was a bit easier but very time consuming. We know what goes where. The hard part was hanging everything because we had a lot of stuff to hang from the rigging system. Thats taken two and a half days, Ide explained.

Ide has been a part of the EHS Drama Club all four years. She said that she worked on costumes as a freshman, but joined the crew as a sophomore. I like crew much better. Its just fun, she said. Everyone is there as a family and youre creative except its more fast paced.

Shes particularly fond of painting scene backgrounds, which shes done a lot of for the Big Fish state production. We did a lot of wagons that move in and out and panels that fly in and out, she said.

Frizzo, who was chosen to be on the sound crew for the state production, explained his responsibilities. Theres a lot of aspects to sound, he explained. Im on the backstage aspect that deals with all the backstage hardware and setup and all of that maintenance.

During the performances, Frizzo will be a sound troubleshooter of sorts. Im backstage making sure mics dont blow out and if they do, fixing it. We have a whole station backstage thats ready for the worst, he noted.

Frizzo has been on the sound crew for EHS Drama since his junior year. Ive always been on construction because construction is kind of where my heart is, but I have always tried to be very well rounded at the high school so I can do a little bit of everything. Thats how I tried to market myself during my (state) interview, he said. I told them that I knew how to do lights and sounds. Im most comfortable with carpentry, but everybody does carpentry for the first three months, which was great. I got to work on a lot and then I also got to do sound so Im able to do more than just one thing.

Frizzo felt one of the challenges that he overcame during this experience was adapting to new people and different facilities. Just working with people from a different area and working in a different facility. It is a bit of a culture shock because when youre in one place, you know one set of like lingo. And then we go and theres 40 other people from all across the state that have different terminology and they have different techniques. So its definitely a little bit of a culture shock.

Both Ide and Frizzo join the ranks of a few other EHS former drama students who were also selected in years past to participate in the annual Illinois State Theatre Production. Ide credited the exceptional EHS drama program as being the reason why EHS students are chosen each year. The program at the high school is awesome,Ide said.

The EHS duo has been busy since late last week preparing the set and sound for the two productions that take place this weekend as well as attending workshops, student showcases, high school productions and various social activities. Im excited for it all to be together and cool because I havent seen all of it yet. Its going to be exciting, Ide said.

After graduating this May from EHS, Ide plans to study scenic painting and design while Frizzo plans to major in technical direction, which he noted is like shop management.

The 2018 Illinois High School Theatre Festival (IHSTF) is the largest and oldest non-competitive high school theatre festival in the nation. The All-State cast, crew, and pit orchestra are comprised of top student performers, musicians and technicians from Illinois. Over 350 talented students auditioned for this years IHSTF production, Big Fish, and just 109 were selected for the final production company from 57 high schools.Spread across 1,000 square meters, the Indonesian Heritage Museum (IHM) in Kota Batu, East Java, houses thousands of artifacts, each telling a story from the archipelago's past, reports kompas.com.

The museum's mask collection, for example, are in the thousands and were sourced throughout Indonesia. Obtained from different historical eras, among those on display is the Sindhakarya Mask.

Located approximately 20 kilometers northwest of Malang, the museum also houses a collection of a variety of batik, such as batik sarung (sarong batik) and jarit batik (long cloth), including the jarik batik soldiers used as a tool of war during the colonial period under the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from 1602 to 1799.

Read also: Lion Air now connects Jakarta and Malang

Traditional bridal ornaments from a number of regions in Java can also be viewed at the museum, as well as various objects used in traditional dowries and wedding jewelry that are common throughout the archipelago.

One such piece is a wooden sculpture of a bridal couple sitting on a wedding platform. It is said that the sculpture would be placed in the room of the newly married couple to solidify their union as husband and wife. The object dates back more than 200 years.

The museum also has a miniature sculpture depicting a karapan sapi, or bull race, a traditional event in Madura, East Java.

Leather-bound Quran that were used between the 17th and 18th centuries are also on exhibit, along with various arts from a number of regions, such as a shield of a Dayak tribe and wayang golek (wooden wayang puppet).

Reno Halsamer, the IHM's founder and CEO, said the museum's collection contained over 2,000 items that ranged from the Majapahit era to more modern items from the 1800s.

"There are also keris handles from the Majapahit era until the Mataram Islam," Reno told kompas.com on Sunday.

Read also: Five must-try dishes when traveling to Banyuwangi

The museum was initially established in 2010 in Bali under the name Museum D'Topeng Kingdom, Reno said. In 2014, it was relocated to Kota Batu and became an integral part of the East Java Park Group's Museum Angkut (Transportation Museum) and the Floating Market. After extensive consideration, D'Topeng Kingdom Museum was renamed last year as the Indonesian Heritage Museum, Reno added.

Tourists visiting the museum district can easily visit the Indonesian Heritage Museum to take a look at a variety of ancient objects from across the archipelago.

The public has responded enthusiastically to the museum, with researchers and academics regularly visiting the IHM to study Indonesian history, says Reno, adding that the objects in the museum are from a private collection that was started 25 years ago.

"[The collection] came from attending auctions, to buying from collectors and buying from owners and families that no longer wanted to care for the items, as well as auctions abroad," said Reno. "So I wanted to bring these historical objects back to Indonesia from overseas"

Reno said that the museum would continue to expand its collection. (liz/kes)France's first panda cub made its debut public appearance Saturday, five months after its birth, to rapturous crowds -- some of whom had traveled hours to see the fluffy male.

Yuan Meng, which means "making a dream come true" in Chinese, was introduced into his new enclosure in Beauval zoo in central France along with his mother as adoring onlookers ringed the site.

"We got up at 3:00 in the morning. My son absolutely wanted to see the cub," said Delphine who had traveled from the Paris region.

"We felt we took part in a historic moment. It was very moving," she said.

Read also: Oh, how cute: Tokyo crowds flock to see baby panda on first day

Zoo veterinarian Baptiste Mulot said the cub had been brought to the enclosure over the past 10 days to familiarize himself with the surroundings.

Panda reproduction, in captivity or in the wild, is notoriously difficult because the female panda is only in heat once a year for about 48 hours.

But the number of pandas worldwide has rebounded since the black-and-white bear was declared an endangered animal in the 1980s, thanks to efforts to protect it and its habitat.

China has dispatched its national treasure to only about a dozen countries, using the animal as a symbol of close relations.

A female and male mate arrived in Beauval in 2012 after high-level negotiations between Paris and Beijing, but Yuan Meng was born through artificial insemination.President Emmanuel Macron on Friday joined calls by bakers for France's traditional baguette to be recognized as one of the world's cultural treasures on UNESCO's list of "intangible heritage".

The call came after the art of Naples' dough-twirling pizza makers was given the nod by the UN cultural body's World Heritage Committee in December.

"The baguette is envied around the world. We must preserve its excellence and our expertise, and it is for this reason that it should be heritage-listed," Macron told a group of master bakers at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris.

Dominique Anract, the head of the national confederation of baking and pastry, earlier said the "marvelous" baguette, made of flour, water, salt and yeast, should "have its rightful place" in world heritage.

Read also: Korean bakery chains go upmarket

Along with the Eiffel tower, the baguette is one of the main symbols of France, Anract told a local radio station.

"The baguette is part of daily life in France and the bread has a special history," Macron said.

"It's a morning, midday and evening tradition for the French.

"I know our bakers, they saw the Neapolitans succeed in getting their pizza classified under UNESCO world heritage, and they said why not the baguette -- and they're right!"Free to roam: Workers dismantle fences around grass in the National Monument (Monas) Park, Central Jakarta, on Friday as part of the city administrations program to rejuvenate the park. It is feared that the absence of fences will allow visitors to trample on the grass.(JP/Seto Wardhana)(Monas) Park, Central Jakarta, on Friday as part of the city administrations program to rejuvenate the park. It is feared that the absence of fences will allow visitors to trample on the grass.(JP/Seto Wardhana)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Sat, January 13, 2018 18:39 1332 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c102f13 1 National #Medan,Medan,murder-case,#MurderCase Free

The Medan District Court in North Sumatra has sentenced to death a man who was found guilty of murdering a family of five in April last year.

Andi Lala was "proven guilty of violating the Criminal Code on premeditated murder," presiding judge Dominggus Silaban said as he read out the courts verdict on Friday afternoon. "We sentence the defendant Andi Lala to death.

According to details presented by prosecutors in court, Andi killed Riyanto, 50, at his own home after he failed to produce the Rp 5 million (US$375) worth of crystal methamphetamine Andi had paid for.

Andi had brought along his nephew, Roni Anggoro, and a friend, Andy Syahputera, to help him with the murder.

The three also killed Riyanto's wife Sri Ariyani, their two children and mother-in-law Sumarni.

Riyanto's youngest child, who at the time was 4 years old, survived.

Judges also sentenced Roni and Andy to life in prison. (hol/ipa)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, January 13, 2018 15:26 1332 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c0ffede 1 City #ThousandIslands,#SandiagaUno,#Jakarta,#tourism Free

Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno has expressed his commitment to improving the tourist sector in the Thousand Islands and making it an international tourist destination similar to the Maldives.

"We want to have two to three world class resorts in the Thousand Islands. At least it's not impossible to imagine the place will turn into a place like the Maldives in the next five years," Sandiaga said at the Public Service Mall, Kuningan, South Jakarta on Friday.

In a bid to realize the plan, Sandiaga said he would take one day every month to work from the regency to ascertain any problems hindering the growth of the area.

As an example, Sandiaga said he wanted to revitalize infrastructure facilities on Panjang Island and improve the water supply in the regency.

He added that the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry would further work to improve the maritime and fishing industry in the regency.

Previously, Sandiaga said he had encouraged foreign investors to invest in the Thousand Islands while attending Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD)s Global Investment Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November, 2017.

Some were interested in investing in the regency and are currently applying for permits, he said.

The head of Jakarta One-Stop Integrated Service (PTSP) Edy Junaedi added he wished the regency could contribute 20 percent of the total Rp 100 trillion investment targeted by the administration in 2018.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Allysha Nila (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, January 13 2018

The presence of various platforms gives Indonesian fashion labels much-needed exposure.

Indonesian fashion labels are gaining exposure thanks to various formal platforms.

Digital Fashion Week, held for the first time in Jakarta recently, shows the increasing impact of online growth and regional interest in the countrys fashion industry.

However, the commitment to supporting local brands is not limited to high-profile events.

Informal has always been the way to go in helping designers see business growth in an increasingly chaotic retail climate.

Brands have been coming to us since the beginning to sit down over coffee and discuss how to get their pr...Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang  Sat, January 13, 2018 13:27 1332 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c0fb8c7 1 City #Tangerang,#Police Free

The Tangerang police have released 33 people allegedly held captive in a rented house in Sepatan, Tangerang Regency.

The police criminal unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Deddy Supriyadi said the people were released following a report from one of the victims family members.

We followed up on a residents report that one of their family members had been held captive since Jan. 8 in Cadas village, Sepatan, Deddy said Friday, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

The police have visited three locations and found 33 people inside a rented house used as shelter. Of the 33 people, 10 are women and two are children. Their ages range between 17 and 20 years old.

The people found in the house told the police that they were there for job training. They come from Ciamis, Cianjur and Banjar, all in West Java.

The family member who reported the situation to the police said they were asked for ransom money, while some victims said they were ordered to work.

We are trying to connect the dots. Some may have been detained for ransom, some may have been asked to work. We are still investigating this further including by questioning the family who made the report to the police, Deddy said. (wnd)Jakarta is witnessing the rise of a new health trend, with boutique fitness studios mushrooming throughout the city.

Offering a wide array of trendy exercise classes, such as Pound Fit, TRX and Zumba, these studios are seen as an alternative to joining franchise fitness centers.

Heres a list of boutique fitness studios in Jakarta that offer a refreshing range of work-out options:

Laca Studio

Laca Studio offers various classes, including Pound Fit and Zumba. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Established in Sept. 2015, Laca Studio offers popular exercises, including Pound Fit, Zumba, Yoga, Muay Thai and Piloxing.

Classes may change based on demand, allowing fitness enthusiasts to try the latest trendy workouts.

Space is quite limited, so youre highly encouraged to make a reservation prior to coming to the studio.

Where : Jl Asem 2 No. 10, Cipete, South Jakarta

Price : Rp 90,000 (US$6.73) to Rp120,000 per session.

Read also: How to get back into exercise mode in 2018

Soulbox

A post shared by SOULBOX (@soulboxjkt) on Aug 3, 2017 at 8:47pm PDT

Opened in November 2014, Soulbox is a multidisciplinary studio that offers various classes, from the ubiquitous Zumba and yoga sessions to the hard-to-find military-inspired Bootcamp, cardio and fat-loss workout Kettlebell Metcon, and postural reconstruction exercise Physio Conditioning.

Check out the boutiques Instagram account @soulboxjkt for more information.

Where : Fairgrounds Level 3, Jl. Jend Sudirman, Kav 52-53, Lot 14, SCBD, South Jakarta

Price : Start from Rp 150,000 per session

Active Barn

Active Barn also welcomes fitness enthusiasts wanting to take part in the more ubiquitous workouts, including Zumba, yoga and Cardio Barre. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Situated in the Colony 6 building in Kemang, South Jakarta, Active Barn is among the boutique studios that offer heated exercise classes, such as Hot Vinyasa Yoga and Hot Inferno Pilates.

It also welcomes fitness enthusiasts wanting to take part in the more ubiquitous workouts, including Zumba, yoga and Cardio Barre.

Classes for children are also available through Mom & Kid Yoga and Hip-Hop Kid.

Where : Level 5, Colony Kemang, Jl. Kemang Raya No. 6, South Jakarta

Price : Price vary, with heated exercise classes costing Rp 175,000 and non-heated classes priced at Rp 150,000. Meanwhile, Zumba classes are Rp 120,000 per session.

bBarre

A post shared by bBarre (@bbarre_jkt) on Sep 13, 2017 at 6:03pm PDT

Want to look like a Victorias Secret model? bBarre in Permata Hijau, South Jakarta, offers sessions in barre, a workout thats said to be the secret behind the toned bodies of catwalk-strutting Victorias Secret Angels.

It opened its doors in May last year and now offers five classes, namely bBarre Perfect, bBarre Virgin, bBarre XXX, bBarre TRX and bBarre Fight.

They may sound intimidating, but these classes are designed to cater to fitness enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels.

Where : Ruko Permata Hijau, third floor, Blok D no. 21, South JakartaTravel planning and booking website TripAdvisor recently released its list of the world's top destinations on the rise based on its algorithm and comparisons to last year's data.

As reported by kompas.com, the top ten list is as follows:

Ishigaki, Japan Kapaa, Hawaii, United States Nairobi, Kenya Halifax, Canada Gdansk, Poland San Jose, Costa Rica Riga, Latvia Rovinj, Croatia Nerja, Spain Casablanca, Morocco

Read also: Six destinations to check out in Sumenep

Ishigaki, which tops the list, is particularly interesting since it beat out the world's popular tourist hot spot Hawaii.

An island in Japan with a population of around 50,000 people, Ishigaki is actually known as the Hawaii of Japan because of its abundance of white sand beaches, crystal clear sea water, mangrove forests and breathtaking diving spots.

In 2016, this place was said to have welcomed up to 8.77 million tourists, an increase of 10.5 percent over the previous year. It is predicted to greet even more tourists this year.

A post shared by Travel Noire (@travelnoire) on Jan 9, 2018 at 1:53pm PST

Another interesting place on the list is Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. Many travelers are said to be very keen on visiting this destination, with one TripAdvisor user praising it as a modern city, full of spirit, blessed with fantastic wild nature but also home to glamorous nightlife. (kes)Paul Kelley, The Open University

In societies the world over, teenagers are blamed for staying up late, then struggling to wake up in the morning. While its true that plenty of teenagers (like many adults) do have bad bedtime habits, researchers have long since proven that this global problem has a biological cause.

In 2004, researchers at the University of Munich proved that teenagers actually have a different sense of time. Their study showed that the 24-hour cycle which determines when you wake and sleep gets later during your teens, reaching its latest point by the age of 20.

After 20, the bodys waking and sleeping times gradually get earlier again, until at 55 you naturally wake about the same time as you did when you were 10. The link between the movements of this biological clock and the process of puberty was so strong that the researchers suggested this peak lateness at the end of the teenage years could be the biological marker for the end of puberty.

Sleep deprived

At about the same time the Munich study came out, Russell Foster at the University of Oxford made a key breakthrough in the neuroscience of time. By raising blind mice, Foster was able to show that all mammals sleep times depended on sunlight only. This means that biological time  which determines when you feel sleepy  is different from social time, which is set by clocks and customs about when things should be done.

When biological time and social time clash, it can lead to sleep deprivation. The social starting times for school and university  typically between 7.30am and 8.30am  are too early for teenagers the world over. The biological changes that teenagers go through mean they need to go to bed later, wake up later and get up to eight or nine hours of sleep.

As it stands, many teenagers are losing two to three hours of sleep every school night. As Steven Lockley at the University of Harvard concluded, this is systematic, unrecoverable sleep loss  and a danger to teenagers health.

An easy fix?

The solution is simple in theory: starting times should be adjusted to reflect the fact that teenagers need later starts as they get older. But in practice, there are three major challenges: proving that early starts directly damage teenagers health, identifying the best starting time, and overcoming education officials reluctance to change traditional early starts.

CDC., Author provided

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has drawn together many scientific studies to demonstrate that US schools should set later starting times . There is extensive medical evidence about the harms of starting school or university too early: doing so places teenage students at greater risk of obesity, depression, drug use and bad grades.

The American Medical Association now recommends that no classes for teenagers should begin before 8.30am. Yet early starts are still common in many countries around the world, among them Australia, UK, France and Sweden. There is further evidence that later starts are even better: studies show there are clear health benefits for 13 to 16-year-olds who start school at 10am.

Mariah Evans at the University of Nevada, Reno used new methods to identify the best times for teenagers aged 18 to 19. Her conclusion was dramatic: much later starting times of 11am or even 12pm are best for cognition.The publisher took over Star Wars in 2015.

Source: Marvel Comics

Marvel is continuing its conquest of Dark Horse's licensed properties with the announcement that Conan is coming back to Marvel. The company published Conan comics from 1970 to 2000, before the license went to Dark Horse in 2003.

Marvel's Editor-In-Chief Akira Yoshida EXXXCLUSIVELY told The Outhouse, "What do I have to say to Dark Horse? I'm glad you asked. First, we took your Star Wars. Then we took your Conan. What's next? Aliens? Buffy? Barb Wire? Time will tell."

Marvel's new Conan releases will start in early 2019.As COVID-19 cases increase, hospitals handle the patient load

The vast majority of patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated. As cases increase, so area hospitalizations.Women business owners in the Attleboro area prove that being boss is not just a mans jobPolice are issuing vehicles used by convicted drink drivers with 'intelligence markers' in a bid to catch reoffenders, a new investigation has unearthed.

According to Auto Express, previously disqualified motorists are having their cars electronically tagged depending on where they live - but not all forces have the tactic in place.

The motoring title said any car with a marker can be identified by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to alert police to their activity, though forces assured the magazine that law-abiding motorists who purchase a 'marked' car shouldn't be repeatedly stopped by patrol vehicles.

Catching reoffenders: Police 'intelligence marker' databases are linked-up to ANPR cameras that alert the authorities when a vehicle owned or previous used by a disqualified drink driver is on the move

Auto Express issued Freedom of Information requests to the 44 British police forces and found that only some are currently using the tactic to monitor vehicles known to be owned and used by existing and previously-convicted drink drivers.

That's despite research saying that 12 per cent of motorists disqualified for driving for being over the limit go on to re-offend at a later day, with that figure rising to 30 per cent for high-risk individuals caught at the wheel with more than twice the legal alcohol level in their system.

These intelligence markers are not necessarily being used only to identify convicted drink drivers, with many adding vehicles to their database to monitor the movements of other criminals.

For instance, Cheshire police, the force with the most active markers in the country, said it had 1,041 vehicles on record with one of the tags.

It said it was using the tactic to create an 'intelligence slide' for each offender, collating their personal details and records of any vehicles registered to them at the time they lost their licence.

Records show that 57 per cent of all disqualified motorists in the area from 2014 to 2016 had their licences stripped for drink-drive convictions, which suggest that 600 - just over half - of the markers were linked to this type of offence.

Police forces with the most active intelligence markers 1. Cheshire 1,041* 2, Derbyshire 100 3. Dorset 92 4. Dyfed-Powys 88 5. West Yorkshire 80 6. Police Scotland 76 7. Northamptonshire 76** 8. Lincolnshire 69 9. Humberside 67 10. Surrey 48 *Relates to all disqualified drivers. **Relates to drink and drug driving offences Source: Auto Express

Merseyside police also told Auto Express that 'marker[s] will be attached once the individual is convicted and/or disqualified from driving', while Cleveland police said just 9.5 per cent of its 'vehicle of interest' list is populated by vehicles attached to convicted drink drivers.

But some forces claim they're not using the intelligence markers at all.

Metropolitan and City of London police forces, for example, said they dont attach the markers to drink drive convicts cars, and have no active vehicles they were monitoring.

However, Met police subsequently clarified to the car title that it would create a marker if there were 'credible intelligence' someone was driving while banned.

Many other forces take the same approach, the investigation revealed, with West Yorkshire police having 80 drink-drive markers at the time of the request, though it said it was not monitoring all offenders in the region.

Forces said motorist who buy second-hand 'marked' cars won't be stopped by the police as they constantly update their records with information from the DVLA

Responding to the investigation, Edmund King, president of the AA, said: 'If the evidence suggests that a driver is likely to re-offend then they should be targeted in the same way that a known burglar may be targeted if there is a spate of burglaries.

'The objective should be to stop re-offending.'

Police also said that drivers who may unknowingly buy a second-hand car that's on the list have nothing to worry about.

Forces said they have processes in place to keep their intelligence marker systems updated - usually linking their database to Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records - to identify when a 'marked' car is sold on to an innocent motorist.

This should mean that non-offending drivers will not be stopped by the police in regard to the vehicle having a record of being used by a disqualified motorist in the past.Major shareholders are in revolt over a completely unjustified 630million payout for housebuilding bosses.

Persimmon has been under fire ever since it announced the bonus scheme, which is one of the biggest in UK business history.

Chief executive Jeff Fairburn is set to pocket a windfall initially estimated at 131million. Up to 150 managers will join in the bonanza.

Major shareholders are in revolt over a completely unjustified 630million payout for housebuilding bosses. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn could pocket 131million

BlackRock, the worlds biggest fund manager and Persimmons largest shareholder, is expected to challenge the share scheme because it has vowed to clamp down on corporate excess.

Aberdeen Asset Management, another major shareholder, is writing to the Persimmon board to voice its concerns.

Two more leading City institutions, Axa Investment Managers and Royal London Asset Management, have opposed the payouts.

Persimmon board members have opened talks with City investors in an attempt to head off a showdown.

It seems to me that the board are increasingly concerned that they need to do something, said one major investor. They are speaking to shareholders at the moment and shareholders are expressing their concerns.

Persimmon, which is based in York and is the countrys second-largest builder, sold 16,043 homes last year at an average price of 213,300.

Persimmon, which is based in York (pictured) and is the countrys second-largest builder, sold 16,043 homes last year at an average price of 213,300

The company has come under fire for failing to cap the payouts eligible through its long-term incentive plan, or LTIP, which was agreed in 2012.

The bonus pot has soared in value as the recovery in the property market  fuelled by the governments Help to Buy mortgage scheme  drove the Persimmon share price higher. Mr Fairburn was dubbed Mr 131million this week but the share price has since dipped, trimming his cut to 128million. A spokesman for Aberdeen, which has a 202million stake in Persimmon, said yesterday that it was awaiting developments.

But fewer homes built Persimmon is building fewer homes than it was before the financial crisis, according to its own figures. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn says a hugely lucrative pay deal has encouraged the company to ramp up production. However Persimmon built 16,043 homes last year  658 short of the 16,701 it built in 2006 before the economic crash. Rivals have increased construction at a faster rate during the recovery  without offering their bosses such huge payouts. While annual production at Persimmon has risen 70 per cent since the bonus scheme was approved in 2012, it has risen 96 per cent at Bellway and 109 per cent at Redrow over that time. Other builders have expanded over the same period, with annual production up 56 per cent at Barratt and 43 per cent at Taylor Wimpey. Sales have been boosted by Help to Buy. Advertisement

Ashley Hamilton Claxton of Royal London Asset Management, which holds a 23.5million stake, said the bonus scheme did not take into account the impact that the national housing shortage and government support for the sector would have on performance.

She added: We have longstanding concerns about pay at Persimmon. The companys performance has been impressive, but we continue to believe that the sheer scale of remuneration is excessive.

We would ask that the chief executive and members of the pay committee acknowledge their errors and correct them.

Mr Fairburn, 51, says the share scheme has encouraged the firm to build more homes. It has done exactly what it set out to do, he insisted.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: These bonuses are absolutely and completely unjustified. But it is not just corporate greed. It is financed by the taxpayer.Ryanair was yesterday accused by MPs of fobbing them off over how much it pays its cabin crew.

Two Commons select committees are investigating the budget airline over the payment of cabin crew hired by third-party agencies, which could be in breach of minimum wage laws.

Ryanair stewards claim they are forced to work unpaid for as many as five hours a day. The revelations came from an undercover investigation by the Daily Mail, which found that hours worked on the ground  cleaning, security checks and during flight delays  are unpaid.

Ryanair was yesterday accused by MPs of fobbing them off over how much it pays its cabin crew (file photo)

New recruits pay 2,000 to be trained, they are charged a fee if they quit within the first 15 months, and they must be available for airport standby days, where they only get paid 3.75 per hour.

Last month, Rachel Reeves, chairman of the Commons business committee, and Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, wrote to Michael OLeary, Ryanairs chief executive.

They asked him what cabin crew are paid for all their hours worked.

They also asked for an explanation of the termination fee, and clarification on how many cabin crew were hired for Ryanair via third-party agencies Crewlink and Workforce International.

Ryanair responded saying it was disappointed that the committees would give credence to inaccurate content, false claims and sensationalist reportage.

It argued that its cabin crew earn between 24,000 euros (21,300) to 40,000 euros (35,500), which is more than double the UK national minimum wage.

Last month, MPs wrote to Michael OLeary, Ryanairs chief executive, to ask what cabin crew were paid. But they slammed the airline's response

The airline  Europes largest  said its direct recruits are paid a combination of basic pay, flight pay and commission. But it would not state the earnings of its agency-recruited cabin crew, nor how many of its workforce are third-party workers.

Yesterday Mr Field said: I am not sure where the impression has come from that you can fob off two select committees with half and non-answers, but these are serious issues and we expect a serious response.

And Miss Reeves said: Evasive responses to serious allegations about failure to pay the national minimum wage, of hours of unpaid work, of fees being incurred to leave just isnt good enough.

Last night a spokesman for Ryanair said: 'Ryanair has already replied to this Committee in December confirming that our cabin crew pay is more than double the rate of UK national minimum wage.

'Ryanair complies fully with all UK and EU employment law. Ryanair will not be replying to the detailed information requested in this letter which would require us to disclose confidential employment information which would be of benefit to our competitors. As an Irish company, Ryanair is under no obligation to do so.'AMSTERDAM  Even though he got the chance to tell the truth, an Amsterdam motorist was arrested for providing a fake name to the state trooper who stopped him, police said Saturday.

State Police in Fonda said they arrested Michael P. Fitzpatrick Jr., 23, on Thursday for criminal impersonation and aggravated unlicensed operation of motor vehicle after he was stopped on Church Street for a traffic infraction.Lake George

A middle-aged man wearing a black hoodie and ski mask who made his escape on foot is the suspect in a Friday afternoon robbery at the Trustco Bank in Lake George.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office said it received a robbery alarm from the Trustco branch at 4066 State Route 9L, next to the Rite Aid, a 1:04 p.m. Friday.

The suspect handed a bank teller a note demanding money and implying he had a weapon, the sheriff's office said.

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He was given an undisclosed amount of cash by bank staff and after leaving the bank headed south on Route 9L on foot, police say, in what would appear to be the direction of Route 9, the main thoroughfare through Lake George.

The man, slightly unshaven, was wearing a tan canvas work jacket with a hooded sweatshirt underneath and dark brown pants. He also wore a black knit ski mask that covered his mouth.LANSINGBURGH  Amid the snow in front of 158 Second Ave., stuffed animals, candles and cards compose a 10-foot-long memorial to the two women and two children slain Dec. 21 in Lansingburgh.

Police believe the two men taken into custody three days after the bodies were discovered in the basement apartment are responsible for the slayings.

"Hopefully, (the police) cross their t's and dot their i's with this case and they don't make any slip-ups," said Joe Deeb, co-owner of Ted's Fish Fry, located a few blocks north of the house. James White, 38, and Justin Mann, 24, were charged with the killings of Brandi Mells, 22, Shanta Myers, 36, and her children Jeremiah, 11, and Shanise, 5.

It has been more than three years since a similar memorial stood outside the Guilderland house where a family of four was massacred Oct. 8, 2014. The memorial is long gone, but in the neighborhood the memory remains. And so does the wait for justice.

One community is awaiting the methodical legal march toward the courtroom. The other continues to deal with the disturbing silence created by an unsolved, gruesome case.

A knife and hammer were believed to be used in the slayings of Jin Chen, 39; his wife, Hai Yan Lai, 38; and their sons, Anthony, 10, and Eddy, 7 inside the house at 1846 Western Ave.

Cody Arana, 22, lives next door.

"I go out places and they're like, 'Where do you live?' And the best way to explain it is, 'I live next door to the murder house'  unfortunately," Arana said. "Everybody knows. Everybody does talk about it in the neighborhood."

Carol Lawlor grew up near the murder scene. Since 2008, she's been Guilderland's police chief.

"Not one of us goes down Western Avenue without that coming to mind, because there it is  it's right there," Lawlor said of the house on Guilderland's broad main artery. "I know that it still plays heavily on the minds and hearts of the community, and the police department."

Lawlor has 38 years in law enforcement; her deputy Curtis Cox has 32 years. Neither has ever seen anything like the 2014 killings, crimes Lawlor said she thinks about daily.

"Literally I don't go out to the grocery store or any place without someone (asking), 'Hey, how's that going? Are you moving on that at all?'" she said.

When Cox heard of the killings in Troy, "It brought it back for us just like it probably brings it back for the people in the community ... because of the similarities."

Maj. Robert Patnaude, who commands Troop G of the State Police, wasn't involved in the Guilderland investigation when the killings occurred. But he's all too familiar with unsolved homicides.

"We solve most of them, so when they go unsolved it's just like anyone in their profession not being successful at what they're supposed to do," Patnaude said. "It takes a toll on the investigators that work on it: They want to solve it; they want to bring the people to justice. These people are animals that shouldn't be out walking around our streets."

The Times Union reported in 2014 that Chen handled large amounts of off-the-books cash that flowed through the hands of undocumented workers at Chinese restaurants. Investigators found 18 mattresses on the floor of the basement, suggesting a possible connection to a human trafficking network.

Patnaude said a link to organized crime in the killings "has never been confirmed. It's certainly a theory." While the investigation is ongoing, he said "nothing solid" has come out.

"It's a very difficult case. There's cultural and language barriers, there's fear," Patnaude said. "It's a different community. ... They have a lot of undocumented workers working in the Chinese restaurants that were connected to that case and they feared law enforcement, so it's hard to get them to come forward."

Officials believe robbery and burglary were the motives in the Troy killings, although details have not emerged from police or prosecutors.

"Really the main similarity is four people, two of them are children," Patnaude said of the two crimes. "Other than that it's totally different circumstances."

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He said State Police have traveled to New York City's Chinatown to work with the NYPD's organized crime unit on the Guilderland killings. Interpreters from the NYPD and FBI have worked on the case.

"Our guys are always working it," Patnaude said. "There's fliers up still down in New York City, and occasionally (we'll) get calls. ... Hopefully someone who's arrested will come forward with information to help themselves. A lot of times that's how these cases are solved  it's not because they feel any guilt or remorse, but they want to help themselves out of their own trouble.

"We don't really care how they come forward but we know there's someone out there that has information," he said.

"Even though it was three years later, if something comes into (people's) mind, if they see something that makes the hair on the back of their neck raise up, just call us," Patnaude said. "A lot of times people feel like they're bothering us if they call if they think it's something mundane or something trivial, but these cases are sometimes solved by the most trivial detail, the smallest detail.

"We still want people to think about it."

Ryan Rundell, his girlfriend and their two 5-year-old children live in the house where Chen and his family were killed. Rundell, 27, who works at Albany Medical Center Hospital, said his girlfriend was a bit wary at the prospect of taking up residence there.

"But when we came and looked at the home we had no bad feelings here," he said. "It was homey. It was comfortable."

They moved in about 18 months ago. When Rundell learned of the killings in Lansingburgh, "The first thing that came to mind is here," he said.

Rundell knows the December killings in Troy reminded his neighbors of the events of October 2014.

"I'm sure all those memories are coming back for them, and it's probably not the easiest thing especially knowing that it's only across the river," Rundell said. "It's a pretty tight-knit community here, and I'm sure that they're all not resting the easiest right now."

rgavin@timesunion.com - 518-434-2403 - @RobertGavinTUHundreds of rides have been hailed in the Capital Region since the apps Uber and Lyft launched in late June. But one of the longest was a 413 mile trek.

Someone hailed an Uber to a motel off Interstate 90 and asked the driver to take them to Clarksburg, Maryland, Uber spokeswoman Danielle Filson said.

Ride-hailing apps have been operating in the Capital Region for six months now. Click through the slideshow to see the local destinations Lyft and Uber users are most likely to request.

"Not only are residents and visitors integrating Lyft into all of their transportation needs  from commuting to nights out to rides to the airport and more  but we have developed important partnerships with Albany International Airport and the Times Union Center to create the best experience possible for passengers and drivers," Ann Ferracane, the general manager of Lyft New Jersey and upstate New York, said.

"In six short months, Uber has helped New Yorkers earn money on their own schedules, move around their communities with ease, and for those who choose to drink, get home safely. It has been an exciting ride and we look forward to the years to come," Filson said.

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Filson said, for 92 percent of Uber trips, riders waited less than 10 minutes for their driver to arrive after hailing a ride. Friday and Saturday evenings, and weekday commute hours, were the company's peak times in the Capital Region.

The most popular destinations for both ride hailing apps remain transportation hubs (think: airports, bus stations) and drinking establishments.

What's changed since the apps' first month of operation? People are more often headed to college campuses than to bars. While seven of the combined top 20 destinations were bars after the first month, only four made the list six months in.[January 12, 2018] Direct Source Showcases Transformative In-Store Technologies at Annual NRF "Big Show"

As physical stores continue to compete with both offline and online sales, brick-and-mortar brands look to technology to create remarkable in-store customer experiences, rivalling the personalization and engagement of digital storefronts. Direct Source will provide a look at many of the latest in-store systems and customer-facing technologies at NRF: Retail's Big Show in New York City, January 14-16, 2018. NRF attendees can visit the Direct Source (News - Alert) booth #3644 for an impartial view from the leading retail technology and integration consultant. For 25 years, Direct Source has worked closely with tier one retailers to provide comprehensive product knowledge and technology assessments and recommendations. Technology experts from Direct Source analyze each retailer's goals and objectives, future technology needs and pain points to create the optimal in-store experience. The most in-demand solutions today are tools that bridge the gap between the physical store and the digital shopping experience, where a high level of personalization and engagement are part of the experience. "This year, retailers are focused on creating stronger connections with customers in the store. Payments are becoming more important as part of this experience, but technologies that enables shopper engagement, mobility and personalization also help retailers build these connective bridges," said Brad Fick, president of Direct Source. "We help retailers make the critical connections they need to create transformative change within the physical store." Retailers can visit the Direct Source booth this year to learn about: Smart POS and Payments: Ingenico provides a line of smart POS devices that can be fixed, portable or hybrid, covering all transactions points: unattended, multilane, in-store and mobile. With a compact design and connectivity over GPRS, Wi-Fi, 3G, or Bluetooth networks, Ingenico portable terminals allow associates to meet shopper needs anywhere in the store, even for cashless payments. The latest Ingenico retail PIN pads offer large color touchscreens, intuitive interfaces and support for a wide spectrum of payment methods, getting shoppers through the line quickly while offering opportunities or engagement.



New this year, ROAMpay from Ingenico is an advanced mobile POS app. With native support for popular smartphones and tablets, the app provides retailers with easy access to information, while giving shoppers a seamless, speedy and secure checkout experience. HP marks a new era in retail with the sleek, modern and adaptable design of its HP ElitePOS system. This adaptable payment system helps retailers build checkout, interactive signage and self-service solutions that meets their unique business demands. ElitePOS components include stands, a magnetic stripe reader, barcode scanners, customer-facing displays and an in-column or standalone printer.

Mobile Store Associate Devices and Accessories: The Honeywell retail hardware line equips store associates with all the tools and data access needed to engage more closely with customers. Enterprise-ready tablets provide real-time connectivity to store data such as inventory or sales data, delivering a truly mobile office. Reliable access to information helps associates quickly and easily address shopper needs and manage store reports. Honeywell Captuvo sleds transform popular Apple (News - Alert) products into retail-ready devices with instant access to product information. And, Honeywell mobile printers offer rugged and reliable performance anywhere in the store for receipts and labels. The Epson H6000 line of multi-function POS printers offers fast receipt printing, high-resolution graphics, drop-in validation for deposit slips, checks, cashier checks and batch tickets, and high reliability in one compact device. Efficient use of power and paper helps lower overhead, and improve total cost of ownership. With the fastest printing in its class - up to 300mm/second - retailers can print customer receipts quickly, to ensure fast transactions. InVue's freestanding tablet display is ready to use right out of the box. It combines flexibility, convenience and security in one solution, and can be easily rotated to portrait or landscape mode, or flipped to face the customer. The versatile design allows the integrated tablet to be easily removed for mobile use. And, it works with all tablets regardless of manufacturer or operating system. Retail Integration and Deployment Services: Direct Source offers end-to-end support with integration and deployment services that ensure projects are completed accurately. Retailers can tap Direct Source for expert consulting and deployment, equipment leasing, maintenance and management services. With available onsite technicians, Direct Source offers fast equipment replacement so in-store teams can focus on the customer experience instead of equipment maintenance. About Direct Source

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Direct Source (www.directsource.com) is a nationwide consultant and technology solutions provider for tier-one retail, travel and lodging industries, with a network of more than 2,500 installation specialists. Direct Source's hardware procurement, software development and deployment services are designed to help maintain a competitive edge and improve site productivity and customer service. Always vendor-neutral, the company draws upon its innovative and industry-encompassing experience to recommend technologies that help clients operate faster, smarter and more profitably. ROAMpay is a trademark of Ingenico Inc.

Captuvo is a trademark of Honeywell (News - Alert) International Inc.

Apple is a trademark of Apple Inc.

All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the U.S. and/or elsewhere. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180112005362/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][January 12, 2018] Elementary School Students Express Dreams Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 20 elementary school students gathered to express their dreams for today's world during the Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competitions in Dallas and Houston. Winners included Wesley Stoker, a fourth-grade student from Harry C. Withers Elementary in Dallas, and Tchanori Kone, a fifth-grader from Gregory-Lincoln Elementary in Houston. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180112005739/en/ Tchanori Kone, a fifth-grade student from Gregory-Lincoln Elementary, won first place in the 22nd Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition in Houston with a captivating speech titled "Making the Dream Come True." She shared that her dream for today's world is to "eliminate poverty," and she hopes one day that "every human being will have fair and equal access to education and health care." (Photo credit: Katy Anderson) Finalists were selected from more than 300 fourth- and fifth-grade students representing nearly 40 schools from the Dallas and Houston Independent School Districts. The competitions began with in-school qualifying rounds in the fall, and one student from each school was selected to advance to the semifinals. From there, eight students from Dallas and 12 from Houston were selected to advance to the final competitions Jan. 12. Participants presented original three-to-five minute speeches addressing the question, "What is your dream for today's world?" which both commemorated Dr. King's iconic speech and encouraged children to showcase their knowledge of current events. During all three levels of the competition, students were evaluated on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation, and memorization. At the finals, panels of locally renowned community and business leaders judged the students on their performances. "I want to commend the students on their knowledge of Dr. King's impact and the talent they displayed today. They delivered well-crafted, emotional and insightful speeches that impressed the entire audience and judges," said Gardere Chair Holland N. O'Neil. "Gardere is honored to partner with the Dallas and Houston ISDs each year to provide these bright and articulate students a competitive platform that showcases their exceptional talents." Dallas's first-place winner, Wesley Stoker, delivered a speech he says was inspired by his father, who is the senior minister at First United Methodist Church of Dallas. "Dr. King was a minister's son, and I am a minister's son, as well. I can only imagine he went to church a lot," joked Wesley. His speech incorporated his own dreams, routed in Dr. King's philosophies. "I wish we would all be friends with our neighbors and see that we have more in common than we think."



Wesley emphasized each of his hopes by repeating, "I may not look like Dr. King, but I believe like Dr. King." He ended by encouraging the audience, "Like me, you don't look like Dr. King. But like me, you have the choice to believe like Dr. King. We can believe in equality, love for our neighbor, world peace among all nations and races, but it takes you and me to work together." Skye Turner, a fourth-grader at Charles Rice Learning Center, earned second place in the Dallas competition, and Jeremiah Wilson, a fourth-grader at Thomas L. Marsalis Elementary School, was awarded third place.

Houston's first-place winner, fifth-grade student Tchanori Kone, titled her speech "Making the Dream Come True," and shared that her dream for today's world is to "eliminate poverty." Tchanori hopes one day that "every human being will have fair and equal access to education and health care." The 10-year-old reminded the audience of the Poor People's March on Washington, led by Dr. King and his efforts to draw government attention to poverty in America. Kone concluded that we should follow in Dr. King's footsteps and bring government attention to these issues by voting into office "sincere, caring people who are committed to helping their communities." Caleb Kiteka, a fifth-grade student from Windsor Village Elementary, placed second in the Houston competition, while former MLK Oratory Competition winner, and now fifth-grader, Nhedrick Jabier of Crespo Elementary took home third place. "The energy these students exhibited today was remarkable, exciting to watch and very inspiring," said Gardere CEO Claude Treece. "I've been chairing this event in Houston since its inception 22 years ago, and I'm still amazed by the talent, insight, and creativity the participants display each year." Established in Dallas in 1993 by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, the Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition is hosted in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day to encourage the community to remember and pay tribute to the late civil rights leader's legacy. Gardere introduced the event to encourage students to learn more about Dr. King and to help cultivate the writing and speaking skills of elementary school students. The event's success in Dallas led to the establishment of the competition in Houston in 1997. To watch the winning speeches and to learn more about the Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competitions, click here. ABOUT GARDERE Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, an Am Law 200 firm founded in 1909 and one of the Southwest's largest full-service law firms, has offices in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston and Mexico City. Gardere provides legal services to private and public companies and individuals in the areas of corporate, energy, environmental, franchising, financial restructuring and reorganization, government affairs, hospitality, insurance, intellectual property, international, labor and employment, litigation, manufacturing, maritime, private equity, real estate, restaurant, retail, supply chain, tax, technology law and venture capital. Follow Gardere on Twitter (News - Alert) at @garderelaw and connect on LinkedIn. Photographs Available Upon Request View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180112005739/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]By Benjamin Jumbe:

President Yoweri Museveni has said that no one can disturb the peace enjoyed by Ugandans following the great sacrifices made by the people of Uganda.

He made the remark while speaking at the memorial mass of the late Prince Bernard Richard Olanya Lagony and other members of his family in Bunga Raa village, Koch Goma Sub-county, Nwoya District.

The President was eulogizing Prince Bernard Richard Olanya Lagony and Okot Ogoni the two peace emissaries abducted and killed on June 10, 1996 in Pagik village, Cwero Sub-county in Nwoya district by Kony rebels who they had gone to discuss peace with.

The President said that no sensible person should kill peace envoys because they leave behind their colleagues who avenge the death.

He said that the government would offer assistance to families of other liberators that were killed for their efforts to ensure peace in the area.

Gulu Diocese Archbishop John Baptist Odama who led the memorial mass urged the congregation to pray for peace in homes, country and in the world.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City, Kansas man has been convicted at trial on several charges following a confrontation with law enforcement officers at the Richard Bolling Federal Building in Kansas City, Missouri. James E. Everett, Jr., 31, was found guilty Tuesday of threatening a federal officer, forcibly resisting a federal officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.Kansas City Vacant Lit Up Tonight

Abandoned building catches fire on KC's northeastern side on Friday night Sam's Club shut down multiple locations on Thursday, and some employees and customers say they did so without warning. Sam's Club is shutting down 63 stores, and some employees and customers say it did so without warning.

Local Perspective On Guv Sancho Greitens

KC attorney explains blackmail claims against Greitens KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Some Missouri Republican lawmakers confirmed Friday that they received personal phone calls from Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens; following Greitens' public admission this week that he had an affair in 2015 with his hair stylist. Missouri State Sen.

Urban Core Inspiration

Kansas City GO Bond Fairy Tale

Voter-approved GO bonds being used to make repairs in KC Last April, Kansas City voters approved an $800 million investment in their city. The money from Kansas City G.O. bonds was meant to fix problems all over the city. Across the city, we've seen work happening on things like bridges, flood control, and sidewalks that will continue for the next decade.

Kansas City Crime Hope

A 2018 resolution for KC: Drop off the list of the country's most violent cities Kansas City is one of the most violent cities in the United States. No matter who is doing the tabulating - the FBI, major news outlets or crime analysts - Kansas City keeps landing near the top of lists ranking the country's most dangerous and murderous cities.

Show-Me Panty Raid Consequences

Man sentenced for stealing underwear from Missouri woman A 63-year-old man has been ordered to serve 120 days of shock incarceration and five years of probation for breaking into a northwest Missouri woman's apartment while she was showering and stealing her underwear. Ronald Traas faces up to seven years in prison if he violates the terms of his probation, which include not using the internet, The St.

Tardy KC Hipster Music List

From Kansas City And Beyond, The Best Music Of 2017 Kansas City's music scene has a long tradition of hardworking artists who turn out great, original songs. Last year was no different. Today, Playlistplay.com co-creater Savanna Howland, Judy Mills of Mills Record Company, and KCUR contributor Bill Brownlee offer a sampling of their favorite 2017 releases from Kansas City and around the world.

Tonight we celebrateand take a look at these local news links for tonight. Take a peek:And this is thefor tonight . . .KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A Wyandotte County judge on Friday dismissed the case against three men charged with the murder of a 10-year-old Kansas City, Kan., girl, Machole Stewart. Stewart was killed in a drive-by shooting on Oct. 26, 2014. The drive-by happened outside of Machole's home in the 1400 block of New Jersey on a Sunday evening.James Dodge has been homeless since Christmas. He knows by living on the streets, his life could be in danger at any moment.





Late Sunday night, that fear became all too real.





I seem to recall I was walking to a store and a guy just came up behind me and hit me in the back of my head and on top of my head with what felt to be a metal pipe or a hammer, and he was punching me in my face," Dodge said. "I fell to the ground, and he kept kicking me. It still hurts to walk right now because he kicked me in my spine."





Paramedics rushed the injured veteran to the hospital. The attacker ran off with $25 he stole from Dodge's pockets.





I would have given him the money," Dodge told Fox 4's Robert Townsend from his hospital bed. "He put me through a lot and could have killed me over $25. People are so crazy today, and theres just no compassion. They dont care."

An important reminder that harsh times continue the rising metro homeless population . . .Take a look:Deeets:You decide . . .- According to the Legislature speaking in open session - A high-priced GOP law firm has been paid $25K to issue their opinion in favor of Exec White keeping control of COMBAT.





- This same law firm has garnered about $250K worth of JaxCo legal work in less than a year.





- The Legislature is now hoping to cut ties with the firm and seek their own representation in the upcoming legal battle with Exec Frank White.

The price-tag of the power struggle over COMBAT is quickly adding up.In a recent County meeting Legislators revealed . . .Brief aside on that . . . Today a FAILING dead-dree media outlet reported that "deputies were called to restore calm" and there's absolutely no evidence of that . . . Video of the session proves as much.- Sure, there was a ruckus and some yelling but no one had to be restrained or even close. TKC loves hyperbole but it's almost kinda sad to see local hacks stoop lower than a blogger without having nearly half as much fun. But I digress . . .Anyhoo . . .The point here is that negotiations have fallen apart and this debate will be settled in court . . . Just as our blog community reported . . . The bills taxpayers will ultimately suffer for this fight havepass a quarter million dollars.Developing . . .Political stability and social cohesion in Greece are very important for the recovery of the crisis stricken economy as well as the strengthening of the tourist industry

ATHENS  After his own Foreign Ministry said the Greek Church was as bad as the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party for rejecting use of the word Macedonia for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonias prospective new name, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to calm the waters with a letter to Archbishop Ieronymos.

With growing reports the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA-led coalition is ready to permanently give away the name Macedonia in any new composite name, it drew fury from the neo-Nazis as well as the Church, with the government linking them.

Already facing the likely mutiny over the issue from his coalition partner, the pro-austerity, marginal, jingoistic Independent Greeks (ANEL) of Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, Tsipras tried to assuage assuage the Church and ease the tension at a critical time.

The Holy Synod unanimously said it would oppose any solution that included the use of the term Macedonia by FYROM, citing political, national and ecclesiastical reasons, saying it would give credence to the self-declared Church of Macedonia.

In his letter, Tsipras reassured Ieronymos the Churchs stance would be considered although all reports indicate Macedonia is a done deal for any name with Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias saying it would include a geographical qualifier such as North or Upper although some media said the would be New Macedonia, a move that could set off anger among Greek nationalists.

A Greek government in 1992 under then-Premier Constantine Mitsotakis agreed to let its new northern neighbor, which broke away from Yugoslavia to take the name FYROM until a permanent name could be agreed on but all talks have failed.

Macedonia is the name an abutting northern Greek province and successive Greek governments have tried to figure out some way to either take Macedonia out of FYROM or find any solution palatable to Greeks.

In the meantime, Greece has blocked FYROMs hopes of entering NATO and the European Union even though most of the world and the media already recognize the country as Macedonia, including the United States.

Kammenos, who has waffled repeatedly with reports saying he was willing to relent and accept Macedonia  which would keep him and his party, which is polling around 1 percent in power  another schism developed when ANEL lawmakers disagreed, leading him to say hes changed his mind again and now still opposes use of Macedonia.

But he said he was open to discussing allowing that word to be used in the Slavic language, and supported Kotzias, whom he earlier had said was the greatest foreign minister in the history of Greece despite criticism that SYRIZA, an anti-nationalist party, was willing to give away Macedonia even though FYROM has no bargaining power.

I have complete confidence in Kotzias to negotiate a name that will not include the Greek term Macedonia, Kammenos told an ANEL party meeting, adding, however, that [FYROM] can have any name they want in Slavic,  Makedonija  even though English-language newspapers would most likely call it Macedonia. Kammenos though said he would opposed the use of any qualifiers with the name. Recent reports also said that he would also consider the Slavic name Makedonija. However, he repeated his opposition to the use of the qualifiers of New or Upper with the term Macedonia.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose father gave away the name Macedonia, said the government should present a united front and stop dividing Greeks over the issue.

In comments made during a tour in northern Greece, Mitsotakis accused the government of engaging in secret diplomacy and said his party should be briefed on the talks with Kotzias not revealing Greeces position.

I also ask the government to stop dividing Greeks. And to stop identifying people who are particularly sensitive on the name issue with the far right, the New Democracy leader said.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Matti License: CC-BY-SA

Source: thenationalherald.comsanjiv@tribunemail.com

Jammu, January 13

A soldier, Lance Naik Yogesh Muralidhar Bhadane, was killed in unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan troops today.

A public relations officer from the 16 Corps said the Pakistan army opened fire on Indian posts in the Sunderbani sector around 2.30 pm. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. However, in the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Bhadane (28) was grievously injured and succumbed to his injuries. Bhadane belonged to Khalane village in Dhule district of Maharashtra. He is survived by his wife Punam Yogesh.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Paying tributes, the PRO said Lance Naik Bhadane was a brave and sincere soldier and the nation would remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice.

Bhadane is the first soldier to be killed at the Line of Control this year. The incident comes just days after a BSF head constable was killed after Pakistani forces sniped from across the International Border in Samba district. In retaliation, the BSF destroyed two Pakistani mortar positions and foiled an infiltration bid, gunning down an intruder near the Nikowal border outpost in Arnia sector.

On December 31 last year, sepoy Jagsir Singh (32) was shot dead by Pakistani troops from across the border along the LoC in Rajouri district. The year 2017 saw the highest number of ceasefire violations in the past decade, resulting in the death of 35 persons, including 19 Army personnel and four BSF men.

India shares a 3,323-km border with Pakistan.

On December 23, a Major and three soldiers were killed along the LoC in Rajouri. In retaliatory action, Indian troops killed three Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir two days later.  TNS & PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, January 12

At least 159 activists of the Rajasthan-based Karni Sena were arrested today while protesting outside the Central Board of Film Certification's office here against the clearance given to Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmavat, earlier titled Padmavati.

The protesters said changing the name of the film from Padmavati to Padmavat was not enough. We dont think it is okay to release the movie after only changing its name. We dont want the film to be released at all, said Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, president, Karni Sena, in a statement here.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Mumbai police said they were ready as the Karni Sena had announced its intention to gherao the CBFC office in Central Mumbai this afternoon. No one was hurt in the protests and all protesters were taken to the police station, said a spokesman for the Mumbai police.

The Karni Sena activists who were being picked up by the police said they were not being allowed to meet the CBFC officials.

The movie starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati and Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Allaudin Khilji is slated for release on January 25.

While several states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan have said they would not allow the film to be released in their territories, the Maharashtra Government is yet to decide on it.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Bengaluru/New York, January 12

The Aadhaar project could lead to millions of people being denied access to essential services and benefits in violation of their human rights, Amnesty International India and Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

The large-scale collection of personal and biometric data, and linking it to a range of services, also raises serious concerns about violations of the right to privacy, the organisations said in a release.

The government should order an independent investigation of the concerns raised about Aadhaar, and cease targeting journalists and researchers who expose vulnerabilities in security, privacy, and protection of data, the organisations said.

Making an Aadhaar card a prerequisite to access essential services and benefits can obstruct access to several constitutional rights, including the rights of people to food, health care, education and social security, said Aakar Patel, executive director at Amnesty International India.

The government has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that nobody is denied their rights simply because they dont have an Aadhaar card.

However, the Aadhaar Act of 2016 and subsequent notifications and licensing agreements dramatically increased the scope of the project, making Aadhaar enrollment mandatory for people to access a range of essential services and benefits, including government subsidies, pensions and scholarships. It has also been linked to services such as banking, insurance, telephone, and the internet.

Shops providing subsidised food grains as part of the governments public distribution system to people living in poverty have denied supplies to eligible families because they did not have an Aadhaar number, or because they had not linked it to their ration cards, which confirm their eligibility, or because the authentication of their biometrics such as fingerprints failed.

Local human rights groups and media have reported some cases in which people starved to death as a result. Poor internet connectivity, machine malfunction, and worn out fingerprints such as in case of older people or manual laborers have further exacerbated the problem of biometric authentication.

According to activists in Rajasthan state, between September 2016 and June 2017, after Aadhaar authentication was made mandatory, at least 2.5 million families were unable to get food rations. In October 2017, the central government instructed states not to deny subsidised food grains to eligible families merely because they did not have an Aadhaar number, or had not linked their ration cards to it. However, reports of denied benefits continue.

In some states, children without Aadhaar cards have been denied free meals in government schools, while others have been denied enrollment in government schools despite the Right to Education Act guaranteeing free and compulsory education to all children ages 6 to 14.

Students are also increasingly finding it difficult to receive government scholarships without Aadhaar numbers. Hospitals in Haryana state insist on newborn babies being enrolled in Aadhaar before giving them birth certificates. Aadhaar numbers are also demanded to issue death certificates.

In some cases, people living with HIV/AIDS have decided to stop getting medical treatment or medicines when forced to submit Aadhaar numbers to get healthcare benefits because they fear their identities will be disclosed. Many persons with disabilities have been denied benefits because they were unable to obtain Aadhaar numbers.

The governments expansion of the Aadhaar project and efforts to make it mandatory for essential services directly violate Supreme Court orders, the release noted.

In August 2015, the Supreme Court, in an interim order, said that Aadhaar enrollment was not mandatory and should not be a condition to obtain any benefits otherwise due to a citizen, and also restricted its use to a few government programms. A five-judge Bench would start hearing the final arguments on the legality of Aadhaar on 17 January.

Right to Privacy

In August 2017, the Supreme Court stated that the right to privacy was part of the constitutional right to life and personal liberty, in response to government arguments in Aadhaar-related petitions that privacy was not a fundamental right. The right to privacy is also protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is party.

Several reports have shown that the Aadhaar system is vulnerable to data breaches and leaks. In January 2018, the Tribune newspaper reported that unrestricted access to the personal details of people enrolled in Aadhaar could be purchased for INR 500 (less than US$10) from racketeers. The UIDAI responded by filing a criminal complaint, naming the reporter and the newspaper, prompting widespread condemnation by civil society groups.

In 2017, millions of Aadhaar numbers, along with peoples personal information, including bank accounts, were published by government websites. The government has repeatedly dismissed reports of such leaks saying mere display of demographic information cannot be misused without biometrics, emphasising that biometric information is safe.

However, experts say companies could store biometric data at the time of enrollment or authentication for a transaction, and biometric data once stolen is compromised forever.

These fears proved real in February 2017, when UIDAI filed a criminal complaint against three companies alleging illegal transactions using stored biometric data. However, a month later, the UIDAI sought to downplay the breach and when an entrepreneur wrote an article illustrating how stored biometric information under Aadhaar could be misused, UIDAI filed a criminal complaint against him.

Following the Tribune story in January 2018, the government said it would address concerns about privacy rights violations by introducing temporary virtual IDs for Aadhaar holders to use in certain situations without revealing their Aadhaar numbers. However, the strategy does not effectively address data protection concerns.

The government claims to have issued 1.1 billion Aadhaar numbers to residents in India, not limited to citizens, making it one of the biggest biometric databases in the world. The governments push for mandatory enrollment and its efforts to link the Aadhaar number to a wide range of services raises grave concerns that it could disproportionately interfere with the right to privacy for millions of people. It has also prompted fears of increased state surveillance, with the convergence of various databases making it easier for the government to track all information about specific individuals, and to target dissent. These fears are heightened by the absence of laws to protect privacy and data protection in India, and the lack of adequate judicial or parliamentary oversight over the activities of intelligence agencies.

Transparency and Accountability

Certain provisions of the Aadhaar Act and subsequent regulations also raise concerns regarding transparency and accountability. The law prevents anyone other than the UIDAI from approaching the courts in case of a breach or violation of the law. It also fails to set up an adequate or effective grievance redressal system. The ICCPR requires countries to ensure that anyone whose rights or freedoms are violated has an effective remedy.

Aadhaar regulations allow the government to deactivate an Aadhaar number for various reasons including for any other case requiring deactivation as deemed appropriate by the UIDAI, leaving the broad wording open to misuse. Also, the government is not required to give any prior notice before deactivating an Aadhaar number, which could violate natural justice principles and also put access to essential services at risk. Between 2010 and 2016, the government deactivated 8.5 million Aadhaar numbers, saying it was for reasons provided for under the law.

Aadhaar does not allow anyone enrolled under it to opt out or withdraw. Aadhaar regulations do not require the authorities to inform an Aadhaar number holder if their information has been shared or used without their knowledge or consent.

It is ironic that a 12-digit number aimed to end corruption and help the poor has become the very reason many have been deprived of fundamental rights, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. There are legitimate concerns about privacy, surveillance, or just misuse of personal information, and the government should address these problems instead of coercing people to enroll and link existing services to Aadhaar.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 12

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today accepted that China was exerting pressure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but said India would defend every such intrusion.

There is no settled border between the neighbours and the 3,488-km LAC is the de facto boundary. Addressing a press conference ahead of Army Day, he said: China is a powerful country but we are not a weak nation.

When asked if the media reports indicating increased activity by the Chinese along the LAC were correct, he said: Both sides have increased patrol intensity so the contacts (troops coming face to face) are increasing. The varying perception of the LAC is causing overlapping claims but we have mechanism to counter the same.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Whenever an intrusion takes place, we will defend, he said, citing the recent incident at Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh where India confiscated Chinese road-building equipment. There are other areas where we are vulnerable due to lack of infrastructure. We have allocated troops which will take care. He said a hotline was coming up at the DGMO level between India and China that could sort out the increased number of intrusions.

At the military level, our focus has to shift to the northern borders. For too long we have focused on western border, Gen Rawat said. To say that it will be an attrition battle and to think that China will come rolling down the hills, it may not happen, he added.

China sits on north Doklam

General Rawat said up to June 2016 it was an innocuous activity, but in June 2017 it became serious, so they intervened. The de-escalation has happened.

They may come back here after winter or somewhere else. Should they come again, we will see what to do. In the west of Torsa nullah called northern Doklam, the Peoples Liberation Army of China has occupied the area. At the actual spot the two sides have disengaged. The tanks and guns that had moved in are gone. The tents remain. The observation posts remain. This is a territory disputed between Bhutan and China, he said.

Will call Paks nuke bluff

Gen Rawat said: If Pakistan raises a nuclear bogey, we will have to call their bluff. We cannot say that we will not cross the border because they have nuclear weapons. We will have to call their bluff.

On the US admonition to Pakistan, he said it would be premature to say that everything is going to be in our favour and the US will do our job what we are expected to do vis-a-vis Pakistan. We have to do our own job. On being asked about the preparation of a simultaneous two-front war with Pakistan and China, he said: We are ready for this contingency. We have plans to deal with this.

Capping fee for disableds kids

On the issue of capping tuition fees for children of disabled soldiers and those killed in the line of duty, General Rawat said the Army would set up premier educational institutions to educate them. He said that as some people were misusing the facility, the government decided to impose a cap of Rs10,000 a year for a student. However, as some genuine students were being affected by this, Army proposed a new framework to continue the policy.editorial@tribune.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 12

In an unprecedented move, four seniormost judges of the Supreme Court on Friday held a press conference and publicly criticised Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra for allocating cases to judges in an arbitrary manner.

Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph  who left their pre-lunch judicial work mid-way and assembled at Justice Chelameswars residence for the press conference at 12.15 pm  said the situation in the Supreme Court was not in order and many less than desirable things had taken place in the last few months.

OPINION: An honourable disagreement

ALSO READ: Text of 4 SC judges letter to CJI

The judges  who are part of the collegium headed by the CJI  said they decided to talk to the media and inform the nation after failing to persuade the CJI to take remedial measures.

There have been instances where cases having far-reaching consequences for the nation and the institution had been assigned by the Chief Justices of this court selectively to the Benches of their preference without any rational basis for such assignment, read a seven-page letter addressed to the CJI by the four judges.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The letter asserted that all judges of the Supreme Court were equal and the CJI was only the first among equals. The convention of recognising the privilege of the Chief Justice to form the roster and assign cases to different members/Benches of the court is a convention devised for a disciplined and efficient transaction of business of the court, but not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleague, it read.

We tried to persuade the CJI to take steps but failed. Unless the institution of Supreme Court is preserved, democracy wont survive in this country, Justice Chelameswar said.

...We were left with no choice except to communicate it to the nation that please take care of the institution... Dont want people to say 20 years later that we did not take care of the institution... that Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar sold their souls they didnt take care of this institution and this nation. Therefore, we placed facts before the nation, said Justice Chelameswar.

Asked if the unprecedented decision to address the media related to Judge BH Loya case, Justice Chelameswar simply said, We are making a copy of the letter available. Justice Gogoi said, Yes.

A petition seeking an independent probe into the mysterious death of Loya came up for hearing before an SC Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, which termed it a serious issue and asked the Maharashtra government counsel to get instructions by Monday. For the Bombay Lawyers Association, senior advocate Dushyant Dave requested the Bench not to take up the petition as the HC was hearing the issue.

Meanwhile, at the press conference, Justice Gogoi said, It is discharge of a debt to the nation that has brought us here. To a question on possible impeachment of the CJI, Justice Chelameswar said, We are no one to impeach.

At the very outset, Justice Chelameswar described it as an extraordinary event in the history of any nation, more particularly this nation, and an extraordinary event in the institution of judiciary.

He said, With no pleasure in our hearts, we were compelled to take this decision to call for a press conference. But sometimes the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order. Many things, which are less than desirable, have happened in the last few months.

Time and again, as senior members of the court... we thought we owed responsibility to the institution... to the nation; we tried to collectively persuade the Chief Justice that certain things are not in order, therefore he should take remedial measures. Unfortunately, our efforts failed. All... four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this or any country... it is said the hallmark of a good democracy is an independent and impartial judges... symbolically, the institution, said Justice Chelameswar.

Press meet could have been avoided: AG

New Delhi: Attorney General KK Venugopal on Friday said the unprecedented move by the four senior SC judges in holding a press conference could have been avoided and the judges would now have to act in statesmanship to ensure complete harmony. Venugopal, who had a meeting with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra after the press conference, expressed hope that all judges, including the CJI, would rise to the occasion and wholy neutralise the divisiveness. What has happened could have been avoided. The judges will now have to act in statesmanship and ensure that the divisiveness is wholly neutralised and total harmony and mutual understanding will prevail, he said. This is what all of us at the Bar want and I am sure that the judges, including the CJI, will rise to the occasion, he said. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

United Nations, January 13

India has contributed $50,000 to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's Office of Envoy on Youth to help with its mission of involving young people in the world body's goals.

Paulomi Tripathi, a First Secretary in India's UN Mission, handed over the contribution on Friday to the Youth Envoy, Jayathma Wickramanayake.

The contribution is voluntary with no strings attached and is in addition to the regular payments India makes to the UN's general and peacekeeping budgets.

"Home to 350 million young people, India, is an important partner to us and we really look forward to working with you," Wickramanayake tweeted.

She thanked India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin for his "leadership and the support extended to the Office of the UN Youth Envoy".

The Youth Envoy's mission is to promote the engagement of youth and advocate for them across all the four pillars of the UN's work - sustainable development, human rights, peace and security and humanitarian action.

IANSsanjiv@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, January 13

With Israel asserting that its relationship with India is much stronger than one vote in the UN, the stage is set for the arrival here on Sunday of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu on a six-day trip to give a fillip to 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

This is the first prime ministerial visit from Israel to India since the visit of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The visit comes less than a month after India voted in the UN against US President Donald Trumps decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

However, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon set at rest all speculation, saying, I think the relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN here and there. B Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (WANA) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said PM Narendra Modi and Netanyahu will will be discussing a lot of issues when they meet on January 15.  IANSeditorial@tribune.com

Sriharikota (AP), January 12

India today reaffirmed its space prowess and commercial launch capabilities with the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launching 100th satellite along with 30 other spacecraft, including weather observation Cartosat 2 series, onboard the polar rocket from here. This was PSLVs longest-ever mission.

With the successful launch, including 28 satellites from foreign countries, by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO put behind a rare failure it encountered four months ago. ISRO had suffered a setback after the failure of the earlier PSLV-C39 mission in August last year.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The previous mission to launch backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 had failed after the heat shield did not separate in the final leg of the launch sequence, with the satellite getting stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed ISRO scientists for the successful PSLV C-40 mission.

The launch of the 100th satellite by @isro signifies both its glorious achievements, and also the bright future of Indias space programme, he said a tweet.

A visibly relieved ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar, on his final mission as the chief of the space agency, said he was happy to provide Cartosat 2 Series as a New Year gift for the country. ISRO is starting 2018 with the successful launch... all satellites have been released. So far Cartosat performance is satisfactory, he said at the mission control room. He said the previous launch faced a heat shield problem and an ISRO committee has addressed it and taken steps to ensure the vehicle was robust.  PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Jan 12

The Congress today described the public stand taken by four senior most Supreme Court judges on the functioning of the apex court as unprecedented and extremely disturbing and sought careful redressal of these concerns by the full apex court.

The party aligned itself with SC judges by demanding a probe into death of CBI judge BH Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in which BJP President Amit Shah among others is a party.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

SC judges have raised the issue of death of Judge Loya. This has to be addressed at the highest levels in the Supreme Court. SC judges at the top must investigate Judge Loyas death, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said this evening in his first official press conference after assuming party presidency on December 16, 2017.

Gandhis said the development was unprecedented and one that never happened before.

What has happened is unprecedented. SC judges have raised significant questions. This is a sensitive matter. Judges have flagged threat to democracy. These issues need to be looked at carefully. Judges have also spoken of judge Loyas death and this has to be probed at the highest level in the SC. People have faith in the legal system and this faith must be kept, Gandhi said treading cautiously on the matter and declining to take questions.

A decision to align with rebel SC judges was taken after a meeting at Gandhis residence today. The meeting was attended by veteran Ahmed Patel and former ministers and legal luminaries P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari. All these seniors sat with audiences at AICC headquarters as Gandhi took the dais today.

The Congress demanded that the PIL concerning judge Loyas death be entrusted to the senior most judges of the Supreme Court and probe into the death be held under supervision by an independent special investigation team.

Noting todays developments as extremely disturbing and those with far-reaching consequences for Indias democracy and judicial independence, Congress media head Randeep Surjewala articulated a guarded party position and stopped short of accusing the judiciary of favouring the BJP government and its leaders.

Congress argued that concerns raised by the judges today should be resolved internally by the judiciary.

We earnestly appeal that the full court of the SC should take up issues raisedand find solutions consistent with judicial traditions, a party statement said.

On assignment of cases, though, the Congress decided to advice the SC.

In the matter of assignment of cases the established convebtions and traditions of the courts must be followed and the selective assignment of cases must be stopped forthwith. Cases with far reaching implications to society and governance must be heard, in accordance with well established conventions, by the senior most judges of the SC, Surjewala said.

The party flagged delays in finalization of memorandum of procedure by the Government and selective assignment of cases as mentioned by four SC judges as deeply perturbing but decided to keep its first response to the issue restrained.

Insiders however said the situation is evolving and partys strategy to the issue would evolve accordingly. Politically, Gandhi set the tone today by demanding a fair probe into Judge Loyas death  a judge who was hearing a matter against BJP chief Amit Shah.

No judge can ask for particular case

New Delhi: Sources close to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra denied the allegations (of the four Supreme Court judges), saying judicial works were allocated fairly as per procedure. All judges are equal and no judge can ask for a particular case to be allocated to him or her, they said. TNSmonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Hyderabad, January 13

A Telangana boy, who was duped by an agent and trafficked to Saudi Arabia, has been rescued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian embassy there.

The family and victim Md. Jamaal thanked External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and the Indian embassy for their help.

Talking to ANI, Rehmath Bee, mother of the victim said, My son came back to me, my son stayed for two-and-half months there in Riyadh. His employer tortured him a lot. We wrote a letter to Sushma Swaraj and after just eight to ten days my son returned back. I would like to thank Sushma Swaraj for helping us.

Meanwhile, Md Jamaal said, Earlier, the agent offered me a job in a restaurant in Riyadh, but later they made me work as a labourer. When I sought to come back to India, my employer demanded 3,000 Riyal to send me back. Even after giving him 3,000 Riyal he didn't send me back. ANImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Washington, January 13

Donald Trump paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, one of the principal advocates of the civil rights movement, at a time when the US President is facing accusations of racism for his alleged insult of Haiti, El Salvador and several African countries.

Trump refused to answer questions about the controversy during an event on Friday at the White House, when a reporter twice asked him, "Are you a racist?" Tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was planned long before the controversy arose over Trump's remark, and came just before the annual holiday celebrated in the US in King's honour, which this year would be next Monday.

"Today, as we come together to honour Dr. King, we know that America is stronger, more just, and more free because of his life and work," Trump said, Efe news reported.

"Dr. King advocated for the world we still demand - where the sacred rights of all Americans are protected... and our limits and our opportunities are defined not by the colour of our skin, but by the content of our character," Trump said.

Trump then signed the proclamation declaring January 15 a holiday and ignored questions from reporters about his supposed insult he made Thursday during a meeting of senators in the White House.

Trump denied that he ever used the term "shithole countries" to describe Haiti, El Salvador and African nations, though he admitted using "tough" language in the meeting.

"Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out'. Made up by Dems," Trump said on his Twitter account.

Nonetheless, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was at the Thursday meeting on immigration in the White House, said on Friday that Trump "certainly did use that offensive term".

After Trump took to tweeting to deny the accusation, Durbin replied by saying: "It's not true. He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly." IANSpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Moscow, January 13

Russia on Saturday said Washington would be making a grave mistake by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, adding that Moscow would work hard to keep the landmark agreement alive.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticised remarks by US President Donald Trump, who yesterday said the US will not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran for the moment, but would withdraw later this year unless the terms of the deal are changed.

We are gradually coming to the conclusion that an internal decision by the US to leave the (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has already been made or is close to being made, Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax news agency.

This could be one of Washingtons big foreign policy mistakes, a big miscalculation in American policy, he said.

Under the hard-won 2015 deal with Russia, the US, China, France, Britain, Germany and the EU, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting of a raft of international sanctions.

Trump yesterday gave an ultimatum to either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw. Americas allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Irans nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that his predecessor Barack Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

Ryabkov said Moscow must unite with Europe and China and undertake intense work to keep the existing plan intact and decried what he said was a US attempt to strongarm the situation.

In what we heard yesterday, I dont see any invitation for Iran to enter dialogue, he said. This defies the logic of the agreement.

Russia will do everything in its power to save the agreement, he said.  AFPhospital workers

nursing home workers

teachers

all or most of the above

let employers decide

the vaccine should not be mandated anywhere

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View ResultsMore refugees and migrants feared lost in Mediterranean

United Nations, Jan 13 (UNI) Amid reports that some 160 people are feared lost during desperate attempts to cross the Mediterranean this week alone, the United Nations refugee agency has called for more action to save lives by offering more resettlement places and safe alternatives for people on the move.

[We] have been advocating for a comprehensive approach to address movements of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean, William Spindler, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the press at the regular news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

The approach, he outlined, should include building and strengthening protection capacity and livelihood support in countries of first asylum; providing more regular and safe ways for refugees to find safety through legal pathways; and addressing the root causes and drivers of refugee displacement.Mumbai, Jan 13 (UNI) A Pawan Hans helicopter, carrying five officials of oil major ONGC to Mumbai High North Field, crashed off the coast of Mumbai on Saturday, with no hopes of survivors.

The two pilots of the chopper were also feared dead.

Coast Guard officials said four bodies had been recovered by evening while three were still missing.

The identification of the bodies was in process.

The search operation involved five speedboats and one chopper from ONGC, along with the Coast Guard and Indian Navy.

Navy deployed its stealth frigate, INS Teg, for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8I was also pressed into service.

"A Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near Dahanu) have also been launched," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that 'some debris has been located'.

The search was led by ONGC top management.Company chairman Shashi Shanker rushed to Mumbai to monitor the search operation.

Sources said the seven-year-old chopper, VTPWA Dauphin AS-365 N3, with seven people on board took off from Juhu this morning at 1020 hrs and was expected to land at the Mumbai High North Field at

1058 hrs, but before that, it crashed.

Its last contact with the Air Traffic Control was at 1035 hrs, when it was 30 nautical miles off Mumbai.

"VTPWA Dauphin AS-365 N3 was scheduled to land at North Field of ONGC at 1058 hrs, but didn't arrive at the scheduled time. No contact could be established after 1030 hrs and search operation was launched soon after," an official said.

"We have already diverted ships and aircrafts to the area," the official added.

In a statement, ONGC said, "The reason behind the unfortunate incident is yet to be ascertained."

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said,"The Navy and the Coast Guard are on the job. I am also going to Mumbai to coordinate things."

Mr Pradhan said he had held consultations with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who had instructed the Navy and the Coast Guard to look into the issue extensively

According to Indian Coast Guard, the last contact made by the chopper with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and ONGC was at 1035 hrs. It was flying 30 nautical miles off Mumbai.

'We have deployed all our helicopters including from each of our naval bases in search of the missing chopper. It is a Pawan Hans chopper, carrying five employees. We are working towards finding the chopper at the earliest,' an official of ONGC said.

'We have already diverted ship and aircraft to area. Will update once any news is received,' the ICG said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at North Field of ONGC at 1058 hrs.

A Twitter post by the Indian Coast Guard stated, 'Ships and aircrafts on SAR mission 40 nautical miles North West of Mumbai for ill fated ONGC helicopter and recovered 4th body. SAR continues.

'Aircraft with 2 pilots and 5 passengers went missing after getting airborne from Juhu at 1030 hrs. India Coast Guard Ship on receipt of information reached area, located the debris, picked up a body at 1230 hours, it added.

A spokesperson for the Indian Navy said on Twitter,'Search and rescue (SAR) for missing civil helicopter off Mumbai High, 2X Immediate Support Vessels (ISVs) already deployed for patrol in area have been diverted for Search and Rescue along with 3 X ICG units already in area. 42B helicopter has also been launched to SAR operations.Stealth frigate INS Teg leaving for search is with medical teams embarked. One Skg42C standing by at Colaba air station. One P8i is being launched for search in the area.

Among those on board were officials from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation or ONGC who were headed for the Offshore Development Area in the north fields of Mumbai High.

UNI JS-ASH AAA RP1740

The Habit Burger Grill will open its sixth Las Vegas location later this month. Set to open in North Las Vegas, guests from North Las Vegas and Centennial Hills alike can join in on the celebration and make it a habit.

In anticipation of the grand opening, The Habit will be participating in week-long events starting with its fan-favorite Free Burger Day. On Sunday, January 21 where the first 200 guests will receive a free Charburger, fries and a drink.

Guests can get a sneak peek of the menu during the community charity event on Monday, January 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Habit Burger Grill will donate 100 percent of all the proceeds to Spread the Word Nevada and Candle Lighters.

Plus, guests can also indulge in the restaurants Free Habit Day on Tuesday, January 23 featuring a complimentary pre-selected menu showcasing an assortment of The Habits award-winning Charburgers, grilled sandwiches, and fresh salads, and will be available for the first 200 guests.The haute couture collection from designer Hoang Hai seen in the De Hanoi a Paris fashion show consisted of luxuriously fine evening gowns. Miss France 2014 Flora Coquere, runner-up of Miss Vietnam 2014 pageant Huyen My, and Miss Vietnam 2016 Do My Linh performed in the event.The decree will make sure less buyers get their fingers burnt

Among the big projects to be launched is An Khanh New City Developments sale of its first phase this quarter. The mega $2 billion project is developed by South Koreas Posco E&C and Vietnams Vinaconex, located in Hanois Hoai Duc district, along the Thang Long Boulevard.

Scheduled for completion in 2013, the city is expected to supply 6,440 apartments, equivalent to 392,319 square metres of accommodation, enough for 30,000 people.

Even though Hoa Phat Group, the investor in a more than 1,000 apartment Mandarin Garden in Cau Giay districts Tran Duy Hung road, refused to release its launching time, real estate experts predicted the project would be soon launched.

At the beginning of this month the CT7D, located in Le Van Luong street and invested by Nam Cuong Group and the FLC Landmark Tower of FLC Group will also be launched, with a total of 200 units and prices ranging from VND23 million ($1,200) to VND28 million ($1,470) per square metre.

In Gia Lam district, over the Red River, the second lot of Rung Co Residentials belonging to the Eco Park is also being launched, with around 1,500 apartment units.

In addition, Victoria Van Phu, Star City, Diamond Tower and Song Da City View will also add apartments to the mix.

Real estate consultant CBRE Vietnam expected that there would be 3,000 units in Hanoi launched this quarter, compared to 1,950 units in the third quarter. There were more than 4,600 units launched in the second quarter.

This decline, according to CBRE Vietnam, could be due to the Decree 71, effective on August 8, 2010 providing guidance on the Housing Law, which caps the proportion of units sold via capital contribution contracts at 20 per cent with the remaining 80 per cent sold on transaction floors.

This decree, CBRE Vietnam said, had put a pressure on developers with low financial capabilities and enhanced market transparency.

However, CBRE Vietnam executive director Richard Leech said new project launches would continue trending towards more affordable options.

With the opening and improvement of major infrastructure routes, the capitals western and southern districts are attracting new residents with easier access for commuting into the core urban districts, Leech said.

He said that the Decree 71 was expected to benefit the market by enhancing transparency, placing pressures on developers with low financial capabilities, lessening the threat of price bubbles and limiting speculative forces.

Tran Nhu Trung, Savills Vietnam associate director, said the Decree 71 had showed off its advantages to clearly regulate five types of mobilising capital investment. However, Trung said the procedures to implement Decree 71 were still complicated and wasted customers time and energy.

The more simple it [decree] regulates, the more it is practical in the real life, Trung said.File photo of a doctor performing surgery. (Photo: AFP/Dominique Faget)

Simon Bramhall, 53, used an argon beam machine to burn his initials on the organs of two anaesthetised victims in February and August 2013.

"What you did was an abuse of power and a betrayal of trust that these patients had invested in you," judge Paul Farrer told him at Birmingham Crown Court.

Bramhall was sentenced to a 12-month community order, meaning he will carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, and fined 10,000 (US$13,650).

"Both of the (transplant) operations were long and difficult," Farrer said.

"I accept that on both occasions you were tired and stressed and I accept that this may have affected your judgement. This was conduct born of professional arrogance of such magnitude that it strayed into criminal behaviour.

"I accept that you didn't intend or foresee anything but the most trivial of harm would be caused."

Another surgeon spotted Bramhall's initials on one of the livers. The branding was 4cm high.

He told police it had been a misguided attempt to relieve the tension in the operating theatre.

Bramhall resigned from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, in 2014.

The consultant was given a formal warning by the General Medical Council professional body last February.

He now works for the state-run National Health Service in Hertfordshire, north of London.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital said in a statement: "Mr Bramhall made a mistake in the context of a complex clinical situation and this has been dealt with via the appropriate authorities.

"There was no impact whatsoever on the quality of his clinical outcomes."Six fire engines and 60 fire fighters were rapidly mobilized to combat the blaze upon being notified of the emergency by local authorities. Firefighters made every effort to suppress the blaze to prevent it from spreading to neighboring workshops.

The curiosity of passers-by who stopped to watch the fire caused heavy traffic congestion as Tan Lien IP is located on National Highway No 10. Local residents and properties in endangered areas were evacuated.

By 11am the fire had been brought under control. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There are no official statistics of property damages in the fire.Big shot Hanoi buyers are looking to spread the wealth to the provinces

A range of real estate projects have been introduced to Hanois market from Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Danang and Nha Trang. The projects include The Charm, Sunrise City, Ocean Villas, Hyatt Regency, Olalani, Fusion Alya, Azura and Blooming Park.

Talking with VIR at a recent road show to introduce Sunrise City, located in Ho Chi Minh, in Hanoi, Novaland Joint Stock Company marketing deputy director Huynh Du An said many units were sold to Hanoians and those from northern provinces.

Meanwhile, a range of other central and southern projects have been rushing into Hanoi. Setia Becamex launched Binh Duong provinces Ecolakes My Phuoc in the capital late last week, a week before TD Group introduced the Costa Nha Trang to Hanoians. This week Singapores Guoco Lands Canary, located at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Binh Duong province, will be unveiled to northern customers.

Bringing Ecolakes My Phuoc to Hanois market is one of our key marketing strategies. Hanoians are paying more attention to higher standards of living and are interested in ecological housing, said Khoo Teck Chong, general director of Setia Becamex.

VIR was told that for many projects in the central and southern parts, roughly 70 per cent of customers were from Hanoi and other northern provinces.

Matthew Koziora, sales director of VinaCapital - developer of the Azura in Danang, said the first 60 units, out of 225, were launched in Hanoi recently.

Out of the 40 units sold, 90 per cent of the buyers had come from Hanoi.

Hanoi has, according to Koziora, proven itself to be a key market for most new projects in Vietnam, given the demographics of these immediate catchments.

While condominium offerings will always be available in Hanoi due to previous pent-up demands, we can see that not all projects will enjoy a healthy sell-through, as was seen 12 months ago.

We do see, however, given the price differentials between house and land packages in Hanoi versus Ho Chi Minh City, that this market will be better received in the current marketplace and over the next six months as opposed to condominium project offerings at this time, Koziora said

Ngo Huu Truong, managing director of a real estate agency in Ho Chi Minh City, said many customers from Hanoi and Haiphong had come to Ho Chi Minh City to find out information about new projects there.

Demand is real and many projects investors have realised this trend and they are coming to Hanoi to promote their projects, Truong said.

He also said the jury was still out on how effective the promotions were.

I think that these developers [who bring their projects to Hanoi] have at least seen their target to raise their image and brand names in northern customers, Truong said.The 8-year-old arrived in class covered in frost, causing his classmates to burst into laughter, his principal said. (Photo: Weibo)

Wang Fuman, a primary school student in southwest Yunnan province, gained the moniker "Frost Boy" after his principal shared a photo online of his rosy cheeks and icy hair, Chinese media reported this week.

According to the state-owned China News Service agency, the teacher who took the photo said it generally takes Wang more than an hour to make the 4.5km journey from his home to the school.

The temperature was -9 degrees Celsius the day the photo was taken, China News Service reported.

Other photos online appeared to show Wang's chapped and swollen hands atop a near-perfect exam sheet.

Following news of his plight, donations have flooded in to help the school, which reportedly does not have heating due to the lack of funding. The provincial foundation had collected about 300,000 yuan (US$46,300) as of Wednesday afternoon.

Each student will individually receive 500 yuan (US$77) to help them stay warm in winter.

According to China Daily, donations have now reached more than 17 million yuan (US$2.61 million). The report added that the boy's father has also received a job offer in his hometown in Yunnan province from a construction company.

The plight of "left-behind children" like Wang, whose parents work in cities while their children stay behind in the village with siblings and grandparents, has been hotly discussed in recent years.

"We still haven't done enough work to help the poor," one commenter on the Twitter-like Weibo platform said. Another user noted: "China has a lot of kids like this."

Poverty alleviation has been one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's banner initiatives since taking office in 2012.

Calling for the establishment of a "moderately prosperous society," Xi has vowed to wipe out rural poverty by 2020.

Official statistics found in 2016 that around 43.3 million rural residents still lived below the country's official poverty line of 2,300 yuan (US$346) a year in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Then there were some social media users who accused the media of exploiting "Frost Boy" and causing him to "overexert himself" by having him appear in a slew of video reports.

"I want to be a police officer to fight the bad guys," Wang told The Paper, a Shanghai-based publication.

"The journey to school is cold, but it's not hard!"Vietnam Airlines is one of the five largest companies on the Vietnamese stock exchange

Vietnam Airlines alone earned VND66.2 trillion ($2.92 billion) in revenue in 2017. Meanwhile it made VND1.85 trillion ($81.47 million) in pre-tax profit, exceeding the annual target by 50 per cent and increasing 8 per cent on-year. The company contributed VND1.9 trillion ($83.67 million) to the state budget.

Commenting on the success, the representative of Vietnam Airlines stated that expanding the flight routes in collaboration with increasing the service quality as well as promoting multilateral and bilateral relationships with other carriers played an important role in the soaring business results.

In 2017, Vietnam Airlines and other member carriers, namely Jetstar Pacific and Vasco, conducted 180,000 flights, serving 26.5 million customers and carrying 343,000 tonnes of cargo, signifying increases of 6.7 per cent in customer volume and 19 per cent in cargo compared to the same period of 2016.

Vietnam Airlines was considered one of the five biggest enterprises on the Vietnamese stock market in 2017, along with Vietjet Air, Petrolimex, VPBank, and Vincom Retail.

On January 3, Vietnam Airlines started trading 1.22 billion shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) at a starting price of VND28,000 ($1.24).

As of December 29, the HVN ticker was reported to reach VND43,000 ($1.9), up 53 per cent against the starting price. The ticker earned an average trading volume of over one million shares per session, with a few exceptions of over two million shares traded.

Additionally, the carrier expected to raise its charter capital as well as launching its initial public offering (IPO) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) or the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) in the second quarter of this year.

Furthermore, it expects to start direct flights to the US' Los Angeles and San Francisco.Algonac city attorney Jim Downey was not on the agenda for the Jan. 3 city council meeting, but the importance of the message he came to deliver earned him the floor.

The council was scheduled to vote on a revised ordinance regarding planning commission appointments, but closer investigation into the proposed change discovered it would be contrary to state law.

Downeys initial review missed the conflict with Michigan law. The revised ordinance was introduced at the city councils Dec. 19 meeting.

Planning commission Chairman Rocky Gillis brought the issue to the attention of City Manager Denice Gerstenberg, who sought further clarification from the city attorney. The clarification supported the current ordinance.

Our ordinance is essentially a mimic of the state law on planning commissions, Downey said. The proposed amendment cannot be adopted by the city, being contrary to the state law mandate.

The council began the process of changing the way planning commission members are appointed after some members objected to the way the mayor handled recent vacancies.

Rather than name one of the long-standing applicants to the commission, Mayor Eileen Tesch extended the application period. Some community members questioned whether she was using the additional time to encourage her own pre-selected candidates to step forward.

While the ordinance giving the mayor the right to nominate new members to the commission cannot be changed, Downey pointed out the council still holds the right to endorse or reject the mayors nominees. A majority vote of the council is required for any nominee to take a seat on the commission.

The reason why that second clause is there concerning the majority vote is that it has to be an independent determination made by the council, Downey said. If it were otherwise, it would simply say that the mayor, herself, could make that appointment without the consent of the council.

In the past, the council has deferred to the mayors right to select nominees. The interpretation sets the stage for the council to play a more active role in planning commission appointments.

If the council is unsatisfied with an appointment that is made by the mayor, the most-simple solution would be to vote it down, Downey said.

Colleen Kowalewski is a staff writer for The Voice. She can be contacted at 586-273-6197 or ckowalewski@21st-centurymedia.com.Barbara A. Higgins age 65 of Alexandria died on Monday, August 23, 2021, at Sanford Health in Fargo. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 1:00 PM on Friday, September 10, 2021, at the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria. Visitation will be held for one hour prior the service at the fuPhoto: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Adding her voice to the hundreds of women speaking out about Hollywoods sexual harassment and assault epidemic as part of the #MeToo movement, Eliza Dushku  perhaps best know for her roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Tru Calling  is alleging a veteran stunt coordinator sexually molested her when she was 12. Writing a detailed post on her Facebook page, Dushku claims that Joel Kramer, whos worked in the industry for dozens of years, molested her while they worked together on the 1994 action film True Lies  during which time he slowly built up the trust of Dushku and her parents before the assault occurred. Specifically, he molested her in his Miami hotel room, after suggesting to her parents that he take her swimming at the stunt crews private pool and buy her sushi for the first time:

I remember vividly how he methodically drew the shades and turned down the lights; how he cranked up the air-conditioning to what felt like freezing levels, where exactly he placed me on one of the two hotel room beds, what movie he put on the television (Coneheads); how he disappeared in the bathroom and emerged, naked, bearing nothing but a small hand towel held flimsy at his mid-section. I remember what I was wearing (my favorite white denim shorts, thankfully, secured enough for me to keep on). I remember how he laid me down on the bed, wrapped me with his gigantic writhing body, and rubbed all over me. He spoke these words: Youre not going to sleep on me now sweetie, stop pretending youre sleeping, as he rubbed harder and faster against my catatonic body. When he was finished, he suggested, I think we should be careful, [about telling anyone] he meant. I was 12, he was 36.

After the assault occurred, Dushku also claims Kramer got them a taxi to return to her parents, and during the ride he put me on his lap in the backseat and clutched me and grew aroused again. Days later, she was badly injured in a stunt-gone-wrong while filming a scene in True Lies, which she believes was no small coincidence. As she puts it: Whereas he was supposed to be my protector, he was my abuser.

As to why shes only now revealing her story, Dushku simply says she was inspired by the slew of brave women who spoke out against Harvey Weinstein and other serial abusers in the industry. Hollywood has been very good to me in many ways. Nevertheless, Hollywood also failed to protect me, a child actress, she concludes. I hope that speaking out will help other victims and protect against future abuse. Sharing these words, finally calling my abuser out publicly by name, brings the start of a new calm.

Update, January 13: When reached for comment by the Wrap, Kramer unequivocally denied all of Dushkus claims. Wow. Thats news to me. I never sexually assaulted her. Shes a sweet girl. We all looked out for her, thats surprising, he said via a phone call. Im just shocked. I dont know why she would say that. We took her out to dinner and we took her to our hotel for a swim at the pool. Kramer also said the stunt crew was present for the entirety of Dushku being in his company that evening, going so far as to say Dushkus memory of their encounters could ruin my career.Photo: GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images

George Clooneys big return to TV will come courtesy of Hulu. After two decades away  making movies or whatever Clooney will return to his TV roots with an adaptation of the Joseph Heller novel Catch-22 that will be directed, executive produced, and co-written by Clooney, who also has plans to star, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The project comes from Paramount Television and Anonymous Content, and had interest from multiple SVOD outlets. Clooney will reportedly be payed around $1 million for the six-episode series. Per THR: [Paramount Television head Amy] Powell sent all six scripts to Clooney and his producing partner, Grant Heslov. They read them overnight. That led to a lunch with Powell, Heslov and Clooney, in which the actor asked if he could play the character Col. Cathcart.

Paramount TV and Clooney reportedly plan to make Catch-22 a global story and shoot on location. Because you probably just skimmed it in high school, Hellers book tells the story of a U.S. Air Force bombardier trying to get home despite military bureaucracy.In the new trailer for his upcoming drama Beirut, Jon Hamms character, Mason Giles, returns to Lebanon in 1982, ten years after the murder of his wife at the behest of the CIA. There, he will have to negotiate with a terrorist organization for the return of a friend, and to do that, hell need to ask questions. A lot of questions, especially for one trailer. Questions like, Maybe one of you can tell me what Im doing here?; What does he want me to do?; What do you want?; and Do you think they want to save Cal, or do they want to save the information? Rosamund Pikes character warns, Thats an ugly question. Meanwhile, we already know what your question is: Beirut is currently scheduled to debut in theaters on April 13.There is a bit of a witch hunt happening, The Commuter star Liam Neeson said while a guest on Irelands The Late Late Show. When prompted by host Ryan Tubridy, he continued, There are some famous people being suddenly accused of touching some girls knee, or something, and then suddenly theyve been dropped from their program. Neeson then offered Garrison Keillors version of his recent his from Minnesota Public Radio as an example of #MeToo run amok.

While the Silence actor was quick to acknowledge that Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spaceys alleged misconduct is clearly beyond the pale, he also feels Dustin Hoffmans alleged sexual harassment was ultimately a silly thing he assumes the actor did out of superstition. Said Neeson, When youre doing a play and youre with your family, other actors, you do silly things. Hoffman has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by five women. The play Neeson is referring to is likely the 1984 Broadway revival Death By a Salesman, during which actress Kathryn Rossetter alleges Hoffman groped her during almost every show and, in one instance, attempted to penetrate her with his fingers backstage while she waited for her cues.

Nonetheless, concludes Neeson, the movement is ultimately healthy and only in its infancy, with women in other industries hopefully benefitting in the future. If you read the stuff Ive read about how female laborers are being treated, in farms and ranches, the actor, who is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, says, its chilling.overnights

Heels Recap: Sometimes Thats the Way Sad Comes Out If Ace is considering taking on the heel lifestyle, he needs to take a good hard look at Wild Bill to see where it leads.Photo: Dana Starbard/Screen Gems

Dimly lit and slackly made, Proud Mary features Taraji P. Henson as a chill mob assassin who puts on lipstick and thigh-high boots to carry out her brutal assignments, but finds her inner nurturing mom after wasting a 13-year-old boys dad and getting an attack of the sads. It turns out that Hensons Mary lost her parents at an early age and was essentially raised by a gang boss named Benny (Danny Glover), who trained her in the arts of badassery. So the last thing she wanted was to make young Danny (Jahi DiAllo Winston) homeless, too. When the fatherless boy goes to work for a Fagin-esque Slav called Uncle (Xander Berkeley) who beats him bloody, Mary is compelled to intervene. Danny belongs to me, says Uncle. Danny belongs to no one, says ownership-averse Mary, driving home the point with a bullet to the brain. Alas, the Slavs interpret the killing as the start of a gang war and strike back at the puzzled but sanguine Benny. All heck breaks loose.

Much better thrillers have been made from much worse materials, but the Iranian-born director Babak Najafi has no evident clue how to compose a simple dialogue, let alone a shoot-out with multiple moving parts. You get soft puffs of blood and flying, interchangeable dummies. Najafis default camera position is waist-high looking up, which does the actors no favors, and he cant find a rhythm in the scenes between Henson and Winston. (You know what youre supposed to feel, but you have to meet the movie more than halfway  four-fifths, maybe.) When Mary installs Danny in her luxe warehouse apartment and says, Go anywhere but my bedroom, does she really think hes not going to slip into her room the instant shes out the door and open her mysteriously unlocked high-tech weaponry cabinet? The people who made this movie should be treated for sleeping sickness.

Youd think a movie called Proud Mary would be sonically sensational, but the busy score is so ineffectual that it might as well be coming from the next multiplex screen over, while the wacka-wacka blaxploitation-era songs (or covers thereof) only make the film itself feel more rhythmless. The car companies that paid for product placements could justly ask for their money back.

Glover has a grave, saturnine presence, though something is off with his voice  its as if hed been dubbed by a Glover replicant. Billy Brown definitely has something as Glovers son and Marys ex-lover: He manages to smolder in a vacuum, no small feat. As for Henson, she holds her pedestal but doesnt do much on top of it. Proud Mary doesnt play up the retro but potentially amusing joke at its center: Mary is angry not because men think shes an implausible warrior, but an implausible mother.

I should say, in fairness, that the matinee audience (Proud Mary wasnt screened in advance for critics) seemed to like the movie well enough. The elderly ladies in back of me particularly enjoyed Marys coup de grace final bullets: Thats right, thats right  one in the head, said one. Thats what she always does, said another. Always the last one like that. The sadistic relish of shitty, grade-C grind-house movies seems finally to have bridged the age and gender gap.Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

At Starzs Television Critics Association panel today, CEO Chris Albrecht announced that Neil Gaiman, American Gods author, would step in as showrunner of the networks TV adaptation following the departures of Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. Neil Gaiman will be moving into a more traditional showrunner function, Albrecht said at the event, according to /Film. Were looking for a partner for him to ensure the television part of this gets the appropriate attention. Gaiman, however, refuted that announcement on Twitter, saying he already has a showrunning commitment and wont be taking on another.

I'm already showrunning GOOD OMENS and I won't be physically showrunning two shows. But I plan to work really closely with the new showrunner, and to help plot and guide and build American Gods, just as I did when Bryan & Michael came on as showrunners.  Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 12, 2018

Regarding Fuller and Green, who were reported to have left the series due to creative differences with the production company Freemantle, Albrecht said the two men would be involved as much as they can be with the show going forward, and that, they were not fired, nor did they quit. Of the friction between the former showrunners and Freemantle, Albrecht added, Theres a very good relationship between Freemantle and Michael and Bryan. Everyone is trying to work this out and have this be a win-win for the people involved and the show itself. A few hours after that quote started making the rounds, Green posted a vague tweet about possible misinformation online.

I don't want to alarm you but I just read something on the internet that was not 100% accurate.  Michael Green (@andmichaelgreen) January 12, 2018

If this has you hoping that Gillian Andersons announced departure from American Gods is also up in the air, sorry. Both Anderson and Albrecht agree that she is not coming back.

Update: A representative for Starz told Vulture that while the network hopes Gaiman will play a larger role in the second season of Gods, Freemantle is searching for a new person to take over the specific role of showrunner to partner with Neil  as he was a partner to Bryan and Michael.Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

In Vultures review of The End of the F***ing World, Jen Chaney described it as deceptively endearing for a story about a 17-year-old self-diagnosed psychopath and the teen girl that hes determined to murder in cold blood. But, as she correctly warned, The title tells us pretty clearly that this show wont have a happy ending. All its earnest moments illuminating first love, repressed childhood trauma, and identity, coupled with the shows typically British sardonic tone, mask the unshakable reality that these two wayward teens are in deep trouble with the law. After Alyssa (Jessica Barden, in a breakout performance) persuades our presumed killer James (Alex Lawther) to skip town with her, the two face immediate danger.

They wind up unknowingly breaking into the house of a serial rapist, Dr. Clive Koch (Jonathan Aris). When Koch arrives home to find Alyssa asleep and seemingly alone in his bed, he attacks her. Its then that James slips out from under the bed, armed with the newly acquired knowledge of Kochs crimes and the hunting knife he planned to use on Alyssa, and stabs him in the neck, leaving Koch to bleed out. Together, the pair cover their tracks as clinically as possible  the process does make James emotionally and physically ill, since hes not actually the callous psychopath he thought he was  and flee the scene. They spend the remaining episodes as fugitives on the lam, with their next move always proving more impulsive and sloppier than the last.

The rest of the series tries to unpack how two teenagers, even those as swept up in their own angst as James and Alyssa, could become murder suspects at the center of a national manhunt. We learn James saw his mother drown herself when he was a kid, planting a seed deep within his impressionable brain that he must also be chemically imbalanced because he didnt save her. Meanwhile, Alyssas father abandoned her when she was a child, leaving her to a creepy stepfather and idle mother, and convinced shes unworthy of love. They are young people who know nothing but adult pain, but their traumatic pasts dont matter to the two police investigators, Eunice Noon (Gemma Whelan) and Teri Donoghue (Wunmi Mosaku), appointed to make an arrest in the Koch murder.

Whelans more sympathetic character tracks them down at Alyssas long-lost deadbeat dads trailer home, where she suggests its in their best interest to surrender and agree to a manslaughter plea deal. (Its Jamess 18th birthday, which means he can now be tried as an adult.) Informed they wouldnt go to the same prison, Alyssa whacks Noon in the head with a rifle and attempts to escape on her dads boat with James before the rest of the police arrive. But its too late: James decides to take the fall, tells Alyssa to testify that she was his hostage the whole time, then knocks her in the head with the rifle.

In the shows final seconds, James runs along the beach and we hear his familiar voice-over  but this time spoken in present tense. The rest of his inner monologue had been narrated in the past tense, as if he already knew the end to this story, while Alyssa always optimistically spoke in the present. Ive just turned 18, he says. And I think I understand what people mean to each other. A gunshot rings out as the screen fades to black.

Was James shot and killed by the police? Theres no definitive end, just as theres no definitive way to bring justice for their crimes that would feel right. The ambiguity of whether what James and Alyssa did to Koch was self-defense, and if that means they should get a lesser sentence or be tried as two kids under unfortunate circumstances, mirrors not knowing whether or not James made it. (For what its worth, Charles Forsmans graphic novel takes a different route to a similar end, though theres a better sense of closure.)

Since we dont know what happens after the screen fades to black, and because Netflix hasnt announced a second season, here are some lingering concerns that may go unanswered:

 Even if James is dead, what happens to Alyssa? She helped cover up a murder, assaulted a police officer, stole a car, held up a gas station, and stabbed her dad in the leg. The kidnapping story probably wont hold up, if she uses it at all, so shes unlikely to get off scot-free.

 Will Kochs violent past get out now that his mother gave the video tape to Eunice?

 Is Eunice okay? Please say shes okay and that her and Teri rekindle whatever spark theyre trying to pretend didnt exist.

 Will Alyssas mom ever divorce her deplorable husband and start being a better parent to her daughter?

 Did Alyssas dad die from removing the knife from his leg, like Eunice told him not to? And if he did survive, will he ever actually pay child support for his other son? If theres going to be any justice in TEOTFW, let it be that.A federal judge has sentenced a Sheffield man to more than 11 years in prison for possessing more than 13,000 images of child pornography.

Christopher Joseph Boerckel, 27, of Sheffield was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty in September to possessing thousands of pornographic images, which included infants and toddlers being raped.

This defendant possessed thousands of horrific images of adults forcing sex acts on children and babies, innocents completely unable to defend themselves, U.S. Attorney Jay Town said. Anyone possessing these images ensures that those children continue to be victimized. Judge Proctors sentence rightfully reflects the severity of this case and our efforts reflect our pledge to fully prosecute these atrocious behaviors.

Law enforcement says they seized computers and hard drives, and they discovered hundreds of images stored using a cloud, which made investigators unsure of which county these crimes occurred.The discovery meant the father was later charged with murder, and not the less-serious manslaughter. He got 24 years in jail. Mr Herd has spent three decades in fingerprints, after a stint as a sworn officer with Victoria Police. He is now based in Canberra, at the Australian Federal Police facility in Majura. Mr Herd is one of the forensic experts prosecutors call to give evidence at criminal trials. He and the team are involved in some 3000 cases a year.

Fingerprints are the unique marks made by a person's fingers, and toes when they touch a surface. As a discipline, fingerprinting is more than 100 years old but remains as useful as ever. Mr Herd's expertise comes from a five year program he applied for years ago, and built on in the decades since. Back then, he says, it wasn't considered "real" policing, because you weren't "out there catching crooks". He says that the forensic discipline is now very popular, and the team has caught their fair share of people committing crimes. Mr Herd says the process of matching a print left at the scene to another, on a database for example, is still manual. There is no machine that does the work for him.

And the expert, who has given evidence hundreds of times, says it's still a nerve-wracking experience to go to court. "Of course, we're sure of our evidence, because we know fingerprints are unique." But sometimes it's the anticipation of not knowing what questions are coming, he says. Mr Herd says the fingerprint science is strong, so bias is a big topic in the field at the moment. That is sometimes what defence barristers will challenge in court. He said the team double-checks each other's work and face annual proficiency tests to maintain their skills.

What Mr Herd can say to a court is whether or not a fingerprint left behind at the scene matches another. What he can't say is when the prints were left there. And "we don't necessarily say that the person who left that fingerprint is the criminal," he said. Figuring out that part is the investigators' job. But Mr Herd says he and the AFP fingerprinting team are not just in the discipline for "catching crooks".As Australia's most senior foreign official, Julie Bishop is a master in diplomacy.

So what does she think of Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff's book about the Trump administration?

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop with her partner, David Panton, at the Alfa Romeo Portsea Polo on Saturday. Credit:Luis Ascui

"I'm halfway through it. It's an interesting holiday read," said the stylish foreign minister, sporting a suntan  no doubt developed during morning runs in her Perth electorate  and her trademark smirk.

Ms Bishop was among 6000 people who braved squally and often wet conditions for the annual Portsea Polo on Saturday.Hong Kong: Chinese police officers have demolished one of the country's largest evangelical churches this week, using heavy machinery and dynamite to raze the building where more than 50,000 Christians worshipped.

The Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi province in mainland China was one of at least two Christian churches demolished by authorities in recent weeks, part of what critics describe as a national effort to regulate spiritual life in China.

People watch the demolition of the Golden Lampstand Church in Linfen. Activists says the church had clashed with the government. Credit:AP

Under President Xi Jinping, the government has destroyed churches or removed their steeples and crosses as part of a campaign that reflects the Communist Party's long-standing fear that Christianity, viewed as a Western philosophy, is a threat to the party's authority.

Global Times, a state newspaper, described the building's destruction as part of a "citywide campaign to remove illegal buildings," and quoted an unidentified official as saying that the church had been "secretly" constructed without proper permits and was initially disguised as a warehouse.Community Invited to 'One Book Read' Photo Contest

By WestKyStar & WKCTC Staff





PADUCAH, KY - West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Paducah School of Art and Design (PSAD) has opened its annual One Book Read Photo Contest and invites the community to participate in WKCTC's 10th anniversary read of The Age of Miracles by New York Times bestselling author Karen Thompson Walker. The contest is free to enter and open to the public.The photo competition and exhibition complement other community-related One Book activities leading up to the author's two-day visit and public programs at WKCTC March 13-14.The college's PSAD and Clemens Fine Arts Center are sponsoring the contest that will feature cash awards for first, second and third place winners. Winners will take home $100, $75 and $50 respectively, and will be announced during Walker's opening reception March 13.Readers are encouraged to create works of art that relate to Walker's book about coming of age against a backdrop of a suddenly altered world. Photographers might simulate a scene from the book; create an image or portrait study that speaks to changing relationships; first love; isolation, inner strength; or any related source of inspiration generated by the book."We welcome photographers of all skill levels to enter the contest, and hope to see both traditional and nontraditional photo entries," said Paul Aho, PSAD director. "We encourage everyone to start developing their ideas for their photos now. In addition to the annual photo contest, this year we will also include ten photos selected from a One Book Read social media contest.Works will be accepted February 27-28 at the Clemens Fine Arts Center Gallery on the WKCTC campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 4 pm. An exhibition of all submitted works will open in the Clemens Gallery March 8. The exhibition will be on display in the gallery through March 23.Entry forms, contest details, loan agreement and One Book information are available at onebookread.com.This year's One Book Read is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kentucky Arts Council.WKCTC's Paducah School of Art and Design offers an Associate in Fine Arts degree, an Associate in Applied Science degree in Visual Communication and Multimedia, as well as certificate programs and studio art classes for students of all levels and disciplines. Classes are offered on WKCTC's campus, 905 Harrison Street and 919 Madison Street in historic Lower Town. For more information about PSAD, call 270-534-3901.Overturned Tanker Closes Hwy. 62, 286 Overnight

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WEST PADUCAH, KY - Kentucky Highway 286 and US 62 reopened to traffic about 7 am Saturday, after having been closed since about 1 pm Friday.Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the Y intersection near the McCracken - Ballard County line was closed due to an overturned tanker that was hauling acid. At one time the truck was leaking acid and one person had to be evacuated for a while.Once the leak was stopped, the road remained closed because officials were concerned a passing vehicle might run off the slick road and hit the tanker, creating a bigger problem.A specialized recovery crew from St. Louis worked overnight to off-load the acid from the truck.US 62 was blocked at Holt Road with traffic being directed to take an alternate route.KYTC notified the public that the road was open about 11:30 am.UPG Customers Get Refunds in Settlement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH, KY - Attorney General Andy Beshear announced Friday that more than 500 Kentucky customers of Paducah-based United Propane Gas Inc. will get an average refund of $291 through a recent $150,000 settlement by his office with the company.The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act by the company and its affiliates. Beshear said the agreement was reached following a lawsuit filed in 2014 after complaints were made to the Office of the Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau of Kentucky.United Propane Gas had difficulty receiving and delivering propane during the 2013-2014 winter. The Attorney General's office got an injunction at that time to allow UPG customers who rent tanks to get them filled by other companies. But UPG didn't honor its pre-pay contracts for awhile, so those customers had to pay soaring market prices.As part of the agreement, United Propane Gas, headquartered in Paducah with offices throughout the state, agreed to strengthen customer protections.Beshears agreement with United Propane Gas also requires that the company remove a clause from its standard contract that allowed it to raise customers prices in certain situations without notice and agreement by the customer.United Propane Gas agreed to change its allocation of existing propane during a supply disruption and not to assess or collect fees that have not been disclosed to consumers.Friday's settlement provides refunds to most of these those customers through account credits, but some will get refund checks.Beshear said UPG customers who have not yet received a refund should expect a letter from his office telling how to claim it within the next 45 days. Those consumers will have to sign a release and return it within 30 days.A Semi Accident on KY 80 between Fancy Farm and Mayfield has forced the closure of the highway. Detours are set up as indicated. PHOTO:Graves County Sheriff's Office

Stuck Semi Removed, Highway 80 Open in Graves Co.

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FANCY FARM, KY - A section of Kentucky Highway 80 between Fancy Farm and Mayfield was closed overnight, but reopened about 12:30 pm Saturday.Graves County Sheriff' Dewayne Redmon posted on his Facebook page Friday night that a semi involved in an accident had the road blocked. As it got dark the decision was made to close the road until morning.The accident was on Highway 80 between Highway 384 and Sullivan Road, about halfway between Fancy Farm and Mayfield.Detour routes were suggested for local drivers to use.GREENWICH  Atlantic Clam Farms of Connecticut is looking to harvest a native species of sea kelp in Long Island Sound.

The company, which cultivates hundreds of acres of Greenwich waters for shellfishing, wants to begin its kelp farm in Payea Reach  southeast of Great Captains Island and southwest of Island Beach  and offer the seaweed for human consumption and other commercial uses after an awaited approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Its kind of a new thing, said McCain Brown, of Atlantic Clam Farms. Seaweed or kelp is being used as a biofuel and is also considered a superfood when its the right quality, and the industry in the United States is new, or budding.

Its just something we are taking an interest in and because we have the land to do it we are going to experiment, he said. And if we can sell it and its a good business, maybe we will grow it a little bit more.

If the kelp farm is approved, set up at the four-acre area would begin on or after Nov. 1 each calendar year, and the crop harvest and lines would be removed by June 1.

According to the application, once seeded in November, growing lines would be tended at least once a week and hauled in and examined monthly. Buoys would be added or changed to accommodate the increasing weight of the seaweed and ensure adequate buoyancy and line tension.

The area at Payea Reach is an Essential Fish Habitat, according to the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

The Army Corps has made a preliminary determination that kelp farming should be safe. It will further consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service about conservation recommendations before making a final permit decision.

University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Charles Yarish, who has developed 27 kelp farms on the East Coast and many others on the West Coast, said the farms benefit marine life.

From the work we have seen from the Long Island Sound all the way up to the Canadian border, we have seen fish accumulation, Yarish said. The fish are coming up as kelp is growing in the area. ... And the private sector is doing this to improve fish habitat quality.

There are other aspects of the kelp farms (that are very important as well), he said, and it has to do with the ecosystem services  of removing excess nitrogen, pulling out carbon (from) the water.

We know that its good to be diverse, said Brown, of Atlantic Clam Farms. And aquaculture is the practice of sustainability, so wed like to try something thats pretty sustainable, like growing kelp.

Its good for the water column. Its good for sea life ... This is something that is drawing the pollutants out of the water, and it provides habitat for a lot of sea life in the time its out there  it provides a little shelter.

Greenwich town officials said the project has received their approval.

Its a very positive thing because kelp, or seaweed in general farming helps remove nitrogen from the water, said Shellfish Chairman Roger Bowgen. And also, this particular farm will be on shellfish beds, and you can market it. Theres a huge market for kelp and seaweed.

The Harbor Management Commission has also approved of the idea.

The window for public comment about the proposal is open through Friday. Comments can be submitted in writing to US Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, Mass. 01742-2751.

We will have a better idea if there are any issues or concerns from the public or agencies after, said Army Corps media contact Tim Dugan.According to Paden City Fire Chief Jim Richmond, a Jan. 11 fire resulted in a total loss of a North Fifth Avenue, Paden City home. The home is located approximately one block west of Paden Citys Go Mart.

Chief Richmond said the fire department received the call on the fire at around 8:30 p.m. and responded immediately. New Martinsville Volunteer Fire Department was called to assist at the scene.

Richmond said the fire was under control within two hours, but the house was a total loss.

Richmond said the cause of the fire is unknown due to the fact the house had suffered so much damage prior to firefighters arriving on scene. He said the fire burned quickly.

When asked if the fire was under investigation, Richmond said it was undetermined. He said there were no injuries from the fire.

The chief also said the home was owned by Susan Henthorn, who is now residing with family.Embed from Getty Images

Pavel Pogrebnyak is reportedly close to being fired by Dynamo Moscow after getting himself embroiled in a hilariously idiotic social media cock-up.

The ex-Fulham and Reading striker dipped out of Dynamos recent game against Aznhi through illness having failed to make the matchday squad for the Russian clubs previous four matches.

However, Pogrebnyak was soon rumbled when he then posted a photo of himself attending the Juventus-Inter Milan game in Turin on his Instagram account the very same day.

According to the TASS news agency, Pogrebnyak may soon find himself out of a job as Dynamo are fairly sure the 34-year-old has violated the terms of his contract.

TASS add that the forward may be fined, but there is also an outside chance that he may have his contract terminated too.

Given that hes only made one appearance so far this season (24 minutes against FK Tosno in October), its unlikely that anybody would notice.Former state Rep. Mandela Barnes has launched a campaign for lieutenant governor, joining three others  Kurt Kober, Rob Slamka and William Henry Davis III  who are seeking the Democratic nomination for the position.

Barnes, a 31-year-old African-American from Milwaukee, said Democrats need to do a better job connecting with young voters and people of color. He said his message of championing education access, economic possibilities and environmental protection is one that resonates with them and others who have felt left behind under Scott Walker and the states Republican majority.

Barnes said his message of advocating for economic equality will resonate with voters who haven't seen their wages increase and don't have access to affordable healthcare.

Barnes said he wouldnt endorse anyone in the crowded Democratic field for governor, which has about 17 declared candidates, nine of whom are considered top-tier candidates. Whoever emerges from the lieutenant governor primary will be paired with the gubernatorial primary winner.

Barnes said that as a member of the Assembly from 2013 to 2017 and as second vice chair of the state Democratic Party, he is the most qualified candidate. He currently works for State Innovation Exchange, doing research and policy work for state lawmakers.

Barnes ran for state Senate in 2016, losing in the primary to incumbent Sen. Lena Taylor.President Donald Trump's reported derogatory remarks about Haiti and slur against immigrants from "shithole" countries in Africa sent shockwaves around the world, simultaneously becoming a diplomatic issue that could damage America's global image and complicating an immigration reform effort at home.

Shock and outrage greeted Trump's remarks in a meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform on Thursday. Several countries called in US ambassadors for an explanation and to remonstrate with them over the President's language.

Many who criticized Trump said his remarks would damage US' global reputation The African Union demanded 'a retraction of the comment as well as an apology'

Lawmakers expressed disappointment and disgust, with one declaring the comments counter to the very "essence of American patriotism." Even as Trump's comments provided fodder for late night comics, they raised questions about whether he has now made it harder for lawmakers to find a compromise to achieve immigration reform.

Critics in the US and abroad noted that Trump's sentiment cut against the idea of the United States as a nation of immigrants and the foundational view that the content of person's character is more important than their origin or the color of their skin.

Many of those who criticized Trump said his remarks would damage America's global reputation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has maintained a close relationship with Trump while at times being critical, was at the meeting Thursday.

"Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday," Graham said. "The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I've always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals."

"E Pluribus Unum"

"The American ideal is embraced by people all over the globe," Graham continued. "It was best said a long time ago, E Pluribus Unum -- Out of Many, One. Diversity has always been our strength, not our weakness. In reforming immigration we cannot lose these American Ideals."

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said in a statement that "respect for the God-given dignity of every human being, no matter their race, ethnicity or other circumstances of their birth, is the essence of American patriotism."

"To believe otherwise is to oppose the very idea of America," he said. "People have come to this country from everywhere, and people from everywhere have made America great. Our immigration policy should reflect that truth, and our elected officials, including our President, should respect it."

A source briefed on the Oval Office meeting Thursday confirmed that during the meeting on immigration legislation, Trump asked, "Why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here?"

Although the President denied he had used such language on Friday, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting with Graham and others, said Trump did do so, and called his language "vile." Two immigration hard-liners, Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue, said they "do not recall the President saying these comments specifically."

Trump on Friday also denied demanding that Haitians be removed from negotiations about protected status for people from certain countries.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighed in, noting that Trump dismissed Haitians on the eve of the eighth anniversary of a deeply destructive earthquake.

"The anniversary of the devastating earthquake 8 years ago is a day to remember the tragedy, honor the resilient people of Haiti, & affirm America's commitment to helping our neighbors," Clinton wrote on Twitter. "Instead, we're subjected to Trump's ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn't look like him."

A source familiar with Thursday's meeting said the President did not refer to Haiti as a "shithole" country, though he did say it about countries in Africa.

The source said two different remarks by the president had been conflated.

First, when talking about "temporary protected status" countries as part of the immigration deal, it was mentioned that Salvadorans, Hondurans and Haitians have that status.

"Haitians?" the President said, according to the source. "Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out." Meaning take them out of the deal.

Then, in a separate part of the conversation when they were referencing the diversity visa lottery, Trump referred to people from Africa as coming from "shithole countries."

Parsing the President's comments does little to mitigate their damage, critics said. Former senior US diplomat Nicholas Burns tweeted that the "damage overseas from Trump's ignorant and racist remarks can't be exaggerated. No President in the last 100 years has reduced America's moral authority as he has."

The African Union, a group representing the continent's 55 countries, issued a blistering statement saying the President had dishonored US values.

"The African Union Mission wishes to express its infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate comment made by Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, which remarks dishonor the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity," the AU mission in Washington said in a statement.

The group demanded "a retraction of the comment as well as an apology, not only to the Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe." Saying they believe the administration has a "huge misunderstanding of the African continent," the union said "there is a serious need for dialogue" between the Trump administration and African countries.

Africans of all stripes took to social media. Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi tweeted, "Africa isn't a shithole. It's the most beautiful continent in the world. Beautiful, hardworking people. We have diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, cocoa, coffee, tea etc."

"Sadly we have #shithole leaders like Trump shitting on us every day."

South Africa's best known morning-news anchor, Leanne Manas, tweeted, "Good morning from the greatest most beautiful 'shithole country' in the world!!!' Elsewhere on Twitter, many Africans posted landscape pictures testifying to the true identity of their nations.

Senegal's President, Macky Sall, said in a tweet that he was "shocked by the words of President Trump on Haiti and Africa."

"I reject them and condemn vigorously. Africa and the black race deserve the respect and consideration of all," Sall added.

Botswana's Ministry of International Affairs summoned the US ambassador to complain about Trump's disparaging comments.

"The Bostwana Government has also enquired from the US Government through the Ambassador, to clarify if Botswana is regarded as a 'shithole' country," the statement said.

Comics riffed off the statement, with "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah, a South African native, saying, "I don't know how to break this to you, but I think the President might be racist."

But some comics stopped joking. "It really is unfathomable," said Jimmy Kimmel. "You just can't believe this is the guy running our country."

Trump's comments hit hard in Haiti, which on Friday marked the anniversary of a 2010 earthquake that killed between 220,000 and 300,000 people.

In an interview with NPR, Haiti's ambassador to the US, Paul Altidor, said he was "surprised and disappointed" in Trump's remarks.

'Misguided, misplaced'

"If they are to be true, we hope there will possibly be an apology for what was said here because we thought they were misplaced, they were misguided," Altidor said.

"These type of statements do not help in enforcing the relationship between Haiti and the US."

The ambassador said the Haitian government had summoned the US charg- d'affaires to clarify the remarks.

The furor lent new significance to already planned remarks Friday by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to staff at the State Department in which he stressed that "values matter."

"Our values as a nation bond us together and define who we are," he said, and "form the foundations of trust" in the workplace.

"America's birth was far from perfect," said Tillerson, recalling the country's troubled past from its founding, through the civil war, the suffrage movement and the civil rights movement, "and we're still not perfect, but we've never lost sight of aspirational values."

A Senior State Department official said US ambassadors had been issued guidance on how to deal with the remarks if called in by foreign ministries to explain them.

The diplomats were encouraged to assure host governments that the "US has great respect for the people of Africa and all nations, and our commitment remains strong."

The official said each envoy should note what an honor it is to be in their post and how much they value the relationship with the people of their host country.WASHINGTON (AP)  Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the programs half-century history.

Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in peoples lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome, she said.

But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.

All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks, said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.

Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nations largest health insurance program.

Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that dont provide health insurance.

People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.

Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.

States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.

The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentuckys waiver to be approved shortly.

In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the programs impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the programs original intent, he added, as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someones lifestyle, if theyre capable of working.

But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. Health care is a right that shouldnt be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians, said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.

The debate about work requirements doesnt break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.

A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.

Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that dont offer health insurance.

Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.

Thursdays administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:

Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.

Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.

Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as community engagement for purposes of meeting a requirement.

The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.

The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement theres no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.

This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches, said the group.

Trumps new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they dont amount to a permanent change in the program. Theyre considered demonstration programs to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.

We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program, said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundations leading expert on the program. It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people.

___

Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.JASPER COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  A Demotte man was arrested on Wednesday after child porn and narcotics were found in his home.

Police say on Jan. 9, an estate executor working at a Jasper County home discovered what was believed to be child pornography at the home of 33-year-old Raymond W. Upthegrove.

A search of the home conducted the next day by the Jasper County Sheriffs Office Tactical Team turned up digital evidence as well as narcotics.

Upthegrove was taken in on preliminary charges of dealing in methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. Sheriffs detectives will continue the investigation to include possible charges of possessing child pornography.

The warrant was served with assistance from the Indiana State Police Cybercrime Unit and the Rensselaer Police Department.INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI)  Governor Eric J. Holcomb is directing flags in Allen County to be flown at half-staff to honor Indiana National Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Mark Boner.

Flags should be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of his funeral, Monday, Jan. 15.

Gov. Holcomb also asks businesses and residents in Allen County to lower their flags to half-staff on Monday to honor Boner and his service to the community.TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Local law enforcement agencies continue to crack down on impaired drivers.

The numbers for the Tippecanoe County Traffic Safety Partnership were released this week.

The partnership includes Lafayette, West Lafayette, and Purdue police departments, as well as the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office.

From October to December, officers made 16 arrests for various offenses, including DUIs. They issued 143 tickets and warnings.

Police said more federally funded overtime patrols will be out in 2018.



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The US House of Representatives voted 256 to 164 Thursday to reauthorize the National Security Agencys global warrantless surveillance operations for another six years without any significant limitations.

Sixty-five Democratic representatives joined 191 Republicans to ensure the continuation of Section 702 of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), which allows for the warrantless collection of electronic communications of individuals outside the US and their contacts, including American citizens within the US. The NSA uses Section 702 to scoop up millions of emails, text messages and video chats with the connivance of Google, Facebook, Yahoo, AT&T and other Internet giants.

While foreigners are ostensibly the targets, the program collects massive amounts of data on American citizens. The law gives the FBI warrantless access to search through this treasure trove of data, which the NSA collects in criminal and so-called national security investigations.

The vast program of unconstitutional domestic, as well as international, NSA spying was first exposed in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Among those Democrats ensuring that the Trump administration maintained the full scope of surveillance powers were House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic National Committee Chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and House Intelligence co-chair and the bills co-sponsor, Adam Schiff.

Prior to the final vote, 55 Democrats helped torpedo an amendment, put forward by Michigan Republican Representative Justin Amash, which would have placed limited curbs on the way data collected by the US government can be used, requiring the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a warrant before collecting information on American citizens from the NSA database.

Pelosi spoke from the House floor to denounce the amendment and encourage her colleagues to vote against it, earning praise from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. I want to thank [Pelosi] for coming up and speaking against the Amash amendment and in favor of the underlying bipartisan [bill], Ryan stated. Pelosi also played a crucial role in 2013, in the immediate aftermath of the Snowden revelations, in quashing an earlier attempt by Amash to limit the NSAs surveillance powers.

After Thursdays reauthorization vote, Schiff, who is the most vocal Democratic lawmaker in the right-wing campaign against alleged Russian meddling, told reporters that any efforts to place limits on Section 702 surveillance would be a crippling requirement in national security and terrorism cases.

The bipartisan effort to maintain Section 702 makes clear the fundamental agreement between the Democrats and Republicans on the authority of the government to spy on the communications of everyone in the world, including American citizens, without any limit. This is in direct contravention of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires a warrant, based on probable cause, for any government intrusion into the persons, houses, papers and effects of the people.

Thursdays vote closes the door on the possibility of any restrictions on the governments illegal surveillance operations. The Democratic Partys support ensures that the illegal surveillance program that began under George W. Bush and was expanded by Obama will pass unscathed into the hands of Donald Trump.

Reporting the vote, the Democratic Party-aligned New York Times wrote approvingly: Effectively, the vote was almost certainly the end of a debate over 21st-century surveillance and privacy rights that broke out in 2013 after the leaks by the former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass easily before the January 19 expiration date with the aid of prominent Democrats, including Virginia Senator Mark Warner, co-chair of the Intelligence Committee and a leading proponent of Internet censorship and the anti-Russia campaign.

Congress has made clear that it is lawful to search using US person identifiers for information that could help stop terror attacks and catch spies without a warrant, Matthew Olsen, a former general counsel for the NSA and former director of the National Counterterrorism Center told the New York Times in praise of the House vote. That is the way the intelligence community has been operating under 702, and that is the way it will continue to operate if this bill becomes law.

There was some confusion prior to the House vote, when Trump asserted in a tweet that the FISA Act may have been used to spy on his 2016 election campaign. This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump campaign by the previous administration and others? the president tweeted early Thursday morning.

Gen. Michael Flynn, who backed Trump during the campaign and briefly served as his national security advisor, had his communications with the Russian ambassador picked up in the course of an NSA spying operation. Trump previously declared that the Obama administration used its surveillance powers to wiretap Trump Tower in New York City during the election campaign.

After a scramble by aides to clarify his tweet, Trump issued an endorsement of the reauthorization of Section 702, declaring [T]odays vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!

Retired General John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, was quickly dispatched to Capitol Hill to personally lobby concerned lawmakers prior to the vote and whip into line any who may have been swayed by Trumps initial tweet.Thousands of Greek workers demonstrated and carried out strikes on Friday against further austerity measures being imposed by the Syriza government, along with severe restrictions on the right to take industrial action.

Between 10,000 and 20,000 workers protested in Athens at the culmination of a week of strikes and protests. Those on strike for 24 hours included Athens Metro workers, doctors and sailors.

The action shut down the entire Metro rail system, which brought gridlock to the streets of the capital. Ships were unable to sail, while state-run hospitals were forced to rely on reserve staff due to the walkout by doctors.

Among those striking were workers from the GSEE (General Confederation of Greek Workers) private-sector unions as well as from PAME (All Workers Militant Front), the union federation affiliated with the Stalinist Communist Party of Greece. Banners and placards carried by workers read: Hands off strikes, Uprising! and No to modern slavery!

Speaking to Reuters, retired ship officer George Papaspyropoulos said, This essentially abolishes the right to strike... Such things happened only during the junta. This government is leftist in name only. In deeds its a junta.

Nikos Papageorgiou, a 50-year-old hotel worker, told the news agency, Blood was shed by generations that came before us to have the right to strike. Now a so-called left-wing government is trying to abolish it.

Once again, riot police were mobilised by the Syriza government against workers. As the protesters made their way up the steps to the parliament building in the capitals Syntagma Square, they were tear-gassed by heavily armed officers.

This week has seen protests by workers who forced their way into ministry buildings, including the Employment Ministry, where they confronted minister Efi Achtsioglou. Protests were also held outside the heavily guarded official residence of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The anti-democratic measures are the latest to be drawn up by the European Union and the Syriza government to force the Greek population, already bled white by nearly a decade of savage austerity, to endure even greater sacrifices to pay off the countrys debt to the banks, which remains at around 300 billion.

The current 86 billion loan, which expires in August, is in return for an austerity programme Syriza is pledged to implement. Greece has received only 40.2 billion of this money. It will get a further tranche of about 4.5 billion only if the government imposes more cuts and privatisations.

Under a multi-purpose bill set to be passed Monday night by Syriza and its coalition partner, the far-right Independent Greeks, family benefits will be further slashed, a new process to speed up foreclosures on overdue loans will be implemented, and draconian measures to restrict strikes will be enacted.

The anti-strike law will overturn a law first enacted in 1982, in the aftermath of the fall of the fascist junta in 1974. It amends the earlier law to set a higher worker participation requirement for strike votes, to be decided at primary union assemblies. The threshold for a strike vote to be legal will be raised from one third to at least 50 percent of all paying union members, not simply those who take part in the vote.

Further strikes are scheduled for Monday by ADEDY (Supreme Administration of Greek Civil Servants Trade Unions) public-sector workers, timed to coincide with the parliamentary vote to be held late in the evening. Among those striking will be public transport and public hospital workers and air traffic controllers. The latter will hold a three-hour work stoppage between 12pm and 3pm that will affect 48 domestic and international routes on Aegean Air and Olympic Air.

Responding to Fridays protest, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos attempted to play down the significance of the latest measures, stating that they would not affect the operations of the highest levels of the bureaucracies of the main trade union federations, the GSEE and ADEDY. "This does not affect (umbrella) unions and it does not change the process followed to called strikes," he said.

Greek governments of all political stripes, from the social democratic PASOK, to the conservative New Democracy and now Syriza, have relied on the union federations to ensure the imposition of austerity over the last decade. They have called some 50 general strikes, for the most part one-day affairs, at regular intervals for the purpose of allowing workers to let off steam while they held talks with the government on implementing the cuts.

For every cent Greece receives in loans from the EU, it must impose even greater attacks on working class living standards. On Friday, Kathemerini reported, The Euro Working Group of euro zone finance ministry officials told Greek representative Giorgos Houliarakis on Thursday that the government has less than a week to finish off the prior actions required for the review to be completed in time for the January 22 Eurogroup meeting.

The Euro Working Group members had received the 600 translated pages of the multi-bill currently being debated in the Greek Parliament, but had not had time to assess the contents and determine whether its proposals went far enough.KPMG, one of the worlds biggest business restructuring and advisory firms, was forced to step down this week as project management adviser to the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry.

That it was ever considered for the role says everything that needs saying about the political fraud being perpetrated by the Conservative government.

KPMG withdrew from an inquiry supposedly aimed at uncovering the truth about a fire in which at least 71 people died only after core participants complained of conflicts of interest that should have prevented it from ever being offered a 200,000 cheque for its services.

The main organisations to be questioned about their role in creating the conditions that led to the Grenfell inferno are the Conservative-run Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council (RBKC), Rydon, who refurbished the Tower in 2015encasing it in flammable claddingand Celotex, which manufactured the insulation material used as part of the cladding.

Yet KPMG was appointed despite having raked in more than 5 million from previously auditing all three entities! It was paid just under 1 million in audit fees from RBKC over the past six years, 3.4 million by Rydon since 2007 and 1 million by Saint Gobain Construction Products UKwhich owns Celotexsince 2011.

Over the past decade, Saint-Gobainthe French parent company of Saint Gobain Construction Products UKpaid KPMG a staggering 109.2 million in audit and other advisory fees.

A letter of protest to Prime Minister Theresa May was signed by 70 campaigners, academics and opposition MPs who described KPMGs appointment as insensitive, inappropriate and sickening. But no explanation or apology was forthcoming from either May or the inquirys presiding judge, Sir Martin Moore-Bickwhose decades on the bench would require at least a passing acquaintance with what constitutes a conflict of interest.

Instead, an initial statement by the inquiry defended KPMGs role as having the aim of facilitating limited planning and programme management support during its start-up phase in order to help the inquiry make rapid progress in its work.

KPMG was appointed to the inquiry last August when its terms were first being established. But this only became public knowledge when Londons Evening Standard disclosed it last week, citing work conducted by the research group Tussell. The Cabinet Office refused to say who had signed off on the appointment. However, an unnamed spokesperson admitted that this had been carried out without any consultation, telling the press, Given the urgent need to obtain specialist support, a single tender procurement exercise was run, which is in-line with government procurement rules.

Even after stepping down, KPMG stressed that while recognising the strength of opinion about our role  undermining confidence in the inquiry, it remained confident that no conflicts exist between our role advising the inquiry and our work for other clients 

Such claims were punctured by a former KPMG partner, Paul Moore, whose statements are a devastating indictment of the government and of Moore-Bick. He described KPMGs appointment as outrageous: Its perfectly bloody obvious that KPMG shouldnt have accepted that engagement. What theyve done is a complete disgrace.

The scandal over KPMG serves once again to dispel any illusions that the official Grenfell inquiry has anything to do with establishing the truth, ensuring that justice is served or holding the guilty to account. Its terms rule out a priori any evaluation of issues of a social, economic and political nature. Moreover, whereas Moore-Bick has no powers to prosecute anyone, he has absolute control even over what questions can be raised by legal representatives of survivors and other interested parties.

Such was the level of public scepticism over the inquiry that earlier in December, the UKs watchdog on human rights, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), announced that it would launch its own investigation into why more than 70 people perished in homes managed by the State. The EHRCs application to be a core participant in Moore-Bicks inquiry was rejected.

Opposing the attempt by the government to be in sole charge of its proceedings and appointing its leading personnel, a petition by survivors and their families demanded Moore-Bick accept a representative panel and not be allowed to vet questions. The petition, which gathered over 26,000 signatures, requested that May use powers granted her under the Inquiries Act 2005 to appoint additional panel members with decision-making power to avoid a collapse of confidence in the Inquirys ability to discover the truth.

On December 22, just days before Christmas and with many Grenfell victims still living in hotel and other temporary accommodation, May rejected the petition, insisting to Moore-Bick that the Inquiry, as presently constructed, has the necessary expertise to undertake its work.

Everything is being done to ensure that the guilty in political and corporate circles evade justice.

The Inquiry is not set to hand over even its interim findings, on how the fire started and spread, until the autumn. Almost seven months after the fire, it is still holding procedural meetings, with not a single person or representative of the organisations who bear major responsibility for the fire and its rapid spread summoned to the witness stand. The inquiry announced this week that the next procedural hearing, due to take place on January 30/31, would now be held at the end of February.

The Metropolitan Police inquiry into the Grenfell fire is part of the same state-orchestrated cover-up. No one has been questioned, let alone charged, in relation to the fire. And there is no likelihood of this happening in the foreseeable future, with Met Commissioner Cressida Dick telling the London Assembly in December that the forensic stage of the criminal investigation is unlikely to be completed until 2019 and that the full investigation could take years to complete.

The protest registered over KPMGs role by Labour MPs such as Emma Dent Coad (Kensington) and David Lammy (Tottenham) has not led the party to withdraw its backing for Mays bogus inquiry or to make any criticism whatsoever of the Mets investigation.A team of WSWS supporters was threatened physically by Stalinist union leaders while they were speaking to striking Tamil Nadu bus workers in Chennai on Thursday about the political issues raised by their strike. They had distributed hundreds of copies of two WSWS articles in Tamil about the bus strike.

Workers were keen to read the WSWS coverage and many commented enthusiastically that these are good articles. When asked who wrote the articles, the campaigners explained that the WSWS was published by the International Committee of Fourth International (ICFI). The workers wanted to know more about this good political party.

As the discussion was developing, CITU union leaders rushed onto the scene, and, flashing the WSWS printout, shouted: What is this? What is this? CITU is the Centre of Indian Trade Unions that is affiliated to the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM.

The CITU bureaucrats were specifically angered by the following passage: However, the transport unions have refused to call other workers out in support of the strikers, even after the governments threats. Instead, the CPM-led unions are staging limited protests. The CPM, the Communist Party of India, and their unions are thoroughly integrated into the Indian political establishment. Far from defending the interests of workers, these Stalinist parties and their unions are seeking to contain and suppress any independent action, as they prepare to betray the strike.

The officials were screaming How could you say that they to prepare betray the strike? A WSWS supporter, Moses Rajkumar, challenged them, saying Is there anything wrong in this article? Unable to answer the question, one union bureaucrat tried to physically attack Rajkimar. Blocking the blow, he appealed to the workers, declaring if there is anything wrong in the article you can attack me.

The workers quickly came to the defence of the WSWS team, telling the thuggish union bureaucrats to stop. If you have disagreements with any issues in the article, they said, you should write it down in your own newspapers.

This physical attack on WSWS supporters clearly demonstrates the fear of the trade union bureaucracy of any independent working class movement developing against the capitalist system. As they were preparing to sell out the bus strike, the unions were terrified of any exposure of their treacherous role.

The willingness of Tamil Nadu bus workers to defend the WSWS supporters is a reflection of growing sympathy for the socialist and internationalist perspective of the WSWS and deep hostility towards the union bureaucracy. During the strike, many workers expressed their anger not only towards the state government, but also the trade unions that do not defend their rights, but the company bosses and the capitalist system.

Several workers spoke to the WSWS.

Srinivasan, a technical worker, said: I have been working for 18 years. Most of the unions betrayed our previous struggles. But this time if the unions also betray, most of the workers will split with the unions.

Most workers believe the communist unions will fight, but every time the CITU trade union betrays. Workers realise that parties like the CPM and CPI [Communist Party of India] and their unions are not for workers. I hate the trade unions. In particular, we transport workers have had bitter experiences. None of our demands has been fulfilled by the government for several years.

I agree with your world party program. I disagree with the CPM and CPI program. I have confidence in Marxist ideology. I have been reading Marxs own literature. I do not believe in the Indian communist parties, including the Maoists. Only now have I heard that Trotsky was the co-leader of the October Revolution with Lenin. I like your web site and I want to know more about Trotsky.

Another worker said: All of the trade unions, including the communist unions, are not for the workers. The transport strike will definitely be betrayed by the unions. I was previously a member of the communist party, but this party every time forges alliances with [Tamil Nadu] regional parties and centrally with Congress.

There are issues like poverty and social inequality in India but they do not pay attention to them. I agree with your comments. I became disturbed with the CPM because 14 peasants were killed [by police and thugs unleashed by the CPM-led state government] in Nandigram [in West Bengal]. Since then I split with the CPM. The CPM will never fight for revolution in India.

I have heard about Trotsky. The only solution is to unite workers internationally. I agree with your international party and your goal of world socialist revolution. This goal is a very difficult one but I wish all success to the Trotskyist movement. I will read your web site.The already battered international standing of the US government has been dealt a further blow by the revelation that President Trump labeled some of the most oppressed and impoverished nations as shithole countries. Disgust and anger over the openly racist comments the US president made at a meeting with congressional leaders on Thursday have only been intensified by Trumps belated and obviously dishonest attempts to deny that he said what has been reported by multiple sources, including some who were at the meeting.

The remarks were made at a White House conference with Democratic and Republican lawmakers on immigration policy. In response to a discussion on temporary protected status, which allows people from countries ravaged by natural disasters or war, such as Haiti and El Salvador, to live and work in the US, Trump said: What do we want Haitians here for? Why do we want all these people from Africa here? Why do we want all these people from shithole countries? We should have more people from places like Norway.

Trumps rant was leaked to the Washington Post and made public. International denunciations soon followed.

The United Nations human rights spokesperson, Rupert Colville, told a press conference: There is no other word one can use but racist. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes, whose entire populations are not white, are therefore not welcome.

The government of Haiti, from which hundreds of thousands of people have migrated to the US to escape intractable poverty and political repression, issued a statement declaring that it condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks. The countrys ambassador to the US has demanded a public apology.

Other political leaders also felt obliged to issue statements. The president of El Salvador tweeted that Trump had struck at the dignity of Salvadorians. Last Monday, the Trump administration stripped over 250,000 people from El Salvador who have been living for decades in the US of their protected status, giving them 18 months to pack up and leave or be deported.

Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, tweeted to Trump: Your mouth is the foulest shithole in the world. During the 2016 election, Trump slandered millions of Mexican immigrants to the US, asserting: Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists.

The African National Congress government in South Africa labeled the remark as extremely offensive. The countrys media was full of denunciations and ridicule of Trump. One news outlet, the Daily Maverick, wrote that an event at the White House is soon to include [Ku Klux Klan] hoods and tiki torches at this rate.

The government of Botswana called the remarks reprehensible and racist and reportedly summoned the US ambassador to ascertain if the country was considered a shithole by Washington. Across Africa, Trump was condemned and the imperialist powers, including the United States, declared to be responsible for the continents legacy of poverty and backwardness.

Not surprisingly, there have been no strong statements of condemnation by European governments or by Japan or Australia. The policies of all the imperialist powers are discriminatory against people from the poorest regions of the world.

The European Union is seeking to seal its borders to block refugees from Africa and the Middle East, leading to thousands of people losing their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Immigration to Japan is effectively impossible from most countries. Australia maintains a black list of dozens of states whose citizens are routinely denied even tourist visas. While they may not be officially labeled as shithole countries, that is how their populations are treated.

In much of the world, however, officials of the Trump administration have been left to desperately try and contain the diplomatic fallout. The State Department and embassies have issued reassurances that the United States values its relations with African and Central and South American countries.

The damage nevertheless extends internationally, as indicated by the announcement by the White House yesterday that Trump is canceling a February visit to the United Kingdom. There is no doubt he would have been met by even larger demonstrations than were expected due to the popular revulsion in Britain over his comments. In fact, wherever in the world Trump travels, the American ruling class faces the prospect of its head of state being greeted by mass opposition to his presence.

After less than one year in office, Trump is arguably more reviled than weapons of mass destruction fabricator and war criminal George W. Bush. The American president is viewed by billions of people as an unstable warmonger, racist and liar. In the American working class, one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse on the planet, growing opposition to Trumps racist immigration policies and fascistic outlook is intersecting with mounting anger over falling living standards, failing infrastructure and police-state repression.

The reaction of the American political and media establishment to Trumps remarks has had an air of despair. There is a degree of recognition in the capitalist class and its representatives that, with the Trump administration, the protracted loss of US authority and credibility, on both the world arena and at home, has reached a breaking point.

Summing up the sentiment in the corridors of power, Idaho Republican Mike Simpson told the Associated Press: This a big deal. Americas influence and power in the world has really been about our ability to persuade because of our leadership, and hes just destroying that.

At the same time, the condemnations of Trump are laced with hypocrisy, especially on the part of the Democratic Party and its supporters. In the final analysis, Trump simply gave crude expression to how the Obama administration viewed and treated migrants from the nations that have been labeled as shithole countries.

Under Obama, at least 2.5 million people were deportedat least 1,000 per dayparticularly from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. If Hillary Clinton had been elected in 2016, the brutal persecution of so-called illegal immigrants would have continued unabated.

The aim of the recriminations against Trump in the American establishment is to try and present the current president as a mere aberration, a blemish on an otherwise healthy and democratic body politic. Every effort is being made to promote the conception that if a new figure was installed in the White House, things would return to normal.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Trump is the product of a decades-long process, characterised by a steep decline in the global economic position of American capitalism and the immense growth of class antagonisms and social inequality within the US.

The Cold War lies and propaganda that US imperialism stood for liberty, democracy and human rights have been thoroughly exposed over the past 25 years. Washington engages in intrigues or outright invasions of countries and inflicts death and destruction so American banks and corporations can plunder resources and dominate markets. Within the US, the living standards of the working class have been devastated to protect and increase the wealth of a tiny proportion of the populationthe capitalist class and its upper-middle class periphery.

It is within the degenerated political environment produced by these processes that Trump was ablethrough demagogic appeals to the immense alienation of sections of the population, and the political vacuum left by the right-wing, anti-working class policies of the Democratsto win the presidency. His administration has proceeded to pursue the interests of the capitalist oligarchy through massive corporate tax cuts at home and stepped-up militarist intrigues internationally.

Trump is the noxious expression of the decline and decay of American capitalism and its ruling class. The presence at the pinnacle of state power of an outright racist, who gives open and crude expression to the reactionary content of US foreign and domestic policy, undermines the ability of American imperialism to cloak its aggression and plunder around the world in the mantle of democracy and human rights.

Anti-immigrant xenophobia, racism and nationalism are the inevitable corollary to militarism and deepening attacks on the working class. In every country, it is how the capitalist class is seeking to divide and disorientate the masses and defend its ownership and control over societys wealth and productive capacity.

The response of the working class to racism and chauvinism must therefore be developed in complete opposition to the capitalist system and all its political parties and defenders. In the United States and around the world, it must be answered with the fight for the international unity of the working class in the common struggle for world socialism.US President Donald Trump has publicly vowed to relaunch all-out economic warfare against Iran by no later than mid-May unless the European powers join Washington in unilaterally rewriting the civil nuclear agreement between Tehran and the worlds great powers.

Trumps incendiary pledge was the centerpiece of a bellicose anti-Iran statement issued Friday.

In it, the US president announced he was waiving, for a further four months, sanctions targeting Irans oil exports and freezing the country out of the world banking system. Washington suspended these measures as part of the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, Trump insisted he will issue no further waivers unless the agreement is rewritten in accordance with his demands. He coupled this with an ultimatum to Americas ostensible European alliesGermany, France, and Britain.

Today, said Trump, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal. This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.

He went on to warn the Europeans that if they did not quickly fall into line he could blow up the JCPOA even before the next waiver deadline of May 12. Trump declared, If at any time I judge that a US-European agreement to "fix the Iran nuclear deal is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately.

US repudiation of the JCPOA would set Washington on a fast-track for war with Irana country the Trump administrations recent National Security Strategy placed on par with North Korea as a threat to US national interests that needs to be countered and vanquished.

Tehran has repeatedly said it will not be the first to break the terms of the deal it reached in 2015 with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany to dismantle much of its civil nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of punishing US and European Union economic sanctions. But it has warned that if the US abrogates the agreement and resumes its drive to destroy Iran economically, it will assert its full sovereign rights as it sees fit.

As it is, other more limited US sanctions and Washingtons repeated threats to scuttle the nuclear deal and roll back Iranian influence in the Middle East continue to roil the Iranian economy, with European businesses, in particular, wary of committing to substantial investments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called Trumps statement a desperate attempt to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

European leaders avoided any immediate substantive comment, with Germany merely saying that it supports full implementation of the JCPOA and will consult Europes other major powers on a common way forward.

On Thursday, the German, French and British foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini all reiterated their support for the Iran deal at the conclusion of a meeting with Zarif.

In opposition to the Trump administration, the Europeans have insisted that differences with Tehran over non-nuclear issues, such as Irans role in Syria and its ballistic missile program, should not be tied to the JCPOA. They have further warned that Washingtons repudiation of the Iran deal would not only dangerously destabilize the Middle East, it would also send an incontrovertible signal to North Korea that there is no point in negotiating with Washington since it refuses to abide by international agreements.

In his statement, Trump demanded that the Europeans sign on to changes to the nuclear agreement that Iran would and could never accept. These include: allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors immediate and unlimited access to any site, including military installations, anywhere in the country; eliminating the sunset clauses in the JCPOA so as make the time-limited restraints on parts of Irans civil nuclear program permanent; and severely limiting, if not outlawing, Irans ballistic missile program.

According to Trump officials, Washington has no plans for talks with Iran or for that matter with the non-European signatories to the Iran nuclear accord, Russia and China. Rather, Washington intends to negotiate with the Europeans about endorsing Trumps demands, with a view to a subsequent joint US-EU ultimatum to Tehran to accept them or face the re-imposition of economic sanctions.

Such an ultimatum would be illegal under the JCPOA and tantamount to an act of war.

Trump is also insisting that the US Congress pass legislation that would enshrine his key demands for unilaterally rewriting the JCPOA into American law. It would outline triggers, including in respect to the development of Irans ballistic missile program, that would cause the US economic sanctions suspended under the JCPOA to immediately snap back into force.

Trumps statement was provocative and belligerent from beginning to end. It denounced Iran as the worlds leading state sponsor of terror and, in a revealing admission, boasted that the US is countering Iranian proxy wars in Yemen and Syria.

Predictably, the billionaire despot and Islamophobe repeated his obscene claims to be a champion of the Iranian people and their rights, even as he set the US on course for a military confrontation with Iran.

His statement was accompanied by the announcement of sanctions against 14 individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps cyber division. Sanctions were also imposed on the administrative head of Irans judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, supposedly in retaliation for the Iranian regimes repression of the recent protests by impoverished workers and youth against rising prices, mass joblessness, government austerity and rampant social inequality.

Trump also vowed yesterday that he will continue to refuse to certify that Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA, although the IAEA has repeatedly reported that Teheran is in full compliance, and even top Trump officials have conceded Iran is implementing it to the letter.

According to press reports, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had to bring considerable pressure to bear on Trump to persuade him not to blow up the Iran accord this week by refusing to sign the four-month sanction waiver.

There is strong support in both the Republican and Democratic Party leaderships for a more aggressive stance against Iran, beginning in Syria, where Tehrans support for Syrian President Assad played a major role in the failure of US efforts to use Al Qaeda-aligned Islamist forces to install a pro-US regime. But there are grave concerns within the US military-security and political establishments about Trumps haste to tear up the Iran nuclear accord and provoke an all-out confrontation with Iran.

These concerns are entirely of a tactical character, revolving around how best to achieve US global hegemony. Leading strategists for US imperialism argue Iran needs to be contained through a combination of military, economic and diplomatic pressure while the US concentrates on countering more formidable rivals, Russia and China. And there are deep concerns that Trumps push for a confrontation with Iran will intensify the growing strategic rift with Europe.

Yesterdays ultimatum to Europe over Iran, which Trumps advisors prevailed on him to issue in preference to a unilateral US withdrawal from the nuclear accord, only underlines the divergence between NATOs principal member states.

Apparently, Trump, or at least those egging him on to scuttle the Iran deal, are calculating that the Europeans will ultimately ally with the US against Iran for fear that they could themselves become targets if the US again seeks to use its domination of the world financial system to block trade with Iran.

The Europeans, for their part, have their own imperialist designs in the Middle East and beyond. With Germany in the lead, they are pursuing rearmament and seeking to develop EU military forces that can act independently of, and if need be, in opposition to America.

Since sanctions were lifted on Iran, European companies have announced billions in new investments, even if, as of yet, many of these havent been fulfilled due to fears of a renewal of US sanctions.

More broadly, the EU fears the incendiary consequences of a US-Iran war, which would quickly embroil the entire Mideast. Europe is both far more dependent on Mideast oil than the US and far more susceptible to the political and demographic shocks such a war would engender.

While hostile to the growth of Iranian influence in parts of the Middle East such as Syria and Iraq, the European imperialist powers are alarmed by Washingtons readiness to inflame sectarian tensions, whether by promoting a Saudi-led anti-Iran Sunni alliance or recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital.

Stefan Kornelius, foreign editor of the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung, pointed to the strategic divergence between the US and the major EU powers when he wrote Friday, Iran is pursuing an expansive foreign policy course. Europe must find a different answer to that than the United States, which is causing damage with its clear siding with the Gulf monarchies.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus ban on the members of 20 organisations from entering the country because of their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign is the latest escalation in Israels offensive against the Palestinians.

The ban prevents many of those who support the establishment of a Palestinian state from entering Israel, East Jerusalemwhich Israel annexed illegally after the 1967 war, and the Occupied Territories. Its aim is to deepen the isolation of the Palestinians and quash both international and domestic opposition. The move is a violation of free speech, above all the right to criticise government policies and human rights violations and to advocate non-violent actions to address human rights abuses, as well as the right of free movement and travel.

The 20 organisations include the Palestine-based BDS National Committee, the UK-based Friends of al-Aqsa group, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestine solidarity and BDS activist organisations across Europe, in South America, South Africa and the United States, the anti-poverty NGO War on Want, the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace group, the American Quaker organisation, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for helping victims of the Nazis, American Muslims for Palestine, and Code Pink.

Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan announced the list, saying that boycott organisations need to know that the state of Israel will act against them and not allow [them] to enter its territory to harm its citizens.

We have shifted from defence to offence. No country would have allowed critics to harm the country by entering it, he added.

BDS was founded in 2005 following a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, academic boycotts initiated in Britain, and after a call by 170 Palestinian NGOs for boycott, divestments and sanctions as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel. Run by the Palestinian BDS National Committee, it seeks an end to Israels occupation, settlements in Palestinian land and the Golan Heights and the blockade of Gaza, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and acknowledgement of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

Although the BDS movement has had little effect on Israels economic relations, with its main impact being in the field of academic boycotts and the cancellation of some entertainers visits, it has provoked a furious response from Israel.

In July 2011, the Knesset made it a civil offence to publicly call for a boycott of economic, cultural or academic links with the State of Israel. It enables anyone calling for a boycott to be sued and forced to pay compensation.

In 2015, Netanyahu appointed Gilad Erdan to head the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, set up in 2006 at the request of then deputy prime minister and now Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, to coordinate security and plans against strategic threats posed to Israel, including from Iran. Erdans brief was extended to include attempts to delegitimise Israel, including the BDS movement, previously the remit of the Foreign Affairs ministry.

Israels Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Yisrael Katz called at the Yediot Aharonot conference in Jerusalem in March 2016 for Israel to use targeted civil eliminations against leaders of the BDS movement such as Omar Barghouti.

Since then the Israeli authorities have imposed a travel ban on Barghouti and his residency status in Israel is under threat.

Haaretz reported that the Ministry of Strategic Affairs was going to set up a dirty tricks unit to establish, hire or tempt not-for-profit groups not associated with Israel to spread negative information about BDS supporters with an annual budget of at least $25 million. Just last week, a further $75 million was added.

Israel has put pressure on its allies to criminalise the BDS movement, quash free speech and counter support for the Palestinians and opposition to Israels inhuman and illegal policies on university campuses in the West.

Haaretz has reported seeing government contracts worth at least $1 million with law firms in Europe and the United States to oppose the movement, but details were redacted on national-security grounds.

In the US, 23 states have criminalised boycotts, including California and New York. There is a bill pending in Congress, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, proposing large fines and long prison sentences for companies and their personnel if they impose a boycott on Israel or its settlements. US billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who finances a pro-Netanyahu daily free sheet in Israel, is underwriting a variety of initiatives to fight the BDS movement, including on college campuses.

Frances highest court of appeal has equated a boycott against Israel with inciting hate or discrimination. In Britain, the government sought to ban local authorities from divesting their pension plans to participate in the movement, a move later ruled as unlawful by the High Court in London.

In March 2017, the Knesset amended the Entry into Israel Law, banning entry of anyone who made a public call for boycotting Israel or the Israeli settlements.

The move was opposed by Jewish groups around the world including the Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the US, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jewish Leadership Council and Union of Jewish Students in the UK, which criticised the move, calling it anti-democratic, indiscriminate and deeply problematic. These organisations are very aware of the degree to which Israels brutal actions against the Palestinians is jeopardising Jewish support for the Zionist state.

Israel had deported Isabel Phiri, a citizen of Malawi living in Switzerland and a senior official of the World Council of Churches, after landing at Ben-Gurion international airport in December 2016. According to the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority, she was the first tourist to be prohibited from entry based on anti-Israel activity and promoting economic, cultural and academic boycotts against it.

Israel has had a long history of excluding people because of their opposition to Israels suppression of the Palestinians. The first to be banned under the new legislation was Hugh Lanning, chairman of the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign and a longstanding human rights campaigner and frequent visitor to Israel and Palestine. Israel also stopped five BDS supporters from boarding a flight from the US to Israel. Three of the five were Jewish Voice for Peace members, an organisation that promotes human rights for Palestinians, who were travelling to Israel as part of an interfaith delegation to meet religious leaders and human rights activists in Israel and Palestine.

The World Socialist Web Site has sharp political differences with the BDS campaign, which holds Israeli citizens responsible for the actions of the Israeli state. This is no more tenable than holding US or British citizens responsible for the criminal actions of their governments that rule on behalf of the corporate and financial elites. The BDS movement has served to politically confuse workers and students, and to reinforce divisions between Palestinians and the Jewish citizens of Israel and between artists and academics who are equally opposed to Israels brutal measures.

In Israel, the BDS movement has allowed the government to create a siege-like mentality and reinforce national chauvinism, while opening up its supporters abroad to charges of anti-Semitism.

Despite these political differences, the attack on the BDS movement must be strenuously opposed as an attempt to intimidate and criminalise all those who defend Palestinian rights. Israels reactionary campaign, including travel bans and attempts to curb free speech on campuses in Europe and the US, are a threat to basic democratic rights.

The BDS campaign seeks to apply pressure on the Israeli regime and its imperialist backers with the aim of establishing an unviable mini-state for Palestinians as part of a two-state solution. This is a bankrupt outlook that rejects the fight to unite Arab and Jewish workers against the Zionist occupation.

Instead of creating another mini-capitalist state in the region, the aim must be to forge a unified movement of Arab and Jewish workers seeking to end the division of the region into hostile nation states based on the brutal exploitation of its peoples and to build a United Socialist States of the Middle East.Hospitals nationwide are in the midst of one of the most severe medical product shortages in modern US history. With half of Puerto Rico still without power, the major medical supply giant on the islandBaxter Internationalhas been unable to keep up with the production of the millions of IV bags upon which hospitals throughout the US mainland rely on for basic daily medical treatment of their patients.

Erin Fox, director of the University of Utahs drug information service, told the Guardian Weve seen some pretty terrible shortages. This shortage proves that things can always get worse.  It affects every single medication that we are giving in our hospital.

IV fluid bags are an essential part of modern medical care in hospitals, where they are used to dilute and administer medication.

This critical shortage has been exacerbated by a sharp increase in flu cases nationwide, sending patients to hospitals where they often require IV drip medications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting that 46 states are experiencing widespread flu activity, comparable to the peak of the 2014-2015 season, which was the most severe flu season in recent years.

Since flu season usually peaks in January and February many medical professionals have expressed grave concern about how the shortages will be handled in the coming months. The flu kills anywhere from 2,000 to 56,000 Americans every year, and puts 140,000 to 710,000 people into the hospital, according to the CDC. Already this year 27 people under the age of 65 have died of the flu in California alone.

The shortages have had far-reaching effects, hitting surgery centers, cancer clinics that infuse chemotherapy, dialysis centers and companies that provide regular infusions to homebound patients.

The worst of the shortage appears to be for small saline bags. Hospitals use hundreds or thousands daily to hydrate patients and to dilute antibiotics, painkillers and other drugs, then hang bags from a pole so the mix slowly drips through a tube and into a vein.

The average large hospital will go through thousands of the bags a day. A multi-hospital system can require as many as tens of thousands of bags a day.

David Chen, a pharmacy director with Promedica, told the Guardian, Some facilities are getting virtually zero. Others are having them trickle in. You never know what youre going to get.

Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina, which gets its IV bags from Baxter, is currently receiving only about half its normal supply. Kuldip Patel, associate chief of Dukes pharmacy office, reported that Duke has assigned a team of 15 people to the task of ordering, monitoring and managing the bags.

Hospitals all around the country have been forced to dedicate enormous resources to managing the crisis. This includes a constant monitoring of the supply line, mixing medical solutions on site, ordering premixed and frozen solutions at a much higher cost from alternative suppliers, and assigning nurses to handle manual injections and other staff for processing.

The director of pharmacy services at an Atlanta-area hospital, Jamie Joy, reported to local news that the hospital has had to rent special pumps to empty liter-size saline bags into many smaller ones for individual patients.

Health professionals have been frantically improvising other methods to deal with the crisis; substituting pills for IV-administered drugs when possible, changing dosing schedules or injecting drugs directly into a vein, in whats called an IV push.

Many have been forced to change procedures altogether. Some try to switch people off IV bags as soon as possible and others resist starting patients on IV drips during surgery until it is absolutely certain they are needed.

The complications caused by the shortage of IV bags have created a cascade effect, leading to shortages of other supplies as thousands of hospitals implement the same methods for working around the lack of IV bags. For instance, syringe supplies are running low because many patients are now getting injections instead of IV drips.

Some private medical facilities have turned to medical supply resellers to secure the scarce products. However, these companies are charging as much as a 600 percent markup for the sterile bags of saline solution. This needlessly expensive option is not possible for the countrys entire health care system, which is massively underfunded.

In a recent statement, Baxter said all three of its manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico are now connected to the electric grid. However, like many places that have officially had their power restored, the manufacturing sites experience frequent blackouts. Baxter has hooked up diesel generators for the intermittent power disruptions, but production is still far behind need.

Baxter has also received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to import IV bags from Baxters overseas sites. Why procuring these essential medical supplies from other countries was not allowed in the first place is not entirely clear, although it may be bound up with the complex economic restrictions imposed on Puerto Rico due to its semicolonial status. These restrictions have prevented the island from receiving much needed electrical supplies, such as power line poles, from any country outside of the US. Additionally, restrictions put in place by the Jones Act prevented critical aid packages of food and water from reaching the island for weeks in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane.

Dr. Rita Jew, director of pharmacy at the University of California San Franciscos Mission Bay hospital, told the Guardian, A lot of people are referring to this like its almost like were in a third world country, and theres some truth to that. These are basic supplies that we have taken for granted. Its kind of like were rationing water in the US.In another major betrayal, the trade unions capitulated to a Madras High Court directive and called off an eight-day strike on Thursday by the majority of the 140,000 workers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), including bus drivers and conductors.

The unions, including those led by the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, ordered workers back to work without any of their demands being met. This was despite the fact that workers had continued the strike for more than a week in defiance of the January 5 court order restraining TNSTC employees from striking.

The state-wide strike began on January 4 after eleven rounds of talks between union leaders and officials led by state transport minister M.R. Vijayabaskar failed. While one of their main demands was a minimum basic salary of 19,500 rupees ($US306) per month and a 2.57 percent wage hike, other demands were on the list. The government only agreed to offer a 2.44 percent increase.

Workers complained that deductions worth 50 million rupees from the salaries of existing employees as a social security scheme are yet to be deposited in the nominated bank accounts. TNSTC authorities have been using this money to run the corporation instead of setting it aside for pensions and other benefits.

The striking workers were demanding the immediate release of terminal benefits for retired transport employees that have been kept pending for more than 15 years. They also wanted an end to discrepancies in pay scale within the corporation. While those in the administrative wing are paid as per the commissions norms, poorly-paid drivers, conductors and maintenance staff are kept outside those norms by recruiting them only on a three-year contract basis.

About 17 trade unions affiliated with various opposition parties called the strike in a bid to deflect mounting anger among workers. These include the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams (DMK) Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), the CPM-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) of the Congress Party.

In a bid to deflect widespread anger over the betrayal, the unions falsely claimed a victory had been won. LPF treasurer K. Natarajan told the New Indian Express: The worker unions fought unitedly and made the government accept our demands, boasting that unions will resort to strike [action] again if the government fails to address their demands in the next month. LPF general secretary M. Shanmugam claimed that the strike was only being suspended.

Natarajan also told workers not to worry about repercussions over the strike. The police, however, have already arrested hundreds of the strikers during the strike. At the same time, TNSTC has issued show-cause notices to thousands of workers. The Times of India on January 9 reported that 20 employees of the TNSTCs Kumbakonam division were suspended. Moreover, strikers have had their wages deducted for the strike days.

CITU state secretary A. Soundararajan cynically told workers that they should continue their work with the bliss of victory. Not only have the strike demands not been met, but, according to Hindu, the government has refused to withdraw criminal cases against transport employees on the grounds that most were charged with damaging public property.

These unions have a long record of betraying strikes. Last September, an alliance of unions, including CITU- and DMK-affiliated unions, again used a court order as the excuse and shut down a strike by 33,000 teachers and other state employees in Tamil Nadu against imposition of a regressive pension scheme. Last February, the same unions played a similar role in calling off a strike by more than 200,000 Tamil Nadu government employees against a contributory pension scheme.

The treacherous role of the unions flows from the nationalist and class collaborationist politics of the parties to which they are affiliated. The DMK, Congress and the CPM are all committed to a pro-investor economic agenda of transforming India into a cheap labour platform for global capital. The Stalinist CPM is closely integrated into the Indian political establishment and has played a crucial role in propping up bourgeois rule at the central and state level, by backing Congress, the DMK and also the current ruling party in Tamil Naduthe AIADMK.

All of the unions, including particularly the CPM, have fought unitedly to prevent other sections of the working class joining the strike and to block any discussion of the need for a socialist and internationalist program. Union bureaucrats attempted to physically attack supporters of the World Socialist Web Site when they visited striking workers in the state capital Chennai to report on the strike and discuss the political issues confronting the strike.

The bus strike in Tamil Nadu is not an isolated struggle limited to the southern Indian State. Class struggle is erupting throughout India and internationally. On January 2, the Indian Medical association (IMA), representing 290,000 doctors, called a nationwide suspension of private health care services to protest the governments privatisation plans. At the beginning of 2018, the WSWS analysed that this year will be characterized, above, all by an immense intensification of social tensions and escalation of class conflict around the world.

It is time for Indian workers to break from these reactionary union organizations and build action committees to fight for their fundamental democratic and social rightsdecent salaries, proper working condition and secure jobs. In doing so, they should join hands, not only with workers in India, but around the world on the basis of a unified struggle to abolish capitalism and restructure society on socialist lines.Walmart, which owns Sams Club, is closing 63 Sams Club stores across the country, reducing the number of stores from 660 to 597. According to Business Insider, 12 of the units will be converted into eCommerce distribution centers. Some stores have already closed and others will be closed within the next few weeks.

Many employees were not informed that their store had closed before showing up to work Thursday morning. Employees arrived at their stores only to find the doors locked and a notice posted announcing the closing. According to Business Insider, police officers even turned away workers at some stores.

Sams Club CEO John Furner notified employees of the closures in a company-wide email sent Thursday.

After a thorough review, it became clear we had built clubs in some locations that impacted other clubs, and where population had not grown as anticipated, he said. We will be closing some clubs, and we notified them today. Well convert some of them into eCommerce fulfillment centersto better serve the growing number of members shopping with us online and continue scaling the SamsClub.com business.

Some employees were told of the closings via notices that were sent through FedEx on Thursday.

FedEx showed up at my door with a package from Sams Club and I was thinking that maybe it was my W-2, Nic Townsend, an employee of a Sacramento, California Sams Club, told Business Insider. It was a letter saying they are closing down. ... Im unsure of what to do. I have a baby and a mentally sick mother. Im lost. Im heartbroken. Im scared.

A Walmart official has stated the closures will affect approximately 9,400 employees. Three of the locations being closed are in Puerto Rico, leaving hundreds without jobs in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria.

The closures were announced on the same day Walmart said its minimum wage for hourly employees would increase from $9 an hour to $11 an hour, following the passage of the Trump administrations legislation slashing the corporate income tax. The company also promised its employees a one-time bonus of up to $1,000 based on tenure, and a number of benefits such as increases in paid maternal and parental leave.

The claim that Walmart deserves praise for the small bump in its starvation level wages is little more than depraved. The new pay scale leaves workers income far below the federal poverty level for a family of four, itself an absurdly low number.

Nevertheless, the media fueled excitement and praise for Walmarts wage increases, portraying the move as a win for workers and a precursor to greater economic growth. Walmarts decision was cynically credited to the Trump administration. Trumps Tax Bill Prompts Walmart To Raise Starting Wage, Give $1,000 Bonuses To Some Employees, Newsweek declared in its headline. CNBC stated, Walmarts workers will soon reap the benefits of the recent tax law changes.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders celebrated the company decision, while Donald Trumps daughter Ivanka tweeted, Thanks to the passage of historic tax cuts, American workers and their families are winning! Trump shared a video of Fox Business discussing the wage increase and declared, Great news, as a result of our TAX CUTS & JOBS ACT!

Multiple companies have announced increases in wages or benefits to their employees since Congress passed the tax bill last month. The hike in wages is a ploy used to divert attention from the right-wing, anti-working class tax plan and trickle down tax reform.

The mass layoff of Sams Club employees exposes the ruthless character of corporate management and its utter disdain for the rights of workers. According to Fox Business, Walmart is also expected to cut 1,000 corporate jobs this year. Indeed, any additional costs incurred as a result of the pay increases being doled out by Walmart will likely be more than offset by the cost savings achieved through store closures and mass layoffs.

Walmart, the largest private employer in the world, with 2 million employees, received one of the largest tax breaks under the new Trump administration tax plan that cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Despite the closure of stores across the country, Walmart shares have gained about 60 percent in the past two years.

By one estimate Walmart stands to benefit to the tune of $2.2 billion a year from the cut in the corporate income tax rate. Walmart said its planned wage increases would cost $700 million annually.A former Idaho state representative who resigned last fall amid sexual abuse accusations has killed himself, officials said.

Former Republican state Rep. Brandon Hixon, 36, died Tuesday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Canyon County Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris told CNN.

He's the second lawmaker facing sex abuse claims to kill himself in less than a month Idaho's attorney general had been investigating allegations against Hixon

Hixon's death follows the December death of Kentucky state Rep. Dan Johnson, also a Republican, who had been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2013. Johnson died a day after denying the allegations, and the Bullitt County, Kentucky, coroner ruled the death a suicide.

Hixon, who was in his third term, resigned from the Idaho legislature in late October. Shortly after the resignation, reports in local media said Hixon was under investigation for sexual abuse, with the Idaho Statesman citing the state attorney general's office in its news report.

Idaho Speaker of the House Rep. Scott Bedke announced Hixon's death Tuesday on the chamber floor.

"Our thoughts go to his family and friends who are suffering from his loss," said Bedke, who did not respond to CNN's request for further comment.

Sex abuse case rises to state level

The Canyon County prosecutor's office initially handled the complaint against Hixon, county spokesman Joe Decker told CNN. The investigation was transferred to the state attorney general "due to a conflict of interest," according to a document provided to CNN by Scott Graf, director of constituent affairs for the Idaho Office of the Attorney General.

The document notes that the case relates to "Brandon Hixon, Sexual Abuse Allegations."

The attorney general's office would not comment further on the sexual abuse accusations against Hixon.

Hixon's legal troubles continued after he resigned from the legislature. He was arrested on December 9 and charged with two misdemeanors: driving under the influence and resisting arrest, Ada County Sheriff's Office spokesman Patrick Orr told CNN.

Hixon was arrested again later in December for "suspicion of driving under the influence," Capt. Devin Riley of the Caldwell Police Department told CNN.

Alleged victims were minors, ex-wife says

Hixon's ex-wife, Danielle Eirvin Hixon, told CNN that the alleged victims in the sexual abuse case against her former husband were two underage girls. She said one of the alleged victims told her about the suspected sexual abuse in October.

Eirvin Hixon, who was married to Hixon for 10 years before they divorced in May 2016, said it was the first she'd learned of abuse allegations against Hixon.

Eirvin Hixon told CNN she's speaking out because she wants to help the alleged victims.

"It isn't fair for his victims that they be silenced because he's no longer here," Eirvin Hixon told CNN.

Eirvin Hixon told CNN she was due to testify before a grand jury considering the allegations against Hixon on Wednesday morning, the day after he killed himself.

The Idaho attorney general's office would not comment on Eirvin Hixon's assertions.It's a place where serious big game hunters hang out and network -- kind of a supermarket for hunting enthusiasts.

Tens of thousands of them have come from all over the world to the annual Dallas Safari Club Convention & Sporting Expo.

Everywhere you look in this sprawling 800,000-square-foot convention you see weapons, gear and just about every type of hunting paraphernalia available. There are also lots of animals -- none of them alive. Rhinos, lions, antelopes and various types of big game animals that have all been stuffed by taxidermists to be trophies in someone's home or office.

Want to book the hunting adventure of your dreams?

If you pony up enough cash, you'll find yourself heading to remote parts of North America, Africa, China or Russia -- places many people can only dream about -- for the chance to track and kill some of the world's most magnificent and endangered beasts.

The annual convention takes place during a critical time for big-game hunting. Activists are fighting hard to stop it -- while hunters are trying to save it. And the debate is centered around a concept that aims to create a model for sustainable hunting.

Many of these hunters here pass the time trading stories about how they've bagged some of nature's most exotic animals -- following a tradition made famous by writers such as Ernest Hemingway.

Avid hunter Corey Knowlton attends the convention every year and is here as usual -- surrounded by the expo's more than 1,850 exhibits. In 2014, this was where he successfully bid $350,000 at an auction to hunt and kill a black rhino in Namibia.

"I care about all of wildlife in wild places, and I want it to be around for our future generations," Knowlton told CNN, getting slightly emotional. "I believe this is the best model that exists for it, if you like or you don't like it."

The model he is referring to is "conservation," terminology that is part of The Dallas Safari Club's mission statement, and a debate that Knowlton knows well after his rhino hunt.

And even though the animal is considered "critically endangered" by wildlife organizations around the world, Knowlton is steadfast in his belief that sustainable hunting like this is the key to help save the black rhino species.

"It's about a value on wildlife, and the proof that it works is the fact that we are sitting here in this building, and all these people are marketing and supporting wildlife, and so there is a value on it beyond its value of meat," Knowlton said.

Namibia

There are only around 5,000 black rhinos left on the planet, according to the World Wildlife Fund and Namibian government officials say their nation has the second-highest population anywhere. Namibia earmarks a small quota of the animals to be hunted annually. The country describes the income generated by hunts like Knowlton's as "critical" for supplying the infrastructure used to help save the wildlife from extinction.

"We have taken a conscious decision to sustainably harvest some of the older wildlife, some of the post mature bulls that are basically fighting with the young ones, sometimes killing the young ones or females," Johnson Ndokosho, deputy director of Wildlife and National Parks with Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism told CNN from the convention floor.

He said the money goes directly to fund conservation activities, water for wildlife, anti-poaching operations, equipment for the community and research.

Ndokosho said the funds protect the wildlife and help improve the livelihood of the Namibian people. He said since 2015, levels of rhino poaching in his country have declined.

Frans Kamenye, the fund manager for Namibia's Game Products Trust Fund, said the $350,000 raised from Knowlton's 2015 hunt was used to buy ten Land Cruisers, an air patrol boat, four amphibian eight-wheel vehicles, and gasoline -- all key resources that are used by anti-poaching task forces.

"In Namibia, hunting is something that we need. Otherwise, we have seen many countries where there is no hunting, it's failing because there are no resources," Kamenye told CNN.

A 'real threat to the survival of animals'

Of course, the global debate is filled with passion on both sides of the issue, and critics of the hunting-as-conservation approach have different perspectives.

They would like to see funds raised to protect species without any killing, and stress that widespread education to show that animal horns have no real medicinal value would help solve and curtail the poaching demand.

Away from the sea of taxidermy scattered across the convention floor, Prashant Khetan, Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel at Born Free USA, an animal advocacy organization, insists that hunting as a conservation model has no merit. Instead, he views it as a "sport" and "horror show." In fact Khetan said it's a "real threat to the survival of the animals."

Trophy hunting as a conservation strategy "is just a myth," Khetan said. "I think it's a mere contradiction to even think about killing animals is in some way going to help the survival of a species."

Any benefits of conservation programs Khetan said, are "grossly exaggerated."

Because of rampant corruption and "lack of oversight" only a small percentage of the money generated from many hunts actually ends up where it is supposed to, Khetan said, benefiting an elite few -- like governments and private companies -- and not the animals or the general public.

'A proven success'

Back amid the exhibition space full of enthusiasts at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas, conservation organizations from across the globe are represented.

Before joining the Dallas Safari Club as executive director last September, biologist Corey Mason says he spent the last sixteen years with the Texas Fishing and Game Agency working with conservation agencies and organizations all over North America.

He says that the restoration of many species on the continent shows that "the conservation through hunting model is a proven success."

He has no doubt that well-regulated hunting programs based on science are sustainable -- as long as specific quotas are developed and followed. The animals that are taken, he said, represent a very small percentage of the population, and in most cases they are older-aged males.

Mason said the money raised through "scientific" conservation is used to protect the habitat where the animals live and to combat poaching.

Knowlton acknowledges that he has a lot of respect for outspoken critics of conservation hunting. But he also questions their "understanding of reality."

"Every single one of (these animals) is going to die," Knowlton said. "But if you have the power to put a value on it, and supply those communities that are very poor with money ... I believe it's a very good symbiotic relationship."CLAY/VIGO COUNTY (WTHI) - The suspect arrested after multiple agencies served a search warrant on his Brazil home, made his first court appearance on Thursday.





Donald Sutherlin II was arrested after an investigation that lasted several months.

Court documents show that police had reason to believe that Sutherlin was a large distributor of synthetic marijuana and chemicals.

Officials also report that Sutherlin admitted to selling for more than a year and even selling to six or seven people in Clay and Vigo counties.

During a search warrant on Wednesday morning, several items were seized from his Brazil home including drugs, guns and money.

Sutherlin admitted to police that he had been buying items over the internet and selling drugs since last summer.

Multiple drug charges have been filed in both counties including two counts of neglect of a dependent, dealing synthetic marijuana, possession of synthetic marijuana and corrupt business influence.

He's expected back in court on the 17th.

Citizens should know that while synthetic Marijuana does not possess the same qualities as natural Marijuana, the effects of synthetic Marijuana are often unpredictable and can lead to anxiety and agitation, as well as health related side effects, a press release from Indiana State Police said.TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A local foster mom says she is pleased Governor Eric Holcomb spoke about leadership changes within the Indiana Department of Child Services during his annual address. However, she thinks more should be done right now to protect Hoosier kids.

News 10 told you about the State of the State Address earlier this week. Governor Holcomb said in his speech that an outside agency would assess DCS. Members of a special WTHI focus group wonder what happens until the results of that assessment are released.

Kristi Cundiff says, "I was glad to hear that, as governor of our state, that no one cares more about the safety of children than what he cares about, however, again, there's no plan. There's no breakdown."

Missy Burton says, "I think the assessment's a good step but how long is that going to take and how many children are going to be displaced or not placed properly while we're waiting for that particular assessment to take place?"

They also have concerns about transparency.

Dwayne Malone says, "Sometimes we just pick and choose what we want to do the assessment at and I think it has to be an overall assessment of every aspect within that."

Some say the governor should do more to recognize foster parents, not just case-workers.

Neil Ward says, "The whole thing falls apart if there is no place to place these children."

A foster mom herself, Cundiff says more has to be done to improve communications throughout DCS and with people like her on the front lines.

The focus group noted some topics missing from the governor's address.

Andi Taylor says she is disappointed, but not surprised, Holcomb failed to talk about CBD oil. Taylor's son uses CBD oil to manage his health conditions. She says he is a part of a study and the results have been life changing.

Burton says she thinks the governor should have also talked about mental health and suicide prevention.

The group agreed Holcomb's words about civility were welcomed but thought he could have started there and made it more of a major point in his speech.

For more about the group's discussion on opioids, click here.

For more about the group's discussion on jobs and the economy, click here.

For more on Governor Holcomb's address, click here.

To read the speech, click here.ATLANTA (AP) - Forecasters said a handful of counties in northwest Mississippi were under a winter storm warning - and sleet, snow and freezing rain were also possible in Louisiana and Alabama.

In central Louisiana Friday morning, forecasters said parts of the state could get slick as rain was expected to slowly transition to freezing rain or a sleet and snow mix.

In Mississippi, a light wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain was possible in the state's northern counties through early Friday afternoon. Seven counties in the state's northwest corner were under a winter storm warning, where a combination of snow and sleet could total up to 3 inches.

In Alabama, a light glaze of ice and dusting of sleet or snow was possible in several northern counties - including the Florence and Huntsville metro areas.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A new Leon County grand jury met for the first time today on a case involving three men accused of killing a 19-year-old and injuring two others.

Reginald Brown, Demarlis Martin, and Davaris Dawes are facing one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Court documents show 19-year-old, Keives Brooks, was shot to death in retaliation after an argument on Florida A&M's campus.

Tallahassee police say the shooting happened on September 19 at an apartment complex on the 400 block of Putnam Drive.

Brown, Martin, and Dawes remain in the Leon County Jail without bond.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Special Victims Unit of the Tallahassee Police Department is seeking information on a missing teenage girl, Sianna McDonald.

Reports say McDonald was last seen on Thursday in the area of 2400 block of Roberts Ave.

Officers describe McDonald as a 14-year-old female, standing at 5-foot-4 inches tall, weighing around 110 pounds with blonde hair and green eyes.

Police say McDonald was last seen wearing a red long sleeve hoodie, blue jeans, and white sandals.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tallahassee Police Department at (850) 891 - 4200.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 00:02:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai (2nd R) inspects the construction of national manufacturing innovation centers in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai Friday highlighted innovation in driving the high-quality growth of the manufacturing sector.

Ma said that more efforts were needed to push for a shift from "Made in China" to "Created in China," which could be achieved through the creation of manufacturing innovation centers.

Innovation centers are a significant part of China's drive to become a global manufacturing powerhouse, and a goal has been set to establish 15 national centers across the country by 2020. The first was set up in Beijing in June 2016, to research power batteries.

"China should channel more energy into key areas, such as big planes, aircraft engines, gas turbines, integrated circuits, new materials, new energy vehicles and 5G technology," Ma said while inspecting such centers in Beijing.

Ma promised a better business environment, including less red tape and further reductions on taxes and fees.

"China will move more swiftly to foster top-class manufacturers with global competitiveness," he said.

China is counting on an improved manufacturing sector to help enhance its economic quality. With slower GDP growth, the country is steering to a path of innovation-driven, sustainable development.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 01:38:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DUBAI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal National Council (FNC) jointly organized a legislators forum on Friday, the agency said in an e-mailed statement.

The forum, themed "Renewable Energy: the Role of Legislators in Catalysing Action to Accelerate the Energy Transformation," brought lawmakers from across the world to Abu Dhabi to discuss the policies needed to accelerate transformation of the global energy system.

Held a day before the opening of the Eighth Assembly of IRENA, the 2018 IRENA Legislators Forum is the third meeting of its kind hosted by the agency.

It seeks "to facilitate dialogue" between legislators on the deployment of renewables and the critical challenges facing the global energy transformation, said the agency.

"Legislators have a key role to play in enacting and overseeing the laws that govern the energy sector, and in widening the support for renewables through their respective constituents," said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin at the opening of the Forum.

"As the energy transformation gathers momentum, it increasingly brings with it important economic, social and environmental benefits to citizens and communities all over the world," said Amin.

Discussions at this year's forum focused on renewables deployment from the power sector to end-use sector, and on raising the level of ambition of renewable energy in Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.

Thani Al-Zeyoudi, the UAE minister of Climate Change and Environment, also hailed the important role of legislators in the development of renewable energy.

"Legislators play a significant role in supporting the advancement of renewable energy technologies and their faster deployment by contributing to the development of enabling policy frameworks, institutional capacities and encouraging public-private partnerships," he said.

The host country UAE has "unveiled an ambitious energy strategy with targets of 44 percent renewable energy, 38 percent gas, 12 percent clean coal, and 6 percent nuclear by 2050, while reducing the country's carbon footprint from power generation by 70 percent and reducing residential energy consumption by 40 percent," said the UAE minister.

"Energy transformation is a global priority and we see a strong commitment among many parliamentarians to contribute to it," said Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary General Martin Chungong, who delivered a keynote speech during the event.

Founded in 2009, the IRENA has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and 154 members, with 26 states in accession, according to the agency's website.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 04:44:09|Editor: Yamei

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German Chancellor and leader of German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel (C), leader of German Christian Social Union (CSU) Horst Seehofer (L) and leader of German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz pose for photos after a joint press conference at the headquarters of SPD, in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 12, 2018. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) on Friday achieved a breakthrough in their exploratory talks aimed at forming a new coalition government, local media reported. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

by Ren Ke

BERLIN, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The exploratory talks for German government coalition reached breakthrough on Friday, which will probably end the political uncertainty in Berlin and give strong support to European Union through closer cooperation with France.

After the overnight talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) and Martin Schulz-led Social Democratic Party (SPD), reached a 28-page agreement outlining the policies of the future new government on Friday morning.

It paves the way to formal coalition negotiations that will end government vacuum lasting for over three months since September 24 federal elections, and the new policies will be a strong boost to EU after the Brexit.

CONVERGING DIFFERENCES

"I walked into this house over 24 hours ago -- then, I was not sure that it would succeed, and I was only sure that it was a pretty big mission," Merkel said at a press conference at SPD headquarter Willy-Brandt Haus on Friday after the talks.

Schulz said at the press conference that the paper reflects the desire for renewal, in families, education and the digital challenge, adding social cohesion must be strengthened.

CSU chief Horst Seehofer said he was "highly satisfied" with the outcomes, adding no additional party congress for CSU is necessary to confirm its support for the Grand Coalition, the one between the Union and the SPD.

According to German Press Agency, the SPD board voted by a large majority for coalition negotiations, and the CDU board and the CSU regional group approved unanimously.

The three parties managed to control their differences and reach the compromise. For instance, the refugees will be limited to between 180,000 and 220,000 per year, while previously the Union agreed to limit it up to 200,000 and the SPD opposed to set a cap on it.

The SPD made compromise in supporting refugees' family reunion. The family reunion for refugees with limited protection status will initially remain suspended until a new regulation is found, and then limited to 1,000 people per month, according to the policy paper.

The increase demanded by the SPD of the top tax rate will not come, as no tax increases is stipulated in the policy paper.

Schulz said the SPD achieved excellent results, and Merkel said it was "a paper of giving and taking."

MAKING EUROPE STRONG AGAIN

"The three parties are ready to make Europe strong again," said Schulz at the press conference.

The first chapter of the document was dedicated to European policies, which stresses the German-Franco initiative in European integration and says Germany wants to develop the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a parliamentary-controlled European Monetary Fund.

"We are also ready for higher contributions from Germany to the EU budget," says the paper, adding that Germany is to be actively involved in the debate on the future of the European Union (EU) and strengthening European integration.

The two parties also stress Europe's role in peace and global responsibility in the document, clearly rejecting protectionism, isolationism and nationalism and calling for more international cooperation.

The document stipulates that the EU must play a leading international role in climate protection and advocate an ambitious implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The policy paper is the first response to French President Emmanuel Macron's ambition for profound changes of EU in post-Brexit area, saying that "the renewal of the EU will only succeed if Germany and France work together with all their strength. That is why we want to further strengthen and renew German-French cooperation."

"It's a good news for European integration, as France and other EU major countries are waiting for Germany to have opinions on it, and on some points like stronger European common budget, is really a big astonishment for me," Prof. Frank Baasner, director of Ludwigsburg-based think-tank German-French Institute, told Xinhua.

Baasner said in the context of the right-populism, the Brexit and an isolationist United States, Europeans are discussing how and where will they go. It is now a strong moment that both France and Germany want to come to some major steps.

"Although it's often that ambition is very strong and when it comes to details there are huge differences between France and Germany. But let's be optimistic, it's a really good start to discuss the future of Europe," said Baasner.

EUROPEAN LEADERS HAIL

The results of the coalition talks were quickly responded positively by major European leaders, who have been waiting impatiently for a new German government, as the biggest Eurozone economy plays a leading role in EU affairs.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hailed as "positive" plans for Europe in a deal that brings Merkel a step closer to forming a coalition government.

"I am very satisfied with the content," Juncker told a press conference in Bulgaria on Friday, describing the deal's section on the future of the EU as a "very significant, positive, constructive, forward-looking, purposeful contribution."

French President Macron said he was "happy and satisfied" that a coalition deal was in sight, and a French government spokesman said the blueprint was "good for Germany, good for France and above all good for Europe."

He said the terms of the deal were "more favorable" for his vision of a reformed EU than a separate agreement that was discussed and abandoned between the Union and the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) in November last year.

The Union-SPD talks came into existence after the Union, the FDP and the Greens failed to reach an agreement in later November, dragging Merkel into the most serious political crisis in 12 years.

HURDLES EXIST

The breakthrough in exploratory talks may avoid a minority government led-by Merkel or snap elections, but the new government can only be established after some procedures, and even obstacles.

The SPD will convene a special congress on Jan. 21 in Bonn to decide whether to enter into the formal coalition talks or not. The formal coalition talks need the green-light to kick off.

The Social Democrats previously opposed to ally with the Union again and vowed to enter into opposition but changed its attitude under heavy social and political pressure.

However, the SPD's youth and left-wing factions have renewed calls that the SPD should not enter into another coalition with Merkel, which had made it suffer the landslide loss in federal elections. They feared of the party being further minimalized under the Union.

The conclusion of the formal coalition talks will also be submitted to SPD's 440,000-plus members to vote on.

Seehofer said last week that he hoped a new government would be in place before Easter, which falls on April 1.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 06:49:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday lauded the role of the Group of 77 (G77) and China in promoting multilateralism and development, and fighting climate change.

"You have been a central pillar in the defense of multilateralism -- and these are not easy times for multilateralism, and you have been absolutely crucial in making sure that development remains in the centrality of the action of the United Nations," Guterres told a handover ceremony of the G77 chairmanship from Ecuador to Egypt.

The two largest economies of the G77 -- China and India -- are strongly committed to the leadership in climate action, said Guterres. "At a moment when others are failing, I see the largest economies of the Group of 77 and China to be assuming the leadership in climate action to make sure that we don't suffer the dramatic and devastating impacts of climate change."Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 07:19:38|Editor: Yamei

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U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua file photo)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a U.S. withdrawal from the landmark pact unless U.S. Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Calling it "a last chance," Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Responding to Trump's harsh stance, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that it was "desperate attempts" to undermine an accord which Iran said was "not renegotiable."

"Trump's policy & today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement," said Zarif on Twitter.

Trump has long been critical about the pact inked between the six world powers, namely China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and Iran in 2015, in which the West promises to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

Calling it "one of the worst" deal the United States has ever made, Trump, who has signed the waiver twice since taking office, decertified to Congress Iran's compliance with the pact last October.

The United States is the only party that has threatened to scrap the deal, a stance that has been confronted by other participants.

On the eve of Trump's announcement, diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union again called on Trump to uphold the pact.

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of abiding by the deal "in order to guarantee better stability in the Middle East," according to a readout of his telephone conversation with Trump on Thursday.

Meanwhile, China and Russia, the other two parties, have also repeatedly called on the United States to maintain its commitment to the Iranian Nuclear deal which is "a beneficial practice of solving a critical issue through political and diplomatic means."

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, U.S. Department of Treasury said on Friday that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The U.S. has sanctioned around 100 individuals and entities involved with Iran's ballistic missile program and other activities which the United States saw as "illicit," according to Trump's statement on Friday.

In the statement, Trump also laid out conditions to the Congress and the European allies for a fix to the deal to keep America in it.

White House is working with Congress on a U.S. legislation, which seeks provisions to permanently prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and subject Iran's long-range missile program to severe sanctions.

The legislation is required to include certain "triggers" which will automatically lead to a reimposition of the sanctions if Iran fail to apply.

Trump is also seeking for a follow-on agreement with the European allies that will eliminate the "sunset" clauses in the current agreement, said senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters on the decision on Friday afternoon.

"If at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately," said Trump in the statement.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 07:34:40|Editor: Liangyu

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VALLETTA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Malta's capital city Valletta on Friday officially launched festivities to mark the Chinese New Year for the 12th time.

At a press conference for the launch, Wang Yanjun, director of the China Cultural Centre in Malta, said this year's celebration is special as it coincides with Valletta being named the European Capital of Culture.

"We hope to be a part of this historical event and I wish to enjoy the joint celebration of this historical moment with our Maltese friends," he said.

The centre will organise a series of activities, including exhibitions, Chinese opera shows, dragon dances and film screenings to celebrate the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival in Valletta.

The Chinese Zodiac Creativity Exhibition opened on Friday as the first event, which displays the 12 animals (signs) of the Chinese Zodiac. 2018 is the year of the dog, according to the Chinese Zodiac.

Speaking at the launch, Valletta Mayor Alexiei Dingli said the Chinese New Year is an event that brought together people from different cultures, and has become an integral part of the city's calendar of events.

"This event would not have been possible without the close relationship between the Chinese Cultural Centre and the Valletta local council," said Dingli.

This, he further said, would not have been possible without the friendship between the two countries. "It is a friendship which has spanned many years, and which has brought to Valletta 11 spring festivals."

"The Spring Festival celebrations are not just a realisation of the friendship between us, but also a reminder that Valletta is a global city," said the mayor, adding that Valletta's year as the European Capital of Culture was the result of the efforts of many different players.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 07:39:41|Editor: Liangyu

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UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday lauded the role of the Group of 77 (G77) and China in promoting multilateralism and development, and fighting climate change.

"You have been a central pillar in the defense of multilateralism -- and these are not easy times for multilateralism, and you have been absolutely crucial in making sure that development remains in the centrality of the action of the United Nations," Guterres told a handover ceremony of the G77 chairmanship from Ecuador to Egypt.

The two largest economies of the G77 -- China and India -- are strongly committed to the leadership in climate action, said Guterres. "At a moment when others are failing, I see the largest economies of the Group of 77 and China to be assuming the leadership in climate action to make sure that we don't suffer the dramatic and devastating impacts of climate change."

He commended the G77's role in shaping the international debate on migration.

"We cannot accept (the fact) when so many people talk about human rights, the human rights of migrants are forgotten," Guterres told the ceremony.

The promotion of regular migration, of more opportunities for legal migration is in the center of any engagement of the international community, he said, adding that he counted on the G77 to be in the center of the debate that would lead to an agenda centered on people and on human dignity.

The United Nations is leading an initiative to formulate a global compact on migration.

He said the world body and the G77 share views on a more democratic United Nations. "I believe the Group of 77 will be particularly attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic United Nations, where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."

"The Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world, but also in a world where international relations have more justice," he said.

The G77 has been an extremely constructive and positive partner in discussions that led to General Assembly resolutions in relation to UN reform, he said.

The G77 has also played a very important role in avoiding a dramatic reduction in the UN budget and in preserving the development sector in budget negotiations, said the UN chief.

The G77 at the United Nations is a coalition of developing countries with an aim to promote its members' collective political and economic interests in the United Nations. China participates in the G77 but does not consider itself a member. All official statements are issued in the name of "the Group of 77 and China."UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a special event to mark World Children's Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Nov. 20, 2017. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday deplored the fact that the world is letting children down by allowing them to go through hardships and suffering. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday lauded the role of the Group of 77 (G77) and China in promoting multilateralism and development, and fighting climate change.

"You have been a central pillar in the defense of multilateralism -- and these are not easy times for multilateralism, and you have been absolutely crucial in making sure that development remains in the centrality of the action of the United Nations," Guterres told a handover ceremony of the G77 chairmanship from Ecuador to Egypt.

The two largest economies of the G77 -- China and India -- are strongly committed to the leadership in climate action, said Guterres. "At a moment when others are failing, I see the largest economies of the Group of 77 and China to be assuming the leadership in climate action to make sure that we don't suffer the dramatic and devastating impacts of climate change."

He commended the G77's role in shaping the international debate on migration.

"We cannot accept (the fact) when so many people talk about human rights, the human rights of migrants are forgotten," Guterres told the ceremony.

The promotion of regular migration, of more opportunities for legal migration is in the center of any engagement of the international community, he said, adding that he counted on the G77 to be in the center of the debate that would lead to an agenda centered on people and on human dignity.

The United Nations is leading an initiative to formulate a global compact on migration.

He said the world body and the G77 share views on a more democratic United Nations. "I believe the Group of 77 will be particularly attentive to the need to make sure that any reform gives effective contribution to a more balanced and democratic United Nations, where power is better distributed and justice can prevail more easily."

"The Group of 77 has a very important role to play not only in a multilateral world, but also in a world where international relations have more justice," he said.

The G77 has been an extremely constructive and positive partner in discussions that led to General Assembly resolutions in relation to UN reform, he said.

The G77 has also played a very important role in avoiding a dramatic reduction in the UN budget and in preserving the development sector in budget negotiations, said the UN chief.

The G77 at the United Nations is a coalition of developing countries with an aim to promote its members' collective political and economic interests in the United Nations. China participates in the G77 but does not consider itself a member. All official statements are issued in the name of "the Group of 77 and China."Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi speaks during the general debate of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, on Sept. 26, 2014. (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)

SUVA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has criticized an Australian government minister's false accusation of China's aid program in the Pacific region, saying that the accusation is "insulting" to the Pacific Island leaders, and has the capacity to "destroy" Australia's relationship with the region.

"The comments by the development minister have certainly surprised me, indeed, they are quite insulting to the leaders of Pacific Island neighbors," Tuilaepa told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's national broadcaster, on Friday.

Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells this week accused China of providing loans to Pacific nations on unfavorable terms and constructing "useless buildings" and "roads to nowhere" in the region.

The comments seemed to question the integrity, wisdom and intelligence of the leaders of the Pacific Islands, the prime minister said, adding that the comments undermined Australia's diplomatic efforts in the region.

"These kinds of comments can destroy the excellent relationships existing between Australia and the Pacific Island neighbors, particularly Samoa," he said.

Disagreeing with Fierravanti-Wells' claim that Chinese money was being misspent, the prime minister said that the money has proved crucial in his country's efforts to tackle the impact of climate change, which is widely considered to be the biggest threat facing mankind.

Tuilaepa praised China for being better placed to provide the assistance to Samoa than Australia which has long regarded the Pacific Island states as its own backyard.

"I do not really know that Australia is able to finance the kind of assistance provided by China," he said. "The kind of assistance provided by China are those kinds which are not within the aid budgets of Australia."

He also denied that there was a strategic element to China's aid in the region, saying that China had not asked his country to give its access to ports or airports.

In a related development, Tuilaepa has also rubbished claims that his government is borrowing a lot of money from China.

"It's wrong, it's totally wrong. Look for a report issued by the Central Bank that is where the accurate information is found," he told Samoa Observer on Thursday.

"It is stupid to look at the totality of the loan, the assumption the loans are to be paid next week. That is ridiculous," he said.

"We are always paying attention to our loans and the World Bank oversees the ability to maintain our loans within reasonable levels of our developments."

China is always standing firmly together with developing countries including the Pacific Island states, committed to offering true assistance and sincere support to them without any political conditions, and devoting themselves, with all the other countries, to promote the construction of a new type of international relations of equality, mutual-respect and win-win cooperation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 10:30:01|Editor: Liangyu

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. trade panel voted Friday to continue anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty investigations against Chinese aluminum products despite China's strong dissatisfaction with the move.

"There is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value," said the United States International Trade Commission (USITC)in a statement.

As a result of the trade panel's affirmative determinations, the U.S. Commerce Department will continue its investigations against Chinese aluminum products, with its preliminary anti-subsidy duty determination due in February and its anti-dumping duty determinations due in April, according to the USITC.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) had expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. Commerce Department's probe against Chinese aluminum products, launched last November, using a rarely-used "self-initiation" tactic.

That marked the first time in the past 25 years that the U.S. government had launched such investigations without a request from a U.S. company or industry.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with the trade protectionism tendency shown in the U.S. move," said Wang Hejun, head of the MOC's trade remedy and investigation bureau, warning "it will hurt both Chinese and U.S. interests to artificially impede the normal order of bilateral aluminum trade."

Wang said he hopes the United States will abide by the consensus reached by Chinese and U.S. leaders on economic and trade cooperation and meet China halfway to support healthy and stable development of bilateral economic ties.

China will take necessary measures to defend the rights of its own enterprises, he said.

Cao Hui, a trade lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, an international law firm, told Xinhua that the problem with self-initiated cases is that the Commerce Department takes on the dual roles of the plaintiff and the arbiter, which might lead to a lack of impartiality in the investigations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 11:00:06|Editor: pengying

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by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his trip to Britain, amid what experts say are fears that locals will mount massive protests, U.S. experts told Xinhua.

On Thursday night, Trump tweeted that he would cancel next month's trip to London, writing that he disagreed with what the former administration did regarding the U.S. embassy there.

"Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts,' only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!" Trump posted on social media platform Twitter.

But experts believe that's not the real reason for the cancellation. Rather, experts believe that Trump could be met in London by massive protests denouncing the outspoken U.S. president for what opponents believe as a figure who sows divisiveness.

"The British trip was shaping up as a visit that likely would generate mass protests and large demonstrations," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"I doubt that President Trump wanted to expose himself to that. He prefers places where there is lots of pageantry and no street protests. That allows him to talk about how popular he is and how nice the public response has been. He was not going to get that kind of reception in London, which I believe led him to cancel that trip," West said.

Indeed, many in London believe the U.S. president anticipated a horde of protesters would meet him there, as the billionaire-turned-politician has elicited much negative energy among many liberal groups in London, due to a perception -- whether true or not -- that he has discriminated against Muslims and Hispanics.

London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is no fan of Trump, expressed belief, via Twitter, that Trump got the message that he's not welcome in the capital.

"It seems he's finally got that message," Khan tweeted.

"Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems he's finally got that message," the London mayor tweeted.

Labor party lawmaker David Lammy said that the bombastic billionaire was unnerved by the possibility of being "met by millions of us out on the streets protesting."

U.S.-UK RELATIONS

Still, the cancellation is highly unlikely to impact Washington's relations with London, as the two are longtime allies with similar foreign policies which both benefit from working together, experts said.

"There won't be any impact on U.S.-UK relations," West said.

"The two countries remain very close in their foreign policies and work together closely. That is not likely to change at any point in the foreseeable future," West said.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow on foreign policy at the research organization Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that clearly, Trump is unlikely ever to be liked in Britain.

"That said, U.S.-UK relations have been through worse, and structurally I don't see huge problems (between the two allies)," he said.

Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, agreed that Trump canceled the trip likely because his arrival in London would be spoiled by protests by the British public.

He even reckoned that Trump might believe his trip would put pressure on British politicians to distance themselves from himself, the president of Britain's closest ally.

"Beyond the disagreements between leaders and the optics of this cancellation, U.S.-UK relations continue to remain strong - largely because there are a wide range of institutional ties between the nations in military cooperation, intelligence, economics, and commerce that operate as normal despite the political storms that may arise," Mahaffee said.

On Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuted the speculation that the trip Trump canceled was an intended lower profile version of a state visit to Britain.

Prime Minister Theresa May invited Trump for a state visit to Britain one year ago, with the date yet to be set amid hostilities to Trump in Britain.

The United States is "still working with our UK allies to find a date for a visit for the invitation that was offered and accepted," said Sanders.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 11:30:11|Editor: Liangyu

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Workers work at a construction site of the first phase of the Matara-Kataragama railway extension project in Matara in southern Sri Lanka, on Jan. 12, 2018. The track-laying commencement of the first phase of the China-built Matara-Kataragama railway extension project has been held in Matara in southern Sri Lanka. (Xinhua/Pradeep Pathirana)

COLOMBO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The track-laying commencement of the first phase of the China-built Matara-Kataragama railway extension project has been held in Matara in southern Sri Lanka.

The first phase of the project includes constructing a railway service from Matara to Beliatta, in the south of the island country.

Sri Lankan State Minister for State Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said during the ceremony on Friday that the Sri Lankan government was hoping to finish the first phase of the railway project in the coming months, which will benefit the public and tourists.

"On behalf of the president and the Sri Lankan government, I would like to thank the Chinese government for this historic event. The extension is a historic development which will hugely benefit the public transport sector as well as the country's tourism sector," Abeywardena said.

"Successive governments in the past have tried to implement this project. Due to the assistance of the Chinese government and the Chinese company, this project will soon be a reality," the minister added.

The Matara-Kataragama railway project is the first new railway line constructed in Sri Lanka since the island country gained independence in 1948.

The project, funded by the EXIM Bank of China on a concessional loan, is being constructed by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) in consultation with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau.

Vice President of CMC Zhao Jun said the railway extension project, which was under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a key project closely related to the development of Sri Lanka, since in future the railway will connect many industrial areas in the south of the country.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 11:45:13|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Delta Airlines has apologized for listing Tibet and Taiwan as independent countries on its official website and promised to take immediate measures to correct the mistakes.

Delta apologized deeply for the serious mistakes that has hurt Chinese people's feelings and it was taking immediate steps to resolve it, said a statement posted Friday night on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The U.S. carrier said it will have a careful check for other possible errors and avoid such mistakes in the future, said the statement.

In the letter of apology to the CAAC and on its official website, Delta said it is fully committed to China and Chinese customers as China is one of its most important markets.

The CAAC earlier in the day summoned representatives of Delta, urging the company to issue an immediate and public apology, and to investigate the incident thoroughly and publish investigation outcome in a timely manner.

On the Chinese version of Delta's official website, it listed Chinese territories, including Tibet and Taiwan, as "countries" in a drop-down menu.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 12:25:17|Editor: Yamei

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U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua file photo)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under a landmark nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a U.S. withdrawal from the pact if the U.S. Congress and his European allies can not fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Trump's latest move casts doubt on the future of the deal that was signed in 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 - Russia, France, China, Britain, the United States, plus Germany - and the European Union, a successful practice of solving a hot spot issue through political and diplomatic means.

LAST CHANCE OR DESPERATE ATTEMPT

In a White House statement, Trump called the waiver a "last chance" to fix the "flaws" of the Iran nuclear deal.

"The United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal," unless it gets the agreement it wants, added Trump.

In a tweet following Trump's harsh stance, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Friday that it was a "desperate attempt" to undermine an accord which Iran insisted was "not renegotiable."

Trump has been criticizing the nuclear deal since it was signed in 2015, which has been widely seen as providing "clear and tangible" benefits by limiting Iran's nuclear program.

Last October, Trump decertified to Congress Iran's compliance with the pact, regardless of reports provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the international non-proliferation watchdog, confirming that Tehran has been in full compliance with the deal.

The United States intended to work with its European partners on a follow-on agreement which enshrines certain "triggers" that Iran cannot exceed related to ballistic missiles and inspections, said senior Trump administration officials on Friday while briefing reporters about Trump's decision.

Eliminating the "sunset clauses" that allow Iran to restart its uranium enrichment program after 2025 was also within Trump's concern, according to the officials.

Trump also wanted the U.S. Congress to amend a law on U.S. participation in the nuclear deal, so that Washington could reimpose all sanctions if Iran breaches certain "trigger points."

The U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

"So Trump now has issued an explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans," said Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

"Is he bluffing? I don't think so," Dubowitz tweeted.

Also on Friday, the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including the head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Despite the Iran nuclear deal, the United States has sanctioned around 100 individuals and entities involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and other activities which the United States saw as "illicit."

GLOOMY FUTURE FOR IRAN DEAL

Though Trump did not reimpose sanctions on Iran for now, his "ultimatum" still cast a dark cloud over the future of the 2015 nuclear deal, as both Iran and European countries have showed little interest in renegotiating the pact.

On Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, and foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, expressed their views to uphold the hardly-wrought deal.

Echoing Mogherini, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "There is no particular reason to disengage in any way from this agreement as Iran has been respecting the provisions of the deal."

Hailing the deal as a "considerable diplomatic accomplishment," British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said no one has so far come up with a better alternative.

"We know the EU and other powers want to keep the nuclear deal, almost no matter what," David Pollock, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, experts say that quitting the deal is also against America's own strategic interests.

"His (Trump's) cabinet does not want him to cancel the nuclear deal because it could open up the region to nuclear proliferation," Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institute, told Xinhua.

West believes that Iran could use that decision to restart its own nuclear program and that would encourage other countries in that region to do the same thing.

"If the United States reneges on its agreement, it will undermine global trust in America. Foreign leaders will doubt if they can trust U.S. agreements if the president renounces the agreement," West added.Photo taken on Jan. 12, 2018 shows the track-laying ceremony of Matara-Kataragama railway extension project held in Matara, southern Sri Lanka. (Xinhua/Pradeep Pathirana)

COLOMBO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The track-laying commencement of the first phase of the China-built Matara-Kataragama railway extension project has been held in Matara in southern Sri Lanka.

The first phase of the project includes constructing a railway service from Matara to Beliatta, in the south of the island country.

Sri Lankan State Minister for State Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said during the ceremony on Friday that the Sri Lankan government was hoping to finish the first phase of the railway project in the coming months, which will benefit the public and tourists.

"On behalf of the president and the Sri Lankan government, I would like to thank the Chinese government for this historic event. The extension is a historic development which will hugely benefit the public transport sector as well as the country's tourism sector," Abeywardena said.

"Successive governments in the past have tried to implement this project. Due to the assistance of the Chinese government and the Chinese company, this project will soon be a reality," the minister added.

The Matara-Kataragama railway project is the first new railway line constructed in Sri Lanka since the island country gained independence in 1948.

The project, funded by the EXIM Bank of China on a concessional loan, is being constructed by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) in consultation with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau.

Vice President of CMC Zhao Jun said the railway extension project, which was under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a key project closely related to the development of Sri Lanka, since in future the railway will connect many industrial areas in the south of the country.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:20:29|Editor: pengying

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said Friday that the recent downgrade of the country's sovereign credit rating is merely a technical decision that carries no political weight.

Earlier this week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Brazil's long-term bonds from BB to BB-. The agency attributed the decision to the government's inability to carry out reforms to balance the country's fiscal situation.

"We should not consider it a great political matter for Brazil. It is important that we carry out the reforms Brazil needs," Meirelles said when asked to comment on the issue.

He denied that the downgrade will affect the the country's presidential election scheduled for October. "It is a technical move, and I do not believe it will affect candidacies," he said.

Brazilian politicians are speculating on whether the move will have an impact on Meirelles, whom they expect to be a contender representing the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party in the upcoming election.

Meirelles added that he would rather prefer focusing on his own work. "The agency made their assessment, and I do not discuss agencies' assessments. They do their job and we will do ours," the minister said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:20:29|Editor: Liangyu

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HAVANA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Efforts by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to strengthen party building, enforce discipline and improve governance are key to China's development and future plans, a Cuban scholar has said.

Jose Luis Robaina, a China expert at Cuba's International Policy Research Center, said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday that the systematic policy of the CPC, China's ruling party, to strengthen discipline within the ranks of the organization has set an example for political parties in the world.

"This policy has led China to reach levels of development and governance that, we could say, no other country in the world has," Robaina said.

He said the Party has adopted what he called an "intelligent strategy" to consolidate its leadership role in reaching the country's development goals.

"Enforcing stricter discipline and better governance within the ranks of the Party will help further unite the country and allow China to achieve its social and economic development objectives, including eliminating poverty in rural areas," he said, adding these efforts are closely linked to other policies the Party and the government have set for the coming years.

Lauding the anti-corruption campaign initiated by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, the expert said: "It has brought positive results for the Party's own discipline to be strengthened, and in turn has served as an example for the society as a whole."

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Thursday called for more anti-corruption efforts to "fundamentally improve the political ecosystem of the Party" at a disciplinary session held in Beijing.

Speaking at the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, the general secretary emphasized that all-round efforts should see the Party's political building enhanced, its theory strengthened, its organizations consolidated, its conduct improved, and its discipline enforced.

"Only with discipline within the ranks of the CPC, good governance at all levels and an organization without the scourge of corruption can these goals be achieved," Robaina said, referring to the Party's resolve to get rid of the country's rural poverty by 2020, build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, as well as protect the environment while maintaining economic development.

He said that the Chinese leadership's efforts to build a party that is keen to meet people's needs are worthy of praise and very necessary for the development of China.

"The CPC and Xi Jinping are giving an example to the world showing how to build a society in the 21st century without resorting to the exploitation of men and a social system that seeks the best for all its citizens," he said.

Maintaining close ties with the people to resolve China's pressing concerns is a must for the CPC at a time when socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, the academic noted.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:20:29|Editor: pengying

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LUSAKA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. company plans to set up a plant to manufacture energy renewable products in Zambia which is currently in an energy deficit.

RD Global, which is working with the Japanese firm Mera Group Corporation, prefers Zambia as a destination of investment in the energy sector because of its geographical location in the southern African region, according to Rune Gunnar Dige, the company's global managing director.

Dige said the company wanted to use Zambia as a base to supply energy renewable products to other markets in the region.

The company official said this during a courtesy call on Zambia's Ambassador to the United States Ngosa Simbyakula. He said a company team was expected to arrive in Zambia this month to meet relevant stakeholders to begin working towards a full-scale entry into Zambia's market, said a statement issued by the Zambian embassy.

"With time, the intention is to develop an economic base in Zambia which will include an assembly factory, supporting neighboring markets with Solar LED charging solutions," Dige said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:20:29|Editor: Liangyu

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By Willey Penuela

CARACAS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's newly unveiled oil-backed crypto currency, the Petro, is poised to substantially boost revenues for the cash-strapped South American country, according to a Venezuelan expert.

Carlos Rivas, an expert specializing in the field of big data and digital trends, said that the Venezuelan government "could generate an initial sum of 5.7 billion U.S. dollars" that could help alleviate some of the country's pressing financial needs.

Additionally, the convertibility of the crypto currency "will lead to a progressive opening up of the currency exchange market," he said.

UNIQUE CURRENCY

In early December last year, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of a crypto currency backed by the world's largest oil reserves, as well as Venezuelan gold, gas and diamond deposits, to counter U.S. sanctions that choked off his country's access to dollars.

Crypto currencies are unique in a way with no direct intervention by any states, authorities, institutions or banks. Nor are they backed by gold or other physical assets. The crypto currency is also unique as the only virtual currency in circulation today that is backed by natural resources.

However, since the Petro was floated by Venezuela, it's likely to encounter a politically-motivated backlash, said Rivas.

"In the next few hours, a global campaign to discredit the Petro will be unleashed" to undermine confidence in the digital currency, he warned.

Still, "if the government simplifies its operations," the Petro's launch will be a total success, since "the markets are eager for assets," and the projected returns on crypto currencies by far surpass those on standard currencies, he said.

The Petro is bound to have a positive impact, leading to a sufficient initial influx of foreign capital to reactivate raw materials imports and supplies needed "to energize Venezuela's battered economy," said Rivas.

What's more, "if the government decides to promote the creation of online exchange houses to carry out transactions in the Petro and other crypto currencies, it could charge small commissions for each transaction and that represents an income," he added.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan economy, under the ruling socialist party, has been the target of global "financial persecution," which is not likely to change in the area of crypto currencies, the expert predicted.

"The administration of (U.S. President Donald) Trump will try to pressure exchange houses" that deal with digital currencies to boycott the Petro, said Rivas.

The currency may also become the target of hacking attempts, though tracking crytpo currency transactions is not easy, which is one of the advantages of the so-called blockchain system, he said.

One factor in the government's favor is timing, he noted, since it picked "the ideal time to launch a crypto currency (as) there's a global boom in the field."

Venezuela is set to host a national gathering of investors on Sunday to present a white paper on the Petro and its procedures.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:30:32|Editor: pengying

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NEW DELHI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and more than 10 others injured after a passenger bus fell off a bridge into a pond in the southern Indian state of Karnataka Saturday, police said.

The accident occurred near Karekere on national highway 75 in the state's Hassan district, some 250 km from Karnataka capital Bengaluru.

"The state-owned bus carrying 50 people, including a driver and a conductor, plunged into the pond after breaking the railing of the bridge this morning when its driver lost control of the speeding vehicle," a senior police official said.

While eight people, including two women, died on the spot, those injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, he said. "The driver also died in the accident," the official added.

The bus was on its way to Dharmastala from Bengaluru when the incident took place.

Preliminary probe revealed that the accident happened due to the negligence of the bus driver, the official said. "Anyway, we will wait for the final probe report after considering the eye-witness accounts of local residents," he added.

India has the highest number of road fatalities in the world. Road accidents occur mostly due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 13:30:33|Editor: pengying

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NEW DELHI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least five members of a family were charred to death Saturday in a devastating fire in India's western state of Rajasthan, police said.

The fire broke out in Jaipur city, the capital of Rajasthan.

"Early today at around 4:00 a.m. (local time) in a tragic fire incident five members of a family were killed," a police official said. "The fire broke out inside a house at Vidhyanagar locality."

Locals said they heard a sound of cylinder blast, which probably could have triggered the fire.

Police and fire service officials reached the spot soon after being informed by locals.

"Preliminary investigations reveal the fire was triggered due to the blast of domestic gas cylinder," a police official said. "We assume there was leak in the gas cylinder and some of the inmates might have switched on the light or power plug, causing the spark to trigger fire and blast in house."

According to officials it took around three hours for the firefighters to contain the fire from spreading in adjacent area.

Chances of fire in Indian villages and cites are usually high as people sometimes ignore safety standards and store fuel and combustible materials in a haphazard manner.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 14:00:41|Editor: Liangyu

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SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) offered to South Korea to hold talks about the dispatch of its art troupe to the 2018 Winter Olympics, Seoul's unification ministry said Saturday.

The DPRK proposed to South Korea holding a working-level dialogue on Jan. 15 in Tongilgak, a building controlled by the DPRK in the truce village of Panmunjom, to discuss the dispatch of its art troupe to the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics.

The proposal letter was sent to the South Korean side through the restored hotline of direct dialogue in Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

It was a counterproposal to South Korea's offer on Friday to hold working-level talks on Jan. 15 at the Peace House in the South Korean side of Panmunjom to discuss the dispatch of all delegations from the DPRK, including the art group.

The DPRK said it will notify South Korea of its proposed schedules for working-level dialogues about other issues such as the dispatch of athletes and cheering squads.

On Tuesday, the two Koreas held senior-level talks in Panmunjom, the first high-level dialogue between the two Koreas in about two years, agreeing that the DPRK will join the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in South Korea's eastern county of PyeongChang.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 14:00:42|Editor: pengying

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KABUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan National Police found 100 kg explosive materials and arrested two suspects in eastern side of Kabul, reported local media Ariana News TV Saturday.

"The seizure took place late Thursday night in Pul-i-Charkhi locality. The terrorists tried to transport the explosive together with nearly 3,000 time bomb fuse sets for using the materials in terrorist attacks," Haqnawaz Haqyar, deputy police chief of Kabul, was quoted in the report as saying.

The arrested were shifted to concerned department for questioning, according to the report.

The capital city with a population of nearly 5 million has been hit by series of terror attacks over the past couple of years.

On Jan. 4, 13 police were killed and 18 people were injured when a suicide bomber of Islamic State extremist group struck a protest along a road in central neighborhood of Kabul.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 14:20:44|Editor: pengying

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by Xinhua writers Zhai Wei, Shuai Rong

BRUSSELS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The post-Brexit budget of the European Union (EU) is to pose a test for its unity when the bloc is under pressure to draw its blueprint for the next multi-year financial framework after Britain leaves a big hole in it.

It is estimated that Britain, as a net contributor to the EU budget, will after its exit leave a shortfall of more than 12 billion euros (14.6 billion U.S. dollars) per year in the budget. With its current seven-year budget period ending in 2020, the EU's executive arm European Commission (EC) plans to present the blueprint of the next multi-year budget in May.

However, the pressure facing the EU is not confined to the reduced receipts by Brexit. The bloc has set new goals in areas such as migration, internal and external security, among others, incurring more expenditures. This may result in a much larger financial gap.

EC chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Jan. 8 called on the 27 members states to pay more money into the bloc's coffers. Juncker said the next EU budget should be more than 1 percent of the bloc's gross domestic product (GDP).

Juncker also implied there would be less money for some programs. The cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy (CAP) are likely to be the worst hit.

However, it's easier to be said than done. Either increasing contributions or scrapping projects may make some member states unhappy.

A financial reduction in cohesion policy may create a negative dynamic among the central and eastern European countries.

European media Euroactive reported the Hungarian and Polish governments on Monday expressed their readiness to contribute more to the next EU financial framework after Brexit but are not in favor of cuts in the cohesion policy spendings.

A polish official described planned cuts in cohesion policy as being "too simple," arguing the policy has proven its added value and "has a bright future" after reforms.

Under cohesion policy, there have been large amounts of money transferred from the richer west to eastern countries including Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

EU statistics show Poland is the biggest single beneficiary of EU budgets. Last year, it received 7.1 billion euros (8.7 billion dollars) more than it contributed to the EU budget. For the current seven-year budget period, such kind of fund transfers to EU's poor members are estimated to total 325 billion euros (396 billion dollars).

Richer members are expected to be reluctant. "I think it is unlikely that the net payers will be happy to fill this gap completely or unconditionally," said Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive and chief economist of the think tank European Policy Center.

It seems things will become more complicated when there are already tensions over migration and Poland's judicial overhaul between Brussels and the central and eastern European countries.

"The danger is that it creates further tension or fragmentation between the member states," said Zuleeg.

Juncker has voiced the hope for the EU member states to strike an agreement before the election of EU institutions in the spring of 2019.

The EU unity is expected to be strongly tested with budget negotiations likely to turn into a major political battle among members in the next months.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 14:20:44|Editor: pengying

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CANBERRA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Australian police have said they will monitor a meeting of a far-right group who has threatened to "take a stand on the streets" in response to Melbourne's African "gang crisis."

Members of the nationalist True Blue Crew will meet in Melbourne's south-east on Sunday to discuss possible action, according to posts on their public social media pages.

Police have said they will monitor the meeting but the group is keeping the location secret and will check the identification of attendees at the door.

The first part of the meeting will address the "lack of action by the courts," the group wrote on social media on Friday night.

"The 2nd part (of the meeting) is for those ready to take a stand on the streets, this part of the meeting isn't for the PC (politically correct) so keep that in mind."

The African gang issue has received national media attention ever since Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton attacked Victorian Premier over "weak" bail laws that allowed serial re-offenders back on the streets within days of being arrested.

Victoria Police has responded by establishing an African-Australian community taskforce to combat youth crime.

Despite establishing the taskforce Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton dismissed the suggestion that there was a gang crisis as "complete and utter garbage."

A spokesperson for Victoria Police said they were aware of the True Blue Crew meeting and planned to attend.

"As ever, we respect the rights of people to meet and air their views on political matters. We will not tolerate however any resulting acts of violence or antisocial behavior," they said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 14:25:45|Editor: pengying

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HAVANA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cuba and the United States Friday held a closed-door meeting in Washington to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation as part of limited government contacts since U.S. President Donald Trump set back bilateral relations last year.

According to Cuba's Foreign Ministry, delegations of both nations met in the U.S. capital where they "shared views on the importance of cooperation in this area" and agreed to hold future technical meetings on the topic.

"This meeting falls within the context of the law enforcement dialogue, which was established by both sides in November 2015," said an official release.

The Cuban delegation was composed of officials and representatives from the Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry as well as Communications Ministry.

Washington and Havana have reduced their cooperation meetings to a minimum after Trump decided to stop thawing ties between the two nations.

Relations have also been hampered by alleged "attacks" on U.S. diplomats in the island nation which led to the partial closure of the U.S. embassy in Havana and the expulsion of 15 Cuban diplomats in Washington.

Cuba Tuesday said the U.S. allegation was unacceptable and only served to impose an accusation without evidence.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 15:20:51|Editor: Zhou Xin

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HAVANA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's Foreign Ministry "strongly" condemned Friday night the "racist, denigrating and gross" statements by U.S. President Donald Trump on Haiti, El Salvador and African states.

"These statements, full of hatred and contempt, produce indignation in the Cuban people, proud of the contribution given throughout its history by nationals and their descendants from different latitudes, particularly Africans and Haitians, to the forging of our nationality," said the Ministry in an official statement.

The document stressed that Cuba joins the strong rejection that these statements have arouse around the world, and expresses its most heartfelt solidarity with all the offended countries.

According to The Washington Post, during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with U.S. senators to discuss the status of some immigrants in the country, President Trump described Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African countries as "shitholes."

The Post said that Trump rejected a bipartisan bill that would have restored protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and a handful of African countries.

The president reportedly questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa rather than nations like Norway.

His remarks have quickly spread around the world, provoking strong reactions, including those from the United Nations.

UN Spokesman Rupert Colville said Trump's comments, if confirmed, were "shocking and shameful" and opened the door to "humanity's worst side and go against universal values."

Trump on Friday denied describing certain nations as "shithole countries" after triggering international outrage.

In a series of tweets on Friday morning, Trump said the language used by him at the meeting was "tough, but this was not the language used," stressing that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians."

But Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the meeting, told MSNBC on Friday that Trump had used the slur to describe those countries.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 15:55:57|Editor: Zhou Xin

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KABUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Up to 26 armed insurgents have been killed and 16 injured since Afghan security forces launched operations across the country over the past 24 hours, the defense ministry said Saturday.

"The joint Afghan security forces also detained three suspected militants and those among the killed militants were 13 Islamic State fighters," the ministry said in a statement.

They also seized weapons and defused several roadside bombs and landmines planted by the militants, the statement added.

Afghan security forces and the NATO-led coalition troops have beefed up security operations and airstrikes as Taliban militants and Islamic State fighters are attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions during the winter in the mountainous country.

The militants responded by armed attacks and bombings.

On Friday night, five police personnel were killed and five others wounded after Taliban attacked police checkpoints in Imam Sahib district, northern Kunduz province, district administrative Chief Mahbubullah Sayyedi told Xinhua.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 16:21:02|Editor: Zhou Xin

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SUVA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Fijians turned out on Saturday in Nadi, Fiji's third largest city, in support of the Air Terminal Services (ATS) workers that have been locked out of their offices for 30 days after claiming poor working conditions and no pay rise for more than 10 years.

Fiji's Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rusiate Tudravu said in a statement that close to 200 police officers were deployed and monitoring the situation.

Fiji Trades Union Congress General Secretary Felix Anthony and union members organized the peaceful march for workers who have been locked out of their work place since Dec. 16 last year after they attended a shareholders meeting.

Anthony said he hoped the Fijian government would address the workers' plight after seeing the great turnout of those Fijians in support of the ATS employees.

Federated Airline Staff Association (FASA) President Sai Vulawalu Ledua thanked Fijians that travelled from all over the country to participate in the march.

Opposition leader and head of the Burebasaga Confederacy Ro Teimumu Kepa told media she supported the Air Terminal Services march.

ATS Chief Executive Officer Hare Mani has maintained that the union and management have taken important steps towards addressing the issues and concerns of the workers.

Fiji's Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Jone Usamate has called on both parties to commit to dialogue and to resolve their issues through discussion as the strike by ATS workers was illegal.

However, FASA claimed that they had followed all the legal requirements to take industrial action.

Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama had earlier stated that he feels sad to see that the interests of some unionists and politicians have been put ahead of many of Fijian people, particularly those working in Nadi.

ATS employees, under Air Terminal Services Employees Trust, own 49 percent shares in the company with the remaining shares belonging to the Fijian government through the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji. The company provides ground handling and inflight catering services.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 16:56:10|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ULANBATOR, Jan.13 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia on Saturday celebrated the 26th anniversary of the adoption of its modern constitution.

Miyegombyn Enkhbold, chair of the State Great Khural, Mongolia's unicameral parliament, and other members of parliament laid wreaths on the statue of Damdinii Sukhbaatar, a key figure in Mongolia's struggle for independence.

The celebrations also included traditional wrestling.

Mongolia introduced its first constitution in 1924. The current constitution, the fourth, was adopted on January 13, 1992, marking dramatic political reforms and the transition into a democratic society.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 17:06:13|Editor: Mengjie

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by Xinhua writer Xu Haijing

CANBERRA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Australia has been given a good chance to do some serious self-reflection with some South Pacific Islands leaders standing up to it on the issue of Chinese assistance to the region.

Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells earlier this week accused China of providing loans to Pacific nations on unfavorable terms and constructing "useless buildings" and "roads to nowhere" in the region.

The comments angered South Pacific Islands whose leaders strongly rebuked the criticism.

On Friday, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said Fierravanti-Wells' criticism is "insulting" to Pacific Islands leaders, and can "destroy" Australia's relationship with the region.

"To me the comments seem to question the integrity, wisdom and intelligence of the leaders of the Pacific Islands," Tuilaepa told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, demanding a formal apology from the minister.

Vanuatu's only daily newspaper, The Daily Post, also lashed out at Australia.

"Australia's major roads project in Vanuatu, proudly unveiled in 2013 by then Foreign Minister Bob Carr, is a laughing stock," the newspaper said on Friday.

"The government of Australia might want to put down those stones it's throwing at China and learn a thing or two from its own mistakes first. And talking over our heads about our shortcomings isn't going to win them many friends here, either," the newspaper said.

"If Australia is serious about helping, it should do more, do it better and gripe less," it added.

For some irresponsible Australian politicians, those words are a sharp reminder that they should stop behaving like an arrogant overlord and learn to treat their South Pacific neighbors as equals.

Australia has always regarded the South Pacific as its backyard and has been investing heavily across the region. But as a result of the huge deficits in its recent budgets, Australian foreign aid was among the first to get slashed.

Whether a building is useful and whether a road should be built and where, are for the recipient countries to decide according to their long-term interests.

Those Australian politicians should also stop their knee-jerk reaction to China and not let prejudice blind themselves to what China has done to help sustainable development and improve livelihoods in the region.

As a matter of fact, Tuilaepa came to the defense of Chinese assistance, saying it has proved crucial in his country's efforts to deal with the impact of climate change. He also said China was better placed to provide this assistance to Samoa than Australia.

He denied there was a strategic element in China's support, saying Beijing had not asked Samoa for access to ports or airports.

Even Fierravanti-Wells' countryman cannot agree with his "bizarre" comments.

John McCarthy, former Australian ambassador to the United States, Indonesia and Japan, called the minister's words "bizarre" in an opinion piece published in The Australian on Saturday.

"And if the Chinese are behaving badly, should we not hear from the islanders first? They are, after all, accepting the aid," he wrote.

For sure, pointing fingers at China would do neither Australia nor the Pacific countries any good. To improve the wellbeing of these islands, Australia could do much in cooperation with other international donors, including China, and it should do so.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 17:06:14|Editor: Lu Hui

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TEHRAN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the Islamic republic will never succumb to pressure of the United States to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal.

The U.S. President Donald Trump once again had to extend waivers that are mandatory under the deal reached between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The solidity of Iran and international support for the agreement have blocked attempts by Trump and Israel to terminate this agreement or make changes to it, said the statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran stresses clearly that it will not take any measures beyond its commitment to the JCPOA, nor will it accept changes to this agreement now or any time in the future. It also will not allow the JCPOA to be linked to any other issue," it said.

Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening U.S. withdrawal from the landmark pact unless U.S. Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Calling it "a last chance," Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Trump has constantly criticized the pact inked between the six world powers, namely China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and Iran in 2015, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, U.S. Department of Treasury said on Friday that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 17:21:18|Editor: Mengjie

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JUBA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's main rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO), on Saturday commenced its official release of prisoners of war (PoWs) captured during four years of violence.

The SPLA-IO deputy spokesman Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel said their leader and former First Vice President Riek Machar ordered the release of PoWs being held by the group.

"The chairman and commander in chief of the SPLM/A -IO Riek Machar has officially directed the SPLA-IO forces to release all PoWs and Political detainees as mentioned in the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement effective on 09/01/2018," Gabriel said in a statement.

He disclosed that the SPLA-IO Sector Seven in Western Bar El Ghazal region through its command structure on Jan. 11 handed over three detainees to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

This came after the 14-day deadline agreed in the CoH by the warring parties in December 21 last year, in Addis Ababa on the release of PoWs being held on both sides elapsed last week amid intermittent fighting between the groups in violation of the cease-fire.

The agreement also called on the warring parties to surrender children enlisted or recruited in their ranks to the UN children's agency (UNICEF) in the stipulated period.

However, the South Sudan government denies holding any more PoWs and political detainees following the Presidential directive since 2017 that saw some of the political detainees released.

The rebel spokesman also revealed that government troops attacked them on Friday in another round of fresh clashes in Pakuah between Malakal and Tonga with the intention to capture Tonga but the South Sudan army denies attacking the rebel positions.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy turned rebel chief Machar led to split within the SPLA, leaving soldiers to fight alongside ethnic lines.

The 2015 peace agreement to end the conflict was weakened after outbreak of renewed fighting in July 2016 caused the SPLA-in opposition rebel leader Machar to flee the capital.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 17:26:19|Editor: Mengjie

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NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- With New York City filing a lawsuit against some oil companies for allegedly contributing to global warming, some experts are expecting it to build momentum inside the U.S., while the affected firms are calling it a ploy to politicize climate change.

New York City Wednesday announced it had filed a lawsuit against the five largest oil companies for contributing to global warming.

"The City will be seeking damages from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell for the billions of dollars the City will spend to protect New Yorkers from the effects of climate change," a statement from the mayor's office said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer also announced that they would divest the city's five pension funds of roughly 5 billion U.S. dollars in fossil fuel investments. The funds together are worth 189 billion dollars.

"Pension funds of other major US cities will follow," Jeffrey Sachs, an economist at New York's Columbia University, told The Guardian.

Since the lawsuit could take years to resolve, John Hopkins University's economist Paul Ferraro said the act could be seen as "a tool of collective action that can politically isolate companies."

The oil companies, on the other hand, called the suit a political "conspiracy".

Exxon said Monday that "a collection of special interests and opportunistic politicians are abusing law enforcement authority and legal process to impose their viewpoint on climate change."

A spokesperson for Chevron said the lawsuit will "do nothing to address the serious issue of climate change," The New York Times reported.

Linda Kelly, senior vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, called the suit "part of a deep-rooted, politically motivated campaign to undermine manufacturing in America," Bloomberg reported.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 17:46:22|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen (1st L) is greeted by cyclo drivers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jan. 13, 2018. Hun Sen on Saturday hosted a lunch for the first time for 308 cyclo operators and launched a Cyclo Foundation. Cyclo is a three-wheeled bicycle-propelled rickshaw that the driver perches on high above the rear wheel, and the passengers in a bucket seat slung between the two front wheels. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Saturday hosted a lunch for the first time for 308 cyclo operators and launched a Cyclo Foundation.

Cyclo is a three-wheeled bicycle-propelled rickshaw that the driver perches on high above the rear wheel, and the passengers in a bucket seat slung between the two front wheels.

It used to be a popular mode of transport during the French colonial rule about a century ago, but it's now on the brink of disappearance since people have chosen to travel by a modern and faster means of transport such as taxi and motorized rickshaws.

Speaking before having lunch with them in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen encouraged local authorities to pay attention to conserve cyclos and called on tourists and passengers to ride cyclos, saying that riding cyclos would help reduce environmental pollution.

"According to the history, His Majesty (late) King Norodom Sihanouk, when he ruled the country, considered cyclos as a Cambodia's national identity and called for cyclo conservation," the prime minister said.

"Previously, there were more than 10,000 cyclos, now the number of cyclos has dropped to more than 300," he said.

Meanwhile, the prime minister launched a Cyclo Foundation to support the cyclo operators and he made the first donation of 125,000 U.S. dollars to the foundation and pledged another 240,000 U.S. dollars to the foundation every year.

On the occasion, government officials and prominent tycoons also donated a total of 253,000 U.S. dollars to the foundation.

"According to my estimation, the foundation needs between 240,000 and 300,000 U.S. dollars a year," Hun Sen said.

All cyclo drivers would receive 7,000 riel (1.75 U.S. dollars) a day from the foundation, he said, adding that they would also receive free medical checkup and treatment at all state hospitals.

"I hope that the living conditions of the cyclo operators will be much better than before," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 18:01:26|Editor: Mengjie

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ISLAMABAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Coast Guards on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle 400 kg of narcotics worth Rs. 3.5 billion (around 32 million U.S. dollars) in the international market in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, state-run broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

Pakistan Coast Guards conducted an intelligence- based operation in the open sea near Pasni, a small city in the province, and recovered the narcotics from a boat, said a press release of the coast guards.

Meanwhile, the coast guards also recovered another 300 grams of contraband from a vehicle in a separate operation and arrested four persons during checking on the Nilent check post near Gwadar, a port city on the southwestern coast of Balochistan province.

The vehicle of the suspects was also taken into custody. Further investigation is underway, said local police officials.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 18:51:33|Editor: Zhou Xin

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TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces Saturday launched an operation to restore security and order in the ethnically-mixed city of Tuz-Khurmato in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

Commandos of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and provincial elite police force of Rapid Response forces, were deployed in the entrances and main streets of Tuz-Khurmato, some 90 km east of Salahudin's capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops, backed by armored vehicles, "carried out a search campaign in the city looking for unlicensed weapons after the town witnessed chaos and bomb attacks against houses of Kurds," the source said.

On Oct. 16, most of the Kurds left their houses in the city after they lost their power and influence in the city as the Iraqi security forces fully redeployed in Tuz-Khurmato following the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, at the same day when the Iraqi forces redeployed on the nearby oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

The Kurds' houses, apparently, were attacked by their rivals paramilitary Hashd Shaabi of Turkoman minority, according to the source.

"Unlicensed weapons will be confiscated and no one will be allowed to carry arms at all, except for the security forces," the source said, adding that the forces have lists of wanted suspects.

Meanwhile, The troops are preparing for another operation in an area located in east of the nearby Tuz-Khurmato mountain, where the Iraqi forces believe that some militias are carrying out almost daily mortar attacks on the city that killed and wounded dozens of people during the past few months, the source added.

Earlier in the month, the Turkoman Member of Parliament Jasim Mohammed Jaafar from the leading Shiite parliamentary bloc of National Alliance, accused Kurdish militants of carrying out series of mortar attacks on the city.

"These mortar rounds were launched by Kurdish gangs," Jaafar said, demanding reinforcement of federal troops to be dispatched immediately to stop such attacks on civilians.

The ethnically-mixed city of Tuz-Khurmato is mostly made up of Turkoman Shiite as well as sizable Kurdish and Sunni Arab population.

Previously, the city witnessed repeated clashes between the Kurds and Shiite militias, as the city and surrounding areas are part of the disputed areas outside the Kurdistan region, which are claimed by the Kurds and both Arabs and Turkomans. The Kurds want to incorporate the areas on the edge of their Kurdistan region, but their move is fiercely opposed by Baghdad government and non-Kurdish residents.

The operation came as tensions are running high between Baghdad government and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 19:01:35|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Experts and special guests attend a ceremony marking the return of eight fossils from Europe, at a paleontological museum in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 13, 2018. Eight fossils of dinosaurs and a bird dating back at least 125 million years have been returned to China from Europe. Originally found in the province, the fossils went overseas for one reason or another, but in 2017, a French fossil collector decided to return them to China. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

SHENYANG, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Eight fossils of dinosaurs and a bird dating back at least 125 million years have been returned to China from Europe.

On Saturday, the fossils, including seven of dinosaurs with feathers and one of a primitive bird, went on display at a paleontological museum in northeast China's Liaoning Province. They were originally found in the province.

The fossils went overseas for one reason or another, but in 2017, a French fossil collector decided to return them to China.

"The eight fossils are significant in research about the origin of birds and the relations between dinosaurs and birds," said paleontologist Sun Ge.

Dinosaur expert Xu Xing said that the fossils are an indicator that dinosaurs could have developed feathers in their early stage, and that one branch of them could have grown smaller and smaller, before eventually evolving into birds.

Since a fossil protection regulation went into effect in 2011, more than 5,000 fossils taken overseas have been returned to China.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 19:51:45|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ANKARA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish EU Minister Omer Celik said that Turkey will not accept a "privileged partnership" with the EU, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Saturday.

Speaking in an interview with local news channel Haberturk on Friday, Celik said, "If we are offered a privileged partnership, we will not even consider it."

"No one can offer a second-class status to Turkey in its EU relations," he stressed.

The minister's comments came after German politicians recently proposed the "privileged partnership" for Turkey, instead of full EU membership.

Turkey had applied for the EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

Ties between Ankara and the EU have been strained since the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt. The EU insists on Turkey to change its anti-terror law to benefit a lingering visa-free travel deal.

Ankara has repeatedly criticized the EU's lack of solidarity with the Turkish people against the failed coup attempt and double standards in fight against terrorism.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 19:56:47|Editor: Zhou Xin

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DHAKA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Customs officials at Bangladesh's main airport in Dhaka seized gold bars weighing about 11 kg, from a Japanese national who arrived here by a local Regent Airways flight from Singapore, an official said Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, Saidul Islam, a senior customs official, told journalists that they detained the Japanese national identified as Kengo Shibata with the gold bars worth about 55 million taka (about 662,650 U.S. dollars) on early Saturday.

The man was arrested when he was crossing green channel at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in capital Dhaka at around 12:40 a.m. local time Saturday and found the gold bars, each weighing one kg, he said.

According to the official, the Japanese man will be handed over to the police.

Sources said organized gangs of local smugglers having link with their foreign sidekicks have been increasingly using Bangladesh as a transit for the illegal transportation of gold, foreign currencies, contraband drug and medicines.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:06:48|Editor: Zhou Xin

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A relative of Palestinian fisherman Abdullah Zeidan mourns during his funeral in Gaza City on Jan 13, 2018. Abdullah Zeidan, 32, who was shot Friday night by Egyptian navy forces in southern Gaza Strip, died in a hospital in Rafah town in Gaza Saturday morning, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)

GAZA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian fisherman, who was shot Friday night by Egyptian navy forces in southern Gaza Strip, died in a hospital in Rafah town in Gaza Saturday morning, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Abdullah Zeidan, 32, was shot and critically wounded by the Egyptian soldiers as he was fishing near the southern border town of Rafah between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Egyptian officials have not yet made immediate comment on the incident.

The Fishermen Union in the coastal enclave has announced a suspension of fishing work in the region to protest over the shooting of Zeidan, who was also a father of five.

Around 3,000 fishermen are currently working in the strip under tight restrictions imposed by the Israeli government, including diminishing the fishing area to six miles and constant arrest of fishermen, according to the union.

Gaza fishermen have complained about the limited fishing zone as it is not big enough to meet the demand of the 2 million population in the coastal strip.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:11:50|Editor: Zhou Xin

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CAPE TOWN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Saturday celebrated its 106th anniversary, vowing to rebuild itself from factionalism and corruption.

Thousands of ANC supporters gathered at the Absa Stadium in East London, Eastern Cape Province at a rally attended by the ANC's top leadership, led by newly elected ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa.

President Jacob Zuma attended the event as an ex officio member of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC).

The celebration took place amid growing calls for Zuma to resign. Zuma has been criticized for his role as the former ANC president, which has led to erosion of people's confidence in the organization haunted by factionalism and corruption.

Delivering his first January 8 statement in celebration of the ANC's 106th anniversary, Ramaphosa said structures of the movement have been weakened and confidence of the people in the ANC has been eroded. January 8 marks the day the ANC was formed.

The development of social distance between elected leaders and the electorate has damaged the bond between the ANC and the people, Ramaphosa noted.

Stressing the importance of reconnecting the ANC with the people, Ramaphosa said the organization belongs to the people of South Africa and is the Parliament of the people.

"As we take this ANC into an era of unity, an era of renewal, an era of service to the people and our country, we take this opportunity to reaffirm the ANC's commitment to the values and the principles to which so many of our legends dedicated their lives," he said.

This was an occasion to unite, renew and rebuild the ANC, the oldest liberation movement on the African continent, said Ramaphosa.

The ANC leadership will be working to unite the party in action and desist from doing anything that would demise the movement, Ramaphosa pledged.

The ANC, Ramaphosa said, will renew its focus on rebuilding society and to rid the country of poverty.

"We shall redouble our efforts to build a society in which black poverty and white privilege are consigned to the past, replaced by solidarity," Ramaphosa said.

The ANC will take every step and measure to implement every resolution passed at the party's 54th conference in December last year, he said.German Chancellor and leader of German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel (C) shakes hands with leader of German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz (R) after a joint press conference at the headquarters of SPD, in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

by Ren Ke

BERLIN, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The exploratory talks for German government coalition reached breakthrough on Friday, which will probably end the political uncertainty in Berlin and give strong support to European Union through closer cooperation with France.

After the overnight talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) and Martin Schulz-led Social Democratic Party (SPD), reached a 28-page agreement outlining the policies of the future new government on Friday morning.

It paves the way to formal coalition negotiations that will end government vacuum lasting for over three months since September 24 federal elections, and the new policies will be a strong boost to EU after the Brexit.

CONVERGING DIFFERENCES

"I walked into this house over 24 hours ago -- then, I was not sure that it would succeed, and I was only sure that it was a pretty big mission," Merkel said at a press conference at SPD headquarter Willy-Brandt Haus on Friday after the talks.

Schulz said at the press conference that the paper reflects the desire for renewal, in families, education and the digital challenge, adding social cohesion must be strengthened.

CSU chief Horst Seehofer said he was "highly satisfied" with the outcomes, adding no additional party congress for CSU is necessary to confirm its support for the Grand Coalition, the one between the Union and the SPD.

According to German Press Agency, the SPD board voted by a large majority for coalition negotiations, and the CDU board and the CSU regional group approved unanimously.

The three parties managed to control their differences and reach the compromise. For instance, the refugees will be limited to between 180,000 and 220,000 per year, while previously the Union agreed to limit it up to 200,000 and the SPD opposed to set a cap on it.

The SPD made compromise in supporting refugees' family reunion. The family reunion for refugees with limited protection status will initially remain suspended until a new regulation is found, and then limited to 1,000 people per month, according to the policy paper.

The increase demanded by the SPD of the top tax rate will not come, as no tax increases is stipulated in the policy paper.

Schulz said the SPD achieved excellent results, and Merkel said it was "a paper of giving and taking."

MAKING EUROPE STRONG AGAIN

"The three parties are ready to make Europe strong again," said Schulz at the press conference.

The first chapter of the document was dedicated to European policies, which stresses the German-Franco initiative in European integration and says Germany wants to develop the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a parliamentary-controlled European Monetary Fund.

"We are also ready for higher contributions from Germany to the EU budget," says the paper, adding that Germany is to be actively involved in the debate on the future of the European Union (EU) and strengthening European integration.

The two parties also stress Europe's role in peace and global responsibility in the document, clearly rejecting protectionism, isolationism and nationalism and calling for more international cooperation.

The document stipulates that the EU must play a leading international role in climate protection and advocate an ambitious implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The policy paper is the first response to French President Emmanuel Macron's ambition for profound changes of EU in post-Brexit area, saying that "the renewal of the EU will only succeed if Germany and France work together with all their strength. That is why we want to further strengthen and renew German-French cooperation."

"It's a good news for European integration, as France and other EU major countries are waiting for Germany to have opinions on it, and on some points like stronger European common budget, is really a big astonishment for me," Prof. Frank Baasner, director of Ludwigsburg-based think-tank German-French Institute, told Xinhua.

Baasner said in the context of the right-populism, the Brexit and an isolationist United States, Europeans are discussing how and where will they go. It is now a strong moment that both France and Germany want to come to some major steps.

"Although it's often that ambition is very strong and when it comes to details there are huge differences between France and Germany. But let's be optimistic, it's a really good start to discuss the future of Europe," said Baasner.

EUROPEAN LEADERS HAIL

The results of the coalition talks were quickly responded positively by major European leaders, who have been waiting impatiently for a new German government, as the biggest Eurozone economy plays a leading role in EU affairs.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hailed as "positive" plans for Europe in a deal that brings Merkel a step closer to forming a coalition government.

"I am very satisfied with the content," Juncker told a press conference in Bulgaria on Friday, describing the deal's section on the future of the EU as a "very significant, positive, constructive, forward-looking, purposeful contribution."

French President Macron said he was "happy and satisfied" that a coalition deal was in sight, and a French government spokesman said the blueprint was "good for Germany, good for France and above all good for Europe."

He said the terms of the deal were "more favorable" for his vision of a reformed EU than a separate agreement that was discussed and abandoned between the Union and the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) in November last year.

The Union-SPD talks came into existence after the Union, the FDP and the Greens failed to reach an agreement in later November, dragging Merkel into the most serious political crisis in 12 years.

HURDLES EXIST

The breakthrough in exploratory talks may avoid a minority government led-by Merkel or snap elections, but the new government can only be established after some procedures, and even obstacles.

The SPD will convene a special congress on Jan. 21 in Bonn to decide whether to enter into the formal coalition talks or not. The formal coalition talks need the green-light to kick off.

The Social Democrats previously opposed to ally with the Union again and vowed to enter into opposition but changed its attitude under heavy social and political pressure.

However, the SPD's youth and left-wing factions have renewed calls that the SPD should not enter into another coalition with Merkel, which had made it suffer the landslide loss in federal elections. They feared of the party being further minimalized under the Union.

The conclusion of the formal coalition talks will also be submitted to SPD's 440,000-plus members to vote on.

Seehofer said last week that he hoped a new government would be in place before Easter, which falls on April 1.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:41:54|Editor: Mengjie

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by Tao Jun, Bui Long

HANOI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A middle-aged Vietnamese woman is gazing at popups on her laptop featuring outbound tours during Tet, the Lunar New Year festival.

She is one of many who are planning to run away from mundane choirs to exotic destinations.

Many outbound tours, including those to China, during Tet, which falls in mid-February, have been almost fully booked, because more and more Vietnamese visitors prefer international destinations, leading local travel agencies said on Friday.

"Our week-long tour to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou starting on Lunar New Year's Eve (Feb. 15) has only four berths for booking," the Viet Media Travel Corporation told Xinhua on Friday, noting that the tour price is 22 million Vietnamese dong (973 U.S. dollars).

Viet Media Travel is also offering a four-day tour to Beijing departing from Ho Chi Minh City on Feb. 14 (two days before Tet) at a price of 12 million Vietnamese dong (530 U.S. dollars). A similar tour to Beijing, but starting on Feb. 13, has already been fully booked.

"Regarding Beijing, many Vietnamese people, both young and old, like to visit, climb and walk along the Great Wall, witness the traditional architecture and antiques in the Forbidden City and enjoy eating and shopping at Wangfujing," the corporation said.

Tours to China offered by other local travel agencies are also selling like hot cakes. Some agencies even said that if Vietnamese, Chinese and other foreign airlines had more flights to China, they will offer more China-bound tours.

"Depending on the availability of flights to China, we will offer tours to farther destinations in March or April," Gia Linh, a salesperson from the Fiditour Joint Stock Company, told Xinhua on Friday. She added that tours to nearby destinations have already been fully booked.

Vietnam will launch more direct air routes to Chinese cities, including Chongqing, Dalian, Haikou, Wuhan and Ningbo, by 2020, according to a scheme on developing direct air routes between Vietnam and key countries and regions in the world recently approved by the Vietnamese government.

China Eastern Airlines, which operates more than 20 direct routes between China and Vietnam with 60 regular flights a week, currently focuses on routes between Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and China's Shanghai and Kunming.

There are also regular routes between Vietnam's central Da Nang City and Kunming and Beijing, as well as between Vietnam's capital city Hanoi and Kunming, said the airlines' representative in Vietnam.

Fiditour said it expected a 30-percent rise in the number of bookings for Tet tours, including inbound and outbound ones. To date, the bookings have reached 75 percent of its tours planned for the Lunar New Year.

Another Vietnamese tourism company, Vietravel, said it had sold 65 percent of its outbound tours and 55 percent of domestic tours for Tet.

This year, Vietravel is organizing outbound tours via charter flights from Ho Chi Minh City to China's Ningbo, Thailand's Phuket and Chiang Mai, and Japan's Fukushima.

According to many Vietnamese people, they will opt for tours for the upcoming Tet holiday instead of staying at home as with years past.

"Tet is a great occasion for families to get together and for visiting relatives. But the whole family can spend time together together at a tourist attraction and enjoy exotic landscapes and food there, while avoiding anything humdrum," said Phi Thi Nguyet, who works at the call center of My Dinh Taxi Company in Hanoi.

"With a limited budget, during this Tet, my family can afford a tour to Thailand or Cambodia. If our company offers us a big Tet bonus, we will book a tour to China because we admire the beauty of Chinese architecture and arts," she smiled.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Tourism Association, 6.5 million Vietnamese people toured overseas in 2016, up 15 percent compared to 2015, and spent seven to eight billion U.S. dollars there. Their favorite destinations include China, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

In recent years, long-haul tours to Europe, the United States and Australia have also been luring more and more Vietnamese visitors.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:46:56|Editor: Zhou Xin

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NICOSIA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A British court in London has allowed a group of Cypriot anticolonial fighters to pursue a court case against the British government demanding compensation for torture about 60 years ago, one of the group said on Saturday.

The court case was filed by 34 elderly Greek Cypriots, who as young men were tortured by members of the British colonial military and administration when fighting a guerilla war for the liberation of the eastern Mediterranean island from 1955-1959.

The fighting came to be known as the EOKA (Greek acronym for the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle) uprising.

Cyprus became an independent state named Republic of Cyprus in 1960.

Thasos Sofocleous, the President of the EOKA Fighters Association, told Xinhua that the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday rejected an attempt by the British government to block the progress of the case by asking that the case be tried under Cypriot law.

That would mean that the case had to be thrown out as the Cypriot Law on limitation allows a case to be filed in court within a period of 35 years from the event. The British law is more flexible on limitation.

"The Court rejected the petition by the British government and said that the British law was applicable, as Cyprus did not even exist as a state at the time of the EOKA fighting," Sofocleous said.

"To its credit, the court said that the British state should not be allowed to escape liability and should be held to account for acts of violence against its citizens in its own courts and by its own law," Sofocleous added, quoting information from the group's lawyers.

The Greek Cypriots filed the case in 2015, after the British Foreign Office released documents in 2012 mentioning claims of torture and abuse during the EOKA insurgency.

"This is an important victory for us, but there is long way ahead before we are vindicated," Sofocleous said.

Kenyan Mau-Mau fighters who were also fighting the British some years before the Cypriot liberation struggle and had also been tortured have won a court case in which they were awarded several million of pounds sterling in compensation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:46:56|Editor: Lu Hui

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (not seen) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Vulgar comments attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump has caused ourage across Africa.

Trump reportedly used the word "shithole" to describe African countries, Haiti and El Salvador while discussing immigration issues with U.S. lawmakers on Thursday.

Speaking to Xinhua, Abebe Ayente, senior researcher at Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies (EFRSS), a local think thank, said the comments will further reduce the influence of U.S. at global stage.

Trump issued a statement on Friday denying the vulgar words attributed to him, though he admitted to using strong language in the Thursday discussion.

Trump's alleged remarks have caused outrage across the world with officials in African, European, Latin American countries and UN expressing condemnation and summoning U.S. diplomats in protest.

Ayene said the undiplomatic word used by the U.S. President that shocked the diplomatic community across the globe will likely have a long-lasting impact.

The African Union (AU) issued a statement on Friday evening calling Trump's reported remarks outrageous and hurtful.

"While expressing shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes there's a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current administration. There is a serious need for dialogue between the U.S. Administration and the African countries," said the AU statement.

It further called for the U.S. President to issue an apology for the hurtful remarks not only to Africans but people of African descent across the globe.

"The African Union condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology to not only Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe," further read the AU statement.

Nevertheless, aware the U.S. is still a powerful military and economic power, the AU statement called for continued strategic partnership with the U.S.. But it emphasized that such a partnership should be based on mutual respect and accepted international principles of respect of basic human dignity.

AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo pointed out the U.S. role in the Atlantic slave trade, as an example of how African countries Trump described in contemptuous terms were exploited in a shameful manner.

She added the purported statement was particularly unfortunate coming from a leader of country that describes itself as a global example of a successful migrant nation.

Botswana's government on Friday condemned Trump's reported disparaging remarks about developing countries, calling on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union and all other progressive nations across the world to strongly condemn the remarks.

In South Africa, a senior official of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said Trump was "extremely offensive" when he used the term "shithole countries" to describe developing countries.

Developing countries do have difficulties, but they are not "shithole countries," said ANC Deputy General Secretary Jessie Duarte, calling Trump's remarks as "unfortunate."

"Ours is not a shithole country, neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," said Duarte.

The United States itself has its own problems such as unemployment among millions of people, inequality and non-access to healthcare for many poor people, Duarte said.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (not seen) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

CAPE TOWN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Friday rebuked U.S. President Donald Trump's "shithole" remarks about developing countries.

Trump was "extremely offensive" when he used the term "shithole countries" to describe developing countries, ANC Deputy General Secretary Jessie Duarte told reporters in East London, Eastern Cape Province, where the ANC is to hold its 106th anniversary celebration on Saturday.

The U.S. leader has been under fire at home and abroad after he reportedly referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries" during a meeting on an immigration deal with a group of bipartisan lawmakers at the White House on Thursday. But Trump later denied calling countries in Africa and elsewhere "shithole countries," saying he used tough language but not the pejorative expression attributed to him.

Trump's denial, however, failed to alleviate outrage among developing countries.

Developing countries do have difficulties, but they are not "shithole countries," Duarte said, while calling Trump's remarks as "unfortunate."

"Ours is not a shithole country, neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," said Duarte.

The United States itself has its own problems such as unemployment among millions of people, inequality and non-access to healthcare for many poor people, Duarte said.

The ANC, Duarte said, will not deign to make comments as derogatory as Trump's to describe the United States.

The ANC is not in a position to stop any president from any country from saying anything they wish, she said.

South Africans went on the social media to vent their outrage over Trump's remarks.

Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane tweeted that Trump's "abhorrent" remarks confirm his patronizing view of Africa and promote a racist agenda.

"Africa/U.S. relations will take strain from this, with a leader who has failed to reconcile humanity," Maimane said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 20:56:58|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ANKARA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish nationalist movement in Parliament has announced that it will unconditionally back President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the crucial upcoming presidential elections which would grant him formally sweeping powers approved in last year's referendum.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Leader Devlet Bahceli announced on Monday that his party will have no nominee for the 2019 presidential election and that they will support the re-election of Erdogan.

"MHP will have no candidate for the presidency," said Bahceli told journalists in Ankara, adding that his party will support Erdogan.

The next day he went even further offering an unlimited credit to Erdogan and said that the MHP's support will continue five years after the elections in order "to consolidate a national government."

A FIRST IN MODERN HISTORY

It's the first time in modern political history of Turkey that an opposition party offers that kind of support to a ruling party, a move that has stunned both the government and the opposition.

However, Bahceli's declaration hardly came as a surprise as his formation realigned itself with Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), after the failed coup of July 2016 aiming to topple the government.

The 2019 elections are scheduled to be held no later than November 3 and the newly-elected president will assume the role of the prime minister, as Turkey shifts to a presidential system after a referendum organized in April 2016 and narrowly won by Erdogan. Local and parliamentary elections will also be held in 2019.

MHP is a nationalist opposition party, having 36 out of 550 seats in Turkish parliament. The party lost significant blood as dissident members found a new party, Iyi Parti (Good Party), which is credited of around 15 percent of votes, according to latest surveys, and could play a deal-breaking role at the elections.

"Bahceli openly declared that his MHP would no longer run for power, but will instead prefer to be an associate of the government," told Xinhua Serkan Demirtas, Ankara office head of the Hurriyet Daily News.

According to this political commentator, this move "could well hasten the process of MHP's melting within the AKP" in a foreseeable future.

Bahceli's and his party's support for Erdogan contradicts past statements he has made about the president. He had repeatedly said that Erdogan is not fit for presidency. Erdogan and Bahceli were constantly trashing each other in front of their supporters and cameras.

"Erdogan is not fit to be the president, as fire is not ignited in the water," said Bahceli at a party convention in 2014.

Erdogan won nearly 52 percent of the vote in the 2014 presidential elections. He and the AKP have enjoyed support in large cities like Ankara and Istanbul, both in elections and the 2017 referendum that greatly empowered the presidency, weakened the prime ministry, allowed the president to remain party leader, and allowed Erdogan to possibly stay in office until 2029.

"DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL ALLIANCE"

Erdogan hailed the "national stance" taken by the MHP, noting that "those who aim to divide the nation will not achieve their ambitions." He named the alliance as "domestic and national."

Demirtas argued that the political objective of Bahceli is to depict the main opposition party, the social democratic Republican People's Party, the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) and the Iyi Parti as an "opposition alliance" that draws support from the followers of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric based in the U.S., blamed of being the mastermind of the botched coup.

President Erdogan doesn't miss a chance of branding any form of opposition to his regime as "other powers" and his narrative is always in the line of "us vs. them."

Bahceli is also looking to fend off a challenge from Meral Aksener, a prominent nationalist who is the leader of Iyi Party.

"We are aiming to reach towards the grassroots of the AKP at the next elections, we know that there are many sensible people inside this party who are concerned by the ever growing executive ambitions of Erdogan," said to Xinhua an official of Iyi Party on the condition of anonymity.

According to pro-government experts, this unprecedented nationalist alliance will force the anti-Erdogan opposition to move towards a similar partnership ahead of the elections.

"The MHP's decision to support the AKP will urge parties from the other bloc to seek an alliance among themselves," said Nebi Mis, academic at Sakarya University, quoted by the Sabah daily.

But he also underlined the difficulties in doing so because "they have different ideologies, it won't be easy for them."

"This is the most important and largest association in our history both in terms of timing and in terms of its nature. Such an effective alliance has never taken place in the recent history of the Republic of Turkey," said for his part television commentator and journalist Avni Ozgurel.

MHP and AKP have formed several committees to work towards amending the current political and election law which prohibits the existing political parties from entering elections together while keeping their political institutional identity separate.

The combative Aksener repeatedly said that she would challenge Erdogan at the presidential elections, but to do so she also technically needs the support of the CHP, said experts.

The CHP hasn't yet nominated a figure politically strong enough to challenge AKP. And its chairman, the 68-year-old Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who never won an election, is largely not considered as a likely contender.South Sudan's Health Minister Riek Gai Kok (L) talks with Zhang Yi, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan during a tour of the China-aided project for expansion and modernization of Juba Teaching Hospital in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Jan. 5, 2018. Riek Gai Kok on Friday hailed China's continued efforts to support the country' health sector. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)

NAIROBI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday handed over 24 containers of medical supplies worth over 10 million U.S. dollars to support a South Sudan government health initiative.

"China is unconditionally helping us to implement our government policy of providing universal health care to all citizens of South Sudan," said Riek Gai Kok, South Sudan's Minister for Health, in Juba.

"They have introduced to us the concept of 'barefoot doctor' system as one of the ways to deliver service to the people," said the minister.

The minister hailed Chinese government for standing in solidarity with people of South Sudan despite years of conflict.

Kok explained that China responded to the Boma Health Initiative because the ruling party and China shared a determined vision of improving the welfare of South Sudanese people.

The health initiative aims to extend quality health services to the communities where all can access worthy medical services at the grassroots level and has similarities with the traditional Chinese barefoot doctors system that was initiated with basic component of disease prevention and awareness creation at the community levels.

Jemma Nunu Kumba, the Minister for Wildlife and Tourism, said the implementation of the program will resonate with her party's vision, mission and objective of providing healthcare to all.

"Primary healthcare is a big challenge and we laud China for helping translate our party policy into government program," said the minister.

She said the Boma Health Initiative is a government plan to extend good health services to the communities where all can access quality medical service at the grassroots level.

Chinese doctors in South Sudan distribute Christmas gifts to Juba Orphanage Home in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Dec. 20, 2017. Chinese medical team in South Sudan on Wednesday donated stationery, shoes, balloons, balls and sweets to 52 orphans living at the government-aided facility. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)

"The Boma Health Initiative, which is similar to Chinese 'Barefoot doctors systems' during 19th century, was initiated with basic component of disease prevention and awareness creation at the community's levels," said Kumba.

Chinese Ambassador He Xiangdong said medical personnel cannot be successful in their work if they are not fully equipped with medical supplies, equipment and the necessary tools.

"For that very reason, we have brought this assistance in order for doctors in South Sudan to have their own armaments to fight diseases amongst the citizens," He said.

The Chinese envoy said China will always support the South Sudanese government in areas of health, humanitarian and education as the country works towards achieving sustainable peace.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 21:22:02|Editor: Zhou Xin

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JUBA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's international peace partners, the United States, Britain and Norway, have condemned ceasefire violations after both parties signed the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) in December last year.

In a joint statement issued in Juba on Saturday, the Troika group of international partners called on all parties to immediately and fully implement the CoH in letter and spirit and ensure humanitarian access throughout the country.

"The Troika has seen strong evidence of violations of the CoH by Government of South forces in Unity State and by forces associated with opposition groups, including Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), in Unity State and the Greater Upper Nile region, as witnessed by ceasefire monitors," it said.

The Western nations said they are seriously concerned by continuing reports of the movement of forces by all sides in violation of the CoH which was inked in Ethiopia on December 21, 2017, including the movement this week of hundreds of government troops into Jonglei state.

The Troika also noted with grave concern the strong evidence from multiple sources linking the attacks in Gudele, Jubek State, on Jan. 4 to former SPLA Chief of Defense Paul Malong and forces under Lt. Colonel Cham Garang, an SPLA-IO commander.

"We remain committed to holding to account all those who obstruct the realization of lasting peace for the people of South Sudan, whether or not they are participating directly in the Forum," Troika warned.

It called on partners of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc which brokered the ceasefire deal to rapidly investigate all violations and to immediately hold those responsible to account.

"We will continue to work closely with international and regional partners to ensure full accountability with respect to the CoH and stand ready to impose consequences on those who violate the agreement," Troika warned.

South Sudan has been embroiled in four years of conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the people, creating one of the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was shattered by renewed fighting in July 2016.Mourners carry the body of Abdullah Zeidan, a 33-year-old fisherman, during his funeral in Gaza City on January 13, 2018.

A fisherman from the Gaza Strip was shot dead by the Egyptian army overnight for unclear reasons, Palestinian officials said Saturday, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident. (AFP Photo)

GAZA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian fisherman, who was shot Friday night by Egyptian navy forces in southern Gaza Strip, died in a hospital in Rafah town in Gaza Saturday morning, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Abdullah Zeidan, 32, was shot and critically wounded by the Egyptian soldiers as he was fishing near the southern border town of Rafah between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Egyptian officials have not yet made immediate comment on the incident.

The Fishermen Union in the coastal enclave has announced a suspension of fishing work in the region to protest over the shooting of Zeidan, who was also a father of five.

Around 3,000 fishermen are currently working in the strip under tight restrictions imposed by the Israeli government, including diminishing the fishing area to six miles and constant arrest of fishermen, according to the union.

Gaza fishermen have complained about the limited fishing zone as it is not big enough to meet the demand of the 2 million population in the coastal strip.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 21:37:04|Editor: Zhou Xin

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LAMU, Kenya, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least one civilian was killed and unknown number of police officers injured after suspected Al-Shabaab terrorists ambushed a convoy of commuter buses in Kenya's coastal Lamu region on Saturday.

Mwenda Njoka, the Ministry of Interior spokesman, confirmed the incident, saying the buses were from Lamu en route to Malindi and Mombasa when the militants struck at around 11 a.m. local time.

"There was an exchange of fire between the security team that was escorting the buses and the attackers during which one civilian was shot dead and some police officers suffered injuries," Njoka said in a statement.

He said two police vehicles were damaged during the exchange of fire.

Witnesses said the the destroyed police vehicle was traveling ahead of early morning scheduled commuter buses which was escorting from Lamu when the police officers were ambushed with their vehicle being destroyed by the militants during the gun exchange.

"Security agents who were in another police escort vehicle which was behind buses was however able to thwart the attackers after a 30-minute gun battle exchange," said a resident who declined to be named.

He said the buses were however not caught in the crossfire with the travelers able to proceed with their journey safely from Lamu.

But Njoka said it was still not clear how many attackers were killed or injured during the incident which occurred in Nyongoro area between Gamba and Lango la Simba.

According to Njoka, a contingent of security officers comprising of airborne and ground troops was dispatched from Boni Operation Centre immediately after the attack happened.

"Swift action by the security team ensured that the buses drove past the ambush area safely and without further casualties. By this afternoon, the operation to sanitize the area was still going on," Njoka said.

It is now feared that the Nyongoro area is now an operational hotspot for Al Shabaab militants due to the poor network road in the area that forces vehicles to slow down thus making it easier to lay an attack for unknowing road users.

The Somali militants have changed tactics and resorted to abductions and using improvised explosive devices to carry out attacks in parts of Coast region and northeastern Kenya, according to police.

The police say the explosive devices strategically planted along the roads near Kenya-Somalia border are slowing down security operations to flush out militants hiding in the vast Boni forest, which is near the Somali border.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 21:37:05|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Delta Airlines has apologized for listing Tibet and Taiwan as independent countries on its official website and promised to take immediate measures to correct the mistakes.

Delta apologized deeply for the serious mistakes that have hurt Chinese people's feelings and it was taking immediate steps to resolve it, said a statement posted Friday night on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The U.S. carrier said it will have a careful check for other possible errors and avoid such mistakes in the future.

In the letter of apology to the CAAC and on its official website, Delta said it is fully committed to China and Chinese customers as China is one of its most important markets.

The CAAC earlier in the day summoned representatives of Delta, urging the company to issue an immediate and public apology, and to investigate the incident thoroughly and publish investigation outcome in a timely manner.

On the Chinese version of Delta's official website, it listed Chinese territories, including Tibet and Taiwan, as "countries" in a drop-down menu.

The CAAC on Saturday asked all foreign airlines operating in China to conduct self-checks on their websites, mobile apps and other platforms for similar mistakes including regarding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as "countries" in an online notice.

"If there are such cases, actions should be taken immediately to rectify the mistakes," the CAAC said, adding that it will examine the process.

Related:

Foreign enterprises should respect China's sovereignty, territorial integrity: FM spokespersonSource: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:12:14|Editor: Zhou Xin

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WINDHOEK, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has joined other African countries in condemning the U.S. President Donald Trump's disparaging remarks about developing countries.

Trump caused a global outrage when his demeaning comments about Haiti and immigrants during a meeting at the Oval Office were reported in the American media last week.

Namibia's international relations permanent secretary Selma Ashipala-Musavyi said in a statement Saturday that Trump's language "does not contribute to international cooperation."

"The Africa we know and live in is one that is recovering economically and raising," Ashipala-Musavyi, adding that Namibia had learned with disgust and reprehension about the alleged derogatory remarks.

Such language, Ashipala-Musavyi further said, has no place in diplomatic discourse and is contrary to the norms of civility and human progress.

Commending those Americans who have disassociated themselves from Trump's derogatory remarks, Ashipala-Musavyi reminded Trump that the U.S. was built with blood and sweat of African slaves and immigrants from all over.

"Namibia, while associating itself with the tweeted Africa Union official statement, condemns these utterances and calls on the international community to reject racism in all forms," she said.

African Union (AU) spokesperson Ebba Kalondo has been quoted saying that Trump's statement "flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice."

"Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice," Kalondo said.

Botswana's Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation announced Friday that they had summoned the U.S. ambassador to express displeasure with Trump's remarks.

The statement that was seen by Xinhua also said the U.S. ambassador was asked to clarify if Botswana falls into the category of Trump's remarks.

"Botswana calls on SADC, the AU and all other progressive nations across the world to strongly condemn the remarks made by President Trump," the statement said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:12:15|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's top anti-graft agency on Saturday pledged to safeguard the position of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party.

The key to implementing the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress is to safeguard Xi's position as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party, and to safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, said a communique adopted at the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which was held from Thursday to Saturday.

Another key is to study and grasp Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and make it the guide in practice and work, it said.

"Currently, the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the full and strict governance over the Party should not be given up halfway. We must have the resolve and tenacity to persevere in the never-ending fight against corruption," said the communique.

"We must focus on solving problems, maintain strategic resolve, eliminate distraction of wrong ideas, and ensure strict Party self-governance without any pause or slackness," it said.

CCDI members and senior Party and state leaders,including Xi, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng, attended the session. Xi delivered a speech at the opening meeting.

Xi's speech explained strategic guidelines for Party governance, summarized progress made in the past five years and analyzed challenges and risks ahead, the communique said, adding that it is important for all Party to carefully study it.

POLITICAL DISCIPLINES

The most important thing is to tighten the Party's political rules and disciplines, said the communique, calling for better supervision over the political life of the Party and how its policies are being implemented.

The "Janus-faced ones", who are disloyal and dishonest to the Party, who comply in pubic but oppose in private, should be firmly excluded, it said.

In the communique, the CCDI pledged to enhance monitoring of political life within the Party and inspect how key principles and policies are carried out and internal management mechanisms operate.

SUPERVISORY NETWORK COVERING ALL

The communique pledged to build a supervisory network over all state functionaries, under the Party's leadership.

China is expanding a pilot reform of supervisory systems in Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang nationwide, with supervisory commissions being established at national, provincial, city and county levels.

Sharing offices and staff with CPC discipline agencies, the new commissions will incorporate existing supervisory, corruption prevention and control agencies within government and procuratorates.

Efforts should be made to create a highly efficient supervisory mechanism to ensure coordination between discipline inspection and judicial investigation, the CCDI communique said.

FIGHTING BUREAUCRACY, CURBING PRIVILEGES

The CCDI will closely monitor undesirable work styles.

"More will be done to curb formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucracy," the communique said. "Those who are active only in words rather than deeds will be held accountable."

The communique stressed firm opposition to Party officials seeking privileges, and urged efforts to push leading officials to discipline themselves and their families.

The CCDI will continue to dispatch inspection teams regularly and on specific missions and launch more effective education campaigns.

ZERO TOLERANCE

"We will continue to see that there are no no-go zones, no stone is left unturned, and no tolerance is shown for corruption," the communique said.

The CCDI said the fight against corruption will target officials who have shown no restraint and continued their wrongdoing after the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012.

The CCDI will fight corruption in selection and appointment of officials, government approval and supervision, resource exploitation, finance, and other key areas prone to corruption.

The commission stressed efforts to address corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps, especially in poverty relief. The fight against corruption at the grassroots level will be combined with that against criminal gangs. The "protection umbrella" behind the gangs will be removed, it said.

Officials working in discipline inspection and supervision should be loyal, resolute, responsible and maintain discipline and the law, ensuring that power bestowed by the Party and the people is not abused, according to the communique.US President Donald Trump grudgingly agreed not to reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran on January 12, 2018, but officials warned that it would be the last time he issues such a waiver. Instead, a senior White House official said, Trump wants Washington's European allies to use the 60-day period before sanctions relief again comes up for renewal to agree on tougher measures. (AFP Photo)

TEHRAN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the Islamic republic will never succumb to pressure of the United States to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal.

The U.S. President Donald Trump once again had to extend waivers that are mandatory under the deal reached between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The solidity of Iran and international support for the agreement have blocked attempts by Trump and Israel to terminate this agreement or make changes to it, said the statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran stresses clearly that it will not take any measures beyond its commitment to the JCPOA, nor will it accept changes to this agreement now or any time in the future. It also will not allow the JCPOA to be linked to any other issue," it said.

Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening U.S. withdrawal from the landmark pact unless U.S. Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Calling it "a last chance," Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Trump has constantly criticized the pact inked between the six world powers, namely China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and Iran in 2015, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, U.S. Department of Treasury said on Friday that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.Turkey refuses EU's privileged partnership in shrugging off second-class status. (AFP Photo)

ANKARA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish EU Minister Omer Celik said that Turkey will not accept a "privileged partnership" with the EU, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Saturday.

Speaking in an interview with local news channel Haberturk on Friday, Celik said, "If we are offered a privileged partnership, we will not even consider it."

"No one can offer a second-class status to Turkey in its EU relations," he stressed.

The minister's comments came after German politicians recently proposed the "privileged partnership" for Turkey, instead of full EU membership.

Turkey had applied for the EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

Ties between Ankara and the EU have been strained since the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt. The EU insists on Turkey to change its anti-terror law to benefit a lingering visa-free travel deal.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:27:20|Editor: Mengjie

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KIGALI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China will continue playing a constructive role in maintaining and implementing the Iran nuclear deal, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday.

Wang, who was on an official visit in Rwanda, held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. The two sides exchanged opinions on a statement regarding to the Iran nuclear deal made by the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a U.S. withdrawal from the landmark pact unless U.S. Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Calling it "a last chance," Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Continuing to maintain and implement the Iran nuclear deal is the responsibility of all parties concerned, and is the common wish of the international community, said Wang, adding that this will help uphold international non-proliferation regime, maintain regional peace and stability as well as solve other hot issues in the world.

Implementation of the deal hasn't been derailed, but will face some new complicating factors, said the minister.

He also called on Iran to stay calm and continue to fulfill obligations under the deal.

Trump has constantly criticized the pact inked between the six world powers, namely China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and Iran in 2015, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, U.S. Department of Treasury said on Friday that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:32:21|Editor: yan

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SAINT-AIGNAN, France, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Five-month-old Yuan Meng, the first giant panda cub born in France, made its public debut Saturday at the Beauval Zoo here in central France.

The male baby panda, born on Aug. 4, appeared alongside its mother Huan Huan behind a glass wall in their lavish home adorned with Chinese lanterns and rockeries, amid cheers.

The name "Yuan Meng," meaning "the realization of a dream" in Chinese, was given to the baby panda in December at a ceremony attended by its "Godmother," France's First Lady Brigitte Macron.

A large group of fans were attracted to the zoo to get a first glimpse of the panda cub. Hundreds of people were seen queuing at the entrance around 9 a.m., an hour before the zoo opened.

Delphine Delord, chief of communication at the zoo, took the opportunity to brief the first visitors on the challenging reproduction process of pandas, and the protection of the endangered animals.

"We have been trying artificial insemination for years, and the birth of Yuan Meng was a success in the protection of pandas," Delord said.

Yuan Meng has grown from only 142 grams at birth to 11 kilograms over the past months, and is doing very well physically, she added.

Two Chinese zookeepers are currently staying in Beauval to train their French colleagues on how to take care of the baby panda.

The parents of Yuan Meng, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, arrived in France in January 2012 on a 10-year loan from China.

Since the couple's arrival, the number of visitors to the Beauval Zoo has doubled, and is expected to have reached 1.5 million in 2017, Delord told Xinhua.

"With the debut of Yuan Meng, we expect more visitors in 2018," she said.

There are fewer than 2,000 pandas living in the wild, while around 400 live in captivity, according to China's State Forestry Administration.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:47:25|Editor: Chengcheng

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Photo taken on Jan. 9, 2018 shows the sculpture "Phylax" (Guardian in Greek) near the marina of the municipality of Paleo Faliro, Greece. On Dec. 5, 2017 the sculpture "Phylax" (Guardian in Greek) by well-known and internationally-established sculptor and painter Kostis Georgiou was placed on the beachfront avenue of the Athens Riviera, near the marina of the municipality of Paleo Faliro. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

by Maria Spiliopoulou, Valentini Anagnostopoulou

ATHENS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- On Dec. 5, 2017 the sculpture "Phylax" (Guardian in Greek) by well-known and internationally-established sculptor and painter Kostis Georgiou was placed on the beachfront avenue of the Athens Riviera, near the marina of the municipality of Paleo Faliro.

The bright-red metal installation depicting a male figure with wings, was a donation of a Greek shipping family and was warmly welcomed by local authorities as another step in efforts to bring art closer to people who rarely frequent museums and galleries.

By the year end Georgiou, Mayor of Paleo Faliro Dionysis Hatzidakis, prominent academics and artists found themselves defending "Phylax" against a small minority of locals who rejected the work as "satanistic."

In social media users initially commented about a bad joke when an ultra-conservative Greek Orthodox priest who demands its removal led a few dozen parishioners to the site and sprinkled "holy water" on "Phylax" to "exorcise the soldier of Satan."

When unidentified vandals sprayed white paint on the sculpture and cut electricity wires to keep it in the dark at night, reopened a serious discussion about the lack of art education and the battle against prejudice and minorities of religious fanatics.

"How a viewer approaches a work of art depends on the codes each of us has in life; our knowledge of art," the mayor said in an e-mailed press statement.

The particular sculptor bears no relation to the "guardian angel" of Christian tradition, he stressed.

In ancient Greek mythology and art, there were several such "guardians", like Talos, the mythical guardian of Crete island, who was mentioned by Plato, or the Sphinxes placed to protect sites from evil, the mayor noted.

Sculptures made by the artist using a similar technique and use of color have also been placed in public spaces of other southern suburbs, as well as Mykonos last summer, with no negative reactions.

Georgiou studied at the University of fine arts in Athens and the Royal College of Fine Arts in London. He taught painting and scenography at a major school of cinema in Athens.

His works can be found in museums, galleries, private collections and public areas in Greece and abroad, from France to China.

He has had more than 130 solo exhibitions in major galleries and museums throughout the world and taken part in more than 300 group exhibitions.

"I was surprised...I could not believe that there was such a distorted reading of a sculpture... This is the first time ever I have faced such a reaction," Georgiou told Xinhua.

"The work was interpreted in a wrong manner. It was interpreted as an angel who due to the color was perceived as satanistic, something that is entirely opposite to my beliefs," the artist stressed.

He explained that he has never used symbolism, because he wants to allow viewers to take their own journey without guiding them to one direction.

"This is it. There is nothing more. There is no symbolism... I did not intend to symbolize something in particular. I just wanted to add this bright red strike of color to this beautiful environment," he said.

Georgiou had never faced a storm triggered by his work before Phylax, but in Greece renowned artists in the past have been attacked for their "offensive" theatrical plays, movies or books by similar ultra-conservative minor groups.

"To be honest I understand them a little, because you know, art education in Greece is almost nonexistent," the artist said.

Only through education and open mind societies can beat prejudice, absurdity, dark-ages rationale and behavior, Georgiou underlined.

The Greek artist praised Chinese people for embracing novelties and different proposals with an open mind.

He has visited China several times, has had sculptures installed in public spaces and presented his work in solo and group exhibitions in many museums and galleries, such as the Suzhou museum, the Shaanxi Art Museum and the Feizi Gallery in Shanghai.

The "Dialogue with Emperor Qin- EU and China sculpture show" exhibition which included works of European and Chinese artists inspired by Xi'an's terracotta warriors, was hosted in many Chinese museums between 2011-2013 and recently in Antwerp, the Netherlands.

Yorgos Kartalos, owner of gallery "Agathi-kARTalos" (Thorn in Greek) which during a course of over four decades has hosted more than 300 exhibitions of the greatest contemporary Greek painters and sculptors, is launching an exhibition of Georgiou's works next week.

"The work is worthily at the place where it has been installed... It undoubtedly helps raise the aesthetics. In general in current times it is an oasis, I would say," Kartalos told Xinhua asked to comment on Phylax.

"I am hearing about a divided public opinion and society. Society has embraced it, society understands a lot and I believe receives a lot from art which above all has no boundaries," he added.

"Society is not divided in this case. There is a minority of people who have a different point of view, wrong of course, and I hope that one day they will realize that Art helps us enjoy life, think, make our heart beat and progress," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 22:52:27|Editor: yan

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LAGOS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two leading Chinese companies on Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of a sub-sea pipeline installation for Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

Top officials of the Nigerian Dangote's Group, Xie Xianju, Deputy General Manager of China Harbor Engineering Co (Nigeria) and Zhang Qing, General Manager of China's Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) attended the ceremony, near the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ).

The pipeline project is part of Dangote's 17 billion U.S. dollars gas pipeline, fertilizer, petrochemicals and refinery projects.

The work-scope includes transportation and installation of nine sub-sea pipelines with a total length of 100 kilometers in water depths of up to 40 meters. Of the pipelines, six are 24-inch diameter and three are 48-inch.

The Chinese contractors will also install five single point mooring systems, a catenary anchor leg mooring buoy weighing 240 tonnes and pipeline end manifold carrying a total weight of 220 tonnes for a shuttle tanker that imports crude for the refinery.

Xie said the quality of the work to be done at the site would be of the highest international standard, adding that the company's imprimatur of unrivaled excellence would be brought to bear in the project.

Sumil Katawia of the Dangote's Group, said the desire to have the best installations informed the decision to work with a reputable, world class firm like COOEC and China Harbor.

Dangote Refinery currently under construction would save Nigeria 12 billion U.S. dollars annual import substitution, create 4,000 direct jobs and crash prices of petroleum products.

The project would add value to the economy as it would also create 145,000 indirect jobs.

The refinery would lower the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria and save some costs on importation, when completed.

The refinery will have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day while the petrochemical plant will produce 780 KTPA Polypropylene, 500 KTPA of Polyethylene while the fertilizer project will produce 3.0 million metric tonnes per annum of Urea.

The 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery will come on stream by September 2019, according to officials of the company.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (not seen) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 10, 2018.(Xinhua/Ting Shen)

GABORONE, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's government on Friday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's reported disparaging remarks about developing countries.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, the Botswana government expressed its displeasure at the alleged utterances made by Trump, when he referred to African countries and others as "shithole countries" during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House on Thursday.

Botswana calls on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union and all other progressive nations across the world to strongly condemn the remarks made by President Trump.

The Botswana government has inquired from the U.S. government through the U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, to clarify if Botswana is regarded as a "shithole" country given that there are Botswana nationals residing in the U.S., and also that some of Batswana may wish to visit the United States.

"The Government of Botswana is wondering why President Trump, must use this descriptor and derogatory word, when talking about countries with whom the U.S. has had cordial and mutually beneficial bilateral relations for so many years," said the statement.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:07:31|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) - Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga on Saturday started a two-day working visit to Algeria to boost bilateral cooperation.

Upon his arrival to Algiers international airport, Boubeye Maiga was welcomed by his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Ouyahia.

This is the first international trip of the Malian PM who was appointed to this position on Dec. 30.

According to a statement of the Algerian Prime Minister's office, this visit is part of "dialogue and cooperation between the two countries and an opportunity for the Malian PM to discuss with his Algerian counterpart bilateral cooperation and the prospects for boosting and widening it."

Boubeye Maiga and Ouyahia are also due to address regional issues of common interest, particularly the situation in the Sahel," notes the source.

Boubeye Maiga chose Algeria to be his first international trip for the leading role of this North African nation in the process of international mediation in inter-Malian inclusive talks, which led to the agreement for peace and reconciliation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:07:33|Editor: yan

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LISBON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main opposition center-right party in Portugal, began voting for a new leader on Saturday.

Supporters had two names to chose from: Rui Rio, a former mayor of Porto, and Pedro Santana Lopes, a former prime minister and former mayor of Lisbon.

In campaigning, the principal difference between the two candidates was their attitude towards the governing Socialist Party (PS). Rio said a collaborative approach was necessary to ensure reform in Portugal. Santana Lopes claimed pacting with rivals was political suicide.

The PSD suffered heavy losses to the PS in last October's local elections. Pedro Passos Coelho, the former prime minister, resigned as party leader as a consequence.

The PSD thus finds itself at a crossroads. It was the party of government from 2011 to 2015 and even won the 2015 general election, on a coalition ticket with the Central Social Democratic-Popular Party (CDS-PP ).

But its margin of victory proved too small to govern. The Socialist Party formed a minority government backed by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc. The arrangement was dismissed as a flimsy "contraption" at the time, but it has proved effective.

Indeed many observers expect the PS and its contraption to triumph at the 2019 general election. Such an outlook has prompted some commentators, including Miguel Relvas, a former secretary general of the PSD, to view Saturday's contest as a stop-gap election. If the PSD loses in 2019, another new leader may be required.

Rio and Santana Lopes hotly dispute this and see themselves as long-term solutions to the party's ills. The PSD's 70,385 members have until 8 p.m. local time to decide which man's vision inspires them the most.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:12:34|Editor: yan

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NANJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Police in east China's Jiangsu Province have detained more than 90 suspects in connection to an alleged telecommunications fraud case.

Police in Yancheng City said the case involved more than 20 million yuan (3 million U.S. dollars), and at least 10,000 people from across the country were defrauded.

Police were informed of the scammers in August last year, when a Yancheng resident reported being swindled out of about 2,000 yuan. The investigation lasted about five months.

Last year, seven people were sentenced to prison in east China's Shandong Province for involvement in a telecom fraud case linked to the death of a teenager.

Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate from Linyi, died of cardiac arrest in August 2016 after being defrauded out of 9,900 yuan, which she intended to use to pay university tuition fees.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:22:37|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian parliament will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to review the president's request of a cabinet reshuffle, official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:32:42|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Earlier this month, Liu Junwei posted a letter on Sina Weibo, seeking the help of the public to cover his sick mother's medical expenses.

"My mother Cui Yali suffers from multiple drug resistant tuberculosis, and I am raising money to pay 200,000 yuan (31,000 U.S. dollars) of medical bills," Liu wrote.

Liu is a science-fiction illustrator with a prestigious reputation. He has drawn countless magazine covers and illustrations, and won several prizes.

But science fiction remains a small business in China. According to Chinese sci-fi writer Han Song, most sci-fi writers in China write science fiction only in their spare time, and hardly anyone quits their job to focus on sci-fi writing.

"You are lucky if you can sell 10,000 sci-fi books in China," Han said.

Liu does not make much money from his skills either.

"Drawing is more like a hobby to me," he said. "My mother encouraged me greatly." After graduation, Liu spent 12 years drawing sci-fi pictures in Beijing.

In 2017, his mother was diagnosed with multiple drug resistant tuberculosis, an illness that is resistant to all regular medicine. Patients have to use multiple expensive and inefficient drugs with strong side-effects for years.

The complaint is not covered by medical insurance in China, and for Liu's mother, the medical expenses are expected to reach more than 400,000 yuan.

Liu was forced to put down his pen and spend all his time taking care of his mother. "There would be no point in living if I lost my mother," he said.

By the end of 2017, his family had run out of money. In despair, he turned to the internet for help.

Liu's post, with pictures of his mother, and her medical records, instantly drew public attention. By 9 a.m. Saturday, it had been forwarded more than 10,000 times and drawn thousands of comments on Weibo. Many netizens donated money and introduced him to drugs that might help.

"Stay strong, I hope you and your family can get through this difficult time," read a comment.

"I don't know you personally, but I have been supporting your work for more than a decade," wrote another. "I hope your mother gets well soon."

Just 19 hours later, Liu wrote another post on Weibo, asking the public to stop donating, because he had received far more than what he asked for: 950,000 yuan. Many of the donators were from the sci-fi circle in China, in addition to many unknown people.

Most of the money was donated via social media tools, including Weibo, WeChat and Alipay. Liu's phone was bombarded by calls and text messages from people concerned about the family's misfortune.

His mother will soon be transferred to the best hospital for treatment, Liu said.

"Thank you so much. With your help, I feel really warm in this chilly weather," he wrote on Weibo. "My mother is a lucky woman, and you have truly created a miracle for her and for our family."Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-13 23:42:44|Editor: yan

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BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and eight others wounded Saturday in a car bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said.

The blast took place in the evening when a booby-trapped car went off in the busy Adan Square at the entrance of the holy Shiite neighborhood of Kadhmiyah, destroying several nearby civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 00:02:50|Editor: Liangyu

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KIGALI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday said China will continue to make "100-percent effort" to rescue foreign sailors who remained missing after two vessels collided off China's east coast.

A total of 32 sailors, including 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, are still missing after the collision last Saturday.

Wang, while on an official visit in Rwanda, made the remarks during a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The Chinese government has paid close attention to the incident, after which China promptly mobilized vessels, equipment and personnel for the rescue, Wang said, adding that the rescue is still ongoing.

China has invited professional teams from neighboring countries to join the rescue, and also welcomes Iran to participate, Wang added.

Zarif expressed gratitude for China's efforts on rescuing Iranian sailors. Iran is willing to keep close communication and cooperation with China on the matter, he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 00:17:53|Editor: yan

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BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and eight others wounded Saturday in a car bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said.

The blast took place in the evening when a booby-trapped car went off in the busy Adan Square at the entrance of the holy Shiite neighborhood of Kadhmiyah, destroying several nearby civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene, while ambulances and civilian vehicles evacuated the victims to nearby hospitals and medical centers, the source said, citing first police reports.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for deadly attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

The car bombing is the first this year in Baghdad city, which has been witnessing tangible improvement in security as the Iraqi security forces managed during the past few months to regain control of strongholds of the extremist IS militant group across the country.

On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

Nevertheless, remnants of small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 00:27:56|Editor: yan

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BANGKOK, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The government house where children are allowed to visit the prime minister's office has become the highlight of Thailand's annual children's festival on Saturday.

Thai government offices opened their doors to children on the second Saturday of every January for more than 10 years to celebrate the National Children's Day. The potential future leaders of the country got a chance to top the seat of the prime minister at the government house.

For this year, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has given a motto for children to follow: "Think, Analyze, Promote Creative Technology" which he intended to encourage children and youth to always seek out new knowledge for themselves while being aware of how to use technology in a creative manner.

Exhibitions on science and technology were held in the conference hall of the government house.

Jirapat, 11, once represented Thailand in the international robotic competition and won the champion, brought to the festival the robots he designed.

"I hope the exhibition will arouse more children's interest on robots and become their access to the world of science," said the teen designer.

Activities, such as air shows, games and concerts were in full swing across the country. The atmosphere was lively especially in barracks where sophisticated tank VT-4 was on display along with helicopters and artillery pieces. Children flocked there and were seen riding in tanks, helicopters and armored cars with fun.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 00:32:56|Editor: yan

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JOHANNNESBURG, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- H&M stores in South Africa were trashed by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) protesters on Saturday over a allegedly racist sweater ad.

Dozens of EFF protesters wearing same red T-shirt on Saturday morning rushed into an H&M store in Sandton City, one of the most prosperous shopping centers in Johannesburg, vandalizing mannequins and scattering clothes on the floor.

After police arrived, protesters gathered in front of the shop's door chanting, dancing and whistling, according to Xinhua reporter at the site.

The crowd dismissed at noon. The H&M store has remained closed since then.

According to local media, similar protests were also seen in other shopping centers nationwide.

EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu congratulated members via twitter for physically confronting racism.

The outrage stemmed from a recent ad photo released by H&M showing a black boy wear a green sweater with the slogan "coolest monkey in the jungle" on it.

Shivambu said H&M "nonsense of a clothing store is now facing consequences for its racism. All rational people should agree that the store should not be allowed to continue operating in South Africa."

The riot also triggered much criticism. A netizen "TheColouredZimbo" said via Twitter, "What happens if H&M pulls out of South Africa? Will the EFF compensate employees for loss of income?"Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 00:47:58|Editor: yan

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MARSABIT, Kenya, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Saturday arrested an Imam for his alleged role in recruitment and radicalization of unsuspecting youth into violent extremism in north Kenya's Marsabit County.

Regional police commander Phillip Tuimur said Guyo Gorsa was arrested in a sting security operation in Marsabit early Saturday.

He said the suspect was the one who recruited youths that were recently arrested on their way to join Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

The police commander said the youths who were charged in a Nairobi court made confessions and named the Imam as the one who radicalized them before sending them to neighboring Somalia.

Chaos erupted in Marsabit town as a group of youngsters, mostly Gorsa's students, destroyed a local church, looted properties and torched several buildings as they protested the arrest.

Several people were injured as security officers engaged the youth in running battles in the town.

"It is unfortunate that as a result of this police action, some sympathizers of the suspect who are opposed to his arrest have resorted into setting fire on clubs and destroying property suspected to belong to those who don't support his activities in Marsabit," Tuimur said.

The Imam suspected to having links with radical groups was arrested in the coastal region three years ago over suspicion of radicalizing the youth but was later released.

The Al-Shabaab militant group has continued to forcibly recruit people into its ranks, including children, and to target individuals perceived to support both the Kenyan and Somali governments.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 01:23:03|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after nearly four weeks in space.

Dragon splashed down successfully about 10:37 a.m. EST (1537 GMT) west of Baja California, completing the second resupply mission to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a commercial spacecraft, SpaceX said via Twitter.

It carried approximately 4,100 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the ISS.

The spacecraft departed from the ISS at 4:58 a.m., after they used the robotic Canadarm2 to detach Dragon from the Harmony module of the orbiting lab.

After Dragon was released from ISS and its thrusters transported it a safe distance away from the station, SpaceX's flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, executed a deorbit burn command, blasting Dragon back into Earth's atmosphere.

The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach, California, where some cargo will be removed immediately for return to NASA, and then it will be prepared for a return trip to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for final processing, according to NASA.

NASA said a variety of technological and biological studies had returned with Dragon.

Hardware from the Made in Space Fiber Optics payload, which demonstrated manufacturing fiber optic filaments in a micro-gravity environment.

The investigation pulled fiber optic wire from a heavy metal fluoride glass commonly used to make fiber optic glass.

Research indicates that the fiber pulled in micro-gravity may not crystallize as much, giving it better optical qualities than the silica used in most fiber optic wire. Results from this investigation could lead to the production of higher-quality fiber optic products both in space and on Earth.

Some payload samples were used to study a stress reaction in plants when experiencing reduced oxygen or hypoxia, which occurs for example, during times of soil flooding.

Such natural low oxygen events are sensed by plants and can lead to either changes in growth and development to aid in the plant' s survival, or in extreme cases, lead to significant losses in productivity and even death.

These spaceflight experiments may help provide molecular targets for manipulation to help make plants more tolerant of low oxygen conditions and so contribute to agriculturally important traits such as crop flood tolerance.

Mice from a NASA study are expected to return live to Earth for additional study. The investigation evaluated a new drug delivery device for administering continuous low doses, which could help counteract muscle wasting and prevent the need for daily or frequent drug administration.

A tiny capsule, implanted under the mouse's skin, delivers a constant, low dose of a drug via a silicone membrane, with channels as narrow as 1/50,000 the width of a human hair.

The drug, called formoterol, is a common therapy in asthma inhalers and for other lung diseases that relaxes muscles responsible for tightening a patient's airways. The low-dose delivery also could help avoid the known side effects of taking high doses long-term.

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft currently able to return cargo to Earth.

The spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida on Dec. 15 carrying about 4,800 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company's 13th commercial resupply mission to the station. It arrived at the station Dec. 17.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 01:53:08|Editor: yan

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DOHA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Qatar has filed new complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over a second United Arab Emirates (UAE) military fighter jet which violated its airspace, Qatar News Agency reported Saturday.

The UAE fighter jet was traveling from the UAE to Bahrain on Jan. 3, and flew over Qatar's special economic zone "without prior authorization."

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the repetition of the incident was a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar, as well as a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law.

On Friday, Qatar has filed a complaint to the UNSC after a UAE military aircraft violated its airspace on Dec. 21 last year.

The complaint was submitted by Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatar's ambassador to the UN.

Shortly after, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash strongly denied the first accusation, saying it was "incorrect."

In June 2017, four Arab nations including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a trade and diplomatic siege on Qatar, accusing Doha of destabilizing the region with its support for extremism.

Qatar has strongly denied the accusations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 02:03:10|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday called on all sides to cherish the hard-won Iran nuclear deal after the United States decided to extend sanctions relief on Tehran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks when asked to comment on the U.S. statement.

The Chinese side has also noticed that the international community widely supports the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and fully acknowledges Iran's implementation of the pact, Lu said.

In July 2015, after a decade of strenuous negotiations, Iran and six major countries, namely, China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, struck a final agreement on Iran's controversial nuclear program, in which the West promises to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

China has always firmly supported the JCPOA, Lu said, adding that the deal is not only an important multilateral achievement, but also an example for resolving international hot issues through political and diplomatic means.

To ensure the implementation of the agreement is of practical significance to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East and safeguard the international non-proliferation regime, which serve the fundamental interests of all parties, he said.

Under the current situation, China hopes all related parties can consolidate their political will, properly manage differences, and continue to comprehensively and effectively implement the agreement from an overall and long-term perspective, he said.

It is China's consistent and clear position to oppose unilateral sanctions against other countries in accordance with a country's domestic law, he stressed.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 02:33:13|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shakes hands with Rwandan President Paul Kagame during their meeting in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on Jan. 13, 2018. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

KIGALI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Rwanda in various fields from governance to culture, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday.

While meeting Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Rwandan capital Kigali, Wang hailed the good relations of the two countries marked by long-time mutual understanding, trust and support.

Rwanda has found a suitable development path supported by its people, Wang said, adding that China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Rwanda on governance experience and enhance political mutual trust.

China also hopes to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with Rwanda; to enhance cultural exchanges to boost mutual understanding; and to strengthen communication and coordination to improve joint capacity of handling regional and international challenges, said Wang.

On his part, Kagame said Africa trusts China and is willing to see China playing a more important role on the continent.

The president thanked China for its support and contribution to Rwanda's development and for choosing Rwanda as the first stop of Wang's African trip, which he said has important significance for future Sino-Rwandan relations.

Wang said China will give Kagame full support to perform his duty as the rotating chairperson of the African Union, with the hope of enhancing Africa's unity and raising its global status.

He also said China expects to strengthen communication with Rwanda to ensure that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, to be held in China this year, become a historic event to strengthen the friendship and unity of China and Africa.

Wang, who is in Africa for his first new year trip, will also visit Angola, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 02:48:16|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Saturday reiterated his rejection of calls from within the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limit.

A statement from the Directorate of Presidential Communication said the president was disappointed by ongoing discussion by CCM members and Tanzanians in general calling for the extension of presidential terms from five years to seven years.

"President Magufuli has appealed to Tanzanians to ignore such calls because the issue of presidential term extension has never been discussed by top organs of the ruling party," said the statement.

The statement said Magufuli has no plans to extend his leadership tenure when the constitutional limit of two five-year terms ends in 2025.

Magufuli was elected in 2015 succeeding President Jakaya Kikwete. His current term expires in 2020 when new elections will be held, and if re-elected, he will serve until 2025.

In August 2017, Magufuli rejected calls from some of his supporters to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limit.

Tanzania has held five relatively peaceful multi-party elections since 1995, all won by the ruling party.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 03:48:28|Editor: yan

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KIGALI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- African finance ministers on Saturday discussed sustainable ways to further implement a decision of the African Union (AU) on a 0.2 percent levy on eligible imports.

The AU's Committee of Finance Ministers (F10), responsible for the decision, met in the Rwandan capital Kigali to review the progress made in implementing the decision of AU heads of state and government.

The AU's continued heavy dependence on external partners for funding is unsustainable, and the union requires adequate, reliable and predictable resources to ensure sustainable operations of its continental affairs, said F10 chairperson Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul at the meeting.

"We need to find sustainable ways that will ensure that countries do not face difficulties in implementing the 0.2 percent levy on eligible imports aimed at financing the AU," he said. "It is my hope that we the F10 countries will set the pace and lead from the front on the implementation of the levy."

Fadoul, who is also the finance minister of Chad, noted that the AU is undergoing reforms led by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and that the success of the process depends on the support accorded to it by the finance ministers, urging countries that have not started implementing the decision to do so as soon as possible.

The F10 comprises Algeria and Egypt representing northern Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia representing eastern Africa, Chad and the Republic of the Congo representing central Africa, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire representing western Africa, and South Africa and Botswana representing southern Africa.

AU heads of state and government adopted the "Financing of the Union" decision during the 27th AU Summit held in Kigali in July 2016.

The decision directs all AU member states to implement a 0.2 percent levy on eligible imports for financing the union.

The levy is expected to be derived from 0.2 percent of the value of the eligible goods imported into an AU member state from a non-member state.

The levy was scheduled to be applicable and be instituted in 2017 to finance 100 percent of operational budget, 75 percent of program budget and 25 percent of budget for peace support operations of the AU as well as for any other expenditure of the union that may be determined by the AU assembly, the supreme organ of the union.

As of December 2017, 20 member states were at various stages of implementing the decision, said a statement issued by the Rwandan finance ministry on Thursday.

Fourteen among them -- Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Chad, Djibouti, Guinea, Sudan, Morocco, the Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Gabon, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire -- had already started collecting the levy and deposited the funds at a dedicated account for the AU opened with the central banks, it said.

Ghana, Benin, Malawi and Senegal have initiated internal legal and administrative processes to allow implementation of the decision.

Despite their national economic and legal constraints, Mauritius and Seychelles have also indicated full commitment to the principles of financing the union, said the statement.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 04:03:31|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with his Rwandan counterpart Louise Mushikiwabo in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on Jan. 13, 2018. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

KIGALI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- With a key cooperation forum and the Belt and Road Initiative, China hopes to raise its cooperation with Africa to a new stage, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday.

Wang made the remarks when meeting his Rwandan counterpart Louise Mushikiwabo in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, the first stop in his new year African trip.

Wang said China hopes to work closely with Rwanda to hold a successful Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit this year and to dovetail China's Belt and Road Initiative with African countries' development strategies, thus boosting Africa's industrialization and modernization and raising the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Africa to a new level.

Mushikiwabo said Rwanda is willing to strengthen cooperation with China regarding the Belt and Road Initiative, which she said set a good example of deepening regional cooperation for other countries.

The minister praised China's firm commitment to developing partnership with Africa and the resultant rapid growth of China-Africa trade in a world full of uncertainties.

She further said Rwanda is willing to work with China to ensure a success out of the FOCAC summit.Two people were killed and up to 24 others wounded Saturday in a suicide bomb attack in northern Baghdad. (AFP photo)

BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and up to 24 others wounded Saturday in a suicide bomb attack in northern Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive-laden motorcycle at the crowded Adan Square at the entrance of the holy Shiite neighborhood of Kadhmiyah, destroying 11 cars, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the evening, the source cited first police reports and said at least two people killed and eight wounded by a booby-trapped car explosion.

Meanwhile, head of Baghdad provincial council Ryadh al-Adhadh told some local media that the suicide bomber detonated himself near his convoy in Adan Square and destroyed one of his vehicles, leaving one of his bodyguards killed and three others wounded.

However, the interior ministry source said that the incident is under investigation and it is yet to decide whether Adhadh's convoy was targeted by the blast, or his convoy was passing at the moment of the blast coincidentally.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for deadly attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

The car bombing is the first this year in Baghdad city, which has been witnessing tangible improvement in security as the Iraqi security forces managed during the past few months to regain control of strongholds of the extremist IS militant group across the country.

On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

Nevertheless, remnants of small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 04:23:37|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Egypt expressed serious concerns over Turkey's alleged shipment of explosives to war-torn Libya via a ship that was recently intercepted by the Greek authorities, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Media reports said that Greece's coastguards seized on Wednesday a freighter carrying detonators and explosive materials from Turkey to the port of Misurata northwestern Libya.

"If the news is true, it represents flagrant violation of the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council (on Libya) in accordance with Resolution 2292," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement.

Egypt said that it assigned its diplomats to verify the information and ask the concerned committee at the Security Council to investigate it.

"Egypt's move comes within the framework of immediate confrontation of any violation of arms embargo, for it poses a serious threat to the efforts of the international community in Libya and the chances for stability and political settlement in the country," Abu Zeid added.

Seven years after a 2011 uprising that ended the reign and life of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is currently engaged in a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli northwestern the country and the other in Tobruk city in the northeast.

Egypt said the shipment of such explosives to Libya undermines the Egyptian national security and the country's anti-terror war as well.

"The international community's efforts in fighting terrorism cannot be complete and fruitful unless all states adopt a strict position in uprooting the sources of financing, arming and sheltering terrorist elements," said the Egyptian statement.

The administration of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi accuses Turkey, besides Qatar, of supporting terrorism and interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs by hosting fleeing members of the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly rejected the Sisi-led military removal of Morsi in July 2013 and the later massive security crackdown on his supporters.

Since Morsi's ouster, Egypt has been facing a wave of terrorism that killed hundreds of security men as well as civilians, with most of the attacks claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Egypt is concerned about its 1,200 km western border with eastern Libya that has been a smuggling destination of arms and militants over the past few years.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 04:48:40|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Malian Prime Minister, Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, on Saturday said Algeria has always played a major role in stabilizing Mali.

"Algeria has always played a major role in Mali's stability and has intervened at least twice to help establishing inter-Malian peace talks, in 1992 and 2015," Maiga told reporters as he started a two day visit to the North African nation.

What constitutes today the "cornerstone of Mali's domestic and foreign policy is the peace and reconciliation agreement resulted in the peace process in which Algeria played a key role."

He added that the relations between Mali and Algeria are based on a common history, pointing out that his visit aims at boosting bilateral relations in all fields.

This is the first international trip of the Malian PM who was appointed to this position on Dec. 30, 2017.

The Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, signed in its first phase in May 2015 and its second phase in June 2015, put an end to hostilities between the government and separatist armed movements in northern Mali.

The agreement was reached by all Malian warrant parties in the capital Bamako after five rounds of UN-sponsored talks initiated in July 2014 with an international mediation led by Algeria.

Algeria and Mali are active members at the Sahel Regional Chief of Staff Committee, which also includes Mauritania and Niger.

The committee was established in the Algerian town of Tamanrasset on the border with Mali and Niger in 2009 in a bid to coordinate efforts and exchange information on combating terrorism, organized crime and trafficking.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 05:13:43|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Libyan security on Saturday rescued two out of three International Organization for Migration (IOM) officials who were kidnapped in southern Libya, according to a security official.

Rescuing work is still undergoing for the third official, Rania Kharma, according to the security, and it is "likely to be done in a short while."

The IOM officials, two Libyans and one Spanish of Palestinian origin, were kidnapped on the way from the capital Tripoli to the nearby Al-Shati city, said Sa'adi Mohammed Ali, head of the Security Directorate of the southern city Sabha.

The two Libyan abductees were found in a suburb of Sabha, some 800 km southwest of Tripoli, he said.

"Investigation revealed that the kidnapping took place outside Sabha. Perhaps the kidnappers entered Sabha through a desert route after the kidnapping was done," said Ali.

The IOM in Libya is carrying out a number of field visits to southern Libya, as a part of the organization's voluntary repatriation program for illegal immigrants from Libya to their countries of origin.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 05:33:46|Editor: yan

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VILNIUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuania's prime minister, on Saturday called for enhanced cooperation in cyber and energy security as well as economy with Japan.

Skvernelis made the remarks during a joint press conference with visiting Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, who is on a East and Central Europe tour.

Bilateral cooperation in economy, with particular attention to the sectors of life sciences, information technologies, transport and logistics, must be encouraged, the Lithuania's head of government noted.

Abe also met with Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite. The meeting focused on international security issues and the new format 3+1 cooperation between the Baltic States and Japan.

Abe is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Lithuania.Representatives from six world powers and Iran attend a meeting on Iran's nuclear deal in Vienna, Austria, on July 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Pan Xu)

MOSCOW, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Moscow has a critical attitude toward the latest U.S. statement on reviewing the Iran nuclear deal and will do all it can to resist any attempt to scrape the deal, Russian authorities said Saturday.

Russia is concerned over the U.S. announcement on holding negotiations with its European allies to revise the Iran nuclear deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.

"These negotiations won't have any effect on our approach towards the nuclear deal and this whole situation ... We will be analyzing it in a most critical way and will continue to judge the events in an unflattering way," Ryabkov said.

He underlined that the deal cannot be amended and that Moscow will "oppose any attempts to hamper it."

The Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in 2015 between Iran, and the P5+1 - Russia, France, China, Britain, the United States, plus Germany.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a U.S. withdrawal from the pact if the U.S. Congress and his European allies can not fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Chairman of Russian Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachyov slamed the U.S. attempt to review the JCPOA as a dangerous violation of international law.

"Any attempts by the U.S. side to unseal the JCPOA without consent from all the other parties would directly violate the fundamental principles of international law, and as the matter also concerns the nonproliferation regime, it would also serve as a powerful incentive toward its further erosion," Kosachyov said.

Trump's latest move casts doubt on the future of the Iran nuclear deal, a successful practice of solving a hotspot issue through political and diplomatic means.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Iran will never renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal despite the U.S. pressure.

The U.S. president has constantly criticized the landmark Iran pact, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-14 06:38:59|Editor: yan

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LISBON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and dozens of others injured in a fire in a recreational association in Vila Nova da Rainha, north of Portugal, on Saturday night, local media reported.

The fire was caused by an explosion of a gas cylinder when a Swedish tournament was taking place and there were 70 people inside the building.WHILE THERE is no visible open water on Lake Superior at Little Girl's Point Friday, some pancake ice remains as the lake continues to freeze. Pancake ice is created when the freezing ice is broken up, usually by waves. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is encouraging people to use caution when going out on ice.

With the recent warm-up and subsequent cold spell, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is warning people to be cautious when out on the ice.

"Don't assume the ice is safe just because a lake or stream looks frozen," Lt. Tom Wanless said in a DNR press release. "There are several factors that can determine the strength off the ice. Understanding and recognizing these factors, as well as using common sense and caution, will allow you to have a more enjoyable outdoor experience and to make it homes safely."

Wanless, who is the DNR's recreational safety program supervisor, gave several...Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-11 21:05:43|Editor: Lifang

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PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has announced that China will provide another 7 billion yuan (1.08 billion U.S. dollars) of government concessional loans within the framework of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC).

Li made the pledge here Wednesday at the second LMC leaders' meeting, where he also announced the setup of a 5-billion-dollar credit line for supporting production capacity and equipment manufacturing cooperation among Lancang-Mekong countries, according to a statement released Thursday.

The new offer came after China supplied other Lancang-Mekong countries with 10 billion yuan (1.54 billion dollars) of concessional loans, 5 billion dollars of export credit and 5 billion dollars for capacity cooperation in more than 20 infrastructure and industry projects, Li said.

The deficit that China holds with Mekong countries on farm product trade will not prevent China from importing more, Li said, adding that protectionism is China's last choice.

With a theme of "Our River of Peace and Sustainable Development," the meeting brings leaders of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the table on such issues as connectivity, water management and industrial production capacity.

China is the largest trading partner of Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand and the second largest of Laos. Bilateral trade between China and the five riparian countries totaled 220 billion dollars in 2017, up 16 percent year on year.

Some 80 percent of China's rice imports are from Mekong countries. Their fruit exports to China have increased at 21 percent annually over the past decade.

Initiated by China in 2014, the framework spans connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources management, and agriculture and poverty reduction, benefiting dozens of millions of people living on the waterway.

The first LMC leaders' meeting was held in Sanya of China's Hainan Province in March 2016, when the goal of building a community of shared future of peace and prosperity for the LMC countries was endorsed.

The Lancang River originates on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China. It is called the Mekong River as it flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the sea.Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-12 22:07:13|Editor: Yurou

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KIEV, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A baby boy born in southern Ukraine, weighing 7.09 kg, is believed to be the heaviest newborn in the country, local media reported Friday.

The healthy boy was born on Jan. 3 in the city of Zaporizhzhya by cesarean section to a 40-year-old woman.

The mother has seven daughters and all of them weighed more than 5 kg at birth.

Newborn babies in Ukraine generally weigh between 2.8 kg and 4 kg.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's biggest healthy newborn was a 10.2-kg boy born in Italy in 1955.WASHINGTON: US Ambassador to Panama John Feeley, a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, has resigned, saying he no longer felt able to serve President Donald Trump.

Feeley`s departure had been communicated to State Department officials on Dec. 27 and was not a response to Trump`s alleged use of the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and African countries at a meeting on Thursday, US officials said.

Trump denies using the term.

Feeley, one of the department`s Latin America specialists and among its senior most officers, made clear that he had come to a place where he no longer felt able to serve under Trump.

"As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies," Feeley said, according to an excerpt of a resignation letter read to Reuters on Friday.

"My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honour bound to resign. That time has come."

A State Department spokeswoman confirmed Feeley`s departure, saying that he "has informed the White House, the Department of State, and the Government of Panama of his decision to retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 of this year."

Speaking to reporters, Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein said he was aware of Feeley`s planned departure on Thursday morning, before Trump`s alleged use of the vulgar term, and said the ambassador was leaving for "personal reasons."

"Everyone has a line that they will not cross," "Goldstein told reporters at the State Department. "If the ambassador feels that he can no longer serve ... then he has made the right decision for himself and we respect that."

US officials declined to discuss Feeley`s reasons for leaving the department after a long career, much of which was spent working on Latin American issues.

Some of Trump`s policies have been widely regarded within the region as hostile to Latin America.

The Trump administration has taken a tougher stance on immigration from Latin America, most notably with moves to expel hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua who benefited from temporary protection status after natural disasters.

Feeley`s career included serving as the No. 2 official in the State Department bureau that deals with Latin America, as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Mexico City and as director for Central American affairs in Washington.PATNA: The Bihar Police on Saturday arrested at least 19 people in connection with the attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's convoy yesterday.

''At least 19 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's convoy yesterday.

Further investigations are underway,'' Anand Kishore, Commissioner, Patna Division, said.

The state government had on Friday formed a team to investigate the attack on the Bihar CM's convoy.

Patna Zonal Inspector General Nayyar Hasnain Khan and Patna Divisional Commissioner Anand Kishore were included as the members of the investigating team.

On Friday, Nitish Kumar's convoy was pelted with stones during a 'Samiksha Yatra' in Buxar's Nandan village.

According to reports, the people of Nandan village wanted the Chief Minister to visit the Dalit basti which led to a disagreement followed by stone pelting.

While the Chief Minister escaped unhurt, two security personnel in the convoy were injured.

The convoy continued moving towards its destination where the chief minister launched 168 schemes involving an expenditure of Rs 272 crore before addressing a public meeting.

Nitish Kumar is on a state-wide tour since December 12 to take a stock of state government's development schemes over the years.

Earlier this month, Kumar had restrained policemen from going after a group of youngsters who waved black flags at his public meeting in Saharsa district.

(With Agency inputs)Patna: An engineer working in a private construction company in Bengaluru was on Saturday shot dead by unidentified criminals in Bihar's Saran district, police said.

According to a district police official, Krishnmohan Tiwari, 40, a resident of Kolhua village in Saran, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne criminals near Devri village under Taraiya Police Station on Saturday evening.

"Tiwari was shot dead following heated exchanges with the criminals," the police official added.

RAJKOT: At least three minor girls died and almost 15 others were injured after a massive fire broke out at 'Rashtra Katha Shivir' event of Swami Dhrambandhu in Rajkot's Pransla village in Gujarat on late Friday. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Several fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the flames were brought under control after a while. A large number of NRIs, who had come to listen to Swami Dhramguru, were also present at the event at the time of the incident. As many as 500 people were evacuated by the fire brigade team from the spot. All the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital in Rajkot in a critical state.

As per reports, the event organisers did not have any of the fire safety measures to tackle such situations. Also, there were no emergency vehicles in place at the locations - a prerequisite while organising such events. After the incident, the District Collector and the Superintended of Police reached the spot to take a stock of the situation.

#SpotVisuals 3 girls dead, few others injured after fire broke out at Rashtra Katha Shibir in Pransla, last night #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/e5dFo8vgF9  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Though there has been no official confirmation yet, the police is believing short circuit to be the reason behind the flame.

In another incident in Rajasthan, five members of a family died in a fire at their residence in Jaipur's Vidyasagar in the wee hours on Sunday. The police believe cylinder burst to be the reason behind the fire.Dharamshala: Refuting the BJP's claim to have the youngest chief minister in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress on Saturday said it had more younger chief ministers in the state.

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is 53-years-old, while YS Parmar was 45 when he assumed CMs office, Ram Lal was 48, Shanta Kumar was just 42, Vir Bhadra Singh was 49 and P K Dhumal was 53, senior Congress leader and MLA Asha Kumari said in the 13th Himachal Pradesh Assembly yesterday.

The MLA also slammed the government for not translating the Governor's speech properly during the swearing-in ceremony.

"The translation of the Governor's speech from Hindi to English was also not checked properly," Kumari said.New Delhi: Chief Justice Dipak Misra may meet the 'rebel' Supreme Court judges on Sunday to resolve the problems raked up by them even as two of the dissenting justices on Saturday sought to play down the issue, IANS reported.

Three of the four judges, who had attacked the Chief Justice at a press conference on Friday, were away from the national capital and are expected to return on Sunday afternoon.

However, there was no official confirmation of reports that Justice Misra will be meeting with the judges.

Meanwhile, Justice Kurian Joseph said in Kochi that there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and the issues they had raised appeared to have been sorted out.

"We did this for a cause and I think (the) issues appear to have been sorted out. This was not against anyone nor are we having anything personal. It was meant to see that more transparency is there," he said. Justice Joseph, however, did not elaborate.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," he added, saying that the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, Justice Joseph said, "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."

In reply to a question on why they failed to brief the President of the issues, he said the President is only the appointing authority.

On the other hand, Ranjan Gogoi, who was in Kolkata for a meeting of legal services authorities, also ruled out any crisis hitting the top court. "There is no crisis," he said but refused to make any further comments.

Here's what happened:

Judges J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph of the apex court had on Friday raised questions on 'selective' case allocation and certain judicial orders.

Justice Chelameswar, the second senior judge after Chief Justice Dipak Misra, himself had described as an "extraordinary event" in the annals of the Indian judiciary when the judges addressed a joint news conference during which he had said "sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months."

The judge had accused Justice Misra of not taking any "remedial measures" on some of the issues which affected the functioning of the apex court that they had raised. Justice Misra became the CJI on August 28, 2017, and he is due to retire from on October 2 this year.

Unless this institution is preserved, "democracy will not survive" in this country, Justice Chelameswar had said at the unscheduled press conference. The presser was held at his residence.

Justice Chelameswar had also said that all the four judges "failed to persuade CJI that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures. Unfortunately, our efforts failed."

Asked what these issues were, he had said they included the "allocation of cases by CJI", and had added, "we owe a responsibility to the institution and the nation. Our efforts have failed in convincing CJI to take steps to protect the institution."

Asked whether they wanted the Chief Justice to be impeached, he had said, "let the nation decide," PTI reported.

The four judges, in their seven-page letter to the CJI, had said, "It is with great anguish and concern that we have thought it proper to address this letter to you so as to highlight certain judicial orders passed by this court which has adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivering system and the independence of the high courts besides impacting the administrative functioning of the office of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India."

The letter had also said that there have been instances where cases having "far-reaching consequences for the nation" and the institution have been assigned by the chief justices of this court "selectively to the benches 'of their preference' without any rationale basis" for such assignment.

"We are not mentioning details only to avoid embarrassing the institution but note that such departures have already damaged the image of this institution to some extent," it had added.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: Various lawyers' bodies on Saturday expressed "grave concern" over the differences arising between the CJI and four top judges of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Associations (SCAORA) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) in closed-door emergency meetings deliberated the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior-most apex court judges on Friday.

While the SCBA and the SCAORA confined their deliberation to the judiciary, the BCI, the apex body regulating the lawyers, cautioned against politicising the crisis.

"No political party or leader should take undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges," BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had on Friday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances.

Mishra said a seven-member delegation led by him will on Sunday meet rest of the apex court judges to know their views about the situation and later they would consult with the four senior judges who held the presser. Thereafter the delegation would speak to the CJI and discuss the entire crisis.

The SCBA, which expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four judges with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, said the issue should be immediately considered by the full court of the apex court.

The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Besides CJI Misra, others in the collegium in accordance with seniority are - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

The four judges had in a press conference mounted a virtual revolt against the CJI, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases.

SCBA president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that a resolution for the full court consideration was passed as it is a mechanism in which deliberations by all the judges of the top court takes place in-house and not in the open, PTI reported.

"Executive Committee of SCAORA is concerned and pained with all the events which have tarnished the reputation and image of our esteemed institution. It urges stakeholders to exercise restraint and requests them to resolve all issues internally and within the constitutional framework," its resolution said.

"The differences that have been reported in the press conference by the four senior judges of the Supreme Court and the other differences which are reflected in the newspapers are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the full court of the SC," Singh said while reading out the resolution.

Singh said that if required, the SCBA would seek an appointment with the CJI and other judges to talk about the developments which were a matter of grave concern.

Here's what happened:

The four judges of the apex court had on Friday raised questions on 'selective' case allocation and certain judicial orders.

Justice Chelameswar, the second senior judge after Chief Justice Dipak Misra, himself had described as an "extraordinary event" in the annals of the Indian judiciary when the judges addressed a joint news conference during which he had said "sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months."

The judge had accused Justice Misra of not taking any "remedial measures" on some of the issues which affected the functioning of the apex court that they had raised. Justice Misra became the CJI on August 28, 2017, and he is due to retire from on October 2 this year.

Unless this institution is preserved, "democracy will not survive" in this country, Justice Chelameswar had said at the unscheduled press conference. The presser was held at his residence.

Justice Chelameswar had also said that all the four judges "failed to persuade CJI that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures. Unfortunately, our efforts failed."

Asked what these issues were, he had said they included the "allocation of cases by CJI", and had added, "we owe a responsibility to the institution and the nation. Our efforts have failed in convincing CJI to take steps to protect the institution."

The four judges, in their seven-page letter to the CJI, had said, "It is with great anguish and concern that we have thought it proper to address this letter to you so as to highlight certain judicial orders passed by this court which has adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivering system and the independence of the high courts besides impacting the administrative functioning of the office of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India."

The letter had also said that there have been instances where cases having "far-reaching consequences for the nation" and the institution have been assigned by the chief justices of this court "selectively to the benches 'of their preference' without any rational basis" for such assignment.

"We are not mentioning details only to avoid embarrassing the institution but note that such departures have already damaged the image of this institution to some extent," it had added.

(With PTI inputs)New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids on Karti Chidambaram's properties in Delhi and Chennai on Saturday in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case.

The case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by P Chidambaram, with the ED saying it was probing "the circumstances of said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister".

The agency had said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then finance minister even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs. 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Meanwhile, PTI quoting sources said that an authorised representative of Karti met officials probing another case against Karti - the INX Media case - on Friday and handed over some documents. ED has issued fresh summons to Karti and asked him to appear before it on January 16.New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday dubbed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on P Chidambaram's premises in Delhi and Chennai as a "malicious vendetta" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government against its senior leaders.

"Not surprised by the malicious vendetta being unleashed against senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram and his son," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was quoted as saying by ANI.

Surjewala also said that Prime Minister Modi and his government use the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as "captive puppies".

"Everyday Prime Minister Modi and his government use the ED and the CBI as captive puppets to seek revenge from the Opposition," Surjewala added.

The reactions from the Congress came shortly after the Enforcement Directorate officials conducted a raid on former union minister P Chidambaram's son Karti's homes in Delhi and Chennai in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case.

Reacting to the raids, Chidambaram said that the ED officials found nothing during the raid at his son's Karti Chidambaram's residence, therefore, took away a few documents to justify themselves.

Chidambaram said the ED has "no jurisdiction" to conduct such searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," Chidambaram told reporters here.

He also said that there is no FIR concerning a scheduled crime by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any Police agency.

"Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued notice on the cases filed by my son Karti Chidambaram. These cases have been filed some time ago, notices were issued yesterday and the respondents were asked to file their reply if they wish to and the cases posted for hearing on January 30. The main ground in the case is that there is no FIR in respect of a scheduled crime registered by any police agency including the CBI," said Chidambaram.

Chidambaram also said he had yesterday itself anticipated that as the notices were issued by the SC, "the ED has to conduct some drama in order to cover up some track and hence will conduct searches in Chennai."

Speaking about the raid at Delhi's Jor Bagh, Chidambaram said, "In the comedy of errors they (ED) came to search the premises in Delhi's Jor Bagh and offices and told me they believed that Karti Chidambaram was the occupant of the house I told them otherwise."

(With ANI inputs)NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India on Saturday criticised four Supreme Court judges , who had questioned Chief Justice of India a day earlier, on a 'minor issue' of rostering.

Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said that the matter should have been sorted out internally rather than bringing it on a public platform.

"Holding a press conference on a minor issue of the roster is saddening. The Bar Council believes that the matter should have been sorted out internally. If no consensus was achieved, other judges or members of the Bar Council could have been involved. However, it should not have been discussed on a public platform. The judiciary will be weakened as a result of this, and subsequently, the democracy," Mishra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He added that a meeting of the members will be held at 5 pm today evening, following which the delegation is expected to meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and other senior judges, in a bid to prevent such situations in the future.

"We have a meeting at 5 pm today. Tomorrow, our delegation will meet those senior judges, CJI Misra, and other judges, and request them to not bring issues like these in front of the public," he said.

In a first, four judges of the apex court, namely Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar held a press conference where they questioned the conduct of the CJI and claimed that their efforts in convincing the latter to take steps to protect the institution have gone in vain.

The ambiguous allegations by the judges had prompted media persons to ask if it related to the case of CBI Judge Loya's death, to which Justice Gogoi replied in the affirmative, albeit hesitantly.

Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, today expressed confidence that the the issues raised by them would be resolved.

Joseph said that they acted solely in the interest of judiciary and justice, a day after he and the three other judges took the unprecedented step of addressing a press conference.

He rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their actions will bring in more transparency in the administration of the Supreme Court.

"Stood up for justice and judiciary.... That is what we said there (in New Delhi) yesterday. Nothing beyond that," Justice Joseph said in Malayalam when local television news channels approached him at his ancestral home in Kalady near here seeking his reaction on yesterday's development. "An issue has come to attention. It will certainly be solved since it has come to the attention," he told reporters today.

Meanwhile, Congress today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he sent his Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra to Chief Justice Dipak Misra's residence here, a day after four senior Supreme Court judges took on Justice Misra over the allocation of benches, among other issues.

Nripendra Misra was seen on Saturday sitting in his car outside Justice Misra`s residence in New Delhi. "As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI`s residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not strictly adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they wrote to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

The four judges were Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.New Delhi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in India on Sunday on a six-day visit during which both the strategic partners will aim to further expand ties on a range of key areas including defence and trade, as per reports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu will hold talks on Monday covering entire expanse of the ties and explore new areas of cooperation to further deepen the "very very special relationship", the external affairs ministry had said on January 11, 2018.

Joint Secretary (West Asia-North Africa division) in the ministry B Bala Bhaskar had said that the Palestinian issue is likely to figure in the talks between the two PMs besides other key issues of mutual importance.

India last month had joined 127 other countries to vote in the United Nations General Assembly in favour of a resolution opposing the recent decision of US President Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"This is a very very special relationship... We want to take it to a higher level," Bhaskar had said.

Asked whether the purchase of Spike anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from Israel through the government-to-government (G- to-G) route will be discussed during Netanyahu's visit, Bhaskar had refused to give a direct reply.

In November, the defence ministry had decided to retract the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. Now, it is learnt that the government is considering buying the missiles through G- to-G route, as per PTI.

Bhaskar had said both the countries have long-standing defence ties and new areas of cooperation are being explored.

Also Read - Benjamin Netanyahu's India visit - Here's his itinerary

On the other hand, a senior official has said that Israel will invest USD 68.6 million to boost cooperation with India in areas like tourism, technology, agriculture and innovation over a period of four years

The commitment is in addition to the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund of USD 40 million over five years with equal contribution from both sides that has already been agreed between the two sides, deputy director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, Gilad Cohen, had told PTI.

Netanyahu will be leading a high-profile delegation comprising 130 businessmen from 102 Israeli companies drawn from areas like agriculture, water, cybersecurity, healthcare and security.

Several MoUs, including in the field of oil and gas, renewable energy, an amended protocol for airports, cybersecurity, co-production of films and documentaries are expected to be signed between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon on Friday had downplayed India's stand at the UN General Assembly over the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in place of Tel Aviv, saying New Delhi's view "cannot influence" Indo-Israel ties.

"I don't think it can influence the relationship. The relationship is much stronger than the one vote here and there," Carmon had said but had maintained that it was "not a happy" situation when members of the international community did not vote in favour on the issue at the UN.

The envoy had also said that sometimes India comes with a request (at the UN) and sometimes Israel does.

On the strong bond between the two leaders which was driving the current Indo-Israeli ties, Carmon had said that the relationship between India and Israel is an "all-weather friendship".

Netanyahu's itinerary in India:

PM Modi will be hosting a private dinner for Netanyahu on January 14, 2018, after his arrival in New Delhi. The Israeli leader would be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also the same day.

The Israeli PM would be formally welcomed the next day at the Rashtrapati Bhawan following which he would lay a wreath at Rajghat.

He would be then participating in a dialogue at Hyderabad house which will also include a one-on-one discussion with PM Modi. Meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu are also scheduled for Monday.

Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, would be travelling to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on Tuesday and return to Delhi to participate in the Raisina Dialogue.

PM Modi would be accompanying Netanyahu to Gujarat on Wednesday where he will be welcomed with a roadshow in Ahmadabad.

The "road show" is said to be an 8-kilometre drive from the airport to the Sabarmati Ashram. The two leaders will also be witnessing several innovative technologies in the field of water, agriculture and health at iCreate and visit a Centre of Excellence.

Netanyahu would be arriving in Mumbai on Wednesday in the evening where he would be meeting with the Indian Jewish community.

It will be the second visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to India after a gap of 15 years since Ariel Sharon visited New Delhi in 2003. The visit comes merely six months after PM Modi visited the Jewish state, becoming the first Indian premier to do so.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in India on Sunday on a six-day visit during which both the strategic partners will aim to further expand ties on a range of key areas including defence and trade besides deliberating on Israel-Palestine relationship, as per reports.

Following is Netanyahu's itinerary in India:

PM Narendra Modi will be hosting a private dinner for Netanyahu on January 14, 2018, after his arrival in New Delhi. The Israeli leader would be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also the same day.

The Israeli PM would be formally welcomed the next day at the Rashtrapati Bhawan following which he would lay a wreath at Rajghat.

He would be then participating in a dialogue at Hyderabad house which will also include a one-on-one discussion with PM Modi. Meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu are also scheduled for Monday.

Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, would be travelling to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on Tuesday and return to Delhi to participate in the Raisina Dialogue.

PM Modi would be accompanying Netanyahu to Gujarat on Wednesday where he will be welcomed with a roadshow in Ahmadabad.

The roadshow is said to be an 8-kilometre drive from the airport to the Sabarmati Ashram, as per PTI. The two leaders will also be witnessing several innovative technologies in the field of water, agriculture and health at iCreate and visit a Centre of Excellence.

Netanyahu would be arriving in Mumbai on Wednesday in the evening where he would be meeting with the Indian Jewish community.

It will be the second visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to India after a gap of 15 years since Ariel Sharon visited New Delhi in 2003. The visit comes merely six months after PM Modi visited the Jewish state, becoming the first Indian premier to do so.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday greeted the nation on the occasion of the Punjabi folk festival of Lohri.

"Greetings and good wishes to the people of the country on Lohri. May the festival bring happiness, good health and prosperity to everyone`s lives," he said.

Greetings and good wishes to the people of the country on Lohri. May the festival bring happiness, good health and prosperity to everyone's lives #PresidentKovind  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 13, 2018

PM Narendra Modi too greeted the nation.

Lohri, primarily celebrated in the Punjab region, marks the end of the winter season. Bonfire and folk songs are a major part of the celebration and a puja parikrama (prayers) around the bonfire is performed followed by the distribution of prasad (offering).

In Jammu girls dressed in their traditional attire dance around a bonfire as they celebrated Lohri.

BSF jawans too celebrated Lohri festival in Jammu.

In Punjab, the festival was celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety with functions being organised at several places to mark the day.

During the day, kites such as the 'Tukkal', 'Chhaj', 'Pari' of different colours, sizes and shapes with 'Happy Lohri' and 'Happy New Year - 2018' messages were seen in the sky.

Kite-flying competitions were organised across the state, including Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala, with people challenging each other to cut kites.

People distributed jaggery, peanuts and popcorns - the three edibles associated with Lohri.

The festival was dedicated to the girl child at several places in Punjab by organising 'Dhiyan di Lohri' to make people aware of the importance of girls.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh greeted people on the occasion of Lohri. "Wishing you all a very Happy Lohri. May the bonfire give you warmth and joy and may it bring along happiness and prosperity for you and your family," he tweeted.

(With PTI inputs)Here's a quick look at the top news of the day:

1. No official communication from Pakistan on suspension of cooperation: US

The United States said it has not received any formal communication from Pakistan on suspension of military and intelligence cooperation, contrary to what is being asserted by top leaders in Islamabad. Read full report

2. Uttar Pradesh govt gives green signal to 'Padmaavat': Report

A day after BJP-ruled state Gujarat put a ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat', the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday gave a green signal to the magnum opus starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. Read full report

3. Man issues death threat to Nitish Kumar, video goes viral on social media

A youth was arrested in Bihar on Friday after he allegedly issued a death threat to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, police said. Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told media persons that a police team arrested accused Pramod Kumar alias Poyama from Fatuha in Patna district. Read full report

4. IND v SA, 2nd Test: India need to exorcise Cape Town ghosts quickly

The Indian team has had just four days to mend their hearts from the 72-run crushing defeat they suffered on Monday at the hands of South Africa in the first Test. And now is upon them at an incredibly fast pace the second game that starts in Centurion from Saturday. Read full report

5. US ambassador to Panama steps down, says cannot serve Donald Trump

US Ambassador to Panama John Feeley, a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, has resigned, saying he no longer felt able to serve President Donald Trump. Read full reportChennai: President Ram Nath Kovind should intervene in the issue involving judges of the Supreme Court in case they themselves could not resolve it, DMK working president M K Stalin said on Saturday.

"In case, if a stage comes wherein judges could not resolve the issue, President Kovind should intervene and resolve it," he told reporters here.

Judges of the top court should hold dialogue and make efforts to resolve the issue to safeguard democracy, he said in response to a question on the issue.

Four senior judges of the apex court yesterday virtually revolted against the Chief Justice, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders.

"Supreme Court is on a very high pedestal of guarding democracy for people from Kanyakumari to Kashmir," he said, adding, issues in such an institution involving judges should be addressed immediately.NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday termed as a "serious matter" the issue of alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Seikh encounter case, and asked Maharashtra government to file his autopsy report.

The top court asked the state government to file its reply by January 15 and said "this matter requires bi-parte hearing rather than ex-parte".

"This is a serious issue. We would like counsel for state of Maharashtra to seek instructions and file the post mortem report and other relevant documents by January 15," a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar said.

At the outset, senior advocate Dushyant Dave representing Bombay Lawyers' Association said the high court was already seized of the matter and the top court should refrain from hearing the issue.

The bench asked Dave to specify why the apex court should not hear the petition.

To this, he said "the Bombay High Court is seized of the matter and in my opinion the Supreme Court should not hear this matter. If the court goes ahead with the hearing, it may have implications before the high court."

Dave said he has been representing Bombay Lawyers' Association before the high court.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who was also present in the courtroom, said she also had instructions from Bombay Lawyers' Association to pray that this matter should not be heard by the top court.

She said that two orders have already been passed by the high court with one regarding issuing of notice and other for listing of matter on January 23. Hence the top court should not hear the matter.

"We will see. We will take into consideration your objections. This is a serious issue," the bench said.

Advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, appearing for Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla, said this was a case where a mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, had taken place on December 1, 2014 and it needed to be investigated independently.

"Let the state government file its reply by January 15. Then we will see what can be done," the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing.

Judge Loya had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

The apex court had yesterday agreed to hear two separate pleas filed by Poonawalla and Maharashtra-based journalist B R Lone, seeking independent probe into the death of Loya.

The issue had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

Poonawala, in his plea, said the circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting".

"It is the submission of the petitioner that the judges are bestowed with the duty to protect the Constitution and uphold the majesty of rule of law. The judiciary, if not protected, may be unable to fulfil its duty towards public at large. In cases where prima facie material is available to investigate, it is absolutely necessary to order an inquiry," the Congress leader said.

The other plea filed by the journalist submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties.

A PIL seeking probe into the judge's death has also been filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers' Association.

In the encounter case, the BJP President along with Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin, have already been discharged.

A total of 23 accused, including police personnel, are facing trial for their involvement in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and their associate Tulsidas Prajapati in Gujarat in November 2005.

The case was later transferred to CBI and the trial shifted to Mumbai.NEW DELHI: A day after four top judges of the apex court accused Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra of flouting rules and assigning cases to wrong benches, the Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday will hold a meeting over the allegations.

Later in the day, the association will also address the media.

On Friday, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court publicly had slammed Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra saying that the democracy of the nation is at stake.

In a press meet, the four 'rebel judges' - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph had said that 'things were not in order' at the apex court.

The top judges had launched a sharp attack on Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra for 'ignoring the concerns voiced by them'.

"Administration of the Supreme Court is not in order. Many things less than desirable have happened in the last few months. We owe a responsibility to the institution and the nation," Justice Chelameswar had said during the press conference.Kolkata: Two of the four Supreme Court judges who had openly revolted against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, on Saturday said that "there is no crisis".

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who criticised CJI Dipak Misra for the alleged faulty administration of the top court, on Saturday said that "there is no crisis".

"There is no crisis," Gogoi was quoted by PTI as saying.

Gogoi said this on the sidelines of a programme when asked about the way forward to resolve the present crisis with the judiciary.

When asked whether the four judges' act had amounted to a violation of discipline, Gogoi refused to comment, saying, "I have to catch a flight to Lucknow. I cannot talk."

The senior apex court judge was here to attend the eastern regional meet of the state legal services authorities.

Separately, Gogoi's colleague Justice Kurian Joseph, who is also one of the four rebel judges, today said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and there are only problems in the procedure they had objected to.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Kurian told reporters.

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, Joseph said, "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter."

Earlier this morning, the Bar Council of India (BCI) said that the presser by the four top court judges was ''unfortunate''.

BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra further said that a meeting of the members is being held this evening, after which a delegation will meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and the four senior judges, who spoke against the CJI on Friday.

"We have a meeting at today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). Our delegation will meet Chief Justice Dipak Misra and those four senior judges to request them to resolve the issue internally," Kumar said.

He said it was "most unfortunate" that four senior judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court and that the issue should have been "sorted out internally."

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they had written to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

The four judges are justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: With Israel asserting that its relationship with India is much stronger than one vote in the UN, the stage is set for the arrival here on Sunday of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu on a six-day trip to give a fillip to 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

This is the first prime ministerial visit from Israel to India since the visit of the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The visit comes less than a month after New Delhi voted in the UN General Assembly against US President Donald Trump`s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel`s capital.

However, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon, at a media briefing here, set at rest all speculation over this saying, "I think the relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN here and there."

He also added, "Sometimes it is India that comes to Israel with a request and sometimes Israel comes to India with a request. We cannot always fulfil those requests. That is why we are two countries, two members of the UN."

B. Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (WANA) in the Ministry of External Affairs, told the media that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu will sit for a bilateral summit here on January 15, both sides "will be discussing a lot of issues".

Netanyahu`s visit also assumes significance as it comes just over six months after the visit of Modi to Israel, the first ever Indian prime ministerial visit to the West Asian nation

Stating that bilateral cooperation has been expanded to several areas, Bhaskar said: "It all started with agriculture, now we have large areas of cooperation predominantly dominated by technology collaboration, innovation, R&D, science, space, so these are actually very qualitative engagements characterised by technological collaboration and innovation."

According to Carmon, through cooperation in agriculture and water were the highlights of Modi`s visit to Israel in July last year, this time innovation will top the agenda.

"Innovation that would, you know, touch any of the areas in which we cooperate. Innovation could be in the field of defence, innovation could be in the field of agriculture, innovation could be in the field of IT, of R&D," he said.

The Ambassador described innovation as a "cross-cutting issue" and said this would be reflected in the discussions between Modi and Netanyahu.

Carmon referred to Netanyahu`s scheduled visit to the iCreate Innovation Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and said that the centre "has a big clement of Israeli ecosystem in innovation".

Bhaskar said the ties between the two countries have been expanding in the areas of agriculture, water, innovation, entrepreneurship development, space, education, culture, homeland security and defence.

"We have upgraded our relationship to the strategic level with a special focus on agriculture and water," he said.

He said the bilateral commerce between the two countries stood at $5 billion in 2016-17 which did not include defence trade.

There is speculation about the revival of talks on India`s purchase of 8,000 Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel that was cancelled last year.

Carmon, on his part, said that the Spike project is an example of Israel engaging in the Make in India programme.

Stating that the project would be a boost to India`s economy, the Ambassador said: "If there is a problem, I hope it would be solved."

Apart from the summit-level meeting, the second India-Israel CEOs Forum will be held as also a series of other meetings between both sides in New Delhi and Mumbai during the course of the visit. Netanyahu will be accompanied by a delegation of 130 Israeli business leaders.

Asked about the status of the India-Israel free trade agreement (FTA), Carmon said that "the FTA is definitely on our agenda".

Netanyahu is also scheduled to visit a Centre of Excellence in Agriculture at Vadrad, Gujarat, that has been set up with Israeli assistance.

Carmon said that by the end of this month, there will be 22 centres of excellence set up with Israeli aid up and running across India.

These centres cover areas like vegetables, citrus fruits, dates, mangoes, flowers, beekeeping, he said, adding that "we are now starting work on a dairy farm in Haryana".

Netanyahu will also be accompanied by Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Moshe, who was only two years old then, will visit Chabad House, where his parents were killed.

Another major highlight of Netanyahu`s visit will be his participation in this year`s Raisina Dialogue, India`s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics.Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Altaf Bukhari on Saturday hit back at Army Chief General Bipin Rawat for hinting that students in the Kashmir Valley were being ''radicalised'' in the schools.

Attacking Rawat, Bukhari said the Army should concentrate on its own job and not meddle with the state's education system.

"The Army Chief is a respected officer. I do not think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on education. This being a subject on the state list, we know how to run our education system," Bukhari said.

The minister's remark came a day after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said the students in the schools of Jammu and Kashmir were being taught two maps - one of India and the other of J&K.

"In the schools in Jammu and Kashmir, what teachers are teaching should not be taught. In schools, there can be seen two maps, one of India another of Jammu and Kashmir. Why do we need a separate map for the state? What does it teach the children?" General Rawat had said in the press conference held in New Delhi.

The minister, however, defended the presence of two maps in the classroom.

"There are two flags in the state. We have Jammu and Kashmir constitution and India's constitution as well. Every school has a state map as it is needed to teach about the state," Bukhari added.

The minister expressed displeasure, saying that everyone was trying to pass comments on the state's education sector and this was not acceptable.

(With Agency inputs)Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Altaf Bukhari on Saturday hit back at Army Chief General Bipin Rawat for saying that the education system in the state needs to be overhauled to check radicalisation.

"The Army Chief is a respected officer. I do not think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on education. This being a subject on the state list, we know how to run our education system," said Bukhari.

He also defended the presence of two maps in the classroom.

"There are two flags in the state. We have Jammu and Kashmir constitution and India's constitution as well. Every school has a state map as it is needed to teach about the state," Bukhari said, as per ANI.

Addressing the Indian Army`s customary annual press conference on Friday, Bipin Rawat had questioned the education being provided in government schools in the Valley.

"In every school there is a map of India and a map of Jammu and Kashmir. Why should you have a separate map of Jammu and Kashmir? Then have maps of all states. What does it teach students? That I am in this country but I also have a separate identity? The basic grass root problem lies here - the way education is in Jammu and Kashmir because these teachers have also got the same education," he had said.

The system of education in the state needed to be given a relook, the Army chief had added.

He had further said that good schools did not produce stone-throwers and terrorists, though there could be a few exceptions.

"We have rarely seen stone-throwers... from Burnhall or probably DPS. Most are coming from schools where a lot of disinformation (is spread)" Bipin Rawat had said, IANS reported.

He had also raised concern over "disinformation" being spread through social media, and through religious schools and mosques.

"The other issue is madrassas and masjids... What is being incorrectly informed to them is through madrassas and masjids... If these can be brought under control, the education system can be revamped," the Army chief had said.

He had said that there was a need for opening more schools like army-run Goodwill Schools and CBSE-funded schools in the Valley.

(With Agency inputs)BENGALURU: Several BJP workers on Saturday staged a protest in front of the district Congress committee office at Mallikatta here condemning Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's 'Hindu terror' jibe at the BJP and RSS. As per reports, the police more than 80 workers into custody. They all were released later.

In a no-holds-barred attack, Siddaramaiah had on January 10 alleged that the BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal had terrorists within their organisations, a charge rubbished by the saffron party. "They themselves are like terrorists in a way. The BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal also have terrorists within," he had said, taking his attack on the Congress' principal political rival to a new level, ahead of the state Assembly polls due early this year. After coming under an intense attack from the BJP for his remarks, Siddaramaiah had yesterday called those associated with the saffron party 'Hindutva extremists'.

Coming out in defence of CM Siddaramaiah's 'Hindu terror' remarks, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said those who created an atmosphere of terror in the society were called terrorists. "He (Siddaramaiah) had said extremism...Those who create an atmosphere of terror in the society are called terrorists. Their (BJP-RSS) conduct is also like that," he told reporters in Mangaluru.

Siddaramaiah's comments quickly escalated into a raging controversy with the BJP filing a complaint against the Chief Minister and and state Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao for making derogatory statements against the party. On Friday, a delegation of the BJP leaders led by former state Law Minister Suresh Kumar met Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Sunil Kumar and filed the complain accusing Siddaramaiah of branding BJP and RSS members as 'terrorists'.

The party wanted Siddaramaiah to be made 'liable for defamation and promotion of enmity' between citizens under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of law. "He has knowingly made irresponsible statements to malign a national political party like the BJP," it said.

The complaint said Siddaramaiah who is "nervous about losing" in the state polls, has made "a baseless, false, frivolous and derogatory" statement which had not only defamed the party, but also incited groups and classes of the society against it. The complaint alleged that Siddaramaiah was misusing his position to spread "blatant falsehood" against the party with an ulterior motive of reaping political gains. "The entire effort of Siddaramaiah to issue such a controversial statement is to create enmity and hatred among people and against the BJP," it added.

In the complaint, BJP has made similar charges against the state Ccongress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao. Alleging that Rao has said BJP was like a terrorist organisation, it said this was "baseless, malicious, derogatory, defamatory and false." The BJP demanded that Siddaramiah and Rao be made "liable for defamation and promotion of enmity between citizens" under IPC Section 153A and under provisions of law. They should be booked "under the said provisions of law and action taken for the penal offences," the complaint added.New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday claimed that there was no anti-incumbency feeling against his government and the party will win a comfortable majority in the Assembly elections.

Addressing the media after meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi along with party leaders from his state, he said, "Rahul Gandhi is very happy with the functioning of the government. He is very happy that our government has no anti-incumbency. He is very happy to know that all promises made to the people in the (last election) manifesto have been fulfilled.

"We, senior leaders including the KPCC president and general secretary in charge and secretaries, are confident that the Congress party will come back to power on its own with a comfortable majority," Siddaramaiah added.

Asked about the BJP`s attack on him on Hindutva issues, he said, "The BJP has no issues. They are raising irrelevant issues. (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath is also raising the same issue. Amit Shah is also raising the same issue. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi may also raise the same issue because they have no issues there."

To a question about his alleged attack on the BJP and its leaders as terrorists, Siddaramaiah said, "I did not say terrorists. I have only said they spread hatred in the name of Hindutva. I said I am also a Hindu but a humane Hindu. Hindu dharma means humane Hindu and not hatred. That is Hindutva."

Asked if he would apolgise for his remarks, he asked 'why'.

On the other hand, Congress' party in-charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal, told reporters that the leaders gave an assurance that they would all work united for the success of the party in the Assembly elections.

The meeting came in the wake of a verbal duel between Siddaramaiah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah.

Siddaramaiah had called the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) 'Hindutva extremists', while Shah had termed his government in Karnataka 'anti-Hindu'.

Rahul is slated to visit Karnataka from 10-12 February 2018 for first the leg of the election campaign.

(With IANS inputs)Mumbai: At least three girls drowned and five were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized Saturday morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

The police said that 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing ones was continuing with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

''The bodies of the three girls - Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi - all aged 17, were recovered,'' Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe was quoted as saying by PTI.

All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

''The private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am,'' Singe said.

The students were on a picnic.

"The Indian Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations," the SP said.

The location is around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said.



Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, the police said.

The tragedy apparently struck when some students crowded on one side of the boat to click selfies, resulting in the vessel tilting on one side and capsizing, BJP MLA Manisha Chowdhary, who hails from Dahanu, said.

Local fishermen, who saw the mishap, and some residents of Dahanu joined in rescue efforts.

Late in the evening, Singe told reporters that the police were probing the accident. An offence would be registered against those responsible for the tragedy, the SP said.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai today on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, has offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

"Anguished to hear of the boat carrying school children capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. The state government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," he tweeted.

Later, the Indian Coast Guard gave details about its rescue operation in a release here.

"On receiving the information, the Coast Guard Station at Dahanu immediately initiated search and rescue efforts whilst coordinating with local authorities. A Coast Guard boat based at Dahanu and a helicopter from Daman was launched immediately for rescue," it said.

"A total of 32 precious lives were saved in the incident and they are being provided medical attention by the local authorities," the release said.

However, there have been three casualties in the incident, it said.

"Search efforts are still continuing at the location in coordination with local authorities to search for missing students if any," the release said.

(With PTI inputs)Mumbai: A Pawan Hans helicopter with at least five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) officials and two pilots onboard crashed shortly after take-off from Juhu Airport here on Saturday.

According to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Navy, at least five bodies have been recovered from the debris of the ill-fated ONGC chopper near the sea coast.

#SAR 4 X INships Teg, Tarasa, T11 & T45 in area. 1 X Dornier & P8I each on task. Seaking 42B relieving another Seaking42C on task. Chetak ex - Teg on search task. 5 bodies recovered. Wreckage & life jackets recovered being brought back on ONGC OSV Hull Anand. Search 2 continue pic.twitter.com/8Yd1tu3YgJ  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 13, 2018

Meanwhile, a massive search operation is still on for other missing persons.

A massive search and rescue operation involving five ships, 2 Dornier aircraft and two helicopters is currently on to trace those missing, an official spokesperson of the ICG said.

Those onboard the ill-fated chopper have been identified as R Saravanan, V K Babu, Jose Anthony, Pankaj Garg and P Shrinivasan.

All are top-ranking ONGC employees.

Meanwhile, the two pilots of the chopper have been identified as Captain Ohatkar and Captain Katoch.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas said, ''It is a sad and painful incident for ONGC. Information received till now shows that four bodies have been recovered.''

It is a sad and painful incident for ONGC. Information received till now shows that 4 bodies have been recovered. 7 people were there which included 5 senior ONGC officials and 2 pilots from Pawan Hans: Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas pic.twitter.com/XEdmMQUP2R  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The minister also met the family members of one of those ONGC employees who lost their lives in the helicopter crash.

According to latest reports, the wreckage of the Pawan Hans Helicopter on ONGC duty has been spotted.

Wreckage of Pawanhans Helicopter of #ONGC. The helicopter was flying from Juhu #Mumbai to ODA Offshore Development Area when it got lost at sea this morning (Source: Indian Coast Guard) pic.twitter.com/8nbWM8efOM  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

An ICG official confirmed that part of the chopper wreckage was found near Uttan Beach, in Thane district.

Rescuers and divers from the Indian Coast Guard are continuing the search for those missing.

Indian Coast Guard continues Search and Rescue operations. Four bodies have been recovered at sea near debris of #ONGC helicopter. #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/KDzcXiKpzT  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Earlier, ICG ship Agrim managed to recover three bodies from the Arabian Sea, including one of a passenger named Pankaj Garg, while the search continues for the remaining four missing.

The Dauphin chopper took off at 10.20 am Just 15 minutes later, it suddenly lost contact with both the Mumbai ATC and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

At that time, it was reported to be flying around 55 km off the Mumbai shoreline, on a regular sortie to the ONGC's Bombay High oilfields, around 175 km northwest from here.

ONGC has key oil and gas fields off the Mumbai coast and Pawan Hans helicopters routinely ferry company employees and officers to the oil installations that are situated as far as 160 kilometres from the coastline.

The field in the offshore iincludesMumbai High, the nation's largest oil field and Bassein fields, the largest gas field.

The helicopter crash is not the first accident in ONGC's history.

In August 2003, an Mi-172 helicopter crashed off the Mumbai coast killing 27 people and pilot on-board.

(With ANI inputs)Jaipur/Chittorgarh: In more trouble for noted film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, female members of Kshatriya community in Chittorgarh on Saturday threatened to perform "jauhar" (self-immolation) if his controversial movie 'Padmaavat' is released in Rajasthan.

In a 'Sarvasamaj' meeting held in Chittorgarh, the members decided to stage a phase-wise protest against the proposed release of the film. The meeting was attended by around 500 people, out of which 100 females belonged to high-profile families of the city.

The spokesperson of Rajput Karni Sena, Virendra Singh, said on January 17, national highways and railway tracks across Chittorgarh would be blocked.

The controversial film, already cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after five modifications and renamed from "Padmavati" to finally "Padmaavat", is scheduled to release on January 25 across the country.

The Rajasthan government has, however, decided against releasing it in the state.

On Sunday, a delegation of the Sena will meet Rajnath Singh, who is scheduled to visit Udaipur, requesting him to stop the screening of the movie across India.

According to Virendra Singh, a representative board will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, who is scheduled to visit Pachpadra village in Barmer district for laying the foundation stone for a refinery project.

"A request will be made to him as well to stop the screening of the film," he said.

"But, if despite all these measures the film is released, the women of Kshatriya Samaj will perform 'jauhar' on January 24 - the day when the queen performed 'jauhar' - and at the same site," warned Virendra Singh.

Chhittorgarh Jauhar Smriti Sansthan general secretary Bhanwar Singh said that preparations were also being made to close the gates of the historical Chittorgarh fort once again.

Earlier, the Karni Sena had planned a protest on January 25 and 26, but in the wake of Republic Day celebrations, the protest was rescheduled to January 17, Virendra Singh added.

The Rajput Karni Sena had also warned that any cinema hall which screens Padmaavat will be vandalised.

"The release of 'Padmavati' is only going to create chaos in the country. The government would be responsible for any loss of life and property following the release of this movie. Our people will be outside cinema halls and each hall which shows the film will be vandalised," Rajput Karni Sena member Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi had claimed.

Ruling out any compromise on the issue, the Karni Sena had called for a 'janata curfew' whenever the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial is released.

Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi, who is leading the protest against the movie, had told media persons recently, "We needed one small clarification that time that there will be nothing between Alauddin Khilji and Padmavati... We would have been content with it, but now we will not compromise in any way."

(With IANS inputs)LUCKNOW: A day after BJP-ruled state Gujarat put a ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat', the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday gave a green signal to the magnum opus starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

The Central Board of Film Certification has certified 'Padmaavat' for screening and the film is slated to release on January 25.

Earlier this week, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje observed that Bhansali's 'Padmavat' will not be allowed to hit theatres in the state. On Friday, over 70 activists of the Rajasthan-based Karni Sena were detained in Mumbai while protesting outside the CBFC office against the clearance given to Bhansali's film which was earlier titled Padmavati.

Over 30 Karni Sena supporters were detained from Haji Ali during another protest.

"Over 70 supporters of the Karni Sena were detained from Cumballa Hill area in south Mumbai, while protesting outside the CBFC office without police permission," Zone II Deputy Commissioner of Police Dnyaneshwar Chavan had said.

The Rajput Karni Sena on January 10, reiterated its demand for a "complete ban" on the film. Its leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi alleged that history was being tinkered with and there was no room for a compromise with the filmmakers on the issue.

The film was previously scheduled to release on Dec 1.

But the outfit protested against the film's release in Rajasthan and other parts of the country over the portrayal of queen Padmini in it. The group alleged the movie "distorted" history even though historians are divide on whether the queen actually existed.

The filmmakers, too, have denied the allegations.

"The film should be canned and thrown into the flames of Jauhar. We have heard that it is releasing on January 25 and if so happens we will take to streets and appeal our youths to hold public curfew at cinema halls," Kalvi had told reporters.

He had claimed that a three-member panel that was shown the movie has opined that it should not be released, adding that the film is likely to be shown to another six persons.

"All this should end now and the film should not be allowed to be released to hurt the sentiments of people who are agitating against it," Kalvi had said.

He had also claimed that six states have announced a ban on the movie. "I will hold discussions with Delhi government in this regard."

On December 28, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had decided to give the film a U/A certification along with some modifications and suggested that its title be changed to Padmaavat to befit the source material, Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic of the same name.WASHINGTON: All African countries at the United Nations unanimously demanded Friday that US President Donald Trump retract and apologize for his reported denunciation of immigration from "shithole" nations.

After an emergency session to weigh Trump`s remarks, the African Group of UN ambassadors said it was "concerned at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration toward Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of color."

The group is "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media," a statement added, demanding a "retraction and an apology."

But the 54 countries also thanked those Americans "from all walks of life who have condemned the remarks."

The resolution was passed unanimously after four hours of discussions.

"For once, we are all on the same page," an ambassador told AFP.

Trump's comments were allegedly made on Thursday at a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.

After lawmakers raised the issue of protections for immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador, the president reportedly demanded to know why the United States should accept immigrants from "shithole countries," rather than -- for instance -- wealthy and overwhelmingly white Norway.

He tweeted a convoluted denial Friday in an attempt to quell outrage both at home and abroad.

Earlier, the 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks while Botswana and Senegal hauled in the US ambassador to complain.

The comment "truly flies in the face of accepted behavior and practice," said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki.

Western Sahara is not recognized as a sovereign state by the UN and thus not included in its African Group.

It is, however, part of the African Union, which Morocco left in 1984 over the body`s recognition of the disputed territory's independence, before rejoining it last year.WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive... for now.

The Republican leader grudgingly agreed to sign sanctions waivers, ensuring Washington will live up to its commitments for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be "for the last time."

During that four-month period, he now wants Congress and America`s main European allies to draw up a new deal -- without negotiating with Tehran -- to replace the "disastrous flaws" in the current agreement.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement.

"Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal`s disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."

The new deal -- which Trump envisions as being outlined in US law and involving Britain, France and Germany -- would impose tougher controls on Iran if sanctions relief is to continue.

In particular, it will not begin to expire after 10 years as parts of the existing deal do, but instead would impose permanent restrictions on not just Iran`s nuclear plants but also its missile program.

"These provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon -- not just for 10 years, but forever," Trump said.

"If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume."

Trump is also urging Congress to reform US law so the president is no longer required to declare every 90 days whether he thinks Iran is in compliance, or to renew sanctions waivers every 120 or 180 days.

Iran`s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, took to Twitter to describe Trump`s decision and the announcement as "desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

The 2015 deal, he said, "is not renegotiable. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -- just like Iran."Trump`s decision was announced alongside another package of new sanctions -- punishing not Iran`s nuclear program, but its alleged abuse of human rights in a crackdown on recent street protests.

The most prominent new name on the Treasury sanctions blacklist, which forbids Americans from doing business with the targets, is the head of Iran`s judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani.

The US Treasury said Larijani, the brother of Iran`s parliamentary speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is to blame for the torture and degrading treatment of prisoners.

Washington policy hawks hailed Trump`s decision, which they said would concentrate minds in Europe, where leaders have urged Trump not to sabotage a deal they see as a landmark diplomatic success.

"So Trump now has issued explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans: Fix Iran nuke deal or no more sanctions waivers," wrote Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"Is he bluffing? I don`t think so. Busy four months ahead."

But supporters of the existing deal between Iran and six world powers, including the former officials in Barack Obama`s administration who negotiated it, denounced Trump`s plan.

Diplomacy Works, a pressure group set up by former secretary of state John Kerry to defend the deal, was scathing.

"Today, we learned that the president`s plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending," it said.The other signatories to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- and the European Union, which oversaw the talks, were watching carefully.

The British and German foreign ministries said they had taken note of the decision and would confer with France before deciding on a course of action.

"The UK has a clear position on the Iran nuclear deal: we regard it as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran," the British Foreign Office said.

America`s allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Iran`s nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

While there may be some relief that Trump has yet to torpedo the hard-won accord, there were clear signs of frustration from European capitals in the runup to the decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump on Thursday and stressed France`s determination to see "the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it."

And Russia spoke out strongly in favor of the accord, calling it "the result of a consensus among many parties."

UN inspectors have certified Iran`s compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.Moscow: Russia today said Washington would be making a grave mistake by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, adding that Moscow would work hard to keep the landmark agreement alive.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticised remarks by US President Donald Trump, who yesterday said the US will not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran for the moment but would withdraw later this year unless the terms of the deal are changed.

"We are gradually coming to the conclusion that an internal decision by the US to leave the (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has already been made or is close to being made," Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax news agency.

"This could be one of Washington's big foreign policy mistakes, a big miscalculation in American policy," he said.

Under the hard-won 2015 deal with Russia, the US, China, France, Britain, Germany and the EU, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting of a raft of international sanctions.

Trump yesterday gave an ultimatum to "either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."

America's allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that his predecessor Barack Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

Ryabkov said Moscow must unite with Europe and China and undertake "intense work" to keep the existing plan intact and decried what he said was a US attempt to strongarm the situation.

"In what we heard yesterday, I don't see any invitation for Iran to enter dialogue," he said. "This defies the logic of the agreement."

"Russia will do everything in its power to save the agreement," he said.Mexico City: A street performer known as the "Naked Cowboy" of New York`s Times Square has brought his act to the streets of this capital, where he is getting acquainted with the family of his Mexican-born wife.

Robert John Burck, clad in his trademark outfit of underwear, boots and hat with a guitar slung across his chest, is enjoying a warm welcome in Mexico City, where pedestrians stop to have their photos taken with him, Efe news reported on Friday.

"It`s better than in New York, the people are very entertaining and the women very pretty," the 47-year-old American told Efe.

Chatting in "Spanglish," Burck said that his visit to the Aztec nation has increased his "love for the Mexicans".

Yet despite those sentiments, and his spouse`s Mexican roots, Burck has been a supporter of US President Donald Trump`s hard-line approach to immigration.

Burck`s wife, Patricia Cruz, said the purpose of the trip was for her husband to meet her mother.

"He fell in love with Mexico," she told Efe.

Cruz, who came to the US as a teenager in 2003, was 25 when she and Burke wed in 2013.

The couple met in the New York coffee shop where Cruz was working as a waitress.Seoul: North Korea has offered talks to South Korea on sending its art troupe to the 2018 Winter Olympics, Seoul`s Unification Ministry said on Saturday.

North Korea proposed a working-level dialogue on January 15 in Tongilgak, a building controlled by North Kora in the truce village of Panmunjom, to discuss the issue, Xinhua reported.

The proposal was sent to the South Korean side through the restored hotline in Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

It was a counterproposal to South Korea`s offer on Friday to hold working-level talks on January 15 at the Peace House in the South Korean side of Panmunjom to discuss the dispatch of all delegations from North Korea, including the art group.

North Korea said it will notify South Korea of its proposed schedules for working-level dialogues about other issues such as the dispatch of athletes and cheering squads.

On Tuesday, the two Koreas held senior-level talks in Panmunjom, the first high-level dialogue between the two Koreas in about two years, agreeing that North Korea will join the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in South Korea`s eastern county of PyeongChang.Moscow: Iran said on Saturday it would retaliate against new sanctions imposed by the United States after President Donald Trump set an ultimatum to fix "disastrous flaws" in a deal curbing Tehran`s nuclear programme.

Trump said on Friday he would waive nuclear sanctions on Iran for the last time to give the United States and European allies a final chance to amend the pact. Washington also imposed sanctions on the head of Iran`s judiciary and others.

Russia - one of the parties to the Iran pact alongside the United States, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union - called Trump`s comments "extremely negative."

The ultimatum puts pressure on Europeans, key backers of the 2015 nuclear deal, to satisfy Trump, who wants the pact strengthened with a separate agreement within 120 days.

While approving the waiver on U.S. sanctions related to the nuclear deal, Washington announced other sanctions against 14 Iranian entities and people, including judiciary head Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, a close ally of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Describing sanctions against Larijani as "hostile action", Iran`s Foreign Ministry said the move "crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community and is a violation of international law and will surely be answered by a serious reaction of the Islamic Republic," state media reported.

It did not specify what any retaliation might involve.

Iran`s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had earlier said on Twitter that the deal was "not renegotiable" and that Trump`s move "amounts to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

Iran says its nuclear programme has only peaceful aims and says it will stick to the accord as long as others respect it. But it has said it would "shred" the deal if Washington quit.

Trump, who has sharply criticised the deal reached in Barack Obama`s presidency, had chafed at having to once again waive sanctions on a country he sees as a threat in the Middle East.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement, saying the options were to fix "the deals disastrous flaws or the United States will withdraw."

"This is the last chance," Trump said, pushing for a separate agreement and saying the United States would not waive sanctions again to keep Iran in the pact without such an agreement.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called Trump`s remarks "extremely negative", RIA state news agency reported. "Our worst fears are being confirmed, he said.

The EU said in a statement it had taken note of Trumps decision and would assess its implications. "It`s going to be complicated to save the deal after this," said one European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Britain, France and Germany had called on Trump on Thursday to uphold the pact.

Senior U.S. administration officials told reporters Trump would work with Europeans on a follow-on deal to enshrine triggers that the Iranian government could not exceed related to ballistic missiles.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said "significant progress" had been made on bipartisan congressional legislation to address "flaws in the agreement without violating U.S. commitments."

Trump laid out conditions to keep Washington in the deal. Iran must allow "immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors," he said, and "sunset" provisions imposing limits on Iran`s nuclear programme must not expire.

Trump said US law must tie long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs together, making any missile testing by Iran subject to "severe sanctions."

The president wants US Congress to modify a law that reviews US participation in the nuclear deal to include "trigger points" that, if violated, would lead to the United States reimposing its sanctions, the official said.

This would not entail negotiations with Iran but would be the result of talks with European allies, the official said.

A decision to withhold a waiver would have effectively ended the deal between Iran and the other international signatories. The other parties to the agreement would have been unlikely to join the United States in reimposing sanctions.

Two EU diplomats said EU foreign ministers would discuss next steps at their next regular meeting on Jan. 22 in Brussels.There were no reports on losses in Ukraines Armed Forces

Open source

In Luhansk area the enemy used infantry weapons. Several times in the Troitske area they shelled from the machine-gun anti-tank grenade launchers, and in the afternoon they opened aimed fire at Katerynivka.

In Donetsk sector in Pryazovia, the occupants used mortars. 15 mines of 120-mm caliber detonated near Vodyane.

"Since the beginning of the day, four attacks on the strongholds Ukraines Armed Forces have been recorded along the line of demarcation. Twice, the Ukrainian soldiers responded adequately to the enemy shelling," the headquarters said.

As it was reported earlier over 11.3 million civilians crossed the demarcation line in Donbas in 2017. Maryinka, Maiorsk, and Stanytsia Luhanska are the most loaded checkpoints in between the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government and Donbas militants.

As to the administrative border with annexed Crimea, over 2.5 million people crossed it in 2017.The United States intends to increase their nuclear arsenal, as Huffington Post reports sourcing the project of the Nuclear Posture Review.

In particular, the document advocates for increasing American nuclear arsenal, euphemizing a euphemism low-yield missiles with the word supplements". The underestimation comes in proportion as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are technically low-yield. The review states that the country needs them to deter Russia.

Russias belief that limited nuclear first use, potentially including low-yield weapons, can provide such an advantage is based, in part, on Moscows perception that its greater number and variety of non-strategic nuclear systems provide a coercive advantage in crises and at lower levels of conflict. Correcting this mistaken Russian perception is a strategic imperative, the review says.In order to limit the spread of the disease, it is recommended to extend the holydays in the city's schools. The forced holidays will last until January 21

Open source

Authorities of Ivano-Frankivsk city in Ukraine decided to extend holidays in schools because of the outbreak of measles. This is stated on the website of the city.



"In order to limit the spread of the disease, it is recommended to extend winter holidays in the city's schools. The forced holidays will last until January 21. The exception is school 6, where the largest number of ill pupils are registered, where the holidays will be prolonged for 2 more weeks," reads the message.



We recall, in the fall of 2017, a measles outbreak was reported. According to the Ministry of Health, the country already has 70 times more cases of measles than in the previous year - more than 2000 people. Indications of the most common diseases are recorded in Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa and Ternopil regions. At the same time, more than half of the patients are children from one year to eight.

Related: OSCE recorded 662 explosions in Donbas in 24 hours



Doctors stress that vaccination is the only reliable way to protect against measles (for both children and adults). It does not protect against the virus by 100%, but it significantly reduces the possibility of infection and softens the course of the disease.

Also as of morning Friday, Jan. 12, 74 instances of measles infection with were recorded in Kyiv, as the press service of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection informs.

In 57 cases children were the infected ones. Most of them are kids from 5-9 years old  46.5%. 16 instances of infection were reported among pre-school children and another 30  among schoolchildren.

Prophylactic and anti-epidemic measures are underway in over 50 preschools and schools.

Valeria Lutkovska, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to Uliana Suprun, the acting Minister of Healthcare with the request to organize the campaign on the informing of people about the importance of the vaccination of the children against the measles. The appeal was published at the official website of the ombudswoman.

Lutkovska thinks that the growth of the disease in the beginning of 2018 is determined by the absence of the informing of the population about the necessity of the preventive measures.112 Agency

In Zaporizhya, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches in the premises of Orthodox Union Radomir pro-Russian organization, which provided security services to the Zaporizhya diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate, the press service reported.



"Investigators of the special services seized unregistered automatic firearms and cold steel, a significant number of cartridges, medals" Patriot of Russia ", pro-Russian symbols of the organization, printouts with anti-Ukrainian content," the report said.



The department added that the Radomir organization provided so-called "security services" to the Zaporizhya diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Related: CIA concludes that Russia was behind cyber attack NotPetya in Ukraine, - media



"Some representatives of the latter violate the equality of citizens, which creates the prerequisites for inter-ethnic and inter-confessional conflicts, they also justify the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine," the Security Service added.

We recall that on December 31 in Zaporizhya, a man fell out of the window of a high-rise building and landed on a child. They both died. During the child's funeral, a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate refused to commemorate the deceased because the baby was baptized in a church of the Kiev Patriarchate (representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate believe that the church is "self-styled", so the child was not baptized).



The next day, two men, who brought a doll to the entrance of the Moscow Patriarchate temple, got beaten up. As it turned out, one of them appeared to be a participant of Donbas conflict.

Related: Ukraine barred 1,500 foreigners from entering the country for violating border rules on Crimea entryAccording to the CIA report, Russias Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) orchestrated the attack

Open source

NotPetya cyber attack that caused a lot of damage in Ukraine in June 2017 is with high confidence an action of Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), The Washington Post writes sourcing classified reports of the CIA.

The media notes that Ukrainian computers constitute more than a half of the attacks victims. The attack also commenced on Ukraines Constitution Day, June 27. Ukrainian airport Boryspil, Ukraines postal service, a number of ministries and banking systems were hit by the attack.

Its seen as a part of Russias hybrid warfare, which followed the annexation of Crimea and beginning of military action in Eastern Ukraine.The activist tried to intercept Zeman before his vote in new presidential election, calling him Putins slut

Ukrainian Femen activist Angelina Diash, who dashed towards the President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman, was detained for 48 hours, according to Ceska televize.

The activist is accused of hooliganism, and charges will be pressed against her in the nearest future.

On Jan. 12, the activist held a protest at the poll, where the current President of Czechia was voting during the presidential election. She was bare-chested and screamed: Zeman is Putins slut.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis called the incident inadmissible.

As we reported earlier, the presidential election started in Czeck Republic on Jan. 12. Nine candidates running for the Presidents post, including the current head of the State Milos Zeman, who is one of the leaders of the campaign. His main opponent is 68-year-old Jiri Drahos.

Zeman is considered to be a pro-Russian politician. In October, Czech President Milos Zeman claimed that the annexation of Crimea by Russia was a solved case and offered to resolve the issue by means of benefits to Ukraine during his speech at PACE, causing a backlash in both Ukraine and the Czech Republic.YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Union of the Domestic Commodity Producers of Armenia Vazgen Safaryan attaches importance to the implementation of new programs by public-private sector partnership aimed at mitigating the dependence on imported goods.

Commenting on President Serzh Sargsyans recent task to develop and present a comprehensive action plan for development of local production and replacement of imported goods, Vazgen Safaryan said this first of all should relates to goods of key significance, in particular, butter and meat products. These products are mainly imported from abroad. This means that significant movements should take place in the field of agriculture, large farms must be created by the public-private sector cooperation. Today the government also develops a concept on public-private sector partnership. This concept should include the field of agriculture which supposes creation of animal husbandry farms which in its turn will lead to increase of dairy production volumes, and therefore, to increase of production volumes of goods I mentioned, Vazgen Safaryan told ARMENPRESS.

According to him, mediator structures should be formed for production of fruit-vegetables and their efficient realization. Its also necessary to develop a cooperative movement in Armenia so that people will unite by their lands and will jointly run an economy, and I also think that there is a need of state economies. We need to observe which branch of economy in what region is effective, and then to boost and develop it, Vazgen Safaryan said.

According to him, it would be possible to reach the implementation of the programs he mentioned and ensure a result in case of the respective decisions by the government, affordable loan resources and mild tax policy. Of course, people will start working on this path, he said, adding that another issue is the effective use of lands, as well as the exploitation of uncultivated lands.

As for the agriculture being risky, Vazgen Safaryan said it is not risky if it is not organized under an open sky. In order to reduce the risks, its necessary to create greenhouse economies to protect the crop from sun, hail and wind, he said.

He highlighted the fact that the negative balance of Armenias foreign trade is nearly two billion dollars, whereas 4 years ago it was 3 billion dollars. This somehow speaks about the increase of local production volumes. In case of implementing the aforementioned steps we will be able to reach the point that our export volumes, as the President says, will make 40-45% of the GDP, and in this case, we will bring additional currencies to Armenia from the exported goods, he said.

President Serzh Sargsyan chaired a consultation January 10 to discuss the price increase of separate products in the country and the salutations of possible mitigation of those increases. The President stressed he expects those in-charge to carry out strict monitoring of price increases. In addition to presenting reasons of the price increases, the President demanded to present solutions aimed at mitigating the consequences of the price increases and always present to the public the processes in the consumer market.

Ani NazaryanYEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he will discuss the situation in Syria and Yemen with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Adel al-Jubeir during their upcoming meeting in Washington, RIA Novosti reports.

It is expected that important issues will be discussed over the region where he have joint work. This relates to both the situation in Syria, as well as the Yemen conflict, stabilizing the situation, and more broadly the fight against terrorism, Tillerson said.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Clear weather is expected in Armenia in the afternoon of January 13, overnight January 14.

Meteorologists from the ministry of emergency situations told ARMENPRESS scattered wet snow is expected in the afternoon of January 14, January 15-18 in most areas of the country.

Light precipitations are forecast in Yerevan for January 15-18.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The only elephant of Yerevan Zoo  10 year old Bunka, will soon have a friend to play with.

Loneliness is not the main problem for Bunka. Since elephants are considered to be intelligent animals, interactions with other animals is very important for their welfare. The Zoo is planning to build a bigger enclosure for the elephants, and to acquire a partner for Bunka, Yerevan Zoo told ARMENPRESS.

The Zoo said if they fail to find sufficient resources the elephant will most likely be transported to a zoo where its welfare will be ensured.

Bunka was brought from Tbilisi.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir today condemned the sentencing of journalist Afghan Mukhtarli to six years in prison by the Balakan District Court in Azerbaijan, OSCE reported.

The sentence, based on spurious charges against the investigative journalist, is a clear attack on free media. Silencing independent journalists can never be accepted. I hope that this verdict will be overturned on appeal, said Desir, who previously called on the authorities to drop all charges against Mukhtarli and respect his right to freedom of expression.

Mukhtarli was convicted of "smuggling", "illegal crossing of the border" and "resistance to an official representative". Mukhtarli was reportedly abducted in Tbilisi in May 2017.

Desir recalled that the investigation by Georgian authorities has still not been completed.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan made nearly 200 ceasefire violations along the Artsakh line of contact during January 7-13.

The defense ministry of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS that Azerbaijani forces fired more than 2000 rounds during the violations.

In addition, the Azerbaijani military used large caliber heavy machine guns and sniper rifles.

The Defense Army continues to confidently carry out their service, by taking countermeasures when necessary, the ministry said in a statement.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Masked men have assaulted and robbed an Armenian businessman in Ozurgeti, Georgia, Rustavi 2 reported.

The victims is a 31 year old citizen of Armenia, identified as Arthur Sukiasyan. He owns several stores in Guria region.

The businessman was assaulted near his home in the morning of January 13. Two masked men knocked him down with a blow to his head and took nearly 11,7 thousand dollars from his possession. The Armenian businessman was on his way to a market in Tbilisi for procurements for his stores.

He is currently hospitalized.

The assailants are at large.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Editor-in-Chief of ARMENPRESS news agency Mrs. Narine Nazaryan has been awarded the certificate of appreciation of the Parliaments Speaker.

Mrs. Nazaryan has been awarded for objective coverage of the Parliaments activities.

Speaker Ara Babloyan personally awarded Mrs. Nazaryan during a ceremony.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The United States called on Azerbaijan to release the imprisoned journalist Afghan Mukhtarli, who was earlier sentenced to 6 years in prison.

The US is concerned that on January 12 Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. According to reports, Mukhtarli was kidnapped on May 30 in Georgia, and later arrested in Azerbaijan for smuggling  related to accusations which are politically motivated, the US State Department said in a statement.

The US called on Azerbaijan to release Mukhtarli and all others who are jailed for exercising their fundamental freedoms.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenian media were hosted in the Parliament in a New Year and Christmas reception, with the participation of Speaker Ara Babloyan. Representatives and executives of news agencies covering the parliaments works participated in the event.

In his opening remarks, Speaker Babloyan said he has always appreciated the work of the journalists, regardless what their stance is on various issues.

I believe that mutual respect between people shouldnt depend on the difference in political views or opinions, he said.

After his speech, an awarding ceremony took place, with media representatives receiving certificates of appreciation and souvenirs.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused the US for not extraditing Fethullah Gulen.

Cavusoglus accusations came during a speech in Los Angeles during a meeting with the local Turkish community.

The entire world has understood what kind of a traitor group the gulenists are. God willing someday the US will also understand. Unfortunately we havent yet received the help from the US which we expected, he said.

Earlier he had also commented on a statement from the US that in terms of security, Turkey is among the third category of countries like Sudan and Venezuela.

We shouldnt pay much attention to an inappropriate attitude of a partner. Turkey is a safer country than the US, he said.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The US State Department sees terror threats in Azerbaijan, whereas the countrys President Ilham Aliyev ranks it among safe countries.

Azerbaijan expert Tatevik Hayrapetyan told a press conference that after the US State Department made the statement, on the same day Aliyev had a meeting with his Cabinet on economic issues and in the beginning of his speech he mentioned that Azerbaijan is the most stable country in the region, which despite ongoing numerous threats in the world ensured security of not only its citizens but also foreigners.

Speaking on the political-economic expectations in Azerbaijan for 2018, the expert said that Aliyev expects growth this year also.

Although Aliyev speaks about growth of economy, Azerbaijani opposition economists have far worse forecasts. They expect the 10 most important banks of the country to shut down, she said.

Earlier the US State Department issued a statement where it included Azerbaijan among countries posing terror threats.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan has joined the fundraiser for serviceman Albert Dallakyans surgery, and called upon everyone willing to join.

Minister Sargsyan said on Facebook that the defense ministry has always and will always support Albert Dallakyan and all other heroes and their families.

Albert needs a difficult surgery. Under the law, we cant compensate the implementation of this surgery abroad, because this surgery can also be organized in Armenia. But foreign clinics have greater experience and skills in this issue, and the probblity of speedy recovery is far more. I advised the family to try and collect the required sum through this kind of a fundraiser. Personally I and several of my friends will provide 10% of the required sum (45,000$). I call on everyone who can to join this fundraiser and help Alberts family. Even simply spreading this call can also help. God bless Albert, all our heroes, the army and the people, he said.YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. In a speech before the AK party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the army is preparing to launch new operations in Syria against the Kurdish PYD/YPG.

He said they will launch the operations during the coming week, Hurriyet reports.

Erdogan accused the US in supplying the Kurdish forces in Syria with 4900 trucks loaded with weapons.

He said Turkey is willing to have a policy in the region together with the US, but it cant be done unilaterally.DETROITMojoHost, one of the industrys primary hosting providers, has partnered with AVSecure, the leading age verification solution for the Digital Economy Act. MojoHost will be running two nodes on the innovative blockchain solution designed and built by AVSecure, at their Mojohost data centers in Europe and the US.

Under the Digital Economy Act, starting in April 2018, all websites with adult materials accessible from within the United Kingdom have a responsibility to block access to these materials from minors. The enforcement requires more than a passive checkbox confirming a users age (which is easily bypassed by minors wanting to see pornographic content). It is expected that acceptable age verification methods will include credit/debit card, voting data, mobile with SMS, and government issued identification such as a passport or drivers License, or in person verification, AVSecure handles such verification processes.

MojoHost has the industrys trust, built on integrity and service of consistent quality. The company focuses on utilizing technological innovations aimed at improving performance and lowering costs for its customers. This partnership with AVSecure expands the already impressive portfolio of services that Mojohost offers their clients.

AVSecures blockchain solution acts as a repository of encrypted tokens that represent age-verified consumers. The AVSecure blockchain is made up of multiple nodes, with each node being a copy of the blockchain database.

AVSecure runs several blockchain nodes itself for resiliency and performance purposes. The addition of Mojohost to operate their own AVSecure blockchain nodes ensures chain independence, which provides additional levels of security, trust and confidence for all clients.

Mojohost and Mojohost BV will operate the AVSecure blockchain nodes as a service to their clients. They will also offer a dedicated hosting service for any site owner that wishes to, and has permission to run a node directly, giving their clients additional operational assurance.

We are delighted to be partnering with MojoHost who add enormous value to our service," said Steve Winyard, co-founder and CMO of AVSecure. "Their expertise and trust is unquestionable and we know that choosing an age verification solution partner is a critical business decision and it is imperative that we offer the highest levels of confidence possible.

The partnership with AVSecure makes a lot of sense," explained Brad Mitchell, CEO, MojoHost. "It is quite rare that a new service comes to the market with comparable level of investment and expertise that AVSecure delivers. We will be recommending all our clients to use this service as we have absolute confidence in their technology and people.

MojoHost announced that it welcomes blockchain and crypto currency technology.

AVSecure shows the ingenuity that can be used with blockchain technology. Even though blockchain concepts have been around since the early 1990s, there are many ways it is now being used. We welcome all innovative technologies here at MojoHost and that includes blockchain and cryptocurrency applications, Mitchell announced.The General Assembly will take up legislation to resolve the GenX water pollution case and judicial redistricting and reform when it returns to special session Wednesday.But what else is on the agenda, or even how often and how long lawmakers will meet, remains a guess.The House Environment Committee meets at 1 p.m. and will consider a GenX bill. Chemical manufacturer Chemours has been releasing the compound into the Cape Fear River in the Wilmington area at elevated levels. Much remains to be determined about toxicity levels, but the release of the contaminant sparked intense concern locally and statewide.It's expected the bill will be approved in the Environment Committee, pushed through the Appropriations Committee afterward, and placed on the House floor for a vote later in the afternoon. The bill will likely include a $1.325 million appropriation to the Department of Environmental Quality for temporary staff at the Division of Water Resources to do water sampling. The Division of Air Quality would take air samples, and the Division of Waste Management would test groundwater wells, soil, and crops.Joseph Kyzer, spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said the pending legislation represents a considerable shift in approach and components.Kyzer said.and DEQ has embraced the changes.said Shelly Carver, spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. They were planning to caucus Wednesday.Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, who serves as a sort of legislative traffic cop, didn't respond to a request for comment. His office staff said agenda items were still under discussion.Rabon said last week, adding legislative leaders would not approve any judiciary changes during the special session.Berger's office has said it expects the special session timeline will depend largely on the progress and recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting . That committee was created last week to couple House redistricting measures with Senate intent to change the way judges are elected.said Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake. He said voting in special session on constitutional amendments is permissible, but he has heard no rumblings that will occur.Blue said.He said there are rumors the special session will comprise constant recesses, and short adjournments, until judicial redistricting is resolved. Moore has said the legislature might meet for two days, and take off a week or two to work behind the scenes.said Blue, a member of the judicial reform joint committee. Blue believes some form of judicial reform might be necessary, but has steadfastly called for a slower process, and deeper input from a broad array of stakeholder groups. The joint committee is scheduled to meet Thursday.Gov. Roy Cooper is still awaiting Senate confirmation of some of his appointees to various boards and agencies, and that is scheduled to begin immediately. N.C. Utility Commission nominees Charlotte Mitchell and ToNola Brown-Bland are on the Wednesday Commerce and Insurance Committee agenda. N.C. Board of Agriculture nominee Franklin Allen is on the Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee agenda.It's possible action could be taken on legislation frozen in conference committees or override votes on three remaining gubernatorial vetoes. The General Assembly already voted to override 10 Cooper vetoes.Standing vetoes are House Bill 205, a newspaper legal advertisement measure, House Bill 511 to allow nonprofit organizations to hold fund-raising game nights, and House Bill 576 requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to turn landfill leachate and wastewater into an aerosol spray for disposal.In the media and among pundits, the term "trickle-down economics" is used a lot. The expression was reportedly first used in the 1930s by Will Rogers and was later adopted by those who opposed Ronald Reagan's 1981 tax cuts as a pejorative and derisive description of what is appropriately called supply-side economics.The implication of the term, when used to describe Reagan's plan, was that these cuts were designed to initially benefit wealthy businesses and high-income taxpayers and they, in turn, would take the revenues from those cuts and go out and spend it (probably on yachts and private airplanes), which, in turn, would end up benefiting middle and lower income people (who presumably build airplanes and yachts). Hence, the money would "trickle-down" from the wealthy who receive the tax cuts to the rest of society. It was used in 2013 by left-wing opponents of North Carolina's tax reform plan, which implemented similar supply-side policies. The expression is currently being used by opponents of the recently passed tax reform/cut plan passed by congressional Republicans.The fact is that, as a description of supply-side tax reform or cuts, "trickle-down economics" is completely inaccurate. Changes in a tax code that are rooted in supply-side economic analysis are about enhancing economic growth by changing incentives to work, save, and invest, that is, policies to alter incentives to pursue economically productive activities. Hence, all supply-side tax reform plans focus on reducing tax penalties on these activities. Marginal tax rates on personal income are reduced to encourage work effort and investment in human capital, while rates on capital gains, corporate and non-corporate business income, and interest and dividend income are reduced to ameliorate the penalties on saving, investment, and entrepreneurship. These rate reductions increase the returns to these activities and, therefore, the likelihood that they will be pursued. This means greater economic growth. The idea of money trickling down from higher income to lower income citizens does not figure into these arguments at all.But this discussion does not imply that there is no use for the term trickle-down economics. In fact, it is nearly a perfect description of the brand of economics that guides the thinking of most of those commentators who use the term to deride supply-side economics-Keynesianism. Keynesian economics, or the economics derived from the writings of early 20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes, is, in fact, a trickle-down theory of how to stimulate economic growth.According to Keynesian thinking, in order to have a strong economy, something economists call "aggregate demand" cannot be allowed to fall too low. Aggregate demand is the total amount of spending in the economy. (Saving, by the way, is considered to be counterproductive in this model.) Because of this, it is the government's job to keep aggregate demand "strong" when policymakers deem that it is insufficient. This is where Keynesian policy turns to a theory of trickle-down economics. To stimulate aggregate demand, Keynesian policy argues that the government should borrow money from the private sector, that is, increase budget deficits and public debt, and then turn around and spend it through government programs, thereby putting it back into the private economy. This money, after being sucked out of the private sector through increased government debt, will trickle back down into the economy through these government programs, increasing the spending of the masses.In the Keynesian model, the money isn't necessarily trickling down from high income to low-income citizens (actually it may flow in the opposite direction) but from the government, after it borrowed it from private investors, back down into private hands. More often than not, these private hands are those that have the most political clout, that is, institutions, industries, and special interest groups with the strongest lobbying organizations in Washington.The point here, though, is that Keynesian economics is truly a trickle-down theory. It depends on money trickling down from Washington into the private economy to stimulate aggregate demand. Over the years, Keynesian economics has proven itself to be a faulty theory. It has never worked and, in fact, cannot work to improve the economic well-being of society. In this sense, those who say that trickle-down economics doesn't work are correct. On the other hand, Keynesian trickledown economics has worked well to provide a pseudo-scientific justification for coercively transferring wealth from the private sector to the government and its favored special interest groups; General Motors, Chrysler, and the big banks are just a few examples.Late on Wednesday evening, news broke that will likely end the career of Missouri Governor Eric Greitens: the ex-husband of Greitens' ex-mistress came forward with evidence that not only did Greitens engage in an extra-marital affair with that woman, but that he blindfolded her, taped her to rings hanging from a doorway, and took a picture of her naked. The ex-husband alleges that Greitens then blackmailed his wife to keep the story quiet.Greitens, for his part, acknowledges the affair but denies the blackmail part of the story:The governor has now seen the TV report that ran tonight. The station declined to provide the tape or transcript in advance of running their story, which contained multiple false allegations. The claim that this nearly three-year old story has generated or should generate law enforcement interest is completely false. There was no blackmail and that claim is false.So, here's the question: if Greitens had engaged in the affair, we'd all likely shrug and move on with our lives. It's only the element of alleged threatened blackmail that makes us take notice. Isn't that an effect of defining deviancy down?Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) coined that phrase back in 1993, when he argued thusly regarding crime:That logic doesn't just apply to crime. It applies to the behavior of our politicians.Thirty years ago, Greitens would have been forced from office for his obvious immorality; today, we all say that such behavior is unpleasant, but not a barrier to holding high office. That's thanks to the Kennedy family, Bill Clinton, and now Donald Trump.The natural next step: we only get exercised if something worse happens.But how long will it be before we define deviancy down again? Both parties now accept that their politicians can utterly lack character and still earn votes. Why, then, are we shocked that those with severe shortcomings in character seem to be outpacing people of character in politics? We can't have it both ways: either we have standards, or we don't. Once we don't, are we surprised that character-less people seem to become more and more common in positions of power?Critics will respond that our politicians always engaged in nasty behavior, they just hid it. But that's the point: they had to hide it. Hiding it meant that society didn't normalize such behavior, lowering the standard of decency still further. Perhaps bad men can govern well. But that's an exception to the rule, not the rule itself. If not, we should at least stop pretending to care about the personal character defects of the people we elect. Or perhaps we already have.Now that it is fully apparent, to all who have the ability to pay some modicum of attention, that Imposter President Biden has extreme cognitive issues, in addition to being an inveterate liar: Can OUR Republic continue with this Executive Office that has completely failed, so many times, on far too many issues here at this early date in this abysmal presidency?

No, Joseph R. Biden is completely unqualified, morally and cognitively, to represent real Americans, and lead this Republic of disparate peoples.

Yes, Joseph R. Biden has started whispering again, even softer now than before; so, I know he still cares, plus, OUR media will soon stop reporting on Afghanistan in favor of OUR Socialist issues.News / Health

by Staff Reporter

Government has tightened border controls and mobilised resources following heightened fears of a possible cholera outbreak in the country after the disease killed 67 people in neighbouring Zambia.The disease, which broke out in Zambia in October last year, is infectious and causes severe watery diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated.It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae.There are fears it could spread to Zimbabwe because of high cross-border activity between the two countries.The Lusaka Times of Zambia says as of January 10, at least 2 905 cholera cases had been recorded in the country.During a Civil Protection Unit (CPU) meeting at the Hwange District Administrator's office on Wednesday, Hwange District Environmental health officer Mr Talikobila Mwembe called for a multi-sectorial approach in cholera prevention."In preparing ourselves for a breakout that may affect the country anytime, we would like to encourage a multi-sectoral responsibility, whereby Government, local Government and the education sector work together in terms of preventing the epidemic," said Mr Mwembe.He said the ministry had mobilised equipment at all 45 health institutions in the district and reserved 45 cholera beds at Victoria Falls District Hospital.Ambulances and motorcycles have been mobilised for hard-to-reach areas, including laboratory consumables and medicines.He said the provisions fell short of requirements.Mr Mwembe said there was a shortage of health personnel to man some border posts."Human resources are available in all categories though there is a critical shortage in environmental health departments manning the Pandamatenga and Kazungula border posts. This is risky as there are chances of cholera getting into the country through some food stuffs," he said.Victoria Falls Municipality has since stopped Zambian vendors  who get into the town on a daily basis to sell maize cobs, fruits and vegetables  from crossing into the town to sell their wares to limit chances of the epidemic spreading across the border.Hwange DA, Mr Simon Muleya said there was heightened alert in the district considering the proximity with Zambia."In the district, we have Victoria Falls which is a stone's throw away from Zambia and possible gateway for cholera. We have to be on the alert and prevent it from entering the country," he said."There's no budget allocation for the CPU from the central bank. However, we work on donations. We call for stakeholders and well-wishers to be on the alert and assist in case of an outbreak."Mr Muleya said the ministry had availed $380 000 for awareness campaigns on cholera.Zimbabwe last had a cholera outbreak in 2008.News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has reportedly withdrawn former First Lady Grace Mugabe's State security detail, as the former First Family continues to adjust to life after former President Robert Mugabe was forced to resign last November.Grace, who was kicked out of the ruling Zanu PF in November, where she was women's league boss, used to have security agents specifically assigned to her, but these were withdrawn progressively until Monday.Her close security team used to be headed by a police commissioner, Olga Bungu, who is now reported to be operating from the "commissioner's pool" at the Police General Headquarters in Harare.Sources confirmed yesterday that Grace's security team had been reduced gradually since her husband's ouster, with most aides assigned to her being recalled and reassigned."She no longer has a team that is dedicated to her," a source said on condition of anonymity."Grace will largely depend on the team that is assigned to the former President."She can no longer determine how the aides operate, but will be an indirect beneficiary of her husband."Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, declined to comment on the matter, referring NewsDay to the new Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) director-general, Isaac Moyo, and the Police Protection Unit in charge of Mugabe's security."The CIO and police would give you a correct position on the matter," he said."But, logically, I believe it would be expensive for the government to provide security to Chatunga [Mugabe's youngest child] now whenever he travels to America or decides to relocate there."I think the idea is that security details and other benefits are accrued to the principal [Mugabe]."Other members now enjoy through the principal and not by virtue of their position or association."Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, said she was unware whether Bungu was still attached to the former First Lady."I don't know, I will need to find out," she said.According to a recent Government Gazette, Mugabe's security team has been slashed to a minimum of six officers and its size could be varied depending on circumstances.The former President is entitled to a salary equivalent to that of the sitting President, will have two drivers, two private secretaries and two aide-de-camp officers or personal assistants and two office attendants, among other benefits.University of Zimbabwe lecturer and constitutional lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku, said, at law, First Ladies do not have separate security, but benefit from the team that is assigned to their spouses, hence, the move should be viewed as downgrading and not withdrawal."She (Grace) is part of the [former] President's team, so the same people attached to protect the [former] President are the same who should be available to her as well," he explained."Even the current First Lady [Auxillia Mnangagwa], she benefits from the team that is responsible for the President because you cannot separate the two."News / National

by Staff reporter

IMMIGRATION department employees have written to Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu and parliament asking them to urgently investigate allegations of rampant corruption, nepotism and abuse of state assets, which have prejudiced government of "colossal amounts of revenue," the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.In a letter addressed to Mpofu dated December 12 2017 and copied to the Civil Service Commission permanent secretary, Civil Service commissioners and the Principal Director of the Immigration Department, the employees said they were ready to present concrete evidence of the alleged corruption at the institution.The letter was signed by Nkosana Mtunzi, an immigration staff representative.The slew of allegations raised in the correspondence range from corruption, abuse of the retention fund, flagrant abuse of government property, irregular promotions, unfair disciplinary hearings, forced resignations and questionable deployments, among others."When we meet with you Honourable minister  we are going to furnish you with concrete proof during the meeting," the letter reads. "There is widespread corruption - which is taking of bribes and protectionism. There is also abuse of government property and manpower. There was also the purchasing of substandard or questionable equipment such as the computers that resulted in the government losing colossal amounts of revenue in places like Victoria Falls where officers were tempted to take advantage of the loopholes."Mpofu did not respond to the letter, prompting Mtunzi to write to him again on December 27. Mtunzi urged Mpofu to meet the workers urgently, highlighting that some workers were being victimised after the first letter."While us as your loyal subordinates appreciate that the Minister has a busy and too tight a schedule in his office, we find it of paramount importance to keep the minister informed of the current unfolding developments on the ground, lest our request gets overtaken by events as has been happening when these subject issues were brought before his predecessors," wrote Mtunzi. "Of late we have seen the urgent and somewhat haphazard transfer of Assistant Regional Immigration Officer Morgan Moyo from Mutare to Chirundu Border Post and the conveniently arranged disciplinary hearing of Emily Mupeti."After failing to secure audience with Mpofu, the workers on Tuesday sought the attention of the Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda and the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Labour and Social Welfare Magna Mudyiwa. The workers highlighted the issues they raised to Mpofu and called for an investigation.Contacted for comment, Immigration Department director for administration and human resources Stephen Museki refuted the corruption allegations, saying the institution has been "consistently and persistently fighting corruption". Revenue leakages through Zimbabwe's entry points, he said, had sharply declined since 2007, due to "new systems" that the department has adopted."Before 2007, corruption was outrageous. In 2007, we used to collect US$250 000 per month, and after checks and balances, we are now collecting between US$1,2 million and US$1,5 million  and this is hard cash," Museki said.He said Mtunzi, who undersigned the correspondence dispatched to parliament and the Home Affairs ministry was "no longer a member of the department"."These are falsehoods, that person (Mtunzi) is not even a member of the department. He has no office here," he said, noting that the allegations raised in the correspondence were false, which is why the Home Affairs ministry had "ignored them". "In as far as corruption is concerned, the Immigration Department has been fighting cases of corruption, left, right and centre," he said.News / National

by Staff reporter

Individuals and companies that illegally externalized significant amounts of money from the country are returning the money, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has said.This comes after President Mnangagwa said the looters are known and will be prosecuted if they do not heed his call.Early last month, government amended the Exchange Control Act through Statutory Instrument 145 of 2017 to grant amnesty to those who illegally took out of Zimbabwe funds until February 28.Meanwhile, the Dumiso Dabengwa-led Zapu has challenged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to update the nation on how much of the externalised funds have been repatriated back into the country following a three-month moratorium issued by President Emmerson Mnangagwa last November.Mnangagwa, after his inauguration, gave all individuals and companies who externalised funds or assets, up to the end of February to repatriate them back into the country with no questions asked or charges preferred against them, warning the government would descend heavily on non-compliant offenders after the moratorium.Zapu deputy spokesperson, Iphithule Maphosa yesterday requested that the RBZ furnish the nation with information and updates on developments around the matter."We request all the information on how many have heeded the call so far and how much inflow has been realised," he said."We do not ask for names of looters, but updates on how much of State funds have been returned according to amounts and dates."The RBZ may further furnish the nation on the prospects of getting all the externalised funds back within the decreed three months' amnesty and make necessary recommendations."Maphosa said it was every citizen's constitutional right to access such information from the RBZ and any other responsible authority.There was optimism and excitement when Mnangagwa issued the decree that people would start repatriating money, but so far the government has been quiet on whether any money has been returned to the country.Mnangagwa warned that he had the names of everyone who expatriated money and with a little over six weeks to go before the expiry of the moratorium, Maphosa said the government should at least have given an update.Illegal forex dealers, popularly known as osiphatheleni, have now re-emerged on Bulawayo's streets despite raids carried out by the police last year.Opinion / Columnist

I can understand why millions of ordinary Zimbabweans have embraced President Mnangagwa and his coup-cabinet as the real thing, the answer to all their prayers to be liberated from the corrupt, vote rigging and murderous tyranny of the last 37 years. These are simple people who believe that all the corruption, vote rigging, etc. were the work of one-man, Robert Gabriel Mugabe; and thus removing him, would ended all their problems.One expects someone sober, learned and sophisticated as Ambassador Philippe Van Damme to know that corruption, incompetence and tyrannical tendencies of the Zanu PF dictatorship was not doing to disappear overnight just because Mugabe was no longer President, particularly when the reins of power have been passed on to the thugs who had carried out all the dirty work. The Zanu PF dictatorship was more than Mugabe, its figure head. Indeed, the removal of Mugabe was nothing more than a black mamba shedding off its old coat; it is still a deadly snake.The first thing President Mnangagwa and his coup plotters did after forcing Mugabe to resign was share out the spoils of power. The appointment of known political thugs like Commander Chiwenga, veteran of Joint Operation Command (JOC), the Junta responsible for all the vote riggings and 2008 coup to stop MDC getting power, as VP. Air Marshall Perrance Shiri, another JOC veteran and Gukurahundi commander, is now Minister of Lands.Major General Sibusiso Moyo, the man who will go down in Zimbabwe history as the coup spokesman who woke up the nation at 04.30 am on 15 November 2017 to announce the putsch but insisted it "was not a coup". He is now Minister of Foreign Affairs. Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of the rogue war veterans who have played a major role in imposing the Zanu PF dictatorship on the nation; they firmly believe that whilst everyone else has a vote they alone have the veto on who rules Zimbabwe. He is now President Mnangagwa's special advisor!President Mnangagwa appointed retired Lt. General Engelbert Rugeje to the very influential position of ZANU PF national political commissar. Rugeje is a liberation war veteran who, like his fellow rogues Mutsvangwa, Jabulani Sibanda, not only believe Zanu PF's divine right to rule but have ruthlessly imposed their dogma on the populous. Rugeje earned his notoriety in the 2008 elections when he spearheaded Zanu PF's Operation "Mavhotera papi!" (Whom did you vote for!) in Masvingo Province.Retired Lt General Engelbert Rugeje, reminded the nation at large why he is Zanu PF Political Commissar, entrusted by President Mnangagwa to carry out the very important task of mobilising the people to ensure Zanu PF landslide victory using the party's tried, tested and proven-to-work strategies."We are getting towards important elections this year," Rugeje reminded the people at Mawungwa Business Centre in Gutu, according to the Masvingo Mirror. "I came here in 2008 when things were bad. I don't know where Masvingo had got this spirit and I came and sorted things out."I came back again in 2013 and led the campaign team and I moved around the province addressing rallies and the results were impressive and this saw the current Party president giving Masvingo the post of political commissar. I expect you to give Zanu PF all seats in Masvingo now that I am full time in politics."All talk of free, fair and credible elections; thrown straight out of the window!"Chiri mumusakasaka chinonzwira!" (Those with ears, let them hear!) Even the naive simpletons have ears; they cannot say they did not know the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF before the coup is still the same after the coup."If really what he (Rugeje) said, needs public condemnation by @zanu_pf leadership! Intimidation incompatible with commitment 2free& fair elections." Was the twittered response from the EU Representative to Zimbabwe Philippe Van Damme.I am shocked that the Ambassador is so naive, to doubt Rugeje would boast about Zanu PF's culture of vote rigging and wanton violence when President Mugabe himself has publicly edged and praised the party thugs and none of them had any qualms carrying these heinous acts. Worse still, is the ambassador really that naive to believe "public condemnation by @zanu-pf leadership" would be enough to deliver free, fair and credible elections?For the umpteenth time, ambassador Damme; Zimbabwe will have free, fair and credible elections on one condition and one condition only  all the democratic reforms are implemented before the elections. So far President Mnangagwa has paid lip-service to free elections by making empty promises whilst doing nothing to implement even one token reform. Indeed, by surrounding himself with the party's hardliners, the veterans of the party's vote rigging and wanton political violence he is showing that he has no intention of holding free, fair and credible elections.Opinion / Letters

1 poor service delivery

2 Stock clearance

Dear editorAs members of the Mukumbura community under chief Chiswiti in Mt Darwin we have decided to let our fellow Zimbabweans as well as our president and his cabinet know the kind of treatment we are receiving from the police officers from Mukumbura police station.If we report our cases at the station, only scenes, which are nearer to the police station or main road are attended to within time. Cases in areas like Gungwa, Chionde, Mudzingadutu and Chigango sometimes after the accused person has already escaped or the evidence has been destroyed.The junior officers at the station always give excuses for late attendance to scenes citing that they don't have transport yet the station has a defender which is only scene in the area if the are tip offs of smuggled goods.In early 2017 two Zimbabwean nationals were killed by a group of Mozambicans for stock theft in the Murongwe area, it is said that these two people stole cattle from Mozambique and smuggled them into Zimbabwe by night at midday the following day villagers in Chidziwo village saw a group of Mozambicans, which was led by a Sangoma tracking some foot prints holding axes and informed the police but the police did not react and only to react the following morning after the Mozambican nationals had committed murder and fled to their country.In oder to be given clearance forms and an officer to clear your stock, you have to pay $5 to the one issuing the papers or you will spend the whole day at the station. After paying you will be given a police officer to help you, this one will also demand $10 per beast or two dollars per goat saying it is not the bussiness of the police to clear stock if you refuse to pay the officer will return to the station with the papers to look for those who will pay him for clearance, you will also have to pay for his or her transport cost.The situation in our area requires immediate attention from the government or else we will continue to loose our hard earned money to these unprofessional and corrupt police officers who are failing to embrace the change brought about by operation restore legacy.We don't know why these police officers are being transferred.Children of Zimbabwe let's not keep quite until we are free from harassment by the force which is meant to protect us.2017 Impact Awards

Purdue App Puts Learning Data into Students' Hands

Engineering students at Purdue University can track their study behaviors with Pattern, a quantified-self tool designed to help learners regulate and improve their habits.

Category: Student Systems & Services

Institution: Purdue University

Project: Pattern: Quantified Self-Assessment for Students

Project lead: Beth Holloway, assistant dean of undergraduate education, director of women in engineering

Tech lineup: Developed in-house

Learning analytics tools have become increasingly valuable for college and university administrators looking to boost student success. But can data also inform decision-making on the part of students themselves? A project at Purdue University (IN) explores that possibility by taking advantage of the "quantified self" movement (made popular by health-tracking apps such as Fitbit) and putting the data into students' hands.

Pattern, one of several teaching and learning apps developed by Purdue Teaching and Learning Technologies over the past few years, allows students to self-track their academic and extracurricular pursuits and rate how productive they are. The app also lets them compare their behaviors to other students to see which activities may yield the best results. Pattern can suggest when to study, recommend ways students can be more efficient with their time, and suggest how long students should be spending on tasks.

Project lead Beth Holloway

Beth Holloway, assistant dean of undergraduate education in the College of Engineering and director of women in engineering, set out to apply Pattern to a course engineering students find particularly difficult. Her project piloted the use of Pattern in a single section of a mechanical engineering course on thermodynamics during the Fall 2016 semester with 60 students. At Purdue, the course has a DFW (drop, fail, withdraw) rate of 25 to 40 percent, depending on the semester. Many students struggle in this course and then end up changing majors due to low grade point average. The mechanical engineering department had taken steps to try to improve success in the course, including opening a tutorial center and offering supplemental instruction. "Those things have been in place for several semesters and have had some impact, but not as much as we would have liked to see," Holloway said.

"I wondered if we gave students a very specific way to track their time and were able to mirror that back to them and have them be able to compare vs. others in their class, perhaps that would help them calibrate to this course and the expectations of what they should be doing," she added.

Call for Entries Are you making an impact with technology in higher education? We want to know about it! The 2018 Campus Technology Impact Awards call for entries is now open. For more information, go to campustechnology.com/impact.

Holloway offered extra credit to students who used Pattern in the course. Students logged their study habits for a total of four weeks during the semester (three exams and a final exam). She and educational technologist Brandon Karcher began compiling the student data and combining it with test scores in the course. "I flashed up a slide in class that said, students who earned A's vs. B's vs. C's studied this many hours," she said. "We didn't do statistical significance on pilot data, but you could definitely see there is a connection between hours studied and grades earned. Our hope was that reflecting that back to the class would provide guidance and help change some behaviors."SATURDAY, Jan. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Kids who have a good relationship with their grandparents are less likely to become prejudiced against old people, a new study has found.

That prejudice, known as ageism, is fairly common in children, even in those as young as 3, according to researchers from the University of Liege in Belgium.

However, their study found that ageism tends to dwindle at about ages 10 to 12 and that, when it comes to their grandparents, it's the quality rather than the quantity of a relationship that makes the most difference.

"The most important factor associated with ageist stereotypes was poor quality of contact with grandparents," study leader Allison Flamion, a graduate student in psychology, said in a news release from the Society for Research in Child Development.

"We asked children to describe how they felt about seeing their grandparents," she said. "Those who felt unhappy were designated as having poor quality of contact. When it came to ageist views, we found that quality of contact mattered much more than frequency."

In other words, the better the grandparent/grandchild relationship, the less likely the child was prejudiced against people based on age.

The study involved surveying 1,151 kids, aged 7 to 16, who lived in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The children were mostly white and came from a variety of income backgrounds. They answered questions about subjects such as older people, getting old and how they got along with their grandparents.

The researchers also gathered information about the children's grandparents, including the state of their health.

Overall, most of the children were positive or neutral about older people. Girls were slightly more positive than boys.

Kids aged 7 to 9 were the most prejudiced, and 10- to 12-year-olds the least. That reflects what's been found in studies of discrimination based on ethnicity or gender, according to the researchers.

Ageism resurfaced some, the study found, in early teens -- those aged 13 to 16. Also, kids whose grandparents were in poorer health were more biased against older people than were those with healthy grandparents.

"For many children, grandparents are their first and most frequent contact with older adults," said study co-author Stephane Adam, a psychology professor at the University of Liege. "Our findings point to the potential of grandparents to be part of intergenerational programs designed to prevent ageism.

"Next, we hope to explore what makes contacts with grandparents more rewarding for their grandchildren, as well as the effects on children of living with or caring for their grandparents," Adam added.

The study was published online recently in the journal Child Development.

More information

The World Health Organization has more on ageism.Within days of my arrival, Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, rejected the clemency pleas of Bali Nine heroin smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, despite their remarkable rehabilitation.





From this moment their death by firing squad seemed inevitable.





Reporting on the lead-up to the executions was like watching a film, heart in mouth, that you already know ends tragically. I barely slept for weeks.





Relations between the two countries soured, exacerbated by Tony's Abbott's disastrous reminder of the billion dollars in aid Australia had donated after the 2004 tsunami.





"Australia and Indonesia are like divorced parents who have to stay together for the sake of the children," one Indonesian official told me.





The anger some Australians felt towards Indonesia at the time was visceral. I deplore the death penalty  now more than ever  but felt a responsibility not to fan the flames of hate.





Many Indonesians see drug smuggling through a different prism to Australians; a crime akin to cold-blooded murder or terrorism because it can lead to the deaths of addicts.





And there were also Indonesians who were deeply affected; among them the guards and fellow prisoners who became close to Chan and Sukumaran and their indefatigable lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who has been fighting to end the death penalty in Indonesia since 1979.





Mulya would later describe the night the Australians were shot as the darkest moment of his life. "I failed. I lost," he tweeted, heartbroken, at 4am.





For a long time I didn't let myself acknowledge the executions had affected me. It seemed nothing in the face of the grief faced by Chan and Sukumaran's loved ones.





But I was haunted by photos of them as children, Sukumaran with a broad toothy grin and Chan an impish smirk.





For weeks afterwards I dreamed my son, 18 months old at the time, fell into a swimming pool. I would dive in and try to rescue him but each time his slippery, muscular body would squirm out of my hands until I realised I was powerless to save him. I would wake soaked in sweat, again and again.





I remember reading former Melbourne radio journalist Brian Morley's account of witnessing the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Melbourne and how it changed him. I marvelled he was still alive to tell the story. The last execution carried out in Australia seemed so long ago although it was only 1967.





Jokowi last year suggested Indonesians would eventually change their minds on execution laws, as citizens of other countries have done in the past.





I hope one day to write a retrospective piece when the death penalty seems as remote and archaic in Indonesia as it does in Australia.

 | 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

Brisbane Times, Jewel Topsfield, January 13, 2018On trial for his life, Robert McCoy claimed he was the innocent victim of a police conspiracy - despite a mountain of evidence that he had killed 3 members of his estranged wife's family in northwestern Louisiana.





But his lawyer, Larry English, saw the case as unwinnable, and decided to focus on sparing McCoy from execution. English outlined his strategy: admit guilt from the start, then ask the jury for mercy.





McCoy refused. English insisted. They argued, behind closed doors, before the judge and in front of the jury. McCoy tried to fire English, but the judge said it was too late. In August 2011, the jury convicted McCoy of 1st-degree murder, and sentenced him to die.





More than 6 years later, McCoy sits on Louisiana's death row and is still fighting. He wants a new trial, arguing that his constitutional rights as a criminal defendant - specifically, the ability to mount his own defense - were violated. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case, which explores the boundaries of 2 tenets of the American justice system: the adversarial relationship between the government and the accused, and a defendant's ability to make decisions about his fate.





The plan English embraced is not uncommon in today's courtrooms. Defense lawyers often choose to concede that their client is guilty to avoid a worse outcome. It happens often in death penalty cases, when the defendant appears likely to be convicted, and the same jury charged with deciding guilt also chooses punishment. In those cases, the lawyer may decide that it would appear insincere to argue in the first phase that the defendant didn't commit the crime, then turn around and ask for leniency.





"The stakes get really high when what you're facing is a likely guilty verdict with a likely death penalty, especially when you say 'I didn't do it,'" said Ernie Lewis, executive director of the National Association for Public Defense.





Typically the client goes along with the plan.





McCoy, accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife's mother, stepfather and teen-age son in May 2008, wanted nothing to do with it.





"Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case when this attorney is completely selling me out."





English, who had been hired by McCoy's parents and was not certified to try capital cases, told the Bossier Parish jury in his opening statement that "Mr. McCoy committed these crimes." English called his client "crazy" and argued for a lighter verdict of 2nd-degree murder.





McCoy interrupted.





"Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case when this attorney is completely selling me out," he told the judge.





The trial continued. McCoy defied English and took the stand in his own defense, testifying that he was out of state at the time of the murders and blaming a police-led drug ring for committing them. Then English gave his closing arguments, saying that McCoy was guilty, but only of 2nd-degree murder, because of mental deficiencies.





Later, after McCoy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die, English reflected on his decisions in an affidavit. He said he'd become "convinced that the evidence against Robert McCoy was overwhelming" and that his client was paranoid and delusional.





"I felt that as long as I was his attorney of record it was my ethical duty to do what I thought was best to save his life even though what he wanted me to do was to get him acquitted in the guilt phase," English said.





McCoy set about appealing his conviction, claiming he was denied his constitutional rights to the assistance of counsel and due process. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled against him.





"Given the circumstances of this crime and the overwhelming evidence incriminating the defendant, admitting guilt in an attempt to avoid the imposition of the death penalty appears to constitute reasonable trial strategy," the Louisiana justices ruled.





The Louisiana court relied in part on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a Florida case that permitted a concession of guilt when a defendant was unresponsive to his lawyer's questions. But it did not address the situation in which a defendant explicitly disagrees - a test of the limits of a defendant's autonomy as outlined in the Constitution.





"A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and what the law permits him to do."





"It is inconceivable that the framers intended that the assistance of counsel should come at the price of defense counsel being authorized to tell the jury that the accused is guilty, even over the accused's protestations of his own innocence," Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, wrote in McCoy's petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.





The high court agreed in October to hear the case.





McCoy's new lawyers say the concept of attorneys going against their client???s wishes by admitting guilt is rare, but less so in Louisiana, where courts have accepted it. English said after the trial that he'd relied on a 2002 state court ruling on a similar case, from adjacent Caddo Parish, that supported the practice.





"This is really a Louisiana rule that grew out of Caddo Parish," Bourke said.





The Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL) complained in a brief supporting McCoy that the local courts had turned the right to assistance of counsel "into the state's cudgel." The LACDL said that "an uncomfortable number of death sentences in Louisiana are the result of defendants representing themselves or defendants expressly objecting to their lawyers' concessions of guilt."





McCoy's ex-wife, Yolanda Colston, did not respond to requests for comment.





English, who left his full-time law practice to work in New York real estate development, declined in a recent interview to talk about specifics of the case. But he said he generally did not regret the way he represented clients, saying he did his best to advocate their best interests.





"A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and what the law permits him to do," English said.





11 states filed a joint brief in support of Louisiana, saying the case "presents a textbook example of a reasonable strategic concession."





But many lawyers say English served McCoy poorly. Among the groups who have filed briefs in support of McCoy are the the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association, several prominent law professors and Yale Law School's Ethics Bureau.





"Mr. English acted in clear violation of his ethical obligations as a lawyer as well as Mr. McCoy's constitutional rights," the professors and Ethics Bureau said in a joint brief.





Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, agreed.





"If the strategy doesn't work, it's the client who is held responsible," Joy told NBC News. "The lawyer goes home. The client goes to prison or death row."

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

NBC News, January 13, 2018IFC's financing package, which includes EUR 15 million in debt mobilized from other lenders, is designed to support growth of IMMER Ukrplastic, Ukraine's largest manufacturer of flexible packaging materials whose production facilities are based in Kyiv. IFC's engagement helps the IMMER Group's broader effort to open new markets and help diversify its exports to the European Union, reads the report.

"This project is aligned with our strategy in the country, strengthening the competitiveness of local industry, supporting job creation, and boosting the growth of a competitive, export-oriented company," said Jason Pellmar, IFC's regional head for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, who recently gave an interview to Emerging Europe.

Read alsoIFC, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry partner to launch PPPs in transport, encourage new investmentIMMER Group President Irina Mirochnik added: "IFC's financing comes at a crucial time. Ukraine's economy is returning to growth and we are looking to capitalize on this, growing in different market segments, launching new, innovative products for the food processing and agribusiness sector, and diversifying our export markets."

IMMER Ukrplastic currently employs around 1,400 people in Ukraine. The project will help create dozens of new, highly-skilled jobs. It will also contribute to boosting food security and helping to improve sustainable agricultural practices by providing high-quality food packaging materials and new products to the agricultural sector, including biodegradable mulch and silage films.

IFC is a key international investor in Ukraine's private sector, having committed over $3.2 billion in long-term projects across a range of sectors over the past 10 years.Trafficking in persons, also known as modern slavery or human trafficking, is a global, multi-billion dollar crime and egregious human rights abuse that robs individuals of their freedom. It splinters communities, threatens public safety and national security, distorts economic markets, and undermines rule of law. It feeds corruption, fuels other criminal activity, and helps fund terrorist activities.

The International Labor Organization estimates that 24.9 million people are victims of human trafficking globally. Of these, 16 million people are in forced labor exploitation, nearly five million in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million persons in state-imposed forced labor.

No country in the world is immune to human trafficking. It is happening in every corner of the globe  in peoples homes, in factories, in hotels, on farms, on fishing vessels; in countless places where one might not expect it. Human trafficking also happens in the United States. This means that if we are to fight this scourge, we must begin at home. That is why January is declared, by Presidential proclamation, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

President Donald Trump continued that tradition stating in his proclamation that Human traffickers prey on their victims by promising a life of hope and greater opportunity, while delivering only enslavement. Instead of delivering people to better lives, traffickers unjustifiably profit from the labor and toil of their victims, who they force  through violence and intimidation  to work in brothels and factories, on farms and fishing vessels, in private homes, and in countless industries.

The President further emphasized that During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we recommit ourselves to eradicating the evil of enslavement. Human trafficking is a modern form of the oldest and most barbaric type of exploitation. It has no place in our world. This month we do not simply reflect on this appalling reality. We also pledge to do all in our power to end the horrific practice of human trafficking that plagues innocent victims around the world.The United States has suspended security assistance to Pakistans military due to the government's failure to take decisive action to deny safe haven or lawfully detain those terrorists and militants who threaten U.S. interests.

Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis if they are determined to be critical to national security interests. The suspension is not a permanent cut-off at this time. Security assistance funding and pending deliveries will be frozen but not cancelled, as we continue to hope Pakistan will take the decisive action against terrorist and militant groups that we seek. We do not intend to reprogram any funds at this time.

President Donald Trump announced during his South Asia policy speech in August that "no partnership can survive a countrys harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials." State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert noted that "despite a sustained high-level engagement by this administration with the government of Pakistan, the Taliban and the Haqqani Network continue to find sanctuary inside Pakistan as they plot to destabilize Afghanistan and also attack U.S. and allied personnel."

"Pakistan," said Ms. Nauert, "has greatly suffered from terrorism, and the security services have been effective in combatting the groups that target Pakistani interests such as al-Qaida, ISIS, and the Pakistani Taliban."

The U.S. has helped Pakistan fight against these groups. But now, said spokesperson Nauert, it is time for "Pakistan to deny safe haven or lawfully detain those terrorists and militants who threaten U.S. interests."

U.S. civilian assistance programs in Pakistan are not included in the suspension. Pakistan remains an important country in the region and in the world, and has historically been a vital partner for the U.S. The United States remains committed to the development of Pakistan as a stable and prosperous democracy, at peace with itself and its neighbors.

The United States stands ready to work with Pakistan in combatting all terrorists without distinction, and hopes to be able to renew and deepen its bilateral security relationship when Pakistan demonstrates its willingness to aggressively confront the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other terrorist and militant groups that operate from within the country.After months of contradictory announcements by Iranian authorities on the fate of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, imprisoned in Iran on political charges, the Islamic Republic has again tightened the screws.

State-run Mehr News Agency, MNA cited Tehrans judiciary chief as saying on January 12 that Ms. Baghari is serving her sentence and there is no talk of her release.

Apart from the sentence she is serving now, there is another court case against her which is going through legal proceedings, Gholamhosein Esmaili reiterated.

Esmailis comments have coincided with a meeting between Javad Zarif and Boris Johnson, Iranian and British Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

Boris Johnson had earlier announced that he was set to raise the case of the jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with his Iranian counterpart at an international summit, in the Belgian capital.

Zarif, Johnson, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and their German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel as well as EU high representative for foreign affairs Federica Mogherini held a summit focused on Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA or Tehran nuclear deal with the world powers.

Before meeting Zarif on the margins of the summit, Johnson, while insisting on the necessity of keeping JCPOA intact, had affirmed, I will be making it clear to foreign minister Zarif, on the subject of the recent protests in Iran, that the right to peaceful demonstration within the law is central to any truly thriving society."

"I will also raise all of our Iranian dual-national consular cases."

Earlier, former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had also maintained that in his recent trip to Iran to attend the Second Tehran Security Conference, he negotiated with Iranian officials concerning Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the necessity of her immediate release from Tehrans notorious prison, Evin.

Describing his talks with the Islamic Republics representatives as friendly, Jack Straw said, we offered strong reasons for the necessity of releasing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another [British-Iranian citizen, Kamal Foroughi] prisoner based on humanitarian concerns.

Furthermore, Jack Straw declared that Iranian officials have told him they are taking this option into consideration.

The 39-year-old mother-of-one, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, was arrested in April 2016 is currently serving a five-year sentence over allegations of plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republics regime. She denies the allegations.

Now, based on the latest comments made by Tehrans judiciary chief, Esmaili, it appears that efforts by Boris Johnson and Jack Straw to secure her release have not only been unsuccessful, but the Islamic Republics judiciary is resolved to try the dual-citizen for new charges.

Referring to Zagahri-Ratcliffes other case, Esmaili told MNA, Her case is now pending at the court and judges are investigating it. No time for a hearing has been determined yet.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe already convicted for allegedly planning the "soft overthrow" of Islamic regime, while traveling there with her toddler daughter Gabriella, faces fresh propaganda charges that could add sixteen years to her prison term.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity that operates independently from the Reuters news agency. She denies the charges against her and insists she was in Iran on a personal visit. The Thomson Reuters Foundation has also said she was not on assignment while in Iran.

The new charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe apparently stem from a statement made by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who told a parliamentary committee on November 1, 2017 that she had been "training journalists" in Iran.

Johnson faced calls to resign last month after his comments that critics said could lead to an extended prison sentence for her.

Johnson later apologized for the statement, saying it was not true and affirming that the woman had only been visiting relatives in the Islamic republic.

On November 4, however, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was brought to an unscheduled court hearing, at which Johnson's comments were used as evidence for a new charge that she had been spreading "propaganda against the regime."In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir has called upon the Islamic Republic to publish the list of all people detained during recent protests in Iran.

Based on official reports, more than 3100 were arrested across Iran while protesting rising prices, unemployment, mismanagement and corruption.

The protests that broke out in Mashhad, Shiite holiest city inside Iran, soon turned into widespread demonstrations in more than 100 cities against the whole ruling system of the country.

At least two detainees, one in Tehrans notorious prison Evin and the other in a police station in Central province capital city of Arak, have been officially declared dead, in what the authorities have called suicide.

UN Council of Human Rights has already issued a statement, voicing concern over the danger of mistreatment and violence against all those detained in Iran.

Jahangir pointing to the statement emphasized that in particular, it calls upon the Islamic Republics authorities to lay the groundwork for holding an impartial and independent investigation about people who have lost their lives behind bars.

Asma Jahangir also reminded that an official in the city of Arak has talked about a video clip that documents the 23-year-old peddler, Vahid Heydaris suicide, while in custody.

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran reiterated that the video clip should be released in a way accessible for all.

In her interview with Radio Farda, Asma Jahangir has also disclosed that she has once again requested a visa to go to Iran and personally investigate the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic.

However, the request has been rejected since Tehran still insists that it does not recognize UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir affirms.Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.13

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Turkeys support to Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in line with the international law, said Azerbaijans ambassador to Turkey Khazar Ibrahim.

"Many people falsely think that Turkey supports Azerbaijan only because the two countries are brothers. That's true. We are brothers, but people forget that Turkey fairly makes decisions or delivers its policies based on international law. It strictly sticks to international laws. Turkey plays a huge role as a responsible international player," the envoy said in an interview with Daily Sabah.

Ibrahim pointed out that Turkey has one clear-cut position on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

It says the conflict should be resolved justly based on the resolutions of the UN Security Council, which demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories," he added.

The ambassador said that Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijans territories is also a regional issue.

It doesn't allow full regional cooperation and undermines security. It's also a global issue. The region is so pivotal for global interests that it affects every other global issue," Ibrahim said.

The envoy noted that Turkey's policy toward the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is discernible on every single international platform.

"Turkey is actively pursuing this policy everywhere, be it in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or the UN, he added.

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, Jan. 13

Trend:

Azerbaijans newly-appointed Ambassador to Croatia Fakhraddin Gurbanov has presented a copy of his credentials to the countrys President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

The ambassador conveyed greetings and best wishes by Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev to Grabar-Kitarovic.

The diplomat noted that he will try his best for further development of relations between the two countries.

Speaking about Azerbaijans candidacy to "Expo-2025" exhibition, Gurbanov highlighted the countrys successful experience in hosting the first European Games, 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, the Formula 1 and other international events.

The ambassador also said the Embassy plans to hold series of events in Croatia on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Azerbaijans Democratic Republic.

He also highlighted screening of "Ali and Nino" movie in Zagreb.

The diplomat spoke about the historical significance of the film produced by Leyla Aliyeva, vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and handed over the Croatian version of "Ali and Nino" book to the Croatian president.By Elin Suleymanov

Almost two weeks after the death of Maestro Chingiz Sadikhov, it is still very hard for me to say farewell to this amazing person and a veritable virtuoso of music. Azerbaijan is known for its musical talents, but even in such talent-rich environment Maestro Sadikhov was unique.

Since 1990s, the Maestro and his family have lived in Northern California. This is also, where I met him for the first time while serving as Azerbaijans Consul General in Los Angeles. Maestro Sadikhov and a fellow Californian, late science genius Lutfi Zadeh were among the most distinguished and accomplished figures in the Azerbaijani-American community. While we mourn losing both in 2017, those of us who knew them personally should be proud of having met such remarkable individuals.

Music became alive when Maestro Sadikhov played piano. With his light touch and passion, he made the most difficult accords of Azerbaijani music look easy. Even in his later years, and he was suffering from a prolonged illness, Chingiz Sadikhov never lost his easy mastery of the piano. He loved music of Azerbaijan and the music loved him back.

Everyone, who saw him play live, was awed by the boost of energy and joy he generated by playing music and how magical even most familiar notes sounded under his fingers. Representing the golden age of Azerbaijans music along with such masters as Rashid Behbudov and Muslim Magomaev, Maestro Sadikhov himself embodied the gold standard of Azerbaijani culture.

Chingiz Sadikhov was more than a maestro of music. He was a great patriot and pillar of the Azerbaijani identity in California. Both proud and humble, he was a true gentleman and an intellectual till his very last day. Maestro Sadigovs achievements and unique, rich life are unimaginable without his amazing wife, friend and partner of many decades, Ceyran hanim Sadikhova.

Perhaps, we owe her much of the creative spark that kept Maestro Sadikhovs musical genius alive and thriving. Therefore, I want thank Ceyran hanim as well as her daughters Lala and Nargiz and their families for caring for and nurturing their husband and father, a true legend of Azerbaijans music Maestro Chingiz Sadikhov.

Rest in Peace, Maestro Sadikhov! We miss you and will continue to listen to your music.

Allah Rhmt Elsin!Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.13

By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

Azerbaijan plans to start gas output as part of the second stage of development of Shah Deniz gas and condensate field (Shah Deniz 2) this autumn, perhaps September, Natural Gas World (NGW) learned from Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR.

Shah Deniz 2 output will begin with a small amount initially, said a source in SOCAR.

The operator of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) has announced that the gas injection tests into the Turkish pipe would be carried out in January, but an official told NGW that the gas source would be Shah Deniz 1, not Shah Deniz 2.

Moreover, a BP source told NGW that in 2019 Shah Deniz 2 is expected to produce 2 billion cubic meters which would all go to Turkey.

Azerbaijans total gas export to Turkey (Shah Deniz 1 and Shah Deniz 2) is expected to reach 8.5 billion cubic meters in 2019, compared with 6.5 billion cubic meters in 2017 and to reach its contractual 12.5 billion cubic meters in 2021, said a BP source.

As part of the Shah Deniz 2 project, gas production will increase from 9 to 25 billion cubic meters per year. The produced gas will be exported to Turkey and the European markets through the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines.

A contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynThe volume of Kyrgyzstans mutual trade with member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) exceeded $ 2 million in 11 months of 2017, which is for 14.3% more than in 2016, Kabar reports.

The National Statistics Committee (NSC) reported that the export of goods increased by 25.7%, and the import - by 11.2%. NSC Chairman Akylbek Sultanov said that the largest share of the countys mutual trade with the EEU member states belong to Russia (59.4%) and Kazakhstan (36.6%).

"Kyrgyzstan increased its export goods of knitted clothes, dried fruits, butter, onions and garlic to Russia. At the same time, export of bean vegetables and incandescent lamps decreased," Sultanov said.

In the import of goods from Russia, poultry meat and by-products, tires for vehicles, flour confectionery, chocolate and other food products increased. Along with this, the NSC chairman stressed that the import of pipes and profiles, paints and varnishes, as well as medicines decreased.

"Export of goods to Kazakhstan such as knitted garments, polished glass, and precious metal ores have increased. At the same time, there was a decrease in the export of plastic containers and dried fruits," Sultanov said.

In the import of goods from Kazakhstan, volumes of pasta and flour products, rice, sunflower oil, steel, hard coal, and artificial butter increased. At the same time, the import of cosmetics and wires decreased.The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan to the UN office and other international organizations in Geneva Jamshed Homidov met with the UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Ms. Afshan Khan, the Director- General of the International Organization for Migration Mr. William Lacy Swing and the Director of the FAO Office in Geneva Ms. Carolin Rodriguez, Khovar reports.

According to the Embassy/Mission of the Republic of Tajikistan in Geneva, during the meetings, the issues related to the holding of the International High-Level Conference on the International Decade for Action Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028, scheduled for June 20-22, 2018 in Dushanbe, were discussed.

Also, the Permanent Representative has extended the official invitation of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to participate at the upcoming event and expressed the gratitude for the continuous support.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 13

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Strengthening of cooperation with neighboring countries in the Asian region, including Pakistan, is one of the key vectors of neutral Turkmenistans foreign policy, said the countrys President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a government meeting.

The Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported that President Berdimuhamedov also spoke about the high level of interstate relations, dynamically developing on a multilateral basis and through authoritative international and regional organizations.

Reportedly, a delegation of the countrys Foreign Ministry will pay a working visit to Islamabad on Jan. 15-16, where the Turkmen-Pakistani foreign policy consultations will be held.

It is expected that special attention will be paid to the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, as well as other important joint projects, particularly, in the power and communications, transport and communications sectors.

Turkmenistan started to construct its TAPI section in December 2015. The foundation laying ceremony for the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline is planned to be held in the second half of February 2018.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Japanese government expressed their interest in financing TAPI.

The Islamic Development Bank has already allocated a loan worth $700 million for Turkmenistan to construct its TAPI section.Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 13

By Mamed Dashdemirov  Trend:

Heads of administrations of Uzbekistans regions will travel abroad at least twice a year to study best practices in different spheres, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at a meeting on activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In particular, best practices in the spheres of urban development and improvement, infrastructure development, the introduction of information and communication technologies, energy-saving technologies, industry, agriculture, education and healthcare will be studied.

Moreover, a national rating scale of investment attractiveness of the industries and regions of the country will be developed and implemented in Uzbekistan in order to assess the activities of respective leaders and their mobilization to solve specific problems.

The national rating scale will consist of eight ranges of the rating evaluation, in particular in the field of property registration, protection of intellectual property rights, simplification of building permits, export and import.Tehran, Iran, Jan. 13

By Kamyar Eghbal  Trend:

Iran generated about 10,000 megawatt (MW) of surplus electricity worth of $10 billion over the past summer, an energy official told Trend.

Vice-President of Iran's power industry syndicate, Payam Bagheri, has said that the countrys capacity for power generation reached 54,000 megawatts last summer of which about 32,000 megawatts was used for domestic consumption in peak demand, and about 10,000 megawatts were consumed in other cases such as overhaul of power plants.

Saying that the country generated 10,000 megawatts of net surplus electricity in the summer, he added that the value of the surplus electricity according to the current prices totals $10 billion.

Speaking about Syria, Lebanon and some Persian Gulf countries that are interested in importing electricity from Iran, he added that Iran enjoys an opportunity for exporting its surplus power.

Iran's advantage in exchanging electricity with the northern neighbor countries is that their peak consumption falls in winter and our peak demand is in summer so we can easily exchange with our northern neighbors, he said.

The official further touched upon the countrys total exports which stand below 1,300 megawatts, urging for the construction of new power stations at the frontier areas of the country as the Islamic Republic has a potential chance for providing neighboring countries with electricity.

Pakistans demand for importing electricity from Iran was 3,000 megawatts but the Islamic Republic managed to supply only 100 MW per year to this country, he said.

The latest statistics by Irans Energy Ministry shows that the countrys power plants generated over 251.95 TWh (terawatt-hours) of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21) till Dec. 29.

In this period Irans electricity export increased by 10 percent up to 6.55 TWh. Meanwhile, the country imported 3.16 TWh of electricity, registering a 9-percent fall compared to the same period of the preceding year.

Iran plans to increase its nominal electric generation capacity to 80,000 MW by summer 2018, and 100,000 by 2025, 1,000 of which should be produced from solar energy.Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 13

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Bank Saderat Iran has allocated 100 billion rials (about $2.7 million at official rate) in loan to those suffered from a strong earthquake in western Iran last year.

The public relations office of the bank announced that the loans were allocated for repairing residential and commercial units hit by a 7.2 magnitude quake that killed more than 600 people in Kermanshah province last November.

According to the announcement the loans for repair of 1150 units was allocated within 55 days after the quake.

The announcement added that the residential units in urban areas received up to 400 million rials ($11,000) and 300 million rials (about $8,200) in rural areas.Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 13

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Chinese rescuers discovered corpses of two sailors on the stricken Iranian oil tanker on Saturday morning, Iranian state media reported.

The ship has been ablaze for almost a week since it collided with another vessel on January 6 in the East China Sea and has been drifting into Japanese economic zone over the past several days.

Rescuers earlier this week recovered one body from the sea after the Iranian vessel collided with the Chinese freight ship, resulting in it being set on fire.

Following the incident, 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis who were working on the oil tanker went missing.

Iranian officials have dispatched army special forces to the scene as they are still hopeful that the special forces would rescue the remaining 29 crew members.Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in a telephone conversation with Iran's Minister of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei called for mobilization of all facilities to help rescue oil tanker crew members at the earliest, IRNA reported.

Rabiei is heading an Iranian delegation to China to examine the status of the oil tanker and its crew members.

He is in charge of talks to broaden cooperation with the Chinese government to expedite the rescue operation.

Rabiei called the Iranian and Chinese rescue teams to board the burning oil tanker at the earliest.

The Iranian minister has formed a crisis headquarters to directly supervise the rescue operation in China.

The Iranian tanker carrying condensates collided with a Chinese freight ship in East China coast last Saturday, and its 32 crew members, 30 Iranians and two from Bangladesh, went missing.

According to Iran's Consul General in Shanghai Alireza Irvash, the operation to put out the fire of the Iranian tanker began on Wednesday while flames of fire subsided despite bad weather in the region.President Donald Trump is in excellent health, according to presidential physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, who examined the president on Friday after a week of fresh questions about whether the 71-year-old commander in chief is mentally fit for office, Bloomberg reports.

The presidents physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland went exceptionally well, Jackson said in a statement on Friday. The president is in excellent health and I look forward to briefing some of the details on Tuesday.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said that Trump wouldnt undergo a psychiatric exam as part of the physical. And what information is disclosed will be up to Trump, since federal health privacy laws cover the president.

Jackson will take questions from reporters on the presidents health on Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.A group of 54 extremely appalled African countries demanded Friday that US President Donald Trump retract and apologize for his reported denunciation of immigration from shithole nations, The Times of Israel reports.

After an emergency session to weigh Trumps remarks, the group of African ambassadors to the United Nations said it was concerned at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration toward Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of color.

The group is extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media, a statement added, demanding a retraction and an apology.

Earlier, the African Union continental body told The Associated Press it was frankly alarmed by Trumps comments.

Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said. This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.

African governments quickly found themselves in an awkward position. As top recipients of US aid, some hesitated to jeopardize it by criticizing Trump, especially as his administration has sought to slash foreign assistance.Israel's new budget includes a plan to close seven diplomatic missions worldwide, Israeli media reports.

Reports on the 2019 budget, passed Friday, gave no details on what missions would be shuttered. Earlier plans called for closing 22 missions.

Some missions in countries such as the U.S. and Canada are set to be reviewed in light of their high annual operating costs, along with missions in Turkey, with the Finance Ministry also suggesting cutting their number by combining some.

Israel currently has an embassy in Turkey's capital Ankara and a consulate in its financial center, Istanbul.

An initial plan to cut 140 Foreign Ministry employees has also been replaced by a plan to encourage ministry staff to retire, according to reports.

Israel currently maintains diplomatic relations with 162 countries around the world.India's navy said four bodies had been recovered on Saturday after search teams located the wreckage of a helicopter that went missing off the coast of Mumbai earlier in the day, Press TV reported.

The aircraft, carrying five employees of India's state-run oil exploration arm ONGC and two pilots, lost contact with air traffic control 15 minutes after taking off from the western city at around 10:30 am (0500 GMT) Saturday.

"Four bodies recovered till now," the Indian navy said on Twitter, adding that a search for the remaining three was underway.

"Crash position indicator of ill-fated @ONGC_ helicopter recovered."

The navy posted photos of boat crews in helmets and life jackets scouring the waters where the debris was found.

The Indian Coast Guard said two of the four victims had been identified by the cards in their wallets, posting photos of an ONGC work ID and a driver's license.

The chopper was supposed to land at offshore oil rig Bombay High at 11:00 am, the Press Trust of India reported citing unnamed sources.

It was 40 nautical miles off the western coast before it went off-radar, the coast guard said.

"@indiannavy and @IndiaCoastGuard are extending all possible assistance in the #SAR Search and Rescue of @ONGC_ helicopter and pax on board. Wish for their safety," Nirmala Sitharaman, India's defense minister, said on Twitter.

The navy and coast guard dispatched ships, several boats and aircraft in search and rescue operations.

Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha took to Twitter to express his anguish over the crash and said Indian air accident investigators would launch an inquiry into the matter.

ONGC said in a statement that "the reason behind the unfortunate incident is yet to be ascertained".

The helicopter had been leased to ONGC by the state-owned Pawan Hans helicopter firm, in which the oil producer holds 49 percent stake.

In 2015, a Pawan Hans chopper crashed after taking off from Bombay High, killing two pilots.

ONGC accounts for about two-thirds of the country's total natural gas production.

It made a significant discovery last year at Bombay High, India's biggest oil field, of reserves of about 20 million tonnes.A powerful bombing in the north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least eight people, Press TV reported.

The bomb attack on Saturday targeted a police checkpoint on a busy street in Kadhimiyah neighborhood of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said. Ten other people were injured.

They added that all those killed were civilians and several police officers were among the wounded. An attacker detonated his explosives at the checkpoint near Aden Square, the officials said.Turkey will not accept a "privileged partnership" with the EU, the country's EU Minister Omer Celik has said, Hurriyet reports.

"If we are offered a privileged partnership, we will not even consider it, and simply reject," Celik told news channel Haberturk on Jan. 12.

German politicians lately proposed the "privileged partnership" for Turkey, instead of full EU membership.

"No one can offer a second-class status to Turkey in its EU relations," Celik said, underlining Turkey's clear position on this.

The minister also criticized Johannes Hahn, commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

"Although he is the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, he wants to cut Turkey-EU relations."

Turkey had applied for the EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.

However, negotiations stalled in 2007 due to the objections of the Greek Cypriot administration in the divided island of Cyprus, as well as opposition from Germany and France.

To gain membership, Turkey has to successfully conclude negotiations on 35 policy chapters that involve reforms and the adoption of European standards.

As of May 2016, 16 chapters had been opened and one concluded.

However, in December 2016, the member states said no new chapters will be opened.

Celik said Turkey wants to open Chapter 23 on the judiciary and fundamental rights and Chapter 24 on justice, freedom and security.Turkey's current account deficit hit $4.2 billion in November 2017, marking an increase of $1.94 billion year-on-year, according to official data released on Friday, Daily Sabah reports.

According to the Central Bank's balance of payments report, the country's 12-month rolling deficit reached $43.75 billion in November.

"This development in the current account is mainly attributable to a $1.82 billion increase in the goods deficit recording a net outflow of $4.67 billion, as well as a $555 million increase in primary income deficit to $1.04 billion," the bank said.

Travel, a major item under services, recorded a net inflow of $1.2 billion in November, increasing by $322 million compared to the same month in 2016, the bank added.

Central bank data also showed that the country's current account gap in the first eleven months of 2017 stood at $39.4 billion, up from some $28.6 billion compared to the same period in 2016.

Turkey's annual current account deficit in 2016 was around $32.5 billion, relatively stable compared to the previous year's figure of $32.1 billion.

According to the Central Bank figures, the country's highest annual current account deficit in the last 20 years was in 2011 with $74.4 billion.Turkish security forces on Saturday hit several PKK/PYD targets in the Afrin district of Syria's Aleppo province to prevent a "terror corridor" from forming along Turkey's borders, Anadolu reported.

According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency in Idlib, Turkish artillery units hit PKK/PYD forces from the Reyhanli and Kirikhan dictricts of Turkey's southern province Hatay and a Turkish Armed Forces observation point in Idlib.

Turkish Armed Forces fired at least 36 times during the artillery bombardment in Afrin's Bosoufane, Cindirese, Deir Bellout and Rajo districts.

The Afrin operation follows Turkey's successful seven-month Operation Euphrates Shield, which ended last March.

The PKK/PYD is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in 1984, an estimated 40,000 people have been killed in Turkey in related violence.

Following a fragile cease-fire, the group resumed fighting in July 2015. Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of approximately 1,200 security personnel and civilians, according to an official tally.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the Afrin operation at the provincial congress meeting of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in eastern Elazig province this past week.

"We are destroying the western wing of this corridor with the Idlib operation," Erdogan said.

Erdogan had added that if terrorists in Afrin did not surrender, Turkey would interfere.By Kazuki Odaira, KYODO NEWS - Jan 13, 2018 - 10:55 | Arts, All

A Swedish man has become an unlikely protector of ancient Japanese swords by learning the art of sword-crafting, overcoming numerous setbacks including the major earthquakes that rocked Kumamoto in 2016.

Hans Koga, 45, also known as Hansuke Koga, lives in Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture, and is one of the rare "koshirae" craftsmen specializing in meticulously repairing the exterior, including the handle and sheath, of Japanese swords.

The southwestern Japan prefecture is where Higo koshirae originated, a sword style established by Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563-1646), father of the first lord of Kumamoto.

By replacing old and damaged sword handle wrapping and other parts to make the sword last another hundred years with its original look, Koga told Kyodo News he is playing a "part in contributing to cultural history."

"I am only interested in this culture. This is my work."

As a child in Stockholm, Koga developed an interest in Japanese swords after he discovered Iaido, a Japanese martial art that involves drawing a sword, and began collecting them.

Koga came to Japan in 2012 after injuring his hand and leaving a career as a ship builder. He received training for craftwork associated with Japanese swords at a Tokyo studio, during which he became interested in Higo koshirae, a style that attracted him by its simplicity and functionality.

In the fall of 2015, Koga moved to Kumamoto, where after discovering there was no active Higo koshirae craftsmen, he asked a retired craftsman to train him.

Then a magnitude-6.5 earthquake hit the region on April 14, 2016, and a M7.3 temblor two days later, subsequently killing over 200 people and leaving thousands more injured. Koga's home, which he used as a studio, also collapsed in the disaster.

Despite the setback, Koga decided to stand his ground and stay in the prefecture, thinking there would be no keeper of the tradition if he left.

Now having taken on an apprentice from last year, Koga says he is even more determined to keep the tradition alive.

When repairing an old Japanese sword, Koga carefully takes it apart, cleanses its original strings and shark skin, and then binds the parts together. He methodically follows the traditional ways, including using lacquer as glue.

What worries him is the rise -- as the population of the koshirae craftsmen declines -- in a number of repairers who alter the swords' original look.

Once a sword is repaired in a different style, its original appearance will be forgotten and lost forever, he says.

"I choose exactly the same color and replace (parts) to (make the sword) look exactly the same as it was."KYODO NEWS - Jan 13, 2018 - 08:18 | All, World

President Donald Trump gave European partners an ultimatum Friday to fix "significant flaws" in an Iranian nuclear agreement, or he will withdraw the United States from the deal in a few months' time.

"This is a last chance," Trump said as he extended sanctions waivers on Iran in accordance with the multilateral agreement his predecessor Barack Obama signed in 2015.

"I hereby call on key European countries to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression and supporting the Iranian people," Trump said in a statement.

"If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran," he said.

In July 2015, Iran and six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- struck an accord formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in which Iran pledged to curb activities such as uranium enrichment.

To fix what he described "disastrous flaws" in the deal, Trump demanded that Iran be denied "all paths to a nuclear weapon not just for 10 years, but forever," and that Tehran allow "immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors."

In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif condemned Trump for "maliciously violating" the nuclear agreement. Iranian officials have said they are not interested in any renegotiation.

Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, a senior U.S. administration official said Trump will seek "a follow-on or a supplemental agreement" with European partners to strengthen the deal he has vowed to scrap.

Separately, the Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on 14 individuals and entities from Iran, China and Malaysia over Tehran's human rights abuses and ballistic missile development.

"We are targeting the Iranian regime, including the head of Iran's judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest against their government," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

"We are also targeting Iran's ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities, which it continues to prioritize over the economic well-being of the Iranian people," Mnuchin said in a statement.The GOP tax overhaul law, which includes a cut in the rate that U.S. corporations pay, will make American businesses more competitive globally, said BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) Chairman and CEO Larry Fink . "One of the big problems that's going to face Mexico is the U.S. corporate tax rate is lower than Mexico," Fink told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. The Republican tax law cuts the federal U.S. corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. The corporate tax rate in Mexico is 30 percent.Companies that had domiciled in Mexico for tax reasons are going to make their new tax homes in the U.S., Fink said. "That's a tax arbitrage," taking advantage of the difference in rates."It's going to make the U.S. more competitive for companies to come back to the United States; for companies to put factories here," he said. That's exactly what President Donald Trump wants. He's made bringing businesses back to the U.S. a top priority of his administration. On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler became the latest company to increase its commitment to the U.S., with the automaker saying it will invest $1 billion to relocate a plant from Mexico to Michigan. Fiat Chrysler, citing the tax overhaul, will also pay 60,000 of its U.S. employees, excluding senior leadership, bonuses of $2,000 each.The competitive tax advantage over Mexico comes at a time when the U.S. is renegotiating NAFTA.Trump has said he would pull out of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada if the U.S. can't get better terms. Fink said the Republican tax law, which includes an overhaul of the personal code, is largely going to help Americans , and should add about 1 percent annually to economic growth, at least in the first few years. In Friday's wide-ranging CNBC interview, Fink also said most people saving for retirement, even those as old as 50 , should have the bulk of their portfolios in stocks rather than bonds. BlackRock is still "quiet bullish" on equities at these levels, he added. He appeared on the show shortly after BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue. Total assets under management stand at nearly $6.3 trillion, slightly ahead of estimates. The GOP tax overhaul law, which includes a cut in the rate that U.S. corporations pay, will make American businesses more competitive globally, said BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) Chairman and CEO Larry Fink . "One of the big problems that's going to face Mexico is the U.S. corporate tax rate is lower than Mexico," Fink told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. The Republican tax law cuts the federal U.S. corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. The corporate tax rate in Mexico is 30 percent. Companies that had domiciled in Mexico for tax reasons are going to make their new tax homes in the U.S., Fink said. "That's a tax arbitrage," taking advantage of the difference in rates. "It's going to make the U.S. more competitive for companies to come back to the United States; for companies to put factories here," he said. That's exactly what President Donald Trump wants. He's made bringing businesses back to the U.S. a top priority of his administration. On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler became the latest company to increase its commitment to the U.S., with the automaker saying it will invest $1 billion to relocate a plant from Mexico to Michigan. Fiat Chrysler, citing the tax overhaul, will also pay 60,000 of its U.S. employees, excluding senior leadership, bonuses of $2,000 each. The competitive tax advantage over Mexico comes at a time when the U.S. is renegotiating NAFTA. Trump has said he would pull out of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada if the U.S. can't get better terms. Fink said the Republican tax law, which includes an overhaul of the personal code, is largely going to help Americans , and should add about 1 percent annually to economic growth, at least in the first few years. In Friday's wide-ranging CNBC interview, Fink also said most people saving for retirement, even those as old as 50 , should have the bulk of their portfolios in stocks rather than bonds. BlackRock is still "quiet bullish" on equities at these levels, he added. He appeared on the show shortly after BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue. Total assets under management stand at nearly $6.3 trillion, slightly ahead of estimates.



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Tax time

Photo: teekid/iStockphoto.com[/caption] As businesses everywhere take stock of the new U.S. tax law, both law firms and individual lawyers are asking: What's in it for us? Despite the uncertainty that remains about the law, the gains are just too large not to explore tax-saving tricks, said New York University tax professor Daniel Shaviro. Experts point to two potential benefits that stand out most clearly for law firms: a 20 percent deduction for pass-through entities such as partnerships, and a 21 percent tax on corporationsdown sharply from the former 35 percent corporate rate. Anyone who can afford the legal advice and has enough money at stake would be insane not to give [the potential advantages] very serious thought," Shaviro said. With the top individual income tax rate now cut from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, this is the first time the corporate rate has been significantly lower than the individual rate since President Ronald Reagans 1986 tax overhaul. Partners and associates both typically pay income tax at the individual rate, since most law firms are structured as pass-through entitiesLLPs, LLCs, S corps or sole proprietorshipsthat distribute the profit to the owners. The new laws 20 percent deduction for pass-through income reduces the top individual rate to 29.6 percent, said Michael Gillen, a CPA who heads Duane Morris tax accounting group. But theres a big catch. Congress capped the income eligible for the 20 percent deduction on pass-through income from most types of professional services firms, including law firms, at $157,500 for single filers, and $315,000 for married, joint filers. That means firms with high-income partnerspretty much the entire Am Law 100likely wont benefit, Gillen said. This is a costly problem and lawyers are paying careful attention to any solutions, he said. Law Firm Inc.? The new 21 percent C-corp rate looks attractive. It would almost be negligence not to consider, Shaviro said. But, again, it comes with a catch: a double tax. Shareholder dividends are taxed at 20 percent, for a total tax of 36.8 percent. The only problem is getting the money out, Shaviro acknowledged. He and other tax experts agreed that a C-corp is likely not feasible for a big national firm. Too many operational problems arise: How does a firm handle profit distributions? And how does it deal with shareholders who come and go, in some cases frequently? Whats more, there are state law issuesand its not clear whether state bars allow law firms to be corporations. This is not to say it cant be done, but there is a lot to work out, Shaviro said. You Inc.! Forming an individual C-corp to capture the 21 percent tax rate could work for lawyers who dont need to live on their annual compensation, said David Miller, a tax partner at Proskauer Rose in New York. The idea is to reinvest the money to avoid getting taxed on dividends. The corporation becomes an incorporated pocketbook, said Alex Raskolnikov, a tax law professor at Columbia University. He suggested that lawyers could use their C-corp to buy a second home or invest in real estate and commodities. Whats more, C-corps can deduct state and local taxes, a particular attraction in high-tax parts of the northeast and the West Coast. Congress has capped those deductions at $10,000 for individual income. Still, individual C-corps must be wary of anti-abuse rules in the federal tax code. The corporation must pay its employeesin this case, the lawyera reasonable salary, Miller said, which is taxed at the individual rate. I think it could be less than what the partner receives from the firm, he added. That would have to be developed. A C-corp is also subject to a 37 percent penalty under the Personal Holding Company Rule if 60 percent of its income is passive, for instance from dividends and capital gains. If the only thing my new corporation does is receive distributions from the law firm partnership, it wont work, Raskolnikov said. But nothing is bullet-proof. He suggested broadening the C-corps principal purpose by using it to trade in securities or real estate. Good luck on the IRS litigating any of this, Raskolnikov added, noting that the IRS is underfunded and understaffed. Associates as Partners? Instead of incorporating, it could make more sense for lower-income earners who want to access all of their compensation to capture the 20 percent pass-through deduction for partnerships. Miller proposed that firms organize all of their associates with salaries below the $157,500 individual and $315,000 joint-filing caps on income into a minipartnership. An associate earning the top amount would save $14,664 in taxes, hes calculated. For a big firm with lots of associates, that could very well be worthwhile. But, again, complexities arise. What about health insurance, retirement and other employee benefits, including the firms payment of half their FICA taxes? Miller said a firm could still administer a health plan for its new associate partnership, and it could cover its FICA contribution by increasing associates salariesby up to $13,000. Legal questions arise as well. If associates belong to a separate partnership that contracts with the firm, would that run afoul of federal rules barring employers from exercising control over independent contractors, for example by expecting them to be available 24/7? Who is liable if an associate makes an error on a case? Why would a firm want to deal with this extra hassle? Shaviro said the firm partnership could capture some of the tax savings by paying the associates lower salaries. Even though there are adverse interests, any time the overall pot is larger, everyone comes out ahead, he said. Raskolnikov disagreed, saying not enough associates would benefit to make it worth the trouble. The $157,500 individual income cap is less than a first years $180,000 salary at a big New York or California firm, he noted. But the median salary nationally for fourth-year associates is $155,000, according to NALP, so proponents argue that it could make sense in regional markets where associates make less money. Shell Games Raskolnikov suggested another way firms could take advantage of the 20 percent pass-through deduction: by setting up a separate partnership whose sole asset is the firms name. The idea is for law firms to do the same kind of trick that Apple and Starbucks and Amazon have been doing internationally, he said. The new partnership would own the firms nameCravath, Swaine & Moore, for instanceand license it to the operating partnership for a fee, Raskolnikov said. This partnership would qualify for the 20 percent deduction because its income is not from professional services, he said. Under the new tax law, a business whose principal asset is the reputation or skill of one of its employees also does not qualify. But Paul Cravath is long dead, Raskolnikov said. The value of the Cravath name is not just the reputation of current partners but the reputation or skill of generations of partners. In 2016 Cravath grossed $738 million, with $365 million in profit distributed to its 87 equity partners. Would the IRS really think the Cravath name is worth $365 million in licensing fees? Its a very valuable name, Raskolnikov said. The $750,000 Lawyer One Atlanta CPA who advises law firms, Clay David of Cain & David, warned against the urge to game the new tax regime. People are making Herculean efforts to minimize the tax impact that they dont really understand. That tends not to end well, said David. He said hes been besieged with questions from lawyer clients and acquaintances at holiday cocktail parties. Many ask if they should become a C-corp. We recommend they stay as a flow-through, he said. David also foresaw problems with a partnership whose only asset is a firms name. What is the business purpose? If its only the avoidance of tax, its not usually looked at favorably by the IRS, David said. I do not advise my clients to play audit roulette with the IRS, he added. David suggested looking at an actual case. Take, for example, Mr. Smith, a lawyer making $750,000 who is married and filing jointly. Mr. Smiths federal income tax for 2017 was $207,813. Itemized deductions reduced his top bracket rate of 39.6 percent to an effective rate of 32 percent: $40,000 in state income tax, $15,000 in property tax, $30,000 in mortgage interest and $15,000 in charitable contributions. That totaled $100,000 in deductions less a phase-out, for an allowable deduction of $86,914. For 2018, Mr. Smith takes the same deductions, except his state income tax and property tax deductions are capped at $10,000, for total deductions of only $55,000. Even so, his federal income tax will drop to $196,529, an $11,000 decrease. He had higher taxable income, but his rate dropped from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, for an effective rate of only 29 percent after deductions, three points lower. By my calculations, this guy does $11,000 better by just doing nothing, David said. The Grizzly in the Room Georgia plaintiffs lawyer Jim Butler of Butler Wooten & Peak said hes gotten reports from the firms chief legal officer and its CPA on the tax bills possible effects, but he hasnt looked at them yet because hes been too busy working on cases. Butler cut off a reporter trying to explain exotic new tax dodges to him. I abide by the tax law, whatever it is, he said. Tax law is administered by an outfit called the Internal Revenue Service. I have the same respect for them that I have for grizzly bears. Another law firm head, C. Lash Harrison, the chairman of national labor and employment firm FordHarrison, was unimpressed by various tax-avoidance schemes being bandied about. You can spend a lot of time scheming to save a dollar when you could be working to make 10, he said.An Air France Boeing 787-9 scale model is seen in Paris An Air France Boeing 787-9 scale model is seen in Paris, France January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - Air France <AIRF.PA> on Saturday denied that it had made an offer to buy the struggling airline Alitalia, a day after an Italian government minister said the French flag carrier had made a joint bid with budget airline EasyJet <EZJ.L>.

Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda on Friday said separate offers had been presented by U.S. private equity fund Cerberus and Germany's Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>, as well as a joint Air France-EasyJet bid.

But in a statement, Air France said it had not taken part in the process launched by the Italian authorities.

"Air France-KLM denies having made an offer to take over Alitalia," Air France said in a statement.

Heavily indebted Alitalia, which has only turned a profit a few times in its 70-year history, was put under special administration last year after its staff rejected a plan to cut jobs and salaries.

(Reporting by Richard Lough and Cyril Altmeyer, Editing by Ros Russell)FILE PHOTO - Larry Fink, Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

By Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) has profited by being beating its competitors in exchange-traded funds to the punch, but Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink seems happy to be out of step with at least one trend - the race to build a bitcoin fund.

The world's largest asset manager on Friday reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, due in no small part to aggressive investments in ETFs that track all sorts of financial markets. Investors are flocking to the relatively low-cost investments.

But when asked about a recent proposal by a competitor to build a "leveraged" ETF that would rise - or fall - twice as fast as the price of bitcoin on a given day, Fink was dismissive.

"Those are not the kinds of products we would introduce at BlackRock," Fink told Reuters.

"Our actions will speak louder than our words."

The comments come as a host of BlackRock's smaller rivals in the ETF space position themselves for they hope is a gold rush to capitalize after bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year.

Among the proposals, Direxion Asset Management LLC is hoping to list a leveraged bitcoin ETF on Intercontinental Exchange Inc's (ICE.N) NYSE Arca exchange that is intended to double the price moves of the digital asset on a given day, according to filings last week.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been reluctant to let bitcoin funds come to market, with the regulatory agency asking tough questions about the stability of the market for the digital asset and pushing some issuers to withdraw their proposed funds.

For his part, Fink has told Reuters that bitcoin is a "speculative" investment that thrives because of its anonymous nature and he puzzled over "why it has so much fascination for the press."

In 2014, Fink shocked some in the ETF business when he said that leveraged ETFs' structural problems had the potential to "blow up the whole industry one day."

Leveraged ETFs are designed to deliver 1.5 or more times a given market index on a day, but they can vary significantly over longer periods. Brokerage firms have been penalized for selling leveraged ETFs to investors for whom they were not suitable.

BlackRock and Vanguard Group dominate ETF inflows. Last year, BlackRock's iShares ETFs attracted $245 billion in cash, while Vanguard pulled in $147 billion, according to the companies.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Jeffrey Benkoe)BlackRock chief Larry Fink told CNBC on Friday that the Republican tax overhaul law is largely going to help Americans, and should add about 1 percent annually to economic growth, at least in the first few years. "Overall, it's going to do wonderful things, especially for small businesses," he said on "Squawk Box." But Fink said he does not like some of the provisions. "I'm still unhappy related to a few of the components of the tax bill; the state taxes." During the tax reform debate, Fink had predicted the bill would not pass if it were to include a proposal to end the unlimited state and local tax deductions known as SALT. The end result was a SALT cap of $10,000 for a combination of state and local taxes including property taxes that filers can deduct from their federal returns. To help mitigate that change, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act almost doubles the standard income tax deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples. But for many residents in high-tax states, that accommodation won't be enough to keep their tax bills from increasing. Fink also said that GOP tax writers should have eliminated the carried interest loophole, arguing that it's "an unfair tax advantage." Carried interest is a rule in the tax code that lets the managers of some types of private investment funds  hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate and other types of vehicles  pay a lower rate than most individuals. Carried interest has been U.S. law for more than 50 years as an incentive for long-term investment. Top Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn said last month after the Republican tax bill was finalized that he regretted that carried interest was not cut. "We would have cut carried interest," Cohn told Axios at the time . "We probably tried 25 times." Asked about the importance of companies possibly being incentivized to bring back some of the nearly $3 trillion held overseas, Fink said, "Bringing money back is to me is not that significant." Meanwhile, the U.S. corporate tax cut is a problem for Mexico because the rate is now lower in America, Fink said. Companies that had domiciled in Mexico for tax reasons are going to make their new tax homes in the U.S., he predicts. On the markets, Fink said BlackRock is still "quite bullish" on stocks. The BlackRock chairman and CEO also said retirement savers, even as old as 50 , should mostly be in stocks rather than bonds. That advice is counter to conventional asset allocation wisdom that long-term investors should have a portion of their portfolios in bonds. Fink's comments came shortly after BlackRock reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and said that assets under management exceeded $6 trillion.

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By Brenda Goh and John Ruwitch SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's aviation authority on Friday demanded an apology from Delta Air Lines for listing Taiwan and Tibet as countries on its website, while another government agency took aim at Inditex-owned fashion brand Zara and medical device maker Medtronic Plc for similar issues. The moves follow a regulator's decision on Thursday to suspend Marriott International Inc's Chinese website for a week to punish the world's biggest hotel chain for listing Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries in a customer questionnaire. The apparent intensification of efforts to police how foreign businesses refer to Chinese-claimed territories - even if only in pull-down menus - underscores just how sensitive the issue of sovereignty has become in a China that is increasingly emboldened on the international stage. The involvment of more than one Chinese authority in rebuking businesses across different industries suggested possible coordination at a high level of government. "It's hard not to see it as part of the wider trend where nationalist issues are being emphasized very deliberately as part of the new era," said a China-based Western businessman who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic. "It's hard not to think that this is the shape of things to come for foreign companies, having to be even more careful about these sensitivities." Hong Kong and Macau are former European colonies that are now part of China but run largely autonomously. China annexed Tibet in 1950, although Beijing has long claimed the Himalayan region has been an indivisible part of China throughout history. Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue. The ruling Communist Party considers the self-ruled, democratic island a wayward province and refuses to renounce the threat of force to bring it into the fold. On Friday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China asked Delta to investigate the listing of Taiwan and Tibet as countries on its website, and called for an "immediate and public" apology. The aviation authority also said it would require all foreign airlines operating routes to China to conduct comprehensive investigations of their websites, apps and customer-related information and "strictly comply with China's laws and regulations to prevent a similar thing from happening". In a statement, Delta apologized for making "an inadvertent error with no business or political intention", saying it recognized the seriousness of the issue and had taken steps to resolve it. Separately, the same regulator that penalized Marriott - the Shanghai branch of the state cyberspace administration - accused Zara of placing Taiwan in a pull-down list of countries on its Chinese website. Medtronic had also put "Republic of China (Taiwan)" on one of its websites, the office said in a WeChat post, giving both companies until 6 pm local time to apologize. Medtronic issued an apology via social media, saying it had updated the website. An executive who answered the phone at Zara's Shanghai office was not able to immediately comment. China has long-running territorial disputes with several neighbors and has never been shy about correcting what it sees as misrepresentations of Chinese territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing on Friday that Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Tibet were all part of China. "The companies that come to China should respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by China's laws, and respect the feelings of the Chinese people. This is the minimum requirement of any company going to another country to carry out business and investment," he said. Last year, German carmaker Audi AG apologized for using a map that excluded Taiwan and parts of Tibet and the western Xinjiang region after it was heavily crticized on Chinese social media. (Reporting by Brenda Goh and John Ruwitch; Additional Reporting by Christian Shepherd in BEIJING and SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)This is a time for vigilance advocates warn as lawmakers seek a deal by 19 January deadline on undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children

Dreamers, people brought to the US illegally as children, and supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, listen as lawmakers speak in Washington on Wednesday. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation, but that very population was left confused and frustrated this week by US lawmakers and courts responding to the presidents demands.

A federal court on Tuesday night blocked the Trump administration from terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program that allowed 800,000 immigrants to work and go to school in the US without fear of deportation. Hours earlier, the president had a rare televised meeting with lawmakers about how to protect this population.

This is a time for vigilance, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which has filed a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration for cancelling Daca in September 2017.

Who are the Dreamers?

Dreamers are young immigrants who would qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (Daca) program, enacted under Barack Obama in 2012. Most people in the program entered the US as children and have lived in the US for years undocumented. Daca gave them temporary protection from deportation and work permits. Daca was only available to people younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, who arrived in the US before turning 16 and lived there continuously since June 2007. Most Dreamers are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and the largest numbers live in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Donald Trump cancelled the program in September but has also said repeatedly he wants Congress to develop a program to help the population.

What will happen to the Dreamers?

Under the Trump administration, new applications under Daca will no longer be accepted. For those currently in the program, their legal status and other Daca-related permits (such as to work and attend college) will begin expiring in March 2018  unless Congress passes legislation allowing a new channel for temporary or permanent legal immigration status  and Dreamers will all lose their status by March 2020.



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Technically, as their statuses lapse they could be deported and sent back to countries many have no familiarity with. It is still unclear whether this would happen. Fear had been rising in the run-up to last weeks announcement. Those with work permits expiring between 5 September 2017 and 5 March 2018 will be allowed to apply for renewal by 5 October.

What does this week's ruling by Judge William Alsup mean?

In his ruling, Alsup ordered the Trump administration to restart the program, allowing Daca recipients who already qualify for the program to submit applications for renewal.

However, he said the federal government did not have to process new applications from people who had not previously received protection under the program.

When the Trump administration ended the Daca program, it allowed Daca recipients whose legal status expired on or before 5 March to renew their legal status. Roughly 22,000 recipients failed to successfully renew their legal status for various reasons.

Legal experts and immigration advocates are advising Daca recipients not to file for renewal until the administration provides more information about how it intends to comply with the ruling.

These next days and weeks are going to create a lot of confusion on the legal front, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which has filed a separate lawsuit against the Trump administrations termination of Daca.

Hincapie and other immigration advocates have warned that the legal situation for people who qualified for Daca is fluid. They also emphasized that despite the courts order, there is no system in place to renew Daca status and that anyone offering the service is probably a scammer. These next days and weeks are going to create a lot of confusion on the legal front, said Hincapie.

Staisy Ngare, whose Daca status expires in June, told the Guardian she was optimistic about what comes next.

I am not scared, Ngare said. I feel like good news is coming.

The 24-year-old, who came to the US from Kenya when she was four, said she was buoyed by public support for people like her, known as Dreamers, and the practical difficulties of removing 800,000 people from the US. Even though its taking a long time for them to agree to something I can see where they are headed towards, she said.

Daca is set to end on 5 March, but Democrats see the 19 January deadline to pass a federal budget as their best opportunity to demand action on the program. If Congress cannot reach a budget deal next week, there could be a partial government shutdown.

Advocates are urging Dreamers and their supporters to focus on the 19 January deadline as the courts work through the legality of ending Daca, but the uncertainty weighs on many of the young people.

Living life with this level of highs and lows is incredibly difficult, said Adrian Reyna, a Daca recipient and a campaign director at United We Dream.

Reyna said his sister, who also has Daca protections, called him after the court decision to ask if everything was now fixed. He said he had to explain that their future is still unclear. Dont let anyone tell you the urgency to get this done is not real, he said.

Trump provided a rare look at the governments handling of immigration legislation on Tuesday, when he allowed reporters to broadcast a 55-minute discussion with lawmakers from both parties about Dreamers.

The president said a bill of love should be introduced for Dreamers but did not provide a clear stance on what he believed such legislation should look like. At one point, Trump seemed to endorse the Democrats push for legislation that does not include funding for a border wall before a senior Republican intervened and reminded the president that the party expects expanded border security provisions in the legislation.

On Wednesday, Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican of Arizona who is part of the negotiations, said he has concerns that the courts might delay action by Congress.

If we go beyond March 5 and the courts come back and say its over, we have no runway  its done, Flake said. He said negotiations in the Senate were in the final stretch and predicted a bill within the next few days.

Democrats, meanwhile, stressed that the court order offers only a temporary reprieve. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said that the ruling in no way diminishes the urgency of resolving the Daca issue.

The fact remains the only way to guarantee the legal status for Dreamers is to pass Daca protections into law and do it now, he added.

Daca recipient Jung Woo Kim, 33, said he was disappointed with how both parties spoke about Dreamers in the meeting as though they were bargaining chips. I dont think they speak the language we speak, he said.

Kim is more protected than most because his Daca expires in 2019. He first applied for the program at 28, after working illegally to pay for university. Once Kim received Daca status, he was able to go to the dentist for the first time since he left South Korea at 15. I was able to get government ID so I could prove to myself I wasnt a ghost any more, he said.

He urged legislators to act with urgency on the issue of Dreamers. Kim said: If I were your son, what would you do? Would you let me just stay in this limbo?

Lauren Gambino contributed reporting from Washington DC.By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A loophole in the new U.S. tax law could allow multinational corporations like Apple Inc to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on profits stashed overseas, according to experts. Stemming from a Republican overhaul of international business taxes, the loophole involves the tax rates - 15.5 percent or 8 percent - that companies must pay on $2.6 trillion in profits they are holding abroad. By manipulating their foreign cash positions, a determining factor under the new law, a U.S. multinational could potentially save money by shifting profits to the lower rate from the higher one, according to Stephen Shay, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. The savings could amount to more than $4 billion in Apple's case alone, he said. An Apple spokesman declined to speak on the record about Shay's analysis. U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service officials did not respond to Reuters' queries seeking comment. "This is clearly the result of rushed legislation," said Shay, formerly a top Treasury Department tax official. The sweeping Republican tax law was President Donald Trump's first major legislative triumph since he took office almost a year ago. Rushed through Congress, and approved over the unanimous opposition of Democrats, it took effect this month, delivering tax cuts and tax code changes that large, U.S.-based multinationals had sought for years. One of those changes was a one-time tax break on about $2.6 trillion in profits that multinationals have socked away overseas in recent years under a "deferral" rule that let companies hold profits offshore tax-free, as long as the money was not brought into the United States, or repatriated. There is no such deferral under the new law and accumulated overseas profits will now be taxed at either 15.5 percent for cash holdings or at 8 percent for more illiquid investments. Both rates are far below the 35 percent rate that would have been charged on repatriated foreign profits before the law was passed, and below a new 21 percent corporate income tax rate. To knock their taxes even lower, experts said, multinationals could have leeway to shift foreign earnings into the 8 percent tax bracket and out of the 15.5 percent bracket. "Even before the legislation was unveiled in November, multinationals were planning to convert cash to non-cash assets, although it wasn't entirely clear what would constitute cash for this purpose," said Reuven Avi-Yonah, a leading tax expert at the University of Michigan Law School. The loophole that makes the bracket-shifting possible involves a formula for calculating how much foreign earnings are subject to the higher tax rate. The benchmark is a company's foreign cash position, calculated as the greater of either the average of the past two tax years, or the cash balance at the end of the last tax year begun before Jan. 1, 2018. Companies would pay the 15.5 percent rate on sums up to the calculated foreign cash position. Anything over that would get the 8 percent rate. Shay said some multinationals could reduce their cash positions, and the amount of money subject to the higher rate, through legitimate distributions including dividend payments. He estimated Apple could have as much as $289 billion in foreign cash at the end of its current fiscal year on Sept. 30. Averaged across the last two tax years, the figure would be $234 billion. To avoid paying 15.5 percent on the higher of those two figures, he said, Apple could distribute some of its cash through dividends or other means. Reducing its 2018 position by $55 billion to the lower, two-year average would save the company more than $4 billion in taxes, according to Shay. The new law says transactions meant principally to reduce taxes due on foreign profits can be disregarded by U.S. tax authorities. But tax experts said this anti-abuse measure does not apply automatically and that corporate tax lawyers could argue it does not apply to legitimate corporate actions. (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom Brown)Retail stocks have been riding high for the past couple months as bullish expectations for strong holiday sales have been confirmed. The SPDR S&P; ETF (NYSEMKT: XRT) has jumped 15% over the last two months overcoming a slide for most of 2017, and holiday sales last month were resoundingly positive as the chart below shows.

Company 2017 Holiday Comparable Sales Target (NYSE: TGT) 3.4% Macy's (NYSE: M) 1.0% J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) 3.4% Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) 6.9%

Source: Company reports

Kohl's was the star of the group above, but it wasn't the only retailer to see sales surge. At American Eagle Outfitters, comparable sales jumped 8.0%, and Five Below saw comps increase 6.7%. Clearly, it was a bumper holiday season for the industry as predictions of strong growth from Mastercard's ShopperTrak and others proved to be accurate. However, if you read between the lines, you'll see that the stores themselves are still in trouble.

A smiling woman holds several shopping bags.

Image source: Getty Images.

Same-store sales ain't what they used to be

Once upon a time, when retailers reported same-store or comparable sales, the metric referred only to sales from stores themselves, excluding e-commerce. However, as store-based sales have become challenged, retailers have begun to group e-commerce under the heading of comparable sales. Doing so obscures the performance of actual stores as retailers rarely break out the actual same-store sales growth. However, they do leave hints.

Target, for instance, which is on track for its best quarterly comp growth in at least two years, said that digital sales growth is on track to grow 25% or more this quarter and that stores fulfilled 70% of digital sales and therefore enabled 80% of comparable sales growth. However, the year before, digital sales contributed 1.8% of comp growth, and as the e-commerce base gets bigger, that contribution will increase as well. As a result, if we estimate a 2.4% increase in digital comps, that means the actual same-store sales growth from stores was closer to just 1%.

Story continues

Macy's, meanwhile, is on track for its first quarterly comps growth in 12 quarters, but the company's stores seem to still be losing revenue as digital sales grew in the double digits, which likely drove the entirety, if not more, of the comparable sales growth.

J.C. Penney also said the e-commerce sales grew by double digits and that it can now fulfill online orders at all of its stores. Meanwhile, Kohl's, which saw 6.9% comparable sales growth in the period, was the only one of the group to clearly state that in-store sales were positive as was traffic.

Stores are still closing

While 2018 doesn't seem like it will top the apocalyptic levels of store closings last year, which set a record of at least 6,700 shuttered locations, companies are already announcing new closures. Macy's said it would shut down 11 stores in order to cut down on $300 million in annual expense and streamline non-store functions.

Meanwhile, Sears said it would close 103 stores, following more than 300 closures last year. The once-dominant department store chain seems like it's headed toward bankruptcy as comparable sales fell 16% to 17% over the last two months.

It's worth remembering that Macy's and Sears are leaders in the sector with more than $40 billion between the two of them, which is a lot to give up if they continue to falter.

And other retailers saw comps fall over the holidays despite strong industry tailwinds. Bon-Ton Stores, a struggling department store chain, saw holiday comps slide 2.9%, and Ascena Retail Group, which owns brands like Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant, said comps slipped 3%. Those chains, and other struggling brands could soon see store closures.

What happens next

It's becoming clear that in order for traditional retail chains to survive and even thrive, they must pivot to e-commerce and the omnichannel. WalMart has had considerable success following its acquisition of Jet.com and the rollout of its grocery pickup stations. Target seems to want to replicate that success with its recent acquisition of Shipt, which will help it use its stores as hubs, which is already a key part of its strategy. Even Costco Wholesale has begun embracing e-commerce, partnering with Instacart on some deliveries and making other non-perishable merchandise available with a $75 minimum for free delivery.

In other words, traditional retailers, especially ones that can master this transition, will continue to grow, but stores will still close as e-commerce continues to take market share from brick-and-mortar. Another department store, Nordstrom, already has nearly a quarter of its sales come from the online channel, and that share is growing.

Retail investors need to be mindful of this especially after the recent stock rally. The strongest retailers will be those that can integrate the online channel with stores, increasing the relevance of its brick-and-mortar real estate.

More From The Motley Fool

Jeremy Bowman owns shares of J.C. Penney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Mastercard. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale, Five Below, and Nordstrom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso slid and stocks traded lower, as two Canadian government officials said that they expect President Donald Trump to soon announce that the United States intends to pull out of NAFTA. Even Wall Street traded lower on the said concerns.

Although it is not certain if the United States will quit NAFTA even if Trump gives the required six months notice, the prospect of U.S. withdrawing from the trade pact among the three countries has rattled investors.

Investors Remain Cautious

Officials from the three nations are due to hold the second-last round of negotiations in Montreal on the trilateral free trade agreement. It is scheduled to be held from Jan 23-28.

A potential notice of withdrawal would further invite opposition from the Congress and Trump is expected to face court challenges for his decision. Moreover, even if the termination letter is sent across to the countries that are party to the 24-year old agreement, the United States will not be able to legally quit the NAFTA once the six month period expires. He can gain political mileage out of a big announcement to quit NAFTA without actually doing it, per a Global News article citing Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Bulk of U.S. trade deficit with Mexico is from the auto sector. Trump has blamed NAFTA for the loss of thousands of American jobs. However, various studies show that automation and technology are particularly responsible for the loss of jobs in the auto sector.

Let us now discuss the ETFs likely to be impacted by a potential breakdown in NAFTA.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV

This fund is a low-cost ETF that seeks to provide exposure to the large established U.S. companies and tracks the S&P 500 index. It garnered $30.2 billion in inflows in 2017.

It has AUM of $148.8 billion and charges a fee of 4 basis points a year. From a sector look, the fund has high exposures to Information Technology, Financials and Health Care with 24.0%, 14.7% and 13.9% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). The funds top three holdings are Apple Inc AAPL, Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Amazon.com Inc AMZN with 3.8%, 2.9% and 2.1% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). The fund has returned 23.5% in a year. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk outlook (read: U.S. Listed ETFs Garner Record Inflows in 2017).

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iShares MSCI Canada ETF EWC

This is one of the most popular funds offering exposure to Canada. It is a perfect bet for those who are bullish on the overall performance of Canadian large-cap firms.

The fund manages AUM of $3.1 billion and charges 49 basis points in fees per year. Financials, Energy and Basic Materials are the top three sectors of the fund, with 42.0%, 21.5% and 10.4% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). From an individual holdings perspective, the fund has high exposure to Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia, with 8.4%, 7.5% and 5.4% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). It has returned 14.0% in a year. EWC currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook.

iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF EWW

This is one of the most popular funds offering exposure to Mexico. It is a perfect bet for those who are bullish on the overall performance of Mexican firms.

The fund manages AUM of $1.0 billion and charges 49 basis points in fees per year. Consumer Staples, Telecommunications and Financials are the top three sectors of the fund, with 25.7%, 16.4% and 15.1% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). From an individual holdings perspective, the fund has high exposure to America Movil, Fomento Economico Mexicano and GPO Finance Banorte, with 15.4%, 9.5% and 7.2% allocation, respectively (as of Jan 9, 2018). It has returned 20.4% in a year. EWW currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 (Sell) with a Medium risk outlook.

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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportThree months after U.S. officials asserted that Russian intelligence used popular antivirus company Kaspersky to steal U.S. classified information, there are indications that the alleged espionage is related to a public campaign of highly damaging NSA leaks by a mysterious group called the Shadow Brokers.

Thats a Russian intelligence operation, a former senior intelligence official, who requested anonymity to speak bluntly, told Yahoo Finance. Theyve gotten a lot noisier than they used to be.

A very high level of confidence

In August 2016, the Shadow Brokers began leaking classified NSA exploit code that amounted to hacking manuals. In October 2017, U.S. officials told major U.S. newspapers that Russian intelligence leveraged software sold by Kaspersky to exfiltrate classified documents from certain computers. (Kaspersky software, like all antivirus software, requires access to everything stored on a computer so that it can scan for malicious software.)

And last week the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. investigators now believe that those manuals [leaked by Shadow Brokers] may have been obtained using Kaspersky to scan computers on which they were stored.

Members of the computer security industry agree with that suspicion.

I think theres a very high level of confidence that the Shadow Brokers dump was directly related to Kaspersky  and its very much attributable, David Kennedy, CEO of TrustedSec, told Yahoo Finance. Unfortunately, we can only hear that from the intelligence side about how they got that information to see if its legitimate.

Dave Aitel, CEO of offensive-minded cybersecurity Immunity, previously explained that there is no magical way where you can both show the evidence and protect sources and methods.

After initial reports about the alleged Russian espionage through Kaspersky, the New York Times reported that Israeli officials monitored Russian government hackers as they scanned computers running Kaspersky software to find classified U.S. documents.

Story continues

Aitel noted that the Israelis have screenshots and keylogger dumps of this activity happening. To me that says they were watching it in real time. And they know exactly who was at the desk because if they have a keylogger, they know whos logged in. They know a lot about the people involved, so we havent seen all of the information that the Israelis have.

The Moscow headquarters of the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/Tass via Getty Images)

The public linking by U.S. officials of the alleged espionage-via-Kaspersky to the Shadow Brokers leaks, which the Times described as one of the worst security debacles ever to befall American intelligence, would intensify the scandal.

Kennedy reiterated that the general feeling across the security industry  is that the Shadow Brokers dump was very much so related to information obtained through Kaspersky.

Kaspersky, which reaches 400 million users worldwide, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Unverified opinions about Kaspersky Lab continue to be shared, and should be taken as nothing more than unsubstantiated allegations against a company whose mission has always been to protect against malware regardless of its source, and which has repeatedly extended an offering to help alleviate any substantiated concerns, Kaspersky Lab stated to Yahoo Finance. We have never helped and will never help any government with its cyberespionage efforts, and we have no ties with Shadow Brokers or any other cyber-threat actor. We are committed to demonstrating our trustworthiness with our Global Transparency Initiative.

The perfect cyberespionage attack

The precise sources of the classified material leaked by Shadow Brokers  as well as the specific individuals behind the group  are not clear.

In December, a developer working in the NSAs elite Tailored Access Operations (TAO) hacking unit pleaded guilty to taking home classified tools that are believed to have been stolen by hackers working for Russian intelligence. The employee, Nghia Hoang Pho, 67, had been using Kaspersky software on his home computer, where he stored the NSA files. Kaspersky said that it had retrieved classified NSA tools through its antivirus software  but claimed to have deleted the information.

In any case, a recent technical analysis by security researcher Patrick Wardle clearly demonstrated how signatures sent by antivirus software like Kasperskys could be used to surreptitiously detect and exfiltrate classified documents.

Wardle, chief research officer at Digita Security, told Yahoo Finance that he based the experiment on the question: Could I create a signature that would seamlessly integrate into [Kasperskys] existing antivirus engine that would, instead of looking for malware, look for classified documents?

The former NSA hacker said that he found the answer is resoundingly yes, and this is just by nature of what antivirus tools do: They scan for stuff.

The Moscow headquarters of the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/Tass via Getty Images)

After Wardle explained the process to the New York Times, Kaspersky stated that it is not possible for Kaspersky Lab products to secretly deliver a specific signature or update to a single user.

Wardle, who reverse-engineered Kasperskys product and tweaked one of the signatures as part of his experiment, doesnt believe the companys claim. It was interesting that Kaspersky didnt say, We dont do that. They said, It would be impossible to do that, Wardle told Yahoo Finance. [But] they control the update server. You could just filter on IP address, and when that IP address comes in, you could hand it a different set of signatures. So the fact that they said it was impossible to do is very interesting because this is software they control. Its not impossible  thats ridiculous.

In the conclusion of his analysis, Wardle asserted that a malicious or willing insider within any antivirus company who could tactically deploy such a signature would likely remain undetected. Furthermore, any antivirus company that is coerced to, or is willing to, work with a larger entity (such as a government) would equally be able to stealthily leverage their product to detect and exfiltrate any files of interest.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The circumstances, according to Wardle, makes using antivirus software in this way the perfect cyberespionage attack.

Kennedy, citing Wardles research, noted that Pho and others like him  NSA employees or contractors running Kaspersky software on home computers containing classified information  would be the targets of this particular Russian espionage operation.

Shadow Brokers leaks like throwing a grenade in the room

What is striking about the Shadow Brokers leaks is that they became public.

If you look at what [Russia] burned with the Shadow Brokers dump, those were very good capabilities, Kennedy said. Youre talking an exploit that can essentially open any Windows machine that you want to, as well as a number of arsenals around Linux, as well as operations regarding what the U.S. was conducting with the Equation Group. There was a lot of actionable intelligence for Russia, Kennedy said. Whats interesting is that they dumped it. And so why did they dump something so valuable?

The Equation Group, a code name related to the NSAs TAO hacking, was first publicly detailed by Kaspersky in February 2015. In October 2016, after the Shadow Brokers began leaking NSA tools, the enigmatic group announced that it was holding an auction for Equation Group tools and then canceled the auction.

The latest Shadow Brokers leak of NSA tools occurred in April 2017 and was followed by cyberattacks that leveraged some of the published code. (The CIA reportedly attributed one of those attacks, which primarily targeted Ukraine and erased data from certain computers, to a specialized division of Russias GRU military intelligence agency.)

A look at Equation Group targets, according to Kaspersky. (Photo: Kaspersky)

Kennedy, a former U.S. Marines hacker, said that his purely hypothetical speculation would be that Russia was severely at a disadvantage when it came to our cyber-capabilities and how we were conducting our operations. And they used this method [of stealing U.S. classified tools and leaking them through Shadow Brokers] as a way to weaken and remove a lot of our capabilities to establish some level of dominance again.

Leaking the Shadow Brokers material, according to the former senior U.S. official who spoke with Yahoo Finance, is like throwing a grenade in the room. Who cares who you kill? Youre just creating mayhem. Youre disturbing the natural order.

The former official added: You throw that stuff out there and our heads are exploding over it. And it serves two purposes: It ties up our resources in trying to address it, to counter it, to shut it down. At the same time, its tying up our resources in one place, and what are they doing in another place? What are they doing with the quiet tools? What are they doing while were distracted?



National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on June 7, 2017. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Kennedy noted that the Shadow Brokers situation is just one part of the much larger intelligence game between the U.S. and Russia.

Why this is so fascinating is that we are now seeing 1/100th of whats really going on, Kennedy said. And thats whats unique. This information warfare game that were seeing right now is nothing new. Weve been doing it forever, theyve been doing it forever  its the way that the world works and how we conduct and gain intelligence.  How did we win World War II? Through signals intelligence.

Kennedy explained that different countries use different techniques and tactics when it comes to modern cyber-operations. The U.S., for example, tends to leverage adversary information by bolstering vulnerable systems or planting false data. Russia, meanwhile, has increasingly exposed U.S. operations in an attempt to neutralize them.

We have exploit code from Russia. We have capabilities that Russia has used, Kennedy noted. The difference is that instead of using [stolen NSA code] for intelligence purposes, Russia used it to destroy our intelligence purposes, which is really one of the first times that weve seen that.

More from Michael B. Kelley:

Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelBKelley.FILE PHOTO: A Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly sign is seen in front of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plant in Warren, Michigan October 7, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo - RC191D574F80

By Paul Lienert and Joseph White

DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) said on Thursday it will shift production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020, a move that lowers the risk to the automaker's profit should President Donald Trump pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Fiat Chrysler said it would create 2,500 jobs at a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit and invest $1 billion in the facility. The Mexican plant will be "repurposed to produce future commercial vehicles" for sale global markets. Mexico has free trade agreements with numerous countries.

Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne a year ago raised the possibility that the automaker would move production of its heavy-duty pickups to the United States, saying U.S. tax and trade policy would influence the decision.

If the United States exits NAFTA, it could mean that automakers would pay a 25 percent duty on pickup trucks assembled in Mexico and shipped to the United States. About 90 percent of the Ram heavy-duty pickups made at Fiat Chrysler's Saltillo plant in Mexico are sold in the United States or Canada, company officials said.

Negotiators for the United States, Mexico and Canada are scheduled to meet later this month for another round of talks on revising NAFTA. Canadian government officials earlier this week said they are convinced that Trump intends to announce his intention to quit the agreement.

Trump has threatened to force the rollback of NAFTA, which enables the free flow of goods made in the United States, Canada and Mexico across the borders of those countries. He also has criticized automakers for moving jobs and investment in new manufacturing facilities to Mexico and prodded them to add more auto production in the United States.

On Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp announced they would build a new $1.6 billion joint venture auto assembly plant in Alabama, drawing praise from Trump.

Story continues

Vice President Mike Pence praised Fiat Chrysler's announcement. "Manufacturing is back. Great announcement. Proof that this admins AMERICA FIRST policies are WORKING! Pence said in a Twitter posting.

Chrysler raised its output in Mexico by 39 percent in 2017 to 639,000 vehicles, according to Mexican government data. That made Fiat Chrysler the third-largest producer of vehicles in Mexico in 2017, after Nissan Motor Co and General Motors Co (GM.N).

The United States and Canada are the principal markets for full-size heavy-duty pickup trucks, most of which are produced in the United States by FCA, GM, Ford Motor Co (F.N), Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co .

Miguel Ceballos, FCA spokesman for Mexico, said the company in 2018 and 2019 expects more growth in Mexico, and the moment it stops producing the Ram Heavy Duty pickups it will start to produce the new commercial vehicle, "which still does not have a name," Ceballos said.

"It is going to be for global distribution, at the moment the Ram is only distributed at the level of NAFTA," he said.

Ceballos said there was no current plan to either reduce or grow the workforce in Mexico.

GM has been readying a plant in Silao, Mexico, to build a new generation of large pickup trucks.

FCA on Thursday said it also would make a special bonus payment of $2,000 to about 60,000 FCA hourly and salaried employees in the United States totaling about $120 million. Typically, U.S. automakers only pay bonuses to hourly workers as part of collective bargaining agreements.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and Paul Lienert in Detroit Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)Fiat Chrysler (Milan Stock Exchange: FCA-IT) announced Thursday that it will up its investment in the United States and pay some of its employees special bonuses after the recent tax code overhaul. CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a statement that these announcements reflect the company's ongoing commitment to manufacturing in the U.S. He also cited the recently signed tax bill as an opportunity to share the savings with Fiat Chrysler employees.The automaker said it will invest more than $1 billion in a Michigan plant and relocate production of its Ram Heavy Duty truck in 2020. That model is currently being produced in Saltillo, Mexico.Fiat Chrysler said this decision would create about 2,500 jobs in addition to the ones that have been previously announced.The company said it will also pay 60,000 of its U.S. employees bonuses of $2,000 each. Fiat Chrysler said these bonuses would not include senior leadership.This story is developing. Please check back for updates. Fiat Chrysler (Milan Stock Exchange: FCA-IT) announced Thursday that it will up its investment in the United States and pay some of its employees special bonuses after the recent tax code overhaul. CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a statement that these announcements reflect the company's ongoing commitment to manufacturing in the U.S. He also cited the recently signed tax bill as an opportunity to share the savings with Fiat Chrysler employees. The automaker said it will invest more than $1 billion in a Michigan plant and relocate production of its Ram Heavy Duty truck in 2020. That model is currently being produced in Saltillo, Mexico. Fiat Chrysler said this decision would create about 2,500 jobs in addition to the ones that have been previously announced. The company said it will also pay 60,000 of its U.S. employees bonuses of $2,000 each. Fiat Chrysler said these bonuses would not include senior leadership. This story is developing. Please check back for updates.



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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles fcau said on Thursday it will shift production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020, a move that lowers the risk to the automakers profit should President Donald Trump pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Fiat Chrysler said it would create 2,500 jobs at a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit and invest $1 billion in the facility. The Mexican plant will be repurposed to produce future commercial vehicles for sale global markets. Mexico has free trade agreements with numerous countries.

Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne a year ago raised the possibility that the automaker would move production of its heavy-duty pickups to the United States, saying U.S. tax and trade policy would influence the decision.

If the United States exits NAFTA, it could mean that automakers would pay a 25% duty on pickup trucks assembled in Mexico and shipped to the United States. About 90% of the Ram heavy-duty pickups made at Fiat Chryslers Saltillo plant in Mexico are sold in the United States or Canada, company officials said.

Negotiators for the United States, Mexico and Canada are scheduled to meet later this month for another round of talks on revising NAFTA. Canadian government officials earlier this week said they are convinced that Trump intends to announce his intention to quit the agreement.

Trump has threatened to force the rollback of NAFTA, which enables the free flow of goods made in the United States, Canada and Mexico across the borders of those countries. He also has criticized automakers for moving jobs and investment in new manufacturing facilities to Mexico and prodded them to add more auto production in the United States.

For more on NAFTA, watch Fortunes video:

On Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp tm and Mazda Motor Corp mazda-motor announced they would build a new $1.6 billion joint venture auto assembly plant in Alabama, drawing praise from Trump.

Story continues

Vice President Mike Pence praised Fiat Chryslers announcement. Manufacturing is back. Great announcement. Proof that this admins AMERICA FIRST policies are WORKING! Pence said in a Twitter posting.

Chrysler raised its output in Mexico by 39% in 2017 to 639,000 vehicles, according to Mexican government data. That made Fiat Chrysler the third-largest producer of vehicles in Mexico in 2017, after Nissan Motor Co and General Motors Co.

The United States and Canada are the principal markets for full-size heavy-duty pickup trucks, most of which are produced in the United States by FCA, GM, Ford Motor Co gm , Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co nissan .

Miguel Ceballos, FCA spokesman for Mexico, said the company in 2018 and 2019 expects more growth in Mexico, and the moment it stops producing the Ram Heavy Duty pickups it will start to produce the new commercial vehicle, which still does not have a name, Ceballos said.

It is going to be for global distribution, at the moment the Ram is only distributed at the level of NAFTA, he said.

Ceballos said there was no current plan to either reduce or grow the workforce in Mexico.

GM has been readying a plant in Silao, Mexico, to build a new generation of large pickup trucks.

FCA on Thursday said it also would make a special bonus payment of $2,000 to about 60,000 FCA hourly and salaried employees in the United States totaling about $120 million. Typically, U.S. automakers only pay bonuses to hourly workers as part of collective bargaining agreements.By Sankalp Phartiyal and Tanvi Mehta

BENGALURU (Reuters) - The new chief executive of Infosys Ltd said he would lay out updated strategic priorities for India's second-biggest software services exporter by April after the company maintained its full-year revenue outlook.

Infosys reported a rise in net profit of 38.3 percent from a year earlier to 51.29 billion rupees ($806 million) for the quarter to Dec. 31, way above analysts' estimates. The figures -- the company's third quarter -- were helped by tax benefits from a deal with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Chief Executive Salil Parekh, who joined the company in January, said he planned to engage with clients, employees, partners, senior executives and the company's board over the next three months to build a "comprehensive view".

Parekh, who is only the second outsider to lead the Bengaluru-headquartered company, said the market offered tremendous opportunities in newer areas such as data, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The challenge would be to position the company in those areas.

"It's an opportunity with a strong foundation to build a transformation story at Infosys. Hopefully to make it stronger with all of the team at Infosys," Parekh told a news conference.

He would also hope to stay connected with the co-founders, he added.

Infosys saw a management shake up with Parekh's predecessor Vishal Sikka quitting last year after a long-drawn public feud with the company's main founder over alleged corporate governance lapses. The feud also led to changes in its board with a former CEO and co-founder Nandan Nilekani taking over as non-executive chairman.

U.S. WORRIES

On Thursday, Infosys' bigger rival and top Indian software exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd reported a 3.6 percent fall in net profit due to a muted performance in its financial services sector for the third quarter.

India's $154 billion software outsourcing sector gets the majority of its revenue from the North American and the European markets. But a slowdown in key segments including financial services and uncertainties over employee visas in the United States have weighed on the company's growth.

Story continues

The results come as Indian outsourcers anticipate changes to work visa rules in their biggest market, the United States. Indian IT services firms use H-1B visas to fly engineers and developers to the U.S. to service clients.

Infosys' profit in the third quarter was driven by an Advance Pricing Agreement it sealed with US IRS, which the company said added about 6.29 rupees to its consolidated basic earnings per share in the quarter to take it to 22.55 rupees.

It also maintained its revenue growth forecast for the year to March at 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in constant currency terms.

The financial services sector, which contributes over a quarter of its revenues, witnessed muted growth in the three months to the end of December, said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer of Infosys.

"But we remain very confident about this sector and we believe that the calendar year 2018 will be much better than calendar year 2017 for the financial services," Rao said.

($1 = 63.6400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Writing by Promit Mukherjee in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Keith Weir)Japan has warned Beijing against taking any actions that will damage bilateral ties, after a Chinese military warship and a foreign submarine were seen near disputed islands in the East China Sea on Thursday.

The 4,000-ton Jiangkai-II class frigate was spotted at 11 a.m. sailing near the contested waters, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, according to the South China Morning Post. The Chinese ship did not enter Japanese territorial waters.

We want to strongly urge China not to do anything to interfere with improving bilateral ties, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference Thursday.

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A foreign submarine was also detected in the same area on Wednesday as well as on Thursday, according to Japans Defense Ministry. Both vessels had left the area by Thursday afternoon.

China_Japan_Warship_Warning

Getty

Japan and China have long been at loggerheads over the tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Japan has control over the deserted Senkaku islands, but China disputes Japanese sovereignty and says that it also has claims to the islands it has named the Diaoyu (fishing) islands.

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Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministrys Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met with Chinese ambassador Cheng Yonghua at the Foreign Ministry to express grave concern about the move, the ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese ambassador responded to the protest by reiterating Chinas stance on the islands, the statement added.

Story continues

China routinely rejects Japanese criticism of such patrols, saying its ships have every right to operate in what China calls its territorial waters.

Most popular: 10,000 Suns at the Heart of the Milky Way All Move at Their Own Speed

Chinas defense ministry said that a Chinese missile frigate had responded to two Japanese ships entering its claimed waters but that the ships had now left.

Beijing said it firmly opposed and was strongly dissatisfied with Japans actions, which had mixed up right and wrong, the statement said.

In a news conference on Thursday, Lu Kang, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson, declared that the islands were a part of Beijings territory and warned Japan to stop complicating the issue, reported NHK World.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekJeff Bezos plans to fund $33 million in DACA scholarships

Over the past few years, Amazon has been rapidly expanding, making headlines left and right. And today, January 12th, the companys CEO, Jeff Bezos, is making headlines for announcing plans to donate scholarship money to former beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, otherwise known as Dreamers.

A $33 million grant made by Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, will help 1,000 undocumented high school students. Bezos donated the money to TheDream.Us, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Dreamers attend college. According to the organizations website, each student who participates in the program is gifted a maximum $33,000 over the course of four years. Bezoss grant is the largest donation the charity has ever received.

Bezos said in a statement to TheDream.Us that his father was an immigrant who arrived in the United States as a 16-year-old unable to speak English.

With a lot of grit and determination  and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware  my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways, Bezos said. MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help todays Dreamers by funding these scholarships.

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With a net worth of more than $105 billion, Bezos is the richest person in the world. But the billionaire has been planning ways to donate his money for a while. In June he posted a tweet asking his followers to give him ideas for his philanthropy strategy.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Bezos was also among 400 executives who signed an open letter in September urging the White House not to eliminate DACA. But despite opposition, the Trump administration ended DACA in September, and Congress has been attempting to draft a bipartisan replacement since then. Although President Donald Trump said he would be open to a bill of love to replace DACA, he rejected the latest bill on January 11th.

Were glad to see Bezos putting his wealth to good use. Investing in Dreamers means that thousands of students who might not be able to afford college can get an education, and thats a huge deal. Were looking forward to seeing the many other ways Bezos  and Dreamers  will change the world.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

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday he believed the Republican tax cuts will ultimately become revenue neutral over 10 years due to higher growth, but the Treasury will likely ask Congress for more money to implement the plan.

"We think there will be over $1 trillion in growth, so I do think this will pay for itself," Mnuchin said at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington, dismissing estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation that the tax cuts will increase U.S. deficits by $1.1 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Mnuchin said that for modelling purposes, the plan assumes 2.9 percent annual U.S. growth, but "we do think we can get to three percent or higher."

Mnuchin said the Treasury was talking to Congress about additional funding to aid implementation of the tax plan, which cuts rates for businesses and many individuals but significantly pares back deductions such as those for state and local taxes and mortgage interest.

"We will hire a significant number of people to help with the implementation," he said.

Mnuchin reiterated the need for Congress to raise the debt ceiling whenever the government gets close to its statutory borrowing limit. He added he did not believe Congress would allow the government to shut down when its funding authority expires on Jan. 19.

"I think it will either be resolved, or there will be another CR to extend this," he said, referring to a short-term 'continuing resolution' funding bill.

CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATION

Asked about risks from cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which has seen a tremendous run-up in value in recent months, Mnuchin said the Treasury had formed a working group to monitor such currencies through the interagency Financial Stability Oversight Council.

His main concern was to keep criminal and terrorist organizations from using cryptocurrencies "to do bad things," he said.

Mnuchin said he would work with Group of 20 major economies to promote U.S.-style rules that require bitcoin issuers to know and vet their customers, similar to requirements for normal banks.

Story continues

"One of the things we will be working with the G20 on is making sure that this doesn't become the Swiss numbered bank account," he said of cryptocurrencies.

Mnuchin said he was concerned about making sure that consumers fully understood the risks of investing in bitcoin.

Regarding central banks that are considering issuing digital currencies instead of physical currencies, Mnuchin said: "The Fed and we don't think there's any need for that at this point."

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)A worker walks past oil pipes at a refinery in Wuhan A worker walks past oil pipes at a refinery in Wuhan, Hubei province March 23, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/Files

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices have risen above $70 per barrel for the first time since 2014 as investors bet supply cuts led by OPEC will dominate the market this year.

But some traders are sounding a warning - the world's biggest crude consuming region, Asia, is showing signs of an impending downward correction.

Prices for Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, have risen by more than 50 percent since mid-2017 and hit $70 per barrel this week for the first since December 2014. Average Asian physical crude oil prices also moved over $70 per barrel in January.

"A healthy (price) correction could be on the cards," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore.

One reason, traders say, is that the supply of oil products remains ample. In the last three years, refiners enjoyed high profits because of relatively cheap crude oil, which is used to make fuels like diesel or gasoline.

As a result, Asian refiners processed an unprecedented 23 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in late 2017.

China, by far Asia's biggest oil consumer, is now producing so much fuel that its refiners have turned to exports to find buyers. And their purchases of crude could fall.

Chinese diesel exports have surged by almost 3,000 percent since early 2015, to a record of more than 2 million tonnes last December, according to customs data. Its gasoline exports are up by 365 percent since early 2015, to more than 1 million tonnes in December.

Its total December refined oil products reached a record 6.17 million tonnes, according to customs data announced on Friday.

"This drop in margins could reduce Asian refiners' demand for incremental crude in the near term and weigh on global (crude) prices," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta.

Singapore refining margins, which act as Asia's benchmark, have slumped by 90 percent from their 2017 high, to below $6 per barrel this week - the lowest seasonal level in five years.

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BMI Research said in a note this week: "In Q1, the balance of risk to Brent (prices) lies to the downside."

WHAT FUELED THE RALLY

The crude market's focus has so far been on signs of tightening supplies as the Middle East dominated Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia lead production cuts aimed at propping up prices.

With global oil consumption also strong amid healthy global economic growth, investor sentiment has been positive.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said this week that "bullish news tends to get more attention than potentially bearish signals."

Yet, another of the bearish signals is rising U.S. oil production, which is threatening to derail OPEC's and Russia's efforts to tighten supplies.

Despite a recent drop due to extreme cold, U.S. crude oil output is widely expected to break through 10 million bpd soon, largely thanks to shale production, which would take it to similar levels as top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, who hit peak output of over 11 million bpd and about 10.7 million bpd respectively in recent years.

"Oil prices have been undeniably bullish this week despite the lingering concerns over the current bull rally running out of steam . . . It must be kept in mind that rising production from U.S. shale has the ability to expose oil to downside risks," said Lukman Otunuga, Analyst at futures brokerage FXTM.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. output to surpass 11 million bpd by 2019.

Soaring U.S. supplies mean U.S. WTI crude prices are over $5.5 per barrel cheaper than Brent, off which most international crude supplies are priced.

Taking advantage of their competitive prices, U.S. crude oil exports are rising, including to faraway Asia.

Feeling the pinch from mounting competition and the pressure from refiners, OPEC's No.2 and No.3 producers, Iran and Iraq, cut their crude oil prices this week to remain competitive with customers struggling from lower profits.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)By Maha El Dahan and Rania El Gamal

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - OPEC need not respond to a rise in oil prices by rushing to change a global supply-cutting pact, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazroui said on Friday.

This year's rapid rise in oil prices, which hit $70 this week, is backed by strong demand growth and a fall in oversupply on the back of the OPEC and non-OPEC pact, not only by political tensions, Mazroui said.

"We don't look at the price in a day and say we are in a point where we need to do changes. We need to give the market time," Mazroui, who holds the OPEC presidency, added.

"I don't think any fundamentals have changed for us to consider (a change in the output agreement) or panic... There is no need to rush and put assumptions (about) what are we going to do," Mazroui told an industry conference.

Brent crude futures traded 20 cents lower at $69.06 a barrel at 1129 GMT, after breaking above $70 on Thursday for the first time since December 2014.

Mazroui said that draining the oil glut needed time to bring global oil inventories down to the industry's five-year average.

"There is no panic," OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo told reporters in Abu Dhabi when asked about oil prices at the $70 a barrel level.

Oman's oil minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi also said on Friday he was not concerned about the current rise in oil prices and that he expected prices to trade within a "healthy" range of $65 to $70 a barrel for a few weeks.

Analysts and traders have warned about the risk of a price correction since the start of 2018, but they say overall market conditions remain strong, mainly due to output cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia.

In addition to the OPEC and non-OPEC production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) that are due to last until the end of 2018, oil prices have found support from eight consecutive weeks of U.S. crude inventory drops.

Story continues

U.S. commercial crude stocks fell by almost 5 million barrels in the week to Jan. 5, to 419.5 million barrels. That was slightly below the five-year average of just over 420 million barrels, the target for OPEC and others cutting output.

But Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, warned on Friday that while oil prices at $65 to $70 per barrel are good for oil producers now, there is a risk that such a level would encourage more oversupply from U.S. shale drillers.

Birol also said that there might be a further decline in oil production from OPEC member Venezuela in 2018 as its economic crisis hits output.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal, Maha El Dahan, Stanley Carvalho; editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith)MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ministers from leading OPEC and non-OPEC producers will discuss the possibility of a smooth exit from a global deal to cut oil output next week, Russia's energy minister said on Friday.

Russia and Saudi Arabia are leading a joint OPEC and non-OPEC effort to limit production to prop up prices. Brent crude oil futures (LCOc1) have risen by more than 50 percent since mid-2017, hitting $70 a barrel this week for the first time since December 2014.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the current oil price level was short term and he would discuss the situation at a ministerial monitoring committee meeting in Oman, which is scheduled for Jan. 21 next week.

Asked whether ministers would discuss a possible exit from the deal, he said: "I don't think anyone is going to stop us from discussing these issues, and we will be able to discuss them in terms of the mechanisms which can be considered."

The head of one of Russia's largest oil producers, Lukoil (LKOH.MM), said earlier on Friday Russian should start exiting the oil pact if crude prices remain at $70 per barrel for more than six months.

But Novak said not all surplus supply had been removed from the oil market.

"We see that the market is becoming balanced. We see that the market surplus is decreasing, but the market is not completely balanced yet," he told reporters. "Of course, we need to continue monitoring the situation."

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Jack Stubbs; Editing by David Evans)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the throne in Saudi Arabia, has taken steps to modernize the country with a bold, progressive blueprint to change the country socially, economically and politically with Saudi Vision 2030.

Hes facing a lot of challenges in Saudi Arabia right now, on the military front, the economic front and the social front and he has worked the last two years on the plan called Vision 2030 to meet these challenges and to fix the issues that he has identified, Kacy Grine, Ares Holdings Chairman and advisor to Prince Al-Waleed, told FOX Business Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria.

According to Grine, the plan is a significant turning point in Saudi Arabias history

I think what the Crown Prince is doing and leading right now, its maybe the most important thing in Saudi modern history, its a reverse of the Islamic revolution in 1979 in Iran and instead of taking us 100 years ago, hes taking us 100 years ahead.

A key initial step in the plan is the countrys corruption crackdown that has led to the arrest of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, billionaire and member of the Saudi royal family, among others.

According to Grine, along with sending a message to the Saudi people, this crackdown is also reassuring foreign investors.

I think the message to say that nobody is above the law is a very important message to send to the Saudi peopleand to foreign investors.

Grine says the corruption crackdown will ease foreign investors concerns about doing business in Saudi Arabia.

The concern that, you know, most of the people have right now in the U.S., and in France, is that the message in Saudi Arabia should be that you have a rule of law that nobody is above, but, it is very important to define the rule of law and to present it to make the foreign investors secure about it.

Though Grine is a friend and advisor to Prince Al-Waleed, he says he has only spoken to him once since his arrest and does not know what charges he faces.

Related ArticlesDonald Trump is going to Davos.

Why?

To say that most attendees dont see eye-to-eye with him would be an understatement. Well, there is Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. After that, not so much.

Davos, you see, is the epicenter of globalism think. It is populated, for the most, part by rich, elite, liberalto a great degree Europeanlooking to make the world a better place. Davos Man is an archetype oft-ridiculed by Trump supporters. How do America First and MAGA fit in with Davos? They dont.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, Jan. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

One reason why Trump may feel compelled to go is as a counterpoint to last years top headliner, Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose keynote speech basically laid out the case for China being the leader of the new world order. Without naming names, Xi suggested that myopic nationalism was a flawed strategy and that China was open for business. Trump may use the Winter Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (what we call Davos) as an opportunity to fire back. Or not. Right now, we dont even know if Trump is speaking. Bet the WEF folks will be working hard to get him to.

And theres the question of who goes with Trump. We dont know whom on Team Trump will accompany the president, but POTUSs Goldman Sachs posse is a likely bet. The presidents chief economic advisor Gary Cohn, for instance, has attended before. Ditto for Dina Powell, whos stepping down from her role as deputy national security adviser soon. On the other hand, if Steve Bannon was still around, youd imagine hed pass, unless he wanted to thumb his nose at the proceedings. Guess well never know about that one.

Trumps presence will make it that much more difficult to get around Davos, a tiny, freezing-cold ski town tucked high in the Alps that is already bristling with security. There are already lots of guys with guns. Now there will be more. And who knows what this will cost taxpayers.

And sadly for the president, the towns only McDonalds apparently closed a number of years ago, and no wonder. According to the New York Times: In 2000, a group of more than 1,000 demonstrators carrying signs that said Against the New World Order smashed the windows of a McDonalds franchise here in Davos just down the road from the conference, protesting open trade policies espoused by then-President Bill Clinton, who was speaking at the event.

Story continues

Better bring food. And maybe friends too.



Andy Serwer is Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief. Read more:Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Volatility awaits shares of U.S. construction, engineering, building materials and other companies tied to infrastructure spending, but steel-nerved investors could be poised for gains if they weather a few bumps.

The stocks are set to be in focus in the coming weeks as President Donald Trump seeks legislation geared at overhauling the country's aging roads, bridges and other infrastructure, fresh off passage of a tax reform bill by his Republican party.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators met with administration officials this week to discuss legislation to spend $1 trillion to improve infrastructure.

An infusion of federal spending is expected to boost infrastructure-sensitive companies, but the stocks could see a rocky performance as a bill maneuvers through Congress and details of any legislation emerge.

Improving the country's infrastructure, which last year was given a failing grade by the American Society of Civil Engineers, has broad appeal.

Still, while some Democrats want such a bill, political differences may undermine the effort and affect the amount of private sector investment.

Regardless of federal legislation, however, investors and analysts see a favorable climate for such stocks, including the need for an upgrade of national infrastructure, an expected spike in earnings for many companies this year, and positive economic trends that support investment in big projects.

There is money flowing in this area even if you dont get the big federal one," said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates in Greenwood, South Carolina. "That would just be icing on the cake if that happened and would really flow through to these stocks.

INFRASTRUTURE STOCKS SWING

Todd says his firm is overweight infrastructure-related names, including owning civil contractor Granite Construction Inc, building materials companies Eagle Materials Inc and US Concrete Inc and steel company Nucor Corp.

Story continues

Those shares and other construction-related names soared in the immediate aftermath of Trump's November 2016 election, spurred by his campaign vow to spend on infrastructure.

But while the benchmark S&P 500 stock index has been on a steady ascent since Trump's election, construction-related stocks in particular have endured a rollercoaster ride, whipsawed in part last year by uncertainty over Trump's agenda.

Even with outsized gains over the past two months, the infrastructure trade has posted lukewarm returns since just after Trump's win.

For example, since early December 2016, while the S&P 500 has surged more than 22 percent, the S&P 1500 construction and engineering index has climbed 9 percent, and the S&P 1500 steel index and the S&P 1500 construction materials group have each climbed about 5 percent.

"From a year-over-year standpoint, a lot of these names have not really done anything," Todd said.

At this relatively late point in the economic recovery, customers should be more comfortable making capital spending decisions on projects, according to analysts.

'LATE-CYCLE PLAY'

Engineering and construction companies are a late-cycle industrial play, so we have just started to see the juice kick in for a lot of them," said Tahira Afzal, managing director at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

"Even without an infrastructure stimulus or infrastructure bill, the next two years should be years in which the sector outperforms.

Earnings for S&P 1500 engineering and construction (E&C) companies overall are projected to grow 27 percent in 2018, while construction materials companies could see a 32 percent jump, according to Thomson Reuters data. That compares to a estimated 13.9 percent increase for the S&P 500, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The market is trading off of near-record earnings and the E&C companies arent at those record earnings yet as a group, said John Rogers, founder of independent engineering and construction consulting firm JBR Advisory, LLC in Portland, Oregon.

Some optimism over an infrastructure bill may already be reflected in stock values. For example, Fluor and Jacobs Engineering shares have climbed 28 percent and 18 percent respectively, since the start of November, while U.S. Steel shares have jumped more than 50 percent.

While other factors could be fueling the gains, such as the tax-cut legislation or global economic momentum, these shares could pull back if the federal infrastructure package disappoints.

You really have to take a longer-term perspective and just realize that if something does happen in Washington there will be a lot of two-steps-forward, one-step-back, said Eric Marshall, portfolio manager at Dallas-based Hodges Capital Management, which owns building materials stocks as well as equipment rental company United Rentals Inc and contractor Primoris Services Corp.

You can make a multi-year argument that there is pent-up demand for things like waterworks and roads and bridges and highways, Marshall said.

(Editing by Alden Bentley and Bernadette Baum)Today, Walmart is both majorly expanding benefits for workers and laying off thousands in its Sam's Club chain. The company will offer parental leave to its full-time hourly associates, a move that's expected to influence other companies' decisions given that it's the largest private employer in the country.

According to a statement from Walmart, full-time hourly associates in the U.S. will now get 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave  the same as salaried workers. Previously, they received only six to eight weeks of maternity leave at half pay  there were no benefits for dads, many same-sex couples, and adoptive parents.

Walmart is also raising salaries for new employees from $10 to $11 an hour and offering a one-time bonus to associates based on how long they've worked there, ranging from $200 to $1,000. The company currently has over a million hourly associates in the U.S., both full- and part-time, and about 1.4 million employees total nationally. Same-sex couples, adoptive parents, and foster parents are included in the policy, and the company is also creating a $5,000-per-child fund to help employees adopt.

At the same time, Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the country, the company told Business Insider, which is resulting in thousands of workers losing their jobs. Some closed today, while others will close at a later date.

BI reported that many employees weren't informed of the closings before showing up for work today, learning about them when they saw signs on the stores' doors. Walmart plans to turn 10 of the stores into e-commerce distribution centers and their employees will be able to reapply for positions at those locations.

"After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we've decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing clubs is never easy and we're committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition," Sam's Club posted on Twitter.

Story continues

Walmart did not respond to Refinery29's request for comment on whether the two decisions are related.

Corporate Vs. Hourly: A Big Difference

While white-collar workers have been benefiting from the "talent war " to attract top-level workers, low-wage workers are often left out of these benefits  sometimes even at the same companies.

Brianna Cayo Cotter is the chief of staff for PL+US: Paid Leave for the U.S., a small nonprofit that advocates for paid leave with the goal of eventually building momentum toward creating a federal policy, something the U.S. does not have.

Cayo Cotter says her group's research shows a huge gap between the benefits corporate, white-collar employees enjoy and those provided to hourly workers such as cashiers. According to a report from May 2017, 94% of low-wage working people in the U.S. have no access to paid family leave. It's much more likely for a worker to have this benefit if they make over $75,000, rather than under $30,000.

But that might be starting to shift: Companies including Ikea, Nordstrom, and Bank of America have all instituted paid leave policies for hourly workers recently, according to the above report. Now, says Cayo Cotter, her organization is closely working with Starbucks and others who are yet to close the gap. At Starbucks  which has touted itself as a leader among retailers when it comes to employee benefits  it's been a slow drip. It currently offers 18 weeks of leave for birth moms and 12 weeks for dads and adoptive parents to corporate employees, but to "field" employees  baristas  just six weeks, and only to birth moms.

"It sees itself as a real leader in employee benefits and treatment, but now Walmart has outdone them," she says.

Cayo Cotter says she thinks Walmart will be able to influence other companies to move the needle. "I think that Walmart making this move is going to be very significant  if you want to be a competitive business in this country, now you have to be paying parental leave to all classes of workers," she says.

The Caregiving Question

Several U.S. states have instituted, or are discussing, family leave policies that expand beyond parental benefits to help employees who need to take care of a sick parent or other family member, with New York state the most recent to implement policy on the issue. Just 21% of leaves from work are for new babies, according to another PL+US report, and most companies don't offer this type of leave.

Over the past year, Adobe and Facebook have announced paid caregiving leave, but only two of the U.S.' 70 largest employers offer it: Deloitte (16 weeks) and Cargill (two weeks). Only about a third of top employers offer short-term disability to fill the gap, according to PL+US.

Walmart's policy is far from perfect: It doesn't cover caregiving or part-time employees, for instance. But it's a significant improvement. "There's a wave of employees at all types of companies across this country that are ready to fight for paid family leave  and apparently they can win," says Cayo Cotter.

We've reached out to a Sam's Club spokesperson for more information about the closings and layoffs and will update this story when we hear back.

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Here's Who Got That New York Times Travel-Writing Job Over 13,000 People Applied ToPakistans northwestern city of Peshawar is the only place middle-aged Afghan refugee Shakaiba knows as home.

Peshawar has given the housewife, now in her 50s, the best years of her life. Shakaiba, who like many Afghans goes by one name only, now feels mounting pressure from Islamabad to leave Peshawar and move back to neighboring Afghanistan, which she hardly knows after 22 years in exile.

She says Afghan refugees feel caught between Islamabad and Washington as bilateral relations rapidly deteriorate after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Pakistan on January 1 of lies and deceit while providing a safe haven to terrorists that U.S. forces are seeking to counter in Afghanistan.

Shakaiba feels her community is being used as a pawn in the complicated ties between Pakistan and the United States.

We Afghan refugees always feel the heat and headache whenever relations between Pakistan and other Western countries deteriorate, she told Radio Free Afghanistan. We are living in this country out of compulsion. My two children go to school here, but all of us are now worried and bracing for harassment by the police.

Shakaiba is one of the 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Their conditions became desperate after Pakistans federal cabinet extended their Proof of Registration (PoR) cards for one month only instead of the expected one-year extension under an understanding with the Afghan government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

While Islamabad didnt declare that the move was connected to Trumps January 1 tweet, its announcement on January 3 prompted many to connect the dots.

Sana Omar, a young Afghan refugee woman, is pursuing a pharmaceutical degree in Peshawar. She says she was devastated to hear her future stay in Pakistan is uncertain. My career will be doomed if I have to leave this degree after investing three years in an effort to get it, she said.

In Kabul, the Afghan government, too, is concerned.

This announcement by Pakistan violates the international refugees and human rights conventions such as the 1951 Geneva convention and the 1967 protocol, says Islamuddin Jurat, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Refugees and Repatriations Ministry.

Qaisar Afridi, a spokesman for UNHCR in Pakistan, says the development violated the understanding his organization and Kabul had with Islamabad.

We are concerned, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. In the tripartite meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and UNHCR in Istanbul [in November], we had agreed on extending the refugee [PoR] cards for one year.

On January 3, Pakistans cabinet painted the Afghan refugees as a major burden on the country of 208 million.

Pakistans economy has carried the burden of hosting Afghan refugees for a long time and in the present circumstances cannot sustain it further, said a statement by the Pakistani cabinet.

But Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the military, said Afghan refugee communities obstruct counterterrorism operations because they provide hideouts for militants launching attacks in Afghanistan.

Afghan refugees have had a complicated relationship with Pakistan. In one of the largest displacements of recent history, more than 7 million Afghans have fled to Pakistan since the communist coup in Afghanistan in 1978.

In addition to the 1.4 million registered Afghans, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans currently live in Pakistan.

Kabul now hopes for the best while preparing for the worst. Afghan officials say their government is talking to international donors to plan for a potential exodus of an estimated 2 million Afghans from Pakistan.

Zardasht Shams, deputy head of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, says it is unrealistic to expect that so many Afghans can leave Pakistan soon because even the voluntary repatriation overseen by the UNHCR is suspended during the winter months.

Shams says they are trying hard to find common ground with Islamabad. We are trying to find a more rational and practical return date [for the Afghan refugees], he said.Villagers in a sleepy village in southern Tajikistan are under attack, blasted by insulting poems that are mysteriously cropping in public places where they are sure to sting.

Outraged residents of Khojaghalton say they don't know who the author  or the authors  are, but they are certain that he or she lives among them.

The author knows our names and nicknames, our habits and daily routines, the villagers say. Often the snarky sonnets target individuals or mock businesses, such was the case with Sitora's shop, which came under fire for being a place where neighbors always borrow goods, instead of buying them.

A man called Khusrav -- who only works during harvest season, according to another poem -- "sniffles and smokes, sitting idly and watching his life pass by."

Without naming names, another ridicules "the head of the village, who collects money for different causes every year, but the money always disappears."

Ashur, notorious for calling for unnecessary village meetings and feeding people "over-salted plov," is singled out. So, too, is the shopkeeper Jomi, who determines prices as he pleases.

'I Watch It And Feel Sorry'

Yet another villager is mocked for his gait; another for being blind. And the poet expresses sympathy "for people needing treatment from local faith healer Toj and Mullah Miroj."

Every four-line stanza ends with the same sentence: "I watch it and feel sorry." Throughout, even the writer's sex remains concealed, as verbs and pronouns don't indicate gender in the Tajik language.

One villager has offered the equivalent of $60 to anyone who could reveal the identity of the mysterious poet, while insisting it is "just out of curiosity."

"The poems don't contain any insult, they are a satire," Qiyomiddin Nizom explains. "We are just curious and want to find out who is writing them. That's the only reason I offered the prize."

Nizom, a former village policeman, says his 77-year-old father was mocked for his habit of "sitting idly all day" and people-watching.

"It's all true," Nizom admits. "My father said he didn't mind how he was described."

During winter days, many Khojaghalton men gather at a small car-repair shop to share tea and catch up on the latest village gossip.

Exposing Realities

The topic of the conversation inevitably turns to the latest works of the local mystery poet, says garage owner Alamkhon, who doesn't want to give his full name.

Alamkhon says the poems expose the realities of the village in an up-to-date manner.

"So far the poet has written about some 40-50 people," says Alamkhon, once singled out as someone the poet "watches and feels sorry for."

"Those who haven't been targeted yet enjoy the poems, while the 'targets' want to find the person and rebuke them gently," Alamkhon says light-heartedly. "Someone might respond to the bounty offer."

Sixty dollars is nearly a monthly wage for a village teacher or a nurse. No one, however, has come forward with any information about the identity of the village's most-wanted person.

Khojaghalton inhabitants recently asked local police to help identify the man or woman behind the lyrics.

In the meantime, the author is expanding the reach of his barbs, writing about the nearby villages of Navobod and Shuroobod.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL Tajik Service correspondent Mahmudjon Rahmatzoda.sahilsnpt wrote:

A recent study conducted by Armald company found that the main reason for the low conversion ratio (number of customers made to number of potential customers approached) is that the sales employees of Armald do not appear as serious and formal to the prospective customers as do employees of other companies. The companys vice-president has suggested that the possible reason could be that the current uniform of sales people is perceived to be of lower quality by the people. The vice-president has therefore proposed replacing the existing uniform of salespeople with better and more expensive uniform.



Which of the following would it be most important to ascertain in determining whether implementing the vice-presidents proposal would increase the sales of the company?



A. Whether the conversion ratio for Armald is lower than most of its competitors.

B. Whether the appearance of sales employees plays a more important role than the actual quality of the product of the company.

C. Whether there are cases where prospective customers dont even agree to meet the sales employees of Armald.

D. Whether most of the sales employees of Armald wear their existing uniform prescribed by the company while going to prospective customer visits.

E. Whether Armald continually monitors the performance of all its sales employees



Like==1 kudos please!

Stem - Based on study data VP proposed the uniform change.A - Out of scope - No mention of uniformB - Actual quality of the product is out of scope as per research study. No other product quality information available.C - Not a finding of study so not a factor. The study is about customers who agreed to meet or saw sales-person.D - Correct answer - Whether existing uniforms make sales-persons unformal or they are not using the uniforms.E - Out of scopeNew York, Jan 13 (JEN): The United Nations human rights office on Friday called on the authorities in Tunisia to ensure that protestors are not arrested in an arbitrary manner, and that all those detained are treated with full respect for their due process rights and other fundamental guarantees.

We are closely watching the demonstrations across Tunisia and the authorities' response to them, Rupert Colville, spokesperson of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, expressing concern about the high number of arrests  778 people since Monday, some 200 of them between the ages of 15 and 20.

The authorities must ensure that those exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are not prevented from doing so, he stressed.

Ahead of the 14 January anniversary of the 2011 revolution, it is particularly important to ensure that demonstrators are able to protest peacefully.

Those taking to the streets should exercise restraint and calm, Colville said. There has been looting, vandalism and violence, including damage to police stations and shops but peaceful demonstrators must not be held responsible or penalised for the violent acts of others, he added.

The UN human rights office urges all sides to work together towards resolving, with full respect for human rights, the economic and social problems underpinning the unrest, he said.

Photo: World Bank/Dana SmillieWashington, Jan 13 (JEN): The number of Iraqis returning to their area of origin has surpassed those internally displaced for the first time since December 2013, when the country became engulfed in conflict with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh), the United Nations migration agency said Friday.

Iraqis who remain displaced are among the most vulnerable, as they face obstacles to return, including damage or destruction of their home and local infrastructure, financial limitations and other constraints, said Gerard Waite, chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in Iraq.

Over the past four years, the country has been deeply affected by the conflict with Iraqs victory over the ISIL, which led to the displacement of nearly six million people, IOM stated.

On 9 December, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Iraqs victory over ISIL and by the end of the year, IOM had identified 3.2 million people who had returned back to their place of origin  while a staggering 2.6 million remained displaced.

Following improved security in retaken areas, a sizable number of internally displaced people (IDPs) have returned home to mainly the three governorates worst affected by ISILs occupation, accounting for 86 per cent of displaced Iraqis. More than 1.2 million people returned to the governorate of Anbar; nearly 975,000 to Ninewa; and close to 460,000 to Salah al-Din.

Shortly after the operation to retake Mosul was launched in October 2016, IOM constructed two emergency displacement sites, one in Haj Ali and one in Qayara.

With a combined capacity to shelter 110,000 IDPs, these sites were constructed in partnership with Iraqs Ministry of Migration and Displacement in the southeast of Ninewa governorate. The more than 71,000 internally displaced persons remaining there receive relief kits, medical services and psychosocial support from IOM, and other services from humanitarian partners.

IOM pointed out that 57 per cent of IDPs are currently in Ninewa, which has an intra-governorate IDP people population of 97 per cent.

Intra-governorate returns account for 55 per cent of returnees, a common trend across the most-affected governorates that is likely to continue.

Photo: Raber Aziz/ IOM 2018Washington, Jan 13 (IBNS): In another setback for the White House, US Ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, has quit his job stating he's no longer able to serve under Donald Trump.

Feeley is a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot.

According to US Department of State, which looks after American diplomats, Feeley resigned last month.

In his resignation letter, Feeley said, "As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies."

"My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come," he added.

Feeley is not the first US official to quit his post under Trump regime.

In December, Elizabeth Shackelford, a State Department worker in Nairobi, put down her resignation papers.

She alleged that the US had abandoned human rights as a priority.Several scientific figures also stated they are concerned about the students that had been arrested during the protests. Irans Education Minister announced that President Rouhani issued an order to release all detained students.

In separate statements issued by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, both groups asked the Iranian authorities to release the detainees. Both organizations condemned the death under unknown circumstances of a man in Evin prison in Tehran.

President Rouhani has also asked Minister of Interior Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli to prepare a detailed report on recent incidents and detained citizens.

The main approach of the government in the budget bill of the year 1397 is boosting employment and eliminating poverty, Rouhani said during the weekly ministerial meeting. He told the government that the current economic problems have not happened overnight.

Meanwhile, thirty-five members of the Iranian parliament submitted a request to the Intelligence Ministry to visit Evin prison, according to a quote from Reformist Bloc spokesman Mohammed Reza Aref, reported by Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency.

Reports claiming that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Basij and the police used violence and weapons against the protesters were denied by Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces of Iran Mohammad Bagheri, who added that the laws of armed forces ban any member from carrying weapons on the streets. Bagheri stated that no demonstrator had been shot. However, he said, All over the world, when a military group is attacked, it should defend itself, according to Tasnim news agency.

The resolution recently adopted by the US House of Representatives regarding the recent riots in Iran has been denounced by Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi, who said in a statement on Wednesday, The interventionist resolution passed by the US Congress is rejected, and is completely reprehensible and unacceptable.

The resolution was passed on Tuesday by the US House of Representatives. It supports the Iranian peoples right to free expression, and condemns the countrys leadership for crackdowns on recent protests. It passed by 415 votes, reiterating the US support to Iranian people, and condemned the governments serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people. The resolution also called on US President Trumps administration to issue new sanctions punishing human rights violators in Iran.

In standing with the Iranian people, we must explain that they are not the target of our sanctions, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said, and added,

US sanctions target the oppressive, destabilizing regime, not the people of Iran, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Reports of deaths of detainees in detention raised grave concerns and caused Human Rights Watch (HRW) Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson to announce, Iranian authorities should ensure that all deaths in detention and allegations of ill-treatment are swiftly and independently investigated and that anyone responsible is brought to justice. She added, The legacy of Kahrizak prison, where the 2009 protesters were tortured and killed, and persistent impunity for these crimes, casts a dark shadow on the situation for people arrested since these protests began.

Shirin Ebadi, head of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, sent a letter to UN officials asking them to oblige Iranian officials to the laws and principles of human rights in any way possible that ensure the safety of the detainees.

Tehran MP Mahmoud Sadeghi has stated that the number of detained persons since the beginning of protests on December 28, 2017, had reached 3,700 citizens. Sadeghi reported that 90 students had been arrested in Tehran universities. Tehran university announced that 41 of its students had been detained, but other universities have not issued statements. Ilna news agency reported that 16 students were released, and that the remaining are expected to be released in the coming days.

On Wednesday, Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, Mansour Gholami, said that President Rouhani had ordered the release of all students.British officials say they hope their country will one day join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

The TPP is currently being negotiated by 11 other countries. All 11 have a border facing either the Pacific Ocean or the South China Sea.

The British government hopes trade with fast-growing economies will make up for any losses that may take place after it leaves the European Union (EU).

Britains withdrawal from the EU, known as Brexit, is expected in 2019.

On a recent trip to China, Britains Trade Minister, Liam Fox, suggested his country might one day join the TPP.

We don't know what the success of the TPP is going to yet look like, because it isn't yet negotiated, Fox said.

So, it would be a little bit premature for us to be wanting to sign up to something that we're not sure what the final details will look like. However, we have said that we want to be an open, outward-looking country, and therefore it would be foolish for us to rule out any particular outcomes for the future, he added.

London sits some 7,000 kilometers from any Pacific coastline. So, is geography no longer an issue in 21st century trade?

Not so, says economist Jonathan Portes. He works as a professor at Kings College London.

Portes says, There has been an argument put forward that, particularly as trade in services expands, and as a result of technology, it will matter considerably less in the future, and that seems to make a lot of sense. So far at least, the actual data and evidence dont really support this contention. For whatever reason, geography at the moment seems to matter as much as it ever did, he added.

By withdrawing from the EUs Single Market and Customs Union, Britain will leave a free trade agreement that makes up about half of its foreign trade. By comparison, the 11 countries now negotiating the TPP combined accepted less than eight percent of all British exports last year.

Portes said it will take many years for Britain to profit from other trade deals. He added that British companies have close ties with the European Union. He thinks there will likely be problems because of Brexit.

The countries negotiating the TPP include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico. The others are New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Barack Obama, former president of the United States, was a driving force behind TPP. But the next president, Donald Trump, pulled the United States out of the deal, saying it would be bad for America. Negotiations between the 11 remaining countries continue slowly.

Because of the U.S. withdrawal, the TPP has its own internal problems, said Portes, adding it will be a lot of work to fix those issues.

But Britains interest in the TPP has been welcomed by some of the countries involved, namely Australia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to visit Asia later this year in an attempt to strengthen relations before Brexit.

Im Susan Shand.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in this Story

premature  adj. happening too soon or earlier than usual

geography  n. an area of study that deals with the location of countries, cities, rivers, mountains, lakes, etc.

contention  n. something (such as a belief, opinion, or idea) that is argued or stated

outcome  n. resultsPAA Natural Gas Storage, L.P. is engaged in the business of acquisition, development, ownership, operation and commercial management of natural gas storage facilities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned and operated three natural gas storage facilities located in Louisiana, Mississippi and Michigan. The Company also leases storage capacity and pipelines transportation capacity from third parties. The Company provides natural gas storage services to a mix of customers, including local gas distribution company's liquefied natural gas (LNG), electric utilities, pipelines, direct industrial users, electric power generators, marketers, producers, LNG exporters and affiliates of such entities. In December 31, 2013, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains) completed the merger of PAA Natural Gas Storage, L.P with a wholly owned subsidiary of Plains, with Plains surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of PAA.

Read MoreNabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. The U.S. Drilling segment includes land drilling activities in the lower 48 states and Alaska, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment consists of land-based drilling rigs in Canada. The International segment focuses in maintaining a footprint in the oil and gas market, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela. The Drilling Solutions segment offers drilling technologies, such as patented steering systems and rig instrumentation software systems that enhance drilling performance and wellbore placement. The Rig Technologies segment comprises Canrig, which manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools. The company was founded by Clair Nabors in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Read MoreNEXT plc engages in the retail of clothing, footwear, and home products in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through NEXT Retail, NEXT Online, NEXT Finance, NEXT International Retail, NEXT Sourcing, Lipsy, NENA, and Property Management segments. It operates retail stores; an online retail platform; and 190 franchise stores in 36 countries. The company also offers consumer credit; NEXT branded products; and women's, men's, children's, home, and beauty products under the LABEL and Lipsy's own brand, and other third-party brands. In addition, it provides property management services, including holding and lease of properties. The company was formerly known as J Hepworth & Son and changed its name to NEXT plc in 1986. NEXT plc was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Enderby, the United Kingdom.

Read More1+ days ago

| September 5th | 2021 3:01 AM

Do we need humans for that job? Automation booms after COVID

Ask for a roast beef sandwich at an Arbys drive-thru east of Los Angeles and you may be talking to Tori  an artificially intelligent voice assistant that will take your order and send it to the line cooks. It doesnt call sick, says Amir Siddiqi, whose family installed the AI voice at its Arbys franchise this year in Ontario, California.The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. The company was founded by William Edward Boeing on July 15, 1916 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Read More(HealthDay)Microfocused ultrasound with visualization (MFU-V) and diluted calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA) improves moderate-to-severe lines on the neck and/or decolletage, according to a study published online Dec. 29 in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Gabriela Casabona, M.D., from Clinica Vida in Brazil, and Diana Nogueira Teixeira, Ph.D., from PharmaWrite Medical Communications in Wurzburg, Germany, examined the combined use of MFU-V and diluted CaHA for treating subjects with moderate-to-severe lines on the neck and/or decolletage. Two independent blinded evaluators examined photographs at baseline and 90 days using three scales. Forty-seven subjects were treated on the neck only, decolletage only, or in both areas (29, five, and 13, respectively).

The researchers observed significant improvement in the mean neckline score, from 2.6 (moderate-to-severe lines) at baseline to 1.3 (mild lines) at 90 days after treatment. On the Merz Aesthetics and Fabi-Bolton scales there was improvement in the mean decolletage scores from 2.6 and 3.3 (moderate-to-severe wrinkles) to 1.1 and 1.8 (mild wrinkles), respectively, after treatment. Subject satisfaction was high, and both procedures were well tolerated.

"Combining MFU-V with 1:1 diluted CaHA is effective for improving the appearance of neck and decolletage lines and wrinkles," the authors write.

Both authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Merz Pharmaceuticals, which funded the preparation of the manuscript.

Explore further Hyaluronic acid filler deemed safe, effective for neck lines

Copyright  2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Weve seen an extreme escalation in the past 12 months, Ms. Glaser said. If someone applies for a job and you dont get to them within 24 hours, that person will already have taken another job.

Even during the strong economy that accompanied the housing boom of the mid-2000s, the unemployment rate never dropped below 4.4 percent, and the United States has never reached the point at which everyone who wanted a job could get one. Perhaps as a result, incomes were stagnant for many middle-class families, and many groups that have historically faced discrimination or other disadvantages in the labor market never experienced the full benefits of the strong economy.

Many economists say the recovery still has a ways to go before rivaling that of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The unemployment rate has fallen nearly as far as it did in 2000, when it hit 3.8 percent. But millions of Americans still have part-time or temporary jobs, or are out of the labor force entirely. And parts of the country still bear the scars of the recession that officially ended nearly a decade ago.

I think of the late 90s as having been a very healthy labor market, said Narayana Kocherlakota, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. When I look at the United States today, I think it has some room to grow in terms of achieving that kind of health.

Still, household incomes have risen rapidly in the past two years, with the strongest gains coming for those in the poorest families. And there are signs that the tightening labor market is at last beginning to shift bargaining power from companies to workers. Ahu Yildirmaz, an economist who helps lead the research arm of the payroll-processing company ADP, said her firms data showed more people switching jobs, and getting bigger bumps in pay for doing so.

For Mr. Forseth, the job at Stoughton Trailers was an opportunity to save money and prove his value. He even earned the Employee of the Month award  although, because he was still incarcerated, he couldnt take advantage of the parking spot that came with it.

Now, however, he is thinking bigger. Other jobs in the area pay higher wages, and his freedom has opened up more options. He has been talking to another local company, which is interested in training him to become an estimator  a salaried job that would pay more and offer room for advancement.Five new planets have been discovered outside our solar system, all orbiting a sun-like star located within the constellation Aquarius, nearly 620 light years from Earth. The alien worlds are considered super-Earths, sizing in at two to three times larger than our own blue planet.

All five exoplanets are likely scorchingly hot: Each planet comes incredibly close to its star, streaking around in just 13 days at most  a whirlwind of an orbit compared with Earths 365-day year.

The planets also appear to orbit their star in concentric circles, forming a tightly packed planetary system, unlike our own elliptical, far-flung solar system. In fact, the size of each planets orbit appears to be a ratio of the other orbits  a configuration astronomers call resonance  suggesting that all five planets originally formed together in a smooth, rotating disc, and over eons migrated closer in toward their star.

These new findings have been accepted to the Astrophysical Journal and were presented today by researchers from MIT and Caltech at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Leveraging the human cloud

The researchers say the credit for this planetary discovery goes mainly to the citizen scientists  about 10,000 from the around the world  who pored through publicly available data from K2, a follow-on to NASAs Kepler Space Telescope mission, which since 2009 has observed the sky for signs of Earth-like planets orbiting sun-like stars.

In 2013, a malfunction in one of the spacecrafts wheels forced Kepler to end its continuous observations. However, the following year, scientists reprogrammed the spacecrafts thrusters and remaining wheels, enabling the telescope to point at certain parts of the sky for limited periods. Scientists dubbed this new phase of the mission K2, and they have been collecting data from the rejiggered telescope for the last three years.

K2s data comprises light curves  graphs of light intensity from individual stars in the sky. A dip in starlight indicates a possible transit, or crossing, of an object such as a planet in front of its star.

The original Kepler mission was managed mostly by a dedicated team of trained scientists and astronomers who were tasked with analyzing incoming data, looking for transits, and classifying exoplanet candidates. In contrast, K2 has been driven mainly by decentralized, community-led efforts.

In 2017, Ian Crossfield, assistant professor of physics at MIT, who at the time was a Sagan Fellow at the University of California at Santa Cruz, worked with fellow astronomer Jesse Christiansen at Caltech to make the K2 data public and enlist as many volunteers as they could in the search for exoplanets.

The team used a popular citizen-scientist platform called Zooniverse to create its own project, dubbed Exoplanet Explorers. The project was inspired by a similar effort via Zooniverse called Planet Hunters, which has enabled users to sift through and classify both Kepler and K2 data.

For the Exoplanet Explorers project, Crossfield and Christiansen first ran a signal-detection algorithm to identify potential transit signals in the K2 data, then made those signals available on the Zooniverse platform. They designed a training program to first teach users what to look for in determining whether a signal is a planetary transit. Users could then sift through actual light curves from the K2 mission and click yes or no, depending on whether they thought the curve looked like a transit.

At least 10 users would have to look at a potential signal, and 90 percent of these users would have to vote yes, for Crossfield and Christiansen to consider the signal for further analysis.

We put all this data online and said to the public, Help us find some planets, Crossfield says. Its exciting, because were getting the public excited about science, and its really leveraging the power of the human cloud.

Planetary wheat and chaff

Several months into working with Zooniverse to get Exoplanet Explorers up and running, the researchers got a call from an Australian television program that was offering to feature the project on live television. The team scrambled to launch the effort, and over two days in April, as the program was broadcast live, Exoplanet Explorers drew 10,000 users who started sifting through the K2 data. Over 48 hours, the users made nearly 2 million classifications from the available light curves.

Crossfield and Christiansen, along with NASA astronomer Geert Barentsen, looked more closely at the classifications flagged by the public and determined that many of them were indeed objects of interest. In particular, the effort identified 44 Jupiter-sized, 72 Neptune-sized, and 44 Earth-sized planets, as well as 53 so-called super Earths, which are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.

One set of signals in particular drew the researchers interest. The signals appeared to resemble transits from five separate planets orbiting a single star, 190 parsecs, or 620 light years, away.

To follow up, they collected supporting data of the star taken previously from ground-based telescopes, which helped them to estimate the stars size, mass, and temperature. They then took some additional measurements to ensure that it was indeed a single star, and not a cluster of stars.

By looking closely at the light curves associated with the star, the researchers determined that it was extremely likely that five planet-like objects were crossing in front of the star. From their estimates of the stars parameters, they inferred the sizes of the five planets  between 2 and 2.9 times the size of the Earth  along with their orbits.

The new system, which they have dubbed K2-138, represents the first planetary system identified by citizen scientists using K2 data. Crossfield says as more data becomes available from other observational campaigns, he hopes scientists and citizens can work together to uncover new astrophysical phenomena.

It turns out the world is big enough that theres a lot of people who are interested in doing some amateur science, Crossfield says. And the human eye in many cases is very effective in separating the planetary wheat from the nonplanetary chaff.

In particular, he envisions that the public will one day be able to analyze data taken by TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which is set to launch later this year. Its an MIT-led mission that will survey the entire sky for exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars.

Were looking forward to more discoveries in the near future, Crossfield says. We hope that the TESS mission, which MIT is leading, will also be able to engage the public in this way.

MIT News

Now read: SpaceX launches secretive Zuma spacecraftArmenia Constitutional Court to examine opposition's application challenging parliamentary speaker's election

Armenia FM to new OSCE Minsk Group's new Russian Co-Chair: Speedy, unconditional repatriation of POWs necessary

Health minister: As of October 1 Armenia employees must be vaccinated against coronavirus

Armenia ruling party interested in expanding cooperation with Russia ruling party, says parliament vice-speaker

Armenia opposition MP: That matter should be on each sessions agenda until parliament commission chair is elected

Murder in Yerevan, police release video

Political bloc formed in Gyumri, it will run in local elections

Karabakh President visits Berdashen, Ashan villages of Martuni region

Oil prices are down 1%

Resistance forces deny Taliban takeover of Panjshir and intend to continue fighting

Netherlands ready to assist Armenia in implementing judicial reforms

OSCE Minsk Group new Russian Co-Chair meets with Armenia FM

One dead, 5 injured after car accident on Meghri-Yerevan motorway

4th Armenian festival opens in Paris (PHOTOS)

Opposition MP: Attempt being made to gradually take Armenia out of Artsakh-related processes

Unibank to celebrate 20th anniversary organizing festival of intellectual games

Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh secure safe grape harvesting

Lawyer on Armenia ex-president Sargsyan v. MP Sukiasyan lawsuit: We will go after all lies

239 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

2 Yerevan neighborhood residents on hunger strike for 12th day

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff chief attends International Army Games closing ceremony

Brutal murder in Yerevan

Taliban announce capture of Afghanistans Panjshir province

Bitcoin exceeds $51K for first time since May

Robot patrol service launched in Singapore

Brazil snake venom helps fight coronavirus?

US 60% of respondents disapprove of Biden's decision on Afghanistan

Merkel welcomes resumption of Kabul airport

Armenian Defense Minister: We must learn to defend our country if necessary

Russian pianists Miroslav Kultishev and Viktor Maslov are winners of 2nd Classic Piano International Piano Competition

Taliban ban shooting into the air throughout Afghanistan

Boeing 787 Dreamliner deliveries to not resume until late October

Man dies in shark attack in Australia

Death toll in ISIS militants attack in Iraq rises to 12

Alexey Shor: The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra led by Sergey Smbatyan has become a world-class orchestra

Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis burned section of road from Norabak village to Azat

Armenia confirms 423 COVID-19 new cases in a day

Saudi air defense forces destroy three mined Houthi drones

3 people killed in Washington shooting

Political analyst: It is decided in Moscow who will or will not visit Artsakh

Another fallen Armenian soldiers remains found during Artsakh search operations

President confers Hero of Artsakh title

Le Drian: France will continue assisting Armenia in overcoming consequences of Karabakh conflict

More than 5,000 people evacuated in China after damage to dam

Over 70 people killed or wounded in Afghanistan aerial gunshots

Deputy chief of North Macedonia mission to OSCE detained at Armenia's request

Taliban say they have taken control of 4 districts in Afghanistans Panjshir province

EU assists Armenia enterprises engaged in dried-fruit production, export (PHOTOS)

Grape growers reopen road in Armenias Ararat

17 people killed after indiscriminate shots fired in Kabul

4 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh

Blinken to Mirzoyan: US Embassy in Yerevan ready to assist you, your government

7 injured in New Zealand supermarket knife attack

Artsakh presidential adviser dismissed

Grape growers block road in Armenias Ararat Province

Female passenger dies on the spot after car hits horse in Armenias Syunik Province

621 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Dead body of man, 45, with gunshot wounds found on Yerevan street

Armenia army General Staff chief heads for Moscow

Google locks Afghanistan government accounts

City to be built in US desert for millions of people

Denmark to build giant 'energy island' at sea

Newspaper: 'Soros' NGOs to bring 2 large-scale education programs to Armenia

Newspaper: Satellite footage of 44-day Artsakh war could make scandalous revelations

Some 6,000 Islamic extremists surrender to Nigeria authorities

Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto to be performed in Dubai

Digest: Trial on Armenian soldiers death to begin, footballer who played in Armenia commits suicide

Mongolia exploring possibility of signing free trade agreement with EEU

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Armenia receives donation of 27,500 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Lithuania (PHOTOS)

Hysteria brewing in Azerbaijan media: Russia MOD making purchases to send to Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Security Council chief: Armenia ready for border delimitation, demarcation

Lavrov reveals content of 2009 letter he sent to then Armenia FM

Lavrov: Karabakh conflict settlement agreements being successfully implemented

Italian researcher searching for Noah's Ark is laid to rest near Mount Ararat

Sputnik Armenia: Commander of Russia peacekeepers in Karabakh visits arrested Azerbaijan soldier

Armenia serviceman posthumously awarded Combat Service Medal

Afghanistan's new government to be headed by Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar

Iranologist: Armenia-Iran-Russia format can be created on Goris-Kapan road issue

Goris mayor's lawyers file motion with Armenia court to release him on bail

Pentagon says US military mission in Afghanistan completed

Trial over death of 18 Armenia soldiers in 44-day war to begin

Yerevan-Tbilisi flight not operated since Thursday

3 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Armenian side denies firing on a position in Azerbaijan-occupied Shushi of Karabakh

Armenia Defense minister receives Russia MOD delegation

US Congressman Schiff says he will continue fight for Artsakh international recognition

595 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

World oil prices Friday do not deviate from Thursday's closing level

Russia peacekeepers provide drinking water to more than 1,500 residents of Artsakh

US to impose cryptocurrency tax

Classical music to be played in Dubai for a month, including by Armenian musicians

Storm Ida death toll in US northeast rises to 45

Newspaper: 44-day wars satellite footage to end up in Armenia oppositions hands?

Music for Future Foundation scholarship recipients to participate in Middle East Classical Music

Newspaper: Armenia NSS, Prosecutor's Office make internal deal in arms suppliers criminal case

Armenian PM Pashinyan receives a carte blanche, he will do whatever he wants: Why are international partners silent?

Digest: Artsakh marks 30th anniversary of republic, UK allocates 500,000 for demining in Artsakh

Dollar holding steady in Armenia

Spanish MP: Today is the 30th anniversary of the independence of ArtsakhThere will be no large-scale military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2018, American analysts said in an interview the Voice of America.

According to the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, the current status quo will remain in Karabakh this year.

Neither Armenia, nor Azerbaijan has benefited from the April war, and this is realized in the capitals of the two countries, Herbst said, calling the sale of weapons by Russia to the sides cynical and disgusting policy.

In his view, maintaining the status quo also means a lack of settlement.

According to Herbst, he does not see the possibility of any diplomatic progress in the peace process.

This point of view is shared by the American military expert Stephen Blank.

Undoubtedly, winter is not the best time for military operations. However, I do not see any reason for any military action and in the coming spring, Blank said, adding that the situation could be changed by any dramatic event.

In case of serious changes, the possibility of war is not ruled out, the expert added.

Nevertheless, according to Blank, the United States will do everything to preserve peace in the region.

The sale of Georgia's JAVELIN PTRK and the suspension of U.S. aid to Pakistan means an increase in the importance of the South Caucasus, he said.The refugee crisis played into the hands of the Catholic Church in Austria: the country recorded a significant number of Muslims who converted to Christianity

Three quarters of the 750 baptized adults in 2017 are immigrants from Muslim countries, DW reports citing the agency dpa and the official spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vienna.

Only in the Austrian capital, 260 people representing 15 different nations have been baptized.

Fredericke Dostal, who is responsible for the baptism of adults in the archdiocese, says the claim that migrants change their religion in order to increase the chances of getting an asylum are groundless.

Since the Catholic Church in Austria does not want to receive pseudo-Christians, we are very strict in selection of candidates and authorization of the rite of baptism, she noted.

Preparation for baptism takes at least one year, which includes regular visits to religious classes and church services, following the Christian norms of life and participation in charitable events.

According to Eurostat, in 2016, 1.2 million asylum seekers arrived in Europe. In the same 2016 Austria took the fifth place in Europe, having accepted 39,860 migrants. Germany, Italy, France and Greece were ahead. Most of the refugees who settled in Austria in the previous year were Afghans. According to the Austrian online edition OE24, the top three also included immigrants from Syria and Iraq.The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) welcomes the initiative taken by the Belgian MEP Louis Michel (ALDE), to address two written questions to the European Commission and the High Representative Federica Mogherini, raising the issue of the extension of the Erasmus+ program to students from Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, as well as the implementation of investigative mechanism on the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

In his first written question, Louis Michel raises the issue of the prohibition of Artsakh students from the Erasmus+ program, whereas university students of all the six Eastern Partnership nations have access to the program, and are allowed to complete a part of their studies in Europe.

The current status of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh should by no means be, an excuse to increase the social isolation of the people of Artsakh, especially the students and the youth. The ultimate goal being peace in the region, young people of Nagorno-Karabagh should have the same rights as the youth in the other six Eastern Partnership countries. In this regard, the written question of Louis Michel is an important first step, to sensitize the public and raise this essential issue to the EU decision makers, stated EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian.

In his second question, the Belgian MEP appealed the High Representative of the EU Federica Mogherini to clarify how the Union intends to assist in enforcing the ceasefire and putting in place the OSCE investigative mechanism.

The investigative mechanism on the line of contact is a confidence building measure proposed by the OSCE, years ago. It would enable to find out which side violates the ceasefire. The Azerbaijani government keeps refusing its implementation, while Armenia has agreed from the beginning. The European Union should be concerned about the systematic refusal from the Azerbaijani side, which leads to deadly losses. We are glad to see European Parliament members speaking out about this issue, said Karampetian.

In order to facilitate the peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh the EAFJD encourages more European Parliament members to raise these issues, and will follow carefully the response of the European Commission and the European External Action Service, within 6 weeks at the latest.The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir today condemned the sentencing of journalist Afghan Mukhtarli to six years in prison by the Balakan District Court in Azerbaijan.

The sentence, based on spurious charges against the investigative journalist, is a clear attack on free media. Silencing independent journalists can never be accepted. I hope that this verdict will be overturned on appeal, said Desir, who previously called on the authorities to drop all charges against Mukhtarli and respect his right to freedom of expression.

Mukhtarli was convicted of smuggling, illegal crossing of the border and resistance to an official representative.

Mukhtarli was reportedly abducted in Tbilisi in May 2017. Desir recalled that the investigation by Georgian authorities has still not been completed.Iran rejected the demands of U.S. President Donald Trump to change the nuclear deal reached with Iran.

The treaty is an internationally recognized and completed pact and cannot be the subject of new discussions, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Tehran will not agree to amending and will not undertake new obligations that go beyond the framework of the treaty concluded in Vienna in 2015, the statement says.

Earlier, the U.S. President Donald Trump said that the last time he extended the regime for lifting sanctions under the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

On January 12 Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said the nuclear deal is not negotiable.

Trump's policy & todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29. JCPOA is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -just like Iran.  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 12, 2018

EU takes note of Trumps statement on Iranian nuclear dealMoby has claimed that members of the CIA asked him to share details of Trump's alleged collusion with Russia because he had a large number of social media followers, Daily Mail reported.

The DJ made the claim during a radio interview on Friday where he was asked about an Instagram post he made in February last year, a month after Trump's inauguration.

In that post, Moby, 52, said that after speaking to 'friends who worked in DC', he could tell fans that Trump 'was being blackmailed by the Russian government, not just for being peed on by Russian hookers, but for much more nefarious things.'

The reference was to the 'dirty dossier' of inaccurate accusations that was compiled by a former British intelligence officer which included a reference to the president being urinated on by prostitutes during a trip to Moscow.

Moby went on to say: 'The Trump administration is in collusion with the russian government, and has been since day one.

'I'm writing these things so that when/if these things happen there will be a public record beforehand.'

In his phone interview on Friday, he defended the post to Louisville station WFPK, and said the information was reliable and came from CIA insiders who were 'truly concerned' about the president.

'Through years of touring and spending time in DC and New York, I've managed to make a few friends in the intelligence community and I guess it was about a year ago we were having dinner and they were really concerned, partially based on this Fusion GPS report on Trump essentially being run as a Russian agent.

'These are some active and former CIA agents who were truly concerned.

'They were like, "This is the Manchurian Candidate, like [Putin] has a Russian agent as the President of the United States".

'So they passed on some information to me and they said, like, "Look, you have more of a social media following than any of us do, can you please post some of these things just in a way that  sort of put it out there."'

On Friday, Moby threatened that things would get 'a lot darker' and he accused Trump, his family and his businesses, of having ties to 'organized crime, sponsors of terrorism and Russian oligarchs'.

'It's really disturbing and it's going to get quite a lot darker. I guess we should all fasten our seatbelts and gold on.'

The dossier was produced by the Democrat-linked research firm Fusion GPS and former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.

It suggested that Trump was being blackmailed by the Russians over visits to Moscow which included the alleged prostitute encounter and claimed it was proof of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.Qatari Foreign Ministry has filed a new complaint to the United Nations, reporting a second violation of its airspace by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) jet in recent weeks, RIA Novosti reported quoting the ministry.

The "military airlift", which was travelling from the UAE to Bahrain, entered the airspace of Qatar on the morning of January 3 "without prior authorisation", Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatar's UN representative, submitted a letter of complaint to Antonio Guterres, the organisation's secretary-general, in light of UAE's repeated infringement upon Qatar's sovereignty, the statement noted.

"[The] threat to the safety of its [Qatar's] borders and territories is evidence of the UAE authorities continuing their approach to violating international law, conventions, charters and international norms," it added.

In early June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain all abruptly severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting "terrorism".

The Arab quartet threatened to expand their embargo on Doha if it failed to accept a long list of demands, including the closure of the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera television.

Qatar has strongly denied the accusations.Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif had phone conversation during which they discussed the recent statement of the US top leadership regarding the Iranian nuclear deal, TASS reported.

"The corresponding international agreements on this issue have been officially approved by the UN Security Council, and each party is responsible for observance of this agreement," Wang Yi noted.

The Chinese diplomat emphasized that this document plays an important role as it contributes to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the world.

"This agreement is still accurately implemented, however new imminent ambiguous factors should be taken into account," he added.

The day before, US President Donald Trump said that the US will stop the participation in the Iranian nuclear deal unless it was amended.



the men know it's important to talk about it but it's not the time !

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that asinine response is even more confusing given that at least two people (Rebecca and that one dude) who were affiliated with the film have disavowed wood AHEAD of the release date. how delusional to think waiting until it comes out to say anything is going to help anyone save face.

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they didnt come here to talk about it so its not their fault they cant etc.

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david krumholtz did, but then attacked an ONTD user calling her a c*nt, stupid etc so he obv doesn't care about women

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I guess this answers the question about them being contractually unable to speak out against Woody. If she can do it, so can Timothee, Selena, Jude Law, Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet and the rest of them.

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https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/108025589.html



So that's 2 vs far more women.



Among other reasons, I think that so many men just seem to default to empathizing with an accused predator instead of the female victim, it's honestly quite disturbing. Griffin Newman (no, I haven't heard of him either) apologized:So that's 2 vs far more women.Among other reasons, I think that so many men just seem to default to empathizing with an accused predator instead of the female victim, it's honestly quite disturbing.

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Men are relying on everyone excusing them as has been down thru time immemorial. Just as the press has been easy on trump. We dont have to meet them at the same place we always have. We can actually get cracking and be savage...

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i checked the donation page and didn't see her there tbh... did they stop making the donations public? can i just not read?

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maybe it's an offline one and it'll take some time to process?

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maybe she hasn't done it yet.

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Maybe it's not up yet, maybe it's anonymous...people really need to stop acting like that page is the definitive record of who's good and who's not.

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i obviously looked because she said she donated.

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i also checked just to see how well Allen pays



Ted Danson & Ted Danson donated 15k last night!



Edited at 2018-01-12 11:34 pm (UTC)

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Hall wont be able to remove herself from Allens new film, but she is vowing to donate her salary on the project to the Times Up legal defense fund

She didn't do it yet



Edit: oops, on her statement it says she donated something. I guess she did it anonymously so there is not people making comments about the quantities all the time.



Edited at 2018-01-12 11:38 pm (UTC)

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i personally appreciate how she's handling this

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Yesss! Let this trend continue. Claps to her. She fucked up but shes trying to fix it.

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He already has another movie coming out after wonder wheel flopped?

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It's called A Rainy Day in New York and stars Tim and Selena

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This is truly the most unimaginative but typically Woody Allen title ever lol

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he has a movie come out every year regardless of how badly the ones that came before it did critically/commercially.



he needs to be stopped.

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he releases a movie every year.

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talentless hack is known for not giving any direction to actors and letting his cinematographers go wild so ofc he can do things quickly, he doesn't DO anything

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What is that movie even about?

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With the way things are going I doubt any of his upcoming movies will see the light of day, even with Timothee and Selena on it. the backlash would be hell.



but then again... Hollywood has amnesia

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tired of only women apologizing. and the women apologizing actually got something to lose while it wouldn't hurt justin timberlake at all to apologize.



but he never apologizes

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Love how everyone's already forgotten about David Krumholtz's 'apology,' lol

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as they should lol.

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Yep. The only man who apologized and, imo, seemed truly remorseful is Griffin Newman.



Edited at 2018-01-12 11:39 pm (UTC)

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To be honest it seems like a lot of people are harder on the women who have worked with him while conveniently letting their male faves skates on by with minimal criticism. I imagine people will still be salivating over that little twat who is in that movie with Armie Hammer despite the fact that he's handled criticism about working with Allen nearly as poorly as Kate Winslet has thus far.

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I think this is the first cast member from A Rainy Day in New York to denounce him

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I think you're right. She says she only worked one day for the film, so I don't think she'd be expected to promote it.



I can't wait to see what the cast has to say during promotions.

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where are swiss chalet stans defending him that he can't do anything because he has a contract???

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honestly i love that swiss chalet is his new name around here

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B B BUT MAYBE HE WAS FORCED TO DO IT

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Griffin Newman also apologized but hes not exactly a well known actor. He donated his salary to RAINN (tho its a small part and Woody Allen pays peanuts so its not like its a huge amount of money).



Rebecca Hall is the first established cast member to apologize for working on this film (tho she was also in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but that was before Dylans open letter)



Edited at 2018-01-12 11:52 pm (UTC)

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anyways your turn, mr. not the right time timmy turner.



Edited at 2018-01-12 11:31 pm (UTC)

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im so glad for dylan

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well now everyone else in that movie is gonna look like giant assholes



good

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good





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good for her. i really like her. i was just watching 'the town' last night and making fun of blake's performance.

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this is the year!

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The day after the Weinstein accusation broke in full force I was shooting a day of work on Woody Allens latest movie in New York. I couldnt have imagined somewhere stranger to be that day. When asked to do so, some seven months ago, I quickly said yes. He gave me one of my first significant roles in film for which I have always been grateful, it was one day in my hometown - easy. I have, however subsequently realized there is nothing easy about any of this. In the weeks following I have thought very deeply about this decision, and remain conflicted and saddened.

After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrows statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones - I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed. That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. I regret this decision and wouldnt make the same one today.

Its a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation but Ive donated my wage to @timesup. Ive also signed up, will continue to donate, and look forward to working with and being part of this positive movement towards change not just in Hollywood but hopefully everywhere. #timesup

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Good for her

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This is better than wow, the universe works in interesting ways

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this is a good statement imo. david krumholtz should've waited and taken note,

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good for her i hope it brings dylan some comfort

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This is really great

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Good statement. and good for her!

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i like this statement and i really hope there will be change for longer than a hype. therefore i'm glad time's up is a thing and there are people who fight the fight on the long run.

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This is a great statement.

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This is a very well written statement and I applaud her sincerity in publishing it.

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Linkharry's going to get a dukedom before the marriage, so she probably won't ever actually go by princess henry* like kate never goes by princess william

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mte, Royal expert my ass



Kate went by "HRH, Duchess of Cambridge" in George's birth certificate

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and it would be Princess Henry of Wales, since that is his real name

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however her occupation was listed as "Princess of the United Kingdom" so...

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i'm surprised they fly commercial at all tbh given the media frenzy/security risks.

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mte. Like, for them to fly commercial, does every single ticket-holder on the plane have to be vetted and background checked for them to even let Harry on? Economy/first-class/whatever else be damned, I'm shocked they let them fly commercial.

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because women don't officialy exist, we must give them their husband's names...

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lol right? god forbid the crown update a patriarchal naming convention because ~tradition

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they're the only european monarchy that still does this too, i'm pretty sure. all the others give a princess title to non-royal women who marry in (and sweden and belgium so far have given titles to men that marry princesses, non-royal or not)

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rlly embarrassing

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I swear they see themselves as the most "royal" of all the monarchies!

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I'm wondering if it's because of Prince Andrew that they haven't changed it yet. Like he's so insistent on his daughters getting their due or whatever that he wants them to be the only princesses in their own rights.

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even the arab royals dont do that and thats one opressive af regime lmao

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I would much prefer to have no title at all than be known as 'princess harry'. Sexist traditions need to go.



Also I do my very best not to travel economy now, as a middle class person. Travel points + airline rewards FTW. I like being treated humanely, cattle class is miserable.

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I would much prefer to have no title at all than be known as 'princess harry'. Sexist traditions need to go.



this. Meghan should do it like the husband of the swedish princess Madelaine. iirc he has no title. that is how i'd do it. I mean, i wouldn't marry into the british Royals to begin with lol

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yeah but that guy has no title because he has an actual job and doesn't do any royal "work" for Sweden beyond attending a few ceremonial events here and there. Harry is a "working royal" (lol) and Meghan will be as well after their wedding so she should totally get that title imo.

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I just looked him up and apparently to be a Prince of Sweden you have to be a Swedish citizen and he doesn't want to be lol, so that's why he's not a Prince (so he can continue his career). The guy married to the Crown Princess is a Prince though.



Edited at 2018-01-13 05:32 pm (UTC)

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chris also has american citizenship, and i think if he accepted a royal title, he'd have to give up his american citizenship because we're legally not allowed to accept titles from foreign countries. meghan will have to give up her american citizenship and apply for british citizenship when she gets married. like madhler said above, chris has a job and doesn't actually do any work for the SRF so why would he give up his citizenship and hold himself up for scrutiny as a member of a royal family when he can just remain a private citizen who happens to be married to the king of sweden's younger daughter.

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She'll probs never actually be referred to as Princess Henry. Harry will get dukedom before the wedding and she'll always be referred to as Duchess of _________.

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the british press is ruthless and would probably rip them a new asshole if they got caught flying first class though. especially for a quick 2 day vacation.

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Theyre trying hard to hold on to their government lifestyle so they never actually have to work

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bingo

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according to the video they did it so they could get on/off the flight separately with greater ease and remain ~anonymous. so i don't think it was financially motivated in the slightest.

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Ew at her title. Basically saying your a peasant without him.





More women should keep their name when they get married tbh.

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Not if they don't want to. Not keen on my family and was more than happy to give their name up when I got married.

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But that's Kate's title, too. This isn't being done just for Meghan.

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She is not gonna go by Princess Harry, though. That shit might fly with someone like Princess Michael, but you know Meghan will go by Duchess Of Sussex or whatever the Queen decides to give her & Harry after the wedding.

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princess michael is going to be the only person who goes by that title for YEARS too lmfao, andrew has no sons, edward has only one son, and if will&kate's third child is a boy, he'll eventually get a dukedom. poor dat.

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i thought she will be Duchess of ???

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Why is everyone surprised at the title? Its always been like this, even princess diana wasnt princess diana, that was the medias doing

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I don't think people are surprised, just disapproving

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That's not fully true. Diana was the Princess of Wales by the virtue of Charles being the Prince. So her title was not "Princess Charles of Wales", it was "Diana, Princess of Wales" - and it was primarily used over all the other titles she had, since it was the highest ranking title of all them.

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There is a difference between diana, princess of wales and princess diana. When charles becomes king and william becomes the prince of wales kate will become kate, princess of wales. Their titles are always tied to who they marry. Its why the queens husband is technically prince consort. The title tied to wales is always treated differently than any other title as the holder is directly in line for the throne so they cannot be outranked by any other person than the monarch. Even harry isnt prince harry of wales. His title is tied to his fathers until he gets his own. He can never outrank william or charles. He is currently henry, prince of wales indicating that he is the son of the prince of wales False. She still wasnt princess diana. http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/29/why-was-diana-a-princess-and-why-is-kate-middleton-not-the-royal-familys-leading-ladies-titles-explained-7118217/amp/ There is a difference between diana, princess of wales and princess diana. When charles becomes king and william becomes the prince of wales kate will become kate, princess of wales. Their titles are always tied to who they marry. Its why the queens husband is technically prince consort. The title tied to wales is always treated differently than any other title as the holder is directly in line for the throne so they cannot be outranked by any other person than the monarch. Even harry isnt prince harry of wales. His title is tied to his fathers until he gets his own. He can never outrank william or charles. He is currently henry, prince of wales indicating that he is the son of the prince of wales

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oh, you people who put your seat back = if airlines weren't gonna stop me I'd put the Knee Defender clamp on airplane seats

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Omg I hope this post turns into another reclining seat wank post

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i genuinely could not understand that wank



who really cares that much

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That post was bananas. I don't put my seat back because I rarely fly more than an hour anyway.



Even still, people are OTT about that.

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That was so fucking funny lmao

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ia. i don't fly much but find it hard to sleep on planes cos its so cramped. first class seats seem more like beds.

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my dream is to fly on emirates or one of those fancy ass airlines where you get like a big pod area and can lay down and take a nap in basically a mini bed

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They flew economy by purchasing 3-5 rows of seats at the back with both of them in one row and body guards occupying seats in the empty rows around them.

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lmfao team recline all the way baby

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lol and Princess Diana was never Princess Diana, but that didnt stop anyone. Outside of engraved invitations people will either refer to her Princess Meghan or the Duchess of Whatever because who actually cares about protocol?

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Diana was the Princess of Wales. The difference is that Kate and Meghan are not married to the Prince of Wales (that's Charles) so they are not getting a princely title from their husbands and have to rely on other titles, i.e. Duchess of whatever.

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Or forever Meghan Markle in a way that Kate is still Kate Middleton almost 7 years into her marriage .

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fuck no. I hate flying economy but it's all my poor ass can afford.

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Ew @ taking ur husbands name

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When Harry Met Meghan.



I've been waiting for this cheesiness and LOL, am so excited about it! I just saw a casting call on Tumblr for a Lifetime movie about Meghan and Harry calledI've been waiting for this cheesiness and LOL, am so excited about it!

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Victoria of sweden and her husband should get a lifetime movie, their story is so romantic

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His wedding speech was the best! For anyone who hasn't seen it:



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https://satwcomic.com/australian-princess I'd like to see one about Danish crown prince Frederik & his wife Mary, who met during the Olympics in Australia. Which inspired possibly the best Scandinavian and the World comic;

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I'm so here for the cheese. I hope this is the first of many so-bad-its-good dramatizations of their romance. Hallmark Channel needs to get on it.

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Im here for this too, lol yes!

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Linkbye bitch

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Gross.



Burn it down

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This is... 

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I met this douchebag once during a gallery event in Lima and he was drunk out of his mind and he grabbed my ass, so not surprised about this at all.



Also, he was the one who told Dev Patel he was too ugly for his girlfriend, so fuck u bitch.

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Sorry that happened to you. Jesus, this guy seems like such a piece of shit.



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I've wondered who said that to Dev

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expose ha! and we been knew bruce weber was a dirty old pervert considering his "thing" was hiring brothers and making them pose nude together like lovers. ol nasty ass!

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Is the strongest word you can really think for this guy "problematic"?

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that's what the sign said, i just copied it, i didn't do it. jeez.

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So maybe don't use it for people who are sex criminals instead of people who are actually just "problematic."

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Right? This guys a monster right up there with weinstein (and the similarities here are unnerving)

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yeah, I feel like there needs to be a stronger separation between "problematic" and "actually a reprehensible person."



to me at least, "problematic" is along the lines of "said something messy" or "worked with someone they shouldn't have," it definitely doesn't go as far as "committed sexual assault." weinstein, allen, cosby, this guy et. al. are past "problematic."

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lmao, I noticed the change. Very nice.

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Wow

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When Cameron Russell was accepting anonymous stories from models and publishing them on her instagram (with permission), I wonder how many of them were about Mario Testino and Bruce Weber. I knew at least one or two sounded very Terry Richardson.



Edited at 2018-01-13 08:26 pm (UTC)

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i'm shocked they bothered to cut ties with either of them. but, good. get them all.

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They cut ties with Terry Richardson a few months ago. They should have done it earlier, but at least it finally happened. A lot of other magazines (not just Conde Nast) have apparently blacklisted him too. Im sure hell still find work, though. 

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Even tho Terry was exposed a while ago

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did they really?

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i wonder who they'll replace testino with now.



as for bruce, he's an "icon" whatever so he'll always have his photo books, exhibitions, w/e. idk i'm really cynical about the fashion/art world but please let it be i'm sure "uncle terry" will, like a cockroach, still be doing something behind the scenes adam venit style. he has a whole network of creeps like him around the world.i wonder who they'll replace testino with now.as for bruce, he's an "icon" whatever so he'll always have his photo books, exhibitions, w/e. idk i'm really cynical about the fashion/art world but please let it be #timesup on that.

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im legit shocked by the mario tastino thing ..yikes what a trash excuse for a human being

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For Christ sake!!

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"Then he crawls on the bed, climbs on top of me and says, Im the girl, youre the boy. "



what in the fresh hell

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wtf @ tom ford too

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WHAT

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W O W

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tom ford nasty ass gon be exposed too. stories about that fraud have been around for years 

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I dont know if I expected better from Tom Ford, but see if I buy another of his overpriced lipsticks ever again.

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what the fuck is wrong with him?

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Are we really going to use that "problematic mess" graphic for people who commit sexual assault and harassment? Seems a little...minimising. Sex crimes are beyond problematic.

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fixed it.

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We'd heard rumors for years. So a trio of our reporters spent months asking models and photo assistants to tell us their stories. Bruce Weber says it's all not true. Mario Testino's lawyers says they're crazy or bitter.  NYT Styles (@NYTStyles) January 13, 2018

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It makes me sick when they deny the accusations and I can just imagine how awful it is for their victims too. To be painted as liars by them. Its like being victimized all over again because its hard enough going public and telling the world the awful things they did to you, but for them to call you a liar? Just terrible.

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LinkUS Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged that some central banks were looking into the possibility of creating digital currencies instead of issuing cash

Dominant digital currency bitcoin should not be allowed to become the Swiss bank account of the modern era used to hide illicit activity, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday.

Mnuchin pledged to work with other governments, including within the Group of 20, which includes the world's major economies, to monitor the activity of those who invest heavily in the cryptocurrency.

"One of the things we will be working with the G20 on is making sure that this doesn't become the Swiss numbered bank account," he said at a conference, referring to the famously secretive accounts used by some to hide ill-gotten gains.

"We want make sure that bad people can't use this currency to do bad things."

US rule require banks to have information on customers with bitcoin accounts to try to prevent money laundering and other illicit activity.

Mnuchin acknowledged that some central banks were looking into the possibility of creating digital currencies instead of issuing cash, but said the US Federal Reserve was not yet considering such a move.

Asked about the possibility that Russia would create its own virtual currency to escape financial sanctions, Mnuchin said "I don't think that's a concern."

Explore further Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for n00bs

 2018 AFPReinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment comprises individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuation thr

Read MoreAs Oscar voters fill out their ballots for this years nominations before todays deadline, three of this years Best Actor nominees are considered to be virtual locks. Barring a shocking snub, Gary Oldman will be nominated for Darkest Hour, Timothee Chalamet for Call Me by Your Name, and Daniel Day-Lewis for Phantom Thread. Of the Oscar prognosticators who participated in Movie City News latest roundup of Oscar predictions, all 10 of them agreed on these three.

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They couldnt, however, agree on the last two slots. Nearly everyone concurred that they will they go to two of three actors: Tom Hanks for The Post, James Franco for The Disaster Artist, or Daniel Kaluuya for Get Out, but they split fairly evenly on which pair of these actors will make the cut. This means that, in all likelihood, votes of the academy members who put off submitting their choices until the final hours before the deadline will prove decisive.

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These procrastinators should quit their dilly-dallying and vote for Kaluuya. Get Out is such a dazzling, thematically rich construction that its easy to marvel at its twists and turns and resonances while failing to fully appreciate the acting on screenand voters have done just that this awards season, with Kaluuya being the only actor who has come away with any major nominations or prizes at all thus far.

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Even Kaluuyas performance has gone underappreciated. Get Out isnt, as Jordan Peele pointedly joked, a documentary, but Kaluuya is naturalistic enough to make you forget hes not really Chris. (This is especially apparent in Americans reactions when they first hear Kaluuya speak in his native British accent.) This is all by Kaluuyas design: Before Peele cast him, he sent Kaluuya a list of horror movies to screen for research, but Kaluuya made a decision not to watch them, choosing not to be too aware of it being a film, a fiction and preferring to play guys, normal dudes.

Get Out isnt, as Jordan Peele pointedly joked, a documentary, but Kaluuya is naturalistic enough to make you forget hes not really Chris.

Not only that, Get Out requires Kaluuya to get across two convincing performances simultaneously. Because Chris spends the whole movie surrounded by awkward, fetishizing, and ultimately predatory white people who hes nonetheless forced to tolerate and even try to impress, Kaluuya has to simultaneously play both Chris, as this young black photographer really feels, and Chris, the front that he puts up in order to not alienate his potential in-laws and lose his seemingly woke girlfriend. For the movie to work, the audience has to both connect emotionally to Kaluuyas performance as Chris and to find Chris performance as Chris credible. He has to play both the mask and the person trapped beneath it.

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Its revealing to compare Kaluuyas performance to those in the literal Sunken Place. Perhaps the most memorable line reading of 2017 was Betty Gabriels delivery of the word noif not the first 10 of them. We can see both Roses white grandmother, in control of Georginas body, and the black woman inside, struggling to get out. Kaluuya doesnt get any scene thats so fantastical, but he pulls a similar trick throughout the film, through the slyness of a smile, a slight, nearly imperceptible cocking of the head, or a flash of side-eyegestures clear enough that the audience will pick up on them but subtle enough that the other characters wouldnt.

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Meanwhile, Peele and Kaluuya pull off another trick so subtly that we might not even notice at first: They skillfully draw attention to Chris defining feature, his photographers eyescoaxing us to notice again and again the part of his face that becomes the object of his captors desire (I want your eyes, man, Stephen Roots Jim tells him) and the way Chris sees what the others dont. Its a horror movie in which nearly all of the horror must be conveyed internally, much of it through those eyes. (Indeed, if I asked you to picture any moment from the film, chances are youd picture Chris eyes, probably wide open, with a tear running down his cheek.)

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Its a horror movie in which nearly all of the horror must be conveyed internally, much of it through Kaluuyas eyes.

Some awards groups have started to catch on. Last weekend, Kaluuya won the Best Actor award from the National Society of Film Critics. Last month, the Screen Actors Guild nominated him for Best Actor as well. And earlier this week, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, who have had a bit longer to get to know him, recognized him with a nomination, too. The Hollywood Foreign Press isnt best known for exceptional taste, and even they managed to nominate him for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. But because Get Out came out nine months before Oscar season (in fact, during last Oscar season), little has been written and said about his performance as an awards contender, leaving open the possibility that it could be overlooked.

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Hanks and Franco give excellent performances as well. But while I could argue that choosing either of them would be, above all, a bad look for the Academyin the year of #MeToo and Times Up, Franco has spent nearly the whole voting week fending off accusations of sexual misconduct, and only a couple of years after #OscarsSoWhite, the only other category in which any actors of color are expected to be nominated is Best Supporting ActressKaluuya simply gives the more accomplished performance. Hanks performance isnt really the kind that anyone will be outraged to see overlooked, especially since Hanks already has two statuettes on his mantel at home. Hanks not only doesnt give his movies best performance; he doesnt even give the movies best performance as Ben Bradlee. As for Franco, anyone whos seen The Room knows his mimicry is extraordinary, but the performance only really works on one level. Franco nails Wiseaus accent, but Wiseau the man remains a mystery.

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Its hard to know where Kaluuya will go now that Get Out has raised his profile. Theres not much that unites Get Out with his best-known previous performance in Black Mirror, in which he played a working-class Briton who gives a Howard Beale-esque monologue on an American Idol-style competition show. Before that, he was a regular on Skins, for which he also wrote two episodes, and performed in sketch comedy and, in 2010, won theater awards for his turn in the British play Sucker Punch. (Hes been writing plays and winning awards since he was nine.) He has a versatility most Americans have only begun to notice, and as his career continues, with an appearance as the title superheros right-hand man in the upcoming Black Panther and a starring role in the next movie from Steve McQueen, itll only become more obvious how much acting it took to play Chris, and to play Chris. Less clear is whether Kaluuya will ever get another role as iconic as the one he gets in Get Out, the kind of zeitgeist-capturing acclaimed blockbuster that only comes along every few years. The academy would do well to think about which performance people will still be rewatching and admiring for years to come. If they dont, well, I think Georgina has already said all there is to say about that.Facebook is shifting tactics in the war on fake news. A few weeks ago, in the quiet lead-up to the major revamp of its news feed announced Thursday, the company made another tweak to what users see: It said it would no longer mark bogus headlines with a red-flag warning, as had been its practice since the end of 2016. Previously, these Disputed tags showed up beneath any story that had been rated false by at least two independent, fact-checking organizations. Now those tags have been replaced by something less intrusiveone or more Related Articles, supplied by fact-checkers, that offer context for (and perhaps debunking of) the headlines claims.

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The new system should have some clear advantages: First, it gives the checkers greater flexibility and room to challenge stories that are not entirely, 100 percent made up; second, it will speed things up, because Facebook will no longer require two assessments before it starts to show corrective facts; third, it reduces the number of clicks or taps required before a user sees specific fact-check information. But taken as a whole, the change is somewhat mystifying and maybe even ill-advised. Its design appears to be based (at least in part) on the science of post-truthand on the flashy but fishy notion that debunking myths only makes them stronger.

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This idea, that addressing lies with facts may backfire, has been widely shared in both the media and social science literature over the past 10 years. Now its cited by the team at Facebook in explaining its approach to fake news: Academic research on correcting misinformation has shown that putting a strong image, like a red flag, next to an article may actually entrench deeply held beliefs, wrote product manager Tessa Lyons on Dec. 20, 2017. A concurrent Medium post, from three more Facebookers on the project, also mentioned this research. And Facebooks CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, alluded to the backfire effect in his manifesto on building an informed community from last February: Research shows that some of the most obvious ideas, he wrote, like showing people an article from the opposite perspective, actually deepen polarization.

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The problem is, the backfire effect that so worries Facebook may not exist at all. The Medium post described the above links to a review of debunking research from 2012, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, which indeed contains a section, titled Making Things Worse, on the risk of backfire. But more recent efforts to study this phenomenon more carefullylarge-scale, preregistered studies using thousands of participantshave turned up little evidence in its favor. Thats not to say that backfires never, ever happen. Its possible that a red-flag warning on Facebook could end up entrenching false beliefs for certain users under certain circumstances. But, according to the latest science (which I reviewed in detail for Slate last week), this danger has been greatly overstated.

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In fact, if were going by the academic research literature, theres good reason to believe that Facebooks abandoned red-flag warnings were somewhat useful and effective. Last May, Dartmouths Brendan Nyhan and his students conducted a preregistered study of news feed warnings on a sample of about 3,000 adults. The researchers showed each participant a half a dozen fake-news headlinese.g. Trump Plagiarized the Bee Movie for Inaugural Speechsometimes adding a red flag of just the kind that Facebook had been using to indicate the story was disputed by independent fact-checkers. Then they asked their subjects to rate these headlines on a four-point scale from Not at all accurate to Very accurate. Nyhan and his students found a nice effect: In the absence of a warning flag, 29 percent of their subjects said the bogus headlines were either somewhat accurate or very accurate, but when the flag was shown, that proportion of fake-news believers dropped by about one-third, to 19 percent.

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If were going by the academic research literature, theres good reason to believe that Facebooks abandoned red-flag warnings were somewhat useful and effective.

Another very similar studyfrom Yales David Rand and Gordon Pennycookwas posted in September 2017. In that one, researchers showed real- and fake-news headlines, with or without red-flag warnings, to more than 5,000 participants. Like Nyhan and his students, Rand and Pennycook found the warnings worked, at least a bit: Subjects described the tagged headlines as being slightly less accurate, on average, than the ones that did not have a warning. (The warnings might have been even more effective, Pennycook told me in an interview this week, if Facebook had put them just above the fake-news headlines instead of just below them.)

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Rand and Pennycooks research did have one crucial caveat. According to their study, the presence of a warning flag on one fake-news story could make other, untagged stories seem more accurate. They referred to this as an implied truth effect. For certain subjectsespecially young adults or those who supported Donald Trumpthe absence of a fact-check tag ended up seeming like a badge of credibility; it made them more believable. (Nyhan failed to find the same, but when the data from the two papers are combined, the effect appears to be there.) Given the disturbing scope of Facebooks fake news problem, its hard to see how human-powered fact-checks could ever tag more than a fraction of the phony headlines on the site. And if the implied truth effect applied to all the others, the end result would be catastrophic.

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But this concern must be squared with the results from Rand and Pennycooks earlier study of the Facebook warnings, first posted last April. That one, which had a somewhat different design and about 1,000 subjects, confirmed the basic finding that red flags in the news feed lower peoples belief in fake-news headlines. It also showed that those warnings made subjects more skeptical overallrather than more credulouswhen it came to other, untagged headlines.

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In a brief interview on Tuesday, I asked the members of the Facebook team whether and how their work was influenced by the academic research literature. User-experience researcher Grace Jackson said that the backfire effect is something that we wanted to be aware of based on the academic literature, but that in our own research, it actually only happens extremely rarely. She did not address the Rand and Pennycook papers but did mention that the team had been inspired by a 2015 paper from Leticia Bode and Emily Vraga, which, said Jackson, found that corrective information worked really well when presented in a format similar to the one that Facebook just rolled out.

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For that study, Bode and Vraga showed students postings from a mocked-up Facebook news feed, including a bogus story claiming that genetically modified foods will make you sick. Students in one experimental condition saw a pair of Related Links below that item, showing refutations of the claim from Snopes.com and the American Medical Association. Bode and Vraga found that among the people who came into the study with the belief that GMOs are harmful, the related links helped to change their minds.

Facebooks new approach, in which fact-check information gets presented as Related Articles, closely mirrors Bode and Vragas experimental treatment. Yet the 2015 paper is, in fact, equivocal in its results. In addition to the claims about the health effects of GMOs, Bode and Vraga also looked at fake-news headlines on a supposed link between vaccines and autism. In this latter case, they found no effect from their corrections. The Related Links from Snopes.com and the American Medical Association did not change believers attitudes.

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Bode says its not clear why their treatment didnt work for the myth about vaccines. It could be that the false belief is more established, so its harder to uproot. Or else it could be that the anti-vaxxer myth is more politicized and thus more amenable to motivated reasoning. The same ambiguity applies to Facebooks efforts. Are the most dangerous fake-news stories in peoples news feeds like the ones about GMOsand thus perhaps amenable to this format of debunking? Or are they like the ones about vaccines, where Related Stories might have no effect?

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Its also hard to know how much confidence one should have in extrapolating from the Bode and Vraga findings. Their study had about 500 subjects, but these were split across eight experimental conditions. And their positive result concerned just the subset of participantsabout half, overallwho believed that GMOs will make you sick. That means they looked at subgroups of about several dozen people per condition. For the vaccines question, these sample sizes were smaller still. Thats not to say that Bode and Vraga got things wrongonly that their findings were preliminary and constrained by opportunity and cost. (In subsequent work, theyve found similar results on the topic of GMOs.) If Facebook cared to know whether Related Stories really work to counter lies, the company could check the numbers for itself. Instead of citing modest research done by academics, its employees could, in theory, run something like the same experiment on 1 million Facebook users, or 10 million, or 100 million. Do Related Articles change behavior? Do red-flag warnings backfire? Is there an implied truth effect when not every article is tagged? If anyone will ever know the answer to those questions, its the team at Facebook.

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Why not just say, Look, weve crunched the numbers for ourselves, and this approach works best, without sharing proprietary details?

In fact, they may already have those answers. In our conversation on Tuesday, I asked what theyve found from their own analyses. Tessa Lyons, the product manager, only mentioned one result: When the team compared its new Related Articles format to the old red-flag warnings, they found that click-thru rates remained the same, while shares declined. In other words, users were just as likely to read the fake-news articles that appeared on their feeds but less likely to repost them for their friends. How much less likely? Lyons wouldnt say. What about comparisons to baseline? How effective were either of these formats at reducing fake-news spread when compared to giving no fact-check information whatsoever? Again, Lyons wouldnt say.

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Its possible Facebook has mined its vast supply of internal data and optimized its fake newsfighting tactics accordingly. As Bode points out, the company is full of very smart people, including many social science Ph.D.s. But if that were really true, then why bother with a smoke screen of citations to a wobbly academic research literature? Why not just say, Look, weve crunched the numbers for ourselves, and this approach works best, without sharing proprietary details?

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Heres another thought: It could be that the change from red-flag warnings to Related Articles isnt really that important anyway. According to Lyons, the most effective way to slow these stories spread is to bury them on news feeds, and Facebook already does that. Once a story has been tagged as false in either system, it gets demoted by the Facebook algorithm and becomes much less likely to appear to usersLyons says this intervention is the main driver in reducing a fake storys reach by 80 percent. Links to Related Articles from third-party fact-checkers only come into play in those instances when the fake-news story does pop up in spite of its demotion. In other words, even if the fact-check links were quite effective, their real-world impact would be marginal.

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This all raises an unnerving question: Given that both the red-flag warnings and Related Articles methods likely offer little more than a limp, second-line defense against fake news, why bother with them at all? If Facebook can demote these stories in its users feeds, such that their spread will be shrunk by 80 percent, then certainly it has the the power to eliminate them altogether. Indeed, the main takeaway from Thursdays large announcement is that Facebook is adjusting its news feed to focus less on news overallat least, less on news shared from publishers. (Individuals can still share whatever they want.) We dont want any false news on Facebook, said Lyons, using the companys preferred name for the phenomenon.

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The best way to accomplish this would be to pull stories from the site as soon as theyve been identified as fakes. Instead of squeezing bogus headlines through tighter filters in the news feed algorithm, the site could just delete them. In practice, though, that would look a lot like censorshipa top-down decree about whats true and what isnt. (Lyons says items are removed this way only when they violate Facebooks community standards.) So instead the company has staked out a middle ground, where fake news isnt deleted; its disappeared.

That seems a little icky, too: If it isnt censorship, then its certainly censorshipish. On the other hand, Facebooks second-line approachgiving context for a bogus story, surrounding it with factshas the benefit of seeming ethical and optimistic; it assumes that people care about the truth and that, all things being equal, theyll tend to handle information in a responsible way. Of course, it may not work as well as disappearance at reducing shares and clicks. Of course, it may not work at all. But at least it sends a signal to the rest of us: Facebook wants to keep us as informed as possible.

Maybe this explains its making hay of a subtle shift from red-flag warnings to Related Stories. Whether this was based on solid social science or a careful audit of internal numbers, the story hinges on the feel-good notion that Facebook will bury lies with wholesome factsand in a way we all can see. Heres the ugly truth behind that curtain of transparency: If the social network wins its war against fake news, it will be driven by the secret, brutal engines of its code.Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, revealed this week, without fanfare or drama, a new series of questions she intends to ask every nominee who appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee: Anybody being vetted for federal judgeships will now be asked about sexual harassment and assault.

As Hirono explained, her decision is in response to the surge of sexual harassment and assault reports that started in Hollywood but have also touched those with lifetime appointments in the federal judiciary. Her intention going forward is to use some of her limited time to ask every nominee, judicial or otherwise, who appears before her in a confirmation hearing the two following questions: Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature? and Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct?

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She got her first opportunity on Wednesday, when she posed them to Kurt Engelhardt, nominated for a seat at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals:

Starting today, I'm asking nominees to our courts, under oath, whether or not they have a history of sexual assault or harassment. Like in other industries, our judges are in positions of power & #TimesUp. pic.twitter.com/Jk0NcTBi3h  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) January 10, 2018

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Engelhardt answered, No Senator, to both questions. But for Hirono, this is her way of creating a record. She is laying down a public marker that this matters and must be spoken aloud.

In her statement, Sen. Hirono noted that in his year-end statement on the state of the judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts explicitly noted that Events in recent months have illuminated the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, and events in the past few weeks have made clear that the judicial branch is not immune. Roberts was presumably referencing reports about Judge Alex Kozinskia judge on the 9th Circuitwho retired after reports of inappropriate touching and comments directed at clerks and other women surfaced in December 2017. Roberts has convened a task force, named on Friday, to examine the problem.

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But this isnt sufficient for the senator from Hawaii, who wants to be clear that the on-ramp to the federal judiciary is not free from oversight on these issues. I asked Hirono, in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon, why she was choosing this moment to take this stand, in this way, at this time. She replied:

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It was one of the moments of my life when I had to think about the behavior women have had to put up with from time immemorial, and suddenly we are in this moment and I just didnt want all of it swept under the rug again. So I asked the question of every nominee, not just the judicial nominees, although they will have lifetime appointments, but every nominee should expect to be asked in future. Today the nominee said no and it was no, and that was that. And that is how it should be. I want them to know that this is about to become normal.

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When I asked the senator whether it was fair that a woman in the Senate was shouldering the burden of systematically addressing this issue (Hirono was one of the first senators to call for Al Franken to retire), she replied, Yes. I did think to myself that if a woman didnt ask about this it wouldnt get asked, yes. She told me it is her intention to ask this question of all nominees, male and female, going forward.

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Finally, I asked Sen. Hirono, who is a lawyer, whether this #MeToo moment and her confirmation-hearing questions can serve as an adequate substitute for actual legal and investigative processes needed to smoke out workplace harassment. Her response:

We are still very much in a development phase, yes. We still have Title VII which prohibits workplace discrimination. We have the case law and the statutes. But in todays hearings, those words needed to be implemented, to be asked and answered, until we have case law that really covers what is happening. This is all still evolving. And as I said, women have been putting up with this behavior since time immemorial. What I am trying to do is keep attention paid to this issue right now. I know that as we go along, we will have more effective ways to prevent and even, if need be, to punish this behavior. And of course it will all have to start with education. But we are all part of the culture. So if we say it, we become aware, and we can become more aware as we develop processes and ways to fight back.

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What Hirono is trying to do, and what everyone on the Senate Judiciary Committee should be striving to do, is simple but vitally important: If, as we learned last month, there is virtually no off-ramp for lifetime-appointed judges who behave in inappropriate ways toward women, serious scrutiny on the front end becomes even more crucial. This is particularly relevant because in recent months, weve seen a pattern of shoddy Trump judicial nominees with shocking records stacked up in panels without time for questioning, just as bipartisan systems to assess their fitness are jettisoned. And this is happening at precisely the moment when we learn that predation in the judicial branch can occur in plain sight over decades, without systems to report, investigate, and check it. Considering all of this, the Senate should not be abandoning its constitutional duty to confirm fit judges; it should be strengthening it. And yet, the nominees sail through because judicial fitness is a norm that has all but vanished.

Mazie Hirono has no illusions that her sequence of two questions will topple any nominee. That isnt the point. She is laying down a moral marker, putting the nominees, and her colleagues, and the country on notice that the only way to change the culture of harassment, including on the federal bench, is by asking the questions, getting on-the-record answers, and making it clear that this will not be swept back under the carpet.It should surprise no one that President Donald Trump appears to be the kind of person who asks people who look different than he does where theyre from as code for asking about their ancestry. That is exactly what happened when a career intelligence analyst briefed the president in the Oval Office last fall, according to NBC News.

Where are you from? Trump asked when she was done with the briefing. She answered New York. But that wasnt the answer he was looking for and pressed again. Still unsatisfied with her answer of Manhattan, Trump just came out and asked where your people are from. When she said her parents are Korean, Trump then turned to an adviser and asked why the pretty Korean lady wasnt negotiating with North Korea. The fact that shes a hostage policy expert didnt seem to matter to the president.

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It also should surprise no one that Trump is the kind of person who thinks everybody of the same ethnicity knows each other. At a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in March, Trump was surprised none of them knew Ben Carson, the only black member of his Cabinet.

Many quickly criticized Trump for the pretty Korean lady remarks. Another awful story on how Trump cannot see women for more than their looks & only sees minorities as others, not Americans, Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California wrote on Twitter. If true, this story that he called a skilled analyst just a pretty Korean lady is latest evidence he is unfit for this office.

Another awful story on how Trump cannot see women for more than their looks & only sees minorities as others, not Americans.



If true, this story that he called a skilled analyst just a "pretty Korean lady" is latest evidence he is unfit for this office https://t.co/CmAZs7IuJf  Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) January 12, 2018

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She wasnt the only lawmaker to express her displeasure with Trump through Twitter. Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu reminded Trump that everyone in in America or their ancestors (other than Native Americans) came from another country.

Hey @realDonaldTrump: Everyone in America or their ancestors (other than Native Americans) came from another country. I came from Taiwan. The pretty Korean lady you identified (or her ancestors) came from Korea. We are AMERICAN. If you don't understand that, you need to resign. https://t.co/CsgrY9PifG  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 12, 2018

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For those who work In national security issues though, Trumps words sounded all too familiar. Mieke Eoyang explains in Politico:

For those of us who work in national security and trace our ancestry to Asia, the story is all too familiar. Its pervasive. You get asked this all the time. You check your reaction and try to dodge the question as best you can. Its meant as a compliment, or perhaps innocent curiosity. You move on from the incident, tuck it away in your brain, continue with the briefing. But later, it will bubble up again, and you think about what it means. It means to some, their mental picture of an American doesnt include you.

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AdvertisementThe White House, according to CBS, was once again hamstrung by one of the most banal workplace headaches on Thursday.

The administrations conference call with the press concerning Iran nuclear deal sanctions reportedly descended into chaos when officials struggled for 22 minutes to configure the listening only feature.

CBS published a series of snippets from the dysfunctional call:

This White House cant even run a fing conference call, a reporter on an unmuted phone line angrily exclaimed to the entire call. They dont know how to mute their line. Its the illegitimate media that doesnt know how to conduct themselves. They cant mute their fing phones, an unidentified official said. Mute your phones. Another White House official repeatedly attempted to quiet the noisy line so the people in charge could talk. I think if everyone had half a brain and common sense and muted their phones, this wouldnt be a problem, she yelled in an apparent fit of frustration. Hello? Hello? one reporter interjected, some 15 minutes after the slated start of the call. Has the call started? This is Kim Jong Un calling for Donald Trump, another reporter joked as tensions flared. All participants are now in listen-only mode, the operator finally announced, much to the relief of everyone on the call. The call began at 1:07 p.m.

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A State Department official told reporters at the end of the call that members of the administration were unable to take questions due technical difficulties.

CBS notes that the White House has previously been ensnared by such AV issues during calls with the press in the past. In 2016, a man interrupted a background conference call about the Obamas Iran policy by divulging that his inflatable doll is a lesbian.

In May, the din of crying babies, coughing, and the melody of Yankee Doodle Dandy drowned out a press call with White House budget director Mick Mulvaney about the government spending bill.Royal chocolate made by Slovak

Some of the chocolate art pieces are decorated with gold or silver.

Royal chocolate appears even in Slovakia, although it cannot be found in shops. It is handmade in Ostrava in a small family company, according to its own recipe, My Zvolen wrote.

Slovak Miroslav Klembara has been cooperating with the Czech company Kralovska cokolada (Royal Chocolate) for three years. He will not hear a bad word against its quality. It is made only from cocoa butter without added fats, My Zvolen reported.

We are a small production. We make chocolate from cacao substance brought from Italy. The cocoa beans come from the Caribbean region, said Klembara as quoted by My Zvolen.

He sells chocolate occasionally, usually at castle events. Some of the chocolate art pieces are decorated with gold or silver, others are with nuts and fruits from Skalica, My Zvolen wrote.

The production of chocolate products takes time, reflected in its price.

The production of a more complicated figure takes a few days. For example, a Christmas tree consists of eights pieces and I made it in two days, explained Klembara, as quoted by My Zvolen.

Kralovska cokolada has already been served at the English royal table, not only thanks to its name. An English art collector who lives in Prague ordered a chocolate set and gave it as a gift to the royal family, My Zvolen reported.

13. Jan 2018 at 6:30 | Compiled by Spectator staff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Facebook will set up a channel to exclusively receive requests from the Vietnamese government to handle accounts that violate the local laws on its platform, a representative of the worlds largest social network has said.

Damian Yeo, head of legal and regulatory affairs for Facebook in the Asia Pacific region, led a delegation to a working meeting with Vietnams Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan in Hanoi on Thursday.

At the reception, the Vietnamese minister hailed Facebook for its cooperation in resolving requests to block and remove content Vietnam deems inappropriate, as well as defamatory and fake accounts on its platform in recent times.

Minister Tuan said that the cooperation between his ministry and the U.S. company has seen significant progress and the two parties can now make quicker contact through the Southeast Asian representative of Facebook.

Facebook has so far removed more than 670 fake accounts and those whose posts the Vietnamese government identifies as being meant to defame Vietnamese leaders, disseminate anti-government propaganda, incite violence and spread pornography.

However, the minister underlined that this number is too modest given Vietnams request to have a total of 5,000 such accounts purged from Facebook.

As Google-owned YouTube has also deactivated some 4,500 toxic videos, whose content was either fake news or anti-Vietnamese government, at the ministrys request, these videos have been reposted on Facebook, Tuan noted.

Tuan made no secret with his guests that the cooperation between Facebook and his ministry is not as strong as expected.

[The two sides] must cooperate with one another in a much stronger and efficient manner so that Facebook can operate in line with the law and achieve healthy growth in Vietnam, he said.

In response, Yeo expressed his commitment that Facebook will work with relevant agencies in Vietnam to keep the online environment healthy, particularly by getting rid of toxic content as requested by the information ministry.

Yeo added that Facebook will maintain close collaboration with Vietnams government this year to resolve those issues, and that the social network will have an exclusive channel to handle issues requested by the ministry and the Vietnamese government.

The vow was praised by minister Tuan, who tasked the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information to continue represent it in working with Facebook.

Seventy percent of Vietnams 90 million-strong population have access to the Internet, with some 53 million social network users.Vietnam has challenged U.S. anti-dumping measures against Vietnams exports of fish fillets, a filing published by the World Trade Organization showed on Friday.

Vietnam says Washington has broken WTO rules in the way it has imposed punitive tariffs on Vietnamese fish it claims are being dumped, or sold at an unfairly cheap price, on the U.S. market.

U.S. imports of fish fillets from Vietnam have grown from $100 million in 2007 to more than $520 million in 2016. That made Vietnam the third-biggest U.S. supplier after Chile and China and the U.S. the top export market for Vietnamese fish.

The United States has 60 days to settle the complaint, or Vietnam could ask the WTO to adjudicate.

Washington has faced a slew of trade disputes over its use of anti-dumping duties in the past two decades, and has lost many of them after its calculation methods were found to be out of line with WTO rules.

Earlier this week, the WTO published a wide-ranging Canadian trade complaint, lodged in December, against the U.S. use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs.

The United States called that complaint a broad and ill-advised attack that could cause a flood of imports from China and other countries.

The Vietnamese complaint was the fourth dispute initiated by Vietnam since it joined the WTO in 2007.

Two of its previous complaints took aim at U.S. anti-dumping actions against Vietnams shrimp exports. The long-running shrimp battle finally ended in 2016 when the United States agreed to remove duties on a Vietnamese shrimp exporter and to refund duty deposits that it had paid.

At the time, the two countries were partners in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. But under President Donald Trump the United States has withdrawn from those negotiations.A pregnancy woman in the south-central province Quang Ngai has lost her six-week-old fetus after a midwife mistakenly gave her an abortion pill instead of pregnancy support drugs.

Phan Thi Van, the midwife in question, has been temporarily suspended from her work at the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital as an investigation is underway, doctors confirmed on Friday.

On Wednesday, Luong Thi Tuong, in her sixth week of pregnancy, was admitted to the hospital after she suffered fetal derangement.

Later the same day, Tuong was given medication by Van to alleviate her condition.

However, on the following morning, Tuong developed pains in her sub-abdominal part and started to bleed at around noon that day.

The pregnant patient underwent an ultrasound scan and later had vaginal wash at the hospital on Thursday, before doctors told her and her husband that their fetus was lost.

Tran Dinh Trung, husband of the pregnant woman, talks with reporters about the incident happening to his wife.

It turned out that the medication mistakenly given by the midwife was Misoprostol, which is used to cause abortion.

Preliminary investigation found that the doctor in charge of Tuongs case prescribed the correct medication. However, the midwife took the wrong one, resulting in the tragic incident.

The abortion pill was meant for a patient being treated in the sickbed next to Tuongs and the midwife apparently mistook which medicine was prescribed for which patient.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tuyen, director of the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, has sent apologies to the womans family and promised a full investigation into the matter.For one young Da Nang City resident, Sunday mornings are a time for giving back to the community by providing fresh Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches for local low income workers.

Ha Tran Tieu My, 23, has spent the past year familiarizing herself with the faces of her neighborhoods workers and elderly residents thanks to her free Sunday morning street-side banh mi stand.

As early as 6 a.m., senior citizens, lottery ticket sellers, motorbike taxi drivers, and street peddlers shouldering a bamboo pole yoked with baskets of good on either end make their weekly pilgrimage to Mys glass-sided stand to sample one of the 150 pre-prepared sandwiches awaiting the neighborhoods needy.

For aged late-comers living in the labyrinth of back alleys nearby the stand are hand-delivered the weekly meal by My and her partners at the Han River Charity.

The banh mi, worth approximately VND10,000 (nearly $0.5) a piece, taste well-above their value, according to the praise received from locals for its taste and the hygienic conditions in which the food is prepared.

Her banh mi are stuffed with pork and slices of cha [pork ham], and they are seasoned to my taste, said Pham Thi Tuyet, a local lottery ticket seller.

Banh mi is just one of the meals served up by My. On rainy days, banh bao (steamed pork buns) or banh beo (steamed rice pancakes) make it on the menu. Each dish is also adjusted for taste after feedback from her customers.

Rain or shine, she and her friends have made a Sunday ritual out of rising early to buy fresh bread and prepare the sandwiches.

The idea behind Mys initiative isnt only to provide food, but also a pleasant atmosphere for those in need. Offering food with two hands, a welcome smile, and amiable eyes is a reflection of politeness and respect that remind many of the beauty of Vietnamese culture. Mys reflection of that culture is just part of how she lends her hand to those in need.

As I see it, financially disadvantaged workers need an adequate breakfast, but I don't have lots of money to help them, she said.

When My first started the project she was often left feeling sorry that many of her visitors were forced leave empty-handed after she ran out of sandwiches. Her positive attitude, however, gave her the drive to solicit more money and allow her to increase the amount of food she is able to provide.

She hopes to set up more banh mi stands in the area to help as many people as possible.

Life is much more beautiful thanks to My's small, kind deeds, said Chu Cam Binh, a thirty-two-year-old woman who assists My every Sunday.David Peters Leads Final 16 in PCA Main Event

January 13 2018 Sam Cosby

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has been eliminated from the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in 17th place, running queens into the kings of Maria Lampropulos. It made for a short day of tournament play in the Bahamas, with Lampropulos ending the day as one of the biggest stacks in the room. David Peters finished the day as the biggest stack, and Koray Aldemir and Adrian Mateos are also amongst the players returning for Day 5 of the PCA Main Event.

Just 43 players started Day 4 of the Main Event, with the goal of playing down to 16 players or 5 full levels. Lachezar Plamenov Petkov busted in the first hand of the day, followed by PokerStars Ambassador Maria Konnikova. Konnikova won the National event earlier this festival for $84,600, and now she added $22,020 for her 42nd place. She started the day short stacked and never got back in it. In her last hand, she got it in drawing slim with queen-jack versus ace-queen and aces and didn't survive.

Oliver Weis got it in better but the result would be the same: a place on the rail. The German regular had aces versus tens on a jack-high board, only to see his opponent river a ten to crush his dreams.

Aaron Olshan and his mother Sharman Olshan busted in quick succession of each other. Aaron lost with ace-jack to ace-king, Sharman lost ace-king to queens, and the Cinderella story of mother and son making the final table together was over.

High stakes regular Orpen Kisacikoglu doubled early on, but it wouldn't serve him well. He lost queens against ace-four when an ace hit the flop. Kisacikoglu instantly put his Main Event cash on the line and went on to register for the $25,000 High Roller.

More Action

Meanwhile, the other habitual high rollers Adrian Mateos, Koray Aldemir and David Peters showed how to play poker like a beast. The three all crushed their tables, forcing folds of better hands left and right, getting value from worse hands, and inducing bluffs against them.

Start-of-day chip leader Karl Stark did have Aldemir sweat a little bit. After an open from Liv Boeree and a call from Stark, Aldemir squeezed with ace-king. While Boeree got out of the way, Stark chose a more aggressive answer; he pushed all in for 76 big blinds. Aldemir called but wasn't too happy when he saw he had nothing more than a flip against Stark's nines. The flop and turn didn't help Aldemir, but the king on the turn paired him up, and Stark exited while Aldemir built a 1.5 million stack.

Jack Sinclair got to the feature table, only to leave one hand later. He handed his chips to Adrian Mateos in a hand he was uncertain about after it had happened. Mateos checked back a flopped set and eventually pushed against Sinclair, where the 2017 WSOP Main Event final tablist had rivered third pair. Sinclair opted for the call but was crushed by the Spaniard.

As more players hit the rail, the average stack grew bigger and only a few shorties were left. It was a cooler that ended the day, with Boeree on the wrong end of that confrontation. As mentioned earlier, she found herself all in with queens to Lampropulos' kings.

"I knew it," Boeree muttered before the dealer dealt a board full of blanks to end the day.

And like that, the day was done. 16 players remain, and they'll return to the flashy television set in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort on the Bahamas. Day 5 gets back underway at noon on Saturday, with the full 90 minutes left in the new level of 10,000/20,000, 2,000 ante. Check back then for PokerNews coverage of the penultimate day of the Main Event, and see the complete final two table draw below.

Maria Lampropulos starts Day 5 second in chips

Complete Day 5 Table Draw

Table Seat Player Country Chip Count 1 1 Patryk Poterek Poland 918,000 1 2 Phillip Corion United Kingdom 425,000 1 3 Daniel Coupal Canada 386,000 1 4 Adrian Mateos Spain 236,000 1 5 David Peters United States 3,105,000 1 6 Oleg Titov Russia 488,000 1 7 Jonathan West United States 1,656,000 1 8 Maria Lampropulos Argentina 2,313,000 2 1 Bartosz Stasiewicz Poland 624,000 2 2 Jean Ateba Norway 314,000 2 3 Shawn Buchanan Canada 992,000 2 4 Michael Farrow Canada 981,000 2 5 Adalfer Morales Gamarra Colombia 1,916,000 2 6 Christian Rudolph Germany 1,285,000 2 7 Florian Maurer Austria 352,000 2 8 Koray Aldemir Germany 1,420,000Pennant International chief executive Chris Snook has sold more than two thirds of his stake in the company alongside the support service company's 3.56m fundraising.

Pennant, which feels it would be prudent to raise extra working capital in order to more easily complete a pair of Middle Eastern contracts worth a combined 13m, has agreed to definitely place 1.38m worth of shares at 55p with institutional shareholders and, conditional upon investor approval, plans place 2.18m worth at the same price.

Due to the oversubscribed nature of these placings, Snook sold 1m of his shares at 55p.

He will be left with 487,000 shares, which represents 1.8% of Pennant's existing voting shares and will represent 1.5% should both placings be completed.

Justifying the need for the issues of new shares, Pennant pointed out that it has not raised equity since 2001 and the directors believe "an equity fundraising will not only address the company's working capital requirements but will facilitate the introduction of new institutional investors, which in turn should enhance the market profile and investor interest in the company".

AIM-listed Pennant, which supplies logistic support solutions, products and services, principally to the defence, rail, aerospace and naval sectors and to government departments, recently almost doubled the size of its potential production capacity in order to deal with the additional design, development and production capacity resulting from a record order book.

In June, Pennant said the order book stood at more than 45m, with delivery currently scheduled as to 17m in the current financial year, 18m in 2017 and 10m in 2018.

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Value: 1,320.69



Go-ahead Group (GOG)

Director name: Ferguson,Carolyn

Amount purchased: 8 @ 1,871.65p

Value: 149.73



Go-ahead Group (GOG)

Director name: Edwards,Paul

Amount purchased: 7 @ 1,871.65p

Value: 131.02





Top Director Sells

Quarto Group Inc. (QRT)

Director name: Leaver,Marcus

Amount sold: 313,333 @ 250.00p

Value: 783,332.50



Pennant International Group (PEN)

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Amount sold: 1,000,000 @ 55.00p

Value: 550,000.01



Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd (di) (CAT)

Director name: Barbour ,Alastair

Amount sold: 13,000 @ 95.00p

Value: 15,573.35



WASHINGTONUnited States President Donald Trump announced Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive... for now.The Republican leader grudgingly agreed to sign sanctions waivers, ensuring Washington will live up to its commitments for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be for the last time. During that four-month period, he wants Congress and Americas main European allies to draw up a new deal -- without negotiating with Tehran -- to replace the disastrous flaws in the current agreement. Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said in a statement. Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw. The new deal -- which Trump envisions as being outlined in US law and involving Britain, France and Germany -- would impose tougher controls on Iran if sanctions relief is to continue. It will not begin to expire after 10 years as parts of the existing deal do, but instead would impose permanent restrictions on not just Irans nuclear plants but also its missile program. These provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon -- not just for 10 years, but forever, Trump said. If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume. Trump is also urging Congress to reform US law, so the president is no longer required to declare every 90 days whether he thinks Iran is complying, or to renew sanctions waivers every 120 or 180 days. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, took to Twitter to describe Trumps decision and the announcement as desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement. The 2015 deal, he said, is not renegotiable. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -- just like Iran. Trumps decision was announced alongside another package of new sanctions -- punishing not Irans nuclear program, but its alleged abuse of human rights in a crackdown on recent street protests. The most prominent new name on the Treasury sanctions blacklist, which forbids Americans from doing business with the targets, is the head of Irans judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani. The US Treasury said Larijani, the brother of Irans parliamentary speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is to blame for the torture and degrading treatment of prisoners. Washington policy hawks hailed Trumps decision, which they said would concentrate minds in Europe, where leaders have urged the US president not to sabotage a deal they see as a landmark diplomatic success.So, Trump now has issued explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans: Fix Iran nuke deal or no more sanctions waivers, wrote Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Is he bluffing? I dont think so. Busy four months ahead. But supporters of the existing deal between Iran and six world powers, including the former officials in Barack Obamas administration who negotiated it, denounced Trumps plan. Diplomacy Works, a pressure group set up by former secretary of state John Kerry to defend the deal, was scathing. Today, we learned that the presidents plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending, it said. The other signatories to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- and the European Union, which oversaw the talks, were watching carefully. The British and German foreign ministries said they had taken note of the decision and would confer with France before deciding on a course of action. The UK has a clear position on the Iran nuclear deal: we regard it as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, the British Foreign Office said. The EU said it would hold internal consultations and was committed to the continued full and effective implementation of the deal. Americas allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Irans nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons. But Trump argues that Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups. While there may be some relief that Trump has yet to torpedo the hard-won accord, there were clear signs of frustration from European capitals in the runup to the decision. French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump on Thursday and stressed Frances determination to see the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it. And Russia spoke out strongly in favor of the accord, calling it the result of a consensus among many parties. UN inspectors have certified Irans compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.A group of University of North Georgia (UNG) students showcased the language programs on Thursday, Jan. 11, during the monthly meeting of the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents in Atlanta.

The presentation, called Campus Spotlight, is a new initiative that began in 2017 at the behest of USG Chancellor Dr. Steve Wrigley to expose the Board of Regents to the faculty, students and academic programs of the 28 institutions in the USG.

The Chancellor thought it would be a good idea for the universities to have the opportunity to present to the board the good stories and good works that makes each institution unique, said Christina Hobbs, community affairs manager at USG. The call goes out to each campus to present their best programs to the board. The call has been met with presentations of outstanding research, student achievement and cutting-edge technology.

The presentation, "Language Lessons: Building Global Skills," featured eight pairs of UNG students each performing a 60-second conversation in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, or Spanish.

Last year, nine institutions presented before the board; UNG was originally scheduled to present at the September 2017 board meeting but it was canceled due to Hurricane Irma. Hobbs said the UNG contingent made up of UNG President Bonita Jacobs, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters Christopher Jespersen, and the students, qualify as the largest to present before the board.

"UNG has been expanding language opportunities for more than a decade," Jespersen said. "And the students have responded with great enthusiasm through their enrollments. The 16 presenting to the board volunteered for this opportunity. UNG's standing as a Project Global Officer, Chinese Flagship and Japan Foundation recipient institution makes us stand out from the rest."

At a practice run on UNG's Dahlonega Campus prior to the presentation, the student pair conversing in Spanish, McKenna Rogness, 22, of Suwanee, Georgia, and Kalub Anderson, 21, of Villa Rica, Georgia, gave an animated performance. Both took Spanish in high school and are pursuing a bachelor's degree in the language at UNG. They have been speaking Spanish for about six years.

Their dialogue was a friendly debate about which was more creative, rap or poetry. So who won?

We ultimately decided that it was best to agree to disagree, Rogness said with a laugh.

The two said they had been practicing for the presentation for about a month, concentrating on their interaction toward each other as much as focusing on what they were saying, getting the inflection and pronunciation correct.

Both were looking forward to their one minute of fame before the board.

Its exciting to be able to represent the university, to be able to give back to USG, Anderson said. To be one of 16 students to go to Atlanta to promote UNG's language program is quite an honor.

I think of all the talented students in the Spanish language program and to think that Kalub and I were chosen, its quite an honor, Rogness said. To have a chance to go before the Board of Regents and have the opportunity to show what a great university UNG is, is humbling.

Jespersen said the presentation went off flawlessly and the students impressed the audience.

The students handled their presentations with verve and, in some cases, a bit of theatrical flair," Jespersen said. "They represented UNG superbly and clearly impressed the audience.Wall Street analysts have given VanEck Vectors Coal ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but VanEck Vectors Coal ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit:

Or consider Nigerian-Americans, Nigeria being the most populous nation in Africa. Their education levels are among the very highest in the U.S., above those of Asians, with 17 percent of Nigerian migrants having a masters degree.

And:

Economist Edward Lazear suggests a simple experiment. Consider immigrants to the U.S. from Algeria, Israel and Japan, and rank them in order of most educated to least educated. The correct answer is Algeria, Israel then Japan. Although thats counterintuitive at first glance, its easy enough to see how it works. If you are Algerian and educated, or aspire to be educated, your prospects in Algeria are relatively poor and you may seek to leave. A talented, educated person in Japan or Israel can do just fine by staying at home. These kinds of considerations explain about 73 percent of the variation in the educational outcomes of migrants.

Do read the whole thing.Wall Street analysts have given Enel Generacion Chile a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Enel Generacion Chile wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri made a U-turn on his partys alliance with Saudi Arabia by showing support for Iran-backed Hezbollah.

After announcing a shock resignation last November from Riyadh, blaming Iran for interfering Lebanese domestic affairs, Hariri defied the Saudis by withdrawing his decision to step down in December while voicing support for government coa-lition member Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been a member of this government. This is an inclusive government that has all the big political parties, and that brings political stability to the country, Hariri told the Wall Street Journal. My main goal is to preserve this political stability for the unity of the country.

Lebanons Prime Ministers, who are Sunni as required by Lebanons constitution, have traditionally taken the Saudi line on regional issues. But Hariri, keen to avoid becoming embroiled in the regional spat between Iran and Saudi Arabia, said that his country will maintain ties with both countries and reject foreign meddling.

We cannot accept interference from anyone in Lebanese politics, Hariri said. Our relationship with Iran  or with the Gulf  has to be the best relationship, but one that serves the national interests of Lebanon.

Lebanese top officials did not believe Hariri resigned on his own but suggested that Saudi Arabia coerced him into stepping down. They also believed he was put under house arrest and limited in his movement.

The resignation brought the country at the forefront of the regional proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran.

In his interview with the WSJ, the Lebanese Prime Minister also warned Israel against taking military action against Hezbollah, saying any such war would be counterproductive.Another hurdle has been cleared in bringing a Fisher House to New Mexico, as stakeholders have signed a memorandum of agreement allowing the project to move forward.

Fisher Houses provide a free place for military members and their families to stay while the veteran is receiving medical care.

The 16-suite home will be located on the parade grounds on the campus of the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque.

The completion of the memorandum of agreement is a very important step, Fisher House Foundation President Dave Coker wrote in an email. We are aware that the veterans of New Mexico need a Fisher House and we are excited to be one step closer to making that happen.

The project had run into problems, because the selected site sits within a federal historic district.

The Fisher House Foundation uses a similar design for each of its houses, which includes a pitched roof.

That wouldnt fit in well with the flat-roofed structures already on the hospitals campus, the State Historical Preservation Office argued.

Fisher House Foundation worried that a flat roof would make the project too expensive.

While its unclear what decisions were made regarding the roof, the memorandum signed by the New Mexico VA Medical Center, the Fisher House Foundation, the State Historical Preservation Office and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation gives the project the green light.

Sonja Brown, associate director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System, said ground will likely not be broken until 2019, but the contract for site preparation has already been awarded.

The $6 million project will be funded in part by the Fisher House Foundation. A community group is working to raise the other half.

Rita Navarette, who is leading the advocacy group, said theyve raised $285,000 so far.

There are currently 75 Fisher Houses throughout the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.SANTA FE  A bipartisan group of New Mexico lawmakers has unveiled a proposed rewrite of the Legislatures harassment policy that would require an outside expert to be involved in reviewing complaints against sitting legislators.

The policy, which will be voted on Monday by legislative leaders, would mark a stark departure from the Legislatures current policy. Under that policy, sexual harassment claims are investigated in-house under a largely secretive process.

Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen, who has helped lead the charge to update the Legislatures harassment policy, said today that having an outside expert involved in scrutinizing sexual harassment complaints is vital. A previous draft of the new policy did not include the change.

That was extremely important, Fajardo told the Journal.

She also said the revisions to the Legislatures harassment policy would make New Mexico a national leader on the issue, as other states are also considering adopting new rules to govern against sexual misconduct.

A spate of recent sexual harassment allegations has rocked the state Capitol and ignited a discussion of policies, training and culture.

In addition to weighting changes to the Legislatures harassment policy for the first time since 2008, all 112 New Mexico lawmakers will also undergo mandatory sexual harassment training on Monday  the day before a 30-day legislative session begins.

An eight-member working group of lawmakers was tasked with recommending potential changes to the current policy, which does not distinguish between legislators, lobbyists and other individuals.

Under the proposed rewrite, any complaint against a sitting legislators would be considered by three top-ranking legislators  including lawmakers from both political parties  and the outside expert. If any one of the four individuals thought the complaint merited further investigation, it would be sent to an internal ethics subcommittee for additional review.

Several New Mexico lawmakers  current and former  have come under scrutiny in recent weeks for alleged sexual misconduct.

Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, was recently stripped of his leadership position due to renewed scrutiny of decade-old sexual harassment allegations that stem from a previous job.

In addition, longtime Roundhouse lobbyist Vaness Alarid recently went public with claims that former state Rep. Thomas Garcia, D-Ocate, wanted sex in exchange for a yes vote on a high-profile 2009 bill she was lobbying for.

Garcia has flatly denied the allegations, but two other former legislators have said Alarid told them about the incident at the time.Rio Rancho Public Schools continues to excel in rigorous Advanced Placement courses, with student participation tripling over the past decade, according to data released this week by the state Public Education Department.

In 2017, 856 Rio Rancho students enrolled in AP classes, up from 277 students in 2007. The number of AP tests completed across RRPS rose from 628 to 1,408 over that time.

The district has seen a slight decline since its all-time high in 2015  when 1,078 students sat for 1,276 AP exams  but the trend is still positive.

We continue to meet with students and encourage participation as we believe that AP participation can be very rewarding and beneficial to a number of students, RRPS spokeswoman Beth Pendergrass said in an emailed statement.

Across the state, AP classes are more popular than ever before.

PED reported that 19,526 students enrolled in AP classes in 2017.

And these students took roughly 17,000 AP exams during 2017, up from 15,700 in 2016 and 10,500 in 2010.

Gov. Susana Martinez celebrated the progress Wednesday during a news conference at Rio Rancho High.

Im so proud of our students for stepping up and taking some of the most challenging high school courses possible, Martinez said. When our students succeed in Advanced Placement classes, they show that they can succeed in a college classroom. New Mexico students are once again proving that when we set high standards and give them challenging opportunities, they will always rise to the occasion.

AP courses give high school students a chance to earn college credits in a wide variety of subjects, potentially reducing the time and money it takes to finish a college degree.

While the number of New Mexico students participating AP courses has grown dramatically, the passing rate has declined since 2010.

New Mexico had a 42 percent AP passing rate in 2010: 10,499 exams were taken and 4,373 were passed. In 2017, that rate fell to 35 percent: 17,073 exams were taken and 6,028 were passed.

PED Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski said its a moral imperative to dramatically increase equitable access to Advanced Placement courses and exams to all students regardless of background, and the Governor and the PED will continue to forge ahead in that effort.

The fact that our students continue to pass AP exams with a score of 3 or better at a similar clip is evidence of how our teachers, students, and schools have risen to the challenge of higher expectations, he said in an emailed statement.

At an average of more than $200 per credit hour, New Mexico students AP classes could save them as much as $4.26 million in college tuition costs.

Anna Smith, a Rio Rancho High senior, has already taken seven AP classes, and shes enrolled in three more this year: statistics, macroeconomics and physics.

In the summer, she will move to Massachusetts to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which offered her a generous scholarship.

Advanced Placement classes have really allowed me to think outside the box, she said. Ive had the opportunity to get many college credits, and these advanced placement classes look good to colleges and universities.

Smith said she benefitted from the states test fee assistance program, which cuts the cost of an AP exam from $93 to $3 for students with financial need.

Last year, 4,707 New Mexico students, nearly half of all AP exam takers, received reduced price tests.

PED has recommended doubling the state investment in the fee waivers from $865,000 to $1.7 million.

Additionally, New Mexico now offers more AP teacher training, and is expanding online AP course offerings to boost rural students access.

On Wednesday, RRPS Superintendent V. Sue Cleveland thanked Martinez and PED for their commitment to the AP program.

AP courses encourage students to pursue a rigorous curriculum and, certainly, we are so appreciative of the opportunity for students to earn those credits and to save that revenue, but I would tell you it is also about the learning, Cleveland said. It is about what they get out of the courses in terms of learning and growth and what they take away, which will not only help them in college but will help them for the rest of their lives.

Before Wednesdays news conference, Rio Rancho high sophomores attended a panel discussion with Smith and other high-performing seniors to learn more about AP courses.

Ruszkowski said the states dedication to AP is all about improving student outcomes and making a difference in students lives.

The fact that we are a state here in New Mexico that is increasing access to Advanced Placement and increasing success  the number of kids earning 3s (passing test scores) or better  is something very, very, very few states in the country have been able to pull off, he said.What are politicians really about? People who want power to do good, or to the further their own personal gain? Sometimes it is hard to know, isnt it?

If you are a politician it takes a strong ego because people attack you either for their personal gain or maybe because they dont like your politics. Wouldnt it be nice if we stuck to the real issues in political campaigns?

Recently Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, currently a U.S. congresswoman running for governor, has been criticized for firing someone because she (allegedly) suddenly found out that individual was a transgender woman. The facts would be helpful here. The trans woman who was allegedly fired did not work for the congresswoman. She was an intern for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. The congressman who allegedly told Michelle that the woman was transgender said he never told anyone about her gender identity.

We are all very sensitive right now to discrimination, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and it is about damn time. As a longtime lobbyist for the LGBT community in New Mexico, I have been deeply involved in every piece of legislation in the New Mexico Legislature related to LGBT issues for the last 25 years. I have known Michelle Lujan Grisham for 32 years. I know few politicians who are and have been as committed to LGBT rights  except my spouse  as Michelle. She was supportive long before it was politically safe or convenient to be so. In the 1990s we worked together to discreetly insert language into a nursing home bill to allow a person with a close personal relationship, i.e. significant other, to make decisions for their friend. The sponsor didnt like it or want it, but Michelle, then director of the Agency on Aging, told him he had to leave it in.

It is convenient and opportunistic for political opponents to capitalize on an issues like this. But lets stick to the facts and history of this politicians character. I know for a fact that Michelle Lujan Grisham would never judge someone in her employment  or anywhere else  based on sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic that is not related to job performance or work ethic.

I and members of the LGBT community have rarely had a stronger ally than Michelle Lujan Grisham.Its much more than a bump in the road.

The much-celebrated, much-derided Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus project down the middle of Central Avenue has hit a roadblock. Make that several.

And to get things back in alignment means finding out who knew what when, and how the city and its partners in this project are going to make things right.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller spent Tuesday, his 40th day in office, at a news conference enumerating myriad problems with the project, a centerpiece of the Richard Berry administration, saying its a bit of a lemon. And while electric bus company Build Your Dreams, aka BYD, has stepped up and said our team in California and the team we have on the ground in Albuquerque will address every identified issue and deliver the world-class buses we are known for. Taxpayers will not pay a dime until we do, there are a lot of questions to answer now that should have been addressed weeks, even months, ago. And not just by BYD but by HDR Engineering, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini architects, Bradbury Stamm Construction and the city.

Its going to take more than a spoonful of sugar to turn these sour versions of events into more than the current undigestible he-said/he-said:

 The city has just nine of the promised 20 60-foot reticulated electric buses from BYD, a Chinese company. All were supposed to be delivered Oct. 4. Lawrence Rael, the citys chief operating officer, says the rest are in various stages of assembly, and No. 20 is still in the box. Doug Turner, who is representing BYD, says globally the company built 17,000 electric buses last year on assembly lines and they do not come in boxes.

 Each of those nine buses has 23 to 24 problems of varying degrees.

 Rael says those include a lack of uniformity (fare boxes with different electrical connections, wheelchair locks in different spots), shorts that disabled a bus, leaking axle joints and shoddy battery cages. Turner says BYD has a team in Albuquerque addressing issues, including that axles are purposely overfilled before buses are driven to destination cities.

 The buses are supposed to hold a 275-mile charge; Rael says inaugural runs show its 200 miles, necessitating additional buses and midday charging at peak electrical rates. Turner says the city has yet to run the buses the length of the route.

 A bus from this fleet was sent to Altoona, Pa., to have its durability certified. Rael says it failed; Turner says it was pulled early because it showed premature wear, has been retooled and will be back for testing this month. Certification is required for federal funding, and Albuquerque is banking on $75 million from the feds.

 The charging stations are not being used. Rael says parts are made in China and do not meet U.S. standards, came with instructions in Mandarin and an official has refused to certify their installation. Turner says they meet higher European standards, are being used in several other states and like a cellphone come equipped with digital instructions in multiple languages.

 The city instead rented generators and powered up the buses for the River of Lights event. Rael says the new administration then garaged all nine upon learning it may have voided the warranties; Turner says the generators are used to charge the buses as they are driving from the factory to their destinations and the warranties are not compromised.

 Rael also says the platform at Atrisco is not level and wheelchairs will roll off; the platform at Washington does not allow room for the bus to maneuver and the intersection needs to be moved; other platforms are too high or low to line up with wheelchair lifts; bus mirrors smack into the canopies at passenger platforms. HDR, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini and Bradbury Stamm have yet to address these concerns publicly.

 The required agreement with the Federal Transit Administration has yet to be signed. Rael took a team to Forth Worth to get it nailed down. He also plans to bring in Build Your Dreams leadership team next week.

 The signage and public education components have yet to bear fruit; in the short time it was operating, drivers made prohibited turns in front of buses and were hit.

 The Keller administration wont even offer a guess on when the system will be up and running but agrees it is likely months.

The $135 million ART project on a roughly nine-mile strip of Central from Unser to Louisiana was touted as one of the most forward-looking mass transit designs in the nation, key to revitalizing the corridor and supposed to be operational by the end of 2017. Understandably, Berry wanted it running before he left office Nov. 30. But unbeknown to festive River of Lights riders  and the taxpaying public  it was far from ready for prime time.

The project has had its vocal critics from the start, but the City Council overwhelmingly gave the project a green light, and more than once. Councilors, along with the Berry administration, bear some responsibility  specifically, where was oversight of a $135 million project many have been highly critical of from Day One?

Its now up to Keller and his team to move beyond raising problems to figuring out how we came to this intersection of good intentions, optimistic promises and a transit project that cant be put into gear yet. And to also get those responsible to step up and deliver so we can get it out of park.

Myriad problems with the bus project are hard to swallow

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Under fire from Democratic lawmakers, the acting Cabinet secretary for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department says the agency will not backtrack on its decision to sever a $20 million contract for a regional management entity that provides services to roughly 70,000 New Mexico seniors and their caregivers.

In a letter sent this week, acting Secretary Kyky Knowles said the departments decision was well thought-out and based on serious concerns about overbilling and other financial irregularities.

This action was necessary to ensure that New Mexicos seniors continue to receive critical community services while also guaranteeing that taxpayer dollars are safeguarded, Knowles wrote in her letter to state Rep. Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque.

The contract cancellation prompted Armstrong, who is a former Cabinet secretary herself, to allege Gov. Susana Martinezs administration did not follow federal and state regulations in ending the contract.

In addition, U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat whos running for governor this year, sent a letter this week asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the situation, describing it as a self-inflicted crisis.

However, Knowles asserted the agency has adhered to state and federal law in its handling of the issue. She also said it is prepared for a seamless transition when it comes to working directly with providers who offer home-delivered meals, transportation and job-finding assistance for thousands of seniors.

The Aging and Long-Term Services Department announced last month that the department was ending its contract with the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging.

The acting secretary also asked state Auditor Wayne Johnson to investigate possible misuse of public funds on the part of the management entity, which is one of four such entities operating in New Mexico.

Johnson, who was appointed auditor by Martinez in November, recently told the Journal he will review the allegations. He also said the state Auditors Office has been looking into other potential financial wrongdoing on the part of the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

WASHINGTON  Republican Rep. Steve Pearce and Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham often disagree on policy in Washington, and on Friday they parted ways again  this time over President Donald Trumps latest controversial remarks.

According to the Washington Post, Trump reportedly asked members of Congress in a private meeting over immigration why the U.S. accepts so many immigrants from shithole countries. He was referring to several nations including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and some African nations in the context of people who live in the U.S. under what is known as Temporary Protected Status as a result of natural disasters at home.

Afterward, Pearce and Lujan Grisham, who are seeking their partys nominations in the 2018 New Mexico governors race, each issued statements on the matter. Pearce also addressed the issue on a New Mexico radio show Friday morning.

Lujan Grisham said Thursday night that the presidents comment was shameful, abhorrent, unpresidential, and deserves our strongest condemnation.

We must use our voices to ensure that our nation never returns to the days when ignorance, prejudice, and racism dictated our decision making, she said.

Pearces statement released Friday morning said, It is not appropriate to disparage anyone based on where they come from. We are a nation of values and should act with respect towards others.

We need to remain focused on fixing our nations broken immigration system so that people from all walks of life can achieve their vision of the American dream.

But Pearce later said the furor over his comments was hypocritical in a town where such language is often used during private meetings.

In his interview on KKOB radio Friday morning, Pearce said, The language should have been something different. But he otherwise downplayed the statement, suggesting that he would prefer to stay focused on the issues.

First of all, we knew exactly who he was, Pearce told KKOB of Trump. The Democrats made it very obvious in the campaign. There was no stone left unturned, every crude thing that had been said. Now, myself, I go and I talk to the Republican congressmen and women from New York and I just say, Whats going on here?

And they say, Oh, hes one of those Queens guys  its like one of those Lea County guys  you know, thats just the way they are. They just talk like that. They just do stuff like that. And they said theyre combative. Everybody in Queens is that way.

Pearce, who is not one to use foul language himself  at least not around reporters  said salty talk is the norm behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.

Frankly, almost every bipartisan group I sit in behind the scenes sounds very much like that anyway, Pearce said. So, its as if were finding this religious fervor in public, but the same people who are criticizing would probably do and say very similar stuff.WASHINGTON  Late last year, lawyers for President Donald Trump expressed optimism that special counsel Robert Mueller was nearing the end of his probe of Russias interference in the 2016 election. But if there was hope in the White House that Trump might be moving past an investigation that has dogged his presidency from the start, 2018 is beginning without signs of abatement. In fact, the new year set off a flurry of developments in the probes by Mueller and Congress ranging in importance from the trivial to the ominous.

Some recent events suggest Trumps Russia woes arent going away anytime soon:

GO!

In a remarkable broadside against a fellow conservative, two Republican House members called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, criticizing his Justice Department for not cooperating with Congress and for leaks related to its Russia investigation.

Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio criticized Sessions in an opinion piece published Jan. 4 on the Washington Examiners website. The headline said: Its time for Jeff Sessions to go.

They wrote that Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world.

Sessions, who was part of Trumps presidential campaign, stepped aside last year from the departments investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Sessions deputy, Rod Rosenstein, later appointed Mueller to take over the probe. A Sessions resignation would allow Trump to appoint a new attorney general, who would assume oversight of the probe from Rosenstein.

___

DONT GO!

A day after the lawmakers opinion piece, it emerged that Trump had tried to keep Sessions from recusing himself. The report that Trump directed his White House counsel, Don McGahn, to press Sessions just before he announced he would step aside added a new layer for the investigation.

The episode is known to Mueller and his team of prosecutors and is likely of interest to them as they look into whether Trumps actions as president, including the May firing of FBI Director James Comey, amount to improper efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation. Investigators recently concluded a round of interviews with current and former White House officials, including McGahn.

___

WILL HE, WONT HE?

This week, it emerged that Muellers team has broached the prospect of an interview with Trump, prompting speculation about when, or if, that might happen and under what terms.

The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that Mueller had indicated interest in eventually speaking with Trump as the team investigates possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign and the potential of obstruction of justice.

Prior presidents, including Bill Clinton, have spoken with investigators, but it remains to be seen whether Trump will do so.

Although White House lawyers have pledged their cooperation in the last several months, with a hint of confrontation to come, Trump said this week that it seems unlikely that hell be interviewed and that well see what happens.

___

PARTISAN DRAMA

In a sign that congressional probes are becoming ever more partisan, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee broke with the panels Republican chairman on Tuesday by releasing on her own the transcript of a closed-door interview with Glenn Simpson. Simpson is the co-founder of a political research firm that commissioned what became a dossier of allegations about Trumps presidential campaign and Russia.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she acted because the American people deserve the opportunity to see what he said and judge for themselves, though Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee chairman, called the move confounding and said it could undermine attempts to interview additional witnesses.

According to the transcript, Simpson said the former British spy who put together the dossier  essentially a compilation of memos  brought the document to the FBI in July 2016 because he was worried about whether a political candidate was being blackmailed. According to Simpson, ex-spy Christopher Steele flew to Rome to meet an FBI agent stationed there for his second debriefing before the November election. He said the FBI contact told Steele that there was renewed interest in his research because the bureau had corroborated some of the material. That testimony undercut Republican allegations that the dossier initiated the FBIs Russia probe.

Trump has dismissed the dossier as false and a political hit job, and several Republican-led congressional committees are investigating the role the dossier played in the initial stages of the FBIs investigation.

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump accused Feinstein of being underhanded and a disgrace for disclosing details of Simpsons testimony about the dossier and its allegations about his ties to Russia during the presidential campaign.

___

IVANKA TOO?

One member of the Trump inner circle who had avoided the klieg lights of the Russia investigation is the presidents daughter Ivanka. But that changed Thursday when the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said he wants the panel to interview her.

California Rep. Adam Schiff said Republicans have declined to invite many witnesses who would be valuable to the probe, including Ivanka Trump and several people who he says have additional information about a June 2016 meeting between Russians and the Trump campaign.

In the meeting at Trump Tower, several Trump campaign officials sat down with a Russian lawyer and others under the impression they might receive damaging information about the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. The meeting has captured the interest of congressional investigators and Mueller.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Ivanka Trump talked to at least two of the meetings participants on the way out.

___

TREASON!

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Trump accused an FBI agent who was removed from Muellers investigative team of treason.

Peter Strzok, who had been assigned to work on Muellers team, was removed last summer following the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with an FBI lawyer who was also assigned to the team.

It was not clear how the exchange reflected treason, which is defined in law as aiding an enemy of the United States.

Aitan Goelman, a lawyer for Strzok, called the presidents allegation beyond reckless.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.Angolas president, Joao Lourenco, has sacked his predecessors son, Jose Filomeno Dos Santos, as the head of the countrys sovereign wealth fund.

The dismissal of Filomeno comes two months after Lourenco sacked Isabel dos Santos as chair of the state oil company Sonangol.

Lourenco won the August 2017 presidential election, running on The Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party ticket. He vowed to distance himself from his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who governed for 38 years.

He has pledged to clean up Angolas endemic graft, tackle nepotism and revive the economy.

The president had recently indicated that there might be changes in the leadership of the sovereign wealth fund of the oil-rich nation, depending on the results of an external inquiry into its performance and governance.

The president has replaced the entire board of the fund and appointed as new boss one time finance minister Carlos Alberto Lopes.

The radical reforms of the new president that have seen over 60 government officials fired have raised speculation about strained relations between Lourenco and former president Eduardo Dos Santos.

Oil accounts for a third of Angolas gross domestic product and over 95 percent of its exports, according to the World Bank.NAIROBI, Kenya  President Donald Trumps vulgar insult of Africa was a puzzle for many foreign media organizations, which didnt have a ready translation of his epithet for their readers or listeners.

Their answers ranged from dirty to, well, dirtier.

While meeting with senators on immigration, Trump questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa, according to one participant and people briefed on the conversation.

His comments Thursday revived racism accusations against Trump, roiled immigration talks and set off international outrage that left some foreign journalists wondering how to express the offending word.

We have dozens of language services at the BBC which today are all discussing the right way to translate into their own language the word shithole for their millions of listeners, Paul Danahar, the editor of the BBCs North America bureau, tweeted Friday.

In Africa, the continent that was the object of Trumps insult, Tanzanias Mwananchi newspaper translated his comment as mataifa chafu  simply, dirty countries.

Taifa Leo, a sister Swahili publication to Kenyas leading Daily Nation, chose nchi za kinyesi, a more or less exact translation but with a gentler word for excrement.

There is a more direct translation for Trumps term in Swahili, editor Gilbert Mogire said. But, he explained, that would be unprintable.

In Asia, Japans Kyodo News wire service chose kusottare, which literally means dripping with excrement. The countrys no-nonsense national broadcaster NHK settled for filthy, while the Asahi Shimbun newspaper decided that a word meaning outdoor toilets conveyed the gist of Trumps term.

Chinese media outlets are tightly controlled and have relatively little latitude when it comes to creative interpretations. The official Xinhua News Agency and other outlets translated the expletive as fenkeng  literally cesspit.

In the Spanish-speaking world, news outlets ranging from Argentinas Clarin and Todo Noticias to Spains El Mundo and El Diario matched the presidents profanity level by translating the word Trump reportedly used as agujeros de mierda. Agujeros is Spanish for holes.

Mexicos El Universal used both that and the simpler paises de mierda, which is the phrasing The Associated Press sent to its Spanish-language customers. Paises is Spanish for countries. O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo of Brazil published the Portuguese paises de merda.

Perus Radio Programas went with agujeros de porqueria, or holes of filth.

News organizations in Serbo-Croatian-speaking countries didnt mince any words, applying a phrase with the same meaning as the term Trump reportedly used and arguably more off-color.

Croatian news portal Express.hr was among the media that used vukojebina for shithole.

A slightly less indiscreet English translation of the word would be where the wolves fornicate, although it is used colloquially in Serbo-Croat to refer to places far from civilization.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Peter Orsi in Mexico City, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.  Drought conditions have returned to Arizona because of precipitation well below normal since August.

A drought monitor released Thursday by the National Weather Service shows much of extreme northern Arizona and northeastern Arizona in extreme drought and the rest of the state in moderate drought.

The areas shown as having extreme drought conditions include most of Apache and Navajo counties, extreme northern Coconino County, eastern Gila County, northern Graham and Greenlee counties and northeastern Pinal County.

A 90-day outlook by the weather services Flagstaff office says fuel conditions in northern Arizona are near or above historic high levels and that the regions generally prevailing warm and dry weather pattern is expected to continue through Monday.SAVANNAH, Ga.  Lawmakers can expect face-to-face meetings with Girl Scouts from across Georgia next month at the state Capitol, where the young scouts plan on treating legislators to a milk-and-cookie reception.

These girls bearing gifts of Thin Mints and Samoas will also come packing an agenda. They want to see Savannahs towering suspension bridge renamed in honor of Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts in the coastal Georgia city more than a century ago.

The Girl Scouts saw an opening last fall when Savannahs city council formally asked state lawmakers during their 2018 session to strip the name of segregationist former Gov. Eugene Talmadge from the bridge. Georgia scouts are getting support from the Girl Scouts national headquarters in New York, which has hired a lobbyist to help sway lawmakers in Atlanta.

Rep. Ron Stephens, a Republican from Savannah, is on board with the switch. He said he plans to introduce a bill on Feb. 6, when Girl Scout leaders plan to bring as many as 300 scouts to the Capitol.

I cant think of a name that could go on the bridge at the Savannah River that would mean more, Stephens said of Low, though hes not optimistic fellow lawmakers will agree if that means rescinding an honor bestowed on a former governor. My opinion is chances of passage are slim to none.

Since 1956, the span crossing the Savannah River at the Georgia-South Carolina line has been named for Talmadge, a populist Democrat who served three terms between 1933 and 1942. Talmadge railed against the New Deal for offering blacks hope of economic parity with whites. He defended whites-only primary elections in Georgia. And he once proclaimed a black mans place was at the back door with his hat in his hand.

In September, Savannahs city council unanimously called on the legislature to take Talmadges name off the bridge. Mayor Eddie DeLoach sought the change following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, as white supremacists rallied to protect Confederate statues. DeLoach said Savannahs bridge should no longer be named for a man who divided us.

By law, only Georgia lawmakers can name or rename state roads and bridges. Girl Scouts leaders say its an ideal chance to honor Low, who insisted Girl Scouts have a place for all girls regardless of race, religion or disabilities.

All her life, Juliette sought to bring people together to solve problems and make the world a better place, Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo told The Associated Press by email. And I cant think of a better symbol to her legacy than a bridge that connects people to others.

Low recruited the first troop of Girl Scouts over tea at her Savannah home in March 1912. In their first year, the girls learned to cook and care for babies. But Low also taught them how to shoot rifles and tie up burglars.

While Low began with only 18 Girl Scouts, 1.8 million are enrolled today. Acevedo said scouts from across the U.S. attending an October convention embraced their Savannah colleagues cause. Roughly 10,000 Girl Scouts and alumnae have signed a petition asking lawmakers to rename the bridge for Low.

In December, Acevedo joined the leaders of Georgias two Girl Scout councils at the state Capitol in Atlanta to meet with Gov. Nathan Deal. While the meeting focused on boosting girls interest in science and math, the Girl Scout leaders also told the governor they want Lows name on the bridge.

I dont know that he ever came out and said, Im supportive of this,' said Sue Else, chief executive of the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, who attended the meeting with Deal. But hes been very supportive of Girl Scouts in general.

Meanwhile, Girl Scouts national leaders hired Savannah lobbyist Amy Hughes for the legislative session that began last week. Hughes was hired specifically to lobby lawmakers on the bridge issue, said Alice Hockenbury, the Girl Scouts vice president for advocacy in Washington.

Stephens doubts fellow lawmakers will take action. A prior attempt to strip Talmadges name from the bridge fell flat in 2013. He said it could be tougher this year, as the Republican-controlled legislature tries to avoid election-year backlash from GOP voters amid controversies over Confederate statues and memorials.

As far as I can tell, just by the conversations Ive had with people, theyre going to run from anything thats extremely controversial, Stephens said.RIO RANCHO, N.M.  Rio Rancho police say theyve made an arrest in a fatal shooting at a park.

Police had said they were looking for two people of interest driving a beige Dodge minivan in connection with the shooting Friday night at Rio Vista Park.

No additional details have been released concerning the victim, the person in custody or a possible motive.

However, police have said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident and that there was no apparent threat to the public.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

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Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.@alextdaugherty

The federal government will shut down on January 19 if Congress can't pass a temporary spending bill, and Miami Republican Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen both said they will vote against the legislation, like they did in December, if an immigration deal is not imminent.

Curbelo and Ros-Lehtinen are frustrated with the pace of negotiations on a solution for 800,000 immigrants, known as Dreamers, who came to the U.S. as young children. Congress must find a legislative solution for Dreamers by March after President Donald Trump announced he will rescind an Obama-era executive order that protected them from deportation.

"The way things stand today, I plan to keep my commitment to Dreamers and if theres some breakthrough next week I will consider (voting yes)," Curbelo said on Friday. "If the status quo persists I am going to continue pressuring the leadership in both parties to forge a compromise because 800,000 lives are at risk."

The two Miami Republicans were the only House Republicans who voted against the bill that keeps the government running due to immigration concerns. If enough Republicans join them, they could gain leverage to forge an immigration deal.

The vast majority of House Democrats voted with Curbelo and Ros-Lehtinen against the plan in December, though moderate Florida Democrats like Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Charlie Crist voted in favor of the spending bill, even though Democratic-leaning immigrant advocacy groups urged Democrats to vote against it.WASHINGTON  The White House announced today that President Donald Trump would waive nuclear-related sanctions in order to remain compliant with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump warned it was for the last time if Congress does not provide him with a legislative fix that meets his demands.

Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said in a written statement today. I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws or the United States will withdraw.

With an eye to recent Iran protests that erupted in Mashhad in late December and quickly spread nationwide before subsiding in recent days, the US Treasury Department also announced the designation of 14 Iranian entities and individuals mostly accused of committing human rights abuses, most prominently Irans judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani. The United States also designated the director of Irans Rajaee Shahr prison, where it said many Iran protesters had been held and denied medical treatment, as well as the electronic warfare unit of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, which it accused of restricting Iranians ability to access information and freedom of expression.

Trump said he was demanding that Congress amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA). He wants US legislation for unilateral fixes to the nuclear deal that go beyond the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was negotiated over years by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China as well as Iran.

I am open to working with Congress on bipartisan legislation on Iran, Trump said in the statement. But any bill I sign must include four critical components. First, it must demand that Iran allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors. Second, it must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon."

Trump's statement continued, Third, unlike the nuclear deal, these provisions must have no expiration date. If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume. Fourth, the legislation must explicitly state in United States law  for the first time  that long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs are inseparable, and that Irans development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

In recent weeks, Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), co-sponsors of INARA and the chair and ranking Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, respectively, have been discussing with the White House possible amendments to INARA that would, among other things, reduce how frequently Trump has to certify the nuclear deal, which is currently every 90 days.

But Cardin has repeatedly said he wont sign onto any legislation that would violate the JCPOA or would risk US-European solidarity on Iran, which some of Trumps stated demands would do.

I remain open to discussing legislative options that would not violate the JCPOA and that have the support of our European partners," Cardin said in a statement after Trump's Iran announcement today.

Instead of leading an international negotiation on the agreement himself, however, the presidents statement making threats and dictating final terms of potential negotiations with Congress and Europe makes it more challenging to achieve this objective.

European allies, who have strongly urged the Trump administration to stay in the deal while offering to work to address shared concerns with Irans missile program, also reacted cautiously to Trumps announcement.

We have noted the White House statement, a British Embassy spokesman told Al-Monitor. We will be discussing this with our European partners and with the United States, and [we] will respond in detail in due course.

Proponents of the landmark Iran nuclear accord said the deal had gotten another reprieve, but warned that the constant uncertainty Trump had put over the deal since he came into office last year has inhibited international investment in Iran and some of the economic benefits Iranians had expected in return for the restrictions it undertook on its nuclear program.

It certainly could have been worse, Ali Vaez, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al-Monitor today. But this is not more than a temporary reprieve.

The deal's other signatories should not assume that it can easily withstand further blows, Vaez said. Trumps threat to pull the plug on the JCPOA is a sword of Damocles intended to spur Congress to action, Europeans to compromise and Iran to lose its nerve.

It is finally time for the other P5+1 members to factor Washington out of their JCPOA calculations, while continuing to encourage it to remain in the deal, Vaez said.

Some Republican foreign policy experts said Trump had struck the right balance by staying in the nuclear deal, at least for now, and keeping the focus on the Iranian protesters grievances with their own government.

If Trump had used this moment to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, youd risk changing the subject, Michael Singh, a former Bush administration National Security Council Middle East senior director, said on a call hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

At a time when the regime is facing internal pressure, at a time when people are out on the streets in Iran, why divert attention to the United States? Singh asked. Why make the story our action or lack of action, rather than what is happening inside Iran itself.With the Islamic State (IS) on the run across Syria, the Donald Trump administration has committed to using US Armed Forces in the country to counter Iranian influence.

Its refusal to publicly provide details  or a legal justification  for its military strategy, however, is raising bipartisan concerns in Congress that the United States could be drawn further into conflict with a wide array of actors in Syrias complex civil war with no timeline for withdrawal.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, David Satterfield, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, outlined US goals in Syria as finishing off IS, stabilizing northeastern Syria and countering Iranian influence. But he declined to publicly disclose what activities US forces in Syria are engaged in outside of the counter-IS campaign, raising bipartisan alarm bells.

That wont pass muster, committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., interjected. Im sorry. You can generally state what the purpose of our military is beyond [IS] without getting into any kind of classified materials.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who initially asked Satterfield the question he declined to answer, expressed concerns that eliminating Iranian influence from Syria entirely was a fools errand that could keep US troops tied up in Syria forever.

Satterfield testified that one of the conditions when weighing whether to start pulling out the 2,000 or so US troops in Syria would be our broader assessment of where the political transition, where the Iranian trajectory of influence in and through Syria stands.

There is no specific calculus for this, he told lawmakers. Theres certainly not hard, quantitative numbers that can be attached. It is something  that we will review on a progressive basis over the time ahead.

Responding to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on what would give the United States leverage to counter Iranian and Russian support for the Bashar al-Assad regime in a political settlement, Satterfield noted that our military presence associated with the [opposition Syrian Democratic Forces] in a critical and very significant piece of Syrian territory is a factor.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the committee, also voiced concern that the Trump administration does not have the necessary legal authorization from Congress to keep US troops in Syria beyond the defeat of IS.

Its hard to understand your response with even the most broad views of [the existing war authorization] covering anything close to what youre saying, Cardin told Satterfield.

Further complicating matters, the Iranian military presence and influence is concentrated in southern Syria, near the Israeli and Jordanian borders, rather than northeastern Syria, where most US troops are actually stationed, said Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Syria under President Barack Obama and a fellow at both Yale and the Middle East Institute.

Its not clear to me that this troop deployment would meet the strategic objective of limiting Iranian influence in Syria in a way that is significant, Ford told Al-Monitor.

Ford believes the Trump administrations endgame is likely geared more toward forcing the Assad regime to make concessions in an eventual political settlement than actually confronting Iran.

Some people in the government and outside the government think that by having US troops in eastern Syria, they will be able to compel Bashar al-Assad to make concessions in peace talks, Ford said. Having watched Bashar al-Assad in this conflict, he makes no compromises. He will take as long as he needs to win. Its a hope; its not an analysis."

He added, That again just leads me to conclude that this is going to be an indefinite deployment.

The Pentagon acknowledged in December that the United States has some 2,000 soldiers in Syria, well above the approximately 500 soldiers it had previously acknowledged before Al-Monitor reported on the heightened troop levels in November.

Before the Pentagon publicly revised its troop tallies, Secretary of Defense James Mattis noted in November that the United States will maintain forces in Syria until there is progress on the UN-sponsored Geneva peace process.

That doesnt mean everyone stays there, Mattis caveated at the time. That doesnt mean  certain troops are leaving. Ive honestly not made those decisions.

A Pentagon spokesman told Al-Monitor that there is "not a set list of conditions tied to US involvement on the ground in Syria, noting that theres only a set of broad-based goals instead, such as progress in stabilization and the Geneva peace talks.

The Department of Defense further irritated Congress by refusing to send anyone to testify alongside Satterfield on Thursday, a point that both Corker and Cardin emphasized at the beginning of the hearing.

Two Democratic lawmakers on the committee told Al-Monitor that the Pentagon gave no reason for not sending anyone to testify. Corker, however, said the Pentagon informed him that they did not feel it would be appropriate to brief the Foreign Relations Committee on Syria before briefing the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, which have jurisdictional oversight over the Defense Department.

They just felt that protocol was appropriate for them to brief [the Armed Services committees] first, Corker told Al-Monitor. But it took a while to get to that point. We wish they had been there today and that would have been very helpful.

Corker noted that his committee would follow up with Satterfield in a closed-door setting to pursue further questions on the US military role in Syria beyond IS.

However, a congressional aide told Al-Monitor that the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees jointly submitted a request for the Department of Defense to brief both committees on Syria as far back as November.

Im aware of the criticism, and again, well continue to work with the committees of authorization, as well as other committees, as well as other members to provide witnesses, briefings as we can, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told Al-Monitor. White noted that the Department of Defenses undersecretary for policy, John Rood, only joined the Pentagon this week  almost a year into the Trump administration.

For his part, Ford said the lack of transparency is likely proof that the Trump administration does not yet have a formal policy on US military objectives in Syria.

David Satterfield is one of the foreign services best people on the Middle East, Ford told Al-Monitor. The fact that David didnt talk about it suggests that there is not a fully approved policy document yet because David is extremely diligent and precise.

Jack Detsch contributed to this report.Following a tweet from late in December, in which President Donald Trump appeared to imply that Amazon was at least partially to blame for the U.S. Postal Services shortcomings, the company has now been called out again. That isnt likely to come as a shock, as the president has not been known to pull his punches when dealing with companies that have shown opposition to his policies or legislative plans. Making matters somewhat worse for Amazon, the companys CEO, Jeff Bezos, also owns The Washington Post  which has openly spoken out against many of the presidents proposals and decisions. The new remarks, which centered around the above-mentioned previous claim and taxation, were made on Wednesday as the president prepared to sign a piece of legislation called the Interdict Act  which is aimed at decreasing opioid abuse by addressing smuggling directly.

Addressing members of the media and of his administration before moving to sign the legislation, President Trump is reported to have said of Amazon that the company is going to have to start paying sales tax because its very unfair whats happening to our retailers all over the country that are put out of business. The remarks seem to imply that Amazon has not been paying any sales tax on the goods sold through its website. It would be fair to say that the presidents comments on the matter are not entirely untrue, as Amazon has seen its share of challenges regarding its payment of taxes. Most recently, the company has faced challenges over policies that allow vendors to set the tax rates charged. However, the Seattle-based company does require sales tax to be paid on items shipped to many states and even recently agreed to address some of the tax burden created by some of its vendors in Washington.

Some in the industry, such as GBH Insights head of technology research Daniel Ives, reportedly view the remarks as a reflection of what is happening in the retail market  rather than representing any kind of threat aimed at Amazon. Ives referred to the comment as noise and as something that should probably be expected due to Amazons impact on the overall market. While Amazon has been reporting record sales and profit, there has been growing resentment among more traditional storefronts and an increasing push to enforce an internet tax on companies like Amazon. Considering Amazons increasingly prominent position in all of this, thats not likely to go away anytime soon, though its also unlikely to result in an internet tax, according to Ives.via @learyreports

Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson today urged their respective leaders to speed up a vote on a massive disaster relief package that will help Florida.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer:

We write to highlight the importance of the disaster supplemental and urge you to consider this much needed appropriations measure on the floor as soon as possible. As you are well aware, last fall produced a number of devastating natural disasters, and our communities are still in need of federal assistance in order to continue their recovery efforts. In particular, hurricanes and wildfires caused catastrophic destruction throughout the country, and we are deeply concerned that affected states, territories and local governments will not have the resources needed to address critical issues including agricultural aid, healthcare, and housing if Congress does not act immediately.

These disasters caused unprecedented destruction, and yet the federal government has still not provided an acceptable response. Congress has a duty to fulfill, and a disaster supplemental appropriations bill would provide the federal aid our states and territories were promised months ago. The House of Representatives passed a disaster supplemental, and while it did not fully encompass what is needed, it is past time for the Senate to act. Unfortunately, Congress has delayed providing this aid for too long while our communities face the consequences of our inaction.

It is imperative that Americans nationwide know that the federal government is both ready and willing to direct resources needed to help them in the recovery process. As such, we strongly urge you to bring the disaster relief measure to the floor for consideration at the earliest opportunity to ensure that our communities are able to address and assist their respective needs.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Also, Gov. Rick Scott has called on Senate leaders to act.

"It is imperative that we as a state see relief from Congress in the aftermath of these storms. Now that the House passed a significant relief package prior to Christmas, the Senate must act immediately to lock in this critical funding for Florida and ensure the full recovery of families in our state and across the country," Scott wrote in a Jan. 3 letter.Samsung has now reportedly had a complaint leveled against it by two non-governmental French rights organizations which claim that the company has taken part in deceptive marketing practices. More directly, the rights groups say that Samsung has violated the fundamental rights of its employees. However, and interestingly enough, the underlying source of the alleged problem is not something that took place in France but which has been used as a part of the larger Samsung marketing platform. The organizations claim that Samsung has been mistreating employees in its Chinese and South Korean factories, which contradicts commitments Samsung Electronics France has made in its advertising campaigns within the country.

That seems to indicate that the groups, identified as Sherpa and ActionAid-Peuples solidaires, are arguing that Samsungs marketing garner phone sales based on factually incorrect statements made by the company. Additionally, Samsung could be found to be in violation of French law if the prosecution determines that the case is worth pursuing and Samsung is found to be guilty of the accusation.Thats because of a law which was introduced last year, enforcing human rights and environmental standards on multinationals that operate or sell products within France. As of this writing, a determination on the matter has still not been decided and it isnt immediately clear whether a case will be brought against the tech giant.

For Samsungs part, the source states that the companys French subsidiary has not yet responded to requests for comments. Meanwhile, as per the Samsung Electronics site, Samsung indicates that it follows the local laws and rules of regions where it has a presence and that it applies a strict code of conduct. While there is no reason to believe otherwise, pending an injunction or some other evidence, some possibilities are available since the companies prior commitments have been publicly stated. For starters, the tech company has previously committed itself to the health of its employees and to those employees respective human rights. As part of that, it has also made prior statements committing itself against the hiring of underage individuals. The statements, particularly those about human rights, is fairly broad and could cover a wide variety of allegations. Since the precise nature of the claims has also not been reported, so it may be impossible to speculate about whether or not the complaints filing bears any merit.Multiple users in Googles product forum for the Home Max have reported that trying to stream anything like Spotify on them has been crashing their Wi-Fi routers, and many of them who have switched off either their 2.4GHz band or 5GHz band have reported that the issue is gone. The original poster was informed that Google Home devices work best on 5GHz Wi-Fi, and responded not by putting the Google Home Max on 5GHz, but by disabling 2.4GHz. Conversely, one user having the same issue switched off their 5GHz Wi-Fi for testing purposes, and ended up keeping this setup; the problem was gone, and they could still use their legacy devices. Google is apparently aware of the issue and is looking into it.

In forum user Ryan Crowsons testing, the Google Home Maxs interactions with dual-band routers yielded some interesting results. For starters, whenever the speaker crashed the network, the Home app could still show him all of the compatible devices on the network except the Google Home Max, and said that they needed to be set up. Internet access through the router was not available, but Crowson did not specify whether other devices on the network could still see the router at all. The Google Home Max also re-crashes the network if the router is reset without also resetting the unit. Further in the thread, Crowson went on to report that a factory reset solved the issue for two days, then the Google Home Max reverted to crashing the network whenever it tried to play music or get another speaker or setup in the house to do so. Other users have noted strange behavior from other Home devices on the same network, even when the Google Home Max does not crash the network.

This is the latest in what seems to be a string of Google first-party products malfunctioning and causing consumers grief. Though these issues are, by their very nature, unrelated to recent problems with Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices, some consumers may end up thinking that such is the norm for Google, with paying end users experiencing problems normally associated with beta testing.Kathrine Windfeld Big Band, Latency (Stunt Records)

Kathrine Winfelds second album further establishes the 30-year-old Dane in the vanguard of new arranger-composers and bandleaders. Her young, experienced, adventurous musicians from Denmark, Sweden and Norway may be considered an all-star Scandinavian aggregation, but not in the sense that Ms. Winfelds music dwells on Scandinavian themes. Rather, her work is in a league with bands like those of Maria Schneider, Darcy James Argue, Christian McBride and John Beasleys Monkestraoutfits unafraid to be eclectic and eccentric but insistent on values growing out of the mainstream tradition. Ms. Winfelds crew maintains swing even when the saxophones in the piece called Double Fleisch verge on free jazz a la Chicagos AACM of the 1960s. Then she unleashes the intrepid trombone soloist Goran Abelli, who is unrestrained, as he was in the 2016 Windfeld album Aircraft.

Ms. Winfeld expresses a softer side of her conception in Leaving Portland. The piece opens with her subdued piano. The brass builds intensity before making way for a brief, lyrical, flugelhorn solo by the young Norwegian Magnus Oseth. The composer told me when we spoke in Sweden a couple of years ago that she has never been to Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine. In a recent email interview about the piece, she explained,

I just liked the sound of the words! The drama and melancholy of port, land and leaving.

Her orchestration beautifully captures both elements, which also underlie Roadmovie, with a Windfeld piano introduction supported by the Swedish bassist Johannes Vaht, who solos later in the piece, as does the Danish soprano saxophonist Jakob Lundbak, with his splendid reedy tone. The trombones introduce Wasp, but the wasp-in-chief is the Swedish tenor saxophonist Ida Karlsson, whose buzzing, slap-tongue notes and agitated delivery highlight the piece before it subsides beneath a passage orchestrated for reeds, brass and rhythm section.

December Elegy brings back Oseth on flugelhorn and Ms. Windfeld at the piano. More of the leaders smooth orchestral textures encompass imaginative harmonies across the sections.

Occasionally, there are albums that give you more with each hearing. This is one of them.

From last summers Copenhagen Jazz Festival, here is the Windfeld Big Band with a live version of Wasp. At the top, go to your piano and strike A above middle C to find if they are in tuneor if your piano is in tune. The band members are listed at the end of the video.

For a Rifftides review of Aircraft, go here. For a review of the Windfeld band at the Ystad Jazz Festival in 2016, go here. Have a good weekend.Best Swiss Army Knives

Looking for a Swiss Army Knife? These Are Some of the Best

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

The Swiss Army knife is the king of everyday carry essentials. Having one in your car or backpack will avert all sorts of frustrations and minor emergencies, from opening a bottle of wine to cutting ropes while camping. While there is a large variety of models on the market, so you can be sure to find one that fits your needs, that variety can make the selection process confusing.

To narrow down your options, we scoured the web to find the top Swiss Army knives for all activities and interests. You may notice a number of the models are from the Victorinox brand. As the inventors of the Swiss Army knife, this brand has become practically synonymous with the tool, and for a good reason. Victorinox makes a high-quality product and it is famously faithful to lifetime warranties.

RELATED: Best Multi-tools

Without further ado, here are the best Swiss Army knives to see you through any adventure.

Best Swiss Army Knife for Balanced Features

Victorinox Tinker

The Tinker is a halfway point between stripped-down classic models and the feature-heavy SwissChamp. The 12 included tools do not disappoint but its still sleek and lightweight. Basically, you wont feel silly if you carry it around every day, but youll still be able to slice or screw something when the occasion arises.

$21.20 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for Diversity

Victorinox SwissChamp

The SwissChamp is the most practical of Victorinoxs deluxe options. It has just about every tool you could need at home or on-the-go, and yet, miraculously, it is still pocket-sized. With this Swiss Army knife in hand, you can saw metal, punch a new hole in your belt, and even read the fine print with the included magnifying glass.

$59.99 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for Value

Victorinox Swiss Army Classic

As the name implies, this model is simple yet efficient. While it lacks the extensive functionality of more upscale knives, the lack of a sewing awl or a fish scaler probably wont affect you in your day-to-day life. What's fun about this budget-friendly option is that it comes in a wide array of prints and colors  National Parks and Camo are just a couple examples.

$20.50 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for Minimalists

Leatherman Crater C33TX

This isnt so much a Swiss Army knife as a folding knife with a couple of screwdrivers and blades. But if you're looking for a good strong knife for outdoor tasks and handiwork around the house, this is the tool for you.

$44.95 at Leatherman.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for Office Workers

Victorinox Executive

Swiss Army knives arent just for the outdoors, as evidenced by this model, which is specifically designed for office life. Instead of screwdrivers or reamers, the Victorinox Executive includes a nail cleaner, tweezers, and an orange peeler. So if you need to remove unsightly hairs and open a letter occasionally, keep this baby at your desk.

$38.99 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for the Man Who Hates Wallets

Victorinox Swiss Army Money Clip

If you dont like wallets, and youd rather keep your money in the handle of a pocket tool, look no further. This minimal gadget combines four essential everyday tools (including a blade, scissors, and nail file) with a very sturdy, attractive money clip, to provide you with the best of both worlds.

$51 at Amazon.com

RELATED: The Best Everyday Carry (EDC) Kits You Can Buy

Best Swiss Army Knife for the Sleuth

Victorinox Signature Lite

The Signature Lite is a slight tweak on the standard Swiss Army knife. Instead of having a toothpick and tweezers built into the handle, it has an LED flashlight and a ballpoint pen. For many, these will be more useful than the default features. Being able to remove unsightly hairs is nice, but the ability to sign a check or fill out a form is perhaps more important.

$32.95 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for the Outdoorsman

Victorinox Huntsman

The Huntsman is another mid-range model, but instead of being geared towards the city-dweller, like the Tinker, this knife is best for outdoor adventure enthusiasts. Complete with 15 tools, including a wood saw and scissors, it is the ideal Swiss Army knife to keep on-hand while hiking, climbing, fishing, camping, or all of the above.

$31.99 at Amazon.com

Best Swiss Army Knife for the EDC-Enthusiast

Boker Plus Tech-Tool City 2

The Boker is the only real competition for the Victorinox models. Its a little bigger, thicker, and heavier, and it doesnt have that iconic design. But it has a lovely grippy handle, and its knife is impressively sharp. As well, it comes with a glass breaker tip, which might come in handy in certain sticky situations. If youve tried Victorinox knives and still arent satisfied, go for a Boker.

$45.69 at Amazon.com

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AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.If youre setting up a personal hangar for light DIY wrenching, its worth following the lead of maintenance shops that know whats good. Walk through a real maintenance hangar and you wont have to look hard to spot the Snap-On tool logo. Whether its a gigantic rolling tool cabinet or a pair of cutters, theres a reason why professional technicians invest big for Snap-On tools. Theres a rich heritage behind what many believe to be the gold standard in tools, which dates back to 1920.

Gregory Narozniak, an independent authorized Snap-On franchisee in central New Jersey, rattled off a long list of traits that lend to Snap-On quality. The photo here is the interior of his traveling tool warehousepart of the Snap-On convenience and support effort.

According to Narozniak, when a tool is designed or an improved version is created there are hours upon hours of engineering incorporated into that tool, which is evident in user ergonomics and precision. When the instinct handle ona Snap-On screwdriver fits better in the hand, it simply makes the tool more efficient, Narozniak told me. Additionally, the steel thats used during manufacturing is often specific to a tool.

For example, the shock-resistant steel used in Snap-On screwdrivers, punches, chisels and so forth isnt particularly the best fit for the companys sockets, so a different steel blend is used in those sockets. Similarly, a different blend ofsteel is specific to Snap-On wrenches. One of the many primary differences between lower-quality tools and high-end tools like Snap-On is accuracy. Snap-Ons sockets andwrenches utilize flank drive, a concept that came at the request of the United States Navy in 1960. There was a needto remove bolts with rounded corners and as a result, the socket had to be designed to grab the flat part of thefastener rather than the corners. The design is still in use today on Snap-On flank drive and flank drive-plus tools.

The other draw that keeps technicians coming back to Snap-On is the support and warranty. According to Narozniak, Snap-On battery-powered tools are one of the only industrial product lines that carry an extensive warranty, which can initially be one or two years, depending on the item, and after the warranty expires, the tool is covered with a flat-rate repair should anything go wrong.

Moreover, nearly all of the companys hand tools are covered under a no-hassle lifetime warranty. Simply hand the item to your Snap-On franchisee and it will be covered, Narozniak told me. Its a sales pitch, but worth boasting about. I once dropped a small Snap-On torque wrench off a wing and the visiting rep grabbed a replacement from his truck and handed it to me on the spot.

Snap-On tools are available for purchase through a local authorizedSnap-On franchisee or via Snap-On Tools direct.

Look for a full report on equipping a personal hangar with tools for DIY aircraft wrenching in the January 2018 issue of Aviation Consumer magazine.@alextdaugherty

President Donald Trumps descent into vulgarity during a high-stakes immigration meeting has brought attention to an often overlooked group in the national conversation: the over 300,000 immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and potentially Honduras who could be forced to leave the U.S. in 2019.

The presidents remarks  he reportedly said Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out and Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?  were in reference to immigrants living and working legally in the United States under Temporary Protected Status and to making changes to the visa lottery system.

The more than over 300,000 immigrants whose TPS will expire in 2019 have been largely under the radar compared to the 800,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. An Obama-era executive action known as DACA that allowed Dreamers to be protected from deportation expires in March, and is at the forefront of immigration discussions in Washington.

Several Miami lawmakers, including Republican Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, along with Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, have offered legislative solutions that would provide a path to permanent residency for some or all TPS recipients. South Florida is home to the nations largest concentration of Haitians along with a sizable number of Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans.

This is obviously tragic and very disheartening and disappointing in every way but Im generally an optimist and when anything like this happens theres also opportunity, Curbelo said. Now, many more Americans are aware of these immigrants who are in our country legally, who work here, pay taxes here and have been here in some cases more than two decades. All of a sudden they are extremely relevant in discussions regarding an immigration compromise, where before the conversation was almost exclusively about Dreamers and border security.

Until now, most of the lawmakers pushing for letting TPS beneficiaries stay represent large urban areas like Miami and New York City, and many of them are Democrats outside Miami. Curbelos office also said his bill that addresses Dreamers, called the Raising Americas Children Act, has gotten significantly more attention than his bill to help TPS beneficiaries from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras, called the ESPERER Act.

Curbelo said Trumps vulgar comments will raise awareness outside Miami, and his spokesperson said several Republicans have approached Carlos about it. They want to learn more.

Weve added TPS beneficiaries as candidates for inclusion in a deal and thats good news, Curbelo said.

Read more here.By Aygul Salmanova

Expansion of export opportunities for non-oil products in Azerbaijan and identification of new export markets are at the center of attention, Deputy Minister of Economy Sahil Babayev told Azernews.

Babayev noted that a number of measures are carried out in order to increase the volume of some "Made in Azerbaijan" products and access new foreign markets. He noted that some of these measures have already been completed, and some of them are still in progress.

In accordance with the decrees and orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, exporters of a number of agricultural and processing products are paid an export promotion of 3-6 percent at the expense of the state budget, he noted. Also, various mechanisms are used to stimulate exports in international practice, in order to promote "Made in Azerbaijan" brand.

Touching upon the activities carried out abroad, the deputy minister noted that 10 export missions to Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Hungary, China, Russia, UAE and Saudi Arabia were carried out at the expense of the state budget in 2017.

Within the framework of missions preliminary agreements on the export of wine, fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, concentrated products, construction materials, furniture and other products were obtained and contracts were concluded.

In accordance with the agreement reached in 2017, Turkey made a decision in order to facilitate exports of products (mainly agriculture) in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and export of some products to Turkey was exempted from import customs duties, Babayev noted.

He also added that negotiations were underway on the preferential trade agreement, which allowed exporting a number of agricultural (mostly fruits and vegetables) products to Turkey on favorable terms.

In order to increase the flexibility of effectiveness and efficiency of business relations between economic entities in the application of measures, to stimulate the export and representation of the economic-trade interests of the country and domestic exporters abroad, to expand access of local products to foreign markets, Commercial representatives of Azerbaijan are appointed in Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Poland, the deputy minister said.

Babayev also touched upon the Trade Houses established abroad.

Azerbaijan Trade House was opened in Minsk, capital of the Republic of Belarus, to promote the promotion and sale of Azerbaijani products in export markets. In Ukraine, work is underway in this direction and it is planned to open a Trade House in Latvia.

The deputy minister said that legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who had received an investment promotion document had been exempted from paying 50 percent of their profits and income tax for seven years after obtaining this document, and were free to pay property tax for their property and pay land tax for their respective land or possession.

In addition, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who have received investment promotion licenses may import technological equipment on the basis of a confirmation document of the Ministry of Economy for seven years without paying value added tax and customs duty, he said.

Babayev also touched upon the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support noting that the institution provided concessional loans to the sector in order to meet the needs of economic entities operating in the country on favorable terms. It should be noted that the share of agriculture in the total loans allocated by the Fund during the period of its activity was more than 90 percent, he noted.

Azerbaijan has started promoting the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand in foreign markets since 2016, and already recorded about 36.5 percent growth in the exports in January-June 2017.

As of today, 92 trademarks of Azerbaijan are protected under the brand, while the countrys total outputs nears 250 kinds of products in food, light, heavy and construction industries. The brand is highly successful in regional and world markets, and Azerbaijans local output meets all the necessary standards.

Thanks to national export missions touring the world, Azerbaijani goods accessed major supermarkets and already see high demand.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

AzeriCard, Azerbaijans processing center, jointly with Muganbank OJSC has started issuing cards of the UnionPay International payment system, AzeriCard told Trend Jan. 12.

Muganbank will offer four types of cards (UnionPay Classic, UnionPay Gold, UnionPay Platinum and UnionPay Diamond).

It is expected that several more banks will start issuing cards of the payment system in the future, AzeriCard said.

UnionPay International is a subsidiary of China UnionPay focused on the growth and support of UnionPays global business. In partnership with more than 1,700 institutions worldwide, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 162 countries and regions with issuance in 42 countries and regions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

In 2017, 38 percent (6,690.8 million manats) of Azerbaijans state budget expenditures were of social purposes, which is 7.3 percent or 453.7 million manats more than in 2016, the Finance Ministry said Jan. 12.

These funds were allocated to the wage fund, for the payment of scholarships and social allowances, medicines and food expenses, according to the ministry.

Some 62.1 percent (10,921.1 million manats) of state budget expenditures accounted for current costs, 29.3 percent (5,153.5 million manats) - capital expenditures, 8.6 percent (1,513.7 million manats) - expenditures related to the servicing of public debt and other liabilities.

In total, expenditures of Azerbaijans state budget last year amounted to 17,588.3 million manats (the forecast was executed by 98 percent).

The state budget revenues last year amounted to 16,446.9 million manats (the forecast was executed by 98.1 percent).

The state budget revenues from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes amounted to 6,972 million manats, which is by 8.8 percent less than the forecast figure. Of this, 74.5 percent (5,192.7 million manats) accounted for revenues from Azerbaijans non-oil sector.

The state budget revenues from the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan amounted to 2,608.8 million manats, which is 15.9 percent more than the forecast figure.

In addition, in 2017, 366.1 million manats entered the state budget from chargeable services of the organizations funded from the state budget, 250 million manats at the expense of deductions from the profits of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and 150 million manats accounted for other revenues.

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) transferred 6.1 billion manats to the countrys budget, which is by 19.9 percent less than in 2016.

The deficit of the state budget amounted to 1,141.4 million manats, which is 33.6 million manats lower than the approved upper limit. The deficit was financed through the sale of government bonds (384.6 million manats), funds from privatization (106.5 million manats) and the balance on the single treasury account of the state budget as of Jan. 1, 2017 (650.3 million manats).

The expenditures of the consolidated budget amounted to 24,982.6 million manats, incomes - 23,951.6 million manats. The deficit of the consolidated budget amounted to 1,031 million manats or 1.5 percent of the countrys GDP.

(1.7001 manats = 1$ on Jan. 12)

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Over 20 Swiss companies actively operate in Azerbaijan, and almost all of them have representative offices in the country, Philipp Stalder, ambassador of Switzerland in Azerbaijan, said at a press briefing in Baku Jan. 12.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Switzerland amounted to $200 million in 2017, the ambassador said, adding that this is lower than in previous years, but the existing level of bilateral relations will undoubtedly contribute to increase of the trade.

Speaking about the official visits of the presidents, as well as the ministers of the two countries, the diplomat noted that the meetings between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Switzerland have already become traditional.

The envoy expressed hope that the meetings will continue to promote fruitful cooperation between the two countries.

Last year, the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland was celebrated, and an office for cooperation between the two countries was also opened in Baku, he said, adding that through the office the sides are going to implement new projects and further strengthen cooperation.

Speaking about the areas of cooperation between the two countries, the ambassador also mentioned education, noting that a great number of Azerbaijani students graduate from Swiss universities every year.

The sides are also going to organize a number of cultural events in 2018, thus introducing the Swiss with Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijanis with Switzerland, the ambassador said.

He noted that filming of a Swiss movie will be partly held in Ganja city, and a photo exhibition is also planned to be held there.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on measures to improve the management in the transport, communications and high technologies sectors.

The decree stipulates creation of the State Maritime Agency on the basis of the State Maritime Administration and the State Civil Aviation Agency on the basis of the State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The government is likely to approve 7,500 additional permits for Palestinians to work in Israel, a top general said on Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reports.



Some 100,000-110,000 Palestinians currently work in Israel, including 30,000-40,000 laborers without permits, while 30,000 work in West Bank settlements.

There will probably be an approval of a government [measure] next week, which... would increase the number of work permits by 7,500, according to Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, who heads the branch of the Defense Ministry that is responsible for liaising with Palestinians.



A security official said the permits would only be granted to Palestinians in the West Bank.



According to the World Bank, unemployment in the West Bank in 2016 stood at around 18%.



Palestinian Authority Labor Minister Mamoun Abu Shahala said that while he has not been officially informed of the probable Israeli decision to increase work permits, he would welcome such a move.



The situation is difficult and unemployment is high, he said in a phone call. We would welcome any decision to raise the number of work permits.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Turkey will create a new ministry of automotive industry, the countrys media reported.

The ministry will be created as part of the program on creation of domestic car models.

The ministry will control production of domestic cars and development of the Turkish automotive industry.

Officials of Turkey have not confirmed this information so far.

On Nov. 2 last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the names of companies that will take part in manufacturing of domestic cars. He noted that those companies are Anadolu Grubu, BMC, Kiraca Holding, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding.

Erdogan said that starting from 2021, Turkey will start exporting domestically made cars to neighboring countries.

The president added that it is also planned to create a special commission which will supervise the domestic production of cars.

Turkey ranks sixth in Europe in car production. Models of Ford, FIAT, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are currently assembled in Turkey.

Moreover, Turkey manufactures local brands of buses, such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would waive nuclear sanctions against Iran for the last time to give Washington and its European allies a chance to fix the terrible flaws of the 2015 nuclear deal, Reuters reports.

A senior administration official said Trump wants the deal strengthened with a follow-on agreement in 120 days or the United States will unilaterally withdraw from the international pact.

Trump had privately chafed at having to once again waive sanctions on a country he sees as a rising threat in the Middle East.

This is a last chance, Trump said in a statement. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately.

While Trump approved the sanctions waiver, the Treasury Department decided to impose new, targeted sanctions against 14 Iranian entities and people.

Trump had lengthy discussions on Thursday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and others about the deal, which was reached during the presidency of Democrat Barack Obama.

Trump will now work with European partners on a follow-on agreement that enshrines certain triggers that the Iranian regime cannot exceed related to ballistic missiles, said a senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the decision.

One official said Trump would be open to remaining in a modified deal if it was made permanent.

I hereby call on key European countries to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people, Trump said in the statement. If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran.

Trump also wants the U.S. Congress to modify a law that reviews U.S. participation in the nuclear deal to include trigger points that if violated would lead to the United States reimposing its sanctions, the official said.

This would not entail negotiations with Iran, the official said, but rather would be the result of talks between the United States and its European allies. Work already has begun on this front, the official said.

Trump has argued behind the scenes that the nuclear deal makes the United States look weak, a senior U.S. official said. The argument for staying in, the official said, was to allow time to toughen the terms of the agreements.

A decision to withhold a waiver would have effectively ended the deal that limits Irans nuclear program. The 2015 agreement between the United States and Iran also was signed by China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and the European Union, and these countries would have been unlikely to join the United States in reimposing sanctions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The EU hopes to sign a Common Aviation Area Agreement with Azerbaijan this year, Kestutis Jankauskas, head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku Jan. 12.

Negotiations on the aviation agreement are almost complete, he said.

He voiced hope that the agreement will be signed in January-February this year.

Discussions on the Common Aviation Area Agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU will be held Jan. 27-30 during the visit of Director General of the European Commission's department for mobility and transport (DG MOVE) Henrik Hololei to Azerbaijan.

Creation of a common aviation area is an initiative of the European Commission and aims to open and integrate aviation markets. This will lead to new opportunities for consumers and operators, and, most importantly, to high standards in terms of flight safety as well as air traffic management.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzPhoenix-based Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center is opening a 6,019-square-foot clinic in Mesa, Ariz., AZ Big Media reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. Center physicians will perform cataract evaluations, glaucoma care and treatment. They'll also provide ophthalmic plastic surgery services.

2. Aaron Amacher, III, MD, Zachary Berbos, MD, and Tara Golisch, MD, will see patients at the new clinic. Dr. Golisch will join the team in March 2018.

3. Barnet Dulaney Perkins is owned by American Vision Partners. AVP President and CEO Kyle Bohannon said, "We are deeply committed to the East Valley and are proud to expand our 'best-in-class' services to the Mesa community. Our East Valley residents will enjoy convenient appointment times with experts in vision care and related surgical procedures performed by the nation's leading surgeons."Michael Maiberger is Dayton, Ohio-based Miami Valley Hospital's new president, Dayton Business Journal reports.

Here are six things to know:

1. Mr. Maiberger is executive vice president and COO of Dayton-based Premier Health, Miami Valley Hospital's parent.

2. He will assume a dual role, keeping his current position while taking on the president role at Miami Valley Hospital.

3. His previous experience includes serving as president and CEO at Premier Health's Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy, Ohio.

4. He is also a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce's board of directors.

5. Mr. Maiberger holds a master's degree in healthcare administration from Cincinnati-based Xavier University.

6. He succeeds Mark Shaker, who left the hospital last year.From a federal judge seeking quick resolution of more than 200 opioids lawsuits to a physician imposter sentenced to prison, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits making headlines.

1. Federal judge calls for quick resolution to 200+ opioids lawsuits

A federal judge is overseeing the consolidation of more than 200 opioid lawsuits filed by counties, states and hospitals, among other entities, against drugmakers and distributors. The judge on Jan. 9 called for attorneys representing both sides to achieve a swift resolution that beneficially targets the opioid crisis.

2. Hospital groups to appeal lawsuit dismissal that permits $1.6B in Medicare payment cuts

The American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges and America's Essential Hospitals formally notified the court Jan. 9 of their intent to appeal a federal judge's dismissal of the groups' lawsuit that sought to halt a $1.6 billion reduction to Medicare payments made under the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

3. 1 of 12 fired Missouri hospital employees files lawsuit for wrongful termination

Dwayne Doran, former director of safety and security at Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.), one of 12 employees fired in August 2017 amid a federal investigation into a patient care lapse, is suing the hospital for wrongful termination.

4. Pennsylvania judge overturns $27.8M Xarelto decision against J&J, Bayer

A judge in Pennsylvania overturned a $27.8 million jury award against Johnson & Johnson and Bayer AG over claims their blood thinner Xarelto caused internal bleeding.

5. Repeat physician imposter heads to prison: 7 things to know

Malachi Love-Robinson first posed as a physician three years ago when he was 17 years old. After pleading guilty Jan. 4 to practicing medicine without a license, practicing naturopathy without a license and grand theft, the now-20-year-old is headed to prison for 3.5 years.

6. Man faces assault charges after punching Texas hospital security officer

A man in Bryan, Texas, is facing assault charges after he punched a security guard at College Station (Texas) Medical Center.

7. Centene sued for failing to provide adequate access to physicians: 5 things to know

An unidentified number of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Centene in federal court Jan. 11, claiming the health insurer failed to provide patients with adequate access to in-network physicians in approximately 15 states.

8. Florida physician charged with sexually assaulting woman during colonoscopy: 5 things to know

A Florida-based gastroenterologist was arrested Jan. 5 and charged with a felony count of sexual battery for allegedly sexually assaulting an unconscious female patient during a colonoscopy at HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

California regulators demand 9 health plans terminate contracts with medical group

Federal lawsuit: Duke, UNC agreed not to hire each other's physicians

Criminal probe targets Kaiser hospital following patient's deathA former vice president of Minneapolis-based Allina Health is accused of embezzling $269,000 from the health system, according to the Star Tribune.

According to a complaint filed in Hennepin County (Minn.) District Court, David Matthew Johnson, Allina's former vice president of talent and human resource services, submitted fraudulent mileage expenses to Allina for reimbursement. An internal investigation, which began in May 2017, revealed many of the out-of-town meetings Mr. Johnson said he attended never happened or he was not in attendance, according to the complaint.

In addition to filing false expense reports, Mr. Johnson also allegedly used his corporate credit card to pay for tickets to sporting events, which he was not authorized to do.

The complaint against Mr. Johnson covers alleged crimes committed within the five-year statute of limitations. However, Allina officials believe he embezzled a total of $775,000 from the health system since 2004, according to the report.

Mr. Johnson, who was placed on administrative leave in May and later fired, is charged with seven counts of theft. His first court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 14.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

California regulators demand 9 health plans terminate contracts with medical group

Federal lawsuit: Duke, UNC agreed not to hire each other's physicians

Criminal probe targets Kaiser hospital following patient's deathBrian Bauer, former CEO of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network, has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses him of breach of contract and defamation, according to The Journal Gazette.

In the lawsuit, LHN and its parent company, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, allege Mr. Bauer breached his contract with the health network by sharing confidential information with the system's competitors. Mr. Bauer was removed from his position at LHN in June 2017 after CHS rejected a buyout offer from a group of LHN physicians, but the lawsuit alleges he spread confidential and proprietary information about CHS' affiliates even after he was fired. The lawsuit claims Mr. Bauer created a Facebook account in August under the pseudonym Sajin Young to share updates and opinions about CHS and LHN.

The lawsuit alleges Mr. Bauer, who was contracted by Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health to help develop a physician practice in Fort Wayne, defamed LHN and engaged in a scheme to disrupt the health network's business, interfere with patient and physician relations, and "[sowed] the seeds of unfounded fear with staff."

In his motion to dismiss, Mr. Bauer argues the complaint provides no specific instances of when he defamed CHS and provides no evidence the company lost revenue because of his alleged interference with business relationships, according to the report.

If the court does not dismiss the lawsuit, Mr. Bauer argues the case should proceed in Indiana, where the alleged incidents occurred, instead of in Tennessee. A hearing on his motion is slated for Jan. 25.

CHS spokeswoman Tomi Galin told The Journal Gazette, "We believe Mr. Bauer's actions harmed Lutheran Health Network, and we look forward to a full airing of the facts as this litigation proceeds." She also noted that Mr. Bauer's motion to dismiss was filed prior to CHS' amended complaint, which accuses him of engaging in a scheme to drive down LHN's value to force a sale of the system.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

California regulators demand 9 health plans terminate contracts with medical group

Federal lawsuit: Duke, UNC agreed not to hire each other's physicians

Criminal probe targets Kaiser hospital following patient's deathLaw enforcement arrested a Du Bois, Pa.-based family medicine physician on Thursday for charges related to the alleged unlawful prescription of opioids, which contributed to the overdoses of two patients, one of whom died.

Henry Dela Torre, MD, allegedly prescribed opioids  including fentanyl and oxycodone  to two patients, a brother and sister, with a history of addiction in April 2015. In August 2016, police launched an investigation into the family medicine physician after one of the patients  Rachel Shumaker  overdosed and died. Subsequently, the deceased patient's brother  Randal Shumaker  overdosed on opioids prescribed by Dr. Dela Torre in September 2016. Mr. Shumaker survived the overdose after first responders administered Narcan.

"The illegal diversion and misuse of prescription drugs are fueling the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania," said Josh Shapiro, state attorney general. "Our arrests for unlawful diversions are up 72 percent from a year ago, and we've added resources to attack this growing problem. Whether you're a drug dealer on the street corner or a physician, if your actions help fuel this epidemic, we're coming after you."

Law enforcement charged Dr. Dela Torre with violations of the Controlled Substances Act, Medicaid fraud and other related offenses. The court set bail at $150,000 and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Feb. 21.

More articles on opioids:

Trump signs bill to crack down on opioid smuggling: 3 things to know

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Trump opioid commission member, public health officials criticize White House response to opioid crisis: 7 things to knowThe majority of providers don't communicate with patients via email, despite being receptive to replying by email to patients who reach out first, according to a study published in the European Journal for Person Centered Healthcare.

For the study, the researchers surveyed 149 primary care providers at a Mid-Atlantic community practice about their communication with patients outside of the clinic. The researchers considered cellphone, email and text message-based communication.

Here are three insights into clinician-patient communication.

1. Clinicians were more likely to use cellphones to communicate with patients, rather than email. Fewer than half of clinicians indicated they use email to communicate with patients.

2. Seventy percent of clinicians said they would use email if a patient emailed them first. Providers who made their email addresses available to patients were more likely to communicate electronically.

3. The researchers also investigated providers' concerns about patient communication. They found clinicians tended to worry about patients missing urgent messages or misunderstanding information.

"It's time that doctor and patient have a face-to-face conversation during an office visit explaining how each feels about electronic communication," said Joy L. Lee, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Indianapolis-based Indiana University School of Medicine.

"Patients can discuss their electronic access and their comfort level with getting information electronically," she continued. "Physicians can share their own concerns with patients."Nashville (Tenn.) Mayor Megan Barry is delaying decisions on the fate of Nashville General Hospital, a city-owned safety-net hospital, until the end of 2018, according to The Tennessean.

In November, Ms. Barry announced Nashville General Hospital would end inpatient services and transition to an ambulatory surgical care center. She initially proposed ceasing inpatient services at the hospital by June 2018.

However, Ms. Barry decided to revisit the issue after stakeholders criticized her plan.

"My announcement in November 2017 was meant to be positive and a starting point for a broader stakeholder conversation about the future of indigent care in Nashville," Ms. Barry wrote in a letter to the Metro Council, the legislative authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville. "Obviously this has not occurred as intended and I'm sorry I didn't engage you and other stakeholders before the announcement was made."

She proposed a "reset" on the process, which pleased Metro Councilwoman Tanaka Vercher, who has been a critic of the mayor's original plan and timeline for changes at Nashville General.

"I am in full support of a 'reset' of the process to determine the future of our public safety net hospital," she said, according to the report. "It is critical that the process is transparent and thorough."

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Kansas community hospital to close home health agency; public health officials voice concernRobert Holtzman, MD, received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, according to the NB Herald.

Here are five things to know:

1. Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based Marquis Who's Who, the leading publisher of biographical profiles, presented Dr. Holtzman with the award.

2. Dr. Holtzman is board certified in neurosurgery as well as in psychiatry and neurology. He received his medical degree from Columbia University in New York City and has worked as an attending neurosurgeon throughout his career, focusing on cranial, spinal and peripheral nerve surgery and performing spinal decompression with stabilization and fusions.

3. He co-founded the Stonwin Medical Conference and served as its co-director.

4. In addition to working as an attending neurosurgeon, Dr. Holtzman served as an associate clinical professor in neurosurgery at Columbia and has been published in various medical journals and textbooks.

5. Dr. Holtzman presently serves as chairman of the New York City chapter of the Bar Harbor, Maine-based Jackson Laboratory's National Council. He worked to establish funding for graduate student fellowships at the laboratory for biological and genetic research.

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90-day posterior lumbar fusion payments: 74.2% to 77% go to hospitals  5 things to knowHere are 9 spine and neurosurgeons making headlines.

Amarillo, Texas-based neurosurgeon Jeffrey Cone, MD, had his medical license temporarily suspended because of his child sexual assault arrest in December 2017.

Spine surgeon Jason Kelly, MD, joined Fargo, N.D.-based Essentia Health-32nd Avenue Clinic.

Advocate Medical Group welcomed five neurosurgeons to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. The five neurosurgeons will practice at the hospitals Brain & Spine Institute and include:

Egon Doppenberg, MD

Dean Karahalios, MD

Jonathan Liu, MD

Patrick Sugrue, MD

Robert Givens Kellogg, MD

Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Physician Associates-Neurosciences welcomed neurosurgeon Justin S. Whitlow, MD.

New York City-based neurosurgeon Robert Holtzman, MD, received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Spine surgery safer in hospitals vs. outpatient center: 4 insightsA judge has told a Belfast man that parents would be sickened by the way he groomed a 14-year-old girl.

District Judge Liam McNally was speaking at Coleraine Magistrates' Court, where 24-year-old Daniel McCormick of Glenrosa Link, Belfast, was put on probation for two years.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years and made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) for five years.

McCormick had previously been found guilty in his absence of two charges of meeting a child following "sexual grooming" and intentionally engaging in "sexual touching" in December 2015.

The specifics of the grooming charge are that he communicated with the child on one or more occasions and met her not reasonably believing her to be over 16. Prosecutor Breige Gilmore said that in December 2015 police received a report that a girl who was 14 at the time told her guardian that she was involved in a "sexual relationship".

The guardian told police she had been checking the girl's phone and noticed "inappropriate texts" and McCormick was on a contact list.

The teenager admitted "kissing on the train" with the defendant near Coleraine.

McCormick was arrested and phones and other items were seized. CCTV was also taken from a train platform and from the interior of a train which showed the defendant and the girl getting on the train and sitting together.

During a police interview, McCormick claimed he had gone to meet a friend and "by chance" met the girl and "gave her a hug" and he said he had "put his hand on her leg".

He also told officers that after getting off the train he "kissed her, on the platform, for about five minutes", claiming the kissing had been "consensual".

Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said the defendant was "vulnerable" and since 2015 there had been no further offences, but McCormick was moved from his accommodation by police because of a threat to him.

The defence lawyer said although he was not trying to diminish the actions, in terms of the "actual assault", it was not near the top level of such offending.

Judge McNally said the "astute work" of the girl's guardian "may have prevented this matter becoming more serious".

He told McCormick: "I think anyone hearing the facts of this case and anyone who is a parent or a grandparent, the very idea of you being 24, on a train, kissing a young girl of 14, would immediately lend anyone to conclude that I should send you to prison."

The judge added that the defendant had accepted his guilt and he had to weigh up what was the best way to ensure he does not reoffend.

The judge did not believe a two or three month prison term would achieve that and instead placed him on probation for two years with conditions and put him on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Under the terms of the SOPO which was imposed on him, McCormick is banned from having any contact with children under the age of 16 unless with the approval of social services or his designated risk manager.

There were also conditions regarding having any internet-linked device and a ban on using the internet to attempt to contact children and safeguards regarding working with young people.

Judge McNally also told the defendant: "You are very fortunate I'm not sending you to prison.

"If you breach that probation order then I will send you to prison for four months."An appeal for missing Northern Irish man Michael Cullen has been made in the Republic.

Issuing an alert on behalf of the PSNI, An Garda Siochana asked the public for information on 33-year-old Michael Cullen.

The well-known beatbox performer from the North Circular Road area of north Belfast was last seen on Tuesday after 2pm.

He is 5'11'' with dark hair and a beard. He was last seen wearing a green puffa jacket, a grey jumper and black trousers.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Michael's mother Rosemarie made a plea for her son's return.

"Michael, we love you and we want you to come home; everything is going to be okay," she said.

Among those taking part in the search on Friday were Michael's sister Cathy (34), his younger brothers Daniel (31) and 21-year-old Colm, and his best friend Rory Girvan, a 32-year-old gym owner.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Musgrave Police Station on 028 9065 0222 or the non-emergency number on 101, quoting the reference 622 with the date 09/01/2018.A "popular and bubbly" 15-year-old lost her life after taking ecstasy, an inquest has heard.

Caitlin White, from Tandragee in Co Armagh, died at Craigavon Area Hospital on May 20 last year after taking the drug, also known as MDMA, while with friends in Corcrain Community Woodland in Portadown.

Emergency services were called to the scene after the Craigavon Senior High pupil became unconscious.

An inquest into her death at Newry courthouse yesterday was told Caitlin's mother Teresa White rushed to Corcrain after struggling to get hold of her daughter on the phone.

In a statement read to the inquest, Deborah Holmes, Caitlin's stepmother, said Miss White had been attempting to call her daughter to ask her if she wanted a lift home.

She said: "My understanding is that one of Caitlin's friends answered her phone and told Teresa that Caitlin could not breathe. We went to Corcrain to try and find Caitlin."

Miss Holmes said she travelled to Corcrain with Miss White and was told by a group of youths where Caitlin was.

"We walked down towards the pitches and there were at least 30 teenagers standing around," she said.

"Some were arguing and appeared to have been drinking. Caitlin was lying on the ground with her friend sitting on the ground beside her and Teresa was standing there too.

"Police were trying to clear some teenagers away. I leaned down and tried to talk to Caitlin, her eyes were open a little bit but she did not respond to me. She felt really hot to touch."

Miss White said her daughter suffered from asthma and blackouts. She added she had "gone off the rails" around last September and had started taking drugs.

Laura Herron (16), who went to school with Caitlin and was present when she collapsed, said she was a "popular and bubbly" student who was "mad, but in a good way".

She said: "She was not quiet about drugs and taking drugs. She would have told everyone, but she did not used to take the hard stuff. Just a bit of cannabis."

Constable Ashley Hutton was called to Corcrain Community Woodland at 5.55pm after receiving a report of concern for the safety of a male. She told the court on arrival Caitlin was unconscious on the ground and that a group of teenagers initially told police Caitlin had drunk too much and had fallen and hit her head. An ambulance was not called by the teenagers, but by the police at 6.33pm.

Paramedic Alan McElmurray said he was not tasked to go to Corcrain until after coming off another job at 7.05pm, arriving at the scene at 7.11pm. He told the court Caitlin went into cardiac arrest while she was being taken into the ambulance. She was then transported to Craigavon Area Hospital.

When asked why there was a gap between 6.33pm and 7.05pm to task an ambulance to go to Corcrain, Mr McElmurray said it was likely no other ambulances were free until after 7pm.

Miss White told the court: "My baby was lying there for a long time before I could get any help."

Dr Gail Browne, a consultant working in intensive care, said Caitlin was pronounced dead at 10.34pm despite aggressive efforts to save her life. Describing the situation as a "tragedy", Ms Browne said nothing more could have been done to save her life.

A pathologist report said Caitlin died due to MDMA toxicity.

Coroner Joe McCrisken said there had been 126 deaths from drug misuse in Northern Ireland last year, the only place in the UK to have seen a decrease in the number of deaths.

However, he said more work had to be done to ensure young people knew the risks of taking drugs.

"This young girl's death really should underline to the community the deadly risks associated with drugs," he said.

"Ecstasy is not a safe drug, no drug is safe when misused.

"It is a deadly drug of which all of our community should be very wary."Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney and Karen Bradley will meet again next week in the hope of making progress on the powersharing deadlock.

Mr Coveney, who flew into London from a visit to the Middle East to meet the newly appointed Northern Ireland Secretary, said the talks had been "very good" and he expected they were "g oing to work very well together".

The Irish deputy prime minister said there remained "significant challenges" but both governments wanted to find a way to resolve the stand-off.

He said: "Everybody knows that there are time constraints in terms of the work that we need to do but also I think everybody agrees that we want devolved government again in Northern Ireland."

The meeting came after a week where political relations in Northern Ireland were further strained, this time by controversies around the 1976 Kingsmill massacre in south Armagh.

Mr Coveney attacked the " really, really stupid and insensitive" actions of Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff, who posted a social media video of him with a Kingsmill branded loaf on his head on the anniversary of an atrocity that saw republican paramilitaries shoot dead 10 Protestant workmen.

Mr McElduff, who apologised and insisted the video was not a reference to the massacre, was suspended by Sinn Fein for three months.

Unionists reacted angrily, both to the post and the extent of Sinn Fein's punishment, and the incident appeared to further reduce the already bleak prospects of a deal to restore powersharing.

The situation was exacerbated on Wednesday when a number of unionist politicians retweeted a graphic satirical cartoon that portrayed the Mr McElduff controversy by depicting the aftermath of the Kingsmill outrage, with blood running from a bullet-riddled van.

The incidents prompted the sole survivor of the Kingsmill shootings, Alan Black, to implore politicians on all sides to stop trying to "poke each other's eye out" and instead help the victims.

However, a week of political rancour and animosity appeared to end on a more optimistic note when two senior DUP and Sinn Fein members engaged in more conciliatory exchanges on BBC NI's The View on Thursday night.

In a forthright condemnation of the Kingsmill outrage, Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd, who lost three family members at the hands of loyalist paramilitaries the day before Kingsmill, said he was "ashamed" by the sectarian attack.

The DUP's Edwin Poots welcomed the remarks and said his party was determined to see devolution returned.

Mr Coveney said: "I think the unfortunate things that have happened in relation to Kingsmill this week and the absolutely understandable upset of families because of a really, really stupid and insensitive occurrence is a reminder of just how important legacy and reconciliation is.

"So, that's why I hope people will get some encouragement from the tone of the interaction between Edwin Poots and John O'Dowd last night, which I hope is the tone we can continue in."

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Coveney also told reporters that he did not believe there was any ambiguity in the agreement reached in December on the Northern Ireland border during Brexit negotiations.

He said : "I don't think there is any ambiguity in the context of an all-Ireland economy and the need to protect north-south cooperation in the context of the Good Friday Agreement."

Meeting Mr Coveney inside the NIO offices, Mrs Bradley said: "We have a shared objective - restoring devolved government to Northern Ireland as soon as possible."

She noted that she had now had discussions with all the main parties at Stormont and Mr Coveney.

"I look forward to reflecting on those conversations over the weekend to decide the way forward," she added.

Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said: "Sinn Fein is absolutely ready to engage in meaningful talks to resolve the issues and re-establish the powersharing institutions.

"I want to lead my party into a new Executive based on genuine partnership government and I want to do that sooner rather than later."Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has called for closer Anglo-Irish relations.

In a speech on Brexit in Killarney in the Irish Republic, Mrs Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and Ireland in phase two of discussions on the UK's split from Europe.

And she suggested leaders across the island of Ireland should work together for the benefit of everyone.

The DUP chief said she planned to raise the prospect of enhancing Anglo-Irish relations, under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, when she meets Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

"Maintaining Northern Ireland's economic and political status as an integral part of the United Kingdom is absolutely crucial to me and my party," she said.

"To think anything else would be as foolish as believing that the Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar) or the Tanaiste (Mr Coveney) desired anything other than Irish unity.

"But while we will always battle for our own national interests, we must also battle for our mutual interests.

"And our mutual interests will not end on the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. The United Kingdom may be leaving the EU but the common interests that we share across the British Isles will remain."

Mrs Foster made the call at the Killarney Economic Conference in Co Kerry where the issues around Brexit were explored in a two-day conference.

Her suggestions about deepening ties and mutual respect mark a significant departure from the fallout which marked relations between the DUP and the Irish Government towards the end of last year amid both the fractious finish to phase one of the Brexit negotiations and the Irish border question and Mr Coveney's aspirations for a united Ireland.

The DUP suggested Anglo-Irish relations could be deepened through the British-Irish Council, which was set up as part the Good Friday Agreement to improve cooperation between the UK and Ireland in areas such as transport, the environment and energy.

"The UK exiting the European Union ought not to become a barrier to continued co-operation on issues of ongoing mutual interest," she said.

"It especially shouldn't become a barrier when the infrastructure - in the guise of the British-Irish Council - already exists that can allow us to continue to work together as closely as ever on issues of shared interest."

Mrs Foster gave the example of the Nordic Council, which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland as a means for developing Anglo-Irish relations. She noted that some of the Nordic countries are in the European Union and Eurozone, while others are not.

"Change should not be allowed to weaken the relationships so painstakingly put together across these British Isles," the DUP leader said.

"As challenging as finding a suitable solution might seem, there is no good reason why our own issues on this island should present any threat to the progress we've made.

"I value the relationships we have developed too much to do anything that would jeopardise them.

"But, whether we voted to leave or voted to remain, whether we are citizens of the United Kingdom or citizens of Ireland, we must accept the reality of the referendum result, refrain from the continued re-fighting of the referendum, and seek the sensible, mutually beneficial outcomes from the complex negotiation process ahead that will serve us all well."

Mrs Foster held talks with Micheal Martin, leader of Ireland's main opposition party, at the conference.

"The continued absence of an Executive and Assembly is extremely damaging to Northern Ireland in the context of the Brexit negotiations," he said.

Mr Martin agreed with Mrs Foster's criticism of "megaphone diplomacy" in the heat of Brexit negotiations.

"We need far more considered discussions and engagements. One always has to respect the postion of those you are negotiating with," he said.

"Some of what has gone on has been, in my view, damaging enough in terms of articulating positons too freely in public, to be frank, in advance of negotiations being complete. It's not the way to do business."

Mr Martin added: "I detect from Arlene Foster a clear commitment to the restoration of the Assembly and Executive and a belief that it's the right thing for Northern Ireland.

"In terms of Brexit... I think the focus needs to be on very practical and constructive engagement to mitigate the damage that in my opinion Brexit will do to trade and jobs between north and south and east and west."

Mrs Foster dismissed the idea of a second Brexit referendum.

"I would never advocate a second referendum," she said. "Where would you stop?

"We would be in a never-ending cycle of referendums."Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer stoutly defended one time boss President Donald trump on Irish TV last night.

Appearing on RTE 's Late Late Show, Spicer was grilled by host Ryan Tubridy to give his take the inside story of his months at the Trump White House.

An Irish American, Sean Spicer spent a tumultuous six months in the role of Press Secretary in the early days of President Trump's presidency before resigning in July last year.

But last night the life-long Republican said that, while he reckoned he could at times have done a better job as Presidential spokesman, he had no regrets about accepting the high profile post.

But in a wide-ranging discussion with, Mr Spicer admitted he was concerned about the President's alleged remarks about 's***hole' countries'.

"I will say this.

"As an Irish American, who understands the trials and tribulation of so many Irish folk coming to America, I'm very proud of America's history of welcoming immigrants.

"I believe America is a great country that welcomes immigrants, people who want to pursue the American dream.

"Immigrants have made our country what it is."A man has died after an incident in car in north Belfast.

It is understood the man passed away after becoming sick at the wheel.

The incident happened on Saturday afternoon on Twaddell Avenue.

The road between Ballygomartin Road and Woodvale Parade remains closed.

While police attended the scene, it is not being treated as a criminal matter.An 89-year-old paedophile former monk who told police he was "not really" attracted to young children has heard he faces "significant" sentences for his sex abuse of three boys in the early Seventies and Eighties.

In all Vincent Lewis, formally Bro Ambrose with Our Lady of Bethlehem Monastery in Portglenone, pleaded guilty to a total of 57 sex offences involving three boys on separate dates over a ten-year period up to 1983.

Antrim Crown Court heard that Lewis abused one boy while a monk in the Co Antrim priory which he joined when he was 16, and then sexually abused two brothers after leaving holy orders when he was 50 and later marrying.

Judge Desmond Marrinan, who adjourned sentence until next week said the former monk, who also once appeared on a dancing programme for BBC's True North series, faced "significant custodial sentences despite his age".

Earlier, prosecution QC David McDowell revealed that Lewis' reign of abuse began as Bro Ambrose, when he met his young victim, then aged ten, who did odd jobs around the Abbey. This abuse, which began in 1973, ended in 1978, shortly before leaving the monastery, was the more serious.

Mr McDowell said it involved indecent assaults which quickly escalated. The abuse took place both within the Abbey buildings, including a guest house for those on retreat, and also around the grounds.

He also revealed Bro Ambrose told the youngster his parents said he had been "bad, but I am here to look after you" before abusing him, and that what he was doing to him "was right".

The monk, who on occasions plied his victim with alcohol, would also give him his wage packet for the odd jobs he did, telling him, "there's a wee bit extra in there". The abuse ended when he was 15.

The court also heard that the man, paid an out of court settlement in 2000 for the abuse he suffered, eventually went to police after learning that the former monk was not as incapacitated as he was told.

Mr McDowell said the former monk's second victim was a young teenager whom he once tried to abuse on the shores of Lough Neagh after a swim, while the third was his younger brother, indecently assaulted and abused over a four year period from the age of nine.

The lawyer said that when eventually questioned by the police, Lewis denied even knowing his first victim. He made 'no comment' interviews when asked about the two brothers.

Defence QC James Gallagher, said Lewis, married for 40 years, said all of his offending behaviour "finished in its entirety 35 years ago and there has been no other occurence".

"Not only did it cease, but offending decreased in severity," said Mr Gallagher, adding that his offending first occurred 45 years ago, and that his first victim got a "remedy of sorts" when paid a "very considerable compensation".Police in Glengormley are operating with "additional resources" this weekend in an effort to calm spiralling anti-social behaviour in the town

Police in Glengormley are operating with "additional resources" this weekend in an effort to calm spiralling anti-social behaviour in the town.

Last weekend a young person was caught carrying a knife and a car was burnt out.

Officers have appealed once again to parents to keep an eye on children and teenagers who are flocking to the Co Antrim town every Friday and Saturday night, often in crowds of more than 100.

The latest bump in resources comes the week after 120 young people packed into the town centre on Friday night, bringing traffic to a standstill on the Antrim Road.

There is concern among residents that the gatherings are pre-planned and coordinated on social media, with children as young as 11 being dropped off in the town centre by parents or arriving from across Antrim and Belfast by bus.

On its Facebook page, PSNI Newtownabbey said: "Police are currently investigating a number of criminal offences linked to young people misbehaving in Glengormley last weekend.

"You will already be aware that one youth was found to be carrying a kitchen knife.

"We would like to reassure everyone in the community that, should there be any repeat in Glengormley this weekend, police have put additional resources in place and are fully prepared to deal robustly with any youths involved in any anti-social behaviour or breaking the law."

Chief Inspector Arthur Davidson added: "While we have no definitive evidence to confirm that this activity was orchestrated or planned, it is logical to look at whether social media played a role in bringing such large numbers of young people together.

"Parents should also be aware that this is occurring and help to prevent young people from becoming involved or caught up in these activities."

Alliance councillor John Blair witnessed the mayhem at first-hand last Friday, and said that something drastic needed to be done.

He added: "It's a problem that's been going on for years, but in terms of the numbers of kids, it's getting out of hand, and to think a child was caught with a knife last week is really worrying."DUP leader Arlene Foster will today set out a course for north-south relations through Brexit, answering criticisms that her party is "blase" over fears about how the process will impact the island.

In a striking metaphor, Mrs Foster will compare Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic as two houses tied together, but part of the same neighbourhood as she addresses a high-profile economic conference in Co Kerry this morning.

"I often think that Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are like a semi-detached house", the former First Minister is expected to say during a keynote address at the inaugural Killarney Economic Conference.

"The houses may look the same on the outside, but, inside, they look different and we do many things very differently.

"But no matter how contrasting the interiors are, they are tied together and part of the same neighbourhood and what happens on one side of the fence inevitably has an impact on the other."

Speaking as part of a panel with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, representatives of the Welsh and Scottish governments, and the British Ambassador to Ireland, Mrs Foster will speak of "longer-term opportunities".

"There is a view that my party is blase about those concerns", she will tell the conference.

"That we are motivated by an ideological desire to decouple the United Kingdom from the European Union without any concern for the consequences. That simply isn't true. We believe that there are new longer-term opportunities as well as short-term challenges from the UK's departure from the European Union."

Mrs Foster made the long journey to Co Kerry overnight, after speaking at a DUP event last night in the Upper Bann constituency, to give her speech at 11am.

Her comments follow a moment of rapprochement between the DUP and Sinn Fein earlier this week when John O'Dowd made his party's strongest statement to date condemning the IRA's massacre at Kingsmill of 10 Protestant workmen as "shameful" and purely sectarian. Mrs Foster is expected to personalise what she is telling her audience of politicians, academics, economists and business analysts by recalling her own border childhood and describing how she recognises the progress made in cross-border relations, and applauding the "unimaginably positive relations between our two states".

"Whilst the referendum was a vote by the British people, the ripples that flow from the referendum result will be far reaching with long-term implications for people well beyond the shores of the United Kingdom," she is expected to say.

"And I appreciate and understand that nowhere will be more impacted by the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union than Ireland. I grew up only a few miles from the Fermanagh/Monaghan border. I saw for myself growing up how, even during our darkest days, we shared close economic, cultural and social ties across the border. My own grandmother used to travel back and forward across the border on a bicycle to sell Irish lace in Clones.

"Those ties have strengthened since the Troubles ended, to the extent that in recent times we have enjoyed an extraordinarily, unimaginably positive relations between our two states. I don't want to lose any of that."

In her remarks, Mrs Foster will praise cross-border co-operation in areas such as healthcare.

"The progress we have made together was hard won," she will say. "I lose none of my Unionism by saying that I am proud of that progress.

"We should all be proud of initiatives like the Cancer Centre at Altnaglevin Hospital in Londonderry, where patients from both sides of the border are receiving the treatment they need. And whilst the UK's exit from the EU has the potential to test the progress we've made, it doesn't automatically mean that everything we have achieved is or will be undone."

Turning to the post-Brexit landscape, Mrs Foster will emphasise that it is not about the UK "pulling up the drawbridge" against neighbours.

"I know that we are rivals in some respects, but in so many ways success for one of us is success for the other," she will say.

"As we chart a new course for the future, it is not in our interests to see the Republic of Ireland do anything other than prosper. Nor does it help any of us if we let the challenges that Brexit brings deflect us from the opportunities that will exist in the future.

"We will continue to have our own identities and for our part we will no longer be members of the European Union, but our futures will still be closely connected.

"The DUP supported the UK leaving the European Union, but in so doing Brexit is not about pulling up the drawbridge, building a wall and cutting ourselves off from our nearest neighbours."

And while making it clear that the Brexit process is unstoppable, she will call on her southern audience to seize the opportunities it offers. "We must all recognise that change is coming as a result of the referendum. It is our job as politicians to help shape that change, but to do so in a way that ensures that those economic, cultural and social ties that have endured through difficult times and have thrived through better ones continue into the future."Social media companies need to clamp down on inappropriate material being posted on their sites or face "recourse through the courts", a former minister has warned.

Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, the ex-minster for culture, communications and creative industries, said politicians "shouldn't be frightened" to take on the big companies to ensure citizens are protected.

It follows the landmark case of the 14-year-old girl from Northern Ireland who secured an out-of-court settlement with Facebook after nude images of her were repeatedly posted on a revenge porn page.

Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Mr Vaizey said: "There needs to be potentially a regulatory backstop to make companies introduce this type of technology (which recognises when indecent images are posted). The technology exists.

"I think there have been a lot of changes but of course we can go further.

"One of the hugely irritating things about this debate is if any politician sticks their head above the parapet, the tech ecology stands up and says: 'These politicians don't understand tech.'

"We do understand a civic society, there are civic norms, tech needs to come into the public square and politicians shouldn't be frightened of engaging with them on this issue."

Earlier this week l awyers acting for the teenager over the revenge porn images - allegedly posted several times between November 2014 and January 2016 - criticised the police handling of the case.

One of the teenager's lawyers, Pearse MacDermott from McCann and McCann Solicitors, told the Press Association that police delays in the handling of the case meant officers were unable to prosecute the person who posted the images, which caused a "detrimental effect" to the girl's mental health.

Responding to social media platforms' roles in removing image-based abuse and other inappropriate content, Mr Vaizey said: "Should Facebook have some responsibility for what goes on on what we would call its platform? Yes it should, and there has been some legislation which is sort of trying to catch up.

"But I don't think politicians should shy away from the fact that we do need legalisation to combat these new issues.

"Although Facebook initially took down this horrific post (of the Northern Irish 14-year-old), it came back on again and Facebook didn't act.

"Facebook and the other companies have the power to combat these issues and they need to act.

"More and more people are talking about the fact that social media companies have to take responsibility, and if not there should be legislation and certainly recourse through the courts."

Revenge porn laws were introduced by Westminster in 2015 following a campaign which garnered cross-party support.A speech made by DUP leader Arlene Foster focusing on post-Brexit relations between the Republic and Northern Ireland was effectively an argument for access to the EU's single market and customs union, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said.

Speaking on Saturday morning at an event in Killarney, Co Kerry, Mrs Foster made calls for closer Anglo-Irish relations, and for political leaders across the island to work together for their mutual benefit.

The DUP leader said she would pursue enhanced relations through the British-Irish Council, when she meets Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

"The Democratic Unionist Party supported the UK leaving the European Union but in so doing Brexit is not about pulling up the drawbridge, building a wall and cutting ourselves off from our nearest neighbours," she said.

Mr Eastwood said the decision by Arlene Foster to speak in the Republic "sends a signal in the right direction".

"While much of the content of the speech the SDLP could not agree with, the willingness of Mrs Foster to accept that her party will have to work on an all-island basis with our partners in the south to deal with the challenges of Brexit is a welcome step," he said.

In particular, in her remarks, the DUP Leader spoke of how she personally experienced the benefit of no border and again argued against a hard border in Ireland. This is significant - Mrs Foster is effectively arguing for access to the single market and customs union.

The SDLP has long argued that only with access to the single market and customs union can we protect our interests on this island. But we have also argued that only with a local government here to make decisions here on this island can we protect people here from the economic and socio-political disaster Brexit could bring."

In her speech, Mrs Foster cited the Nordic Council - a forum which exists between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the autonomous territories of the Faroes, Greenland and the Aland Islands - as an example of co-operation between countries both within and outside of the European Union.

Mr Eastwood added: "The three strands of relationships, at the heart of the Good Friday Agreements architecture, do offer opportunity in protecting our interests in the face of Brexit. However, what Mrs Foster refers to as a replica of the Nordic Council model cannot be a substitute for political leadership and a local government.

What this statement this morning highlights is that Brexit must be a basis for talks. No political leader here can speak for Northern Ireland alone but what the DUP Leader has exposed today is that there is some common ground. Political dialogue is needed here to explore that common ground, where there is room for compromise and if there is a way to move forward."A detective accused of misusing cash earmarked for the search for missing Madeleine McCann has been found dead

A private detective accused of exploiting the hunt for Madeleine McCann to fund his lavish lifestyle has been found dead.

Kevin Halligen, 56, gained notoriety when his firm Oakley International was used by the toddler's parents to help search for their missing daughter.

His Washington-based company received about 300,000 of cash donated by the public after Madeleine vanished from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three.

He was later forced to deny claims the money was actually siphoned off to pay for first-class travel, luxury hotel suites, a chauffeur and a mansion in Virginia, US.

Adrian Gatton, a TV director and investigative journalist, who made a documentary with Halligen in 2014 for Channel 5 - The McCanns and the Conman - and who knew Halligen well, confirmed to the Press Association that he died last Monday, having sunk into alcohol addiction.

He said: "Although his death is certainly not foul play, as has been suggested, there are certainly a lot of people who wished him ill. But he was also unique.

"I knew chapter and verse about his life and career, but my interest was really to try and get to the bottom of why he did what he did.

"My understanding is that he was found dead on Monday night. There was blood around the house, probably caused by previous falls when he was either drunk or blacking out.

"Halligen was increasingly shambolic and these blood stains hadn't been cleared up.

"His house was full of empty drink bottles. A lot of people wished him ill but his death is almost certainly related to alcoholism."

Surrey Police said the death was currently being treated as "unexplained".

A spokesman said: "We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died.

"The death is being treated as unexplained and a file will be passed to the coroner's office in due course."

The McCanns used the Irish national's firm for around six months to look for their missing daughter.

The 500,000 contract saw the firm hire private detectives, set up a hotline and process information.

The McCanns terminated the arrangement without paying the full fees because Halligen, from Surrey, apparently failed to fulfil certain agreements.

He was then extradited to the US in 2012 to face charges over an unrelated 1.3 million con, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013.

Dutch company Trafigura were targeted in the scam, being told by Halligen that he needed funds to secure the release of two business executives who were arrested in the Ivory Coast.

In an interview for a 2014 Channel 5 documentary, Halligen denied claims he misused money raised to find Madeleine.

He said: "It is gross distortion of what was actually happening.

"The print media in particular took this line that really nothing was being done, I was living the high life on the proceeds of the McCann case.

"Trust me, I didn't buy so much as a new suit. The money, all of it, is fully accountable."Shareholders and creditors, not taxpayers, should take the financial hit of saving struggling construction giant Carillion from collapse, the Liberal Democrat leader has said.

Vince Cable rejected suggestions the company should benefit from a Government bailout to avoid major public sector projects being plunged into chaos.

Carillion is a key supplier to the Government and has contracts in the rail industry, education and NHS.

.@Carillionplc collapse. Why did co get public sector contracts for @HS2ltd @networkrail Corby-London electrification #defence #schools after profit warning showed high risk? Too big to fail and failed.  Vince Cable (@vincecable) January 12, 2018

It has met lenders to discuss options to reduce debts, recapitalise and/or restructure the groups balance sheet.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said on Friday the Government must stand ready to bring these contracts back into public control, stabilise the situation and safeguard our public services.

But as the crisis deepened into the weekend Mr Cable, a former business secretary, warned the move should be avoided.

He told the BBC: I think what has to happen in this case is the contracts have to be kept going and supporting the supply chain and the tens of thousands of workers and that can be done by the Government taking a lot of this in-house or re-tendering in other cases.

The Government cant just do a financial bailout.

The shareholders and the creditors  the big banks  have got to take a hit, they cant just offload all of the losses on to the taxpayer.

Government must intervene to protect Carillion employees, pension holders and taxpayers - @jon_trickett https://t.co/VRfIoRdHhZ  Labour Press (@labourpress) January 13, 2018

Carillion has struggled since reporting half-year losses of 1.15 billion and a meeting was held on Friday to discuss its pensions deficit.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), Unite and GMB unions all called for workers rights, including pensions, to be protected as a priority.

A Government spokeswoman said on Friday: Carillion is a major supplier to the Government, with a number of long-term contracts. We are committed to maintaining a healthy supplier market and work closely with our key suppliers.

The company has kept us informed of the steps it is taking to restructure the business. We remain supportive of their ongoing discussions with their stakeholders and await future updates on their progress.

The collapse of #Carillion could provoke a serious crisis. The Government, must stand ready to bring these contracts back into public control  Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) January 12, 2018

Jon Trickett MP, Labours shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, responding to talks on the future of Carillion, said: It has been clear for months that Carillion has been in difficulty but the Government has continued to hand over contracts to the company even after profits warnings were issued.

Jobs and public services are now at risk because the Tories were blinded by their commitment to a failing ideological project of introducing the profit motive into taxpayer-funded services.

Labour urges the Government to stand ready to intervene and bring these crucial public-sector contracts back in-house in order to protect Carillions employees, pension holders and British taxpayers.Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has called for closer Anglo-Irish relations.

In a speech on Brexit in Killarney in the Irish Republic, Mrs Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and Ireland in phase two of discussions on the UKs split from Europe.

And she suggested leaders across the island of Ireland should work together for the benefit of everyone.

Awaiting Arlene: Camera crews ready and waiting for DUP leader at The Brehon in Killarney #KillarneyEconomicConference #KEC pic.twitter.com/JmZTArIXQs  KEconomicConference (@KEconomicConf) January 13, 2018

The DUP chief said she planned to raise the prospect of enhancing Anglo-Irish relations, under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, when she meets Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

Maintaining Northern Irelands economic and political status as an integral part of the United Kingdom is absolutely crucial to me and my party, she said.

To think anything else would be as foolish as believing that the Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar) or the Tanaiste (Mr Coveney) desired anything other than Irish unity.

But while we will always battle for our own national interests, we must also battle for our mutual interests.

And our mutual interests will not end on the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. The United Kingdom may be leaving the EU but the common interests that we share across the British Isles will remain.

Mrs Foster made the call at the Killarney Economic Conference in Co Kerry where the issues around Brexit were explored in a two-day conference.London mayor Sadiq Khan responded to pro-Donald Trump protesters interrupting a speech he was giving by taking a swipe at the US president.

Mr Khans address to a Fabian Society conference in central London had to be suspended for several minutes as a handful of demonstrators from the White Pendragons group called for the mayor to be arrested as they made statements in support of Mr Trump and Brexit.

When Mr Khan resumed his speech after the protesters were escorted from the venue by police, he took a dig at the American president who recently described himself as a very stable genius.

Mr Khan told delegates: It is a pleasure to be here even though we were distracted by the actions of what some would call very stable geniuses.

The mayor and US president have clashed publicly a number of times over issues like counter terrorism and Mr Trumps proposed state visit to the UK.

Today at @thefabians conference I spoke about how we cannot allow a populist, anti-feminist narrative to take hold in Britain. Men must become better allies and progressives must fight back. #BehindEveryGreatCity #Fab18 pic.twitter.com/pbbOPH6zYv  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 13, 2018

The mayor also tried to make light of the protest with a reference to Prime Minister Theresa Mays Tory conference speech, which was interrupted by a prankster, saying: On the plus side I wasnt served with a P45.

Video shared on social media showed the moment the activists interrupted Mr Khans speech, just after the mayor was introduced to the stage.

One man could be heard addressing the audience with: Ladies and gentlemen, were here today to make a non-violent, peaceful citizens arrest.

Audience members started to heckle and slow-clap, during which security appeared.

Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems heas finally got that message. pic.twitter.com/YD0ZHuWtr3  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 12, 2018

However their attempts to eject those responsible for the disruption were initially met with aversion from the protesters, one of whom could be heard saying: We stand under Common Law jurisdiction.

If you touch us, youll be done for common assault. Please stand back, do not touch us.

Were not leaving, weve paid for a ticket.

He then accused the Fabian Society of subverting the constitution.Four US soldiers and four Nigerian troops were killed in the assault

An offshoot of Islamic State has claimed it carried out the October attack in Niger that killed four US soldiers and four Nigerien troops.

The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported that the self-professed IS affiliate Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi claimed responsibility for the October 4 attack about 120 miles north of Niger's capital, Niamey.

The news agency has carried messages from the affiliate before, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites.

The news agency said the extremists also claimed responsibility for an attack on Thursday on a French military convoy, and for a series of attacks in Niger and border areas with Mali and Burkina Faso.US president Donald Trump has offered a partial denial in public over his extraordinary remarks disparaging Haitians and African countries - but privately defended them, according to an insider.

Mr Trump said he was only expressing what many people think, but will not say, about immigrants from economically depressed countries, according to a source who spoke to the president as the controversy unfolded.

He spent Thursday evening making a flurry of calls to friends and outside advisers to judge their reaction to the tempest, according to the insider.

Mr Trump was not apologetic about his inflammatory remarks and denied he was racist, and instead blamed the media for distorting his meaning, according to his confidant.

Critics of the president, including some in his own Republican Party, attacked the vulgar comments he made behind closed doors.

In his meeting with a group of senators, Mr Trump had questioned why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to one participant and others who had been briefed on the remarkable Oval Office conversation.

The comments revived charges that the president is racist, and rocked immigration talks that were already on a tenuous footing.

In a series of tweets, Mr Trump said: "The language used by me at the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) meeting was tough, but this was not the language used".

However, his advisers notably did not dispute the most controversial of his reported remarks: using the word "shithole" to describe African nations, and saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the only Democrat in the room, said Mr Trump had indeed said what he was reported to have said.

The remarks, Mr Durbin said, were "vile, hate-filled and clearly racial in their content".

He said Mr Trump used the most vulgar term "more than once".

"If that's not racism, I don't know how you can define it," Florida representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, told WPLG-TV in Miami.

Republican senator Jeff Flake of Arizona tweeted: "The words used by the president, as related to me directly following the meeting by those in attendance, were not 'tough', they were abhorrent and repulsive."

Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein called the comments "beneath the dignity of the presidency" and said Mr Trump's desire to see more immigrants from countries like Norway was "an effort to set this country back generations by promoting "a homogeneous, white society."

Republican leaders were largely silent, although House Speaker Paul Ryan said the vulgar language was "very unfortunate, unhelpful".

Mr Trump's insults - along with his rejection of the bipartisan immigration deal drafted by six senators - also threatened to further complicate efforts to extend protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to the US as children and remain there illegally.

Mr Trump last year ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals scheme, which provided protection from deportation along with the ability to work legally in the US. He gave Congress until March to come up with a legislative solution.

The three Democratic and three Republican senators who had struck their proposed deal had been working for months on how to balance those protections with Mr Trump's demands for border security, an end to a visa lottery aimed at increasing immigrant diversity, and limits to immigrants' ability to sponsor family members to join them in America.

It is unclear now how a deal might emerge, and failure could lead to a US government shutdown.

Senior congressman Mike Simpson said: "The rhetoric just makes it more difficult, and that's unfortunate.

"I don't think it makes it impossible, but I suspect the Democrats are sitting there going: 'Why would we want to compromise with him on anything?'"

Legislators have until January 19 to approve a government-wide stopgap spending bill, and Republicans will need Democratic votes to push the measure through. But some Democrats have threatened to withhold support unless an immigration pact is forged.

Mr Trump's comments came as Mr Durbin was presenting details of the compromise plan that included providing 1.6 billion US dollars (1.2 billion) for the first instalment of the president's long-sought border wall.

Mr Trump took particular issue with the idea that people who had fled to the US after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti would be allowed to stay as part of the deal.

When it came to talk of extending protections for Haitians, Mr Durbin said the president replied: "We don't need more Haitians."

"He said: 'Put me down for wanting more Europeans to come to this country. Why don't we get more people from Norway?" Mr Durbin told reporters in Chicago.

Mr Trump insisted that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems."

And he wrote: "I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"

APKriti Sanon Carried A Sassy Summery Look For A Winter Afternoon Bollywood Wardrobe Dona

Kriti Sanon was spotted at B-Blunt salon in Juhu and she carried her Friday afternoon look like a sassy diva. The actress was wearing a pair of casual separates and that look was simply outstanding.

As a part of her Friday OOTD, Kriti was wearing a pair of separates, including a camisole floral printed maroon top with a pair of white distressed jeans. The separates were worn with a pair of white sneakers and a pair of black wayfarers.

The entire look book was simply amazing and we must appreciate her for carrying the mid-summer look book during the end of winter quite well. Mumbai weather can be a reason, but Kriti wore her style book with sheer perfection. No complaints about that.The winner of the BT Young Scientist Exhibition said there are "no words in the English language to describe how" he feels.

15-year-old Simon Meehan from Colaiste Choilm in Ballincollig, Co.Cork was crowned the winner last night for his project about the medicinal use of plants to fight illnesses.A giant Christ statue in Perus capital that was donated by a construction company at the center of Latin Americas largest corruption scandal was damaged today in a fire, days before Pope Francis is set to arrive in the South American nation.

Peruvians awoke to find nearly the entire back of the statue, perched on a barren desert bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, charred black.

A spokesperson with Perus firefighting corps told RPP Noticias that two dozen firefighters responded to the blaze and that an early working theory was the Christ of the Pacific was purposely set aflame.

However police later told state news agency Andina that electrical cables for the statues lighting had short-circuited due to humidity, sparking the blaze.

Police security for the Holy Fathers visit is assured, Col. Manuel Rivera said.

The 69-foot (21-meter) statue was donated by Brazilian company Odebrecht in 2011, and for many Peruvians it has become a sour reminder of the companys illegal maneuverings to court and bribe high-ranking officials in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.

In January 2017, vandals covered the statue in messages like Out of the country Odebrecht.

Two former Peruvian presidents are accused of accepting money from Odebrecht, and current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski narrowly escaped impeachment in December over his ties to the company.

Opposition lawmakers uncovered documents showing Kuczynskis private consulting firm received $782,000 from Odebrecht more than a decade ago when he was serving as a government minister.

Kuczynski has denied knowing anything about the payments, saying he recused himself from all consulting business while in the position.

The Christ statues burning comes five days before Francis is scheduled to arrive in Peru.

The pope has hoped to highlight the need to protect the Amazon rainforest during his visit, but Peruvians will be paying close attention to whether he addresses corruption.

Its an issue close to his heart, and he has called graft more insidious than sin and a plague that hurts the poorest the most.

The statue cost about $1 million, Odebrecht said in 2011.

- AP and Digital deskACT Parks and Conservation manager Brett McNamara's most important tip for bushwalking safely this summer concerns your mobile phone.

"You can't eat it. It won't keep you warm and it basically won't work," Mr McNamara said.

ACT parks and conservation service regional manager Brett McNamara at Gibraltar Peak. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"Do not rely on a mobile phone when you head into the back country."

Mr McNamara said people should be prepared: be mindful of the weather, tell a friend or family member your plans, pack plenty of water, a first aid kit ("even if it's just basic") and be sun smart.There are concerns about rising Islamic conservatism and religious intolerance, with the former Chinese-Indonesian Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama  known as Ahok  jailed for blasphemy last year and an unprecedented crackdown on the nation's LGBT community. But there are also unsung heroes everywhere. The Sumatran school doing its bit to tackle the national rubbish crisis by allowing parents to pay fees with recycled rubbish, the Muslims who provide security outside churches at Christmas, the women of Rembang who planted their feet in blocks of concrete outside the presidential palace to protest against the environmental damage caused by a cement factory, the Acehnese fishing communities who welcomed Rohingya refugees when the rest of the world turned its back. Struggling to articulate Indonesia's contradictions, I find myself craving my favourite comfort food, martabak manis, a sweet pancake stuffed with chocolate and grated cheddar cheese. It's a much loved food combination here I once thought disgusting. Now I snap: "How is chocolate and cheese any different to caramel and sea salt?" But unlike my friend's instant crush on Indonesia, my relationship with the country was a complicated slow-burner.

Jewel Topsfield interviewed Indonesian President Joko Widodo, centre, with Fairfax Media's Peter Hartcher, left. Credit:Jefri Tarigan Within days of my arrival, Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, rejected the clemency pleas of Bali Nine heroin smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, despite their remarkable rehabilitation. From this moment their death by firing squad seemed inevitable. Reporting on the lead-up to the executions was like watching a film, heart in mouth, that you already know ends tragically. I barely slept for weeks. Relations between the two countries soured, exacerbated by Tony Abbott's disastrous reminder of the billion dollars in aid Australia had donated after the 2004 tsunami.

"Australia and Indonesia are like divorced parents who have to stay together for the sake of the children," one Indonesian official told me. The anger some Australians felt towards Indonesia at the time was visceral. I deplore the death penalty  now more than ever  but felt a responsibility not to fan the flames of hate. Many Indonesians see drug smuggling through a different prism to Australians; a crime akin to cold-blooded murder or terrorism because it can lead to the deaths of addicts. And there were also Indonesians who were deeply affected; among them the guards and fellow prisoners who became close to Chan and Sukumaran and their indefatigable lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who has been fighting to end the death penalty in Indonesia since 1979. Mulya would later describe the night the Australians were shot as the darkest moment of his life. "I failed. I lost," he tweeted, heartbroken, at 4am.

For a long time I didn't let myself acknowledge the executions had affected me. It seemed nothing in the face of the grief faced by Chan and Sukumaran's loved ones. But I was haunted by photos of them as children, Sukumaran with a broad toothy grin and Chan an impish smirk. For weeks afterwards I dreamed my son, 18 months old at the time, fell into a swimming pool. I would dive in and try to rescue him but each time his slippery, muscular body would squirm out of my hands until I realised I was powerless to save him. I would wake soaked in sweat, again and again. I remember reading former Melbourne radio journalist Brian Morley's account of witnessing the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Melbourne and how it changed him. I marvelled he was still alive to tell the story. The last execution carried out in Australia seemed so long ago although it was only 1967. Jokowi last year suggested Indonesians would eventually change their minds on execution laws, as citizens of other countries have done in the past.

I hope one day to write a retrospective piece when the death penalty seems as remote and archaic in Indonesia as it does in Australia. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015. Credit:Anta Kesuma I still have to pinch myself I got this job. I was terrified when appointed that I would never live up to the previous Fairfax Indonesia correspondents. I poured out my heart to a mentor. "No two correspondents are the same," she said. "Follow the stories that interest you." It sounds so obvious but it is among the best pieces of career advice I have received. Fairfax Media is blessed to have two superb Indonesian journalists  Karuni Rompies and Amilia Rosa  who are gutsy, charming, dogged, unflappable and insatiably curious. Accompanied by either one of them, I criss-crossed the archipelago in search of stories that interested me and (I hope) gave readers some insight into the complexity and wonder of one of Australia's closest but least understood neighbours.

It can be difficult for foreign media to access Papua (the independence struggle here is one of the most sensitive topics in Indonesia) but we reported on the mysterious disappearance of Papuan Martinus Beanal as conflict simmered around the Freeport mine. The area surrounding the mine, which many indigenous Papuans see as the root of their oppression, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency. We wrote about the "real estate deal of the millennium": the forgotten Indonesian island of Run in the Banda Sea that was swapped for Manhattan 350 years ago. Run Island, famed for its nutmeg, was once exchanged for Manhattan. Credit:Jefri Tarigan The man expected to challenge Jokowi for the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto  usually referred to as a "former military strongman"  told us over breakfast that his love for animals meant he had to negotiate with ants. We explored Indonesia's struggle to come to terms with one of its darkest chapters  the massacre of an estimated 500,000 people suspected of left leanings in 1965 and 1966  and the surreal paranoia about a resurgent red peril.

We met terrorist attack survivors, women who formed a support group for those who wear the niqab, religious leaders, fans of Indonesia's weird architecture in the 50s and 60s and the president of Indonesia. The access we were granted was extraordinary. In June 2015, Amilia and I travelled to West Timor to investigate vague  but potentially explosive  claims an Australian official had paid people smugglers to return a boat of 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia. I was highly sceptical. Then prime minister Tony Abbott had described people smuggling as an "evil trade". Surely Australia would not reward criminal activity? We were ushered into a room at Kupang police station. I was astonished General Endang Sunjaya, the then police chief of East Nusa Tenggara, had agreed to even meet with us.

He told us the six crew members on the people smuggling boat had all sworn under oath they received about $US5000 from an Australian official to return to Indonesia. Their accounts were corroborated by asylum seekers who were separately interrogated. "The money is now being kept as evidence that this was not a made-up story," General Endang told us. "This is very unexpected. If it happened in Indonesia it would constitute a bribe." I was pouring with sweat and my eyes were beginning to bulge. I frenziedly scribbled a note to Amilia: "Let's get out of here before he changes his mind and says this is all off the record!!!!!". Amilia calmly ignored me and sipped her tea. "Could you show us the money sir?" she asked sweetly. "Boleh," the general replied and showed us photographs of piles of crisp US dollar notes. Later Amilia, bemused by my shock, asked if the Australian government was likely to respond. I said it would almost certainly not comment "on water matters". Sure enough Abbott refused to comment on "operational matters", although he never denied Australia had paid the people smugglers. "What we do is we stop the boats by hook or by crook," he said. "I just don't want to go into the details of how it's done."

Amusingly, Indonesian journalists were not familiar with the idiom "by hook or by crook" and translated it literally. "Abbott simply insisted that he would 'stop the boat by inducement or with criminals' and refused to elaborate on 'how it is done'," Antara news reported. I'll always be grateful for the refreshing  and generous  level of access that Indonesian officials have provided to us over the past three years. It is a world away from the team of media flacks employed to massage the message back home. We won a Walkley Award for our coverage of the cash for boat turnbacks scandal and it triggered a Senate inquiry. From left, seated: Captain Yohanis Humiang with head of the people smuggling division of Nusa Tenggara Timur, Ibrahim, and Rote police chief Hidayat. Analysts have claimed Indonesia has been at a crossroads for so long it has been parodied by The Simpsons. "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?" Homer asks, after ordering a steak on a plane. "Nooooo," deadpans Marge.

But once again things seem precarious. Identity politics in Indonesia (and other southern Asian countries) has been named one of the top global risks for 2018 by US risk analysis organisation the Eurasia Group. Islamists' increasing sway over Indonesian politics was demonstrated in the lead-up to last year's gubernatorial election, with massive street protests denouncing the reformist Chinese-Christian governor Ahok. The allegations Ahok had insulted Islam and his subsequent blasphemy trial proved catastrophic for his re-election bid despite polls showing that Jakartans were overwhelmingly satisfied with his performance in office. Former Jakarta governor Basuki ''Ahok'' Tjahaja Purnama. Credit:AP

The 2016 and 2017 Islamist mobilisation has been recognised as an important shift in Indonesian politics. A new paper by Australian National University academic Marcus Mietzner and others says opposition to non-Muslims holding political office has hardened. All eyes will be on the 171 provincial elections in June which are likely to be a bellwether of the 2019 presidential elections. Already there are fears religion, ethnicity and race will be used to sway voters. I will be watching with bated breath. After three years reporting on politics I feel personally invested. I recently met a man who had a map of Indonesia tattooed across his face to reflect his love for his country. He was an environmental activist working in a remote village in Bogor regency to turn plastic rubbish into fuel. This powered a generator and provided electricity for the village. I thought it would make a great story. The tattooed man who loved his country trying to tackle Indonesia's trash crisis. And then it struck me I had run out of time.Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army private who was convicted of passing sensitive government documents to Wikileaks, has filed to run for the US Senate in Maryland, according to federal election filings.

Manning, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, would be challenging Democrat Senator Ben Cardin, who has served two terms in the Senate and is up for re-election in November. Cardin is Maryland's senior senator and is considered an overwhelming favorite to win a third term.

Manning, 30, who is formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of the largest leak of classified documents in US history and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Last year, then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence to time served, and she was released from a military prison in Kansas.

Chelsea Manning addresses a forum in Nantucket in September 2017. Credit:AP

The news of Manning's filing caught Maryland's political class by surprise Saturday afternoon. It was first reported in a tweet by conservative media outlet Red Maryland.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Words pick: This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jenkins

This book ravaged and then healed my weary soul. Jenkins takes a micro and macro look at the exhaustion and triumph of black womanhood, and each of these essays is poignant enough on its own. When linked together in her book, the pieces become a subtle knife, cutting through the membrane of gender and racial disparity that covers our country. Jerkins uses herself not simply as an reference point, but as a dissection subject, laid on the table and explained.

 Hannah Oliver Depp, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 3830096, www.wordbookstores.com].

Greenlight Bookstores pick: Green by Sam Graham-Felsen

Green is a first-rate debut novel and a modern Bildungsroman. A careful, powerful meditation on race, injustice, and adolescence set in Boston in the year 1992, it follows David Greenfield, one of the few white kids at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, who is Nike-less and friendless, until Marlon Wellings, a loner from the public housing project who chooses to stand up for him in the school cafeteria. As the two boys grow tighter, the breaks that have been given to Dave  and not to Marlon  become clearer. This is a book about growing up for adults.

 Melissa Hohl, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 2460200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].

Community Bookstores pick: Nonhuman Photography by Joanna Zylinska

Zylinskas new book is a meditation on the many ways in which photographic images, which surround us now in near-ubiquity, from paper to screen, have taken on lives of their own. From the days of early photographs  the first images produced not by an artists hand but by the pencil of nature, to the 21st century landscape of electronic surveillance and social media, Zylinska traces the construction of a kind of visual consciousness increasingly untethered to human agency. Drawing on art history, as well as the history of natural science, Zylinska describes her unique notion of photography as a light-induced process of fossilization across media and across time scales.

 Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 7833075, www.communitybookstore.net].Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Its Brooklyn Bridge Park 2.0!

Gov. Cuomos call to develop Red Hook by kicking out a shipping terminal and bringing a new subway stop could double the size of Brooklyns Front Yard, engineers pushing a similar plan for the nabe told The Brooklyn Paper.

California-based AECOMs proposal would transform the Port Authority-owned piers currently occupied by the Red Hook Container and Brooklyn Cruise terminals  a massive port that runs from Atlantic Avenue to Clinton Wharf  into a sprawling grassy meadow called the Fields at Columbia Piers that would connect to Brooklyn Bridge Park, an executive at the company said.

You would basically bring the whole topology of Piers 1 to 6 and recreate that same kind of park atmosphere down from Piers 7 to 12, said Chris Ward, who previously served as an executive director at the state-run Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And really have that waterfront park expanded with luxury housing built on top of the raised platform.

AECOM execs, who recently opened a Sunset Park office, initially pitched their idea to extend the 1 train from Manhattan to Red Hook and build massive high-rises in the superstorm-Sandy ravaged nabe in 2016.

And the proposals viability is gaining steam in the wake of Cuomos Jan. 3 State of the State speech, in which he asked honchos at the Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to look into building an underwater Red Hook-to-Manhattan subway tunnel and shipping the nabes maritime operation down to Sunset Park to free its piers for potential development.

Ward envisions three stops for Red Hooks new subway: one on the current container-terminal site, another near the Red Hook Houses public-housing complex, and a third adjacent to the F- and G-train station at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street.

He estimated that expanding the infrastructure would cost about $4 billion, and said revenue generated from developing the waterfront would foot the bill.

But Wards vision for a Red Hook with new subway stations and an expanded Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently little more than a pipe dream, he said, as it would take years for any work to begin and would first require a rezoning.

This is just the beginning. Theres a tremendous amount of work that would need to be done, plus cooperation between state and city, Ward said. The political complexity between city and state exceeds my capacity, all Im saying is that someones going to have deal with it and I think the governor, to his credit, recognizes that at least.

And a rezoning isnt in the cards for the neighborhood, according to Mayor DeBlasio, who told concerned residents at a December town hall that he didnt anticipate such a change happening in the near future.

Theres no vision of rezoning that would allow for more zoning than could happen right now in this community, Hizzoner said.

But development in Brooklyn Bridge Park  which is jointly run by the city and the semi-private Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation  is mandated by the parks independent General Project Plan, which trumps local zoning laws and permits construction in the green space only to generate revenue needed by it.

Development in the current park is at capacity, however, and a green-space spokeswoman said she cant speculate on what would happen in a possible expansion.

Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently 90 percent complete or under construction. We are focused on completing the park as designed, and maintaining and operating a world-class park that stretches 85 acres from John Street in Dumbo to Pier 6, said Sarah Krauss. We understand there are various ideas about the future of the Brooklyn waterfront, and cannot speculate on conceptual plans or what they might mean for the area at this time.

AECOMs Brooklyn outpost joins its five already-open offices on the distant isle of Manhattan, and comes amid the engineering firms work on other local infrastructure projects, including a possible expansion of the Brooklyn Bridges pedestrian promenade and the reconstruction of the BrooklynQueens Expressways triple cantilever in Brooklyn Heights.

The firm also worked with the city on a controversial environmental study of a toxic site officials plan to build a Coney Island homeless shelter on, which activists blasted as inaccurate, and assisted in the construction of Manhattans Second Avenue subway line.

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 2604577 or by e-mail at jcuba @cngl ocal.com . Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.With dim hope of any revival in private investments, all eyes are on Budget 2018 for the much-needed push to the economy. The Budget is coming at the time when the economy is going through a slowdown because of structural reforms such as demonetisation and implementation of the goods and services tax or GST.

One of the topics discussed at the Business Today MindRush, held in Mumbai on January 13, was -- "Union Budget: Any scope for Good News?" The panel discussion was moderated by Rajeev Dubey, Editor, businesstoday.in and Business Television.

Also read: Highlights of MindRush 2018

The panel comprised R.S. Sodhi, CEO at Amul, Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist at Aditya Birla Group, Nimesh Shah, MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, Saugata Gupta, CEO of Marico and Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Chief Economist at SBI.

Talking about the challenges before the government which are likely to be addressed in this Budget, Sodhi said: "Sixty-eight per cent people are living in villages. We need to provide better skills to rural India. Moreover, when it comes to agriculture, we have to also think about things such as horticulture where productivity is higher. Animal husbandry is another area to look at. The government should provide more budget for creating jobs in rural India than urban India." Ranade of the Aditya Birla group, said, "The focus should be on providing more jobs, as the challenge is to create 12-13 million jobs per year. We are seeing youth unrest, which needs to be taken care of."

Ghosh of SBI, however, said that the story of jobless growth is a little bit exaggerated. This is clear if you look at data such as increase in provident fund accounts, he said.

"Though jobs have to be created, the most important thing is women's participation, which is declining," he said. On GST, experts said that though it has been a landmark reform, it will take a couple of years before the benefits start kicking in. Ghosh said, "There are several benefits relating to GST but there are teething problems too. Considering that the global economy is on the upswing, it will be another couple of months before you start seeing the benefits of GST."

Nimesh Shah of ICICI AMC said, "It is a huge challenge that the government has taken. It will have problems and I think it will be three years before everything stabilises." Gupta of Marico agreed and said: "It is a bold reform and will create a level-playing field for ethical businesses." Despite two seasons of good monsoon, most experts agreed that the economy has not recovered. But they hoped that the rural economy will start doing better before elections.

On the big surprises expected from the budget, Ranade, said, "Expect the long-term capital gains period to be increased to three years to bring parity with other asset classes."

On protectionism and nationalism, Sodhi of Amul gave an example of edible oil in which India was self-sufficient. "Today, 70 per cent is imported. It happened when the government started free imports to provide cheap oil. It kills the industry and is not good for the consumer in the long term." Ranade said, "If you want to develop strategic advantage such as steel and automobile, you need an intelligent import policy."The Indian government has issued notices to eight Chinese drugmakers after an inspection team of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) found that the companies were supplying substandard ingredients to the south Asian country. Photo: Visual China

Indias drug authority has accused several Chinese pharmaceutical suppliers of providing poor-quality raw ingredients, and may blacklist them, news agency IANS reported Sunday.

New Delhi issued notices to eight Chinese drugmakers after a special inspection team of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) found that the companies were supplying substandard ingredients to the south Asian country.

When asked about the probe, a manager from Shanghai Modern Hasen (Shangqiu) Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., from North Chinas Henan province, told Caixin that some Indian people inspected the firms factory in November and issued a notice recently, without giving further details.

Besides Modern Hasen, seven other companies were also on the list. Some of Chinas other major medicine ingredient suppliers are Zhuhai United Laboratories Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings and Qingdao Bright Moon Seaweed Group Co. Ltd.

Those companies either did not reply to Caixins request for comment or couldnt be reached for comment.

The action against them will soon be decided by the government, said a senior officer from DCGI, according to Indian media. This will be harsh as we dont want the quality of drugs in India compromised.

China supplies 70% of Indias pharmaceutical ingredients, IANS said, citing data from the latters Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilisers.

New Delhi has also decided to inspect ingredients from other countries, such as the United States, Italy and several other European nations, IANS reported, citing sources in DCGI.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com)Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.The Andhra University has released an official employment notification, calling out for aspirants to apply for the post of the Assistant Professors. Interested candidates can check out the eligibility, salary, how to apply and the complete details of the recruitment here and apply before the deadline on 2 February 2018.

The recruitment is for around 217 vacancies in various departments like College of Arts and Commerce/ College of Science and Technology.

Andhra University Recruitment 2018 for Professor Posts Vacancy Details

Arts and Commerce Recruitment

NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT NUMBER OF VACANCIES Law 5 Library & Information Science 4 Philosophy 4 Physical Education 3 Politics & Public Administration 8 Sanskrit 2 English 4 Hindi 5 History & Archaeology 6 Human Resource Management 3 Telugu 4 Theatre Arts 2 Yoga 4 Journalism & Mass Communication 3 Social Work 2 Sociology 5 Anthropology 4 Commerce & Management Studies 6 Economics 8 Education 4

Also Read: Delhi University Recruitment 2018 For Non-Teaching Staff: Apply Now!

College of Science & Technology Recruitment

NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT NUMBER OF VACANCIES Geophysics 4 Human Genetics 3 Inorganic Chemistry 2 Marine Living Resources 2 Mathematics 2 Meteorology & Oceanography 5 Nuclear Physics 1 Organic Chemistry 4 Applied Mathematics 4 Biochemistry 4 Botany 5 Pharmaceutical Sciences 11 Physics 6 PNCO 4 Psychology 5 Statistics 2 Zoology 4 Environmental Sciences 1 Geography 3 Geology 6

Also Read: Professor Recruitment 2018 at NIT Patna for 122 Posts: Check Eligibility, Salary, How to Apply

College of Engineering Recruitment

NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT NUMBER OF VACANCIES Electronics & Communication Engineering 7 Engineering Mathematics 3 Geo-Engineering 3 Humanities, Basic Sciences 3 Instrument Technology 4 Marine Engineering 3 Mechanical Engineering 6 Metallurgical Engineering 2 Architecture 4 Chemical Engineering 5 Civil Engineering 5 Computer Science & Systems Engineering 2 Electrical Engineering 4

How to apply for Andhra University Recruitment 2018 Professor Posts?

In order to apply for Andhra University Recruitment 2018 Professor Posts, follow the steps given here:

Step 1 Log on to the official website- andhrauniversity.edu.in Step 2 Click the notification link and download the application form Step 3 Enter the details in the space provided and attach all the relevant documents

Step 4

Post it to the Andhra University

Mailing Address

The Registrar, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam through registered postal service.

Application fees

Rs 1000For Subscribers Pueblo County has state's highest unemployment rate

Pueblo's complex job market features the highest unemployment rate in the state, yet job recovery is not far off state and national averages.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Does our legacy have to revolve around our children?

We've been talking about purpose and clarifying our priorities on the blog this week, and it got me thinking about legacy. What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

Usually when we hear that question, we think about kids. We want to raise our kids to follow God, to have that "unbroken chain" of believers until Jesus comes back again. We want to raise kids to be world changers.

But how do you leave a legacy if you don't have kids? Do childless couples have legacies?

That's the question that a reader recently asked me. She wrote:

Hi Sheila! I love your blog, and your articles have blessed my life and marriage more than I could say! Thank you!

I have seen many of your wonderful marriage posts, but when you send out parenting posts, I don't read them. I had a hysterectomy at 23, just a couple months after getting married, so I am unable to have children. My husband and I do not feel called to adopt, but that begs the question  what now? All I hear is how people do things for their children, leave a legacy for their kids; but while living in the corporate culture of today, it seems increasingly difficult to leave any kind of lasting legacy. Nearly everything in the Christian life seems to circle back to family, but my only family within 1000 miles is my husband. We both have painful amounts of social anxiety, so volunteering at church is the most I'm able to get him to do (and if I'm being honest, that's usually okay with me, even if I feel like we should be doing more). How do you leave a legacy with no family to leave it?

That's a great question, and I want to answer it with a story.

About 12 years ago, when Rebecca was 11 and Katie was 8, Christmas came and we had some money left over. Keith and I decided that we would take that and make a special end of year donation. We had these "gift catalogues" where you could give money to Third World countries, and one was from Partners International. We flipped through it, looking for a gift that was roughly the amount we had decided to give. We found one where you could drill a well for a village in Liberia, giving the people access to clean water. That sounded good, so we mailed in the cheque, and promptly forgot about it.

Eleven months later, in November, I received a phone call from Partners.

They said there was a bishop from Liberia visiting Canada, and he wanted to meet with me. I was trying to be polite on the phone, but I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Why did a Liberian bishop want to meet with me? And where was Liberia, anyway?

As the conversation went on, my brain finally twigged to that gift we had given the preceding Christmas. So we made arrangements to meet at Christian Chicken (that's what Canadians call Swiss Chalet), and one Tuesday, when my husband was free for lunch, the four of us met the Partners rep and the bishop from Liberia.

Over lunch, the bishop explained to us that Liberia had been in a civil war for almost two decades. During the time, many people fled to live in the forests. Infrastructure was non-existent. Everybody was so poor. And so they came into this one village with the equipment to dig a well. The whole village participated and was so excited. He explained that usually, by this time in the year, six children would have died of dysentery. But that year, not one child had died.

I looked over at Rebecca, and tears were streaming down her face.

Then he said that after they built the well, they had a dedication ceremony, where he explained to people,

There's a family in Canada, and we don't know who they are, but God does. And they don't know who we are, but God does. And God spoke to that family in Canada and told them to build us this well, because God notices us. And He loves us. And He wants us to have clean water. But that's not all He wants to give us.

And the bishop went on to explain the gospel to them, and everybody in that village accepted Christ that day. They now had a thriving church.

At this point, tears were streaming down my face, too. But they weren't streaming down because no child had died. They weren't even streaming down because everybody became a Christian (how does that even happen? That's so foreign to us in North America!). They were streaming down because that morning I hadn't wanted to go to lunch. I had laundry to do, and people were coming over for dinner and my house was a mess, and I hadn't done math with the girls in 3 days (we homeschool). I was seriously behind.

And as I sat there, I realized that my priorities were wrong.

I had given that money without thinking about it, really. And yet with that one cheque I had made more difference in the world than perhaps anything else I'll ever do.

If I do nothing else in my life, I built that village a well.

And I did it because Keith and I worked and used the money we made to give to God to do with as He pleased. And He picked a village in Liberia.

I don't know what legacy I will leave with my girls. I think it will be a very good one (and I certainly pray that it will be!). But in the broad scheme of things, will it be bigger than what I did there? I don't know.

Do we understand what a privilege it is to be able to give?

Do we understand what amazing fruit comes from being able to share what God has blessed us with with others?

God will call some people to the mission field. But I have also known people who feel called to stay here so that they can support those missionaries. I know one farmer who lives near me, for instance, who lives on very little money. He's a single guy. But he has decided that he will support three full-time missionaries. He has the gift of making money, and so he's using it to help the world.

Money is not the only way we can leave a legacy. There's also political activism. There's reaching out to your neighbours and loving them. There's volunteering! I know my story was only about money, but there are so many ways that we can influence our generation and our world.

I understand, though, that some of those ways are hard when you have social anxiety.

But think about it this way: If you had a child, that child would cost, on average, about $250,000 to raise, they estimate. That gives you an extra $250,000 to give to God's work on this earth over your life. You can make it your big mission to fight child exploitation in Cambodia. You can give money to fight child prostitution in Thailand. You can help AIDS orphans in Africa. You can support spreading the gospel to the Middle East. You can give money to help the many young women who were raped by ISIS soldiers.

It doesn't have to be a ton of money, either. Just give what you are called and what you are able, and God will use it and bless it. The amount doesn't matter as much as the heart behind it. And small amounts, given faithfully over time, lead up to an awful lot.

And if you had a child, it would be more than a full time job. That's a lot of time that has been freed up for you to spend investing in others. You can give your time at a pregnancy crisis centre, at a food bank. You can welcome refugee families and help them assimilate, and introduce them to Jesus. You can reach out to abused women, to inner city teens, to so many different groups that need you. Volunteer opportunities are immense, and without children, you will have more time.

You may never know your legacy this side of heaven.

That's okay. Just think of how wonderful it will be when you see Jesus, and you meet all the people that you have helped. Won't that be amazing?

It is a privilege to give and to serve. Our legacy may not always be visible here, but it is very, very visible to God. And one day, He'll make it visible to you, too.

Sheila Wray Gregoire has been married for 25 years and happily married for 20! She loves traveling around North America with her hubby in their RV, giving her signature "Girl Talk" about sex and marriage. And she's written eight books about sex and marriage. See a theme here? Plus she knits. Even in line at the grocery store.

Find her at https://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/Trump faces world outcry, including from Christians, as he denies 'vile, vulgar' comments about immigrants

Facing strong condemnation at home and abroad, including from Christians, Donald Trump last night denied using the word 's***hole' to describe Haiti and African countries, but kept up criticism of a Senate immigration plan that he said would force the US to admit people from countries that 'are doing badly'.

Trump reportedly made the remarks at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday. US Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the gathering, told reporters on Friday that Trump used 'vile, vulgar' language, including repeatedly using the word 's***hole' when speaking about African countries.

The Republican President's comments were decried as racist by African and Haitian politicians, by the United Nations human rights office and by US lawmakers from both major parties.

Trump, who has been accused of racism over several issues since he took office a year ago, sought to row back the comments on Friday, saying on Twitter: 'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.'

Haiti said it was shocked by Trump's reported remarks on Thursday and summoned the top US diplomat in the country, asking for an apology if the vulgar term had been used.

El Salvador's government sent the US a formal letter of protest that said the president had 'implicitly' accepted the use of 'harsh terms detrimental to the dignity of El Salvador and other countries'.

Botswana also said it had summoned the US ambassador to that country to 'express its displeasure' and had asked him whether Botswana 'is regarded as a "s***hole" country'.

Trump's comments are extremely offensive to South Africa, said Jessie Duarte, a senior official with the ruling African National Congress.

In Geneva, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said: 'These are shocking and shameful comments from the president of the United States. There is no other word one can use but "racist".'

The reported language was the latest in a long string of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim comments by Trump that have been condemned as racist. He also blamed 'both sides' after a white supremacist rally in August in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent and a woman protesting against the rally was killed.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Council of the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted: 'The church of Jesus Christ is led by, among others, our brothers and sisters from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They are us.'

He later added, quoting from the New Testament book John 1:42-46: '"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" "Come and see."'

James Martin, a Catholic priest and editor of the Jesuit America Magazine also tweeted: '"Why are we having all these people from sh#*hole countries come here?" 1) They are our brothers and sisters in need. 2) They are often fleeing war, violence or famine. 3) There are children among them. 4) It's the right thing to do. 5) That's who we are.'

Additional reporting by Reuters.Jose Luis Magana/FRE

Longstanding efforts to rewrite U.S. energy policy to keep pace with market and technological changes are being revived in Congress once again.

In an interview with Politico, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said, "We've got to encourage our friends (in the House) that it's time to do it. And I think they recognize that."LAS VEGAS - A sad cycle has overtaken the gadget business. It started this week at CES, tech's biggest annual convention, where inventors compete to connect the most random things to the internet. This year's "smart" stuff includes pillows, air fresheners and even toilets.

A few months from now we'll see different headlines: That smart thing you bought is actually spying on you. (You can learn a lot about a guy through his pillow. Or toilet.) Sooner or later, the story gets worse: Your smart thing has been hacked.

That'll inevitably be followed by: Your smart thing is gathering dust in the attic.

Gadgets are broken. That's the refrain I heard on repeat from exhibitors and longtime tech followers who also went on a dreary hunt for big ideas at this year's CES. There's little reason to be jealous of the 2018 crop of TVs, self-driving cars are a ways off and artificial intelligence still has to mature. The best moment at CES came Wednesday when the power went out for two hours and folks had to go sit in the sun.

Silicon Valley's distrust

The Consumer Technology Association estimates Americans will buy 715 million connected tech products in 2018. Too many of them create more problems than they solve. A tide of distrust for Silicon Valley is sweeping over many of us who always have a smartphone nearby but worry it's ruining our lives.

Exploring the CES floor and listening to the keynote presentations, I noticed some patterns for where gadget makers get off track - and a few ideas that I think could make their products better.

Here are four ways to make gadgets great again:

Respect our time

There are still just 24 hours in a day, but you wouldn't think so from the many products at CES that want to fill previously unimagined moments of your life with additional stimulation. Talking glasses? How about a giant touchscreen fridge? Samsung, one of the world's largest makers of screens, showed a video during its keynote of a child in a near-future going from staring at his phone to climbing into a car and having another large screen slide in front of his face. He goes unstimulated for less than a second.

Here's a rule of thumb: Before making a product, ask yourself: What would the "Black Mirror" episode about this tech be?

Apple isn't immune. Two of its largest investors published an unusual public plea to Apple's board this month to address the "addictive" effects of the iPhone on children. That's a huge issue, but I'd extend that plea to adults, too: How many of us have experienced the phenomenon of picking up a phone to send a message and find ourselves sucked into a vortex of distraction? Before you realize it, you're reading the Wikipedia page on Gal Gadot and can't remember why you picked up the phone in the first place.

Solutions won't be easy, especially for tech companies like Facebook and Google that make money by selling our attention to marketers. But I'm heartened to find products starting to explore not how to fill more of our time, but rather help us spend our time better. Automakers are developing the software to not only shut off our cellphones while we're driving, but intelligently respond to the incoming messages and calls. And Samsung has coming soon a new "Thrive" app, developed with Ariana Huffington, that helps people disconnect from their phones.

Security is not our job

When I buy a car, I don't have to purchase seat belts and bumpers on my own - I trust the automaker took care of making it safe. But the electronics industry puts the responsibility for security largely on us, selling way too many smart products that are the equivalent of cars with zero-star safety ratings. The past few years have brought nightmare after nightmare about hacked gadgets, such as toys that spy and baby cams broadcasting on the Web unbeknownst to parents.

Connecting anything to the Internet comes with risk. But there are basics that could stop these devices from being hacker bait, such as offering over-the-air software updates, conducting ethical hacking tests and requiring strong passwords. (It's appalling how many smart home devices don't even do those things.) Privacy is no less of a concern: If you make a connected toilet, why do you need to log every time I flush? And who are you sharing that data with?

America lags Europe in regulations protecting consumer data, but some companies are starting to wise up. Samsung said it would include its Knox security software in its coming generations of connected appliances. And there's also a glimmer of hope in a small but growing niche of products that work like antivirus for whole your house. These products, such as Bitdefender Box, Dojo by Bullguard, Cujo and the Norton Core look for unusual patterns in traffic on your home network - say, a thermostat that suddenly starts streaming video to Russia. I hope we'll see these kinds of capabilities built into more home Wi-Fi routers.

Service, not things

Putting a refrigerator on the Internet isn't in itself useful - it's just more expensive. What is useful: a fridge that's always got fresh milk, because it orders more from the store when you're low. Tech companies are focused on adding to the "Internet of Things" (aka IoT) with ever more things, but to win a place in more homes, connected devices need to solve actual problems. For that we need an "Internet of Services."

Smart door locks are headed in this direction. One brand called August announced a delivery service at CES with a logistics company called Deliv. It would allow to-be-named participating retailers to drop products right inside your door.

Home security is an even better example. The company ADT recently opened up its home-monitoring service to DIY home products from Smart Things instead of just the ones it sells itself. So now your own connected smoke alarm, door sensors and leak detectors can report to human operators, who you pay a no-commitment monthly fee to take action like calling the cops when you're not around. Of course, this requires that the devices all be able to talk to one another - or at least, to ADT. Why can't all our connected things just get along?

Don't lock us in

Amazon and Google had an outsize presence at CES even though they introduced few products of their own. They were here working overtime to persuade gadget makers to build their talking tech Alexa and Google Assistant into their devices. (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.) It's land grab for even more valuable data about how we live in our homes.

It's also an effort to force us to be loyal. You might be fond of Alexa, but do you really want to build her into your house? (Amazon took a wrong turn down this path last year with its Amazon Key in-home delivery service that locks you into a relationship with the retailer.) And what happens if another product comes out that only works with Siri? I've got four different talking assistants on various devices in my house, but unfortunately my virtual staff doesn't communicate well with each other.

I was happy to see some gadgets at CES trying to stay neutral. The connected toilet from Kohler? It'll work with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. That's progress.Like four other communities along the Gulf Coast, the Pleasantville neighborhood on Houston's east side is receiving some expert support to help residents address longstanding environmental justice issues.

The planned 1940s development that placed black war veterans into home ownership faced flooding from Port of Houston dredging in the 1950s, a massive hazardous materials fire in the 1990s, and ongoing pollution concerns from plant emissions to this day.

Under a five-year, $3.3 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation, a historically black college environmental consortium including Texas Southern University will invest resources and expertise in port cities in five states.

In addition to Pleasantville and the 9th Ward in New Orleans, the project will help communities in Gulfport, Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla. fight health and environmental inequities.

The three-hour meeting begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Judson Robinson Sr. park and community center, 1422 Ledwicke, 77029.

"The idea of participating with the consortium aligned very well with our vision and mission statement," said Bridgette Murray, founder of the collaborating Pleasantville community organization and the area's super neighborhood president. "This is truly about grassroots activities where residents identify what their issues are and work collectively to try to resolve or mitigate those issues."

Murray founded Achieving Community Tasks Successfully known as ACTS  in 2013 to increase community engagement and address environmental burdens.

Pleasantville, which is one mile from the Port of Houston, has about 1,100 residences and a home ownership rate exceeding 70 percent, the retired nurse said. There also are specific issues surrounding access to resources and encroaching potential hazards.

"We have railroad tracks at two of the four entrances to our community," Murray said. "We are a food desert. We are about 5 miles from the closest grocer."

The consortium initiative has two co-principal investigators: Robert Bullard, a TSU distinguished professor and sociologist who is known as the father of environmental justice, and Beverly Wright, a Dillard University professor and founder of the New Orleans-based Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.

The project focuses on addressing social inequality, health equity and the well-being of children and families by harnessing the expertise of black college experts in public health, urban planning, law, nursing, environmental science and other disciplines.

"There is no other initiative like this. The community could request a health survey or mapping of pollution  or identifying food deserts, pollution hot spots, flood maps and insurance rates," Bullard said. "Our goal is also to get additional funding to support the organizations in a more robust way so that the organizations can hire one staff person because these organizations do not have any staff."

Initial meetings like the one Saturday in Pleasantville help communities determine their major needs and set goals.

"These are exciting times because with funding streams from the federal government shrinking, it makes it even more important that our community-based organizations and our black colleges step in to begin to address some of these legacy issues," Bullard said. "It's about training a new generation of leaders to work on these issues that have been very hard to solve."Managing risk and compliance is a challenge for any large business, but the rapid changes affecting this department due to technology have raised the stakes even higher. Businesses are collecting and processing more data than ever, from more sources, and theyre sharing it more widely than ever, with partners, customers, and suppliers. With all this data moving around, internally, externally, and in the cloud, its clear that Governance, Risk, and Compliance (to use its official name) is at an inflection point. Todays enterprise must reevaluate their traditional GRC practices in order to keep pace with the risks.

There are many ways to mitigate the new challenges, however  and ironically, some of these new technology trends, like machine learning, can be leveraged to improve GRC. Here are five technology shifts contributing to the changing landscape, and some best practices for dealing with each.

1) The interconnected business

Were seeing a greater emphasis these days on third-party risk management, and with good reason. Thanks in large part to the use of cloud, todays enterprises are more interconnected and using more cloud providers than ever before. With these connections come risks that need to be measured, monitored, and managed, however. And many of the high-profile breaches in the news recently occurred via these third-party relationships.

Heres one example: the massive Target breach that occurred a few years ago was traced back to network credentials that were stolen from a third-party vendor  reportedly a heating and A/C services provider. The bottom line is that your security is only as good as your weakest link. This means enterprises must pay attention not just to their own security and compliance, but also those of partners and suppliers. Strengthening your GRC strategy means prioritizing third-party risk management programs in organizations and at the board level.

2) More data, potentially more problems

Earlier this year, The Economist defined data as the worlds most valuable resource, surpassing oil. Companies are generating, processing, and sharing more data than ever, creating unprecedented challenges for GRC officers. In addition, the fact that data is often consumed and processed in real time has introduced new risks.

Heres one example: A large bank analyzing ATM and credit card transactions in real time to identify fraud. Or think of the scale of business intelligence (BI) initiatives that enterprises are creating, and the associated requirement to secure these vast quantities of data, as well as comply with regulations around privacy, auditing, and storage. Moving forward, risk and compliance frameworks must be flexible and, more importantly, scaleable to evolve alongside the big data explosion.

3) AI to the rescue?

If big data is the challenge, artificial intelligence (AI) may be part of the solution. AI, and particularly a subset of AI known as machine learning, allows enterprises to analyze data at scale, and spot patterns and anomalies that could indicate signs of trouble. With big data, enterprises cant depend on traditional tools and manual processes to ensure security and compliance. Nor can they rely on traditional auditing techniques of sampling or posthumous audits.

Machine learning and data visualization can help automatically organize and monitor these data sets and flag signs of data leakage, policy violation, or other high-risk items. Its essentially continuous auditing, if you will. In this way, GRC professionals can get ahead of risks, help ensure compliance with regulations, and provide the assurance that executives and Boards require.

4) IoT and the sensitivity of personal data

With the growing proliferation of consumer devices such as smart security cameras, thermostats, and other appliances coming online, companies are gathering new types of data that often include very personal information. The question of who owns this data is sometimes a controversial one, as multiple vendors often have a hand in the supply chain. Whats more, the sensitive nature of this data means agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), from a consumer privacy perspective, are closely watching how businesses secure and/or monetize it.

The number of stories in the news about privacy-related settlements between businesses and regulators is growing, as is the size of penalties--almost in rivalry with breach stories. GRC officers need to be highly aware of this data when it comes to risk and compliance, particularly as new regulations emerge, such as the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

5) GDPR on the horizon

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enact strict data-privacy rules on behalf of every EU citizen when it goes into effect in May 2018. Every enterprise, regardless of their location, will be impacted by the GDPR if they have customers based in the EU  or even if their customers customers are in the EU. Simply put, the globalization of business means enterprises must pay attention to data protection regulations in multiple jurisdictions, not just their own.

Ninety-two percent of U.S. companies have indicated GDPR is their top data protection priority for 2017. GDPR sets precedent in that it promulgates a formula for penalties that business have not seen before. It also places new responsibilities on a business if it uses third parties to process data subject to GDPR, holding that initial processor responsible for the activities of its sub-processors. This makes effective third-party risk management even more critical.

GDPR requirements relate to the data definitions in the regulation, so effectively managing compliance means businesses must know when they collect that data, what they do with it, where it resides, how and where it gets shared, how they protect it, and so on. It is safe to say that an organization won't manage GDPR risks if they can't manage their data.

The Bottom Line

Advances in technology are creating new ways for businesses to delight customers and grow their bottom line, but they also create significant new challenges for risk and compliance. GRC officers need to stay abreast of these trends to successfully protect their organization. That means attending conferences, networking with peers, and paying close attention to whats happening within their own businesses.

Just like security, investing in strong GRC practices is not a luxury  its a necessity that can pay dividends in future.

Related: Learn about Smartsheet and GDPR compliance.Just because Danica Patrick is hanging up her NASCAR helmet, doesn't mean it's the end of the career of the most recognizable female face in motorsports.

During a teary press conference in November, Patrick announced she plans to finish her career in 2018 with a bang: competing in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.

However, at age 35, she she'll be anything but inactive. The business-savvy race driver has spent years building up an extensive brand that will keep her more than busy off the speedways.

"Retirement was something that at first seemed really scary, but the more I thought about it, the more I was like, 'No, not really,'" Patrick said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" in a recent interview.

"I feel like this is where my life should be headed, and sometimes we just get kind of nudged there," she said at the November news conference. "Sometimes it's big nudges and sometimes it's little."

Patrick said she was initially anxious when considering retirement, but the closer it gets, the more excited she becomes about investing her time into other ventures.

An entrepreneur in her own right, Patrick has spent years building a brand up around her image, which encompasses fitness, health and wine. In 2009, Patrick purchased a Napa Valley winery she named Somnium  Latin for dream. In June, she started a line of activewear called "Warrior" and published her first book.

Patrick told CNBC that leaving NASCAR in the rearview mirror will allow her more time to devote to those projects. She expressed interest in more writing and even teased a cooking show. While she seemed ecstatic about her last major races in 2018, she is also looking forward to a new page as an entrepreneur.

"I made these businesses, but now I'm going to be able to get into them much deeper," she said.Bitcoin has fallen double digits over the last week amid a slew of bad news, and one strategist said this loss of momentum could prove negative for the cryptocurrency in the near term.



Boris Schlossberg, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" that bitcoin's decline over the last week (a loss of a little over 16 percent, according to Coinbase) may spook investors or appear as a dip to buy. But at this juncture, $10,000 per coin is the level to watch. Here are his reasons.



 Bitcoin hasn't risen above $15,000 since Tuesday, and this apparent loss of momentum may lead to a decline in sentiment.



 The $10,000 mark, at which bitcoin has not traded since November, would be a psychologically important level for the cryptocurrency, which was trading a little over $13,700 per coin on Friday afternoon.



 If bitcoin were to breach that level once again, the critical question would become whether investors would step in to buy the dip or it would lead to further liquidation.



 Earlier this week, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO, said cryptocurrencies would likely "come to a bad ending." Bitcoin's price fluctuated wildly this week, too, as South Korea was said to consider a ban on cryptocurrency trading.



Bottom line: Bitcoin's price has fallen considerably since its highs late last year and could see further pain from a fundamental and technical standpoint, according to a foreign exchange strategist.Many people call Bill Gates their hero, but he says that his job is simple. "In many ways, being a philanthropist is easy," he writes on his blog. "Although our foundation funds a lot of efforts to help improve the world, I sacrifice little compared to the people doing the hard work that makes progress possible." Gates says that there are millions of others who are genuinely heroic. "These and millions of other people like them are making a difference in our world. And while they may be too humble call themselves heroes, I can think of no better word to describe them," he writes. "Their lives inspire me. I hope they'll inspire you too." Here are five of the regular people that Bill Gates says are saving the world.

Segenet Kelemu

When Dr. Segenet Kelemu was growing up in a farming village in rural Ethiopia, she saw a swarm of locusts wipe out all her village's crops. "I'd observed how the people around me spent their time concerned with how to feed themselves," she said in an interview with The East African. "So I felt a calling to do something to help." Kelemu became the first woman in her region to go to college, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Molecular Plant Pathology. Today, she is the Director General and CEO of the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). Through her work with ICIPE, Kelemu harnesses science to make sure that farmers can protect their crops, grow more food and make more money.

Mathew Varghese

Even though polio was eliminated from India in 2011, thousands of people still struggle with the lasting impact of the disease. Dr. Mathew Varghese runs India's last and only polio ward, where he and his team treat polio patients and help them to walk again. Varghese says that he loves his work. "That ability to change something for someone gives so much joy. I don't think anyone is as happy as I am," he says. "The dignity of being able to stand on two legs, albeit with braces, that makes a huge difference." Holding back tears, the doctor explains, "Accessing even the free healthcare in our communities is so difficult. These are marginal existence societies. They are on the edge." "In the 80's, every day 500 to 1,000 children across India [were] paralyzed," he says. "People like me will still be required to take care of them, for a long time to come. But I can die peacefully [knowing] that in the future, maybe they'll be no need for a polio ward."

Ada Okoli

Ada Okoli was a young doctor caring for patients in Lagos, Nigeria when she learned that she and nine of her colleagues had contracted Ebola. "I was infected with Ebola. I felt panicked," she says. "You don't know if it's going to end with your death and you fear for those that are outside who you might have possibly infected. But I survived." Okoli saw her second chance on life as an opportunity to educate others about infectious diseases like Ebola. "I thought to myself, 'Well you have to go back to school.' I came to Tulane University to study infectious disease and epidemiology," says the doctor. "I see myself teaching about outbreaks and epidemiology and how to contain an outbreak and what to do when you have a patient that has an infectious disease." "Her courage and her optimism are inspiring," says Gates.

Anna Rosling Ronnlund

Gates says that Swedish social-entrepreneur Anna Rosling Ronnlund is also a hero of his. As the co-founder of Gapminder, Rosling Ronnlund uses art and photography to help people understand global data.



One of her projects, Dollar Street, visualizes global wealth levels by showing images of over 150 household items in countries all over the world. "People hate data even if you make them colorful and moving," says Rosling Ronnlund. "But if you use photos there is a slight passage you can reach their brain." "Thanks to her efforts we can see ourselves and our world more clearly," says Gates.

Camille JonesThe market rally has left RiverFront Investment Group Chief market strategist Kevin Nicholson bullish on earnings, but not complacent. Anticipating higher rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, Nicholson said RiverFront is moving investments into Europe and Asia.

"We expect more volatility because last year, you had the fed raising rates from 0 to 1 percent -- 1.5 percent. This year you're going to cross over the 2 percent barrier. We think that's going to bring volatility to the market," Nicholson said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "What we've done is rotated our money out of the U.S. into Europe and Asia and, you know, those markets are doing well."

Money flowed into stock-based funds during the first full week of trading in 2018. Stock funds added $24.4 billion for the week through Wednesday, making it the sixth-biggest equity inflow total ever, and the most in at least six months.

Some analysts worry the markets show sings of overheating. Nicholson said he thinks the full scope of tax reform hasn't yet been priced in.

"We are going to be a little bit more cautious going forward because sentiment has gotten so high, but we think that it can continue. We think that 2018 will see earnings revisions go up as the year goes on, because a lot of the estimates thus far haven't really baked in the full effect of the tax reforms," he said.

The S&P 500 hit an all-time high, during its best 10-day start to a year since 2003. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted sharp weekly gains.An officer takes pictures of drones allegedly used during recent attacks on Russia's bases in Syria, at a briefing in the Russian Defence Ministry headquarters in Moscow on January 11, 2018.

The Russian defense ministry claims its air defenses detected 13 "small-size air targets" approaching its bases and repelled the attack, shooting down seven drones with its anti-aircraft missile systems and taking control of six others using electronic warfare.

Earlier this month, militants in Syria launched a drone attack using more than a dozen weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia's Hmeymim airbase as well as a navy supply base in Tartus. Most of the drones were used on the attack against Hmeymim, located in western Syria near the city of Latakia.

"We're likely to see more attacks of larger scale going forward, potentially even larger than this and in a variety of things  air, land and sea," said Paul Scharre, director of the Technology and National Security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.

Experts said swarm-like attacks using weaponized drones is a growing threat and likely to only get worse. They also said the possibility exists of terrorists using these drones in urban areas against civilians.

Russia 's defense ministry said Friday it tracked down and killed the group of militants responsible for a recent coordinated drone attack against one of its bases in Syria .

Showing parts of drones that were used to attack a Russian military base in Syria, during a press briefing. On January 6, 2018, Russian servicemen repelled an attack by 13 armed drones on Russia's Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base in Syria.

"The incident itself, while it wasn't necessarily a spectacular attack by terrorist standards, it certainly portends a very dark future," said Colin Clarke, a political scientist at the RAND think tank who specializes in terrorism, insurgency and criminal networks.

"What it signals to me is a lot of the things that we talk about that we know are going to be problems in the future may be problems now or a lot sooner than we thought," Clarke said.

The RAND expert also said the U.S. and other nations have a lot of thinking to do about how to deal with the weaponized drone technology, because it could be used not just on the battlefield but potentially in urban areas by organized terrorist groups or other bad actors.

On Friday, Russia said its forces conducted an operation to "eliminate" the group of insurgents who attacked the Hmeymim airbase Dec. 31. "All forces and means of the multi-level Russian military intelligence in Syria were involved," it said.

Russia's defense ministry also released video of what it said was the targeted strike against the militants. The ministry also has shown images of what appear to be the captured drones and homemade drone bombs.

According to Moscow, it was able to track down the militants' launch site after its experts "decoded the data recorded on the UAVs."

"U.S. bases are targets, and Russian bases are targets," said Olga Olicker, senior advisor and director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington defense think tank.

Experts say the U.S. also has the capability to shoot down multiple drones as well as electronic warfare and advanced jamming technology to target or take control of enemy UAVs. The U.S. Air Force last year purchased "counter-unmanned aerial systems" from an Israeli company.

"The key is not just finding a way to target these drones," said Scharre. "It's finding a way to do it in a cost-effective way. If you shoot down a $1,000 drone with a $1 million missile, you're losing every time you're doing it."

The coordinated drone attack follows a mortar shelling attack on New Year's Eve that reportedly killed two Russian service members at the Hmeymim airbase. The Russian daily Kommersant reported at least seven aircraft were destroyed, including fighter jets and a transport aircraft, but Russia's state-run Tass news agency denied aircraft were destroyed.

Also, it comes less than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Hmeymim base and boasted about Russia's "successful intervention" against Islamic State terrorists in Syria's conflict.

Islamic State militants previously used weaponized drones and showed video of its bomb-dropping UAVs. The terrorist group has attacked U.S.-backed forces fighting ISIS with drones and used them for surveillance purposes. ISIS also used booby-trapped drones to kill two Kurdish fighters in 2016.

"We have seen nonstate actors use armed drones in the past, but this is a significant step up in terms of the scale of attacks and just how many they were able to use simultaneously," said Scharre, who previously worked in the Pentagon and focused on unmanned and autonomous systems and emerging weapons technology.

Meantime, Russia said it analyzed the construction of the drones and explosives of the captured crafts, concluding that the militants in Syria must have had help from a technologically advanced country. However, the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS has denied it had a role.

At the same time, Russia implied that the explosive material used in the bomb may have come from a Ukrainian chemical plant.

"Some of the Russian accusations and insinuations that have been floating around I think are meant to suggest that foreign intelligence helped provide targeting information, if not the technology," said Olicker.

She said the technology itself appears to look like "off-the-shelf stuff" so the claims of assistance from a technologically advanced country are "spurious." She added that Moscow's "tendency to blame other state actors" for drone tech in the hands of militants appears disingenuous.A Delta airlines worker is seen as luggage is loaded onto the plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Starting Monday, many airlines around the world begin enforcing a new rule that forbids passengers from checking or carrying on "smart luggage" with non-removable lithium batteries.

Technology-powered luggage began appearing on the market a few years ago, and some new versions of these high-tech bags can do a range of things: They weigh themselves, report their locations, provide power and Wi-Fi signals for gadgets, offer rides to the gate and even follow travelers around.

But while those extras are enticing, there has been industry-wide concern over lithium batteries igniting and starting fires. Last year, the FAA said that lithium-ion batteries were sparking airplane fires once every 10 days on average.

It led the International Air Transport Association to instruct its almost 300 airline members to slap restrictions on lithium-powered smart bags.

As of January 15, "baggage with removable installed Lithium batteries ("smart luggage") must be carried as carry-on baggage or the battery must be removed," the IATA said. "With the battery removed the bag can be checked-in. If the battery cannot be removed, the bag is forbidden for carriage."

Back in December, American Airlines was among the first to alert its customers to the impending rule change, citing "safety management and risk mitigation." The carrier also said the standard questions it asks customers checking bags ("Have you packed any e-cigarettes or spare batteries for laptops, cellphones or cameras?") would be altered to include smart bags.

Other airlines are changing their check-in and boarding procedures as well.

"Throughout our guests' journey, we will remind them to remove all lithium batteries from checked luggage, or disconnect and turn off batteries being stored in the overhead bins," Alex Da silva, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesman told CNBC.

With airlines enforcing the new rules, some smart luggage manufacturers are scrambling to redesign their product, while others are making sure customers know how the lithium batteries can be removed from their bags. Meanwhile, companies that have smart bags without lithium batteries are touting that feature.

"We believed that there would come a time when lithium batteries could be seen as a safety issue. So we purposely powered our luggage with AAA batteries to avoid any of these potential future rulings," Emran Sheikh, President and CEO of luggage manufacturer and distributor Heys International, told CNBC.

Sheikh and others emphasize that it is the type of battery used in some "smart" luggage designs that is the problembut not the entire category of 'smart luggage' generally.

"Consumers can expect to see luggage manufacturers respond accordingly and release new iterations of smart luggage featuring even safer power sources," said Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the Travel Goods Association.

Harriet Baskas is the author of seven books, including "Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can't or Won't Show You," and the Stuck at the Airport blog. Follow her on Twitter at @hbaskas. Follow Road Warrior at @CNBCtravel.Walmart said it would raise the minimum hourly wage from $9 to $11, a move that would cost up to $400 million a year. The company also said it would hand out one-time bonuses of up to $1,000, depending on the length of each employees' individual service. That will cost it another $400 million.

"I can only look at this one and think you were trying to skip this one under the carpet," said Crutchfield. "There's no strategy here. There's nothing really professional here apart from them trying to cover up."

"The timing is ridiculous," branding analyst Dean Crutchfield of Dean Crutchfield Associates said in an interview with CNBC's " Power Lunch " on Friday.

The big-box retailer announced Thursday it was hiking pay and handing out one-time bonuses, which was applauded by many, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Walmart representatives credited the new Republican tax plan for the added funds.

"The wonderful thing it's done by increasing permanent wages for a million employees is now being defined by, sadly, 11,000 people being let go," Crutchfield said.

"Walmart should have been doing a big pre-dance with bright lights and trumpets, and now it's staring at floodlights," he said. "It's done something bad."

Walmart told CNBC on Friday its priority was its people, not the publicity it was creating.

"When it came down to managing the issues around Sam's Club, our focus was on the associates impact, the clubs and the community, not the media," Walmart spokesperson Greg Hitt said.

The company will be working to help employees at the closing Sam's Clubs transfer to other locations or Walmart stores, Hitt said. All employees at closing stores receive 60 days pay and a severance, he added.

Crutchfield said for Walmart to regain consumer trust, it will need to concentrate on the good news the company is generating and the reason it raised wages in the first place.

"You've got to drown out that bad news," he said. "Go on about it, go on about it. Give reasons why you did it. Show examples of all these millions of people who are delighted to have more money in their pocket."

Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world, with more than 260 million customers visiting stores each week.

"There's obviously a lot of people out there who still want to shop with them and buy from them," Crutchfield said. "A lot of consumers get over bad news quite quickly. It depends on what you put in front of them. In a couple of weeks, no one's going to really be thinking about this."An employee stocks yogurt for sale on the opening day of the 365 by Whole Foods Market store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California

As Big Food continues to be starved for growth, deal activity is heating up in the yogurt section.

The $7.6 billion yogurt category has been a rapidly evolving segment of the food industry for the past several years. Consumers continue to look to high-protein alternatives to their morning cereal, and there is an expanding coterie of options available. With upstart brands outpacing their legacy peers, deals have followed suit.

Danone sold its organic Stonyfield yogurt to family-owned French dairy company Lactalis for $875 million last summer, in an auction that also drew the interest of Chinese dairy company Yili, Grupo Lala and Dean Foods. Lactalis earlier this month also acquired Icelandic-style yogurt brand Siggi's last for an undisclosed amount.

Noosa Yoghurt, likewise, is working on a sales process, sources familiar with the matter tell CNBC. The company expects to generate more than $250 million in sales, the sources added. The sales process was first reported by the New York Post.

The sources asked not to be named because the information is confidential. Noosa declined to comment.

Distinction in the yogurt aisle has come in many flavors. Yogurt companies are looking to cater to those looking for a snack, an indulgence or a breakfast. They also claim different origins, ranging from Icelandic to Australian. They've developed brand identities: Siggi's is the serious one, Noosa the fun one, and Stonyfield the organic one.

Some, though, have struggled to find an identity or to innovate in a way that caters to the younger generation. Packaged food giant General Mills continues to see sales of its U.S. yogurt drop, posting a 11 percent decline last quarter, as demand for Yoplait Greek and Yoplait Light products remained weak.

The deal activity in the yogurt segment comes amid broader activity in the $33 billion U.S. snacking space, as food giants, which are under increasing pressure, look to reach diners that eat on the go.

Just within the past few months, Kellogg announced its $600 million acquisition of RXBar, and Mars invested in the parent company of Kind Bar at a valuation of $3 to $4 billion.

Some have fetched multiples more than five times revenue, sources say. Food deals last year were at record valuation multiples, according to data from Dealogic that dates back to 1995. These deals fetched an average value of 25 times enterprise value to EBITDA.

On a larger scale, Campbell Soup announced plans to buy snacks company Snyder's-Lance for $4.87 billion. Hershey announced plans to buy SkinnyPop's parent, Amplify, for $1.6 billion. Both are the companies' largest acquisitions to date.Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, accompanied by her husband former President Bill Clinton, pauses as she concedes the presidential election at the New Yorker Hotel on November 9, 2016 in New York City.

Former president Bill Clinton dismissed on Saturday suggestions that his foundation's funds have been diverted to personal uses, calling such accusations a "personal insult" to his family amid renewed scrutiny of its fundraising and management practices.

The Clinton Foundation operates a range of philanthropic projects around the world and has raised billions since its founding, but that prodigious fundraising has come with accusations of influence peddling. The foundation has found itself in the spotlight recently, after the Justice Department announced earlier this month it was probing the organization for potentially engaging in improper dealings while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State.

Responding to renewed speculation about the foundation's activities, the former president took to Twitter on Saturday to deny that the organization's funds were not devoted to personal use. In his tweet, Clinton linked to a Washington Post article that sought to examine several of the facts at the heart of those accusations, which were first revealed by Wikileaks during the heat of the 2016 general election.

Clinton tweet

Despite scoring relatively high in accountability and transparency by nonprofit watchdogs, the foundation nonetheless became a flash-point in the 2016 election.

It was dogged by accusations of influence peddling, self dealing and conflicts of interests, due in large part to hefty contributions from foreign governments and other influential donors. Since the organization's inception, tens of millions from big donors have flowed to the organization, according to the Foundation's public database.Hawaiians were sent into a panic on Saturday after a false alert claimed that a ballistic missile was heading for the islands.

The alert was sent out due to human error, Hawaii Gov. David Ige told CNN.

"It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button," Gov. Ige said. "The warning went out to cell phones, television and radio got the emergency alert."

Around 1 p.m. ET, social media lit up with Hawaiian residents and visitors who received cellphone alerts warning that a projectile was heading for the island. The message, which was transmitted by the Civil Defense department, was accompanied by an ominous warning that the alarm was "not a drill."

Tweet

The erroneous alert sent recipients into a state of frenzy, with scores reportedly running for shelter and taking cover, until Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard debunked the alert as a false alarm. Hawaiian officials, as well as the U.S. Pacific Command, followed suit but not until nearly 40 minutes later.

Gabbard

"State Warning Point has issued a Missile Alert in ERROR! There is NO threat to the State of Hawaii," U.S. Pacific Command's David Benham said in a statement.

Michael Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command are still trying to verify what happened in Hawaii  but that "NORAD did not see anything that indicated any sort of threat" to the island.

"From a NORAD perspective and that of the U.S. Northern Command, we are still trying to verify what happened," he said of the false alert.

NORAD is a U.S.-Canada joint command that conducts aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning to defend North America. The U.S. Northern Command, also based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is tasked with air, land and sea defense of the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and portions of the Caribbean.

President Donald Trump was said to be at Trump International Golf Course in Florida when the false alert was sent out, but was briefed after the alert sent Hawaiians scrambling for cover.

"The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission confirmed to NBC News that it's launching an investigation into the false emergency alert.Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai and Hawaii governor David Ige vowed to investigate a false emergency alert that warned an incoming ballistic missile was on the verge of striking the islands Saturday morning.

The mistaken alert, which was attributed human error, warned that a projectile was heading for Hawaii. The snafu sent panicked residents scrambling to find shelters before they realized the alarm was unwarranted.

Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command are still trying to verify what happened in Hawaii  but that "NORAD did not see anything that indicated any sort of threat" to the islands.

Ige wrote on Twitter that a probe is already underway in the state, involving Hawaii's Department of Defense and the the islands' Emergency Management Agency.

Ige

At a federal level, FCC Chariman Ajit Pai also promised "a full investigation into the false emergency alert."

Pai

The state was only able to recall the alert 40 minutes after it was originally dispatched, which left fear-stricken residents in limbo awaiting catastrophe. In the incident's wake, a battery of officials that included Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, took to social networks to inform Hawaii residents and visitors that the alert was a mistake.

Tulsi tweet

Gabbard, told MSNBC in an interview that she questioned why the error wasn't corrected more swiftly. "What my family went through and what so many families in Hawaii just went through is a true realization that they have 15 minutes to seek some form of shelter or else they're dead  gone," she told the network.If you put a CSS file into a ASP.Net folder, such as App_Code , your web site will NOT load the file using either the /Startup/BundleConfig.cs OR loading the file with <link rel.../> .



I have reasons not to just put the file into the supplied /Content folder, and ended up having to create a /SiteContent folder to allow the file to load.



Seriously - what difference does it make WHERE the file is located? What was MS thinking?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





.cs files as text; you don't want people being able to download your code.



According to this thread[^], the following files and folders will all be blocked by default:

web.config

bin

App_Code

App_GlobalResources

App_LocalResources

App_WebReferences

App_Data

App_Browsers





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer







I have a application in node.js and i want to notify my customer on each transaction.

Any help is appreciated.



Hey Guys, I how can I detect if an element is dragged over another one in Javascript. The next step would be to exchange to position of these two elements. Can anybody help me?



Thank!



Hi Everyone, I am new to this discussion board and would like to clarify a doubt that I presently have whilst building my first Web Application. In Express JS, the web app that I built uses a couple of ejs pages to run the login and registration system through Node Passport. My question is, can I use concurrently use both HTML and ejs together to develop the web app.

Any enlightenment from you guys would be greatly appreciated



I am trying to implement Dependency Injection using Unity.Asp.Net.WebApi v5.0.11 in my Web API 2 project. When I run my code I get the following exception: Copy Code An unhandled exception of type 'System.StackOverflowException' occurred in Unity.Container.dll Below is my Application_Start() in Globalasax:

Copy Code using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Web; using System.Web.Http; using System.Web.Routing; namespace PaymentSummary { public class WebApiApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication { protected void Application_Start() { GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register); } } } I have looked at tutorials online on setting up Unity for Dependency Injection purposes and tried to add the following code but they are not recognized by Visual Studio. Copy Code AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas(); RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters); RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes); BundleTable.Bundles.RegisterTemplateBundles(); Bootstrapper.Initialise(); Please point out what I might be missing in Application_Start(), thanks.



modified 12-Jan-18 21:44pm.



Please help, I am working on MVC5 platform, during development everything works fine, after the webpage has been deployed on server jquery and datatable plugins are not working.



Thanks in advance!







Tip: To get answer to your question, please be more specific. What's not working? Have you tried looking into the project references if the plugin was there and installed?







I don't know what "datatable plugins" are.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





Hi guys! I'm a first year uni student working on a html project and I need some help.



I have been trying to create my about us page and would like to have a background image that fills the top half of the page, whilst leaving the bottom half available for content such as text.



this is the code I have used to try and achieve my goal:



body.about{

background-image: url("../Images/about.jpg");

background-size:50% 100%;

background-repeat: no-repeat;

}



however all this serves to do is make the image looked squashed.



any help will be greatly appreciated and I apologise for asking such a basic question but hey we all start somewhere right



cheers



frankie







Copy Code background-size:cover;



If that doesn't do what you want, go here to investigate your other options:



CSS background-size property[^]

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013









I have tried the method you suggested and followed the link however I am still unable to produce the desired effect.

It seems to push the photo to the top of the page and squash so it is almost unviewable



Any suggestions?







Start over with this:



Copy Code . about { min-width : nnpx ; (the width of your background image) min-height : nnpx ; (the height of your background image) background-image : url("../Images/about.jpg") ; backgroud-repeat : no-repeat ; }

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





modified 3-Jan-18 13:35pm.







You are forcing the to fill a space and so it is distorted. That shouldn't surprise you.

Copy Code background-size: auto 100%; might give you something closer to what you want, BUT, if you wish an undistorted picture to fill a space then it must be of the same proportions as the space.



You should be able to figure it out from this[^]







Ravings en masse^ "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010



W Balboos wrote: if you wish an undistorted picture to fill a space then it must be of the same proportions as the space.

Not if you use background-size:cover .



However, it's not simple to make that only cover half of the height. You'd probably need to use a second element, or a pseudo-element.





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer











Copy Code cover Resize the background image to cover the entire container, even if it has to stretch the image or cut a little bit off one of the edges



And the testing page: Playit[^]





Ravings en masse^ "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010



Letter-spacing css in chrome is broken if you use absolute pixel count ( Npx ), but it works fine if you use em .



Just a heads up...



BTW, absolute pixels work fine in IE11, and the latest versions of FireFox, and Opera.



EDIT =============



The CSs only breaks in chrome if you define a class with pixel-based letter-spacing in it. If you just add it to the element as a style attribute, it appears to work fine.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





modified 1-Jan-18 12:12pm.



Hi all,



I have a small program that makes a call to a REST API and retrieves a block of JSON. I am parsing this in Ruby which then creates a hash. Because of the way the JSON is structured I am putting the hash into an array and then extracting the second element. I am then doing some string manipulation on this element to produce another array with each element containing a string that looks like the following:-



Copy Code {:from=>"2018-01-01T00:00Z", :to=>"2018-01-01T00:30Z", :intensity=>{:forecast=>154, :actual=>157, :index=>"low"}}



I am then trying to put each of these elements back into a hash and back into an array (so I end up with an array of hashes) so I can get access to each element of the hash through their corresponding keys.



However when I try to do this within the 'each do end' loop I get an error:-



Copy Code odd number of arguments for Hash



When I take the same string and just directly add it to the hash (like indicated below) it works fine:-



Copy Code hash["Mystring"]



Any idea what else I can try?



I can post more code if that would help.



Thanks



D



I have a partial view in which I am passing a model (the model object is not null). This is the method in the controller:

Copy Code [ChildActionOnly] public ActionResult LargeHeader() { PWQuote quote = db.GetRandomQuote(-1); return PartialView( " _LargeHeader" , quote); }



When I try to use the Html helper property, intellisense doesn't show it, and when the page is rendered, the partial view is not rendered (and doesn't show up in the page source or browser debugger).



This (simplified code in the partial view .cshtml file) allows the partial view to render:

Copy Code < span style =" font-style:italic;" > Test Quote < /span >

But this does not:

Copy Code < span style =" font-style:italic;" > @Html.DisplayFor(model=>model.Quote) < /span >

In both cases, the model is defined in the partial view with this:

Copy Code @model Models.PWQuote

Help, please.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013





modified 29-Dec-17 8:18am.



[ChildActionOnly] attribute. Child action methods aren't supposed to respond to URL requests, so jQuery shouldn't be able to call it.





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer







I'm trying to make _Layout.cshtml load different partial views based on browser window width, but the jquery.load() method can't find the cshtml files (getting a 404 error). The files are in the shared folder, and my javascript looks like this:



Copy Code <script type= ' text/javascript' > $( function () { if (getWidth() > 640 ) { $( " #fluidHeader" ).load( ' _LargeHeader.cshtml' ); } else { $( " #fluidHeader" ).load( ' _MobileHeader.cshtml' ); } }); function getWidth() { if (self.innerWidth) { return self.innerWidth; } if ( document .documentElement && document .documentElement.clientWidth) { return document .documentElement.clientWidth; } if ( document .body) { return document .body.clientWidth; } }; </script>



What am I doing wrong?

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010

-----

You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010

-----

When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013



Cameron suggests May used reshuffle to ensure she fights the next election

Theresa May used the reshuffle to help ensure she fights the next election, senior Conservative sources said as friends of David Cameron suggested that he compared her approach to staying in power to that of Gordon Brown. Mr Cameron was said to believe that his successor was unlikely to leave office voluntarily, in an echo of Mr Brown after he lost his Commons majority in 2010. Friends said that after the botched election in June Mr Cameron suggested that while Tony Blair and he left of their own volition when they felt their time was up he expected Mrs May to try to stay in post. David was suggesting the idea she retires voluntarily seemed implausible, they said.  The Times

>Yesterday:

 as Tory peer dismisses Prime Ministers green drive

Theresa Mays plans to deal with plastic waste are little more than jaw jaw, according to the Tory peer who led a green revolution at Marks & Spencer. Lord Rose of Monewden, 68, says the prime minister needed to give big corporations a kick up the arse if she was serious about the environment and dealing with the scourge of waste. The former chief executive of Marks & Spencer described Mrs Mays plan to encourage supermarkets to introduce plastic-free aisles as too simplistic, saying it may lead to a rise in food waste  which is worse for the environment  because packaging protects and extends the shelf life of produce.  The Times

Critics say plan ignores dumping at sea  Daily Mail

Ministers 1) Johnson attacks Khan for threatening the special relationship

Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary clash over cancellation  The Times

Trump not invited to the royal wedding  Daily Mail

President took offence at slights from the British  The Times

Boris Johnson today tore into Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan as he blamed the Labour leadership for Donald Trump cancelling his trip to London. The Foreign Secretary said Labours leadership appears determined to damage the special relationship and imperil Americas investment in Britain. And in a colourful dig at Mr Khan, he pledged that the Government will not let the UKs relationship with its closest ally by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall. His remarks come after the Labour London Mayor celebrated news that the US President had pulled out of his planned trip next month saying he had got the message.  Daily Mail

Comment:

Labour have rolled out the red carpet for worse monster  Peter Oborne, Daily Mail

Editorial:

Britain needs Trumps friendship  Daily Telegraph

Khans gloating damaged the national interest  The Sun

Social media beats diplomacy  The Guardian

Ministers 2) Chancellor criticised by ex-Army chief

A former head of the army has told the chancellor not to allow more cuts to the military and accused him of overseeing a catastrophic reduction when he was the defence secretary. In a letter to The Times General Lord Dannatt says that a series of options, reported yesterday, to reduce manpower by at least a further 14,000 and cut the number of warships and helicopters would be disastrous. I wish Gavin Williamson [the defence secretary] all the very best as [he] fights in our best national interests in this vital battle with Philip Hammond and his Treasury officials, the former chief of the general staff says. Mr Hammond, as a previous defence secretary, oversaw a catastrophic reduction in defence capability during his tenure at the MoD  he must not be allowed to do it a second time. History would not judge him kindly.  The Times

Thousands of UK jobs at risk after 3bn MoD order with German firm  Daily Express

Comment:

What good is an Army which appears ashamed of its own existence?  Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph

Ministers 3) as he accuses Brussels of paranoia over Brexit

Schism in Brexit team as new talks loom  FT

Davidson frustrated by Government delay on Withdrawal Bill amendments  The Herald

Fox backs plan for commemorative stamps to mark Brexit  The Sun

Philip Hammond has described EU fears that a soft Brexit could encourage other countries to leave the trading bloc as paranoia, saying Brussels should be doing more to keep existing members rather than punish Britain. The Chancellor made the comments in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in which he branded the EUs approach to trade talks as backward-looking. Mr Hammond visited Berlin this week to call for clarity on what the EU wants from future relations and to make the case for a wide-ranging Brexit deal. Responding to the interviewers suggestion that a soft Brexit might offer an incentive for the people in other countries to leave, Mr Hammond said: I can understand that paranoia. But imagine you are running a successful, thriving club. If one member leaves, you dont immediately panic that all the other members might leave, but are confident they will want to remain.  Daily Telegraph

More:

Brussels would target British rebate and opt-outs if we re-enter the bloc  Daily Telegraph

Spain is latest country to come out in favour of a good deal for Britain  Daily Express

Norway backs EU fishing policies remaining during transition  The Guardian

Comment:

May must bend Macrons ear at the Brexit table next week  James Forsyth, The Sun

Brexiteers won the battle but have lost the war  Matthew Parris, The Times

Foreign students should be welcomed by Brexit Britain  Daniel Pryor, Daily Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: A new grand coalition in Germany may be a boon for AfD

Ministers 4) Hinds accused of conflict of interest over faith schools

The new education secretary may have a conflict of interest when making policy on faith schools, secular campaigners have claimed, pointing to a 5,000 donation from the Catholic church to fund an intern in his office. Damian Hinds, a Catholic who attended a Catholic grammar school, has previously spoken in favour of scrapping a 50 per cent cap on how many places at faith-based free schools can be reserved for pupils who practise that particular faith. Catholic bishops have called on the government to lift this cap, insisting that it prevents the Catholic church from opening any new free schools because they would have to turn away Catholic pupils once the 50 per cent quota was reached.  The Times

Culture wars are coarsening British politics  Helen Lewis, FT

Ministers 5) Fresh drive to resolve Stormont impasse

Bradley and Coveney to meet again soon after very good talks  News Letter

May to bolster ranks of Conservative peers

The Irish foreign affairs minister, Simon Coveney, and the new Northern Ireland secretary have held their first meeting in an attempt to resolve the deadlock over the collapse of the Stormont executive. Mr Coveney said that discussions with Karen Bradley had been very good. They will meet again next week. Ms Bradley took up her post this week on the first anniversary of Northern Irelands institutions collapsing after the resignation of Martin McGuinness. Talks between the DUP and Sinn Fein on restoring power have proved fruitless. Mr Coveney said yesterday that there were significant challenges but the Irish and British governments were committed to resolving the standoff.  The Times

Theresa May will next week bolster Tory numbers in the House of Lords with ten more loyalists ahead of months of bloody Brexit battles. Long-serving former Cabinet ministers Eric Pickles and Peter Lilley lead a list put forward by the PM to get new life peerages. Other Conservative grandees being considered for ennoblement include ex- MPs Edward Garnier, Julian Brazier and Andrew Tyrie. All either stood down or lost their seats at the general election in June last year. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is also appointing three new peers.  The Sun

Government preparing for street fight in the upper house  Daily Express

Opposition challenge May to shrink the Lords  FT

Labour accused of failing moral duty over sexist MP

Alleged victim of Labour MP was fobbed off for two years  Daily Telegraph

Labour steps up inquiry into complaints against Hopkins  The Guardian

Harassment case MPs face full hearings  The Times

Labour has been accused of failing in its moral duty to tackle abusive behaviour amid uncertainty over the fate of an MP it suspended for making sexist and homophobic slurs. Jared OMara, 36, the MP for Sheffield Hallam, was suspended by the party in October after misogynistic social media posts from his twenties were discovered. He was also accused of calling a constituent an ugly bitch weeks before his election and voters in his seat, formerly held by Sir Nick Clegg, called this week for Labour to sack him. Yesterday, Labour refused to say when the investigation by its national executive committee into Mr OMaras conduct would conclude.  The Times

Comment:

Revamped code wont end abuse  Kate Maltby, The Guardian

>Yesterday: Lewis Bastons column: How the Tories delivered true equal votes for women in 1928

as Corbyn promotes Lewis and Pidcock to the Shadow Cabinet

Clive Lewis has returned to Labours front bench after he quit last year to defy the party whip over triggering Brexit. Last night the left-wing MP for Norwich South was appointed a shadow Treasury minister as part of a reshuffle of Jeremy Corbyns lower ranks. He was cleared last month of allegations that he had groped a woman at the partys conference. Laura Pidcock, 30, who once suggested that she could not be friends with Conservatives, was also promoted, becoming shadow minister for labour Karen Lee, a former nurse, will become shadow fire minister, replacing Chris Williamson.  The Times

Labour leader accused of sacking Williamson out of self-interest  The Times

More:

Party hopeful backs press curb after unhelpful coverage  Daily Mail

>Yesterday: Left Watch: The new Corbynite council tax plan is an attempt to overcome the fundamental unpopularity of higher taxes

Farages salary docked over misuse of funds

Parliamentary authorities chasing 17k owed by MPs  The Sun

Nigel Farage raged at vindictive Eurocrats after it emerged he is being docked 35,000 from his salary in a row over staffing costs. The former UKIP leader, who recently complained that he was 53, separated and skint, is being punished after EU parliament watchdogs concluded he had misused funds. He has been accused of using official budgets to pay assistant Christopher Adams, even though he was not working on parliamentary business. Mr Adams contract was suspended last year Mr Farage confirmed to MailOnline that his pay was being witheld but insisted he absolutely rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing.  Daily Mail

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Sir Nigel Farage, prince of self-indulgence, would like your attention

News in Brief:Binita Mehta-Parmar: What the Tories need to do to improve their standing with minority voters

Binita Mehta-Parmar is Director of Modern Britain, a centre-right group exploring innovative thinking on a range of issues important to BME communities, from education to migration.

When I first joined the Conservative party in 2008, I understood I was a somewhat rare creature. At Party events, if you had a non-white face, you definitely stood out in the crowd.

At the time, we had just one brown and one black MP, and tiny numbers of councillors from ethnic minority communities. In most constituencies or wards where there were significant Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, Conservative associations were at their weakest.

In short, for most BME voters, supporting the Tories was barely an option. How things have changed.

This weeks reshuffle was encouraging to those who  like me  want the country to see the modern face of our party. The Prime Minister said her new frontbench comprises a new generation of gifted ministers and looks more like the country it serves.

All the new black, Asian and minority ethnic appointments are an important step. But that is only part of what is needed if the Conservatives are to attract BME voters in greater numbers. We must now focus on two things: far greater engagement with the multitude of different minority groups; and implementing a range of policies that demonstrate the Partys commitment to addressing the concerns of these voters.

If the Government is to deliver the Prime Ministers ambition to tackle our societys burning injustices, addressing some of the issues facing BME voters must surely be a vital priority.

Such a bold endeavour, for reasons of both principle and pragmatism, needs to be supplemented by a particular effort to reach out to the section of the population that has been historically most resistant to supporting the Conservatives: Britains diverse BME communities.

In fact, the Conservative Party has never succeeded in winning a significant proportion of Britains ethnic vote. Although we increased our share of Britains BME vote from 2005 to 2015, progress stalled in 2017. BME support is still less than half the figure for the rest of the population. The Party has been seen by BME voters, whether fairly or not, as being at best indifferent to their concerns.

The battle for BME votes matters: according to British Future, it was the ethnic minority vote gap which cost Theresa May her majority and Policy Exchange reports the ethnic minority population is expected to double to 25-30 per cent by 2050.

This makes is clear that Conservatives need a plan to broaden our minority appeal. Any mention of instead only focusing on maximising the white vote, as one Conservative MP put it to the New Statesmans Stephen Bush this week, is foolish and wrong, as well as committing us to be ruled out of future electoral success.

Apart from merely widening our electoral appeal, the Partys strategy must be consistent with our messaging about wanting to genuinely represent every part of our country. There are three aspects needed to deliver this: people, engagement, and policies.

In the past, many BME voters have been deterred from supporting the Conservatives because of the hostility expressed towards migrants from a fringe minority of Tories, along with a lack of engagement by the Party with those communities. This was exacerbated by the lack of non-white faces among those standing for elections as Conservatives. This is changing fast.

Nine BME MPs have been awarded posts this week, including: Sam Gyimah, the new Universities Minister; James Cleverly, new party Deputy Chair; Kemi Badenoch, Vice Chair; Rishi Sunak as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Housing; and others.

What remains to truly be realised are two things: an engagement strategy  deciding which groups can be won over most readily to the Conservative cause; and a political strategy  deciding which issues and policies are most likely to increase support.

Fortunately, there is a successful centre-right model that the party can look to for inspiration. In Canada, over a ten-year period, Canadas Conservatives grew support among their own ethnic minority communities from 10 per cent to 40 per cent. This was, in part, achieved by a serious and long-term engagement programme, led by Jason Kenney MP, their Citizenship Minister.

Another key factor was the development of a raft of new policies that were electorally appealing, based on the understanding that there is not one single BME block of voters, but many different communities with diverse histories, attitudes and expectations.

So, what are the kinds of burning injustices that the new faces at the top of government must work to tackle?

First, more must also be done to help those BME communities whose academic achievements are consistently poor. The statistics on this are clear: Black Africans have the highest unemployment rate (18.3 per cent); 39 per centof Pakistani and 42 per cent of Bangladeshi women have never worked. In contrast, 43 per cent of Indians work in the highest skilled professions. Much of this failure to succeed is related to poor results at school for pupils from Black African, Caribbean and Pakistani communities.

Conservatives believe in a meritocracy, but it appears that talented BME employees are being held back by prejudice. The glass ceiling in the workplace appears to be blocking the progress of those from some ethnic minority communities who are hugely successful at school and university. Even where they have the same qualifications, a candidate for a job called James is far more likely to get an interview than someone called Jamal. Look around the boards of Britains biggest companies and you will find very few non-white faces. It is notable that there is much greater BME representation in many more agile companies, including the tech start up community.

The Conservatives acknowledging the extent of the problem is a vital first step. But then, in government, we need to develop solutions that incentivise private and public sector organisations to address this problem. Of course, the Prime Ministers Race Audit goes some way to understanding this.

Third, particularly leading up to Brexit, is our Partys determination to control our borders and sensibly limit the number of new migrants. For many migrants and non-white British citizens, all too often, this is portrayed as being hostile to anyone with a brown skin.

It is time to put that right. We have a unique opportunity to show to citizens of every colour and background that only the Conservatives have the right, balanced approach that benefits British citizens and newcomers alike. We need to show visible signs that the skilled and ambitious of the world will be welcomed with open arms post-Brexit  as Dan Hannan and others have advocated. In short, we can both control migrant numbers and attract the most talented from around the world.

The Conservatives cannot afford to simply ignore this problem  and not just because of the impact it has on has on our electoral success and BME citizens lives, but for what it says about the Conservative Government governing for all. We must seize the opportunity of a new top Tory team, refreshed with diverse talent, to prove genuine will to tackle deep injustices and disadvantages linked with race  what better way to signal the changing Conservative Party.John Glen is Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and is MP for Salisbury.

I am delighted that as the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, one of our first announcements is a ban on credit and debit card surcharges that comes into force today. The latest figures indicate that surcharging cost consumers 166 million in the UK in 2015. But from today there will be no sneaky last minute fees when making payments online or anywhere.

For far too long, customers have been the victim of stealth fees which penalise people simply for their favoured method of payment. As Conservatives, we need to be doing all we can to demonstrate we are on the side of hardworking consumers.

As a Party, we will of course always be strong supporters of dynamic, private enterprise that is not choked by over-regulation. But that does not mean we look the other way when companies create an opaque environment for their customers with hidden charges and penalties for the use of specific credit or debit cards. It is not always possible for people to know at the time whether the charges that are passed on to them are the genuine costs that are being imposed on firms by banks and credit card companies.

The new ban that comes into force today will create a fairer purchasing environment in two key ways. Firstly, consumers will not have hidden payment charges that suddenly appear when they checkout. And secondly, people will not be penalised for wanting to pay in a particular way.

The ban on surcharging will be enforced by Trading Standards, who are empowered with the authority to take civil enforcement action against any merchants who choose to flout the new regulations. Customers who fall victim to surcharging from today will be also be able to receive a refund or take legal action to recover the amount from a company that ignores the ban.

The prohibition on surcharging comes in across the EU from today and covers every purchase where both the retailer and consumer are located inside the European Economic Area. But we are not just copying and pasting the bare regulatory minimum from Brussels: we are going well beyond what is legally required. We want to send a clear message that the Government takes the interests of consumers very seriously. So we will be banning surcharging not just on mainstream credit and debit cards, but on payment methods including American Express, Diners and JCB cards, and other payment systems such as PayPal.

Im not naive to think that all retailers will absorb this cost; there will be some that pass it on in their headline price. But thats their decision as a business, the crucial point here is that consumers will be fully informed of how much something will cost before they get to the very end of the checkout process. This also should help people more accurately compare across retailers and give confidence that they are purchasing at a competitive price.

My new role as City Minister will obviously be heavily dominated by Brexit and the need to secure the best possible deal for our world-leading banking and financial services sectors. Im very excited about getting stuck into the detail of the challenges and opportunities in regards to this and meeting the industrys leaders. But the ban on surcharging right at the start of my tenure is a useful reminder that we need to be building a conservatism that goes into bat for consumers across the country, as well as our finest financial institutions in the Square Mile.It looks as if Germany, after months of deadlock, is going to end up being governed by a much-diminished version of the left-right grand coalition that ruled before Septembers election.

Such an outcome would undoubtedly please Angela Merkel, who despite leading Germanys largest centre-right party much prefers partnership with left-wingers. Indeed, one reason the liberal Free Democrats walked out of negotiations to form a so-called Jamaica coalition with the Christian Democrats and the Greens is that the Chancellor had done very little to accomodate their pro-market agenda.

It would also bring Martin Schulz, who recently called for the rapid formation of a formal European superstate and the expulsion of Member States who refused to join, into the German government, which might have interesting implications for the EU.

Whether it will be good for the long-term health of Germanys famously stable political system, on the other hand, is less certain.

Both of the blocs which form the grand coalition (the SPD on the left and the CDU/CSU alliance on the right) fared badly at the election. The SPD recorded a record low share of the vote, and between them the coalition parties shed 105 seats. Meanwhile the AfD horrified the German political class by breaking into the Bundestag with 94 seats.

It isnt hard to see how the reformation of the grand coalition could be the AfDs ideal scenario. First, if the SPD formally enter government then the AfD, as the next-largest party in the legislature, will become the official opposition. That fact alone led many to assume that a renewal of the CDU/SPD pact was off the table.

But it will also mean that the largest vehicle for consensual centre-right politics in Germany will remain tied into a left-leaning government under an increasingly left-leaning Merkel. Whilst it is over-simplifying matters to portray the AfD as simply moving into a vacuum on the right vacated by the Chancellor, they will undoubtedly welcome the opportunity to appeal to disaffected, conservative voters who want to refute Merkels slogan that there is no alternative to her policies.

That in turn will have a destabilising effect on the coalition itself. Merkels credibility took a big hit in September and she will likely find it harder to suppress right-wing critics within the CDU, let alone rein in the CSU, which faces elections in socially-conservative Bavaria and fears an AfD breakthrough.

It seems unlikely that either of the major parties will prosper after for more years of an arrangement German voters dealt a serious blow last year, which raises the prospect of even bigger gains by outsider parties at the next election. It may also start to alter even the established parties  the Free Democrats, for example, may try to harness elements of the populist agenda to make inroads with liberal right-wing voters and stem the growth of the AfD.

The prospect raises a problem which always faces those who aspire to hegemonic rule by the centre: that every government loses in the end. If all the good people are in government, who will they lose to? Its a question that must now be being pondered in Germany and in France, where Emmanuel Macron has swept aside the traditional parties of both left and right.

Britain, with our non-proportional electoral system and adversarial political style, is much less exposed to problems of this sort. Usually the two main parties offer voters a reasonably clear choice, and move in and out of government decisively at fairly regular intervals.

Even where a ruling-class consensus does calcify across the leadership of both parties, as EU membership did, first-past-the-post ensured that the mounting pressure of euroscepticism force the main parties to adapt before UKIP were able to establish a beachhead in Parliament. Instead the triumphant outsiders were Vote Leave, a one-off campaign which dissolved immediately.

Done right, Brexit offers an opportunity to restore the strengths of our traditional system. Repatriating powers from the EU means bringing them back into the sphere of domestic political debate and gives the parties more opportunities to offer distinct and meaningful programmes to the electorate.

Come 2021, Germanys Christian and Social Democrats may be casting about for a safety valve of their own.DERBY  Anyone who has been a cop for more than 30 years has stories to tell.

But being a cop for more than three decades with six different law enforcement agencies should make Michael Bouchard the life of any party.

Just talk to the Bridgeport police officer for 10 minutes and youll hear how he nabbed the longest active Army deserter living in the U.S., helped stop a planned gang murder and riddled a rabid woodchuck.

Or hell tell you why why Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster dont exist; that the Lindley Street poltergeist was just a young girl or about his research on the Philadelphia Experiment, Area 51 and the Roswell crash.

Ive done a lot more than most police officers, said Bouchard, a 55-year old Valley native. Ive worked in small towns and big cities. Ive been on the street, in schools, out in the woods and on the water... Everywhere Ive been, Ive learned something.

Much of his experience and many of his stories have been put in print. Bouchard is the author of four books with a fifth on the way.

For a man who has worked for the Shelton police department auxiliary, the Lake Housatonic Marine auxiliary and the Regional Water Authority, as a state game warden and in the Bridgeport Police Department as Park police, a School Resource officer and now at the information booth in the Margaret Morton Government Center, Bouchard remains a man of action.

Its not as fast paced as I would like, he said of his current post. But in todays society, you have to be a little more on guard than you did 10 years ago. Here its important to interact with people.

While Bouchard loves writing, the research interests him at least as much.

The older cases are more interesting, he said. You have less to go on. You have to dig deeper and you have to think outside the box.

I was always interested in science, always interested in research, said the author/cop whose self-published books are available through Amazon. What happens is you get addicted to it. I think everybody is capable of writing a book.

Book number five will be about 105 missing people in Connecticut, including one man he found living in New York. Its due out mid-summer. Among the cases: a cluster of eight missing girls in the Vernon-Tolland area.

He plans to plot selected cases on a map to see if there are geographical similarities. He admits he isnt out to solve cases.

What I will do is provide information that may help solve cases, he said. Most officers are interested in chasing criminals, my interest is in tracking them. The one difference between tracking people compared to hunting animals is the mere fact that animals are much smarter.

What Bouchard hopes to do is bring closure to some families, he said. It was one reason he began writing in the first place.

His first book, Forever Searching: Missing in the Smoky Mountains, the story of the 1969 cold case file of 6-year-old Dennis Lloyd, was hatched by emails from a friend.

Bouchard obtained numerous reports, interviewed living witnesses and came to the belief the boy may have been abducted, got away and became lost and possibly injured before dying. A claim that skeletal remains of a young boy were found a few years later in the area Bouchard had pinpointed was never investigated.

As a School resource officer, I got a lot of missing kids, mostly runaways, he said. Fortunately within a few days, most are found. I would notice the fear and panic in the parents eyes. Think about it  your kid goes missing for a few minutes and the anxiety you feel. Imagine if your kid goes missing and is never found.

His second book, So You Want to Be A Cop, includes 36 of his strangest police cases.

Like discovering James Gilbert Carmona during a 2004 minor traffic stop. Carmona had been AWOL since leaving a California Army base in January 1970.

Carmona was driving a car with no front plate and the back plate of another car when Bouchard stopped him. His wallet contained ID for Jesus Gonzalez and both a California and a Massachusetts license and two Social Security cards.

He was eventually identified as James Carmona.

He said he was married for 18 years and his wife didnt know his real name, Bouchard said.

So I gave him a summons for the motor vehicle violation, advised him that the military police would get him, but more importantly told him: You can thank me for one thing. After 34 years I gave you back your real name.

It closed the book on the longest active deserter in the U.S., Bouchard said.

Another of Bouchards stories: While working as a game warden, Bouchard was called to Wallingford on report of a rabid woodchuck caught inside a box.

The front yard was huge... the lawn looked like someone cut it with a pair of scissors it was so neat, Bouchard recalled.

As he opened the box the animal leaped out frothing at the mouth.

His first two shots didnt stop it so I put down a line of fire that looked like strafing from a machine gun. Chunks of lawn went flying, Bouchard said.

As he walked away with the dead animal, he saw the homeowner on his hands and knees trying to put the plugs of grass back in.

Well I hoped he washed his hands... or he might start foaming from the mouth and scratching for flees, Bouchard wrote.

Then there was the day in Seaside Park when Bouchards stomach started churning from a greasy cheeseburger he ate forcing him to pull over. His radar unit started humming as a car sped by.

He stopped the car and asked the unlicensed driver for the keys.

Officer  I have to ask you a serious question. Why is your gun pointed at me? the driver asked.

I said: I have to ask you a serious question. Why is there an AK-47 and a ski mask on the back seat?

At that point the driver punched his passenger in the face and said:  I told you to hide that....in the trunk.

A search uncovered the AK-47, a sawed off shotgun, two semi-automatic handguns, a MAC-10, two ski masks, a bullet-proof vest and marijuana. He said the pair were recruited to shoot a rival gang member, his family and the police officer guarding them.

All because of a greasy cheeseburger, he said. That would have made a hell of a headline.

Then there was 966 Lindley St.  the home of the legendary 1974 poltergeist that brought out crowds, ghost busters and an exorcist.

Bouchard believes it was a hoax confessed to by the familys adopted daughter.

Still a day after a snowstorm, he found himself driving by the house and spotting an elderly woman in a pink housecoat sitting on the porch. After driving again he stopped to talk to her.

I knew you were coming, he recalled her saying.

So I asked her if she was calling about the snow, he said.

She again said, I knew you were coming and very bad things happened here.

So thats one time too many, Bouchard said. I know Im leaving.

He found no police calls for the house so how did she know I was coming?

Bouchard also is a practicing archaeologist and anthropologist who has written extensive reports on excavations and discoveries at the Trap Falls Reservoir in Shelton and Mildords Baldwin Station site along the north shore of the Housatonic River.

His third book, Paleo Project: A Review and Interpretation of Paleo-Indian Site Distribution Patterns in Connecticut, leans heavily on his own research.

His fourth book, My Abstract Thoughts: Life Quotes and Creatures of Folklore Fact or Fiction, is exactly what it says its aboutFlu activity has rapidly increased in Connecticut over the last few weeks with more than 1,000 confirmed flu cases in the state, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

To monitor circulating flu viruses through the year, the DPH uses multiple surveillance systems to gain preliminary insight into the spread of influenza across the state. Surveillance began in Oct. 2017 and will continue through May.

From Aug. 27, 2017, to Jan. 6, the DPH said there have been a total of 1,015 laboratory samples that tested positive for the flu.

Of those 1,015 tests, 256 came from Fairfield, 367 from Hartford, 229 from New Haven, 58 from New London, 38 from Tolland, 31 from Middlesex, 23 from Litchfield and 13 from Widham County.

This years flu virus appears to be affecting older persons especially hard, said DPH Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino. It is not too late to get a flu shot, and some people who are sick with influenza may need to be treated with an antiviral medication.

As of Friday, the DPH said there have been 15 flu-associated deaths so far this season in people over the age of 65. The DPH said 70 percent of all patients hospitalized with the flu this season have been age 65 and older.

A total of 456 patients have been hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed flu between Aug. 27, 2017, and Jan. 6.

At 10:30 a.m. Friday, Pino and Dr. Matthew Cartter  a state epidemiologist held a press conference in Hartford to address the seriousness of this seasons flu cases. The press conference had a focus on the impact of the flu on older Connecticut residents.

In the midst of a troubling increase in flu hospitalizations, I strongly urge all Connecticut residents to remember to get their flu shot, said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in a statement Friday. We are just a few weeks away from peak flu activity, so everyone  especially those aged 65 years or older  should take the necessary precautions.

Peak flu activity, according to the DPH, is expected to be in mid-February.WASHINGTON  Connecticuts Democratic lawmakers universally condemned President Donald Trump for his inflammatory description of impoverished nations with immigrant populations in the U.S., but remain hopeful a deal can be reached to protect DACA Dreamers.

Trump on Thursday threw a wrench into an emerging bipartisan compromise on extending legal status for youthful immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. At a White House meeting with senators of both parties, he referred to nations of Africa as well as El Salvador and Haiti as shithole countries, and wondered why the U.S. couldnt attract more immigrants from Norway.

Trumps remarks are disgraceful and racist, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro. Immigrants from all over the world deserve our respect. Most are valued members of our communities, and they do not deserve to be disparaged by anyone, let alone the president.

The president has made an agreement more difficult with his blatantly racist comments that appeal to the vilest and darkest instincts on immigration issue, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. His odious and insidious racism demeans America. But as with so many other issues of policy, we may need to work around him rather than directly with him.

Blumenthal, DeLauro and other Democrats are attempting to link the fate of 800,000 youthful beneficiaries of the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals  8,000 in Connecticut  to a spending agreement that must be reached by Jan. 19 to head off a government shutdown.

Trump and Republican congressional leaders have demanded that an extension of DACA, which Trump canceled in September, must be conditioned on construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Democrats say a wall is expensive and unnecessary.

A possible compromise authored by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was under discussion when Trump made the remark.

His comments were disgusting, but not surprising, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Nobody was shocked to hear the president said that.

The compromise reportedly would restore legal status to DACA recipients and give them a 10-year path to citizenship. Also it would provide $2.5 billion for a combination of border wall and fence construction, as well as additional surveillance technology and border agents.

The agreement also sought to address the visa lottery system, which has been used to draw in immigrants from Africa and other underdeveloped nations. This part is what set Trumps incendiary remarks in motion.

While not supporting it outright, Murphy and Blumenthal had positive things to say about the Durbin-Graham compromise.

Its gotten fire from the right and the left, which means its probably the right temperature, said Murphy.

But there may be a Catch-22, Murphy added. Trump said at a White House meeting Tuesday that he would sign what Congress sent him and was leaving it up to lawmakers to hash out details.

No compromise is likely to pass the more conservative GOP-led House without Trumps approval, though. And with his use of derisive language at the Thursday meeting, its an open question whether the compromise can be resuscitated.

This would be a hard-fought compromise, Murphy said. But it cant go too much farther in Trumps direction without losing a whole bunch of Democrats.

dan@hearstdc.comTwo men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Bridgeport with engaging in a conspiracy to defraud Connecticut of $5.8 million in taxes due on tobacco products imported into the state.

The two - Pavan Vaswani, 39, of West Haven and Rishi Malik, 45, formerly of Fairfield - were arrested on Thursday.For Subscribers What we learned: Doug Paul works magic, Windber's 2nd romp, Township shows 'D', Meyersdale improves

Here's a look at four things we learned in Week 2 of the high school football season; conference contenders and pretenders and standout performances.For former president Pranab Mukherjee, life after presidency seems equally exciting, if not busy. Be it the launch of his political memoir (third book in the series) in October last year or his bold address at the Aligarh Muslim University on founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khans 200th birthday, Mukherjee chooses his words and events carefully.

The former president is all set to visit Bangladesh on January 14 on a three-day trip. Needless to emphasise, he enjoys enormous goodwill in the neighbouring country. Held in very high esteem from the days of Bangladeshs struggle for liberation, his fan following , cutting across party lines, is simply huge.

Incidentally, the native place of Mukherjee's parents-in-law is on the other side of the border, and he obviously has several close relatives living there. That apart, Pranab babu has earned this goodwill by sheer hard work and undivided attention to the well-being of Bangladesh in redressing issues pertaining to Indo-Bangladesh relations. His contribution can be called phenomenal in major contentious issues concerning India and Bangladesh.

The veteran Congress leader held several ministerial portfolios in the government of India - external affairs, finance, defence etc. That notwithstanding, he never took his eyes off the happenings in Bangladesh and always used his good offices, in all seriousness, and on all occasions requiring effective intervention.

Right from Bangladesh's independence war in 1971, Pranab babu has always been proactive and lending help whenever required - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's return from imprisonment, his installation as the prime minister, the tragic assassination and the trail of sensational developments impinging on Indias geo-political landscape due to rise in power of pro-Pakistani, Right reactionary forces who usurped power by facilitating a military coup and exterminating Mujib. Its is believed Mukherjee proved to be a sheet anchor to the bereaved family of Sheikh Mujib at the time of grief and stood as a great pillar of strength to them. He was also the bridge between the family members and former Indian PM Indira Gandhi, comprehending and reacting to the events unfolding in Dhaka .

The bloody coup was followed by counter-coups that took a huge toll and pushed Bangladesh into a turbulent time. Successive regimes, imposition of martial law, general Hussain Mohammad Ershad's rise and Ziaur Rahman's assassination were hallmarks of Bangladesh contemporary history in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The man who held the hand of the distressed nation and at the same time took into account Indias security interests, is none other than Mukherjee. Although Sheikh Hasina (in her earlier stint) eventually came to power and was voted out after five years, Pranab Mukherjee maintained good relations with all and helped solve age-old problems of water-sharing and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs ) accord that facilitated the return thousands of Chakma refugees to Bangladesh.

In brief, whenever Bangladesh ran into rough weather, Mukherjee steadied the ship and things remained on course keeping Indo-Bangla relations intact.

Interestingly, opposition leaders in Bangladesh too have immense respect for Mukherjee and acknowledge his vision and hold over the nuances of Bangladeshi politics. Mukherjee will be in Bangladesh to attend a number of programmes, including the closing session of the "International Bengali Literature Conference".

According to this news report, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina "will inaugurate the three-day literature conference on Saturday (January 13) at Bangla Academy, while Mukherjee will be present at the closing ceremony of the conference on Monday (January 15), as the chief guest".

He will also be flown in to Chittagong on January 15 to be honoured with a D Litt degree by the Chittagong University. In Chittagong , Mukherjee is also expected to be accorded a civic reception. On his part, Mukherjee will present a cheque on behalf of the Indian high commissioner to the Preetilata Trust in furtherance of its activities . Significantly , Mukherjee will also visit the memorial of Surya Sen aka Masterda, the famous revolutionary, known for the Chittagong armoury case. In Dhaka, he is scheduled to deliver the convocation address at the East West University and the Nikhil Bongo Sahitya Sammelan. So far, no meetings have been fixed with any political leaders. Its assessed that abundant caution is being exercised so as to keep Mukherjee away from any political event, lest it is wrongly interpreted since the general elections in Bangladesh are due at the end of 2018 or early next year.

On the whole, the visit is likely to go a long way in reinforcing ties between India and Bangladesh ensuring that at least there is one immediate neighbour who can be relied upon and vice-versa. His presence on the Bangladeshi soil will also encourage secular and pro-liberation forces to rally around Sheikh Hasina, which in effect, will help neutralise communal and divisive forces.

Also read: Wait for another Pranab Mukherjee to become president may take a long timeBanco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain. The United States segment consists of the financial business activity of BBVA USA in the country and the activity of the branch of BBVA SA in New York. The Mexico segment refers to banking and insurance businesses in this country as well as the activity of its branch in Houston. The Turkey segment reports the activity of Garanti BBVA group that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands. The South America segment comprises of operations in n Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Rest of Eurasia segment includes the banking business activity carried out by the group in Europe and Asia, excluding Spain. The company was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

Read MoreArizona Mining Inc. acquires, explores for, and develops natural mineral resource properties in the United States and Canada. It explores for zinc, lead, silver, manganese manto oxide, copper, and gold deposits. The company holds 100% interest in the Hermosa property, which includes patented mining claims totaling an area of approximately 535 acres; and unpatented mining claims covering approximately 19,015 acres located to the southeast of Tucson, Arizona. It also holds interests in the Taylor Deposit and the Hermosa property. The company was formerly known as AZ Mining Inc. and changed its name to Arizona Mining Inc. in October 2015. Arizona Mining Inc. was incorporated in 1975 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Read MoreCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 1 Subsidiaries of this entity in which Tenet Healthcare Corporation directly and indirectly held a 95% ownership interest at December 31 2020 are set forth in the table below., 25 East Same Day Surgery L.L.C., 300 PBL Development LLC, 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery  Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Adventist Midwest Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., All Star MOB LLC, Allegian Insurance Company, Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical (Central) Inc., Amisub (Heights) Inc., Amisub (Hilton Head) Inc., Amisub (North Ridge Hospital) Inc., Amisub (SFH) Inc., Amisub (Twelve Oaks) Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network  Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arlington Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Arrowhead Endoscopy and Pain Management Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH Imaging Jasper LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Bagley Holdings LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist 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Diagnostic Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHRISTUS Cabrini Surgery Center L.L.C., CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, California Joint & Spine LLC, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Captive Insurance Services Inc., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, CareSpot of Orlando/HSI Urgent Care LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Carondelet St. Marys-Northwest L.L.C., Cascade Spine Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Centennial ASC LLC, Center for Advanced Research 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El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerson Surgery Center LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Center of Hackensack LLC, Endoscopy Center of South Sacramento LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FPN  Frisco Physicians Network, FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., FSC Hospital LLC, FSH IT Services LP, First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Folsom Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Fort Worth Surgicare Partners Ltd., Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Fresno Surgery Center L.P., Frisco Medical Center L.L.P., Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Garland Surgicare Partners Ltd., Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Genesis ASC Partners LLC, Geneva Surgical Suites LLC, Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Georgia Spine Surgery Center LLC, Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Grapevine Surgicare Partners Ltd., Grass Valley Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Graystone Family Healthcare - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine - Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Sunnyvale Holdings LLC, HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HMA/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, HMH-USP Surgery Centers LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HPI Holdings LLC, HPI North LLC, HPI Physicians LLC, HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, HUG Services Inc., HUMC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Hacienda Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Hazelwood Endoscopy Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals (Dallas) Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare Partners Investments LLC, Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Heritage Park Surgical Hospital LLC, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Hialeah Hospital Inc., Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network  Georgia L.L.C., Hinsdale Surgical Center LLC, Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Horizon Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Hospital Underwriting Group Inc., Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, ICNU Rockford LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, Integris/USP Health Ventures LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Irving-Coppell Surgical Hospital L.L.P., JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., JFP UAP Sugarland LLC, Jackson Surgical Center LLC, Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., Lake Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lake Surgical Hospital Slidell LLC, LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lakewood Surgery Center LLC, Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lawrenceville Surgery Center L.L.C., Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Legacy/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Liberty Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Lone Star Endoscopy Center LLC, Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MCSH Real Estate Investors Ltd., MH Memorial City Surgery LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSH Partners LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mary Immaculate Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mayfield Spine Surgery Center LLC, McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medical Park Tower Surgery Center LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Katy LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Memorial City L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Northwest LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Southwest L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Sugar Land LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Texas Medical Center LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center  The Woodlands LLP, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers III LLP, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Merced Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mercy/USP Health Ventures L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metrocrest Surgery Center L.P., Metropolitan New Jersey LLC, Michigan ASC Partners L.L.C., Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Mid-TSC Development LP, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NHSC Holdings LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NKCH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., NUCH of Texas, Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., Name of Entity, National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, New Salem ASC RE LLC, Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Central Surgical Center L.L.P., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Garland Surgery Center L.L.P., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Medical Billing Center L.L.C., North Shore Medical Center Inc., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, North State Surgery Centers L.P., NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northern Monmouth Regional Surgery Center L.L.C., Northridge ASC RE LLC, Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center LLP, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, OCOMS Imaging LLC, OCOMS Professional Services LLC, OLOL/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Oklahoma Center for Orthopedic and Multi-Specialty Surgery LLC, Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/Baptist ASC LLC, OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Orthopedic South Surgical Partners LLC, Orthopedic and Surgical Specialty Company LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PHS/USP Health Ventures LLC, PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PPRE LLC, PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Pain Diagnostic and Treatment Center L.P., Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Palm Valley Medical Center Campus Association, Palos Health Surgery Center LLC, Paramus Endoscopy LLC, Park Cities Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkway Recovery Care Center LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center  Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of Detroit, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center at Good Samaritan LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgical Center of Ft. Worth LLP, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Professional Liability Insurance Company, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Renaissance Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens East Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Fayette Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Richmond ASC Leasing Company LLC, Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockwall Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.P., Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roseville Surgery Center L.P., Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SPC at the Star LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Sacramento Midtown Endoscopy Center LLC, Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Agnes/Dignity/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Agnes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP  Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day SC of Central NJ LLC, Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Martin Surgery Center LLC, San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, San Ramon Surgery Center L.L.C., Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scripps Encinitas Surgery Center LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shands/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Shrewsbury Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Pacific Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Silicon Valley Outpatient Surgery Centers LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Siouxland Surgery Center Limited Liability Partnership, Solantic Corporation, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, Solantic of Jacksonville LLC, Solantic of Orlando LLC, Solantic/South Florida LLC, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services Inc., South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital Real Estate LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgery Center of Fort Worth L.P., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment Centers L.L.C., Spine & Joint Physician Associates, Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Josephs Surgery Center L.P., St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LLC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Stockton Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Subsidiaries of USPI Holding Company Inc., Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group I L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group II L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group IV L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Plano LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Atlanta LLC, Surgery Center of Canfield LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Richardson Physician Partnership L.P., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate II L.L.C., Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate L.L.C., Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgical Specialists at Princeton LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, THV Park Cities LLC, THVG Arlington GP LLC, THVG Bariatric GP LLC, THVG Bariatric L.L.C., THVG Bedford GP LLC, THVG Bellaire GP LLC, THVG DSP GP LLC, THVG DeSoto GP LLC, THVG Denton GP LLC, THVG Fort Worth GP LLC, THVG Frisco GP LLC, THVG Garland GP LLC, THVG Grapevine GP LLC, THVG Irving-Coppell GP LLC, THVG Lewisville GP LLC, THVG North Garland GP LLC, THVG Park Cities/Trophy Club GP LLC, THVG Rockwall 2 GP LLC, THVG Valley View GP LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TMC Holding Company LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TPG Hospital LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TRMC Holdings LLC, TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Endoscopy Centers LLC, Texas Health Venture Arlington Hospital LLC, Texas Health Venture Baylor Plano LLC, Texas Health Venture Carrollton LLC, Texas Health Venture Centennial LLC, Texas Health Venture Ennis LLC, Texas Health Venture Fort Worth L.L.C., Texas Health Venture Granbury LLC, Texas Health Venture Heritage Park LLC, Texas Health Venture Keller LLC, Texas Health Venture Las Colinas LLC, Texas Health Venture Mansfield LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano Endo LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano Parkway LLC, Texas Health Venture Texas Spine LLC, Texas Health Ventures Group L.L.C., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, Texas Spine and Joint Hospital LLC, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Ambulatory Surgical Center of St. Louis L.P., The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Surgery Center at Williamson LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Toms River Surgery Center L.L.C., Total Joint Center of the Northland LLC, Tower Road Real Estate LLC, Tower/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trophy Club Medical Center L.P., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Tuscan Surgery Center at Las Colinas LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Las Colinas Endo LLC, UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation, USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Ulysses True Results NewCo LLC, Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., University Surgical Partners of Dallas L.L.P., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Upper Cumberland Physicians Surgery Center LLC, Urgent Care Centers of Arizona LLC, Utica ASC Partners LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard ASC LLC, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Virtua-USP Princeton LLC, WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Boynton Urgent Care L.L.C., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Willamette Spine Center Ambulatory Surgery LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Wymark Surgery Center LLC, and YNHHSC/USP Surgery Centers LLC.The Williams Cos., Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico; Northeast G&P; and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment comprises of interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco and Northwest Pipeline, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment includes midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, and the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Permian basins. The company was founded by David Williams and Miller Williams in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa,

Read MoreZurich Insurance Group AG is a holding company. The Company and its subsidiaries provide insurance products and related services. Its segments include General Insurance, Global Life, Farmers, Other Operating Businesses and Non-Core Businesses. The General Insurance segment provides a range of motor, home and commercial products and services for individuals, as well as small and large businesses. The Global Life segment is engaged in providing unit-linked, protection and corporate propositions through global distribution and proposition pillars. The Farmers segment, through Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, provides certain non-claims administrative and management services to the Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, and their subsidiaries and affiliates. The Other Operating Businesses segment includes the Company's Holding and Financing activities. The Non-Core Businesses segment includes its insurance and reinsurance businesses.

Read MoreHSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial products and services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking products and services, such as current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services for ultra high net worth individuals; and wealth management services, including insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions. The Commercial Banking segment provides credit and lending, treasury management, payment, cash management, commercial insurance, and investment services, as well as commercial cards, and international trade and receivables finance services; and foreign exchange products, and capital raising and advisory services to small and medium sized enterprises, mid-market enterprises, and corporates. The Global Banking and Markets segment is involved in the provision of financing, advisory, and transaction services, including credit, rates, foreign exchange, equities, money markets, and securities services, as well as principal investment activities to government, corporate and institutional clients, and private investors. The Global Private Banking segment provides a range of services to high net worth individuals and families with complex and international needs. HSBC Holdings plc was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreCNH Industrial N.V. designs, produces, markets, sells, and finances agricultural and construction equipment, trucks, commercial vehicles, buses, and specialty vehicles in North America, Europe, South America, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Agriculture, Construction, Commercial and Specialty Vehicles, Powertrain, and Financial. The Agriculture segment offers farm machinery and implements that include two-and four-wheel drive tractors, crawler tractors, combines, cotton pickers, grape and sugar cane harvesters, hay and forage equipment, planting and seeding equipment, soil preparation and cultivation implements, and material handling equipment under the New Holland Agriculture, Case IH, STEYR, Miller, Kongskilde, A-verum, K-Line, and JF brands. The Construction segment offers excavators, crawler dozers, graders, wheel and backhoe loaders, and skid steer and compact track loaders under the CASE Construction and New Holland Construction brands. The Commercial and Specialty Vehicles segment provides light, medium, and heavy vehicles for the transportation and distribution of goods under the IVECO brand; commuter buses and city-buses under the IVECO BUS and Heuliez Bus brands; quarry and mining equipment under the IVECO ASTRA brand; firefighting vehicles under the Magirus brand; and vehicles for civil defense and peace-keeping missions under the Iveco Defence Vehicles brand. The Powertrain segment offers engines, transmission systems, and axles for on- and off-road applications, as well as for marine and power generation under the FPT Industrial brand. The Financial Services segment provides and administers retail financing to customers for the purchase or lease of new and used industrial equipment or vehicles, and other equipment; wholesale financing, which consists primarily of floor plan financing; and trade receivables factoring services. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreBank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited.The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained rose 288.27 points or 1.46 per cent to settle at 19,993.19.

Mumbai: Market extended its weekly winning streak for the sixth time in a row, gaining 438.54 points and registered all time new record high at 34,592.39, while the broader Nifty captured new milestone 10,600.

Bulls stayed strong as the market saw record-making run during most trading sessions of the week, barring some profit-booking on account of slight caution over quarterly results season as well as sentimental sell-off on concerns over apex court after a virtual revolt against Chief Justice by four senior judges.

However, the bullish undertone on growth, optimism over earnings and upcoming budget along with good domestic liquidity flows propelled the market to record highs sidelining a cut in GDP growth estimate by Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week, lacklustre earning from IT bellwether TCS.

The market also climbed on bullish global peers, while IT index climbed on account of relief on US H1B visa norms. The key indices built on gains well supported by buying in index heavyweights like Reliance, Infosys, Coal India and ITC, also strong accummulation witnessed in midcap and smallcap shares.

The Sensex started the week higher at 34,216.33 and hovered between marking all time new highs at 34,638.42 and low of 34,216.33 before settling the week new record highs at 34,592.39, showing a gain 438.54, or 1.28 per cent. (The Sensex garnered 1,681.71 points or 5.12 per cent in during previous five week sessions).

The Nifty also resumed the week up at 10,591.70 and marked above the key milestone of 10,600-level at 10,690.40 and low of 10,588.55 before ending the week at record closing at 10,681.25, showing a gain of 122.40 points, or 1.16 per cent.

Realty gained the most followed by IT, Teck, IPO, Oil&Gas, Metal, FMCG, CapitalGoods, Banks, HealthCare and Consumer Durables.

While Power and Auto segments saw profit-booking. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 496.47 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of January 12, 2018.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced rose 67 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 18,137.03. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained rose 288.27 points or 1.46 per cent to settle at 19,993.19. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Among sectoral and industry indices, realty climbed by 5.51 per cent followed by IT 4.50 per cent, teck 2.88 per cent, IPO 2.54 per cent, oil&gas 1.26 per cent, metal 1.25 per cent, FMCG 0.96 per cent, capital goods 0.80 per cent, bankex 0.56 per cent, healthcare 0.38 per cent and consumer durables 0.11 per cent.

However, power fell by 0.84 per cent and auto 0.24 per cent. Among the 31-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks rose and remaining 10 stocks fell during the week. State-run Coal India was the top Sensex gainer last week.

The stock surged 10.49 per cent to Rs 308 after the company's board at its meeting held on 8 January 2018, approved revision of non-coking coal prices with effect from 9 January 2018.

It was followed by infosys 6.55 per cent, TCS 3.29 per cent, Wipro 2.91 per cent, Reliance 2.57 per cent, Yes Bank 2.28 per cent, ITC 1.75 per cent and ICICI Bank 1.60 per cent. However, Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the top Sensex loser last week.

The stock fell 5.67 per cent to Rs 509.40. It was followed by Bajaj Auto 3.13 per cent, NTPC 3.02 per cent, Power Grid 2.19 per cent, SBI 1.61 per cent and Hero Motoco 1.35 per cent. The total turnover during the week on BSE rose to Rs 27,137.55 crs as against last weekend's level of Rs 25,394.12 crores and NSE moved up to 1,84,611.77 crores compared to Rs 1,68,820.04 crores previously.From the conference hall, a familiar face emerges. An all-smiling, pleasant and absolutely humble Benyamin speaks patiently to the many who come greeting the author. On someones request, he goes back to the hall to fetch the man who made him famous, the man whose story he told in one of the first books he wrote and won many, many accolades for  Najeeb of Aadujeevitham (Goat Days).

That is perhaps the easiest way to identify him, the man who comes from a book. Aadujeevitham told not just his story, but also the many unheard tales of men who went to Gulf countries seeking jobs and money to send back home, and instead got trapped in inhuman conditions they couldnt escape from. I cant even talk. I am feeling so happy, meeting so many great people, all because of Aadujeevitham, Najeeb says, filled with emotion, sitting at the Legislative Complex in Thiruvananthapuram, where the two-day Loka Kerala Sabha  a gathering of Pravasi (non-resident) Malayalis  is going on. Najeeb is speaking at one of the conferences, so is Benyamin.

It is a time when a lot of Pravasis are returning home. We want to know how the commoners among them will be rehabilitated.

Najeeb wants to ask what his job opportunities will be when he comes back home next year, Benyamin says. Yes, Najeeb had gone back to the Gulf again.

After Aadujeevitham, you cant help asking him if he was brave enough to go back to the place that had taken everything out of him years ago. I was home for a few years but I had to look after the family, he says. This time there was a brother in Bahrain and a free visa, to give him the courage. It was not going to be as bad as Saudi Arabia, where he led a slave-like existence as Benyamin so powerfully writes in his fictional account.

Fiction is the way to describe the unending loneliness of a man trapped in such a situation  his pain and his suffering. If it was only an account of what happened, it would have ended in four or five pages. A reader would not have understood what people like Najeeb went through, Benyamin says. It is partly his life too. He too had gone away and lived as a Pravasi engineer for a while, before the loneliness drove him to reading and then to writing. For 21 years, surviving the loneliness and the heat of the Gulf he breaks off.

He has a few suggestions to pass on at the Loka Kerala Sabha - one, all the skills of the Pravasi returnees could be used when they come back home. They should be given jobs in universities and institutions, to pass on the knowledge to students, regardless of their educational qualifications; and two, to give the Gulf returnees job opportunities in small-scale units, in the Kudumbashree model.

Even after writing so many books, Benyamin is still most known for his Aadujeevitham, which has been translated into eight languages across the world, including Nepali. Thats because of the story it tells, says Najeeb. He is the one who received it at the time of its release. That's when the family read it for the first time and learnt of the extent of hardships Najeeb went through. My wife would cry and ask me why I never told her all this, he says.

The book has brought awareness of a different level. It made the youth who dream of going abroad and making money aware of the risks involved  to check the authenticity of the company, the sponsor, to check if it is an authorised agency giving them visa. They will think twice before planning to go abroad, Benyamin says. He remembers meeting a mother in Kozhikode once who told him about her son who had been fighting with her to go away to a Gulf country.

She told me she spent Rs 120 to buy him a copy of Aadujeevitham and he has stopped fighting, and lives happily, selling fish in his homeland, Benyamin says, before he leaves, still smiling. He did not write another Aadujeevitham, he knew one was enough. But his Al-Arabian Novel Factory talks of the Arab politics, the dictatorship of decades. There are clearly many more stories to be told, and Benya min shall keep writing them.New Delhi: In a major admission, India confirmed on Thursday that national security adviser Ajit Doval had indeed met his Pakistani counterpart Lt. Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua (Retd) recently but justified the meeting, saying that while terror and talks cannot go together, talks on terror can definitely go ahead.

The meeting is learnt to have taken place in Bangkok on December 26. The external affairs ministry said: The focus of the talks was on terror, cross-border terrorism.

MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: I am saying that talks have taken place on how to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from this region, adding India raised (the issue of) cross-border terrorism in these talks.

The MEA said the talks were part of operational-level talks. India and Pakistan have a dialogue process and we have said terror and talks cannot go together. However, there are other dialogue mechanisms like at the DGMO level or between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers. Similarly, the NSA-level engagement is part of operational-level talks. We have said terror and talks cannot go together, but talks on terror can definitely go ahead, the MEA spokesman said, adding that such operational-level talks are not announced.

Nevertheless, the talks indicate that New Delhi  while realising the reality of the Pakistan Army and ISI actively sponsoring terror in India  are also in favour of continuing some sort of engagement quietly with Pakistan. The very fact that the two NSAs had to meet in Bangkok bears testimony to this.

Also, observers feel that the views of the Pakistan NSA would indicate in some way what the Pakistan Army wants to be conveyed to India.

The meeting also took place just one day after the wife and mother of imprisoned former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav had met him in Islamabad.New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Maharasthra government to file the autopsy report into the death of former CBI judge BH Loya who died in mysterious circumstances in December 2014.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Santana Gouder while describing the issue as a serious matter, asked the state government to file its reply by January 15. It said, "this matter requires bi-parte hearing rather than ex-parte"

At the time of his death, Loya was presiding over the CBI court hearing the alleged Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. He died of cardiac arrest on December 1, 2014, according to hospital records, a day after he attended the wedding ceremony and reception of the daughter of fellow Judge Sapna Josh.

In 2017, the Caravan reported that Loyas family members claimed that the 48-year-olds death was suspicious.

Relying on a report in the Caravan Magazine, the lawyers association moved the Bombay High Court contending that Loya was under tremendous pressure while he presided over the alleged Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Before the commencement of hearing senior counsel Dushyant Dave, representing Bombay Lawyers' Association said, the high court was already seized of the matter and the top court should refrain from hearing the issue.

The bench asked Dave to specify why the Supreme Court should not hear the petition. To this, he said, "the Bombay High Court is seized of the matter and in my opinion the Supreme Court should not hear this matter. If the court goes ahead with the hearing, it may have implications before the high court."

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who was also present in the courtroom, said she also had instructions from Bombay Lawyers' Association to pray that the top court should not hear this matter.

The Bench, however, went ahead and heard the matter and posted it for further hearing on Monday.Bengaluru: For chicken lovers in the State here is some good news: the NISHAD laboratory in Bhopal has quelled fears of bird flu outbreak among native variety of chicken. Though the state government laboratory had ruled out such fears regarding farm chicken also, NISHAD is yet to submit its report.

Animal Husbandry Minister A Manju told reporters here on Friday that the samples of both farm and native variety chicken were sent to NISHAD laboratory. While the native variety samples were collected from Mandya, the samples of farm chicken were from Yelahanka and Nelamangala.

Even the local scientists at UAD tested both the samples. The report admitted that both the samples were found positive for H5 Avian Influenza, the said infection was not harmful to humans on consuming chicken.

Even NISHAD has seconded the opinion on native variety of chicken. The report on farm variety is expected to reach government in two days, Mr Manju said.New Delhi: India needs to shift focus from its border with Pakistan to that with China, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said on Friday, cautioning that the country cannot allow its neighbours to drift towards China, virtually asking the government to effectively implement its neighbourhood first policy.

Admitting that Chinese troops have been ramping up pressure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), he asserted that China may be a powerful country but India too is not a weak nation.

In a media address on the eve of the Army Day, Rawat said countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have to be kept on board as part of a broader strategy to deal with China, and India must make wholehearted efforts to continue extending support to them.

We cannot allow the neighbourhood to be drifted away from us  whether it is Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Afghanistan. These nations have to be kept on board, and I think we have to put in our wholehearted effort to ensure we continue to support them, he said.

The Army chiefs comments assume significance given that in recent past, China has been deepening ties with some South Asian nations and providing them with huge financial aid, which, some experts feel, may draw India's neighbours including the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal towards Beijing.An eight-member delegation of Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation, Moscow held meetings with the Hindustan Shipyard Limited officials here from January 10 for executing the project.

Visakhapatnam: Hindustan Shipyard Limited may clinch another project for medium refit and life certification of another EKM class Russian submarine worth Rs 1,800 crore. The medium refit and life certificate programme is a process that involves stripping down the submarine, repairing its hull and replacing worn parts. An eight-member delegation of Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation, Moscow held meetings with the Hindustan Shipyard Limited officials here from January 10 for executing the project.

The delegation was led by Military and Technical corporation director Alexey V. Dikiy, Russian delegates are reported to be impressed with the infrastructure, experience and readiness of Hindustan Shipyard Limited to undertake this prestigious project that could cost Rs 1,800 crore. The discussions have been personally presided and monitored by CMD of HSL L.V. Sarat Babu. In an interaction, C&MD had sounded quite confident of winning this contract which is on a competitive basis by a private shipyard.Trump said in a statement, 'Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.' (Photo: File)

Washington: US President Donald Trump announced on Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive for now.

The Republican leader grudgingly agreed to sign sanctions waivers, ensuring Washington will live up to its commitments for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be "for the last time."

During that four-month period, he wants Congress and America's main European allies to draw up a new deal -- without negotiating with Tehran -- to replace the "disastrous flaws" in the current agreement.

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement.

"Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."

The new deal -- which Trump envisions as being outlined in US law and involving Britain, France and Germany -- would impose tougher controls on Iran if sanctions relief is to continue.

In particular, it will not begin to expire after 10 years as parts of the existing deal do, but instead would impose permanent restrictions on not just Iran's nuclear plants but also its missile program.

"These provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon -- not just for 10 years, but forever," Trump said.

"If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume."

Trump is also urging Congress to reform US law so the president is no longer required to declare every 90 days whether he thinks Iran is in compliance, or to renew sanctions waivers every 120 or 180 days.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, took to Twitter to describe Trump's decision and the announcement as "desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

The 2015 deal, he said, "is not renegotiable. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance -- just like Iran."

Trump's decision was announced alongside another package of new sanctions -- punishing not Iran's nuclear program, but its alleged abuse of human rights in a crackdown on recent street protests.

The most prominent new name on the Treasury sanctions blacklist, which forbids Americans from doing business with the targets, is the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani.

The US Treasury said Larijani, the brother of Iran's parliamentary speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is to blame for the torture and degrading treatment of prisoners.

Washington policy hawks hailed Trump's decision, which they said would concentrate minds in Europe, where leaders have urged the US president not to sabotage a deal they see as a landmark diplomatic success.

"So Trump now has issued explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans: Fix Iran nuke deal or no more sanctions waivers," wrote Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.

"Is he bluffing? I don't think so. Busy four months ahead."

But supporters of the existing deal between Iran and six world powers, including the former officials in Barack Obama's administration who negotiated it, denounced Trump's plan.

Diplomacy Works, a pressure group set up by former secretary of state John Kerry to defend the deal, was scathing.

"Today, we learned that the president's plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending," it said.

The other signatories to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- and the European Union, which oversaw the talks, were watching carefully.

The British and German foreign ministries said they had taken note of the decision and would confer with France before deciding on a course of action.

"The UK has a clear position on the Iran nuclear deal: we regard it as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran," the British Foreign Office said.

The EU said it would hold internal consultations and was "committed to the continued full and effective implementation" of the deal.

America's allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

While there may be some relief that Trump has yet to torpedo the hard-won accord, there were clear signs of frustration from European capitals in the runup to the decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump on Thursday and stressed France's determination to see "the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it."

And Russia spoke out strongly in favor of the accord, calling it "the result of a consensus among many parties."

UN inspectors have certified Iran's compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.Some 655,000 Rohingya have fled western Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August, carrying with them consistent accounts of atrocities by Myanmars army.

Yangon: Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed an unprecedented army admission that security forces carried out extra-judicial killings of Rohingya Muslims as a positive step, state-backed media reported on Saturday.

After months of staunch denials of abuse, the army on Wednesday said a probe found four members of the security forces helped kill 10 Rohingya militant suspects at Inn Din village on September 2, leaving their bodies in a hastily dug pit.

Some 655,000 Rohingya have fled western Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August, carrying with them consistent accounts of atrocities by Myanmars army.

Rights groups have accused Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi of failing to condemn the widespread abuses during the army crackdown, which followed raids by militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

After meeting the Japanese foreign minister on Friday Suu Kyi raised the armys admission of involvement in the Inn Din killings as a new step taken by our country.

In the end, rule of law in the country is the responsibility of that country. It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible, she added, according to a report carried by the Global New Light of Myanmar.

Amnesty International has called the summary killings at Inn Din the tip of the iceberg in terms of atrocities carried out since August and urged a wider, impartial probe.

But the conflict area of Rakhine remains locked down to media, aid agencies and UN investigators. ARSA, the Rohingya militant group, wholeheartedly welcomed the armys admission saying it validated the wider allegations of abuses.Thats a sentiment echoed by customers and employees alike, including Michelle Dickson, who is now the bookkeeper for the businesses.

I was so excited about this store opening and that Napa was going to have a homey, comfortable bookstore that I joined the online campaign to help get it started, she said.

Dickson was a regular customer at Napa Bookmine from the start, befriending Chamblin and Hagyard right away.

Elayna Trucker, lead buyer and operations manager, was part of the opening team, left for two years, and is back on staff.

I get to be part of a dynamic team that works closely together, and I run into our customers all over town, which is wonderful.

Chamblin says that the connection to people is lost when folks shop online. Its boring and tedious. She senses that many people in Napa dont know how many Napan-owned businesses are in downtown.

This is a great place to park the car and explore your own backyard. Start at the Oxbow, and walk around from there.

In addition to connecting with people, independently owned businesses appeal to Chamblin because of their unique inventory and how responsive to customer requests they can be.SALT LAKE CITY  Ogden resident Chareyl Moyes does Haiti all day, every day.

As co-founder of Utah-based Haitian Roots, she keeps tabs on the La Maison de nos Petite Enfants orphanage and schools the nonprofit runs in the Caribbean island nation. Her full-time job as a case manager with Wasatch International Adoptions also keeps Haiti on her radar.

Moyes has traveled to Haiti numerous times the past 14 years  she's going again next month  and saw firsthand the death and devastation of the 2010 earthquake that rocked the country eight years ago Friday.

To have President Donald Trump disparage a place and a people she loves cut deeply.

"I get that there are troubles in Haiti and it needs help. But for the leader of our country to refer to it as a s---hole is hurtful," she said. "It's hurtful to a nation that's constantly trying to recover from things that they have no control over."

Americans shouldn't give the president a pass but demand he apologize, Moyes said.

"Many of us work in those countries. I don't want to be embarrassed when I'm in that country. I don't want me to be a reflection of him," she said.

Trump on Friday denied that he had insulted Haitians amid an uproar about his reported description of African nations as "s---hole countries" during a meeting on immigration with lawmakers.

"Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!" he tweeted.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who was present at the meeting and spoke to reporters Friday, confirmed the president's remarks and said the media reports were accurate, according to NBC News.

In recounting the meeting, Durbin suggested that Trump's slur was aimed at African nations.

Two sources and Durbin said that when the discussion turned to Haiti, Trump questioned why Haitians should be given specific consideration, according to NBC.

"Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out," he said, according to sources.

Somali native Aden Batar said he wasn't surprised at Trump's vulgar remark given his previous comments about refugees and immigrants. But he said it's not what people expect from a president.

"It's not who we are as Americans," he said. "That was very offensive to the people in our community."

Batar, the immigration and refugee resettlement director for Catholic Community Services, said people come to the United States looking to make better lives for themselves.

"These individuals he's calling names, they deserve respect. Refugees go through so many difficulties in their lives and in their countries. They escaped war and persecution. They're looking for a safe place to raise their children and their families," he said.

Batar said he also worries that Congress stays silent and doesn't hold the president accountable when he makes offensive statements. It also needs to pass immigration reform, he said.

Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, whose parents immigrated from Haiti, had the strongest reaction among Utah's congressional delegation. She blasted Trump on Thursday and demanded he apologize.

"I doubt that a comment like that would have been made if somebody like me was sitting across the table from him," Love said. She said the president's remark was "obviously disheartening" but presented an opportunity "to rise above it and say, 'I'm going to be an example of kindness, of compassion.'"

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on Friday called the comments attributed to the president "insulting and distracting."

Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, described himself as dismayed.

"We should let in immigrants based on who they are  not their country of origin. It's what you do when you get here, not where you come from that makes us a great and united nation," he said.

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, didn't address Trump's remark directly but said immigrants are the lifeblood of America.

"Utah itself has a long history of welcoming immigrants and refugees into our communities. We should continue to do so with respect and dignity," he said.

Stewart said he recognizes the immigration system is broken and that he looks forward to legislation that brings clarity to the process and security to the country's borders.

Shannon Cox, a Haitian Roots co-founder who now lives in Dallas, said she felt "disgusted and sad" at Trump's remarks.

She plans to sit down with her 13-year-old Haitian-born son to talk about Trump's "deeply offensive" remark about his home country. She'll try to explain why the most influential person in the United States called "his country, his culture, that part of his identity a s---hole. That pretty much sucks as a parent."

Cox said she'll tell her son that she respects the office, but the president "makes a lot of mistakes and says a lot of really disrespectful things, and that that was very inappropriate and hurtful."

Isson Joseph, a native of Haiti who earned a bachelor's degree at Weber State University and a master's degree at Brigham Young University, said he doesn't think Trump's comment diminishes what Haitian immigrants, himself included, are able to accomplish.

"History has shown that when Haitians come to the United States, they work," he said.

Joseph, who helped start Haitian Roots and worked in the Haitian consulate in Miami, said he doubts Haitian care much about the comment considering where it came from.

"The fact is we are important," he said. "We are going to continue to strengthen the community."Bruce was born in Mason City, Iowa, the oldest son to Arthur and Marjorie Lenning. He grew up in American Canyon and attended Napa schools, eventually graduating in 1970 from Napa High School. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served as a Military Policeman (MP) and received several medals. After returning home, Bruce and his father, Arthur, owned Lenning Construction where Bruce learned the carpentry trade. He would later work as a commercial framer for local Bay Area construction companies such as Richard Hancock Construction as a foreman under Local Union 751. Bruce was a highly respected leader, running building crews composed of hundreds of employees through the course of his career. Among his most accomplished, were commercial projects that included The Clocktower Building in San Francisco, the science building of Napa Valley College, and additions to Sonoma Valley High School.An allocation from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII)of 1.3m has been welcomed as one of the best pieces of news for Ardara in recent times.

TII has allocated funding of 1.3m to the town for pavement overlays and pavement resurfacing which will see the towns main street resurfaced the whole length of the town from Hillhead to John Molloys.

The allocation is part of roads funding of 40m for Donegal County Council which was announced before Christmas.

Local councillor Terence Slowey said the towns main street has been in very poor condition in recent years.

The work is to be carried out this year but Cllr Slowey said it is vital that it is not done during the summer when it could impact on the towns busy tourist season.

We need to ensure that it's done off-peak, he said. We cant have it done during the summer months because of the effect it would have on tourism in Ardara.

We will be working closely with TII and they understand themselves that we need to ensure that it is not done during the summer. Realistically, we need to get it done before the summer.

Completed

Work on the town's footpaths have been completed due to funding from TII over the last four years and Cllr Slowly said this years work will transform the town.

Ardara is predominantly a tourism town and the quality of the road surfaces in recent years has been very poor.

We have been lobbying for this. This is going to transform the town by strengthening the surface from Hillhead down to John Molloys.

 It will transform the whole of Ardara town. Its the best bit of news Ive got in a long time. We have done all sorts of other projects but this is the one that will hit home to everybody because the roads are in very poor condition.



When the news came this week that Paddy Harte had passed away, my mind raced over years of memories that I soon realised had spanned most of my life.

As I was growing up Paddy and my late father had been terrific friends, but after college and when I started out in journalism I started to get to know Paddy in his role as a politician.

My esteem for him as a man grew immensely over those years.

One of the things I admired so much about him, was the respect he had for my role as a journalist.

In his eyes I must always have been something of just a young lad, his friends youngster who had many times sat on the floor of his kitchen as a kid of 9 or 10 stuffing envelopes in the midst of an election frenzy.

As an adult now I didnt always agree with every statement he made, but then again, on occasion, it is very likely that he did not agree with some things Id written either.

As I did with many politicians over the years, I had to earn Paddys trust in my new role. His respect for journalists meant that, just because he already knew me, did not mean he would ever give - or ask for - any special treatment or privileges.

Over the years, watching him in action in the political arena, I could see that Paddy was a fair man, a man who could disagree with somebody on a ideological viewpoint and yet remain on really good terms with them personally.

Many of his political opponents might have been miles away from his philosophies, but they still had a deep respect for Paddy as a person and could enjoy his company and the craic with him.

He loved the craic, he had a great sense of humour, a wicked wee smile.

The remains of Paddy Harte are carried by his sons during Thursday's funeral in Raphoe. Photo: Thomas Gallagher.



I had always known Paddy as a great family man, but he was also a man of faith and a man of principles and I really admired him for that.

He often ploughed a lonely furrow when it came to his vision for peace, but frequently going against the popular views of the time, he wasnt afraid to be individual  to stand out on his own.

He believed that breaking down barriers, sharing, dialogue, coming together and respecting traditions was a much preferable option to ways of violence.

Eventually, others would find their way there.

His work on the project that led to the building of the Island of Ireland Peace Park, will stands forever as testimony to his determination to see those who had fought in World War I remembered in a lasting and positive manner.

I once had the great honour of visiting the park with Paddy with a group from Donegal and Newtownabbey.

For each and every person on that trip I am certain that standing in those fields of white headstones, reinforced the realisation that whatever good violence might appear to do at any point is only temporary, yet the evil it does is permanent.

Paddy was someone who took the time to determine what values were important to him. It was his personal convictions  not those of others - that determined how he lived.

He took those values and transformed them into the guiding principles for everything he did.

They were not just mere words or ideas, they were his living testament.

Following his sad passing this week, they will now forever be, his lasting legacy.

Paddys wife Rosaleen and all his family and friends  to whom I offer my deepest sympathy  can take great comfort from that.

Liam Porter is from Raphoe and is a freelance journalist, and former staff reporter with the Donegal People's Press.

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Nanopay has unveiled a new platform that will let companies process business-to-business payments between bank accounts across borders.

The platform, introduced last week, is currently in private beta. It will become generally available in February, initially enabling cross-border payments between Canada and the United States.

Cross-border payments with India and China will be added in Q2.

Full Visibility

The platform will enable account-to-account payments, with full visibility and payment context with ISO 20022 metadata to enable straight-through processing, or STP.

The platform will give accounts receivable departments better access to the status of payments -- whether they're scheduled, pending or complete.

Payers will be able to control cash flow more effectively, and payees won't face the cost and risk of using credit cards.

The platform will give B2B payers full visibility into foreign transaction costs when they make cross-border payments in another currency.

The Nanopay platform will be offered both as a Web-based application and an application programming interface, so third-party application developers can integrate B2B payments into their Software as a Service applications.

The private beta currently has 20 participants, Nanopay CEO Laurence Cooke said.

"The platform has a lot of promise," said Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

Small and mid-sized businesses "need easy ways to go direct with transfers," he told the E-Commerce Times.

How the Platform Will Work

Businesses have to sign up and create an account in the platform. They can then link their bank account information to process payables and receivables. Companies can initiate payment requests directly from their accounting system.

Nanopay initially will support Xero, Freshbooks and, soon, Quickbooks Online, Nanopay's Cooke told the E-Commerce Times.

The platform will add detailed payment context through ISO 20022 messaging "to enable straight-through procession as well as detailed visibility for real-time UPS-like tracking of payments," he said.

Safety First

"International transfers are an area with significant opportunities for fraud," remarked Rebecca Wettemann, research VP at Nucleus Research.

"Linking the process to accounting systems and providing a clear audit trail will leave fewer opportunities for fraudulent transactions," she told the E-Commerce Times.

Nanopay offers real-time payments where possible.

"Wire transfer fees can add up, particularly for smaller companies managing a lot of international transactions," Wettemann noted. "Depending on their financial service providers, the time to process a transaction can be slow or unpredictable."

The Nanopay platform currently processes account-to-account payments through electronic funds transfer (EFT) in Canada and automated clearing house (ACH) in the U.S.

The Nanopay platform uses cryptographically secured payment messages.

"All Nanopay transactions are immutable, and the B2B application features two-factor authentication to ensure only authorized users can access an account," Cooke pointed out.

The company also has been working on post-quantum cryptography, he said.

No More Banks?

All of Nanopay's transactions start and end with a bank account, Cooke said, but, "rather than entering sensitive banking information, businesses can pay or get paid by using an email address to identify other businesses."

The Nanopay platform "will take off because they're removing the friction with financial institutions and simplifying the payments accounting nightmare most companies face when dealing with cross-border payments," Wang predicted.

The Nanopay B2B platform will be available as a Web-based application and a JSON API, the latter for third-party appdevs to integrate B2B payments into customer SaaS applications.

It also supports XML, Javascript, Java and Swift APIs.

"I like the notion of API access," said Michael Jude, research manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

"This would enable funds transactions to be built into many sales applications," he told the E-Commerce Times. "If Nanopay is building in transaction management and tracking, it would be much easier to use than transactions that might not be executed in real time, and which might not have visibility built in."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.

1952 - 2017

Gordo (Meryl Lee) McComas died peacefully at home in Napa on December 29th, surrounded by his family. He was 65 years old.

He was born in Berkeley on January 22, 1952 to Gordon and Gerry McComas originally from Libby Montana. Gordo is survived by his wife and best friend Lynne, his son Dillon, both of Napa, his brother Gavin of Eugene and sister Pam of Los Angeles. He was loved and will be missed by extended family and close friends

His family name, Gordo was derived from his fathers name Gordon, and from a comic strip character of the same name, a feature in the San Francisco Chronicle at the time. The nickname stuck.

Gordo graduated from Napa High School in 1970 and went on to attend the California School of Art. He was a talented artist who was especially adept at portraiture. He worked as a psych tech at Napa State Hospital for many years, specializing initially in working with deaf adolescents, signing and interpreting for hospital personnel to facilitate communication between the hearing and hearing impaired. It was work that brought him great satisfaction.

A memorial service and celebration of life will be held in the spring.

Memories and notes of sympathy may be shared at claffeyandrota.com.

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Customer experience improvements have become an important part of companies' digital transformations, according to survey results Mitel released Tuesday.

More than 2,500 senior IT decision makers across North America, the UK, France, Germany and Australia responded to the survey, conducted in August by Opinion Research for Mitel. The participants represented businesses ranging from 250 to 10,000-plus employees in a wide range of industries.

Among the researchers' findings:

Overall, 95 percent of the respondents saw customer experience (CX) improvements as an important part of digital transformation;

59 percent had completed half or more of their expected CX improvements;

90 percent planned to tie machines to their communications and collaboration tools;

85 percent believed machine-to-people interactions would result in positive transformations in the customer experience;

75 percent planned to implement machine-based interactions with customers within the next two years;

75 percent saw automated event-triggered calls from customer devices as a valuable service;

73 percent believed machine-enhanced routines were valuable to their organization;

57 percent of retail respondents believed better CX would lead to higher customer satisfaction; and

56 percent of retail respondents believed better CX would lead to higher customer loyalty and lower customer churn.

Generation Z

Customers, particularly millennials, readily have embraced digital technology in their day-to-day lives, the report suggests.

Multichannel and machine-enhanced processes that tie together voice, video, movie and online channels to deliver a seamless and highly personalized experience help determine good CX, based on the survey results.

However, businesses need to look beyond millennials to Gen Z -- the generation whose oldest members turn 21 this year -- suggests a study of United States consumers by WP Engine.

Gen Z members, who will constitute 40 percent of all consumers by 2020, soon will drive every major consumer trend, the WP Engine researchers found.

Biometrics, predictive technologies, voice and gestures will replace typing on a singular device, they concluded.

"The only way to get these types of real-time personalized -- and then, ultimately, predictive -- experiences is with the assistance of machines," said WP Engine CMO MaryEllen Dugan.

Companies might need to look further beyond AI and omnichannel communications.

"We're headed to completely unified experiences across both online and off," Dugan told CRM Buyer.

A consumer's in-store preferences will need to be incorporated online and vice versa, she said, and "this will likely mean the adoption of AR and VR."

Emerging Tech

Larger e-commerce companies have the funds -- and to some extent, the skilled manpower -- needed to incorporate artificial intelligence, big data, augmented reality, virtual reality and other newer technologies into their systems, and "they'll do this for mass personalization," noted Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

While e-commerce small and mid-sized businesses face manpower and budgetary constraints, they too will be able to tap newer technologies, he told CRM Buyer.

The rise of AI networks is coming, and the market will total US$100 billion by 2025, Wang has predicted.

These AI networks will be offered by a limited number of large players, including Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, he said, and e-commerce SMBs will be able to tap into them.

"This is already here with lead matching," Wang pointed out.

"For the first time, SMB companies have the ability to leverage the martech stack and cloud software to provide the same seamless type of experience that large companies do," observed WP Engine's Dugan.

"Given that their website is essentially their face to the world, they need to use all the technology available to take advantage of the cloud, AI and e-commerce technology," she said.

That includes "spinning up microsites faster, tracking their audience,' and adapting quickly to new trends, Dugan said.

Using an open source CMS is one way SMBs can keep down costs, she added, while "providing incredible ROI and competing with larger companies."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.

By C. Michael White

On Jan. 4, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole memo, a 2013 document that limits federal enforcement of marijuana laws.

This opens the door for a crackdown in the nine states with legal recreational marijuana.

The Cole memo is one of two documents that prevent the U.S. Justice Department from treating marijuana as a Schedule I drug, defined as a substance with no accepted medical treatment and high potential for abuse. The other is the 2014 RohrabacherFarr amendment. This legislation bars the Department of Justice from spending any funds to keep states from implementing their own laws about "the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana."

The amendment's language needs to be reinserted into law each yearand it's currently set to expire on Jan. 18. That would leave patients in the 29 states with legal medical marijuana without their treatments and at risk of prosecution.

I have researched a number of drugs of abuse and natural products for safety and effectiveness. Just because a drug has abuse potential doesn't mean it's always bad and just because it's natural doesn't mean it's always safe. While I'm no fan of legalizing recreational marijuana use, I believe there has to be special dispensation for patients with a legitimate medical need.

Medical Marijuana Works

There are approximately 1.2 million users of medical marijuana in these 29 states. Some of the most common ailments include pain or muscle spasms, nausea and vomiting, cancer, PTSD, seizures and glaucoma.

The Conversation / CC-BY-ND

The body has a system of receptors that can be stimulated by the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids. In animal studies, cannabinoids have been used to treat symptoms like harmful weight loss, vomiting, seizures and fluid pressure in the eyes.



There isn't much human research on medical marijuana, thanks to the product's illegal status and a lack of federal research funding. Large trials are nearly impossible to conduct, since products are often adulterated and the concentrations of cannabinoids vary from plant to plant.

Even so, human trials from around the world and pockets of the U.S. offer modestly strong evidence of marijuana's benefits in a number of disorders, such as intractable nausea and vomiting, chronic pain and severe muscle spasms and epilepsy.

For example, a study published in May looked at the effects of cannabadiolan active marijuana compound that does not cause euphoric high or hallucinationon children with Dravet syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by frequent, severe drug-resistant seizures. Those who took cannabadiol cut their median number of convulsive seizures per month in half, from 12 to six. These findings may be applicable to other people with hard-to-treat seizures.

I bring up this example because it uses the highest quality study design. Also, seizures are not subjective symptoms like pain or nausea that critics may be skeptical of.

When Patients Become Criminals

In my home state of Connecticut, medical marijuana is legal. Doctors are required to certify that potential medical marijuana users have a disease for which there is adequate medical evidence for marijuana's benefit. The patient then visits a licensed dispensary facility, where a pharmacists helps to select the type of product that would work best.

In such a dispensary, pharmacists know the exact amount of the active chemicals that each product contains. Unlike illegal marijuana, their products aren't contaminated with heavy metals, bacteria, fungi, herbicides or pesticides.

What if patients can no longer access these products? They will either have to go without and lose the benefits of their treatment, leading to moderately intense marijuana withdrawal symptoms, such as insomnia, chills, shakiness and stomach pain.

Or, they might try to switch to the black market, where products may be inconsistent and prosecution is possible. In so doing, they would be supporting organized crime and exposing themselves to additional dangers. I especially worry about children with epilepsy who might have to use illegal marijuana that gives them a high due to the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rather than a legal version with little to no THC.

A Balanced Approach

Since 2014, the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment has been routinely included in the appropriations language with support from both parties. But in the past year, things have broken down. So far, the amendment has survived through resolutions to extend government spending, but it's unclear whether it will appear in the new federal budget.

Sessions has already written to members of Congress asking them not to support this amendment, saying it inhibits the department's authority. A new subcommittee at the Department of Justice plans to assess the legalized use of marijuana.

Legal recreational marijuana comes with potential benefits and drawbacks to society, and I'm not sure yet that we know what the impact will be over the long term. But the research on medical marijuana is clear: Marijuana has legitimate medical uses. It should not be a Schedule I drug and should not be denied to patients. There's virtually no upside to banning a potentially effective therapy for patients with diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

Reposted with permission from our media associate The Conversation.IOM/Scotland Relationship in Tatters over Fishery Rules



Fergus Ewing MSP (Pic: Twitter @FergusEwingMSP)

The Scottish Fisheries Minister has hit out at the Isle of Man over changes to Fisheries rules in Manx Waters.

A new requirement for non Manx Vessels to call in to a Manx Port to report catch numbers was brought in without any consultation with the Scottish Government.

Scottish Fisheries Minister Fergus Ewing said he was deeply disappointed and frustrated that his appeals to the Manx government to drop the plan had fallen on deaf ears. He said that Scotland had put forward a number of alternatives, however the Isle of Man had rejected them.

Mr Ewing described relations as extremely fraught, he said the Isle of Man government had failed to share its plans or enter negotiations and he had no option but to trigger a formal dispute resolution process as set out in a Fisheries Management Agreement.

DEFA Minister Geoffrey Boot claims the changes are necessary to conserve fish stocks but last week made a U turn on some of the proposals. Scotland say the revised plans are not good enough.

Conservative MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Finlay Carson has also come out fighting in support of Scottish fishermen. The largest Scallop Port in the UK, Kirkcudbright, is in Mr Carsons Constituency.

An Independent Arbiter is likely to make a decision on the scheme.Oceans are not the only bodies of water that acidify due to man-made climate change; freshwater systems are likewise affected - and this, in turn, could have an impact on the organisms living in them. This is the conclusion drawn by biologists at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum following an analysis of long-term data from a number of freswhater reservoirs across Germany and controlled lab experiments with freshwater organisms. The results are published by the team headed by Dr Linda Weiss, Leonie Potter and Prof Dr Ralph Tollrian from the Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity in Bochum in the journal Current Biology on 22h of January 2018, which is already available online.

"The acidification of the oceans is often referred to as the evil twin of climate change," says Weiss. "The negative impact of rising carbon dioxide levels on marine ecosystems has been proved in numerous studies to date, whereas hardly any research has been conducted in freshwater systems. Our study has demonstrated that the acidification of lakes is a real problem."

CO2 levels in four river dams analysed over a period of 35 years

The team from Bochum analysed data collected at four river dams in Germany that supply drinking water and are monitored once a month. The water management association "Ruhrverband" supplied measurement data from 1981 to 2015. Data gathered before 1999 were available only in hard copy and were digitalised by Leonie Potter and three student volunteers over a period of several days.

The analysis showed that the CO2 levels in reservoirs had been continuously increasing and the pH value had been reduced by 0.01 on average per annum. In order to assess the ecological consequences of this change, the Bochum-based biologists investigated in what way the changed environmental conditions affect a key species in freshwater ecosystems. They worked with daphnia, also called water fleas, which are the food source for many other organisms.

Reaction to predators analysed

Daphnia form a number of different defence mechanisms in the presence of predators; they might, for example, change their shape or grow small thorns around their neck. The daphnia's respective reaction is predator specific. The water fleas identify their predators by smelling their chemical signals, so to speak, and form appropriate defence mechanisms. This tactic ensures long-term survival of the population.

The researchers studied two daphnia species in three separate culture media that differed in terms of CO2 levels in water. To some of the daphnia samples, they added chemical signals that the water fleas typically use to detect the presence of predators: namely substances released by Chaoborus larvae and a water bug of the Notonecta species. Subsequently, they recorded in what way the daphnia reacted to the chemical signals under different CO2 conditions.

Increased CO2 levels inhibit defence mechanisms

The results were the same for both species, Daphnia pulex and Daphnia longicephala: the higher the CO2 concentration in the culture medium, the weaker the formation of the daphnia's defence mechanisms. This is presumably because the increased CO2 levels interfere with the water fleas' sense of smell; in water with higher CO2 concentrations, their ability to detect the chemical signals of predators and, consequently, of their presence was impaired.

"Many freshwater organisms rely on their sense of smell," explains Linda Weiss. "If that sense is compromised in other species too due to rising CO2 levels, this development might have far-reaching consequences for the entire ecosystem. Follow-up studies must now be carried out, in order to determine if the acidification of freshwater systems is a global phenomenon and in what way other species react to rising CO2 levels."

###

Funding

Linda Weiss was financed by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, co-author Leonie Potter by the German Federal Environmental Foundation.

Original publication

Linda Weiss, Leonie Potter, Annika Steiger, Sebastian Kruppert, Uwe Frost, Ralph Tollrian: Rising pCO2 in freshwater ecosystems has the potential to negatively affect predator induced defenses in Daphnia, in: Current Biology, 2018, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.022, http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdfExtended/S0960-9822(17)31655-X

Press contact

Dr Linda Weiss

Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity

Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology

Ruhr-Universitat Bochum

Germany

Phone: +49 234 32 25072

Email: linda.weiss@rub.deMore than 1,000 people took to the streets of the Swiss capital, Bern, to protest against the forthcoming World Economic Forum. Organisers say numbers were boosted by the announced participation of United States President Donald Trump in Davos.

The procession passed peacefully, but was noticeable by some provocative banners, notably one that read Kill Trump With His Own Weapon!

This mimicked a controversial poster unfurled in a May 2017 Bern rally protesting against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which read Kill Erdogan With His Own Weapons!, and showed a gun being pointed at the Turkish leaders head.

That banner provoked a diplomatic spat between Switzerland and Turkey that resulted in an investigation by the citys prosecutors.

+ Read more on Trump coming to WEF 2018

The anti-WEF rally on Saturday is the first in a series of demonstrations that are set to take place in Swiss cities in the coming days. Protesters argue that WEF is an elitist club of the worlds wealthy and powerful who cause more problems than they solve.

The World Economic Forums showcase event will take place in the ski resort of Davos between January 23-26 this year.













swissinfo.ch/mga





The Air France-KLM group on Saturday denied it had made an offer for ailing airline Alitalia, a day after Italy's industry minister listed it among three bidders.

Alitalia, struggling to compete with low-cost European rivals, went into administration last May at the request of its shareholders after staff rejected job and salary cuts as part of a two-billion-euro ($2.4 billion) rescue plan.

Air France-KLM denies making an offer to buy Alitalia, a statement said adding that the group had not taken part in the process launched by Italian authorities.

On Friday, Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda said on the La7 television channel that there were three offers: one from German airline giant Lufthansa, another from US private equity group Cerberus, and a joint EasyJet-Air France bid.

The presence of Air France is not sure and I will verify on Monday with the Alitalia administrators, Calenda however said.

According to local media reports, Lufthansa wants to lay off 2,000 employees  almost a quarter of the total on the aviation side  if its offer for Alitalia is accepted.

Alitalia has 11,500 workers in total.

arz/ach/pvhPrivacy Settings

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NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.Pro-Russian Czech President Milos Zeman had a handsome lead in Saturday's presidential election and looked set for a run-off against pro-European Jiri Drahos on January 26-27, partial results showed.

Zeman got 41.11 percent of the ballot after 69.33 percent of votes were counted, while Drahos garnered 25.45, the Czech Statistics Office said.

Seven other candidates candiates got between 10 and 0.43 percent.

A recent poll for Czech Television showed the tide could turn in round two, with a possible win for Drahos with 48.5 percent of votes in the second round against 44 percent for Zeman.

As he voted in Prague on Friday, Zeman was targeted by a bare-breasted anti-Kremlin protester who called him Putins slut, referring to Russias president.

Ironically, experts say the move might boost Zemans chances, judging by an outpouring of sympathy for him on social media.

Headlines like Attack on Zeman and A scandalous incident were splashed across the front pages of Saturday newspapers.

Zemans rhetoric echoes populist-minded eastern EU leaders  especially in Hungary and Poland  at odds with Brussels over mandatory refugee quotas and other rules they see as breaching national sovereignty.

He is also stridently anti-Muslim, having once called the 2015 migrant crisis an organised invasion of Europe and insisted Muslims were impossible to integrate.Pro-Russian Czech incumbent Milos Zeman clinched pole position in the presidential election paving his way to a run-off against pro-European runner-up Jiri Drahos on January 26-27, near full results showed Saturday.

Zeman secured 38.75 percent of ballots after 99.13 percent of votes were counted from the election held on Friday and Saturday, while Drahos garnered 26.51, the Czech Statistics Office said.

I invite all those who want to vote for me to come to the polling stations in round two too, and bring your friends, your lovers and their mistresses, the flamboyant 73-year-old Zeman told supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in Prague.

In the previous presidential election (2013), I got 24 percent in the first round and 54 percent in round two, and this year already 40 percent in round one, he added.

I congratulate Jiri Drahos for this beautiful second place.

A former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Drahos told supporters at his Prague headquarters that he would spend the next 15 days campaigning to anchor the Czech Republic in Euro-Atlanticism in a clear jibe at the Kremlin-oriented Zeman.

As the results rolled in, analyst Jiri Pehe told AFP that Zeman will have a huge problem in the second round.

It is clear that the other candidates who have dropped out of the race, for example, Pavel Fischer, Marek Hilser and Michal Horacek, will vote Jiri Drahos in round two, Pehe said.

The combined voter support for the three more minor candidates stood at 28.15 percent with 99.13 percent of the vote counted.Napa County has been awarded $822,000 to help restore the Napa River in the heart of Napa Valley.

The grant is from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It will pay for such things as 91,000 plants to revegetate 11 acres of riverside forests and 5 acres of wetlands, as well as designs for even more restoration work, an EPA press release said.

This is the latest step in the local drive to remove the rural Napa River from the constraints of a human-made channel and restore it to a more natural state. A key component is the dozens of private property owners who are giving up prime Wine Country riverfront farming soil to make room for flood terraces.

The project entails 4.8 miles of channel restoration along a 9-mile stretch of the Napa River at an estimated cost of $20 million. The stretch is from Oakville Cross Road south to Oak Knoll Avenue. Work began in 2015.

The Oakvillle-to-Oak Knoll Reach work is a sequel. It comes on the heels of the similar, $21 million Rutherford Reach project, which wrapped up in 2015 after 13 years of work.US President Donald Trump announced Friday he would not reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping a landmark 2015 deal alive... for now.

The Republican leader grudgingly agreed to sign sanctions waivers, ensuring Washington will live up to its commitments for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be for the last time.

During that four-month period, he now wants Congress and Americas main European allies to draw up a new deal  without negotiating with Tehran  to replace the disastrous flaws in the current agreement.

Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said in a statement.

Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw.

The new deal  which Trump envisions as being outlined in US law and involving Britain, France and Germany  would impose tougher controls on Iran if sanctions relief is to continue.

In particular, it will not begin to expire after 10 years as parts of the existing deal do, but instead would impose permanent restrictions on not just Irans nuclear plants but also its missile program.

These provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon  not just for 10 years, but forever, Trump said.

If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume.

Trump is also urging Congress to reform US law so the president is no longer required to declare every 90 days whether he thinks Iran is in compliance, or to renew sanctions waivers every 120 or 180 days.

Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, took to Twitter to describe Trumps decision and the announcement as desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement.

The 2015 deal, he said, is not renegotiable. Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance  just like Iran.

 Street protests 

Trumps decision was announced alongside another package of new sanctions  punishing not Irans nuclear program, but its alleged abuse of human rights in a crackdown on recent street protests.

The most prominent new name on the Treasury sanctions blacklist, which forbids Americans from doing business with the targets, is the head of Irans judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani.

The US Treasury said Larijani, the brother of Irans parliamentary speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is to blame for the torture and degrading treatment of prisoners.

Washington policy hawks hailed Trumps decision, which they said would concentrate minds in Europe, where leaders have urged Trump not to sabotage a deal they see as a landmark diplomatic success.

So Trump now has issued explicit May deadline to Congress and Europeans: Fix Iran nuke deal or no more sanctions waivers, wrote Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Is he bluffing? I dont think so. Busy four months ahead.

But supporters of the existing deal between Iran and six world powers, including the former officials in Barack Obamas administration who negotiated it, denounced Trumps plan.

Diplomacy Works, a pressure group set up by former secretary of state John Kerry to defend the deal, was scathing.

Today, we learned that the presidents plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending, it said.

 Solid agreement 

The other signatories to the deal  Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia  and the European Union, which oversaw the talks, were watching carefully.

The British and German foreign ministries said they had taken note of the decision and would confer with France before deciding on a course of action.

The UK has a clear position on the Iran nuclear deal: we regard it as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, the British Foreign Office said.

Americas allies see the accord as the best way to thwart Irans nuclear ambitions and a victory for multilateral diplomacy. Tehran categorically denies it is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

But Trump argues that Obama gave away too much to Iran in sanctions relief, without forcing the Islamic republic to end its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.

While there may be some relief that Trump has yet to torpedo the hard-won accord, there were clear signs of frustration from European capitals in the runup to the decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump on Thursday and stressed Frances determination to see the strict application of the deal and the importance of all the signatories to respect it.

And Russia spoke out strongly in favor of the accord, calling it the result of a consensus among many parties.

UN inspectors have certified Irans compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.

burs-dc/ohA charity which promotes environmentally friendly farming has listed its top ten food safety concerns if a UK-US trade deal is struck.

In preparation for the second reading of the Trade Bill in the House of Commons, the Soil Association has released a report on the potential food safety risks posed by a free trade deal with the US.

Some of the key differences between UK and US production  hormone-treated beef, GM crops and chlorinated chicken  are becoming increasingly understood by British consumers.

Indeed, a senior business representative to President Donald Trump has previously warned that the British public may have to accept chlorinated chicken as part of any trade deal between the UK and the US.

However, a number of ministers, including Defra Secretary Michael Gove, have frequently insisted that the UK government will seek to maintain farming standards in any negotiations.

The Soil Association's report also highlights a number of other areas where products imported from the US could be produced under significantly different standards to British standards.

It uses the examples the inclusion of food colourants that have been withdrawn from the UK, the use of the herbicide Atrazine that has previously been linked with human health risks, and the sale of chicken litter as animal feed which was banned by the EU in 2001.

High food standards

Honor Eldridge, Policy Officer at the Soil Association, said British farming has a reputation for high food safety and high animal welfare.

"It is imperative that any future trade deal does not result in a dilution of these standards for consumers. Nor should any deal competitively disadvantage UK farmers," Ms Eldridge explained.

"We welcome Michael Goves assertion that the UK should not race to the bottom in competing with cheap imports, as well as his commitment to supporting environmentally-friendly farming practice.

"If the UK Government is to achieve its goal of improving and strengthening our food standards, future trade agreements must reflect these commitments. To this end, any future trade negotiations must be conducted transparently and with input from public stakeholders."

'Any day of the week'

The report follows news of US agricultural trade chief Ted McKinney urging delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference to stop the knee-jerk response to US-UK trade.

"We will hold our food safety, environment and welfare standards up against the UK any day of the week and twice on Sunday," Mr McKinney told delegates.

"Let's just get that out of the way. We do hope that your consumers have at least the opportunity - we're not going to force feed anyone - at least have the opportunity to invest in an American turkey or chicken or any other piece of protein that might be of their choosing."

Ted McKinney, who is from a farming family in Indiana, said it was for the UK to decide which course it wanted to take, although he said there was a great opportunity for increased trade between the two countries.

"The UK will never have an opportunity again, at least not in the near future - probably not in a generation - like you have now to get right whatever right means to you. Ideas of regulations, environmental care, animal welfare, opportunities to export."

'Top ten food safety risks'

The report lists the top ten food safety risks the Soil Association thinks a US-UK trade deal poses, all of which are currently banned in the EU and/or the UK.

1. Chlorine washed chicken

Instead of preventing infection in chickens across all stages of rearing and slaughter, the American poultry industry has resorted to chemicals to eliminate bacteria at the end of the meat production chain.

Essentially, chemical washes hope to make up for inadequate hygiene on farms and abattoirs. In contrast, the EU has chosen another approach to fighting meat-borne bacteria through their landmark farm to fork approach which requires steps throughout the production chain to ensure food is safe.

2. Hormone-treated beef

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows a number of steroid hormone drugs for use in beef cattle and sheep, including natural oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and their synthetic versions. These drugs increase the animals growth rate and the efficiency by which they build muscle.

3. Ractopamine in pork

In the US, an estimated 60-80 percent of pigs are fed the beta agonist drug, ractopamine prior to slaughter to increase protein synthesis, which results in increased muscle fibre size, weight gain, improve feed efficiency, and increase carcass leanness in swine.

According to the report, ractopamine has been found to cause the animal serious disability, including trembling, broken limbs and an inability to walk.

4. Chicken litter as animal feed

In the US, chicken litter (a rendered down mix of chicken manure, dead chickens, feathers and spilled feed) is marketed as a cheap feed product, particularly for cows. In the US, the use of poultry litter in cow feed is unrestricted.

5. Atrazine-treated crops

Atrazine is estimated to be the second most heavily used herbicide in the U.S. with 73.7 million pounds of the chemical compound applied in the United States in 2013. It was used on more than half of all corn crops and up to 90 percent of sugar cane.

Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor and reduces immune function in both wildlife and laboratory rodents. The chemical has also been found to possibly induce breast and prostate cancer in lab animals.

6. GE foods

In the US, 88% of corn, 93% of soy, 94% of cotton, 54% of sugar beets, 75% of papaya is genetically modified. There are also biotech products created through gene editing technology such as the non-browning Artic Apple.

7. Brominated vegetable oil (BVO)

This synthetic additive is used in citrus drinks to keep flavour evenly distributed. However, BVO is also used as a flame retardant. Public health concerns have been raised since chemically similar flame-retardant chemicals disrupt normal hormone function, leading to problems with brain development in children, fertility, thyroid function, and possibly cancer.

8. Potassium bromate

Potassium Bromate is approved by the FDA to improve the gluten content in baked goods to strengthen dough and promote rising. It has been found to be a possible carcinogen by The International Agency for Research on Cancer.

9. Azodicarbonamide

Azodicarbonamide (ADA) is used as a whitening or bleaching agent for cereal flour and as a dough conditioner in baking. During baking, ADA breaks down to form a number of different chemicals. One of these chemicals is semicarbizide (SEM) that has been found to increase the incidence of tumours in lab rats.

10. Food colourants

In the US, the public can purchase and consume products that include Yellow 5 and 6, Red 3 and 40, Blue 1 and 2, Green 3 and Orange B.Why Parineeti Feels Arjun's A Lucky Boy?

She was quoted as saying to DNA, "Arjun is lucky. He gets to work with me in two back-to-back films again."

They Share A Special Bond

Parineeti further added, "My relationship with Arjun is such that I can kick him and tell him, Just shut up and behave yourself'. He can do the same with me as well. That's because we share a very special bond."

On How They Struck A Friendship

"Both of us bonded at a very vulnerable time in our lives. His mom was ill when Ishaqzaade was coming out and I wasn't even an actor by then because Ladies vs Ricky Bahl had not released when we were shooting that film," quipped Parineeti.

Beware, Folks!

The actress claimed, "If anybody says anything negative about him, I'm there in the front row, fighting for him and defending him. I can even kill for him. I can't hear anyone saying anything bad about Arjun because I have this undying love for Arjun."

She's On Cloud Nine

Karan Johar recently announced that Parineeti has been finalized to play the leading lady in Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari. The film is based on the battle of Sargarhi which took place in 1897 between the Sikh soldiers in the British Indian Army and Afghan Orakzai tribesmen in North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).

Parineeti On Her New, Fitter Self

"This is the fittest I have ever been and I am loving it. I have always been a happy person but the new-found fitness has provided me with more stamina, energy and flexibility and I am less tired now. It has also started to reflect in my work. My confidence level has upped and I feel sexier than ever before. Earlier, I wouldn't wear sleeveless tops and dresses that exposed even a hint of cleavage because I was not comfortable with my figure. Now, I love dressing up and even before I slip into an outfit, I can visualise myself in it. I feel great to have undergone such a transformation. I like that I have a fun, experimental, updated wardrobe," Parineeti was quoted as saying to Mumbai Mirror.In addition to a main stem from the Novato SMART station to Suisun Citys Amtrak stop, a transit system could include extensions to Napa, the city of Sonoma and the Vallejo Ferry Terminal, although the last two would require building new spur lines.

Heavier commuting activity around Napa, Vallejo and Fairfield, directly west of Suisun City, should make those cities the main target for the first stage of a commuter line, the rail group argued. TRAC cited U.S. Census Bureau figures showing that an average of 12,205 daily commuting trips into and out of Napa in 2015, along with 10,125 trips from Vallejo and 11,176 in the Fairfield-Suisun area.

TRAC members emphasized the importance of holding down costs for a North Bay rail corridor, suggesting that planners should save money by using cars with onboard diesel motors and low floors that would avoid the need for costly raised station platforms. One of the main structural expenses would be the replacement of railroad ties to allow safe travel up to 60 mph, according to Schonbrunn.

No cost estimates were offered for the embryonic commuter line, but Schonbrunn predicted intractable traffic congestion will break down much of the resistance to funding public transit, even in the Bay Areas farther reaches.Apple gets sued by 370,000 people over intentional slowdown of old iPhones News oi-Chandrika Apple finds itself in hot water again over iPhone slowdown issue.

Looks like time is not in Apple's favor. In December, the company had published a note admitting that it intentionally slows down older iPhone models with degrading batteries to prevent sudden shut downs. Soon after Apple found itself in hot water over its own statement. In just a course of a few days, many lawsuits were filed against the company for breaching the trust of its customers.

Now, Apple is slapped with one of the largest class-action suits ever filed against the company. Over 3,70,000 people in South Korea are filing a case against the tech firm for making their iPhones go slow on purpose. A local law firm called Hannuri Law asked for people to join the lawsuit whose iPhones were affected by Apple's policy. The lawsuit started last month with around 67,000 individuals and now the number has crossed 370,000.

Filed with the Seoul Central District Court, the lawsuit accuses the iPhone maker of violating local legislation which requires companies to share all details of software upgrades. This law ensures that customers have the liberty to choose whether they want to receive new updates.

As per the lawsuit, Apple has violated these regulations by forcing iPhones to install new iOS updates that eventually slowed down the devices. The lawsuit also asks the company to pay $2,000 to each person involved in the lawsuit and whose iPhone was affected by the slowdown.

How to disable or control notifications on Windows 10

Apple, on the other hand, has not made any comments on the lawsuit. We don't even expect the company to release any statement.

As stated, this is not the first time for the Cupertino-giant to face a lawsuit. Last month, a group of people in the US had filed a federal lawsuit against Apple. The plaintiffs said that Apple's practices are "deceptive, immoral and unethical" as they violate consumer protection laws.

Soon after, a class action suit was filed against the company over the same issue. Two Israelis also sued Apple for wrongfully concealing information from its customers and claimed a payout of $125 million.

Apple's public acknowledgment of intentionally slowing down older iPhones is clearly backfiring at the company. Now, it remains to be seen how the company tackles with all these problems.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsMobile transactions will soon overtake net banking says ICICI Bank News oi-Samden Sherpa Transactions through mobile banking have seen a steep rise with the emergence of smartphone and high-speed data being available at a competitive price in India.

Time and time again we hear how smartphones are taking over our daily lives. And why not, these devices have become an integral part of our lives. These devices along with apps further facilitate or help us carry out a lot of tasks like banking, booking tickets, online payments, and more apart from just using it for communication.

Having said that, a new report now suggests that mobile banking transactions will overtake internet banking transactions in over a period of two years. According to banking experts, customers find using a smartphone more convenient and that it provides an easier mode of transaction.

As such the gap between the transactions on internet banking and mobile banking platform seems to be closing down. Reports state that over the last one year, transactions through mobile banking have seen a steep rise with the emergence of smartphone and high-speed data being available at a competitive price in India.

How to send money using Paytm Inbox

The data from the Reserve Bank of India shows that transactions on internet banking platform done by customers of commercial banks stood at Rs. 6 lakh crore while that from mobile banking stood at Rs. 18862 crore in the past year. The internet banking platform will imply transactions done using laptop and desktop while mobile banking would mean transaction done using smartphone and tablets.

While such is the scenario, lending major ICICI Bank has now stated that it foresees mobile banking to overtake internet banking soon. According to the lending major's Group Executive and Chief Technology and Digital Officer B. Madhivanan, around half of the digital transactions of savings account are taking place through mobile banking.

"I believe that in the near future, growth in mobile banking will be led by voice-based services and technology, AI (artificial intelligence) led personalised suggestions and services for every customer and 'satchet' like financial products with small ticket digital loans and insurance," Madhivanan said on the occasion of ICICI Bank's iMobile app completing 10 years of operations.

Meanwhile many banks and financial institutions today have their own apps which customers can download from respective app stores and then use it to carry out a lot of actions. Everything can be done in the palm of your hands. Besides, there is less need to physically visit banks these days.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsState legislators are floating some creative schemes to blunt the impact of the new federal tax law on California taxpayers.

Several are in the air, but the main one, proposed by Kevin de Leon, the outgoing state Senate president pro tem, more than slightly resembles phony tax avoidance scams that entice the unwary and often result in hefty penalties and interest payments being imposed by the Internal Revenue Service.

Thats not to say that the federal tax overhaul signed by President Donald Trump and taking effect this year wont hit California taxpayers hard.

It lowers the cap on interest deductions for new mortgages and limits deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) to $10,000 per return, less than half of the average SALT writeoff by California tax filers.

Overall, Californians claim about $100 billion in SALT deductions each year, saving them perhaps $20 billion in federal taxes.

De Leons plan would give California taxpayers the option of converting their state income tax payments into charitable donations to the state since the new federal tax law doesnt change the law on charitable deductions.Military Strikes Target ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 12, 2018  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria between Jan. 5 and Jan. 11, conducting 96 strikes consisting of 160 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the most recent strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

On Jan. 11 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS fighting position.

On Jan. 10 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 34 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS supply route, four ISIS vehicles, three command-and-control centers, a recoilless rifle, two logistics centers, an indirect-fire weapon and a vehicle-borne bomb.

On Jan. 9 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 26 strikes consisting of 39 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying three ISIS vehicles, a fighting position and a logistics center.

On Jan. 8 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes consisting of 26 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying three ISIS vehicles, an ISIS headquarters, a fighting position, an ISIS line of communication and an indirect-fire weapon.

On Jan. 7 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes consisting of 27 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two ISIS headquarters, three logistics centers, two ISIS command-and-control centers, two fighting positions, two vehicle-borne bomb factories and two ISIS vehicles.

On Jan. 6 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 13 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS supply route, a vehicle-borne bomb, an ISIS observation post, two fighting positions and an ISIS vehicle.

On Jan. 5 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets, destroying three fighting positions and two ISIS supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq on Jan. 5 and 8-11.

On Jan. 7 in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Hawijah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS tunnel.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

On Jan. 6 near Hawijah in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of an engagement against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS bunker and an ISIS tunnel.

Two additional strikes have been reported in Syria and Iraq against ISIS targets:

-- On Jan. 4 near Abu Kamal, Syria, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Dec. 4 near Rutbah, Iraq, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb and factory.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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A-10s Bring Thunder to Fight Against ISIS

By Air Force Staff Sgt. Trevor Rhynes U.S. Air Forces Central Command

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey, Jan. 12, 2018  The 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron is wrapping up a deployment here that saw heavy involvement in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The squadron's efforts concentrated on Raqqa for about three months, during which the A-10 Thunderbolt IIs focused on urban close air support. The pilots had to protect friendly forces while maneuvering their aircraft between very large buildings used by ISIS as hideouts and fighting positions.

"It was a difficult location to work in and we faced some situations that we [had] not dealt with before we arrived here," said Air Force Maj. Matthew Cichowski, the squadron's assistant director of operations. "Our weapons and tactics planners have done an excellent job preparing us for the variety of tactics and locations that we use and operate in."

Adapting the squadron to the new location and varied tactical situations fell to the squadron's weapons tactics planners.

"When we showed up we got thrown into this fight essentially on day one," said Lt. Col. Craig Morash, the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander. "The fight itself was within the urban complex of Raqqa and the pilots had to get creative to figure out ways to strike targets at the bottom of these five-story buildings. There was a lot of learning as this wasn't something we traditionally trained to when we arrived. We reached out to different communities to see what we could learn from them.

Team Effort

"Everyone jumped on board trying to figure out solutions to the problems we faced even though we had long days and a mountain of work to accomplish," Morash said. "Our intel shop processed an unbelievable amount of expenditure reports to make sure [U.S. Air Forces Central Command] had an accurate picture for what we were doing. Our life support troops were generating equipment and doing it perfectly every single time."

The squadron's intelligence airmen also provided vital key information to pilots before their missions, enabling those pilots to adapt to threats and challenges on the fly.

"We're trained on what the capabilities of the aircraft are, which allows us to give threat perspectives to pilots with what's going on in the area of operations and how that affects the aircraft and pilots," said Senior Airman Jake Owens, an intelligence analyst with the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. "We brief pilots on possible threats they may face while flying missions and we're also tied into the intelligence reporting, where we report targets struck to higher headquarters. There's a lot of battle tracking and predictive analysis.

Close Air Support Mission

According to the squadron's weapons and tactics chief, Capt. Eric Calvey, one of the most difficult things in close air support is not physically dropping the bomb; it is ensuring the rest of the targeting process was done correctly. The pilots assigned to the squadron are trained to make sure that friendly positions are confirmed, any attack restrictions make sense and are adhered to, that they are flying above or are otherwise clear of any artillery that may be firing, all while avoiding any exposure to threats like anti-aircraft fire or other aircraft.

"Positive identification is extremely important and is something that takes a large team and a long amount of time to get right," Calvey said. "Long before we show up there are individuals who use intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to get an idea of what targets to strike and make sure that what we drop on is in fact a hostile target. We're the last link in the chain and there's a large amount of work done ahead of time to prepare these targets for strike before we employ munitions on them. It's amazing seeing the utmost care that is taken before we employ on these targets."

Although the squadron's deployment is ending, Morash said they are still keen on supporting ground forces, no matter where they are.

"Every single person in this squadron was and still is mission focused. They are looking at the bigger picture, seeing what solutions to problems could be and mitigating risk to ground forces every single day," he said. "The way this team came together -- operations and maintenance -- to look after each other and to get things done made me proud to be an airman."

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Landmine explosion leaves 3 soldiers dead in Saudi Arabia's Najran

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 01:30PM

At least three Saudi soldiers have been killed when a powerful landmine explosion ripped through their military vehicle in the kingdom's southwestern border region of Najran.

An informed source, requesting anonymity, told Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the incident occurred on Friday afternoon, identifying the deceased as Mohammed al-Fatih, Hazam al-Farwan and Hayef al-Qahtani.

Later in the day, Saudi fighter jets carried out five airstrikes against Samah military base in Yemen's southwestern city of Dhamar, located some 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.

There were no immediate reports about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

Separately, Saudi warplanes launched two aerial attacks against Sahar district in Yemen's mountainous northwestern province of Sa'ada. No casualties or injuries were reported.

At least 13,600 people have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia's military campaign against Yemen in 2015. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The Saudi-led war has also triggered deadly epidemics of infectious diseases, especially diphtheria and cholera, across Yemen.

On November 26, the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF) said that more than 11 million children in Yemen were in acute need of aid, stressing that it was estimated that every 10 minutes a child died of a preventable disease there.

Additionally, the UN has described the current level of hunger in Yemen as "unprecedented," emphasizing that 17 million people are now food insecure in the country.

It added that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, do not have enough food and rely entirely on external assistance.

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Qatar files complaint to UN over 'airspace violation' by UAE fighter jet

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 06:00AM

Qatar has lodged a complaint with the United Nations about what it calls a violation of its airspace last month by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) fighter jet, warning that Doha reserves the right to defend its skies and borders under international law.

The Qatar News Agency (QNA) said Friday that the country's UN envoy, Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, sent a message to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council's president regarding the reported violation, which it said occurred on December 21 at 9:45 a.m. local time and lasted one minute.

She "confirmed that the UAE plane entered the airspace of the State of Qatar without the prior knowledge or approval of the competent Qatari authorities," the QNA quoted the ambassador as saying.

The envoy "considered that the incident was a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar, as well as a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law, conventions, charters and international norms."

The senior diplomat said her country is "keen to main good relations with its neighbors," but does not accept any breach of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"In the event of a repeat of such violation, the State of Qatar will take, in order to preserve its legitimate sovereign right, all necessary measures to defend its borders and airspace and national security, in accordance with international laws and regulations," the envoy warned.

UAE officials were not immediately available to comment on the report.

The United Arab Emirates is one of four Arab countries, which also include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, that imposed in June a trade and diplomatic embargo on Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an allegation strongly denied by Doha.

The quartet of boycotters have also barred Qatari aircraft from using their airspace. Qatar's only land border with Saudi Arabia has also been blocked as a result.

The Saudi-led bloc then presented Qatar with a list of demands, among them downgrading ties with Iran, and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences.

Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and said that they were meant to force the country to surrender its sovereignty. Qatar has also said it had too many financial resources at its disposal to be afraid of the financial assault.

Amid the diplomatic crisis, Abu Dhabi has taken an especially tough line towards Doha.

The Qatari former deputy prime minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, told the Spanish daily ABC last October that the UAE planned a military invasion of Qatar with thousands of US-trained mercenaries, but it failed to secure the support of Washington.

A series of leaked documents revealed in November 2017 that the UAE had a stunning detailed plot to launch an economic war on Qatar.

Dubai security chief Dhahi Khalfan also once called on the Saudi-led coalition involved in a deadly military campaign against Yemen to bomb the Qatari media network Al Jazeera.

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Greece Sees 'Window Of Opportunity' To Settle Name Dispute With Macedonia

RFE/RL January 12, 2018

Leaders of Greece and Macedonia say they have been working hard to settle their decadeslong dispute over the name Macedonia.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he sees a "window of opportunity" to resolve the issue, and on January 11 he called on the Greek Orthodox church to restrain its strong opposition to allowing the Balkan country to use the name, which is also claimed by a northern province in Greece.

Tsipras told Greek state television ERT that he believes an agreement would benefit all the countries in the region.

Greece's Foreign Minister Nikow Kotzias this week mentioned "New Macedonia" as a name Athens might accept for its northern neighbor and said that with 100 nations already recognizing the Balkan nation as Macedonia, Athens has little alternative but to compromise.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has also given top priority to resolving the dispute, which has hampered Macedonia's bid to join the European Union and NATO.

Kotzias and Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov met on January 11 in the Greek port city of Thessaloniki in the latest effort to find a solution.

The Foreign Ministry in Athens said after the meeting that they will continue their efforts on January 17, when they are scheduled to meet with the United Nations special envoy for the Macedonian issue, Matthew Nimetz, at UN headquarters in New York.

Diplomats in Athens said on January 11 that the UN mediator might suggest the name "New Macedonia" as a compromise solution.

"There is a general feeling of fatigue in both countries due to this long-lasting dispute," Bujar Osmani, Macedonia's deputy prime minister, said in an interview with the Associated Press on January 11.

"What I think is important is that we have achieved substantial progress in confidence-building between the two countries that finally will result in finding a...solution of the dispute," he said.

Athens and Skopje have been locked in a dispute over the name Macedonia since the former Yugoslavia disintegrated in 1991, with Greece citing the disagreement as its reason for blocking Macedonia's efforts to join the EU and NATO.

Greek nationalists claim the name Macedonia is an important part of Greek history and culture that they say should not be "usurped" by their northern neighbor, which also celebrates Alexander the Great and other Hellenic causes and achievements.

The Greek Orthodox Church, Greek nationalist parties, and residents of northern Greece have been especially opposed to any compromise that incorporates the name Macedonia and have planned rallies in northern Greece later this month.

Greece and the EU currently recognize the small Balkan country by its provisional name, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the name it also used when it was admitted to the UN.

Skopje insists that designation was never intended to be permanent.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/greece-tsipras-sees -window-of-opportunity-settle-name- dispute-macedonia-kotzias/28970233.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US Plans to Bolster Military Capabilities in Afghanistan With Drones, Personnel

Sputnik News

17:30 12.01.2018(updated 18:43 12.01.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States is considering the option of sending additional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and combat advisers to Afghanistan in order to strengthen the capabilities ahead of the hostilities' escalation expected in spring, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US military officials.

The Pentagon could send 1,000 additional military advisers, as well as helicopters, ground vehicles, artillery and drones for air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to Afghanistan, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

According to The WSJ, the deployment of new resources to Afghanistan could be a part of a new US strategy refocusing attention from the Middle East to Afghanistan, as Washington could relocate drones from Syria and Iraq, as Daesh terrorist group has been almost defeated in the region.

In August, US President Donald Trump announced a new Afghanistan strategy, in which he pledged to continue US support for the Afghan government and military. Trump also said the authority of US troops to target terrorists in Afghanistan would be expanded and he approved sending an additional 4,000 troops to the country.

However, despite the increased number of US troops, the security situation in the nation hasn't significantly improved due to repeated terrorist attacks, with the latest taking place on Friday. As a result of a suicide attack, 2 people have been killed and 6 others injured, Pajhwok Afghan News agency reported.

The war in Afghanistan is the longest and one of the costliest military operations in US history.

 Sputnik

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The Troika on Cessation of Hostilities Violations in South Sudan

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

January 12, 2018

The text of the following statement was issued jointly by the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Norway.

The members of the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States) strongly condemn the continuing pattern of violations of the December 21, 2017 Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement by parties to the South Sudan High Level Revitalization Forum (the Forum), and call on all parties to immediately and fully implement the CoH in letter and spirit and ensure humanitarian access throughout the country.

The Troika has seen strong evidence of violations of the CoH by Government of South Sudan forces in Unity State and by forces associated with opposition groups, including Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), in Unity State and the Greater Upper Nile region, as witnessed by ceasefire monitors. We are seriously concerned by continuing reports of the movement of forces by all sides in violation of the CoH, including the movement this week of hundreds of Government troops into Jonglei state. The Troika also notes with grave concern the strong evidence from multiple sources linking the attacks in Gudele, Jubek State, on January 4 to former SPLA Chief of Defense Paul Malong and forces under Lt. Colonel Cham Garang, an SPLA-IO commander. We remain committed to holding to account all those who obstruct the realization of lasting peace for the people of South Sudan, whether or not they are participating directly in the Forum.

The HLRF process must be conducted in the spirit of compromise by those South Sudanese leaders who are committed to working for peace. Parties must not be able to increase their influence through force of arms in advance of the second round of talks.

The Troika reaffirms its full support for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's (IGAD) efforts to build peace in South Sudan and will continue to follow developments on the ground. We call on our IGAD partners to rapidly investigate all violations and to immediately hold those responsible to account. We will continue to work closely with international and regional partners to ensure full accountability with respect to the CoH and stand ready to impose consequences on those who violate the agreement, also in line with the African Union Peace and Security Council Communique of September 20, 2017.

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And, hard as it may be to believe, the president had time this week to again attack the men and women of the FBI and suggested that they tried to use their legal authority to rig the 2016 election.

Trump used a news conference Wednesday to attack his 2016 Democratic opponent, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, while revealing again his autocratic impulses by demanding the jailing of his political rivals. Trump put on this crude display while the leader of Norway watched in horror.

And while at a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers on Thursday, Trump reportedly offended U.S. allies across Central America, the Caribbean and Africa by denigrating them as shithole countries.

This is a more professional White House? Only if you have been so desensitized by Trumps first year in office that you no longer recognize when your country is in danger.US, Japan Hold Joint Military Drill Amid Korea Tensions

By Carla Babb January 12, 2018

American and Japanese military forces have launched joint exercises amid tensions with North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The 13th annual Iron Fist exercises kicked off Friday in the U.S. western state of California and will continue through February 12.

More than 500 U.S. Marines and sailors are partnering with about 350 members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force to train in fire support operations and amphibious assaults.

"This is realistic and challenging training in partnership with the Japanese to better prepare us and them for anything that might happen in the Pacific so that we are ready to respond," Second Lt. Tori Simenec, a spokesman for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in California, told VOA.

Exercise Iron Fist comes as tensions with North Korea have put Japan, South Korea and the United States on alert. North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November that some experts believe is capable of hitting anywhere in the continental United States.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchanged threats about the size, location and potency of their "nuclear buttons."

The U.S. and South Korea recently postponed joint military exercises until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the delay a "practical matter" and said exercises would resume after the March 9-18 Paralympic Games.

Simenec said there was no talk of postponing Iron Fist, which she stressed were not related to events happening in North Korea.

Iron Fist training will take place at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and Naval Auxilliary Landing Field San Clemente Island. The main training event will be a scenario-based amphibious assault launched from the USS Rushmore amphibious landing ship, in coordination with an inland helicopter assault.

This will be the last joint exercise before Japan establishes its Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade in March. The new Japanese unit is similar to the U.S. Marines and could be used to defend contested territories.

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World Reacts to Trump's Vulgar Immigration Comment

By Cindy Saine January 12, 2018

President Donald Trump's vulgar comments to U.S. lawmakers explaining his opposition to Haitian and African migrants has sparked outrage and condemnation at home and abroad.

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville called the comments racist. "It's about opening the door wider to humanity's worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and destroy the lives of many people," he said.

Trump reportedly said migrants from Africa come from "s---hole countries," a remark Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois confirmed that Trump used during a meeting on immigration.

Friday, the African Union Mission in Washington issued a statement expressing "infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate statement" made by Trump.

"The African Union Mission condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology to not only to the Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe," the group said.

The mission said there is a "serious need for dialogue between the U.S. administration and the African countries" to address the administration's "huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people."

The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, said Trump's remarks were "extremely offensive."

Raoul Peck, a Haitian-born director and former Haitian minister of culture, said he was "shocked, appalled and outraged" by Trump's remark.

"The responsibility of being the president of this great country is not a game nor a reality show," Peck tweeted. "It demands basic education, basic insight, a dose of humanity and some intelligence. Mr Trump does not and cannot pass any of these grades."

U.S. diplomats summoned

State Department officials said Friday that American diplomats in Haiti and in Botswana had been summoned by government officials to explain the remarks. Botswana issued a formal statement, seeking clarification on whether the United States truly regards the African country in the derogatory way reported.

Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., Paul G. Altidor, also condemned Trump's remarks.

"In the spirit of the people of Haiti we feel in the statements, if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people," Altidor said in a written statement.

The State Department confirmed Friday that U.S. Ambassador to Panama John Feeley had stepped down, saying his resignation was in the works for some time. Reuters said Feeley wrote in his resignation letter that he could no longer serve under Trump in an apolitical fashion.

Asked about the ambassador's letter Friday, Undersecretary Steve Goldstein told reporters, "Everyone has a line they cannot cross. If that was his line, he was right to resign."

Goldstein said career U.S. diplomats care deeply about the people in the countries they serve. He added that Foreign Service officers continue their work as usual, though he acknowledged that job might be a little harder today after the controversy surrounding Trump's comments.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who spoke to new civil services employees on Friday, did not directly address the president's comments.

U.S. lawmakers speak out

In Congress, Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana and fellow Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York said Friday that they planned to introduce a censure resolution next week to allow lawmakers to "speak with one voice" and "condemn President Trump for his racist statements."

Earlier in the day, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin told a forum that he found the president's remarks "unfortunate and unhelpful" and said the U.S. should support the contributions of immigrants.

On Thursday, U.S. Republican Representative Mia Love, whose family came from Haiti, said the president's comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values," and she called on Trump to apologize.

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida said it was "incomprehensible" a U.S. president would utter such remarks.

Minnesota state Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who in 2016 became the first Somali-American elected to a state legislative office in the United States, said she was "disturbed" by the president's words.

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican, tweeted late Thursday, "My ancestors came from countries not nearly as prosperous as the one we live in today. I'm glad that they were welcomed here."

The White House released a statement Thursday that defended the president's views, without referencing his specific comments.

"Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation. He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway."

VOA correspondents Margaret Besheer, Steve Herman, Michael Bowman and Katherine Gypson contributed to this report.

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Arrests Grow as Tunisian Army Cracks Down on Protesters

By Lisa Schlein January 12, 2018

The United Nations human rights office says it is concerned about the large number of arrests as Tunisian authorities crack down on protesters demonstrating against price and tax.

The protests, which began last weekend, reportedly are turning more violent, prompting a sharp rise in the number of arrests. Nearly 800 people have been arrested since Monday, about 200 between the ages of 15 and 20, according to U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville.

"We call on the authorities to ensure that people are not arrested in an arbitrary manner, and that all those detained are treated with full respect for their due process rights and either charged or promptly released," Colville said. "The authorities must ensure that those exercising their rights to peaceful expression and assembly are not prevented from doing so."

Colville says his office has no reports that those arrested are being ill-treated.

"But, it is something we look out for because there have been reports in the recent past in other situations of ill-treatment of people in detention," he added. "So, it is something we would look out for very closely. At this point, we have not had any specific reports."

Sunday is the anniversary of the 2011 revolution, which ushered in the so-called Arab Spring  a series of protest movements calling for reform in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Tunisian protesters say none of the objectives of the revolt have been achieved. As concern rises that events this weekend might get out of control, Colville says it is particularly important to ensure demonstrators are able to protest peacefully.

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Brazil - Election 2018

With more than 90 percent of votes counted, far-right Brazilian candidate Jair Bolsonaro was leading in the country's presidential election, electoral court TSE reported 07 October 2018. Bolsonaro had 47 percent of the votes with 92.5 percent of returns in, according to election officials. Bolsonaro, 63, was the expected front-runner going into the election, but the margin of his lead was a surprise. A run-off vote would be held October 28.

His closest rival is leftist candidate Fernando Haddad, who had 28 percent of the vote. Haddad is a stand-in for former President Luiz Inacio da Silva, who is jailed and was barred from running. Although the two men come from different sides of the political spectrum, each ran a campaign based on nostalgia for a return to traditional values and better, simpler times.

Brazil's political terrain is polarized due to seemingly-endless corruption investigations and a less than lukewarm economic recovery, which has fed into rising crime rates, high insecurity, economic sluggishness, endemic corruption and societal crisis. Over the last two years, the Brazilian currency lost a quarter of its value, the unemployment rate remains above 12 percent and the lack of economic reforms hinders the foreign investments that have helped keep the economy afloat over the last few years.

The economic slowdown and corruption scandals have also deepened a rampant societal crisis across the country, best embodied by the state of Rio de Janeiro. The iconic Brazilian tourist destination, plagued by gangs and violence, was stormed last month by military forces in the hopes of preventing chaos across a region where someone dies every 90 minutes of gun violence and gang rivalries. Brazil is locked in a deep-seated state of hatred, especially against the poor, blacks and leftists  a sentiment aggravated by the ongoing financial crisis. It feels as though every road leads to another military intervention. All over the country, leftist militants and intellectuals are experiencing institutionalized persecution by public sectors.

From a leftist perspective, the most pressing issues include undoing austerity measures, which include a 20-year freeze on public spending, privatization of public companies and labor deform, all enacted on Temer's watch.

Another pressing issue is security. For the second year in a row, the number of murders in Brazil has broken records: a total of 63,880 people were killed in 2017, a three percent increase from the previous year. Averaging 175 homicides per day, or 7.2 every hour, the murder rate is equivalent to that of a country engulfed in war, according to the Brazilian Forum of Public Security. The 2017 murder rate had also reached new heights, up from 29.9 to 30.8 deaths per 100,000 per people.

Operation Car Wash corruption investigations, kickback schemes, the mere hint that someone uttered Odebrecht and non-stop corporate media proclivity for their darling candidates shrouded Brazil's October 2018 presidential election in uncertainty.

That comes without mentioning over a year lost since the country's first woman president, Dilma Rousseff, fell victim to what many observers denote as a parliamentary coup, giving way to senate-imposed President Michel Temer.

His gratuitous term in office, rejected by 88 percent of the people, according to the latest CNI/Ibope poll, is a tipsy walk down memory lane  austerity on steroids, labor reforms, proposed pension reforms, a 20-year cap on public spending, auctioning or sale of Petrobras and other publicly-owned companies and lapdog adherence to the whims of the international market.

Rhetoric of change has convinced few, especially compared to the daily struggle for basic necessities. Even the cost of residential gas cylinders, needed to fire up one's stove to prepare daily meals, had skyrocketed more than 67 percent since August 2017 by the end of the year.

Populism could be the big winner in 2018. Everywhere, endless waves of corruption scandals have destroyed peoples confidence in politics without strengthening their trust in the constitutional state. In Latin Americas two largest national economies, Brazil and Mexico, corruption is also discrediting efforts to implement a more sustainable economic policy that emphasizes self-supporting growth rather than redistribution.

Given the disastrous crisis of confidence in Brazil, what the country really needs first, before it holds elections, is a fundamental reform of the political system. Since the very contentious impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, the political camps have become even more entrenched in their positions. Corruption investigations at the highest level have brought all the major parties into disrepute; President Michel Temer is the most unpopular head of state in the world, with approval ratings that barely scrape five percent.

Ultimately, the stakes are high when it comes to Brazil's 2018 presidential election. South America's geographic giant is a horse fueling its economic engine, trade and commerce in the broader region and beyond. Uncertainty standing in the way between Lula and his candidacy has mobilized people on the frontlines. Their mission: to regain the narrative of social progress over a debauchery of judicial meddling and a genuine media circus poised to neutralize the country's most popular politician. The battle reached almost messianic proportions, which, in itself, presented dangers in the way of the democratic process.

The 14 March 2018 murder of Marielle Franco, an activist and local politician, gave many Brazilians reason to fear for their security  especially the country's poor. The fact that such a murder can go unpunished only added fuel to the fire of citizens' mistrust of public institutions.

Lula da Silva - The Once and Future President??

Former Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, confirmed 11 January 2017 that "he is preparing" to run for the presidency in 2018, should it "be necessary." Bearing that his candidacy is not invalidated through a salacious corporate media and lawfare campaign, Lula will, more likely than not, win a third term in office next year. In his first public speech of the year, the politician said he would be traveling the country in 2017 to restore his image and that of his Workers' Party, "which have been criminalized by the press and the justice system." Lula, who served as president of Brazil in 2003-2010, made the remarks at an event of the Landless Workers' Movement in the northern city of Salvador de Bahia. Lula was accompanied by Jaques Wagner, the former chief of staff to impeached President Dilma Rousseff, and the former president of Petrobras, Sergio Gabrielli. In reference to allegations that his opponents may seek a legal injunction to stop him from running through the courts, Lula said that everybody should be able to run for president.

The only politician who still enjoys a good reputation  among his party faithful at least  is the legendary Lula da Silva. However, he probably wont be allowed to stand as he too is facing corruption charges. And so it is that the complex, patronage-based Brazilian party system has put Jair Bolsonaro, an unappetizing right-wing populist, homophobic racist and declared supporter of the former military dictatorship, in second place in the opinion polls, right behind former president Lula.

The seeds of Lula's mass popularity began to spawn back in 1968, in broad day of Brazil's military dictatorship, when he joined the Sao Bernardo Metal Workers Union, an organization he considered to be so "boring" that he preferred staying at home watching soap operas.

Elected president of the workers' union in 1975, Lula advocated for workers' rights, organized mass strikes and sought to improve communication within their ranks. Having experienced drought, famine, plagues and abject poverty during his childhood in Brazil's northeastern state of Pernambuco, Lula would never forget his less than humble beginnings, nor working as a shoeshine boy in 1953, when the people of Brazil elected him president in 2003.

What else but a slew of social programs to mark his two terms in office, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the U.N. World Hunger Map. When the World Food Program hailed the country as a champion in the fight against hunger, former Social Development Minister Tereza Campello said, leaving the Hunger Map is a historic milestone for Brazil."

"We are very proud because overcoming hunger was a priority for the Brazilian state," she added. One of Lula's most ambitious and successful programs was, and still is, the Family Allowance (Bolsa Familia). Launched in 2003, it provides stipends to families living below the poverty line. In turn, those families must prove that their children are attending school and have been vaccinated. Also, his achievements in housing and education pale in comparison to those who ruled the country over the past 500 years.

A regional court in Brazil, which had sentenced former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to 12 years in prison for corruption, rejected 26 March 2018 the appeal request filed by his defense team leaving him one step away from prison as he awaited the ruling of the countrys Supreme Court on 04 April 2018.

Lula topped every presidential election poll, including those conducted by Datafolha, Vox Populi, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana and Ipsos. The March 2018 National Confederation of Transportation/MDA presidential survey revealed that Lula continued to lead the presidential race in every single scenario researched. His two terms in office were marked by a slew of social programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the UN World Hunger Map.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can be jailed on corruption charges, the Supreme Court ruled 04 April 2018. The move would apparently block Lula's reelection bid, despite strong public support. The Supreme Federal Court (STF) voted 6-5 to deny Lula's plea and ruled he must start serving a 12-year prison sentence for graft. According to the ruling, Lula may now be arrested at any time and will likely not be allowed to run for president in October. The decision was the latest step in a series of actions in Brazil, which critics of the current government described as a creeping right-wing takeover of the nation's democratic institutions.

Jair Bolsonaro was Lula's closest opponent in the 2018 election. The seven-term Rio de Janeiro congressman had been quoted as saying that Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet "should have killed more people." During a recent interview with NPR, Bolsonaro said the dictatorship was "very good" becaues it "prevented Brazil from falling under the sway of the Soviet Union." Other comments that have drawn ire include: "Women should earn less because they get pregnant;" that the inhabitants of Afro-Brazilian communities that resisted slavery  known as quilombos  are "not even good for breeding anymore;" and that he would be "incapable of loving a homosexual son."

A Fragmented Political Landscape

The ultra-conservative Evangelical Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), which is supported by the neo-Pentecostal Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, is part of the coalition which supports the incumbent president, Michel Temer. The party was behind the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. Twenty-two percent of Brazils population is evangelical, according to official figures, increasing by 61 percent between 2000 and 2012. Marcelo Crivella, the elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro, served as religious pastor of the influential Universal Church of the Kingdom of God which was founded by his uncle Edir Macedo. According to the last Census, Crivellas congregation numbered 1.87 million faithful. Macedo was cataloged by Forbes magazine as one of the richest men in Brazil in 2015, with a fortune valued at 3,000 million real (about US $1.1 billion), that includes the Record television network, the second most important in the country.

Several political newcomers were waiting to formalise their interests. Among them, two names are regularly mentioned as serious options: former Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa and TV celebrity Luciano Huck. Barbosa made a name for himself championing the fight against corruption during his tenure at the helm of the Federal Supreme Court. His lack of political experience would be less of an obstacle than the fact that Brazil is probably not ready to elect a black president.

Luciano Hucks media personality, however, and his main-street appeal match better with the average Brazilian voter despite the absence of a track record. The TV presenter has already denied twice that hes contemplating a run for the presidency but the constant courting from business circles and his recent statements on the need to fix Brazilian politics have only reaffirmed speculations about his real intentions.

Bolsonaros lead in early polls in the absence of Lula, would not guarantee him a victory in a two-round ballot as his positions are too extreme to build alliances with others. Amid this polarisation, no centrist politician seems up for the task of filling the vacuum. Moderate candidates and political veterans such as Geraldo Alckmin and Ciro Gomes have failed to gain any momentum among an electorate disheartened by the never-ending corruption scandals.

The front-runner in the polls was jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party, who was a highly popular leader during his two terms in 2003-2010. The party formally named him its candidate, but da Silva is likely to be barred by Brazil's electoral court because he is in prison. The former president has been jailed on a corruption conviction since April, but he denies wrongdoing and claims he is being politically persecuted.

The presidential field broadens after the two top runners. An an Ibope poll was released 20 August 2018. The poll, which had margin of error was 2 percentage points, interviewed 2,002 people between Aug. 17 and 19.

Jair Bolsonaro former army captain and seven-term congressman has tapped into deep unease in Brazil, which is reeling from a sweeping corruption scandal and is struggling to grow again after a protracted recession. Bolsonaro has expressed nostalgia for the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, has been repeatedly fined for offensive comments, and has made cracking down on crime a centerpiece of his campaign. He says he supports market-friendly economic policies but gave few details. After da Silva, he garners the most support, between 18 to 20 percent in an Ibope poll released Monday. But Bolsonaro is backed by a small party that will get only a small share of the free TV air time allocated by law for campaigns. He would also have to overcome high disapproval ratings. Marina Silva's support jumps from 6 percent to 12 percent in the Ibope poll when Lula da Silva's name is removed from polls. Silva, who once served as da Silva's environment minister, has a dramatic personal story: She suffered numerous illnesses and often went hungry as a child. She didn't learn to read and write until her teens. Silva nearly upended the last presidential race when her party's candidate died during the campaign and she took his place. She initially surged in polls, tapping into voter discontent and attracting Brazilians on both the left and right. Back then and to this day, however, Silva has struggled to define herself, beyond her focus on environmental issues. The upcoming Brazilian presidential elections became even more uncertain with no candidate clearly breaking away from the pack. Lulas absence should benefit left-wing candidate Marina Silva who could snag the votes of PT supporters after two unsuccessful runs for the presidency. She was Lulas former Environment Minister and her tiny green party will be strongly opposed by agribusiness and mining companies throughout the campaign. However, in a country marked by a profound rejection of the political class, symbolized by current President Temer setting new historic records of unpopularity, her chances are now realistic. Ciro Gomes, a left-leaning candidate with roots in da Silva's stronghold of the northeast, is another beneficiary when former president Lula is removed from polls. Gomes has extensive experience, having served as governor, mayor, minister and federal congressman, and would be prepared to navigate the halls of power in Brasilia from Day 1. He appeals to voters who are disgusted with dirty dealings so common in Brazilian politics, touting the fact that has remained clean, despite decades in public service. Gomes has struggled to unite the left  he attracted between 5 and 9 percent support in the Ibope poll  and he has a reputation for being prickly and saying controversial things. Geraldo Alckmin is a three-time governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest and richest state. Alckmin has a lot of executive experience. At a time when deteriorating public security is of growing concern to many voters, Alckmin can run on the city of Sao Paulo's remarkable reduction in its murder rate. He is a conservative who supports market-friendly economic policies, like scaling back the country's faltering social security system, making him the darling of investors. But Alckmin lacks charisma and his poll numbers have been in the single digits. He also has high disapproval ratings. However, Alckmin will get significant funding and free TV time because of the size of his Brazilian Social Democracy Party and alliances he has made. Fernando Haddad, a former Sao Paulo Mayor, was chosen by Lula's Workers' Party as its vice presidential candidate, and it looks likely he will assume the top spot if the Supreme Electoral Court rejects da Silva's candidacy. On 06 August 2018 the Workers' Party said that former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad would be its vice presidential candidate. Haddad was mayor of Brazil's biggest city in 2013-2016 but lost his re-election bid. He was education minister in the administrations of da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff. In the Ibope poll, Haddad garnered only 4 percent support when he replaced da Silva. But two-thirds of da Silva's supporters have indicated they would vote for whomever he eventually endorses. The question is if that endorsement might come too late in the campaign to give Haddad's numbers a chance to rise. Guilherme Boulos, the Liberty and Socialism Party candidate, appearing with single-digit support months ago, has found it difficult to break the one percent barrier in terms of voting intention. He's the national coordinator of the Homeless Workers' Movement and supports both Lula's release from prison and Lula's presidential candidacy. "Good night to President Lula, who should be here, but is unduly in jail in Curitiba while (Senate-imposed President Michel) Temer is free in Brasilia," Boulos said during the first presidential debate. Boulos called out Bolsonaro during the first presidential debate, saying: "Everybody knows you are machista, racist (and) homophobic." Previously characterizing Bolsonaro as a "caricature" of U.S. President Donald Trump, he even cautioned voters that Bolsonaro "presents himself as someone who is going to combat criminality, but he himself is a criminal."

Former Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles, running for the Brazilian Democratic Movement, also took aim at Bolsonaro's brash style, saying: "Jobs cannot be created by screaming," according to the Washington Post. He fluctuates in single-digits in terms of voting intention. So does Alvaro Dias of the Podemos (PODE) party. He also criticized Bolsonaro's stance towards women, reminding voters that Bolsonaro once said women should be paid less than men because they "get pregnant."

Other candidates participating in the initial debate included Marina Silva (Sustainability Network) and Cabo Daciolo (Patriota).

If Lula is kept in prison and prevented from running, his party  the PT  said Lula will throw his weight behind former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad as its presidential candidate. The strategy is already showing results: an XP Invetimentos/Ipespe survey conducted between August 6 and 8 shows Haddad in second place with 13 percent, eight percentage points behind Bolsonaro's 21 percent, if Lula parlays his political clout.

Brazil's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) voted 31 August 2018 to ban former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in the next presidential elections during a special session brought forward more than two weeks. Minister Edson Fachin later voted in favor of Lula, on the grounds of the UN Human Rights Committee's legally binding demand to guarantee political rights for Lula, let him run in the elections and even campaign from prison if necessary. Fachin said an international agreement couldn't be violated by a court. Fachin was the only one to vote in Lula's favor. The Workers' Party (PT) and the former president's defense team could still appeal to the Supreme Court. Another alternative is to postulate an alternate president and vice-president formula, but that could limit PTs chances.

Lula enjoyed about 39 percent of the vote intention in most polls, the most recent by Datafolha, leaving far behind right-wing Jair Bolsonaro with 19 percent. Lula had associating his name with Fernando Haddad, who is currently the vice-presidential candidate and would replace Lula if the need ultimately arose, transfer the vote intention. The party had until Sept. 17 to change the names on the ballot, but the court had given it just 10 days to make the alteration.

Brazils Workers Party (PT) became the top political party in the lower house of the countrys Congress, taking 57 seats out of the bodys 513, while the far-right Social Liberal Party (PSL) of Jair Bolsonaro made a strong showing, coming in second with 51 seats. By comparison, current President Michel Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), for decades a major force in governing coalitions across the political spectrum, is expected shrink to fourth place in the lower chamber with just 33 seats. Several of the highest-profile MDB lawmakers lost their re-election bids, including Senate President Eunicio Oliveira. That clears out powerbrokers who could have extracted costly concessions to pass Bolsonaro's agenda.

Until this year, the PSL was one of dozens of little-known parties in Brazilian politics with a handful of seats and no clear ideology, thanks to laws that make it easy to create and publicly fund new parties.

His grassroots social media campaign electrified the PSL, pushed it further to the right and raised the profile of candidates such as Olimpio Gomes, a former military police major, the most-voted candidate for the Senate in Sao Paulo Sunday. As a result, the PSL became an outlet for extremely conservative Brazilians who have lacked high-profile representatives. That meant siphoning votes away from center-right mainstays such as the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), which was set to lose about 20 of its 49 seats due to its role in graft scandals and compromises with the unpopular Temer government.

Bolsonaro's lead seemed decisive after the first round of elections, but members of Workers' Party and sympathizers have been taking the streets and placing discussion tables where they try to convince those undecisive voters to support Haddad. The last poll by Datafolha gave the far-right candidate 56 percent and Haddad 44 of the valid votes. There were more than 147 million eligible voters in Brazil who decidef over the fate of their country in one of the most important elections for Latin America. Besides the president, voters also electrf governors in 13 states and the Federal District, as well as 19 mayors.

Bolsonaro won the Brazilian presidential elections with over 55 percent of the vote beating leftist Fernando Haddad who scored 44.3 percent in the country's most polarized elections in decades. According to the latest polls, support for Bolsonaro grew by six million votes, however, his opponent won an additional 13 million since the first-round elections. Some 21.17 percent of Brazilian abstained from the elections while another 7.43 percent of the ballots were marked null.

Bolsonaro announced that he will not be speaking to the press, but will be making all his public statements via social media.

His win is a voter rejection of the leftist administrations that have governed Brazil for most of the last 15 years. Latin America's largest economy has been stuck in recession since 2014. The political establishment has been rocked by a high-level corruption scandal, and crime and murder rates have spiked. The leader of the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), Joao Pedro Stedile, argued that the Workers' Party (PT) and the other leftist organizations must build up strength and organize the people to face the future government of Jair Bolsonaro. According to Stedile, if the neoliberal agenda of the new government is materialized, it will generate a social chaos that will allow the popular movements to resume the offensive and mass mobilizations. The social leader warned that the political left and social organizations have the challenge of organizing popular committees throughout Brazil in order to move towards a new debate in the country, on a new sovereign project for an egalitarian and just society.

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Costa Rica - Election 2018

The general election, scheduled to take place on Feb. 4, will not be the typical fiesta electoral Costa Ricans are accustomed to. Formerly, Costa Rican elections were called a fiesta electoral, a celebration of democracy where many Costa Ricans were fiercely and visibly proud of their political parties and their candidates. Party flags filled the windows of homes and cars, and Election Day brought honking, music and colors to the streets.

Pressing issues like the cementazo corruption case related to Chinese cement imports that implicated members of all three branches of government in 2017. This case, which implicated President Luis Guillermo Solis, has made voters of this small, army-less country, more critical, if not disillusioned, with the person entrusted with leading their country. Creating more jobs, improving public health, reducing crime and boosting the economy are some of the challenges awaiting the Central American country's next president.

In November 2017, polls revealed that a whopping four out of 10 Costa Rican voters were undecided about which presidential candidate they preferred. The Investigation and Political Studies Center at the University of Costa Rica, UCR, undertaken between Dec. 4-13, then showed that 34 percent of voters had not picked a presidential candidate. A Jan. 9-11 2018 study conducted by OPol for the internet news site Elmundo.cr revealed that the number of undecided voters continued at 28.2. percent.

Political parties have lost popular support. Only a third of the population expresses alignment with one of them. This affects not only the National Liberation Party (PLN) and Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), the two leaders of the bygone bipartisan era, but also younger parties such as the Libertarian Movement, Citizen Action (PAC) and Broad Front (FA), the only left-wing force that currently has legislators in the Assembly.

Polls in November 2017 showed that Costa Rican voters, four out of 10, were undecided about which presidential candidate they prefer. For those who had made their choice, businessman and former legislator, Antonio Alvarez Desanti, of the National Liberation Party, PLN, and lawyer and former Cabinet minister, Juan Diego Castro, member of the National Integration Party, PIN, are currently in the lead.

While a second round may be needed to determine which of the two wins the majority vote, the percentage of undecided voters may very well alter the panorama, as it did in 2014, days before the election takes place. Two vice-presidents and 57 new Legislative Assembly members would also be determined during the general election.

In Costa Rica, voting is mandatory by law for all those inscribed in the Electoral Rolls (3.2 million), which takes place automatically for all those over 18. However, those who do not vote face no direct consequences. Absenteeism was consistently around 20 percent until the 1990s, when it jumped to nearly 30 percent.

Though recognized by Western countries as a democracy, Costa Rican law forbids its president from using her or his position to influence elections, requiring the head of state to renounce the party that secured their seat in the government. Hence, an electoral blackout is imposed on the executive branch, as well as all public institutions to prevent the party in power from self-promotion. Only urgent, public service news transmissions are allowed. Legislators, on the other hand, are permitted to rally behind their preferred candidates, bearing that public funds are not used to do so.

Campaigns may not pay for advertising during the last four days before the election, nor may the media publish poll results during that time. In theory, this allows voters to reflect on their decision without new information coming in (although no one can guarantee that this works).

The campaign financing system is mixed, with both state support and private donations. Private businesses may not donate, but they disguise this support through intermediaries or the purchase of campaign bonds that are never cashed. Parties issue these bonds with the expectation that depending on how many votes they receive, the State will cover their expenses or exchange the bonds for money.

A January 2018 University of Costa Rica survey, with a margin of 3.1 points given to error, garnered the most surprise. It showed Fabricio Alvarado, a representative of the Evangelical National Restoration party, making significant headway. In just a month, he ascended in the polls from a mere three percent to 17, emerging in first place. His public appeal is being attributed to his conservative and homophobic views. Researchers dub it a religious shock in a predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Trailing at a close second was former Security and Justice Minister Juan Diego Castro, a member of the National Integration Party, PIN. He's renowned for his promise to stamp out corruption and crime in the Central American country. Former legislator and Cabinet minister, Antonio Alvarez Desanti, came in third place at 11 percent.

The leading candidate, according to a Jan. 31 El Mundo CR-OPol poll, is the conservative Fabricio Alvarado from the Evangelical National Restoration party. As polls open for the February 4 Costa Rica elections, five main candidates are vying for the presidency. Alvarado, with 26 percent, began to inch ahead of his competitors when religious shock spread among the public following the Inter-American Human Rights Court's insistence that gay marriage be legalized.

Born in the United States, the 43-year-old is running on a fundamentalist religious platform: he wanted to "defend life and family" and "improve sex education in schools to prevent teenage pregnancy." He's also campaigned on four other agenda items: zero coalitions or political liabilities to other factions; an end to government corruption; economic austerity, and teleworking to promote efficiency.

In second place, with just over 20 percent, is a candidate from the once-powerful center-right National Liberation Party (PLN). Antonio Alvarez Desanti's platform includes generating 150,000 jobs and deploying a "heavy hand" against crime, including putting more p olice on the streets. He says he'll create a modern public transportation system, an "efficient" public sector, and improve the national economy. He's promising more financial credit to farmers if he's elected.

Branded an "opportunist" by his own party, Desanti hopes to unite the PLN, which has splintered as members scramble to regain the power they enjoyed in the past. Desanti has also vowed to eliminate corruption, rampant within his own party: in the 'cementazo' scandal, a loan of US$30 million allegedly given to a politically connected cement entrepreneur is currently unaccounted for. The candidate himself has been accused of corruption, namely buying Indigenous territory in Panama. And he's been formally accused of trying to interfere in an investigation into his own company for violating labor laws.

Carlos Alvarado, of the ruling Citizens' Action Party climbed to 18 percent, up from 6 percent just a few weeks earlier. Having never served as an elected official, he's hoping that coming from the ruling Citizens' Action Party will earn him credibility among voters. Like Castro and Desanti, Alvarado has both corporate and government experience: he served as minister for the Department of Development and Social Inclusion and the Department of Labor under the current government. With crime soaring in Costa Rica, Alvarado promised to control delinquency and the sale and use of guns. He's also pushing for government transparency.

Setting Alvarado apart was his commitment to the environment: something the current administration promoted, but hasn't been able to pull off. He wants to pass a new water law to ensure that everyone has equal access. He also wants Costa Rica to start using one of its main assets  the sun  to generate energy. Another stand-out position was that Alvarado wanted to make governing more inclusive: he supports gay marriage and Costa Ricans' right to officially change gender.

Juan Diego Castro, from the National Integration Party, was leading the polls earlier in January, but since slipped to fourth. Projections suggest he'll take about 13 percent of the ballots. Castro, a conservative lawyer and former minister of public safety in the 1990s, was running on a mainly anti-corruption platform. Also on his agenda is streamlining government projects and agencies, including the police, and limiting functionaries' international travel.

The 62-year-old, who wants to bolster small and medium-sized businesses, regularly sounds off on social media, earning him comparisons to U.S. President Donald Trump. Responding to criticism in La Nacion, Castro posted: "They are crazy... The psychopaths of the newspaper La Nacion... You are reaching unimaginable extremes of madness. Do they think that this country relies on that newspaper? They are begging people to buy that printed lampoon. They will soon disappear."

Rodolfo Piza, from the Social Christian Unity Party, had about 12 percent of votes. His main talking points include combating corruption, improving public transport, boosting the economy and creating 300,000 jobs to tackle the 9 percent unemployment rate. The self-described academic, lawyer and public leader also supported gay marriage. If elected, Piza said he'll propose a civil union law "that guarantees against discrimination of same-sex couples."

Fabricio Alvarado of the right-wing National Restoration Party received 25 percent of the vote, according to a tally of more than two-thirds of the ballots published by the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal. That placed him in the lead of a field of 13, the top two of which went to a runoff election on April 1. Alvarado's nearest rival was Carlos Alvarado (no relation), a former labor minister who is the candidate of the ruling left-leaning Citizens' Action Party (PAC), with 21 percent.

While past surveys suggest as many as two-thirds of the country's citizens harbor conservative views on that and other issues, around a third are just committed to progressive changes. The strong attachment to Christianity by most citizens was evident.

Fabricio Alvarado, the former TV newscaster, a gospel singer and a member of the arch-conservative Protestant Pentacostal movement, was endorsed in late March 2018 by the candidate who came third with 18 percent in the preliminary round, Antonio Alvarez. Rodolfo Piza Rocafort, of the Social Christian Unity Party, pledged his support for Carlos Alvarado Quesada in an agreement in early March.

Fabricio Alvarado Munoz, evangelical preacher and candidate from the National Restoration Party (PRN), and Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former journalist and political scientist from the ruling center-left Citizen Action Party (PAC), faced off in a tight presidential race dominated by the debate on gender diversity. The most recent poll by the University of Costa Rica showed the candidates are in a virtual tie with Alvarado Munoz and Alvarado Quesada having captured 43 and 42 percent of the support of likely voters respectively. The one-point lead is within the polls margin of error and electoral polls have a patchy record in Costa Rica with most having misread the 2014 election.

Costa Rica has 3.3 million eligible voters. Polls close at 6 p.m. local time on Sunday (Monday 0100 UTC). The results should be known late Sunday or early Monday. The new president will be in power for a four-year term.

Carlos Alvarado Quesada from the ruling center-left Citizen Action Party (PAC) was elected with more than 60 percent of the vote. The turnout figures reported about 62 percent of eligible voters. The electoral authorities expected to record a higher abstention rate than the 35 percent registered in the first round, based on past election trends paired with the Easter holiday. Leading up to Sunday's run-off, pre-election polls had routinely reported a technical tie between Alvarado Munoz and Alvarado Quesada, with about 20 percent of eligible voters still undecided.

In a history-making election, Epsy Campbell Barr became the first Afro-Latina vice president in Costa Rica, as well as the first black female vice president in Latin America. Campbell Barr, who is an economist and published author, holds masters in International Cooperation for Development and Advanced Management Techniques and Political Decision. Campbell Barr joined an select handful of women who have held positions of leadership in Costa Rica. The women include Thelma Curling, the first Afro-Costa Rican legislator (1982-1986), Victoria Garron, the first vice-president (1986-1990) and Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) the first president.







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Colombia - Elections - 2018

Ivan Duque becomes Colombia's youngest president in the run-off election 17 June 2018, beating leftist Gustavo Petro following a campaign fought largely over the future of the government's peace deal with the former rebel group FARC. Duque won the ballot with 53.9 percent of votes while Petro, who had pledged to shake up Colombia's economic model, had 41.8 percent. The victory reassured investors but raised the prospect of changes to a landmark peace accord with Marxist rebels.

Conservative candidate Ivan Duque won the first round of Colombia's presidential election Sunday but fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. The 41-year-old senator will face former guerrilla Gustavo Petro on June 17, the first leftist candidate to contest a runoff in Colombia. Duque polled 39.7 percent of the votes, compared to Petro's 25 percent, in a poll which showed deep divisions over a peace deal with former rebel movement FARC. Turnout was a higher-than-usual 53.2 percent in a country traditionally plagued by voter apathy.

Colombia headed to the polls on 27 May 2018 for the first round of voting in the presidential elections. A second round would be held on June 17 if no candidate obtains more than 50 percent. Education, health, unemployment and inequality rank higher in concern among Colombian voters than the implementation of the peace accords with the FARC. The peace agreements with the FARC and a possible agreement with the ELN are the major issues nonetheless, with the right-wing parties attempting to capitalize on misinformation and discontent over government inefficiency, poor quality of services, inequality and corruption.

The parliamentary elections in March 2018 may shift the balance of power, making the peace process more difficult, or perhaps even reversing it. Santos cannot stand again in the presidential election in May 2018; there will have to be a run-off to decide who will follow him. The populist polemic against the peace agreement will certainly determine the election, and it remains to be seen to what extent Santos' successor will want to, or be able to, implement the agreement.

Coca crop production in areas once controlled by the FARC has also increased and peace negotiations with the country's second-largest revolutionary group, the National Liberation Army, ELN, have been put at risk due to the government's reneging on the rules and commitments signed in the bilateral ceasefire, according to the insurgent group.

The former FARC, now a political party using the same initials but renamed Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Comun (Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Common [People]), will participate in the elections following the Peace Accord with the Santos government.

Colombia is holding legislative elections March 11, when citizens will choose 102 senators and 166 representatives, and the right-wing political establishment is poised to take over Congress. Usually, common issues such as education, health, job opportunities and infrastructure are what people take into account when voting, but in Colombia public opinion focuses on two main issues: the peace process and anti-communism, reflected in the 'spectre of Castrochavismo.' The peace agreement between the government and rebel insurgent group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was at the center of public debate since the 2016 plebiscite. Most of the urban population voted against the peace process, while rural people  those most affected by the armed struggle  supported it.

A pro-Uribe majority Congress could backtrack on some of the peace agreements, including clauses that guarantee land restitution to those displaced by violence. The Democratic Center party, founded by Uribe and poised to become the biggest in Congress, doesn't totally oppose the peace process, but its leaders have said they're against a full amnesty on the former rebels or even allowing them to run for public office.

The right-wing political establishment, better portrayed by former President Alvaro Uribe and his supporters, has intensified a campaign discrediting left-wing and progressive movements by associating them with socialist governments such as Cuba and Venezuela, and coining the term 'Castrochavista' in reference to Fidel and Raul Castro, and Hugo Chavez.

Paramilitary violence represents one of the biggest security problems in Colombia. Since the peace agreements were signed and the FARC gave up its arms and military positions in rural and remote areas, more than 250 social leaders have been murdered while paramilitary groups and illegal loggers have taken over swathes of land and filled the resulting power vacuum. The campaign is based more on emotional divides rather than facts, leading public opinion into an accusations debate.

The Democratic Center movement, Uribe's political party, was leading the legislative polls, followed by the Conservative Party and the Radical Change: all Uribe-supporters. The only anti-establishment party that supported the peace process and has possibilities in the legislative elections is the Liberal Party. A pro-Uribe majority Congress would definitely help Ivan Duque, Uribe's candidate, which would in turn give the Democratic Center party great control over Colombian politics.

Amid numerous controversies in the voting process, Colombians went to the polls 11 March 2018 to election 166 legislators to the House of Representatives and 102 senators. While these elections were meant to be groundbreaking in that the FARC made their debut and left-of-center candidates are polling high for the upcoming presidential elections, the results gave a majority of seats to candidates fromt right-wing parties. New left-wing coalitions, including the Decent Colombia coalition which included the Democratic Pole and the Patriotic Union, gained seats, but remain minorities in both houses.

For the House of Representatives, the parties with the most votes were the Liberal Party (PLC), the Democratic Center (CD) of Alvaro Uribe and the Radical Change (CR) party. The CD, CR and the Conservative Party (PC) finished with the most votes for the Senator races. With 16.59 percent, the Liberals maintain the highest number of representatives in the lower house with 35 seats, while in the Senate it lost 3 seats, finishing with 12.4 percent and 14 senators. The far-right CD increased its vote to 16.05 percent and 32 seats in House of Representatives, as well as 16.42 percent and 19 spots in the Senate, making the Uribe-led party the largest in the upper house. The Radical Change party also performed well with 14.39 percent and 32 representatives in the House of Representatives and 16 senators along with 14.04 percent of those votes.

The FARC performed poorly, as expected, with only 0.5 percent of the total number of votes - but guaranteed to receive five seats in each of the two chambers of parliament.

2018 Presidential Election

The deadline for presidential hopefuls to register their candidacy is March 9. The election is scheduled to take place on May 27. Colombia's May 2018 presidential election comes amid grave discrepancies between rhetoric and reality. Despite the signing of peace accords between former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, guerrillas and the government, at least 110 social leaders and human rights defenders have been killed in Colombia this year. In fact, as of November 2017, at least 27 former FARC combatants and 11 FARC family members have been killed.

The FARC ex-commander, Rodrigo Londono (aka Timoleon Jimenez or Timochenko) was a presidential candidate. His chances of winning the elections are not great but he definitely represents a different option if Colombians would like to seek one. Londono has a clear advantage among farmers and indigenous people in small rural areas where the FARC had support, however, he must appeal to the urban population with clear programmatic alternatives in order to hold real chances.

The rightwing Centro Democratico (Democratic Centre), founded by former president Alvaro Uribe, has elected Ivan Duque as its presidential candidate and has an alliance with the Partido Conservador (Conservative Party), but they both coincide in their fierce opposition to the Peace Accord and in favor of giving a tax break to multinationals.

Santos legacy is a fragile one. His peace process is very behind schedule, and many Colombians who were hoping for a quick, noticeable "peace dividend" are disappointed. The political involvement of former guerrillas, and the comparatively mild penalties imposed by the transitional justice system are highly controversial, and the opposition has no qualms in spreading terrible rumors.

Odebrecht also veered its taint onto the country's political spectrum. In August 2017, Colombian Senator, Bernardo Miguel Elias, was arrested outside of his Bogota apartment on charges that he had received bribes from Brazil's engineering and construction giant at the center of a global graft scandal.

Colombia's Attorney General, Nestor Humberto Martinez, said that government officials received US$27 million in Odebrecht bribes as the company sought to secure a road-building contract, according to Reuters.

The 2017 mass strike organized by the people of Choco state and the city of Buenaventura brought to light the pittance in public investment in traditional African-descendent and Indigenous communities. These were just some of the pressing issues that the next Colombian presidential hopeful will have to address to occupy the Palacio de Narino next year.

Humberto de la Calle, chief government negotiator who helped seal the FARC peace agreement, has announced, I want to be president. Having defeated Juan Fernando Cristo in the internal consultation by 40,881 votes, according to Colombia Reports, de la Calle will run as a Liberal Party candidate.

In June 2017, Colombia's most prominent human rights activist, former Senator Piedad Cordoba, officially announced her plans to run for president and has begun the process of collecting signatures to launch her campaign. "I announce to the country that I am going to be a candidate and I will be president of Colombia in 2018," Cordoba wrote on her official Twitter account.

In an interview with El Colombiano, the Afro-Colombian lawyer said she will focus on tackling social inequality and fighting corruption. The majority of citizens no longer feel represented by the old politics that neither talks about their problems nor resolves them, she noted. It is time to team up with society. The election of 2018 will endorse a demand for change. A renowned figure in the country and region, Cordoba is a long-time peace activist who has worked with human rights organizations on sociopolitical issues.

Left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro, who had been riding high in the polls despite an intense campaign against him, easily won the primaries for his coalition while Uribe-backed Senator Ivan Duque topped his opponent from the Conservative party by over 40 points. Despite a slight uptick in turnout, abstention remained high throughout the country with 53 percent abstention for the Senate vote and 52.4 percent for the House of Representatives.

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Mexico 2018 Presidential Election

Newly elected Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has become the first leftist president of Mexico since the end of one-party rule in 2000. Lopez Obrador said he would pursue friend and foe alike in a crackdown on corruption after voters handed him a strong mandate for a government with a landslide election victory. Lopez Obrador, won between 53 and 53.8 percent of votes, according to a quick count by the electoral authority, more than double the total for his nearest rival. That would be the most significant share of the vote since the early 1980s and would give Lopez Obrador a platform both to address Mexico's internal problems and face external challenges like the threat of a trade war with the United States.

AMLO's Movement for National Regeneration (MORENA) prevailed in legislative elections, making Lopez Obrador the first Mexican president since 1997 to enjoy a legislative majority. MORENA joined with the Labor Party and the conservative Social Encounter Party to form the Together We Will Make History coalition: It held 303 of 500 seats in the lower house of the federal Congress and 70 of 128 seats in the Senate. In addition, the coalition claimed the governors house in four states, the mayors office in Mexico City, and congressional majorities in 12 states and many local offices.

During the electoral season (September 2017 to June 2018), 48 candidates were killed. In Guerrero, 14 candidates were killed, followed by five in Puebla. Of the victims, 12 were members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, 10 belonged to the Party of the Democratic Revolution, seven to the National Regeneration Movement, six to the National Action Party, five to the Citizens Movement, two to the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico, and one each to the Social Encounter Party and the Labor Party; the remainder did not have a party affiliation. As of July the killings resulted in just one arrest. In comparison with the 2012 elections, there were 10 times more killings of 2018 candidates.

Mexico's socio-political arena may be considered exceptional, especially being so far from God, so close to the United States, some say. Geopolitical analyst Andrew Korybko wrote in The Duran, Donald Trump is inspiring a new generation of Mexican nationalists.

Mexico has seen a huge spike in violence, especially against politicians and journalists. More than 500 politicians have been attacked since campaigning began last September. At least 130 had been killed. Government statistics show there have already been more than 20,000 homicides so far this year.

After more than 80 years dominating Mexico's political scenario, the Revolutionary Institutional Party and the National Action Party (known together as PRIAN by the opposition) were finally dying out in their present form and paving the way for a new political organization known as the National Renewal Movement (Morena), founded by the country's new hope: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado.

Mexican leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (nicknamed AMLO) topped a July 2015 poll released by Reforma newspaper Sunday with 42 percent support, leading his nearest rival by 14 points. Lopez Obrador, head of the upstart Morena party, had twice run for president under the banner of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution, known as the PRD.

In second place in the poll was former First Lady Margarita Zavala, with 28 percent support. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, of the ruling centrist PRI, obtained 22 percent support. Miguel Angel Mancera, the current PRD mayor of Mexico City, considered the second-most important political post in Mexico, obtained 25 percent support. The PRD, along other mainstream Mexican political parties, endured a loss a credibility as a result of scandals linking the Mexican political class to organized crime groups.

By April 2016 the president's approval in the poll for daily newspaper Reforma fell to 30 percent, compared to 39 percent in December 2015, while 66 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Pena Nieto's job performance. Both figures marked a historic low for any Mexican president going back at least two decades in a Reforma poll, the newspaper said. Pena Nieto's support had been mainly driven down by public disapproval over corruption and his handling of efforts to combat poverty and lift the economy, the poll said. The ruling party was tarnished by a a number of conflict-of-interest scandals embroiling Pena Nieto, his wife and finance minister, slower-than-expected economic growth, and grisly drug violence.

A poll published 06 July 2016 by Buendia & Laredo, surveyed voters on how they would vote if the next election, scheduled for 2018, were held now. The survey found 24 percent of respondents would vote for the center-right National Action Party, versus 20 percent who would opt for the PRI, led by President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is constitutionally barred from re-election. Morena, the left-leaning party of two-time presidential runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was in third place, with the support of 17 percent of respondents. Lopez Obrador's former party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, traditionally the main leftist force in Mexican politics, had only 6 percent support.

Though political reforms had shortened the length of the formal campaigns (which didnt commence until early 2018 ), and placed some restrictions on media access by the political parties, by late 2016 for all intents and purposes the 2018 race was already in the go mode. More than a year and a half before Mexicans go to the polls, a dozen possible successors to Enrique Pena Nieto are the focus of voter surveys, public and private meetings and increased media attention. At least two of the potential presidential contestants could be women, though the candidacy of one of them has yet to be decided.

Mexican voters, indeed, Mexicans in general, were fed up by the constant flow of insults, increased deportations and great wall-building head of state to the north. The result, leftist nationalist and former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, simply known as AMLO, topped several 2018 presidential polls. His numbers were steadily rising. In Mexico, dissatisfaction with the current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, as well as rampant corruption and impunity for countless murders and other capital offences favored a left-wing populist.

This time, though, AMLO's chances are good. After all, he was standing against a rather implausible alliance of the Christian and Social Democrats with the grassroots movement on the one hand, and on the other against the former Foreign and Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade, the candidate for the PRI party, which usually holds the presidential office. Many voters will probably hold Meade responsible for the shambles that is all that remains of Pena Nietos ambitious 2012 "Pact for Mexico" that was supposed to make the economy and the political system more democratic, as well as expand social rights.

Unlike his failed presidential runs in 2006 and 2012, the 2018 election seem far more promising for AMLO, so much so that some investment banks, according to Foreign Policy, have already started to place their chips against the peso. Just some of the issues to deal with include white-collar corruption, the killing of women, activists, journalists and others and stemming Mexican cartels that are fueled by the U.S. war on drugs. No economic or environmental progress can mask the brutal daily violence that continues to go unpunished in Mexico. However, it is questionable whether distributional policy without economic growth would improve the situation.

The next contender may be rightwing Ricardo Anaya, candidate for the odd coalition of the conservative Partido Accion Nacional (PAN  National Action Party)  that formed government twice with Vicente Fox (2000) and Felipe Calderon (2006)  and the leftist Partido de la Revolucion Democratica (PRD  Party of the Democratic Revolution).

There are no socialist parties candidates because parties like the Communist Party of Mexico or the Workers Revolutionary Party are not officially registered and therefore do not take part in the elections.

Mexican Presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), widened his lead over his rivals in a new poll published by Mitofsky 23 March 2018. Support for AMLO, the former leftist mayor of Mexico City, increased by 2.4 percentage points, going from 27.1 percent in February to 29.5 percent in March. At the same time, his two main rivals, Ricardo Anaya of the National Action Party (PAN) and Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) saw their favorability rating decrease by 1.1 and 1.6 percentage points respectively. AMLO, who was running for Mexicos presidency for the third time, was regarded as a strong anti-corruption candidate. However, business sectors are wary of his economic policies.

Anaya is second in the polls with 21.2 percent support. His candidacy has been faltering due to corruptions allegations and the fact that he is currently under investigation by Mexicos Attorney Generals office. The federal investigation is connected to the sale of property by Anaya, which involved a shell company and illicit money. Anayas party, the PAN, has denied the claims and accused current president Pena Nieto of using state institutions to hurt Anayas campaign. An accusation the Attorney Generals office rejected, arguing the investigation started in October after a complaint was filed. The scandal surrounding Anaya, however, has not boosted the ruling party's candidate, Meade, who is currently ranked third in the polls with 16.4 percent, as his party is involved in corruption and associated with lawlessness.

Margarita Zavala, a former first lady, and a right-wing independent candidate finished in fourth place with 4.8 percent of respondents favoring her. After two other independent candidates, Jaime Rodriguez and Armando Rios Piter, were disqualified over fake signatures supporting their candidacy she is the only independent contesting the July 1 elections.

Independent Mexican presidential candidate Jaime Rodriguez will be on the ballot for July's vote, Mexico's electoral regulator said on 10 April 2018, weeks after he was dramatically excluded for not reaching the required number of signatures. Mexico's election watchdog INE said that its board would follow a court order forcing it to reinstate the on-leave Nuevo Leon governor, making him the second confirmed independent candidate. Armando Rios Piter was left off the ticket for the same reason.

More than half the signatures Rodriguez collected were declared invalid, meaning he fell 16,656 signatures short of the required number. Mexico's electoral tribunal ordered INE to put Rodriguez back on the ballot, saying that his due process rights had been violated and that, had all his invalid signatures been double-checked, he might have hit the required total. Fellow independent candidate Margarita Zavala said that she was worried by the decision. "We can't have a system where deception and simulation are more powerful than the force to do good," she said via Twitter. Known in Mexico as 'El Bronco' due to his blunt style, the 60-year-old was the first independent governor in Mexico when he won the industrial state of Nuevo Leon, helped by extensive use of social networks.

Lopez Obrador is likely to become the first left-leaning President of Mexico since the presidency of President Lazaro Cardenas some 80 years ago. The majority of Mexicans seem to place their full faith in him, but some of his supporters say they are voting for him because he is the best option among a group of corrupt politicians that represent the continuation of a failed regime. For many, Lopez Obrador presents himself as something new, despite compromises with the old guard which he arguably needs to secure the presidency in a country like Mexico with a deep history of neoliberal discourse.

While PRIAN represents the continuation of the War on Drugs security policies, AMLO has proposed a different approach that is giving hope to many. Even though he has indeed proposed to increase the number of navy and military, he also proposes addressing the issues of the youth so they don't join organized crime, including better education opportunities and a monthly universal income. Regarding legalizing drugs in order to cut drug cartels income, he has said he will do a popular referendum to let Mexicans decide.

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Paraguay - Election 2018

On April 22 Paraguay elected its new president, as well as 17 governors, 45 senators, 80 congress representatives, and 18 representatives to the Parlasur, Mercosurs parlament. The Colorado Party dominated Paraguayan politics until 2008, when it lost the general elections for the first time in 61 years to the opposition, the Patriotic Alliance for Change. On April 22, Paraguayan citizens headed to the polls to vote for national and local authorities. For the first time in the history of Paraguay, only two candidates were competing for the presidential seat.

On 31 March 2017 the Senate secretly voted to amend the constitution, which had not allowed re-election since it was created in 1992 following the fall of the brutal dictatorship. The bill would then move to the house, and if it passed, Cartes would have been eligible for re-election in 2018 when his current five- year term ended. Former president Fernando Lugo, who was ousted in 2012 for his handling of a land eviction in which 17 people were killed, would also be allowed to run again. A number of South American countries, including Paraguay, Peru, and Chile, have laws against presidents running for consecutive terms in a region not long removed from military dictatorships.

Rioters set fire to parliament to protest the bill that would allow the country's president to serve more than one term. Demonstrators broke windows and set fire to the interior of the parliament building. Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes said 16 April 2017 he would not run for a second term in 2018, after signs that he would try to hang onto power sparked deadly riots. Cartes made his intentions known in a letter to the Archbishop of Asuncion, saying he always puts Paraguay first.

Paraguayans headed to the ballot box 17 December 2017 to select their parties' presidential candidate for the general elections on 22 April 2018. Leading the pack, according to Americas Quarterly, were the two candidates vying for the top spot in the ruling, right-wing National Republican Association, or Colorado Party. Santiago Pena is a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) employee and finance minister. His opponent, Mario Abdo, is a senator who's the son of a private secretary to former dictator General Alfredo Stroessner. Little separate the two in policy terms.

The opposition alliance between the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, PLRA, and the leftist Guasu Front has remained weakened. the Guasu Front announced last year that Lugo will run for president. "The Guasu Front entered in the political arena to stay, we did not come to do a fashion show or exhibitionism in Paraguayan politics, we came to stay and transform our history," said Lugo.

Paraguay's presidential election took place on April 22, 2018. Vying for the top spot was the ruling, right-wing National Republican Association, or Colorado Party. Santiago Pena, a former International Monetary Fund, IMF, employee and finance minister. His opponent, Mario Abdo Benitez, is a senator, the son of a private secretary to former dictator General Alfredo Stroessner. He does not talk publicly about the role his father played in Stroessner's brutal regime that saw him jailed following the leaders ouster in 1989.

Little, if any, separated the two in policy terms. Both candidates seek to spur the economy through foreign investment and austerity measures, expressing hazy commitments concerning issues related to healthcare and education. Since the expeditious impeachment of former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo in 2012, the opposition alliance between the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, PLRA, and the leftist Guasu Front has remained weakened.

"The Guasu Front entered in the political arena to stay, we did not come to do a fashion show or exhibitionism in Paraguayan politics, we came to stay and transform our history, Lugo said. However, political commentator Estela Ruiz Diaz said that none of the PLRA candidates standing for the presidency incite passion, adding that they still have to settle their own feuds.

Not counting the four-year hiatus under Lugo, the past seven decades of Colorado Party politics attest to the absence of progressive leadership in the landlocked country.

The candidate of the ruling Colorado Party, Mario Abdo Benitez, and the opposition Ganar Alliance's candidate Efrain Alegre both proposed to reform the legal system of Paraguay to give confidence to foreign investors in the only debate before the April 22 presidential elections. The debate was held 16 April 2018 at the Central Bank of Paraguay offices and its discussion topics included economic development and environment; education and social integration; institutions and gobernability; health and childhood; and legal and physical security. But the discussion focused on Paraguay's institutions, especially the legal system. The opposition candidate suggested a change to the legal power in order to provide the country with a better institutional framework, to combat the idea of the government as a booty for candidates.

During the campaign, both promised to bring foreign investment to create jobs for the country's fast-growing economy which has seen annual growth of about 6 percent over the past five years. Corruption and poverty affect nearly 29 percent of the population and close to 80 percent of all property is owned by just 2 percent of the population, according to Oxfam Intermon. Both candidates oppose the legalization of abortion and gay marriage in the deeply conservative Catholic country.

A poll for Paraguay's upcoming presidential elections showed Abdo Benitez leading the polls with 55.7 percent of voter intention. Alegre, of the coalition between the Guasu Front and the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, was behind by 24 points with 31 percent of voter intention.

With 96 percent of the polls counted, Mario Abdo Benitez had more than 46 percent of the votes. The candidate from Paraguay's ruling Colorado Party won Sunday's presidential election, according to official results with over 96 percent of ballots counted, pointing toward another five years of conservative and neoliberal policies in the major soy producer. Mario Abdo Benitez, a 46-year-old former senator, clinched 46.7 percent of the vote, according to the country's elections tribunal. His main rival, Efrain Alegre, a lawyer from the center-left GANAR coalition Alegre, trailed closely with 42.6 percent.

Paraguays Superior Court for Electoral Justice (TSJE) has rejected allegation of fraud advanced by the leadership of the Ganar Alliance and reiterated its trust in the Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission (TREP) system used during the election. Since results of the general election held on April 22 were announced, handing a narrow 3.7 percent victory in the presidential election to the Colorado Party's candidate Mario Abdo Benitez, members of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party and the Guasu Front, the two main parties within the Ganar coalition have highlighted several irregularities in the electoral process. The main charge against the results is that the TREP system, operated by the Electoral Justice has presented a lower number of votes for Ganar coalition candidates and these figures are smaller than the data registered in the original count.







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U.S. Sets Up Team To Investigate Hizballah For Drug Trafficking

RFE/RL January 12, 2018

The U.S. Justice Department said it is setting up a new team to investigate alleged drug trafficking by Hizballah, the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite group that the United States has branded a terrorist organization.

The announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on January 11 came as Republicans in Congress are criticizing former President Barack Obama for allegedly stymieing a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) operation that targeted Hizbillah's drug-trafficking activities out of concern it might hamper U.S. efforts to negotiate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

A Politico article last month reporting about Obama's alleged move to quash the DEA's so-called Project Cassandra investigation into Hizballah was cited by Sessions in setting up the new investigative team.

Sessions said the Justice Department will assemble leading investigators and prosecutors to man the Hizballah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team and ensure all investigations targeting Hizballah are completed.

"The Justice Department will leave no stone unturned in order to eliminate threats to our citizens from terrorist organizations and to stem the tide of the devastating drug crisis," Sessions said.

"The team will initiate prosecutions that will restrict the flow of money to foreign terrorist organizations as well as disrupt violent international drug-trafficking operations."

On January 10, former top Treasury Department sanctions official Juan Zarate told Congress that Hizballah's drug-smuggling and money-laundering operations are global in scale.

He told a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that recent moves by the Treasury Department and the DEA to dismantle Hizballah's networks "led to arrests and enforcement actions around the world."

The United States has long targeted Hizballah with sanctions.

In 2011, the Obama administration unleashed a crackdown on the group, designating Beirut-based Lebanese Canadian Bank a "primary money-laundering concern" for handling the funds of alleged Hizballah drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa.

The administration said at that time that Hizballah's far-flung operations involved Colombia and Panama-based drug traffickers shipping tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe and then laundering the drug revenues through various banks around the world.

Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah denied the allegations, saying that the group depends on Iran for funding and that drug trafficking is forbidden by Islam.

Former DEA official Derek Maltz on January 11 told the Defense of Democracies think tank in Washington that Hizballah uses the drug proceeds to buy weapons it uses in the civil war in Syria, where it backs President Bashar al-Assad, and has provided some of the funds to Shi'ite Huthi rebels battling the government in Yemen.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-sets-up-team-investigate -alleged-drug-trafficking-iranian-ally- hizballah-sessions/28970350.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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New J-16 Fighters Enter China's Air Fleet

Sputnik News

22:13 12.01.2018(updated 22:14 12.01.2018)

China's J-16 fighter jets are quietly being introduced to the People's Liberation Army Air Force at a faster rate than the country's new fifth-generation J-20, though the latter has garnered much more international attention.

At least two new squadrons of J-16 fighter jets have been added or are in the process of converting to J-16 squadrons, Defense News reported Wednesday, citing images recently published by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. With the additions, the PLAAF has at least three J-16 units in its arsenal: the 172nd, the 173rd and the 98th brigades, Defense News noted.

The J-16 is an indigenously built fighter modeled after Russia's multi-role Su-30 Flanker fighter jet, which aviation experts consider to fare favorably against the US F-15 Strike Eagle. China's air force and navy also operate the Su-30. The J-16 is more advanced that the J-11 (which is itself modeled on the closely related Su-27) in the sense that it is well-suited for ground strike missions as well as air-to-air combat.

J-16s entered the PLAAF in small numbers in 2015, Defense News notes, adding that wider introduction was postponed in order to better develop the electronically scanned array radar for the aircraft.

The PLAAF commissioned the first J-20 last September, but experts expect integration of the fifth-generation aircraft to be "very long and painful," as it has been with the US Air Force's F-35. "The process of fifth-gen fighters' introduction to the US Air Force was very long and painful," said Vasily Kashin, a fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies in Moscow, when the J-20 made its public debut. "There's no reason to think China would be different," Kashin said.

China has also been developing an even newer aircraft than the J-20. In 2012, China's J-31 prototype made its first public flight at the Zhuhai airshow. "I think they'll eventually be on par with our fifth-gen jets  as they should be, because industrial espionage is alive and well," a senior US fighter pilot familiar with the F-35 told USNI News in 2014.

 Sputnik

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China is double dealing: Secret documents show them promising nukes to North Korea

Other than the rise of radical Islam, one of the biggest threats that America faces today is North Korea, which in recent months has demonstrated that it has the ability to strike the United States with a nuclear warhead. However, if theres any truth in a recently released document published earlier this week by the Washington Free Beacon, North Korea isnt the only country in that region of the world that the United States has to worry about.

As reported by LifeZette, a secret government document that was obtained by an American journalist has revealed that Chinese officials are still supplying the regime with vital resources such as oil, and are even promising to give the North Korean government more nuclear missiles. (Related: North Korea can now kill off 90 percent of the U.S. population with a single warhead.)

The document, labeled top secret and dated September 15  12 days after North Koreas latest underground nuclear blast  outlines Chinas plan for dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, explained WFBs national security reporter Bill Gertz. It states Chine will allow North Korea to keep its current arsenal of nuclear weapons, contrary to Beijings public stance that it seeks a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

Gertz went on to say that Chinese officials are also assuring the North Korean government that they will not let the regime to collapse, and that Beijing is planning on applying symbolic sanctions to avoid punishing the regime of leader Kim Jong-un under a recent U.N. resolution requiring a halt to oil and gas shipments to North Korea.

In exchange for certain resources, nuclear missiles and reassurance that the North Korean regime will not collapse, China only asked that the North Korean government halt its nuclear testing program, and to wait for times to become ripe to take steps toward denuclearization. Notably, it is still unclear what China means when it says that it will not allow the North to fall apart  does this simply mean that they will provide the North Koreans with enough resources to keep them afloat? Or does it mean that the Chinese will go so far as to retaliate against any country that attacks the North Korean regime? Obviously, neither the former nor the latter are preferable. (Related: New fears of World War III emerge as North Korea tests and ICBM that can hit anywhere in the world.)

Your department should at the same time seriously warn the Korean authority not to overdo things on the nuclear issue, the document says. Currently, there is no issue for our country to forcefully ask Korea to immediately and completely give up its nuclear weapons.

Its bad enough that the North Koreans are still carrying out missile tests and making threats against the United States, let alone receiving assistance in the form of resources and moral support from neighboring countries. In an ideal world, the North Korean government would agree to denuclearization and choose peace with the United States over war; sadly, however, this is not likely going to happen. That being said, the question that Americans must ask themselves is this: What is the best and most effective way to deter a hostile and unstable regime that is equipped with an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles?

It would be in President Trumps best interest to adhere to the principle of peace through strength, which is exactly what his administration has been doing since the day he took office. The most recent example of this was when Trump tweeted that his nuclear button was much bigger and more powerful than Kim Jong-Uns, a move that was met with harsh criticism from the progressive left yet ultimately led to the North Korean regime initiating peace talks with the United States.

Its unlikely that the North Koreans will stop testing missiles any time soon, but in the meantime, President Trump and his team should continue doing what theyve been doing all along  letting the world know that the United States is a force to be reckoned with.

Sources include:

FreeBeacon.com

LifeZette.comNorth Korea Expanding New Tunnel at Nuke Test Site Following Collapse

Sputnik News

22:03 12.01.2018(updated 22:07 12.01.2018)

North Korea has stepped up tunneling activities at its sole nuclear test site, according to US-based think tanks. Satellite imagery has revealed that activity around the Punggye-ri test site has greatly increased, with mining carts and piles of excavated material littering the landscape.

The analysis comes courtesy of the prominent 38 North think tank, which focuses on North Korea  particularly scrutinizing satellite photographs taken of the isolated Asian nation. The 38 North analysts acquired new images of the test sites, and they claim that the North Portal, the site of the last five North Korean nuclear tests, is completely flooded.

As a result, North Korean workers have been spotted excavating around the West Portal, with nine mine carts and large piles of excavated material appearing outside of the tunnel. It has also slightly expanded in size.

The North Portal seems to have been abandoned due to the damage it sustained in September, during the country's last nuclear test and its largest to date. The underground nuclear test is believed to have seismically destabilized the region and caused a series of earthquakes.

The tremors included two earthquakes immediately after the test: the first is believed to have been caused by the test itself, the second by the collapse of one of the tunnels. Aftershocks were detected as late as November. The tremors may have even affected nearby Paektu Mountain, a sacred mountain throughout Korean history and a major symbol of the North Korean regime.

Japan's TV Asahi reported that 100 workers were killed in the North Portal's collapse following the test. Cave-ins and nuclear contamination are also feared at the site. Now the West Portal, a mostly-unused tunnel complex a few thousand feet away from the North Portal, appears to be under construction to take the north's place, though Chinese and South Korean scientific authorities have warned that the entire site could collapse and spread radioactive waste if tests continue.

Elsewhere on 38 North, contributor Alexander Vorontsov, who heads the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that North Korean diplomats were serious about the possibility of war with the US.

After visiting Pyongyang, Vorontsov said that tensions were skyhigh and soldiers were on high alert. "These [North Korea] officials feared that the US was already trying to shape the battlefield for a military operation against the North and that South Koreans do not seem to have grasped the reality that the Trump administration is set on a course for preventive war," he wrote.

"However, Pyongyang is extremely serious about this scenario and is not bluffing when it says that "only one question remains: when will war break out?"

While military tensions have shown no signs of breaking, with the US ordering three nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to the Pacific territory of Guam on Thursday, both sides have proven more amenable to the notion of peace talks in 2018. North and South Korea are in the midst of peace talks that do not involve the US.

"With all of the failed "experts" weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total "might" against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing!" said US President Donald Trump via Twitter, taking credit for the talks beginning.

In October, Trump infamously declared that his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was "wasting his time trying to negotiate" with North Korean leaders.

 Sputnik

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US and 16 Allies Urge Nations to Catch Ships Violating N Korea Sanctions

Sputnik News

20:06 12.01.2018(updated 20:10 12.01.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US and 16 other members of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Operational Experts Group have pledged to intercept ships heading to North Korea as called for in a newly adopted United Nations Security Council sanctions and have called on all UN member states to do the same, a joint statement said on Friday.

"We call on all UN Member States to enforce all elements of applicable UN Security Council Resolutions," the statement said, vowing to "Redouble efforts to implement in full the measures in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions with respect to inspecting, detecting, and seizing items the transfer of which is prohibited by those resolutions."

Friday's joint statement was signed by PSI members Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

At the same time, according to the White House, President Donald Trump's administration is pleased with China's decision to sharply reduce trade with North Korea and believes the move will support the US-led effort to ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang.

"The Donald J. Trump Administration is pleased that China is sharply reducing its trade with North Korea. This action supports the United States-led global effort to apply maximum pressure until the North Korean regime ends its illicit programs, changes its behavior, and moves toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the statement said.

Earlier this month, China reported that it would curb exports of oil and would completely stop exporting metals, industrial equipment, as well as transportation means to North Korea in line with UNSC resolution 2397.

The report came, after the December statistics that showed that China exported no oil, gasoline, jet fuel and diesel to North Korea in November and imported no iron ore, coal or lead from the country.

In December, the UN Security Council in December adopted tough new sanctions against North Korea that sharply reduced the amount of refined fuel the country can import. Under the new sanctions, all countries were also urged to inspect North Korean ships for banned imports and halt ship-to-ship transfers of fuel.

Following the adoption of the UNSC resolution on North Korea, China called on all the parties involved to show restraint and undertake joint efforts in order to de-escalate tensions on the peninsula.

Pyongyang reacted to the sanctions by saying that it considered them "an act of war," adding that the Asian nation would not give up its plan to have a nuclear deterrent.

 Sputnik

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Joint Statement From Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Partners in Support of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2375 and 2397 Enforcement

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

January 12, 2018

The text of the following joint statement was released by the Government of the United States of America along with 16 other members of the Proliferation Security Initiative's (PSI) Operational Experts Group (OEG) in support of enforcement of UN Security Council Resolutions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Begin text:

In September 2003, the original eleven Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) partners gathered in Paris to adopt the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles. Currently, 105 nations around the globe have endorsed those principles. The Statement of Interdiction Principles calls on all endorsing States to establish, consistent with national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks including United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions, a more coordinated and effective basis to impede and stop shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), delivery systems, and related materials flowing to and from States and non-state actors of proliferation concern.

Specifically, the principles commit endorsing States to: (1) Undertake effective measures to interdict the illicit transfer of WMD, their delivery systems, and related materials; (2) Adopt streamlined procedures for rapid exchange of relevant information concerning suspected proliferation activity; (3) Review and work to strengthen their relevant national legal authorities; and (4) Take specific actions in support of interdiction efforts regarding cargoes of WMD and related materials.

Nearly fifteen years after the establishment of the PSI, WMD proliferation continues to be a threat, and the need for a global effort to counter that threat remains as great as ever. On September 11, 2017, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2375 in response to the sixth nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). On December 22, 2017, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UNSCR 2397 in response to the DPRK's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch conducted on November 28, 2017. UNSCR 2397 further strengthens UN sanctions on the DPRK, sending a clear message that the international community speaks with a single and unambiguous voice in condemning its violations of UN Security Council resolutions, and demanding that the DPRK abandon its prohibited nuclear, ballistic missile, and other WMD programs. In particular, it is imperative for us to redouble our efforts to put maximum pressure on North Korea through the full implementation of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, including non-proliferation related actions, to compel North Korea to change its path to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

As Member States of the United Nations and as PSI-endorsing States, it is our responsibility to implement UNSCR obligations fully, take advantage of the additional actions authorized in those UNSCRs, and continue pursuing our commitments under the Statement of Interdiction Principles. As PSI-endorsing States, we note UNSCR 2375's provisions on maritime interdiction of cargo vessels and take note of how these provisions complement PSI's Statement of Interdiction Principles. We also note UNSCR 2397's provisions that include new maritime interdiction obligations and authorities to help shut down North Korea's illicit smuggling activities.

We, the undersigned PSI-endorsing States, reiterate our commitment to upholding the commitments enshrined in the Statement of Interdiction Principles and are postured to help enforce UNSCRs 2375 and 2397 through the following measures, in accordance with national and international legal authorities:

Inspect proliferation-related shipments on vessels with the consent of the flag State, on the high seas, if we have information that provides reasonable grounds to believe that the cargo of such vessels contains items prohibited under UNSCRs concerning the DPRK. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that the cargo on a vessel flagged by one of our countries is prohibited for export to or from the DPRK under relevant UNSCRs, cooperate with inspections pursuant to the commitment above. If we, as flag States, do not consent to inspection on the high seas, we will direct the vessel to proceed to an appropriate and convenient port for required inspection. Direct our flagged vessels to a port in coordination with the port State when requested; and deflag any of our flagged vessels designated by the 1718 Committee. Prohibit our nationals, persons subject to our jurisdiction, entities incorporated in our territory or subject to our jurisdiction, and vessels flying our flag, from facilitating or engaging in ship-to-ship transfers to or from DPRK-flagged vessels of any goods or items that are being supplied, sold, or transferred to or from the DPRK. Redouble efforts to implement in full the measures in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions with respect to inspecting, detecting, and seizing items the transfer of which is prohibited by those resolutions. Seize and dispose of (such as through destruction, rendering inoperable or unusable, storage, or transferring to a State other than the originating or destination States for disposal) items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited by relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and consistent with other international obligations.

All PSI endorsing States commit to ensuring that their domestic processes are in place to undertake the above measures.

We call on all UN Member States to enforce all elements of applicable UN Security Council Resolutions. Given our concerted efforts to build our capacities and resolve to act to interdict WMD and related materials, we stand united in our determination to prevent the DPRK from acquiring nuclear and ballistic missile-related technologies, and from engaging in prohibited activities that generate revenue for its illicit WMD program. As PSI endorsing States we remain strongly committed to WMD counter-proliferation, including supporting and enforcing UNSCRs 2375, 2397, and all other DPRK-related UN Security Council Resolutions.



Signing States

Australia

Argentina

Canada

Denmark

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Japan

Republic of Korea

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Poland

Singapore

United Kingdom

United States



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France Awards Contract for Drone Helicopters Deployed From Warships

Sputnik News

01:16 13.01.2018

The French government has awarded a contract to two European firms to develop technology for rotary wing drones to take off from French navy vessels.

The Airbus Helicopters consortium and the Naval Group were selected as primary contractors for the program by France's Direction Generale de l'Armement (DGA), Airbus Helicopters announced Friday. The two firms are tasked with completing a study to identify technical risks "for initiating and realizing the program," the company said.

The VSR700 drone will be able to fly for more than 10 hours at a time and features a payload capacity of up to 330 pounds, according to the announcement, "offering performance levels that have, until now, been reserved to aircraft of a significantly higher category and size."

The drone "forms part of the preparation of the Navy Airborne Drone System, whose entry is foreseen for the middle of the next decade on new intermediate-size frigates and other French Navy ships," Airbus noted.

The drone's body is derived from the Guimbal Cabri G2 light civilian helicopter and will weigh approximately 1,500 pounds.

"We are proud to have been selected by the DGA, together with our long-standing partner Airbus Helicopters, to allow the French navy to integrate aerial drone systems into its units and strengthen its operational capabilities," Harve Guillo, chief executive of the Naval Group, said in the announcement.

The companies did not disclose the total value of the contract award. DGA also declined to specify the award amount, according to Defense News.

 Sputnik

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Indian Army Chief: 'We Have to Be Prepared' Amid Chinese 'Pressure'

Sputnik News

19:46 12.01.2018(updated 19:53 12.01.2018)

The Indian Army has confirmed that it has not dropped countermeasures in the Sikkim sector in the country's northeast as it suspects China may once again increase activities near Doklam after the snow melts.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, while speaking at the annual press conference in New Delhi, said that India was dealing with the "pressures exerted by China" and trying to not escalate the situation.

"Yes, China is exerting pressure. We are dealing with it. Yes, we should try that it is not escalated. We will not allow our territory to be intruded. Troops are earmarked, should a situation arise our troops are ready to cater," Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

"The PLA has occupied the northern Doklam area. A large number of troops have gone back from that area. Tents, toilets and observation posts remain, but manpower has thinned down. Once winter gets over, we can expect movement again. We have to be prepared for that," Army Chief General Rawat said.

General Rawat said the time had come for India to shift focus from Pakistan to its northern border, asserting that China may be powerful, but India is not weak either.

Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a bitter standoff which lasted for 73 days last summer at Doklam  a trijunction of India, China and Bhutan, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army from constructing a road in the area that is claimed by both China and Bhutan as their own. The issue was resolved diplomatically in November. The Indian Army chief claimed that the tension could have turned into a limited war had not India opted for peace.

 Sputnik

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Trump waives Iran nuclear sanctions, but for last time: White House

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 06:42PM

US President Donald Trump has reluctantly agreed not to reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, but said it would be the last time he issues such a waiver, according to the White House.

"Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies' agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal. This is a last chance," Trump said in a statement on Friday.

Trump said he wanted America's European allies to use the 120 day period before sanctions relief again comes up for renewal to agree to tougher measures and new conditions, otherwise, he noted, Washington would pull out of the deal.

"I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw," he said.

The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached between Iran and six world powers -- the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany -- in July, 2015.

The deal puts limitations on parts of Iran's peaceful nuclear program in exchange for removing all nuclear-related sanctions.

Trump said that he was willing to work "with Congress on bipartisan legislation regarding Iran. But any bill I sign must include four critical components."

He said, first, Iran must "allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors."

However, since the JCPOA Implementation, the IAEA has been verifying and monitoring Iran's compliance with its nuclear-related commitments under the nuclear deal and has consistently verified the Islamic Republic's compliance.

Second, the president added that the bill "must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon," but Tehran itself has always asserted that it never sought to build a nuclear weapon.

Third, Trump noted that "unlike the nuclear deal, these provisions must have no expiration date."

His administartion has been upset at the deal's "sunset clauses" that will put an end to restrictions on Iran's nuclear program after a few years as well as the agreement's "total silence on Iran's missile programs."

Finally, he said, "the legislation must explicitly state in United States lawfor the first timethat long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs are inseparable, and that Iran's development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions."

Washington claims Iran's missile program is in breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal.

Tehran, however, insists its missile tests do not breach any UN resolutions because they are solely for defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Trump also said that he had "engaged with key European allies in seeking to secure a new supplemental agreement that would impose new multilateral sanctions if Iran develops or tests long-range missiles, thwarts inspections, or makes progress toward a nuclear weapon."

"And, like the bill I expect from Congress, these provisions of a supplemental agreement must never expire," he said, adding, "The United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Trump had come under heavy pressure from European allies to issue the sanctions waiver.

On Thursday, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini together with foreign ministers of France, the US and Germany delivered a strong defense of the deal in separate statements, which were issued following a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels.

While Trump approved a sanctions waiver, the US Treasury Department announced that it has imposed sanctions on 14 Iranian individuals and companies, including Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani.

Trump again supports violence in Iran

The Republican president used his statement to, once again, voice support for a recent wave of violence in Iran.

Nearly two weeks ago, some peaceful protests were held in certain Iranian cities against rising prices and the overall economic condition of the country. Limited numbers of violent individuals, some of them armed, later sought to turn the peaceful protests into street riots. However, the original protesters soon heeded calls by authorities to leave the streets so that their activities would not play into the hands of violent rioters.

Trump described the the violent individuals as "brave Iranian citizens," also "calling on all nations to lend similar support to" them.

Following the protests, the US called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to address the issue.

During the January 5 session, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley gave an exaggerated account of the riots and said Washington would remain steadfastly behind the Iranian "protesters."

In response, Iran's UN mission released a statement strongly condemning Haley's comments and describing her and other US officials' remarks as idle talks which aim to support violence and unrest in the country.

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Trump Extends Sanctions Relief Under Iran Nuclear Deal, But Threatens Pullout

Mark Najarian January 12, 2018

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump says he will extend sanctions relief granted to Iran under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, leaving the accord intact for now, but his administration targeted a high-profile Iranian for new nonnuclear sanctions.

The president said in a statement on January 12 that he was granting the waiver for the "last" time and insisted that changes must be negotiated with European partners within 120 days to strengthen the accord or that the United States would likely pull out.

"Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies' agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal," he said in his statement.

"This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately," he said.

"Either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw," he added.

At the same time, Trump's administration said the United States would impose other new, targeted sanctions on 14 persons and entities not directly tied to the nuclear accord.

The sanctions are related to "serious human rights" abuses, censorship, and weapons issues, a Treasury Department spokesperson said.

The biggest name included in the new sanctions was Sadeq Larijani, head of the Iranian judiciary and brother of Ali Larijani, who is speaker of the Iranian parliament.

The Treasury said Larijani was "responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents."

Under the new sanctions, any assets that the people or entities have within U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen and Americans will be barred from doing business with them.

After the U.S. president's announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter that "Trump's policy & today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."

He added that the nuclear deal "is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance-- just like Iran."

The deal between Iran and the six countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- was signed in 2015 under the previous administration of Barack Obama in order to curb Tehran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

During his presidential campaign and into his term of office, Trump has said he opposes the deal, claiming that Tehran has violated the "spirit" of the accord.

Trump refused to recertify the deal in October and has threatened to withdraw the United States if what he calls serious flaws in the accord cannot be fixed by U.S. lawmakers and U.S. allies.

"I have been very clear about my opinion of that deal," he said in his January 12 statement. "It gave Iran far too much in exchange for far too little."

Iran has said its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful uses. It has said it will abide by the agreement as long as other signatories do, but warned that it would "shred" the deal should Washington pull out.

European Pressure

European signatories to the deal have pressured the United States to stick to the accord.

In a phone call on January 11, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed to Trump the importance of adhering to the deal, pointing out his country's "determination in favor of a strict application of the agreement and the importance of its respect by all of its signatories."

The White House said Trump underscored to Macron that Iran must cease its "destabilizing activity" in the region, including its support for terrorism.

The German Foreign Ministry said Berlin would consult with European partners on a common way forward after Trump's declarations but that the country would "continue to campaign for the full implementation of the nuclear agreement."

Trump's announcement on sanctions came one day before a deadline expired for the administration to make a decision on the issue.

Under U.S. law, the sanctions can be waived for a maximum of 120 days, meaning the U.S. government must review the situation every four months.

Among the changes Trump is demanding is that Iran allow more timely inspections of sites requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an elimination of so-called "sunset clauses," under which some of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program expire over time.

In addition, the deal must state that Iran's nuclear effort and its missile programs are inseparable. U.S. and other officials have complained that Iran's ballistic-missile program can easily be converted for nuclear use.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Mike Eckel

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-trump-extends- sanctions-relief-larijani/28971668.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Treasury Sanctions Individuals and Entities for Human Rights Abuses and Censorship in Iran, and Support to Sanctioned Weapons Proliferators

U.S. Department of the Treasury

January 12, 2018

Iranian Regime Prioritizes Destabilizing Weapons While Silencing Its Citizens

Washington  Today, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 14 individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran, and support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators.

"The United States will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice. We are targeting the Iranian regime, including the head of Iran's judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest against their government," said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. "We are also targeting Iran's ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities, which it continues to prioritize over the economic well-being of the Iranian people."

Today's actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which targets serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran; E.O. 13606, which targets grave human rights abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria via information technology; E.O. 13628, which targets, among other things, censorship or other activities that prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens of Iran, or that limit access to print or broadcast media; and E.O. 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

Sadegh Amoli Larijani

Today, OFAC designated Sadegh Amoli Larijani pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being an official of the Government of Iran who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents. As head of Iran's Judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani has administrative oversight over the carrying out of sentences in contravention of Iran's international obligations, including the execution of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture or cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.

Rajaee Shahr Prison and Gholamreza Ziaei

OFAC designated Rajaee Shahr Prison and Iranian national Gholamreza Ziaei in connection with serious human rights abuses in Iran. Rajaee Shahr Prison was designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being a person acting on behalf of the Government of Iran who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents. Gholamreza Ziaei was designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted for or on behalf of Rajaee Shahr Prison.

Rajaee Shahr Prison has denied prisoners adequate medical care and access to legal representation. Many Iranians who recently protested against their government are imprisoned at Rajaee Shahr, a facility where prisoners participating in hunger strikes are denied medical care; where there are reported incidents of sexual abuse and unlawful executions; and where at least one prisoner had his eye gouged out by prison officials. Gholamreza Ziaei has served as the director of Rajaee Shahr Prison since October 2017.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organization

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organization (IRGC EWCD Organization) was designated pursuant to E.O. 13606 for being owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which was listed in the Annex to E.O. 13606.

The IRGC has been designated under multiple sanctions authorities, including E.O. 13553 in connection with Iran's human rights abuses. Most recently, on October 13, 2017, the IRGC was designated pursuant to the global terrorism authority E.O. 13224 for activities in support of the IRGC-Qods Force. The IRGC EWCD Organization, which organizes and conducts training courses on behalf of the IRGC, has attempted to censor Iranians' access to Western media.

The Supreme Council of Cyberspace and The National Cyberspace Center

OFAC designated Iran's Supreme Council for Cyberspace pursuant to E.O. 13628 for engaging in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran that prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens of Iran, or that limit access to print or broadcast media.

The Supreme Council of Cyberspace was created in 2012 by Iran's Supreme Leader to centralize and oversee the Iranian regime's Internet policymaking and regulation. Since its creation, and for the purported purpose of "protecting the country from negative content of cyberspace," the Supreme Council of Cyberspace has continued the Iranian regime's blocking of many social media sites and other Internet censorship efforts. As the country's top Internet policymaking body, the Supreme Council of Cyberspace oversees the Iranian regime's disruption of the free flow of information by restricting access to tens of thousands of websites, particularly those of international news sources, anti-regime outlets, ethnic and religious minorities, human rights groups, and popular social media sites.

OFAC designated Iran's National Cyberspace Center, for being owned or controlled by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. The National Cyberspace Center has prevented Iranians from accessing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and internet proxies, which are used to bypass Iran's Internet controls, and has sought to prevent Iranians from accessing Western media content. In September 2015, the director of the National Cyberspace Center stated that a building in Tehran's Saadat Abad neighborhood, which is an affluent area of Iran's capital, has been purchased to house the National Cyberspace Center and the office of the head of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.

Green Wave Telecommunication and Morteza Razavi

OFAC designated Malaysia-based Green Wave Telecommunication and Iranian Morteza Razavi for their activity on behalf of a designated Iranian entity. Green Wave Telecommunication was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for being owned or controlled by, and for providing support to, Fanamoj. Morteza Razavi was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for acting for or on behalf of Green Wave Telecommunication and Fanamoj.

Fanamoj was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on October 13, 2017 for providing support to the IRGC and Iran's Naval Defence Missile Industry Group (SAIG).

Green Wave Telecommunication acquires export-controlled technology and devices on behalf of Fanamoj and its subsidiary, Rastafann. Under the leadership and direction of Morteza Razavi, Green Wave Telecommunication acquired controlled U.S.-origin technology and re-shipped it to Iran-based companies. Morteza Razavi serves as Green Wave Telecommunication's Director and as Fanamoj's Commercial Director.

Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company and Iran Aircraft Industries

OFAC designated Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (PANHA) and Iran Aircraft Industries (SAHA), two Iranian defense industry firms that provide key maintenance and overhaul services for Iran's military helicopters and aircraft. PANHA and SAHA were designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for being owned or controlled by Iran's Aviation Industries Organization.

Iran's Aviation Industries Organization, which is responsible for managing Iran's military aviation industry, was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on December 12, 2013 as part of a network of proliferators headed by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

PANHA is a leading Iranian helicopter maintenance and manufacturer, and has built and overhauled helicopters, including models manufactured in the United States, for the Iranian military and the IRGC. SAHA is Iran's largest provider of overhaul and technical modification services for Iran's military and cargo aircraft.

Shi Yuhua

OFAC designated Chinese-national Shi Yuhua pursuant to E.O. 13382 for acting for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Wuhan Sanjiang Import and Export Co. LTD (Wuhan Sanjiang), and for having provided financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Iran's Shiraz Electronics Industries (SEI). Shi Yuhua, an employee at Wuhan Sanjiang, is responsible for selling navigation-related equipment to SEI.

Wuhan Sanjiang was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on October 13, 2017 for having provided financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, SEI.

SEI was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on September 19, 2008 for being owned or controlled by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. SEI engaged in the production of various electronics equipment for the Iranian military, including radars, microwave electron vacuum tubes, naval electronics, avionics and control systems, training simulators, missile guidance technology, and electronic test equipment.

Since at least 2014, on behalf of Wuhan Sanjiang, Shi Yuhua sold SEI navigation-related gyrocompasses valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a variety of highly specialized sensors valued at nearly one million dollars, while obfuscating transactions to avoid detection. Following Wuhan Sanjiang's designation, Shi Yuhua continued business with SEI on behalf of Wuhan Sanjiang.

Iran- and China-Based Procurement Network

OFAC designated Pardazan System Namad Arman (PASNA) pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Iran's Electronic Components Industries (ECI).

ECI was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on July 12, 2012 for being owned or controlled by Iran Electronics Industries (IEI), which was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 in 2008 for being owned or controlled by Iran's Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). ECI conducts work on a variety of military and civilian projects.

Iran-based PASNA has sought to procure various types of lead zirconium tritanate (PZT) items valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars from China-based Bochuang Ceramic, Inc. on behalf of Iran's ECI. PZT items can transmit and receive electrical signals, and are used for anti-submarine warfare, torpedoes, mines, mine countermeasures, aircraft, and ocean surveillance purposes.

Bochuang Ceramic, Inc. is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, PASNA. China-based Bochuang sought to sell PASNA hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of PZT material, obfuscating Iran's ECI as the end user of that material by sending shipments to PASNA.

Zhu Yuequn is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Bochuang. Chinese national and Bochuang representative Zhu Yuequn has facilitated the sale of PZT items between Bochuang and PASNA, ultimately destined for Iran's ECI.

As a result of this action, all property and interests in property of those designated today subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. In addition, foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for, or persons that provide material or certain other support to, the entities designated today risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the U.S. financial system or block their property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction.

####

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Trump Waives Iran Nuclear Sanctions for Last Time

By VOA News January 12, 2018

United States President Donald Trump approved new sanctions on Iran Friday, while stopping short for a third time of re-imposing harsh sanctions intended to push Tehran to give up nuclear weapons research.

Trump said he was waiving the nuclear sanctions for the last time in order to give Congress and European allies 120 days to improve the agreement or face U.S. abandonment of the pact.

The president's proposals to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws" include Iran's agreement to open all sites immediately to international inspectors and an assurance from Tehran that it never develop a nuclear weapon.

According to the White House, any new Iran deal would have to cover Iran's ballistic missiles and limit its nuclear breakout period indefinitely.

"In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately," Trump said in a statement.

Additionally, the Treasury Department imposed new measures that target Iranian businesses and individuals for human rights abuses. They were imposed on 14 Iranian entities and individuals, the most prominent of whom is the head of the country's judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani. The department has linked Larijani to "the commission of serious human rights abuses" against Iranian people.

Among the other blacklisted entities are the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the Trump administration maintains has stifled social media networks that demonstrators can use to communicate.

The administration official said the sanctions are part of a broader effort to counter Iran's "reckless" and "destabilizing behavior," including actions related to the crackdown on protesters, at least 21 of whom have been killed this month.

"The United States will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. "We are targeting the head of Iranian regime, including the head of Iran's judiciary for the appalling treatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned only for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest of their government."

By law, the administration must certify to Congress every 90 days whether Iran is complying with a 2015 agreement it signed with the international community to limit its nuclear program.

In October, Trump refused to certify the agreement, saying Tehran had failed to live up to the spirit of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but held off on re-imposing severe sanctions on Iran's central bank and energy industry that had existed previously. Trump is expected to reaffirm the agreement next week.

Trump did not restore the sanctions on the banking and energy sectors, which were rescinded with the intent of inducing Iran to curb its nuclear program.

The decision to extend sanctions relief to Iran came after the president met with his national security team on the Iran question late Thursday.

The decision is likely to disappoint exile groups and human rights activists who had hoped for tougher measures from an administration that has voiced strong support for anti-government protests in many Iranian cities and a president who has harshly criticized the Iran nuclear agreement.

"Those are completely unrealistic and non-starter demands, and Donald Trump knows this very well," Trita Parsi, President of National Iranian American Council, told VOA. "There is no circumstance Iranians would accept putting permanent restrictions on their program that no other country has on its programs."

Mnuchin, in answer to a VOA question at Thursday's White House press briefing, suggested that Trump's actions would capture the attention of Tehran.

"The president has been very clear that many aspects of the Iran deal need to be changed," he said. "There are many activities outside of the Iran deal, whether it be ballistic missiles, whether it be other issues, that we will continue to sanction, that are outside the JCPOA."

A senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, Ray Takeyh, said Trump is attempting a difficult balancing act between supporting allies who want to preserve the accord and intelligence estimates of Iran's destabilizing role in the Middle East.

"Iran's domestic repression, regional aggression and proliferation are a problem, and the challenge is trying to balance these concerns with a punitive policy," he said in a telephone interview.

Takeyh, who was formerly a State Department adviser on Iran, said the quandary facing Trump is that in the absence of European support, his ability to sanction the Tehran government is limited.

"How do you unravel an arms control agreement that has the support of a number of parties that were members to it, even though that arms deal is profoundly defective?" he asked.

On Thursday, European parties to the deal made clear they firmly support the JCPOA, leaving Trump diplomatically isolated. After a meeting in Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said while there are concerns about Iran's development of ballistic missiles and other activities in the Middle East, those should be dealt with as a separate issue.

Iran has maintained its nuclear program is solely peaceful in nature. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended the EU meeting, but did not appear alongside the other diplomats as they spoke to reporters. On Wednesday, however, Zarif accused the United States of implementing destructive policies.

The JCPOA was put in place through a United Nations Security Council resolution with monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has certified that Iran is complying with its responsibilities that include limiting its enrichment of uranium and dismantling equipment.

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Background Press Call on Iran Sanctions

January 12, 2018

Via Teleconference

1:10 P.M. EST

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Just to note, we are having some technical difficulties. So while our briefers can give opening statements, unfortunately we're not going to be able to take questions. But if you have questions afterwards, you can follow up by emailing the NSC Press Office.

This is embargoed until 1:30 this afternoon, all information from this briefing will be attributed to a senior administration official. So I'll hand it over to your first briefer.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, very briefly, the President will issue a statement at 1:30 explaining today's actions and his decision. The Treasury Department will also issue their press release, which will go through the 14 new designations the United States government is taking against Iranian entities and individuals.

The President's decision is to waive, once more, the nuclear sanctions that the terms of the JCPOA require the United States to waive in order to remain in the deal. But in the statement, the President will also make clear that this is the last such waiver he will issue.

He intends to work with our European partners on some kind of follow-on agreement that enshrines certain triggers that the Iranian regime cannot exceed related to ballistic missiles; related to a nuclear breakout period, to hold them to one year or less; to inspection; and that would have no sunset clause.

If the President can get that agreement that meets his objectives and that never expires, that  as he said in his October Iran strategy speech  that denies Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon forever, not for 10 years or any other shorter period of time  that he would be open to remaining in such a modified deal.

I do want to stress also that this would not entail direct negotiations with the Iranians, this would be something the United States works out with our European partners only. It would be an agreement amongst the United States and our European partners to re-impose multilateral sanctions should the Iranians surpass the new triggers that we would lay out.

That's the heart of the decision today, and I will turn it over to my colleague.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. So I'm just going to briefly talk to you about the actions that we're taking at the Treasury Department. I should have it released from authority, but just to describe them  so, our sanctions today are part of the administration's broader efforts to counter the Iranian regime's continued and growing reckless and destabilizing behavior.

As all of you have seen over the past couple of weeks, Iran's malign activity really has just been on full display. This includes its human rights abuses and censorship of protestors, including those held in Iranian prisons, as well as their continued development of threatening weapons systems.

Today, OFAC is designating 14 individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran and support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators. And this is on top of our five designations from last week.

As Secretary Mnuchin notes in the statement, the United States will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice. We are targeting the Iranian regime, including the head of Iran's judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of people assembly and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest against their government.

We are also targeting Iran's ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities. Iran is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on its ballistic missile program, and continues to prioritize these and other regionally destabilizing endeavors over the economic wellbeing of the Iranian people.

Today's actions were taken pursuant to executive orders that target serious human rights abuses by the government of Iran, censorship, and activities that restrict freedom of expression or assembly by citizens and media in Iran.

We're also taking action, again, under executive orders that target proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

I'm just going to spend a couple of minutes briefly describing some of the designations that we have today. You'll see the rest in the press release.

So today, we're designating Sadegh Amoli Larijani, who, as head of Iran's judiciary, has administrative oversight over the carrying out of sentences in contravention of Iran's international obligation. This includes the execution of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime; and the torture or cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners of Iran, including amputations.

We're also designating Rajaee Shahr Prison, which has denied prisoners adequate medical care and access to legal representation. Many Iranians who recently protested against their government are imprisoned at this facility. It's a prison where prisoners participating in hunger strikes are denied medical care, where there are reported incidents of sexual abuse and unlawful executions, and where at least one prisoner had his eye gouged out by prison officials.

We're also designating Gholamreza Ziaei, who has served as the director of this prison since October of 2017.

We are also designating the IRGC's Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organization, in connection with Iran's human rights abuses. This organization organizes and conducts training courses on behalf of the IRGC, and has attempted to censor Iranians' access to Western media.

Similarly, we're designating Iran's Supreme Council for Cyberspace for engaging in censorship or other activities that prohibit, limit, or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens of Iran, or that limit access to print or broadcast media.

This council was created for the purported purpose of "protecting the country from negative content of cyberspace." It restricts access to tens of thousands of websites, particularly those of international news sources, anti-regime outlets, ethnic and religious minorities, human rights groups, and popular social media sites.

We are also designating eight individuals and entities for providing support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators. This includes designations of Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company and Iran Aircraft Industries, which are two Iranian defense industry firms that provide key maintenance and overhaul services for Iran's military helicopters and aircraft.

And we're also designating an Iran- and China-based procurement network including  Pardazan System Namad Arman and Bochuang Ceramic, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which again targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

A full description of these and our other designations can be found in the press release. And as was already mentioned, we'll be happy to take offline questions.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I'll just add  highlight a few other elements. First is that today's decision by the President, both in terms of the JCPOA and the new designations that are coming from the Treasury Department, represent the next step in the strategy that the President announced back in October, the strategy which is designed to counter the full range of the aspects of the Iran problem.

A couple of things to highlight is that the President today  in the President's statement, when he makes clear that he will expect during the term of the waivers that he'll renew in the coming days, that he'll seek a follow-on or a supplemental agreement with our European allies; that we've already been in discussions along those lines with our European allies. And so those have been quite far advanced in terms of making clear to our European allies what we expect of them, and also in agreeing on an assessment of the nature of the Iranian problem, and in seeking a collective way forward to try to counter the different aspects of that problem.

The President also, in his statement today, will make clear that he still is open and hopes to see an amendment to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which governs U.S. participation in the JCPOA, and that he hopes to see from Congress an amended INARA that includes four elements.The first is that it must demand that Iran allow timely, sufficient, and immediate inspections at all sites that are requested by international inspectors from the IAEA.

Second, that it'd have to ensure that Iran does not come close to possessing a nuclear weapon; that it remains above a one-year breakout timeline.

Next, that it must address the sunset flaw in the JCPOA by allowing the U.S. to snap back U.S. nuclear sanctions without any expiration date if Iran doesn't comply with the new criteria the administration has set out in conjunction with Congress.

And finally, the legislation has to state explicitly in U.S. law for the first time that we view Iran's long-range missile programs and nuclear weapons as inseparable, and that Iran's development and testing of the missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

And the last point I would mention is that among the 14 designations that the Treasury is announcing today, one that we know will have serious political impact  we think all of them, of course, will have a serious impact, but one that we know will have a serious political impact inside Iran is that of the designation of the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani. It happens that he is the brother of Ali Larijani, who is the speaker of the Iranian parliament.

So in other words, the designations today politically will go to the top of the regime and will send a very strong message about the United States  that the United States is not going to tolerate their continued abuses  their continued violations of the rights of their citizens.

Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you all for joining us today. My apologies for the technical issues. Again, if you have any questions, please forward them to NSC Press. This is embargoed till 1:30 p.m. today and attribution for all of the speakers is senior administration official.

Thank you.

END

1:21 P.M. EST

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Students and graduates of high schools across Japan are sitting the annual unified college and university entrance examinations.

The 2 days of tests began on Saturday. About 580,000 applicants this year take exams at 695 sites. The start of the exams was delayed by up to one hour at 7 venues due to heavy snowfalls and other reasons.

At a University of Tokyo campus in Bunkyo Ward, applicants began gathering shortly before 8 AM.

An 18-year-old student accompanied by her mother said she is anxious, but wants to do her best for her parents and teachers.

Another 18-year-old said he has is confident as he studied hard. He said he wants to be a civil servant in the field of education administration and needs to be accepted by the universities he has chosen. essay service

The National Center for University Entrance Examinations says snow held up the exams at Niigata University and the Nippon Dental University. Delays to trains affected the test at the Yokohama National University and another site.

In the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, police ferried 4 students to an exam site by patrol car, as their trains were delayed in a rail crossing accident.Statement by the President on the Iran Nuclear Deal

January 12, 2018

The Iranian regime is the world's leading state sponsor of terror. It enables Hezbollah, Hamas, and many other terrorists to sow chaos and kill innocent people. It has funded, armed, and trained more than 100,000 militants to spread destruction across the Middle East. It props up the murderous regime of Bashar al Assad, and has helped him slaughter his own people. The regime's destructive missiles threaten neighboring countries and international shipping. Within Iran, the Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Iran's people. Iran's ruling elite has let their citizens go hungry while enriching themselves by stealing Iran's national wealth.

Last October, I outlined to the American peopleand to the worldmy strategy for confronting these and other destructive activities. We are countering Iranian proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. We are cutting off the regime's money flows to terrorists. We have sanctioned nearly 100 individuals and entities involved with the Iranian regime's ballistic missile program and its other illicit activities. Today, I am adding 14 more to the sanctions list. We are also supporting the brave Iranian citizens who are demanding change from a corrupt regime that wastes the Iranian people's money on weapons systems at home and terrorism abroad. And crucially, we are calling on all nations to lend similar support to the Iranian people, who are suffering under a regime that is stifling basic freedoms and denying its citizens the opportunity to build better lives for their familiesan opportunity that is every human being's God-given right.

All this stands in stark contrast to the policy and actions of the previous administration. President Obama failed to act as the Iranian people took to the streets in 2009. He turned a blind eye as Iran built and tested dangerous missiles and exported terror. He curried favor with the Iranian regime in order to push through the disastrously flawed Iran nuclear deal.

I have been very clear about my opinion of that deal. It gave Iran far too much in exchange for far too little. The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the dealaccess to more than $100 billion, including $1.8 billion in cashhas not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people. Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders. The Iranian people know this, which is one reason why so many have taken to the streets to express their outrage.

Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw.

I am open to working with Congress on bipartisan legislation regarding Iran. But any bill I sign must include four critical components.

First, it must demand that Iran allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors.

Second, it must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon.

Third, unlike the nuclear deal, these provisions must have no expiration date. My policy is to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weaponnot just for ten years, but forever.

If Iran does not comply with any of these provisions, American nuclear sanctions would automatically resume.

Fourth, the legislation must explicitly state in United States lawfor the first timethat long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs are inseparable, and that Iran's development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

In 2015, the Obama Administration foolishly traded away strong multilateral sanctions to get its weak nuclear deal. By contrast, my Administration has engaged with key European allies in seeking to secure a new supplemental agreement that would impose new multilateral sanctions if Iran develops or tests long-range missiles, thwarts inspections, or makes progress toward a nuclear weaponrequirements that should have been in the nuclear deal in the first place. And, like the bill I expect from Congress, these provisions of a supplemental agreement must never expire.

I also call on all our allies to take stronger steps with us to confront Iran's other malign activities. Among other actions, our allies should cut off funding to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its militant proxies, and anyone else who contributes to Iran's support for terrorism. They should designate Hezbollahin its entiretyas a terrorist organization. They should join us in constraining Iran's missile development and stopping its proliferation of missiles, especially to Yemen. They should join us in countering Iran's cyber threats. They should help us deter Iran's aggression against international shipping. They should pressure the Iranian regime to stop violating its citizens' rights. And they should not do business with groups that enrich Iran's dictatorship or fund the Revolutionary Guard and its terrorist proxies.

Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies' agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal. This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately.

No one should doubt my word. I said I would not certify the nuclear dealand I did not. I will also follow through on this pledge. I hereby call on key European countries to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people. If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran. Those who, for whatever reason, choose not to work with us will be siding with the Iranian regime's nuclear ambitions, and against the people of Iran and the peaceful nations of the world.

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Pakistani Army Chief Says Nation Felt 'Betrayed' by US

By Ayaz Gul January 12, 2018

A top American general has told Pakistan's army chief the U.S. military does not intend to conduct any unilateral strikes inside the country and both sides emphasized the need for continued cooperation to fight terrorism, an official announcement said Friday.

U.S. Central Command General Joseph Votel telephoned General Qamar Javed Bajwa this week and offered the assurance, said army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor, while releasing details of the conversation. He did not say when it occurred.

The high-level contact came after U.S. President Donald Trump, in a New Year Day's tweet, accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit," saying the country is providing havens to militants fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The Trump administration subsequently suspended nearly $2 billion in security assistance to Islamabad until it takes "decisive action" against alleged Afghan militant sanctuaries on Pakistani soil.

Ghafoor said Votel reiterated Washington's concerns, saying they are undermining Pakistan's counterterrorism contributions.

"The U.S. is not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan, but is seeking cooperation to tackle Afghan nationals, who, in the U.S.'s view, use Pakistan's soil against Afghanistan," the spokesman quoted Votel as telling Bajwa.

Ghafoor said the army chief told the U.S. general the entire Pakistani nation "felt betrayed over U.S. recent statements despite decades of cooperation."

The spokesman said that during the conversation with Votel, General Bajwa noted Pakistan was fully aware of U.S. concerns about the activities of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and that steps were being taken to counter them.

"[The army chief] reiterated that Pakistan will not seek resumption of [U.S.] aid but expects honorable recognition of our contributions, sacrifices and unwavering resolve in the fight against terrorism for peace and stability in the region."

A Central Command spokesman confirmed Votel's contact with Bajwa.

"U.S. Central Command is in continuous communication with the Pakistan military, including recurring conversations between General Votel and Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Bajwa," a statement said. "We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider that might lead to a positive path forward."

Islamabad denies U.S. allegations of harboring insurgent bases and cites its "unprecedented" gains against terrorist groups on Pakistan soil, resulting in improved national security.

Trump's tweet has sparked a war of words between Pakistan and the United States, prompting fears the two are on a collision course. There has been speculation the U.S. military might undertake drone strikes deep inside Pakistan to target suspected hideouts of the Taliban and the allied Haqqani network.

Such a move, however, is likely to provoke Islamabad to block air and ground routes that U.S. and NATO troops depend on to conduct counterterrorism operations and transport vital military supplies to landlocked Afghanistan.

U.S. airstrikes accidentally hit Pakistani border posts in 2011, prompting the country to close the supply lines for months. Islamabad restored the route only after the U.S. military formally apologized for the incident.

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New Bill On 'Foreign Agent' Media Advances In Russian Duma

RFE/RL January 12, 2018

Russian lawmakers have given preliminary approval to a bill that would enable the government to brand some individual journalists and bloggers -- not only media outlets -- as foreign agents.

The bill, passed in the first of three readings in the State Duma on January 12, allows the Justice Ministry to designate people who are "performing the function of a media outlet" as foreign agents.

It follows a law signed by President Vladimir Putin in November that empowered the ministry to designate media outlets that are based or funded from outside Russia as "foreign agents."

The new bill has prompted concerns that Moscow could use the foreign agent label against foreign correspondents working in Russia in addition to media outlets themselves.

Russia says its legislation, which has been criticized by Western governments and media rights groups, is a response to what it claims is pressure on Russian media outlets in the United States. Washington denies it has pressured Russian media outlets.

The new bill, which appears likely to be approved by both houses of parliament and signed by Putin without major changes, sets out some of the rules governing media outlets or individuals designated as foreign agents.

It would require those designated as foreign agents to label their output as coming from a foreign agent, said Pyotr Tolstoi, a deputy Duma speaker from the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party.

This requirement "applies to all information sources, from television channels and print media to social media users of medical or cooking websites," Tolstoi said.

Another lawmaker, Leonid Levin, said that when it comes to individuals, the foreign agent label would only be applied to those who receive funding "directly or indirectly" from "state sources in countries where there are restrictions on the work of Russian media."

The bill would also require media outlets designated as foreign agents to set up Russian legal entities if they have not already done so.

Relations between Russia and the United States are severely strained by tension over issues including Russia's interference in Ukraine and its alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential election in 2016.

The Russian Justice Ministry declared Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and seven affiliated news services foreign agents on December 5, but has not pinned the designation on any other media outlets.

With reporting by AP, Interfax, TASS, and RT

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-foreign-agent- bill-advances-duma/28971473.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Syria commanders accuse Turkey of masterminding militant attack

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 06:54PM

Syrian field commanders say Turkey has helped Takfiri militants conduct an attack in the northwest this week to counter the government forces' advances.

Syria's official news agency SANA said Friday, "Field commanders confirmed to the SANA correspondent that terrorists from the Turkistan Islamic Party with the direct support, direction and planning of the Turkish regime, brought most of their forces... to start their attack."

According to the report, the militants used Turkish vehicles in the attack.

In late October, the Syrian army, supported by allied forces and Russian air power, began an offensive in Hama Province. Earlier this month, they had advanced into Idlib, close to a militant-held military airport.

Syrian forces are going for an airbase in southeastern Idlib Province. They advanced to within three kilometers of the Abu al-Duhur military airport on Wednesday. The forces have taken scores of villages in recent weeks near the provincial border between Idlib and Hama.

The terrorist groups reportedly launched a counter attack in Idlib on Wednesday after the advance the army and its allies made toward the airbase.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, and a military media unit run by the Lebanese ally Hezbollah resistance movement said on Friday the army had taken back several villages captured by the militants in the counter attack.

Militant groups seized Idlib, which borders Turkey, in 2015.

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Russian military eliminates militants behind Syria air base attack

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 05:13PM

Russia says its artillery units have wiped out a group of foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists, who lobbed a barrage of mortar shells at the Russia-run Hmeimim air base in Syria's western coastal province of Latakia late last year.

According to a statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Russian reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles tracked down the extremists "near the western border of Idlib province."

"When the terrorists arrived at the facility, where they were preparing to board a minibus, the whole subversive group was eliminated by a Krasnopol high-precision projectile," the statement pointed out.

The Russian Defense Ministry added that all manpower and materiel of Russia's multi-level military intelligence system in Syria had been involved in the operation.

A militant group shelled Hmeimim air base on December 31, killing two Russian military servicemen.

Terrorists' drone assembly facility destroyed in Idlib

Meanwhile, Russian military intelligence units have discovered and destroyed a depot in the northwestern province of Idlib, which Takfiri militants used to launch attacks against two Russian bases in Syria on January 6.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the depot had been destroyed by a 152mm cannon-launched and laser-guided Krasnopol explosive projectile.

Last weekend, foreign-backed militants launched a drone attack on Hmeimim air base and Russian naval base in Tartus, which was repelled by Russian military forces.

It was the first such an attack since Russia launched its campaign in Syria more than two years ago.

Hmeimim serves as Russia's permanent air base inside Syria and is adjacent to the Bassel al-Assad International Airport, with which it shares some airfield facilities.

Last year, Damascus and Moscow signed a treaty to lease the base to Russian military forces for 49 years, extendable for an additional 25 years.

Russia also plans to upgrade its naval base in Tartus, the second largest port city in Syria, where Moscow has been keeping a support and maintenance facility for its naval forces since 1977.

Military sources said expansion of the naval base, located some 86 kilometers south of Hmeimim, would enable bigger vessels to call at the military site. Moscow is reportedly considering deployment of S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems and Bastion coastal missile launchers there.

Moscow launched its campaign against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and other militant groups in Syria upon a request from Damascus in September 2015. Its airstrikes have helped Syrian forces carry out effective counterterrorism operations against foreign-backed militants operating in the country since 2011.

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Unauthorized foreign presence on Syria soil unacceptable: Deputy FM

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:14AM

Syria says the foreign forces who have made their way into the country and established bases there without the consent of Damascus are occupiers and should leave Syrian soil.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad said it is "unacceptable" for any foreign troops to have a presence on the Syrian soil without the government's approval, adding that Damascus will deal with this issue as a case of "occupation."

Mekdad was referring to the presence of American and Turkish forces in Syria, whose respective countries have refused to pull them out in defiance of Damascus' warnings.

Turkey and the US have also their own troops on the ground in Syria.

The comments come days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is to keep up its so-called Euphrates Shield military operation in northern Syria, which serves to keep US-backed Kurdish militants away from its borders.

Mekdad called the Turkish presence "invasive," and urged Ankara to stop intervening in Damascus' affairs.

The United States led scores of its allies in an invasion of Syria in 2014, claiming it sought to root out the Takfiri terror group of Daesh. The mission had no Syrian or UN mandate.

In a unilateral mission, Washington has also deployed its own troops to Syria, where they support anti-Damascus militants.

Russia: US blocking aid flow

Also on Friday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the Rukban refugee camp around al-Tanf, which houses an estimated 60,000 Syrian refugees, was "de-facto occupied by the US armed forces," with access to the district denied to the country's lawful authorities, Russia Today reported.

All limitations on the access of humanitarian convoys to the camp had to be lifted, the ministry emphasized.

It stressed "the need to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Syria in the implementation of humanitarian deliveries and the observance of international humanitarian law."

It further said, "The training of militants from illegal Syrian armed groups continues at the US strongholds in the area."

'UN envoy not serious'

The Syrian official, meanwhile, criticized the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura for not being "serious in resolving Syria's crisis."

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Turkey reinstates 1,800 civil servants after acquittal

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 12, 2018 09:59AM

Turkish authorities have reinstated hundreds of civil servants who had been fired over alleged links to a failed coup attempt in 2016.

In an emergency decree published on Friday, judges exonerated 1,823 employees after finding they had had no links to those blamed for the 2016 coup bid.

The public employees had been sacked for downloading an encrypted messaging app known as ByLock, which authorities say was used by the putschists to carry out the coup.

Late last year, however, Turkish authorities concluded that the ByLock app had been unknowingly downloaded by thousands of users and could not be used as positive proof proving involvement in the failed coup.

Among those acquitted on Friday were 544 personnel from the Education Ministry, 204 from the Health Ministry, and 458 personnel from the police force.

The employees will have to return to work within 10 days and will receive their wages for the period they were not working but cannot apply for compensation.

However, rulings against 262 people, including 48 military personnel, were upheld, state-run news agency Anadolu said.

Ankara holds US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen responsible for orchestrating the attempted coup. Gulen has denied the charge.

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Kurdish Leader in Court as Turkish Judiciary's Independence Again Questioned

By Dorian Jones January 12, 2018

The jailed head of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition appeared in court for the first time Friday since his arrest 14 months ago in a crackdown that followed a failed coup in 2016. Hundreds gathered outside the Istanbul courthouse, chanting slogans in support of Selahattin Demirtas.

The People's Democratic Party leader, who faces charges in 20 separate cases, was in court for "insulting the president." When asked to provide an address, Demirtas simply replied, "Turkish parliament."

Demirtas, a lawyer by training, challenged the court's jurisdiction in trying him and called for the case to be transferred to the higher constitutional court. The Kurdish leader also alleged that his parliamentary immunity had been violated. The hearing was quickly adjourned to May, to consider his demands, with the lower court ruling for his continued pre-trial detention.

Until Friday, he had not been allowed to attend 90 other hearings in the cases against him because of what authorities said were "security concerns."

The prosecution of Demirtas has drawn national and international criticism for his lengthy detention and what critics say is lack of evidence. Prosecutors allege he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for claiming Erdogan, along with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, had "betrayed the country" over heightened tensions with Russia after Turkey downed a Russian bomber along the Turkey-Syria border in 2015.

The People's Democratic Party, known as HDP, contends the case is politically motivated.

"I am afraid the ongoing operation is part of a general and broader crackdown plan aimed at closing the democratic space for the HDP, in particular for the party spokesperson," said Ertugral Kurkcu, HDP parliamentary deputy. "The plan of the crackdown is to close forever a radical party for Kurds."

The HDP is Turkey's second main opposition parliamentary party.

Charges against HDP members

The HDP has been at the forefront of fighting for the rights of Turkey's large Kurdish minority and secured more than 5 million votes in the last general election. The government accuses the party of being linked to an ongoing insurgency by Kurdish rebel group the PKK, a charge the HDP strongly denies.

Since the declaration of a state of emergency following the 2016 attempted coup, nine HDP parliamentary deputies have been jailed, along with dozens of elected mayors and around 10,000 party officials. This month, prominent HDP parliamentary deputy Idris Baluken was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison on terrorism charges.

Demirtas recently announced he was stepping down as leader, saying he believed he would not be released in the foreseeable future. The decision is seen as another blow to the HDP.

"Demirtas was extremely important for the HDP; he was an extremely bright man. He speaks well," said political scientist Cengiz Aktar, an expert on Kurdish issues. "He managed to attract not only Kurdish votes, but also Turks. He will be remembered as a historical breakthrough."

Observers say Demirtas was widely seen as the only political leader who could match the charisma of Erdogan, citing that as a key reason critics for Demirtas' detention. The Turkish government maintains the judiciary is independent.

Press freedom?

Questions about the independence of the judiciary were raised again Thursday, when the constitutional court ruled that the pre-trial detention of two journalists, Sahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan, had violated their rights and called for their immediate release. Two Istanbul courts, however, refused to implement the decision, saying they had not been officially notified.

The decision came as Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag criticized the constitutional court ruling. "When ruling on individual applications, the constitutional court cannot act like a super appeals court and cannot make rulings like such courts," he wrote on Twitter. "The constitutional court has overstepped the limit set out in the constitution and the laws."

The failure to release the journalists has been strongly condemned. "It is outrageous that the Istanbul high primal court is resisting against the constitutional court decision," said Erol Onderoglu, Turkey's representative to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

"It illustrates perfectly the influence of political interference to the Turkish judiciary, even high judiciary organs are not independent to decide to safeguard fundamental values. It has turned to a deep political and judiciary crisis, once against illustrating the chaotic ground after the state of emergency and coup attempt," Onderoglu said.

He also said the constitutional court ruling will be used as a legal precedent for the release of the 150 other journalists being held. The court's decision had opened the door for their release.

Rebecca Harms, a member of the European Parliament, issued a statement describing the constitutional court ruling as a "milestone" for media freedom. Harms, however, condemned the failure to implement the ruling.

"If the lower courts do not respect the decision of the Turkish constitutional court, it will result in a further deterioration of Turkey's constitutional crisis and the erosion of rule of law and the separation of powers," wrote Harms.

Turkey's judiciary has faced unprecedented turmoil since the introduction of emergency rule. More than 4,000 judges have been removed from office, including two members of the constitutional court, as part of an ongoing crackdown against followers of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. He is blamed for involvement in 2016 failed coup, an allegation he denies.

Observers say a decision on whether the constitutional court decision will be upheld is being viewed widely as a key test for the judiciary.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Google has confirmed an issue with its premium Home Max smart speaker. The problem in question, affected users say, causes WiFi networks to be killed, which means the router/modem requires a hard restart to bring the network up again.

Going by reports on the official Google forum, most users who are affected by the issue are using a TP-Link Archer C7 router.

One user even got a reply from TP-Link engineers over the issue, indicating the root of the problem could be MDNS multicast discovery packets that are sent to keep a live connection. Apparently, Home Max is overloading the router by sending thousands of these packets in a very short duration of time.

A Google Products expert confirmed the issue, saying they are looking into it. Those who want to help the company debug the problem can send feedback report from their Google Home app. Here are the details:

Source | ViaIntroduction

We've come to accept Honor devices as being great value. Relying on proven technology from its parent company Huawei, the Chinese brand has been consistently focused on bringing very good specs at tempting prices. That's no easy task, yet Honor makes it seem almost effortlessly natural at this point, with devices like the Honor 7X.

Huawei's current Mate lineup already offers great value in the high-end segment, with the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, as well as in the large screen mid-range, in the face of the Mate 10 Lite.

However, it doesn't really take more than a quick specs comparison to see that the Honor is positioning the 7X as an almost identical offer, both hardware and design-wise and at a price point lower than the 350 euro or so the Mate 10 Lite sells for.

Honor 7X specs:

Body: Metal unibody, 2.5D glass on front

Metal unibody, 2.5D glass on front Screen: 5.93" IPS LCD, 1080p (407ppi); Gorilla Glass (unspecified version)

5.93" IPS LCD, 1080p (407ppi); Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 659, 4x Cortex-A53@2.36GHz + 4x Cortex-A53@1.7GHz, Mali-T830MP2

HiSilicon Kirin 659, 4x Cortex-A53@2.36GHz + 4x Cortex-A53@1.7GHz, Mali-T830MP2 Memory: 3/4GB RAM + 32/64GB storage, Hybrid microSD slot

3/4GB RAM + 32/64GB storage, Hybrid microSD slot Camera: Dual 16MP (1/2.9", 1.25 m) + 2MP with PDAF, 1080p @ 30fps video

Dual 16MP (1/2.9", 1.25 m) + 2MP with PDAF, 1080p @ 30fps video Selfie cam: 8 MP, 1080p @ 30fps video

8 MP, 1080p @ 30fps video OS: Android 7.0 Nougat, EMUI 5.1 on top

Android 7.0 Nougat, EMUI 5.1 on top Battery: 3,340mAh (non-removable)

3,340mAh (non-removable) Connectivity: Hybrid Dual Nano-SIM (hybrid microSD slot); LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps support; Wi-Fi g/b/n; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS with GLONASS; FM radio; 3.5mm audio jack

Hybrid Dual Nano-SIM (hybrid microSD slot); LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps support; Wi-Fi g/b/n; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS with GLONASS; FM radio; 3.5mm audio jack Misc: Fingerprint reader, DTS audio

Sure, you might be missing out on some selfie extras and a few other small details here and there, but in the US, Honor 7X is launching at just $200 - a whole $50 less than its Honor 6X predecessor at launch. Europe is getting less of a bargain, but still not that terrible.

Of course, no phone is without its faults. We would have loved to see a USB Type-C slot on the Honor 7X. While at it, NFC support to power contactless payments would have been a nice touch as well. Still, in the grand scheme of things, a lesser known brand seems to be enough to save you a pretty penny on some excellent Huawei hardware and software package. A deal we would gladly take any day of the week.

Unboxing

A simple, sturdy, two-piece cardboard box - that's what we like to see from value-conscious devices and that's exactly what the Honor 7X ships in. Nothing too fancy, but we do dig the greenish-blue color Honor went with. It really makes it stand out.

Removing the top part reveals a single compartment that only houses a wall charger and USB cable. Unfortunately, it's the microUSB type and not the newer, reversible Type-C port. The charger is rated at 10W or 2A@5V, which coincidentally is the maximum power the Honor 7X will charge at.

Design

A metal unibody and a glass front - it might be overused, yes, but we still think it's a timeless look. The Honor 7X pulls it off magnificently in every aspect and we'll enjoy every bit of it, before the iPhone-inspired wireless charging-friendly devices come pouring in.

The Honor 7X has extremely flush and natural curves, quite reminiscent of an iPhone 7, or a couple of its predecessors.

The phone is a pleasure to hold. Not only that, but Honor has really managed to step up its game when it comes to materials and build quality.

The phone barely flexes under pressure and feels as solid as a rock. Past Honor devices have always been sturdy in their own right. This frame, however, is one of the sturdiest we've ever seen on a phone of this price range.

Of course, on the flip side of things, a metal back does mean no wireless charging and requires the presence of antenna lines. The latter, however, are blended in really well with the rest of the body and this is true regardless of the finish you choose - blue, gold or black.



Honor 7X from the back

The only other exterior segment on the Honor 7X is a 2.5D front glass, which tucks away neatly into the frame itself, which is another really pleasant design choice. It's a Gorilla Glass but Honor doesn't reveal which generation.

Whatever the glass may be, the better part of the surface underneath it is occupied by a trendy new extra-wide, 5.9-inch, 18:9 panel. We really appreciate Honor stuck with FullHD, instead of saving a few bucks by going with a lower resolution. But, more on that later.

The side bezels around the panel are quite thin, but nothing we would consider bezel-less. The top and bottom chins are quite reasonably sized as well.



Honor 7X trendy new ultra-wide display

Besides the selfie camera and speaker, the top one also houses a notification LED. The bottom one only has an Honor logo printed on the underlying surface in a very Huawei fashion.



Convenient control layout

On the left side of the phone there is a single tray that houses a regular and hybrid SIM slot on the Dual-SIM model, or substitutes the latter for a dedicated microSD one.

On the opposite side - a volume rocker near the top and a power button beneath that. Both easy to reach, "click-y" and well defined.



Honor 7X top and bottom sides

The top of the Honor 7X is pretty empty, save for a tiny hole for a secondary noise-cancelling microphone. On the bottom - the microSD port, we already whined about along with the single speaker. In all fairness, we can't realistically expect a stereo setup at this price point.

Thankfully, what is included is a good old 3.5mm audio jack.

A rear-mounted fingerprint reader is also part of the mix. In keeping with its solid reputation in this area, Huawei equipped the Honor 7X with a very snappy and accurate scanner. Naturally, it is always-on and can unlock the phone from standby. No complaints there.These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.Published on 2018/01/13 | Source

Added episode 12 captures for the Korean drama "Black Knight" (2017)

Advertisement

Directed by Han Sang-woo

Written by Kim In-yeong

Network : KBS

With Kim Rae-won, Shin Se-kyung, Seo Ji-hye, Jang Mi-hee, Kim Hyun-joon, Hwang Jung-min-I,...

16 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00

Synopsis

In this supernatural romance drama, a businessman with a pure heart braves danger for his love, a travel agent who has never traveled abroad. It is a love story that spans over two hundred years.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/12/06

MorePublished on 2018/01/13 | Source

Added episode 14 captures for the Korean drama "Prison Playbook" (2017)

Advertisement

Directed by Sin Won-ho

Written by Jeong Bo-hoon-I, Lee Woo-jeong-I

Network : tvN

With Park Hae-soo, Jung Kyung-ho, Sung Dong-il, Kim Sung-cheol, Jung Jae-sung, Lee Ho-cheol,...

16 episodes - Wed, Thu 21:30

Also known as "Wise Prison Life"

Synopsis

Set in a prison, this is a drama about the lives of the prisoners and prison staff.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/11/22

MorePublished on 2018/01/13 | Source

From left, Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Ki Hong Lee pose at a press event to promote their film at a hotel in Seoul on Thursday.

Advertisement

The stars of the American film series "The Maze Runner" visited Korea to promote their latest and last installment ahead of its release next week.

Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Ki Hong Lee appeared at a press event for "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" at a hotel in Seoul on Thursday.

The series is adapted from the dystopian science fiction trilogy "The Maze Runner" written by James Dashner.

The first two installments in the series gained huge popularity among teens around the world including Korea. The first installment drew 2.8 million viewers here in 2014 and the second one attracted 2.74 million viewers the following year.

The third and final film in the series hits local theaters on Jan. 17.Saoirse Ronan channelled old-school Hollywood starlet Veronica Lake as she attended the Critic's Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

The actress swept her hair over one shoulder and teamed a sequinned Michael Kors dress with Messika jewellery and deep plum lipstick.

Saoirse has been hitting countless red carpets in recent weeks as awards season continues at full speed.

She credits her stylist Elizabeth Saltzman with helping to push her style boundaries.

Saltzman dressed Gwyn- eth Paltrow in a caped Tom Ford gown at the Oscars in 2012.

Empowering

She also counts Uma Thurman and Gemma Arterton among her clients.

This week, Saltzman said she recommissioned the dress Saoirse was due to wear to the Golden Globes to ensure she was dressed app- ropriately for the red carpet 'Blackout'.

Saoirse and her stylist also committed to working exclusively with female make-up artists, female hairstylists and female designers for the Golden Globes.

Speaking with Vogue magazine, Saltzman said they both agreed it "would be our fun secret, our empowering moment".

Last year, Saoirse spoke about how Saltzman has encouraged her to feel more confident.

"I hadn't fully appreciated how much good clothes can give you confidence," she said.

"When she put me in all this stuff I definitely started to feel it a bit more."

Saoirse's looks during awards season have been both glamorous and cutting edge and feature a range of designers including Gucci and Cushnie et Ochs.

While Saoirse lost out on the Critics' Choice Award to Margot Robbie for I, Tonya, she is tipped to receive her third Oscar nomination for her role in coming-of-age story Lady Bird.

The nominations will be announced on January 23.

Saoirse has previously been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Atonement at the age of 14.

She was nominated once again in 2016 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Brooklyn.

Saoirse has said she is planning on bringing her mother, Monica, to the ceremony with her.

Monica was unable to attend the Golden Globes as she was looking after her new puppy, Fran.

"Fran has become a priority for Mam," Saoirse told US late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.US President Donald Trump yesterday denied using the word "sh**hole" to describe Haiti and African countries, but maintained his criticism of a Senate immigration plan that he said would force the US to admit people from countries that "are doing badly".

Mr Trump reportedly made the remarks at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was there, told reporters yesterday that Mr Trump used "vile, vulgar" language.

He said the president repeatedly used the word "sh**hole" when speaking about African countries.

Derogatory

Mr Trump's comments were decried as racist by African and Haitian politicians, by the UN human rights office and by US lawmakers from both major parties.

Mr Trump tweeted yesterday: "The language used by me at the Daca meeting was tough, but this was not the language used."

He also denied saying "anything derogatory about Haitians other than that Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country".

According to two sources, at Thursday's meeting the president questioned why the US would want to accept immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as "sh**hole countries".

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, called the remarks "unfortunate" and "unhelpful".

Both Republican and Democratic senators had been working for months to craft legislation that would protect 700,000 young adults who were brought into the US illegally as children and later shielded from deportation under a programme known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

In a series of tweets yesterday, Mr Trump also suggested that momentum towards a deal on maintaining such protection had stalled.

"The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican senators and congressmen was a big step backwards," he said.

The tentative deal also addresses border security, including a border wall, the diversity visa lottery and chain migration, in which US green-card holders can sponsor other family members for permanent residence in the country.

Among his objections, Mr Trump said the US "would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly".

Haiti said it was shocked by the reported remarks and summoned the top US diplomat in the country, asking for an apology if the term had been used.

Shameful

Botswana said it had summoned the US ambassador to that country to "express its displeasure" and had asked him whether Botswana "is regarded as a 'sh**hole' country".

Mr Trump's comments are extremely offensive to South Africa, said Jessie Duarte, a senior official with the ruling African National Congress.

"Ours is not a sh**hole country. Neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," she said.

In Geneva, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said: "These are shocking and shameful comments. There is no other word but 'racist'."The family Opel that was involved in the carjacking

A Dublin family was recovering last night following a terrifying ordeal in which their 13-month-old child was abducted during the theft of a car.

The incident happened at around 7.30am yesterday, when an Opel car was taken from the driveway of a house at Park Vale, Baldoyle, by a man.

The child was in the back seat at the time.

The Herald understands that the engine was running and a family member had momentarily returned to the house when the car was stolen.

They then looked on horrified as the man sped away with the baby in the back of the car.

Unharmed

The car and the child were found 45 minutes later in the Clongriffin area. She was unharmed.

The mother of the baby said last night that she did not want to discuss the terrifying incident.

However, she confirmed to the Herald that the child was fine.

Asked how everyone was, she said: "There's nothing to say, everybody's OK, she's perfect."

A neighbour, who did not know the family, said it was "frightening". Bernie Hutchings said nothing like this had ever happened before.

"It's quiet around here," she said.

"It's frightening to think that something like that would happen.

Her husband, Tony, said he heard a car screech early in the morning but paid no attention.

"I came down the stairs this morning and I heard a screech of brakes, but I thought it was someone messing about, driving like that," he said.

A local worker, who lives in the same street as the family, said: "We're dumbfounded to, be honest - this is a quiet area with no traffic going through it, so it doesn't make any sense.

"Thank God the baby was all right, but we would like to know why this happened because people are on edge now."

A young mother, who lives close to the area where the baby was taken, said: "I will definitely think twice about security now - I'd say this will change the behaviour of every parent around here. It's sad because you felt so at ease here before this. Now I'll be on my guard."

Local Independent councillor Keith Redmond said: "The community is stunned and shocked that someone would do something like this."

Gardai have appealed for witnesses or anyone with any information to contact Raheny Garda Station on 01 6664300, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.Former Plateau state governor, David Jonah Jang, has lambasted Governor, Simon Lalong, over his comments on killings in Benue state.

Jang also condemned Lalong for attacking Governor Samuel Ortom over the anti-grazing law which became effective November 1, 2017.

Comrade Clinton Garuba, Jangs media aide in a statement on Friday, said it was sad that Lalong who accidentally stumbled on power will continue on the path of infamy at the detriment of the very people who he swore an oath to protect.

At a time when the mood of the nation, nay, the states that have continued to suffer decapitation at the hands of marauding killer herdsmen should be sober, it is unfortunate that some one of Governor Lalongs standing will utter words that will be an insult on the sensitivity of the people, especially of Benue State.

This is unfortunate not only coming from the Governor but on a day when the Government and people of Benue State held a mass burial for Hapless women and children who were murdered on the first day of the Year, ordinarily a day of jubilation.

While the people of Benue were at the funeral of their lost brethren, Lalong, in his usual manner was playing to the gallery in Abuja with a view to scurrying cheap political points and portray himself as an insider of the Buhari administration.

At times when, one lacks what to say or would say what is irrelevant, especially in calming frayed nerves, silence become golden. When people who trot around as leaders cannot conduct themselves in that manner, it is only a pointer to the fact that they were never prepared at all for leadership.

Thankfully, the days and months ahead leads us to another electioneering period and with the wisdom Nigerians now have, having suffered all kinds of hardship including escalating insecurity occasioned by herdsmen, it is only a matter of time before the right people will be put in the right places of authority.

It is unfortunate that Plateau State which has suffered the brunt of the killer herdsmen in the modern-day Nigeria, was left out of a meeting to discuss an issue as important as finding lasting solutions to the farmer/herdsmen clashes a prominent feature in the North Central geopolitical zone. When Governors of state s such as Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba and Benue were invited and participated at that meeting, Plateau which should be chief on the list was conspicuously missing.

Alas! The Governor of Plateau State was not even in the country and on return one would have expected loud protest by the Governor but he was in Abuja, perhaps discussing a role in the 2019 re-election project.

That Governor Lalong had the temerity to insinuate that the Governor of Benue State Governor is responsible for the massacre of his people by implementing a people-oriented law to safeguard his people, is the height of wickedness. If anything, the Governor of Benue State deserves the condolences from Governor Lalong and not those comment attributed to him.

For this reason, the only assuaging thing for Gov. Lalong to do at the moment is to tender an unreserved apology to the Government and people of Benue State for those unnecessary and unsavory comments, which at best could be described as an insult.

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Governance is not for the lilly livered and if people like Gov. Ortom has decided to work in the best interest of his people, those who cannot should look from a distance without trying to tarnish the image of those 1determined to protect those who elected them.

Todays men of power must recognise that power is transient and that posterity which judge them for their actions or inactions. Generations yet unborn will hear of how people looked the other way as their kinsmen were massacred while they pandered to the powers that be in pursuit of political relevance.

On the Plateau, countless number of people have been murdered in the last couple of months in Bassa, Riyom, Jol, etc, one wonders therefore where the Governor resides that he speaks so much about peace in the State. The much talked about peace of the Governor as we know and has been on the altar of acceptance of the policies that will naturally dispossess the people of the ancestral lands and increase pitch a section of the populace the people against one another.

Plateau people, especially of the Northern zone which Senator Jonah Jang represents say NO to grazing reserves and will not accept the confiscation of their ancestral land for the purpose of creating reserves, colonies or whatever they may be called.

Gov. Lalong speaks for himself, as far as the people of Plateau North Senatorial zone are concerned. We have already suffered too much loss in the hands of the killer herdsmen to allow an entrenchment of their feudalistic and genocidal tendencies. If the Governor claims to have people already donating lands for the purpose of grazing reserves or cattle colonies, I wonder who these people are and brings home ant-infested wood and refuses to court the visit of lizards.

The vehemence with which Plateau people reject any policy that undermines the peace for which they are known is as potent today as it will always be. Governor Lalong is on his own and alone this path of self-destruct which he has chosen.

Lalong is a downward ride and has descended so low to the extent that he has lost his humanity, if he cant console the Government and people of Benue State, then, his silence at this time is golden.

To regain his humanity, it is only humanly possible that he apologises to the Government and people of Benue State.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola on Thursday said the Federal Government had concluded plans to involve more Nigerians in meter manufacturing.

Fashola spoke while inspecting the National Meter Test Station in Oshodi, Lagos.

He said that the measure would reduce the pressure on Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) on meter supply.

The core business of DISCOs is to transport energy; their business is not to supply meters.

The government will address metering more vigorously this year with regulations which will open up business in metering to more investors.

This will reduce the pressure on DISCOs so that they can concentrate more on their core business.

So, we will open up the business to other people who want to play in the sector once the meter regulations are completed this year, he said.

Fashola said that Nigerias meter journey from 1950 showed that consumers depend on meters from foreign countries.

We have seen Nigerias meter journey; the meters from 1950 to date, meters from Greece, Japan, Britain and China. This has shown that how our industry totally depends on meters from foreign countries.

But now, we are beginning to see meters from local manufacturers like Mojec and Moman; that is a good place to be.

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At present, we have over 100 million telephone subscribers in Nigeria, but let me ask you, how many telephones are made in Nigeria?

We spend millions of naira to buy telephone from China and still we will go back and borrow money from China.

So, we want to change that in the meter industry; we are happy that some Nigerians are manufacturing meter in Nigeria and we promise to support them, he said.

He added that the National Meter Test, under Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA) was to test the accuracy of meters before installation.

According to him, the accuracy tests are in two steps, so that the DISCOs will not cheat consumers and consumers do not cheat DISCOs.

The minister reiterated the FGs plan to roll out meters to Nigerian consumers soon.

He said: We plan to roll out meters, and we must.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEMSA and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, Mr Peter Ewesor, said all meters being used by the DISCOs passed through the centre before installation.

According to him, it is not possible for the meters that passed through the centre to shortchange consumers.The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has arrested two suspected traffickers among Nigerian repatriated from Libya.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Ms Julie Okah-Donli, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, said the two suspects were currently under investigation as one of the suspected traffickers, a female, was transferred to NAPTIPs Lagos Zonal Command for questioning.

She stated that the agency had set the machinery in motion to fish out those involved in the trafficking or smuggling of Nigerians and they would be prosecuted accordingly.

According to her, nine pregnant women and five babies were among the 972 returnees that have been repatriated.

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The Director General disclosed that among the returnees, Edo has the highest of 533 returnees, Delta, 128; while Yobe has 28.

Others include Ogun and Imo states, which have 25 each, Ondo, 17 and Oyo 15.

Meanwhile, one of those rescued, Victoria Sampson, a mother of three from Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, said she was fed once a day in the Libyan prison after her arrest.

Victoria, who is one of the eight returnees received by the Akwa Ibom State Government yesterday, while narrating her ordeal, said after the death of her husband, a woman took her to Libya on condition that she would work to offset the transport expenses incurred on her.Tracy Morgan is making his television comeback this Spring in the upcoming series, The Last O.G. Season one will premiere on TBS starting April 3rd and air on all Tuesday's going forward at 10:30 PM eastern time.

Tracy and Jordan Peele are executive producers on the show that follows Tray (played by Tracy) as he copes with life after being released from a 15-year prison stint. When Tray returns to his Brooklyn neighbourhood, he finds his girlfriend Shay (played by Tiffany Haddish) living a new life married to a white man and raising two childish that he didn't know about. He just wants to connect with is kids, but is forced to visit his old habits of making money.

Cedric the Entertainer plays the head of the halfway house where Tray is living and Straight Outta Compton's Allen Maldonado will play Tray's cousin who helps him adjust to the changes in the world since being released from prison.

Tracy's last series regular was in 30 Rock but life changed for the actor in 2014 after he was a passenger in a car crash that killed comedian James McNair. The Last O.G. was supposed to air in October of 2017, but TBS' programming for rearranged pushing the series debut to April.Vic Mensa has penned an essay on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and its similarities to American racism, for Time magazine. In the opening paragraph, he makes his stance on the matter very clear. "I am not anti-Semitic, and the views expressed in this essay are in no way an attack on people of the Jewish faith," he says. "[M]y criticism lies with the treatment of Palestinian civilians by the state of Israel, no more and no less." The piece is inspired by a trip Mensa took to Palestine last summer with a group of African-American artists, scholars and activists. As he states in the essay, Mensa's observations of the conditions of the Palestinian people on his trip brought to mind the struggles of black Americans. He saw parallels to both the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and Chicago's disenfranchised neighborhoods during his visit, as you can read in an excerpt below.

Staring into the worm-infested water tank on top of a dilapidated house in Aida refugee camp, I cant help but think of Flint, Michigan, and the rust-colored lead-poisoned water that flows through their faucets. As I gaze over the 25-foot separation wall, the economic disparity is acutely transparent; the Israeli side of the wall looks like the Capitol in The Hunger Games, while the Palestinian side reads like a snapshot from a war photographer. Its as if the South Side of Chicagos most forgotten and disenfranchised neighborhoods were separated from the luxury of Downtowns Gold Coast by a simple concrete wall. The sight alone is emotional, and many people in the group cried on that roof. Rage cannot describe how I feel thinking of the insects swimming in that water tank, while just across the wall is an Israeli settlement with an Olympic-size swimming pool.

In another passage, the detained Palestinian children gave Mensa flashbacks to his early experiences with police as a black kid in Chicago.

In Palestine, I met children as young as 12 years old that had been detained by the IDF. At any given time, hundreds of Palestinian children are detained in Israeli prisons, many of them under the age of 16. It gave me chilling flashbacks to my earliest experiences with police as a black boy in America; officers forced us to the ground with pistols drawn for the common crime of mistaken identity.

Later, Mensa expresses that his American passport awards him a "higher position in the social hierarchy of Jerusalem than it did in [his] hometown of Chicago." He speaks to an elderly woman in Hebron, who has refused to give up her house, saying This is my home, it protected me and I will protect it. Read Mensa's full essay one the TIME website.

Vic has often been outspoke on politics. In November, he spoke out in support of gun control. "You're not going to fight off a tyrannical government with an AR-15 or an M16, so give it up," he said. "It's not a constitutional right." In July, he condemned rappers who have abused women. "They're not problematic artists, they're cowards," he said. "We get into this place of confusing, like, troubled and charismatic people with just cowards. Like, beating up women on video, as these rappers continue to do, and then their little fans continue to support them for it."Sam's Club is shuttering 63 stores nationwide, including three locations in the Houston area, in a major effort to pivot its resources toward e-commerce.

The members-only wholesaler began closing the stores on Thursday, the same day its parent company, Walmart, announced pay bumps and bonuses it attributed to the recent corporate tax cuts. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer plans to raise starting wages for all hourly employees to $11 an hour, expand parental leave and adoption benefits, and pay a one-time bonus of up to $1,000 to eligible employees.

Sam's Club employees, many of whom learned of the closings as they arrived at work in the morning, will receive 60 days of severance pay, including the newly announced raises and bonuses. Employees will be considered for other positions within the comany, a spokeswoman said. Sam's Club employs about 150 workers at each store, meaning more than 9,000 employees across the country, and about 450 in the Houston area, will be affected by the closures.

Three Houston-area stores closed Thursday. They are:

1615 South Loop West, south of NRG Park.

13331 Westheimer, in the Market Square at Eldridge Parkway shopping center.

22296 Market Place Drive in the Valley Ranch Town Center in New Caney, northeast of Houston.

In total, four Sam's Clubs in Texas are closing, including one in San Antonio. After the closures, there will be 17 Sam's Clubs in the Houston area, according to the chain's website, and nearly 600 stores nationally.

Members can request a refund of their $45 to $100 annual membership fees at any of the closed locations.

The closures are the latest in a string of high-profile store closings as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers struggle to compete against e-commerce companies. Several major retailers, including Walgreens, Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy's, have announced store closures in recent months.

CEO John Furner, who took the helm of Sam's Club in Feb. 2017, said in October that he was evaluating the company's national portfolio of stores as it looked at building more online fulfillment centers in 2018.

Sam's Club has two e-commerce facilities, including one in Fort Worth. It plans to convert 12 of its closed stores into fulfillment centers, while remodeling some of the stores that will remain open, Furner said in an email to employees Thursday.

"Transforming our business means managing our real estate portfolio. We need a strong fleet of clubs that are fit for the future," Furner wrote in the email. "After a thorough review, it became clear we had built clubs in some locations that impacted other clubs, and where population had not grown as anticipated."

Sam's Club reported a 4.4 percent increase in net sales during the third quarter. Walmart's stock price ended Thursday up 0.35 percent to $100 per share.

Venky Shankar, a professor with Texas A&M's Retailing Center, said he anticipates more store closures in 2018 with the growing popularity of online shopping. With the rise of e-commerce, retailers are finding they need fewer brick-and-mortar stores to serve their buyers. In the case of Sam's Club, where families may bulk shop once a month, closing stores and converting some into e-commerce facilities is a no-brainer, Shankar said.

"The luxury of having huge stores is no longer a viable concept in a city like Houston," Shankar said. "Some malls will disappear and be replaced by office and warehouses. This is just the beginning; there could be more to come."

The impact of Sam's Club's closures on the Houston real estate market will likely be minimal, despite the company vacating hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space, said Jason Gaines, a retail broker with Houston-based commercial real estate firm NAI Partners.

Walmart owns its stores and real estate, so shopping mall developers aren't on the hook for missed rent. Furthermore, discount stores like Sam's Club or Costco are more self-contained shopping destinations, and less retail anchors like grocery stores that drive foot traffic to adjacent businesses, Gaines said.

"Sam's Club or Costco, those are not terrific tenants for driving neighboring traffic," Gaines said. "People are typically going to a Sam's Club, loading up and going back home. There's little pain in that sense."

For Signorelli Co., Sam's Club's closure in Valley Ranch Town Center in New Caney represents an opportunity for The Woodlands-based developer to attract new retailers to the massive shopping center northeast of Houston.

Sam's Club was the first deal Signorelli inked in the mixed-use project back in 2014, when the center was just a piece of dirt. Since the retail center opened in 2016, Valley Ranch Town Center has added a Kroger, several family restaurants like a Chili's and other big box stores like Academy, PetSmart, Burlington Coat Factory, Party City, TJ Maxx, Ross and Hobby Lobby. A Cinemark movie theater is set to open later this quarter.

Although Sam's Club was the largest anchor tenant in Valley Ranch Town Center, occupying some 140,000 square feet, CEO Danny Signorelli said he is not worried about filling the space. Signorelli said is talking with 35 to 40 retailers interested in the center, due to its location in the Interstate 69 corridor near Kingwood.

"When we launched Valley Ranch Town Center, the highest and best use was a discount store, but today, the highest and best use is a higher-end store," Signorelli said. "We look forward to working with Sam's Club to repurpose the building as Valley Ranch Town Center grows and evolves."

Digital producer Dana Burke contributed to this story.Women from Africa face racism, violent attacks and bitter cold winter temperatures to work as prostitutes on the streets of Helsinki. So what motivates them to come to Finland, and how do they conduct business without falling foul of the law? One sex worker tells her story.

As you settle down for a Saturday evening in front of the television with your family, Pamela prepares herself for another night selling sex to strangers.

A slick of plum-coloured lipstick, and powder blue eye shadow on her dark brown skin, black hair falling around her shoulders. Pamela knows she has to look respectable if she wants to earn money.

As you enjoy a night on the town with friends, going from restaurant to bar, Pamela settled herself into a doorway opposite the name-brand store, around the corner from the luxury hotel. This is the stretch of street she'll work this evening. If she's very lucky someone will pay her for the whole night. But realistically, she concedes, I might stay here until daybreak.

Pamela is one of the hidden foreigners of Helsinki. Out of sight and out of mind. You probably don't notice her at first, but she sees you.

She sees the men who pause a fraction too long on her street, or pass in one direction, then walk back again a few minutes later. Its a sign they might be interested in doing business. She calls out to them softly moi. And if they approach, how are you? Would you like to go somewhere? The price is negotiable.

Much of Helsinkis sex work is done behind closed doors. The Thai women have their massage parlours. The Finns, Russians and other East Europeans are online. But the few African girls in the Finnish capital stick to an old fashioned business model, walking the streets, and propositioning men: sex for cash.

Prostitution is not illegal explains Detective Superintendent Petri Rainiala, whose Helsinki Police unit monitors trafficking and aggravated pimping.

You can sell your sex services privately in Finland, but the main principal is if there is a third person somewhere behind, for instance a pimp, it is illegal.

Modern pimps are far removed from the 1970s Blacksploitation cliche of a man in flared trousers, jewels and fur, running a stable of scantily-clad working girls.

Under Finnish law, you can be considered a pimp if you knowingly take part at any stage of prostitution, and profit from it. You could be buying phone credits for a friend or letting them use your bank account; renting an apartment for one or more girls to live in; placing an advert in the newspaper, or taking any cut of her earnings. And in the world of sex work, it seems that everyone wants to get paid. It's a hierarchy, a pyramid scheme, an easy payday.

If there is one girl in Madrid, and she knows some other girl and the other girl says hey I have one friend in Helsinki, I can call to my friend and see if she can arrange something says Rainiala.

If they have some contacts, they are helping each other to make money. If someone helps you, you have to pay, the help is not free. And if someone helps you it is expected that you have to pay something to her. Everyone in the chain of command has to earn something. It's a network and it depends on the contacts of the girl but very often there is someone behind it he says.

Pamela says she knew someone in Helsinki before moving here. An uncle  although she is quick to stress he didn't bring her here to be a sex worker. In the West African culture where Pamela grew up, an uncle could be a relative, a family friend or just an older acquaintance.

This is Pamela's second winter in Helsinki. Its too cold here she says, but she needs the money to send back to Ghana. Her family there think she cleans offices, or looks after an old lady; and Pamela is conflicted by the lies she's told, so she prays. God forgive me I pray every day, because what I am saying to them is not true.

Before Helsinki, there were good years. Pamela says she lived for a long time in Milan, working in a factory producing mannequins. But she lost her job when work was outsourced to China. With no husband to support her and her two children, and no job prospects in Italy, Pamela decided to move to Finland.

Her story is confirmed in part by an employee at the Italian factory's head office, who said the company reduced employees in the production around 2011 after expanding operations in Shanghai. She was unable to verify if Pamela  certainly not her real name  had worked there, or whether she had been made unemployed at that time.

And so when she found no legal job on arrival in Finland  if I got a job tomorrow I would stop Pamela ended up as a sex worker.

Walking the streets might sound like the lowest rung on the prostitution ladder, but it can have some advantages in terms of safety. Like being able to look at a client in the eye, assess how much hes had to drink, or gauge whether he looks dangerous. But all the time, decisions are driven by the need to make money. And inevitably risks are taken.

Even if they estimate that there is potentially some risks of violence, they take the risks because they need the money says Jaana Kauppinen, Executive Director of Pro-Tukipiste, a Helsinki-based non-governmental organisation that works with prostitutes.

The potential risks to the African working girls come not only from customers, but from law enforcement. Detective Superintendent Rainiala says that while the girl don't like the uniformed officers, they do trust them.

If they have violent customers, very often they call the police officers.

But as Jaana Kauppinen explains, being involved with the police is not always an option for sex workers, especially those girls from Africa.

If there are black women walking in that kind of zone in the very city centre, the police will probably stop them and ask for travel documents, and ask what are you doing here, or they tell them I know what you are doing here, or if I see you still after 15 minutes I take you to the station.

The girls can fall foul of the law in two ways: they can be stopped on suspicion of selling sexual services, or asked for their travel documents under the Alien Act, and ultimately deported if they can't prove theyre here legally.

On nights when business is slow, Pamela faces other problems  casual racism and hurled insults.

Between clients, sometimes the girls look for a place to take a break. Especially in the middle of winter, they want to warm up. Burger King, Pamela says, is off limits.

Maybe it's because we are prostitutes she muses. We always go to McDonalds.

Many people when they pass, say vittu, negra, go back to your country she recounts, indignantly.

Many, when they just pass in a group, they talk bad, turn back and look at you, you know they talk bad. But I say you don't know my problems, you don't know what I'm passing [going] through.

Finnish people know what we are doing and when they drink too much they are violent [...] and so we hide.

Two summers ago, Pamela found herself on the receiving end of that violence, when a customer beat and strangled her. She says she endured a sustained assault lasting 40 minutes.

I met with a Finnish guy and he wanted to kill me she says bluntly.

After he gave me some money he wanted to sleep, but he got up from the bed. I was naked and he was naked.

That's when the attack began, and he started to strangle her.

He continued pressing on my neck, my tongue was hanging out my mouth.

It was only when she grabbed his genitals that he stopped. But the pair continued hitting and kicking each other. Pamela says she struck out at walls and furniture trying to attract attention to her plight, but nobody came.

Eventually she got to the door of the apartment, and found a neighbour outside in the hallway already calling police. Officers took the man away, and advised Pamela to also report to the station, but she never did. Detective Superintendent Rainiala says it's impossible to verify the details, and he couldn't easily find a report of such an incident in police files.

I think their position is very vulnerable and they feel like there is a huge risk to report the violence against them says Jaana Kauppinen from Pro-Tukipiste.

They think that the consequences will be much [more] harsh for them compared to the guy, and also they are very vulnerable to different types of exploitation because they cannot demand their rights, because they do not have any rights.

Some of that exploitation is in the transaction itself between sex worker and customer, pressure to do something they dont want to. Pamela says she won't have sex with a man unless hes wearing a condom.

Even if they pay 1000 we don't do without condom she says. I prefer to have 100 and Im safe.

Pro-Tukipiste, funded in part by the gambling monopoly RAY through the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, offers anonymous counseling and testing services for sex workers.

African girls are very interested in their health says Jaana Kauppinen.

They want to have tests, but for many women their basic knowledge about the human body and how to take medicines, it might be very poor.

For Kauppinen's staff, theres an ethical component as well to testing sex workers for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

If you are not entitled to any treatment, what do you do? If you are not living permanently in Finland, if you are not entitled to Finnish health care services?

Pro-Tukipistes medical staff will give prescriptions for medicines, but not everyone has money to pay the pharmacy costs. Another issue is the extreme loneliness of going through medical care in a foreign country when you are a marginalized member of society.

Kauppinens colleague recounts a story of a sex worker from Africa who gave birth in a Finnish hospital that same morning. The new mother had commented that nobody was there for her during child birth. She felt deeply alone. In her own community she would have been surrounded by female relatives, supporting and joyful.

Its memories of home, where her children are going to school, that give Pamela some comfort on the coldest of Helsinki winter nights, as the clock rolls round to 2am and the all-important 'real feel' temperature shows minus 14 degrees.

Here we always think about home says Pamela. She closes her eyes, thinking of Africa and smiles widely, asked to recall a vivid memory.

When the rain was falling, the scent, I was sitting on my balcony and feeling happy. I said, this is African rain.

In Finnish: Pamela paivystaa illasta toiseen kaduilla myymassa seksia  tallaista on afrikkalaisten katuprostituoitujen arki HelsingissaThe Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said petrol allocation by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to Ibadan Depot is grossly inadequate.

Alhaji Raimi Tayo, who chairs IPMANs Ibadan Depot, told Correspondent in Lagos yesterday that independent marketers hardly loaded 12 trucks daily.

Tayo said the situation was causing scarcity in the hinterlands.

According to him, the depot, which usually loads six million litres daily, has reduced its load to 400,000 litres per day.

He said the development affected business activities of independent marketers.

Tayo accused the Federal Government of giving more attention, in product allocation, to private depots.

He said: Petroleum products allocation to Ibadan Depot was grossly inadequate.

We have appealed to the government, through the NNPC, to pump enough products to the depot so that marketers can be in business.

As at this morning (yesterday), private depots were selling at N158 per litre as against the government-regulated ex-depot price of N133.28 kobo.

Tayo urged the government to clamp down on depot owners who sold above ex-depot price to marketers.

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According to him, although the public accuse marketers of selling above the official pump price, there is no way marketers will sell petrol at N145 per litre at filling stations when the product is sold between N158 and N162 per litre at private depots.

The IPMAN chairman appealed to the NNPC to make petrol available to marketers at depots to ease distribution to hinterlands.

He condemned directives asking marketers to source the product at private depots.

Tayo said: This is wrong and unprofitable.

The IPMAN chairman noted that pipeline vandalism and inadequate pumping of petroleum products from System 2B  at Mosinmi  to Ibadan is also a challenge.

NAN reports that the daily petrol pricing survey from Apapa Depot showed that the depots sold the product above ex-depot price of N133.28.

At NIPCO, it was N160 per litre; Chipet, N162; Rahamaniyyah, N152.50; Obat, N152; Aiteo, N160 and A. A. Rano, N160.

A depot owner, who spoke in confidence, told correspondent that no depot owner imported petrol, adding that petrol loading still belonged to NNPC since it s the sole importer.

But NNPCs Group General Manager (Public Affairs) Ndu Ughammadu said: We sell to them at the official price. We have not increased ex-depot price. The appropriate agencies are monitoring.Sara Ali Khan Poses with Sunset in the Backdrop in This Pic from MaldivesChairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, yesterday urged the Federal Government to investigate if fleeing remnants of Boko Haram insurgents and displaced soldiers from Libya were involved in the Benue State killings.

Ibrahim who represents Katsina South Senatorial District told reporters in Abuja that probing the possibility of Boko Haram and Libyan elements involvement in the gruesome killings in Benue State may give a lead to what happened.

He said the investigation becomes imperative because a normal Fulani herdsman is not known to carry AK47 riffle.

Ibrahim said: We have to seriously investigate this. A normal Fulani man is not known to carry AK47. The security agencies should probe whether the defeated Boko Haram insurgents were involved; whether the Gaddafi phenomenon has spilled over to Nigeria. It should be considered whether displaced Libyan soldiers had a hand in what happened because it is not easy to acquire AK47.

To douse rising tension, the lawmaker said he had discussed the unfortunate development in Benue State with the Senators representing Benue North West, George Akume and Barnabas Gemade, representing Benue North East.

He insisted that in the meantime, we have to control the killings, if we allow it to continue other external variables may creep in to complicate issues.

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On the relocation of Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris, to Benue State and the deployment of soldiers to the state, he noted that no stone would be left unturned to address the Benue crisis.

For him, The police officers are doing their utmost best and with the deployment of soldiers and heavy police presence, they should be able to be on top of the situation to ensure that normalcy returns to the state.

Ibrahim said President Muhammadu Buhari had taken full control of the situation and constantly briefed about developments in the area.

The President, he said, had formulated a coordinated template to solve the problem involving the police, army, Ministry of Agriculture and the state government.

Ibrahim who is seen as President Buharis right hand man dismissed the insinuation that the president is not interested in what is happening in Benue State because the herders are Fulani like him.

He said, It is not true because the president has taken steps to bring the situation under control. He has deployed soldiers in Benue State, he ordered the Inspector General of Police to relocate to Benue. He as taken other measures that may not be for public consumption.

It is wrong for any bod to say that the President is not interested in what happened in the state. When the President saw that the police effort was not bringing expected result, he promptly deployed soldiers.Herby Duverne, 48, runs a $12 million security firm in Boston--but he began his career cleaning bathrooms in Port-au-Prince. While he acknowledges that his native Haiti has its issues, he would never go so far as to characterize the country as a "shithole."

The U.S. president appears to have just done so.

On Thursday afternoon, Trump alarmed lawmakers when he used vulgar language to describe Haiti and some African nations, reports The Washington Post. During a White House meeting discussing a potential immigration deal, which would include protections for Haitians and Africans, Trump asked his advisers why the U.S. should accept immigrants from such "shithole countries," according to at least two sources with direct knowledge of the conversation. He further suggested that the U.S. welcome more immigrants from Norway--the northern European nation with an overwhelmingly white population (83 percent), whose president had met with Trump earlier that day.

The remarks, which the president somewhat denied on Twitter, drew the ire of many across social media and beyond. At least one lawmaker of Haitian descent referred to the comments as "unkind, divisive [and] elitist" in a statement. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D.-Conn.), meanwhile, called them "blatantly racist."

For many U.S. entrepreneurs from the nations in question, the remarks weren't entirely surprising. When reached by phone, several expressed sadness, more so than outright anger. "It's very disappointing that the president would make such a comment about people from specific nations like Haiti," Duverne says. His company, Windwalker Group (formerly Taino Consulting), provides cybersecurity services for government agencies, as well as commercial clients, landing on Inc.'s list of the fastest-growing private companies in America at No. 1,063 in 2017.

"I came here and have made this country better, by following the rules, paying taxes, and being a contributing member of society. Immigrants [like me] have created jobs, and moved the economy further," Duverne adds. "Honestly, there's not much to respond to."

Joe Duran, the founder of wealth management firm United Capital in Newport Beach, California, feels similarly. Duran is of Spanish descent, but grew up in war-torn Zimbabwe, where he witnessed firsthand the transition from white colonial rule to independence in the early 1980s. Trump's characterization of Africa "is really disappointing," he says.

"The remarks show a lack of respect for what made this country [America]," Duran tells Inc. "Immigrants are net contributors to our [U.S.] growth and evolution as a country, and color--or where you come from--should not be a filter."

Duran, whose business manages north of $20 billion in assets, does agree with one aspect of the underlying message Trump seems to have been making. "There should be an expectation that when you come to America, you become an American. There's nothing wrong with having a requirement for a set of standards," he says.

Still--inasmuch as immigrants very often create jobs, learn the language, and contribute to the American economy--Duran emphasizes the unjustness of the president's remarks. And as an ethnically non-black person himself, the entrepreneur admits that he himself saw things through a color lens as a child. Growing up in what was then-known as Rhodesia, he's quick to point out another troubling aspect of the Trump controversy.

"The thing that I found most offensive is the fact that he's OK with Norwegians," Duran continues. "It doesn't appear to be about anything other than that they happen to be from a Nordic country, and therefore are probably white."

On Twitter, Trump acknowledged that he used "tough" language during the meeting but that "this"--presumably the vulgar term--"was not the language used." In a follow-up tweet, he added that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."

EXPLORE MORE Inc. 5000 COMPANIESOn Tuesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reached a $105 billion net worth, making him the richest person in the world  and ever in history.

A recent study released by Oxfam found since 2015, the top 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the world's population  and if these top billionaires continue to see returns on their wealth, we could see the world's first trillionaire in as little as 25 years.

Ahead, nine of the world's wealthiest people  according to Forbes' Billionaire List  that own almost as much as half the world's population. All net worth estimates are current as of the time of publication.

9. Michael Bloomberg  $51.4 billion

In 1981, Michael Bloomberg founded the financial information and media company Bloomberg LP. With an 88% stake in the business, he profits from its revenue of $9 billion.

8. Larry Ellison  $59.7 billion

(AP)

In 1977, Larry Ellison co-founded the software company Oracle, which originally was launched with $2,000 of funding, $1,200 of which came out of Ellison's own pocket. Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014, but continues to be involved with the company.

7. Bernard Arnault  $64.8 billion

Bernard Arnault has been the CEO of LVMH, which houses brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Dom Perignon, since 1989. Combined, the brands under LVMH sold $40 billion in sales in 2016.

6. Carlos Slim Helu and family  $67 billion

(Reuters)

Carlos Slim Helu controls Latin America's largest mobile telecom firm, America Movil, of which he is a chairman. Helu also owns stakes in various mining, real estate, and consumer goods businesses  including The New York Times. He is the richest man in Mexico.

5. Amancio Ortega  $75.2 billion

Amancio Ortega is the wealthiest man in Europe, and co-founded fashion retailer Zara's parent company Inditex in 1975. His real-estate portfolio includes properties in London, New York, Madrid.

4. Mark Zuckerberg  $75.3 billion

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg founded the website in his Harvard dorm room 13 years ago and has since become one of the richest people in the world. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have committed to give away 99% of their wealth before they die.

3. Warren Buffett  $87.6 billion

(AP)

Wildly successful investor Warren Buffett is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway which owns over 60 companies. Although he still lives a somewhat modest lifestyle, he became a billionaire at age 32. In 2010, Buffett, alongside Bill Gates, created The Giving Pledge  promising to donate at least half of their fortunes to charities.

2. Bill Gates  $91.8 billion

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975, and has continued his involvement with the company as a technology advisor and board member. Gates also has investments in Canadian National Railway, AutoNation, and more. He and his wife Melinda founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which aims to help kindergarten through 12th grade students in the US.

1. Jeff Bezos  $104.1 billion

(Reuters (Reuters)

Founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos owns nearly 17% of the company. In 2013 he purchased the Washington Post for $250 million, and he also owns an aerospace company, Blue Origin. In 2017, Bezos made $19.3 billion.

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2018. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has called for closer Anglo-Irish relations.

In a speech on Brexit in Killarney, Mrs Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and Ireland in phase two of discussions on the UK's split from Europe.

And she suggested leaders across the island of Ireland should work together for the benefit of everyone.

The DUP chief said she planned to raise the prospect of enhancing Anglo-Irish relations, under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, when she meets Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

"Maintaining Northern Ireland's economic and political status as an integral part of the United Kingdom is absolutely crucial to me and my party," she said.

"To think anything else would be as foolish as believing that the Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar) or the Tanaiste (Mr Coveney) desired anything other than Irish unity.

"But while we will always battle for our own national interests, we must also battle for our mutual interests.

"And our mutual interests will not end on the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. The United Kingdom may be leaving the EU but the common interests that we share across the British Isles will remain."

Mrs Foster made the call at the Killarney Economic Conference in Co Kerry where the issues around Brexit were explored in a two-day conference.

Her suggestions about deepening ties and mutual respect mark a significant departure from the fallout which marked relations between the DUP and the Irish Government towards the end of last year amid both the fractious finish to phase one of the Brexit negotiations and the Irish border question and Mr Coveney's aspirations for a united Ireland.

Read More

The DUP suggested Anglo-Irish relations could be deepened through the British-Irish Council, which was set up as part the Good Friday Agreement to improve cooperation between the UK and Ireland in areas such as transport, the environment and energy.

"The UK exiting the European Union ought not to become a barrier to continued co-operation on issues of ongoing mutual interest," she said.

"It especially shouldn't become a barrier when the infrastructure - in the guise of the British-Irish Council - already exists that can allow us to continue to work together as closely as ever on issues of shared interest."

Mrs Foster gave the example of the Nordic Council, which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland as a means for developing Anglo-Irish relations. She noted that some of the Nordic countries are in the European Union and Eurozone, while others are not.

"Change should not be allowed to weaken the relationships so painstakingly put together across these British Isles," the DUP leader said.

"As challenging as finding a suitable solution might seem, there is no good reason why our own issues on this island should present any threat to the progress we've made.

"I value the relationships we have developed too much to do anything that would jeopardise them.

"But, whether we voted to leave or voted to remain, whether we are citizens of the United Kingdom or citizens of Ireland, we must accept the reality of the referendum result, refrain from the continued re-fighting of the referendum, and seek the sensible, mutually beneficial outcomes from the complex negotiation process ahead that will serve us all well."

Mrs Foster held talks with Micheal Martin, leader of Ireland's main opposition party, at the conference.

"The continued absence of an Executive and Assembly is extremely damaging to Northern Ireland in the context of the Brexit negotiations," he said.

Mr Martin agreed with Mrs Foster's criticism of "megaphone diplomacy" in the heat of Brexit negotiations.

"We need far more considered discussions and engagements. One always has to respect the position of those you are negotiating with," he said.

"Some of what has gone on has been, in my view, damaging enough in terms of articulating positions too freely in public, to be frank, in advance of negotiations being complete. It's not the way to do business."

Mr Martin added: "I detect from Arlene Foster a clear commitment to the restoration of the Assembly and Executive and a belief that it's the right thing for Northern Ireland.

"In terms of Brexit... I think the focus needs to be on very practical and constructive engagement to mitigate the damage that in my opinion Brexit will do to trade and jobs between north and south and east and west."

Mrs Foster dismissed the idea of a second Brexit referendum.

"I would never advocate a second referendum," she said. "Where would you stop?

"We would be in a never-ending cycle of referendums."A Tipperary tillage farmer who sows, harvests and bottles his own cold-pressed rapeseed oil says that the crop is by far his most profitable one.

Michael Corbett of Emerald Oils, New Inn, Co Tipperary undertook three years of market research before his product hit the shelves in 2015.

While he initially took the decision to enter into the rapeseed oil market in an effort to diversify his tillage farm, which consists of oats and barley, he says that the crop has become the most profitable one on his farm.

"You'd be getting a return of two tonnes per acre on rapeseed oil if you'd a good harvest and this year we had a great harvest," he says.

"We dry and sell some of the crop on and get 410/tonne return on that, so that's around 100 profit. Whereas with winter barley you'd be lucky to break even."

With an 11-month growing season, Michael explains that the crop is a "tough" one to grow as sowing time and harvest time are so close in proximity.

Expand Close Michael Corbett spent three years developing his Emerald Oils rapeseed oil brand / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Corbett spent three years developing his Emerald Oils rapeseed oil brand

"It is a tough crop to grow and harvest time is really critical. It's harvested at the start of August and then it's sown from mid-August to September."

The majority of the oilseed rape is then dried to 8pc moisture, stored in their grain store and bottled and boxed by Michael.

According to Teagasc, in 2017 only 6-8pc of cropped land in Ireland consists of rapeseed oil and beans. At present there are around nine producers of cold-pressed rapeseed oil in Ireland; with Teagasc pointing out that this high-value product has potential to grow even further if supported.

Michael feels however, that the market is already quite saturated in Ireland.

"It's very competitive out there at the moment. The shelves are quite saturated. It is profitable to grow and sell but it is expensive as well."

A recent winner of a Great Taste award, Emerald Oils has 50pc lower saturated fat content than olive oil and is also gluten, dairy and GM free.

"It has a great taste and is a healthier option than olive oil which I think the consumer is conscious of. It also appeals to those with food intolerances as it is free from almost everything. It's 100pc Irish too which is very important."

A third generation tillage farm, Emerald Oils is continuing the family tradition on the Corbett farm, with Michael's wife Sinead and sister Elaine involved in social media and administration of the business, not forgetting his children Tim (6) and Ella (4). Michael adds that exporting would be something he'd like to take on board for 2018 and views eastern markets such as China and Dubai as potential outlets.

"The UK is doing a lot of what we have already in Ireland as they've similar growing conditions. We'd aim to export to places like Dubai or China as they do not have a green product like ours."Embattled Swiss-Irish baked goods firm Aryzta, which owns the Cuisine de France brand, has moved to shore up its US operations with the appointment of industry veteran Dave Johnson as chief executive of its North America business.

Mr Johnson was most recently a senior executive at Swiss cocoa giant Barry Callebaut, and is a former Kraft executive.

Aryzta, headed by former DAA boss Kevin Toland, has also poached the DAA's chief development officer, John Heffernan, as its new chief strategy officer.

The two key appointments come as Mr Toland embarks on a significant challenge to reverse the fortunes of Aryzta, which suffered from strategic missteps and endured the after-effects of a US immigration crackdown.

Mr Toland started as Aryzta chief executive last September, succeeding Owen Killian, who departed along with two other key executives last year.

Mr Toland said that Mr Johnson has demonstrated "a strong customer and market focus while delivering superior financial performance and growth".

Aryzta's US operations have suffered since the group tried selling products directly to retailers - a move that put Aryzta in direct competition with some of its own clients and was deemed a significant failure.

A major Aryzta plant in Chicago, Cloverhill, then lost 800 workers following an immigration raid. The well-publicised loss of the workers - about 35pc of the total -played havoc with production at the facility.

The staff that left the facility had been supplied by a third-party agency to Aryzta.

A profit warning early last year wiped 1.4bn off the market capitalisation of Aryzta within a week. In its last financial year, Aryzta's earnings before interest, tax and amortisation slumped 43pc to 259m.

It recorded a pre-tax loss of 1bn after taking a non-cash charge of 860m related to the write-down of assets in the United States.

Mr Johnson was president and chief executive for the Americas of Barry Callebaut for nine years, and retired from the role last August.

He previously spent more than 20 years with Kraft, and was a member of its global executive team.

Mr Heffernan led the implementation of a new growth strategy at the DAA, which operates Dublin and Cork airports, and oversaw the development of major infrastructure projects including the continuing development of a new runway at Dublin Airport.Irish engineering firm PM Group has acquired UK-based Projen for an undisclosed amount.

Projen is a subsidiary of stock market-listed UK outsourcing giant Capita, and employs about 100 people.

Capita bought Projen in 2014 for an initial 7.7m (9.2m at the time) and potential additional consideration of up to 2.8m.

Projen is involved in providing engineering services to the petrochemical, advanced manufacturing and energy sectors. Its clients work in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and bio energy.

Its acquisition by PM Group brings the Irish company's headcount to more than 2,200 people, with 300 of those now based in the UK.

In 2016, Projen generated turnover of 10.3m and a 224,000 operating profit. That compared to turnover of almost 5.6m in 2015 and an operating loss of 363,000.

PM Group chief executive Dave Murphy said that the acquisition of Projen gives the Irish group "additional and complementary expertise" across a more sectors in the UK market.

"It provides further opportunities to work with world-leading blue-chip clients such as BP, Total, National Grid, Essar Oil & Gas, Tarmac and Syngenta," he added.

"PM Group's strategy is to continue to grow internationally, following a year which saw the opening of an expanded office in Boston and the provision of increased service offerings in Singapore and China," said Mr Murphy.

PM Group generated revenue of 336m in 2016 and a 10.6m operating profit.Center Parcs CEO Martin Dalby and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD to the official sod-turning Ceremony at the centre in Co Longford last September. Photo: Shane ONeill, SON Photographic

A multi-million euro project to construct a 21km pipeline to being gas to the new Center Parcs holiday and leisure resort in Co Longford is up for grabs.

Gas Networks Ireland has launched a tender for the project, which will see the pipeline brought from Co Westmeath to Co Longford, winding its way across the M6 motorway.

Additional, shorter pipelines are also required as part of the project, bringing the total length of pipes to be laid to 27km.

Center Parcs is spending 233m building its first ever Irish park, and the pipeline will also open up natural gas supplies to homes and businesses in Co Longford.

Center Parcs appointed Sisk as the main contractor last month. Earthworks being undertaken by Roadbridge have been underway for some time, and construction was set to begin this week.

The park, set to open in 2019, is located in the Newcastle Woods, close to Ballymahon.

Center Parcs acquired almost 400-acres of land from State-owned forestry group Coillte on which to construct the facility.

Last year, Center Parcs announced that it had reached a deal with Gas Networks Ireland to extend the natural gas pipeline through Co Longford.

The leisure group is contributing 3m towards the project.

The chief executive of Center Parcs, Martin Dalby, has said that securing a natural gas pipeline to feed the complex was a "fundamental requirement" for the project.

Gas Networks Ireland has just issued an invitation to tender for the largest section of the project.

The new 21km pipeline will traverse a rural path from a location a short distance from the east of Athlone town, and cross the M6 motorway outside it before winding its way through relatively flat rural land to Rathmore, near the Center Parcs resort.

Denis O'Sullivan, head of commercial, Gas Networks Ireland, welcomed the start of the gas pipeline construction process.

"This development facilitates the future expansion of the gas network in Longford and offers local homes and businesses the opportunity to benefit from the significant cost and environmental benefits natural gas delivers," he said. Preliminary work on section one of the gas pipeline has already commenced in the area and mains pipe laying is expected to be carried out in summer 2018, following the tender process which is now underway.

Work on another, shorter section of pipeline, will begin next month.

The Center Parcs development, which will be known as Longford Forest, will be open 365 days a year and accommodate up to 2,500 guests in 470 lodges and 30 apartments.

It will feature a large number of activities and facilities, such as restaurants, shops and spas, as well as a 'sub-tropical' swimming park that will be Ireland's largest such attraction.

The park is expected to employ as many as 1,000 people and to contribute 32m a year to the economy.

Center Parcs has its roots in The Netherlands, but the UK and Irish arm is now owed by Canada-based Brookfield Property Partners.

It acquired the business in 2015 for about 2.4bn from US private equity giant Blackstone.

Blackstone had been considering a flotation of the Center Parcs business but instead opted for a sale.Russ Abbot has paid tribute to former co-star Bella Emberg after her death aged 80.

Abbot described the comedy actress, who appeared alongside him as Blunderwoman on The Russ Abbot Show, as a huge comedy talent and a woman of immense warmth and generosity.

During a television career spanning six decades, Emberg appeared in several hit programmes including The Benny Hill Show, Doctor Who and Z Cars.

Most recently she had just finished filming In The Long Run, a Sky One comedy created by Idris Elba, according to the BBC.

However it was her turn as Blunderwoman, the comic sidekick of Abbots Cooperman in the 1980s, that she will be best remembered.

In a statement issued to the Press Association, Abbot, 70, said: It is with a heavy heart that I heard the news about Bella. She was not only a great sport but a huge comedy talent.

A genuinely funny woman, but most of all a woman of immense warmth and generosity. I count myself very lucky to have worked alongside her.

She really was a one off. RIP BellaLiam Neeson has said that there is a "witch hunt" happening in Hollywood in relation to some of the sexual misconduct allegations surfacing in recent weeks and months.

The Hollywood actor was in studio with Ryan Tubridy on Friday Night's Late Late Show to talk about his latest action flick The Commuter when he made the remarks.

Asked about the wave of sexual harassment allegations against high profile men in Hollywood, he said, "There is a bit of a witch hunt happening too. There's some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl's knee or something and suddenly they're being dropped from their programme or something."

He referred to radio presenter and writer Garrison Keillor who was dropped by Minnesota Public Radio last year after allegations of "inappropriate behaviour with an individual who worked with him".

Neeson described Keillor as an "extraordinary writer, and radio star" and said he was reading about the case recently and recounted what he had read.

"[Keillor] was listening to a sad story from a female friend of his and at the end of this he put his hand to her back, like this, and she had a blouse on and it was her bare back," recounted Neeson. "I don't know what the blouse was like. He immediately took his hand away and apologised. She said, 'Don't worry about it, forget about it.'"

However, he said Keillor followed up with an email apologizing again and was again told not to worry about it.

"Months later he gets a call from a lawyer - his radio station does, Minnesota Public Radio - saying he inappropriately touched this lady and he was dropped like that."

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Neeson drew a distinction between this instance and "the other, Harvey Weinstein stuff, which is... Kevin [Spacey] too."

Asked about Dustin Hoffman, who, among other allegations, was accused by former co-star Karen Rossetter of "nightly sexual harassment" during a theatre run of Death of a Salesman in the mid-80s, Neeson said he was "on the fence about that".

"Because when you're doing a play and you're with your family, other actors and technicians, you do silly things. You do silly things and it becomes superstitious, and if you don't do it every night you think it's going to jinx the show.

"I think Dustin Hoffman... I'm not saying I've done similar things like what he did, apparently he touched a girl's breast and stuff, but it's childhood stuff."

Author Anna Graham Hunter also claimed that Hoffman repeatedly groped her when she was a 17-year-old intern on the set of the 1985 movie of Death of a Salesman. Cori Thomas also alleges that he exposed himself to her in a hotel room when she was a minor.

Neeson concluded by referencing the #MeToo movement; "There is a movement happening and it's healthy and it's across every industry. The focus seems to be on Hollywood but it's across every industry.

"I'm a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, a very proud one, and I get sent facts and figures and stuff. If you read the stuff about that that I've read about how female labourers are being treated on farms, ranches, and all the rest of it, it's chilling."A man whose wife died during surgery for an ectopic pregnancy at the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) has sued in the High Court.

Malak Thawley (34) was expecting her first baby with husband Alan when she died at the Holles Street hospital on May 8, 2016.

The court was told by Mr Thawley's counsel, Liam Reidy, what happened was a "cascade of negligence". Exemplary damages are also being sought in the case.

Mr Thawley can't get over his wife's death and has "severe hopelessness", he said. Mr Thawley (31), of Brusna Cottages, Blackrock, Dublin, has sued the NMH over the death of his wife, who was from Dallas.

It is claimed that Ms Thawley suffered a cut to the surface of her aorta. There was allegedly mismanagement of the injury and of Ms Thawley's deteriorating condition. Mr Thawley has also sued for nervous shock.

The case is before the court for assessment of damages only.

Yesterday, the NMH apologised and admitted liability for the events. Eoin McCullough SC, for the hospital, extended deepest condolences to Mr Thawley and apologised for the events that led to her death.

Earlier, opening the case, Mr Reidy said the Thawleys had been profoundly happy when Malak became pregnant. At a six-week scan, they were told to go to the NMH for advice about the ectopic pregnancy. The couple were reassured it was a routine 30- minute procedure.

Ms Thawley was taken to theatre at 4pm and at 5.30pm a nurse told the husband a lot of blood was found in the abdomen. At 6.30pm, a doctor said she had lost 10 units of blood.

At 7.30pm, Dr Rhona Mahony, Master of the NMH, told him the situation was very serious. Dr Mahony said there was "a chance your wife could die". About 20 minutes later, she returned with a specialist surgeon and said: "Malak is dead."

Counsel said Mr Thawley was told a trocar had been inserted in the abdomen and it had torn the aorta.

Mr Reidy said Mr Thawley remembered saying, "Are you telling me it was a mistake?" and the surgeon said, "Yes, it was medical misadventure."

The case resumes on Tuesday.Lidl is set to open five new stores in the Greater London area (Rui Vieira/PA)

A dog lover punched a security guard in the mouth after he was told he could not bring his pet into a supermarket.

Bartlomiej Jochym (36) and the injured security guard "tussled" and the pair fell through a glass partition, which broke and left both men suffering cuts and bleeding.

The victim previously told the court that he was "still not right" following the assault, and had not been able to play sports.

Judge John Lindsay sentenced Jochym to three months in prison, suspended for one year.

The court heard that the defendant had paid 2,000 compensation to the victim.

Jochym, with an address at Westbourne Court, Clondalkin, had admitted before Tallaght District Court to seriously assaulting the security officer.

The assault took place at Lidl, Whitestown Way, Tallaght, on May 2, 2016.

Sgt Eithne Madden said gardai were on mobile patrol when they received a call that the panic alarm in Lidl had been set off.

Sgt Madden said that when gardai arrived on the scene, security staff were restraining the defendant.

Jochym had punched a security guard in the month, and both men then fell through the glass partition.

Sgt Madden said that the security guard had an injured mouth where he was punched. His left hand and right shoulder were injured too when he fell.

The court heard that the victim was taken to Tallaght Hospital where he received X-rays on his chest and shoulder.

He also received the hepatitis B vaccine as both men were bleeding.

The court heard that Jochym had three previous convictions for minor public order matters.

Defence lawyer George Burns previously said that Jochym had his dog with him and was asked to leave the supermarket as animals were not allowed.

Jochym "reacted badly" to this request and he punched the security guard.

Mr Burns said the defendant was a sheet metal worker. He was originally from Poland but had lived in Ireland for more than 10 years.

The court heard the defendant had been drinking prior to the assault. Mr Burns also said Jochym realised his behaviour was unacceptable, and he wished to apologise for it.

The defendant had pleaded guilty and had paid compensation to the security guard, the court heard.'The accused is originally from the United Kingdom and moved to Ireland when he was 12 years of age. Bal holds an Irish passport and was training to be an electrician' (stock photo)

A 26-year-old man has admitted providing funding from his Waterford base to terrorist organisation Islamic State.

Hassan Bal, formerly of O'Connell Street, pleaded guilty at Waterford Circuit Court yesterday to two counts relating to the funding and attempting funding of Islamic State.

His case was adjourned by Judge Eugene O'Kelly to April 10, when a date will be fixed for Bal to be sentenced. Bal pleaded guilty to the two charges put to him.

The accused is originally from the United Kingdom and moved to Ireland when he was 12 years of age. Bal holds an Irish passport and was training to be an electrician.

After he was arrested in April last year, the district court heard that his wife was pregnant with the couple's first child.

Bal pleaded guilty to unlawfully providing 400 in funds, using an An Post/Western Union money transfer, on October 2, 2015 to a Stevo Maksimovic in the city of Brako in Bosnia-Herzegovina, intending or knowing that the funds would be used in whole or in part for the benefit or purposes of the terrorist group known as Islamic State or Daesh.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment.

He also pleaded guilty to unlawfully and wilfully attempting to collect or receive cash on October 23, 2015, from a person known to him as Omar Abu Aziz, by means of telephonic communications and an intermediary at an address at 2 Geron Way, London NW2 6GJ, knowing that the funds would be used in whole or in part for the benefit or purposes of Islamic State.A man who became involved with the Scientology movement in Dublin has issued a warning to those thinking of joining to stay away, claiming: "You end up with nothing."

Zeni Bundo, who was a member of the new Scientology European Headquarters in Firhouse, warned: "Do not go near them. You will destroy your family and yourself."

In an exclusive interview, the 31-year-old said he worked at the centre. He described the Firhouse base as a place where the goal is expensive health programmes as well as employing staff at below the minimum wage.

Zeni, who has left the Scientology group, said he was told to take a massive number of tablets as part of a 'purification' regime which cost him 1,800 to undergo. He is seeking legal advice regarding his employment, and will assist authorities in employment and revenue sectors.

In a statement, Scientology moved to clarify that all of the centre's staff are in fact "religious volunteers".

Zeni came from Albania 10 years ago and has lived and worked all over Ireland.

In September last year, a friend of his who had been involved with Scientology introduced him to the group, which was about to open its flagship HQ in south Dublin.

"I thought I could maybe get a job there, and that was the aim. It looked really modern and new and I thought it could be a good place to work," said Zeni.

His girlfriend became involved and he said the Scientologists flew her to LA for a month for training - it made him think that it was a professional organisation.

"Then one of the guys in there said I needed to do a programme, and there was others too who were saying it would purify me. I didn't believe them, but then there was more people saying it, and at that stage I started to think maybe I would become a better person. In the end, I agreed to do it," he added.

"When I look back, I see I was being pushed into it, being told I had problems and they could cure them."

He said he received a large box of tablets, mainly labelled as vitamins, which he was to take daily. "You have to take them for a month, many, many tablets every day, and do five hours in a sauna every day too.

"I started getting headaches but they would not let me take Panadol or anything. I would like to get the tablets tested and see what is in them," he said.

As well as doing the 'purification programme', Zeni said he was given a job working in the cafe and restaurant.

"They were paying me cash in hand, which I was not happy about. I have been in the country 10 years and want to work properly and officially and pay tax and make sure all my papers are in order. I asked them many times about organising tax but they kept putting it off."

When approached for comment, the Church of Scientology categorically denied any breach of employment law.

In a separate statement, Scientology Ireland said that in order to qualify as a volunteer, an applicant must be a "devout member" of the church."Each volunteer makes a religious pledge to actively forward the work of the church out of a deep personal commitment to Scientology," they said.

"All of our churches around the world comply with the law in each jurisdiction in which they reside, and the Church of Scientology & Community Centre of Dublin is no exception."

They added: "The centre is entirely a non-profit religious organisation. Its only purpose, and the only purpose of Scientologists who volunteer their time on staff, is to help people."

Zeni said that at the end of his 'purification' course, he felt no better than at the start of it.

"But I could not admit to that. If I told them I was the same, they would recommend another course called 'survivor rundown' and charge me more money.

"This is how they survive. They brainwash you and take your money," he said.

"My girlfriend was there at the same time as me. She still is there but we have split now. Scientology separates you from your family and your friends. You end up with nothing," he said.

He left in November as his 'purification' came to an end. Zeni said he was told to sign a document saying he would not speak out against Scientology.

"They do this to frighten you, but it is worth nothing. I have a voice. I have seen what I have seen and now I am speaking out, and my message to everyone else in there is to do the same."

Looking back, Zeni said the aim of Scientology is to "target rich people and bulls*** them".

"It starts with free courses to get you in and happy with Scientology, and then it is a course for 1,800, but the aim is to get 25,000 from you. I saw people spend 45,000 on courses," he said.

The Irish Independent accompanied Zeni to the Scientology centre as he tried to get a copy of his employment contract but he was told he would have to apply in writing and wait up to 30 days for it.

They said they could not give it to him under the Data Protection Act.

The staff member would not answer questions on Zeni's employment, but provided an email address to contact instead.

A spokeswoman for Scientology then replied to our questions by saying Zeni's accusations were false. "The so-called allegation is also false, mischievous and dishonest. The Church of Scientology categorically denies any breach of employment law," said Diana Stahl.The family of a little boy whose life was put at risk by an ambulance delay have called for the local ambulance base just minutes from their home to be properly manned.

Kevin Griffin (2) was visiting from Boston with his mother and brothers when the incident occurred in Carraroe, Co Galway, last Friday evening. The family rushed him to hospital, moving from their car to a Garda car in Spiddal after the ambulance had still not arrived.

They are questioning why an ambulance base close to their home did not have a crew on duty to respond. "We need a manned ambulance full-time in Carraroe, they never seem to be there. They are always being taken into Galway to cover there. What is the point in having the ambulance base in Carraroe if we can't rely on it?" said the boy's uncle, Padraic O Cualain.

The little boy began choking on a chip but vomited shortly after and dislodged it, before passing out.

"My sister got him awake again but he passed out a second time before we got to the hospital," said Mr O Cualain.

"When we were told the ambulance was on its way, I thought it would be a few minutes if it was coming from Carraroe. When I realised it wasn't in Carraroe, I felt we couldn't take a chance waiting and got him in the car," he added.

However, it was not until the family had reached the outskirts of the city that they finally met the ambulance. At that stage, the patrol car continued to hospital where Kevin remained until Monday.

It was the second time the family have been forced to call emergency services. In July 2016, Kevin's 21-month-old cousin Cillian O Cualain (pictured) died tragically after a car accident at the family home.

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"It had happened to us before when we lost our nephew. The Air Corps showed up that time, but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done," said Padraic.

The family have questioned why the ambulance base was opened in Carraroe if it is not properly used. "We're annoyed that the ambulance couldn't be sent from Carraroe and annoyed that the fire crew in Carraroe, who were experienced, weren't sent," he added.

The National Ambulance Service confirmed an emergency call was received at 5.51pm on January 5 - adding the call was categorised as an Omega response: minor illness or injury.

It dispatched the "nearest available emergency ambulance", from Clifden, at 5.52pm.

An emergency ambulance was later dispatched from Galway when the NEOC Nurse Adviser was informed the child was being taken to hospital by car. It said the child's condition remained Omega and "as such resuscitation of the patient was not indicated or required".A forensic officer examines the gateway in Dalkey, Co Dublin, where Mick Burke died Photo: Justin Farrelly

A forensic officer examines the gateway in Dalkey, Co Dublin, where Mick Burke died Photo: Justin Farrelly Inset: Mick Burke

A man who is believed to have died after being impaled while climbing over a gate had been celebrating getting a new job hours earlier.

Mick Burke (35), from Dalkey Co Dublin, was killed after he suffered a number of puncture wounds to his body.

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His body was found in a private lane way leading up to an apartment block just off Convent Road in Dalkey, about 8.30am yesterday.

Tragically Mr Burke had been celebrating after securing a new job.

A friend told the Irish Independent: "His family are inconsolable. Mick was a gentleman. He lived with his family and though he did work in SuperValu, he was a qualified electrician and he was celebrating in Dalkey because he'd got a new job in his chosen field.

"Mick was delighted about his new job and he was hopeful for the future."

A Garda forensics team was on the scene yesterday, with a number of locals gathering around the area in shock at the news.

The body was still at the scene in the afternoon, with the gate also cordoned off.

A close friend of the man - who grew up and went to school with him - stood at the Garda cordon and described his pal as a "lovely fella".

Another local said he'd "always stop to say 'hello'".

Another man who lived nearby said Mr Burke was very well known and well liked in the area.

He said Mr Burke and his family had grown up in Dalkey, describing him as a "good old skin". "Everybody knows everybody in Dalkey," he said.

The man said there was initial fear locally that something sinister had happened when they saw the scene.

"People thought there had been a shooting or something," he said.

"He has lived in the village since he was a baby. There's a lot of shock and a lot of lads live here around the same age as him.

"He was just a nice, unassuming fella. He was very well liked in the village, everybody knew him, he was a good old skin.

"I saw him all the time, I only saw him last week, actually.

"I wouldn't have known him that well, but we'd always say hello to each other."

Gardai last night confirmed they are not treating the death as suspicious. A spokesperson said: "Gardai are no longer treating as suspicious the death of a man found this morning in Dalkey. Preliminary results of a post-mortem examination have been furnished to investigating gardai and foul play has now been ruled out. A file will be prepared for the coroner."A man has passed away in hospital after he was rescued from the sea in Co Clare on Saturday afternoon.

The 30-year-old man was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition following the incident at Creeragh near Kilkee.

It is believed he was struck by a rogue wave while taking photographs at the base of a cliff off the Dunlicky coast road.

Emergency services were alerted at around 3.30pm and a major search and rescue operation was mounted.

Gardai and volunteers from the Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard were dispatched to the scene while the Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also tasked to assist in the search.

The helicopter crew soon located the casualty and winched him on board the aircraft and rushed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.

However, the man - who is understood to be from Hungary originally but had been living in Galway - was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Gardai are investigating the circumstances of the incident.Gardai are assisting in the appeal for information in the search for a missing 33-year-old man.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are looking to establish the whereabouts of Michael Cullen.

Michael has been described as 5'9'' tall with a thin build and dark hair and beard.

He was last in contact with his family in Belfast at around 2pm on Tuesday, January 9.

At the time he was last seen, he was wearing a green puffa jacket, a grey jumper and black trousers.

It is understood that Michael is a beatboxer who regularly performs in London and in Dublin.

Those with any relevant information have been asked to contact Musgrave Police Station on 0044 28 9065 0222 or any local station.A rural school that has no pupils is still officially opened, according to the Department of Education.

Scoil Naisiunta Brighde, Faughart, Co Louth hit headlines last year after parents decided to take their children out of the school due to management issues.

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Last September, three teachers, a resource teacher and a caretaker were still being employed at the school, despite no pupils registering.

It's believed that the staff members have since been either redeployed or made redundant. But the school officially remains opened.

In a statement to Independent.ie, the Department of Education said:

"The decision making authority for a school closure rests with the Patron of a school, and this is subject to the agreement of the Department. Any proposal to close a school must involve consultation with all of the relevant stakeholders, parents, teachers, students and local communities and follow decisions taken at local level. The patron has not informed the Department of any decision in relation to school closure."

The Department of Education inspected the school in May 2017 and made a number of critical findings.

Parents decided to remove their children from the school as they said they feel the issues highlighted by the department are not being adequately addressed and did not like the way management was running the school.

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Trust in management fell so low that every single parent removed their child from the school. Previously, up to 50 children attended the rural school.

Fianna Fail Councillor Conor Keelan told Independent.ie that the rural community in Faughart is devastated.

"It has been an ongoing issue for the community for the past number of months. Just before Christmas staff were let go. The whole situation is very upsetting for the community.

"It's terrible that locals can't benefit from the very good school that was on their doorsteps. The Department of Education needs to intervene and solve this issue. All we're getting is silence. What is the point in leaving a high quality school to rot away? Is the Department of Education going to wash their hands of Faughart NS now?

"There is a lot of anger here for sure."

A local parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told Independent.ie that the community had been "robbed" of their school.

"All children have now left the school and staff have been let go. Parents were given no warning from the Department of Education that the school was closing, we just heard from the staff members who lost their jobs," they said.

"We're all devastated, this is not what we wanted. We live in such a rural area and the school was a great way for all the neighbours to socialise together. We've been robbed of our school."

The parent said that the school is "unlikely" to thrive again in the near future.

"The school was well funded and would only thrive again under new management. However I don't think the Department of Education will intervene and appoint new leadership at the school.

"The local children and the staff who lost their jobs are paying the price. It's heartbreaking."

Faughart NS has repeatedly been unavailable for comment.An Irish mother-of-one has opened up about her ordeal of suffering 18 miscarriages in the last ten years.

Georgina OShea (30) from Cork has one son Leon who was born in 2004. In 2008, she and her husband Ken began trying to conceive another baby.

That year, they were overjoyed to discover that 20-year-old Georgina was pregnant. But joy suddenly turned to heartbreak when she had her first miscarriage. It was to be the first of a long list of recurring miscarriages for the couple.

No two miscarriages were the same. Every one of them were as painful as each other, she told Independent.ie.

Everyone asks how do I cope? The small few people who know my story say how are you still standing, still smiling?

For ten years, this was my secret. It was a secret I was living with, there were five people who would have known the extent of what I was going through.

You just get used to living that secret life and putting on a brave face, but I do have a healthy son and I was trying to protect him and I didnt want to see him suffering.

While over 50,000 women give birth in Ireland every year, it is estimated that a further 14,000 miscarry spontaneously every year.

Doctors told Georgina that miscarriage was part of the pregnancy process. But after Georgina lost her third baby, doctors began to investigate why.

It was devastating. Wed talked about having another child and when we found out we were pregnant we were over the moon. We were married that year and then we were pregnant so it seemed like a great year.

The doctors just told me that I was silly to try because I was so young, and normally people dont start a family until their late 20s, early 30s. Youre going back 10 years, things have changed since then obviously.

The second miscarriage would have been a year after the first one, in 2009. Then I went to the doctor again and they told me not to worry, I was young, that everything was fine.

The third miscarriage happened about six months later and I got the same response.

My husband and I moved to Cork and I found out that I was pregnant in 2010. I was obviously with a new doctor, and I explained my story to her. It was then that the doctor listened and sent me for tests to Cork University Hospital.

Georginas file was eventually sent to an international group of doctors in the US who were researching miscarriages. They identified two possible causes for her baby losses.

They suggested that her womb might be rejecting each pregnancy and that a scratch procedure to the endometrial lining could stimulate the uterus receptivity to the embryo and increase the success rate of live birth.

They also suggested that because Georginas blood type is rhesus negative, that perhaps her immune system might be attacking each pregnancy.

She was given steroid treatments, but still the miscarriages continued.

In one year, she had five. Last July, she lost another baby at nine weeks, a milestone which she hadn't reached before and believed her luck might have turned.

Every woman that miscarries can relate to one another, regardless of whether its one five in my case 18-plus.

It hurts the same way. Youre losing one of your babies. Youre grieving for your child.

She added: "It puts a massive strain on a relationship. For a woman, I was going through the phases of is this ever going to work?, Is it my fault?, Should I have done this?, Should I have done that?

There were times that I might blame my husband as well.

Georgina says the doctors in Cork University Maternity Hospital have done "all they can".

"Myself and my husband, weve just hit a brick wall. I know there is someone or something out there. Weve done the steroids which are proven to work somewhat."

Georgina and Ken watched RTE presenter Kathryn Thomas reveal last week on the Late Late Show her own heartbreak of suffering two miscarriages.

Georgina decided to speak about her own experience on Red FM's Neil Prendeville show this week.

Kathryn Thomas, when she described herself, she actually described me. I try to keep positive.

Its a bit of a shock that people know my hardship now. People were wishing me well. A doctor got in contact with me. Its opening a new line for me.

Theres one thing that I want to stress. I think the men in the relationship, they dont get enough credit for what they actually do. Every man that goes through the miscarriage, theyre isolated because they dont have support. When people ask me how I coped, I say ask him, because I cried on his shoulder, but whose shoulder did he cry on?

Hes the one that has to stay strong and pick me up when I fall, and stay positive, and keep the family going.

She added: "I have to learn to deal with this and get on with it. Thats my attitude. If I try hard enough, who knows, there might be a doctor out there who has a new theory, or there might be another woman in my situation who can offer some advice.

In my mind, I know its not the case but I dont feel like I have the right to grieve, because there are women out there who give birth to stillborn babies.

For me, I dont even get a picture or a scanned photo so I dont feel like I have the right to grieve. I know thats not the case. But I have to build myself up to a point where I wont break. In my mind, I have to keep my mental health."

Georgina has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help with the cost of medical treatments she intends to have to help her have a baby: https://www.gofundme.com/51fv9woLouth may have escaped the worst of Storm Eleanor last week, but rail services were impacted in the aftermath of the heavy rainfall.

Irish rail confirmed suspended services between Dundalk and Newry on Thursday last, after a section of the track was saturated by a nearby stream causing subsidence.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail said that crews were investigating the incident on the track by an embankment four miles north of Dundalk.

'The stream there has swollen, and has saturated the ground,' adding that the line had to be closed for the evening.

Subsidence occurs when the earth shifts downwards often causing damage to buildings - but it is a particular concern on train lines, as it potentially makes travel on rail lines unsafe.

As a result of the track issues, the bus transfers between Dundalk and Newry were in place for the remainder of that evening

The line was reopened again on Friday morning, with initially some short delays.While many of us were still enjoying Christmas festivities, the one-hundred talented and dedicated young musicians who make up the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland (CBOI) were hard at work rehearsing for the new season's concerts - Peace Proms 2018. The CBOI's annual Winter Workshop was held at the Ramada Resort Hotel, Dundalk and was attended by young musicians all-over Ireland as well as Drum and Pipe Corps from Derry and Belfast.

Peace Proms 2018 is set to kick off in mid-January and run to mid-March with a total of fifteen epic choral and orchestral concerts taking place throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland and the U.K. Venues include the Kingfisher Hall, Galway; the Echo Arena, Liverpool, the Simmonscourt Arena, RDS, Dublin; the Hub, Kilkenny and the SSE Arena, Belfast.

The internationally acclaimed Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland will take centre stage for each concert and perform alongside a stellar line up of soloists as well as a massed choir of up to 3,000 children at each venue. A total of 31,000 children from over 600 Primary Schools in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK will participate in Peace Proms 2018 making it Ireland's most exciting, accessible and invaluable music education initiative.

Proms 2018 will be conducted by internationally acclaimed UK music educator Greg Beardsell who is renowned for his extraordinary ability to lead powerful and exhilarating performances and is one of the most outstanding and inspirational conductors of his generation. This epic production will also feature a host of stellar soloists and a sensational line up of champion Dancers and Pipers.

Prepare to be blown away by power-house vocalist Lauren Murphy, Soprano Katie Weir, Tenor Ross Scanlon, rock-violinist Patricia Treacy, All-Ireland Champion Uilleann Piper Cormac Keegan, World Champion Irish Dancer Diarmuid Mac Shane, along with the sensational Colmcille Pipe and Drum Corps from Derry; the Grahame Harris Pipe and Drum Corps from Belfast, the Michelle Johnston Highland Dancers from Belfast and troupes of Irish Dancers from Ireland and the UK.

Peace Proms 2018 concerts will be a celebration of youth, music, and sheer talent and are highly recommended for all the family - young and old. The programme promises to by 'all thriller no filler' with everything from majestic Bagpipe melodies to rocking violin solos to powerful peace anthems and lots of family favourites including Disney and Pop Medleys.Tickets are now on sale from www.peaceproms.comShay Weston (left), Executive Manager, Customer Service and David Harney (fourth left), Chief Executive of Irish Life, with Deirdre Craven, IDA, Aidan Browne, DkIT, Michael Gaynor, President, Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and Declan Breathnach TD at the announcement of Irish Lifes plans for major expansion in Dundalk with the development of a new Customer Service Centre.

Job creation in Louth rose by 5% in 2017, according to new figures from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

The figures emerged after a year in which 1,000 new jobs were announced in Dundalk alone.

As the economy began to strengthen over the last twelve months, Dundalk was chosen by a number of overseas companies as its base, including Graebel (125 jobs) and UK pharmaceutical firm Wasdell, which announced 300 jobs last year for a new base at Mullaharlin. There were also indications this may increase to 500 over the next few years.

National Pen announced it will be recruiting another 250 staff for its Dundalk facility

There were also a number of smaller, but significant announcements from: Supervalu (55 jobs at new premises on old Fairways site); Almac, Northern Ireland firm to create 100 jobs in Dundalk as part of 'Brexit proofing'; Nova Leah to employ another 78 staff; Multihog announced recruitment of 40 new staff and Dundalk based Diaeutics will be taking on a further 30 employees.

The employment analysis emerged as Enterprise Ireland revealed a 5% rise in jobs in Louth over the last year.

It confirmed that 6,121 people are now employed in Louth by companies which are supported by Enterprise Ireland.

Nationally there were 19,000 jobs were created across Ireland by companies supported by Enterprise Ireland in 2017.

Two thirds (64%) of the new jobs created were outside of Dublin.

There was strong jobs growth in the Construction, Engineering, Lifesciences, Digital Technology, Electronics, Food and ICT sectors across the country.

Live register figures for the end of 2017 also indicated the number of people on the dole queue in Dundalk had fallen to 4,101. This was down 14.5% on the number of claimants at the end of 2016.

The CSO figures also showed that in Louth as a whole there were 9,079 people on the live register across the county at the end of 2017.

This was also a considerable fall from the 10,909 the previous year.

Despite the welcome series of jobs announcements throughout 2017, Dundalk does, however, now have a greater number of people on the live register than Drogheda, where 3,915 people had been signing on at the end of 2017.

Louth TD Fergus O'Dwod said he welcome the 'employment boost in Enterprise Ireland backed companies' over the last year

'These results are excellent news for the County and are consistent with the strong employment performance across the economy.

We have seen some really strong employment announcements in the later half of 2017 in County Louth and I would hope that will continue in the first quarter of 2018.'

'The Action Plan for Rural Development which launched last year is committed to ensuring that the economic recovery is felt throughout Ireland and the creation of rural jobs is vital in order to achieve this.Back in the day when his prison blanket was an object of protest as well as comfort, no would have said hunger striker Laurence McKeown was 'elegant'. With the long hair which was the fashion of the times, Laurence and his fellow prisoners were more rough round the edges as them 'went on the blanket' before embarking on the Hunger Strike in 1981.

So Laurence says he was particularly moved that woman used the word elegant to describe his appearance when he wore the collection of garments fashioned from an old prison blanket as part of his project to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the campaign to be recognised as political prisoners.

The author, who has been living in Dundalk for the past ten years, explains that he wanted to commemorate the anniversary in a visually artistic way, as he has written about it previously,

'I had been given an old prison blanket when the H Blocks closed and it had been lying in the attic for a long time,' he says. 'I decided to have it made into items of clothing which would look elegant and then ask former Blanket Men and Women to wear them and have their photographs taken by a professional photographer.'

He admits that he did some soul searching about cutting up the blanket before engaging Newry dressmaker Yvonne Murphy to use the material to make a collection which includes a bow tie, waistcoat, dress jacket, and scarf.

This was the start of 'We Wore The Blanket' project which saw Laurence inviting former Blanket Men and Women to be photographed wearing the clothing collection for a commemorative calendar.

Laurence himself in among the nineteen featured in the calendar, as is his daughter Orlaith, and fellow hunger striker Paddy Agnew, who was elected TD for Louth in 1981, and Paddy Quinn from South Armagh.

'I wanted the photographs to be done in such a way that would show how the situation has changed since then and also so that subjects of those photos would look elegant and proud of the role they had played in history.'

The calendar somewhat unusually starts in March 2018 and continues until August 2019 with Laurence explaining that he has chosen that time frame to encompass key anniversaries of the period, starting with the 'criminalisation policy' on March 1, 1976 , Bobby Sands going on hunger strike on March 1, 1981, and the escape from The Maze in September 1983.

While he was working on the project, Laurence heard a piece on the radio about the National Treasures Project, a campaign to crowd-source everyday objects that explore the history of the island of Ireland over the past 100 years, which is being organised in association with RTE, the National Museum of Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

He decided to bring the items of clothing he had made for 'We Wore The Blanket' to roadshow which was visiting Titanic Quarter, Belfast last October.

Rather than carrying all items, he decided to wear the bow tie, waist coat and scarf, and while he was waiting to be interviewed about them, a woman who was also waiting, approached him and commented on how elegant he looked.

'I felt very emotional when she said it. It's not a word I use a lot, yet I had used it in the text for the calendars,' he said.

Laurence was interviewed about the project by former Dundalk resident Sean Rocks for the RTE 1 arts programme, Arena, recently.

There was a limited print run of 1,000 copies of the calendar which can be ordered by contacting Laurence through his Facebook page.Officers at the Garda Detective unit in Dundalk have issued an appeal for three female passengers who got into a taxi on Park Street in the early hours of New Year's Day to contact them.

In an appeal, detectives stated that the three women got into the taxi along Park Street, and shared the journey with a fourth woman. Three of the women got out of the taxi on the Avenue Road.

Gardai, who are reported to be investigating an alleged assault, have asked the three females who got out of the taxi on Avenue Road to contact at 042 93 88400 or 042 93 35577 in order to help them with ongoing enquiries.

Meanwhile, Dundalk Gardai intercepted a Dublin man who was reported to be in possession of cocaine with an estimated street value of 2,800. The man was stopped and searched on Dublin street on Friday last, January 5th. He was removed to Dundalk Garda Station, where a rucksack containing a quantity of heroin was uncovered.

Gardai are also investigating the report of a donations box stolen from St. Joseph's Redemptorist Church on New Year's Day. The box was thought to have contained around 100 in donations.North Louth Councillor Antoin Watters has said he regards Narrow Water Bridge as still being 'very much a live project' and hopes to see it completed.

This follows a report in The Irish News that 'the project was shelved in 2013 after it emerged costs had been significantly underestimated.' Louth County Council has admitted that it spent almost 2million on advancing the project to date.

Planning permission for the works in Northern Ireland expired in October, meaning a fresh application would have to be submitted to revive the project. The lack of an Executive in Stormont is also contributing to the lack of progress being made on securing funds for the project.

The Sinn Fein councillor said 'Louth County Council have spent almost 2 million so far and given that so much has already been spent on the project and given the importance of the bridge to the tourism of the Cooley peninsula, I, and my party are calling on Louth County Council to ensure they explore every option to progress with it and not just write it off along with the 2million.'

'We had hoped to see this bridge from Omeath to Warrenpoint completed in 2015 and it would have been a tremendous boost for tourism in the area, but here we are in 2018, the project has been shelved and we are nearly 2million in the red and a shovel hasn't even turned the first sod.'

'I welcome that adequate work has been carried out to extend planning permission. I have been working on this project since my co-option onto Louth County Council and have lobbied the council and raised the issue at the Cross Border Memorandum of Understanding meetings with Newry Mourne & Down Councils to ensure the planning didn't lapse. I will continue to keep the Narrow Water Bridge on the agenda and push to get the project completed.'

'With Brexit looming this is a 'ready to go' project especially now there has been agreement that there will be no borders,' he continued. 'Let's waste no more time or money, to boost tourism in Cooley. Let's get the Narrow Water Bridge Project completed.

Mr Jim Boylan, chair of the Narrow Water Bridge Community Network, has been quoted as saying: 'We see the project as very much alive, especially in this time of Brexit. On the money aspect, I think it is money well spent because it's a great tourism project.'.

He said a paper is being prepared for the North South Ministerial Council, but the lack of a Stormont executive is stalling progress on the project.

'The only thing that's holding it up is that there is no executive in the north, but as soon as that executive is up that paper will go to the North South Ministerial Council, and we expect a positive outcome to that,' he said.Rural homes and businesses across Louth could be forced to wait until 2023 for broadband connections under the National Broadband Plan.

Louth TD Declan Breathnach described it as 'appalling' that it could be 2023 before up to 8,528 rural homes and businesses in Louth are connected to broadband under the National Broadband Plan.

In response to a Parliamentary Question from Fianna Fail, Communications Minister Denis Naughten confirmed that 'network rollout will take three to five years following contract award' under the NBP.'

The contract is expected to be awarded in 2018, meaning it will take up until 2023 to connect over half a million homes and businesses covered by State intervention.

'It's almost impossible to believe that more than a decade after the National Broadband Plan was first launched, thousands of premises in Louth will still not have a high speed broadband connection', said Deputy Breathnach.

'The roll out of the NBP by has been a disaster. They have repeatedly missed their own deadlines for delivery and kicked the can down the road in the run up to elections.'

He added: 'This is having a detrimental impact on rural communities which rely on broadband for connectivity.'

The Louth TD said: 'Successive ministers have failed to address broadband wastelands and continued to shift the goalposts on delivery.

He added;: 'These blackspots are costing jobs, threatening rural sustainability and creating a digital divide between urban and rural Ireland. The neglect of rural Ireland cannot be allowed to continue and commitments must be made to ensure that all premises in rural areas are connected to essential broadband services as a matter of priority.'The fatal stabbing of a young Japanese man far from his homeland has sent ripples of grief through Dundalk and its surrounds.

Hundreds from the town and hinterland demonstrated their grief and solidarity by attending the vigil organised in the memory of Yosuke Sasaki in the town centre last night (Monday) and by lining up to sign the book of condolences which opened that morning.

Colleagues and friends of the young National Pen employee were among those who braved the cold night air to demonstrate their sorrow at his passing.

The Japanese Ambassador to Ireland, Her Excellency Mrs. Mari Miyoshi, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, First Decrety Mr. Sou Watanabe, and Mr. Tim Mawe, Asia Director Department of Foreign Affairs were in attendance at the candle lit vigil. An interfaith reflection was led by Rev Mark O Hagan. Administrator of St Patrick's Parish, Iman Nooh, Dundalk Islamic Community, and

Rev Captain Geoffrey Walmsley. Church Of Ireland.

Tears flowed throughout the event as a friend of the deceased, Choon Mon Lee played a piece of Japanese music on piano accompanied by Heather Oakes on violin.

A colleague from National Pen, Fabio Tereinto recited a poem entitled 'They say there is a reason' while Lyndsey O Neill sang 'Imagine'.

Many also visited the site where he had been stabbed at the Avenue Road on Wednesday morning, leaving flowers and messages.

One floral tribute from Medebawn residents bore the message 'Our sincere sympathy to Sasaki Family (Japan) for the loss of their son, so young and so far from home', while another from a Japanese student living in Dundalk said: I am devastated to hear about your tragic passing: I am still in absolute shock'.

A GoFundMe page which was set up to raise funds to help with the repatriation of the 24 year old man has raised over 17,000.

Former councillor Oliver Morgan, who set up the page, said he was 'totally blown away by the generosity of all those who have donated. Thanks so very much and I know your gesture will be appreciated by the family and our friends from the Japanese community in Dundalk.'

'I know that my initial target of 2,000 has been well and truly surpassed and for that I am so so grateful for the generosity of the people of Dundalk and beyond. I am sure that the family and Japanese community are truly grateful for your love and support at this terrible of need.' I will be closing the GoFundMe page at midnight on Monday night to arrange for the funds raised to be passed onto the family/Japanese EmbassyLocal politicians have been unified in their condemnation of last week's fatal stabbing of a young Japanese man living in town and the assaults on two local men.

Public representatives from across the political spectrum came together to lead the town in a demonstration of sympathy for 24-year-old Yosuke Sasaki at a vigil in his memory in the town centre last night (Monday).

They have also warned against those who are attempting to use the incident to incite racism after racist abuse was hurled at the accused man by some among an angry mob which had gathered outside the courthouse on Thursday evening. There have also been numerous racist comments on social media.

The chairman of Dundalk Municipal District Cllr John McGahon stated: 'Dundalk is a thriving, vibrant multicultural town and this attack will not diminish the town's spirit and all those who come to work and live here.'

'Recently, online and in some posters around the town we have seen an attempt to divide us,' the Fine Gael councillor continued. 'We will not allow those pushing their own agenda to use hate to intimidate and divide us. We are stronger together as a town and we always will be.'

Sinn Fein councillor Ruairi O Murchu, who visited the scene at the Avenue Road shortly after the fatal stabbing said: 'This is obviously a tragedy for Yosuke Sasaki and his family but also for this town and further afield. Most people are of the opinion that this is a terrible tragedy with no rhyme or reason to it, and no one should try to gain from it.'

Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach noted that the fatal stabbing was one of five such incidents around the country over the past month and called for a 'zero tolerance' policy in regards to the carrying of offensive weapons.

'Dundalk is a great town to grow up in,work ,live and grow old and has been endeavouring to shake the mantle of many decades associated with unrest,' he stated. 'Dundalk and Louth are showing a positivity around jobs and employment and it is incumbent on all media not to portray my home town or county as anything other than one that will continue to thrive and rise from the Ashes of the Phoenix.'Martha Lackey, Ailbhe Whittle, Georgia Dixon and Emma Nesbitt with Aine Lawlor at the launch of Give Us a Song

RTE star Aine Lawlor and leading cancer specialist Prof John Crown were among those who launched a unique fundraising campaign for cancer research in Dublin last Friday morning.

Young musicians from Bray and Greystones also played at the occasion.

Passengers coming and going through Pearse Street Dart Station were treated to a musical extravaganza as performers from different traditions gathered around Peter Eades on piano and sang their hearts out in an appeal to choirs, groups and friends all over Ireland to put on singing performances over the weekend of February 4 to mark UN designated World Cancer Day.

The money raised will go to the Caroline Foundation for Cancer Research, which was set up in memory of Greystones woman Caroline Dwyer-Hickey.

'We'd love people in villages, towns and cities all over the country to get out and sing over the first weekend of February for this important cause,' said Aine Lawlor, who fronts the 'Give Us A Song!' campaign.

'As someone whose life has been significantly changed by medical science, I am a firm believer in the potential of research to decode and ultimately defeat cancer.'

The Caroline Foundation was established in 2013 after Greystones native and former primary school teacher Caroline Dwyer-Hickey (35) died following a nine year battle with cancer.

The Caroline Foundation is 100 per cent volunteer driven and funds the work of a number of researchers on the Cancer Clinical Research Trust (CCRT) team.

According to Prof Crown from the CCRT, the foundation is already making an impact in the ongoing battle against cancer.

'In 2017, research supported and facilitated by the Caroline Foundation yielded new insights into potential treatments for the most aggressive types of breast cancer, HER2+ and triple negative,' said Prof Crown.

'As a result, we are starting new clinical trials for patients with both of these disease types in 2018. We are also applying these insights into potential treatment programmes in other cancer types. The new generation of trials will be called after Caroline, and we anticipate that we will be entering patients onto the Caroline 1 Trial in the first quarter of 2018.'

World Cancer Day falls on February 4 each year which, poignantly, was Caroline's birthday. 'She would have celebrated her 40th birthday this year,' said her father, Dermod Dwyer.

'It's a very special day in our calendar and we hope it will be particularly special this year with an even more successful fundraising event.'

Give Us A Song! takes place from Friday, February 2, to Sunday, February 4, and will feature performers busking on the street and singing in their work, school, church or pub. There will be concerts in local halls and GAA clubs and lots of sing-songs at home. Over 80 events were held in 2017.

To register an event, email giveusasong@thecarolinefoundation.com.The price of a four-bed semi detached house in Wicklow rose by four per cent last year, according to figures from MyHome.ie. The property website's report for the final quarter of 2017 also predicts that house prices nationally will inflate by a further eight per cent this year.

This will be on top of a ten per cent rise in house prices last year.

The average asking price for a three-bed semi-detached house in Wicklow now stands at 293,000. The only county with a higher average asking price is Dublin.

Median asking prices rose in most Leinster counties but more expensive areas like Wicklow saw more modest gains. Median asking prices in the county rose by 1.4 per cent year on year to 299,000. The median asking price for new sales nationally was 242,000 in the final quarter.

While house prices are expected to continue to rise again this year, it should occur at a slightly slower pace due to a tightening of the Central Bank lending rules, the report states.

The Managing Director of MyHome.ie Angela Keegan said that housing market transactions grew by ten per cent in 2017 which was a positive development.

'While the increase in transactions - it should come in around 55,000 for 2017 - is welcome the overall picture is that of an illiquid market hindered by the lack of fresh housing supply. If the Irish market was functioning properly we would be seeing around 90,000 transactions per year. At the end of the year the number of properties listed for sale had fallen to just 18,900. This is a fresh record low, down 9.4 per cent on the year.'The programme for the third annual Blackwater Valley Fit Up Festival has been unveiled, with four plays set to run at seven venues along the course of the River Blackwater in January and February.

A colourful feature of Irish country life during the post-war period, 'fit-up' theatre saw professional companies touring the country, bring productions of plays to small venues in rural towns and villages across the country.

In 2009 the West Cork-based Blood in the Alley Theatre Company, in association with Cork County Council and the Arts Council, resurrected the tradition with the aim of bringing contemporary Irish plays to the stages of venues across the region.

In 2016 the initiative was successfully expanded, with the inaugural Blackwater fit-Up Festival bringing communities across the North Cork region together though the medium of theatre.

The festival's artistic director, Geoff Gould, said the Fits-Up's were a hugely popular part of rural life during the middle part of the last century.

"Popular actors of the day such Harold Pinter and Andrew McMaster would regularly visit small towns and villages, often performing plays in tents or even on the back of trucks.

He said that since its inception the Blackwater festival had proved to be "an unqualified success" and he anticipated this years events to be just as popular with theatre goers.

"The festival is a wonderful opportunity for people across the region to see some great new Irish plays performed by a talented group of actors."

The 2018 festival will kick off on Tuesday, January 23 with Fishamble's multi-award winning 'Silent', a one man play written and performed by acclaimed Cork actor Pat Kinevane, in the Buttevant Community Hall. It is a touching and challenging story of homeless McGoldrig, who one had it all but has lost everything - including his mind and now delves into the wounds of his past through the romantic world of Rudolph Valentino. It will play nightly for the remainder of the week at The Glen theatre in Banteer, Kiskeam Community Hall, First Fruits in Watergrasshill, The Mall Arts Centre in Youghal and the Palace Theatre in Fermoy.

Week two of the festival will feature 'Sharon', a bitter-sweet tale of a girl who moves back to her home town after a decade of 'living it up and having the craic', written and directed by Charleville playwright Katie Holly. It will run over consecutive nights from Monday, January 29 in Kiskeam. Buttevant, Banteer, Fermoy, Watergrasshill and Youghal.

The third week of the festival from Monday, February 6 will feature Margaret McAuliffe's award-winning 'The Humours of Bandon', a coming of age story about the world of Irish Dancing seen through the eyes of a young girl. It will kick off in Buttevant before moving onto Banteer, Kiskeam, Watergrasshill, Youghal and Fermoy.

The final play of this year's festival will be Blood in the Alleys' acclaimed production of Samuel Beckett's 'End of Day', a one man show performed by Denis Conway comprised of excerpts from Beckett's fiction, plays and poetry. In will run in Buttevant, Banteer, the Schoolyard Theatre in Charleville, Watergrashill and St Mary's Collegiate church in Youghal before bringing the curtain down on this years festival on Sunday, February 18 at the Palace Theatre in Fermoy.

For more information about the festival including venues, times and how to buy tickets for each of the performances visit www.fit-uptheatrefestival.com.On Friday, January 19 another name will be added to the illustrious list of those who have won the coveted title of Cork Person of the Year.

The winner or winners of the 2017 award, will be chosen from among the monthly winners and will be unveiled at a gala bash amid the salubrious surrounds of the Rochestown Park Hotel by MCs for the day, RTE'S Miriam O'Callaghan and David McCullagh.

One of the highlights of the Cork social calendar, the event will have extra special significance as it will mark the 25th anniversary of the awards initiative, the brainchild of Mallow man Manus O'Callaghan.

A large crowd of more than 250 invited guests, including many local and national personalties, will be in attendance to see the Cork Person (or persons) of the Year presented with their award by County Mayor, Cllr Declan Hurley and Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Tony Fitzgerald.

Speakers on the day will include RTE Director General Dee Forbes and Tom Crosbie of the Irish Examiner, with Cork soprano Cara O'Sullivan also set to perform at the event.

The event offers people a welcome opportunity to come together and celebrate all that is good and great about Cork and the people who make it such a special place to live and work in.

While the winners of the 12 monthly awards come from widely different backgrounds and spheres of interest they have one thing in common - their achievements and the selfless work many have done on behalf of their communities deserves to be recognised.

As in previous years, the 2017 monthly winners epitomise the many admirable qualities that Cork people are renowned for - their warm, creativity, generosity of spirit and willingness to go that extra mile to achieve their goals. Event organiser and founder Manus O'Callaghan said the standard of last year's monthly award winners was once again extremely high.

"I am proud to be able to say that after 25-years these awards are still going strong and with so many worthy nominees in 2017 our judges, Tim Lucy, CEO of Cork County Council and Ann Doherty, CEO of Cork City Council, have a particularly difficult job on their hands to pick an overall winner," he said.

Manus said that when growing up in north Cork he did not see a lot of praise and encouragement going around

"The Ireland of my youth was more a 'spare the rod and spoil the child' place, a 'don't give someone a swelled head' type of a country. In these more enlightened times we appreciate the importance of acknowledgement and encouragement," he said.

He said that award schemes such as this are hugely important because by honouring people for their achievements and actions, "we inspire others so that they may In these follow in their footsteps".

"Hopefully, we have also achieved the original objective of this initiative , which was to promote Cork City and County, and perhaps most importantly of all, the people of Cork."

Past Cork People of the Year

2016: Gary & Paul O'Donovan

2015: John Looney

2014: Louise O'Keeffe

2013: Rob Heffernan

2012: Fr. Pierce Cormac & Bill Deasy

2011: Liam Casey

2010: Paddy O'Brien

2009: Conor Buckley

2008: Pat Falvey & Dr. Clare O'Leary

2007: John Fitzpatrick

2006: Dan Donovan

2005: Prof. John A. Murphy

2004: Roy Keane

2003: Fr. Sean Healy

2002: Adi Roche

2001: Gerry Murphy

2000: Sonia O'Sullivan

1999 : Jimmy Barry Murphy

1998: Kevin Downing

1997: Paddy Comerford

1996: Barry Galvin

1995: John Bermingham

1994: Dr. Michael Mortell

1993: Sr. Colette HickeyIt is often the case that serious problems can only be resolved with radical solutions and on the face of it they don't come much more radical that this.

It has emerged that serious consideration is being given to constructing a flyover at the N72 Ballymacquirke Junction near Banteer - previously dubbed one of the most dangerous road junctions in the country.

The issue was revisited at the January meeting of Cork County Council's Kanturk/Mallow district committee in a report delivered by senior engineer Jim Moloney.

He said that after looking at criteria including the geometry of the junction and accident rates, council appointed consultants had submitted a report to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) containing three possible options for improving traffic safety at the junction.

These include improving sight lines by staggering junctions, building a roundabout and installing what he described as a grade separated junction - or in lay man's terms a flyover along the route of the N72 over the junction.

"It is my understanding that the consultants are in favour of the latter option. However, it must be stressed that at this stage this is only a draft report and it is currently being considered by TII," said Mr Moloney.

He said that while the consultants report was positive in that it identified a clear need for action to be taken at the junction, there was no guarantee that funding would be forthcoming for the project. He admitted the flyover would be the most expensive of the three options, prompting Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) to point out that, should it be given the green light by TII, it was "unlikley that it would be done for quite some time".

"With that in mind, one of the other options may prove to be more viable. I would not want to see a situation arise where the solution to this issue proved to be so costly that it might not happen for a long time," he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Cllr Gearoid Murphy (FF), who said it was important that a realistic solution be found that would not take years to put in place. While all councillors agreed it was good to see the safety at the junction being prioritised, Cllr Melissa Mullane (SF) said the idea of building a flyover at the junction sounded "a bit ridiculous".

"While the latter option may be the preferred it will be the most expensive and, to be honest, sounds a bit ridiculous to me. The option of a roundabout would seem to be more realistic. That being said, I am glad this issue has not been forgotten. This is a very dangerous junction and something must be done there within the next 12-months," she said. Mr Moloney said he would keep the the committee fully updated on any developments.

Meanwhile, Cllr John Paul O'Shea (Ind) requested that resurfcaing works be undertaken urgently on the N72 road at the junction.

"Parts of it are in a terrible condition. Even the relatively small amount of 10,000 would do an awful lot in terms of reinstating the tarmac there," he said.

Mr Moloney said he would raise the issue with TII, pointing out that it is they and not the council who are responsible for national road routes.Contracts to the value of just shy of 500,000 in Leader Projects have been signed by Cork County Council.

The first contract to be signed in the County was by Avondhu/Blackwater Development Partnership CLG for the construction of and commissioning of a specialised cheese dairy at Bo Rua Farm, Ballynoe which fell under the LEADER theme of Enterprise Development. This will enable them to scale up and commercialise their farmhouse cheese utilising the Dineen family farm Montbeliarde cows whose milk is used in traditional French cheese production.

Other projects include the development of playgrounds in Inniscarra Community Centre, Grenagh and Innishannon plus a project involving the erection of street name plates in Dunmanway. Chairman of the North Cork LDC, Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) said he is "very pleased" that at last works will commence on projects throughout the region.

The county mayor, Cllr. Declan Hurley said: "Cork County Council is delighted to be associated with these projects which will benefit communities and play a role in job creation."

There are also 24 projects to the value of approximately 1m approved by the Local Action Groups (LAGs) of North/South & West Cork which are going through the final steps prior to issuing contracts.

Tim Lucey, chief executive of Cork County Council said: "The LEADER programme is a European Union initiative to support rural development projects initiated at the local level in order to revitalise rural areas and create jobs. Overseen by the Department of Rural & Community Development, funding to the value of 13.93m has been allocated to Cork county over the five year period."

Regarding the funding, North will receive 5,091,845; South 3,831,303 and West: 5,015,674. Decisions on LEADER funding are made at a local level by the three Local Action Groups (LAG) North, South & West Cork which are a sub group of the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs). Cork County Council are the financial partners with the Department of Rural & Community Development for this programme. A Local Development Strategy forms the framework for decision making.

The programme is implemented on the ground by six 'implementing partners, namely: Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership CLG, SECAD Partnership CLG, Comhar na nOilean CTR, IRD Duhallow CLG, Ballyhoura Development CLG and Udaras Na Gaeltachta.

The LEADER programme launched in Cork in December 2016, with invitations for expressions of interest. A total of 469 expressions of interest have been received up to end of November 2017, with a combined value of 17,436,018,The Macroom-born boffin who has perfected a method for powering cars with biofuel developed using whiskey residue, has been awarded one of Britain's most prestigious honours.

Scotland-based Professor Martin Tangney made headlines last year when he successfully test drove a car fuelled by biobutanol - a biofuel made using whiskey byproducts that he said had the potential to spark a "revolution in sustainable transport".

In recognition of his groundbreaking work, Professor Tangney has been made an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth for his services to the engineering and energy industries. He said the accolade came "completely out of the blue".

"Growing up, this is the last thing I would have envisaged happening to a lad from Macroom.

"I can't overstate how much an honour this is and, amazingly, I find myself in the company of some very great Irish people who have done far more significant things than me," said Professor Tangney.

"Any honour of this magnitude is never the sole work of an individual and I owe this to very many people who have guided and shaped my career, and me as a person, over the years," he added.The narrow Inniscarra Bridge in Ballincollig struggles to accommodate the 7,500 vehicles that cross it every day but proposed traffic signals are expected to ease congestion considerably.

At the Blarney Macroom Municipal District meeting on Friday last, Niall O'Callaghan of Cork County Council gave a presentation on the current state of play at the "narrow bridge which is causing congestion and gridlock".

He said the proposed traffic signals will introduce "a shuttle system" which will only allow traffic to travel in one direction at a time.

"This will give greater control of the traffic flow on the bridge and alleviate peak hour congestion as well as providing safer conditions for all road users," he said. The meeting heard that on an average weekday 7,511 vehicles cross the bridge and the busiest day of the week is Tuesday with in excess of 1,000 vehicles during morning and evening peak hours. The bridge is only 4.5 metres wide and is "not ordinarily considered to be capable of taking two way traffic".

Two vehicles can only pass if they are both light vehicles but a car and a HGV (heavy goods vehicle) or two HGVs cannot pass.

Traffic modelling showed that the proposed traffic signal arrangement will operate approaching capacity during the morning and evening peak periods based on a cycle time of 90 seconds. But should traffic volume grow by 20% the junction would become saturated and significant queueing and delays would result. By extending the cycle time to 120 seconds the proposed arrangement would operate close to capacity even with the additional 20% traffic volume compared to the existing situation.

The meeting heard that the benefits of the option would mean that the signals would prevent two vehicles from meeting on the deck of the bridge.

The traffic signal controller is to be located at the southern side of the Lee within the grounds of Ballincollig Regional Park. A yellow hatch box is to be installed on the deck of the second arch bridge and all road markings at the junction of Inniscarra Road and Wood Road are to be revised to incorporate a yellow hatch box and central hatching.

Cllr Michael Creed (FG) welcomed the Part Eight and said he was delighted there was some solution to the ongoing problem. However, he tempered his comment by adding: "If it is gone into Cork city with the boundary just who will pay for it?."

Cllr Bob Ryan (FF) said what has been proposed will go a long way to resolving the issue but will not do so completely.

Cllr Ted Lucey (FG) said any improvement would be a "huge improvement" on the problems with the bridge. However, Mr O'Callaghan also pointed out at the meeting that "funding has not been sourced as yet".Last year was a very challenging year for the Motor Industry as new car registration for 2017 as anticipated was down 10% on the year previously.

Official statistics from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that new car registrations for the year 2017 finished at 131,356 which is down 10% on the 2016 figures of 146,649.

Although new Commercial Vehicle registrations showed an increase for both Light and Heavy Commercial Vehicles during the final month of the year, with very low volumes in December, this did not impact on the overall trend for the full year. New Light Commercial Vehicle registrations (LCV) at 24,195, recorded a fall of -14.2% for the year in 2017, while New Heavy Commercial Vehicle registrations (HGV) 2,602 saw a decrease of -9.4% over the 12 months compared to 2016 (2,873).

SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan said: "2017 was a very challenging year for the Motor Industry, mainly due to the impact of Brexit on Euro/Sterling exchange rates."

He said: " Without Brexit we would have anticipated a reasonable level of growth in the market but in the aftermath of the UK Brexit vote we had modified our projection to 132,000 and that prediction turned out to be very accurate with the car market finishing at 131,356. This number is still better than most recent years and produced reasonable volumes across all vehicle sales sectors."

Mr Nolan said as the new 181 sales period which is "hugely important" to their members who remain "optimistic for the coming year."

He said the obvious value available in the Irish new car market has been apparent over the past 12 months with only 79 new cars imported in 2017, despite the low value of sterling.

"While used imports have been increasing strongly new car imports have fallen by 25% in the last year and by almost 60% over the last three years," he said.In a fitting start to the New Year, Drogheda Classical Music is delighted to bring another stellar line-up of musicians to Drogheda.

On Friday, January 26th at 7.30pm German/Canadian cellist, Johannes Moser will be joined by Russian pianist, Andrei Korobeinikov for a programme of romantic and exciting works by Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. Described by Gramophone Magazine as 'one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists', German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world's leading orchestras and conductors.

Individually, both musicians have flourishing careers but have recently come together to record some of these great works and are thrilled to have the opportunity to perform them live together, in this their only performance in Ireland. He is equally at home performing as soloist or in small chamber groups and is deeply passionate about education and teaching. At just 31 years of age, pianist Andrei Korobeinikov has already had an astonishing career.

He gave his first public performance aged eight and went on to win a series of important competitions in Russia and the US. Today, like Johannes, he enjoys a successful career as soloist and chamber musician, working with many of the great orchestras, conductors and musicians. In a recent interview, Johannes Moser said that he was avoiding playing the Rachmaninov sonata until he had found the right duo partner. He added: 'Andrei Korobeinikov is a true master and true champion of this music and I feel very honoured to have him as a partner on this.' Composed during troubled periods in the composers' lives, the cello sonatas are life-affirming works.

Rachmaninov's sonata which he wrote following a nervous breakdown is similar to his popular Second Piano Concerto: a journey from brooding melancholy to unrestrained joy, with a beautiful slow movement. Prokofiev wrote his outstanding sonata while labouring under considerable hardship. It is restrained yet movingly lyrical, but the hair-raising final movement with its virtuosic passagework ends the work in a blaze of defiance. The programme also includes two shorter works, the gorgeous adagio from Prokofiev's Cinderella and the famous Rachmaninov Vocalise. Don't miss this Drogheda exclusive.

Advance tickets are 19 & 17 online / phone or 20 & 18 on the door. Student / children's tickets are 5. Booking is open through Droichead Arts Centre on 041 9833946 or www.droichead.com The Series is run in partnership with Droichead Arts Centre and funded by the Arts Council and Louth County Council. Artist accommodation is sponsored by the d Hotel and it receives advertising through RTE Supporting the Arts.Open letter to Taoiseach Varadkar and Minister Harris

Dear Sir,

I have written to many Government departments and offices, a number of times already in search for answers and help in getting access to a medicine that is working for me. Unfortunately, it is necessary for me to try again and put my case to someone who will listen to what I am trying to achieve and hopefully I will get a satisfactory answer and action.

My letters and questions put forward by Fergus O'Dowd, have been short and to the point. I believe that I have been forced to send this, because nothing what so ever, seems to be happening for me.

Gino Kenny's quotes in the Dail 08/12/17:

"But there's lessons to be learned here, and this should never happen to an individual again. It really throws up a lot of questions about the licensing system of the Government and why has only four licences been issued by our Minister for Health Simon Harris?"

"This Bill has been in the system for nearly 17 months and Irish citizens are still being forced into exile, or having to beg, steal, or borrow to get access to a medicine. A medicine that controls, epileptic seizures or could even save lives.

Deputy Kenny's Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill is currently moving through the Dail, at what he admits is a very slow pace, maybe some Irish citizens should start taking the same action as the citizens in Florida? https://hightimes.com/news/florida-lawsuit-aims-put-medical-marijuana-program-gear/

A Florida lawsuit aims to put its medical marijuana program into gear. "This is something Dublin needs to do now."

The suit begs the question: how long does it really take to implement a marijuana law?

The suit is against state health officials, suggests that Florida has been dragging its feet just like Dublin, when it comes to officially launching its comprehensive medical marijuana program. " It is being called, Compassionate Access Programme in Dublin."

I am informing you of this and what is possible, because I feel our Minister for Health, Simon Harris is leaving me with no alternative, but to break the law.

TDs or individuals working as employees of the Government at Leinster House, are supposed to give help to people in their community, with an aim to improve things for everybody in that community. I have heard that TDs spend a lot of time dealing with special interest organisations and special cases. E.g. Gino Kenny (People Before Profit) & Vera Twomey's case where her daughter was authorised a licence so she can legally receive Medical Cannabis in Ireland.

I am also looking for a TD/person, to help me and be a voice in Dail Eireann, to highlight my battle to keep my epileptic seizures under control.

I understand that TDs will spend time, developing new ideas and policies on issues that they are interested in.

I realise that one of the most important responsibilities TD's have, is assessing New Laws: One of the most important tasks of Dail Eireann is also making new laws. "This is something that is not happening fast enough, regarding making Medical Cannabis a legal Medicine in Ireland, as it is already, in so many other countries, including Belfast.

Most new laws and Bills are proposed by the Government, after the Taoiseach and Ministers have discussed the issue. This Bill has been in the system for nearly a year and a half where Gino Kenny has worked hard to "TRY" to make this a legal medicine and get this new law to become a reality.

"I must battle every day, to stay seizure free and to achieve this, I must break the law every month. All I am asking from Government members, is to decide on a course of action.

I am asking any Government member/person, who will invest time and will take an interest, in my case and battle to stay seizure free. To achieve this, all I am asking the reader of this letter is, write to or phone my neurologist Dr Delanty. I ask you to send him all the necessary paper work, so it will be possible for that doctor, to finely apply for a licence to our Minister for Health, so that same doctor, will be able to prescribe Alex Baizert Medical Cannabis (Both THC & CBD) the same as Ava Barry is receiving.

I myself have been taking these oils for over a year, my neurologist is fully aware. This government continues to force me, to break the law every month. I must get a small percentage of THC into me, which helps me control my epileptic seizures and gives me a better quality of life and my only way to do that is to buy cannabis and make the Cannabis Oil myself.

But our Minister Simon Harris, continues to refuse to give the name of the "Month & Year" this programme will be available to patients like myself and many others.

I understand that a proposed new law, such as making Medical Cannabis available to patients like myself, must to be debated in Dail Eireann and then in Seanad Eireann. This detailed look at the proposed law is very important to ensure that this new law, is fair and just. It should be the same for Bills and the faults found by the Health Committee should have been found, a lot earlier than 17 months.

When the United States of America is on the way to getting every state to accept Medical Cannabis, why cannot Ireland learn from the countries that are way ahead of this Government and make this a Medicine a lot faster, so that people like Alex Baizert do not have to break the law, to stay seizure free?

TDs will continue to debate the reason why, this new law has to be introduced and that is all that is going on, a lot of talk. While people like myself, are being left, to continue to have seizures or break the law to stay seizure free.

In the New Year, I am sure another group of TDs will form another committee with a new name (Experienced Group better than the current Expert Group) , which will examine this new law line by line. "Why were the errors in Gino Kenny's Bill, not found earlier?"

These TDs can try to change parts of this law or Bill. As you are aware a proposed change to the any new law or this Bill is called, an amendment and this is what is happening now, even our Minister for Health asked Gino Kenny to. "Work on this Bill.

TDs again have taken another a vote, to see if the majority of them want to amend this new law or Bill. I understand that this Bill has reached Committee stage and will get there some time, early in the New Year.

When the committee has finished its work the proposed Bill, will then be brought back to a full meeting of Dail Eireann again, where TDs again will, examine the amendments the committee might have made or that the Minister is proposing. Finally all TDs in Dail Eireann have to approve the proposed Bill again. If the TDs don't agree that it is a good idea to make this medicine legel, they will take another vote. "But those TD's are NOT taking the epileptic seizures and waiting for action.

I have written to you and I have spoken to, many TD's over the last year. Fergus O'Dowd is a local TD who has supported my battle to control my condition and make this a medicine. I have done this myself but I am currently, being forced to break the law every month. I am looking for help, from someone who will invest his or her time in my case.

At the moment, Irish citizens are still being forced to go to another country to be prescribed this medicine, medicinal cannabis that should be prescribed here. Unfortunately I am on a disability allowance and have been unemployed since my last brain surgery, two years ago. I cannot afford to go abroad. I am relying on my home country and the Government running this country.

I am only battling to stay seizure free and keep this better quality of life, I currently have found, thanks to Medical Cannabis.

Regards

Alex Baizert

DroghedaThere was good news for the Highlanes Gallery recently as it was revealed it will receive an increase of 7% towards the programme in the Strategic Funding Award from the Arts Council Ireland.

In a Facebook post about the funding, the gallery thanked the Arts Council for the award and the artists for their 'work, imagination and ingenuity' as well as the centre's loyal and increasing audiences, project partners and all who they interact with professionally.

'and all not without our committed team who take pride and passion in their work, and our board, Louth County Council, and sponsors, friends patrons and benefactors, stakeholders, and the community at large,' the post added.

The Arts Council allocated 28.4 million under its Strategic Funding Programme with grants made to 156 organisations in everything from literature, music, dance, theatre, and street art to circus, opera, spectacle, film, architecture and traditional arts, as well as arts in education.

The programme supports established organisations, with several groups also receiving funding at this level for the first time.

The council has also said it will increase funding next year through a new arts grants funding programme and has set aside 1.6 million for this purpose. It will be accepting applications to this programme from March.St Ita's Special School is to form part of a Europe-wide Erasmus Programme. It will see the school at Crushrod Avenue receive visitors from schools in the likes of Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Spain.

Local teachers will also be involved in the exchange programme by visiting schools in various parts of Europe. Funding for the project was secured at the end of last year. The programme will have an emphasis on the inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities in the community - entitled 'Positive Outcomes'. It will focus on young people from 5-18 years and how best they can prepare for life. For principal Michael Moley, it is a great chance for the staff in the local school to show their incredible ability. 'The staff do great work in St Ita's, they are brilliant,' he stated. He says the young people that attend the school are entitled to the same opportunities as anyone else and the school body is passionate about that.The management at The Riverside Park Hotel decided to dispense with the tradition of giving out corporate gifts this Christmas, in favour of giving something to families and individuals in the local community who really need it most.

Hotel owner Colm Neville and Manager Jim Maher were delighted to hand over a cheque for 5,000 to St Vincent de Paul to try and provide some relief at what is their busiest time of year.

Tom Brennan, Sean Fogarty and Orla Harrington of St Vincent de Paul were present to collect the cheque and thanked Mr Neville for his generous donation, saying that it would go a long way towards helping with the substantial costs that the organisation bears at this time of year.

'It really is a wonderful charity,' said Mr Neville. 'We're delighted to be able to donate and help.'There was great excitement at Rathnure National School recently as the stars of this season of Ireland's Fittest Family, the O'Connors from Templeudigan, dropped in to say hello and meet with the children there who had been cheering them on every week up to the final.

The family really captured the hearts of everyone in the local community as they battled against the odds to reach the final race, which they lost by just a couple of seconds to the Beirne family from Leitrim.

Despite having narrowly missed out, the family received a heroes welcome in their local community and everyone at Rathnure NS was delighted to see them following their recent exploits. Chris, Ciaran, Micheal and Roisin were greeted with rapturous applause as they entered the hall.

'It was emotional to welcome back these past pupils and their Dad,' said Principal Taragh Nolan.

'We were delighted to let them know exactly how proud we all are of them. They are winners in our eyes and we presented them with a Rathnure National School pen each and a photograph from the programme.'

The school also held a Christmas jumper fundraiser on the day which managed to raise 446 for Pieta House.Pictured at the graduation ceremony in Balbriggan were the successful participants of the Irish Cancer Societys We Can Quit programme with John McCormack, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society and the facilitators of the programme Nuala Kane from Blanchardstown Area Partnership and Rachel Moore

A group of women from Balbriggan are celebrating after completing a free programme called 'We Can Quit' which aims to help women quit smoking together.

In total, eight women from the area successfully completed the second 'We Can Quit' course which was held in Castleland Community Centre in Balbriggan. The women commenced the free 12-week programme in September.

They attended weekly group sessions and one to one support meetings as well as receiving 12 weeks of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to the value of 450 free of charge.

The programme was open to female smokers over the age of 18 years, living in the Balbriggan area.

Rachel Burke, Community Cancer Prevention Officer at the Irish Cancer Society said: 'We would like to congratulate all of the local women who successfully completed the We Can Quit programme. 'It is a fantastic achievement which will have a positive impact, not only on their lives, but on the lives of their families.'

Miss Burke added: 'We Can Quit offers women support to take on and succeed on their quitting journey. Through the programme, women can access a friendly and supportive network of like-minded women who really understand what they are going through.

'Together, the women in We Can Quit help each other to give up smoking for good.' We Can Quit is an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society and in partnership with the HSE, Blanchardstown Area Partnership and Hickey's Pharmacy in Balbriggan.

Further courses are scheduled in 2018 for the Corduff, Donabate and Kinsealy areas and interested participants can sign up online.

To find out more about We Can Quit or to register your interest for the next course, visit the Irish Cancer Society's website www.cancer.ie/we-can-quit or contact Rachel Burke on rburke@irishcancer.ie or 01 2316 669.Some 94 donors attended the recent mobile clinic in Skerries.

The number included 11 first-time donors and eight former donors.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has extended its thanks to voluntary organiser Sara Rock and the Skerries Community Centre for the use of their facilities.

Thanks was also extended to all those who attended or helped with the clinic in any way.

About 70,000 patients are transfused with blood each year in Irish hospitals. A total of 5,748 units were required in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin alone during 2016.Thanks to the generosity of the people of Gorey, the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership has been able to make its first donation of aid.

Dr Nalini Ambiavagar and Dr Mar Contell from the Palms surgery in Gorey, pulling two suitcases full of asthma inhalers and spacer devices, landed last month in the capital Lilongwe. Following a recovery sleep, they headed for Mzuzu, Malawi's fourth-largest town to begin the work of improving asthma care.

This is a diary of the trip by Dr Nalini Ambivagar:

Like everything else in Africa, relationships have to be built up to establish trust. Donor organisations come and go, and Africans get used to the fact that aid, freely available one month, is absent the next.

Dr Joe Gallagher has built up a trusting relationship with Master Chisale, a laboratory scientist at Mzuzu Central Hospital, who understands that we do not wish to absent ourselves any time soon. This relationship will be central to delivery of our educational messages, and any other resources we can harness.

Malawi is emerging from the devastation of the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s thanks to the programme of anti-retroviral drugs available through charitable donation. As life expectancy rises, Malawi, like Ireland, must learn how to identify and treat illnesses which were much less common.

Adult onset diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic lung disease, epilepsy, asthma and many others now present to hospitals and clinics in increasing numbers. We asked Master Chisale to choose a disease of priority to Mzuzu Central Hospital, and he chose asthma.

As a busy surgery, already coping with the demands of our own service to our Gorey patients, we have asked ourselves what is the most efficient way to assist in asthma care?

We aim not just to take donations out to Malawi, but to provide support to the doctors and other clinical staff out there. This support is in the form of education, record systems, and management protocols.

We are hoping to train some of the local healthcare staff so that they will be the ones to provide the care in future, thus providing a sustainable development.

Our first challenge was to establish what medications were presently being used to treat asthma in Malawi?

Most Irish asthmatics will have heard of salbutamol (market leader Ventolin). This is the drug most widely used in asthma's blue 'reliever' inhalers taken to relieve cough and wheezing, and in the plug-in nebuliser for younger children or more breathless patients.

Imagine how your health service might cope if it did not have a supply of this drug all year round? Or did not have spacer devices to administer more easily to children? Or had an intermittent supply of electricity to power the nebuliser? Or only had one nebuliser mask shared among all patients with its attendant risk of spreading infections from one patient to the next?

We discovered that an inexpensive drug freely available on the maternity ward, magnesium sulphate, could also be used in the breathless asthmatic, and therefore suggested that this drug could be used to treat asthma at Mzuzu Central Hospital.

It was important to for us to get a handle on what kind of conditions were presenting to the hospital and we arranged to do a ward round on the children's ward and to visit the adult outpatient clinic.

Again we were reminded that we were in one of the poorest countries in the world. Patients were unable to attend the hospital regularly to get their treatment and the hospital unable to get a regular and constant supply of drugs.

Blood pressure medications were frequently switched to whatever drug was available in the pharmacy, regardless of whether or not the patient's blood pressure was controlled on the drug. In spite of this, the patients themselves were not complaining.

The next day was the culmination of our trip. We made a presentation to the medical staff in Mzuzu Central. The room was packed with clinical officers, trained healthcare workers who are the backbone of the health service, and with student nurses but only the doctors seemed to be engaged and interested in what we were saying.

In spite of this, I think we got them interested enough to try and manage the asthma on a more steady basis.

After the presentation, we made a video with one of the student nurses. It was to demonstrate the use of the spacer devices which we had brought. These are used for children principally, or very breathless patients, to ensure the drug gets from inhaler to the lungs.

Understandably, the student did not know how to use the device, so before we could film him, we had to teach him how to use it.

Our second presentation was to the nursing tutors in St John's College of Nursing, a nursing school started by the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary.

This was much more satisfying as they were far more interested and engaged with us. They were asking questions throughout and making comments about what they were doing themselves.

Interestingly, one of them had even used magnesium sulphate. The nursing tutors were very keen to have a protocol to follow on the wards, and we passed the information on to them. It finally felt like we had made some progress.

Before we left Mzuzu, we had a Skype session with our colleagues in the Palms, Gorey.

After a brief educational presentation from Drs Peter Harrington and Joe Gallagher at the Palms, students from Mzuzu University and St John's made a presentation about asthma and bronchitis.

They all seemed to enjoy it and felt that they were being heard. Hopefully Skype will be a useful way of maintaining our educational inputs over time.

Since our return, we have been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm we seem to have generated and the appetite for learning new stuff. Dr Joe Gallagher has had approaches from Malawi for Skype sessions for further educational experiences.

We wish to thank the people of Gorey, who have given so generously to us and made all of this work possible. To our fellow staff at the Palms surgery who rode in behind us and facilitated fundraising. And to Wade's pharmacy and Grant's pharmacy for assisting so generously with the gathering of inhalers.

We hope our trip has demonstrated our goodwill. With ongoing support of the people of Gorey we hope to be able to continue our work in the years to come.

Donations still welcome via malawi@thepalmssurgery.com or through the reception staff at the Palms surgery.The Cable property at Heart's Content, Canada, with significant ties to the history of global telecommunications, is one step closer to becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is very significant news for Valentia Island's campaign for recognition as an Industrial World Communications site as the first tran-Atlantic cable laid between Europe and America occurred at the points of Valentia and Heart's Content.

On Wednesday, Canada's Minister responsible for Park Canada, Catherine McKenna, announced that the Heart's Content Cable Station Provincial Historic Site is one of eight places the country is adding to its tentative list for World Heritage Sites consideration.

Heart's Content was the final destination for the first successful trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, connecting the Trinity Bay community to Valentia, Ireland. The cable station itself was originally built in 1876, with an extension added in 1918. It operated until the 1960s. Today, the building serves as a museum and gift shop.

Prior to the Canadian announcement, Micheal Lyne of the Valentia Island Development Company and the campaign to recognise Valentia Island, through the significance of the Cable laying, as a World Unesco Communications Site, wrote thus in the recently published Valentia Island Newsletter of 2017:

"Every 10 years, each country establishes what is known as a tentative list of around 10 projects on which they are prepared to work with communities and can, if the government so desires, submit one project to UNESCO, Paris, each year for consideration(no guarantee).

"Currently, Ireland has seven projects on our tentative list which was updated in 2010, with little or no progress on any project. The Republic of Ireland has but two recognized sites, the last to be recognized was the Skelligs in 1996. Our tentative list will again open in 2020 and the hope is that we can make it onto that list.

"Meanwhile, Canada's tentative list opened last January and Newfoundland has applied to get Heart's Content onto the Canadian list. There have been 41 applications in Canada and less than 10 will succeed to make their tentative list. Should Heart's Content succeed in Canada, there is the possibility that both the Irish and Canadian Governments will take a joint approach which, in effect, would mean that we wouldn't have to wait until 2020 for the Irish Tentative List to open. There is a long road here with very many obstacles and no guarantee of success either way. However, it's our intention to forge ahead anyway and develop the museum on the ground floor of the station with an innovation centre upstairs to include high speed broadband."

Den (89) worked hard to build a good life in England

On Friday, December 23, the death occurred at the age of 89 of Denis (Den) Murphy, who resided in Rusthall Avenue, Chiswick, West London, and was originally from Chapeltown, Valentia Island.

His parents were Michael (Mikey) and Ellen Murphy of the Chapel Road in Chapeltown

Den, similarly to so many people from the Valentia and Iveragh area, emigrated from his native island to England in 1952.

He first worked in the building sites of Birmingham and subsequently worked in various areas throughout England to finally work and settle in London. His employment saw him operate with such well-known and long-established companies as McAlpine, John Lang, and the Murphy brothers of neighbouring Renard.

Those were the days when Irish people went in huge numbers to England with many engaged in the hard graft of physical work in the building sites and roads of Britain; an era of mass Irish construction employment of nature and numbers that will hardly be repeated in future times.

Some, unfortunately, fell on hard times in the loneliness of the major cities of Britain but many, such as Den, made good lives for themselves to retire and finish with a comfortable and good quality of life there.

When this scribe visited him at his home in Chiswick last March, he was in the company of his daughter Eileen; her husband, Doug Jackson; as well as his granddaughter and baby great granddaughter. He was very interested in the goings on at his home in Valentia Island and enquired of and spoke of old friends, many long gone.

He bought The Kerryman newspaper diligently and was recently very disappointed when the nearby shop, in which he purchased it, closed.

Den Murphy, whose English-born wife, Ivy, passed away in 2013, was one of the last of his era of many Valentia Islanders who left for England in the '50s and early '60s

On Thursday, January 25, his remains will arrive at 5pm to Our Lady of Grace & St Edward Church in Chiswick. After Requiem Mass at 12.30pm on Friday, January 26, his burial will take place in Morplake Cemetery, Clifford Ave. London. SW14 7BU.

Sincere condolences are offered to his daughters Joanne and Eileen and their families; sisters Kit (Birmingham) and Nancy (Sister Brendan, Birmingham); brothers Pat Joe (Birmingham) and John (West Country, England); nieces; nephews; and all concerned. Solas siorai do.

Over 60 attend Glor na nGael event

A special thanks to everyone who attended the Glor na nGael-sponsored Irish language culture event 'as Gaeilge' on Thursday, December 21, at the Royal Hotel, An Chois, Dairbhre.

Over 60 adults and children were in attendance that evening and it was great to see the progress the primary school children are making with their dance teacher, Rebecca Galvin, in set dancing, sean-nos, and with the brush dance. It's wonderful to see so many boys take an interest in dancing and keep this long cultural tradition of men dancing with women going into future generations.

Jane O'Connor from Portmagee and Julia Cooper from Valentia - who are both fabulous sean-nos dancers, having competed in Scor na bPaisti, Fleadh and the Oireachtas - joined them on the night and impressed us all with their great footwork. They are both great role models for the younger children. A few Irish poems and a short story, 'An Fear Sneachta', were heard and a number of books, courtesy of Comhchoiste Ghaeltacht Uibh Rathaigh, were given out and were positively received by the children. There is a continued interest here on the Island in the Irish language, and events like these help to get us all together, embrace our language and do our part to speak Gaolainn.

We are delighted to note that this gathering wasn't the only one that day where Teanga na nGael was faoi lanluas. The amount of free flowing Gaeilge heard, spoken and enjoyed at the hair salon, 'A New You' by Marie Walsh-Hurley and her team on the Cooil Road, was heart-warming to say the least. Patrons left the salon that day not only with great Christmas haircuts and styling, but also with the reminder that one can have just as much fun communicating ' as Gaeilge' as you can with any other language.

Distinguished visitor with impressive rugby credentials

GG O'Sullivan is a Valentia Islander based in Dublin since the '70s. A keen sporting enthusiast, he has for many years been a loyal supporter of the Shannon Rugby Club in Limerick.

His association with that club has seen him develop a strong friendship with Gerry 'Ginger' McLoughlin, the former Shannon prop forward and 18 times capped Irish rugby international. McLoughlin was on the Irish team who won the Triple Crown in 1982 and will forever be associated with his world-famous push-over try of that year in Twickenham versus England.

Ollie Campbell converted the try, and subsequent victory over Scotland gave Ireland its first Triple Crown since 1949. He also toured with the Lions in 1983 and was a Labour county councillor and former Lord Mayor of Limerick.

Gerry, affectionately referred to as 'Locky' in Limerick, was in Valentia, staying with GG over the Christmas holiday period, and danced the night away in the Ring Lyne Bar on New Year's eve. He also visited the home of Con 'Hayes' O'Connor of Killalin, Over-The Water, in Cahirsiveen.Displaying details of their Rewire the rules project are (from left) Clara Hanrahan, Kayla Hannon and Niamh OCarroll from Tarbert Comprehensive

Thirty-one students representing 7 secondary schools in Kerry will put their creative projects on display at this year's BT Young Scientists & Technology Exhibition which takes place at the RDS in Dublin starting today (Wednesday) until January 13.

The formation of this year's projects consists of six individual and 10 group projects, covering a cross-section of different categories such as Social and Behavioural Sciences, Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences, Biology & Ecology, and Technology.

The students are said to be excited over the prospect of a trip to Dublin where the culmination of many months of preparation and researching their ideas comes to a head in what is a huge source of pride for the students, their families and their schools.

Killorglin Community College (KCC) have four entrants this year. Student Cian Lynch assesses the impact daily routines have on exam results; Chloe Nagle's 'Organo Chew' is a natural method for breaking down pesky chewing gum on street pavements; Lily Eyers' 'Rear Guard' is an advanced safety warning for cyclists based on the reversing senses used in cars which have been adapted and integrated to suit bicycles, while Timothy McGrath demonstrates ways to purify Vibrio Cholera infected water in third world countries.

Donal O'Reilly is Deputy Principal of KCC and he expressed the school's pride. "We're proud and it's become an annual event for us now as we've attended exhibitions for the last 4 years. This is an award in itself as only 10 percent of applicants make it through to the finals. The students are looking forward to it," Donal said.

At Tralee CBS 'The Green' students Kian Trant, Seamus Knightly and Conor Crowley will showcase a project entitled: 'Blind and Elderly Assistance Project - artificial intelligence for the blind' which explores the use of coding and smart technology in helping to improve the quality of life for visually impaired people.

Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee also has four projects this year with Ella Itsede's statistical analysis on the negative attitudes towards the Papilloma Virus Vaccine (Ella has had support from Dr Tom Farrelly in ITT and she was granted access to a survey instrument previously only used in the US). Olivia Moriarty and Tamila Khussainova investigate the teaching and learning of Junior Cycle physics and the promotion of STEM subjects to girls; the development of an antimicrobial smartphone screen protector is the project of Robin Porter, while Ciara Murphy and Jessica Oke Cotter examine the knowledge young adults have today about homelessness.

Tarbert Comprehensive School (TCS) will head to Dublin with two projects as Rachel O'Connor and Roisin Moran present 'Unknown Jobs for Dogs'. This is about spreading awareness on assistance dogs and the life changing support they provide for people with disabilities. The school's second project is 'Life Saving Sensor' by Clara Hanrahan, Niamh O'Carroll and Kayla Hannon. The girls have created a mobile phone device for cars aimed at improving road safety. "The students are very proud to be representing their school and their county and this event is extremely good in terms of developing the overall educational experience of students," said TCS teacher, Gerard Nash.

St Brendan's College in Killarney is represented by Colm Looney, Darragh Fleming and Ethan O'Neill who examine the risk of deer collisions on roads using a combination of resources aimed at locating 'Smart Signage' in areas where deer are sighted in high numbers. Also representing St Brendan's is Harry and James Knovleuch and Oran O'Donoghue who have studied 'conformity' and the ways in which minorities influence it.

Staying in Killarney where a group from St Brigid's Secondary School - Eimear Beasley, Caoimhe O'Connor and Kate Lynch-O'Doherty - explore the technological world and its life changing effects.

Meanwhile, Triona Ui Mhaolchatha of Gaelcholaiste Chiarrai, Tralee. expressed the school's delight at bringing two projects to the exhibition. Aindriu Muimhneachain and Sean O Loinsigh have a project on the resistance to antibiotics in agriculture, while Leah Ni Sheanachain and Cian O Muireagain's project compares properties of a cube and a tetrahedron.

"These students have put in a lot of work and have given up their time. They're very in-depth projects and it's a great opportunity for them," Triona said.Two-year-old Siobhan Mather, whose parents are from Glencar, is fighting for her life after being diagnosed with a very rare form of child cancer

The two-year-old daughter of Glencar couple, Sarah and Anthony Mather, now living in London, has been left fighting for her life after she was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of child cancer.

Siobhan Mather, who is in the early stages of her chemotherapy at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, is described by all who meet her as a "beautiful angel". She is described as having brought fun and feistiness to her family's life. Her independent character is a joy for everyone around her to experience.

She was just two years' old when she was taken to the GP by her parents, who had noticed that she had become lethargic. After being referred to the Barnet General Hospital in North London, it was discovered that Siobhan had a tumour; she was then transferred to the Great Ormond Street Hospital where she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a very rare cancer which only affects 100 children per year in the UK.

Due to the high chance of relapse with this form of neuroblastoma, Siobhan is in critical need of clinical trials abroad, in this case the US; the total cost of the Siobhan's treatment along with all other associated travelling abroad costs, is estimated at 220,000 (250,000).

"She is the bravest two-year-old girl that I have ever seen and she is taking everything that this terrible disease can throw at her in her stride," said Stephanie Kelleher, organiser of a fundraising drive for Siobhan's treatment.

"I had only seen photos of Siobhan on Facebook but I got to meet her in person just before Christmas and I just couldn't get her out of my head. I felt I had to do something. Having small children myself, I would hope everyone would do the same and rally together for me," Stephanie continued.

In order to get access to this alternative treatment, Siobhan's family and friends are fundraising to give help give Siobhan an extra chance of fighting the disease.

"It would really help even if you can spare just 1 towards her treatment. She is an amazing little girl and she deserves every chance to live her life," Stephanie finished.

So far, almost 45,000 of the 220,000 has been raised for Siobhan's fight; the link to the JustGiving fundraising page can be found on The Kerryman Facebook page or at the link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/thebradleyloweryfoundation/siobhanmather.A 20-year-old man who wants to join the British Army has been banned from driving for 12 years and has paid over 3,000 to the poor box - after driving without insurance on six different occasions in Kenmare and in Killarney.

Robin Martin, of Cappanacush West, Greenane, Killarney pleaded guilty at Kenmare District Court to driving without insurance on September 25, 2016 ; and January 14, April 18, May 7, May 9, and June 10 , 2017 at locations in Kenmare and Killarney.

Kenmare Sgt Derek Fleming said there was "no excuse " and he should have learned his lesson after the first time. However, he kept driving without insurance and the detections were all within a short time frame.

"He's not a trouble maker per se," the sergeant said in reply to Judge James O'Connor.

Mr Martin's solicitor Padraig O'Connell said his client was in court with his mother. His father was very ill. He asked that he would not get jail. His client accepted he would be convicted and he also already paid 2,250 to the court poor box.

His mother had borrowed a further 1,000 which was also donated to the poor box at the court sitting on Friday.

"We have a young man working all hours in the hotels to put money aside for the poor box. He has applied to become a member of the armed forces in the six counties." Mr O'Connell said.

However the army application could not progress if he were jailed said Mr O'Connell.

Judge O'Connor asked the man's mother if she were Irish and the woman said she was.

"It's the Irish guards regiment he wants to join," the woman said.

Judge O'Connor convicted him on all six counts and banned him from driving for 12 years but warned he would be jailed if he came before him again. A fine of 125 was also imposed.Fethard RNLI launched its inshore lifeboat on New Year's Day to conduct a joint search with Fethard Coast Guard after a reported sighting of a kayak floating in the sea in the water off Crooke Chapel, Passage East, Waterford.

Fethard Lifeboat crew was requested to launch their inshore lifeboat at 1.50 p.m. They quickly assembled at the station and the lifeboat immediately proceeded to Duncannon beach where they launched to carry out a search for the kayak.

Weather conditions at the time were choppy with a strong west north west Force 6 wind.

The crew located the kayak which had run aground at Glenwater Bay halfway between Arthustown and Duncannon.

Meanwhile, Fethard Coast Guard unit were carrying out a search of the shore.

The kayak had become afloat after a kayaker had left it unattended while the tide was rising.

Hugh Burke, Fethard RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: 'Prevention is always better. We were aware that there was nobody in trouble but to prevent unnecessary calls it was better to locate the abandoned kayak as early as possible. The search proved to be a great example of interagency work between ourselves and our colleagues in the Irish Coast Guard. If you lose a kayak or a board, please report it to the Coast Guard or the Gardai.'Creagh College Gorey students Brandon Paisley and Sam Walsh whose Dia-Beating Hypos project is one of five entries from County Wexford schools on show at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Dublins RDS this week, pictured with their science teacher, Enda Gallagher and Creagh College principal, Paul Glynn

Six projects from five schools in county Wexford have qualified for this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin.

Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy will present two projects at the show, while Creagh College in Gorey, FCJ Secondary School in Bunclody and St Peter's College and Loreto Secondary School in Wexford will display one.

The nationwide event is in its 54th year and received an impressive 2,031 projects this year, with only 550 qualifying for the exhibition which will be held in the RDS in Dublin starting tomorrow (Wednesday, January 10), until Saturday, January 13.

Students Conor De Ruit and Robbie Mac Giolla De from Irish-speaking school Meanscoil Gharman have investigated the effects of gender quotas on the makeup of Dail Eireann before and after gender quotas were introduced in 2012.

Also from Meanscoil Gharman, Conn Caomhanach O Muiris, Con O Meachair and Jack O Nuallain De Fuitnigh are investigating how effective EM probiotics are in water treatment as a cleaning product and as a natural biological decomposer.

Pierce Ryan from FCJ Secondary School has created Madralert - a methane gas alarm for dogs. The Madralert is programmed using software programme Snap4Aduino and has an input and output sensor, which detects methane and emits a high pitched sound that deters dogs.

Loreto Secondary School student Amy Richards will experiment with the use of essential oils for the control of bacteria and is aiming to investigate the antimicrobial effects of plant essential oils in a natural soap.

Dia-beating Hypos project by Creagh College students Brandon Paisley and Sam Walsh aims to create a surgery drink that will effectively treat hypoglycaemic episodes in diabetics as opposed to current methods on the market at the moment.

Jack Hayden, Adam Mullins and Daniel McCarthy from St Peter's College are aiming to look at the effects of waterborne contaminants due to climate change and pollution on plant physiology.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony which will take place on Friday, January 12 at 5.30 p.m., with Minister of Education and Skills Richard Bruton in attendance.Sandbags stacked up in preparation for Storm Eleanor at New Ross Boat Club

Wexford escaped the brunt of Storm Eleanor last Tuesday and Wednesday despite storm-force winds and considerable rainfall across many parts of the county.

The New Ross district was the worst affected with flash flooding while there were a small number of trees down in the Enniscorthy district.

However Wexford County Council was prepared for the worst and after Met Eireann issued an Orange Wind warning for large parts of Ireland including Wexford as Storm Eleanor moved in from the Atlantic the council's Emergency Management Committee held an urgent meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

The Committee took the decision to place all council emergency services crews on standby throughout the evening and also directed that Wexford Civil Defence teams be on standby also. Flood barriers were also erected at key locations while the council's out of hours emergency line was also manned.

It said its 'main concern is in respect of severe winds, as speeds 65 to 80 km/h, gusting to 110 to 130 km/h., were expected'. The storm was expected to be most severe in Wexford between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

The council has advised the public to avoid unnecessary journeys, to stay away from piers and coastal areas and to be alert for downed trees and electricity wires.

Fortunately the county was relatively unscathed in the storm with reports of a small number of trees down in the Enniscorthy District, and some instances of minor flooding in New Ross and Ballyhack, Arthurstown and Wellingtonbridge areas.

Wexford County Council received eight storm-related calls to its out of hours emergency contact number between 5 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning. All incidents were responded to immediately by the council's on-call crews.

Following on from Storm Eleanor the council praised its 'emergency response personnel, outdoor staff, fire crews, engineering and management staff and Civil Defence volunteers for their swift and professional response to the potential threat posed by this latest storm incident'.Tributes have been paid to the chief of local manufacturing firm Avenue Mould Solutions and 2003 Business Person of the Year Felim McNeela on his retirement this Christmas.

Felim was one of six founding members of the plastic mould firm in 1988 and lead the company for the past thirty years. Known for his quiet style of leadership and passion for toolmaking skills the Enniscrone native steered the Avenue ship through several recessions, always believing in their world-class excellence. His belief paid off when Avenue won Best in Class at the biggest Industrial Plastic Awards in the UK and Ireland in 2001. The firm would go on to be finalists on 13 occasions since then.

Felim grew the number of staff from the original six to 60 employees today.

He met his fellow founders, Des Forde (Commercial Director), Paul Mulligan (Design Manager), Noel Gerrity (Production Manager), Joe Hunt, Billy Gaffney and the late Leo Rooney at Sligo Tool & Die in the '80's before they decided to set up Avenue.

Felim had a vision to grow the company into an international business - a dream finally realised when Avenue was snapped up by US multinational GW Plastics in July 2017. At the time, Felim said the Avenue team was drawn to the cultural fit between both companies and to the capital and resources the partnership will bring to Avenue.

Co-founders Des Forde and Paul Mulligan told The Sligo Champion that his greatest legacy was "the company he has left behind today."

"We started off from a low-tech region and today we are one of the top medical mould makers in the world," said Paul.

On his retirement, staff designed him an Avenue logo engraved with each name of the 135 employees, many of whom Felim either saved from emigration or attracted home.

A spokesperson for Sligo Chamber of Commerce described Felim as a "thorough gentleman, the quiet man of business in Finisklin and so passionate about Sligo."

"They are the best in the world and Felim gets that. He's very influential," they added. Avenue staff and management wish him every health and happiness in his retirement.At the launch of the card at the Sligo County Museum were (left to right): Sam Moore, IT Sligo Archaeology Department (Organiser of Cromlechs, Crannogs and Cures, the W.G. Wood-Martin conference), Councillor Cathaoirleach Seamus Kilgannon, Richard Wood-Martin, great grandson of author Colonel William Gregory Wood-Martin (1847-1917), County Librarian Donal Tinney and Museum Attendant Ms. Angela McGurrin

A new commemorative library card has been launched by Sligo Library Service.

The Colonel William Gregory Wood-Martin card was specially commissioned by County Librarian Donal Tinney to mark the 100 year anniversary of the death of the famous Sligo author, historian and archaeologist and features a map of Sligo from his book "Sligo and the Enniskilleners".Concerns have been raised by the level of tree planting in rural areas with locals saying they cannot compete against investor companies for land.

The issues have been raised by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association.

They met with MEP Mairead McGuinness who said that national forestry targets, while important in terms of meeting climate action targets, must take account of community and local concerns.

She said targets to increase the area under trees from 11pc to 18pc risks not being achieved, unless something is done to tackle perceptions among farmers about forestry and reassure certain regions that there is no national strategy to cover their territory with trees to the exclusion of people.

"Trees are a farming enterprise, not an anti-farming activity, with environmental and sustainability benefits for the community, but community concerns need to be heard," she said.

She said five counties - Leitrim, Cavan, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo - have seen a significant increase in planting, accounting for one third of the afforestation Programme in 2016.

Over 30pc of planting is being undertaken by investors, with no links to local communities.

Gerry Loftus, chairman of the forestry committee of the association expressed concern about the proliferation of plantations, without due regard to concerns of neighbouring farmers and other householders.

"Tax and other incentives are encouraging investors to look to forestry as a long-term investment. This is a cause of concern and in Leitrim, it is adding to a negative perception of forestry.

"Competition for land between local farmers who wish to expand their holdings and investors who want to plant the land is leading to resentment - with forestry investors able to outbid farmers for land."

She said there is also an issue about what is perceived to be a lax planning process for plantations. "Home owners express concern about being surrounded by trees - impeding their view and negatively impacting their way of life.

"In overall terms Ireland has the lowest forestry cover in the EU, with about 10pc of our lands - some 750,000 hectares under trees.

"And we have a competitive advantage in growing timber, with growth rates of certain tree species more than double those achievable in other European countries." She said the total value of Irish industry to the economy is 2.3 billion, supporting almost 12,000 jobs primarily in rural areas.The UK Government has confirmed that a specific event will be held in December this year to commemorate 100 years since the election of Countess Markievicz to its parliament.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that a centenary celebration was warranted to mark the role women have played in the House of Commons.

Though Markievicz, who was a republican and Sinn Fein member, wasn't mentioned by name as the first woman elected, a spokesperson for the House of Commons has confirmed she will feature in Westminster commemorations. Constance Markievicz played a prominent role in the 1916 Rising and was sentenced to death afterwards, although her life was spared.

She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons in a general election held in December 1918, but, as a Sinn Fein candidate with a policy of abstentionism, she didn't take her seat in Westminster.

She was the first female minister in the Ireland's first Dail, and the second woman in the world to hold a Cabinet position as Minister for Labour from 1919 - 1922. She grew up in the family home at Lissadell House.Retribution and regret are saddle-sore travelling companions in writer-director Scott Cooper's gritty western, set during the final years of the bloodthirsty war between the United States Army and Native Americans.

Adapted from an unproduced manuscript by screenwriter Donald E Stewart, Hostiles cocks its pistol towards political correctness by apportioning blame for the slaughter to both sides of the conflict.

As one white soldier in the film confesses: 'We're all guilty of something.'.

Cooper's script isn't inclined to rigorously debate moral ambiguities and characters sometimes enforce racial and tribal stereotypes for the sake of dramatic expediency.

However, boundaries between conventional heroes and villains are intriguingly blurred, and justice is seldom granted to battle-scarred characters as they endure 'the Lord's rough ways'.

Christian Bale delivers a blistering performance as a world-weary army captain, whose humanity is revitalised by an unexpected encounter with the sole survivor of a Comanche attack.

Played to the emotionally raw hilt by Rosamund Pike, this grief-numbed widow is both a victim and an angel of compassion and mercy, who lassos courage in the most devastating circumstances.

The on-screen pairing of the two British actors elevates Cooper's film.

Captain Joseph J Blocker (Bale) has so much blood on his hands, one antagonistic journalist quips: 'Is it true you took more scalps than Sitting Bull?'

A military man of few words and questionable deeds, Blocker begrudgingly escorts his sworn enemy - Cheyenne tribal chef Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) - from a prison cell at Fort Berringer in New Mexico to the Valley Of the Bears in Montana.

Yellow Hawk is gravely ill and wishes to be at one with his ancestors, surrounded by family including his son Black Hawk (Adam Beach) and daughter-in-law Elk Woman (Q' orianka Kilcher).

Blocker shepherds the Cheyenne prisoners south, accompanied by Master Sergeant Thomas Metz (Rory Cochrane), Lieutenant Rudy Kidder (Jesse Plemons), Corporal Henry Woodson (Jonathan Majors) and Private Philippe DeJardin (Timothee Chalamet).

En route, the posse befriends Rosalie Quaid (Pike), whose husband and children have been slaughtered by Comanches, and accepts a new commission to escort murderer Sergeant Charles Wills (Ben Foster) to the gallows.

The condemned man and Blocker have history.

'We both know it could just as easily be you in these chains,' growls Wills.

Tension percolates between prisoners and escorts as they mosey through Comanche territory.

Hostiles trots when it could gallop, allowing resentment and rivalries to fester against the backdrop of the Mountain States, which provide a breathtaking canvas for Japanese cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi.

The roughly hewn beauty of these locations contrasts with the darkness that takes root in the hearts of men, for whom the violence of a gunfight is second nature.

The west wasn't won - it was brutally, forcibly taken, and never returned.There was much sadness at the news that Linda Saunders passed away peacefully on New Year's Day after a brave battle against illness.

She had only moved to Slaney Woods in Co Wexford at the end of October.

Highly respected within the local Wicklow community, Linda was involved in a multitude of different organisations, including positions with Wicklow Chamber of Commerce (she was a former CEO) and the National Transport Authority (NTA).

She was also heavily involved with playing bridge and was both a member and a past-President of the Neptune Bridge Club and also served in the East Region Executive.

She also led a campaign for a bridge centre in Wicklow town to accommodate all the bridge clubs in the area.

Linda was the CEO of Wicklow Chamber of Commerce for two years, from 2003 to 2005, where she increased revenues, created a regular newsletter and inaugurated the 'shop local' campaign.

She was a Senior Transportation Planner for the Dublin Transportation Office from 2007 to 2010 and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the NTA in 2009. She also became Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee.

She was the Regional Manager for Wicklow during the 2006 Census and spent a year acting as a consultant for Wicklow County Tourism.

For 20-years she ran the Old Rectory Country House and Restaurant in Wicklow town with her husband Paul.

The four-star hotel won many awards for its high standard of accommodation, while the restaurant also received plenty of recognition. They sold the business in 1999.

From 1999 to 2000, Linda served as the Chairperson of the Wicklow Branch of the Irish Hotel Federation.

Prior to moving to County Wicklow, Linda worked in the United Kingdom as a Transportation Planner for the Greater London Council up until 1976.

More recently, she was part of the Wicklow Head Preservation Group which won a heritage award from the Wicklow Uplands Council for maintaining the Three Lighthouse laneway.

She entered a stretch of the laneway into the PURE Mile competition and also wrote a book about the history of the lighthouse and the lane.

Linda was also extremely well-travelled and organised trips-abroad with a group of friends. Destinations included Cuba, South Africa, Hawaii, Egypt and Thailand.

They went on to sell the business in 1999.

Linda is survived by her husband Paul, her daughter Eleanor and her son Daniel.

Renowned for her caring nature, Linda decided to leave her body to medical science in the hope that she could help others once she had passed.Bank of Ireland staff raised 39,472 for charitable causes in Wicklow in 2017 through the bank's charity and community initiative, Give Together.

The charity programme gives the bank's staff throughout Ireland the chance to lend support to their chosen charities or causes through fundraising and volunteering. In total, just over 1.55 million was raised by bank staff across the country and over 900 days were volunteered this year.

Bank of Ireland also supported three flagship charities last year, namely Age Action, the Irish Heart Foundation and the Jack & Jill Children's Foundation.

As part of this, 46 events, such as coffee mornings and digital skills workshops were held across the country (including one in Wicklow) as part of Age Action's 'Positive Ageing Week'. The bank's support is also helping the Irish Heart Foundation, as part of its 'CRP 4 Schools' programme, to bring lifesaving training to 400 schools over the next two years, including nine schools to date in Wicklow. The support is also helping the Jack & Jill Foundation to support 338 families across Ireland, including 10 in Co Wicklow.

'It is significant that through the combined efforts of our colleagues and Give Together support over 39,000 has been raised for charitable organisations and that many community groups and initiatives in Wicklow have been supported,' said Maria Coleman, Head of Bank of Ireland in County Wicklow.Arklow has received a commitment from the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, that the urgently required flood defence works on the North Beach will be the focus of his department's attentions.

Following a tour of the area, in somewhat blustery and wet weather conditions yesterday (Tuesday), Minister Moran was briefed by Arklow Municipal District and local politicians as to the urgent need for coastal protection works to be installed.

Wicklow County Council engineer Robert Mulhall outlined the situation to the Minister and updated him on various unsuccessful attempts to secure funding for the works, despite previous commitments from the Office of Public Works.

It is understood that Department officials will meet with local council officials within two weeks in an attempt to progress matters.

While no timeline or funding figure was agreed, local councillor Pat Fitzgerald said that, in his view, it was a positive meeting.

'I was very impressed with the Minister and he gave more commitment than I have heard previously. It was not about politics and he said that he would like to see something permanent done here in Arklow,' said Cllr Fitzgerald.

'I think everyone came away with the same opinion. The Minister was very well briefed on the situation in Arklow as well as the planned sewage treatment plant and he was very interested to see the entire area which could be affected if flood defences are not installed,' he said.

According to Deputy Pat Casey, the works are badly needed and, along with proposed works at The Murrough in Wicklow town, would represent 'value for money'.

'There is cross-party political agreement in Wicklow on the need for both towns to be upgraded and the public expenditure involved would represent value for money as both Wicklow and Arklow are important urban areas with significant infrastructure that needs protection. I am hopeful that Minister Moran will now be able to seek the support that he needs from his colleagues in Government. Both towns need to see action on this and I will be continuing to work with Minister Moran and our Councillors in Wicklow and Arklow to ensure that this happens,' he said.

Meanwhile, the engineer who designed the original North Beach coastal protection works 28 years ago, says that the present problems are caused because the second of two stages was never carried out.

Jimmy Byrne outlined that the storm barrier which was installed after the storm of December 1989, was originally meant to be followed by the installation of a groyne 250 metres seaward from the shore of the beach.

'Stage 2 was never constructed because the funds were not provided by the relevant government department. A detailed study of the coastal processes in Arklow Bay was carried out in 1991 by the Danish Hydraulics Institute. This report emphasised the necessity to prevent erosion of sand from the North Beach and confirmed such erosion could be prevented by construction a groyne at the north end of the beach,' he said.

Mr Byrne said that if the groyne is not constructed, further erosion will undermine the foundations of the works.

'It will also result in higher waves reaching the rock slope before they break, thus causing further damage to the works,' he said.

Mr Byrne estimates that the groyne could be constructed for a cost of 800,000 and, if progressed in the immediate future, could be completed by November 2019.

'It is clear that action is needed in the near future if the failure of the storm barrier is to be prevented. Why wait until failure occurs and homes and businesses are flooded? I believe there is no justification either social or economic to postpone what we know to be the solution to the problem.'Last year was a very busy one for the life-saving Wicklow Rapid Response (WWRR) service which was tasked 225 times over the 12 month period.

The volunteer service responds to emergency calls around County Wicklow at the requests of the National Ambulance Service.

In 2017, in excess of 200 patients were treated for a variety of complaints stemming from accidents and illness, including 30 cardiac arrests, of which five survived to hospital discharge with a complete recovery; 17 paediatric cases; 40 road traffic collisions; four multiple casualty incidents; two agricultural injuries and one stabbing.

In addition to responding rapidly due to being available in the community, the WWRR doctor is also able to bring additional specialist skills and treatments to patients.

In 2017, these included nine General Anaesthetics, inducing a medical coma to place a patient on life support to protect their airway in cases of severe head injury or where a patient is deeply unconscious.

Not all casualties required hospitalisation. Twenty-six patients were discharged at scene avoiding the need to transport them to the Emergency Department, thus freeing up ambulance resources and Emergency Department capacity.

'Bringing the hospital to the patient is what Wicklow Rapid Response is all about. There are people alive today due to the treatment that a specialist Emergency Medicine doctor can provide. Wicklow Rapid Response is one of only four such services currently providing this level of care in Ireland,' said Wicklow Rapid Response Chairman Colm Dempsey.

Wicklow Rapid Response is a voluntary organisation which aims to provide near-intensive critical care level treatment to local communities in the pre-hospital environment, where there are life-threatening circumstances.

The volunteer emergency medical doctor, who specialises in pre-hospital emergency medicine, using the Skoda Yeti Rapid Response vehicle to respond, is declared as a National Ambulance Service asset. He is called simultaneously with the ambulance, when a serious emergency, such as a cardiac arrest or major trauma, occurs.

Wicklow Rapid Response receives no statutory funding and is completely dependant on donations to support the service.

For more information or to make a contribution visit www.wwrr.ieMembers of the Coast Guard carrying out a search along the shoreline

Evelyn (Lynn) Murray has not been seen since late December

Gardai are concentrating their search for missing Evelyn (Lynn) Murray around the coastal area in Bray and along the shore to its north and south.

Gardai in Bray said that Lynn (49) was last seen on CCTV footage in the harbour area of Bray.

The garda water unit and units of the Coast Guard have been searching for the Glendale Drive woman, who has not been seen since the end of December.

Coast Guard teams from Greystones, Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire as well as the Rescue 116 helicopter were tasked by gardai to carry out a shoreline search last week between Killiney and Wicklow.

Lynn lives at Glendale Drive with her twin brother Ger. Their birthday fell in the days before Lynn's disappearance. They have another brother, John, who lives in Arklow.

Ger last saw his sister at home on the evening of Thursday, December 28. She left the house some time the following morning.

Lynn spends a lot of time in Bray town and along the seafront. She regularly uses the bus service and frequents coffee shops and other stores in the town.

Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is asked to call Bray Garda Station on 01 6665300.Protesters walk during a demonstration against the new Austrian government in front of the Hofburg palace in Vienna (Ronald Zak/AP)

Thousands of Austrians are protesting against their country's new right-wing government with a march in Vienna.

Police in the capital said about 20,000 people were attending the march on Saturday.

Some protesters carried placards reading "Never Again". Others chanted slogans such as "Refugees should stay, drive out the Nazis".

The new governing coalition made up of the conservative Austrian People's Party and the nationalist Freedom Party has taken a hard line against migration.

APTwelve of the injured are in a serious condition

At least 13 people have been killed and 39 others injured in a multi-vehicle crash in the south-east of Brazil.

Federal highway police said twelve of the injured are listed as being in a serious condition.

The accident occurred on Saturday morning near the city of Grao Mogol in Minas Gerais state.

An officer at the department's press office said at least six vehicles were involved, including a minibus, two trucks and two vans.

He said police are investigating what caused the crash but apparently a minibus smashed into a truck laden with paper coming in the opposite direction.Candidate Jiri Drahos addresses the media after announcement of the preliminary results of the presidential elections in Prague (Petr David Josek/AP)

Czech President Milos Zeman has failed to win re-election during the first round of voting on Saturday and will face a run-off election in two weeks against the former head of the country's Academy of Sciences.

Mr Zeman and Jiri Drahos advanced to the second round of the presidential election because none of the nine candidates seeking the largely ceremonial post received a majority of first-round votes.

With ballots from 95% of polling stations counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Mr Zeman had a big lead with 39.3% of the vote, followed by Mr Drahos with 26.3%. Former diplomat Pavel Fischer was a distant third with 10.1%.

"The final is still ahead of us and that's what matters," Mr Drahos said of the January 26/27 run-off. He called on all those "who want a change" to cast ballots.

Mr Zeman, 73, was elected in 2013 during the country's first direct presidential vote, a victory that returned the former left-leaning prime minister to power.

As president, he has become a strong anti-migrant voice and major pro-Russian voice in EU politics.

Mr Drahos, 68, is seen as more western-oriented.

The previous two presidents of the republic created in 1993 after the split of Czechoslovakia - Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus - were elected by Parliament.

Under the Czech Constitution, the president has the power to pick the prime minister and to appoint members of the Central Bank board.

The president also selects Constitutional Court judges with the approval of Parliament's upper house.

Otherwise, the president has little executive power since the country is run by a government chosen and led by the prime minister.

In office, Mr Zeman has become known for strong anti-migrant rhetoric that won him support from the populist right.

He has divided the nation with his pro-Russian stance and his support for closer ties with China.

A chain smoker with a soft spot for alcohol, he was one of the few European leaders to endorse Donald Trump's bid for the White House.

He also has voiced support for Mr Trump's plan to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Unlike his eurosceptic predecessor Mr Klaus, he flew the European Union (EU) flag at Prague Castle and used to be considered pro-Europe.

In recent years, however, he has used every opportunity to attack the EU and has proposed a referendum on the country's membership in the bloc after Britain decided to leave.

Mr Drahos is a political newcomer who is not affiliated with a political party and has said he wants the values of "truth, reason and decency" to win.

He says he is worried about the rise of extremism and populism. A professor of chemistry, he headed the academy from 2009 until last year.A four-year-old girl who has been found in Spain after going missing with her schizophrenic mother during the summer is expected to return to England in the next few days.

Elliana Shand had been at the centre of private family court litigation.

She had disappeared from her London home with her mother Jessica Richards, who is in her mid-twenties, after social services staff at Barking and Dagenham Council raised concerns about her care.

A judge who has overseen the case at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London had said he was very concerned for Elliana's safety and made public appeals for help.

Mr Justice Hayden said on Friday that Elliana had been found safe and well with her mother in Spain by Spanish police.

He praised work done by Spanish and British police, and Foreign Office staff, and indicated that plans were in place to return Elliana to England within the next few days.

The judge also praised Elliana's paternal grandparents Sean and Eileen Doyle, who are both in their fifties and live in the Wembley area of London, for the efforts they had made to trace the youngster.

Mr Doyle, a Liverpool fan who campaigns for victims of the Hillsborough disaster, had mounted an internet campaign and begged people to help find Elliana.A detective accused of misusing cash earmarked for the search for missing Madeleine McCann has been found dead

A private detective accused of exploiting the hunt for Madeleine McCann to fund his lavish lifestyle has been found dead.

Kevin Halligen, 56, gained notoriety when his firm Oakley International was used by the toddler's parents to help search for their missing daughter.

His Washington-based company received about 300,000 of cash donated by the public after Madeleine vanished from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three.

He was later forced to deny claims the money was actually siphoned off to pay for first-class travel, luxury hotel suites, a chauffeur and a mansion in Virginia, US.

Expand Close Kevin Halligen, the private detective accused of exploiting the hunt for Madeleine McCann to fund his lavish lifestyle has been found dead Credit: Adrian Gatton/PA Wire / Facebook

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Adrian Gatton, a TV director and investigative journalist, who made a documentary with Halligen in 2014 for Channel 5 - The McCanns and the Conman - and who knew Halligen well, confirmed to the Press Association that he died last Monday, having sunk into alcohol addiction.

He said: "Although his death is certainly not foul play, as has been suggested, there are certainly a lot of people who wished him ill. But he was also unique.

"I knew chapter and verse about his life and career, but my interest was really to try and get to the bottom of why he did what he did.

"My understanding is that he was found dead on Monday night. There was blood around the house, probably caused by previous falls when he was either drunk or blacking out.

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"Halligen was increasingly shambolic and these blood stains hadn't been cleared up.

"His house was full of empty drink bottles. A lot of people wished him ill but his death is almost certainly related to alcoholism."

Surrey Police said the death was currently being treated as "unexplained".

A spokesman said: "We were called to an address in Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, on Monday following a report of a man in his 50s having been taken unwell, who subsequently died.

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"The death is being treated as unexplained and a file will be passed to the coroner's office in due course."

The McCanns used the Irish national's firm for around six months to look for their missing daughter.

The 500,000 contract saw the firm hire private detectives, set up a hotline and process information.

The McCanns terminated the arrangement without paying the full fees because Halligen, from Surrey, apparently failed to fulfil certain agreements.

He was then extradited to the US in 2012 to face charges over an unrelated 1.3 million con, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013.

Dutch company Trafigura were targeted in the scam, being told by Halligen that he needed funds to secure the release of two business executives who were arrested in the Ivory Coast.

In an interview for a 2014 Channel 5 documentary, Halligen denied claims he misused money raised to find Madeleine.

He said: "It is gross distortion of what was actually happening.

"The print media in particular took this line that really nothing was being done, I was living the high life on the proceeds of the McCann case.

"Trust me, I didn't buy so much as a new suit. The money, all of it, is fully accountable."A teenage Emmanuel Macron had a relationship with Brigitte when she was his married teacher. Photo: Reuters

A new biography of French first lady Brigitte Macron appears to have confirmed the existence of a long-rumoured erotic novel written by her husband about the early days of their romance, when she was his married teacher.

The book says the text focused on Emmanuel Macron's controversial relationship with the woman who was his drama teacher before becoming his wife.

Mr Macron's youthful literary aspirations have already been well documented, but the new book, titled 'Brigitte Macron, l'affranchie' (Brigitte Macron, Liberated), claims it has proof of the erotic fiction.

It quotes a neighbour of his family in the town of Amiens, who was a typist by profession, who says that he approached her for help.

Racy

"I knew him from the neighbourhood and one day he asked me to type up 300 pages of his novel," she told biographer Maelle Brun.

"It was a daring novel, a little racy!"

" The names were of course not the same but I think he had to express what he felt at the time," she said.

The woman, who was not named, said she did not keep a copy of the manuscript which today would likely spark great interest among the many who are fascinated by the presidential couple, who have an age gap of 24 years. He has just turned 40 and she is 64.

The Elysee, contacted by reporters, declined to comment on the book's existence.

But if true, this would not be the first time a French head of state turned his hand to saucy prose.

Ex-president Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 2009 published a romantic novel clearly modelled on himself and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The fictional pair consummate their relationship on a train following a 1984 ceremony to mark the anniversary of the D-Day landings, and then follow on with steamy romps at French country houses and in a series of palaces.

Many lesser French politicians have also successfully turned their hand to erotic fiction.

The current Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, co-wrote "In the Shadows", a political thriller crossed with erotica, while Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire published "The Minister", which features a decidedly risque scene involving the main character and his wife on a trip to Venice.

 Daily Telegraph, London

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has waded into the debate over sexual harassment provoked by the Harvey Weinstein scandal, saying that women "should be happy" if a man tries to seduce them.

However, the 81-year-old said that he was no expert in the field because he was always being chased by women and rarely had to do the wooing.

The opposition politician - who was convicted but then acquitted of paying for sex with an underage escort nicknamed 'Ruby the Heart Stealer' - spoke out in support of comments made this week by Catherine Deneuve.

The French actress was one of 100 women to sign a letter in 'Le Monde' defending a man's right to steal a kiss or touch a woman's knee, complaining that the campaign against harassment had become "puritanical" and that it was fuelled by a "hatred of men".

"Catherine Deneuve spoke blessed words," said Mr Berlusconi.

"It's natural that women are happy if a man tries to seduce them," he said in a television interview.

"I don't have much experience with this because it's always women who try to seduce me. The important thing is that the courtship is elegant."

The octogenarian has, over the years, repeatedly boasted of his way with women.

In 2011 he joked: "When asked if they would like to have sex with me, 30pc of women said, 'yes', while the other 70pc replied, 'What, again?'"

After his separation from his long-suffering wife, former actress Veronica Lario, Mr Berlusconi threw himself into a tempestuous year of hosting "bunga bunga" parties at his residence near Milan and his summer villa in Sardinia.

He later settled down, however, with a former shop assistant from Naples who is nearly half a century younger than him.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has said that working in Donald Trump's administration made every day feel like "an eternity".

Speaking on RTE's 'Late Late Show', Irish-American Mr Spicer gave an insight into what it was like working for the controversial president for six months.

"It felt a lot longer - like six dog years. Every day was an eternity," he quipped.

"It's a very demanding job and a very intense place to work, under any president."

Mr Spicer also spoke of his regret over comments he made in which he claimed Hitler hadn't used chemical weapons during a press conference about a chemical attack in Syria.

"That was deeply painful. My goal was to describe how heinous the actions that Assad was doing were. And I brought in a metaphor that was so painful to so many people.

"It was truly painful to know you had made people think you didn't care about the plight their ancestors had been through," he said.

Mr Spicer was also quizzed on Mr Trump's latest comments on immigration.

He said: "As an Irish-American, someone who understands the trials and tribulations (of immigration), I'm proud of America's history of welcoming immigrants. Immigrants made our country what it is."President Donald Trump has been accused of using "hate-filled, vile and racist" language in the Oval Office after he reportedly attacked immigrants coming to the US from "shithole countries".

The US president's remarks, said to have been directed at African nations plus Haiti and El Salvador, were condemned by the United Nations human rights office and labelled "divisive" by members of his own Republican Party.

Haiti and Botswana summoned US ambassadors to explain the comments reportedly made at a White House meeting as part of an attempt by Republicans and Democrats to protect from deportation 700,000 children brought to the US illegally as children.

Mr Trump reportedly said: "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out."

The president was said to have suggested bringing in migrants from countries such as Norway, having met Erna Solberg, the Norwegian prime minister, on Wednesday.

Yesterday, Mr Trump denied making the remarks, saying he had been "tough, but this was not the language used".

He turned to Twitter to state: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.

"Never said 'take them out'. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"

But Dick Durbin, a Democrat senator who was at the meeting, said he had used the reported words: "In the course of his comments he said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist.

"I cannot believe that, in the history of the White House and that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday."

The 55-nation African Union said it was "frankly alarmed". Haiti, which yesterday observed the eighth anniversary of a devastating earthquake, summoned the US charge d'affaires for an explanation. Botswana called the comments "reprehensible and racist". And South Africa's ruling ANC said the words were "extremely offensive".

Joe Biden, ex-US vice president, said: "It's not how a president should speak. It's not how a president should behave. Most of all, it's not what a president should believe. We're better than this."

Mr Trump later appeared at an event to honour Martin Luther King, the civil rights activist. In his speech he said: "No matter what the colour of our skin, or the place of our birth, we are all created equal."

US television repeatedly showed poignant images of a proud young Haitian cadet with tears streaming down his face, graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point.

In the strongest reaction from a Republican, Representative Mia Love of Utah, a child of Haitian immigrants, demanded an apology and said the president's remarks were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values."

Republican House speaker Paul Ryan, an Irish-American, called Mr Trump's comments "unhelpful".

"I read those comments later last night, the first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful," he said.

Ryan recalled his own family history of emigrating to the US from Ireland. "So, I see this as a thing to celebrate," he said. "And I think it's a big part of our strength."

Ryan specifically highlighted Haiti as a sign of that strength and highlighted friends in Janesville, Wisconsin, who are doctors and come from Africa.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who wasn't in the meeting, in a tweet called the president's remarks, "Breathtakingly offensive. Worse, it's ignorant of American ideals."

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Panama resigned yesterday, saying that he no longer felt able to serve Donald Trump.

John Feeley (56), a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, announced his resignation in a letter to the state department.

"As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies," he wrote.

"My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honour-bound to resign. That time has come."

He is the first ambassador to resign o ver concerns about Mr Trump's leadership.Crews dug away at masses of mud, boulders and debris with earth-moving machines and shovels on Saturday in a California town ravaged by mudslides which have killed at least 18 people.

The army of searchers and recovery workers in Montecito trying to find seven people still missing swelled to more than 2,000 five days after a powerful storm swept in from the Pacific.

It dumped a deluge on mountain slopes above the coastal enclave that were burned bare by a huge wildfire in December.

The backbreaking work went on under the sunny skies that have made the stretch of Santa Barbara County coast about 90 miles north-west of Los Angeles a haven for the wealthy.

"We have to do whatever it takes," said Captain Tom Henzgen, leader of a team from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Long-range forecasts gave the crews about a week before the next chance of rain - and potential new mudslides - although the precipitation expected next Friday was expected to be disorganised and light. Another system was possible two days later.

Much of the community of about 9,000 remained under mandatory evacuation orders as crews both removed debris and worked to restore water, sanitation and power.

All warnings and orders for neighbouring Summerland and Carpinteria were lifted.

Tanker trucks sucked muddy water from flooded sections of US 101, the only direct major artery between Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara region.

The California Department of Transportation abandoned an estimate of reopening the highway on Monday and said it was not known when the closure would be lifted.

Amtrak, which began restoring rail service two days after the flood, was adding cars to trains because of heavy demand.

Two boat companies that normally take tourists out to Channel Islands National Park and on whale-watching excursions were ferrying people between the Ventura and Santa Barbara harbours.

On land, local, state and federal agencies were conducting simultaneous recovery efforts, the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department said.

That included clearing roads, drainage channels and debris basins that are intended to catch mudflows.

Emergency permits were obtained to dump up to 229,365 cubic metres of sediment into the surf line on beaches in Goleta and Carpinteria.

The department said the sediment would only consist of wet or dry dirt or mud without rocks, debris or vegetation, and inspectors would refuse any truckload containing unpermitted materials.

Santa Barbara County said emergency permits do not require testing of the material for hazards but that public health authorities were testing the ocean waters.

Down the coast in Ventura County, environmental health officials warned that storm run-off can carry disease-causing bacteria and advised the public to avoid contact with ocean water until sampling results can be reviewed next week.

In the disaster impact zone, searchers used chain saws and rakes to remove logs and sift through the remnants of what was left of multimillion-dollar homes.

Crews with backhoes and jackhammers pulverised enormous boulders that were left when the torrents stopped.

Orange markings left on doors indicated which homes had already been searched.

APAung San Suu Kyi speaks to the media in Japan (AP)

Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called the military's investigation into the deaths of Rohingya Muslims found in a mass grave a "positive indication", according to reports.

A state-run newspaper reported that Ms Suu Kyi said: "It is a positive indication that we are taking the steps to be responsible."

She added: "I believe our investigation will prevent such things from happening again."

She made the comments during a joint news conference with Japan's foreign minister on Friday.

Ms Suu Kyi is Burma's foreign minister as well as the government's de facto leader.

On Wednesday, the military acknowledged that security forces and villagers were responsible for the deaths of 10 people found in a mass grave in December.

It said the 10 were "terrorists" who threatened villagers.Haitians across the world reacted with outrage to reports that US President Donald Trump questioned why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "sh*thole countries" in Africa.

Mr Trump spoke during an Oval Office meeting on the eve of the anniversary of the 2010 earthquake, one of the deadliest disasters in modern history.

Expand Close US President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Airforce One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on January 12, 2018, for a weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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President Jovenel Moise's government issued a strongly worded statement denouncing what it called a "racist" view of Haitian immigrants and people from African countries.

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"The Haitian government condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks which, if proven, reflect a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States," it said.

Mr Trump was in a closed meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration on Thursday when he reportedly questioned why the US would accept more people from Haiti and "sh*thole countries" in Africa, rather than places like Norway.

At first the White House did not deny that the remark was made. On Friday the president tweeted that his language was "tough" but insisted he did not say anything derogatory about Haitians aside from noting it is a poor country.

Expand Close Edwidge Danticat / Facebook

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Haitians at home and abroad were stunned, and internet message boards and radio stations were flooded with angry and anguished comments.

Acclaimed Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat issued a powerful statement through her Facebook page saying that Haitians "today we mourn, tomorrow we fight".

"Today, like many of my fellow Haitians and Haitian-Americans, I planned to mourn the dead. I planned to do my mourning quietly and in small doses. I planned to stay busy so I wouldnt spend the whole day in pain. I planned to check on the children in my family who lost their father and baby brother in the catastrophic earthquake eight years ago.

"I planned to hold my two daughters a little bit tighter tonight, especially my youngest who was the baby I kept in my arms to keep myself from curling up in a fetal position each time I saw a child being pulled from under a school or house on my television screen. Instead, because the President of the United States, who seems determined to insult Haitians every chance he gets, has said that Haiti--along with Africa--is a sh*thole, I must also lament yet another insult to our dignity."

Ms Danticat continued to say that Haitians have endured a lot of suffering at the hands of other countries, including the US.

"A few weeks ago, it was All Haitians have AIDS. This week we are from a sh*thole country. Haiti is not unacquainted with racists or white supremacists. We defeated our share of them in 1804 when we became the worlds first black republic. Haiti is not a sh*thole country. It is a country that, for example, if France hadnt grown tired of fighting, it would have never sold 828,000 square miles of land to the US, from the western banks of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, nearly doubling the size of this country. Alexander Hamilton said that the Louisiana Purchase would have never happened were it not for the courage and obstinate resistance of the black inhabitants of Haiti.

"We are also the country that the United States has invaded several times, preventing us from consistently ruling ourselves. If we are a poor country, then our poverty comes in part from pillage and plunder. In the 1980s, the US government--claiming that Haitian pigs had swine fever--participated in the extermination of nearly every native black pig, which represented some families entire life savings. These same farmers were then encouraged to buy the pampered pink pigs of US farmers. This is only one of many examples I could list."

The acclaimed novelist said that Haiti is a country of great art and culture.

"We are also a country where great art, music, and literature have risen from these and a slew of other woes. We are entrepreneurs, big and small, dreamers, workers. We are a country that created people like my father, who drove a taxicab in Brooklyn, sometimes sixteen hours a day, so that my three brothers (two teachers and an IT specialist) and I could have a better life.

"We are the country that eight years ago lost over 300,000 people whose lives and memory we should be commemorating today, rather than trying to hold our heads up wherever in the world we happen to be. Apparently, the Presidents remarks came out of a discussion about Temporary Protected Status, during which he is reported to have said Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out. Mr. President, so many have tried to take us out before. Eight years ago, the earth itself tried to take Haiti out. Yet the courage and obstinate resistance of Haitians remain. We survive, and when given the opportunity, we THRIVE. To borrow a slogan that many Americans of different backgrounds have been using since the beginning of this presidency, today we mourn, tomorrow we fight."

With reporting from PAKolkata, Jan 12 (IBNS): Italian Consul General in Kolkata Damiano Francovigh on Friday said his country will be participating in the upcoming Bengal Global Business Summit here as a partner country and a delegation of more than 30 companies are expected to join the event.

"Italy is participating in 2018 as Partner Country in the Bengal Global Business Summit for the second year in a row, with an expected delegation of more than 30 companies where the sectors most represented will be transport and infrastructure, metals, leather," he said.



This is an important development in the overall strategy for strengthening bilateral economic ties and follows the mission of Italian Prime Minister, Gentiloni, who visited Delhi last October: in that occasion it was agreed to inject a renewed momentum into the economic engagement between the two countries.

The presence in Kolkata of the Italian delegation, that will be headed by Italian Ambassador Lorenzo Angeloni, is the first event of the year marking the common will to strengthen bilateral cooperation and opens the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.



"From last year participation in BGBS we have already noticed some important developments in the economic interaction between West Bengal and Italy and the announcement of the establishment in Kolkata of at least two new JVs between Italian and local companies: one in the railway sector and another in the IT sector. One more major Italian company, already operating in WB, has decided to renovate and expand their offices located in Kolkata," Italian Consul General Damiano Francovigh said.

He said he expects to see more results after this year's participation in the event.

"We hope that more results will be achieved after this years participation, with this regard we are glad to notice that a MoU will be signed in the Leather sector, for new technologies and training programs," he said.

Speaking on Italian investments in India, he said: "There is a huge potential of growth for Italian investments in India, we are confident that more Italian companies will be interested in coming to West Bengal, following the efforts put by the State Government to improve local business environment and foster investment attraction. Initiatives like the BGBS are very helpful to that aim because contribute to make Bengal better known in the Italian business environment."



The organization of the Italian delegation has been assured and coordinated by ArtValley.

Some of the key persons are Paolo Gurisatti , representing the main national cluster for tannery and leather products (Vicenza), Alberto Cavicchiolo, organizer, Mauro Cibaldi, representing ASSOMET, Carmine Zappacosta, CEO Italcertifer, Federico Furlani, CEO SIMEM.

Italian Consul General Damiano Francovigh interacted with the media on various issues. Excepts:

What progress or developments have been made in business from last year's BGBS meet and what are the latest updates?

Since last year, we have registered the intention of launching in Kolkata at least two new JVs between Italian and local companies: one in the railway sector, involving large companies, the otherin the IT sector. Anothermajor Italian company, already operating in WB, has decided to renovate and expanding their offices located in Kolkata, strengthening local workforce. During this BGBS we will see

Total volume of delegates attending?

We are expecting more than 30 Italian delegates, representing both big groups and SMEs, which are the backbone of Italian economy. In any case, exact figure will be available only on day one of BGBS, on the 16th. The Head of Delegation will be the Italian Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni, who will attend the Summit.



From which sector and company are delegates coming?

As it always happens in occasions of this kind, it is a multisector delegation, where the sectors most represented are transport and infrastructure, metals, leather.



What are the areas of interest they are seeking in West Bengal / What are the sectors they wish to invest in?



Of course, all companies are interested to explore their respective sectors, therefore the business meetings and visits to local counterparts that are being organized for them are in the same sectors mentioned above.



Who is leading the Italian delegation?

The organization of the Italian delegation has been assured and coordinated by ArtValley. ArtValley, whose president is Ms. Francesca Bruni, is an organization that hosts projects and international forums for the promotion of specific cultural and geopolitical initiatives, with an extensive experience in Italy, the MENA region and India. As its main activity, ArtValley has organized exchange-platforms on various contemporary themes (intelligent technologies, new design and materials, new business sectors), with the aim of promoting crossover exchanges.

Among the delegations key persons is Prof. Paolo Gurisatti, representing the national Association of industrialists and both the Industrial District of Vicenza and the Italian Leather District (the main cluster in the world for tannery and Leather products) and Eng. Lamberto Cremonesi of Crew, one the leading Italian engineering and architecture firms. Prof. Alberto Cavicchiolo is the main promoter of the whole, long term program named Via Bengala aiming to improve the interchange between Eastern India and Italy.



How much Italian investments in Eastern India can we foresee?

It is very difficult to make any forecast of this kind, since in all market economies investments come from private entities and it is not up to any public entity, such as the MoFa, to allocate private funds in one direction or another. What we can say for sure it is that Italian outbound FDI share in 2015 was 1,9% of the world total, while Italian investmentsin India is only 0,69% of the Country total (around 2 billion USD stock). This means that there is a huge potential for growth of our investments in India in the next years: what we hope is that this additional growth potential will be directed to WB and initiatives like the BGBS are very helpful to that aim because contribute to make Bengal better known in the Italian business environment.

Any Joint venture already operating from here?

There are more than 400 Italian companies operating in India but, in the past, they have mainly decided to invest in other parts of the Country. In West Bengal, we currently have some JVs between Italian and local companies and 100% Italian investments operating in the manufacturing, food and chemical sector. We are confident that more Italian companies will be now interested in opening a presence in WB, following the efforts put by the State to improve local business environment and foster investment attraction.New Delhi, Jan 13 (IBNS) : Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday called the Enforcement Directorate's raids on properties linked to his son, Karti Chidambaram in Delhi and Chennai as a "comedy of errors", claiming that the officers were left "embarrassed" an "apologetic" as they could not find or seize anything.

Speaking to newsmen, Chidambaram said the the agency had no jurisdiction to probe the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"They (ED officials) searched and found nothing but since they had to justify themselves they took papers of a statement made by the government in the Parliament, a few years back." the senior Congress leader said.

"There is no FIR registered concerning a scheduled crime by any investigating agency and hence, the ED has no jurisdiction to probe the case under PMLA," he added.



Chidambaram said he had already anticipated that the ED might conduct such a raid in Chennai. "...But in a comedy of errors they came to Jor Bagh (Delhi) and officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not."

Chidambaram added that his Chennai residence has been raided three times by different probe agencies but in vain.

Last year, in May, a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was registered against Karti and others by the ED.

The ED had on Thursday issued fresh summons to Karti for appearing before it on January 16 in connection with the money laundering case.

He had earlier skipped his appearance before the agency.

The case, registered in May, 2017 pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

The agency has alleged that Karti Chidambaram received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius.

The CBI has said it has also recovered vouchers of Rs 10 lakh which were allegedly paid for the services.Bangalore, Jan 13 (IBNS): A KSRTC Volvo bus fell off a bridge on National Highway 75 near Shantigrama in Hassan taluk of Karnataka on Saturday, leaving at least seven people dead, media reports said.

The incident left at least 10 people injured.

The mishap occurred at around 3 am.

According to reports, the front portion of the bus has been badly damaged in the mishap.

The injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment.

The driver and conductor of the bus died in the incident.

More than 40 passengers were traveling in the bus.

We were all asleep. Got up when I heard a huge sound, recalled Vinay Bhat, a software engineer in Bengaluru, to The Hindu who was travelling to Dharmasthala along with his cousin.Srinagar, Jan 13 (IBNS): Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Education Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday rebuffed claims of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on 'two maps' taught by teachers in the state by saying that the army should confine its role to security related issues and not make unnecessary comments beyond its constitutional mandate.

Army Chiefs assertion that the teachers in Jammu and Kashmir were teaching two maps to the students and there was no need for separate map for the State, is totally unfair and unacceptable comment,

the Minister said during a function at Kothibagh Higher Secondary School in Srinagar.

The Army chief is a respected and well decorated officer of this country. He is a professional and there is no doubt on his professionalism. I dont think he is an educationist who will give sermons on education. I think he doesnt mean what he said, he remarked.

Bukhari said that he does not think any society will accept sermons on education from non academicians.

I would welcome sermons from academicians on how to run the education system. Education is a subject on State list and this is not on concurrent list and falls well within the domain of the State, the Minister for Education said.

He added: We know how to run our education system. The constitution of India has given different roles to different people. I would be glad if they (Army) do what they are supposed to do and leave us to do

what we are supposed to do.

He said that J&K has a capable chief minister here who is there to supervise and take review of different departments.

The Minister said: If she finds any reasons for improvement she can pinpoint and order for corrective measures as well.

Advising the Army Chief to exercise restrain while commenting on issues other than the security related matters, Bukhari said: I think those sermonizing us should do their duties in a more professional

manner so as to ease the sufferings of a common man in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said trespassing the defined mandates tantamount to committing brazen injustice with duties assigned to people by the constitution.

Army has its own role and let them play the same with utmost responsibility, he observed.

Bukhari said that his departments priorities include plugging the loopholes, if any, in the education system and significant success has been achieved on that front.

We have our own education system and we will fix our own problems, if any. Those who are not experts on education should desist from making unnecessary comments. They cannot tell us to have one or two

maps. This is totally unwarranted and unacceptable, Bukhari remarked.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)New Delhi, Jan 13 (IBNS): A day after four rebel judges met the media and questioned the conduct of the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday said a 7-member delegation of the Council will be formed to meet the judges of the apex court and resolve the situation that has emerged 'peacefully'.

"We have unanimously decided to form a 7-member delegation of the Council who will meet Hon. judges of the Supreme Court. We want that the matter be solved peacefully at the earliest," Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India told media.

"We don't want to see any controversy into the issue any more," he said.

An incident like the press conference that was held on Friday should not be held again.

"Request judges not to give an opportunity for such an incident to occur again," he said.

In an unprecedented move on Friday, four top judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference during which they questioned the conduct CJI Dipak Misra, a, especially over the allocation of cases. Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph  who make the current Supreme Court Collegium, the highest decision-making body of the judiciary  said they had failed to persuade CJI Dipak Misra that certain things are not in order, and left it to the people to protect the judiciary. They warned that democracy was under threat.

The government, in response, maintained that the matter will be sorted out within the judiciary and that the press conference could have been avoided.

With the development still rocking a wide spectrum of society, varied reactions continued to come in.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday tweeted that democracy in India is in danger. Democracy in India is in danger. This was the warning that came from the Hon Judges yesterday. So no, its not an internal matter for the Hon SC," Abdullah said.

Speaking to reporters, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha attacked the Narendra Modi Government over the short Winter Session of Parliament and said, "If the country's Parliament is not in order, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is under threat in the country. If the four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter alone? If you read the letter, one thing is clear that Supreme Court judges or benches were appointed selectively to hear certain cases."

He further added that people would be failing in their national duty if they did not take note of this.

"If political parties, or anyone concerned about the future of democracy in the country, don't take note of this, we fail in out national duty. It is a serious matter. All those who care about the future of the country and of democracy should raise their voice," Sinha said.

Congress leader and senior Supreme Court advocate Salman Khurshid also criticised the Government for the emerging situation.

"Conincidence of interference of govt causing stress to constitutional institutions. Sad. exposition of trouble in Supreme Court. Nero fiddles?" he tweeted.

On his tweeter page, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said : "The integrity and independence of the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, is a vital pillar of the Constitution and non-negotiable. Full statement from yesterday."

Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad tweeted : "Fall of final frontier. Bureaucracy, Media, Election Commission and now Supreme Court. Independence of most of the institutions of nation building are falling apart due to the Machiavellian politics of govt of the day."

Coming to the defence of the Government, BJP's National General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao tweeted :"SupremeCourt as an institution is much bigger and critical for the democratic framework of India. Yes SC now has the problem which is internal and institutional. In the interest of country congress should not get into #tricks business."

Chandigarh, Jan 13 (IBNS): The Haryana government on Saturday said sex ratio in the state has improved to touch the figure of 914 girls against 1,000 boys.

The government credited Beti Bachao Beti Padhao move of the Centre as the reason behind the improvement in the ratio in the state.

The official Twitter handle of the Chief Minister said: "Miracle of #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao Gender Ratio improves significantly in Haryana #BetiyonKaHaryana."

The figure earlier stood at 871 girls against 1,000 boys in the state in 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hs launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in 2015.

2014 was the year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre.

Image: CMO Haryana Twitter pageKolkata, Jan 13 (IBNS): Reacting to the ongoing controversy regarding upcoming Hindi film 'Padmavati' (now 'Padmavat'), Bollywood actor-turned writer Soha Ali Khan, on Saturday, said it is worrying that the atmosphere is changing in the country.

Soha made the comment on the sidelines of an ongoing literary fest in Kolkata.

When IBNS correspondent asked the actor whether she would like to offer a comment on the row, she said: "I am looking forward to the release of the film. I want to see it. As an artist and actor, I have always believed in freedom of expression."

"It is worrying that the atmosphere is changing in the country and one feels scared. No one should feel scared (in the country), as a citizen one has the right to live free from fear," the actor added.

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial film has been marred into controversy after several fringe groups, mostly Shri Rajput Karni Sena, accused the film maker of distorting history and portray Rani Padmini in poor light in the movie.

The Karni Sena even made personal attacks against actor Deepika Padukone, who played the role of Rani Padmini in the film. Deepika was threatened by one of the Karni Sena members of getting her nose chopped.

The CBFC has announced that Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone starrer film, which is expected to release on Jan 25, will be issued a U/A certificate.

The CBFC suggested the makers of the film to change the title to 'Padmavat'.

Soha was present at a discussion regarding her first book titled 'The Perils of being Moderately Famous'.

The book, published in December, 2017, is an autobiography of the actor.



(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)New York, Jan 13 (IBNS): The organisation representing African countries has demanded for US President Donald Trump' apology over his reported 'shithole' remark targeting immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador, media reports said.

The group's mission in Washington DC expressed its "shock, dismay and outrage" and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans, BBC reported.

US President Donald Trump did not take too kindly on immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador at a White House meeting recently, according to a report by The Washington Post.

In a fit of anger, the US President reportedly told lawmakers, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?".

Needlessly to say, his comment was not well received. Lawmakers have accused Trump of promoting White Supremacy.

According to black Democratic lawmaker, Cedric Richmond, Trump's comments "are further proof that his Make America Great Again agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda".

Shockingly, Trump remained unapologetic in his claim of wanting more immigrants from countries like Norway.

The local daily reported that the US President further added, "Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has accused Trump of falling "deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia".

However, justifying the President's claim, in a statement White House spokesman Raj Shah said, "Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people."

It further read, "Like other countries that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation."

"He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway," Shah's statement read.

The US President later tweeted, "The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern Border, risking thousands of lives in the process. It is my duty to protect the lives and safety of all Americans. We must build a Great Wall, think Merit and end Lottery & Chain. USA!"

Image: Donald Trump Facebook pageKasur, Jan 13 (IBNS): The police have released CCTV footage showing the suspected person in the rape and murder of minor girl Zainab in Kasur area of Pakistan, media reports said.

The minor is suspected to have been abducted after she left her house in Road Kot area to visit her maternal aunts residence located a few minutes away for religious lessons on Jan 4.

Her body was discovered from a trash pile on Jan 9.

As per Dawn News report, in the new footage, a bearded man bearing a resemblance to her abductor can be seen walking through the street where Zainab's house is situated. The man is seen wearing a dark coloured cap, what seems to be grey shalwar kameez and a brown jacket.

The police , however, clarified and said that the person, who could be seen in the footage is just a 'person of interest'.

The police on Friday had said that DNA tests carried out in the case indicated the involvement of one culprit in at least seven similar cases that occurred in the district in recent times.

A source in the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) told Dawnthat the agency had received samples collected by Kasur police from the crime scene.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the police to arrest the culprit involved in the abduction, rape and murder of minor girl Zainab in Pakistan's Kasur area in 36 hours, media reports said.

The court directed Inspector General Punjab (IGP) to arrest those involved in the incident which triggered protest in Kasur for the past two days

LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Syed Mansoor Ali Shah gave the order while hearing the petition filed by advocate Shaheem Pirzada.

The CJ ordered the police to submit details of all the cases of child sexual abuse that had taken place in the area, adding that he would also demand a report on the cases from the sessions judge, Dawn News reported.

The hearing in the case has been adjourned till Jan 15.

Kasur witnessed protest after body of Zainab was found in a garbage heap on Jan 10.

Politicians from different political parties have condemned the incident.

Image: Imran Khan Twitter pageKabul, Jan 13 (IBNS): At least two people were killed in a suicide blast that rocked western Ghor province of Afghanistan on Saturday, media reports said.

The incident left at least six people injured.

Deputy Police Chief Ziauddin Saqib told Pajhwok Afgan News the suicide blast took place in a house this afternoon.

However, the target of the blast is not known.

Injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment.

As per ,media reports, the condition of the injured people are said to be critical.

In another incident, at least 76 militants have been killed in Afghanistan on Friday in an anti-terrorism offensive, reports said.

The drive was initiated by the Afghan National Defense and Security Force members in eight provinces, according to a statement by the national defence ministry.

Among the deceased were three key Taliban commanders, who have been identified as Ehsanullah, Haidar and Qahraman.

Operations were conducted in Nangarhar, Laghman, Nuristan, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Herat, Faryab and Jawzjan provinces of Afghanistan.

According to the statement, several militant hideouts and weapons were destroyed during the operations.

The Taliban has not issued a statement so far.The following photo that shows a third grader with frozen hair and frosted eyebrows recently went viral on social media. The reasons are many.

Also read: Japanese Couple Lock Their Daughter In Tiny Room, Find Her Body Frozen After 15 Years

AsiaWire

Wang Fuman, who attends a primary school in southwest Yunnan province in China, undertakes an hour and 4.5-km long journey daily to get to school. The long walks and freezing temperatures  the temperature was -9 degrees Celsius the day the photo was taken, China News Service reported  clearly took a toll on him and many other "left-behind children" like him. Wang was left with swollen and chapped hands.

Kids in his class began calling him Frost Boy or Snowflake Boy.

AsiaWire

Also read: Whoa! Braveheart In China Punches Through Ice To Rescue 70-YO Woman Drowning In Frozen River

The photo was taken by his class teacher who also shared it online. It was only a matter of time before the pictures went viral.

What followed next were donations totalling to 300,000 yuan (US$46,300) as on Wednesday. According to reports, every other student, too, will get 500 yuan (US$77) so they don't face the same fate as the accidental 'Frost Boy.'



According to channelnewsasia, 'the plight of "left-behind children" like Wang, whose parents work in cities while their children stay behind in the village with siblings and grandparents, has been hotly discussed in recent years. Yet another report by the BBC states that when journos from Pear Video website visited his home, they found his house was "made of mud and brick and is very dilapidated."

Sadly, as one user noted: "China has a lot of kids like this."

But Wang remains optimistic: "The journey to school is cold, but it's not hard!" "I want to be a police officer to fight the bad guys," he adds.

Also read: The Spectacular 600-Km Long Frozen Baikal Is The Deepest And Oldest Lake On Earth

More and more local companies are also doing their bit for children like Wang. According to the BBC report, 'State-run CCTV says the provincial Communist Youth League has donated 100,000 yuan (about $15,350: 11,350) so that each child at the school can have better clothing, and for the school to improve its heating system.'To attract more foreign tourists in India, the government has said that they are looking to rope in Hollywood stars. Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons said stars like Richard Gere, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie are under consideration to become brand ambassadors for Incredible India 2 campaign.

Twitter

We are going to launch Incredible India campaign 2 this year. And as brand ambassadors, we might think of zeroing in on international celebrities like Richard Gere, Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie, though we have not finalised anything as yet, Hindustan Times quoted Alphons as saying.

thenypost.files.wordpress.com

Earlier stars like Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra have promoted the campaign. They have, however, not ruled out the idea of roping in Indian stars as of yet.

vanityfair.com

Tourism ministry is eyeing to get boost the tourism business from 14.4 million currently to 40 million in next five years. With that, the ministry wants to boost the foreign exchange as well as employment generation opportunities with the help of tourism.A doctor was found dead in his house in Lucknow late on Wednesday night reportedly after an argument with his wife over eating non-vegetarian food. Dr Uma Shanker Gupta, a skin specialist, was found hanging from the ceiling with a rope tied around his neck.

Gupta who lived with his wife Deepti Agarwal, and six-year-old daughter Aradhya allegedly took the extreme step over food.

According to Deepti, on his way home on Wednesday Gupta brought non-veg food for himself and his daughter.

representational image

When Deepti, a pure vegetarian, came to know of this, she flew into a rage and an argument ensued over feeding nonveg to Aradhya. After a heated exchange between the couple, Gupta locked himself in a room.

"Half an hour after that, I repented and wanted to apologise to my husband. I knocked on the door of his room but he did not respond. He also did not answer his phone when I called him," Deepti told police.

Deepti then called a colleague of Gupta and also informed neighbours. When the door of Gupta's room was broken, he was found hanging from the ceiling.

bccl/representational image

No suicide note was recovered. CO Gomtinagar Deepak Kumar Singh said it was a case of suicide. "Deepti gave us in writing that she had had a verbal spat with her husband after which he ended his life in an emotionally weak state," Singh said.At his age most of his friends will be in school, but not Nirbhay Thacker. The 16-year-old from Bhuj in Gujarat has become the youngest engineering graduate in his state.

The teenager was the center of attraction on Friday at the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) convocation at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

BCCL/ File

Thacker who enrolled for B Tech last year completed the four year course in a matter of just one year in October.

His accelerated education began in class 8, as he finished class 8 to class 10 in six months and class 9 to 12 in the next three months, under the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) system run by Cambridge International Examinations.

After his father, an engineer, and his mother, a doctor, represented his case as a special one to GTU, the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) and All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved his admission to SAL College of Engineering.

BCCL

Every 40-50 days, I would appear for my semester examinations. I used to study for six hours and through meticulous planning managed to finish around 4,000 pages of six subjects in those 50 days. Each semester was the same, the youngster who completed his course with an overall CGPA of 8.23 said.

The young graduate has is eyes set on completing 10 B tech degrees in the next three to four years.

"I have also got an offer for a PhD from an IIT besides funding. My long-term goal is to set up a research centre in India for the defence sector," the teenage prodigy told The Times of India.At least four people have been killed after a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying 7 people on board crashed off Mumbai coast. The Pawan Hans Dauphin N2 helicopter went missing on Saturday morning after it lost contact with the ATC.

The chopper was headed for the Mumbai High North Field and was expected to land there before 11 am. Read more

Foster Father Of 3-Year-Old Indian Girl Sherin Mathews Indicted For Murder, May Spent Rest Of His Life Behind The Bars

Wesley Mathews, the foster father of Sherin Mathews, a 3-year-old Indian girl whose body was found near their suburban Dallas home less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage, was indicted for capital murder by a grand jury.

Sherins foster mother, 35-year-old Sini Mathews, was also indicted on a charge of abandoning a child. The punishment for that ranges from two to 20 years in prison with a fine up to $10,000. Read more

Justice Kurian Joseph Says The Judges Acted In The Interest Of Judiciary In India

Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the country's chief justice over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, has expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved.

Joseph said that they acted solely in the interest of judiciary and justice, a day after he and the three other judges took the unprecedented step of addressing a press conference. Read more

India To Help UK In Deporting Illegal Immigrants, In Return UK Will Choke Kashmiri, Sikh Ultras

India has agreed to assist the UK in deporting illegal Indian immigrants while London has agreed to work to stop Kashmiri and Sikh radicals active on British soil. Junior home minister Kiren Rijiju said in London on Friday that he had "initialled" two MoUs with his UK counterparts that would be signed when PM Modi visits London in April for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

While the first MoU dealt with illegal Indian immigrants, the other related to sharing criminal records. Indian deputy high commissioner Dinesh Patnaik explained there were "some few thousand" illegal Indian immigrants in the UK. "A few illegal migrants create a situation where legal migration becomes a political issue. Read more

Gurugram Will Become India's Biggest Hub For Startup Businesses By 2020

The Haryana government is planning to build the country's biggest start-up hub in Gurgaon over the next couple of years, along the lines of the T-Hub in Hyderabad.

Named Global Start-Up Village, the hub is likely to come up on a 2.5 acre plot. Sources said the government was yet to finalise land for the start-up hub, and was currently working on its detailed project report. Read more

US-Based Indian Techie Marries Vietnamese Gay Partner With Traditional Rituals In Maharashtra

Love has no language, religion or ethnicity and knows know bounds when two right people find each other. Regardless of laws or what religions preach, love transcends all of it. A US-based Indian engineer has done just that. He married his gay lover in a traditional ceremony at Yavatmal in Maharashtra on December 30.

With the Supreme Court has agreed to review the criminalisation of homosexuality, it seems like this has offered a ray of hope for everyone from the LGBT community. Read moreYoga guru Baba Ramdev-backed FMCG brand Patanjali has experienced unparalleled success in the Indian markets in its relatively short term, but the company is all set to flex its muscle on the world stage.

French luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, is willing to invest a mammoth 500 million USD (Rs 3250 crore) in Patanjali Ayurveda.

"Acharya Balkrishna (MD of Patanjali) has said that just as we use foreign technology for our development, we do not hesitate to use foreign funds for the benefit of our country, but we will take it on our own terms.will not give share/stake," Patanjali spokesperson SK Gupta Tijarawala tweeted.

ALSO READ: Arrogant Or Ignorant? Patanjali's Ad Says Dark Complexion Is A Skin Ailment

PTI

ALSO READ: Now Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Eyes To Become The World's Largest FMCG Brand In Four Years

Patanjali chief executive Acharaya Balkrishna told The Economic Times that the company isn't looking to dilute equity but is seeking about Rs 5,000 crore in loans in "Indian currency" at rates that are lower than those offered by banks. He said UBS has lined up meetings with several foreign investors to this end.

"We will not give the stake to anyone," he said.

According to reports the investment will be used to set up plants in Nagpur, Greater Noida, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana and Rajasthan and for the cultivation of aromatic and herbal plants on 10,100 acres.

ALSO READ: Baba Ramdev Wanted Patanjali Employees To Work For 'Free' Claims Former CEO

"We would love to work with him if we can find a model," Ravi Thakran, managing partner, L Catterton Asia told The Economic Times. However, "I know his model is not to work with multinationals and with foreign money."

Louding Patanjali's global potential, Thakran said the company has been a disruptor in its category, as strong a disruptor as many of the global disruptors are and it has taken Indian-ness and celebrated it with pride. He also felt that Patanjali could sell its products in markets such as the US, Japan, China, South Korea and Europe and L Catterton could help in that effort.Greece begins giving COVID-19 vaccines outside churches AP - 30 minutes ago ARCHANES, Greece (AP)  Greece has begun administering vaccinations for COVID-19 outside churches in a pilot program recently announced by the government as a means of encouraging more people to get... $SPX : 4,535.43 (-0.03%) $DOWI : 35,369.09 (-0.21%) $IUXX : 15,652.86 (+0.31%)

Greece creates climate crisis ministry after huge wildfires AP - 1 hour ago ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greeces center-right government has created a new ministry to address the impact of climate change and named former European Union commissioner Christos Stylianides as minister.... $SPX : 4,535.43 (-0.03%) $DOWI : 35,369.09 (-0.21%) $IUXX : 15,652.86 (+0.31%)

Silver Elliott Wave Analysis: Targets 26-27 Area EW-Forecast.com - 1 hour ago Silver is nicely recovering, now even trying to break above strong trendline, which means that we can expect more gains, ideally as part of an A-B-C rally ^XAUUSD : 1,822.83 (-0.24%) ^XAGUSD : 24.674 (-0.10%)

Industry group backs global carbon price for large ships AP - 1 hour ago BERLIN (AP)  A major maritime industry association on Monday backed plans for a global surcharge on carbon emissions from shipping to help fund the sector's shift toward climate-friendly fuels. $SPX : 4,535.43 (-0.03%) $DOWI : 35,369.09 (-0.21%) $IUXX : 15,652.86 (+0.31%)

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Wheat (ZW) Bounces Off Just Above 50% Fib Retrace of Jul-Aug Rally Tradable Patterns - Mon Sep 6, 12:59AM CDT Wheat (ZW) firmed going into the US Labor Day holiday long weekend, bouncing off downchannel support (on the 4hr chart). Significantly, ZW has held the 38.2% Fib retrace of the July to August rally in... WEAT : 7.07 (+1.14%)

Prince Charles' ex-aide quits charity role amid honor claims AP - Sun Sep 5, 6:07AM CDT LONDON (AP)  A former close aide to Prince Charles stepped down temporarily from his role as chief executive of a royal charity amid reports that he helped secure an honor for a Saudi donor. $SPX : 4,535.43 (-0.03%) $DOWI : 35,369.09 (-0.21%) $IUXX : 15,652.86 (+0.31%)What Is a Captive Fund?

A captive fund is a private pooled investment fund that is managed for a select group of investors or in affiliation with a single entity. It is often created for the benefit of an organization's members or a firm's employees. These funds are "captive" since they are limited in who can invest and in their transferrability. Indeed, investors in a captive fund can only cash out by selling shares back to the fund members or administrator.

Captive funds can also be created by companies to manage targeted investments, such as venture capital assets invested in private market companies.

Key Takeaways A captive fund is a privately managed pooled investment vehicle organized on behalf of an organization's members or employees.

These funds can engage in a wide range of investment strategies or goals, but are restricted in that fund shareholders can only buy and sell from within the fund itself.

Captive funds are also used by corporations to invest in private placements or venture deals.

Captive Funds Explained

Captive funds are not publicly offered or traded on exchanges. Therefore, they typically do not get a lot of media attention. However, these funds can be created with a broad range of objectives, many of which can be quite similar to publicly traded funds. Captive funds are often developed as an employee benefit allowing for investment from some or all of the companys employees depending on its benefit focus and structure. Captive funds can also be used for managing venture capital investments.

What makes these funds "captive" is the inability to sell fund shares to anybody else but back to the fund itself. In other words, investors in the fund cannot sell or transfer their holdings to any other individual or entity outside of the fund's boundaries. Often these boundaries are limited by certain members of an organization or firm.

Captive funds can be managed internally by designated trustees, or they can also be managed by an institutional investment manager. As non-registered private funds, captive funds have broad latitude in their structuring and investment objectives and are subject to less regulatory oversight.

Employee Funds

Captive funds for employees seek to broaden the employee benefits at a company. Captive funds can be similar to Z-share funds, which are typically used by mutual fund companies allowing employees to invest in a single share class of the portfolio. The Medallion Fund for Renaissance Technologies employees is one example of an employee captive fund.

The Medallion Fund is a legendary capital fund invested in by the employees of Renaissance Technologies. Founded by James Simmons, Renaissance Technologies is a hedge fund focused on quantitative investing. The company has 290 employees with $84 billion in assets under management as of 2018, including the Medallion Fund. Other funds include the Institutional Equities Fund and Institutional Diversified Alpha Fund. The Medallion Fund uses its own proprietary quantitative investing strategy for the Fund and is well known for maintaining one of the best track records for returns in investing history.

Venture Capital Captive Funds

Many companies establish captive funds to build partnerships and make private market venture capital investments. Funds are usually supported by corporate capital and can be managed and structured in various ways.

Alphabet, Inc., has a captive fund portfolio managed by Google Ventures. Google Ventures is a subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc., focused primarily on managing a broad investment portfolio that seeks to invest in growing technology companies.

Healthcare is another sector that is involved with venture capital funding and research. Healthcare companies with captive funds for venture capital investing include Eli Lilly and Company, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Biogen, and Ascension Health.What Is an Equity Style Box?

An equity style box is a visual representation of the key investment characteristics of stocks and stock mutual funds. The style box was created by Morningstar and is a valuable tool for investors to use to determine the risk-return structures of their stocks/stock portfolios and/or how these investments fit into their investing criteria.

Image by Sabrina Jiang  Investopedia 2020

Key Takeaways An equity style box is a graphic used to demonstrate the main characteristics of a stock or mutual fund, including market cap and investment style.

The style box is a nine-square grid with a horizontal and vertical axis and was designed by financial services researcher Morningstar, Inc.

Investors can use the boxes for research, such as determining if a potential investment is appropriate for a portfolio that needs a specific asset allocation.

Understanding Equity Style Boxes

An equity style box is composed of nine squares, or categories, with the investment features of stocks/stock mutual funds presented along its vertical and horizontal axes. Institutional investment managers will use equity style box categories as a central consideration for their portfolio management objectives. Investors of all types can use equity style box categories to screen stocks and mutual funds for individual investing characteristics.

For stocks and stock funds, the vertical axis is divided into three company-size categories based on market capitalization: large, medium, and small. The horizontal axis represents the investment style and varies slightly for stocks and stock funds. Both stocks and stock funds include value and growth categories. For stock investments, Morningstar classifies the middle category, which can generally be considered as a mix of value and growth, as a core for stocks and blend for funds. Investors will often see these categories used in stock reports and mutual fund marketing materials.

Special Considerations

Investors use equity style boxes to identify specific stocks or stock funds for targeted investment portfolio allocations. Risk factors can typically be an important consideration when filtering for investments by style box.

Small-cap stocks and growth stocks generally report higher risks with a higher potential return. Large-cap value stocks are often a low-risk choice for investors seeking long-term investments. The blend category will include funds that have a mix of growth and value stocks. For stocks, the core category refers to investments that can be good long-term holdings offering consistent capital appreciation potential.

Morningstar offers a domestic equity style box, an international equity style box, and a fixed-income style box.

Equity Style Box Investments

Morningstar allows investors to filter funds by the equity style box category. For example, a mutual fund investor looking for relatively safe equity investments with the highest potential return could filter for funds in the large-cap/growth category.

Morningstar describes the category as funds that invest in big U.S. companies that are primed to grow faster than other large-cap stocks. Large-cap funds are considered to be those that invest in stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of equity markets. Growth refers to fast growth and high valuations.

As of the January 2021 list from Morningstar, some of the highest-ranked large-cap/growth funds include American Funds AMCAP, Fidelity Contrafund and Fidelity Growth Company, Morgan Stanley Inst Growth, and Inst Advantage, Primecap Odyssey Growth, Vanguard Capital Opportunity, Vanguard Growth, and Vanguard Growth Index.What Is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act?

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 raised U.S. import duties with the goal of protecting American farmers and other industries from foreign competition. The act is now widely blamed for worsening the severity of the Great Depression in the U.S. and around the world.

Formally called the United States Tariff Act of 1930, the law is commonly referred to as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff or the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. It was sponsored by Sen. Reed Owen Smoot (R-Utah) and Rep. Willis Chatman Hawley (R-Ore.).

Key Takeaways The Smoot-Hawley Act was created to protect U.S. farmers and other industries from foreign competitors.

The Smoot-Hawley Act increased tariffs on foreign imports to the U.S. by about 20%.

At least 25 countries responded by increasing their own tariffs on American goods.

Global trade plummeted, contributing to the ill effects of the Great Depression.

Prior to signing the Act, more than 1000 economists urged President Hoover to veto it.

Hoover's successor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to reduce tariffs and was given more authority to negotiate with heads of state under the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934.

Understanding the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, enacted in June 1930, added about 20% to the United States' already high import duties on foreign agricultural products and manufactured goods. The Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922 previously raised the average import tax on foreign goods to about 40%.

The initial focus of the Smoot-Hawley legislation was to increase protection for U.S. farmers, who were struggling to compete with agricultural imports from overseas, particularly from Europe. Soon, lobbyists for other sectors of American industry began demanding similar protection for their own products.

Effect of the Great Crash of 1929

The first effort to pass the bill failed, stymied by moderate Senate Republicans early in 1929. However, with the stock market crash that year, the appeal of protectionist and isolationist sentiments increased. The bill passed by a narrow margin of 44 to 42 in the Senate, but it sailed through the House of Representatives with a vote of 222 to 153.

President Herbert Hoover signed the act into law on June 17, 1930, despite widespread opposition that included a petition signed by more than 1,000 economists urging him to veto it.

The official U.S. Senate website calls Smoot-Hawley "among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history."

Hoover optimistically noted that he had the authority under the act to increase or decrease specific tariffs by as much as 50%, allowing him to "expedite prompt and effective action if grievances develop."

A Global Reaction

Grievances developed almost immediately. The tariff increases in Smoot-Hawley strained the economies of countries already suffering from the Great Depression and the costs of rebuilding after World War I.

One notable loser in the trade wars was Germany, which was already struggling to repay war reparations to the U.S. and other nations that emerged victorious from the war.

As the Nobel Prize-winning M.I.T. economist Paul A. Samuelson noted in his widely used textbook Economics, "Cynics were delighted at the spectacle of a country trying to collect debts from abroad and at the same time shutting out the import goods that could alone have provided the payment for those debts."

66% The amount of international trade declined worldwide between 1929 and 1934, partly due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.

Soon, 25 countries retaliated by increasing their own tariffs. As a result, international trade declined drastically, resulting in a worldwide decline of 66% between 1929 and 1934. Both U.S. exports and imports dropped substantially.

A Change in Direction

In the 1932 elections, President Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt and both Smoot and Hawley lost their seats in Congress. On taking office, President Roosevelt began working to reduce the tariffs.

Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934. That law transferred the authority for tariff policy to the White House, authorizing the president to negotiate with foreign heads of state for lower tariffs at both ends.

Over the following decades, the United States steadily encouraged international trade by taking a lead role in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

To this day, economists differ on the extent to which the Smoot-Hawley Act worsened the Great Depression. Some say its effect was minimal because international trade was then a relatively minor part of the U.S. economy.

But no one seems to think it was a good idea. The official U.S. Senate website refers to Smoot-Hawley as "among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history."

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act FAQs

What Was the Purpose of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930?

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was enacted to protect U.S. farmers from foreign competition by increasing tariffs on certain foreign goods. It was also purposed to offer protections to other industries from foreign competitors.

Did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act Cause the Great Depression?

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act did not cause the Great Depression; however, it worsened conditions during that time. The Act increased tariffs, which further stressed struggling nationsincluding those in debt to the U.S.and caused other nations to retaliate by imposing their own tariffs. As a result, international trade decreased significantly.

What Did Investors Fear as a Result of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act?

Investors feared that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act would cause prices to fall. Their fears became reality, prompting many to sell shares in record-breaking numbers.

How Did European Countries React to the Hawley Smoot Tariff

European nations greatly disfavored the Hawley Smoot Tariff. The Hawley Smoot Tariff prompted these countries to impose their own tariffs on foreign goods, especially those from the United States. These retaliation tariffs crippled international trade and worsened conditions during the Great Depression.A row over a bet on a game of pool in a pub resulted in one man finishing his pint and throwing the glass at a bar worker and missing her but causing 1,200 damage to a TV screen, writes Liam Heylin.

Inspector John Deasy said the man then went to a nearby Centra, where he got into another row and assaulted the owner and a member of staff.

Judge Olann Kelleher said this vicious attack in the shop was one of the worst he had seen in recent years at Cork District Court.

William Condon, of Youghal and no fixed address, was described by his solicitor Pat Horan as having a bad anger-management problem.

When Judge Kelleher imposed a total jail term of 19 months (24 months is the maximum limit of the court) on Condon, the 24-year-old said, fucking prick, as he was taken into custody.

The owner of The Gallows Bar, Cork, Noel Cremin, said 1,200 damage was caused to a 65in TV screen when Condon threw the glass.

He said a female member of staff was in the bar and two men were served alcoholic beverages and everything was fine for 20 minutes but, for whatever reason, he struck another patron in the bar.

Mr Horan, solicitor, said Condon was not charged with that. The judge said he was entitled to hear the background and he added of Mr Cremin: He is a citizen of the city. His premises was broken up. Be respectful to him.

Mr Cremin said: He [Condon] finished his pint of lager. He flung the pint glass at her [the bar woman]. He missed her and struck the TV set.

The owner of Centra, Denroches Cross, Denis Whelton, said the defendant came to his shop with another man that evening, August 30, 2017.

He said that what happened was the most serious incident in 15 years of running the family business.

Shams Rahman Parcha was working behind the counter when Condon and his accomplice got so difficult he had to call for the assistance of his employer

Mr Whelton said: I strove to protect myself and the member of staff. I was head-butted. I was punched three times in the head. He spat in my face It has made me nervous.

Judge Kelleher described counts of assault causing harm to Mr Whelton and Shams Rahman Parcha as terribly vicious.

It was quite a terrifying attack, as vicious as I have seen at Cork District Court in the last few years, he said.

Imposing eight months for a theft and 11 months consecutive for the assaults, the judge described the case as exceptional and one that did not merit the sentences being made concurrent.

Judge Kelleher sentenced Condon before lunch and asked that he be brought back after lunch in relation to his outburst after sentencing. Condon apologised.

This story originally appeared on the Irish Examiner.Dateline 2018 - High Hopes, Low Expectations

Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe discusses the challenges facing Myanmar in 2018 with Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ko Ye Ni and senior reporter Ma Nyein Nyein.

Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, our Irrawaddy news crew will discuss likely scenarios in important areas like politics and the economy of Myanmar in 2018. Our discussion will focus on which stage the democratic transition of our country has reached and whether there will be any progress, and whether the economy can pick up. The year 2018 started with problems and confusion around the world. Well discuss whether Myanmar will be able to overcome its own troubles. Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ko Ye Ni and English edition senior reporter Ma Nyein Nyein join me to discuss this. Im Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe.

We can say the problems of 2017 have continued into 2018. In my opinion, Myanmar was in deep trouble in 2017. But then taking a look at the world, well have to wait and see how deep the divides will become in the US under President Trump. He is just a businessman. Taking a look at the UK, Brexitthe looming withdrawal of the UK from the EUhas created uncertainties. There are countries that may secede from the UK. Taking a look at Eastern Europe, there is a rise in nationalism, and there is a resultant increase in discrimination. Our country Myanmar is not different, not exceptional. So, lets discuss the possible scenarios for our country in 2018. It seems that the democratic transition of our country has reached an impasse apart from other problems such as the peace process, national reconciliation between the government and the Tatmadaw, the rise of ultra-nationalism and pressing issues like Rakhine and the capacity of the government.

Ye Ni: Global politics does have an impact on national politics. As you said, old democracies and leading countries like the US and European countries have suffered setbacks, China has begun to play a bigger role on the international stage with its greater political, economic and military powers. In Southeast Asia, not only our country but all other countries have suffered setbacks in terms of democratization. As the economic reforms instituted by the Communist Party of Chinawe can call it state capitalismhave gathered tremendous momentum, this makes other countries wonder if they should follow suit, and consequently most of the Asean countries are inclined to (follow in that direction).

Talking of our country, after we experienced the Rakhine issue, Western countries put pressure on us and downgraded ties. Meanwhile, China extended help to us. Though the Myanmar people disliked China in the past, it now seems that they have to rely on China. The root cause of this is the Rohingya [Bengali] crisis. Around 600,000 refugees fled after the Tatmadaw carried out counter-insurgency operations in response to the attacks of ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army] in August. The international community including the UN has labelled it as ethnic cleansing and this pressure will have an impact on political, economic, and social reforms in Myanmar this year. Im afraid this impact will continue until the next election [in 2020].

KZM: This problem is quite big. This is the most pressing issue for the government. Ma Nyein Nyein, the peace process was initiated under U Thein Seins government and continues under Daw Aung San Suu Kyis. But it seems that the greater the effort that is put into the peace process, the harder it becomes to achieve peace. We heard that the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] signatories have decided not to attend the UPDJC [Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee] meeting. And it is unlikely that there will be new NCA signatories. What will happen to the peace process in 2018?

Nyein Nyein: As youve said, the issues of 2017 will continue in 2018. The year 2018 started with hurdles to the peace effort. It started with the UPDJC meetings being suspended for an indefinite period. Eight NCA signatories were set to meet on Jan. 11 to discuss this. It was mainly because the Tatmadaw stopped preliminary public consultations for national-level political dialogues organized by the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) in Shan State in December. Public consultations were halted in three or four towns in a period of about one week. So, the RCSS released a statement on Jan. 8 saying that it would not hold national-level dialogues. This is because there are different views about NCA implementation.

Terminology has always been a source of problems in the peace process. An ethnic leader told me that our country is always faced with terminological crises. Two sides define the same word differently. So, negotiations to reach an understanding over terminology never end. The NCA signatories have experienced the same problem. Although (the process for) how the NCA would be implemented is described in the accord, the NCA signatories were never clear about it. The understanding of the NCA by the Tatmadaw, the government and ethnic signatories is different from one another. So, it is difficult to reach a tripartite agreement. And there are non-signatory groups, while the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) is still negotiating. They have made eight demands, and said that they would sign the agreement if all those eight demands were fulfilled. Those negotiations have stalled. There is also the belief that consensus can be reached only when there are talks between the top leaders. So, negotiations have gone nowhere. Therefore, the tripartite talks between the Tatmadaw, government and ethnic groups, either NCA signatories or non-signatories, still have a very long way to go.

KZM: Talking of tripartite talks, the government, the Tatmadaw and the ethnic groups should be equal partners in negotiations. If the ethnic groups quit, peace will never be achieved. Similarly, if the Tatmadaw objects, the process will stall. So, it is important that the government should have a clear policy to handle this. But frankly speaking, we havent seen such a policy so far.

YN: Under the military governments, democracy activists and ethnic groups demanded tripartite talks. And the same demand is being made now. So, optimistically, it is not bad the peace process hasnt gone backward even if it hasnt made progress. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that 2017 would be the year of peace.

KMZ: 2018 will also be the year of peace. Unless peace is achieved, every new year will be the year of peace.

YN: Yes, it will be the year of peace until 2019 and beyond, perhaps.

KZM: It is not an easy issue. There were clashes even before independence. It is 70 years now since independence. The legacy of divide-and-rule and colonialism continues to seriously affect the country. Lets discuss the economy of the country. You have mentioned Chinas economic influence. In early 2017, the [commerce] minister compared the economy to a jet plane about to take off. But in December, he admitted that the economy hadnt pick up as expected. If the economy doesnt improve, the daily lives of people will be hard. Ko Ye Ni, do you see any good prospects for the country in 2018?

YN: Like the political issues, economic reforms are a long-term process. There are things that have yet to be done. Though the business community and the majority of the people perceive the overall economic landscape as in a downward trend, I personally think the NLD government has managed to implement economic reforms to a certain extent. It has made reforms to clarify the budget, and public financing.

KZM: It has to resolve the entanglements first.

YN: Yes, for example, in her proposal to Parliament, lawmaker Daw Thet Thet Khaing said that some departments have opened their own accounts and do not put their revenues into the state budget. The NLD government has to solve those problems. Last year, as you said, businesspeople were not positive about the economic landscape of the country. The business survey report, jointly released late last year by the UMFCCI (Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and (consulting firm) Roland Berger, based on the views of over 500 businesspeople, indicated that investor confidence in Myanmars business landscape had significantly declined in 2017 because of a lack of clear economic policy. This shows that the NLD government is under increased pressure to accelerate the economic reforms. It does not have much time left, only two years2018 and 2019before the election in 2020. I think, rather than the Rohingya issue and the peace process, economic reform is something for which the NLD government can receive credit in the next two years. So I think it should focus its efforts on it.

KZM: There are a lot of things to discuss. Anyway, to resolve the political, peace, and ethnic issues and the Rakhine problem, everything depends on national reconciliation. The military government ruled for around 50 years, and the new government has ministries controlled by the Tatmadaw. And the military also holds seats in the parliament. So, it seems everything including peace depends on national reconciliation. Ma Nyein Nyein, do you think there are good prospects for national reconciliation? Because the government leaders and Tatmadaw leaders always need to get on; otherwise there is a problem.

NN: Outwardly, the NLD government seems to be trying very hard for national reconciliation. The public perception is that the NLD is trying to get on with the Tatmadaw, but in reality we heard that the Tatmadaw and NLD dont see eye to eye. The Tatmadaw clings to the 2008 Constitution and doesnt allow it to be touched. But, when the NLD government took office, it overstepped the boundaries of the 2008 Constitution and established the State Counselors Office. Since then, we heard that the relationship between the Tatmadaw and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has stagnated. This has had an impact on the peace process. If there is no coordination between them, either bilateral or tripartite talks will not happen. The NLD government alone cant make this happen. The government thus may appear biased toward the Tatmadaw; (in contrast) I havent heard people say that it is biased towards the ethnic groups. Since it has taken the negotiator role, only when all three sides try together will national reconciliation be possible.

KZM: The problem is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not the de facto leader. Her authority doesnt reach that level. Its the same for the president. It is just three years until the 2020 election. The most important thing now is structural reform, and the NLD has a lot to do, such as national reconciliation, constitutional reforms and managing an economic recovery. Do you think it will be able to push forward a democratic transition?

YN: The message from the Tatmadaw so far is that it will not agree to changes in the 2008 Constitution. So the NLD government should take a realistic approach and think about how to accelerate political, economic and social reforms without changing the 2008 Constitution. Considering its capabilities in terms of finance, human capital, expertise and experience over the past two years, I dont have high expectations for the new government.

KZM: Another thing is our country with a population of 54 million people is beset with problems, troubles and the legacy of colonial rule. Laws enacted in 1920 are still in force. In fact, they are really out of date. Ko Ye Ni, Ma Nyein Nyein, thanks a lot for your contributions. I think our people will be able to overcome (the challenges in) 2018 as they have great resilience. They showed it when the country was hit by Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Similarly, they have to address the problems with a similar level of resilience in 2018. Thank you all!57 Shares Share

As we continue to lead longer and healthier lives, too many Americans arent taking advantage of an easily accessible set of tools that could protect their well-being into old age: adult vaccines. As a nation, weve embraced a regular schedule of vaccines for our children. But science shows that they are proven life-savers for us grown-ups, too.

The numbers are staggering: tens of thousands of Americans die each year from flu while another 200,000 people will be hospitalized with the disease.

Some 19,000 people over 65 will die from pneumococcal pneumonia, which also puts 200,000 people in the hospital each year and adds $5.5 billion in disease-related costs.

And every year a million people in the U.S. will get shingles, a viral infection that will strike one in three Americans during their lifetime.

Every one of these diseases is vaccine-preventable. The problem is that vaccination rates for adults are way below public health targets, risking the health of hundreds of thousands of adults and threatening to drive up the nations health care costs.

Healthy People 2020, a 10-year initiative to improve the health of all American adults, set an immunization goal for influenza at 70 percent. But during the 2015-2016 flu season, only 42 percent of people 18 and older got the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For pneumonia, the CDC found that 61 percent of adults 65 and older, the most vulnerable population for the disease, said they had ever received a shot for pneumococcal pneumonia, short of the Healthy People 2020 goal of 90 percent.

And while the CDC recommended that all adults over 60 get the vaccine for shingles, only one in five got the shot between 2007 and 2013. Last October, FDA approved a new and far more effective shingles vaccine, and the CDC now recommends that adults 50 and get vaccinated against the disease, with the goal of driving up rates to protect more people from this painful and debilitating disease.

With an aging U.S. population  the number of Americans 65 and older will more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060  theres a critical need for a national strategy of disease prevention, not just treatment. We must immunize to prevent, rather than waiting until adults require acute care to treat disease, the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition concluded in a 2016 report.

Adult vaccination, it said, improves health and reduces costs and is at the foundation of healthy aging.

A number of barriers stand in the way of progress in boosting adult vaccination numbers and meeting public health immunization goals. With the possible exception of the influenza vaccine, most adult patients dont know about the risks and consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases, which shots they should get and when they should get them. Many think that eating healthy and exercising alone are enough to prevent disease.

And doctors (and pharmacists) have a responsibility to help remove these barriers, too  they can better provide a strong recommendation for vaccines and pair it with discussions about chronic diseases. Compounding the problem is less-than-adequate record keeping to track adult immunization across all stakeholders in the healthcare system.

In addition, while most health insurance plans cover routinely recommended vaccines with no out-of-pocket cost to patients 64 and under, the majority of Medicare enrollees must pay a share of the cost for shingles and other Medicare Part D vaccines.

There are, however, some signs of progress. A recent event featured three initiatives that have successfully raised adult immunizations:

In California, the states Department of Health Care Services began requiring Medi-Cal fee-for-service and managed care programs to fully cover all vaccines recommended by a federal government panel on immunization practices. In another policy change, DHCS also began permitting Medi-Cals pharmacy networks to administer vaccines and bill Medi-Cal, which covers over 13 million Californians, including one in five adults over 65. The result: a sharp jump in immunizations that, for example, saw vaccinations for influenza increase from 9,777 between January and June of 2016 to 16,249 for the same period in 2017.

Louisianas Ochsner Health System, the states largest, adopted new guidelines that allow pharmacists, registered nurses and other healthcare professionals to assess the need for and administer vaccines through standing orders. That and a commitment to change by the systems leaders have helped increase adult vaccinations, achieving employee influenza vaccination rates approaching 100 percent over the last two years and meeting other Healthy People 2020 goals.

At the University of Wisconsin, the School of Pharmacy collaborated with the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR) in a project that demonstrated the value of centralized tracking of patient immunization histories. Armed with information about their patients over 60, pharmacists at one chain drug store were able to educate patients, recommend and then administer vaccinations. The result was a sharp increase for immunizations for pneumonia, influenza, shingles and adult tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis.

For the health of all adults, its crucial that we build on the success of these initiatives and commit to both a national strategy and building local champions to boost adult immunization rates, reduce disability, disease, and death and ensure that no one ever suffers from an illness that a vaccine could easily have prevented.

James Appleby is executive director and CEO, The Gerontological Society of America.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comPreparation for peace Olympics' to begin next week



The two Koreas' breakthrough deal earlier this week on cooperating on the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games has renewed the world's attention to the "peace Olympics." After a high-level meeting on Jan. 9, it was announced that North Korea would send a delegation of athletes, cheerleaders, officials and journalists.



North Korea's participation has a special significance because it was announced amid icy inter-Korean relations. Many South Koreans had not been enthusiastic about PyeongChang, but took more interest following the news of North Korea's participation in the nation's first Winter Olympic Games.



The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will arrange a meeting on Jan. 20 at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss North Korea's participation in the upcoming PyeongChang Games.



The meeting, to be chaired by IOC President Thomas Bach, will include delegations from the two Koreas, including officials from the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee, members of the National Olympic Committees from both Koreas and government officials. During the meeting, representatives from the two Koreas will discuss details regarding North Korea's Olympic participation, such as the size of North Korea's delegation and which athletes will compete. The meeting will also address other issues, such as the format of their participation, including flags, anthems and ceremonies.



As Bach said, North Korea's decision to come to PyeongChang is "a great step forward in the Olympic spirit." The decision has also been backed by Korea's neighbors and the global community.



"We hope the two sides can take the opportunity of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games to improve relations, push forward reconciliation and cooperation and make positive efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.



As with all delegations, North Korea deserves to be treated well. But the government should bear in mind there is some negative public sentiment about the motives behind North Korea's sudden decision to join the Olympics. Also, there is a growing controversy about the costs South Korea will shoulder for the North Korean delegation and whether this goes against United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions. There are also concerns about the costs for non-athletes, such as performers, cheering squads and the taekwondo demonstration team.



The government should be sure the accommodation and logistics for the North Korean delegation are within the boundaries of UNSC sanctions. Also, North Korea should not be allowed to use the Olympics as an occasion to promote its regime to the outside world.





There was no snow needed for this igloo in Rathdowney in Laois this winter, and it survived long after the snow had melted elsewhere.

The igloo was built by the residents of the 36 house Moorville estate in Rathdowney, with the main construction undertaken by Paul Bowe and David Moore.

Many others helped out where they could, and it was ready of the Christmas lights switch on on December 8.

The children of the estate did lots of choir practice for weeks beforehand, and on the night when the Christmas lights were switched on, the igloo was unveiled while the residents enjoyed some mulled wine, hot chocolate and carol singing on the green.

They even had a snow machine to add to the atmosphere on the night, which might just have helped bring on the real thing days later across the county.

And what was the igloo made of? Lots and lots of recycled plastic milk containers.

Photograph by Alf Harvey for the Leinster Express.Parents in Laois and Offaly who want to learn how to help their teenage children through mental health problems, can avail of free expert advice in the coming weeks.

Two free workshops are being held for parents, as well as for teachers and special needs assistants, on the topics of self harm, and teen anxiety and sleeplessness.

'Understanding Self-Harm Seminar for Parents' is a two-hour seminar that will be held at the Central Hotel Tullamore on Wednesday January 31 from 7pm to 9pm.

The Facilitator is Josephine Rigney who is the Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention for Laois and Offaly.

Self harm figures rising in Laois says Suicide Prevention Officer

The seminar aims to develop participants' knowledge and understanding of self-harm and the reasons underlying such behaviour.

It will also help participants to consider the needs of people who self-harm and to gain knowledge of the following:

Definitions of self-harm and its relationship with suicide

Understanding of the prevalence of self-harm across different age groups and genders

The functions, motivations and meanings underlying self-harm

Awareness of the needs of people who self-harm and how to demonstrate improved sensitivity

Possible interventions and helpful responses in responding to people who self-harm

Information on the appropriate and relevant supports and services, locally and nationally.

The second seminar is in Portlaoise, at the Laois Education Centre on the Block road, (behind Portlaoise hospital), on Monday February 5, from 7pm to 9pm.

'Tips on How to Address Anxiety and Sleepless Nights in Adolescents', will be presented by Carol Delaney and Mairead Kerwin from Laois Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The evening will end with a question and answer session.

To book a place on either of the seminars, contact Yvonne, Laois Education Centre at (057) 8672402 Booking is essential and places are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.Laois TD and Minister for Justice has has indicated that he backs the campaign to for a change to the Eight Amendment to constitution in relation to abortion.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a Dail debate on the issue in the coming week, the Fine Gael TD said he wanted to hear views but felt change should take place.

"I don't believe this is an issue that should be in our constitution," he said.

He said he acknowledged that this has been an very challenging and sensitive issue over the past 35 years.

He looked forward to listening to the views of all sides but this must be based on facts.

"I believe we must have this debate carried out in an atmosphere of calm. It is going to be very difficult to achieve consensus," he said.

However, he said women's health is key.

"It is primarily a women's health issue," he said.

He said he hoped the Dail and Seanad could move matters forward.

The TD did not say what type of change he favoured or to what extent he believed abortion should be made available if the Eight Amendment to the constitution is changed.

Flanagan says he favours repealing the Eighth Amendment pic.twitter.com/nEEHkxLoyL  TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) January 10, 2018

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said last week that there are concerns over the availability of abortion to women in Ireland up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.A weekend featuring heavy rain, fog and frost is set to be followed by snow, heavy rain next week Met Eireann has forecast.

It will be wet for much of Saturday in Leinster and Ulster, but the rain will clear away to the east in the evening. Brighter weather developing through Munster and much of Connacht during the morning but there will be scattered heavy showers there also. Highs of 6 to 10 degrees Celsius with the winds becoming lighter as the rain clears.

Whilst it will be mostly dry overnight on Saturday, misty or even foggy conditions will set in, in near calm conditions. Frost is expected parts where skies remain clear. Lowest temperatures will range -1 to + 3 degrees Celsius, coldest and probably clearest in the west and southwest.

Any overnight frost or fog should clear by mid-morning Sunday as southerly winds increase moderate in strength. Most of the country will see a dry day, but becoming rather breezy too with limited amounts of sunshine generally.

Later in the day the active weather systems will begin to push in from the north-Atlantic; rain will arrive into the northwest and west by evening, extending countrywide after dark with some heavy falls expected. Highest temperatures ahead of that will range 7 to 11 degrees Celsius, coolest across the eastern half of Ireland.

From Monday, Met Eireann says it will become increasingly blustery and showery turning wintry later Monday into Tuesday with falls of sleet and snow increasingly more likely.

The focus of the wintry showers will be across the north and west with some accumulations likely - but all areas will be at risk with some thunder occurring locally too.

It will also be much colder, with maxima of only 3 to 6 degrees Celsius (north to south). It is set to feel even colder with an added wind chill effect. Frost and ice is also on the cards, mainly for sheltered areas due to sustained brisk winds.

No weather warnings have yet been announced.The deployment of a private contractor to enforce parking rules in Naas has been criticised.

Local councillor Darren Scully said he was very disappointed this was done without any consultation with councillors who represent the area.

He said this was not discussed and the action is disrespectful to elected politicians.

While he understood the reasons behind the move, there was no consultation and Naas had always had community wardens.

A private company is only interested in making money and that is their right, but there was no discussion about this transition and how the community wardens would be managed. We were told there would be a discussion, it didnt happen, Cllr Scully said.

We have been completely ignored, the community wardens had a good relationship with the community and there is a fear that this might be lost.

The lack of consultation was also criticised by veteran Naas politician Seamie Moore.

There is not much point in us coming here. I can send a rubber stamp in here instead of me. Running the council is not entirely the job of the officials and we should have talked about the winding down of the community wardens,  he told a Naas Municipal District meeting.

Cllr Moore commented that tickets were being issued to people who parked nose in to the footpath on the Main Street and infringed on the white line of the parking bay  even though this had been the practice and the community wardens would have known this.

The service has changed and we should have been involved in this.

Kildare County Council said the councillors requested a review of the bye laws in Naas as well as changes, including the addition of pay parking on Saturdays. The review took place in the context of the retirement of three wardens across the county and a number of queries from County Kildare Chamber.

KCC also said that parking management company Apcoa already provided a contracted service in other towns in the county.Television presenter Maura Derrane has been ordered by a local district court to attend Naas District Court on March 10 next to face a charge of speeding.

Television presenter Maura Derrane has been ordered by a local district court to attend Naas District Court on March 10 next to face a charge of speeding.

Ms Derrane, with an address listed as 1 Coadys Quay, The Lookout, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, was spotted by Sgt Michael Keevans on July 6 last at Osberstown exceeding the speed limit in a black Toyota Prius at Osberstown, Naas.

Her case had been called some weeks ago and she had, according to Conal Boyce who represented her last Thursday, February 17, turned up and sat through the day. The case was not reached that day and last Thursday, Mr Boyce was acting on instructions from a Waterford-based firm of solicitors acting on her behalf.

He said he had instructions to enter a guilty a plea to the matter, and that there was no disrespect intended by her non-appearance.

The Judge asked what he knew about Ms Derrane and Mr Boyce said she was a lady married to a public servant (the TD, John Deasy).

Is she not on television? Judge Zaidan asked.

Mr Boyce said he didnt know her at all and repeated that he was only acting on behalf of another solicitor.

Yes Judge, she is a television presenter, Sgt Keevans said.

Well not on any of the Swedish channels I watch, Mr Boyce joked.

The Judge said the defendant would have to turn up to face the case and he adjourned the case until March 10.Figures compiled by Western Development Commission which outline a 41% fall since 1996 in the number of people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing is of major concern for the development of the western region and a damming indictment of current agriculture policy.

According to Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice "These findings confirm what many farmers already believe - that the future for the family farm is bleak with Government and EU policy undermining their viability, through added regulation increased costs and lower market prices.



"While it is unlikely that we will see any significant increase in farming numbers as many of these farmsteads have been sold to other farmers or gone to forestry, what is critical is that we protect what we now have. Farmers especially in beef and sheep have to be given hope as these industries are too important, especially to the west of Ireland to allow them go.



"In the months and years ahead major decisions will be taken in Dublin and Brussels that will determine how many farmers we maintain for the coming twenty years. The EU has over the last number of decades driven a cheap food policy. This policy has been endorsed by all member states including Ireland and has seen the average household spend on food decrease from almost 28% of total household expenditure in 1980 to just over 14% in 2016.



"However in order to ensure farmers continue to produce food and the family farm is protected the EU make direct payments through the CAP Program. In recent years the CAP has also focused on protecting the environment and enhancing Rural Communities. Though noble in its intention the implementation of the CAP in Ireland has undermined the family farm. Currently we see some farmers on payments in excess of 100,000 with little or no cost involved in drawing this down. Against this we see others struggle with little or no Basic Payment and are herded into schemes such as GLAS and the Beef Genomics where payments are much lower with compliance costs much higher.



"If the family farm which we are told is the cornerstone of our farming model is going to survive then this will have to change. We need to build better payments for all farmers on 20 to 30ha and a front-loaded model could fulfil this need. To fund this we reduce the maximum that can be drawn down from all CAP Schemes to 50,000 for any one farmer.



"We also need to look at cross-compliance and the so called yellow card system that is defiantly closer to a sin-bin than a yellow card. This Inspection process has over the last number of years terrorised farmers. The very vulnerable position farmers are in, through cross-compliance and inspections needs to be recognised and addressed both in Dublin and in Brussels.



"In my experience from dealing with farmers over the years both as a Contractor and Public Representative, I have found the vast majority to be honest, hard working and want nothing more than to make a living (not a fortune) from their land. Hopefully our officials and public representatives both in Ireland and Europe can also recognise this and act to ensure it happens," he concluded.The Government has come in for criticism from Cavan/Monaghan TD Niamh Smyth in relation to what she has described as the major delays in the roll-out of broadband connections in rural areas.

Deputy Smyth has expressed her frustration that it will be 2023 before homes and businesses can avail of highspeed broadband.

The Fianna Fail TD described the Governments record on broadband as disgraceful, adding, The National Broadband Plan was launched in 2012, but according to the latest information provided to my party, it will be more than a decade later before it is fully rolled out.

In Leitrim there are 22,285 residences of which 51% (11,287) are designated as amber meaning they fall within State intervention areas and represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP.

Leitrim has the highest number of intervention areas and the news that the wait for highspeed broadband will continue will frustrate many.

In reply to a question submitted by Deputy Eamon O Cuiv, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten said, My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage.

As part of this procurement process, the bidder(s) will be required to submit their strategies, including timescales, for the network build and rollout. My Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract. Bidders have indicated that network rollout will take 3-5 years following contract award.

Minister Naughten acknowledged the services expected are not always provided.

I recognise the frustration experienced across Ireland where telecommunications networks are not always delivering the services people expect. In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.As a series of goopy platforms climb down a bolt in a mesmerizing GIF posted on Reddit, it almost looks as if Mario should hop from one to another.

But this isn't 1990's video-game graphics, it's real life. The GIF shows a demonstration of ferrofluid, a suspension of nanosize magnetic particles in oil. The magnetic particles are small and coated in a surfactant, which is a substance like soap that helps to keep the particles evenly distributed throughout the fluid, even when they're put next to a strong magnet, said Brandon Jackson, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University, who has studied applications for ferrofluids.

In the GIF posted on Reddit, and in many other similar demonstrations seen on YouTube, Twitter and GIPHY, a magnet under the bolt provides the magnetic field. The liquid aligns itself with the invisible lines of the magnetic field, resulting in the spiky look. Surface tension holds the liquid together. Meanwhile, gravity pulls the liquid down the screw, resulting in the downward motion of the "platforms." [See More Fun Chemical Reaction GIFs]

This spiky, black "thing" is actually a liquid - a ferrofluid. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The shape "is a minimum-energy solution between the gravitational energy, the surface tension energy and the magnetic energy," meaning the substance chooses the route that demands the least amount of energy, Jackson told Live Science.

In some GIFs, the demonstrator holds additional magnets, which can alter the shape of the ferrofluid further, or move it around a surface like a snuffling hedgehog.

Actually, it's rocket science

NASA scientists invented ferrofluids in the 1960s when they were trying to figure out how to efficiently move rocket fuel from a tank into an engine in a zero-gravity environment. The researchers thought that by magnetizing the fuel with tiny iron oxide particles, they might be able to use a magnetic field to suck the fuel into the engine, leaving behind any pesky gas bubbles that could cause damage, according to NASA's Technology Transfer Program.

via GIPHY

Solid-rocket propellants obviated the need for the ferrofluids in space, but scientists quickly realized that ferrofluids could also be used to form seals to protect semiconductor chips during fabrication. Probably the most common industrial application today is in speakers, Jackson said. Ferrofluids are used to dampen vibrations in speaker components to prevent a distorted sound.

The future of ferrofluids

Ferrofluids make for fun science-fair demos, but they're also the subject of active research. One potential application, Jackson said, is in medicine. Some scientists have considered ferrofluids as an alternative to radiation treatment for cancer, he said. The fluids could be injected into tumors and then vibrated with a rapidly alternating magnetic field that would heat them, essentially "cooking" the tumor from the inside. Radiation similarly kills tumor cells with heat, but causes damage as it passes through tissue on the way to the cancer. Ferrofluids could similarly be used to target drugs to certain tissues, Jackson said.

Jackson and his colleagues have a different use for ferrofluids in mind. They're studying ferrofluids as self-assembling thrusters on tiny satellites. Traditional propulsion systems work well on large satellites, Jackson said, but an increasing number of the satellites shot into orbit are the size of cellphones or shoe boxes. Many use electrospray thrusters, which use tiny electrified needles to spray jets of fluid in order to propel the satellite. But the spiky hedgehog shape that ferrofluids form under the influence of a magnetic field can also shoot jets of ions  a form of propulsion that requires only a magnet, not a precision-fabricated needle.

Original article on Live Science.If there's a hot potato topic that you're better off avoiding if you hate Twitter flame wars, it's got to be Aadhar. India's biometric-based 'universal identification' was first conceived sometime in 2009, and in less than a decade, it seems to have become one of the most controversial projects ever attempted by our government. These days, if you hear of Aadhar in the news (and you do, a lot), it's usually for creating more trouble in the lives of those it was supposed to benefit.

Why Aadhar?

 Twitter

Why do we even need a universal ID when it's not even a proof of citizenship? The government initially proposed Aadhar in the hope of improving the efficiency of welfare schemes  that a biometric-based ID should, theoretically, reduce corruption and diversion of benefits away from those who are eligible. And which government (or banking system) doesn't like an ID that would be difficult to fake and would enable a more rigorous 'Know Your Customer' process? Other uses that have since emerged include identity verification at airports (just getting off the ground) to reducing tax evasion. All boring, practical stuff, we know, but that's usually the case with the most critical bits, isn't it?

The Tech That (Apparently) Makes Aadhar Secure

But hang on, we hear you say. If the Aadhar is a one-ID-to-rule-em-all thing-amajing, won't things get worse if it's not as secure? Think of it, we all know how easy it is to get a driving license, isn't it? But that's why the Unique Identification Authority of India, which manages the Aadhar project, went in for biometric authentication: Fingerprint authentication and even iris scanning was hailed as a '100% guaranteed way of ensuring that people couldn't fake this as easily as other government IDs.

National IDs Are Often More Trouble Than They're Worth

 BCCL

India's not the first country to look at a universal ID for its citizenry. The US has its famous Social Security Number system, which has suffered its own share of controversies over identity theft (the US SSN doesn't use biometric information and it's easy to steal someone's identity if you know their 9-digit SSN). Meanwhile, in the mid-2000s, the UK had okayed a biometric-based national ID but later scrapped the project - it was turning out to be too expensive, while privacy and human rights campaigners said it could have many unforeseen consequences. However, there's at least one national ID project that seems to have worked as intended - Estonia's digital ID system.

Aadhar Has Always Been Plagued With Controversy

Reports of how the Aadhar has made life difficult for Indian citizens keep cropping up every few days - Insurance companies have been accused of refusing coverage, people have allegedly starved after being denied access to subsidised food, some hospitals are reportedly demanding Aadhar cards before admitting patients, leprosy patients have missed out on treatment after authentication errors, while many citizens have complained of being locked out of their accounts by banks and mobile companies. Meanwhile, people have managed to get Aadhar cards for their dogs (no, we're absolutely serious), while some cards have photos of chairs and trees! If you read the news, you'd naturally assume our Aadhar project is as epic a fail as anything the Internet as seen. And you might not be that far off the mark.

A Data Security And Privacy Fiasco In The Making?

 Twitter

The latest controversy to hit Aadhar is whether our data is safe enough (in fairness, people have been asking this ever since the project was started). Recently, a journalist from The Tribune managed to get access to the Aadhar database by paying just Rs. 500 for an account used by Aadhar data collection agents. She also discovered that there could be around one lakh people with illegal access to this database!

While the UIDAI has denied the allegations (and has for some reason, filed a complaint against the journalist who uncovered this scandal), it does make you think if our data is really safe. Even if biometrics has not been compromised, it's a safety, security and privacy nightmare in the making.

But there's more - French infosec researcher Eliot Alderson says the Android mAadhar app (which you might have installed on your phone) stores sensitive data on your device without really locking it down - if you lose your phone, a savvy hacker could dig out stuff.

Big Brother Is Watching

 Anation

Don't accuse us of going all 'Black Mirror' on you, but there's loads that can go wrong with a faulty national ID system. What if the biometrics has also been compromised - will that enable any scammer to fake your identity to take out a loan? You can't exactly change your fingerprints, can you? Or consider what happens if a bug (or even a malicious act by a government official) gets you 'locked out' from daily life - bank accounts frozen, phones blocked, not allowed to get on to a flight and so on.

And finally, there's the simple expectation of privacy - by linking all your activities using a single ID, it's possible for someone with access to the right data to build up a picture of your daily life - where you go, what you buy, the apps you use, the websites you visit You might be tempted to dismiss this as an exaggeration, but what if a bug in the system gives this access to 'cybercriminals'? To make matters worse, you, as a citizen, can't even complain - the Aadhar Act makes the government and the UIDAI immune from prosecution!

What Can You Do

For starters, lock your biometrics on the Aadhar website - this makes sure that no one can carry our biometric-based authentication till you go unlock these. Apart from this, some say you should hold off on linking Aadhar to services unless absolutely necessary - You might still need to do so for a financial service but there's no need to use your Aadhar as ID elsewhere. And finally, there's some good news (took their time, didn't they?) from the UIDAI, which is working on a Virtual ID - a 'temporary Aadhar' number that can be used for verification without having to reveal your actual Aadhar number.Hey Google, turn off the lights in my room after I leave

This may very well be the command you will be giving your Google Assistant powered smart home by the end of this year. We're here at CES and the search giant has literally taken over the annual technology show. Google showcased the power of namely one product  the Google Assistant.

 MensXP_AkshayBhalla

Google's AI assistant is going to be embedded in every device possible and it was very much prevalent at CES. From speakers to bathrooms to cars, everything had Google Assistant built into them.

"We think Assistant is more useful if it's available across all devices and contexts," said Scott Huffman, Google's VP of Engineering in charge of Google Assistant. "It's not just phones or speakers or laptops; it's all kinds of things." To that end, Google is focusing on incorporating Assistant in three major categories at CES: the home, the car and mobile -- which, in the case of the latter, means a smarter pair of earbuds.

The most popular category in which we saw the AI assistant being incorporated was your home. From the top of our heads, we saw Google Assistant powered devices from Altec Lansing, Anker Innovations, Bang & Olufsen, Braven, iHome, JBL, Jensen, LG, Lenovo, Klipsch, Knit Audio, Memorex, RIVA Audio and SoLIS.

 Lenovo

At the moment, we are only accustomed to smart speakers, however, at CES there were touch screens that let you make calls or smart displays that would let you look up recipes on YouTube, right in your kitchen. Home appliance companies like LG and Whirlpool also showcased washing machines and refrigerators that use Google Assistant. According to Google, Assistant is now available on more than 400 million devices and we couldn't agree more after seeing an agglomeration of Google Assistant powered devices.

 Whirlpool

Having said all of the above, Assistant will not be limited to home appliances as we saw it deeply integrated into cars as well. Google Assistant is going to be made available through Android Auto and it can do everything from reading out your texts to playing music or helping you navigate your car.

 BCCL

Google Assistant is already available on over 400 million devices and before you know it, you will be surrounded by it. You will deal with AI in your kitchen, in your car, and even in your bathroom. It won't be long before Google Assistant is going to take over your life and you won't even realise how it will become an integral part of your existence  unless you use Siri or Alexa, of course.MIDDLETOWN  The citys first African-American schools superintendent has pledged to take a hard stance against bigotry and racism in the wake of an incident Friday morning during which a Middletown High School student waved a Confederate flag on school grounds.

We will be proceeding swiftly to address this matter and are going to take extreme measures to ensure safety for all our students, Superintendent of Schools Michael Conner said.

Conner, who was out of state Friday, said he could not speak specifically about the incident, or any disciplinary actions, because of student privacy issues.

The young man who walked around a parking lot on school property with the flag at the start of classes was exercising his right to express his opinions, officials said.

He has a right to free speech, but he did use bad judgment, said Middletown Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Heather Desmond.

There was an arrest made at the school Friday for an unrelated dispute between a boyfriend and girlfriend, she added.

Police examined video footage taken by students and others who witnessed the incident, Desmond said.

The school will be taking extra security measures and staff will be meeting with the executive board of the Minority Student Coalition. One of the members spoke very eloquently to the student body Friday denouncing the act, Connor said, adding that the issue falls under student safety.

The Middletown Board of Education is committed to creating and maintaining an educational environment that is physically, emotionally and intellectually safe and thus free from bullying, teen dating violence, harassment and discrimination, reads the School Climate Improvement & Bullying Prevention notice on the district website.

As an African American, Conner said the incident really hit home and he is beyond grateful for the outpouring of support from the school community.

The Middletown community has embraced me with open arms. Weve had really hard discussions around equality and what that looks like for our students, said Conner, who added he was moved when staff and parents began reaching out to him personally. They are not only concerned for students but me, as an African American. This is going to be a community healing process for us. There is a lot of history here that we fought for as a coalition to eliminate racism and eliminate bigotry. Were going to take a collective stance.

Middletown Public Schools has always been one of the leaders in the state when it comes to racial parity, Conner said, acknowledging this conversation has been ongoing in many districts around the state  and nation.

Were going to fight racism and bigotry in every which way, Conner said.

Last year, cities across the South engaged in bitter debates over Confederate symbols, prompted in part by the 2015 shooting of nine black worshippers at a Charleston, South Carolina, church by an avowed white supremacist, according to an Associated Press story.

Opponents say the monuments are offensive relics of the regions racist past, while supporters call them a part of history that should be preserved, the AP reported.

The conversation surrounding equality is especially important on the eve of the city marking the birthday of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Committee of Greater Middletowns 25th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration will feature a procession on Main Street. It will be preceded by remarks by keynote speaker Donna Hylton, pastor of administration and counseling at Shiloh Christian Church and professor at Middlesex Community College, at noon at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Main Street.

That will be followed by the celebration at First Church of Christ United, 190 Court St.

I look at it as a cherished holiday, Conner said. The conversation he started facilitated me being in this role.

He said he sees this as an opportunity to begin conversations, albeit tough ones, centered on Kings vision for a society in which people of all colors and nationalities are truly equal.

Even though its a negative depiction of what people believe, its also an opportunity for us as a community to really celebrate and promote equality on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday, Conner said.

Meanwhile, the student body has some healing to do and much work ahead, he said.

We have some very, very sad kids and adults at Middletown High School who are truly upset by this, he said. We will be moving forward with due process in accordance with our policy.

Members of the community will meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the Open Door Missionary Baptist Church at 76 High St. in Middletown to discuss what happened.

We are looking to band together and take a stand in a meaningful way to ensure that the district keeps us in the conversation, DeLita Marie Rose-Daniels posted on the Parents of Middletown CT Students Facebook page.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com.EAST HAMPTON VFW Post 5095 Commander Roger Anderson has announced that Keith E. Harman United States VFW Commander-In Chief will visit the East Hampton Post on Saturday, Jan. 13. A reception will be held from 1-3 p.m. at the post home on North Maple Street in East Hampton. Refreshments will be served.

Harman was elected Commander-In-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. on July 26, 2017, at the VFW National Convention in New Orleans, La. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as a crew chief and door gunner on UH-1 Huey helicopters. His many decorations include the Air medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze service stars, Republic of Vietnam gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citations, Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Aircraft Crewmember Badge. He is a member of the American Legion and Alpha Troop Alumni Association.

As the East Hampton VFW Post was selected as one of only three posts the Commander is visiting here in Connecticut, Commander Anderson invites all veterans to attend.

Relay for Life at HK kickoff is Jan. 31

HIGGANUM/KILLINGWORTH  The American Cancer Societys Fire Truck Pull at the Relay For Life of HK will take place on Saturday, June 23 at HKHS. The event is a teambuilding, fundraising, cancer-fighting event where teams of 12 people compete to pull the truck a designated distance in the fastest time.

A kickoff for the 2018 Relay For Life/Fire Truck Pull will be held on Jan. 31, 6:30 p.m. at the Haddam Volunteer Firehouse Company 1, 439 Saybrook Rd, Higganum. To register visit www.relayforlife.org/hkct

AT the June 23 truck pull, teams will rally together to raise money however they see fit. The minimum amount of money that a team must raise is $1,200 (or $100 per person) to participate. All money raised benefits the mission of the American Cancer Society to save lives, celebrate lives and lead the fight for a world free from cancer. The winning team will receive bragging rights and a trophy.

Apply now for artists-in-residence program

East Haddam  I-Park artists-in-residence program is now accepting applications for its 2018 residency season. Forty-four residencies are available in eight sessions between May and December 2018. The residencies vary in length from two to four weeks, and are available to artists and designers working in a variety of disciplines, including visual arts, music, creative writing, moving image, architecture and landscape design.

All residencies are fully funded, and include a private room, a private studio, and chef-prepared dinners four nights a week. Artists only need to pay for the cost of transportation to and from East Haddam, Connecticut, and a $35 application fee to help defray the cost of the selection panels.

Since its founding in 2001, I-Park has sponsored more than 850 residencies, with approximately one-third of the artists coming from outside the United States. Application instructions and submission materials are available online at i-park.org. The deadline for completed applications is Jan. 22.

Gallery invites photography show submissions

WESTBROOK  The Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery is now accepting submissions for its Local Vision III exhibit, which will highlight the work of local photographers.

To be considered, submissions must be professional, quality photography and must be received by Jan. 31. All photographers must reside in New England or New York, and work should be no larger than 24 inches by 36 inches. It should not have been shown elsewhere, and it should not have been submitted to another local venue for consideration. The person entering a submission must have captured and created the original exposure. The entrant must also have performed all digital manipulation. To submit your work, visit tinyurl.com/2018LocalVisionForm.

The Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery is located at the Middlesex Hospital Shoreline Medical Center, 250 Flat Rock Place in Westbrook. The Local Vision III exhibit will be on display March 29-May 25 during regular business hours.

Portland holding kindergarten registration

PORTLAND  Parents/guardians whose children will be five years of age on or before January 1, 2019, should contact Valley View School now at 860-342-3131 to request kindergarten registration materials. Registration paperwork will be mailed to parents/guardians by the end of February. Kindergarten registration will be held from March 12-16. Parents will be assigned a day to register alphabetically according to their last name. At the time of registration, parents need to bring two proofs of residency, a copy of their childs birth certificate and the completed paperwork that was mailed to them in February. Further information regarding the kindergarten orientation process will be provided at registration time.

Kindergarten program registration open now

Regional School District #13 announces kindergarten visitations and registration. Parents of children living in Durham and Middlefield who will be five (5) years old on or before Jan. 1, 2019 must register them to attend kindergarten in September 2018, or apply for a waiver of attendance. In Regional School District #13, children may attend kindergarten in either the Contemporary Program or the Integrated Day Program. Parents need to choose the appropriate program for their child prior to kindergarten registration. School visits and information available at the schools will assist parents in making their choice.

The Contemporary Program serves children in grades K-3 and is housed at Brewster School. Grade 4 students currently attend Memorial Middle School. The Integrated Day program serves students in grades K-4 at John Lyman School. The Contemporary Program and Integrated Day Program adhere to the same curriculum and utilize similar assessments.

Parents may visit the schools from Jan. 8-31 to observe classes and to discuss any specific questions or concerns. Visits, which are designed for adults, should be scheduled ahead of time to allow for optimum opportunities to observe the programs. Appointments to visit can be made by calling the individual schools. You may call Lyman School at 860-349-7240 to visit the Integrated Day Program. To visit the Contemporary Program you may call Brewster School at 860-349-7227.The Pentagon's $675 million, four-year effort to boost the business sector in Afghanistan was a poorly conceived program that failed to meet its objectives in such projects as cashmere goat farming and pomegranate storage, a watchdog agency said.

About half of the funding for the program went for administrative costs rather than actual projects and, in the end, there were no reliable data to show that the effort "created jobs, facilitated foreign direct investments, increased exports, or increased Afghan government revenues," according to a report released Tuesday by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The report focused on the DoD's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO), which was charged with carrying out economic development projects in Afghanistan from 2010 through 2014.

From the start, it was "clear that TFBSO was unable to accomplish its overall goals. Specifically, the lack of a clear mission and strategy combined with poor coordination, planning, contracting, and oversight led to conflict with [other] U.S. agencies and waste," the report said.

"Furthermore, of the more than $675 million in obligations contained in contracts that we were able to review, TFBSO obligated only $316.3 million to contracts directly supporting projects in Afghanistan. The remaining $359.5 million went to indirect and support costs," SIGAR said.

"TFBSO often attempted to execute projects on timelines that were overly ambitious," the report said, and its managers "often had unrealistic assumptions in project execution and did not account for the realities of operating in Afghanistan."

SIGAR cited as an example the $435,500 contract with the Al Ehsan Construction Company and Tak Dana Dry and Fresh Fruit Processing to construct and equip a pomegranate cold storage facility.

According to contract documents, Al Ehsan completed its construction work for a pomegranate storage "shell building," but "when we visited the site on April 3, 2017, we found no evidence that the shell building existed," SIGAR said.

Another plan envisioned a project for raising cashmere goats. A cashmere goat farm building was erected and later found abandoned.

The report cited former TFBSO Director Paul Brinkley as saying that the goal of the program was "to get businesses running and to encourage private investors and corporations from outside of Afghanistan to engage in the country either as trading partners or as investors."

"Wherever possible, we avoided depending on the military. We were part of their mission," he said, but "we avoided living on military bases whenever possible," and instead lived in private villas.

"The goal was to show private companies that they could set up operations in Afghanistan themselves without needing military support," Brinkley said.

The SIGAR report states, "Because TFBSO apparently did not keep records of who stayed at its villas, which companies they represented, or whether they invested in Afghanistan, we cannot determine whether TFBSO's decision to have these guests reside in private villas, rather than on military bases, resulted in any private-sector investments in Afghanistan."

Because TFBSO disbanded in March 2015, SIGAR did not make any recommendations to the DoD for its improvement, but instead issued a few "observations" on how the DoD could avoid similar problems in the future if it ventured again into the business sector of a host country.

"Define the entity's mission, scope, and objectives in clear and measurable terms," was SIGAR's advice, and "develop contract planning policies that emphasize the importance of understanding host-country or local dynamics."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.Congress Wants to Know How the Air Force Will Get a Better F-35A Engine

The legislation calls on the Pentagon to tell lawmakers how it would integrate the propulsion system being developed under...The new U.S. tax law is not even a month old, but financial experts say it's not too soon for military service members, veterans and retirees to dig into how the massive policy change will impact their pocketbooks for years to come.

The $1.5 trillion plan installed new tax brackets, benchmarks for deductions and child tax credits, among other changes.

While many people could see a boost in take-home pay this year, and another increase in their tax refunds next year, those gains could diminish over time. Many of the cuts are slated to expire by 2025.

"The good news is some of the deductions that have been removed for the general public are still in place for the military. For example, there were eliminations to moving deductions. However, military members are exempt from this," said Priya Mishra, managing attorney at Top Tax Defenders in Houston. "For the most part, the benefits the rest of the public will see is also reflected for our military. The child care credit, for example, has gone up. So any of our servicemen and women with children will be able to claim more for their children on taxes."

The vast rewrite of the U.S. tax code, the first of its magnitude in more than 30 years, could be a planning headache for taxpayers, including servicemembers. The plan was rushed through Capitol Hill for its Dec. 22 approval, so there's plenty of work facing the Internal Revenue Service, tax experts, financial consultants, businesses and taxpayers to interpret the plan and its impact.

Among the changes, most of the seven income tax brackets will have lower tax rates until 2025. Standard deductions increase, nearly doubling to $24,000 for married couples and to $12,000 for individuals. Child tax credits double to $2,000. Mortgage interest deductions will be capped to loans under $750,000, while state, local and property tax deductions will be capped at $10,000.

In one scenario, a middle-class family of four with an annual income of $70,000 to $80,000 could end up with at least $2,000 in tax relief in take-home pay this year and their tax bill next year.

"The effects are going to play out for a long period of time," said Michael Saunders, deputy legislative director for the Retired Enlisted Association, or TREA, which has been tracking the changes and their impact on military members. "You are looking at a long road to go before we know the full effects."

Military tax exemptions

The tax changes will be vastly similar for service members and veterans.

"For the most part, military members and retirees will see the same benefits and changes due to the tax bill that all Americans will see," said John Cooney, a former Army officer who owns Green and Gold Financial Planning in Middleboro, Mass.

The larger standard deductions could help simplify the tax process at least in that area, experts said.

It "will eliminate the need for a majority of Americans to itemize on their taxes," said Mike Molitoris, an Air Force veteran who works with service members and other veterans through his Flagship Wealth Management Group in Cary, N.C.

The average age of service members is in their 20s, which likely puts them in the lower tax bracket. Changes to those rates will be especially important to watch, experts said. Also, deductions for married couples and family tax credits will also be key. More than half of active-duty military are married, the DOD says, and more than 40 percent of military personnel have children.

"Increasing the child tax credit ... will be beneficial as well" for veterans and service members, Molitoris said.

There are specific wins for service members and veterans in the new tax legislation. Among them: Initial efforts on Capitol Hill to start taxing military personnel for moving costs were thwarted.

"This change was a recognition of the fact that military families are required to move fairly often," Cooney said of the new law's special provision for military members.

Under the plan, a civilian will have to report an employer-paid move as income and pay a tax on that income, while a service member won't. Or, a civilian who covers their own move won't get a tax deduction as they did in the past, while service members will.

"The military was specifically excluded from that," said Jeffrey Kupfer, a tax reform expert and former White House assistant who is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College in Pittsburgh. For the military, "you can continue to deduct (moving costs) or you don't have to include them in your income." Other wins include the forgiveness of student loans as tax-free -- not taxable income -- for certain disabled veterans.

Most will see savings

The bill will likely reduce the tax burden for all people at least on the front end, unless they are facing specific costs with reduced tax relief, such as higher medical bills or property and state income taxes in locations like California and New York.

"It's very likely that most military service members will see some tax savings under the law," said Forrest Allen, associate director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America. "It would take some unique financial circumstances for them to see some increase in their tax burden."

For example, service members based in locations with no state income tax might have fewer worries than others in higher-tax states.

"If you are paying taxes in Texas for instance, it won't be much an issue," said Kupfer, who was special assistant for economic policy in the George W. Bush administration. "But if you are paying taxes in New York state, it becomes much more an issue."

High-tax states, however, might be looking at ways to ease the new tax burden, Molitoris said.

"There have been indications from various high-tax states that they may file suit or try to find work-arounds for their constituents to preserve their ability to deduct a higher amount," he said.

The White House has estimated as much as 90 percent of taxpayers could end up with a cut in the beginning, which would apply to military members as well.

"Essentially all service members will end up with a tax cut depending on how much one is paying to begin with," Kupfer said.

The changes could amount to IRS adjustments for take-home pay this year, with service members seeing bigger paychecks in 2018 followed by larger tax refunds next year. Uncertainty on how exactly the law will impact them, when take-home pay changes will kick in this year and how their returns will look in 2019 and beyond means taxpayers need to proceed with caution, experts say.

"We're concerned if the results of the tax change reduce any discretionary income or access to or use of their income," said Dan Merry, vice president of government relations for MOAA. "No one will know the outcome until we get the tax forms. So there's all these decisions. I think the average individual should pay particular attention to their situation."

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS issued new withholding guidelines for employers, who must next coordinate the changes in paychecks. Military service members, like civilians, could start seeing larger take-home checks as early as next month. The IRS will be releasing new withholding calculators by the end of February, the agencies said.

Kupfer is betting the tax cuts could get extended.

"From a tax policy standpoint, it's always better to have permanent tax law, it helps with planning and removes uncertainty," he said. "The provisions relating to the reduction of the tax rate or the child tax credit are all things that are going to be around for at least eight years. But if history has shown us anything, there is a decent likelihood they could get extended."

'Save your money'

With the new tax cuts set to expire by 2025, the front-end gains could simply amount to a one-time bonuses, several experts said.

"Rates could go up" after 2025, said Saunders, TREA deputy legislative director. So "save your money. Plan short term for a temporary bonus."

Saunders and Allen, the MOAA associate director, suggest that service members divert this year's extra pay and tax return gains in subsequent years to a retirement fund or savings plan.

"It's almost like a little bonus, but you can't expect to have it forever," Allen said.

Merry said it's critical that service members research the law or visit a reliable financial counselor on their bases or elsewhere. It's also a good time to revisit personal budgets, reassess "needs" versus "wants" and discuss discretionary funding.

An assessment will be especially crucial for people on a tight budget, as they might see a harsher impact from the law in the coming years.

"If they have discretionary income now they may not notice right away, but if they are on a tight budget go to a financial counselor on their base and ask for an assessment of their financial situation," Merry said. "If they are close on their budget they need to take a close look at how it will affect them individually."

Even now, work is underway on Capitol Hill to tweak the tax reform law, or make "technical corrections," Allen said. For example, businesses under the new plan will see the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program, which allows tax credits for employers who hire certain veterans, expire next year.

Saunders said there are efforts to have that plan extended beyond 2019.

Merry said this year's tax filing will be a good test run for changes to come for tax filers.

"They may be able to use the tax filings this year as a springboard as to how their taxes will be impacted next year," he said. "Don't celebrate as you face an unknown -- compare this year's taxes to what the law says about next year."LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Federal regulators have ordered a Nebraska rancher and county officials to clean up a remote stream after it was deluged with enough sand and sediment to change the shape of the waterway.Reporters without Borders (RSF) accused Tunisian authorities of harassing journalists covering the anti-austerity protests that have been simmering across Tunisia.

In a statement, RSF condemned the Tunisian police for brief detention and interrogation of one reporter and the confisca-tion of anothers phone.

Mathieu Galtier, a French reporter for the Paris-based daily Liberation, received an unexpected visit by police officers at his Tunis home yesterday, one day after he went to Tebourba, a city 30 km west of the capital, to cover a new outbreak of protests, RWB said, adding that the journalist underwent brief detention at a police station in an attempt to obtain infor-mation about his contacts.

Nadim Bouamoud, another reporter, was harassed by a po-lice officer on January 7. They seized his phone while he was providing live video coverage of one of the protests in the an-ti-austerity campaign, whose slogan is Fech nestannow (What are we waiting for?)

These media freedom violations by representatives of the se-curity forces are unacceptable in a democratic country such as Tunisia, said Yasmine Kacha, the head of RSFs North Africa bureau. Journalists must be able to freely cover the protests currently taking place in Tunisia. We call on the authorities not to obstruct their work.

As Tunisia was to mark the 7th anniversary of its revolution that ended years of dictatorship in 2011, a social protest movement broke out in several cities after the entry into force on January 1 of the 2018 budget which provides for price in-creases.

The 1018 budget, adopted at the end of last year, increases notably VAT, taxes on telephony or real estate and some im-port duties, and introduces a social contribution of solidarity on profits and wages to bail out social funds.

The movement degenerated into riots after the death of a man during a demonstration in Tebourba west of Tunis. Dur-ing the protests, over 800 people were arrested. According to the Interior Ministry, the people arrested are believed to be involved in acts of violence, robbery and looting. Some 97 law-enforcement and civil protection personnel were wounded in the clashes with protesters, the Ministry said.

Calm has returned overall in the country since Thursday night with the exception of minor protests.

According to AFP, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi was scheduled to meet with ruling parties, trade unions and em-ployers on Saturday (jan.13) to discuss ways to end the crisis after the unrest fueled by austerity measures and violence.The Political Bureau of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) has dispelled speculations about its intention to submit a draft bill to forfeit nationality from Jews of Moroccan origin living in Israeli settlements.

The Partys Spokesperson confirmed that the legal measure against the Moroccan Jews in Israeli settlements was not on the agenda.

And during a meeting on January 4 in Paris with the Secretary General of the Federation of Moroccan Jews in France, Simon Skira, PAMs Secretary General, Ilyas El Omari, promised to withdraw the draft bill.

According to Simon Skira, the meeting was held at the re-quest of Omari, who is also President of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region.

Ilyas El Omari had promised Hamas leader Khalid Mishaal, who was on a recent visit to Morocco, to table a draft bill at the Parliament to withdraw the Moroccan nationality from Israeli settlers.

The draft bill had triggered a backlash from Moroccan Jewish figures who denounced an unfeasible legal move that bears prejudice to the Moroccan Jewish community.

Secretary General of The Jewish Community in Morocco, Serge Berdugo, downplayed the draft bill as mental aberra-tion! saying that such a move is mere speculation as there is no way the Moroccan legislator can locate the residency of Moroccan Jews in Israel.The new special representative of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara and Head of the MINURSO, Colin Stewart, held separate meetings in Rabat on Friday with Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Nasser bourita, and of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit.

The contents of talks between Colin Stewart and Foreign Min-ister Bourita were not disclosed.

During his meeting with Colin Stewart, the Interior Minister assured him that Moroccan authorities will grant him all sup-port needed to carry out his mission and reiterated that the Kingdom will continue to back the MINURSO in fulfilling its mandate, reported the news agency MAP.

Laftit also reiterated Moroccan authorities warning against the Polisarios continued provocative actions in the buffer zone and, particularly, in El Guergarate. The consequences of such provocations could undermine peace and security in the region and hinder the negotiation process to reach a solution to the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, MAP added.

Stewart commended the welcome he received in Morocco and stressed his commitment to continue efforts to comply with the military agreements and bring back the status quo in El Guergarate region, in accordance with the UN Secretary-Generals call on January 6, 2018.

After the Algerian-sponsored separatist group deployed mili-tiamen in the buffer zone that is supposed to remain demilita-rized under the UN brokered 1991 ceasefire agreement, Mo-rocco had Strongly Condemned the Polisarios Breach of the Ceasefire Agreement in the buffer strip and informed the UN Secretary General and the Security Council of the detrimental impact of these irresponsible acts on the political process.

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, responded im-mediately, warning the Polisario against obstructing commer-cial traffic flow between Morocco and Mauritania and calling on the separatisy front to retreat from the area.

Regular civilian and commercial traffic should not be obstructed and no action should be taken, which may constitute a change to the status quo of the Buffer Strip, Guterres had said in a statement.

The UN Secretary-General had underlined the need for a withdrawal of Polisario armed men from Guerguarat in order to create an environment conducive to the resumption of dialogue under the auspices of his Personal Envoy Horst Kohler.

In this connection, Horst Kohler held earlier this week in Brussels talks with head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini.

Mogherini assured her UN interlocutor of the European Unions support for the UN efforts to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution to the conflict of the Sahara, in accordance with Security Council resolutions and in particular resolution 2351, adopted end of April 2017, a EU statement said.

Horst Kohler met on Friday (Jan.12) in Addis Ababa chairman of the African Union Commission, Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat.

He had earlier met in Kigali Rwandas Paul Kagame who is to take over the AU chairmanship at the AU summit at the end of January.Former Tricentennial Executive Director Edward Benavides, who resigned from the position in November and has been on paid time off as a municipal employee, has resigned from the city, according to a memo from City Manager Sheryl Sculley.

Benavides stepped down from the commission after substantial criticism and cited continuing negativity as his reason for leaving. Assistant City Manager Carlos Contreras was appointed interim executive director shortly thereafter. Hes now the permanent head of the commission, the memo says.

Formerly Sculleys chief of staff, Benavides earned nearly $168,000 annually, up from $132,804 in his previous position. Benavides was expected to return to work this year. City officials were working to match him with a position within the municipal government. Instead, he tendered his resignation on Thursday  effective March 30.

RELATED: Photos: San Antonio kicks off 300th birthday with New Year's Eve bash at Hemisfair Park

As part of his separation agreement, he will remain available until March as a resource to Carlos for questions that arise regarding the planning and execution of the Tricentennial events occurring during Commemorative Week, which will take place May 1-6th, 2018, Sculley wrote.

In his resignation letter, Benavides wrote that hes been a career public servant, mostly with the city of San Antonio.

The majority of my career has been dedicated to the City of San Antonio and the organization served an integral role in my public service career as evidenced by increasing professional growth opportunities over the course of my tenure with the City, he wrote. In all my work and contribution, I have lead (sic) with integrity, high ethical values and professionalism. I am proud and appreciative of my public service career and it has been an honor to serve the community of San Antonio.

He notes that hell continue to use accrued leave until the end of March.

EDITORIAL: San Antonio's Tricentennial board finally has a strong direction

Benavides had been criticized for his handling of multiple contracts with the Tricentennial Commission, including an exclusive media partnership with KSAT-TV. He and his then-lieutenant, Asia Ciaravino, negotiated exclusively for months with the station before a competitor complained to Sculley. She directed Benavides to issue a call for proposals, which ultimately resulted in deals with KSAT and Univision.

He was also criticized for making major decisions without consulting the volunteer board charged with oversight.

The commission kicked off tricentennial celebrations with a New Years Eve event. Its currently working on identifying key events over the next several months that best honor and commemorate the citys first 300 years.President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has returned home from Angola says during his one day official visit to Angola explained to his counterpart Cde Joao Lourenco the circumstances that led to his assumption of the leadership of Zanu PF and the government of Zimbabwe.

President Mnangagwa started his story beginning from Zanu PF interface rallies held countrywide and how the change of guard took place and in line with the supreme law of the land.

Cde Mnangagwa was in Angola on his second leg of his mission to pay courtesy calls on regional leaders after assuming the leadership of Zimbabwe in November last year.

He has explained to both the SADC troika chairperson President Joao Lourenco and the Zimbabwean diaspora the circumstances that led to his assumption of the party and government leadership beginning from the interface rallies and how the change of guard took place and according to the supreme law of the land.

Speaking in Angolan Luanda capital where he was on his second leg of his mission to pay courtesy on regional leaders after assuming the leadership of Zimbabwe in November last year, President Mnangagwa assured Angolan President and Zimbabweans working in that country that his government will take care of former President Cde Robert Mugabe and restore his legacy which was threatened by criminals who were surrounding him.

In another development President Mnangagwa has agreed with his Angolan counterpart to further strengthen and deepen economic relations between Angola and Zimbabwe through economic ties and trade.

Pres Mnangagwa also said a Chinese company has expressed interest in reviving Zisco and urged the business people and diasporans in Angola to take advantage of SADC Concession, COMESA and other agreements offered by trading blocks to intensify trade and economic exchanges for the benefit of the two countries.

Some of the diasporans expressed willingness to support and work with the new dispensation and appealed to government to avail ballot papers in Luanda for them to take part in this years harmonised elections.

The two Presidents have agreed that the Angolan national air carrier should resume flights to Harare and Victoria Falls in order to increase tourist arrivals in both countries.

Zimbabwe and Angola are expected to hold a joint commission soon to chat the way forward in deepening economic relations between the two SADC brothers.

Meanwhile, Cde Mnangagwa has returned home and was welcomed at the Robert Mugabe International Airport by the two vice presidents Rtd General Constantino Guveya Chiwenga and Cde Kembo Mohadi, service chiefs and several senior government officials.

 ZBC

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsPresident Mnangagwa yesterday narrated how he escaped the clutches of people who wanted to eliminate him, including his tortuous journey through landmine territory in neighbouring Mozambique before landing in South Africa.

The Head of State and Government opened up on the previously unknown details of his great escape while addressing Zimbabweans resident in Angola yesterday. He also took the opportunity to announce that he no longer has traces of poison in his body after his doctors gave him a clean bill of health last week.

Chronicling how he escaped into Mozambique after he was warned of a plot to eliminate him, the President said he had to walk for long hours, in some cases taking precautions to avoid possible landmines.

He said there was an attempt by security details at the border in Mutare to shoot him, but that this was foiled by his sons.

I was fired at 4pm and left the office and by 6.30 pm, one of the security guys came to inform me that he must be part of a group that had a mission to eliminate me, he said.

I didnt think it was pleasurable to wait to be eliminated. I left within four hours of being fired for the Mozambican border. I arrived at the border and our side of the border stamped my passport, but before they could lift the boom for me to cross into Mozambique, it was closed. The message came that I was not allowed to leave Zimbabwe. I said in that case there was no need, I (will) go back. They said again I was not allowed to go back into Zimbabwe but I said you cant stop me. What case have I committed? As I was walking away, they tried to fire (at me) but I have one young man, one of my twin sons, was there. He is an officer and was able to grab the weapon and I was not shot.

The President went on: Then you know for many years I operated in Mozambique in the department of security. I know the area and its infested with land mines. Those things are still there, you walk in-between strings to avoid landmines. I did (that) from about 9pm until about 7.30am the next day. I arrived in Mozambique and we had a lift back to the border to have my passport stamped again on the Mozambican side. Then I phoned a colleague from South Africa that I was on my way to Beira. By the time we arrived in Beira, a small plane had arrived from South Africa to pick me up and I went to South Africa.

He said he informed South African authorities that he was in their country through Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete.

Mbete is a good friend of mine, President Mnangagwa said.

So she came to where I was hiding and she told President Jacob Zuma that I was there.

On his health, he said: You have heard about me being taken ill at a rally in Gwanda. I am not so clear as to at what stage I took the poison, but I took it. I was airlifted to South Africa and I recovered; thats why I am here. I am aware that the poison content at the time was around 361 percent, but after six days it came down to about 11 percent. I am happy that last week I was declared (poison) free. It is now undetectable. So we are the same now in terms of poison content.

The President outlined the processes and developments that happened in the country for him to become the Head of State and Government.

He also detailed how the G40 cabal used dirty tactics through the so-called Presidential Interface Rallies in an effort to eliminate him.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsWhile narrating the details surrounding his escape from Zimbabwe through Mozambique after being fired from Government by Robert Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed the reason behind his unexplained and unannounced trip to South Africa last Saturday.

Mnangagwa revealed that he was declared poison free by doctors last week. When he was poisoned during a Zanu-PF interface rally in Gwanda in August, Mnangagwa was admitted in a South African hospital after he was airlifted from Zimbabwe. Said Mnangagwa:

You have heard about me being taken ill at a rally in Gwanda. I am not so clear as to at what stage I took the poison, but I took it. I was airlifted to South Africa and I recovered; thats why I am here. I am aware that the poison content at the time was around 361 percent, but after six days it came down to about 11 percent. I am happy that last week I was declared (poison) free. It is now undetectable. So we are the same now in terms of poison content.

Mnangagwas administration has denied that the President had gone to South Africa for a medical check up. They also denied reports of a medical emergency. Former President Robert Mugabe was usually criticised for not disclosing the reason(s) behind his trips overseas especially to Singapore.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest News(Natural News) You have no doubt heard about the latest Donald Trump Outrage. It is reported that Trump, during negotiations over the immigration deal, referred to certain African countries and Haiti as s***hole countries. He then asked, allegedly, why we need more Haitians to come here as immigrants.

(Article by Matt Walsh republished from DailyWire.com)

The White House rather noticeably refused to deny these reports at first. Finally, this morning, Trump issued a vague denial, claiming that he used tough language but this was not the language used. So it seems apparent that he either said s***hole or something similar to it.

Predictably, the Left, the media, and some on the Right have been, shall we say, extremely displeased with the president. CNN went to full on Apocalyptic Freak Out Mode, calling Trump a s***hole on air, and declaring him racist. These were news anchors, by the way, making these unbiased proclamations. A law professor at Yale even suggested that Trump could be impeached for his salty language because he committed an offense against the spirit animating the Reconstruction Amendments. And on and on it goes. You know the drill by now.

Here is what Ill say about the whole thing. Three points:

1) The Left obviously is in no position to lecture anyone for vulgar and offensive language. These are the same people who spent eight years calling their political opponents teabaggers. S***hole is a PG-13 term. Teabagger is X-rated. Its also a personal attack on actual people, as opposed to an attack on the general conditions of a country. And lets not forget the time they donned vagina hats and marched through the streets with signs referring rather explicitly to their p*ssies. I could go on at great length citing examples of the gleeful vulgarity that has spewed from the mouths of the people now so scandalized by the s word.

Ive seen many on the Left lament that Trump has coarsened the culture to such an extent that our children cant even watch the news anymore. A reporter for the Washington Post worried that s***hole will be all over the schoolyard tomorrow because our kids will have learned of the term, for the first time, from Donald Trump.

I agree that the culture is too coarse and our children are too exposed to it. But s**t is the least of our problems, Im afraid to say. Your child is far more scandalized by the pop songs you let her listen to all day than she is by the words the president uses in a closed door meeting at the White House. Yet if I were to point out that pop music is inappropriate, youd scoff at me and call me a Puritan. Something doesnt add up here.

I grew up during the Clinton years. I was not allowed to be in the room when my Dad watched the news; precautions that, sadly, had little effect. I still heard all about Clintons vulgar exploits in school the next day. Before I graduated elementary school I had learned about dress stains and creative uses for cigars, among other tidbits. S***hole would have been laughably tame compared to the moral corruption I suffered as a young boy thanks to the degenerates these Leftists, with their virgin ears, placed in the White House.

2) I dont think Trumps comments were racist, and I dont think the point he was making was particularly incredible or shocking. In his untactful way, he seemed to be communicating two facts: First, that third world countries are dilapidated and miserable. S***hole is an uncharitable way of referring to them, but there is no pleasant way to describe a nation like Haiti. Would hellhole be better? Whatever word you use, the point remains. These are awful places.

Second, our immigration system should favor those immigrants who will add something useful to society. The media can faint like wilting flowers all they want, but a great many people in the United States agree with the president. They see that we are deep in debt, the Welfare State is bankrupting our children, our cities are overrun with crime and poverty, and they do not want to import immigrants who will contribute to any of those problems. White or black or in between. The race is not the concern here. The concern is far more practical and logical, and its exactly the concern that should be primary for the President of the United States.

I believe that we should reach out and help the poor and unfortunate. But we cannot invite all of them here to live with us, because, after a while, we will become just like the places they left. My family does what it can to help the homeless in our community, but we have never welcomed them into our house to sleep in the guest bedroom. Thats because our first job is to protect our own children. We must help the less fortunate in a way that does not jeopardize our ability to perform our first and most essential duty. This really is not a radical concept.

3) With all of this said, the real issue still remains: the immigration deal itself. The irony is that liberals may well get an immigration deal they want, but theyll still be angry because of the language Trump used. And conservatives may be backstabbed in the deal, but they wont notice because theyll be too busy defending Trumps language. Both parties would do well to keep their eyes on the real prize. And conservatives should not allow themselves to be so swept off their feet by Trumps un-PC approach that they let him get away with betraying his campaign promises.

Read more at: DailyWire.com, and visit LeftCult.com for more coverage of the insane CULT of the Left.(Natural News) Yale University psychology professor Brandy Lee has been in the news lately for calling President Trump mentally impaired, and arguing that this diagnosis disqualifies him from being the leader of the free world.

However, as it turns out, this professor appears to not even have a valid license to practice psychiatry in the state of Connecticut, which begs the question: What exactly qualifies her to say that Trump should be removed from office on the basis that hes not mentally stable enough to serve as commander-in-chief?

As if this wasnt embarrassing enough for Professor Lee, following her comments, the American Psychiatric Association released a statement urging members of its profession to stop diagnosing public figures like President Trump without first giving them a full and thorough medical exam.

We at the APA call for an end to psychiatrists providing professional opinions in the media about public figures whom they have not examined, whether it be on cable news appearances, books, or in social media, the American Psychiatric Association wrote, even though they didnt specifically mention Professor Brandy Lee by name. Arm-chair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical.

Poor Professor Lee. All she wanted to do was attack President Trump and argue that he isnt mentally fit enough to be president of the United States. Instead, she embarrassed herself in front of the entire country, first when it was revealed that she doesnt even have a Connecticut license to practice psychiatry, and again when the American Psychiatric Association urged members of its profession to refrain from diagnoses public figures without a proper examination.

The campus news website Campus Reform provided more details on Professor Lee and her lack of a license to practice psychiatry in the state of Connecticut, explaining that, according to state records, Lees physician/surgeon license expired almost three years ago on May 31, 2015. Lees application for reinstatement has been pending ever since.

Campus Reform also noted that the professors controlled substance registration for practitioner license is also expired as of last February, which means that Lee is legally prohibited from prescribing medication as a medical practitioner. When Campus Reform reached out to Professor Lee for a comment on the matter, she simply stated: I only need one license. At this point, it is still unclear what Lee meant by this. (Related: Democrats are now planning a full-scale medical kidnapping of President Trump.)

But even though Professor Lee was humiliated in front of the entire country and sent down in flames after the truth was revealed, the comments she made about Donald Trump are part of a larger movement to impeach the President on the grounds that he is mentally unstable. In order to accomplish this goal, many Democrats within the mainstream media and in Congress are citing the 25th Amendment, which states in part that the President may be removed from office if he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. But where exactly is the evidence that suggests that President Trump is not mentally stable enough to discharge the powers and duties of his office?

Truthfully, its likely that even the Democrats themselves dont know. Some point to the fact that he tweets on a regular basis, and claim that this is a sign of immaturity and mental instability. Others cite the way in which he speaks, which is perhaps more casual and down-to-earth than the way previous presidents have addressed the American people. But none of these are signs that Trump is mentally unstable, and they are definitely not reasons to remove him from the White House.

Sources include:

DailyCaller.com

CampusReform.org

ConstitutionCenter.orgAuthorities say they've arrested a friend of the victim in connection with the death of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who disappeared during a visit home to Southern California.



The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Samuel Woodward.

Blaze Bernstein's body was found Tuesday after an extensive search through Borrego Park in Orange County. Authorities said they were investigating his death as a homicide but would not say how he died.

Bernstein, who was home visiting family in Orange County during his school break from the University of Pennsylvania, was last seen alive about 11 p.m. on Jan. 2. He told relatives he was meeting up with his friends. He was reported missing the following day after family members were unable to get in contact with him.

On Thursday, investigators said they had interviewed a friend of Bernstein's in connection with the case.

The friend said he went with Bernstein to a neighborhood park in the city of Lake Forest on Jan. 2 to meet up with the victim's girlfriend but stayed in the car, the Orange County sheriff's investigator wrote in a a search warrant affidavit. The friend said he could not recall the girlfriend's last name or address.

He said he left about an hour later when Bernstein did not return to the vehicle or respond on social media. He alleged he returned to the park several hours later but could not find Bernstein.

Detectives noted the friend had dirt under his fingernails during the interview, to which he claimed was caused by a fall. Officials also saw that the friend had several cuts and scratches, but he claimed they stemmed from a "fight club" he was involved in.

"On their way out of sheriff's headquarters, [investigators] noticed every door [the friend] had to touch on the way out of the building he pulled his jacket over his hand to prevent his hand and fingers from touching any part of the doors he touched," according to the affidavit.The largest wildfire on record in California is 100 percent contained more than a month after it began in the hills of Ventura County, according to Los Padres National Forest officials.

The nearly 282,000-acre Thomas fire spread into Santa Barbara County, burning homes and charring hillsides -- a chain of events that eventually led to this week's deadly mudflows in Montecito. Authorities made the determination after flights Thursday over the burn area, marking an important milestone after weeks of grueling work by firefighters to protect lives and property.

A wildfire is contained when it is surrounded on all sides by some type of boundary, but is still burning and could jump one of those boundaries. When there is no further threat of a fire jumping a containment line, it's considered controlled -- at that point, the fire fight is over.

An official cause of the fire, which began Dec. 4, has not been determined.

Two deaths were reported in connection with the fire, which was driven by strong winds. Firefighter Cory Iverson, 32, died due to thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner. A 70-year-old woman was killed in a car crash along an evacuation route.

The fire destroyed more than 1,060 structures.

It also stripped brush from hillsides above Montecito. Without vegetation, soil does not absorb enough rain, causing water to bounce of the surface and flow downhill.

It was one of several devastating wildfires that burned throughout California last year. Cal Fire's analysis of 2017 showed that five of the top 20 most destructive fires in the state's history occurred last year.

In 2017, there were 7,117 fires recorded within the Cal Fire jurisdiction, which burned 505,956 acres. This is nearly double what was reported in 2016. In 2016, Cal Fire recorded 4,800 fires, totaling 244,319 acres burned.

The year-end tally does not include the Thomas fire.

The state historically faces an increased wildfire threat in fall, but dry and windy conditions persisted into December last year. The Thomas fire's size and rate of spread would be considered significant at any time of year, but it is unprecedented for December and January.

The significant increase in the numbers and size of fires was largely because the state was coming off one of its wettest winters in years in 2016-2017, which left hillsides covered in grass and other vegetation. That grass dried out in summer and turned into tinder, providing fuel for rapidly spreading fires often pushed by strong winds that can carry hot embers for miles and turn small spot fires into infernos.The nations top garlic producer in the Bay Area is denying allegations involving unfair labor practices brought up in the new Netflix documentary, Rotten.

In one of the episodes, the Netflix series claims Gilroys Christopher Ranch used shady practices to oust one of its opponents in the business, claiming that they conspired to fix garlic prices in America using Chinese garlic.

In the episode, a competitor says his undercover video shows the companys garlic was peeled by Chinese prisoners, at times, with their teeth.

I was completely outraged, said Vice President of Christopher Ranch, Ken Christopher.

According to Christopher, most of their 90 million pounds of annual garlic is grown and processed in California. They work with a company called Harmoni to import about 10 percent of their product but its not sold under the Christopher Ranch label and isnt processed in prisons.

They claim forced labor went into that label, said Christopher. It was packed specifically for us, and we have no trademarks in China. So that couldnt be further from the truth.

Christopher says the undercover prison video is a fake and also explained that all the accusations have already been addressed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and no wrongdoing was found.

Christopher Ranch may pursue legal action to stop the episode from streaming on Netflix, but they have yet to decide.

The shows New York based producer, Zero Point Zero, said in a statement: The series was created to hold the food industry accountable, and we stand by the reporting in the episode and in the series.

Pittsburg police shot and killed a 43-year-old Antioch man who was allegedly reaching for a gun outside a restaurant on Friday night, police said.

The case began around 10:45 p.m. when officers were called to the Nation's Giant Hamburgers restaurant at 3789 Railroad Ave., according to police.

A community member reported that he had seen what seemed to be a drug deal between two people in the parking lot. One person had just driven away, and another person was still there in a parked car when officers arrived.

As the two officers approached the car, they saw a man in the driver's seat and a handgun in the center console, police said.

Both officers told the man to put his hands up and not touch the gun, according to police.

Initially the man did as instructed, placing his hands on the steering wheel, but then he dropped his right arm in an alleged attempt to retrieve the handgun from the center console, according to police.

As the man began to raise his hand back up, one of the officers fired his service weapon, police said. The man was struck, and the officers immediately removed him from the car and gave him first aid until an ambulance arrived, according to police.

The man died at John Muir Medical Center, police said.

Police are waiting to release the man's name until his family is notified.

The Contra Costa County Officer-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol was enacted, and the Pittsburg Police Department is conducting a joint investigation into the shooting with the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.After an emergency alert of a ballistic missile threat left people "crying and screaming" in Hawaii on Saturday, emergency officials confirmed that the message was sent in error and that no missile was headed for the island state. However, the mistake drew outrage from local leaders and has prompted a federal investigation.

The alert, which was sent to people's cell phones at 8:07 a.m., said in all caps, "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill." An alert also appeared on TVs.

About 13 minutes after the alert was sent, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted: "NO missile threat to Hawaii."

And Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard tweeted about the same time a screenshot of the alert on her phone with a clarification that it was a false alarm: "HAWAII - THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE."

After a false missile alert was sent out in Hawaii and sparked widespread panic, Gov. David Ige said the mistake "should not have happened," and Vern Miyagi of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said the error was "regrettable."

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi confirmed at a news conference Saturday afternoon that the error happened when someone pushed the wrong button. And Gov. David Ige told reporters that the person who pushed the alarm was unaware an error had been made until he received the alert on his mobile device.

Miyagi said Ige directed the agency to "hold off" on future tests of the system until the notification protocol is expanded. He said the agency has put a new two-person rule in place during the drill to ensure a false alarm doesn't happen again.

Hawaii officials said they are looking into why some of the emergency sirens went off around the island. They are also looking into why some residents didn't receive an emergency alert from their cellphone carrier at all.

Miyagi told reporters "This is my team. We made a mistake. We are going to process this and study this to make sure this doesnt happen again." He declined to comment on the person who made the mistake, but said "you gotta know this guy feels bad right?"

Ige apologized for the "pain and confusion" caused by the alert.

California resident Elizabeth Fong was in Hawaii looking to buy a house and received the alert. She said she didn't receive a correction alert stating it was a false alarm until 8:46 a.m., nearly 40 minutes after the initial alert.

"I prayed to God and asked for forgiveness of my sins and for Him to protect us," she said, adding that people are still shaken up.

The aftermath of the false alert was "crazy," she told NBC Bay Area, and prompted people to run around on the streets "crying and screaming," wondering what to do.

Andy Thammavongsa, who tweeted a screenshot of his phone that showed the time between each alert, lives in Ewa Beach and told NBC in a Twitter message, "Everyone was panicking, the whole island was awake and alert."

He added that "there's nothing really you can do honestly" if the alert were real, saying there's "nowhere to take shelter, the island is only so big."

He also said he received a correction alert some 38 minutes later.

The family of a missing Chester County woman is hoping to get answers about Anna Maciejewska. Maciejewska was last seen on April tenth. Pennsylvania state police searched her home in Malvern for the first time last week.

NBC Philadelphia anchor Vai Sikahema spoke to MSNBC about receiving the alert. Sikahema said he texted his four college-age children, after none picked up the phone, letting them know he and their mom were in Hawaii. He then told them where they could find a will and insurance information.

Sikahema said his wife told him: "Hey, if this is it, I guess this is no better place to go then here in Hawaii and the two of us being together."

Many people in Hawaii took to social media during and after the alert.

Welcome to hawaii, where it takes 38 minutes to tell everyone it was a mistake  pic.twitter.com/bfA5vivDdA  whothefuckisandy (@Whooisandy76) January 13, 2018

Hawaii House Speaker Scott Saiki said the system Hawaii residents have been told to rely on failed miserably. He also took emergency management officials to task for taking 30 minutes to issue a correction, prolonging panic.

He said in a statement that the Hawaii House of Representatives will begin an immediate investigation.

"Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations," Saiki said.

Other local leaders shared similar outrage that such an alert could go out in error.

"There is nothing more important to Hawaii than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process," Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said.

"At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to community is accurate. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again," said Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono.

The Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency is launching a full investigation.



President Donald Trump, who is spending the weekend in Florida, was briefed on the incident, which prompted defense agencies including the Pentagon and the U.S. Pacific Command to issue the same statement, that they had "detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii."

Michael Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command are still trying to verify what happened in Hawaii  but that "NORAD did not see anything that indicated any sort of threat to Hawaii."

"From a NORAD perspective and that of the U.S. Northern Command, we are still trying to verify what happened," he said of the false alert.

NORAD is a U.S.-Canada joint command that conducts aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning to defend North America. The U.S. Northern Command, also based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is tasked with air, land and sea defense of the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and portions of the Caribbean.

Hawaii tested a warning siren Friday in case of an impending nuclear missile attack. The test comes after North Korea tested a missile that experts believe has the capability to reach the United States mainland. The warning system has not been used since the Cold War.

Jaime Malapit, owner of a Honolulu hair salon, texted his clients that he was cancelling their appointments and was closing his shop for the day. He said he was still in bed when the phone started going off "like crazy." He thought it was a tsunami warning at first.

"I woke up and saw missile warning and thought no way. I thought 'No, this is not happening today,'" Malapit said.

He was still "a little freaked out" and feeling paranoid even after hearing it was a false alarm.

Richard Ing, a Honolulu attorney, was doing a construction project at home when his wife told him about the alert.

He dug his phone out and had confirmed he had the same alert. Attempts to find further information on the television or radio didn't provide further information, but then he saw on Twitter that it was a false alarm.

While he was trying to confirm, his wife and children were preparing to evacuate in case they needed to move to safer ground.

After finding out it was a mistake, Ing tried to find some humor in the situation.

"I thought to myself, it must be someone's last day at work or someone got extremely upset at a superior and basically did this as a practical joke,' he said. "But I think it's a very serious problem if it wasn't that, or even it was, it shows that we have problems in the system that can cause major disruption and panic and anxiety among people in Hawaii."

With the threat of missiles from North Korea in people's minds, the state reintroduced the Cold War-era warning siren tests last month that drew international attention. But there were problems there, too.

Even though the state says nearly 93 percent of the state's 386 sirens worked properly, 12 mistakenly played an ambulance siren. At the tourist mecca of Waikiki, the sirens were barely audible, prompting officials to add more sirens there and to reposition ones already in place.

NBC Bay Area, NBC Philadelphia and NBC editor Liz Lane contributed to this report.The battle against the opioid epidemic is raging on in Massachusetts, where Gov. Charlie Baker is continuing to take measures against over-prescription.



Baker and others announced Friday that the CVS Medication Disposal Program would be expanded.

"For the first time, literally in over a decade, prescriptions went down in Massachusetts in 2017 by about 25 percent, and deaths went down by about 10 percent," said Baker.

He says programs like this are making forward progress, but the epidemic remains.

"Still, five or six people a day die here in the commonwealth of an opioid overdose," he said. "We have a long way to go."

Visitors will be able to see medication disposal boxes inside CVS pharmacies. The first box put in place is at the CVS on Fellsway in Medford.

People are now able to walk in and drop off any of your used or unused prescriptions.

"These boxes have been made available in police departments, and that's all well and should continue, but in an effort to meet people where they are, this makes it a lot easier," said Attorney General Maura Healey.

The boxes are inside CVS locations with 24-hour pharmacies.

"In Massachusetts, in the coming months, we will add 42 new in-store collection units to the nearly 40 units we've already donated to police departments across the state," said Thomas Moriarty, the executive director of CVS Health.

CVS will also contribute $150,000 to programs in Massachusetts that address and prevent opioid abuse.

"These funds will help Boston Medical Center, Mattapan Community Health Center and the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center," Moriarty said.Pete Frates is apologizing to people from Haiti and Uganda over President Donald Trump's remarks condemning "s---hole countries."

Frates, the former Boston College player who inspired the ice bucket challenge in his battle against ALS, tweeted Friday night, apologizing to friends and colleagues from Uganda for the remarks made by Trump, whom Frates called an "a hole" and "a scumbag, racist, Nazi lover."

I apologize to all my Haitian and Ugandan friends and colleagues for the a hole, our president, @realDonaldTrump. You are a scumbag, dumb, racist, Nazi

lover. You are a disgrace!

Paul and mitch you are weak, spineless and complicit in the disgusting rhetoric

from wh. '  Pete Frates (@PeteFrates3) January 13, 2018

"You are a disgrace," he added. "Paul [Ryan] and [M]itch [McConnell] you are weak, spineless and complicit in the disgusting rhetoric from wh."

In a White House meeting with senators Thrusday, Trump questioned why the U.S. would want immigrants from "all these s---hole countries," in reference to Haiti and nations in Africa, saying instead that it would be better if more people from countries like Norway would come to America.

The remarks came a day before the eighth anniversary of the disastrous earthquake that shook Haiti.

"Please Google the twelfth of January in Haitian history," Frates added. "The president sure did not #ImpeachTrump."

Since the ice bucket challenge began in 2014, hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised for ALS research.Well come back to this later. Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control announced on Friday that it would delay a nuclear-preparedness teaching session to focus instead on a more quotidian danger: the flu.

The agency had been slated to present a workshop titled Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation on January 16. While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, the agency had posted on its website, it would have devastating results and there would be limited time to take critical protection steps. Despite the fear surrounding such an event, planning and preparation can lessen deaths and illness.

Though the CDC had held a similar event in 2010, the timing of this one seemed designed as a response to the heated rhetoric between President Trump and North Korea over the last year. Trump has threatened to destroy the country with fire and fury and boasted of the size of his nuclear button. North Korea has bolstered its nuclear program to the point that it can plausibly strike the mainland United States. Hawaii, which faces a unique threat from North Koreas weapons capability, has brought back a dormant nuclear-attack-warning test.

But the CDC denied that its session was related to Trumps belligerence, claiming that the session had been planned in April, before his rhetoric warmed to thermonuclear levels.

Still, the agency has done little to tamp down the morbid-curiosity factor. As the Washington Post noted, The initial CDC announcement featured a photograph of the distinctive mushroom cloud from a nuclear blast.

This years influenza season is unusually severe, with a strain that has not been responding well to vaccines. To date, this influenza season is notable for the sheer volume of flu that most of the United States is seeing at the same time, which can stress health systems, the CDC said on Friday.Five states in Mexico now have the sternest "do not travel" advisories under a revamped U.S. State Department system unveiled Wednesday, putting them on the same level as war-torn countries like Syria, Yemen and Somalia.

The five states are Tamaulipas on the U.S. border and Sinaloa, Colima, Michoacan and Guerrero on the Pacific coast. All the states are hotspots of drug cartel activity, either hosting trafficking routes or extensive drug-crop cultivation.

The State Department had previously discouraged travel to all or part of those states but the new warnings are sterner, placing them on a level 4 warning, the highest level of potential danger.

Mexico as a whole has a level 2 rating, meaning Americans should "exercise increased caution" because of concerns about crime. But an additional 11 Mexican states got a level 3 warning Wednesday, which urges people to "reconsider travel" there. Mexico has 31 states, half of which are now under level 3 or 4 warnings.

Those states where Americans are urged to reconsider travel include the State of Mexico  Mexico's most populous state, which includes most suburbs of Mexico City  and Jalisco, home to the city of Guadalajara, the Puerto Vallarta resorts and the lakeside expat community of Chapala and Ajijic. But the travel advisory said there are "no restrictions on U.S. government employees for stays in ... Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Ajijic."

Mexico's federal tourism department was not immediately available to comment on the new warnings.

Most of northern Mexico, including the border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Sonora as well as Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, are under level 3 warnings.

Some of the states have long been off limits for U.S. government employees. Last year, the State Department extended a total ban on personal travel by U.S. government personnel to Guerrero.

U.S. personnel had previously been allowed to fly to the resort of Ixtapa, the last place in Guerrero where they had been allowed to go. Personal travel by land and to the resort city of Acapulco had already been prohibited.

Tamaulipas has long been riven by turf wars between rival drug cartels, and Sinaloa is home to the cartel of the same name. Michoacan was so dominated by a drug cartel that vigilantes took up arms in 2013 to drive them out.

Colima has seen homicides skyrocket in recent years due to the growth of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, and the state now has Mexico's highest homicide rate, with 83.3 killings per 100,000 residents, according to figures for the first 11 months of 2017.

The state with second-highest homicide rate  61.6 per 100,000  was Baja California Sur, home to the twin resorts of Los Cabos. The state conserved its level 2 advisory, "exercise increased caution," despite a series of shootouts and killings in recent months.

Rising levels of violence have not so far affected Los Cabos, which saw a 16 percent increase in tourism arrivals and an 18 percent rise in hotel occupancy in 2017, said Rodrigo Esponda, managing director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board.

Esponda said local officials and tourism operators are investing in increased security, including camera systems and the construction of a new marine base.

"We are going to keep working very hard in 2018 to make sure that Los Cabos continues as a safe destination," Esponda said.

Speaking to local media earlier this week, Tourism Secretary Enrique De la Madrid said, "In my opinion, the most important challenge we have in the tourism sector are crime events occurring where they didn't before, for example in Cancun, la Paz and Los Cabos."One suspect was taken into custody and all passengers on a Greyhound bus were safely evacuated after a "possible hostage situation" and police pursuit on I-94 near Wadsworth, Illinois, late Friday night, authorities said.

The bus was traveling from Milwaukee to Chicago when the incident began around 9:50 p.m., Greyhound said in a statement. A passenger called 911 about a man on the bus that claimed to have a gun and threatened to kill people, authorities said. Wisconsin police responded and initiated a pursuit, which crossed into Illinois.

Illinois State Police were notified of the pursuit as the bus crossed the state line and stopped at the I-94 eastbound exit ramp to Illinois Route 173, the agency said in a statement.

Approximately 40 passengers on the bus were safely evacuated, Illinois police said, and no injuries were reported.

[He was] just saying that he was gonna kill us, that he was gonna put a bullet in our heads, passenger Patrick Dodd said, recalling the incident after he and the other riders were safely off the bus.

"Everybody was scared in the back," he continued. "I mean, because you dont know what to do in those situations so you just do the best you can."

Passengers reported that the bus driver did not stop immediately as police tried to pull the vehicle over, and authorities used multiple spike strips to try and end the pursuit.

"From what I understand, he somehow avoided the first two and the third one he hit but he was still riding. And somebody had to tell him, 'Look, pull over, we dont got no wheels man, you gotta pull over,'" recalled passenger Terrance Williams.



The "disorderly and possibly armed subject" was taken into custody, authorities said. Illinois police said Saturday that if any charges were to be filed, the Racine County Sheriffs Department in Wisconsin would handle them.

Eastbound I-94 was closed for several hours and traffic was brought to a standstill as authorities remained on the scene.

Multiple agencies, including the ISP, the Lake County Sheriff's office, and authorities in Wisconsin, were involved in the incident and the investigation remains ongoing.The rain and melting snow are causing already swollen rivers to flow over the banks.

The Shetucket River is causing flooding issues in southeastern Connecticut.

In Norwich, the ice jammed up the river, flooding several backyards.

The ice broke up around 7:45 a.m. Saturday, creating a rushing waterfall sound that woke up the family who lives in this home in the Occum section of Norwich.

Lisa Garstka said the noise of the ice jam was so loud her family thought it was the train rolling by.

So we woke up and looked out the window to see if it was the train, and it wasnt, it was the ice that started about three houses down, and it was that loud that we could barely hear each other talk, Garstka.

The problem started a half-mile upriver in Baltic, where a similar ice jam backed water up into the ball fields and one or two basements.

Authorities call the flooding minor.

Those large chunks of ice made their way downstream where they broke up and now sit near Garstkas backyard.

Beyond that is the dam, which is currently flowing as it should.

Thats whats most critical according to the emergency management director in Sprague.

All of the issues are caused by the rollercoaster weather the state has seen in the last 48 hours, which melted the snowpack and brought heavy amounts of rain.

Rain and Ice Photos from Jan. 12 u0026 13

I think its totally bizarre and my body doesnt like it all. Last week I was doing my laundry it was -8, and today its like 60, and by the time I get out of work its going to be 15, 20. My body doesnt like it at all. Mother Nature I dont think she knows what shes doing, said Ashley Webb of Lebanon.

Temperatures will take another dive back below freezing Saturday.

For more information on the forecast, click here.

The warning is for the part of the river near the Stevenson Dam.Human remains found last fall in Prince George's County, Maryland, are those of a 22-year-old D.C. man who disappeared after he left home to go on a date with a woman he met online, police say.

Marty William McMillan Jr. was last seen on April 22, 2017, on the 2900 block of M Street SE. He told family members he was meeting a woman he met on the online dating website Plenty of Fish.

His family never heard from him again.

"His mom is going crazy. His grandma is going crazy. I definitely want to know exactly what happened or where my son is," his father, Marty McMillan Sr., said shortly after his son's disappearance.

McMillan had just started a new job as an electrician, and his grandmother had just bought him a 2003 Volkswagen Passat.

D.C. police said Thursday  on what would have been McMillan's 23rd birthday  that human remains discovered Oct. 30 are those of McMillan. The remains were found on the eastbound side of Suitland Parkway, between Interstate 495 and the ramp to the north gate of Joint Base Andrews.

He was shot multiple times. A D.C. homicide investigation is underway.

According to the preliminary investigation, police believe McMillan was shot inside an apartment on the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Ave. SE. Information on when he was shot was not available.

Body of local man missing since April has been found. Family says police identified body found in PG County in October as Marty McMillan Jr. Family still looking for answers as to what happened. pic.twitter.com/gY1ALg0eyc  Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) January 11, 2018

His grandmother, Forlesia Cook, wept as she spoke about the killing.

"He was a human being. He didn't deserve to be laying out there all that time like that, just thrown away like a piece of trash," she said.

McMillan was just trying to go on a date when he disappeared, his grandmother said.

"He didn't do anything wrong that day -- just trying to hang out and meet a girl," she said in a Facebook Live video published in June.

A 22-year-old man has been missing from D.C. for nearly a month.

Investigators told McMillan's family the last phone call he made was to the woman he was supposed to meet.

But when investigators spoke to the woman more than a week later, she told them she didn't have her phone when he was communicating with her, and that she never saw him.

McMillan's bank cards were used after he disappeared, The Washington Post reported.



After McMillan's disappearance, his family launched a campaign to find him and spent every weekend searching for him. In May, his grandmother found his car on the 5800 block of Foote Street NE, three miles from where he was last seen.

McMillan's grandmother said D.C. police should have done more to search for her grandson.

"They wouldn't elevate his case to homicide. It was 'critical missing,' and it stayed that way until now, even though he was dead from the first day," she said through sobs.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information on McMillan's disappearance or death is asked to call police at 202-727-9099. Anonymous tips may be made by texting 50411. A reward of as much as $25,000 is offered.After more than two years of fighting over wild parties at The Aldredge House, the battle among neighbors in the Swiss Avenue mansions is heading to the Dallas City Council this month.

Completed in 1917, the 7,000-square-foot Aldredge House was donated to the Dallas County Medical Society Alliance in 1974 as a headquarters and meeting place.

Neighbors claim the house on Swiss Avenue at Parkmont Street became a nuisance in recent years as the Alliance allowed a caterer to stage large weddings and wild parties. Neighbors recorded cell phone video to document their claims.

"And for that to be allowed in a residential neighborhood is a complete loss of good sense," said neighbor Stephanie Stanley, who lives immediately behind the Aldredge House.

Attorney David Dean lives across the street.

"The real friction started developing when they sought to turn the house into a commercial enterprise to raise money so they wouldn't have to maintain it themselves," Dean said.

Dean said friction grew with a discovery that neighbor signatures had evidently been forged on several party tent permit applications filed by the caterer between 2012 and 2015.

Stanley said her mother's signature is misspelled in one instance. Dean said a signature that falsely claims to be his appears for an address that is not his home.

"Now why would I sign my name for a street address I don't own?" Dean asked.

Officials with the Medical Society Alliance denied any involvement in forgery and said the contract with the caterer was canceled years ago.

"We immediately stopped renting our house for those types of events. In the last two-and-a-half years we haven't had those events," said Alliance member RuLan Hebeler.

The Alliance sought a planned-development zoning change to allow more than just residential use of the house. During the process, the city added a special-use permit proposal that would include tougher restrictions and periodic city council review.

"If you're going to allow a non-residential use in a residential neighborhood, you need to have the ability to periodically review this," Dean said.

Leaders of the Alliance complained that the SUP imposes unfair restrictions on The Aldredge House.

"We are working toward a strategic plan and goal to insure that Dallas has a premier house museum," Hebeler said.

The group's new president, Dr. Robert Gunby, said the group pledged not to hold commercial events at the house and find other funding sources to maintain the historic structure. He complained that neighbors often changed positions during the past two years of negotiations.

"Lots of ill will and dishonesty is what's gone on," Gunby said.

Dean and Stanley said large gatherings have continued at The Aldredge House in the past two years, including an outdoor wedding last October.

Supporters of The Aldredge House point out the October 2017 outdoor wedding in the garden was held during the day with no night time reception in the garden. Neighbor video of previous parties was taken in 2015.



The Dallas City Council is due to decide the zoning case on Jan. 24.President Donald Trump will, for the final time, waive sanctions against Iran, according to senior administration officials.

The move extends the life of an international nuclear accord that Trump disavowed three months ago, CNBC reported.

Trump will work with European partners on developing new triggers to strengthen the deal, which was enacted in 2015 by six world powers.

He will be open to remaining in the Iran deal only if he can secure that new agreement without a sunset clause, officials told CNBC.

Under the terms of the deal, the sitting president must suspend various sanctions every 120 to 180 days. Trump has called the accord the "worst deal ever," but he's declined to scrap it while Congress prepares legislation to modify the agreement.Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has wed the mother of his 7-month-old son.

Lochte and former Playboy model Kayla Rae Reid were married by a judge Tuesday in Gainesville, Florida, where Lochte attended college. Their son, Caiden, was born last June.

According to the marriage license obtained by TMZ Sports, Lochte's father, Steven, was a witness.

Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, and Reid appear to be holding off on a honeymoon.

He is scheduled to be in Austin, Texas, on Saturday to sign autographs at a swim meet, while Reid tweeted Thursday that she was on her way back to their California home with Caiden.

The couple got engaged in October 2016, not long after Lochte created an international scandal when he falsely claimed that he and three other U.S. swimmers had been robbed at gunpoint while in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics. He was suspended for 10 months by USA Swimming.BP Energy Co. is paying California $102 million to settle claims that it overcharged the state for natural gas between 2003 and 2012, officials announced Thursday.

The company regularly violated contracts to provide gas for numerous state agencies and other governments by exceeding the agreed-upon price cap, then concealed the overcharges by providing false and misleading information, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.

"At one point, BP employees described the transactions with the state of California, when they were overcharging us, as undertakings with the state that, 'Was allowing them to squeeze gold out of that goose,'" Becerra said. "Well, California just squeezed back  102 million times we squeezed back."

BP, the largest natural-gas marketer in North America, said the state's allegations "were entirely without merit."

"BP strongly believes it honestly and fairly met its obligations under its contracts with the state," the company said in a statement.

However, to avoid more legal costs and the possibility of an adverse verdict, the company agreed to settle "for an amount well below what the state demanded in its complaint" in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.

The state's lawsuit contended that BP overcharged the state at least $150 million to $300 million, and the state sought triple damages. However, Becerra could not say how much the state was actually overcharged because he and aides said it is under dispute and varies depending on what models are considered.

The investigation began in 2012 with a former employee's complaint that revealed the overcharges, and that whistleblower will get a share of the settlement, Becerra said. The $102 million also will be shared between the state and local agencies that bought natural gas through the state Department of General Services.

California no longer has natural gas contracts with BP. Department of General Services spokeswoman Monica Hassan said the contract simply expired and was not canceled as a result of the fraud investigation.A South Florida firefighter, paralyzed in a tragic skimboarding incident, and his sister on Friday met a brother they never knew they had. The long-lost brother's adoption was kept secret for decades.

Derek Alivez, a husband and father of three who in Hollywood Beach sustained a spinal cord injury in 2010, fought his way to recover from the debilitating day he lost the use of his legs.

That never stopped him. After months of physical therapy, he returned to the force to serve on light duty and has since been an example of determination.

This family has faced tough times, but it seems resilience is in their DNA. After four-and-a-half years of failed fertility treatments, Julianna Guevara  Alivez's sister  and her husband received the news for which they had been waiting  she was pregnant.

However, about five months into her pregnancy she was diagnosed with leukemia.

But like her brother, she never gave up.

"My brother and I ... we both have had our battles these past several years, but we all came out swinging and our faith and family are really strong," Guevara said. "I gave birth on July 11, 2017. She is perfectly healthy in every single way. She's my little miracle, so we have a lot of miracles in this family."

One week before celebrating Christmas this past year, the family who has passed life's trials had another unexpected life turn  they found out their family was more numerous than they knew.

Guevara's mom gave her a letter with the news.

"I get done with the letter and I was like ... 'Do I have a brother?' And she's like 'Yes!'  'Are you kidding me?'" Guevara recounted.

Lance Beresford met his biological mother, brother and sister for the first time at the Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport.

"I'm just very overwhelmed, actually. I don't know what to feel," Beresford said.

Beresford, a married man who lives in Iowa with three kids, including one he adopted from Taiwan, had one word to describe his family reunion.

"Wow! Wow! That's all I can say, is wow!" Beresford said.

Another surprise that the family recently learned? Beresford is an occupational therapist  one who specializes in injuries similar to his brother's.A University of California, San Diego senior faces deportation after his roommate made a wrong turn at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing south of San Diego.

Orr Yakobi, 22, is an Israeli citizen who is in the U.S. under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. The immigration program allows those who entered the U.S. as minors to stay in the U.S. with some restrictions including traveling outside of the country.

Yakobi and his friend, Ryan Hakim, were shopping at an outlet mall in San Ysidro Sunday when the pair got on southbound Interstate 5 instead of northbound Interstate 805.

"Once we got onto the ramp, we couldn't turn around. We couldn't pull over," Ryan Hakim said. "We were forced into Mexico."

Hakim was behind the wheel and said they had no intention of crossing the border.

"We're freaking out about his documentation. How is he going to get back in? How are we going to get back in," Hakim said.

When the men attempted to return to the U.S, officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped the vehicle and checked Yakobi's documentation.

Under the DACA program, he is permitted to stay in the U.S., but cannot leave the country.

As a result, Yakobi was detained at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Now he's in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement-- detained in Otay Mesa and facing deportation.

"Its very political. Depending on what the mood of the government is right now, what ICE is willing to do, Immigration Attorney Jacob Sapichnick said.

His attorney is negotiating his release and getting support from state and federal lawmakers, among others.

It is unbelievable. In 24 hours we've got Todd Gloria, we've got Scott Peters, we got people from other states," Sapochnick said.

Yakobi, a math and computer science major, was well on his way down the road to success. He was just two classes from graduating and already working as a freelance programmer.

Yakobi was brought to the U.S. by his parents when he was 5 years old.

Yakobi is in good spirits and remains hopeful. Meanwhile, his classmates are garnishing support on campus from students, faculty and administration.

"I want to see Orr back at home. We all just want to give him a big hug," Hakin said. "We want to see him do what he wanted to do with his career. I want to see him achieve his dreams."

Yakobi 's DACA status expires in March. The student was detained because he didn't have a travel permit to leave the country.

His attorney is hoping to bond him out of detention so he might finish school while the case makes its way through the courts.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted a request by California and other plaintiffs to prevent Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while their lawsuits play out in court.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. court system is -- in his words -- "broken and unfair."

Photo: Courtesy Retailers

You may have heard theres a smart-luggage ban coming, and if youve been planning on breaking in your new smart suitcase this holiday weekend, youll want to make sure its safe to fly before you head out to the airport. Thats because this ban on smart luggage will start on Monday, January 15  though not every airline is affected and neither is every bag with a battery built into it. To better understand the specifics of the ban, I spoke with representatives from American and Delta, two of the airlines implementing these new regulations on smart bags, to find out what rolling suitcases are affected, which types of smart luggage to avoid, and why, exactly, smart bags are a hazard in the first place.

What is the smart luggage ban?

Starting on Monday, smart bags that do not have removable lithium-ion batteries will be banned from flights on American Airlines, Delta, Alaska Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, either as a carry-on or a checked piece of luggage. The policy varies slightly depending on which airline youre flying, but if you have plans to travel with any of these carriers, do not show up at the airport with a suitcase with an integrated battery.

And what is the problem with the lithium-ion battery in my smart luggage?

The risk of fire  and this isnt a new concern. Remember exploding Samsung phones in 2016? Or hoverboards on airplanes that were catching on fire? Those were both because of failing lithium-ion batteries, and the fear of fighting flames while flying is why the Federal Aviation Administration has had rules banning lithium-ion batteries from checked bags since since 2013. And though there havent been any fires on airplanes due to smart luggage, most airlines dont want to take any chances.

What if my smart luggage has a removable battery pack? Does this affect me?

If youve got a smart suitcase with a removable battery pack  like those from Away or Raden  youre good to go. You can store a carry-on suitcase with a removable battery pack in the overhead bin, even if its still got the battery pack in it, though you will have to remove the battery if youre planning on checking your luggage or are asked to check it at the gate. You can, however, bring that battery into the airplane cabin in your carry-on.

If these batteries are so dangerous, why is it okay to have the battery in the cabin but not the cargo hold?

The risk of fire doesnt decrease when you put a lithium-ion battery in the cabin of the airplane versus in the cargo hold. It is, however, hypothetically safer for a battery to catch on fire in the cabin, where there are people who can put it out, than to let it burn in the cargo hold where no one can deal with the problem. As Ross Feinstein, a spokesperson for American Airlines explained, We have cargo fire-suppression systems in the cargo holds, but if that doesnt work right, there are no other options until you get on the ground. Flight attendants are also trained to fight battery fires, and there are more options to put out a blaze in the cabin without landing the plane, including fire extinguishers and fire-containment bags.

Hold up. If youre allowed to keep the removable battery in your carry-on suitcase, then why cant I bring my smart suitcase with an integrated battery if Im using it only as a carry-on?

Imagine you have a suitcase with an integrated battery, and youve been planning on bringing it as a carry-on. You get to the gate or onto the plane, and theres no room in the overhead compartment, so youre asked to check it at the gate or planeside. Were not going to start removing other passengers bags to accommodate your bag on that aircraft, says Feinstein. Were also not going to knowingly place that smart bag in the cargo hold of the aircraft. If you can remove the battery, you dont have this problem; when a flight attendant or other airline employee asks you to check your bag, you take the battery out, then your bag can be checked without risk of exploding in the bottom of the aircraft, which, again, would be very bad.

What if I have a suitcase with a non-removable battery?

You may be out of luck. For the first few weeks, well most likely rebook them on a later flight, but theyre not going to be able to travel with that bag, says Feinstein, emphasizing, Its not going to fly. Were not going to introduce the safety risk on our aircraft for that customer. Delta will also offer to rebook customers who show up with a smart bag with an integrated battery so they can go home and repack in a less-smart suitcase. A Delta spokesperson also noted that the airline has spare suitcases at pretty much all of its airports for customers to use, and you might be able to use one if you ask nicely  but itll be your responsibility to dispose of your smart bag.

Cant I just avoid those four airlines?

For now, but it looks more and more likely that these regulations on suitcases with non-removable batteries will become an airline industry standard. CNN has reported that both Southwest and United Continental are considering similar regulations, and IATA, the international authority on global air transportation, has issued similar guidance. And where IATA issues a guidance, basically all carriers around the world tend to follow it, says a Delta spokesperson.

But my bags manufacturer says its FAA-approved!

About that: The federal government doesnt approve batteries, says Feinstein. Its not helpful saying batteries FAA-approved or TSA-approved because thats not the case.

I still want a smart suitcase  so what should I get?

Definitely one with a removable lithium-ion battery. Some brands that make hard-side suitcases with easily removable batteries include Away, Raden, and Arlo Skye.

The Marlon Carry-On $269 If you want a soft-sided suitcase with a removable battery, try Marlon. Just remember to take out those batteries before you check any of these bags. $269 at Marlon Travel Buy

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A firefighter was arrested and accused of selling fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin.

Anthony Marino was taken into custody at his home in Staten Island. Video obtained by NBC 4 New York shows Homeland Security Investigations agents placing the cuffed firefighter into a car.

Marino allegedly bought fentanyl off the dark web and sold it, law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York.

The FDNY didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

It wasn't clear whether Marino had an attorney.

While appearing in court on Sunday, Murino appeared in handcuffs and a blue prison uniform. The judge announced that a pretrial arrangement was made for him to go straight to a drug rehab treatment center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. "I have no interest in keeping someone in custody who simply has a drug problem," the judge said.

Murino's family posted bond and he was released Sunday.A somewhat-hidden instrument in one of New York's subway stations may be more than 20 years old, but it's still managing to delight New Yorkers as though it were brand new.

Venture underground into the 34th Street Subway station and you may notice a pair of forest-green pipes that don't quite blend in.

This is 'REACH: New York', a pair of tubes on the N/Q/R/W uptown and downtown platforms that 'sing' to each other across the tracks when prompted by playful commuters.

The urban musical instrument was installed at the 34th Street station by sound artist Christopher Janney in 1995.

But it's still a regular guest on the New York social media scene thanks to its wonderful ability to connect strangers from across the way.

Simply reach (or jump up if you're small) and wave a hand across one of the installation's eight 'eyes', and a beam of light is interrupted. This activates the instrument, which emits a range of sounds: from the marimba and the flute to the sound of the rain forest.

If someone on the opposite platform would like to respond, they can do the same on their end. Watch the video above -- posted to Instagram by @mrnycsubway this week -- to see how complete strangers are still using the piece to play while they wait for the train.Ten alleged members of the Italian mob with nicknames that wouldn't be out of place in a 'Sopranos' episode were arrested in a federal racketeering takedown on Friday, officials said.

Joseph "Joey Blue Eyes" Santapaolo, Albert "Al Muscles" Armetta, George "Grumpy" Tropiano and Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle were among those cuffed in the mob bust that also netted acting Bonanno family boss Joseph "Joe C" Cammarano and consiglere John "Porky" Zancoccio, according to interim U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.

The ten colorfully named mafiosos include members of the Bonnano, Genovese and Luchese families, and all are accused of a wide range of crimes including extortion, loansharking, wire and mail fruad, drug distribution and conspiracy to committ murder.

Armetta, a solider for the Bonnano family, was also accused of attacking a mafia victim in order to increase his standing in the enterprise.

Each victim faces up to 20 years behind bars per count if convicted, according to prosecutors. Attorney information for the men was not immediately available.What to Know Nearly a week after the meltdown at JFK Airport that caused tens of thousands of bags to get separated from their owners, Cuomo is speaking

The governor says many parties are to blame and that there is "no excuse for what happened"

While more people started getting their bags back by Friday, not everyone has been so lucky

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is finally addressing the meltdown at John F. Kennedy International Airport following last week's winter storm that separated tens of thousands of bags from their owners for days.

"I blame the private company that operated the terminal, the contractors who were brought in, the Port Authority who were doing the overall supervision," the governor said Friday. "I blame all of them."

"It was unconscionable. I understand things happen but there was still no excuse for what happened," said Cuomo.

The airport debacle started Thursday, when a powerful winter storm hit New York amid unusually cold weather and forced the airport to close for the day. When it reopened on Friday, some terminal gates got tied up and led to a backlog of international flights trying to get in and out. Temperatures in the low teens also impacted equipment.

Then a water main burst and flooded a Terminal 4 on Sunday. Amid the chaos, thousands of pieces of luggage got separated from their owners. At the height of the baggage disaster, tens of thousands of bags got separated from their owners, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

As travelers desperately awaited their missing luggage, News 4 reported exclusively on Tuesday that bags were being piled up in snow banks and the tarmac outside JFK. More missing bags were found stacked in the yard of BEX, the Queens-based luggage delivery service contracted by Delta, and in a Hilton New York hotel conference room near the airport in Jamaica. A hotel worker said they were from Air China and arrived there Wednesday morning.

(Workers at BEX did not want to speak to News 4 when reporters showed up Wednesday.)



Flyers have been emailing News 4, detailing their frustrating efforts to get their bags returned.

"I am at a loss for what to do next, except to wait and hope that my bag somehow makes its way home," wrote Kyle Krueger.

While more people started getting their bags back on Friday, not everyone has been lucky. In Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the Hegewisch family has been taking turns waiting for the return of their missing luggage. The family had gone to Berlin for Christmas with four bags, and only two have been returned so far -- one was recovered at JFK, and the other somehow got to LaGuardia Airport.

"There's no information," Jonas Hegeswich said Friday. "It's kind of crazy."

On Wednesday, the family learned that BEX had their remaining two bags. By Thursday, they still had no word on the bags, so they Googled the delivery company and found News 4's video report from Monday -- and incredibly, spotted their suitcase.

"It was one of those moments when you do a double-take," said Lucas Hegewisch, Jonas' son. "I paused and did a screenshot."

It was reassuring to see the missing bag -- but discouraging at the same time, knowing the company still has it and how much longer they'd have to wait to get both pieces of luggage.

We are sharing a gate with another airline, and they have just cancelled there flight, causing the disturbance and the police being called. Our flight is operating and our teams are now moving our customers through the gate so they can board our aircraft. ^RM  Virgin Atlantic (@VirginAtlantic) January 7, 2018

"It's aggravating," said Jonas Hegeswich. "It's not something that should be happening.

Another traveler who'd contacted News 4 said he finally got two of his three bags Friday. Unfortunately, the delivery service left them on his stoop to soak in the rain, and by the time he dragged them inside, everything was ruined, he said.

Some luggage left behind in the meltdown at John F. Kennedy International Airport following last week's winter storm are being housed at a nearby hotel, a hotel worker told NBC 4 New York.

The terminals at JFK have made progress in clearing out the luggage from the airport, at least: by Friday evening, Terminal 1 had 200 bags from Air China customers waiting to be processed, compared to its height of 1,000 bags. At Terminal 4, all 4,000 bags had been processed and removed by Thursday.

The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, which oversees operations at all three area airports, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that it "shared the public's outrage and has directed the airlines to have all bags out of JFK and on their way to customers by day's end."

"This unacceptable delay has inconvenienced too many travelers and we continue to work with the airlines to aggressively address the situation and provide assistance as needed," the Port Authority added.

The agency later announced it had tapped former Obama transportation secretary Ray LaHood to lead an investigation into how it the fiasco happened at JFK, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. That investigation will begin next week; however, the findings could be months away.

Are you in the tri-state area and still missing luggage from JFK? Please contact us at tips@nbcnewyork.com.A memorial service was held Friday for a Valley Center family killed while vacationing in Texas by a driver suspected of driving under the influence.

The church at Oceanside's Mission San Luis Rey was packed with people who came to remember the Latulippes, described as a loving family who did everything together. A 10-year-old girl was the lone family member who survived in the crash.

Its amazing, Ive only heard good things, people coming up and saying I just loved your daughter and Jackson was my best friend, said Connie Enos, the survivor's grandmother.

Scott Latulippe, 41, was a teacher at Valley Center High. His 38-year-old wife, Nancy, worked at Geico insurance. She was active in the charity organization United Way. Their 14-year-old son, Jackson, was a freshman at Valley Center High and on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts program.

All three died as a result of the crash. Only 10-year-old Kiera survived, suffering minor injuries.

On November 11, the family was driving to the airport after a family vacation in Austin, Texas. Guy Brastad, 41, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated when he crossed the center median into their lane and hit their car head-on.

Relatives of the deceased said people from all over the country continue to support them, especially Kiera.

Children are sending cards to Kiera with twenty dollars, 'please buy yourself something fun,' said Kieras grandmother.

Kiera's grandfather, Jim Enos, spoke about her friends.

That's one of the things left in her life, her friends, and so those are important," he said. "Those kinds of things we see are rock solid in our lives and suddenly get taken away.

Her grandparents said Kiera is back in school and adjusting well.

Shes a strong young girl, they said.

Jim Enos said the one good that could come from their loss is, If it stops a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel.

A GoFundMe page was set up for those who wish to contribute to Kiera's future.A University of California, San Diego student who was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and facing deportation after making a wrong turn at the U.S.-Mexico border was released Friday, an official confirmed to NBC 7.

Orr Yakobi, 22, is an Israeli citizen who is in the U.S. under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. The immigration program allows those who entered the U.S. as minors to stay in the U.S. with some restrictions, including traveling outside of the country. DACA recipients are also known as "DREAMers."

Yakobi and his roommate, Ryan Hakim, were shopping at an outlet mall in San Ysidro Sunday when the pair got on southbound Interstate 5 instead of northbound Interstate 805.

Orr Yakobi, 22, is an Israeli citizen on DACA status who may now face deportation after taking a wrong turn near the border. NBC 7s Dave Summers has more on the efforts to free him.

"Once we got onto the ramp, we couldn't turn around. We couldn't pull over," Ryan Hakim said. "We were forced into Mexico."

When the men attempted to return to the U.S, officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped the vehicle and checked Yakobi's documentation.

"I was so scared when we were there and I tried to explain to the U.S. official what was going on," Yakobi told NBC 7 in a phone interview hours after being released. "I was just so afraid that I couldnt even get words out of my mouth."

The two men said they were in shock and had no idea what to do.

"I was really trying to be careful to not say anything wrong or do something wrong," Yakobi said. "It was very terrifying."



Yakobi was detained at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Yakobi was transferred into ICE custody and was being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Facility awaiting an immigration hearing.

After five days in custody, Yakobi was released.

There are people that have been detained for over a year, Yakobi said. "I am just glad that it was so quick and I'm out and I'm able to talk to people and hopefully help other DREAMers.



Yakobi's arrest had garnered an outpouring of support from officials across the state.

The hashtag #Freeorr was created on Twitter and was being used by Calfornia congress members, assembly members and advocates to urge ICE to release the student.

State Assemblymember Todd Gloria tweeted about Yakobi's release Friday.

On Wednesday, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla sent a letter to the Director of ICEs San Diego field office, Gregory Archambeault.

In the letter, Khosla said Yakobi is scheduled to graduate at the end of the Winter quarter this year and urged ICE to consider releasing the student under parole.

He is a valued and active member of our UC San Diego community, and we would very much like to have him return to our campus so he can fulfill his ultimate goal of obtaining his degree, the letter read.

Yakobi's attorney said the student was released on parole and without bond. He maintains his DACA status.

Yakobi told NBC 7 he believes the support he received aided in his release.

I think it was a combination of the support  from the school, my friends, the general community, fellow DREAMers, a little bit of god, Yakobi said. "Everything together really helped the situation."

He said he hopes his story helps other DREAMers, who may not always get as much attention.

I just want people to understand that the DREAMers are just normal kids that have been living here their whole lives and they go to school here," Yakobi said. "Yeah theyre American, and just because some piece of paper says that they're not American, or vice versa, shouldnt make a difference. They're positive members of society and should be treated as such."

The San Diego County Sheriffs Department sent its bomb squad to the parking lot of a commercial center in Lemon Grove Wednesday to investigate reports of a military-type device in the area.

Yakobi was brought to the U.S. by his parents when he was five years old. He is a math and computer science major, is just two classes from graduating, and is already working as a freelance programmer.

I just want to go back to school, finish and continue with my life, and hopefully make a little bit of a difference in this whole fight with DACA, Yakobi said.

To all my fellow DREAMers, keep on dreaming and move forward, Yakobi said.



On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted a request by California and other plaintiffs to prevent Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while their lawsuits play out in court.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. court system is -- in his words -- "broken and unfair."

UCSD sent out another letter following Yakobi's release. It read: "We are very pleased that Orr Yakobi has been released, so he can now return to UC San Diego to fulfill his ultimate goal of obtaining his degree."

Between live performances, community discussions and special screenings, organizations across the city are hosting many free events that honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy. Most events are free, but some require registration.



Let Freedom Sing

When: Jan. 14, 6 p.m.

Where: Bowie Center for Performing Arts, Bowie, Maryland

The musical celebration honoring King will feature the Howard Gospel Choir and the Bowie High School Choral Program. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for students, $15 for adults and $10 for those 65 and over.

MLK Day Celebration

When: Jan. 15, 10:30 a.m.

Where: Woodbridge Neighborhood Library, Washington D.C.

Children aged 2 to 12 are encouraged to come with their families to learn about King at this day-long celebration. A screening of the film Our Friend, Martin will begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by a reading of Separate Is Never Equal by author Duncan Tonatiuh at 2:30 p.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade

When: Jan. 15, Noon

Where: 2500 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.

The 37th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade will begin on Good Hope Road near the Anacostia Park entrance and continue along Martin Luther King Avenue to Barry Farm Recreation Center. The celebration of Kings legacy will feature several high school marching bands including Ballou High School, Dunbar High School and Anacostia High School.

Before the parade, there is a peace walk at 10 a.m. The two-mile walk starts at the same location as the parade.

King: A Filmed Record...Montogmery to Memphis

When: Jan. 15, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Oprah Winfrey Theater, National African American History and Culture Museum

Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, the museum presents a special screening of the documentary that follows King from 1955 and 1968. From his speeches, arrests and protests, the film follows his rise from regional activist to leader of the Civil Rights Movement. The event is free with registration. It is recommended to arrive early. Registration does not guarantee a seat.

Heading into Martin Luther King Day weekend, WHUR's Taylor Thomas talks with News4 anchor Pat Lawson Muse about racial equality in the U.S.

From India With Love Screening

When: Jan. 15, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Black Box Theater, Anacostia Arts Center

The Washington D.C. Police Foundation and Metropolitan Police Department invite you to a free screening of From India With Love. The film is about six Americans who are victims of violence from different backgrounds who embarked on a journey to India in 2016. The documentary was inspired by a Kings similar journey to India in 1959.

Awake and in Motion: Celebrating 50 Years of MLK

When: Jan 15, 3:45 p.m.

Where: Washington National Cathedral

Kings final Sunday sermon was preached at the National Cathedral 50 years ago. The special service will have excerpts of Kings final sermon through song, prayer and dance. The celebration will feature the Howard University Choir and the Washington National Cathedral house band. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m.

Let Freedom Ring!

When: Jan. 15, 6 p.m.

Where: The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

The Kennedy Center and Georgetown University will celebrate the legacy of King through a musical tribute featuring Vanessa Williams and the Let Freedom Ring Choir.

Tickets will be distributed at 4:30 p.m. and seating will begin at 5:15 p.m. You can only get two tickets per person.

Rockvilles 45th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration

When: Jan. 15, 11 a.m.

Where: Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, Maryland

This free event will include performances and keynote speaker Dr. Marcia Chatelain. The program will honor a Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Award recipient.

Tamika D. Mallory: Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and Luncheon

When: Jan. 15, noon

Where: CenterStage at Reston Community Center

The luncheon will feature a keynote address from co-chair of the 2017 Womens March on Washington Tamika D. Mallory. Ticket prices vary from $5 to $10.Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who was convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of classified documents, filed paperwork to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.

Manning, 30, would be taking on Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who has been serving the state for two terms since 2007. Manning filed her statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.

Manning is running as a Democrat and confirmed her candidacy in a tweet on Sunday morning, saying, "yup, we're running for senate," and a link to a campaign video.

Manning would become the fifth candidate who has declared intention for that U.S. Senate seat for Maryland.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen is Marylands other senator since his election in 2017.

Manning spent more than six years of a 35-year sentence behind bars. Former President Barack Obama granted clemency to Manning during his final days in office in January 2017.

Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, Manning came out as transgender after being sentenced.The owner of a seafood company in Virginia has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government by mixing foreign crab meat with Atlantic blue crab, then labeling the blended seafood and selling it to customers as a U.S. product.

James Casey, owner and president of Casey's Seafood, based in Newport News, was charged Friday with violating the Lacey Act, a law that prohibits trafficking in illegal wildlife.

Casey, 74, is accused of conspiring to replace Atlantic blue crab with crab meat from Indonesia, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Central and South America.

Court documents filed Friday allege that Casey and unnamed co-conspirators are accused of falsely labelling nearly 400,000 pounds of crab meat worth millions of dollars as a "product of USA."

Casey allegedly directed employees to place "product of the USA" labels over labels that said "product of Brazil" and "product of China."

Casey's lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

If convicted, Casey faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Andrea Swalec contributed reporting.New Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam spoke of hope and outlined the plans for his administration as he took the oath of office on Saturday and became the states 73rd governor.

The Democrat won November's election thanks to strong voter antipathy toward President Donald Trump. The ceremony on Saturday included the swearing in of Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring.

In prepared remarks, Northam said one of his goals was to accept ideas from both sides of the political aisle in an attempt to improve the life of the residents of Virginia.

The guiding principle of this administration will be simple, Northam said. We will work together to make our Commonwealth work better for all Virginians, no matter who they are or where theyre from.

The new governor honored the service of military and spoke about Virginias history, both good and bad.

Our history is complex in Virginia. But no other place on earth can claim it, he said. This unique heritage endows us with a responsibility to shape the future, to leave this place better than we found it. Thats the Virginia way.

Northam talked about his experiences as a youth on the water and his dads advice about always having a compass in life. Later, while referring to his time as a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and as a doctor, the governor said the state needs a moral compass for the days ahead.

My dads advice stayed with me when I reached the Virginia Military Institute and was given a different kind of compass in the simple words of the VMI honor code: A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do., Northam said.

Those words have stuck with me all these years because theyre so clear. They have become a kind of moral compass for me. They always call me back home safely. Virginia and this country need that more than ever these days.

He said his administration would work toward more healthcare, not less, for Virginians, womens' rights to make decisions about their own healthcare and steps to address the public health crisis of gun violence.

If we are going to build a healthier Virginia for everyone, we must address the public health crisis of gun violence, the governor said. I am ready to work with you to make Virginia safer by passing smart reforms that keep guns away from people who shouldnt have them.

He promised to always tell the truth and maintain the trust from Election Day by putting Virginias interest first.

I am committed as your governor to fight every day for the hope that tomorrow will bring for all of us, not just some of us. Because it can be.

If we work together today, tomorrow will be better for all of the Virginians who have placed their trust in us to fight for them every day. This country is once again looking to Virginia to lead the way.

Let us lead with humility and optimism, telling the truth, learning from history and removing every obstacle to progress for all Virginians. Let us rely on the compass we all carry to show us the way ahead.Kizza Besigye

Former FDC presidential flag bearer Dr Kizza Besigye has announced a seven-point campaign program that his peoples government is going to embark on to resist what he termed as the overthrow of the constitution after its recent amendment.

Calls for boycott of age limit Act promoters

Proclaims set up of people's parliament

Says actions protected by the constitution

On December 20, 317 members of parliament controversially voted to have presidential age limits removed from the constitution, opening the door for 73-year-old president Museveni to contest the next presidential elections, whenever they will be.

It is not clear whether the presidential elections will be held in 2021 or 2023, following parliament's extension of its term by two years. There are legal challenges to the constitutional amendment law, which was recently assented to by the president.

Speaking to reporters at his Katonga Road-based office, Besigye said they (opposition leaders) cannot sit back and allow a group of politicians to circumvent the will of the people.

After the overthrow of the constitution by Museveni and his cabal we are duty bound as citizens by article 3 of the constitution to defend and restore constitutionalism and rule of law in the country, Besigye said.

The seven-point action plan includes putting pressure on individual MPs, who ignored the wishes of those who sent them to parliament and voted to remove the age limit from the constitution, boycotting their businesses and those of other NRM sympathizers who supported the amendment; setting up a peoples national assembly and regional assemblies where the aspirations of the people shall be discussed to determine the future of the country; campaigning for proper utilization of taxes; putting pressure on government to organize LC elections in two months; intensifying the campaign against the land bill and also expanding non-violent struggles that are meant to weaken and ultimately defeat president Museveni.

We shall very soon swear in the peoples government and release [details] of who does what, Besigye said. He added that all these actions are legal and provided for in the law.

There are provisions within the current constitution that immunizes it from overthrow. What we are doing is not unconstitutional at all; using provisions of the overthrown constitution is provided for in this constitution, that is why its unique.

Besigye scoffed at those who say that his previous campaigns have suffered a stillbirth therefore this latest effort is likely to suffer a similar fate.

All campaigns are part of one big campaign of returning the power to the people. All these campaigns come to reinforce this. The struggle is growing even when it is not visible. Those who think that what we are doing is going nowhere, let them remain looking, Besigye said.

Speaking at the same press conference, Kampala lord mayor Erias Lukwago echoed what Besigye said emphasizing that their actions are covered by the law.

All our actions are legitimate and provided for in the constitution. Its the people of Uganda who promulgated this constitution and put resistance as a form to defend its abrogation, Lukwago said.

All of us seated here, if we were committing treason, we should have been picked already, Lukwago said.

I call upon all leaders entrusted with the mandate of the people to rally behind the peoples government to bring this government to its knees, Lukwago said.

FDC president Patrick Amuriat Oboi said the NRM must know that once they allowed the amendment of the constitution, they opened the floodgate for resistance.

NRM shouldnt believe that what they did is a matter that has been settled. How can we do this when the future of Uganda is insecure? We are saying time up for Museveni and his schemers who think that they can just change the constitution anyhow, Amuriat said adding, Anybody who thinks we are looking at 2021 or 2023 like the NRM dreamers should think twice; this liberation struggle should be sorted out before anybody thinks about any other election.

bakerbatte@observer.ugA Prince Georges County, Maryland, teenager was charged in connection with racially charged writings found in a bathroom at the University of Maryland.

University police arrested Terrell Demonte Alexander, 18, from Lanham, Maryland, and charged him with malicious destruction of property and damage to property of certain classes of persons or groups. On Oct. 23, 2017, police were called to the Ellicott Dining Hall, where racially charged writings were found on a bathroom stall inside the mens restroom.

We take incidents of hate bias in our community very seriously, which is reflected in the extensive effort to identify the individual responsible, said Chief David Mitchell, from the University of Maryland Police Department.

Mitchell said they were able to identify Alexander after reviewing video footage and analyzing handwriting samples.The father of Sherin Mathews, the 3-year-old girl adopted from India and found deceased in a culvert near the familys Richardson home, was indicted Friday on a capital murder charge.

"We can't go into details, but based on that autopsy report, we were able to determine that we can seek capital murder for this case," Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a news conference announcing the indictment.

Wesley Mathews, the toddler's 37-year-old adoptive father, was also indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on charges of injuring a child, abandoning a child and tampering with evidence.

Sherin's body was found Oct. 22, more than two weeks after Wesley Mathews had reported her missing. Wesley Mathews initially told police Sherin disappeared after he punished her by sending her out in the night to stand by a tree near the home.

The father of Sherin Mathews, the 3-year-old girl adopted from India and found deceased in a culvert near the familys Richardson home, was indicted Friday on a capital murder charge.

The father later changed his story to police and said that his daughter choked after he "physically assisted" her in drinking milk. He told investigators that he then moved her body from the home and planned to go back later and give her a proper burial.

The Medical Examiner's office ruled last week the toddler died of "homicidal violence."

Prosecutors are not revealing what else they may know about how the little girl was killed. The murder indictment says Wesley Mathews used a "deadly weapon" to commit the crime.

"The evidence is still unfolding in this case. We don't want anything to jeopardize this case. We think that we have a great case, we plan to pursue this case vigorously, and we dont want anything to hamper it in any kind of way," Johnson said.

Only a week after the Dallas County medical examiner reported 3-year-old Sherin Mathews died of "homicidal violence," the grand jury has indicted her father on a murder charge.

Wesley Mathews was initially arrested on a felony charge of injury to a child with intent to commit serious bodily injury. He remains jailed on $1 million bond. His wife, Sini Mathews, is also in jail, held on $100,000 bond for child endangerment/abandoning for allegedly leaving Sherin home alone while she, her husband their other daughter went to dinner on Oct. 6, the night before Wesley reported Sherin missing.

In a statement Friday afternoon, Mitchell Nolte and Gregg Gibbs, attorneys for Sini Mathews, said:

"The indictments handed down today by a Dallas County Grand Jury confirm what we have previously stated. Sini Mathews had nothing to do with the tragic death of Sherin Mathews."

Rafael De La Garza, attorney for Wesley Mathews, told NBC 5 that he does not have a statement at this time.

Grand Jury Referral on Capital Murder Charge

Grand Jury Referral on Tampering With a Corpse

Grand Jury Referral on Injury to a Child



Grand Jury Referral on Abandoning of a Child (Wesley Mathews)



Grand Jury Referral on Abandoning of a Child (Sini Mathews)

Police in southern New Hampshire are warning residents that the "Felony Lane Gang" is in the area, breaking into cars, stealing valuables and trying to steal identities.

They've victimized 10 people in Londonderry and Windham just this week, police say.

Gang members made a quick stop at Gym-Ken Gymnastics in Windham. The owner says within 10 minutes, they broke into four cars, stole wallets and purses, along with everyone's sense of security.

"That's the part that upsets me the most, because now we don't have that feeling anymore," said Gym-Ken Owner Trisha Ferguson.

It happened Tuesday evening. By Friday morning, the owner says at least one of the victims was still shaken up.

"She's still having a hard time with it, she's still not sleeping, she's struggling," Ferguson said.

Police are now looking at surveillance video from earlier that same night, when authorities say gang members, likely in a white Kia minivan, hit Spectrum Gymnastics in Londonderry.

"There was glass all over the passenger seat," said a Spectrum victim who didn't want to be identified.

She told NBC10 Boston on Friday that she was shocked to find her window smashed and her purse gone.

"It's a violation, they came in to what was supposed to be mine," she said.

Police say the gang has a strategy. They target locations where people leave their valuables in their cars, like a park or a gym, especially a place where parents are just running inside to pick up their kids.

"They just never think about leaving their purse in the front seat and not locking the car," Ferguson said. "I've been here 28 years and we've never ever had anything like this happen so it makes it even worse."

The Felony Lane Gang that started in Florida about a decade ago and has made its way up the east coast. It's now in southern New Hampshire and police warn that Tuesday's crime spree may not be the last in the area.

"What they do is come into a community and stay for a while," said Windham Police Sgt. Bryan Smith. "The length of time they stay is dependent on how successful they are once they get here."

So police are warning residents to be vigilant. No matter how safe you feel where you are, they say you should still lock your doors and take your valuables with you.Milly Vega knew the water inundating her quiet side street near the Saugus River in Lynn, Massachusetts, last September was trouble. She wasn't ready for what came in her basement at the same time.

"The water was darker than usual," she said in an interview. "And it wasn't clear, Mother Nature water. It was coming through the sink, through the toilet."

Water gushed out of the toilet in her finished basement, rising several feet high and destroying her furniture and mementos.

"It wasn't normal and unfortunately, we had to break the wall three feet. They had to cut through the walls three feet," she said. "I had four days of the fans, the humidifiers, and everything was commercial."

The damage cost tens of thousands of dollars, she said. And contractors still are working on her basement.

Lynn is no stranger to flooding, and climate change is expected to make the problem more devastating to more people.

But, experts and residents said, Lynn's century-plus-old sewer infrastructure, in desperate need of replacing, may be contributing raw sewage backups into homes and streets, and making the inevitable flooding even worse.

A monthslong NBC10 Boston investigation revealed major sewer projects that could have mitigated flooding and ended sewage backups were crippled by poor planning, questionable oversight, and legal wrangling, leaving Lynn residents who have been dealing with floods and sewage for decades in the lurch.

Officials at the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission, the agency independent of the city government that operates and maintains the sewer and storm systems, pointed fingers at its former contractor, and state and federal environmental regulators.

"We were told by the federal government and the DEP 13 years ago to stop and submit another plan. We submitted another plan to the DEP and the EPA and they sat on it for so many years," Bob Fennell, the commission's deputy director, told NBC10 Boston in an interview.

The EPA, in a statement with DEP, pushed back on the accusation.

"EPA strongly disagrees with the statement from the deputy director provided to NBC10," the EPA said in its statement.

It added that it believes a new court-ordered plan Lynn is working on puts the city "on a path towards addressing the sewer overflow issues that have adversely affected the citizens of Lynn all these years."

Vega, her neighbors, and thousands of others in neighborhoods west of Commercial Street to the Saugus River have been complaining about sewage backups for years, according to state documents and videos of public meetings.

But already, Lynn seems in danger of dropping the ball, failing to do a key set of tests related to the design of the new project and submitting several plans state and federal officials criticized as lacking specifics. DEP also warned the commission that it is understaffed, and its maintenance program is reactive.

Lynn Water and Sewer officials said the department is doing everything it can to reduce flooding and sewage backups, and maintain that it has been proactive in working with state and federal environmental regulators.

"We've signed a timeline with the federal and state governments, so it has to be done," Fennell said.

Old cities like Lynn have outdated sewer systems that carry both storm water from the gutters and waste water from homes and businesses in a single pipe to the municipal treatment plant.

During heavy rains, the volume of the water and sewage combined can be greater than the system can handle. In that situation, the system discharges everythingrain and raw sewage  into a body of water through dedicated overflow pipes. In Lynn, those discharges went into the Saugus River at Summer Street, Lynn Harbor off the Lynnway, and at Kings Beach next to the Swampscott border.

But even that isn't always enough, and if it doesn't go out, it has to come back up. The combination of the storm water and sewer systems means that backups caused by rain in the storm drains have a direct line into the streets, and into homes.

Annalisa Onnis-Hayden, a civil engineering professor at Northeastern University, said separating those systems can lessen flooding because the single dedicated storm system have more capacity to carry away rain water. It also would end sewer backups into homes and streets.

"If it's separated, the rain wouldn't affect the amount of sewage," she said. "Only the storm drain will be affected by the storm water."

The EPA first sued Lynn in 1976 for discharging sewage into the Saugus River, Lynn Harbor, and Nahant Bay, a violation of the Clean Water Act.

After changes is federal law, the EPA in the late 1980s finalized regulations designed to end the discharge of raw sewage from combined systems.

A number of cities around the country, including Lynn and Boston, entered into court-enforced consent decree agreements with the EPA to end those discharges.

Through the 1990s, Lynn made progress separating the storm water and sewer lines in part of the city along the Saugus River north of Boston Road, and other work.

That progress led Lynn to renegotiate its agreement with the feds to update goals and create a new timeline.

In 2000, Lynn and its contractor, USFilter Operating Services Co., submitted a plan to separate three large sections in the eastern part of the city, including parts of downtown and the area along the Swampscott border north past Peabody to Lynnfield.

That plan formed the basis of a second consent decree, approved in 2001. Work began in the easternmost sections of the city.

But the plan was plagued with problems. Emails and DEP documents from 2002 and 2003 show that engineers and regulators grew increasingly concerned that Lynn's measurements badly underestimated different water flows.

"How did the commission get itself in this mess?" one engineer asked in a 2003 email.

After complaints to DEP about sewage backups in West Lynn, DEP in 2003 ordered the water and sewer commission to reevaluate its entire plan, and its system, to account for concerns about water flows and to determine what it would take to end the sewage backups in West Lynn.

A new contractor, Camp, Dresser, & McKee (CDM), conducted the evaluation and noted that large neighborhoods in the western part of the city also had combined sewer and storm systems. But those areas, and all the water flows from them, were completely left out of the 2000 plan.

DEP seemed surprised by this information.

"The omission of the Bennett Street and Shepard Street areas in the October 2000 facilities plan update undermines the (combined sewer overflow) performance of the present plan and creates the potential for sewer backups and street flooding," DEP wrote in a December 2003 DEP response to the Camp, Dresser, & McKee report.

All that water and sewer from those neighborhoods were unaccounted for, and would actually cause more problems if the 2000 plan were to be completed, the report concluded.

"The CDM report indicated that at the completion of the East Lynn sewer separation work in the (eastern) areas, as presently designed ... system-wide flooding and sewer backups will increase when compared to current conditions," DEP said in its response.

Because the plan would fail, DEP, ordered much of the separation work to halt.

In October 2004, Lynn, working with CDM, filed a new separation proposal that included the western neighborhoods left out of the 2000 plan.

The EPA and DEP did not approve or respond to that proposal. By 2005, Lynn was embroiled in a yearslong lawsuit with USFilter over the contract to design and implement the 2000 plan.

That lawsuit took five years to resolve. Some work continued, and the separation work in the section of the city along the Swampscott and Peabody lines was completed.

But no other work was started.

Dan O'Neill, director of the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission since 2004, would not agree to numerous requests for an interview with NBC10 Boston.

He also would not answer a list of specific questions emailed to him asking who at Lynn Water and Sewer approved the failed 2000 plan, why West Lynn was left off, and what role O'Neill, who was the commission's chief engineer at the time, played in molding, informing, and overseeing the plan.

Fennell, who came out of the water and sewer commission's office for an interview when NBC10 Boston Investigators arrived asking to see O'Neill, said the commission is doing everything it can to help residents and abide by the consent decree.

"We're trying to get them the relief by separating the storm water and sewer water," Fennell said. "We're working towards that goal."

But the commission has already asked DEP for a one-year extension on its planning after failing to complete a set of groundwater tests last spring.

It also does not clear storm drain basins, which over the entire system can hold a lot of water, annually, as the commission said was the standard.

According to water and sewer commission work records obtained by NBC10 Boston, most drains in the city, including in flood prone areas, have only been cleared once in either 2016 or 2017.

DEP told the commission in a May 26, 2017, letter to the commission that it is understaffed, and that its maintenance program is a "'reactive' program with little preventative maintenance," and recommended a "preventative maintenance program."

It also warned the commission in a separate letter on May 26, 2017, that the extension on the groundwater testing "cannot affect the commission's responsibilities for moving forward with the CSO abatement work required under the Third Modified Consent Decree."

Meanwhile, residents like Milly Vega and her neighbor, Sherry Pacewicz, flinch at the first forecast of rain.

"I'm worried that we're going to have another flood, and we're not even done cleaning up this one to clean up another one," Vega said. "Everything that we've bought to get it repaired, we could lose it again tomorrow."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Onnis-Hayden's name. We apologize for the error.Two teens who were wanted for a murder on New Years Day in Texas were arrested in Ansonia last night.

Police said they took 19-year-old Giuseppe Briguglio, of Katy, Texas, and his 17-year-old female companion into custody on Beverly Drive at 9:52 p.m. as fugitives from justice.

The Stafford, Texas Police Department has arrest warrants for Briguglio and the juvenile, charging each of them with murder and said the girl had been reported missing.

A post on the Stafford Police Department Facebook page said officers responded to a report of shots fired at the Estates at Fountain Lake apartment complex in Stafford, Texas, at 1:48 a.m. Jan. 1 and found 22-year-old James Outlaw II, 22, of Missouri City, Texas, dead in a breezeway at the complex.

Briguglio was charged with being a fugitive from justice and held on a $250,000 bond. He will be arraigned in court in Derby today.

The 17-year-old female girl was taken to juvenile detention to be held for extradition to Texas.Republican Gov. Charlie Baker says President Donald Trump should apologize for vulgar language attributed to him during an Oval Office meeting.

Baker on Friday called "appalling and disgraceful" the comments Trump made while questioning why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and Africa, rather than places like Norway.

Baker told reporters the president "owes an apology to all of the people who he broad-brushed with those statements, many of whom came here simply looking for a better life."

The governor noted that he has supported an extension of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Haitians living in Massachusetts.

"Based on my own personal experience as a guy who's lived in Massachusetts for most of my adult life, I am enormously grateful for the culture and the humanity and frankly the enterprise and the love that a lot of those folks in those communities have shown here in Massachusetts," he said.

Baker said the Haitian community has been "a tremendous asset" to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"The Haitian community has been a wonderful community in a very positive way in Massachusetts and we are thrilled and honored to have them here," he said.



Baker also spoke of how some of the people who helped care for his mother when she was sick were Haitian immigrants. He said they were "kind and generous and loving and thoughtful as my mom and dad went through a terrible time."

Democratic state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, whose parents emigrated from Haiti, called Trump's remarks "ignorant and repulsive."

Trump disputes accounts of the language he used during Thursday's meeting with U.S. senators, but hasn't denied the most controversial word attributed to him.When older adults arrive at a hospital's emergency department (ED), they may face unexpected challenges. For example, they may become less able to function independently. They may develop difficulties thinking and making decisions during or following a visit to the ED. This makes transitions in care to and from the ED an important area for improvement in our health care as we age.

To address these challenges, geriatrics experts have developed special programs such as the "Geriatric Emergency Department Innovations in Care through Workforce, Informatics, and Structural Enhancements" (GEDI WISE) program. GEDI WISE is an award-winning program that serves as a model for excellence in emergency care for older adults in three large urban hospitals: Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY; St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL.

One piece of the GEDI WISE program includes an ED-based geriatrics transition care nurse (TCN). The TCN identifies patients who have health needs specific to older adults. This nurse works to help people transition to their homes so that they can avoid hospital admission whenever possible.

A team of researchers designed a study to learn how effective the GEDI WISE TCNs were for reducing hospital admissions, later admissions, and revisits to the ED. They published their findings in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study took place in 2013-2015 in all three hospitals in the GEDI WISE program. They studied more than 57,000 people aged 65 or older who made more than 120,000 visits to the three participating hospitals' EDs.

The TCN nurses gave the older adults several different screenings, including tests for:

Cognition

Delirium

Functional status

Falls risk

Caregiver strain

Care transitions

Informed by these screenings, the TCN used various geriatrics resources to help patients. Some people required only a little support, while others needed extensive help.

Older adults who saw the TCN at least once during the study period were included in the "intervention group." Older adults who didn't see the TCN during the study period were included in the "control group."

Compared to the control group, people who saw the TCN had lower rates of inpatient (hospital or healthcare facility) admissions over 30 days at two of the three hospitals.

The researchers concluded that programs focusing on improving care transitions for older people seen in the ED may help reduce the risk for hospital admission.Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) are the leading global cause of death in early childhood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lower respiratory tract infections, including bronchiolitis and viral and bacterial pneumonia, take a toll on children's health, too, causing the majority of pediatric hospital admissions for infectious diseases.

By analyzing immune cells of children who came to the emergency department with flu symptoms, researchers found that the suite of genes these early-response cells expressed was shaped by factors such as age and previous exposures to viruses, according to a study by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Better understanding how early infections influence long-term immune response has implications for the diagnosis and treatment of young patients who suffer from acute respiratory tract infections.

"The notion that an individual's capacity to combat the flu depends on what they have been exposed to in the past, especially early in life, has been gaining momentum," said senior author E. John Wherry, PhD, a professor of Microbiology and director of the Institute for Immunology at Penn. Wherry and Sarah E. Henrickson, MD, PhD, an instructor in the Allergy-Immunology division at CHOP, published their findings in Cell Reports this week.

"This study started during the 2009 H1N1 flu epidemic to find out how host responses change with different viral infections," said lead author Henrickson, who began this work as a CHOP clinical fellow and postdoctoral fellow in Wherry's lab. Previous studies elsewhere had investigated influenza responses broadly, but she wanted to focus on changes in CD8 T cells, key anti-viral cells in pediatric patients with influenza, and ultimately connect those changes to clinical outcomes, such as severity of infection, future asthma, fever, and return visits to a physician.

"Children generally have a less complex infectious history and less co-occurring conditions than adult patients," she said. "As a result we can more easily assess the immune response to an acute infection and test how immune history shapes responses to the new infection."

Sounding the Alarm CD8 T cells prepare the body for fighting foreign viruses by altering their own gene expression after sensing the alarm signals raised by cells in the lungs in response to acute respiratory tract pathogens. In this study, the CD8 T cell gene expression in acutely ill pediatric patients with influenza-like illness was distinct from patients with other viral pathogens, such as rhinovirus. In general, the "genomic circuitry" of a cell - clusters of genes akin to electrical circuits that affect each other's expression - varies according to the type of pathogen.

Using blood samples from 29 children who came to the CHOP emergency department with flu symptoms, the team found that different viruses elicit different immune responses  specifically, different patterns of genomic circuitry in CD8 T cells. Although these differences included the expected upregulation of interferon-stimulated genes and tamping down of cell adhesion proteins and signaling molecules, the pro-survival gene BCL2 was prominent in children presenting with an acute influenza infection.

From the immune information they gathered, the team developed an Influenza Pediatric Signature (IPS) consisting of a small set of genes that consistently increased or decreased in expression in CD8 T cells from patients with an acute influenza infection. The IPS is able to distinguish acute influenza from ARTIs caused by other pathogens. "Although this IPS is unlikely to replace clinical virological diagnosis anytime soon, the strength of the IPS score may reflect the severity of disease and provide helpful information post infection," Wherry said. "It may help focus investigations on the key pathways in this population in the future."

For example, the IPS helped identify an age-based difference in genome circuits related to the STAT1/2 pathway, which aids T cells to sense the inflammatory alarm raised by infected lung tissue and turn on interferon-stimulated genes to fight the virus. The IPS showed that the STAT1/2 circuit operates in young children with previous exposure to influenza (or the vaccine) similar to older children. This data suggests that therapies targeting the STAT1/2 pathway may be fruitful or that monitoring these signatures could be used to determine whether a vaccine works. The team hopes to investigate the importance of this altered circuitry in relation to clinical outcomes in larger studies going forward.

The researchers' hope is that by combining the basic science of immune cell gene expression to actual cases seen in a high-volume pediatric ED will identify key pathways involved in host-pathogen interactions and help improve treatments for kids with severe flu symptoms.RIDGEFIELD - Swastikas that appeared around town over the past year and again earlier this week are likely the work of the one person or at most a few people, officials believe.

Several swastikas were found Sunday, scrawled in green maker at the Aldrich Museum, and more followed, also drawn in green marker, on the sign at the Masonic Lodge. Over the past year, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were scrawled on areas inside Ballard Park and at Ridgefield High School.

The latest appearances comes about a month after members of the Anti-Defamation League held a forum on hate and bias attended by Ridgefield school administrators, town officials and clergy. The forum was held at the towns request in response to the earlier incidents of hate speech.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he believes all the vandalism is likely the work of one juvenile or a small group of juveniles, not of any organized group. He pledged vigorous efforts to find those responsible.

We will do everything we can to find those who are responsible, he said, adding that cameras mounted near the museum and lodge could provide clues to the identity of the perpetrators. The police will review the footage from those cameras and we will go from there. I would personally be willing to testify and call for the most extreme consequences available.

Marconi urged those who committed the crimes to come forward and take responsibility.

Im sure there are others out there who know who the responsible party is, he said. If that person were to come forward, theyd be acting in a very responsible manner.

Steven Ginsberg, executive director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Connecticut chapter, said incidents of hate speech have been on the rise generally in recent months, but Ridgefield has distinguished itself by its response to them, by both holding the forum last month and inviting the ADL into the schools for presentations to students.

Just because a town like Ridgefield has a certain economic demographic and is primarily white doesnt mean there isnt a diversity of thought in the community, he said. But you have to work harder to expose children to the lives of people who they dont come across every day. We have found an overwhelming amount of support in town and that really says a lot.

Still, he said, No matter how much training and education you provide on racism, bias and anti-Semitism, you will never get everyone on your side.

Rabbi David Reiner, of Congregation Shir Shalom said finding ways for local students to recognize and celebrate those with different backgrounds is also important.

We should encourage programs that help our students encounter people from different backgrounds, those with racial, ethnic, socio-economic and political differences - to see how different people are and to celebrate those differences, he said.

Capt. Jeff Kreitz, a spokesman for the police department, said the swastikas found in town earlier this week ranged in size from approximately 4 by 4 inches to 8 by 8 inches. Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer McMahon at 203-438-6531.

dperrefort@newstimes.comEducation minister Janet Museveni

Education minister Janet Museveni has said there should be no more pre-registration tests or examinations within public and private schools as candidates prepare for national examinations.

Speaking during the release of 2017 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results in Kampala yesterday, Ms Museveni said pre-tests denied many candidates a chance of sitting last years examinations.

A total of 646,190 candidates from 12, 751 centres registered for PLE in 2017 compared to 640,833 at 12,391 centres in 2016.

The practice of placing hurdles before these young learners in the form of pre-registration tests increases dropouts and should stop immediately, Ms Museveni said.

I have noted that the [average] rate of increase in candidature has reduced from over three per cent to just under one per cent. Uneb tried to find out the reasons for this, and what has come out from some districts is unacceptable.

She said districts must, instead, put in place mechanisms to ensure effective teaching throughout the primary education cycle in order to achieve better PLE results.

In addition to mock examinations, most schools set examinations to sieve learners for registration in their schools. Unsuccessful candidates are usually registered at different centers to maintain good grades at the school centre.

Ms Museveni commended districts such as Arua, Moyo and Adjumani which host large numbers of refugees for registering very significant increases in the number of candidates last year.

According to Uneb executive secretary Dan N Odongo, whereas previous years registered a significant percentage increase in candidature of about three to five per cent each year, the increase in candidature from 2016 to 2017 reduced to 0.8 per cent.

Uneb statistics indicate that at least 10 districts had their registration figures decline, Bulambuli recording the highest percentage at 24 per cent. In 2016, the district registered at least 3,022 candidates but declined to 2,297 in 2017.

Bulambuli is followed by Buyende (21.7 per cent), Serere (21.6 per cent), Sironko and Pallisa (16.9 per cent each), Kaliro (15.5 per cent), Mubende (15.4 per cent), Luuka (12.7 per cent), Iganga (12.2 per cent) and Mayuge at 11 per cent.

However, Yumbe registered the highest percentage variance in candidature at 61.1 per cent. Moyo came second with (40.7 per cent), Adjumani (34.2 per cent), Kaberamaido (29.3 per cent), Arua (23.6 per cent), Bundibugyo (15.4 per cent) and Ntoroko with 11.3 per cent.

Generally, Uneb chairperson Prof Mary Okwakol said, many districts registered fewer candidates in 2017 PLE examinations.

The board found out that in most districts, the pupils were subjected to what was called a pre-registration test administered centrally by the districts. Those who did not score a pre-determined mark were not allowed to register for the PLE, Okwakol said.

Meanwhile, with improved performance in Social Studies and Science subjects last year and a decline in Mathematics and English language, Ms Museveni urged teachers to refocus their methods of teaching.

The teaching appears to be theoretical and emphasizes drilling of candidates. While performance in Mathematics indicates that more learners got the minimum pass at grade 8, the desired quality passes have declined, she said, attributing the decline in Mathematics to failure by candidates to handle questions with practical applications.

nangonzi@observer.ugMark Zuckerberg is discovering the cost of factory-farming Facebooks users. The $550 billion social networks success in harvesting advertising dollars through mass-appeal content has made it very profitable. The snag is that users are increasingly unhappy. The founder and chief executives return to focusing more on their welfare may limit short-run earnings but should improve sustainability.

The Facebook farm has become increasingly unwholesome. The company is at the center of a storm over the promotion of false news stories, some potentially placed with the intention of interfering with the 2016 presidential election. Time spent per user on the core site has been falling, albeit from a high base, according to Pivotal Research. Mr. Zuckerbergs stated goals for 2018 are fixing the site, cleaning up abuse, limiting interference by nation states and making sure time spent on Facebook is time well spent.

Now Facebook is changing its algorithms, according to a post on Thursday, to put a priority on News Feed items that users friends share and interact with and reduce the amount of third-party non-advertising content. Multiple studies link time spent on social networks with unhappiness, and watching mass-produced videos and reading clickbait articles on a screen surely dont help.

Facebook hopes higher-quality feeds will work better. We feel a responsibility to make sure our services arent just fun to use, but also good for peoples well-being, Mr. Zuckerberg wrote.Coogans restaurant and bar, a civic fixture in Washington Heights for 32 years, reached a new agreement with its landlord late Friday afternoon, just three days after its owners announced they would be closing in May because of a demand for a $40,000 monthly rent increase.

A wave of public support for the establishment, including from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton who has been a patron since his boyhood, led its landlord, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, to reopen discussions with the owners of Coogans. A lease extension was agreed upon shortly after 4 p.m. Friday. Terms were not disclosed.

The restaurant, on Broadway between 168th and 169th Streets, was an anchor of the neighborhood in the years when that part of Upper Manhattan was racked with violence from the illegal drug trade. With roots as a traditional Irish bar, Coogans has become well-known as a multiethnic gathering spot. More than 15,000 people signed an online petition supporting the restaurant.

NewYork-Presbyterian and Coogans are delighted that this has been resolved in a way that satisfies everyone involved, and that Coogans will continue to be a very special part of the Washington Heights community, the hospital and the restaurant said in a joint statement. They acknowledged that Representative Adriano Espaillat and the Manhattan borough president, Gale Brewer, had been instrumental in bringing about the agreement. Also taking part was Luis A. Miranda Jr., a political consultant who is the father of the Broadway star.In it, she traces the arc of her experiences forward to the current #MeToo phenomenon, warning that #MeToo is not a moment or a movement but an ongoing reality for women.

To see in print that police sources had called me a liar had a silencing effect on me, to say the least, she wrote. I paid a terrible, terrible price for my #MeToo.

She also wrote of the humiliation of her encounter with the first officers to respond to her attack, on April 26, 1994. They employed racial stereotypes, she said, then turned on her when she protested.

Immediately after I was raped, the policemen who responded drove me around the park, stopping and questioning black men who looked nothing like the description I had given them, she wrote. When I told them that as a black woman that made me uncomfortable, that it made me feel unsafe, they were visibly angry.

In a column that appeared two days after the attack, the Daily News writer, Mike McAlary, cited questions raised by police investigators about her account, under a headline: Rape Hoax the Real Crime. Citing unnamed police sources, Mr. McAlary, who died of cancer in 1998, said investigators believed the woman had fabricated the story to promote a gay and lesbian rally. The woman, who will probably end up being arrested herself, invented the crime, they said, to promote her rally, Mr. McAlary wrote.

Though she was not named in Mr. McAlarys columns in 1994, and has maintained her anonymity since, the public disclosures about her being an activist added to her agony over being doubted since she figured it might help people surmise her identity.

Mr. Miller, in his statement on Friday, did not address Mr. McAlary. In a deposition he gave in a resulting libel case, that was dismissed in 1997, Mr. Miller said he told reporters at an off-the-record briefing a day after the attack that detectives had doubts about the womans account, but said Mr. McAlary had obtained some information about the doubts of detectives from another source too.An escalating legal battle played out on Friday in the case of Ravi Ragbir, an immigrant rights activist whose detention on Thursday by federal immigration authorities sparked protests that led to the arrest of 18 people, including members of the New York City Council.

Mr. Ragbir, 53, the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, had shown up for a check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday morning, at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan. When officials told him that he was going to be detained and deported, Mr. Ragbir fainted, his wife, Amy Gottlieb, said.

That is when events turned chaotic.

His lawyer from New York University Immigrant Rights Clinic, Alina Das, said that as he was regaining consciousness she argued that she was still pursuing legal remedies for Mr. Ragbir. She said that Scott Mechkowski, the assistant field office director for ICE, dismissed her arguments and had officers handcuff Mr. Ragbir.And while Mr. de Blasios announcement made his directives sound like faits accomplis, under city law they are only recommendations that must be developed into formal proposals that will be considered by the Public Design Commission, a panel tasked with making determinations about public monuments and artwork. The mayor appoints a majority of the design commissions members.

I think Columbus did some things that were deeply troubling, Mr. de Blasio said on Friday in an interview on WNYC radio. But Columbus long ago, a century or more ago, became wrapped up in the larger history of Italian-American people.

He said that connection could not be unwrapped, adding that New York has one of the biggest Italian-American populations in the whole country. And I think that has to be respected and honored too. Mr. de Blasio is of Italian and German descent.

He said that comparisons of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general whose statue was the focus of the riot in Charlottesville, to Columbus, whose voyages triggered an era of colonialism that led to the brutal exploitation of Native Americans and the destruction of their cultures, were apples and oranges.

Mr. de Blasio did not make himself available to reporters on Friday and later in the day he left for a trip to Boston and Maine.

Richard Alba, a commission member, said the Columbus statue was an acid test for the panel because you had directly opposing meanings brought to the statue by different groups of people. The commission also recommended that the statue remain but that explanatory material be added.On Friday, a senior New York police official apologized for sowing doubt in 1994 about the account of a woman who was raped in Prospect Park. Following is the statement the woman issued on Friday, shortly before the police official, John J. Miller, sent her his apology.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.  the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., quoting Theodore Parker

Im grateful to Detective Andrea Sorrentino, who worked tirelessly on my case back in 1994, and to Detective Sarah Mathers who solved it 23 years later. Im grateful that someone believed the four women James Webb raped after he raped me, and that he was finally brought to justice. Im extremely grateful that James Webb is not eligible for parole until 2070.

Immediately after I was raped, the policemen who responded drove me around the park, stopping and questioning black men who looked nothing like the description I had given them. When I told them that as a black woman that made me uncomfortable, that it made me feel unsafe, they were visibly angry. I also wrote a statement that my friends and colleagues read aloud that weekend at a rally protesting violence against lesbians in Park Slope. I guess that made someone at 1 Police Plaza very angry. To see in print that police sources had called me a liar had a silencing effect on me, to say the least. I paid a terrible, terrible price for my #MeToo.Dr. Ronald R. Fieve, who was a pioneer in the prescription of lithium to treat mania and other mood disorders  while avowing that some gifted individuals, like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, might have benefited from being bipolar  died on Jan. 2 at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 87.

The cause was congestive heart failure, his daughter Vanessa Fieve Willett said.

Alerted by his adviser, Dr. Lawrence Kolb, to groundbreaking research in Australia, Dr. Fieve (pronounced FEE-vee) began experimenting with lithium to mitigate depression in the 1950s, when he was a resident at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

He and a colleague, Dr. Ralph N. Wharton, went on to identify lithium as the first naturally occurring medication to prevent and control a specific psychiatric disorder and reduce the risk of relapses.

In 1966 Dr. Fieve established the first lithium clinic in North America.

During the 1970s, it was apparent that psychiatry was going through a difficult transition and suffering from an identity crisis, Dr. Fieve wrote in Bipolar Breakdown (2009), one of several of his popular books.Writing about wealth, political economist Karl Marx argued that the rich could only become rich after an arguably long period of accumulation. Marxs formula follows that being rich is a result of engagement in some productive activity  for some time.

By implication, the highroad to wealth is defined by both smartness and patience. The investor has to be intelligent enough to keep their workers happy and prevent them from rebellion  as the former appropriates their labour time in the name of profits.

As a young man growing up in the countryside, the wealthy people in our villages were the most intelligent. There were two categories: farmers and public servants. The farmers often owned large coffee or bananas plantations, or had plenty of livestock or both. Either way, they attended to their possessions meticulously.

Since big plantations or livestock never thrived on only family labour, rich people often hired services of migrant labourers  often from south-western Uganda and Rwanda.

But employing people to keep any plantation or livestock productive for years was no small feat. At public functions, whenever these rich farmers were asked to speak, they were not only articulate and witty, they were also humorous, emitting sense through each sentence.

When public service was a productive and respectable industry  especially before the privatisation frenzy  the best brains, who often happened to be medical doctors, veterinary doctors, accountants and senior public administrators, were the rich of the village. Thus, they quickly became local councillors or parish chiefs. In their public appearances, these men were measured in their actions. They were careful in their speech and respectful to their less-fortunate brethren.

They were neither arrogant, nor flamboyant. Although their tastes  in fashion, automobiles, spouses or dishes  were sophisticated, they were never braggadocios. In sum, this well-cultivated public outlook operated in sync and also served to explain their wealth.

When I came to Kampala sometime in the late 1990s, my belief that intelligence equalled wealth became even more concrete. There were no young tycoons  except if this wealth was inherited. The rich men of that time (and most have actually remained rich), Gordon Wavamunno, Aga Ssekalala, BMK, James Mulwana, John Ssebaana Kizito, or Boney Katatumba all kept simple public profiles. They never drove vehicles with personalised plates.

Neither did they spend long night-hours in dim-lit joints ogling womens behinds or gulping inexplicable compounds down their throats. You rarely read about them in the gossip pages of newspapers.

Indeed, they had become rich and famous only in their late 30s and early 40s. In a very Marxist sense, wealth took a bit of time to accumulate. Mark you, this is not romanticising the past, but a portrayal of a general pulse.

In the period that followed the 2001 election, a key shift happened. We were ushered into an era of rich idiots who, like Norbert Maos night dancers, have trouble explaining their wealth.

These are mostly politicians and elite thieves! Most of them are young and poorly-educated. To them, chaos and disorder is standard operating procedure  either with guns or sticks! You find them cruising in expensive automobiles such as Range Rovers and other SUVs from which they dispose of empty water bottles along city streets.

They are impatient to wait in traffic, and since they drive dark-tinted huge cars, they shamelessly drive on the advancing side. Our scrawny underpaid traffic officers fear to touch them. You find them parked on pavements or pedestrian walkways. They build mansions in wetlands or road reserves, unapologetically grab land, and spend like they own Bank of Uganda.

Incidentally, money has a way of sculpting a powerful image for those who have it  including idiots  as their utterances are often backed with (purchasing or political) power. For their money-acquired statuses, our dullards often get media and open-air invites to comment on matters of national importance.

Sadly, these elite gangsters can barely make a coherent speech. Instead, they mumble about their wealth, and chant praises to the government of President Museveni. When cornered, they resort to empty chants about being the majority.

Sometime, they retort: Go to court! gloating over their political advantage with the justice system. But if the French Revolution of 1789 taught the world anything, it was how it dealt with idiocy  of the likes of Marie Antoinette.

The author is a PhD fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research.At another church festival, Mr. Luken followed Steve Chabot, his Republican opponent in a congressional election, as he handed out plastic cups with his name on them. Howard Wilkinson, a political reporter for WVXU Radio in Cincinnati, recalled on the station on Thursday that Mr. Luken had then promised potential voters: If you come up to me with a Chabot for Congress cup, Ill fill it with beer.

That won him a lot of votes, Mr. Wilkinson said.

Thomas Andrew Luken was born in Cincinnati on July 9, 1925. His father, Walter, was a factory worker; his mother, the former Minnie Kisbert, was a homemaker. After graduating from Xavier University and the Salmon P. Chase Law School, both in Cincinnati, he served in the Marines. (The law school later moved across the Ohio River to become part of Northern Kentucky University.)

He was elected city solicitor of Deer Park, a suburb of Cincinnati, before being named first assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. That appointment was helped by his brother Jim, a labor leader whose friendship with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was based in part on their dislike of the Teamsters union president, Jimmy Hoffa. Jim Luken pulled his milk deliverers union out of the Teamsters in 1961.

After serving on the City Council, which included a year as mayor, from 1971 to 1972  at the time, the council elected the mayor  Mr. Luken won a special election to fill a vacant seat in Congress in 1974. The vote came amid a backlash against Republicans in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

He lost an election for a full term later that year but returned to Congress when he moved to another district in 1976. He was re-elected six times.

Mr. Luken found a major issue in the late 1980s: the power of tobacco companies.

He had lost three siblings to lung cancer, Charlie Luken said, and he took on Big Tobacco full throttle.

Mr. Luken introduced legislation that would have prohibited the sale of cigarettes in vending machines, stiffened warnings about the health risks of cigarettes and required that tobacco be regulated as a toxic substance by the Environmental Protection Agency.Anyone who has followed Mr. Trump over the years knows this. We knew it in the 1970s, when he and his father were twice sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black people. We knew it in 1989, when he took out a full-page newspaper ad calling for the execution of five black and Latino teenagers charged with the brutal rape of a white woman in Central Park. (The men were convicted but later exonerated by DNA and other evidence, but Mr. Trump never apologized, and he continued to argue as late as 2016 that the men were guilty.) We knew it when he built a presidential campaign by demonizing Mexicans and Muslims while promoting the lie that Americas first black president wasnt born here. Or when, last summer, he defended marchers in a neo-Nazi parade as very fine people.

Just last month, The Times reported on an Oval Office meeting on immigration during which Mr. Trump said that the 15,000 Haitians who received visas to enter in the United States last year all have AIDS, and that Nigerian immigrants would never go back to their huts in Africa once they had seen the United States. See a pattern yet?

Donald Trump is by no means Americas first racist president. But he ran a campaign explicitly rooted in bigotry, exclusion and white resentment. To his die-hard but ever-shrinking base, comments like those he made Thursday only reaffirm his solidarity with the cause. The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, certainly saw it this way. This is encouraging and refreshing, as it indicates Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration, the site wrote in a post.

The meeting at which Mr. Trump spewed his vulgarity was meant to be a discussion of bipartisan immigration proposals by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Mr. Durbin. Two other Republicans, John Kasich and Jeb Bush Jr., are the authors of an Op-Ed article in Thursdays Times arguing against the forced expulsion of undocumented immigrants who have made a home in the United States. This shouldnt be a hard call, especially with the economy growing modestly but steadily and unemployment hovering around 4 percent.

Instead, Republicans in Congress are spending most of their time finding ways to avoid talking about their openly bigoted chief executive. Some claimed not to have heard what Mr. Trump said. Others offered tepid defenses of his salty talk. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Mr. Trumps comments unhelpful, clearly wishing he could return to his daily schedule of enriching the wealthiest Americans.

Mr. Trump has made clear that he has no useful answers on immigration. Its up to Congress to fashion long-term, humane solutions. A comprehensive immigration bill that resolves all these issues would be best. But if that is not possible, given the resistance of hard-core anti-immigration activists in Congress, legislators should at least join forces to protect the Dreamers, Salvadorans, Haitians and others threatened by the administrations cruel and chaotic actions.So begins the era of Caligula the God, and what fun it will be.

Mr. Trumps declaration of his genius was of a piece with the sycophants rodeo in the White House cabinet room last June, when his consuls and lictors took turns lavishing praise on him in terms to make even Caesar blush.

Blowing into the pitch pipe, Reince Priebus, then the chief of staff, set the key: On behalf of the entire senior staff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that youve given us to serve your agenda and the American people. Vice President Mike Pence led the cheerleading with such interjections as, Youve restored American credibility on the world stage and Youve spurred an optimism in this country thats setting records. All hail!

As the saying goes, history doesnt repeat itself, but it does often rhyme. Curious, I pulled my Penguin Classics paperback of Suetonius The Twelve Caesars off the shelf and turned to the Caligula chapter. Lets go to the text:

He invented besides a new kind of spectacle, such as had never been heard of before. For he made a bridge, of about three miles and a half in length, from Baiae to the mole of Puteoli.

Historians are uncertain whether this floating bridge to nowhere, for the sole purpose of Caligula joy-riding across it in pointless triumph, was ever actually built. They do however agree that it is evidence the emperor wasnt playing with a full set of marbles. Some might discern a similarity between it and the $18 billion Mexican border wall we may be building, at a time of declining illegal border crossings.

In his temple stood a statue of gold, the exact image of himself, which was daily dressed in garments corresponding with those he wore himself.As tourist destinations go, the Republic of Moldova  tucked between Ukraine and Romania  probably isnt on anyones bucket list. Its the poorest country in Europe, with per capita G.D.P. barely exceeding Sudans. Sex trafficking and organized crime are rampant. My memories of the place, from a visit 17 years ago, include roads that vanished into deep snow, Transnistrian border guards in Soviet uniforms, and an impoverished Holocaust survivors tale of a bleak life under Romanian, German and Soviet tyrants.

Lets not mince words: Moldova is a hole. Modify with any four letters you wish.

I mention Moldova because its where my paternal grandfather was born in 1901. An anti-Semitic rampage in his hometown, Kishinev, soon forced his family to leave for New York, where my great-grandfather labored as a carpenter in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for eight dollars a week. Low skills, low wages, minimal English, lots of children and probably not the best hygiene  thats half of my pedigree. The other half consisted of refugees.

Im not alone. America is a nation of holers. It is an improbable yet wildly successful experiment in the transformation  by means of hope, opportunity and ambition  of holers into doers, makers, thinkers and givers. Are you of Irish descent? Italian? Polish? Scottish? Chinese? Chances are, your ancestors did not get on a boat because life in the old country was placid and prosperous and grandpa owned a bank. With few exceptions, Americans are the dregs of the wine, the chaff of the wheat. If you dont know this by now, it makes you the wax in the ear.

Donald Trump is the wax in the ear.

Some of the fury  and most of the apologetics  surrounding the presidents alleged remark about all these people from shithole countries concerns the nature of the countries themselves. Liberals can be squeamish about calling poor countries bad names, while conservatives such as Mark Steyn chortle that nobody voluntarily moves to Haiti. Which, lets be real, is basically right.We are now living in the land of the triple whammy.

The nation is reeling from Donald Trumps immigration week, during which he changed personalities on several occasions, made the now-famous complaint about African shithole countries and appeared to believe that if we just changed our rules, droves of Norwegians would flee the oppression of generous pensions and quality health care to become American citizens.

Trump has a way of creating three-step crises: He begins with an unnerving decision, then makes it clear hell be doing nothing to minimize the potential damage. Then comes Step 3, which involves something so bizarre that its almost scary.

O.K., often really scary.

Take North Korea. Trump began a policy of diplomacy-by-insult, calling Kim Jong-un Rocket Man in a United Nations address. Then it became clear he was going to pursue it via Twitter. Then came the my button works moment.

Or offshore drilling. Just last week, the administration said it would allow new oil and gas drilling in almost all our coastal waters. Were talking more than a billion acres. Many people  particularly the ones who live along the coasts  think this is a terrible idea.When I was growing up in Gonaives, Haiti, we didnt have a toilet. We had a latrine, an outhouse in the back of our yard where we went to the bathroom. A literal shithole.

By Western standards of modernity, you could say the same of Haiti. Our roads arent great. Our politicians are corrupt. The late dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, a.k.a. Baby Doc, stole hundreds of millions. His wedding famously cost $2 million. That was a lot of money in 1980. Today, the average Haitian lives on less than $2 a day.

Ive witnessed extreme acts of violence in Haiti. But Ive also encountered the most decent people Ive ever met. Ive seen a busload of people work together to help a woman in labor give birth on the side of a road. Ive seen entire villages care for children as if they were their collective parents.

Like every other place on Earth, Haiti is of mixed character. Its a place of extremes.

When I was in high school, we had a program called Alphabetization. High school seniors would volunteer to teach how to read and write to illiterate elders from the community. I participated in it during my senior year and taught many elders the joys of reading and math. Some of them were octogenarians, yet still had the desire to learn.Perhaps the most extreme example of a local delicacy that was just too foreign for American palates was nuoc mam  the pungent fish-based sauce used as a condiment on Vietnamese food. These days, nuoc mam can be found in many well-stocked food stores and restaurants here in the United States. But the sauce used so liberally by Vietnamese when we were deployed there  especially the powerful, homegrown version made by those villagers living out in the paddies  bears little relation to the stuff bottled and sold today. Just ask any American soldier who served in Vietnam at that time; it was raw white lightning compared with a fine vintage wine.

Heres how those villagers concocted their nuoc mam: During the dry season, scarce water is diverted from one parched rice paddy to another, starting with the paddies at higher elevations where streams trickled down from the inland mountains. As soon as the new rice plants established themselves in one paddy, the farmers would create an opening in the fields surrounding dike, or berm, and allow the water to run into the next paddy. The farmers never let any resource go to waste, so they also made small bamboo traps that they placed in these openings to catch the tiny fish that came with the water. (I never did figure out where the fish came from, as some appeared only after a rainstorm.)

The silvery fish were placed in open pans atop the thatched roofs of the villagers homes, where daytime temperatures in the dry, hot season typically reached well into the triple digits. It didnt take long before the fish melted into a putrid goo that was blended with various ingredients (different villages used different recipes, but they might add hot peppers, lime, vinegar, sugar or water) to make the local nuoc mam. Even in its final form, nuoc mam was potent: Think of the smell of rotten fish, but several orders of magnitude more concentrated and foul. I once had some splashed on my clothes while on R & R in Vung Tao (another story) and hours later was denied admission to the enlisted mens club because of the odor that clung to me.

Tastes change, and mine have certainly matured from when I was a 19-year-old soldier on my first trip to an exotic land far from the familiar customs and foods I grew up with. And nuoc mam is more refined as well, I suspect in part to make it more universally palatable  or at least commercially viable  to the international set. I recently read an online post that described how nuoc mam is commercially produced for modern diners, using anchovies caught in the coastal waters off Vietnam. It is still pungent, but its definitely not the foul-smelling, tear-inducing nuoc mam I remember from back in the day. I dared to try it during my 2015 visit and discovered, to my everlasting surprise, that it is tasty and inoffensive.

But travelers who now flock to Vietnam and other areas of Southeast Asia seeking an authentic dining experience need to get out into the more remote countryside beyond their guided tours, and sample the local cuisine doused with nuoc mam the way the locals like it  pungent, powerful and, in so many ways, unforgettable.SAN FRANCISCO  Hello Joe, read the November 2016 email from someone identifying himself as John Doughs. I have found a major vulnerability in Uber.

The email appeared to be no different from other messages that Joe Sullivan, Ubers chief security officer, and his team routinely received through the companys bug bounty program, which pays hackers for reporting holes in the ride-hailing services systems, according to current and former Uber security employees.

Yet the note and Ubers eventual $100,000 payment to the hacker, which was initially celebrated internally as a rare win in corporate security, have since turned into a public relations debacle for the company. In November, when Uber disclosed the 2016 incident and how the information of 57 million driver and rider accounts had been at risk, the companys chief executive since August, Dara Khosrowshahi, called it a failure that it had not notified people earlier. Mr. Sullivan and a security lawyer, Craig Clark, were fired.

In the weeks since, Ubers handling of the hacking has come under major scrutiny. Not only did Uber pay an outsize amount to the hacker, but it also did not disclose that it had briefly lost control of so much consumer and driver data until a year later. The behavior raised questions of a cover-up and a lack of transparency, as well as whether the payment really was just a ransom paid by a security operation that had acted on its own for too long.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.  President Trump is in excellent health, his doctor said on Friday after his first comprehensive physical exam since he was elected.

The presidents physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went exceptionally well, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy and the White House physician, said in a statement. The president is in excellent health.

The brief statement did not include any basic information about Mr. Trumps health, including his weight, blood pressure or cholesterol levels. The presidents doctors did not indicate what tests they performed during the exam or whether Mr. Trump, 71, was taking medications.

But the White House has promised that information about those topics will be disclosed on Tuesday, when Dr. Jackson joins Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, during a briefing for the news media.A United Nations panel has concluded that Iran violated an arms embargo imposed on Yemen by failing to prevent the Houthi rebels in that war-ravaged nation from obtaining Iranian missiles, including one fired hundreds of miles into Saudi Arabia two months ago.

The findings, in a report given to the United Nations Security Council this week, could add weight to American and Saudi efforts to ostracize Iran with accusations that the Iranians are engaged in destabilizing behavior in the Middle East.

The findings, which have not been made public, were first reported on Friday by Agence France-Presse and confirmed by Security Council diplomats who had seen copies of the report.

Remnants of a missile fired from Yemen crashed near the airport outside Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on Nov. 4. It caused no casualties and only minor damage, but Saudi Arabia concluded from the debris that Iran, its regional rival, had been responsible and called it an act of war. Iran denied responsibility but sympathized with the Houthis, describing the missile firing as an understandable act of retaliation for Saudi bombardments.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at premises linked to Karti Chidambaram in connection with the investigation in the Aircel-Maxis case. As many as nine premises in Chennai and the residence of Karti's father, former Congress leader P Chidambaram, in Delhi were searched by the agency in the raids.

Those searched include a chartered accountant linked to Karti, his personal assistant and Karti's residence at Thousand Lights area in Chennai, sources were quoted in a PTI report. The sources added that ED has seized certain "incriminating" the raids.

Talking to media personnel later outside his Jorbagh residence, P Chidambaram called the raids against his son "a comedy of errors". The former Union Minister claimed the officers were left "embarrassed" and "apologetic" as they could not find anything at his house.

The central probe agency had, on December 1 last year, conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

"Since they had the search warrant, I did not raise any objections to the search but I said I will record my protest that there is no FIR in respect of the scheduled crime registered by any investigating agency including the CBI. There are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," P Chidambaram said here.

ED sources said the raids were based on the FIR registered by the agency and the CBI in the case that has not been quashed by the court. The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by P Chidambaram while he held the office of Finance Minister.

The ED had said it is investigating the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister, P Chidambaram. The agency claimed that Karti has "disposed of" a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company "to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013".

It charged that Karti had "also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment" under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then finance minister even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore. The power to approve project proposals worth above Rs 600 crore rests with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval. However, approval was not obtained from CCEA," it alleged.

Karti is also being probed by the ED in an another money laundering case pertaining to the INX media deal. He has been asked to appear by the agency on January 16 in this case.

(With PTI inputs)LONDON  Theres a new gold rush. But this precious metal doesnt actually exist.

The frenzy is for so-called cryptocurrencies  or encrypted digital money  and their value skyrocketed in 2017. The price of Bitcoin, the pioneer decentralized virtual currency, rose more than 1,300 percent last year, despite plunging 40 percent at one point in December. A Bitcoin rival, Ether, was up 8,000 percent. It is thought that the total worldwide value of cryptocurrencies could reach $1 trillion this year.

Bitcoin and its derivatives have, for the moment, proved too volatile and unwieldy for day-to-day transactions. Yet the cryptocurrency model, underpinned by decentralized blockchain ledger technology, is increasingly becoming a force in more specialized areas of the economy. The art world is one of them.

On Dec. 16, the nascent market for what might be called cryptoart appeared to reach a new level when the hitherto-unknown Distributed Gallery announced the auction of Ready Made Token, a unique unit of a cryptocurrency that the gallery said was created by Richard Prince using technology from Ethereum, the network responsible for Ether.

The online gallery describes itself as the first to specialize in blockchain-based artwork and exhibition. It invited bids for the work, starting at one Ether, equivalent to about $650 at the time. (As of Friday, one Ether was worth about $1,200, according to ethereumprice.org.) The timed auction ends on Monday.The irony is, Dan was the only person who could wipe those doubts from my head. Thats why I was able to accept his apology. Because I felt vindicated, to others but more importantly to myself.

Was this something you were expecting?

Unfortunately, Dan is not the only person who has sexually harassed me. I was groped by a producer at a party a couple years ago, after which I made an anonymous complaint to HR. As far as I know he was never personally disciplined.

So, no. Dan wasnt in the forefront of my mind. But before the holidays, I saw him tweeting about how he had been a bad person in the past, and how he was trying to do better. And all these people were congratulating him for being so brave and honest. And I thought, No way does he get to skip past confession and go straight to absolution. So I asked him to be specific.

How would you want people to view him from here on out?

I think of Dan as a work in progress. Thats how I think of myself, too. Its dangerous to think of yourself as a hero and someone else as a villain. It gets in the way of empathy. We should be tearing down walls, not putting them up.

Women are not different creatures from men. They dont need to be extra careful around us. They just need to treat us with the same basic respect and dignity that they show to other men.

How are you feeling about this exchange having been so public?

I kept all this pain private for six years and all it did was poison me. In my defense, when it happened I was a staff writer with no power, no credits, and no credibility. If I had spoken out then, people would have accused me of trying to make a name for myself. Or worse, they would have assumed I only got that job because my boss wanted to sleep with me. My career would have ended before it began. But Im not in that place anymore. So when I saw an opportunity to confront him, I grabbed it with both hands.Although they were equal partners in running the company and were aligned in what Mr. Black refers to as their core values  if you lead with kindness, he said, youre not going to kick someone in the shins afterward  they fell flat romantically. Despite couples therapy and intimate getaways, Ms. Griffin-Black said, it got to be too much and we realized we couldnt have it all together. They divorced in 2007.

Heres where things get interesting. For one thing, the couples relationship continued to flourish after they split: As co-chief executives, they continued to spend every day in each others presence, doing all of the things that married couples commit to: parenting, splitting finances, meaningfully communicating, confessing, forgiving, even occasionally touching. For another, and heres the really curious part, EO Products took off in unexpected ways. Whereas the usual story line would suggest that a divorce in such a situation would spell professional disaster  Michael Funk says that in his 40-something years hes rarely seen it work  EO not only survived the Blacks very conscious uncoupling but gathered steam. The line expanded and popped up in retail stores like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Target without any compromises made to transparency about its ingredients. What I admire about EO is their commitment to using essential oils in spite of their being more expensive, Ms. Quimby of Burts Bees said. Theyre willing to go for that level of quality.

Were a Package Deal at This Point

As Brad and Susan led me on a walking tour of their offices, which they moved into in 2012 and, later on, their manufacturing facility, their rapport seemed warm and relaxed, both with their employees and each other. Their work space is an open floor plan, painted white, with skylights, windows and plants scattered about. No one has an office except for Mr. Black, Ms. Griffin-Black, and the head of human resources. The couples own offices, across the hall from each other, are unprepossessing to the point of minimalism  equipped with a standing desk (for Ms. Griffin-Black) and a stool (for Mr. Black), couches and various personal items, such as travel photos and Buddhist memorabilia.The Uranium Producers of America, an industry group, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw regulations proposed by the Obama administration to strengthen groundwater protections at uranium mines. Mining groups have also waged a six-year legal battle against a moratorium on new uranium mining on more than a million acres of land adjacent to the Grand Canyon.

For the Navajo, the drive for new mines is a painful flashback.

Back then, we didnt know it was dangerous  nobody told us, Mr. Holiday said, as he pointed to the gashes of discolored rocks that mark where the old uranium mines cut into the regions mesas. Now they know. They know.

Supporters of the mining say that a revival of domestic uranium production, which has declined by 90 percent since 1980 amid slumping prices and foreign competition, will make the United States a larger player in the global uranium market.

It would expand the countrys energy independence, they say, and give a lift to nuclear power, still a pillar of carbon-free power generation. Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia, Russia and a few other countries now supply most of Americas nuclear fuel.

The dwindling domestic market was thrust into the spotlight by the contentious 2010 decision under the Obama administration that allowed Russias nuclear agency to buy Uranium One, a company that has amassed production facilities in the United States. The Justice Department is examining allegations that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to that decision.

If we consider nuclear a clean energy, if people are serious about that, domestic uranium has to be in the equation, said Jon J. Indall, a lawyer for Uranium Producers of America. But the proposed regulations would have had a devastating impact on our industry.When Stephen Towers right hip gave out in 2006, he asked his surgeon to implant an artificial one  specifically, a metal-on-metal hip called the ASR XL, made by Johnson & Johnson. He knew what he was talking about: As an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tower specializes in complex hip replacements. But what he knew wasnt enough to protect him from a defect in the device.

Five years after his surgery, and in excruciating pain, Dr. Tower underwent more surgery, this time to have the device replaced. When the surgeon sliced into his hip, what he saw looked like a crankcase full of dirty oil. Tissue surrounding the hip was black. Cobalt leaking from the ASR hip had caused a condition called metallosis, destroying not only local muscle, tendons and ligaments, but harming Dr. Towers heart and brain as well.

Despite Dr. Towers repeated efforts to warn his colleagues and the company that the implants were harming patients, Johnson & Johnson continued to market metal-on-metal hips. While it withdrew the ASR XL model from the market in 2010, citing slow sales, it continued to sell another, similarly problematic model, the Pinnacle, until 2013.

More than 9,000 patients filed suit against the company, and on Nov. 16, six New York patients won a $247 million trial verdict for serious harms caused by the Pinnacle hip implants and for failing to warn doctors and patients about its dangers. These suits and others are pulling back the curtain on what some doctors call the Wild West of medicine: the untested and largely unregulated medical device industry.Will it affect my brothers?

That was the first thing the 23-year-old Salvadoran woman asked me about the Trump administrations announcement last Monday that it would not renew temporary protected status for nearly 200,000 immigrants from her country.

Her three brothers live here  two crossed by themselves in 2013 along with a wave of other unaccompanied minors, and the third is undocumented. They arrived after 2001, so none of them were ever eligible for the protection the White House is taking away. But their lives here  and the lives they fled in El Salvador  illustrate how disastrous it will be for their country to attempt to absorb 200,000 people who are required to return in September 2019.

The young woman, whom I met when I wrote a book about her family and whom I called Maricela there, lives in rural El Salvador and gets her news via Facebook on a phone that only sometimes works  when it doesnt rain, and when she has the money to pay for data. It took only a day for her to learn about the policy shift, and to become terrified.

She knows that being deported can be a death sentence. She explained that when young Salvadorans are sent home, they risk being killed by gang members, often the very people who ran them out of the country. Some returnees who have been away for a long time will be considered desconocido, unknown, and are likely to be targets because of suspicion (they could be members of a rival gang) or because, by virtue of having lived in the United States, they are assumed to have money. My parents are so worried, the woman told me.Presidential history also includes the social Darwinism of Theodore Roosevelt, the federal-government-segregating, Birth of a Nation-praising Woodrow Wilson  and the bigotry that came from the mouths of presidents who are generally seen as essential to racial progress. President Lyndon B. Johnson said nigger nearly as often as Ku Klux Klansmen did.

This denial of racism is the heartbeat of racism. Where there is suffering from racist policies, there are denials that those policies are racist. The beat of denial sounds the same across time and space.

I grew up to the beat of racist denial in Queens, not far from where Mr. Trump grew up. I was raised in the urban hell of neighborhoods he probably avoided, alongside immigrants from countries he derided last week. In school or elsewhere, we all heard recitals of the American ideal of equality, especially on the day we celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Those events often feature recitals of the words all men are created equal, which were written by a slaveholder who once declared that black people are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind.

Thomas Jefferson was not a founding father of equality. He was a founding father of the heartbeat of denial that lives through both Mr. Trumps denials and the assertion that his racial views are abnormal for America and its presidents.

Fifty years ago, Richard Nixon transformed this historic heartbeat of denial into an intoxicating political philosophy. His presidential candidacy appealed to George Wallace-type segregationists while also attracting Americans who refused to live near dangerous black residents, obstructed the desegregation of schools, resisted affirmative action policies, framed black mothers on welfare as undeserving, called the black family pathological and denigrated black culture  all those racists who refused to believe they were racist in 1968.

Nixon designed his campaign, one of his advisers explained, to allow a potential supporter to avoid admitting to himself that he was attracted by the racist appeal.To lump together sexual assault and sexual harassment is to draw focus away from the victim. Indeed, it is another symptom of a society so obsessed with patriarchy that even within one of the widest social movements in modern history (#MeToo), a fixation with men is the driving force.

LUCY HALL, LONDON

To the Editor:

Daphne Merkin claims that women she knows are saying grow up, this is real life and what ever happened to flirting? What would be the condition of women today if we had accepted as real life the longstanding oppressions and disenfranchisement of women that existed a mere century ago?

Most of the accusations that have been reported have involved forced sexual contact. And she must know some very brave women who, she says, have taken the risk that comes with rejecting sexual advances in the workplace.

She seems to confuse sexual interest with affection: Is kissing someone in affection, however inappropriately  necessarily predatory behavior? Most adult women have learned that sexual interest and affection are often birds of a very different feather.

SYLVIA STAUB

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

To the Editor:

Daphne Merkin worries that the #MeToo movement is imparting to young women a victimology paradigm in which they are perceived  and perceive themselves to be  as frail as Victorian housewives. I believe that the movement is doing the opposite: empowering women, including me, to interrogate power with the support of other women.

Saying back off to a mans inappropriate advances is often fraught with consequences  the loss of a job perhaps, or the tarnishing of a reputation.

When men hold most of the power, its naive to think that women arent all vulnerable. That doesnt mean that we need to be shrinking violets, but it does mean that acting as an individual is less effective than acting collectively.An accusation of being patronizing would be a small price to pay for the positive results that would accrue! he wrote. Mr. Kelly suggested that Mr. Schulz begin with a supernumerary black character, a de facto extra, who would quietly and unobtrusively set the stage for a principal character at a later date. This cautious approach would serve the dual purpose of not burdening Mr. Schulz and Peanuts with the duty of making a Major Social Statement and presenting friendship between black and white children as utterly normal.

But in the context of the late 60s, Franklins debut was indeed a Major Social Statement. Inevitably, a few newspaper editors in the South made noises of protest, but by and large, the reaction to Franklin was positive, particularly among black readers.

Morrie Turner, whose Wee Pals, introduced in 1965, was the first widely syndicated strip by an African-American cartoonist, told Mr. Schulz in a letter that he found the handling and the treatment of the character excellent, adding, The day Little Orphan Annie has a black boyfriend, well really have it made. More earnestly, a young black Army sergeant in Vietnam, Franklin R. Freeman, wrote to Mr. Schulz to express how gratifying it was to find a new character in the strip who shares my name.

For Barbara Brandon-Croft, who in 1991 became the first African-American woman to have a nationally syndicated comic strip in the mainstream press, Where Im Coming From, the simple fact of Franklins addition to the mix was downright exhilarating. Ms. Brandon-Croft was 10 years old in 1968, and she told me: I remember feeling affirmed by seeing Franklin in Peanuts. Theres a little black kid! Thank goodness! We do matter.

In the long run, Franklin ended up existing in a space somewhere between supernumerary and principal, most reliably serving as the academically proficient straight man to Peppermint Pattys perpetually D-minus-pulling goofball. Like a lot of Peanuts fans, I wish Franklin had been given greater depth and more to do. In that very first series of strips, he mentioned that his father, like Sergeant Freeman, was away in Vietnam. Franklin and Peppermint Patty (and Marcie) attended a school on the other side of town from the strips core characters.Replete with funny one liners and anecdotes, motivational and inspirational speaker Mark Inglis poured out his life's learnings about going above failure and beyond success. Giving instances from his life journey, he talked about the ever-present need to re-imagine, innovate, and re-brain.

In an interesting activity, Inglis called two participants on the stage to re-enact the incident in which he lost his limbs to frostbite after being stuck in snow for 324 hours on Mount Cook. He was 23 that time. The 58-year-old New Zealander said he stayed alive for two reasons -- "knowledge to make the right decisions to survive and faith in the team." He said: "Attitude defines your altitude. There's nothing more important for a mountaineer."

Also Read:Highlights of MindRush 2018

"In some cases, the decision isn't yours," he said, talking about his amputation, adding, "That's when the real test comes, that can you adapt to the change that comes along?"

He noted that every adversity brings with it an opportunity. "There's a mountaineer who will never have frostbite again and will never have to buy hiking boots," he joked.

"We can blame change as much as we want, but we only understand when we're in the midst of it," he added on a serious note.

Taking from personal examples of great teams, he talked about how collaborations multiply strengths.

Rewording Aristotle's quote, "To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing," he said, "To achieve do something, say something, be

something."

Moving the audience with his poignant experiences, Inglis closed with the thought that one needs to look out and increase the frame of reference that one looks at.Making matters worse, Mr. Trump, in a separate decision on Friday, continued to put the 2015 deal that froze Irans nuclear program in jeopardy. The president warned European allies that they must agree to overhaul the deal in 120 days, or he would withdraw the United States from it. Although he again stopped short of reimposing sanctions, his demands would effectively require renegotiating the deal, something the other parties to the agreement have refused to do.

The proposed nuclear policy says a more aggressive nuclear posture is warranted because the world is more dangerous, with China, North Korea and Iran cited as concerns. Yet blowing up the Iran deal would free Tehran to resume its nuclear activities and make the world less safe. In other words, Mr. Trumps approach makes no sense.

Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, signed in 1968, the United States and Russia promised to reduce the role and number of nuclear weapons. They made significant, although insufficient, progress. After reductions under a succession of past presidents, the American stockpile is 85 percent smaller than it was at the height of the Cold War. Negotiations on further reductions have stalled in recent years as Russia, threatened by Americas superior conventional arsenal, became more reliant on nuclear weapons, and there is no serious sign that Mr. Trump wants to revive the talks.

President Barack Obama made a down payment on a saner policy by narrowing to extreme circumstances the conditions under which nuclear weapons would be used and ruling out their use against most non-nuclear countries. Mr. Trumps policy also talks about extreme circumstances,  but it dangerously broadens the definition to include significant non-nuclear strategic attacks, which could mean using nuclear weapons to respond to cyber, biological and chemical weapon attacks.

Until Mr. Trump, no one could imagine the United States ever using a nuclear weapon again. Americas conventional military is more than strong enough to defend against most threats. But Mr. Trump has so shaken this orthodoxy that Congress has begun debating limits on his unilateral authority to launch nuclear weapons. Expanding the instances when America might use nuclear weapons could also make it easier for other nuclear-armed countries to justify using their own arsenals against adversaries.

As the residents of Hawaii can tell you, its a risk the world cannot afford.Over the past few years, the discussion of crime and violence in the United States has focused on police brutality, mass incarceration and the sharp rise in violence in cities like Baltimore, St. Louis and Chicago. This is entirely appropriate: Any spike in violence should garner attention, and redressing the injustices of our criminal justice system is a matter of moral urgency.

But it is also worth reflecting on how much the level of violence has fallen in this country over the past 25 years and how widespread the benefits of that decline have been. From the 1970s through the early part of the 1990s, the murder rate in some cities in the United States rose to levels seen only in the most violent, war-torn nations of the developing world. In the years since, violent crime has decreased in almost every city, in many cases by more than 75 percent.

For well-off urbanites, the decline of crime is most visible in sanitized, closely guarded city spaces where tourists and others can now comfortably wander about. But far more consequential have been the changes in low-income, highly segregated urban communities. Indeed, my research has shown that the most disadvantaged people have gained the most from the reduction in violent crime.

Start with the lives saved. Though homicide is not a common cause of death for most of the United States population, for African-American men between the ages of 15 and 34 it is the leading cause, which means that any change in the homicide rate has a disproportionate impact on them. The sociologist Michael Friedson and I calculated what the life expectancy would be today for blacks and whites had the homicide rate never shifted from its level in 1991. We found that the national decline in the homicide rate since then has increased the life expectancy of black men by roughly nine months.NATIONAL

An article on Friday about the benefits of receiving the flu shot described incorrectly how the effectiveness of the flu vaccine is gauged. When a vaccine was considered effective, 3.9 percent of unvaccinated people contracted the flu. It is not the case that when a vaccine was considered effective, 3.9 percent of people did not contract the flu.



An article on Friday about diverging decisions by federal judges in cases related to partisan gerrymandering referred incorrectly to the makeup of a three-judge panel that threw out North Carolinas congressional map. The panel included district court judges, not solely appellate judges.

BUSINESS DAY

Because of an editing error, an article on Thursday about concerns that a forthcoming article in Harpers Magazine would reveal the identity of a woman who compiled a list of sexual harassment allegations against men in media erroneously included a magazine among the publications for which the essayist Katie Roiphe has written. Ms. Roiphes work has not been published in Dissent magazine.



An article on Wednesday about proposals by electric companies in several states to pass their tax cuts on to customers through lower rates misstated the nature of returns available to utility shareholders. Such returns are authorized, not guaranteed.SAN FRANCISCO  Recently the founder of something called Ripple briefly became richer than Mark Zuckerberg. Another day an anonymous donor set up an $86 million Bitcoin-fortune charity called the Pineapple Fund. A Tesla was spotted with a BLOCKHN license plate. Theres a surge in people looking to buy Bitcoin on their credit cards. After the Long Island Iced Tea company announced it would pivot to blockchain, its stock rose 500 percent in a day.

In 2017, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin went from $830 to $19,300, and now quivers around $14,000. Ether, its main rival, started the year at less than $10, closing out 2017 at $715. Now its over $1,100. The wealth is intoxicating news, feverish because it seems so random. Investors trying to grok the landscape compare it to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, when valuations soared and it was hard to separate the Amazons and Googles from the Pets.coms and eToys.

The cryptocurrency community is centered around a tightknit group of friends  developers, libertarians, Redditors and cypherpunks  who have known each other for years through meet-ups, an endless circuit of crypto conferences and internet message boards. Over long hours in anonymous group chats, San Francisco bars and Settlers of Catan game nights, they talk about how cryptocurrency will decentralize power and wealth, changing the world order.

The goal may be decentralization, but the money is extremely concentrated. Coinbase has more than 13 million accounts that own cryptocurrencies. Data suggests that about 94 percent of the Bitcoin wealth is held by men, and some estimate that 95 percent of the wealth is held by 4 percent of the owners.And yet, for Mrs. Clinton, its the latest  and perhaps last  cruel twist in a public life full of them. Her loss to Mr. Trump helped ignite the kind of movement shed once been poised to lead but that she now mostly watches from the sidelines.

Ever since she wielded a bullhorn at Wellesley in the late 1960s and later instructed her classmates to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible, Hillary Rodham seemed destined to empower women. But over the next several decades, the promise of that young activist collided with the realities of presidential elections and her husbands personal scandals.

Mrs. Clinton  scarred by the blowback for saying she chose to pursue a career rather than staying home to bake cookies, chastised by her husbands West Wing aides for declaring that womens rights are human rights in Beijing in 1995 and warned by her 2016 campaign chairman to avoid talking about glass ceilings  came to adopt a more tentative embrace of how she talked about her gender.

Throughout her career, many women would view Mrs. Clinton as an imperfect vessel for the feminist cause. She was a Yale-educated lawyer who at the height of the 1970s womens movement moved to Arkansas to put her own ambitions on hold in furtherance of her husbands career. A refrain Id often hear from voters on the 2016 campaign trail was that they were happy to vote for a woman, just not that woman.

But the roiling, messy, often painful progress made since Mr. Trump took office has recast Mrs. Clinton, who recently topped Gallups poll of most admired women. Her career brings to light the truth that there is no perfect vessel, that sooner or later, the harder we strive, the higher we climb, we all become that woman.The false alert was a stark reminder of what happens when the old realities of the nuclear age collide with the speed  and the potential for error  inherent in the internet age. The alert came at one of the worst possible moments  when tension with North Korea has been at one of the highest points in decades, and when Mr. Kims government has promised more missile tests and threatened an atmospheric nuclear test.

During the Cold War there were many false alarms. William J. Perry, the defense secretary during the Clinton administration, recalled in his memoir, My Journey at the Nuclear Brink, a moment in 1979 when, as an under secretary of defense, he was awakened by a watch officer who reported that his computer system was showing 200 intercontinental ballistic missiles headed to the United States. For one heart-stopping second I thought my worst nuclear nightmare had come true, Mr. Perry wrote.

It turned out that a training tape had been mistakenly inserted into an early-warning system computer. No one woke up the president. But Mr. Perry went on to speculate what might have happened if such a warning had come during the Cuban Missile Crisis or a Mideast war?

The United States faces an especially difficult problem today, not just because of tense relations with North Korea but also because of growing fears inside the military about the cyber vulnerability of the nuclear warning system and nuclear control systems.

Because of its location, Hawaii  more than any other part of the United States  has been threatened by escalating tensions and the risks of war, and preparations have already begun there.

On Friday, the day before the erroneous alert, several hundred people attended an event in Honolulu sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in which military commanders, politicians and others discussed the threat to the islands population.

The U.S. is the designated recipient  and thats because we are public enemy No. 1 to North Korea, Dan Leaf, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and Pacific Command deputy commander, was quoted as saying in The Honolulu Star Advertiser.WASHINGTON  Chelsea Manning, the former Army private convicted of disclosing classified information, has filed to run for Senate in Maryland, according to federal election filings.

Ms. Manning, who was found guilty of leaking more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks in 2013, would face Senator Benjamin L. Cardin in the Democratic primary race this year. Mr. Cardin is Marylands senior senator and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In 2012, the senator cruised to victory in the general election after winning the Democratic primary race with nearly 75 percent of the vote.

Ms. Manning, a transgender woman formerly known as Bradley Manning, received a 35-year prison term for disseminating a vast trove of government documents that included incident reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and dossiers on detainees being imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.NORTHVILLE, Mich.  She is the very profile of the voter President Trump tends to repel: a soft-spoken, college-educated mother of two who lives in an upscale suburb in one of the most contested battleground states.

This was not lost on Mr. Trump when he picked Ronna McDaniel to be the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Neither was the fact that her father is Mitt Romneys oldest brother, and that bringing her into the fold would put an exclamation point on his sublimation of the establishment wing of the party.

Ms. McDaniel, who is 44 and only the second woman to lead the national committee, now faces a challenge that is as personal as it is political. She has to fortify her party in a hostile election environment as it tries to keep control of the House, the Senate and 13 governorships where incumbent Republicans are leaving. That job has been complicated by a wave of retirements by disaffected Republicans, putting more seats at risk in districts like her own in Michigan.

Then there is the fault line running right through her family.

Her uncle, who has been one of Mr. Trumps most unflinching critics, is likely to run for the Senate in Utah. His re-emergence on the national stage threatens to set off new quarrels in the party over questions of loyalty to the president.The more liberal immigration policies of 1965 still form the scaffolding of the United States legal immigration system, ushering in  if unintentionally  an America that grows less white every year. For years now, Asians, Africans and Hispanics have accounted for an expanding proportion of the countrys visas.

But first came 1924, when the people in charge spoke openly of ranking immigrants of certain origins above others.

That was the year Congress passed an immigration overhaul that set strict quotas designed to encourage immigrants from Western Europe, block all but a few from Southern and Eastern Europe and bar altogether those from Asia. Overall immigration levels were slashed. The racial theories at play in the legislation, wrote the immigration historian Roger Daniels, would later become the first draft of the official ideology of Nazi Germany.

There were some familiar refrains in the 1924 immigration debate. Cheap immigrant labor had depressed wages, the restrictionists said. Immigrants had seized jobs from Americans, they said. But it was also heavy on racist rhetoric aimed at preserving what eugenicists and social theorists of the time called the Nordic race that, in their telling, had originally settled the United States.

The bills authors had been avid readers of the 1916 book The Passing of the Great Race, in which the eugenicist Madison Grant warned that the country was in danger of a replacement of a higher type by a lower type here in America unless the native American uses his superior intelligence to protect himself and his children from competition with intrusive peoples drained from the lowest races of Eastern Europe.

Under the 1924 law, the number of visas given to each country could not exceed annual quotas based on the number of people from that country who were living in the United States as of the 1890 census, before the flow of new Americans had begun to tilt away from Western European countries.LENKISEM, Kenya  The first time cutting season came around, Nice Lengete and her older sister ran away and hid all night in a tree. The second time, her sister refused to hide.

For Maasai families, the cutting ceremony is a celebration that transforms girls into women and marks daughters as eligible brides. But to 8-year-old Nice, it seemed like a threat: Shed be held down by bigger, stronger women, and her clitoris would be cut. Shed bleed, a lot. Most girls fainted. Some died.

Still, her sister gave in.

I had tried to tell her, We are running for something thats worth it,  recalled Ms. Lengete, now 27. But I couldnt help her.

Ms. Lengete never forgot what her sister suffered, and as she grew up, she was determined to protect other Maasai girls. She started a program that goes village to village, collaborating with elders and girls to create a new rite of passage  without the cutting.Entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over recent US statements: COAS

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has told top US generals that the entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed at criticism that it was not doing enough to fight terrorism, a statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.



Entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over recent US statements despite decades of cooperation. Accordingly, Pakistans unanimous national response reflected the same sentiments, ISPR quoted the army chief as having told US Centcom Commander General Joseph Votel and a US senator who called Gen Bajwa over the week to discuss Pak-US security cooperation following President Donald Trumps tweet.



Trump, in a New Year tweet, said that the United States had foolishly given Pakistan $33 billion in aid over 15 years and was rewarded with nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.



The statement led to heightened tensions between Pakistan and the US. Later on January 5, the US announced suspension of transfer of military equipment and about $2 billion in security-related aid to Pakistan.



According to the ISPR, General Votel apprised the army chief about the US decision regarding the US security assistance and the coalition support fund.



The army chief told the US official that Pakistan will continue its sincere counter-terrorism efforts even without US financial support in accordance with its own national interests and will remain committed to bringing the effort to its logical conclusion along with other stakeholders.



The general said that the US values Pakistans role in the war against terror and expected that the ongoing turbulence remains a temporary phase, the ISPR said.



He also conveyed to the army chief that the US is not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan but is seeking cooperation to tackle Afghan nationals who, in his view, use Pakistans soil against Afghanistan, the ISPR said.



This view, he felt, was undermining in Washington Pakistans contributions in the war against terrorism, the ISPR statement added.



The army chief told the US officials that Pakistan was fully aware of their concerns on the activities of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and we are already undertaking multiple actions through Operation Raddul Fasaad to deny any residual capacity to terrorists of all hue and colour for which return of Afghan Refugees is an essential prerequisite. Pakistan has suffered hugely due to great power contestation in the region, the army chief stated.



The US officials were also apprised of Pakistans moves to strengthen border controls unilaterally but if Afghanistan genuinely feels affected from Pakistan, bilateral border management must be Kabuls top priority as well.



The COAS reiterated that Pakistan will not seek resumption of aid but expects honourable recognition of its contributions, sacrifices and unwavering resolve in the fight against terrorism for peace and stability in the region, according to the ISPR. Pakistan will keep supporting all initiatives for peace in Afghanistan despite the tendency to scapegoat Pakistan, as peace in Afghanistan is the only way to move towards enduring peace and stability in the region, the army chief was quoted as saying.



General Votel acknowledged the effectiveness of some of the recent actions taken by Pakistan to ensure that Pakistans hospitality to Afghan refugees was not misused in any way, the ISPR said, adding that the US general agreed that both countries stood to gain from the cooperative engagement.There is a lot we dont know about how his operation connects back to the mother ship  whats the connective tissue? said Thomas Joscelyn, an analyst who has tracked the group for years as a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. There are a lot of possibilities and many factors in play.

The remoteness of the area in which Mr. Sahraouis group operates, and the difficulty of getting reliable cellphone signals or internet access, could be one factor to explain the delay in releasing the statement. Another possibility is that the Islamic States media apparatus was disrupted after the group lost nearly 98 percent of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

Additionally, there have been reports of unrest among from Al Qaeda loyalists after Mr. Sahraoui made his pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State. There were even reports at one point that he was injured in a shootout with Al Qaeda, Mr. Joscelyn said.

Mr. Sahraoui cut his teeth in Al Qaedas branch in the region, which reported to Osama bin Laden through letters that were carried across the desert by couriers. He joined the Qaeda branch sometime in 2010, according to one account, and became a deputy to Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, one of Al Qaedas most notorious commanders in the area and among the first to discover that foreigners were lucrative bargaining chips. He bankrolled his operations through kidnappings for ransom, pioneering a business model that was later adopted by the terrorist group in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

By 2011, Mr. Sahraoui was in charge of taking care of foreign hostages kidnapped by the group, according to Mariasandra Mariani, an Italian who was held by him for more than a year after her abduction in Algeria on Feb. 2, 2011.

He parted ways with Al Qaeda in 2012, after the jihadists seized most of northern Mali. He resurfaced as the spokesman of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, a separate jihadist group based in Mali, which merged with a third group in 2013.

Then in May 2015, he swore loyalty to the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But his video pledge was not released by the groups news agency for more than a year, until October 2016. Since then, Mr. Sahraouis statements have not been promoted on ISIS media outlets, including Fridays claim, which was sent to the Mauritanian website. The Islamic State affiliate operating in Nigeria regularly succeeds in uploading messages and photo essays through established ISIS media channels.BEIJING  On a bitterly cold morning this month, Wang Fuman, 8, set out for school as he usually did, walking 2.8 miles through mountains and streams until he reached the warmth of his third-grade classroom.

When Fuman arrived two hours later, his classmates erupted in laughter. The freezing temperatures had covered his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes with frost, making him look like a snowman. His cheeks were chapped and bright red.

Fumans teacher at the Zhuanshanbao primary school, in the southern province of Yunnan, snapped a photograph and posted it on WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. Soon, the boy became an internet sensation, hailed by commenters as a symbol of the raw determination of rural residents, who make up about 43 percent of Chinas population.SEOUL, South Korea  Lee Na-yeon was 18 years old and in her first semester in college when she discovered, to her dismay, that she was pregnant.

Ms. Lee went to a hospital and had an abortion. But as a graduate of a Catholic high school where she had been shown graphic videos portraying abortion as murder, she felt scared and tormented by guilt.

She had also broken the law.

Abortion is illegal in South Korea with just a few exceptions, such as when a woman has been raped or her health is at risk. It is one of just a handful of the worlds richest countries to have such restrictive abortion laws. Women can be sentenced to a year in prison or ordered to pay fines of two million won (about $1,840) for having abortions, while doctors who perform them can get up to two years in prison.

Now, a group of womens advocates is pushing to overturn the ban, and the countrys Constitutional Court is set this year to review a case that challenges the laws constitutionality.PRAGUE  President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic failed to win re-election in the first round of a presidential vote on Saturday and will face a runoff in two weeks against the former president of the countrys Academy of Sciences.

Mr. Zeman and the runner-up in the first round, Jiri Drahos, advanced to a second round of voting because none of the nine candidates seeking the countrys largely ceremonial presidency received a majority of votes in the initial round, held on Friday and Saturday.

With almost all the ballots counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Mr. Zeman had 38.6 percent of the vote compared with 26.6 for Mr. Drahos.

Pavel Fischer, a former diplomat, was a distant third with 10.2 percent. Michal Horacek, a songwriter, finished fourth with 9.2 percent, ahead of Marek Hilser, a doctor, who had 8.8 percent. The three pledged their support to Mr. Drahos in the runoff.LJUBLJANA, Slovenia  Efforts by Kosovo to suspend a war crimes court set up to prosecute atrocities committed by ethnic Albanians during their independence struggle are threatening relations with Western allies who backed Kosovos split from Serbia, European and American officials have warned.

The court, based in the Netherlands, was created in 2015 by Kosovos Parliament at the urging of the countrys Western allies. With a team of international judges and prosecutors and operating under Kosovos jurisdiction, it is expected to hear war crime cases against former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the guerrillas who fought in the 1998-99 war to break away from Serbia.

Former members of K.L.A. have taken up positions of power in Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian country of 1.8 million people, and now largely make up its economic and political elite, including the current president and prime minister.

In December, a group of lawmakers, mostly K.L.A. veterans, tried to rush through a vote in Parliament that would suspend Kosovos law that regulates the court. The vote never took place, but its sponsors claimed to have the support of President Hashim Thaci, who was previously accused of leading an organized crime network.Mr. Trump also announced new sanctions, including against the chief of Irans hard-line dominated judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli-Larijani, for his involvement in punishing protesters who participated in anti-government rallies earlier this month.

A series of demonstrations over the economy, which also turned against Irans Islamic establishment, erupted in nearly 80 cities nationwide the first week of the year, spreading very quickly, with several turning violent. At least 21 people are believed to have died during the protests, and nearly 4,000 people were arrested.

Two of those arrested died in prison in the aftermath of the protests, in what officials said were suicides. Protesters say the two men were killed.

Mr. Amoli-Larijani is the highest judicial authority in the country. His brother, Ali Larijani, is the speaker of the Parliament.

Irans Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the Trump administration had crossed a red line of international behavior by imposing sanctions against Mr. Amoli-Larijani. The ministry said that the decision went against international law and that the action would receive a serious response from Iran.Senator Kamala Harris announces she will run for US presidential campaign in 2020

AG Venugopal to meet CJI Dipak Misra today, hopes for positive outcome

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Attorney General KK Venugopal on Saturday hoped that the crisis in the top judiciary following a revolt by four Supreme Court judges would be "settled".

"Let's hope everything works out very well. I am sure everything will be settled," he told reporters here.

"By Monday morning, litigants and lawyers will see unity among Supreme Court Judges," Venugopal told NDTV.

Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal is expected to meet Chief justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra this evening.

The meeting comes in wake of the allegations made by four Supreme Court judges against the CJI at a first of its kind press conference held on Friday.

The four Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar questioned the conduct of the CJI, saying that their efforts have failed in convincing the latter to take steps to protect the institution.

CJI Misra is likely to hold a meeting with the four Judges as well and is expected to address the press later in the day.

Venugopal on Friday said the judges could have avoided going public with their complaints against Chief Justice Dipak Misra. He also said that the judges were men of repute and statesmen and hoped that they would solve their difference amicably.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary Nripendra Misra was on Saturday morning seen driving to the residence of the Chief Justice. He was seen sitting inside his official car which returned from the gate of the Chief Justice's residence without entering there.

OneIndia NewsIn the Talibans victory at Kabul, Al-Qaeda has a loud message on Jammu and Kashmir

Army Chief's sermons on education' uncalled for: J&K minister

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Taking a strong exception to Army Chief Bipin Rawat's remark on education in the state, Jammu and Kashmir education minister Altaf Bukhari on Saturday said that there was no need for "sermons on education from non-academicians".

Bukhari was reacting to general Rawat's statement yesterday that schools in Jammu and Kashmir were teaching two maps - India's and Jammu and Kashmir's - to the students, which he said was radicalising youth.

"The army chief is a respected and well-decorated officer of this country. He is a professional. I have no doubt on his professionalism. But I don't think he is an educationist that he will give sermons on education. I don't think any society accepts sermons on education from non-academicians," Bukhari told the media on Saturday.

"There are two flags in the state, we have J&K constitution and India's constitution also. Every school has a state map as it is needed to teach about the state," he added.

Bipin Rawat, in his address to the media on the eve of Army Day, had linked the two-flag issue with militancy.

Hitting out at General Rawat, Bukhari said the Army has a responsibilty and they should stick to it, hinting that the Army Chief should not meddle with the affairs of running the state.

""I will be very happy if they do what they are supposed to do and leave us what we are supposed to do. They have a responsibility. Let them do their responsibility," he said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, January 13, 2018, 18:23 [IST]Bihar Unlock 3: Nitish Kumar eases COVID curbs, allows all offices to function at 100% capacity from 23 June

Bihar: 19 arrested in connection with attack on Nitish's convoy

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Bihar police on Saturday said that 19 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday.

"19 people arrested in connection with the attack on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar convoy yesterday. Investigation underway," news agency ANI quoted Anand Kishore, Commissioner, Patna Division as saying.

Nitish Kumar's convoy was on Friday reportedly attacked in Nandar village of Buxar district. Kumar was on a 'samiksha yatra' when his car was pelted with stones.

[Nitish Kumar's convoy attacked in Buxar]

Kumar was not hurt in the incident but a few of his security personnel were said to have received injuries. Reports suggest that some villagers may have indulged in stone pelting due to lack of development in the area. Ironically, Kumar was visiting to the village to assess the development in the area.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, January 13, 2018, 19:35 [IST]Karnataka: Will Congress not allow Kumaraswamy to be CM for full 5-year term?

Is it chief minister Kumaraswamy or chief manager of Congress Ktaka ATM? BJP has an answer

All is well between Congress, JD(S)? Kumaraswamy meets Rahul as Karnataka waits for full cabinet

BJP leaders protesting against Siddaramaiah detained

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The BJP leaders, who staged a protest in Bengaluru against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his remarks on RSS and Bajrang Dal, were on Saturday detained by the police. The protesters, which included Lok Sabha MP Shobha Karandlaje, condemned Siddaramaiah's remarks and asked him to apologise.

The party leaders staged a dharna at the Mysuru Bank circle in the heart of Bengaluru and blocked the road. Karandlaje accused Siddaramaiah of indulging in "vote bank politics."

"We are telling Siddaramaiah government if we are terrorists (or not). I am BJP, I am RSS, you arrest me and put me in jail. He should apologise or otherwise, you should arrest us. He is doing vote bank politics," Karandlaje told media during protest," Karandlaje told media during the protest.

Siddaramaiah had recently alleged that BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal have terrorists within their organisations. "They are themselves like terrorists in a way. BJP, RSS and Bajarang Dal also have terrorists within," he had said, triggering a war of words between the ruling Congress and the saffron party ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Siddaramaiah, who came under intense attack from the BJP for his controversial remarks, however, later called them "Hindutva extremists".

OneIndia News with PTI inputs

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Story first published: Saturday, January 13, 2018, 22:55 [IST]Zainab killer to be arrested within 36 hours: LHC

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Friday ordered the Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) to arrest without fail the killer of innocent girl Zainab within 36 hours.



The bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that the gruesome murder of Zainab was a clear evidence of police failure which raised serious questions over their performance in maintaining law and order and controlling the crime.



The bench had summoned IGP Arif Nawaz Khan while hearing a petition moved by a lawyer, Shaheen Pirzada, seeking direction to the government for proper legislating to control incidents of childrens abduction, rape and killing.



The IGP appeared and submitted initial report in the murder case, while admitting the negligence of police department in arresting the culprit. He informed the court that different police teams had been constituted for arrest of the culprit.



The IGP told the court that a total of 11 incidents of rape with minor girls had occurred during the last two years in the district. He said 227 suspects were arrested during this period and DNA of 67 of them was got examined. He said that the DNA of one of the arrested persons matched in six cases of rape with minor girls.



The petitioner pointed out that there was no proper law to control such incidents which are increasing day by day and the culprits were roaming free without any fear of being arrested. He sought directions to amend the law to award exemplary punishment to all such offenders against kids.



The IGP informed the court that the police was working with complete honesty and assured that

the suspect will be nabbed at all costs.



The chief justice also summoned the complete details of similar cases related to children in Punjab.



Zainab was kidnapped from Road Kot area in Kasur while her parents were in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. The girl was strangled to death after being raped and her body was recovered from a garbage heap near Zaki Adda a few days later.



The incident sparked countrywide protests and riots and two people were killed as police opened fire on the protesters in Kasur. A shutter down strike was observed in Kasur and all the markets and educational institutions remained closed for two days.



On Friday, Punjab government spokesperson Malik Ahmad Khan claimed that the suspect in the Zainab murder case is a serial killer who kidnaps and kills minor girls.



Addressing a press conference in Kasur alongside Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood and Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir, Khan said the culprit will be brought to book. He also condemned the killing of two protesters due to police firing on the protesters Wednesday.



Speaking on the occasion, Rana Mashood said they were hoping for a breakthrough in the case after arrest of a few suspects. He said Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif was personally monitoring the case. He appealed to the protesters to not damage property during their protests over the incident.



The Punjab government also changed the head of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the murder and rape of Zainab.



According to a government notification, Additional IG Abu Bakr Khuda Baksh has been replaced by Multan Regional Police Officer DIG Muhammad Idrees.



Zainabs father, Ameen, had objected to the inclusion of the previous JIT head in a press conference on Thursday.



On Friday, members of the JIT, including Idrees, reached the Kasur DPO office and held meetings with local officials.



Idrees was quoted as saying that the investigation into the case has begun and will be wrapped up soon.



Talking to media on Friday, Zainabs father Ameen demanded the government to punish those responsible for the horrific incident. He also called for punishment for those police officials who killed protesters in their firing. If the culprits are punished publically then it will serve as a deterrent for preventing similar cases, he stated.In a first, nine Supreme Court judges to take oath at once on Tuesday

CJI is master of roaster and this is a well settled convention

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

It was a black day in the history of the judiciary. Four top judges of the Supreme Court decided to come out in the open and accuse the Chief Justice of India on the manner in which matters are being allocated before some Benches.

Several legal experts feel that the matter should not have been brought out in the open. The problem was with the allocation of matters and the four judges aired their views in public. They felt that the CJI should have consulted them before allocating matters.

There were many ways in which this issue could have been resolved. For starters, the matter could have been taken up before a full court and the issue decided out there. The other option was to write to the President of India and seek his intervention.

When it comes to allocating matters, it is a well-settled precedent that the CJI is the master of the roaster. According to former Supreme Court judge, K T Thomas, holding press conferences should not become a precedent. He feels that the matter should be settled within the Supreme Court and the executive must keep away from this.

The events of Friday are unusual and unprecedented Justice Thomas said while adding that he hoped this would not become a precedent.

OneIndia NewsIn a first, nine Supreme Court judges to take oath at once on Tuesday

In new record, SC Collegium recommends 68 names to Centre for appointment as Judges in 12 HCs

Did 4 SC judges go too far by openly dissenting against CJI in front of media?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Jan 13: What happens when we face an unprecedented event? First, it evokes shock. Second, once we understand the gravity of the situation, views fly thick and fast. In the process, experts air myriad and contrasting opinions.

A similar situation emerged when four topmost judges of the Supreme Court went to the press to express their dissent against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Friday in the national capital.

The four "wise" man--Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph--received both support and flak from the legal community.

While a section of retired judges and senior SC advocates criticised the four judges for washing dirty linen in public, others came out in their support.

What irked the top legal luminaries of the country against the four judges is that they went to the press instead of trying to resolve the matter internally.

The judiciary has always maintained a distance from the press and judges hardly speak to the media on any matter. Thus when the four "dissenting" judges, who rank just after the CJI, spoke "ill" about the CJI and current judicial affairs in front of cameras and watched by millions across the country, they broke "conventions".

The critics of the four judges stress that they have hurt the respectable position of the judiciary which in India mostly remain unquestionable till date.

"I think all the four judges should be impeached. They have no business to sit there and deliver verdicts anymore. This trade unionism is wrong. Democracy in danger is not for them to say, we have Parliament, courts, police functioning," said former judge RS Sodhi.

"I find it very distressful that this press conference was held. The confidence of public is important for efficient working of the judiciary. It was not a good move. I'm not in favour of this. Repercussions will not be good," said Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India.

"When the judiciary goes for public opinion, it will spell the end of the judiciary," said Santosh Hegde, a former judge.

Others who decided to support the "rebels" feel that they were being compelled to go to the public with their grouses.

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy came in support of the judges.

"We can't criticise them. They are men of great integrity and have sacrificed a lot of their legal career, where they could've made money as senior counsels. We must respect them. The PM (Narendra Modi) must ensure that the four judges and CJI, in fact, the whole SC come to one opinion and proceed further," said Swamy.

"It is certainly a very serious development which has cast a huge shadow on the CJI. Somebody had to confront the situation, where the CJI is blatantly misusing his powers, hence the unprecedented step," said SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

It is senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam who succinctly expressed the fear of all Indians, who generally hold great respect for the judiciary. "This is a black day for the judiciary. Today's press conference would cause a bad precedent. From now on every common man could look at all judicial order with suspicion. Every judgement will be questioned," said Nikam.

Since the judges have already presented their case in front of the public by raising questions against the CJI and functioning of the courts in the recent few months, it is time for the judiciary and legal luminaries to ponder how to clean the rot in the system to protect one of the highest and respectable institutions in the country.

OneIndia NewsLoan Fraud Case: ED arrests former Andhra Bank official

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 13: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a former Director of Andhra Bank in connection with its money laundering probe in the alleged Rs. 5,000-crore bank fraud case involving a Gujarat-based pharma firm, official sources said on Saturday. They said Anup Prakash Garg was arrested by the agency late Friday evening.

This is the second arrest in the case after the agency in November last year held Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan from here. Garg has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to be produced before a special court. Garg has been named as an accused in the case by the ED and the CBI.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrests a former director of Andhra Bank, Anup Prakash Garg, in Gujarat's Sandesara Group Scam. pic.twitter.com/c74LWxPvpN  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

The ED registered a money laundering case in this instance after taking cognisance of an earlier CBI FIR.

The agency said it found during probe that "certain entries" in a diary seized by the Income Tax Department in 2011 showed various cash payments amounting to Rs. 1.52 crore made to one "Mr. Garg, Director, Andhra Bank" between 2008- 2009 by the Sandesara brothers. It said "various cash payments were made to Garg, as reflected in the said entries, on the instructions of Sandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of several benami companies of the Sandesara brothers".

The ED had alleged that Garg had infused several crores of his unaccounted cash in various companies through many Kolkata based bogus shell companies with the help of cash/cheque entry operators in Kolkata to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.

The CBI had booked Sterling Biotech, its directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case. It had alleged that the company had taken loans of over Rs. 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank which had turned into non-performing assets.

The FIR had also alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs. 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.

PTICOVID-19 vaccination: More than 50 per cent of Gujarat's adult population covered by first vaccine dose

Rs 11 lakh for house or cars if you win Olympic medal: Gujarat Diamond trader promises to women's hockey team

PM Modi to virtually inaugurate projects of Somnath Temple in Gujarat on Aug 20

Guj: First commercial batch of Covaxin released from Bharat Biotech's new plant

Gujarat: 3 girls dead in fire tragedy in Rajkot

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Gujarat : Fire breaks out at Rashtra Katha Shibir near Rajkot | Oneindia News

At least three girls died and few others injured after a fire broke out at Rashtra Katha Shibir in Gujarat's Pransla on Friday night. The incident occurred at Rajkot district's Pransla village 360km from capital Gandhinagar.

"The blaze erupted in shibir's women section and spread rapidly, killing three persons," District Collector Vikrant Pandey said. A team of National Disaster Response Force and Fire Brigade rescued several people from the site, Pandey said.

Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Antrip Sood said the deceased were teenage girls. Nearly 15 people suffered burn injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital, Sood said.

The injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital, reported ANI. The flames have been extinguished and the situation is under control.

#SpotVisuals 3 girls dead, few others injured after fire broke out at Rashtra Katha Shibir in Pransla, last night #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/e5dFo8vgF9  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Shri Vedic Mission Trust has been organizing ten days youth camp at Pransala for the past 18 years under the Rashtra Katha Shivir series. The camp aims to provide a platform for orientation and nurturing of youth in various disciplines such as National Integration, Social Harmony and Religious harmony and Martial Arts, to mention a few.

This year, the 18th Rashtra Katha Shibir was attended by 16000 children between 8 to 18 years age.

OneIndia NewsHaj house painted saffron: No one seems to be owning up responsibility

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

First, the Haj House being painted in saffron colour makes headlines. Then UP Waqf and Haj Minister Mohsin Raza make a statement that there is nothing wrong with it as "saffron is an energetic and bright looking colour."

Two days later, the Haj House is repainted and the original colour is restored. The state government goes into damage control mode and blames the contractor for it. Today, Mohsin Raza issues notice to Haj Committee Secretary RP Singh seeking clarification on the incident.

It may all seem hilarious, but what it truly reflects is that everyone is just trying to pass the buck. It is hard to believe that even a week after this 'painting-repainting' episode, the name of the person or entity who actually decided that Haj House is painted saffron has not come out.

Damage control and hasty action to prevent the issue from becoming a major controversy is out in the open for everyone to see. The real question is what led to the Haj House being painted in saffron in the first place. Was it a planned move or was it a foolish action of some mason handling the paint job? The question remains unanswered as of now.

[Haj House in Lucknow painted saffron, Yogi govt draws flak]

Even the Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, which houses the chief minister's office, was painted saffron after Adityanath assumed office last year.

Reports say that the education department had distributed saffron-coloured school bags to primary schools students and the booklets that were distributed to mark 100 days and six months of the Adityanath government were saffron in colour as well.

OneIndia NewsAircel-Maxis Case: ED raids Karti Chidambaram's premises in Chennai, Delhi

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted raids at Karti Chidambaram's premises in Delhi and Chennai in connection with Aircel-Maxis case.

According to reports, the Enforcement Directorate officials are conducting an inquiry with the senior Congress leader's son Karti, in connection with the case involving Aircel-Maxis Case, at his house in Chennai.

The raids are a part of an ED investigation into a money laundering case registered last year against Karti Chidambaram. The agency had raided properties of Karti's close aides in Chennai and Kolkata on December 1.

The Aircel-Maxis case

The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The agency had said it is investigating the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister (P Chidambaram)".

The ED also alleged that Karti has "disposed" of a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company "to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013".

It charged that Karti had "also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment" under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March 2006 by the then FM even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval.

"However, approval was not obtained from CCEA," it alleged.

In December 2017, the ED conducted raids in Chennai and Kolkata in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

OneIndia NewsGogoi too formidable to be ruffled by sickening behaviour of politicians trapped in political disarr

Why no questions are asked to retired activist judges: Former CJI Gogoi

SC says cannot rule out conspiracy against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Judges rebellion: Did Justice Ranjan Gogoi jeopardise his chances of becoming the next CJI?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

SC Judges row : Did Ranjan Gogoi jeopardise his chances of becoming next CJI | Oniendia News

New Delhi, Jan 13: It was an unprecedented event when four Supreme Court judges spoke against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Friday at a press meet in the national capital.

The four "dissenting" judges-- J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph-- who rank just after the CJI, stated that "it's an extraordinary event in the history of judiciary".

While a section of retired judges and senior advocates of the country supported the four judges, others came down heavily on them for washing dirty linen of the judiciary in public.

One important fact that caught the attention of many was that Justice Gogoi, who was a part of the press meet (which many have termed as an open rebellion of the judges against their big boss, the CJI), is the man who is in line to become the next CJI in October 2018, succeeding Justice Misra, as the senior-most judge of the Court.

Now, the question is whether Assam-born Gogoi has jeopardised his chances of becoming the first CJI from the Northeast region?

It hardly happens that someone from the judiciary ever questions the current judicial status. By doing so, Gogoi, in a way, has hurt his own career, fear several legal experts.

Although the CJI and the Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad have not spoken anything against the four "rebel" judges, there have been instances in the past when junior judges have superseded their seniors to bag official positions.

Now, there are fears that Gogoi would be denied the plump post for taking part in a "rebellion" which has got no approval from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On Twitter, several social media users have hailed Justice Gogoi for taking part in the "revolt" to protect the integrity of judiciary and democracy in general.

"Justice Gogoi could have been the next Chief Justice of India. He Jeopardised it by openly questioning current Judicial affairs. It takes a lot of spine and integrity to do so, the concept of which Govt Lapdogs will never understand," tweeted a social media user.

Justice Gogoi could have been the next Chief Justice of India. He Jeopardised it by openly questioning current Judicial affairs. It takes lot of spine and integrity to do so, the concept of which Govt Lapdogs will never understand  Joy (@Joydas) January 12, 2018

Another Twiterrati "saluted" Gogoi for his "bravery and integrity".

"Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the next in line for Chief Justice of India. Before today, He has everything to lose. The Fame, ThePosition....Yet today, he's leading the charge. Salute Sir..!," stated the tweet.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the next in line for Chief Justice of India. Before today, He has everything to lose. The Fame, The Position..Yet today, he's leading the charge.



Salute Sir..! pic.twitter.com/gonpIr0QgW  The Great Dictator.! (@tittoantony) January 12, 2018

OneIndia NewsKarnataka: Will Congress not allow Kumaraswamy to be CM for full 5-year term?

Is it chief minister Kumaraswamy or chief manager of Congress Ktaka ATM? BJP has an answer

All is well between Congress, JD(S)? Kumaraswamy meets Rahul as Karnataka waits for full cabinet

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: Rahul Gandhi to visit Karnataka for campaigning on Feb 10

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday met Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi residence, ahead of Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. A host of Congress leaders from Karnataka has accompanied him to Delhi.

Siddaramaiah told reporters that there was "no anti-incumbency" against his government.

"Rahul Gandhi was very happy to know that there is no anti-incumbency against our government, and that all programmes that were mentioned in our manifesto have been completed."

To a question on raising issue of Hindutva, the Karnataka CM said that "BJP is raising irrelevant issues in Karnataka.That is the only issue they have. Yogi Adityanath and Amit Shah are also raising the same issue and Narendra Modi may also raise the same issue."

Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress chief Dr. G Parameshwara said that Rahul Gandhi will be visiting the poll-bound state in the month of February.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is visiting Karnataka from 10-12 February for first leg of election campaign. He will be addressing meetings, interacting with various groups of intellectuals, farmers, women and students: Dr. G. Parameshwara, Karnataka Congress chief pic.twitter.com/ZYW0qaIY3t  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

According to sources, proposals related to outreach programmes that can be rolled out in Karnataka will be discussed at length. Rahul Gandhi along with other senior party leaders will also review the ground situation at this crucial meeting.

"PCC [Pradesh Congress Committee] has been asked to give a detailed 360-degree plan. Besides reviewing the ground situation, outreach proposals will be discussed at length," said a senior Karnataka leader.

The meeting also comes at the backdrop of the war of words between BJP president Amit Shah and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which turned intense in the run-up to the Karnataka polls,

On Wednesday, Siddaramaiah provoked massive outrage as he likened the BJP, its ideological mentor RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to terrorists, hours after he was described by the BJP as "anti-Hindu".

"Whether it is the Popular Front of India (PFI), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Bajarang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad or any other organisation... if they indulge in disturbing harmony and brotherhood in the society, and spread communalism, they will not be tolerated," he said.

Siddaramaiah's comments quickly escalated into a raging controversy with the opposition party in the state accusing him of trying to polarise voters on communal lines ahead of polls later this year.

The state BJP has filed a complaint against Siddaramaiah and state Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao for making derogatory statements against the party.

The tenure of the Karnataka Assembly ends in May 2018 and the state is expected to go to polls around April 2018. The official notification of the dates of polling for the 225-member Assembly will be released by the Election Commission of India in the coming months.

Unlike Gujarat where the Congress did not have a chief ministerial face, the Congress would fight under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15

OneIndia NewsKYKL rebel leader involved in Manipur ambush that killed 18 jawans arrested

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The National Investigation Agency has arrested one Naorem Premkanta Singh, a member of the proscribed Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup that had carried out an ambush in which 18 Army personnel had died in the Chandel district of Manipur on June 4 2015.

Singh, a resident of village Kakching Irum Mapan of Kakching district, was one of the several KYKL militants - who were part of a combined group that included NSCN(K), KCP and KLO members - who had carried out the deadly ambush on a contingent of the 6 Dogra Regiment. A press release issued by the NIA said a pistol and five live rounds of ammunition were also recovered from his possession.

The KYKL cadre who was absconding since the ambush was later declared as a proclaimed offender by the Special NIA Court in Imphal. The court had also issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him, a press release issued by the NIA said. The investigating agency had, under investigation announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for any information leading to his arrest, it said.

OneIndia NewsThundershowers likely in central, eastern Maharashtra on Sept 4 and 5: IMD

Leopard vs cat in Nashik well: See who wins the battle in viral video

Maharashtra: Boat with 40 school children on board capsizes in sea, 4 dead

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Boat carrying 40 students capsized in Dahanu, Maharashtra | Oneindia News

At least 4 dead, 32 rescued out of the 40 students who were on board boat that capsized 2 nautical miles from the seashore in Dahanu, Maharashtra.

Coast guard PRO on rescue operations for boat capsize in Dahanu, while speaking to news agency ANI, said, "Coast Guard has diverted ships which were at sea and ships are also sailing from Mumbai. Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near to Dahanu) have also been launched."

The bodies of Sonal Bhagwan Surati and Janhavi Harish Surati, both residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area, were recovered, Manjunath Singe, Superintendent of Police, Palghar told PTI.

Local authorities are currently carrying out search and rescue operations.

Dahanu is a coastal town and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is located 110 km from Mumbai city.

In a similar incident on January 1, three children went missing while six others swam to safety when a country boat capsized in the Ganga in Bhagalpur district of Bihar.

OneIndia NewsED no authority to probe under PMLA: Chidambaram on raids

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Union Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said nothing was found and nothing was seized from Karti's homes where Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in Delhi and Chennai in connection with Aircel-Maxis case.

Speaking to media on ED raids, the senior Congress leader said that "There is no FIR concerning a scheduled crime by CBI or any agency. I anticipated they'll search premises in Chennai again but in a comedy of errors they came to Jor Bagh (in Delhi) & officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not."

"They (ED officials) searched & found nothing but since they had to justify themselves they took papers of a statement made by govt in the Parliament, a few years back. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under PMLA," ANI quoted Chidambaram as saying.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Saturday said he wasn't surprised by the malicious vendetta being unleashed against senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram and his son. In a statement to ANI, Surjewala said: "Everyday PM Modi and his government use ED and CBI as captive puppets to seek revenge on the opposition."

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at Karti Chidambaram's premises in New Delhi and Chennai in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.

The case relates to the approvals the Foreign Investment Promotion Board granted for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. Karti Chidambaram is accused of facilitating bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction. The investigative agency is looking into "the circumstances" in which P Chidambaram, in his capacity as the finance minister then, had granted the Foreign Investment Promotion Board approvals.

OneIndia NewsTake Centre to court: Shiv Sena to relatives whose kin died due to oxygen shortage

SC judges press meet 'disturbing': Uddhav Thackeray

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Shiv Sena on Saturday called for action against four Supreme Court judges who held a press conference complaining about Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Terming the press conference as 'disturbing' Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, said, " Action can be initiated against the 4 SC judges but what is important is that we should try to understand why they took such a step."

"All 4 pillars of democracy should stand independently, if they fall on each other, it will collapse," he added.

"If there is anything suspicious behind the death of Justice Loya, it should come out," ANI quoted Uddhav Thackeray as saying.

Top judges of the Supreme Court on Friday voiced their dissent against the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and said that they were left with no choice but to speak to the media. Supreme Court Judges Kurian Joseph, J.Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi and Madan Lokur spoke to the media at Tuglaq Lane in Delhi.

"Want to make our concerns public... Administration of the Supreme Court is not in order," Justice Chelameswar said.

"With no pleasure, we are compelled take the decision to call a press conference. The administration of the SC is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in last few months," he added.

OneIndia NewsIn a first, nine Supreme Court judges to take oath at once on Tuesday

Nine SC judges including future woman CJI take oath in one go

In new record, SC Collegium recommends 68 names to Centre for appointment as Judges in 12 HCs

SC judges' press meet not well planned, says Bar Association President

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to hold a meeting over allegations made by the 4 SC judges and also to address the press today.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, SCBA President, said, " If they had to come for a PC then they should have said something substantial. Just creating doubts in the minds of people will not serve the interest of the judiciary. This was not properly planned. They didn't say anything about justice Loya."

He told News18, "press meet has only led to speculations" and "that the letter had nothing to reveal".

Meanwhile, Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman said they will try and meet all the 25 judges in SC on Sunday and want this issue to get resolved. They will pass a resolution after the meeting.

The SCBA on Friday dismissed any possibility of impeachment of the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in the wake of the unprecedented press conference held by four SC judges on Friday.

Four senior judges of the Supreme Court virtually revolted against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, listing a string of problems that they said were afflicting the country's highest court, and warned those could destroy Indian democracy.

OneIndia NewsIn a first, nine Supreme Court judges to take oath at once on Tuesday

Nine SC judges including future woman CJI take oath in one go

In new record, SC Collegium recommends 68 names to Centre for appointment as Judges in 12 HCs

SC judges' rebellion: Principal Secretary to PM, Nripendra Misra meets CJI Dipak Misra

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

A day after four top Supreme Court judges addressed a press conference making stunning allegations against the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary, Nripendra Misra on Saturday met the CJI at his residence in New Delhi.

The PM's principal secretary was, however, reportedly snubbed by the CJI, who refused to meet him. According to some reporters, Nripendra Misra was made to return from 5, Krishna Menon Marg residence of the CJI Misra.

Principal Secretary to PM, Nripendra Misra, seen outside Chief Justice of India Dipak Misras residence in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/5C2PVvO36T  ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Four senior judges of the Supreme Court on Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice of India, listing a litany of problems that they said were afflicting the country's highest court and warned that these issues could destroy the Indian democracy.

Four of the five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court - Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph - said there was an immediate need to preserve the judiciary system in the country if democracy has to be protected. The press conference, a first of its kind for sitting judges of the Supreme Court, was being held at the residence of Justice Chelameswar.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association will hold a meeting on Saturday over the judges' press conference on Friday at 5 pm. The SC Bar Association chief Vikas Singh is expected to brief media at 6 pm.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 13, 2018, 11:07 [IST]SCBA expresses 'grave concern' over the differences between judges and CJI

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 13: Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the chief justice, on Saturday expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved, while the apex court bar body said the matter should be considered by the full court.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the seniormost judges with CJI Dipak Misra. The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to the four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body of lawyers, formed a seven-member team to meet the judges of the Supreme Court tomorrow to discuss the present crisis in the apex court. It passed a resolution, saying no political party or leaders should take "undue advantage" of the situation arising out of the press conference by the top court judges. In an unprecedented move, justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had launched a public attack against the CJI, listing a litany of problems, including the issue of assigning of cases.

Justice Joseph today said that they acted solely in the interest of the judiciary and justice. He rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their action will bring more transparency in the administration of the Supreme Court.

"Stood up for justice and judiciary...That is what we said there (in New Delhi) yesterday. Nothing beyond that," Justice Joseph said in Malayalam when local television news channels approached him at his ancestral home in Kalady near Kochi, seeking his reaction on yesterday's development.

"An issue has come to attention. It will certainly be solved since it has come to the attention," he said. However, Justice Ranjan Gogoi told PTI in Kolkata, "There is no crisis."

He made the remark on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis. A day after the presser by the four judges, TV visuals today showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of the CJI. The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence here.

However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the prime minister was seen driving back. After the visuals were aired, the Congress was quick to criticise the government.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh said that a resolution for the full court consideration was passed as it is a mechanism in which deliberations by all the judges of the top court takes place in-house and not in the open. The SCBA resolution said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five seniormost judges who were part of the collegium. The BCI cautioned the political parties and leaders from taking an "undue advantage" of the situation in the apex court.

It said the four seniormost judges going public with their differences with the CJI had given an opportunity to the political parties and leaders to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary. Without taking any name, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said, "No political party or leader should take an undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference of the four senior Supreme Court judges."

The reference to political parties and leaders assumes significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances. At an emergency meeting called by the BCI's governing body, comprising 17 members, the resolution was passed, saying the seven-member committee would meet all the apex court judges tomorrow. Mishra later said that the members of the committee would also meet the four judges and, in the end, the CJI. The BCI said it was of the view that such issues should not be made public.

PTIPongal 2021: Know the date, auspicious time, and how to celebrate this harvest festival

As Rahul Gandhi attends Jallikattu, check why #Goback_Rahul is trending on Twitter

Smog caused by Bhogi bonfires affects flight services at Chennai airport

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Several flights were delayed after smog caused by Bhogi bonfires affected visibility at Chennai airport on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu celebrated its Bhogi festival on Friday, during which bonfires are lit. Several flights from Chennai were diverted to Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Between 4-8 AM, both the incoming and the outgoing air traffic suffered, they said, adding the services were expected to resume after 9 AM.

As many as 18 arriving flights were diverted to Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports. They flew in from various destinations such as Kuwait, Sharjah and Delhi.

No flights took off during this period, resulting in delays and scores of passengers waiting at the airport.

Bhogi, celebrated ahead of the Tamil harvest festival Pongal tomorrow, involves burning of old articles in a symbolic gesture of bidding adieu to the old and welcoming the new.

Meanwhile, motorists plied their vehicles with their headlights on following the smoke cover which descended on the city and its neighbourhoods.

The government launches regular awareness campaigns ahead of Bhogi, aimed at smoke-free celebrations of the day.

Important flight diversions from Chennai airport -

Indigo - Dubai - Chennai to Bangalore

Air Arabia - Sharjah - Chennai to Bangalore.

Gulf Air - Bahrain - Chennai to Bangalore.

Etihad - Abu dhabi- Chennai to Hyderabad.

Spicejet - Pune - Chennai to Hyderabad.

Srilanka Airways - Colombo - Chennai to Sri Lanka.

Air india - Muscat - Chennai to Bangalore.

Spicejet - Colombo - Chennai to Hyderabad.

Air india - Dubai - Chennai to Bangalore.

British Airways - London- Chennai to Hyderabad.



OneIndia NewsUP: 70-year-old woman raped by drunk man in Fatehpur district, rape attempt made on 98-year-old in Ballia

A UP Man given death penalty for rape and murder of 8-year-old

Congress prime opposition to BJP in UP, will win without SP, BSP alliance: Ajay Kumar Lallu

UP 2022 assembly election survey result: Yogi's government likely to defeat SP, BSP in next polls

This school in UP has book on Zakir Naik, projects him as 'hero'

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Another controversy triggered after Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik is projected as "hero" in a school book.

The Islamic Mission School in Dodhpur area of Aligarh published a book 'Ilm-un-Nafe' for Class 1 that has chapters on nine famous Muslim personalities. One of them features Zakir Naik, founder of Mumbai-based NGO - Islamic Research Foundation.

The school, which has students from class I to VIII, is recognised by the state government. The medium of instruction is English.

The school management claimed that the book - aimed at enhancing children's general knowledge was published two years back, but in the new session, the chapter on Naik would be removed from it.

Talking to the media, Kaunain Kausar, manager of the school, who compiled the controversial book, said the allegations being levelled against them were baseless. "There is no separate chapter on Zakir Naik in the book. This general awareness book was published in 2015 when there was nothing against Naik. This was the old edition and now it has been modified," he claimed, reports Times of India.

"There were many pictures of important Islamic scholars on page 20 of the book. "Students of classes II and III are to identify them and write down their names. We are not teaching the children anything about Naik," he added.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh education department has ordered an inquiry and issued a show cause notice to an Aligarh school for allegedly portraying controversial preacher Zakir Naik as a hero.

Zakir Naik, the controversial preacher is accused of spreading hatred by his provocative speeches, funding terrorists and laundering several crores of rupees over the years. He is being probed for terror and money laundering charges by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

OneIndia NewsUPSC Civil Services Main Exam 2017 declared

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The UPSC Civil Services Main Exam 2017 result has been declared. The results are available on the official website.

Qualified candidates will now be eligible for the personality test for selection to the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and other Central Services (Group 'A' and Group 'B'). Interview of selected candidates will begin from 19 February 2018. 'Personality Tests will be held in the Office of the Union Public Service Commission at Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069. The e-Summon Letter of Personality Test of candidates being called for Interview may be downloaded from the Commission's Website,' the notification reads. The results are available on upsc.gov.in.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 13, 2018, 8:05 [IST]SC Judges' rebellion: Yashwant Sinha attacks government, says 'democracy under threat'

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Former Finance Minister and veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday said it is "our bounden duty to take note of what the judges have said".

Addressing a press conference on Saturday at his Noida residence, Sinha said, "BJP leaders are scared at the moment. That's why they are not openly supporting the four judges. When four top judges are sharing their concern with the members of the media, how can this be an internal matter?"

The former finance minister attacked the Central government over the short Winter Session of Parliament and said, "If the country's Parliament is not in order, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is under threat in the country. If the four senior judges have gone public then how is it a Supreme Court matter alone? If you read the letter, one thing is clear that Supreme Court judges or benches were appointed selectively to hear certain cases."

"Regarding the arrangement of appointing selective Benches for some special cases in the Supreme Court, a clarification must be put before the public," he said, adding that those cases should also be revealed.

"Indeed, those selective benches must have been appointed to obstruct the judicial process and manipulate the final verdict," he added.

He further added that people would be failing in their national duty if they did not take note of this. "If political parties, or anyone concerned about the future of democracy in the country, don't take note of this, we fail in our national duty. It is a serious matter. All those who care about the future of the country and of democracy should raise their voice," Sinha said.

Four top Supreme Court judges on Friday had taken an extraordinary step when they decided to speak to media against the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra calling the administration in the top court 'not in order.

BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra, on Friday had termed the extraordinary development of Friday as an internal matter of the judiciary. On the other hand, the Congress party had called the revolt by four Supreme Court judges as 'unprecedented.'

OneIndia NewsThe Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana has given thumbs up to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for appointing Mr Martin Amidu as the first Independent Special Prosecutor, urging the latter to live up to expectation.



The TUC believed that the appointment of Martin Amidu showed the commitment of the President to fight corruption to the end and ensure that the menace was eradicated from the country.



In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Joshua Ansah, the Deputy Secretary General of the Union, said he was overwhelmed when the news came to his attention on Thursday evening.



He said the appointment of Mr Amidu had proven wrong, all people who thought that the President would be appointing people from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying if Mr Amidu was able to fight his own political party, it was an indication that no one would be left off the hook.



He said the appointment reiterated the Presidents commitment to fighting corruption no matter those involved, adding It tells us that the government is very serious about fighting corruption.



There are a lot of good lawyers, people with integrity and very knowledgeable in his (the Presidents) Party, but the President has lived above partisanship for appointing someone who is not from his Party, he said.



He noted that Mr Amidus appointment sent a strong signal to people in government that no matter the political colour you wear, Martin would not spare you if you fall foul to the law.



Mr Ansah said the TUC expected that when approved by Parliament, Mr Amidu would retrieve all public funds that have gone into wrong hands to advance the development agenda of the country.



He urged Mr Amidu to go after everybody saying, it was the highest interest of TUC that corruption was clamped down completely in the Ghanaian society.



He said the TUC expected that Mr Amidu would bring to book, any individual from the NPP or the National Democratic Congress, who had worked in a public office and had links with any act of corruption.



The Union expected that when he was able to retrieve the monies, it would be saved to enhance the National Health Insurance, payment of trainee allowances, the creating of more jobs and human resource development.



Mr Ansah advised all workers and leaders to deliver their best and stay clean in whatever they did, adding that If you are in a leadership position, know that you will be called someday to account for your stewardship.



President Akufo-Addo on Thursday, January 11, this year, announced the nomination of Mr Amidu as the first Independent Special Prosecutor in the annals of Ghana.



The office of the Special Prosecutor is expected to lead the fight against corruption and hold public officials both former and present accountable for graft of the Public purse.

Source: GNA









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Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!

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From Common Dreams

There is no reason for the FBI to read Americans' emails without a warrant. Why doesn't Nancy Pelosi agree?

Democrats have been all over the airwaves recently accusing Donald Trump of abusing the Justice Department to go after his political enemies -- most notably his former opponent Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, which the Department of Justice is reportedly currently investigating based on an allegation made during the 2016 presidential campaign. So you'd think they would oppose handing Donald Trump any more power with which he could potentially use against all sorts of Americans who attract negative attention from his administration.

Yet, with the help of some Democrats, the House of Representatives voted today [Jan 11] -- and the Senate will do so sometime in the next week -- to extend a controversial NSA surveillance power that potentially affects millions of Americans' privacy rights.

The bill is an extension of what's known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the NSA to warrantlessly target people in other countries who are communicating with Americans -- which means that they collect the personal communications of Americans without their knowledge.

Currently, the NSA has over 100,000 foreign nationals under this type of surveillance now, but it also has the communications of the potentially millions of Americans they've talked to, texted with and emailed over the course of the surveillance. The FBI has access to this vast database of information and regularly searches it like Google without a warrant, for crimes that have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism...

Privacy advocates have long argued this practice is unconstitutional, and any American agency should need a warrant to go back into that vast NSA database of Americans' communications and date in order to mine it for information -- like the Fourth Amendment requires.

But with Section 702 expiring next week, the Trump administration has of course, demanded that Congress pass an extension with supposed "reforms" that do hardly anything to stop the feds from abusing their powers and actually codify the ability for the FBI, in many cases, to search Americans' emails without a warrant.

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See original here

By David A. Love



Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he still believes that President Obama was not born in the United States.

(Image by YouTube, Channel: CNN) Details DMCA



Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- a convicted criminal who was pardoned by President Trump last year -- is running for Senate.

This comes as Arpaio's state of Arizona, like other states, provides roadblocks for ex-offenders and their voting rights.

With the announcement that Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) will retire and not seek reelection, the field is opening up to occupy his seat. Arpaio -- known for his hardline anti-immigration stance, a tough on crime law enforcement policy and unconstitutional racial profiling tactics against Latinos -- was convicted last year of criminal contempt for defying a federal court order and refusing to refrain from racially profiling Latinos.

Trump pardoned him because of Arpaio's "life's work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration." Now, Arpaio, a convicted felon, has the green light and the opportunity to run for the Senate, putting his hat in the ring for the August Republican primary in Arizona.

There is some irony in the fact that a pardoned convicted felon with a history of criminalizing people of color and violating their civil rights now has the opportunity to run for the Senate. Chalk it up to the age of Donald Trump -- better yet Roy Moore, who lost his bid for the Senate in Alabama, but still came close despite his racism, misogyny and the alleged sexual abuse claims against him. Welcome to the future of the GOP, where serious character flaws are no obstacle for higher office. Arpaio, with his record of race-based traffic stops and immigration checks, said he is running "for the good of our country."

A more relevant issue, however, is that ex-offenders across the country have challenges impeding their right to vote. According to Nonprofit Vote, with the exception of Maine and Vermont who allow incarcerated people to vote, all states bar people with a criminal conviction from voting for a period of time. However, those results may vary depending on the state.

In 14 states and the District of Columbia, for example, felons only lose their voting rights behind bars, as their rights are fully restored when they are released, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Meanwhile, felons in 22 states lose their right to vote while in prison and sometime thereafter, typically while on probation or parole, after which time they are able to vote. Former felons may have additional penalties before their voting rights are restored.

And in 12 other states, ex-offenders lose the franchise indefinitely, or require a pardon from the governor or a waiting time after completing a prison sentence to return to the polling place and cast a vote. Arizona falls into this category, as individuals with one felony conviction have their voting rights automatically restored upon completion of their supervised release. However, those who are convicted of two or more felonies, must go to a judge to have their right to vote restored, or receive a pardon.

Felony disenfranchisement laws. 6.1 million people cannot vote because of a felony conviction, according to the Sentencing Project. That includes one of every 13 African Americans, one in 56 non-Black voters, and approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. voting age population, or one in 40 adults. This makes the U.S., the land of the free, one of the strictest nations for felony disenfranchisement.

"Given current rates of incarceration, three in 10 of the next generation of black men can expect to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime," according to the Sentencing Project. "In states that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many as 40% of black men may permanently lose their right to vote."

Given these disturbing statistics, it is no wonder that these laws are rooted in racism, as Southern states enacted these laws after Reconstruction and during Jim Crow specifically to deny voting rights to Black people. By 1869, 29 states had such laws on the books. In Mississippi, for example, still one of the most restrictive states, the felon disenfranchisement laws were designed to prohibit Black voting by targeting presumably Black crimes such as burglary, theft, and arson, rather than murder or robbery. The author of the Alabama law that disenfranchised Black men for beating their wives but not killing them "estimated the crime of wife-beating alone would disqualify 60 percent of the Negroes."

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[First Published by Counter Punch, January 5, 2018]

Rashidieh Palestinian camp, on the border of Occupied Palestine, by Franklin P. Lamg . The first ever official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was finally released on 12/21/2017 in Beirut. The village by village and camp by camp survey by 500 specialists found that only 174,422 Palestinian refugees are living these days in the country. Counted were al Palestinians living in the 12 official camps and 156 informal settlements known as 'gatherings' and those living outside these areas across Lebanon. This figure is shockingly lower than the previous estimate of 469,331 Palestinians by UNWRA and as many as 600,00 by others for political purposes.

Lebanon is a country where demographics have long been a politically sensitive subject to be approached with extreme caution. For the past nearly 85 years (since 1932) Lebanon's leaders have refused to allow a count of the population out of feelings of terror that a rival sect, among the 17 other rival sects, might gain power at their expense were there to be an honest count. Consequently, plenty of political lords have used fake population figures, without fear of contradiction by a forbidden official government count, to secure benefits-political and financial- for their own sect.

With respect to Lebanon and regional endemic tribalism, one is reminded of the words of Hannah Arendt from her volume, "The Origins of Totalitarianism:"

"Politically speaking, tribal nationalism always insists that its own people is surrounded by "a world of enemies", "one against all", that a fundamental difference exists between these people and all others. It claims its people to be unique, individual, incompatible with all others, and denies theoretically the very possibility of a common mankind long before it is used to destroy the humanity of man".

The reason for UNWRA's own higher figures since it was created by General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) 69 years ago this month to help feed and care for refugees forced out of their homes in Palestine, its mandate has always been to register all Palestinians who, since the 1948 Nakba, apply for its help. This UNWRA has faithfully done to the best of its ability while facing many obstacles-political and financial-over the decades. Affecting its record keeping, starting in 1950s, scores of thousands of Palestinian refugees left Lebanon for a better life abroad. Just as more than 1,780,000 Lebanese have done since the onslaught of Lebanon's civil war in 1975. Hence the larger number of UNWRA recorded registrants. UNRWA does not have a headcount of every Palestinian refugee who currently resides in Lebanon. What they do have are official registration records for the number of registered Palestine refugees in Lebanon. If a Palestinian registered with UNRWA in Lebanon should decide to live outside Lebanon, as countless thousands have, they don't normally advise UNWRA that they are moving.

As a gentleman this observer admires, Hassan Mneimneh, chairman of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee, which coordinated the census, told the media a couple of weeks ago, "tens of thousands of Palestinians left Lebanon when the Palestinian Liberation Organization withdrew from the country in 1982. This observer knows something about this firsthand as he was on one of the August 1982 boats than left Beirut harbor by boat for Tunis courtesy of an invitation from Yasser Arafat along with the American journalist, Janet Lee Stevens. Unfortunately, Janet missed the boat as she was assuring a group of Palestinian women in Burj al Barajneh camp in South Beirut that all would be OK as they worried about losing their PLO protection. The next month was the Sabra-Shatila massacre and seven months later April 18, 1983 Janet and our unborn child, Clyde Chester Lamb III were killed in the bombing at the American Embassy.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians left Lebanon when the PLO withdrew from the country in 1982.

Like the Lebanese over the past 3 decades, many Palestinians try to leave Lebanon at the first opportunity. And why wouldn't they? Lebanese seemingly leave their birth country any chance they get these days and during Lebanon's civil war more than one million left and hundreds of thousands have until today. There are fewer than 3.5 million Lebanese remaining with many of them searching for the first opportunity to begin a new life elsewhere because they realize that there is little future here for their children given the deep prevailing corruption of the former 'warlords' who appointed themselves 'political lords. Other reasons include the growing Iranian occupation of Lebanon and the failure of the Sunni and Christians to counter the takeover of their country.

According to this seminal study, undertaken by both Lebanese and Palestinian statistics bureaus and the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, 45.1 percent of the 174,000 Palestinians in Lebanon live in refugee camps, while the remaining 54.9 percent live in "other gatherings." According to the census taking teams spokesperson: "We would see huge numbers used, 500, or 600 thousand, and these would be used in politics. But this demographic project was able to define things, and thank God today we have results,"

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in an address at the event where the figures were released. The survey sheds much needed light on the living conditions of 174,422 Palestinian refugees, as well as another 18,601 Palestinians who fled the neighboring conflict in Syria to camps in Lebanon. The survey found that the number of Palestinian in Lebanon were split essentially evenly between men and women, with half of the total being 24 years or younger. The percentage of Palestinian youth is nearly identical to the numbers of youth across the Middle East.

Dear reader can imagine what these demographics and living conditions portend for this region as the bright, energetic and acutely aware youth seek justice and empowerment from dictatorships who have cynically denied them empowerment for countless decades. Revolution is in the air across in Lebanon's Palestinian camps and across this region.

The survey sheds light on the living conditions of 174,422 Palestinian refugees, as well as another 18,601 Palestinians who fled the neighboring conflict in Syria to camps in Lebanon. The painstakingly conducted count found the Palestinians evenly divided between men and women with half of the total 24 years or younger. While 7.2 percent are illiterate, 93.6 percent of children aged between three to 13 were enrolled in schools. Also documented is the well-known fact that Lebanon's Palestinian camps suffer serious problems, with varying degrees of poverty, diseases, overcrowding, unemployment, poor housing and lack of any functioning infrastructure. The census found that the rate of unemployment among young Palestinians aged 20 to 29 is 28.5 percent whereas for Lebanese it is currently 6.8 percent.

Announcing the population survey results, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Lebanon had a "duty" towards Palestinians. He pointed to "exaggerations" as for the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon which estimated the count at 600,000. He said the "actual number is 174,422," assuring "that the State will adhere to its responsibilities."

Hariri lamented how "some parties in the international community wish to offer no help to UNWRA but instead want to disrupt UNRWA." Pointing to the UNRWA's financial crisis, he said: "It directly affects the basic requirements of refugees in Lebanon. We call upon donor countries to increase their contributions and support to enable UNRWA fulfill its financial obligations to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon." With a total of $644,701,999 in contributions, the US, EU, UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, The Netherlands and Japan pay 71% of the annual UNRWA budget. Mr. Hariri omitted mention of the fact that Lebanon, like Israel, donates zero dollars to UNWRA's budget.

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(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).A New Desktop Tool Transfers Photos from smart phone to PC in a Blink

ScanTransfer

https://scantransfer.net

https://scantransfer.net/download.html

ScanTransfer.net today releases the new desktop application product ScanTransfer, which offers probably the simplest way to transfer any media from a smart phone to a desktop PC. There are multiple ways to copy photos from a smart phone to a PC: sending via e-mail, sharing in a social network, wired connection to a PC and others. But every option requires some preliminary configuration and is not always as straightforward as users anticipate.Once run on the PC, the application displays a uniquely generated QR-code on the screen and asks the user to scan it using the smart phone. Then, the application transparently creates a local network between the PC and the smart phone and hence allows effortless transferring of video and image files to the PC.Importantly, the QR-code shown by ScanTransfer can be read with a standard camera app of iPhone or Android Chrome browser as well as using Facebook or Twitter, no third party QR-code readers are required. In other words, copying files to a PC from a smart phone is a matter of scanning just one QR-code now.Aside from being fast and straightforward, moving photos and videos using ScanTransfer is also safe and wireless, because the data are transferred by air using the secure local Wi-Fi network. The tool also supports multiple connected smart phones and therefore can act like a hub of a sort where media from multiple connected smart phones are stored.Pricing and availabilityScanTransfer is free. It works on Windows 7 (32/64-bit) or higher and is compatible with iOS 9.0+ and Android Chrome browser ver. 59+.LinksWebsite:Download (Portable version & Installer):Founded in 2016, Xi'an Pantuowangluokeji co, ltd develops software utilities for Windows PC. The company relies on its extensive experience in developing conversion utilities that have already demonstrated their technical excellence and ease of use in thousands of homes worldwide.Xi'an Pantuowangluokeji co, Ltd.2-22 6# XSM St., LH DistrictXi'an, ShaanxiChina 710003Woody Wuadmin@scantransfer.netMarket for pharmaceutical parallel trade is changing  stay updated

SMi Group?s Parallel Trade conference

www.parallel-trade.com/OP

www.parallel-trade.com/OP

http://www.smi-online.co.uk

An unprecedented line-up of some of the most prominent Parallel Trade industry thought leaders will enable you to expand your regulatory horizons and enable trade success. Meet peers on 6  7 February in London at SMi Groups Parallel Trade conferenceYOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: What is the impact of parallel trade on pharmaceutical companies? What are the factors and drivers of parallel trade in Europe? Can the parallel distribution and industry work together? How has Brexit already affected parallel trade and what are the long-term implications? What do antitrust abuses by pharmaceutical companies mean for parallel trade? What are pay for delay deals and how much do they cost society? What policies are national governments exploring to manage parallel trade? What impact does medicine quotas have on patients and will the FMD help?Amongst participants: MHRA, Merck, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Medac GmbH, Orifarm Generics, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and many more. Also in the programme:Parallel Trade Management StrategiesJanice Haigh, Vice President Pricing & Market Access, PAREXEL EU legal issues to be aware of in the context of parallel trade of pharmaceutical products.Marie Manley, Partner and Head of the Regulatory Practice, BristowsPat Treacy, Partner and Head of the Competition Practice, BristowsJeremy Blum, Partner, BristowsFor more information about the must-attend meeting and to book your pass, please visit:For delegate enquiries contact Fateja Begum +44 (0) 207 827 6184 or email fbegum@smi-online.co.ukFor sponsorship opportunities contact Alia Malick on +44 (0) 20 7827 6168 or email: amalick@smi-online.co.ukFor media enquiries please contact Lyudmyla Durneva on LDurneva@smi-online.co.uk#smiparalleltrade---- END ----About SMi Group: Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the worlds most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at1 Westminster Bridge RoadHTeaO DEBUTS NEW MIDLAND TX LOCATION

January 12th, 2018HTeaO DEBUTS NEW MIDLAND TX LOCATION(Midland, TX) TBevCo LLC is set to open its newest store HTeaO in Midland (1119 Andrews Hwy) on Thursday, January 18th. TBevCo President Justin Howe explained, We currently have three locations in Amarillo, TX under the brand Texas Tea. We are excited about HTeaO and Midland as this is our franchise concept store with a brand ready to take nationwide..HTeaO will have two self serve tea bars serving 22 flavors of sweet and unsweet iced tea. Beyond the tea bars, the store will also feature a full line of YETI merchandise and healthy snack options featuring Project7, Popchips, Clif Bars, Clint & Sons and many other options.The Midland store will also feature a Tea Brewing Station which will put the tea brewing process front and center and allow customers to watch the Brewmaster siphon brew tea all day long.Howe said TBevCo plans to begin accepting franchise applications in the 2nd quarter of 2018.Premium Water & IceIced Tea1119 Andrews HwyMidland, TX 79701Trade relations between the USA and Canada were shaken earlier this week when Canada filed an un-NAFTA-related complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Canada appears to be mounting its latest WTO challenge on behalf of the rest of the world as trade officials in Ottawa cite nearly 200 examples of alleged USA wrongdoing, nearly all of them concerning other trading partners such as China, India, Brazil and the European Union. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says Canada's claims are unfounded and ill advised. In order to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, the president would need to give six months' notice to Canada and Mexico.

He says he's not sure exactly what the Canadians are trying to achieve with their WTO challenge.

Canada is upset after American duties were placed on lumber exports from Canada, saying these actions are against WTO rules.

Dark Souls Remastered will feature 2K unconverted textures on the PC

Nintendo Direct confirmed the rumor that the original Dark Souls was being remastered. For the Nintendo Switch, the game will be available in 1080p with 30 fps in TV mode.

Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR) Given "Outperform" Rating at Scotiabank

Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter.

Eastman Kodak Co. (KODK), Akers Biosciences Inc. (AKER)

Movements above 70 are interpreted as indicating overbought conditions; conversely moves underneath 30 notify oversold conditions. The stock is now moving above its 20-Day Simple Moving Average of 121.2% with a 50-Day Simple Moving Average of 117.22 percent.

Trade Representative Lighthizer says the Canadians claim could lower US confidence that Canada is committed to mutually beneficial trade.

"Canada is acting against its own workers' and businesses' interests", Lighthizer added.

Under WTO rules, the US has 60 days to try to settle the complaint, or Canada, which sends 75% of its exports to the USA, could ask the WTO to adjudicate the matter.Ceramic Tiles Market Sales, Size, Share, Trends and Forecast to 2023

Ceramic Tile Market

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MRFR Press Release/- Market Research Future Published a Cooked Research Global Ceramic Tiles Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast up to 2023.Mohawk Industries, British Ceramic Tile, Torrecid Group, Atlas Concorde, Porcelanosa Group, Crossville Inc., Gruppo Ceramiche Ricchetti, Kajaria Ceramics and Asian Granito India Ltd. are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Ceramic TilesMarket and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.Ceramic Tiles Market  Market OverviewA slab made up of mixture of clay and inorganic raw materials, Ceramic Tiles, the market supply demand scenario is inclined towards the dynamics of construction industry and the economic conditions. The market consumption trends vary region to region, for instance, the economic downturn in 2008-09 in the U.S which had an adverse effect on the housing industry in the country witnessed sharp decline in the Ceramic Tile Industry. However, the recent stats showing a positive outlook for housing market in the U.S for 2017-18 with low mortgage rates in the country beefing up new construction activities. Hence, a positive prospect for the Ceramic Tile players operating in the region. Since, the ceramic tiles are majorly consumed in its close vicinity of production.Receive a Sample Report upon Request @Ceramic Tiles are widely consumed among new residential and non-residential constructions along with the reconstruction and renovation activities. With the increasing population, urbanization, and industrialization in the emerging economies such as Asia Pacific and Middles East are stimulating the construction activities. These are some of the protuberant market compelling factors for ceramic tiles.Amidst the decline in oil prices in the GCC the construction activities in the region still remains as a strong indicator for economic growth in the region. The construction activities is expected to stimulate in the coming years with an overall capital spending in GCC estimated at USD 480 billion of which 65% will be towards infrastructure development. Accounting for the latter mentioned factors it is healthy to assume a pool of market opportunities for Ceramic Tiles in the Middle East adding value to the global ceramic tiles market as a whole.Protuberant trends further supporting the growth of Ceramic Tiles Market growth includes innovative designs and enhanced aesthetics, for instance, combination of materials in an innovative manner, traditional stone and wood look Ceramic Tiles. Increasing reconstruction and repair activities across the globe replacing traditional construction with new designs can be further attributed towards the growth of ceramic tiles market across the globe. Furthermore, government initiatives in the emerging economies for infrastructural developments is expected to stimulate the market for Ceramic Tiles. For instance, government of Indias proposed spending in infrastructure accounting for 10% of the countrys GDP in its 12Th five-year plans will boost the demand for ceramic tiles in the country.Ceramic Tiles Market  Competitive AnalysisMajor players operating in the Ceramic Tiles concentrated in the Asia Pacific region are targeting to capitalize on the market with more value added products. For instance, Asian Granito India Ltd a leading player in the Ceramic Tiles space is focusing on high-value added products such as vitrified tiles, digital Ceramic Tiles, marble and quartz in line with the companys strategy towards achieving 50% retail sales from 35% in the Indian market. Capacity additions towards first half of 2018 for value added products is one of the strategy adopted by the company.Capacity expansion is a noted trend among the players in this market space, Kajaria Ceramics, a leading name in the ceramic tiles has expanded its capacity of ceramic tiles with its new plant in Tirupati, India. The plant will be operational in first of 2018.Access Complete Report @Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:March 28, 2016  Somany Ceramics Ltd has commenced the production at its plant located at Kassar (Bahadurgarh). The new plant will produce 4 million sq. meters of vitrified tiles. Total production after addition has become 17.13 million sq. meters per annum.October 12, 2016-, Asian Granito India Ltd (AGIL), completed its expansion at Crystal Ceramics Industries Pvt Ltd  subsidiary of the organization. With this expansion, production capacity of Crystal Ceramics has reached 27,000 square meters/day. The new plant produce vitrified tiles in the extensive arrangement of 800 X 800 mm and 1000 X 1000 mm for residential applications.December 15, 2016-, Somany Ceramics Ltd., became the first Indian ceramic tile manufacturer to launch 3D tile visualizer in virtual reality.March 23, 2017- Somany Ceramics Ltd., opened its new showroom for its wide range ceramic product including innovative tiles in Mumbai, India. The newly opened showroom is in line with the companys network expansion strategy across the country.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comDuctless Heating and Cooling Systems Market - Overview of Industry & Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: SnapshotOwing to factors such as growing demand for energy efficient devices, infrastructure development across various economies, rising income of people in the emerging countries, and lower operating cost, the demand in the global ductless heating and cooling systems is expected to expand at a significant CAGR during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025. On the other hand, lower capacity than ducted air conditioners and high initial cost is expected to challenge the market from attaining its true potential in the near future. However, trends such as growing use of ecofriendly refrigerant and growing concern for indoor air quality will keep the market in good condition until 2025.Application-wise, the global ductless heating and cooling systems market is gaining maximum demand from the residential building, considerably more than the commercial and industrial building sectors. Residential building includes all sorts of structures such as apartments, houses, cottages, and condominiums. In these structures, ductless heating and cooling systems are used to maintain the temperature, and since they are easy to install and consume less energy, the demand is escalating. Residential buildings frequently use mini split ductless heating and cooling systems as they offer lower capacity and lower operating cost.Request Sample Copy of the Report @This report on the global ductless heating and cooling systems market has been compiled to serve as a credible business tool for the audiences such as the manufacturers of these systems, end-use market participants of different segments, government and research organizations, and environment support agencies. The includes assessment of all the factors that may impact the demand in the near future as well as profiles of some of the leading companies in order to understand the competitive landscape.Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: OverviewThe global market for ductless heating and cooling systems is estimated to register a healthy growth rate in the next few years. The rising demand from the construction industry, especially from developing economies is likely to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the next few years. Furthermore, the development of new product and technological developments are anticipated to supplement the markets growth in the next few years. The research study has provided a detailed analysis of the market, focusing on the key growth factors that are estimated to encourage the growth of the market. Moreover, the key segmentation and the competitive scenario of the market have also been included in the study.Request TOC of the Report @Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising demand for energy efficient devices and the rapid pace of infrastructure development across diverse nations worldwide are some of the major factors anticipated to fuel the growth of the global ductless heating and cooling systems market in the next few years. In addition, the increasing income of consumers and their rising inclination towards enhancing their lifestyles are expected to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the next few years.On the contrary, the requirement of high initial cost and lower capacity of ductless heating and cooling systems in comparison with ducted air conditioners are projected to curtail the growth of the global market in the coming years. Moreover, several concerns related to the government regulations for refrigerant are likely to restrict the growth of the overall market. Nevertheless, the rising awareness among consumers regarding the concern for indoor air quality and the rising use of ecofriendly refrigerant are expected to contribute towards the development of the market.Get Discount @Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookFrom a geographical perspective, in 2015, Asia Pacific led the global ductless heating and cooling systems market and is anticipated to remain in the topmost position throughout the forecast period. The robust growth of the Asia Pacific market can be attributed to the tremendously rising population and the economic growth in several developing economies. In addition, a substantial contribution from India, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia is expected to contribute extensively towards the development of the Asia Pacific market in the coming years.Furthermore, the increasing use of ductless heating and cooling systems in commercial and residential buildings is anticipated to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future. The rising demand for ductless heating and cooling systems from China and the untapped opportunities in India are projected to fuel the growth of the overall market in the next few years. The research report has provided the market share, size, and growth rate of the regional segments in order to offer a clear picture of the global market.Key Players Mentioned in the Research Report are:At present, the global ductless heating and cooling systems market is highly competitive and fragmented in nature. The entry of new players in the global market is expected to result in a stiff competition among key players throughout the forecast players. Some of the prominent players operating in the ductless heating and cooling systems market across the globe are Daikin Industries Ltd., LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Whirlpool Corporation, Trane, Electrolux, Johnson Controls, United Technologies Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Hitachi, Ltd.The research study offers an in-depth competitive landscape of the global ductless heating and cooling systems market. The company profiles of the leading players in the market have been provided, along with their financial overview and business strategies. In addition, the SWOT analysis, recent developments, and mergers and acquisitions if any have been listed in the scope of the research study.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comPlastic Additives Market will cross USD 55 Billion Mark by 2022 | CAGR of 5.5%

Plastic Additives Market

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Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Global Plastic Additive Market Research Report  Forecast to 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast up to 2022.BASF SE (Germany), The Dow Chemical Company (United States), DuPont (United States), Evonik Industries (Germany), Exxon Mobil Corporation (United States), Mitsui Chemical Inc. (Japan), SABIC (Saudi Arabia), Chemtura Corporation (United States), Bayer AG (Germany) and Clariant (Switzerland) among others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Plastic AdditiveMarket and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.Plastic additive Market  Market OverviewPlastic Additive is added to polymer during chemical processing in order to enhance strength, gloss, durability and heat sensitivity. Depletion of mineral resources has led to increased cost of metal equipments which indirectly replaced metal parts with plastic components. Thus, cost effective and superior properties of plastic over metals are anticipated to drive the Plastic Additives Market. Plastic Additive such as antimicrobials, antioxidants, UV stabilizers, plasticizers are largely used in compound formulation to improve chemicals and physical properties.Receive a Sample Report upon Request @The factors impacting the Global Plastic Additive Market are excessive usage of plastic components over metal ore, superior properties of plastic additives and increasing application scope. The Global Plastic Additive Industry is dominated by plasticizers as it helps the plastic to increase rigidity and acts as modifier. Further, flame retardant is leading with considerable CAGR owing to increased application in automotive, and consumer appliances. Growing environment concern over degradation of forest resources has also replaces wood products with plastic. Thus, increasing consumption of plastic product has led to increased demand of Plastic Additives over the forecast period.The manufacturer of Plastic Additive is continuously under research and development in order to meet regulatory norms and lower down the toxic exposure of plastic product. Currently, development of special Plastic Additive product to enhance the quality of products such as electronic housing, printed circuit boards, wire and cables are expected to positively impact the market growth. Moreover, increasing demand of plastic components in transportation industry for lowering cost by augmenting fuel efficiency is anticipated to drive the market growth. However, increasing government regulations along with environmental awareness of plastic pollution is negatively impacting the market growth.Asia Pacific region is leading in Plastic Additive Market owing to lenient government regulations and robust industry growth of automotive, electronic, packaging and consumer goods. Countries like China, Europe and United States banned the consumption of phthalates which negatively impacting the plastic additive market. However, the demand for bio based products over plastic additive is putting pressure on manufacturer to develop non-toxic products. Manufacturing plants in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are relocating to China and India in order to meet both internal and external demand. Europe is anticipated to witness sluggish growth owing to strict environmental legislations and banned on plastic consumptions. UK, Germany and France are expected to generate high demand of plasticizers, flame retardants and other additives over the projected period.Plastic additive Market  Competitive AnalysisPlastic Additive Market is fragmented with major manufacturer from North America and some few from Asia Pacific region. Major players in market are adopting strategies such as acquisitions, partnerships, expansion and new technology development. The market participants are acquiring small players in the market in order to tap large market share. Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period Manufacturers are focusing more on high performance plastic products by lowering of greenhouse gases along with development of bio based additive. Focusing upon the competitive edge, plastic additive manufacturers strive to develop products that can deliver optimal adhesion, convenience, reliability and flexibility. Manufacturer like BASF, Songwon and ADEKA are expanding their presence through joint venture and strengthening their market position in Asia Pacific regions.Access Complete Report @Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:November 14, 2016  BASF invested into capacity expansion of plastic additive business across the globe. Along with this, company focus on strengthening its production facility in North America to enhance the market growth. This investment also increase capacity of Tinuvin product line in plastic additive. This would significantly align the existing capacity expansion in North America.March 14, 2017 BASF is investing in new plastic additive plant at Shanghai, China. The plant has total capacity of 42,000 tons which will produces antioxidants along with associated forms and blends. This would help the industry to cater the growing demand of end use industries in Asia Pacific region.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comSmart Advisors Market - Competition has Become Intense During Forecast Period 2017-2025

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Global Smart Advisors Market: SnapshotThere has been a significant rise in demand for demand for wealth advisory across the globe over the past few years, chiefly owing to the rising wealth of the affluent upper-middle class in emerging economies and the substantial increase in the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) globally. While financial advisory firms across the globe position themselves to benefit from the vast rise in growth opportunities, a number of challenges have arisen as the business outlook has become highly complex. Competition has become intense and regulatory oversights have become more prevalent.A vast rise in the client/advisor churn has intensified profit margin pressures. In this scenario, financial advisory companies are compelled to move on to innovation and provide technologies to advisors that could help them better understand, serve, and also create an excellent mode of communicate with client. Many companies have started adopting modes such as mobile, social media, data analytics, and cloud. Smart advisors - the concept of using automation and digital techniques to improve the advisor-client relationship significantly, also provides an interesting value proposition to investors in terms of massive savings for a number of services.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Smart advisors are expected to gain increased adoption in the next few years as financial advisory companies look ways to make advice delivery more effective, especially for a rising client base that is highly digital, and leverage the effectiveness of the conventional direct engagement techniques. Insurance companies are expected to adopt smart advisors to achieve a larger exposure in the wealth management sector while allowing agents to focus more on core activities such as insurance sales.Global Smart Advisors Market: OverviewThe smart advisors market is expected to display phenomenal growth in the coming years. Smart advisors use smart machine technology to provide an ambient user experience for applications and services. With the increasing adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), the need for smart advisors has intensified as machines interact with other machines and humans autonomously.The smart advisors market can be segmented on the basis of type, industry vertical, deployment type, end user, usage, and region. In terms of usage, mobile platform is expected to display the highest growth rate owing to the increasing number of mobile users and implementation of bring your own devices (BYOD) policy in the corporate sector. In the healthcare industry, the rising need for integrated patient management for high quality end to end services will bode well for this segments growth.Request TOC of the Report @By deployment type, on-cloud currently accounts for the largest market share and is expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period. This is because cloud-based solutions reduce up-fronts costs and eliminate the need of maintenance of servers. By end user, large enterprises are expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period. Factors such as customer retention and increased revenue generation are encouraging the adoption of smart advisors technology solutions in large enterprises.The report provides facts and figures relevant to the global smart advisors market in a chronological order. Analyzing past and current growth trends, the report presents satisfactory projections regarding the growth prospects of this market. The accurate projections presented in this report can be utilized by market participants to devise cutting-edge business strategies to leverage growth opportunities in the future. Using standard analytical tools such as Porters Five Forces analysis and SWOT analysis, the research report provides valuable indices of strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the market during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.Global Smart Advisors Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe major factors driving the global smart advisors market include the burgeoning demand for intelligent customer engagement, surging demand for automation for patient management in the healthcare industry, and increasing penetration of websites and mobile applications. In addition, the rising demand for integrated and next generation technology, increasing wave of mobile applications, and evolution of cloud-based solutions are expected to present considerable growth opportunities to this market.Get Discount @However, factors such as lack of awareness due to its relatively early presence in tech-adoption life cycle, high cost and complexities involved in the deployment and integration of these solutions, and lack of expertise are restraining this markets growth.Global Smart Advisors Market: Regional OverviewThe global smart advisors market can be broadly segmented into the regional segments of North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. The regional analysis involves the categorization of type, industry verticals, end users, usage, and deployment type into the aforementioned regional segments.Amongst these, Asia Pacific is expected to develop at a significant rate due to the ceaseless technological development in this region.Global Smart Advisors Market: Competitive OverviewThe major vendors for smart advisors solution profiled in this report include IBM Watson, eGain Corporation, Creative Virtual Pvt Ltd., CX Company, 24/7 Customer Inc., Nuance Communications Inc., Artificial Solutions, Next IT Corporation, Speakoit Inc., and Codebaby. These players are focused on new product development, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and regional expansions to gain a competitive advantage in the global smart advisors market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comCloud Computing in Education Market - Detailed Information Of Industry & Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: SnapshotAs the rapidly expanding education sector faces sustainability issues and budget restrictions, cloud computing is increasingly being seen as one approach to relieve these pressures. As capacity requirements of an educational institution begin to fluctuate and as new services and applications become available, the association with cloud allows institutions to meet the needs of their constituents in a cost effective and quick manner. As the trend of the greater usage of mobile computing devices gathers strength, cloud computing becomes a more obvious choice for educational institutions as it provides users the access to storage, applications, and a vast number of other resources from almost any device.Moreover, cloud computing provides an economical and highly flexible means to make the limited resources more useful for a larger set of consumers. The rising set of institutional sourcing options makes it necessary for IT leaders to analyze and integrate more providers and options. Cloud computing presents itself as a viable tool in the scenario owing to the several monetary and flexibility benefits it provides.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Real-life classroom experiences show that cloud is a good tool for collaboration and teaching. As the technology is still emerging, it presents the need for implementation of customized and standardized services. Evaluation in the sector could help bring vast changes in the rural education sector, an application area that presents vast untapped opportunities that companies in the cloud computing sector should consider for promising returns. This report analyzes and discusses the present and the prospective future growth opportunities in the field of cloud computing in education.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: OverviewThe international market for cloud computing in education is envisioned to leverage the booming opportunities originated from the loud acceptance of upgradable cloud services in the education industry. A countable number of educational institutions have given the green light for cloud computing to meet the requirement of streamlining academic procedures such as evaluation, administration, and most importantly, learning. The global cloud computing in education market is prophesied to win lucrative perks from the demand to implement centralized systems for the purpose of effectively managing academic administration processes, thus curbing the burden on the management staff.Request TOC of the Report @The report offered here on the global cloud computing in education market could see a segmentation pattern which introduces classification criteria such as deployment model, service model, and end user.The global cloud computing in education market report is a crucial guide for businesses wanting to ensure a visible progress in the industry. With customizations procured as per the needs of the interested parties, the publication holds the potential to rightly direct the existing as well as budding players to penetrate the global market.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Trends and OpportunitiesAcross the world, the cloud computing in education market is anticipated to gain a strong impetus due to the elevating adoption of the technology in higher education and K-12. For the forecast period, higher education is predicted to mark a larger share in the global market amongst other end users. The domination of this possible end user segment could continue until the end of the forecast period.Get Discount @Since most end users prefer the services offered by platform as a service (PaaS) providers, this service model market is expected to gain traction over markets in the category. The important change in the cloud ecosystem is principally attributed to the implementation of PaaS. However, software as a service (SaaS) is foreseen to hold a significant percentage of share in the global cloud computing in education market.Owing to the amplified number of security features offered at a reasonable price, the community cloud as a probable deployment type segment is foretold to grasp a marked share in the world cloud computing in education market.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Regional OutlookSpecifically in the developed countries of Canada and the U.S., the demand for cloud computing in education is prognosticated to move levels higher as they look to ride on the elevating focus on production innovations. Most innovations in this field are judged to receive a strong push from the rigorous research and development activities performed in the cloud computing sector. As a result, North America is expected to leave no doubts in the minds of the research analysts for coming forth as a larger revenue holder in the global cloud computing in education market.The Asia Pacific market is forecasted to be propelled by the shift toward cloud solutions for sophisticated services such as tracking, sharing, and collaborating sundry variants of a document. Much of this demand is expected to birth from end users such as universities and schools.There could be a few challenges that the top regions of the cloud computing in education market could face, i.e. rigidly designed cloud-based systems and account management and data protection risks. Nevertheless, such constraints are estimated to lose their effect eventually with the advent of momentous opportunities such as developing potential markets, employment of adaptive cloud services, and application of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Companies MentionedAmong others, the sovereign brands operating in the worldwide cloud computing in education market could be Ellucian, Amazon Web Services, NetApp Inc., NEC Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, VMware Inc., IBM Corporation, Cisco System Inc., and Adobe System Inc. With the intention of popularizing their offerings at a global platform, the major vendors in the market are envisaged to take advantage of acquisitions and mergers and inauguration of novel products.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comMild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Global Market Research Report 2017 | AgeneBio Inc, Avraham Pharmaceuticals Ltd, CereSpir Inc, ConSynance Therapeutics Inc, Eisai Co Ltd

Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Pcs), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic sales volume, Price (USD/Pcs), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingAgeneBio IncAvraham Pharmaceuticals LtdCereSpir IncConSynance Therapeutics IncEisai Co LtdEli Lilly and CompanyEnsol Biosciences IncGenzyme CorpIntelGenx CorpKrenitsky Pharmaceuticals IncMerck & Co IncNanotherapeutics IncNeuron Biopharma SAPfizer IncSage Therapeutics IncSBI Pharmaceuticals Co LtdSuven Life Sciences LtdTakeda Pharmaceutical Company LtdTherapix Biosciences LtdOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBAN-2401BosutinibBrexanoloneCSP-1103OthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingHospitalClinicOthersGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Table of ContentsGlobal Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Market Report 20171 Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic1.2 Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic by Product Category1.2.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 BAN-24011.2.4 Bosutinib1.2.5 Brexanolone1.2.6 CSP-11031.2.7 Others1.3 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospital1.3.3 Clinic1.3.4 Others1.4 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market by Region1.4.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume) by Application3 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Players6.3 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Mild Cognitive Impairment Therapeutic Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationContinue...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Dry Construction Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 5.58% During The Period 2017-2021

Dry Construction Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Dry Construction Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Dry construction refers to the construction of buildings using dry materials, including gypsum or wallboard, plywood, rock wool or glass wool, and supporting metal frames, without the use of wet construction materials such as brick, mortar, and plaster. Dry construction techniques have gained widespread adoption in many developed economies and are becoming popular in developing countries, due to their various advantages over wet construction, such as shorter construction times and insulation features. Dry construction materials have more aesthetically pleasing designs and allow for easy remodeling of existing building structures.Technavios analysts forecast the global dry construction market to grow at a CAGR of 5.58% during the period 2017-2021.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global dry construction market for 2017-2021. The report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAGlobal Dry Construction Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsArmstrongEtexKnauf GipsSaint-GobainXellaOther prominent vendorsBeijing New Building MaterialEverestFletcher BuildingGeorgia-Pacific Gypsum and Georgia-Pacific Wood ProductsGrupo PromaxMasterplastNATIONAL GYPSUM PROPERTIESPABCO Building ProductsSOPREMAUSGYOSHINO GYPSUMGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Market driverRise in global construction and infrastructure development activitiesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeComparatively costlier than brick and mortar constructionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendRising demand for LVT (luxury vinyl tile) flooringFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Public Cloud Business Process Services Market To Expand At A CAGR Of 21.7% During The Forecast Period 20172022 Could Be Worth A US$139.1 Bn

Smart Toys Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Smart Toys Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Smart toys makes for a market in its nascent stage, wherein the development of niche products, especially due to the emerging possibilities with the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), is opening vast new opportunities. Recognizing the strong potential for the future, this report on the global smart toys market has been compiled by a group of professional market research analysts, highlighting and analyzing the micro and macro aspects and providing a thorough study to its targeted audiences.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Smart Toys Market: Key Research AspectsThis report on the global smart toys market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report consists of an elaborate executive summary that includes a market snapshot, providing overall information of various segments and sub-segments. This research is a collaboration of two parts, primary and secondary research. While the primary research constructed a major chunk of our research efforts. It included collection of information from telephonic interviews and conversations via e-mails with industry experts and opinion leaders.On the other hand, secondary research essentially focused on studying company annual reports and their official websites, recent press releases, and stock analysis presentations. Our analysts also dug through various international and national databases to extract quantitative and qualitative data. This report on the global smart toys market offers market size in terms of US$ mn for each product, device, wireless communications technology, and geography segment and sub-segment for the period from 2017 to 2022, considering the micro and macro environmental factors. Growth rates for each segment within the global smart toys market have been determined only after a thorough assessment of past trends, future trends, demographics, technological developments, and regulatory requirements.The market dynamics sections reveals a detailed qualitative analysis of factors that are expected to favor or obstruct the market growth and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also comprises market attractiveness analysis, aiming to provide an elaborate analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global smart toys market.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Global Smart Toys Market: SegmentationsOn the basis of the type of toy, this report segments the global smart toys market into app-enabled mechanical toys, voice or image recognition toys, screenless toys, toys-to-life, puzzles and building games, health-tracking toys or wearables, and others. Based on interfacing device, the market for smart toys has been classified into tablets, smartphones, consoles, and drones, whereas on the basis of wireless communications technology, the market has been categorized into Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID or NFC, and others.Geographically, the report takes stock of the potential of smart toys market in the regions of North America (U.S. and Canada), Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, and Nordic), Asia Pacific except Japan (India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia), the Middle East and Africa (GCC countries, South Africa, Israel, and Nigeria), and in the country of Japan. For each of these regions and country, the report provides revenue comparison based on toy type, interfacing device, and wireless communications technology.Global Smart Toys Market: Competitive LandscapeGenesis Toy Co. Ltd, Activision Blizzard Inc., the Hasbro Inc., Fisher-Price Inc., LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., Spin Master Corp, Reach Robotics Ltd, Seebo Interactive Ltd, Wow Wee Group Ltd, and SmartGurlz ApS are some of the key companies in the global smart toys market that have been profiled in this report. For each individual company, the report provides business overview, product type, toy type sales data and key financials, recent strategic developments, and SWOT analysis. The competitive landscape of the report also contains a dedicated section on company share analysis by region.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Industry Analysis of Automotive Electronic Power Steering Industrial Trend and Market Demand - Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022

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"Automotive Electronic Power Steering Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.. .Description-' 'Global Automotive Electronic Power Steering Market: OverviewThe world automotive electronic power steering (EPS) market is prognosticated to showcase an enhanced growth due to the shift from the previous technology to EPS systems. This could be on account of the urgent need to find fuel-efficient solutions followed by the global fuel crisis. Independence from the combustion engine and the usage of alternator for sourcing power are envisaged to have assisted the new EPS technology to overshadow the conventional steering system.. .Get Sample Report @' 'Global Automotive Electronic Power Steering Market: DynamicsTechnological advancements are forecasted to be at the forefront of the world automotive EPS market. Several companies are making their individual contribution toward the growth of technology in the market. For instance, the SPIDAN power steering system developed by GKN PLC uses remanufactured replacement components to ensure the preservation of natural resources. It also helps in decreasing carbon dioxide emission and fuel consumption. Moreover, it boasts of intelligent energy management. Another instance could be Hitachi Automotive Systems Co. Ltd. and Nissan collaborating to develop a new electro-hydraulic power steering system.The rapid rise in vehicle-owning households and worldwide population are projected to play a significant role in the substantial increase in automotive vehicle production. Today, the EPS systems market is said to have surpassed the traditional hydraulic steering in less than two decades. Advantages such as lower fuel consumption, high durability, improved response at different speeds, low maintenance, and lower weight coupled with simple architecture could fuel the adoption of EPS over hydraulic systems. This, in turn, could fuel the demand in the world automotive EPS market.Global Automotive Electronic Power Steering Market: SegmentationAccording to the researchers authoring the report, the international automotive EPS market could be split up into four chief products, viz. hydraulic (H)-EPS, column-assist (C)-EPS, pinion-assist (P)-EPS, and rack-assist (R)-EPS. Amongst these, H-EPS is anticipated to secure a leading share of 31.2% in the market by the end of 2022. The H-EPS market could expand at an annual US$0.4 bn absolute growth, which is prophesied to be larger than any other product.The international automotive EPS market is also predicted to be classified into heavy commercial vehicles, light commercial vehicles, luxury passenger cars, premium passenger cars, mid-sized passenger cars, and compact passenger cars, as per vehicle type segmentation.In terms of regional segmentation, the international automotive EPS market could be divided into six key geographies, i.e. North America, Latin America, Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).Global Automotive Electronic Power Steering Market: CompetitionIn all, the report on the worldwide automotive EPS market studies 10 industry players, viz. JTEKT, Bosh, Nexteer, NSK, Mando Corporation, KSR International Company, Showa, ThyssenKrupp Presta, Hitachi Automotive, and Sona Koyo. Readers are also provided with a detailed company share analysis followed by SWOT analysis and company overview of each player studied. Furthermore, for each company analyzed in the report, the analysts offer a study of their important developments, sales data and key financials by type of product, and a list of their products.. .More Clear Details get Table of Contents @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Global Industrial Trend and Market Demand Report 2017

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"Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Market Report 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.. .Description-' 'In this report, the global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Companion Animal Speciality Drugs for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEurope. .Get Sample Report @' 'JapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Companion Animal Speciality Drugs market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Companion Animal Speciality Drugs sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingZoetisMerckMerialElancoBayer Animal HealthBoehringer Ingelheim VetmedicaVirbacCeva Sante AnimaleVtoquinolJuroxMSD Animal Health AustraliaPARNELLCAHICRingpu BiologyOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAntibioticsAnti-inflammatory DrugsParasiticidesHeartwormBehavioural ProductsNutritional ProductsAnti-Obesity DrugsSkin Care ProductsVaccinesOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingVeterinary HospitalsVeterinary ClinicsPharmacies and Drug StoresTable of ContentsGlobal Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Market Report 20171 Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Companion Animal Speciality Drugs1.2 Classification of Companion Animal Speciality Drugs by Product Category1.2.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Antibiotics1.2.4 Anti-inflammatory Drugs1.2.5 Parasiticides1.2.6 Heartworm1.2.7 Behavioural Products1.2.8 Nutritional Products1.2.9 Anti-Obesity Drugs1.2.10 Skin Care Products1.2.11 Vaccines1.3 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Veterinary Hospitals1.3.3 Veterinary Clinics1.3.4 Pharmacies and Drug Stores1.4 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market by Region1.4.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume) by Application3 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Players6.3 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Application7 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.1.1 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.2 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.3 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)7.2 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Players7.3 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Type7.4 Southeast Asia Companion Animal Speciality Drugs Sales Volume and Market Share by Application. .More Clear Details get Table of Contents @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074The White House praised China's moves to reduce its trade with North Korea on Friday, saying it will help the US -led effort to apply maximum pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear programme.

Canada is among several countries that have sought to bolster diplomatic efforts amid escalating saber-rattling by U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim, the North Korean leader.

"I think that they will continue to develop their nuclear and missile capability".

The ministers will discuss steps to thwart North Korea's evasion of sanctions, including through maritime interdiction, State Department Director of Policy Planning Brian Hook said in a press briefing.

This peaceful initiative, proposed by Moscow and Beijing, urged Pyongyang, from the one hand, to declare a moratorium on nuclear tests and missile launches and South Korea and the United States, on the other hand, to abstain from carrying out joint drills, in order to stabilize the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

"The meeting will bring together nations from across the globe to demonstrate worldwide solidarity against North Korea's risky and illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs", the statement said.

Yet without Russian Federation and China, both of which have been involved in the so-called Six-Party Talks aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear program, it's unclear what the Vancouver meeting can really achieve.

But Hook said America has kept China informed on enforcing sanctions and added that both it and Russian Federation would be briefed after the Vancouver conference.

"And maritime interdiction helps us to disrupt resources and then the financial side helps us to disrupt the financing of their nuclear and missile program".

Japan, South Korea and countries that supplied United Nations troops to the South during the Korean War in the 1950s will take part.

"We believe that only in this format, at the negotiating table, in a calm and normal atmosphere this very complex problem can and should be solved", Zakharova said, ruling out any possibility of a military option.

Ties between Canada and Japan were strained in November, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised last-minute objections to an effort by the remaining 11 participants in a Pacific trade pact to revive the deal without Trump.

FIFA World Cup: A tournament for everyone

There are just too many teams, too many leagues, and too many competitions to keep up-to-date with all the major events and news. You can catch the best players, you can catch those players notorious for on field antics and also off field antics.

Kamala Mills Fire: Mojo's Bistro Co-owner Yug Tuli Denied Bail

The defence lawyers tried to claim that the owners of 1 Above were being framed as the fire started in the neighbouring pub Mojo's Bistro.

Paolo Hurtado anoto su primer gol del 2018 con el Vitoria Guimaraes

Junior Tallo a los 39' volvio a adelantar al Vitoria Guimaraes , pero a los 44', Davidson lo volvio a empatar (3-3). El seleccionado peruano abrio el marcador para su equipo con una sutil definicion de su pie derecho.Details Story on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension - Opportunity Analysis and Forecasts to 2026

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"OpportunityAnalyzer: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension - Opportunity Analysis and Forecasts to 2026" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.. .Description-' 'Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, fatal cardiopulmonary disease with an annual mortality rate of 15%. The disease is a subset (Group 1) within the World Health Organizations (WHOs) classification of the different types of pulmonary hypertension (PH). PAH is characterized by an abnormal rise in the resting mean pulmonary arterial pressure (>25mmHg compared with normal levels of around 14mmHg). This increased pressure is caused by pulmonary arterial obstruction due to endothelial dysfunction and vascular remodeling, and leads to increased resistance in the arterial blood vessels. Since PAH is a progressive disorder, the pulmonary pressure keeps building up as the patient advances through the later stages of the disease, leading to reduced cardiac output, right heart failure, and ultimately, death.. .Get Sample Report @' 'GlobalData estimates the 2016 sales for the PAH market at approximately $3.79 billion across the 7MM, encompassing the US, the five major European countries (5EU: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK), and Japan. By 2026 GlobalData expects the overall market to grow at a moderate compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2% to reach sales of $4.72 billion over the 10-year period. The 5EU market is anticipated to grow the fastest of the three regions, recording a CAGR of 5.4%, while the US and Japan will each record CAGRs of 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively. At the end of 2026, the US will contribute around 67% of global sales, while the 5EU and Japan will account for 28% and 5% of global sales, respectively. The higher sales numbers for the US can be attributed to the higher price of pharmaceuticals and the greater diagnosed prevalence of PAH in the region.Scope- Overview of pulmonary arterial hypertension, including epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment guidelines.- Annualized PAH therapeutics market revenue, annual cost of therapy and treatment usage pattern data from 2016 and forecast for ten years to 2026.- Key topics covered include strategic competitor assessment, market characterization, unmet needs, clinical trial mapping and implications for the PAH therapeutics market.- Pipeline analysis: comprehensive data split across different phases, emerging novel trends under development, and detailed analysis of late-stage pipeline drugs.- Analysis of the current and future market competition in the global PAH therapeutics market. Insightful review of the key industry drivers, restraints and challenges. Each trend is independently researched to provide qualitative analysis of its implications.Reasons to buyThe report will enable you to -- Develop and design your in-licensing and out-licensing strategies through a review of pipeline products and technologies, and by identifying the companies with the most robust pipeline. Additionally a list of acquisition targets included in the pipeline product company list.- Develop business strategies by understanding the trends shaping and driving the global PAH therapeutics market.- Drive revenues by understanding the key trends, innovative products and technologies, market segments, and companies likely to impact the global PAH therapeutics market in future.- Formulate effective sales and marketing strategies by understanding the competitive landscape and by analysing the performance of various competitors.- Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolios and create effective counter-strategies to gain a competitive advantage.- Track drug sales in the global PAH therapeutics market from 2016-2026.- Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present maximum opportunities for consolidations, investments and strategic partnerships.. .More Clear Details get Table of Contents @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Market Professional Survey Report 2017 : WINSUN, CAHIC, Merial

QYResearchReports

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Market Professional Survey Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.QYResearchReports.com has added a new report covering the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market to its vast database. The research report studies the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market to analyze the factors impacting it. The report has been divided into several chapters that discuss the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market in absolute detail. The report begins with the discussion of the industry overview, which includes definitions and specifications of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines. It also explains the classification of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines, its applications, the industry chain structure, the status of the major regional segments of the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market, industry policies, and recent news.The report gives an analysis of the manufacturing cost structure with the help of data about raw material suppliers and price analysis. This chapter also offers an explanation of the analysis carried out for equipment suppliers and prices. Furthermore, the chapter includes an analysis of labor costs, other costs, and manufacturing process analysis.Fill the form to get free report sample on this market @The report explains the role of end users in regions such as Europe, China, and Japan, along with sharing the details regarding the segmentation of the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market. The comprehensive report also explains the governmental policies acting on the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market and studies the market in the context of the political scenario, economic condition, social dynamics, technological advancements, legal implications, and environmental demands and regulations.The research report on the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines gives a clear picture of the competitive landscape of the market. The report offers an insight into the financial overview and details about sales, revenue, and price concerning the leading vendors operating in the global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines market. It also provides a SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis of the important players in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.1 Definition and Specifications of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.1.1 Definition of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.1.2 Specifications of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.2 Classification of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.3 Applications of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines1.4 Market Segment by Regions2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Classical Swine Fever VaccinesMake An Enquiry For Discount :3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Classical Swine Fever VaccinesTable Product Specifications of Classical Swine Fever VaccinesTable Classification of Classical Swine Fever VaccinesFigure Global Production Market Share of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines by Type in 2016Figure Global Consumption Volume Market Share of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines by Application in 2016Table Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 2016Table Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 2016Table R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 2016Table Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Classical Swine Fever Vaccines Major Manufacturers in 2016Table Global Capacity, Sales , Price, Cost, Sales Revenue (M USD) and Gross Margin of Classical Swine Fever Vaccines 2012-2017About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comGlobal Cyprinus Carpio Sales Market Report 2017 Top Players : Egypt, USA, Brazil, Indonesia

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The market study on the global Cyprinus Carpio market is a professional tool that scrutinizes vital market indicators to understand the progression of the said between 2017-2022. The research report on the global Cyprinus Carpio market studies historical and current performance, which are used to provide projections for crucial market indices. The report is meticulously compiled after extensive data collection from industry-centric bodies that has been further endorsed by industry opinion leaders.The report examines the global Cyprinus Carpio market based on a few key parameters; each criteria is examined to estimate revenue and volume figures in the said market over the forecast period. The key segments of the Cyprinus Carpio market under various categories along with their growth behavior are analyzed in this report. An estimate of market size serves as an important tool for market participants to gauge the progression of the market over the forecast period. The report studies key regions for Cyprinus Carpio including an in-depth assessment of major domestic markets in each region.Get Free Research Summary of the Report:The report is compiled in a chapter-wise format followed by annex section. The report begins with a prelude of the global Cyprinus Carpio market, progressing into definitions, notations, and conventions that are relevant to this market. Following this, a discussion on industry statutes, industry policies, and regulatory framework in presented in this report. The report includes a snippet of the recent industry news in the concluding part of this section.Using standard analytical tools and proven research methodologies, the feasibility and profitability of new investments along with a market attractiveness analysis of the Cyprinus Carpio market over the forecast period is presented herein. The SWOT analysis of major players in the global Cyprinus Carpio market is useful to understand their winning strategies and the changing competitive hierarchy over the forecast period.Table of Contents1 Cyprinus Carpio Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Cyprinus Carpio1.2 Classification of Cyprinus Carpio by Product Category1.2.1 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.3 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.4 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market by Region1.4.1 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Cyprinus Carpio Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Cyprinus Carpio (2012-2022)2 Global Cyprinus Carpio Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Cyprinus Carpio Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Cyprinus Carpio Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Cyprinus Carpio (Volume and Value) by Type2.3 Global Cyprinus Carpio (Volume and Value) by Region2.4 Global Cyprinus Carpio (Volume) by ApplicationCheck Discount For This Report @3 United States Cyprinus Carpio (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Cyprinus Carpio Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Cyprinus Carpio (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Cyprinus Carpio Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Cyprinus CarpioFigure Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume Comparison (K Units) by Type (2012-2022)Figure Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Global Cyprinus Carpio Sales Comparison (K Units) by Application (2012-2022)Figure Global Sales Market Share of Cyprinus Carpio by Application in 2016Figure Global Cyprinus Carpio Market Size (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2022)Figure United States Cyprinus Carpio Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Cyprinus Carpio Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Cyprinus Carpio Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Cyprinus Carpio Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Cyprinus Carpio Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comGlobal Antithrombotic/Anticoagulant Drugs Technologies and Market Research Report

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Antithrombotic/Anticoagulant Drugs: Technologies and Global Markets" to its huge collection of research reports.The global market for antithrombotic/anticoagulant drugs should reach $27.3 billion by 2021 from $18.9 billion in 2016, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6%, from 2016 to 2021.The North American antithrombotic/anticoagulant drugs market is expected to grow from nearly $8.0 billion in 2016 to nearly $11.0 billion in 2021, a CAGR of 6.6% for the period 2016-2021.The antithrombotic/anticoagulant drugs market in Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow from $3.7 billion in 2016 to roughly $6.3 billion in 2021, a CAGR of 11.2% for the period 2016-2021.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction - 1Introduction - 1Study Goals and Objectives- 1Reasons for Doing This Study - 1Scope of Report - 2Information Sources - 2Methodology - 2Geographic Breakdown - 2Analysts Credentials - 6Related BCC Research Reports- 6Chapter 2: Summary and Highlights - 8Chapter 3: Market and Technology Background - 12Types of Robotic Systems - 12Robotics Defined - 13Sensor Requirements for Robotic Systems - 14Chapter 4: Market Breakdown by Technology Type - 17Types of Sensors for Robotics - 17Vision Sensors for Robotics - 20Touch Sensors for Robotics - 23Hearing Sensors for Robotics - 27Motion Sensors for Robotics - 29Chapter 5: Market Breakdown by End User - 33Sizing End User Markets- 33Chapter 6: Market Breakdown by Application - 36Agriculture - 37Appliances - 39Automotive - 42Healthcare - 45Industrial - 47Logistics - 49Military - 52Chapter 7: Market Breakdown by Region - 56North America - 57Europe - 59Asia-Pacific - 61Rest of World - 63Chapter 8: Patent Review/ New Developments - 67Research Examples - 67Chapter 9: Analysis of Market Opportunities - 72Chapter 10: Company Profiles - 75About BCC Research - 210About BCC Research- 211BCC Membership - 211BCC Custom Research - 211Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Report 2017 : Stepan, Ashland

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) market is closely assessed in the publication using in-depth verifiable projections, historical data, and qualitative insights. With the help of proven assumptions and research methodologies, the analysts have derived the projections featured in the publication. For every aspect of the market, the publication serves as a great repository of information, data, and critical analysis. It could be said that the publication is a fine source of stakeholder and value chain analysis, technological breakthroughs observed in the market, and current and future challenges, opportunities, and trends. Furthermore, the publication promises a significant unveiling of crucial market segments and sub-segments and opportunities therein.For more info, Get a Free Sample PDF :The analysts have made it a point to reveal untapped markets and business prospects so as to assist players to strengthen their position in the industry. Besides market size, the publication sheds light on vital factors such as supply and demand. This could help readers to gain a complete understanding of how the global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) market would perform in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the publication has been complied with the use of effective primary and secondary research methodologies, including surveys, interviews, trade journals, and reputable paid sources. The authors of the publication have ensured that readers do not miss out on any important information about the market that could keep them in the dark.The competitive landscape of the global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) market is broadly examined as the researchers profile some of the key companies operating in the industry. Company profiling takes into consideration critical factors that could impact the growth of players in the market, such as recent developments, market shares, mergers and acquisitions, and other business strategies. Moreover, the nature of the competitive landscape and future competitive scenarios are shed light upon in the publication. This could help players to be cautioned about future challenges and prepare effective plans beforehand.Table of Contents1 Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4)1.2 Classification of Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) by Product Category1.2.1 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.3 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.4 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market by Region1.4.1 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (2012-2022)2 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (Volume and Value) by Type2.3 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (Volume and Value) by Region2.4 Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (Volume) by ApplicationEnquiry For Discount Visit @3 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4)Figure Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume Comparison (K Units) by Type (2012-2022)Figure Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Sales Comparison (K Units) by Application (2012-2022)Figure Global Sales Market Share of Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) by Application in 2016Figure Global Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Market Size (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2022)Figure United States Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris(hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (CAS 4719-04-4) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comGlobal Pharmacy Automation Systems Market Is Expected To Expand At A CAGR Of 6.3% Over The Forecast Period (20172027)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Pharmacy Automation Systems Market: Inventory Management Expected to be the Second Most Lucrative Application Segment: Global Industry Analysis 2012 - 2016 and Opportunity Assessment 2017 - 2027" to its huge collection of research reports.This report by Future Market Insights (FMI) examines the pharmacy automation systems market for the period 20122027. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates and information related to market opportunities in the global pharmacy automation systems market.Report DescriptionThe global pharmacy automation systems market report begins by defining pharmacy automation systems and various types of systems used for automating the entire process in pharmacies. It is followed by an overview of market dynamics of the global pharmacy automation systems market, which includes FMI analysis of key trends, drivers, restraints and opportunities along with factors important for vendor selection criteria that is influencing the growth of the pharmacy automation systems market. It also includes an insight into region wise trends impacting market growth. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on a weighted average model has been included in the global pharmacy automation systems market report after a detailed analysis of individual regions to better equip readers with meaningful insights on ongoing technological developments in the pharmacy automation systems market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Based on product type, the market has been segmented into medication dispensing cabinets, packaging and labelling systems, IV pharmacy (automated drug compounding), robotic dispensing systems, carousal storage systems and tablet splitters. Based on application, the market has been segmented into drug dispensing & packaging, drug storage and inventory management. Based on end user, the market is segmented into hospital pharmacies, clinic pharmacies, retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies and pharmaceutical SMEs. A detailed analysis has been provided for these segments in terms of market size, Y-o-Y growth rate, and historic market size analysis.The next section of the report highlights the pharmacy automation systems market by region and provides market outlook for 20122027. The report also discusses key regional trends contributing to the revenue growth of the pharmacy automation systems worldwide, as well as analyses the impact of drivers and restraints in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East & Africa (MEA).The above sectionsby product, application, end user and regionevaluate the present scenario and growth prospects of the pharmacy automation systems market for the forecast period 20172027. We have considered 2016 as the base year and provided data for the forecast period.To ascertain pharmacy automation systems market size, we have considered revenue generated by companies in the global pharmacy automation systems market. The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue by value across the pharmacy automation systems market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we have started by sizing up the current market, which forms the basis of how the pharmacy automation systems market is expected to develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we have triangulated the outcome of three different types of analysis based on supply side, downstream industry demand, and the economic envelope.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse it based on key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth rates to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the global pharmacy automation systems market. To understand key growth segments in terms of growth and sales of pharmacy automation systems globally, Future Market Insights has developed the pharmacy automation systems market Attractiveness Index to help providers identify real market opportunities in the global pharmacy automation systems market.In the final section of the report on the global pharmacy automation systems market, a Competitive Landscape is included to provide report audiences with detailed company profiles based on categories of providers in the pharmacy automation systems market and key differentiators. Key categories of providers covered in the report include companies manufacturing and developing pharmacy automation systems. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of the leading companies in the pharmacy automation systems market. Report audiences can gain segment-specific company insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on an in-depth assessment of capabilities and successes in the pharmacy automation systems marketplace. Detailed profiles of pharmacy automation systems companies are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long- and short-term strategies, key offerings, SWOT analysis, and recent developments in the global pharmacy automation systems market.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Key Segments CoveredBy Product Type- Medication Dispensing Cabinets- Packaging & Labelling Systems- IV Pharmacy (Drug Compounding Systems)- Robotic Dispensing Systems- Carousel Storage Systems- Tablet SplittersBy Application- Drug Dispensing & Packaging- Drug Storage- Inventory ManagementBy End User- Hospital Pharmacies- Clinic Pharmacies- Retail Pharmacies- Mail Order Pharmacies- Pharmaceutical SMEsKey Regions/Countries CoveredNorth America- U.S.- CanadaLatin America- Argentina- Brazil- Mexico- Rest of Latin AmericaWestern Europe- U.K.- Germany- France- Spain- Italy- Nordic- BENELUX- Rest of Western EuropeEastern Europe- Russia- Poland- Rest of Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Ex. Japan (APEJ)- China- India- Australia and New Zealand- ASEAN- Rest of APACJapanMiddle East & Africa- GCC- North Africa- South Africa- Rest of MEAAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Bioabsorbable Stents Market Is Anticipated To Reach A Value Of More Than US$ 350 Mn By The End Of 2022 At A Robust CAGR Of 9.7%

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Bioabsorbable Stents Market: Europe to Dominate the Global Market in Terms of Revenue: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2022)" to its huge collection of research reports.Recently published fully researched publication on Global Bioabsorbable Stents Market: Industry analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Analysis (2017-2022), which focuses on different aspects which influence the global market. The comprehensive research report on global bioabsorbable stents market focuses on trends, opportunities, challenges, restraints and growth drivers which have a one of a kind impact on the growth of the global market. The research report presents a holistic angle covering the global scenario, thereby putting across a 3600view of the global bioabsorbable stents market. Global scenario is covered with respect to important geographies of North America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Europe, Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). A detailed level five segmentation adds to the credibility and the value addition that the research report brings.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Know What your Competition KnowsResearch report on global bioabsorbable stents market is well crafted and includes a separate section titled competitive analysis, which covers all details about the tier companies involved in the global bioabsorbable stents market. An in-depth analyses on these key companies includes a detailed SWOT, market share analysis, growth strategies, promotion tactics, mergers and acquisitions, expansion strategies, global presence, innovations and developments, etc. This competitive scenario will reinforce the readers decisions to gain competitive edge.To achieve this clarity and get acquainted with the various market components, and elements which impact the market, a powerful research approach is followed at Future Market Insights, which has proven useful in gathering data and achieving high accuracy of the results provided in the report. Initial steps to understand the market and get a certain direction based on the market definition is achieved with the help of secondary research. This vast research covers a wide angle of the market and points in the right direction based on which primary research is carried out. Across all important geographies, several primary interviews are conducted which give a shape to the current market understanding based on which inferences are slated. Moreover, each insight, each data point or each statement which is noted is cross checked at every stage in the primary research, re-evaluated during each primary interview and thereby all the data undergoes validation a couple of times. The key opinions from the market observers, industry experts and secondary sources are chalked and this extensive information overload is triangulated to arrive at conclusions with maximum accuracy. The research process includes profiling of the market, identifying and listing respondents, preparing a detailed conversation guide based on overall market understanding, collection of data points, validating the data and analysing it and providing meaningful insights.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Value Addition at Your DoorstepMarket research report on global bioabsorbable stents market delivers the necessary value addition with which the user can extract meaningful insights and make informed decisions. Below are few highlights which will reflect the credibility of the research report.- The research study gives a holistic 3600 view of the entire market considering all major geographies- The study expresses unbiased opinion about the market and this realistic market contour can be used to slate important decisions from a strategic standpoint- Trends and developments are unmasked which drive the market in the future- Maximum accuracy which supports the research thesis and helps the readers to make strategic moves- Actionable intelligence adds to the feel and flavor of the research study- A detailed SWOT analysis to give a brief market understanding- Effective forecasting helps in judging current decisions and planning future moves- In depth weighted analysis that gives justice to the detailed segmentation covered in the studyAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Cancer Immunotherapy with Artificial Intelligence for Hospitals: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts 2017 to 2023

Cancer Immunotherapy with Artificial Intelligence for Hospitals

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Cancer Immunotherapy with Artificial Intelligence for Hospitals: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2017 to 2023" to its huge collection of research reports.The 2017 study has 124 pages, 50 tables and figures. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve continuing growth as the artificial intelligence software increases diagnostic excellence, saving lives and lowering care delivery costs.Hospital Artificial Intelligence for Immunotherapy drives sales of analytics systems.Automated cancer immunotherapies from IBM Watson are implemented with artificial intelligence that looks at patient samples to detect the genetic characteristics of the cancer and isolate the immune particularities of the patient. Systems are able to take a multi-disciplinary integrated approach to looking at imaging and scans. The analysis of patient records, looking for effectiveness of particular treatments is more work than a human can do, the quantity of data is too high, so the artificial intelligence is being used to do that.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Personalized medicine is driving this market opportunity.Systems are making a significant difference in saving lives.Memorial Sloan Kettering physician-scientists are among leaders in the field developing groundbreaking immune therapies that are helping to treat several forms of advanced cancer that were previously untreatable. These scientists have played a lead role in developing and testing the immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors that release the brakes on the immune system.Hospital care management can leverage artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is useful for providing highly tailored insights about individual patients for the purpose of personalizing immunotherapy care delivery. Artificial intelligence is useful for helping providers effectively address healthcare delivery because it details genetic specificity regarding individual patients.The intersection of healthcare and artificial intelligence represents a market opportunity. New strategies are being developed by companies to bring A.I. to healthcare. The business challenges around those efforts are being addressed collectively in partnerships and in forums to bring the technology into the market. Artificial intelligence has an impact on patients, doctors, hospitals, clinical facilities, and the healthcare industry overall.The ability of an intelligent system to learn from data without upfront human intervention brings significant change to the healthcare delivery system. It relies on the use of unsupervised and semi-supervised machine learning techniques. Segmentation, dimensionality reduction, anomaly detection and pattern recognition are replacing supervised manual techniques for diagnosis and care delivery.Immunotherapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) has been making enormous progress in the treatment of cancer. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, immunotherapy is one of the most promising ways to treat, cure, and ultimately prevent cancer. Immunotherapy at MSK has evolved new immune-based treatments for cancer. Researchers have been at the epicenter of new discoveries in the field, and their work is bringing exciting new treatment options to people with cancer.Artificial Intelligence for Hospital Cancer Immunotherapy Market ForecastsCancer immunotherapy hospital artificial intelligence market system shipments at $7.4 billion in 2023 are forecast to reach $49.4 billion dollars, worldwide by 2023. These artificial intelligence systems represent a very specialized type of care delivery. Steady growth is anticipated because the severely ill patients with advanced cancer disease can be treated successfully with immunotherapy.Companies ProfiledMarket Leaders- General Electric- IBMMarket Participants- Alphabet / Google- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)- Merck- Prognos- Quest Diagnostics- Safeguard Scientifics- ZebraGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Key Topics- Cancer Immunotherapy- Hospital Artificial Intelligence- AI Technology- Acurate Diagnosis- Healthcare Artificial Intelligence- Supervised machine learning- AI hospital techniques- AI Segmentation- AI dimensionality reduction- AI anomaly detection- AI pattern recognition- AI Replaces Supervised Manual Techniques For Diagnosis And Care DeliveryAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global LED Lighting Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2017-2021 Edition)

LED Lighting Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global LED Lighting Market (2017-2021 Edition)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled Global LED Lighting Market (2017-2021 Edition), provides an in-depth analysis of the global LED Lighting market with detailed analysis of market size and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides market size of the global lighting market and its segments.The report provides detailed regional analysis of North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (China and India) for the LED lighting market. The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Growth of the global lighting market and global LED lighting market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The market for global LED lighting is facing a tough competition due to price wars and entry of small firms. Further, key players (Cree, Philips and Osram) of the global LED lighting market are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Country CoverageNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific (China and India)Company CoverageCreePhilipsOsramExecutive SummaryThe LED lighting can be segmented according to its application into lighting, backlighting, signage, automotive lighting and others. Some of the advantages of LED lights over the traditional light sources are long life, energy efficient, ecologically friendly, durable, zero UV emission, design flexibility, low voltage, etc.The major growth drivers for the LED lighting market are increasing shipment and penetration of LED TVs, growing automobile industry, increasing LED penetration, phasing out of incandescent bulbs in many countries, supportive government policies and focus on energy efficiency. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as temperature dependence, high initial costs of LED, high research and development costs, etc.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Light Emitting Diode: An Overview2.1.1 Light Production in LEDs2.1.2 Light Production in LEDs2.2 History of LED2.3 LED Lighting Segments: An Overview2.4 Advantages of LED Lighting2.5 Comparison of LED Lighting with Other Source of Lighting3. Global Market Analysis3.1 Global Lighting Market: An Analysis3.1.1 Global Lighting Market by Value3.1.2 Global Lighting Market by Application3.1.3 Global General Lighting Market by Segments3.2 Global LED Lighting Market: An Analysis3.2.1 Global LED Lighting Market by Value3.2.2 Global LED Lighting Market by Segments3.2.3 Global LED Lighting Market by Region3.2.4 Global LED Lighting Market by Adoption Rate3.2.5 Global LED Lighting Market Adoption Rate by Products3.3 Global LED Backlight Market: An Analysis3.3.1 Global LED Backlight Market by Value3.3.2 Global LED Backlight Market by Products3.4 Global LED General Lighting Market: An Analysis3.4.1 Global LED General Lighting Market by Value4. Regional Market Analysis4.1 North America LED Lighting Market: An Analysis4.1.1 North America LED Lighting Market by Value4.2 Europe LED Lighting Market: An Analysis4.2.1 Europe LED Lighting Market by Value4.3 Asia Pacific LED Lighting Market: An Analysis4.3.1 China LED Lighting Market by Share in General Lighting4.3.2 China LED Lighting Market by Value4.3.3 Indian LED Lighting Market by Value5. Competitive Landscape5.1 Financial Comparison of the Players of Global LED lighting Market6. Company Profiling6.1 Cree, Inc.6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.2 Philips6.2.1 Business Overview6.2.2 Financial Overview6.3 OSRAM6.3.1 Business Overview6.3.2 Financial OverviewMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Pasta Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 5.85% During 2017 to 2023

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Market Scenario:Pasta is made up of flour and egg, unleavened dough and produced in a variety of forms, usually served with a sauce which is of Italian origin. Pasta dough is typically made of wheat flour or semolina with durum wheat mainly in the South Italy and soft wheat in the North Italy. The constituents of pasta may vary according to the region of its manufacture, this may include rice, maize, chickpea and other flours. The trend of consumption of convenience food began in western world and spread to other regions rapidly.Consumers look for convenience food as it is easily available, and possess nutritional value due to fortification, variety and product appeal. Due to changing lifestyles, consumers are spending less time planning and cooking meals at home as they consider preparing food time-consuming chore. Pasta is considered convenient as there is no need to put in efforts in cooking & chopping vegetables, this factor will support the growth of this market. Globally the market (value) for pasta is estimated to grow at the rate of about 5.85% from 2017 to 2023.Request a Sample Report @Key Players:The key players profiled in the pasta market are Nestle SA (Switzerland), Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Japan), The Unilever Group (Knorr) (U.K.), Campbell Soup Company (U.S.), Nissin Foods Co., Ltd (Hong Kong), Capital Foods Limited (India), ITC Limited (India).Regional Analysis:The global Pasta market is Spread across can be used to increase the readability. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Among these, Europe region is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period and will grow at a CAGR of 5.72%. APAC will be the fastest growing region in pasta market, market value will grow at a CAGR of 6.22 % and high growth in emerging economies such as China, India, Japan and ASEAN countries. Latin American countries, offer ample expansion opportunities for major players. The high consumption of processed and convenience food products in growing economies of Asia-Pacific and Latin America and growing demand for ready to eat food products especially in China and India will support the market growth during the review period.Market Segments:Pasta market has been segmented on the basis of sources which comprises of whole wheat, rice, maize, chickpea, and others. Among all the segments, wheat pasta accounts for the highest market proportion over the past few years and it is projected to dominate the pasta market during the forecast period. However, maize pasta segment will expand at a high growth rate during the forecast period.Pasta has been segmented by type spaghetti pasta, penne pasta, fettuccine pasta, rotini pasta and others. Fettuccine pasta segment will witness higher growth rate during the forecast period.Pasta has been segmented on the basis of distribution channel which comprises of store based and non-store based.Pasta is segmented on the basis of by functionality that includes gluten-free, vegan and organic. Organic pasta will dominate the market, as the demand for chemical free food beverages products has been increasing in recent years from the health cognizant consumers.Target Audience:Pasta manufacturersRaw material suppliersEnd users (food industry)Retailers and wholesalersE-commerce companiesTraders, importers and exportersAccess Report Details @Key Findings:Store based segment is anticipated to account the maximum market share in the Global pasta market throughout the forecast period of 2017-2023.The spaghetti segment is projected to register the higher growth rate (5.77%) during the forecast period of 2017 to 2023.In Europe region Italy dominates the market, and is expected to grow at CAGR of 5.72%About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comJan 13, 2018: Transformer Monitors Market Forecast 2023 Qualitrol, GridSense, Reinhausen Group

Transformer Monitors Market

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Transformer Monitors Market Research 2018A market study "Global Transformer Monitors Market" examines the performance of the Transformer Monitors market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Transformer Monitors market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Transformer Monitors market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Transformer Monitors Market 2018 report includes Transformer Monitors market Revenue, market Share, Transformer Monitors industry volume, market Trends, Transformer Monitors Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Transformer Monitors Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2023.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Transformer Monitors Market 2018 : General Electric EDMI Siemens Reinhausen Group Qualitrol Corp Elster Solutions GridSense Inc. ABB Itron Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. Powertech System Integrators (PTSI)Transformer Monitors Market : By Application Power Grid Power Supply Equipment OtherTransformer Monitors Market : By Type Distribution Transformer Monitor (DTM) Intelligent Transformer Monitors OthersFirstly, the report covers the top Transformer Monitors manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Transformer Monitors report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Transformer Monitors industry, Transformer Monitors industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Transformer Monitors Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Transformer Monitors research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Transformer Monitors market revenue worldwide.Finally, Transformer Monitors market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAWeb:Email: sales@spiremarketresearch.comJan 13, 2018: Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market Forecast 2023 Systherms, Koyo Thermos Systems

Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market

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Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market Research 2018A market study "Global Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market" examines the performance of the Vacuum Annealing Furnace market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Vacuum Annealing Furnace market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Vacuum Annealing Furnace market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market 2018 report includes Vacuum Annealing Furnace market Revenue, market Share, Vacuum Annealing Furnace industry volume, market Trends, Vacuum Annealing Furnace Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Vacuum Annealing Furnace Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2023.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market 2018 : Carbolite Gero ECM Technologies Koyo Thermos Systems Materials Research Furnaces SECO/WARWICK Sp. z o.o. T-M Vacuum Products Yield Engineering Systems Systherms GmbH Cieffe Forni Industriali ALDVacuum Annealing Furnace Market : By Application Plumbing Equipment Annealing Mechanical Parts Annealing Silicon Steel Sheet Annealing Steel Annealing Medical Equipment AnnealingVacuum Annealing Furnace Market : By Type Horizontal Vacuum Annealing Furnace Well Type Vacuum Annealing FurnaceFirstly, the report covers the top Vacuum Annealing Furnace manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Vacuum Annealing Furnace report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Vacuum Annealing Furnace industry, Vacuum Annealing Furnace industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Vacuum Annealing Furnace Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Vacuum Annealing Furnace research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Vacuum Annealing Furnace market revenue worldwide.Finally, Vacuum Annealing Furnace market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAWeb:Email: sales@spiremarketresearch.comSpecial Testing Machine Market Forecast 2018-2023 Shimadzu, Tinius Olsen, Hegewald & Peschke

Special Testing Machine Market

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Special Testing Machine Market Research 2018A market study "Global Special Testing Machine Market" examines the performance of the Special Testing Machine market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Special Testing Machine market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Special Testing Machine market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Special Testing Machine Market 2018 report includes Special Testing Machine market Revenue, market Share, Special Testing Machine industry volume, market Trends, Special Testing Machine Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Special Testing Machine Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2023.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Special Testing Machine Market 2018 : MTS Shimadzu Zwick/Roell INSTRON Hegewald & Peschke AMETEK CIMACH Tinius Olsen Shanghai Hualong Test Instrumens Hung Ta Applied Test Systems Torontech Group InternationalSpecial Testing Machine Market : By Application Manufacturing Civil Engineering Pharmaceutical Industry Scientific Institutions OthersSpecial Testing Machine Market : By Type Electronic Testing Machine Mechanical Testing Machine OthersFirstly, the report covers the top Special Testing Machine manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Special Testing Machine report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Special Testing Machine industry, Special Testing Machine industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Special Testing Machine Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Special Testing Machine research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Special Testing Machine market revenue worldwide.Finally, Special Testing Machine market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAWeb:Email: sales@spiremarketresearch.comPyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market 2017-2022: Analysis By Application & Products

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Research Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market has been exclusively and elaborately examined in this report while taking into account some of the most pivotal factors holding the capability to influence growth. For the said forecast tenure, the report has shed light on critical market dynamics, which include trends, opportunities, restraints, and growth drivers. The analysts have provided ample of information on the growth of the market across various regions and using estimations in terms of revenue. Readers have also been anticipated to receive information on market growth expected to take shape in different countries of the regions studied.Get Free Sample Report For More Technical Insights@Market segmentation is another crucial part of the study where the report unveils significant growth opportunities in various segments of the global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market. Each segment has been comprehensively evaluated for readers to receive a sound understanding of hidden prospects and those about to reveal themselves in the near future. This could help readers to plan beforehand their business strategies to stay ahead of the competition. The report has been expected to come out as a brilliant source of comparison matrix based on segments, market share analysis, and market attractiveness analysis. It could help to identify threats from competition, substitutes, and new entrants and determine the bargaining powers of buyers and suppliers.The company profiling feature of the report has been projected to unveil some of the vital strategies, recent developments, and other important aspects of key players functioning in the global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market. The report has also estimated the market shares of the companies profiled based on various factors. Besides company profiles and company shares, the researchers have painted a clear picture of future competitive scenarios and how the vendor landscape could shape in the coming years. On the whole, it could be said that the report is a comprehensive guideline for players to secure a strong position in the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Research Report 20171 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA)1.2 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 White Type1.2.4 Light Yellow Type1.3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Segment by Application1.3.1 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Intermediate for Polyimide Films1.3.3 Polyimide Based Composite Materials1.3.4 Curing Agent for Epoxy Resins1.4 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)Access the full Report TOC in Detail @2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)Enquiry For Discount Visit @QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comNew Release | Wind Power in Egypt, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017

Wind Power in Egypt

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wind Power in Egypt, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles" to its huge collection of research reports."Wind Power in Egypt, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles", is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the wind power market in Egypt.The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global wind power market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Egypt (includes conventional thermal, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes wind, small hydro, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Egypt wind power market. A detailed coverage of renewable energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to wind power is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global wind power (Onshore and Offshore) market, Egypt power market, Egypt renewable power market and Egypt wind power market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2016 (unless specified) and forecast period 2016-2030.- Renewable power sources include wind (both onshore and offshore), solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and geothermal.- Detailed overview of the global wind power market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major hydropower countries in 2016 and key owners information of various regions.- Power market scenario in Egypt and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Egypt renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2016.- Detailed overview of Egypt wind power market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming wind projects.- Deal analysis of Egypt wind power market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and wind power in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Egypt wind power market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for wind power market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Vietnam Hydropower (Large, Small and Pumped Storage) Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Hydropower (Large, Small and Pumped Storage) in Vietnam, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles" to its huge collection of research reports."Hydropower (Large, Small and Pumped Storage) in Vietnam, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles", is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the hydropower market in Vietnam.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global hydropower market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Vietnam (includes conventional thermal, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes hydro, small hydro, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Vietnam hydropower market. A detailed coverage of renewable energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to hydropower is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global hydropower market, Vietnam power market, Vietnam renewable power market and Vietnam hydropower market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2016 (unless specified) and forecast period 2017-2030.- Renewable power sources include wind (both onshore and offshore), solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and geothermal.- Detailed overview of the global hydropower market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major hydropower countries in 2016 and key owners information of various regions.- Power market scenario in Vietnam and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Vietnam renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2016.- Detailed overview of Vietnam hydropower market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming hydro projects.- Deal analysis of Vietnam hydropower market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and hydropower in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Vietnam hydropower market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for hydropower market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Report 2018 Key Manufacturers : VAL-CO, Munters

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Market Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.The market study on the global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market is a scientific instrument to understand the performance of the said market over the forecast period. The report includes historical values as well as future projections, which serve as crucial indices for companies interested to participate in the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market. Using historical database and projections, the report presents growth trends and growth trajectory pictorially.The beginning of the report summarizes standard terms and terminologies used in the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market, before moving on to classifications, applications, and industry chain structure. This is followed with an analysis of the competitive landscape, profiling major players for their key business attributes. Each of the companies is studied with reference to a timescale to understand the changing competitive hierarchy of the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters over the years.KNOW MORE WITH FREE SAMPLE STUDY @The report is divided into sections, with each section discussing different industry aspects at length. Industry statues and policies, industry news and developments, and industry framework are the some of the aspects that have been discussed in this part of the report. Included in the report is a cost analysis of products, along with insights into manufacturer profit in the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market. The dynamics between various applications of the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market and their implication on the industry chain are also discussed herein.The industry chain analysis of the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market covers aspects such as production capacity, demand-supply dynamics, cost structure of product catalog, etc. An analysis of upstream raw material chain and downstream demand, along with import/export behavior is also included in the report.Market attractiveness analysis and feasibility of new investments in the Poultry and Hog House Air heaters market are key features of this report. Using proven research methodologies and standard analytical tools, the report presents an accurate picture of growth trends and demand drivers, and points out strategies that are sure to present lucrative growth avenues in the future.Table of Contents1 Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Poultry and Hog House Air heaters1.2 Classification of Poultry and Hog House Air heaters by Product Category1.2.1 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.3 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.4 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market by Region1.4.1 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (2013-2025)2 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (Volume and Value) by Type2.3 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (Volume and Value) by Region2.4 Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (Volume) by ApplicationCheck Discount For This Report @3 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales and Value (2013-2018)3.1.1 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018)3.1.2 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue and Growth Rate (2013-2018)3.1.3 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Price Trend (2013-2018)3.2 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Players (2013-2018)3.3 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)3.4 United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)4 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales and Value (2013-2018)4.1.1 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018)4.1.2 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue and Growth Rate (2013-2018)4.1.3 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Price Trend (2013-2018)4.2 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Players (2013-2018)4.3 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)4.4 China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Poultry and Hog House Air heatersFigure Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume Comparison (K Units) by Type (2013-2025)Figure Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017Figure Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Sales Comparison (K Units) by Application (2013-2025)Figure Global Sales Market Share of Poultry and Hog House Air heaters by Application in 2017Figure Global Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Market Size (Million USD) by Regions (2013-2025)Figure United States Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure China Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Europe Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Japan Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Southeast Asia Poultry and Hog House Air heaters Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comGlobal Rhinometry Systems Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025

Rhinometry Systems Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Rhinometry Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Rhinometry can be defined as a diagnostic procedure that employs acoustic reflections to analyze and estimate the volume and cross-sectional area of the nasal cavity. The procedure is utilized to measure changes in the nasal airway in response to allergic provocation tests, nasal anatomical landmarks, or nasal septum deviation. In addition, it is used as a method to measure lower respiratory tract resistance. Acoustic rhinometry is considered one of the standard diagnostic tools used for the evaluation of nasal patency. It enables detection of narrow points in the nose that cause nasal airway blockage. Acoustic rhinometry enables the doctor to check for the impact of long-term medications used in the treatment of nasal blocks, which might be caused due to nasal polyps, rhinitis, or rhinosinusitis. It enables the measurement of the volume of nasal cavities, which helps in evaluation of reduction in the size of nasal polyp after medical treatment. Rhinomanometry is applied to measure the air pressure and the rate of airflow in the nasal pathway during respiration, which is then applied to estimate nasal airway resistance.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Nasal airway blockage occurs primarily due to nasal septal deviation. The prevalence of septal deviation in general population is anticipated to be around 80%. Diagnostic tools such as rhinomanometry, rhinoresistometry, and acoustic rhinometry help otolaryngologists and ENT specialists in deciding whether a surgery be recommended for a patient for correction of nasal septal deviation. High prevalence of nasal septal deviation and technological advancements leading to development of combination devices (that combine acoustics rhinometry with rhinoresistometry, rhinomanometry, and long-term rhinometry) contribute to growth of the rhinometry systems market. In addition, the increasing number of advantages of rhinometry in terms of early diagnosis of nasal septal deviation and favorable reimbursements for rhinometer tests offered in various countries worldwide augment the market. However, shortage of skilled professionals and high cost of rhinometry systems are likely to hamper the market during the forecast period.The global rhinometry systems market can be segmented by product type, end-user, and region. In terms of product type, the market can be segmented into rhinomanometry systems, rhinoresistometry systems, acoustic rhinometry systems, and combination systems. Among product types, the acoustic rhinometry systems segment dominated the market in 2016. The combination systems segment is anticipated to register a high CAGR during the forecast period, owing to capability of these systems to objectivize the extent of nasal obstruction and to differentiate causes of nasal obstruction such as pathological turbulence, pathological inspiratory nasal collapse, and narrowing of the nasal canal caused by swelling or skeletal deformation. Based on end-user, the market can be segmented into hospitals, clinics, ENT centers, and others.Geographically, the global rhinometry systems market can be segmented into five regions viz. North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. In terms of revenue, North America dominated the global market in 2016 and is anticipated to remain dominant during the forecast period as well. This growth can be attributed to well-established health care infrastructure, rising prevalence of septal deviation, and technological advancements in rhinometry systems in the region. In terms of revenue, Europe is anticipated to follow North America during the forecast period. However, sluggish growth of the market in the region can be attributed to sluggish recovery of the economy of Europe. The market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a significantly high CAGR during the forecast period. India and China are estimated to contribute to this growth. Growth of the market in these countries can be attributed to increase in the patient pool and focus on enhancing health care facilities by governments.Browse Detail Report @Leading players operating in the global rhinometry systems market are Ecleris S.R.L., Homoth Medizinelektronik GmbH & Co. KG, Instrumentation DIFRA, GM Instruments Ltd., MEDI-CARE SOLUTIONS srl, MES Sp. z o.o., The Piston Ltd., Happersberger otopront GmbH, and Recorders & Medicare Systems Pvt. Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:- Market segments and sub-segments- Market trends and dynamics- Supply and demand- Market size- Current trends/opportunities/challenges- Competitive landscape- Technological breakthroughs- Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:- North America (U.S. and Canada)- Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)- Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)- Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)- Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)- Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.Make an Enquiry of this report @A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market- Important changes in market dynamics- Market segmentation up to the second or third level- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments- Market shares and strategies of key players- Emerging niche segments and regional markets- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Telepsychiatry Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025

Telepsychiatry Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Telepsychiatry Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Telemedicine can be defined as the process of providing healthcare services through technology, primarily through the usage of videoconferencing. Telepsychiatry is a sub-segment of telemedicine, which provides a range of mental health solutions such as therapies, including family therapy, individual therapy, and group therapy; psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and patient education. Telepsychiatry involves either direct communication between the patient and the psychiatrist or through psychiatrist supporting primary health care providers specialized in mental health. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in the U.S., over 20% of youth aged between 13-18 years suffer from mental health conditions; and over 11% of the youth have a mood disorder. Similarly, over 18.1% of American adults live with anxiety disorders.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The growing tendencies of suicide in teenagers and young adults (which happen to be one of the leading causes of death globally), contributes to the increase in demand for mental health treatment. This is expected to drive the telepsychiatry market. The various advantages offered by the adoption of telepsychiatry such as improved continuity of care and follow-up, reduced delays in care, reduction in transportation barriers, and the ability to avoid long waiting times at hospitals, aid in the growth of the telepsychiatry market. In addition, lack of skilled professionals with the ability to treat metal illness, changing regulatory scenario such as the inclusion of certain reimbursement codes for telepsychiatry by Medicare, would contribute to the growth of the telepsychiatry market, as it would facilitate accessibility between the patient and the psychiatrist. In addition, telepsychiatry provides immediate availability of psychiatric interventions and assessments, access to a range of experts, and reduction in the stigma associated with mental health treatment, which would aid in driving the market during the forecast period. However, barriers to the implementation of telepsychiatry, including stringent regulations which differ from region to region, and the belief among people that telepsychiatry might not be as effective as direct consultation might have a negative impact on the growth of the market.The global telepsychiatry market can be segmented on the basis of product type, end user, and geography. On the basis of product type, the market can be segmented into in-home solutions, forensic solutions, crisis solutions, routine solutions, and others. In-home solutions includes the mental health treatment provided to the patients in their homes; forensic solutions includes mental health services provided to the patients in correctional facilities or in prisons; crisis solutions include solutions provided in crisis situations, including emergency mental health solutions provided to patients with suicidal tendencies or other anxiety situations. Based on end-user, the market can be segmented into specialty care settings, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, community mental health centers, and others.Geographically, the telepsychiatry market can be segmented into five regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America contributed to the highest share of revenues in 2016 and the trend is anticipated to continue during the forecast period. The strong growth in the region can be attributed to the growing acceptance of technology in the healthcare sector, better healthcare settings, and the well-established healthcare infrastructure. Europe is anticipated to be the second leading region contributing to the telepsychiatry market. However, the sluggish economy in the region might have an impact on the future growth of the market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to record a significantly high CAGR owing to factors such as lack of direct reach to psychiatrists, increasing stress among people, and growing adoption of smartphones, among others.The leading players operating in the telepsychiatry market are Iris Telehealth, e-Psychiatry, LLC, InSight Telepsychiatry, eVisit, LLC, Advanced Telemed Services, InnovaTel, American Telepsychiatrists, TPsychiatry, Encounter Telehealth, JSA Health Psychiatry, FasPsych, LLC, Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, and Arcadian Telepsychiatryamong others.Browse Detail Report @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:- Market segments and sub-segments- Market trends and dynamics- Supply and demand- Market size- Current trends/opportunities/challenges- Competitive landscape- Technological breakthroughs- Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:- North America (U.S. and Canada)- Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)- Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)- Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)- Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)- Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)Make an Enquiry of this report @The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market- Important changes in market dynamics- Market segmentation up to the second or third level- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments- Market shares and strategies of key players- Emerging niche segments and regional markets- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @Global Herbal Creams Machine Sales Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017

Herbal Creams Machine Sales Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Herbal Creams Machine Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.Herbal Creams Market Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Herbal Creams basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia Herbal Creams Market;3.) the North American Herbal Creams Market;4.) the European Herbal Creams Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.Table of ContentsPart I Herbal Creams Industry OverviewChapter One Herbal Creams Industry Overview1.1 Herbal Creams Definition1.2 Herbal Creams Classification Analysis1.2.1 Herbal Creams Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Herbal Creams Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Herbal Creams Application Analysis1.3.1 Herbal Creams Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Herbal Creams Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Herbal Creams Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Herbal Creams Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Herbal Creams Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Herbal Creams Product Market Development Overview1.6 Herbal Creams Global Market Analysis1.6.1 Herbal Creams Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Herbal Creams Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Herbal Creams Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Herbal Creams Global Market Analysis1.6.5 Herbal Creams Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Herbal Creams Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Part II Asia Herbal Creams Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Herbal Creams Market Analysis3.1 Asia Herbal Creams Product Development History3.2 Asia Herbal Creams Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia Herbal Creams Market Development TrendChapter Four 2012-2017 Asia Herbal Creams Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Capacity Production Overview4.2 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Demand Overview4.4 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Supply Demand and Shortage4.5 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Import Export Consumption4.6 2012-2017 Herbal Creams Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginChapter Five Asia Herbal Creams Key Manufacturers Analysis5.1 Company A5.1.1 Company Profile5.1.2 Product Picture and Specification5.1.3 Product Application Analysis5.1.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.1.5 Contact Information5.2 Company B5.2.1 Company Profile5.2.2 Product Picture and Specification5.2.3 Product Application Analysis5.2.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.2.5 Contact Information5.3 Company C5.3.1 Company Profile5.3.2 Product Picture and Specification5.3.3 Product Application Analysis5.3.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.3.5 Contact Information5.4 Company D5.4.1 Company Profile5.4.2 Product Picture and Specification5.4.3 Product Application Analysis5.4.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.4.5 Contact Information......Chapter Six Asia Herbal Creams Industry Development Trend6.1 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Capacity Production Overview6.2 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Production Market Share Analysis6.3 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Demand Overview6.4 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Supply Demand and Shortage6.5 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Import Export Consumption6.6 2017-2021 Herbal Creams Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginContinue...About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape  Egypt | Latest Research Report

CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Egypt

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Egypt" to its huge collection of research reports.Latest report, "CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Egypt". The report is an essential source of information and analysis on the healthcare, regulatory and reimbursement landscape in Egypt. It identifies the key trends in the healthcare market and provides insights into the demographic, regulatory, reimbursement landscape and healthcare infrastructure of Egypt. Most importantly, the report provides valuable insights into the trends and segmentation of the pharmaceutical and medical device markets. It is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research, and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In 2016, Egypt population was approximately at 90.2 million. Egypt has the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing base in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, representing around 30% of the regional market. Its pharmaceutical market was worth $2.31 billion in 2009 and an estimated $5.43 billion in 2016, having grown at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.1%. The market is estimated to reach $10.50 billion in 2021. The Egyptian medical device market was valued at $0.70 billion in 2009 and is one of the growing industries in the healthcare sector, due to the aging population and consequent increase in demand for healthcare products and services. It grew to $0.95 billion at a CAGR of 4.2% between 2009 and 2016 and is forecast to reach $1.23 billion in 2021. The segments expected to experience high growth are cardiovascular devices, orthopedic device, drug delivery devices, in vitro diagnostics and healthcare IT.These positive trends can primarily be attributed to -- Government initiatives to develop and modernize government hospitals and therapeutic centres in various parts of the country- Increasing awareness in the medical community and the general population regarding early disease detection and diagnosis, leading to higher rates of adoption of treatments and healthcare.ScopeThe report provides information on the healthcare, regulatory, and reimbursement landscape in Egypt, and includes -- An overview of the pharmaceutical and medical device markets, comprising market size, segmentation, and key drivers and barriers- Profiles and SWOT analyses of the major players in the pharmaceutical market (GSK, Novartis, Sanofi, Egyptian International Pharmaceutical Industries Company (EIPICO) and South Egypt Drug Industries Company (SEDICO))- An insightful review of the reimbursement and regulatory landscape, of which analysis includes details of the healthcare reimbursement process, the regulatory agencies and the approval processes for new drugs and medical devices- Detailed analysis of the political and economic environment, covering economic indicators, demographics, healthcare infrastructure and healthcare expenditure- An overview of the opportunities for and challenges to growth in the Egyptian healthcare marketGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Reasons to buyThis report will enhance your decision-making capability by allowing you to -- Develop business strategies by understanding the trends shaping and driving the Egyptian healthcare market- Drive revenues by understanding the key trends, reimbursement and regulatory policies, pharmaceutical market segments, and companies likely to impact the healthcare market in the future- Formulate effective sales and marketing strategies by understanding the competitive landscape and analyzing the performance of various competitors- Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present the most opportunities for consolidation, investment, and strategic partnership- Identify, understand, and capitalize on the opportunities and challenges in the Egyptian healthcare marketAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @For Subscribers Alongside pandemic, longer-term trends seen driving labor shortage

Observers say COVID-19 has aggravated difficulties in lining up candidates for jobs, but they also see trends that took root pre-pandemic at work.David Peters Leads Final 16 in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event

January 12, 2018 Frank Op de Woerd

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has been eliminated from the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in 17th place, running queens into the kings of Maria Lampropulos. It made for a short day of tournament play in the Bahamas, with Lampropulos ending the day as one of the biggest stacks in the room. David Peters finished the day as the biggest stack, and Koray Aldemir and Adrian Mateos are also amongst the players returning for Day 5 of the PCA Main Event.

Just 43 players started Day 4 of the Main Event, with the goal of playing down to 16 players or 5 full levels. Lachezar Plamenov Petkov busted in the first hand of the day, followed by PokerStars Ambassador Maria Konnikova. Konnikova won the National event earlier this festival for $84,600, and now she added $22,020 for her 42nd place. She started the day short stacked and never got back in it. In her last hand, she got it in drawing slim with queen-jack versus ace-queen and aces and didn't survive.

Oliver Weis got it in better but the result would be the same: a place on the rail. The German regular had aces versus tens on a jack-high board, only to see his opponent river a ten to crush his dreams.

Aaron Olshan and his mother Sharman Olshan busted in quick succession of each other. Aaron lost with ace-jack to ace-king, Sharman lost ace-king to queens, and the Cinderella story of mother and son making the final table together was over.

High stakes regular Orpen Kisacikoglu doubled early on, but it wouldn't serve him well. He lost queens against ace-four when an ace hit the flop. Kisacikoglu instantly put his Main Event cash on the line and went on to register for the $25,000 High Roller.

More Action

Meanwhile, the other habitual high rollers Adrian Mateos, Koray Aldemir and David Peters showed how to play poker like a beast. The three all crushed their tables, forcing folds of better hands left and right, getting value from worse hands, and inducing bluffs against them.

Start-of-day chip leader Karl Stark did have Aldemir sweat a little bit. After an open from Liv Boeree and a call from Stark, Aldemir squeezed with ace-king. While Boeree got out of the way, Stark chose a more aggressive answer; he pushed all in for 76 big blinds. Aldemir called but wasn't too happy when he saw he had nothing more than a flip against Stark's nines. The flop and turn didn't help Aldemir, but the king on the turn paired him up, and Stark exited while Aldemir built a 1.5 million stack.

Jack Sinclair got to the feature table, only to leave one hand later. He handed his chips to Adrian Mateos in a hand he was uncertain about after it had happened. Mateos checked back a flopped set and eventually pushed against Sinclair, where the 2017 WSOP Main Event final tablist had rivered third pair. Sinclair opted for the call but was crushed by the Spaniard.

As more players hit the rail, the average stack grew bigger and only a few shorties were left. It was a cooler that ended the day, with Boeree on the wrong end of that confrontation. As mentioned earlier, she found herself all in with queens to Lampropulos' kings.

"I knew it," Boeree muttered before the dealer dealt a board full of blanks to end the day.

And like that, the day was done. 16 players remain, and they'll return to the flashy television set in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort on the Bahamas. Day 5 gets back underway at noon on Saturday, with the full 90 minutes left in the new level of 10,000/20,000, 2,000 ante. Check back then for PokerNews coverage of the penultimate day of the Main Event, and see the complete final two table draw below.

Maria Lampropulos starts Day 5 second in chips

Complete Day 5 Table Draw

Table Seat Player Country Chip Count 1 1 Patryk Poterek Poland 918,000 1 2 Phillip Corion United Kingdom 425,000 1 3 Daniel Coupal Canada 386,000 1 4 Adrian Mateos Spain 236,000 1 5 David Peters United States 3,105,000 1 6 Oleg Titov Russia 488,000 1 7 Jonathan West United States 1,656,000 1 8 Maria Lampropulos Argentina 2,313,000 2 1 Bartosz Stasiewicz Poland 624,000 2 2 Jean Ateba Norway 314,000 2 3 Shawn Buchanan Canada 992,000 2 4 Michael Farrow Canada 981,000 2 5 Adalfer Morales Gamarra Colombia 1,916,000 2 6 Christian Rudolph Germany 1,285,000 2 7 Florian Maurer Austria 352,000 2 8 Koray Aldemir Germany 1,420,000Fiona Gallagher is the good kid, m.A.A.d city of fictional TV characters, the good kid so close to being a normal, functional adult until something happens...

Watching Showtime's Shamelessoriginally a British series developed by Paul Abbottleaves you exhausted and drained; after one episode you find yourself organizing your room and writing to-do lists to ensure the Gallagher's brand of chaos never enters your life. Call it Americana, call it the South Side of Chicago, call it 13.5% of America (or 43.1 million American households), but Shameless is good ol' poverty under a microscope.

For those who aren't subscribed to the premium cable channel, Showtime, Shameless's seven seasons are available on Netflix to stream and follow the misadventures of a single father and alcoholic, Frank (William H. Macy), and his oldest daughter, Fiona (Emmy Rossum), the primary caretaker of the Gallagher clan. Frank is the type of man who has no business having one kid, let alone, six mouths to feed; he doesn't care about the well-being of his family, but how, when, and where he'll have his next drink. Fiona takes after her father in doses, prioritizing her siblings' needs over her ownexcept when there's coke, attractive bad boys, or booze in the room. She's a diligent worker, but often finds herself slipping into the same habits she warns her siblings to avoid.

Fiona Gallagher is the good kid, m.A.A.d city of fictional TV characters, the good kid so close to being a normal, functional adult until something happens, reminding her (and the audience) just how fragile her world is, and how easy it is to knock her a few rungs down on the socioeconomic ladder she's desperately trying to climb. There are no free meals in life and the Gallaghers are the first to tell you, looking under couch pillows to find quarters and dimes for school lunch. In season four, Lip (Jeremy Allan White) proclaimed the only way to get money when you're poor is to steal or scam it, and in season eight, this sentiment still rings true: As Fiona tries to stage her apartment building to draw in hipster renters, she gets pushback from her tenants, friends, and brother Ian (Cameron Monaghan)who's boycotting Fiona in the name of love.



Shameless is similar in tone to another UK show, Skins, but is far more adult in subject matter. Shameless, like Skins, is about sex, familial obligations, drug use, and surviving capitalismbut mostly about the real-life pangs of poverty and the families living in the neighborhoods your mom warns you about on your walk home from school. Shameless is about the folks who make twenty dollars last an entire week between six growing, loudmouthed kids; and Shameless is about how far families will go to keep their dysfunction in their household, instead of various foster homes (in ironically worse conditions).

In its eighth season, Shameless is trying to find clarity for its characters while still keeping the shock value and family drama viewers are addicted to seeing. We secretly love seeing Lip mess up, drop out of school, and walk the streets of South Side Chicago like nothing can hurt him; and we love seeing Fiona's scheme to scrape up the month's rent. Whether Shameless is detailing the extensive focus needed for sobriety, or the three jobs one has to work to feed a full house, it's the endless drive and heart of the Gallaghers that makes Shameless so addictive.

Shameless is renewed for a ninth season, but where exactly can these characters go? How much more drama and dysfunction can they deal with before they become caricatures? Shameless, for now, is still one of the best shows studying the politics of upward mobility, the gritty reality of never having quite enough to make it out of the slums, and how close in proximity the slums are to the Crate & Barrel homes.

'Shameless' (Showtime)

POP DUST Score: 

Shaun Harris is a poet, freelance writer, and editor published in avant-garde, feminist journals. Lover of warm-toned makeup palettes, psych-rock, and Hilton Als. Her work has allowed her to copyedit and curate content for various poetry organizations in the NYC area.

POP DUST | Read More About Film/TV..

THE REAL REEL | SMILF: Single Mom I'd Like To Friend

The Top 13 Books Coming to the Big Screen in 2018

REVIEW | 'Paddington 2' will warm even the coldest winter hearts

SATURDAY FILM SCHOOL | 'Black Mirror' is Still Delightfully Wary of the Future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.Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.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.You are the owner of this article.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.Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category.Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Chelsea Manning, a transgender former U.S. Army soldier imprisoned for seven years after being convicted of leaking classified military documents to WikiLeaks, has filed papers to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland as a Democrat.



According to a Federal Election Commission filing, Chelsea Elizabeth Manning filed her candidacy papers on Thursday. Manning is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, also a Democrat, who is running for his third term.



The primary election for the 2018 Maryland senate race will be held on June 26, 2018.



Manning was convicted in 2013 by a military tribunal under the Espionage and Computer Fraud and Abuse Acts for releasing over 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks. At the time, Manning was a 22-year-old United States Army private named Bradley Manning, and she served seven years of a 35-year sentence. President Barack Obama commuted Mannings sentence to time served as one of his final acts in office.



The information Manning disclosed included low-level battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo prison camp detainee profiles and U.S. diplomatic correspondence. Manning pleaded guilty to some charges but was acquitted of the most serious charge brought against her: aiding the enemy.



Manning has long maintained that she leaked the documents in order to spark public debate. In an exclusive 2017 interview with ABCs Juju Chang for a special edition of Nightline, Manning said, My intention was to draw attention to this  and do the right thing.



Manning continued, And I struggled with that, but the intention was very much like, This is about improving the country. This is about improving our standing in the world, this is about improving everything. And maybe this can start a debate on that.



Mere days after Manning was sentenced, she came out as transgender on Aug. 22, 2013. The military would not provide her with any treatment for her gender dysphoria, which Manning claimed resulted in her increased distress. At the time, her ACLU lawyer filed a lawsuit on her behalf in order to receive gender transition related health care.



Cardin's office and Manning did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Context

1

2

Cross References

where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son."Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: 'Israel is My firstborn son,and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!'"Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth--let Israel now declare--I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.

Treasury of Scripture

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Israel.

Hosea 2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

Jeremiah 2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

called.

Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.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.Katie Herman got a real scare when her 2-month-old daughter, Farrah, began struggling to breathe.

Farrah had started coughing about a week and a half previously, and also showed signs of an ear infection and a rash. The other two issues cleared up quickly, but the cough remained.

About 10 days into the persistent cough, Katie took Farrah to a walk-in clinic, where a nurse swabbed her for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus.

RSV is a common, contagious virus that infects the respiratory tract. According to Mayo Clinic's website, most children experience it by age 2. In older children and adults, the symptoms mimic the common cold. But infants are hardest-hit by the virus and may have difficulty breathing or poor feeding.

The swab the nurse took, though, was negative. But Katie knew something was wrong.

"They told me to keep an eye on her and it would get worse before it got better," Katie said.

'It didn't look fine'

Two nights later, Katie posted a video of Farrah's labored breathing on a Facebook group called "Diapers, Creams and Coffee Beans."

"Her breathing, to me, didn't look fine and it didn't look fine to anyone else," Katie said.

The other mothers in the group advised her to call 911 and get Farrah to an emergency room immediately. So she did.

The emergency room at Saint Marys Hospital checked Farrah's oxygen levels and told Katie they were normal.

But the next day, Farrah drank very little and had no wet diaper changes. Worried about dehydration, Katie took Farrah back to the ER.

This time, the doctors rushed her to the ICU, where Farrah was diagnosed with aggressive RSV and pneumonia.

'An uphill climb'

Because RSV is a virus, there's no treatment for it after symptoms develop. Farrah was put on a paralytic and intubated.

There were times in the first day or two, Katie said, when she was afraid of losing her younger daughter.

"They explained to me that when kids get sick, they'll fight and fight as hard as they can," Katie said. "Then they'll let go and it'll go from good to bad in a matter of hours. She just got tired of fighting."

On Jan. 7, Katie posted on Facebook that Farrah was off the paralytic, and taking decreasing doses of the sedation medicine she'd been on.

By Thursday, Farrah was only on a CPAP machine and antibiotics for the pneumonia.

"Little by little, we're unhooking her from things and weaning off the medication," Katie said. "It's gonna be a while  but it's an uphill climb."

Katie estimated that Farrah would be in the hospital for another two weeks. Farrah's lungs are still weak and full of fluid. Eventually, she'll move out of the ICU and onto the general floor, then finally go home.

Influencing others

Another Rochester woman, Taylor Martin, saw Katie's post and took her own son, Jaxon, to Saint Marys for treatment of RSV. He was released shortly thereafter, Katie said.

"Sometimes it hits certain kids harder than others," Katie said. She has friends whose children have also contracted RSV and fought it off at home.

There's a GoFundMe to help cover Farrah's hospital bills, created by one of Katie's friends. Find it at www.gofundme.com/farrah-herman.

Katie, a teacher aide at First Steps Childcare, didn't ask for the help, but appreciates it. She has good health insurance coverage, but went from maternity leave through the end of December to this sick leave in the first week of January.

-----

About RSV

Signs and symptoms of RSV include fever, severe cough, wheezing, difficulty breathing, or cyanosis, a blueish tint to the skin due to lack of oxygen.

Infants are most severely affected by RSV and may exhibit shallow, rapid breathing, poor feeding, tiredness or irritability. Their chest muscles may visibly pull inward when inhaling.

Seek medical attention if the child has difficulty breathing, a high fever, or blue color in their skin, particularly in the lips and nail beds.

Source: Mayo ClinicPR-Inside.com: 2018-01-10 14:12:43

Concurrent Baby Products, Stationery Fairs Feature 2,940+ Global ExhibitorsHONG KONG, Jan 8, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and the Hong Kong International Stationery Fair opened today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The three fairs feature more than 2,940 global exhibitors, showcasing a broad selection of innovative and high-tech products.The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has organised more than 120 buying missions from 65 countries and regions, inviting some 9,000 buyers from about 6,200 companies to visit and source at the three fairs.They include department stores, specialty stores and retail chains such as Toys"R"Us from the US, Hamleys from the UK, Tomy and Aeon from Japan, the Reliance Group from India, as well as e-tailers including Walmart E-commerce and Amazon.cn from mainland China, and local enterprises such as AS Watsons Group and Ocean Park.To facilitate different sourcing requirements, the fairs also feature the hktdc.com Small Orders zone with its online transaction platform ( http://smallorders.hktdc.com) and on-site business-matching service.HKTDC Acting Executive Director Benjamin Chau said the three fairs present a diverse lineup of innovative products, including educational toys that inspire fun learning, toys and baby products that incorporate smart technologies, as well as eco-friendly stationery items that showcase creative designs, meeting the various sourcing needs of global buyers."Apart from organising overseas buying missions, the HKTDC has also enhanced the sourcing function of its trade fair websites, launching a new year-round 'Exhibitions Online' platform at the Toys & Games and Baby Products fairs. The platform not only features fair updates and the latest industry sourcing information, it also allows suppliers to connect with worldwide buyers anytime, while buyers can source industry-specific products from dedicated fair websites."'Exhibitions Online' extends the exhibition online platform by encouraging suppliers to use online-to-offline (O2O) promotions and facilitating business discussions between suppliers and buyers beyond the fair period," said Mr Chau.He added that the HKTDC's e-Badge initiative, which was well-received when launched at last November's Optical Fair, will gradually be introduced at most of the HKTDC trade fairs this year, including at the concurrent Toys & Games Fair, the Baby Products Fair, the International Stationery Fair, and the Hong Kong International Licensing Show.- Creative products showcased at Asia's largest toys & games fairThe 44th edition of the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair features 2,100 exhibitors from 45 countries and regions, with new exhibitors from Estonia, Russia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam, making it the largest event of its kind in Asia, and the second-largest in the world.Six group pavilions, including the Chinese mainland, Korea, Spain, Taiwan and the UK, are showcasing the latest toys and games from around the world. The "World of Toys" pavilion, featuring mainly European exhibitors, returns for the 10th consecutive year.A fair highlight, the Brand Name Gallery features more than 240 renowned brands from 18 countries and regions, including 4M, Eastcolight, Hape, MiNG The Minibus, SOAP STUDIO and WELLY.This year's Smart-Tech Toys zone gathers a myriad of innovative toys and games that incorporate the latest AR/VR/MR technologies, as well as mobile applications. To respond to growing demand for STEAM and STREAM educational toys, a STEAM Toys Product Display has been set up to draw buyers' attention.Other special zones include Kidult World, showcasing toys for grown-ups such as magic items, hobby goods, action & war game items, and models & figurines; the Pet Toys zone, featuring toys and daily supplies for pets; and the Fireworks zone, which returns from its successful debut last year with a diverse range of pyrotechnic products, such as toy fireworks, stage fireworks, party fireworks and festive firecrackers suitable for use in different events.- Concurrent fairs to provide one-stop sourcing convenienceThe concurrent Hong Kong Baby Products Fair features more than 580 exhibitors from 27 countries and regions, with newcomers from Argentina, New Zealand and Portugal. In addition to the returning Korea pavilion, the fair also welcomes first-time pavilions from Singapore and the Hong Kong Children, Babies, Maternity Industries Association.The Brand Name Gallery spotlights 51 famous brands from 16 countries and regions, including BibaToys, Evenflo, La Mascot and Micralite. Other highlight zones include Baby Tech, where high-tech smart products are presented, and the World of Strollers and Gear II, showcasing award-winning and high-quality strollers.Organised by the HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, this year's Hong Kong International Stationery Fair welcomes some 260 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions, including Korea and Taiwan pavilions.A strong line-up of leading industry brands, including KOKUYO, M&G, Kiky, O-life and IWI, offers the latest art and craft supplies, back-to-school items, paper packaging and printing goods, office supplies and gift stationery. In addition, a theme display "All for Arts," exhibiting a wide collection of artistically designed stationery and art supplies, has been set up at the entrance of Hall 5B.- Thematic seminars unveil industry trendsA series of special events will be held throughout the fair period to facilitate market information exchange among industry players. This year's Hong Kong Toys Industry Conference will be held on 9 January under the theme "Evolving with the industry: Hot Trends in Toys Industry," where participants will address hot-button issues in the toy sector.Representative from Amazon will discuss business opportunities arising from the development of global e-commerce, while a representative from British toy retail giant Hamleys' will offer insights into the future development of the retail toy market. Representative from the United States' toy industry online media and international advisory body will focus on global industry trends in the next five years. Other topics include using big data to formulate market strategies and licensing issues.Other thematic seminars include "STEM and STEAM Toys - More than a Buzzword;" "Latest Consumer Trends and Quality Control of Baby Products;" "Toys Compliance, Testing & Export Protection;" "The Age of Digital Marketing for Toys and Baby Products;" "Key Apparel Trend for Autumn/Winter 2018/19 for Baby and Kidswear;" and "Marketing Your Stationery Business in the Digital Age." In addition, several product demo and launch sessions, as well as a buyer forum on business opportunities in emerging markets will be organised during the fairs. Another highlight event, the Hong Kong Toys and Baby Products Awards 2018 Presentation Ceremony, will be held tonight (8 January), followed by the Winning Products Presentation tomorrow.The Awards aim to identify toys and baby products that are uniquely designed, creative and high quality, and to recognise outstanding industry achievements. The winning products are available at Halls 3F-G Concourse during the fairs to showcase the creative designs to international buyers.The concurrent HKTDC Hong Kong International Licensing Show is the world's second-largest and Asia's largest event of its kind, featuring more than 1,000 brands and properties from over 380 exhibitors. The parallel fairs generate synergy and provide one-stop sourcing for trade buyers, creating abundant crossover business opportunities among participants from various sectors.First Four HKTDC Fairs of the Year Attracted 6% More Visitors Than Last Year

PR-Inside.com: 2018-01-13 10:45:42

HONG KONG, Jan 12, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Featuring more than 2,940 exhibitors from around the world, the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and Hong Kong International Stationery Fair concluded successfully yesterday. Together with the Hong Kong International Licensing Show, which closed on Wednesday, the first four fairs organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) this year attracted around 126,000 buyers, up around six per cent over the previous year.More than 49,000 buyers went to the Toys & Games Fair, while close to 33,000 and around 21,000 buyers visited the Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair respectively. In addition, more than 22,000 visitors attended the Licensing Show.Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC, said the four fairs have successfully attracted buyers and suppliers from around the world and further bolstered Hong Kong's role as an international exhibition and sourcing hub. He said: "As the global economy stabilises, the four fairs have achieved satisfactory results. Buyers from such emerging markets as India, Malaysia, Russia, Poland and Turkey, and those from developed markets including the US, Canada, Netherlands and Sweden recorded satisfactory growth. Besides, there was a double-digit percentage increase in the number of buyers from the Chinese mainland. The HKTDC will continue to provide an international trade and exchange platform for industry professionals to generate more business opportunities for all." This year's Toys & Games Fair, Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair featured an assortment of new products, designs and educational toys, as well as smart baby products and creative and eco-friendly stationery to cater to the buyers' different needs.Johnny Sze, Director & Vice General Manager, Eastcolight (Hong Kong) Limited, a Toys & Games Fair exhibitor from Hong Kong, said his company started producing STEAM toys, which strengthens the learning of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, four years ago. The toys are designed to improve children's logical thinking, observation and concentration skills and nurture their creativity. He said the Fair is an important platform for the company which had generated 70 per cent of the annual sales turnover. The company is keen to develop emerging markets. On the first day of the fair, he met with several buyers from India with strong purchasing power. One of the buyers, representing an amusement park in India, was interested in setting up a shop there to sell Eastcolight's products. There was also a Thai buyer who expressed interest in bringing the brand's products to his market.Italian exhibitor Pali S.p.A. joined the Baby Products Fair for the second consecutive year. Claudio Biferali, the company's Research & Development Manager, said Pali is a leading baby products brand in Italy that provides a wide range of quality wooden cots, strollers and highchairs. He said the company doubled its booth size this year with more products on offer, and the response was better than last year. It attracted strong interest from existing customers and new buyers from different markets, like Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Ukraine. He expected to conclude more business deals this year.At the concurrent Hong Kong International Stationery Fair, a buyer from a Thai book store Asia Books found three new vendors that include a Japanese stationery brand Kokuyo and sourced some licensed stationery items by famous brands. Gesarin Anek, the company's Marketing Manager, said the Stationery Fair is a place for sourcing high quality, innovative and unique products. Also, the concurrent Toys & Games Fair offered additional business connections.During the Fairs, multiple thematic seminars, talks and a large-scale conference were held to facilitate industry exchange. Events included the Hong Kong Toys Industry Conference 2018, where global industry experts examined such topics as the future development of toys retailing, the opportunities brought by e-commerce, big data applications and toys licensing.To encourage suppliers to leverage online-to-offline (O2O) promotional opportunities, the HKTDC has enhanced the sourcing function of its trade fair websites by launching the new year-round "Exhibitions Online" platform at the Toys & Games and Baby Products fairs. In addition to featuring fair updates and the latest industry sourcing information, the platform allows suppliers to connect with global buyers anytime and buyers to source industry-specific products from dedicated fair websites.Also, with the prevalence of mobile technologies, the HKTDC has launched the e-Badge for buyers to enhance their fair experience.For more comments from exhibitors and buyers: http://bit.ly/2mgyIqk - HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games FairEdition: 44thNo of Exhibitors: 2,100 exhibitors from 45 countries and regionsFair Websites: hktoyfair.hktdc.com Product Highlights: Click here http://bit.ly/2CeSvxd - HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products FairEdition: 9thNo of Exhibitors: Over 580 exhibitors from 27 countries and regionsFair Websites: hkbabyfair.hktdc.com Product Highlights: Click here http://bit.ly/2CxQgJy - Hong Kong International Stationery FairEdition: 18thNo of Exhibitors: Some 260 exhibitors from 15 countries and regionsFair Websites: www.hkstationeryfair.com Product Highlights: Click here http://bit.ly/2iZDyVI Photo download: http://bit.ly/2ARlhCE About HKTDCEstablished in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus . Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc - Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc - LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council Contact:HKTDCCommunications & Public Affairs DepartmentSam HoTel: +852 2584 4569Email: sam.sy.ho@hktdc.org Katherine ChanTel: +852 2584 4537Email: katherine.cm.chan@hktdc.org Source: HKTDCTopic: Trade Show or ConferenceSectors: Trade Shows, Retail/eCommerce, Travel & TourismFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright  2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.ADVERTISEMENT

African Union ambassadors to the UN demanded an apology from U.S. President Donald Trump for his racist remark on the people of Africa.

The group of over 50 nations in a statement said: the AU expressed its disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate comment made by Mr Donald Trump, President of the United States of America.

The remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union truly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current administration.

There is a serious need for dialogue between the U.S. administration and the African countries. The African Union, through its member States, values the strategic partnership with the U.S.

This relationship should be from the point of equality and mutual respect based on accepted international principles of respect for basic human dignity of all, the mission said.

The Mission demanded a retraction of the statement and an apology from the U.S. leader.

The AU mission condemns the statement in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology to not only the Africans but to all people of African descent across the globe.

The U.S. president reportedly made the comment during a meeting with congressional leaders in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Trump allegedly said after being presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from the countries in question.

The UN has also branded as racist, the reported remark branding Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations as shithole countries.

If confirmed these are shocking and shameful comments from the President of the United States. There is no other word you can use but racist.

You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes, whose entire populations who are not white, are therefore not welcome, said Rupert Coleville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. (NAN)ADVERTISEMENT

Zimbabwes new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has described his perilous journey through landmine areas when he fled the country following his sacking by former president, Robert Mugabe in 2017.

The state-run Zimbabwe Herald reported on Saturday that Mr. Mnangagwa recounted previously unknown details of his great escape from Zimbabwe, during an official visit to Angola.

Mr. Mnangagwa, 75, fled to Mozambique after he was sacked as vice president by Mugabe, leaving the country within four hours of his ouster, fearful of a threat to his life.

I didnt think it was pleasurable to wait to be eliminated. I left within four hours of being fired for the Mozambican border, he said.

He said that he walked for long hours and claimed there were attempts at the border to shoot him, but the attack was foiled by his son.

He (one of his twin sons) is an officer and was able to grab the weapon and I was not shot, Mr. Mnangagwa said.

The news report said once in Mozambique he flew from Beira to South Africa.

Mr. Mnangagwa ultimately returned triumphant to the country and replaced long-time ruler Mr. Mugabe after a bloodless military coup in November.

According to the news report, Mr. Mnangagwa also spoke of the attempt to poison him at an event of the ruling ZANU-PF party in 2017 and said he was airlifted to South Africa for treatment.

He had accused then first lady Grace Mugabe of having given him poison ice cream at a party.

I am happy that last week I was declared poison free. It is now undetectable, he was quoted as saying.

(dpa/NAN)Popular Nollywood comic actor, Bishop Umoh aka Okon Lagos, has brought laughter into many Nigerian homes through his hilarious roles. Beyond his persona as an actor, not many are aware that he has been married to his lovely wife, Idara, for four years. The dotting couple recently let PREMIUM TIMES into their home and shared their love story.

PT: How did you meet your wife?

Bishop: She was a bridesmaid at a wedding I anchored in November 2012. I spotted her at the wedding and I couldnt take my eyes of her. I felt I wouldnt have any other opportunity to get to know her so I approached her right away. I was in an emotionally tumultuous relationship at the time and I wanted out as soon as possible. I wanted to roll over to the other side of the lawn where the grass is greener.

Idara: When he asked me out, I was in a relationship but he persisted. I didnt really take him serious up until later. I was busy with my bridesmaid duty at the wedding and did not even notice his gaze. He confessed (laughs) later that he could not take his eyes of me all through the wedding ceremony.

PT: How did he propose?

Idara: He didnt really propose the conventional way but I accepted after asking him to speak with my mother. I did this because I was unable to tell if he was serious or just looking for a poster girl that he could just be taking around to show off on set and then dump when he had had his fill. After he spoke with my mum and she approved of him, I did too.

Bishop: We courted for about ten months but I had plans to get married to her from the word go. So, when the time came I didnt hesitate to make her my wife.

PT: What attracted you to each other?

Bishop: She is a very pretty woman and that is what attracted me to her .I needed a bright faced person that I could talk to and who would smile back at me. I needed someone to calm my nerves a little.

Idara: He was and still is a very caring man with an impeccable sense of humour that I love so much.

PT: Could the fact that you both hail from Akwa-Ibom State play a role..?

Bishop: Irrespective of religion, tribe or race, I dont hold such prejudices or sentiments. What matters most is your peace of mind and happiness.

PT: Are you bothered about the spate of crashed celebrity marriages?

Idara: When we got married, I used to pray to God to make sure my marriage works and never breaks up. I would pray that I would rather die than see my marriage break up. That way the only reason why he would have to remarry was because he is widowed, God-forbid though.

PT: How do you keep the romance alive?

Idara: I love cooking for my husband because he loves good food. Sometimes he will prefer I wash his clothes in the washing machine but I insist on using my hands because I just love doing that for him.

Bishop: I ensure she lacks nothing within my capacity and surprise her with gifts from time to time. I also surprise her pleasurably (laughs). Also, versatility patience and above all grace of God.

PT: Would you have married a celebrity if you hadnt met your wife?

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Bishop: No. I wont settle with a celebrity because paradoxically before you can have decent family you must have a balanced life. I cant be running from pillar to post and my wife she has to be on a low key and I on the high key. We two cant be as busy as bees and then expect to train your children well.

PT: Following the birth of your children has there been any significant changes in your marriage?

Idara: Now that we have a child there is divided attention and sometimes he can just take our daughter out and live me alone in the house.

Bishop: I have seen my wife move from giving me solely attention but now it is shared between my children and I. I am blessed to have someone who shares my DNA at the end of the day.

PT: Do you ever have trust issues as a result of your husbands profession?

Idara: I love my husbands job and have absolute confidence and trust in him. His job, or female fans do not threaten me. I am his number one fan and seeing him on screen playing the stupid roles gives me so much joy. God has implanted something in him that is so different from other comedians and I dont think he should be in another profession. This is the best job that he can do.

Bishop: There is no contesting the fact that you have to respect your wife. You do not have any choice in this regard. Anyone that says I slept with a woman under the influence of alcohol is lying because if you do not nurse the intention in the first place, it wont happen. I draw the line because I believe that life is all about prioritising. My marriage is priority and I cant jeopardise that for anything in the world

PT: Is there anything you will love to change about your spouse?

Idara: His temperament. When he is angry he can go to any length and later apologise. I am praying and seriously helping him work on his anger.

PT: Do you run a joint account?

Bishop: We dont run a joint account but our accounts are tied to each other so we know how much comes into the family. Our phone numbers are tied to my account, so we both get transaction alert anytime there is a deposit or withdrawal.

PT: Who apologises first after a disagreement?

Idara: He is also very good at apologising and never wants to see me frown.

Bishop: I apologise first because I dont have the energy to bear fury for a long time. I will have emotional constipation if I try it (laughs).After over two years of legal battles, Anambra Central Senatorial zone is set to get a representative in the red chamber of the National Assembly as a fresh election ordered by the court holds today.

The zone has been without a representative since 2015 when the Court of Appeal sacked Uche Ekwunife who was declared winner of the election conducted during the 2015 general elections.

The candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Victor Umeh, had gone to court to challenge the election of Ms. Ekwunife who contested under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Ms. Ekwunifes election was upheld in October 2015 by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Awka, Anambra State.

Justice Naiyi Aganaba while reading the verdict of the tribunal in October said Victor Umeh failed to establish his case that Ms. Ekwunife was wrongly declared the winner of the March 28 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

But the Court of Appeal ruled that election of Ms. Ekwunife did not meet the provision of the Electoral Act.

Despite the courts order that elections be conducted within 90 days, INEC did not conduct fresh elections till now citing various litigations pending in various courts.

The electoral commission has said 14 candidates would participate in the re-run election which will hold in Awka North, Awka South, Idemili North, Idemili South, Anaocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia local government areas.

According to INEC a total of 7,670 ad-hoc workers would conduct the election in 1,548 polling units.

However, the main opposition party in the country, Peoples Democratic Party, will not be taking part in the election as ordered by the Appeal Court.

The leading candidate in todays election is APGAs Victor Umeh who has seen his popularity sour following the victory of Governor Willie Obiano in last years governorship election in the state.

Mr. Umeh, a former National Chairman of APGA, was the Director General of Mr. Obianos campaign organisation for the election.

The removal of the PDP from the ballot paper is also an added advantage to Mr. Umeh as he now has one less major challenger for the seat.

Over 5000 security personnel will be deployed to provide security during the elections. While the police deployed 4000 personnel, the Nigerian Security and Civil defence Corps deployed 1000 officers.

Our reporter spotted a convoy of more than 10 military vehicles entering Awka, the state capital, from Enugu on Friday evening obviously part of the militarys contribution to ensure security during the election.

The Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, who is listed as the APC candidate for the election has said he is not participating in it. This effectively means the APC has no candidate for the election.

Read Mr. Ngiges statement below.

My attention has been drawn to a list by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) which contains my name as a candidate in the rerun Anambra Central Senatorial Election being conducted Saturday, January 13, 2018.

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For the information of the General Public and voters as well as my numerous supporters in Anambra Central Senatorial District, Im not participating in the said election which can be described as a charade.

I have since by a letter dated 11th January 2016 withdrawn from this rerun Election when it was earlier scheduled for March 2016 in accordance with the provisions of sections 33 &35 of the Electoral Act 2010 for personal& Family reasons.

My party, the APC accepted and promptly wrote INEC for my substitution. It went ahead and communicated its intention to organise a primary election for my substitution.

The primary monitored by INEC was organised at Awka and the name of a new candidate that emerged was promptly submitted, only for INEC to reject the new candidate on 29 January.

My party, the APC and INEC are in the Court of Appeal Abuja over this obnoxious & illegal action of INEC with hearing on the matter fixed for 23rd of January which is still within the armbit of 90days ordered by court, only for the INEC to fix an election for 13th in order to give an unfair advantage to the APGA candidate to go unopposed.

I have met with INEC on this issue and Im using this forum to inform the general public that Im not part of the re-run.

Residents of Awka, the Anambra capital, appear uninterested in the Anambra Central Senatorial election as many of them were seen going about their normal duties, Saturday morning.

Despite the restriction of movement, cars have been seen moving around the city unimpeded.

One major issue observed is the non-accreditation of journalists covering the election. At two checkpoints, police officers on duty asked for election accreditation tags from reporters.

They were obviously not informed that no accreditation tags were issued to journalists covering the election.

Even the police officers themselves dont have accreditation tags as was the case during the governorship election last year.

However, the officers who were very cordial, after explanations allowed this reporter to continue.

Some of the youth in the city were seen with their sports kits obviously going to play football.

One of them, who refused to disclose his name, said he would rather play football than vote.

What do I have to gain from voting in this election? he asked.

A vulcanizer, Johnson Obinze expressed similar sentiments.

 I have mouths to feed at home, so I will rather come out and work than go to vote. Luckily, cars are allowed on this express( Enugu Onitsha expressway) so I will get some work despite the ban on movement, he said.

Ad-hoc staff waiting to gain entrance into Nkwelle primary school, Awka, Awka South. Ward 006, 007, and 008. A list showing the names of aspirants and their various parties

8:32

Many Ad hoc staff, mostly Corps members at INEC office in Aniocha local government, are still waiting to be given the electoral materials.

Some of them are still grumbling that INEC has not completed payment of their allowances for the last government elections.

An ad-hoc staff is seen talking to a colleague alleging that the list of ad hoc staff may have been doctored.

After attending training and getting text message that we will be part of the ad hoc staff, they are now saying our names are not on the list. They are busy attending to corps members only, he says.

Meanwhile, in Awka, materials have been distributed to most wards, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

At Nkwele primary school Awka which has about three polling units electoral officers have arrived. Voting is expected to commence soon.

As hoc staff clustering round an INEC official at Aniocha LGA headquarters who is trying to pass some information.

At Igboamaka Polling Centre, Aguluzuigbo, which has two polling booths, voting has started.

But card readers are not malfunctioning. In one of the booths, the card reader was registering three persons instead of one person at a time.

The situation forced the officials to reset the device and restart accreditation.

Meanwhile, despite Senator Chris Ngiges statement yesterday that he has withdrawn as candidate of the APC in the elections, his name is conspicuously displayed in the list of contestants at polling centres.

List of candidates for the election displayed at Igboamaka ward with Send Ngiges name .

APGA candidate, Victor Umeh, arrives the polling booth in Aguluzuigbo to cast his ballot with his wife.

The card reader works at the first try and they proceed to cast their vote.

Mr. Umeh in an interview after casting his ballot said low turnout of voters was expected because of propaganda that the elections will not hold.

He further commended INEC for staging a hitch-free exercise.

INEC has shown that it is determined to defend democracy and the rule of Law.

Mr. Umeh being accredited to vote. Mr. Umeh and his wife Victor Umehs daughter casting their vote Mrs. Umeh casting her vote Mrs. Umeh and daughter casting their vote Mr. Umeh casting his vote

Transporters, Corps members abandon INEC duties in Idemili North LG

Some transporters engaged to move materials for Anambra Central re-run election in Idemili North Local Government Area, abandoned the assignment because the payments they were given were insufficient, Ayeleso Olutope, INEC Electoral Officer said.

Mr. Olutope, INEC Electoral Officer in-charge of Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra, told NAN at Ogidi on Saturday that all materials for the election were supposed to have be moved to polling units at 5 a.m on Saturday.

Mr. Olutope regretted the hitches recorded, noting that while some transporters conveyed the materials, some refused on the grounds that the part payments were insufficient for the job.

He also said that some NYSC member engaged as ad-hoc workers also demanded that their stipend be paid before they commence work.

The corps members said that some of their colleagues had received alert from their banks for the election duty while they did not get.

A transporter, who gave his name as Johnson Uchendu, said because of the hike in the price of petrol, 50 per cent of the amount he agreed for the job was not enough to fuel his vehicles for this job.

He said that was why he demanded that INEC pay him complete to enable him buy enough petrol for the job.

NAN reports that as at 10.30 a.m electoral materials were yet to arrive at some locations, including Central School Nkpor-Agu, Nkpor Ward two all in Idemili North Local Government Area.

Nwachukwu Enekwuwa, agent of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), expressed concern over the delay in arrival of materials, and called on INEC to sort out the problem before it affect the outcome of the election.

Two security personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who pleaded anonymity, said they arrived Nkpor ward two as early as 7 a.m but were yet to see any electoral officials for the exercise.

(NAN)

Collation of results at various local government collation centres have commenced.

The election which was hitch-free had low turnout of voters.

The final collation of results is expected to begin very soon at INEC state headquarters in Awka.

The zone has been without a senator for more than two years after the Appeal Court cancelled the election of Uche Ekwunife.

Legal tussles in various courts by various interested parties delayed the conduct of a re-run.

Meanwhile, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said the commission is not aware of the withdrawal of the All Progressive Congress, APC, candidate in the election.

The partys candidate, Chris Ngige, had last night issued a statement

that he had in January 2016 written to the electoral umpire on his withdrawal from contesting for the senatorial position in the zone.

But the official told PREMIUM TIMES that the commission was not aware of such letter.

We have no interest in what anybody is saying in the media. You dont withdraw in the media. We have no records of such letter, the source said.

There were 15 candidates for the election in 201t, but the court asked that we remove PDP from the ballot and we complied, the source added.

The final collation centre at the INEC state headquarters in Awka Anambra state is set.

PREMIUM TIMES can confirm that results from some of the local governments have also arrived the centre.

Heads of security agencies, observers, journalists and other parties including, party agents, all seated waiting for the collation to commence.

As we awaits the results, here are the names of the 14 parties that took part in todays election.

They are ACCORD, ACD, ADC, APC, APGA, GPN, ID, KOWA, LP, MPPP, NCP, PDC, PPA and UPP.

Pics: The venue for the final election collation at INEC state headquarters Awka.

Charles Okechukwu Esimonye, a professor and deputy Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, is the returning officer for the election.

Four local governments have already gotten to the centre while three others are on the way, he says.

Results

Njikoka LGA

RAs -18

RVs-88,793

Accredited voters-11989

ACCORD-05

ADC-05

ACD 03

APC-158

APGA-11506

GPN-07

ID-0

KOWA-02

LP-17

MPPP-69

NCP-03

PDC-0

PPA-16

UPP-07

Total valid-11798

Rejected- 191

Total- 11989

Results

Awka North LGA

RAs -14

RVs- 56290

Accredited voters- 7864

ACCORD- 02

ACD- 02

ADC -04

APC-81

APGA-7572

GPN- 03

ID- 02

KOWA- 01

LP-05

MPPP-11

NCP-03

PDC-0

PPA-04

UPP-01

Total valid-7691

Rejected- 164

Total- 7855

Results

Idemili South h LGA

RAs  12

Registered voters- 101484

Accredited voters- 4911

ACCORD- 05

ACD- 0

ADC  04

APC- 104

APGA- 4647

GPN- 05

ID- 03

KOWA-0

LP- 11

MPPP-0

NCP-01

PDC-0

PPA-12

UPP-04

Total valid- 4796

Rejected- 79

Total- 4875

Results

Dunukofia LGA

RAs  14

RVs- 64054

Accredited voters- 7667

ACCORD- 05

ACD- 03

ADC- 06

APC- 124

APGA- 7307

GPN- 07

ID- 03

KOWA- 02

LP-09

MPPP-04

NCP-06

PDC-03

PPA-41

UPP-08

Total valid-7528

Rejected- 139

Total- 7667

Results

Awka South LGA

RAs  20

RVs- 151599

Accredited voters- 13029

ACCORD- 07

ADC- 12

ACD -22

APC-231

APGA-12384

GPN-13

ID-04

KOWA-02

LP- 23

MPPP-10

NCP-23

PDC-01

PPA-08

UPP-06

Total valid-12746

Rejected- 241

Total- 12987

Umuawulu ward had over voting and results were cancelled

Results

Anaocha LGA

RAs  19

RVs- 95915

Accredited voters- 12634

ACCORD- 08

ACD- 01

ADC- 10

APC- 120

APGA- 12245

GPN- 07

ID- 0

KOWA- 04

LP-19

MPPP-14

NCP-01

PDC-01

PPA-19

UPP-12

Total valid-12461

Rejected- 168

Total- 12629

Incident in Aguluzuigbo ward 4, two polling stations didnt use card reader so their results were cancelled says the Collation officer of the polling unit.

To save time, the Returning Officer decides to commence entering the results in the results sheet while waiting for Idemili North LGA results.

In the pictures below, he is seen opening the sealed result sheet.ADVERTISEMENT

The detained leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has made his first public appearance more than two years after he was detained by the Nigerian government.

Mr. El-Zakzaky met with a select group of journalists on Saturday at the State Security Service office in Abuja, Channels Television reported.

PREMIUM TIMES was not invited to the meeting organised by the State Security Service, and could not independently confirm Mr. El-Zakzakys appearance or condition.

Mr. El-Zakzaky, who leads Nigerias most popular Shiia group, has been in the custody of the SSS since 2015. He has been held without trial despite court orders directing his release.

The appearance came a day after rumours of Mr. El-Zakzakys death spread on the social media. The rumour was denied by his lawyer, Femi Falana.

In a brief video on Channels, Mr. El-Zakzaky is seen walking unsteadily out of a building to speak to journalists. He is later driven away in a Toyota Prado SUV.

Mr. El-Zakzaky said he had been allowed access to his personal physician for the first time, and thanked Nigerians for their prayers.

It was severe on me on Monday but subsequently it started subsiding and for the first time at least the security allowed me to see my own Doctors.

So it was my own doctors who examined me. Before I used to be examined by security doctors, this time I did not agree, and my own doctors came to examine me.

I am getting better, thanks to all your prayers, Mr. Zakzaky said before leaving for the vehicle.

Reacting to Mr. El-Zakzakys appearance, the IMN spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa, told PREMIUM TIMES on telephone that none of the IMN members were aware of the arrangement.

We have seen the one minute video, but what they should do is to obey the court order by freeing the Sheik so that he can go and look after his health, he said.

We will continue to press for our demand until the federal government obeys the court order, Mr. Musa said.

The IMN leader and his wife were arrested on December 14, 2015in Zaria following a clampdown on Shiites by the Nigerian Army.

At least 347 members Shiites were killed and secretly buried in mass graves by the army.

A Federal High Court in Abuja in December 2016 ordered the release of Mr. Zakzaky and his wife. The government refused to obey the order.

Members of the IMN group have been staging series of processions across the northern states demanding their release.ADVERTISEMENT

The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on IDPs, Refugees and Initiatives on North East, Sani Zorro, has condemned the arrest of Cameroonian separatist leaders by the Nigerian government.

The group leads a movement for an independent English-speaking Ambazonia State, which seeks to break away from the domination of the French-speaking Cameroon.

The men were arrested by security operatives in Abuja and have been held incommunicado, a lawyer representing other members of the group said.

The decision of the government to arrest them has drawn condemnations, with Amnesty International warning against extraditing the activists.

Mr. Zorro said the arrested officials are asylum seekers, and should not be deported because their lives would be in danger.

Deporting them is illegal and it contravenes section 33 of the United Nations Geneva convention under treatment of refugees, Mr. Zoro told PREMIUM TIMES.

Nigeria will be committing a major illegality if it deports them back to Cameroon.

He said Section 33 of the Geneva convention prohibits forceful deportation of asylum seekers to where their lives are in danger.

He said there is a need for Nigeria to benefit from the policies and best practices of the United Nations as well as countries that have also experienced this kind of crisis.

He added that some of the refugees are less than 2km away from the Cameroonian boarders and Cameroonian soldiers cross their borders in pursuit of these refugees, which is illegal.

They cross Nigerian territories to go to the camp where they are and arrest some of them on allegations of the refugees bearing arms, he said.

He said the implications is that hostilities can break up between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Cameroon has witnessed months of unrest as the push for the independent state intensifies, resulting in clashes between protesters and the police which has led to the death of many nationals.

Anglophone Cameroonians say they have been marginalised for years by the central government and the countrys majority French-speaking population.

The agitation for secession heightened in October 2017 when the Ambazonians declared an autonomy over their region during the anniversary of their union with the French-speaking side.ADVERTISEMENT

The Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment has waded into the controversy surrounding the expiration of the tenure of the Executive Director/CEO of the Nigerian Exports Promotion Council, NEPC, Segun Awolowo.

Mr. Awolowos tenure as the Executive Director of NEPC expired in November, 2017 but he reportedly did not hand over to the most senior director before leaving, as stipulated by established rules, the Cable reported.

It was also alleged that Mr. Awolowo, despite leaving office in November, still left his personal effects in the office, which he locked up.

He allegedly left with all official vehicles and still calls the shots from home, the Cable had reported.

PREMIUM TIMES could not get reactions from Mr. Awolowo at the time of filing report.

But in a telephone interview, the new acting Executive Director of the organisation, Sidi Abdullahi, told PREMIUM TIMES the ministry had already resolved the controversy.

Im just from the ministry of trade and investment and everything has been settled. Im now acting as the Executive Director, he said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the organisations head of corporate communications, Joe Itah, in a telephone interview denied the allegations that Mr. Awolowo left with official vehicles.

That allegation is far from the truth, you can come to the office to see (vehicles) for yourself.

He attributed the allegations to, mischief makers within the organisation.

Sources in the organisation however said the embattled ex-official had to return the vehicles when the media reported the news.

Sources within the ministry told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Awolowo has been nominated for a second tenure but however has not been confirmed by the President. PREMIUM TIMES could not validate this information at the time of filing report.

Mr. Awolowo is the grandson to former premier of defunct Western Region, Obafemi Awolowo. He is also brother to Dolapo, wife of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.ADVERTISEMENT

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State says Thursdays protests embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Kaduna State against the dismissal of thousands of workers will not change his governments position on the matter.

Mr. El-Rufai stated this while responding to questions from State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock, Abuja, on Friday.

He dismissed the assertion that he employed the services of security agencies, particularly the police, to foil the protest march.

The NLC, led by its National Chairman, Ayuba Wabara, had on Thursday embarked on a protest march in spite of a heavy security presence.

The governor explained why the police was opposed to the protest.

I think the concern of the police is because of the precarious situation in the country, particularly in Kaduna, made it unsuitable to have such protest, Mr. El-Rufai said.

So this is the concern, the concern is breakdown of law and order and not protest or strike.

They are free to do so but it will not change our position, he said.

He reiterated the state governments pledge to pay all the entitlements of the affected staff, saying the government had set aside farmland for those interested in farming.

The governor said, We have announced that in line with the public service rule, we will pay three months severance package and we have provided incentives for those that are retiring to go through the retirement training.

Those that are interested in farming, we have the reserved land available and for those that want to go into trade, we have micro credit to support them.

But they are not suitable as teachers, they can do other things and the government will do other things to support them.ADVERTISEMENT

Arik Air flight traveling from Lagos to Asaba, Delta State, made a sudden turn midair on Friday evening after it reached its destination but was told that the airport was closed for the day.

Flight W3 628 had to return to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, with the disappointed passengers.

The spokesperson of the airline, Olabanji Ola, who confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES, said, When the pilot approached the Asaba Airport, the control tower told him it would be too late for the aircraft to take off again if it lands in the airport.

The airport is for daylight operation because it does not have traffic lighting. So, theres a particular time if the pilot enters the airport the plane would not be able to take off again because of sunset, Mr. Ola said.

The incident happened around 6.15p.m., he said.

The spokesperson said that Arik was very well aware of the limitation at the Asaba airport, but that the normal time the airport is supposed to close which the airport gave us is 6.30 p.m..

He, however, said that the airline was not liable for any damage the passengers may have suffered because of the incident.

What has happened is a force majeure, the airline is not liable. In this circumstances, what we did was to reschedule the flight for next day.

It is not as if we have canceled the flight. Any passenger that is not ready to be on the flight again, we will refund the fare, Mr. Ola said.

Chidinma Aniakor, one of the passengers on the Arik flight, was said to have resorted to traveling by night in a bus from Lagos to Asaba in order to meet up with an important engagement.Hours after the Benue state government buried over 70 victims of the January 1 attacks by suspected herdsmen, the general overseer of the Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel, David Oyedepo, on Saturday morning condemned the killings.

His counterpart, fiery cleric, Paul Enenche of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, also asked the rampaging herdsmen to relocate to the dreaded Sambisa forest to feed their cattle rather than kill and maim innocent Nigerians in their bid to acquire land for grazing.

Over 70 persons were killed by suspected herdsmen who invaded five villages in Guma and Logo Local Governments on New Years Day while several others were injured.

Over 50, 000 have so far been displaced.

The government organised a mass burial for the deceased on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

Speaking in Ogun state on Saturday morning during the One night with the King telecast across the nation, Mr. Oyedepo said although the country is not at war, there are some disgruntled elements bent on destabilising Nigeria.

Where are the security agents? I have never made any sponsored speech before, you mean they cant get the herdsmen arrested? he said.

I saw this coming, documented it because God confided in me. I saw it in May 23, 1982. Nigeria is in a state of slumber and the political bygones wont say anything. They (politicians) are always looking for the next election whether people are dying or not, he said.

Similarly, Mr. Enenche, an indigene of Benue state, on Friday in a live broadcast said it was sad that a group of people in Nigeria think they are working on the mentality of intelligent people, in apparent reference to those believed to be sponsoring the killings.

He said it is wrong for people (herdsmen) to wander into others people farmland, destroy their land, kill them and ask for grazing land for free at government expense.

According to Mr Enenche, no one has ever come from Oyo state to River state to ask for cocoa and making demands on the government to give him the cocoa free of charge at government expenses.

That place where terrorists are camping, Sambisa forest has enough forest for anybody to do whatever they want to do but not the ancestral land of peoples families, he said.

The visibly angry cleric, during the programme pronounced death sentence on anyone sponsoring the killer herdsmen.

I want us to rise with brutality because there are a set people in this nation, who think they are working on the mentality of the intelligent people. Today, it may be Numan in Adamawa State and nobody said anything and then it moves to Southern Kaduna tomorrow and nobody said anything and then it is somewhere in Taraba or Birom land in Plateau and no one talks, then it shifts to Benue or Kogi then it goes to Anambra and Oyo and everybody is watching until the nation is gone. God forbid!

Nobody has ever gone from Oyo State to Rivers to ask for free land to farm cocoa and making demand on the government to give it to them free of charge. Nobody has ever gone from Onitsha to Jos and ask for free land to sell his spare parts and asking government to pay for the land.

So, why do people wander in peoples farmland, destroy their farms, kill their people and ask for grazing land free of charge. That devil is a bastard, it shall not happen, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how a Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, in an essay titled  Impunity Rides Again criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for the failure of his government to act decisively against Fulani herdsmen believed to be behind the recent killings of scores of people in communities across the nation.

Meanwhile the police commissioner in Benue State, Bashir Makama, a few hours after the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris was deployed by the president to address the insecurity in Benue state and neighbouring Nassarawa, where armed herdsmen also invaded informed PREMIUM TIMES that the police are, concentrating their energy and resources towards the safe return of recently displaced residents to their communities.

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He said the police are holding back on their offensive against the suspected killer herdsmen.ADVERTISEMENT

The Federal Government has appealed to the media and public commentators to exercise utmost restraint in their coverage of the fallouts of the recent farmers/herders clash in Benue.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who made the appeal in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, cautioned against incendiary comments, unrestrained use of pictures and footages that offend human sensibilities in the coverage of the crisis.

The Minister also cautioned against finger pointing that could exacerbate the situation and complicate ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to end the crisis.

He said the media and commentators should be cautious of their coverage in order not to further inflame passion and worsen the situation.

Mr. Mohammed said the government is working hard to address the situation with a view to preventing a recurrence, not just in Benue State but everywhere across the country.

Lest we are misunderstood, we are neither saying the media should not cover the crisis nor asking public commentators to desist from commenting on it.

All we are saying is that both must be circumspect.

The current poisoned atmosphere of incendiary comments, unrestrained use of pictures and footages that offend human sensibilities as well as finger pointing can only exacerbate the situation and complicate ongoing efforts to end the crisis, he said.

The Minister said the government was saddened by the loss of lives and the destruction of property resulting from the crisis.

He said that President Muhammadu Buhari, in commiserating with the Benue Governor, unreservedly condemned the killings.

He said the president had also assured of the necessary security measures to prevent further attacks and bring the perpetrators to book.

Mr. Mohammed said the government had mapped out short and long-term solutions to the incessant clashes, including a planned conference of stakeholders.

He assured of the governments strong determination to find a lasting solution to the farmers/herders clashes.(NAN)ADVERTISEMENT

The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed three officers for reckless shooting after a violent incident that began on Thursday night led to the death of a young man.

The deceased, named Azubuike Wenemaru, was allegedly shot by police officers attached to the Pako Police Station in Amukoko who invaded a birthday party in the area.

An eye witness, who identified himself simply as Mr. Peter, told PREMIUM TIMES that the deceased was with his friends when the armed police officers arrived in a commercial tricycle and wanted to arrest people.

The police officers jumped down from the Keke and cocked their guns and everybody started running. There were gunshots and a bullet hit Azubuike in the stomach, Mr. Peter said.

Mr. Wenemaru, 30, died in the hospital due to gunshot wounds provoking the youth in the area who converged on the police station and began pelting officers with stones, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

On Saturday, the police announced it had sacked three officers from the Amukoko Division for reckless shooting.

The police officers, identified as Osaseri Saturday, a sergeant; Segun Okun, a sergeant; and Adekunle Oluwarotimi, a corporal, were tried and dismissed for breaching the rules of engagement and reckless application of firearms, Chike Oti, the Lagos police spokesperson, said in a statement.

The aforementioned Non Commissioned Officers(NCOs), committed the offence on the 11/01/2018, at about 2130 hours, at Ifelodun street, Amukoko, Lagos state when they disproportionately responded with bullets fired from their weapons at some youths alleged to have hurled some non ballistic missiles at them such as stones, sticks and bottles leading to the death of one of the youths and injury on another.

They were arrested, detained and tried immediately on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos state, CP Edgal Imohimi.

Azubuike Wenemaru

The guilty verdict was passed on them by the adjudicating officer who considered that the officers did not appreciate the situation critically and ought not to have applied the maximum force on the unruly youths.

The police said the officers would be still be charged to court next week, while a duplicate copy of the casefile would be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution( DPP) for legal advice.

Sequel to the above occurrence, the Commissioner of Police has directed all the Area Commanders and DPOs in Lagos state to warn their men against misapplication of force, Mr. Oti, a Superintendent of Police said.The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, sparred on Saturday with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, over which African leaders conduct informed a series of disparaging comments that U.S. President Donald Trump has hurled on black countries.

Mr. Trump singled out Haiti, El Salvador and parts of Africa as shithole countries during a meeting with U.S. lawmakers about immigration Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

The comments came during a White House meeting held to explore a bipartisan immigration deal, said the Washington Post, which broke the news.

The paper reported that Mr. Trump favoured immigrants from Norway and Asia, saying they helped the country economically.

But he wondered why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out, the Washington Post quoted Mr. Trump as saying.

But the president denied describing making derogatory remarks about Haiti, and appeared to also deny insulting Africa.

This came about three weeks after the New York Times reported that Mr. Trump slammed Nigerians during a June 2017 cabinet meeting that they dont go back to their huts once they enter America.

The paper also said Mr. Trump castigated Haitians as people living with AIDS and Afghanistan as a terrorist-infested country.

The White House denied the comments at the time.

Mr. Trumps latest comments drew worldwide outrage this weekend, especially leaders from black countries.

Although Mr. Buhari has not officially commented on the outrage, the PDP said the president has no moral grounds to do so.

President Buhari laid a very bad foundation for all the bad impressions people have about Nigeria as a whole, said Diran Odeyemi, the deputy spokesperson for the PDP, in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

President Buhari was criticised in February 2016 when he described Nigerians as having reputation for crime in an interview with The Telegraph in London.

A few months later in May, Mr. Buhari said Nigeria is a fantastically corrupt country, effectively agreeing with the then British Prime Minister David Cameron who had earlier described Nigeria in the same language.

Its unfortunate that we found ourselves in a situation where our leader does not understand the weight of statements he makes internationally, Mr. Odeyemi said.

Even recently, the president said he thought he was 74 until he was told he had turned 75, meaning we have a leader that doesnt even know his age, the spokesperson added.

So if Trump comes out to say anything bad about us, it is the outcome of what our president has said in the past, Mr. Odeyemi said, adding that the PDP will present a candidate that understands international politics and how to talk intelligently.

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But the APC has lampooned the opposition party for trying to score political points from the comments that have earned Mr. Trump serious reprimand across the world.

Every black person everywhere, every African everywhere, every rational person everywhere is unanimous in condemning the disparaging statements attributed to Mr. Trump, said the APC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi.

It is only the PDP that appears to agree with him and actually feels those unfortunate comments that have been declared racist could actually be justified, Mr. Abdullahi further told PREMIUM TIMES. You dont need to join others to rubbish your own people because you want to play opposition.

But a human resource expert who weighed in on the matter, said both parties should see Mr. Trumps comments as a challenge for improved leadership on the African continent rather than taking cheap shots at each other.

Instead of the political parties bickering, it should be for us to prove to the world that we can do better in Africa, said Yomi Fawehinmi.

Mr. Fawehinmi, however, slammed Mr. Trump for his comments, which he described as unbecoming of a leader of his status.

It is unbecoming, even though it could be factual. But it is unexpected of him as a leader, Mr. Fawehinmi said, while emphasising that this is a challenge for us in Africa.ADVERTISEMENT

All is set for todays election to fill a a vacant seat in the Taraba House of Assembly.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said six political parties will compete for the bye-election to fill the Ardo Kola state constituency seat.

INECs Resident Commissioner in Adamawa who was deployed to conduct the election, Kassim Gaidam, announced this.

He asked residents to discard any rumour that the election had been postponed.

I want to confirm to you that the election will hold as earlier scheduled this Saturday January 13.

People should disregard the purported rumour being peddled by some politicians that the election is postponed.

All is set for the election this Saturday, said the INEC commissioner.

He urged voters in the constituency to turn up with their Permanent Voters Card to vote at the polling units where they registered.

The candidates vying for the election, according to the commission, include Patrick Kini of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Sanusi Usman, All Progressives Congress (APC); and Abdulshafaat Dame, Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA).

Others are Tukur Jibril, Democratic Peoples Party (DPP); Dominic Bukumi, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); and Sajo Mohammed, Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The Ardo Kola state constituency seat became vacant following the death of the member representing the constituency, Emmanuel Dame, in November 2017.ADVERTISEMENT

Gov Samuel Ortom on Saturday appealed to protesters in some parts of Makurdi, the state capital, to remain calm and has directed security operatives to restore order.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Makurdi residents took to the streets in a peaceful protest on Saturday, over the killings in Guma and Logo local Government councils.

Gov. Ortom, made the call in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua.

Speaking about the protests in some parts of the state capital, the governor directed all security operatives especially, the Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, to ensure restoration of order in the affected areas.

The governor appeals to residents to remain calm and report any breach of peace to security agencies for necessary action.

The state has suffered too much losses in terms of human lives and property and cannot afford another round of crisis.

The Police should arrest those who cause trouble whoever they are, investigate the causes of the protests, and prosecute those responsible for breach of the peace, Mr. Ortom directed.

He assured Benue people that efforts would be intensified with the collaboration of the relevant security agencies to restore peace and order to all parts of the state.

(NAN)The wife of a top Akwa-Ibom government official was on Friday charged by the police before a magistrate court in Abuja for alleged serial abuse of her 10-year-old stepdaughter.

Court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday showed that the accused, Chidinma, whose husband is Ini Awak, the permanent secretary, Akwa Ibom Liaison Office, Abuja, was arrested on Monday.

Although she was initially detained briefly at the Force Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, FCIID, of the Nigeria Police, Area 10, Abuja, the nursing mother was later released on bail to allow her take care of her baby, while the police continued its investigations.

The FCIID spokesperson, Chike Nwabuwa, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES the accused was later charged before the Magistrate Court, Wuse, Zone 2, Abuja on Friday for the crime.

Mr. Nwabuwa said the accused was charged for alleged grievous hurt of a child under Sections 235, 243 and 244 of the Nigerian Penal Code Law 2008.

She was accused of beating and inflicting several bodily injuries on her stepdaughter and in the process breaking her upper right arm. The girl was later admitted in the hospital for surgery.

She was however granted bail and asked to return to court on January 27 for continuation of the case.

Mr. Nwabuwa told PREMIUM TIMES that officials of the Child Welfare Unit (Gender Department) of the station had received a report from some concerned workers of a popular church in Abuja.

I can confirm to you that we received the report about the girls situation from some concerned church workers who rushed her to the hospital for treatment.

What I can say is that she is currently receiving treatment at the Garki Hospital, Abuja. The woman has admitted in her statement of beating the girl for stealing her snacks (Pringles), Mr. Nwabuwa said.

The accused was said to have given the Junior Secondary School, JSS, student a black eye from severe beatings.

But, her admission in the hospital followed her broken right upper arm after the accused allegedly held and twisted it several times before stepping on it.

For over a week, it was said that no treatment was given to the girl, resulting in the blood clotting around the wounded area developing a surgical condition.

However, a source at the church, who requested that his name should not be disclosed because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said the woman was a guest in the church when the girls injuries were discovered.

The woman was attending a programme in our church she was invited with her family, the source said.

During the programme, one of the workers in charge of the childrens department had observed how the girl was finding it difficult to use her right hand.

Besides, it was observed that the girl also had bruises from her neck down to her bum. He drew the attention of the medical team.

On closer examination, the team found that the girls upper arm was badly swollen. The girl had a black eye in the face and bruises all over her body.

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She later confirmed they were inflicted on her by her stepmother from severe beatings, the source told PREMIUM TIMES.

Unknown to the woman, who was still attending the programme, the medical team had received the permission of the pastor in charge of the church to rush the girl to Garki Hospital for closer medical attention.

At the hospital, the source said it was found on examination and x-ray that the bone in the girls upper arm was badly broken, causing a big swelling as a result of the blood clotting inside the affected area.

The source said the hand was so badly fractured that the doctors had to carry out a surgical operation immediately to save the hand from being amputated.

But, before carrying out the operation, the source said the church had to make a formal report to the Child Welfare Unit at the FCIID of the Nigeria Police, Area 10, Abuja for them to wade in.

The police told PREMIUM TIMES the accused was later arrested and detained briefly following the report.

On interrogation, she was said to have admitted in her statement to the investigation team that she beat the girl for allegedly stealing her biscuit (Pringles).

It is pathetic and disheartening that the home which is supposed to be a place of comfort for the child has become a place of torment and torture, the source lamented.

If the girl was not brought to church that day and the workers noticed her discomfort, and rushed her to the hospital, she could easily have lost the hand, the source added.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that the doctor who carried out the operation on the girl noted that if the situation had tarried for two days longer, the girls arm would have been amputated.

The police spokesperson, Mr. Nwabuwa confirmed on Friday the girl was responding positively to treatment at the hospital.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited Garki Hospital, our reporter observed that the girl, whose hand was operated upon, was cast in plastic of Paris (POP) from shoulder down to the wrist.

PREMIUM TIMES also observed that the girl who looked malnourished, had a black eye on the right side of her face.

It was gathered that the church which made the referral to the hospital and secured a place for her treatment, also paid the initial bill for the girls treatment.

The father who was later invited to the hospital was said to have taken over to settle the other bills, including that of the operation.ADVERTISEMENT

The Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has approved the appointment of an oil magnate and philanthropist, Tunde Afolabi, as the pioneer chancellor of the state-owned Technical University, Ibadan.

The Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Olalekan Alli, announced the appointment, which takes immediate effect, in a statement on Friday.

Academic activities began at the newly-established university in January 2018.

The 67-year-old Oyo State indigene is a 1973 Geology graduate of the Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA; and holds a Master of Science in Geology from the Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Mr. Afolabi is a major player in the oil industry, having worked with TEXACO Inc, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and Mobil USA INC. Dallas Texas, USA, before returning home to establish AMNI Production Company Limited, Lagos, a petroleum exploration outfit.

The new chancellor is a Fellow of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society; Science Association of Nigeria; Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists and a recipient of the prestigious ECOWAS Distinguished Corporate Achievers Award.

He is a certified member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; member of New Orleans Geological Society and an Active member of the Nigerian Association of Indigenous Exploration and Production Companies.ADVERTISEMENT

The Lagos State Police Command on Saturday announced the dismissal of three policemen for allegedly shooting recklessly while on duty.

The spokesman of the command, Chike Oti, a superintendent of police, confirmed the dismissal to newsmen, saying the policemen were dismissed after they were tried according to the laws and regulations of the Force.

According to Mr. Oti, the three policemen were attached to the Amukoko Division.

He gave their service numbers as: 25759  Sgt. Osaseri Saturday, 359075  Sgt. Segun Okun and 496833  Cpl. Adekunle Oluwarotimi, Mr. Oti said.

They have been tried and dismissed from the Nigeria Police for breaching the rules of engagement to wit reckless application of firearms.

The aforementioned Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), committed the offence on Jan. 1, 2018, at about 9.30 p.m. at Ifelodun Street, Amukoko, Lagos state.

They disproportionately responded with bullets fired from their weapons at some youths alleged to have hurled some non-ballistic missiles at them leading to the death of one of the youths and injury on another.

They were arrested, detained and tried immediately on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Edgal Imohimi.

The guilty verdict was passed on them by the Adjudicating officer, who considered that the officers did not appreciates the situation critically and ought not to have applied the maximum force on the unruly youths.

The police spokesman further said that the dismissed policemen would be charged to court next week, while a duplicate copy of the case file would be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.

Sequel to the above occurrence, the Commissioner of Police has directed all the Area Commanders and DPOs in the state to warn their men against misapplication of force.

He further warned that officers must abide by the Rules of Engagement as stipulated in Force Order 237, he said.

(NAN)Drinks International is one of the most trusted and respected global drinks journals. Its prestigious Annual Bar Report provides a snapshot of the buying habits of elite bars around the world. This year's expanded list of voters included bar owners, managers and head mixologists from Drinks International's World's 50 Best Bars group, Asia's 50 Best Bars, the Time Out Bar Awards, The Class Bar Awards, Taste of the Cocktail, and the Mixology and Australian Bartender Awards.

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http:www.//angostura.com/

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 12, 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 CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE: CXW).

CoreCivic, Inc. (formerly "Corrections Corporation of America") owns and operates private prisons and other correctional facilities and inmate transportation services across the United States. On August 18, 2016, it was announced by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates that the Department of Justice was discontinuing the use of private prisons, including those operated by the Company, citing concerns relating to insufficient safety measures and ineffective remedial services. Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in securities class action lawsuits for failing to disclose material information relating to the true quality, efficiency and regulatory compliance of its facilities as well as the status of its governmental contracts, violating federal securities laws. The Company's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was recently denied, allowing the consolidated case to proceed. Shareholder derivative lawsuits have also been filed against the Company's executives and are pending.

KSF's investigation focuses on whether CoreCivic's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to CoreCivic'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 CoreCivic 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]).

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.

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

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntkey, a global leading provider of power solutions, is presenting its Magic Outlets Series at the 2018 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow held in Las Vegas from Jan. 9 to 12, 2018.

https://en.huntkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/magic-outlet-01.jpg

The Magic outlet Series consists of four models, with small and cubic appearance, the power strip looks cute and is very handy for daily use and travel. In addition, they can be combined together to extend the outlets. Many people are attracted by the Magic Outlets at Huntkey booth. Huntkey will start to sell the SMC005 and SMC407 from the Magic Outlet Series on Amazon soon.

https://en.huntkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/magic-outlet-02.jpg

The SMC005 with five American sockets, allowing users to charge five different electronic devices. The SMC407 is with a power cord, and designed with three USB ports, with a total output of 5V2.4A, allowing users to charge three extra devices via USB cables.

Huntkey is popular among the global customers with its renowned brand, high quality and attractive ID design. Why Huntkey magic outlet worth you to own it? We give you five main reasons:

1. Handy for daily use and traveling

The magic outlet series are designed with compact size, it is convenient for daily use and traveling.

2. Can be combined together to extend the outlets

Customers can combine magic outlet together to extent the AC plugs and USB ports

3. Safety Inner Design: Integral Copper Bar

The integral copper bar design, which enhanced the conduction ability. Also it can improve the elasticity of switch, making the better experience for the consumers when using it. The last but most important is that with this design, it can promote the efficiency but lower the electricity bills.

4. Reliable Flame-retardant Material

Huntkey magic outlets series are made of flame-retardant material, which is able to withstand high heat and temperatures. There is no deformation at 100 and even without flames at 750.

5. 3-year warranty

Huntkey can provide best service and 3-year warranty.

About Huntkey

Huntkey, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Shenzhen, is a member of The International Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA) and a member of The China Power Supply Society (CPSS). With branch companies in the USA, Japan and other areas, and cooperating factories in Brazil, Argentina, India and other countries, Huntkey has specialized in the development, design, and manufacturing of PC power supplies, industrial power supplies, surge protectors, adapters and chargers for many years. With its own technologies and manufacturing strength, Huntkey has served Lenovo, Huawei, Haier, DELL, ZTE, Bestbuy and many other large enterprises for years, and has received unanimous recognition and trust from most of its customers.

For more information about Huntkey, please visit:

https://en.huntkey.com/

http://www.facebook.com/HuntkeyGlobal/

Contact:

Ferris Liao

+86-755-8960-6658

[email protected]

SOURCE Huntkey

Related Links

https://en.huntkey.com

ATLANTA, Jan. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Martin Luther King III, son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, today released a message marking the 89th anniversary of his father's birthday and the nation's 32nd Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday:

"On behalf of my wife, Arndrea Waters King, my daughter Yolanda Renee King and myself, I join with people of good will all over the world, who will be celebrating my father's birthday with a dazzling array of programs and events. This year the King holiday falls on my father's actual birthday, January 15th, and our family would like to share the following message in commemoration of this special observance.

"In 2018 as we acknowledge and reflect on my father's legacy, he would want us to look forward, not backward, to serve the present age and realize the dream. He would want us to recommit our effort to create the Beloved Community, in which people of all colors and cultures weave ourselves together in a brilliant, beautiful and majestic way.

"In these challenging times, let us all dedicate ourselves to seeking viable solutions that will address the world's problems through cooperation, mutual respect, caring and a declared commitment to finding answers through nonviolent social change that result in the highest good for all. We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization.

"So as the world commemorates and celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr., I'm asking you not to idolize my father, but let us live up to his ideals."

Mr. King, accompanied by his wife and daughter, will commemorate his father's birthday by attending a prayer breakfast followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. They will also engage in a hands-on service project feeding those in need.

"It is our hope to inspire Americans to get involved in serving their communities on the holiday and every day in order to realize the dream."

Information and media inquiries:

Jennifer Gold Palatchi

Chief of Staff

Mr. Martin Luther King III

[email protected]

SOURCE Martin Luther King IIIGoing for a Beer (Norton, Feb.), by the vibrant 85-year-old Robert Coover, is a collection of his stories from the past 50 years. There are superheroes, cartoons, and figures from myth and fairy tales, all deployed to distinctly postmodern ends. Typical of his work is The Goldilocks Variations, which uses the scales of Bachs Goldberg Variations to examine Goldilocks as weve never seen her before.

The tale itself is a very conservative form, and the kind of stories we get told control how the society is run, Coover says, speaking of the fairy tale mode he has returned to in collections such as A Child Again. The patriarchal fairy tales, the biblical fairy tales... They become dogma.

Coover has been pushing against that dogma since 1962s The Brother, a radical reconfiguration of the story of Noah and the flood written after a wholesale cover-to-cover read of the Bible as a literary object (I was bored by most of it, he says). His 1966 novel, The Origin of the Brunists, is a send-up of organized religionthe 2004 sequel, The Brunist Day of Wrath, takes aim at Bush-era evangelismand 1977s uproarious political fantasy The Public Burning presents a broadly caricatured Richard Nixon and Roy Cohn. My gift to the incumbent, he calls it, and indeed the novel faced a complicated path to publication, with publishers sending it straight to their legal departments. One editor told him, This is terrible; how could anyone publish this? But Ill do it.

Asked if he plans to return to political satire, Coover mentions that hes working on a story for the Trump era, featuring the commander-in-chief opposite aged American superheroes including a nonagenarian Incredible Hulk. He describes his primary target in these kinds of stories as the myths of the nationany myth that needs to be confronted: so movies, comic strips, other peoples novels, the Christian myth, all intended to face up to the political myth.

Were sitting in a Providence, R.I., cafe off Wayland Square on a sad day: William Gass, Coovers longtime friend and collaborator, has just died at 93. Coover recalls their meeting in the late 50s, when Coover was finishing a masters degree at Purdue; he discovered Gasss work through their mutual friend Stanley Elkin and was enthused to find that his essays had a fictional element and his stories had an essayistic element. Gass, Elkin, and Cooveralong with John Barth, Donald Barthelme, Angela Carter, William Gaddis, and John Hawkeswere part of the postmodern cadre of writers who redefined fiction in the 1970s and 80s.

We were on the same wavelength, Coover recalls. We were all reacting against something that was part of our living experience. Rather than a school, it was more like basically uneducated people figuring things out on their own.

Barth famously declared literature to be exhausted, while Elkins work, Coover says, came out of his time as a fast-talking salesman, and Barthelme, who seemed on the surface more urbane, struck Coover as a Texan tall-tale teller at heart.

Many of these figures were centered around Brown University, where Coover has taught since the 70s. Despite this long association, he describes his role as kind of tenuous, adding, I dont belong to any committees, but I run valuable new programs like the International Writers Center and the Electronic Literature Organization.

Coovers keen interest in the possibilities that technology can bring to fiction was detectable as early as 1969s boundary-pushing, influential The Babysitter, which is laid out like a matrix that kaleidoscopically explores every possible permutation of one babysitters traumatic night on the job. The Babysitter would eventually appear in Pricksongs & Descants (Dutton, 1969), which introduced the world to Coovers metapop culture style. Several of the other stories were begun during an intense 14-day writing period following a stint in the Navy. Stationed in Germany, there was nothing to do but go to the library, where Coover discovered Beckett, Cervantes, and Kafka.

Beginnings, one of the stories in Going for a Beer, features a writer whose stated goal is to delay the climax: Thus he got involved with spirals, revolutions, verb tenses, and game theory. This is an almost perfect description of Coovers own methodology. He still works tirelessly, often until 5 a.m. and has two collections planned after Going for a Beer: one that features his recent New Yorker pieces, like Invasion of the Martians, and Son of A Night at the Movies, a sequel to his classic collection of movie stories (one of these, 1985s You Must Remember This, featured in Going for a Beer, saucily relates what happened between Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca when the camera was off). His laptop reveals a new piece, with copious notes.

Coover is famous for his use of technology as a storytelling tool well before the internet came into its own. His 1992 New York Times essay The End of Books promised that the new, nonlinear technology of hypertext would make the more limited powers of print obsolete. He wrote, Fluidity, contingency, indeterminacy, plurality, discontinuity are the hypertext buzzwords of the day, and they seem to be fast becoming principles, in the same way that relativity not so long ago displaced the falling apple. At Brown, he developed the 3-D walk-in virtual reality facility known as the Caveand its successor, the Yurtwhere students can digitally manipulate text, creating their own storytelling programs. His goal with all these innovations was to get young writers to open up their minds to something less structured than the typical linear type of tale.

When I ask Coover if he feels that the internet had betrayed its promise, he demurs, saying: I dont think of its banality as much as I think about its potential. It will destroy the past. We still have books, but the future wont be concerned with books outside of hobbyists and scholars. He then asks my age and, when I tell him 31, he exclaims, You see, youre already part of the Neanderthals!

Thinking of his story The New Thing, something of a postmodern mission statement, I ask how we can push back against empty nostalgia and the ascendant digital platforms that threaten to overwhelm literature. He replies, after a long pause: Its a tricky thing. In many ways were at the nadir of the art from. No one has had yet figured out how to struggle against the ephemerality of everything, while still employing the tools of our present age.

Coover laments the gulf between 21st-century attention spans and the deep engagement of a book. And yet, he believes in working within the system and using its tools against it rather than dropping out. He believes that one cant be ignorant about the changes taking place; he cites Gutenbergs invention of the printing press and his use of a typeface that looked like handwriting: The first thing that happens is imitation of the past, but you can only do so much imitation. At a certain point, even now, people are breaking from this fixed notion of what the arts are. Im not sure its going to be a good thing. I like books myself, but I think its whats going to happen and we need to get used to that.

Despite this relative gloominess about the future of print novels (Coover has authored a follow-up to The End of Books called The End of Literature), he believes that it is the responsibility of contemporary writers to confront the mythology of the present time. He urges not dissent against the powers that be, but self-dissent, attempting to make sense of the various ideologies those powers instill in us. His advice to young writers is to avoid passing fashions and writing programs, and to look for inspiration in Ovid and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Rethink strategies, he says.

J.W. McCormack is a writer whose work has appeared in Bomb, BuzzFeed, the New York Times, the Paris Review Daily, and Vice.Harper Voyager Signs First Memoir

HarperCollinss science fiction imprint, Harper Voyager, made a first with its acquisition of J. Michael Straczynskis Saved by Superman. The book, to which David Pomerico took world English rights, will be the first memoir that Voyager has published. Straczynski has written in a variety of styles (including screenplays, comics, and novels) and is arguably best known as the creator of the TV series Babylon 5. The memoir, Voyager said, chronicles his experience growing up surrounded by poverty, violence, alcoholism and domestic abuse and how he wrote his way out of some of [those] harrowing conditions. Neil Gaiman is contributing a foreword to the book, which was sold by Emma Parry at Janklow & Nesbit Associates and is slated for a 2019 release.

Bakalians Guide to Aladdin

Emmy-winning writer Peter Bakalians parody Obey! The Secret Parents Guide to Hacking Your Kids was sold in a world English rights agreement to Amy Cloud at Simon & Schusters Aladdin imprint. Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio, who brokered the deal, said the subversive YA novel follows a young teen who discovers a secret diabolical parenting manual and, risking the retaliation of FART (Families Against Rotten Teens), exposes it to the world and triggers a kid rebellion. The book is set for a spring 2019 publication.

Vox to Berkley

In a world English rights sale, Cindy Hwang at Berkley bought Christina Dalchers debut, Vox. The publisher compared the novel to dystopian works like The Handmaids Tale and Leni Zumass Red Clocks; its set in a near future when women are allowed to speak only 100 words a day and are forbidden from having jobs. Hwang said the novel is a subversive work that vibrates with an energy and anger that taps into the resistance and #MeToo movements that have emerged since last years presidential election. Dalcher, who was represented by Laura Bradford at the Bradford Literary Agency, teaches at the Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, Va. The book is set for release in September.

Indie Publishers Sell Collection to Crown Kids

The founders of the independent publisher Just Us Books, Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, sold a middle grade anthology called We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices to Phoebe Yeh at Crown Books for Young Readers. The husband-and-wife team behind the multicultural New Jerseybased press compiled and edited the book, which features essays, poems, and illustrations about activism. Contributors include Kwame Alexander, Ellen Oh, Jason Reynolds, and Jacqueline Woodson. The couple, who represented themselves in the deal, sold world rights to the book, which is set to be released in September.

Briefs

The Summer Cottage by Wade Rouse, writing under the pseudonym Viola Shipman, was acquired by Susan Swinwood at Graydon House in a three-book deal. Wendy Sherman, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Rouse in the North American rights agreement. Sherman said the novel follows a woman who, in the wake of her divorce, quits her job, abandons city life, and attempts to convert her parents aging lakeside vacation home into a bed and breakfast. The renovation unearths a surprising history, and myriad guests make her doubt her sanity and decision.

Alyson Heller at Aladdin took North American rights to Barbara Dees middle grade novel How to Survive Quicksand in a two-book deal. Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, who negotiated the sale on Dees behalf, said the book is about a seventh grader whose family is upended after her brother is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Survive is set for fall 2019, and the currently untitled second middle grade novel in the agreement is scheduled for fall 2020.

For Gallery Books, Jeremie Ruby Strauss nabbed world rights to Heather B. Armstrongs memoir The Valedictorian of Being Dead. Armstrong, an author (It Sucked and Then I Cried) and blogger at Dooce, sold the book directly to Strauss. He called the work an honest and irreverent take on her experience as one of only a few people to participate in an experimental study involving 10 rounds of chemically induced brain death as a treatment for depression. Valedictorian is set for February 2019.

Correction: An earlier version of this article listed the book that Wade Rouse just sold as The Charm Bracelet. This is a previous title of Rouse's; his forthcoming book, and the one Graydon House just acquired, is called The Summer Cottage. Additionally, in an earlier version Jeremie Ruby Strauss' first name was misspelled.The Open Book in Minneapolis, a center that houses several literature-related organizations, including a publisher and a bookstore, has become an inspiration for similar projects around the country. Among the latest of these is the 1888 Center in Orange, Calif. The literary nonprofit, named for the year in which the city of Orange was incorporated, has been running since 2015, but moved into a modestly sized storefront in the historic town center last July; it was previously operating out of borrowed spaces and founder Kevin Staniecs home.

We like to think of this as a mini-Getty,  Staniec said, referencing the Los Angeles museum the Getty Center. Orange is the sixth most populous county in the United States, but, aside from the chain stores, it has just two independent bookstores that sell new books. Orange didnt have a literary heart, so to speak, so that is what we were looking to provide.

The 1888 Center consists of a single open space that can be configured for a variety of uses, from readings and presentations to movie screenings and writing classes. There is a coffee bar and a 32-foot-long wall of bookshelves offering a rotating selection of titles for sale. The 1888 Center has as its genesis some previous Staniec projects.

A graduate of nearby Chapman University, Staniec first established Black Hill Press, a for-profit publishing house focused on novellas, in 2013. He then began publishing an annual literary journal, The Cost of Paper, which was followed by the Summer Writing Project, an online community in which writers craft novellas one chapter at a time and solicit feedback. With so much going on, we wrapped them all into the 1888 Center, he explained.

Nearly 600,000 people around the world have participated in the Summer Writing Project, and Staniecs publishing company, operating now under the 1888 Center imprint, has released some 80 books, primarily novellas. Notable titles include How to Succeed by Failing by Jon-Barrett Ingels, The Big Drop: Impermanence and The Big Drop: Homecoming by Ryan Gattis, and Palms Up by Arianna Basco. These have sold several thousand copies each, Staniec said, though he admitted most of the publications have sold in a more modest range, from 200 to 500 copies. The 1888 Center has also launched a reprint program called 1888 Dime Novels, which has published half a dozen pulp books from the 19th century featuring pop culture figures, such as Jesse James and Buffalo Bill.

Among the centers other activities is overseeing the production of 10 podcasts, including 1888s own The How, the Why, which features entrepreneurs and creators discussing their creative processes. The center also administers the California Writing Residency Program, which hosts writers for three two-week residencies at a cabin in the mountains of Lake Arrowhead, Calif.

We aim for the center to be a space for everyone to gather and to learn, Staniec said. People have expressed a lot of gratitude since we opened. And we have been getting about 120 visitors a day, which is pretty great.

So far, the center has been funded through a combination of grants, some funding from Chapman University, and credit cards, said Staniec, who has also launched a membership drive. Memberships to support the center are available in tiers priced from $40 (for a basic membership) up to $2,500 (for an associate membership). While we think its a center for everyone, and would like to draw members from all over the world, we are especially proud of our engagement with the people of Orange, Staniec said.To: All Macmillan Employees

From: John Sargent

Last Thursday [January 4], shortly after 7:00 a.m., we received a demand from the President of the United States to immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination of Michael Wolffs Fire and Fury. On Thursday afternoon we responded with a short statement saying that we would publish the book, and we moved the pub date forward to the next day. Later today we will send our legal response to President Trump.

Our response is firm, as it has to be. I am writing you today to explain why this is a matter of great importance. It is about much more than Fire and Fury.

The president is free to call news fake and to blast the media. That goes against convention, but it is not unconstitutional. But a demand to cease and desist publicationa clear effort by the President of the United States to intimidate a publisher into halting publication of an important book on the workings of the governmentis an attempt to achieve what is called prior restraint. That is something that no American court would order as it is flagrantly unconstitutional.

This is very clearly defined in Supreme Court case law, most prominently in the Pentagon Papers case. As Justice Hugo Black explained in his concurrence:

Both the history and language of the First Amendment support the view that the press must be left free to publish news, whatever the source, without censorship, injunctions, or prior restraints. In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Governments power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government.

Then there is Justice William Brennans opinion in The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan:

Thus we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.

And finally Chief Justice Warren Burger in another landmark case:

The thread running through all these cases is that prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious andleast tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.

There is no ambiguity here. This is an underlying principle of our democracy. We cannot stand silent. We will not allow any president to achieve by intimidation what our Constitution precludes him or her from achieving in court. We need to respond strongly for Michael Wolff and his book, but also for all authors and all their books, now and in the future. And as citizens we must demand that President Trump understand and abide by the First Amendment of our Constitution.Tennessee is best known for Dollywood, Graceland, Jack Daniels, and Nashvilles Music Row, but it is also increasingly becoming known for its bookstores. Since the closure of Nashvilles famed Davis-Kidd Booksellers in 2010, followed by the closure of Nashville publisher United Methodist Publishing Houses 38 full-line and 19 seminary Cokesbury bookstores in 2012, bookstores in Tennessee have begun coming back. Some never went away, like 142-year-old Burkes Book Store in Memphis, one of the 10 oldest bookstores in the country, and 31-year-old Alkebu-Lan Images Bookstore, one of roughly 55 remaining African-American bookstores in the U.S.

One advantage booksellers in the state have, notes Wanda Jewell, executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, is that since Tennessee is home to Ingram, theyre able to get their books quickly. Every dog has its day, and it seems like were seeing a combination of things where people are feeling a need for community in part because of politics, she says. People are feeling disconnected and looking for ways to feel connected. People who visit bookstores and love bookstores feel safe in bookstores. I think its true everywhere, and certainly in the South and in Tennessee,

Deborah Stewart, manager of Alkebu-Lan Images Bookstore, attributes the stores longevity to its community and the fact that people are hungry for knowledge that theyre not able to find elsewhere. Given todays political climate, that hunger has only grown. People are becoming more aware of who they are and how theyre treated, Stewart says. Theres so much going on in the political arena and in everyday living. So there are a lot of people looking for a comfort level and a sense of solidarityand they come here to find it.

The stores bestselling titles in 2017 include Carter Woodsons The Mis-education of the Negro and Willie Lynchs The Willie Lynch Letter: The Making of a Slave, as well as books on holistic living, Islamic belief systems, and Christianity. In todays world, people of color have no idea what their next move is going to be, Stewart says. So the question is where to get that knowledge, and thats where we come in. Thats what we do.

Community lies at the heart of Nashvilles the Rabbit Room, one of the states many Christian bookstores, which was founded by Andrew Peterson in 2006 as an experiment in creative community. It has made a name for itself by not only selling books and music but, since 2008, by publishing as well. We had problems finding books we love in the tradition of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Flannery OConnor, and Walker Percy, says Petersons brother, writer Pete Peterson, executive director of the Rabbit Room. We were interested in keeping our eyes open to the kinds of titles we wanted to publish that helped to form us.

The road to publishing was a slow one, but the Rabbit Rooms latest title, Every Moment Holy by Douglas McKelvey, a $35 book of liturgies, has done particularly well. Published in November, it sold out its initial print run of 3,000 leather-bound and embossed copies in less than three weeks.

Peterson says that being based in Nashville has been integral to the Rabbit Room Presss success. A lot of the people in our community are artists, and over the last 10 years a lot of writers have looked and seen how musicians are making their own route and building their own communities, he notes. Authors are following that path.

General trade stores are also rebounding in Tennessee. Novelist Ann Patchett and Karen Hayes opened Parnassus Books in 2011 to fill the void left by Davis-Kidds closure. Parnassus more than doubled in size in spring 2016, going from 2,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. It also added a mobile counterpart, Peggy (short for Pegasus), which it takes to festivals and schools. In summer 2017, Parnassus partnered with the Hudson Group on a store at Nashville International Airport. But Hayes says that shes not interested in opening additional bricks-and-mortar locations. There are other ways in which Im happy to grow, she says.

Hayes is happy to see the bookselling community grow. Were finally seeing stores open up, she says. When we opened, there were used bookstores. Now in East Nashville theres Her Bookshop, which is doing very well. Starline Books in Chattanooga has opened, which is very encouraging, because Chattanooga really needed [a bookstore]. It was a big hole.

Burkes co-owner, Cheryl Mesler, says that 2017 was an interesting year. Interesting because I dont think people think of Memphis as a book town, she explains. But after Borders and places like that closed, we were down to just a couple of stores in the city limitsus and Booksellers of Laurelwood. Right after the new year, the owner of Booksellers announced that they were closing in February. But the city came together, and they didnt close up. Instead, a 27-person investor group opened Novel in the Laurelwood Shopping Center, in a store about half the size of the former 25,000-sq.-ft. Booksellers.

Matt Crowe, one of Novels three managing members, says he thought someone needed to step in. Novel met his three criteria for launching a startup: Is there a market? Do you have the right people involved? And can it be done with a reasonable sum of money? We knew the market existed because there had been a successful bookstore there for 30 years. We had a deep bench of managers and sellers available to us from Booksellers. And finally, we thought the numbers were good enough to make it work from a financial perspective. We hit up friends, put up our own money, and did it.

Just three months after Booksellers closed, Novel opened with a 10,000-sq.-ft. selling space, an additional 1,500-sq.-ft. special events area, as well as a 3,100-sq.-ft. in-store cafe/restaurant, Libro, at Laurelwood. We have the benefit of Parnassus in Nashville, Crowe says. And, in a lot of ways, we try to follow their model. Theyve been very helpful. The entire community has been fantastic. Were great friends with Burkes, for example, and we work together when and where we can. Were aligned together to support local bookselling.

Novels opening has been very good for us, Mesler, at Burkes, says. Its brought to peoples attention the importance of independent booksellers. Its very encouraging. Ten years ago we were on the brink of closing, but people recognized that we needed to be here and people came. Weve been here 140 years, and Im going to be here until I die.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Justice Robert Rucker, the 105th appointee to the Indiana Supreme Court and before that a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, will keynote the Purdue University celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Tuesday (Jan. 16). Last years theme, The Fierce Urgency of Now, will carry into the 2018 celebration.

We are proud to be able to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King at Purdue University with a variety of programs and activities, said Renee Thomas, director of the Purdue Black Cultural Center. The keynote address by Judge Rucker will be the highlight of the celebration.

Rucker, who retired last year, was the first African American to serve on the Indiana Court of Appeals and only the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Indiana, having been appointed in 1999. He will speak at 6:30 p.m. in Stewart Centers Loeb Playhouse. His presentation is titled An Evening with Justice Robert Rucker. It is free and open to the public.

Rucker, who grew up in Gary, Indiana, is recognized as a pioneer in his dedication to increasing the diversity in the legal profession. He appointed people of color to serve on various Supreme Court boards and commissions, as well as consistently hiring lawyers of color to serve as his law clerks on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

Rucker was appointed to serve as a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals in 1991. During his time on the Court of Appeals, Rucker served as vice chair of the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education. He holds the accomplishment of being the longest-sitting justice, having served 18 years.

Judge Rucker has dedicated his career to civil rights issues and has been a champion of diversity and inclusion, Thomas said. He has a strong commitment to equality for all, and audience members will be inspired by his personal journey.

Ruckers talk will be preceded by a 5:46 p.m. candlelight vigil and march from the Black Cultural Center to Loeb Playhouse, hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

In addition, the Purdue Dreamer Award will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 during the King event. The award is presented annually to an individual or organization whose contributions embody Kings vision of service and further the Universitys commitment to diversity and inclusion. Additional information about the award, including nomination forms and a list of previous recipients, can be found at http://www.purdue.edu/dro/Dreamer%20Award/index.html. For more information, contact Carolyn Johnson, director of the Diversity Resource Office, at dro@purdue.edu or 765-494-7307.

Other celebration highlights include:

* Jan. 15. MLK Day of Service, coordinated by Vanessa Pacheco, Purdue's coordinator for civic engagement. Open to Purdue students, faculty, staff members and retirees. Volunteers will celebrate the legacy of King by serving local community service agencies in Tippecanoe County. Registration and more information is available online.

* Jan. 15-19 in Beering Hall. Traveling Whiteboard Event.

* Jan. 15. 4-6 p.m. West Lafayette Public Library, 208 W Columbia St. An all-ages celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy featuring powerful stories and songs that will bring to life the Civil Rights movement and a big-screen viewing of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Organized by West Lafayette Public Library and Purdue's Martin Luther King Planning Committee.

* Jan. 16. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Knoy Hall lobby. The Minority Technology Association will invite individuals to share their dreams and reflections of Kings I Have a Dream message on the Purdue Polytechnic dream wall.

* Jan. 16. 9:30-11:30 a.m. in Krannert Building's Krannert Drawing Room. School of Management Employers Forum coffee hour and performance by The Purdue Express.

* Jan. 16. Noon to 1:30 p.m. in Pfendler Hall, Deans Auditorium (Room 241). Showing of the documentary Al Helm: Martin Luther King in Palestine. Brown bag lunch. Snacks and water provided.

* Jan. 17. 10-11:30 a.m. in Stewart Center, Room 314, and 2-3:30 p.m. in Wilmeth Active Learning Center, Room 1132. Let's Talk About Race workshops. Led by Fernando Burga, assistant professor in urban planning and regional planning at the University of Minnesota, and Eriks Dunens, statewide extension educator in leadership and civic engagement at the University of Minnesota.

* Jan. 17. 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Rawls Hall, Room 3082. "The Intersectional Ally" workshop presented by Tarah Fleming. Participants will enact the work of building solidarity using storytelling and group dialogue on issues of identity relating to race, orientation, gender, ability and class.

* Jan. 17. Noon to 1 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 204. "Civility and Emotional Resilience in Polarized Times."

* Jan. 17. 5:30-8 p.m. in Black Cultural Center, Room MP2. Kinfolk Dinner (Poetry and Oral Stores). Featuring Danicia Malone, Sarah Speir and Florence Adibu.

* Jan. 18. Noon to 1:30 p.m. in Pfendler Hall, Deans Auditorium (Room 241). "MLK Jr. Influence on Poverty and Nutrition Education." Brown bag lunch. Speakers include Emily Wickert Brant, executive director of Feeding Indianas Hungry; Amy Carter, Indiana Institute for Working Families; and Maxine Thomas, RESULTS Indianapolis. Moderated by Melissa Maulding, director of Purdue Extension Nutrition Education Programs.

* Jan. 18. 2 to 5 p.m. in Krannert Building, Parrish Library Corporate Study Room. "Become an Ally" Safe Zone Training with the Purdue LGBTQ Center.

* Jan. 18. 5-6:30 p.m. in Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center. "Who is MLK? And Other World Activists: Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, Ella Baker, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai."

* Jan. 19. 11:30 a.m. in Krannert Building, Krannert Auditorium. Krannert Executive Forum led by Roland Parrish.

* Jan. 19. Noon to 1:30 p.m. in Pfendler Hall, Deans Auditorium (Room 241). "Family Feud, Purdue Style: Opinions and Facts about the Life of Martin Luther King Jr." A live game show for faculty, staff graduate students, undergraduate students and alumni. College of Agriculture vs. College of Health and Human Sciences.

* Jan. 19. 3 p.m. in Krannert Building, Krannert Drawing Room. Business Opportunity Program 50th Celebration Kickoff: A Toast to Dr. Cornell A. Bell.

* Jan. 19. 5:30 p.m. in Krannert Building, Room G016. Dating Across Racial Groups. Film viewing and panel discussion.

Writers: Olivia Crouse, ocrouse@purdue.edu

Kelsey Schnieders Lefever, kschnied@purdue.edu

Source: Renee Thomas, 765-494-3091, rathomas@purdue.eduRovis TiVo division has filed additional lawsuits against Comcast over the US cable giants X1 platform, following a TiVo-favourable ruling by the US International Trade Commission in December.

In the new round, TiVo is alleging that Comcast is infringing on patents impacting key features in X1s next-gen UX, like voice search, pausing and resuming shows on different devices, restarting live programming from the beginning when joined in progress, advanced DVR recording and various content discovery. All of these are considered significant differentiators for the operators Xfinity pay-TV service.Comcast has maintained that X1, which it has licensed to other MSOs, was developed completely in-house by its engineers.Comcast engineers independently created our X1 products and services, and through its litigation campaign against Comcast, Rovi seeks to charge Comcast and its customers for technology Rovi didnt create, it said in a statement. Rovis attempt to extract these unfounded payments for its ageing and increasingly obsolete patent portfolio has failed to date. And as we have in their other suits, we will continue to aggressively defend ourselves.The suits were filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California and the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and they follow the ITCs finding that Comcast violated two of TiVos patents for certain Xfinity X1 set-top boxes. As a result, Comcast will be prohibited from importing and selling the infringing gear. The import ban doesnt apply to legacy Xfinity boxes.Todays Commission Opinion reinforces the need for Comcast to take the necessary licences to our IP, TiVo said at the time.As for the latest filings, The patents involved in the new complaints represent a very small component of Rovis worldwide patent portfolio, said TiVo.Internet resources are pulling up neck-and-neck to TV when it comes to the preferred source of news for Latinos in the US.

According to the Pew Research Centre , on a typical weekday, three-quarters of Latinos get their news from internet sources, nearly equal to the share who do so from television.For years, TV was the most commonly used platform for news among US Hispanics, the firm said. In recent years, however, the share getting their news from TV has declined, from 92% in 2006 to 79% in 2016. Meanwhile, 74% of Hispanics said in 2016 that they used the internet  including social media or smartphone apps  as a source of news on a typical weekday, up from 37% in 2006.Hispanics also consume news from radio and newspapers, but neither is as widely used as TV or the internet. About 55% of Hispanics in 2016 (the latest figures) got news from radio on a typical weekday, down from 64% in 2006 (but mostly unchanged from 2012). The use of newspapers as a news source continues its decline, falling from 58% in 2006 to 34% a decade later.The Center also took a look at bilingualism: In 2016, Latinos primarily consumed news in English, with 83% saying they get at least some of their news in English on a typical weekday (29% only in English, and 54% in both English and Spanish). At the same time, a comparable share (71%) said they get at least some of their news in Spanish (17% only received news in Spanish, and 54% got it in both English and Spanish).As ever, these averages vary when broken down by demographics. Millennials (those aged 18 to 35) make up more than a quarter of US Hispanic adults, a higher share than among other racial or ethnic groups. In 2016, 91% of Hispanic millennials got news from the internet on a typical weekday, making them the only generation of Hispanics for which the internet is the most widely used news platform.Hispanic millennials also tend to use English language news sources more than older generations, with 91% in 2016 saying they get at least some of their news in English, compared with 68% who said they consume at least some of their news in Spanish.By contrast, television remains the top source for news among older generations of Hispanics. Foreign-born Latinos, who tend to be older, also continue to rely heavily on TV for news. In 2016, 85% of foreign-born Latinos said that on a typical weekday they got their news from TV, the groups most widely used news source. Meanwhile, two-thirds (67%) of foreign-born Latinos said they use the internet for news, a share that has increased sharply since 2006, when only 25% said they did.Foreign-born Latinos also unsurprisingly prefer Spanish-language news sources: 89% in 2016 said they get at least some of their news in Spanish, and 70% said they get at least some of it in English.The landscape of news outlets has changed over the past decade as the news habits of Hispanics have shifted, the Center said. Univision and Telemundo, the two largest Spanish-language television networks in the US, have had viewership declines in their most popular news programmes. In addition, several news outlets that targeted Hispanics as a primary audience, often in English, have either closed or been folded into larger news organisations, including CNN Latino, NBC Latino, Fox News Latino and VOXXI.Crisis? What crisis? With its buoyant economy, increasing industrial output, renewed export boom and its record low unemployment, Germany looks to be getting along fine without the little matter of a government. This week, official data in Berlin showed the workshop of Europes economy returning to something like full speed. Output has registered its best monthly rise since 2009, while Germanys trade surplus has widened the way it did in the days before the eurozone crisis. Now even the nearly four-month post-election absence of a government in Berlin is being dealt with, after Angela Merkel and the social democrats reached agreement on Friday morning on a programme for a new coalition government.In 1885, a poor, uneducated 16-year-old boy arrived in our country from Germany at a time when immigrants were often looked down on by affluent Americans. This boy was ambitious and entrepreneurial, and, despite language problems, he earned some money and then traveled up to the Klondike during the gold rush to operate a hotel that became notorious for prostitution. He prospered, and today his grandson is President Trump.Meeting with leaders from both parties yesterday to craft a bipartisan immigration deal, President Donald Trump uttered words that are likely to define his presidency. When lawmakers raised the issue of protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries, the president reportedly asked, Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? He added, Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out. He suggested the United States should take more immigrants from countries like Norway.Republicans have a platter of good economic news to run on in the 2018 elections: a surging stock market, a 4.1 percent unemployment rate, high consumer confidence, and weeks worth of headlines showcasing companies handing bonuses to their employees while crediting the newly signed GOP tax bill.

But they also have Donald Trump.

Though so much positive economic data helps Republican congressional candidates counter the traditional midterm headwinds a party in power faces, the president continues to step on his  and his party's  encouraging news.

This dynamic was on full display Friday when the administration and GOP lawmakers were faced with a barrage of questions over Trumps vulgar denigration of immigration from predominantly black countries.

The day before, Walmart had announced it would slightly increase its minimum wage and also pay employees bonuses up to $1,000. (Other companies, including AT&T, Fifth Third Bank, Southwest Airlines, Wells Fargo, Boeing and American Airlines, have announced similar benefits.) But Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called the compensation sweeteners "crumbs" compared to what corporate leaders stand to make under the new tax plan  a comment that exposed the risks Democrats take in downplaying fiscal improvements, and handed Republicans a golden opportunity to paint the opposition party as out of touch with Middle America.

Yet the latest controversy emanating from the White House dominated the news, overshadowing not just Pelosi's comments and the bonuses but word that Fiat Chrysler plans to move a production facility from Mexico to Michigan.

"The problem for these Republicans is, voters are saying, 'I like the outcomes, but I just don't like Trump,'" said former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, who once chaired the National Republican Campaign Committee. "Midterms are a question of: Do we give the president a blank check or do we want to put a check on the president? And the president has not made his case."

Davis said he also cautioned the GOP conference last month that good economic conditions don't equal electoral success. In the Democratic wave of 2006, he reminded them, unemployment under George W. Bush had declined to 4.4 percent.

Republicans anticipate that the economy will continue to improve and that opinions toward the president on that issue will eventually turn around. They argue that once voters start to see more money in their paychecks in the coming months, they will view the tax bill more favorably and give Trump and his party more credit.

"At the end of the day, [voters] cut through the clutter. They don't focus on the white noise quite as much as they do with the issues affecting their daily lives," Jesse Hunt, spokesman for the NRCC, said of the GOP's Trump conundrum. "Ultimately, everyone in this country knows Democrats aren't going to be responsible for reducing your tax burden."

Thus far, that perception hasnt sunk in. A recent Quinnipiac poll for example found that 66 percent of American voters say the economy is "excellent" or good" -- up three points from December and the highest positive rating for the economy in the survey's two-decade history. But 49 percent say former President Obama deserves the credit, while 40 percent say Trump does. The same survey found Trump with an underwater approval rating of 36 percent.

Democrats do carry some risks by running against the tax bill if voters start to see tangible benefits. But they don't anticipate Trump's standing improving between now and November, and episodes like the one on display Friday, which have tended to recur since Trump took office, showed why the party holds some advantages.

"Usually, there is a pretty tight relationship between a president's approval rating and his standing on economic matters, but that relationship has broken down in case of Donald Trump," said Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution.

"If you wanted to be optimistic, you could say, 'Well, people are just beginning to notice how good the economy is,'" he continued. "But the other way of telling the story is that as long as Trump doesn't change the way he behaves, the American people are not going to change what they think of him. And if they don't, that's a problem for Republicans."

Democrats anticipate that dynamic will work particularly well for them in swing and suburban districts, especially ones Hillary Clinton either won or narrowly lost in 2016. On Friday, several vulnerable Republicans were eager to weigh in against Trump's most recent controversial remarks.

"President Trumps comments regarding Haiti and Africa are wrong and deeply offensive," wrote Rep. John Katko, who represents a swing district in New York. "This type of language is counterproductive and undermines the U.S. and our relations around the world." Utah Rep. Mia Love, whose parents are Haitian immigrants, demanded an apology from the president.

And there are already signs that improving economic conditions are not compelling enough for some Republicans in the midterms, even those who would enjoy the advantage of incumbency: Over 30 GOP members of Congress have announced their retirements. Just last week, California Reps. Darrell Issa and Ed Royce, who each represent districts Clinton won, said they planned to retire rather than seek re-election.

Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent, who announced his retirement last year, said Trump is adding to the reasons Republicans like him are opting out. "The party of the president typically loses 32 seats in a situation like this," Dent told CNN. "Of course then, Donald Trump, you know, complicates that because he's a very polarizing figure, and so I suspect our challenges will be even greater just because of that."

But to be successful, Democrats also have to win back competitive districts that swung for Trump, and they face their own liabilities on economic issues. In those areas, operatives plan to focus on lagging economic indicators like wage growth. They are also eager to play up the negative dimensions of economic headlines. For example, the day Walmart announced giving bonuses, it also announced the closing of more than 60 Sam's Club stores and laying off workers.

"We are a state that has many towns  where they are where they were a decade ago in terms of the recession and when it comes to their wages," said Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper. "All the happy talk of the stock market or tax cuts for wealthy is not going to impress them at all."

The Quinnipiac Poll showed some ambivalence among some of Trump's core constituencies about the economy. For example, a majority of white voters without a college degree said the president's policies have helped the economy. But when asked whether those policies are helping their personal financial state, 53 percent said no.

Conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the economy still has a ways to go in terms of productivity. "There's a whole lot of 'we're not there yet' in the data," he said. Yet Holtz-Eakin argues that when it comes to the political ramifications of the economy, "it doesn't matter what people think right now; it matters what they think up to three months before the election."

That's where the GOPs big sell will have to come in.

"Republicans have to make sure people associate an improving economic environment with the tax reform bill," said longtime party pollster David Winston. "There are going to be clear moments in the future where that opportunity presents itself, and Republicans need to make sure people see that."

Winston noted that voters' feelings about their personal financial state matter more than overall economic data points. If they dont feel as if they are living pay check to pay check, then they might be willing to overlook Trump-related controversies and vote for Republicans.

"I don't want to give the impression things will be perfect," Winston cautioned. "But if the economy improves, people can go into the voting booth and say, 'I think I basically got the change I voted for, or at least its moving that direction."Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono expressed serious concern to his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday over the plight of Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence by the military in northern Rakhine state.

During a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw, Kono urged Aung San Suu Kyi to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Rohingya refugees who fled to neighboring Bangladesh during a military crackdown and to allow humanitarian and media access to the region, Japans Kyodo news agency said.

Myanmars military launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya in three townships in northern Rakhine after a Muslim militant group carried out deadly attacked on police outposts in August 2017.

The violence has driven about 655,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh where some have accused soldiers of committing random killings, rape, and arson in their villages.

We have discussed with the Japanese foreign minister the development of Rakhine state, the repatriation of Muslim refugees, and possible areas of cooperation with the Japanese government to help stabilize the situation in Rakhine state, Aung San Suu Kyi, who also serves as Myanmars de facto leader in her other capacity as state counselor, said during a joint news conference with Kono in the capital Naypyidaw.

Kono also asked Aung San Suu Kyi to implement the recommendations issued last year by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, a group led by former U.N chief Kofi Annan.

The commission called for reviews of the countrys Citizenship Law, under which the Rohingya are ineligible for citizenship, and an end to restrictions on the Muslim minority group to prevent further violence in the ethnically and religiously divided region.

Kono also met with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces, and will visit Rakhine state, the online journal The Irrawaddy said.

Millions pledged for Rohingya

Separately, Japan announced an emergency grant aid of 330 million yen (U.S. $3 million) to assist Rohingya refugees who voluntarily return to Myanmar when repatriations begin.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on Nov. 23, 2017, to repatriate Rohingya refugees who wish to return to Myanmar and who can prove prior residency in the country.

We have decided to provide the aid in response to the agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to represent an international message of support so that the repatriation can be carried out promptly, said Foreign Ministry official Shinobu Yamaguchi in a statement.

Myanmar has said that it will begin accepting the Rohingya refugees on Jan. 22, but the process could be delayed because Bangladesh has yet to send the completed repatriation forms to Myanmar.

During his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, Kono also said Japan, a major donor of development aid to Myanmar, will grant the country roughly U.S. $20 million more to improve humanitarian conditions and development in Rakhine state, the Associated Press reported.

To achieve development in Rakhine state, it is critically important to solve the root causes of the problems facing all the people in Rakhine state, he was quoted by The Irrawaddy as saying.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at a news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Naypyidaw, Jan. 12, 2018. Credit: Reuters Military probe encouraging

Also during the news conference on Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi said she was encouraged by the Myanmar militarys investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya at a village in Rakhines Maungdaw township and its plan to take action against those who committed the crime.

The armed forces issued a rare admission on Wednesday that some of its troops had killed what it said were Muslim terrorists in September and buried their bodies in a mass grave in Inn Din village in Maungdaw township.

Maungdaw, along with neighboring Buithdaung and Rathedaung townships, was the epicenter of recent violence against the Rohingya.

There were killings in Inn Din village, and it is a step forward that the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military] has investigated and said that those responsible will be held accountable, said Aung San Suu Kyi. At last, a country has to assume responsibility for its own rule of law.

A military investigation team began a probe of the killings after the remains of the bodies were unearthed on Dec. 19. It found that both security forces and ethnic Rakhine villagers were involved in the murders of the Rohingya men who the army says were affiliated with Muslim militants who carried out previous attacks in the state.

A statement issued by the military earlier this week said action would be taken against the villagers and soldiers who confessed to the murders as well as against officers to whom the soldiers reported.

Protest in Ramree

In a related development, about 500 protesters in Rakhines Ramree township demanded on Friday that officials conduct thorough screenings of Muslim residents under Myanmars Citizenship Law, so that the Rohingya are not classified as Kaman Muslims and granted citizenship.

The law does not recognize the Rohingya as one of Myanmars 135 official ethnic groups, thereby denying them citizenship as well as access to basic services such as education and health care.

By contrast, the government formally recognizes the Kaman who are classified as one of the seven ethnic groups comprising the Rakhine national race. They are considered indigenous and are widely acknowledged as citizens who have national identity cards.

A citizenship process for Muslims who live in the Kyauknimaw village tract has been under way since last week, protesters said.

Protesters said they have doubts about the process because some Rohingya are listed under the Kaman Muslim ethnic category, and they have demanded that officials check them carefully.

We are protesting to demand that officials check the citizenship process for Muslims in the Kyauknimaw village tract and not grant citizenship to [Rohingya] Muslims who are under the [Kaman] category, protest leader Phyu Lone told RFAs Myanmar Service.

We dont want Kofi Annans recommendation that citizenship be granted to Bengalis who are not one of Myanmars official ethnic groups, he said, using a derogatory term for the Rohingya who are viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Earlier this week, Zaw Htay, director-general of State Counselors Aung San Suu Kyis office, said the government has been working on a citizenship process for undocumented people in Rakhine state, and that everybody must be checked to determine whether they are eligible for citizenship.

To become citizens, the Rohingya must obtain national verification cards before they will be granted a status according to the law, such as guest citizens or people who can apply for citizenship, he said.

Phyu Lone went on to say that authorities have issued family lists, detailing members of all households, to Rohingya residents, erroneously listing them as ethnic Kaman.

If the Rohingya who live in the village tract are granted citizenship, all of them will become Kamans, he said.

Last April, the Rakhine state government agreed to close down three internally displaced persons camps housing Kaman Muslims, ethnic Rakhine people, and Rohingya Muslims in the towns of Ramree, Kyaukphyu, and Sittwe, per the Annan commissions recommendations.

The groups had been living in the camps since 2012 when they were displaced by communal violence in the state.

Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt and Min Thein Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.A former political prisoner arrested in December by police in southeastern Vietnams Dong Nai province was taken into custody without a warrant and with no word given to his family as to when he may be released, the mans son said.



Doan Van Dien was arrested at his home in Dong Nais Xuan Loc district on Dec. 17, 2017 for allegedly distributing anti-State materials online, but no documents authorizing the arrest were presented by police, Diens son Doan Huy Chuong told RFAs Vietnamese Service on Jan. 12.



We saw my father at the Public Security Ministrys police station PA92, and they told us at first that they were going to hold him for investigation, but its been over 20 days now and he still hasnt been released, he said.



They took him away without showing any order, notice, or summons, Chuong said, adding, The only reason they provided was that my father was distributing some materials online.



Diens family will now hire a lawyer to work directly with Dong Nai provincial police to learn more about the reasons for his arrest, Chuong said.



Reached by RFA for comment, an officer at police station PA92 denied knowledge of the arrest, saying, We are not holding anybody named Doan Van Dien.



Jailed before



Born in 1954 in south-central Vietnams Quang Nam province, Dien had served a four-and-a-half year prison term after being convicted on Dec. 10, 2007 by the Peoples Court of Dong Nai for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State.



His son Chuong and two others were also sentenced in the case, with Chuong handed an 18-month term for allegedly spreading propaganda against the State under Article 88 of Vietnams Penal Code.



The four were accused of collecting complaints of government land-rights violations and passing them on to RFA and other news organizations, as well as distributing anti-government leaflets at a meeting in Hanoi before an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2006.



According to a report at the time by the English-language Vietnam News, the defendants had slandered the Vietnamese state and distorted facts by telling Radio Free Asia that Vietnam represses workers and arrests protesters.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Richard Finney.Together they made movie history.

But their friendship didn't survive the war, and some might argue that neither man has scaled such creative heights since their acrimonious and very public falling out.

So at a poetry festival in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, over Christmas, Bosnian screenwriter Abdulah Sidran almost inevitably faced questions about his relationship with Sarajevo-born, internationally acclaimed director Emir Kusturica, who spends much of his time in Serbia, which he describes as his "homeland."

Speaking alongside a panel of other cultural figures, Sidran insisted that he remained close to many of his former acquaintances in other parts of the former Yugoslavia.

"Our countries were devastated, but I can personally attest that in the world of culture, hundreds of prewar friendships have survived."

However, Sidran said, his friendship with Kusturica "died a natural death, painless and by the will of God."

Days later, Kusturica responded by referring to Sidran as Bosnia-Herzegovina's "dead capital" -- a spent force -- having earlier referred to him as a "spiritual vagrant."

Sidran has previously claimed -- implausibly -- that the real Kusturica was in fact been killed defending Sarajevo against Serb forces in 1994 and replaced by a Serbian doppelganger.

The iconic movie that launched Kusturica's international stardom, When Father Was Away On Business (1985), also gilded Sidran's reputation. The film was the story of a Bosnian family caught in the whirlwind of great political events -- the 1948 Tito-Stalin split that both led to a degree of democratization of Yugoslav politics and society but also ushered in a flood of false accusations, arrests, and the creation of a labor camp at Goli Otok that became a symbol of injustice in Tito's Yugoslavia. The film's plot is partly autobiographical: The father who is away on business is said to echo Sidran's own father, who was falsely accused of being a Stalin sympathizer and arrested in 1948.

Kusturica and Sidran also collaborated on Kusturica's first feature film, Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981), a coming-of-age story that was based on episodes from Sidran's youth.

Both films won major international awards -- in Venice and Cannes, among others -- and made Kusturica a hero in his hometown, as well as a household name throughout Yugoslavia.

But the projected third installment of Sidran's personal story was never filmed, and it is tempting to suggest that neither has managed to find an adequate replacement for the creativity of the other.

When war broke out in Bosnia in 1992, the two found themselves on opposing sides of the conflict and their personal feud has been simmering ever since.

As Serb forces tightened their noose around Sarajevo, subjecting the city to daily bombardment, news filtered out that Kusturica -- who was in Paris when fighting erupted -- had defended the actions of the Yugoslav Army. There was no food in the city, but some bars managed to stay open for a time, including one called the Majestic. There, Sidran would sit quietly as others expressed their disbelief and anger at Kusturica's stance.

At one point amid the siege on Sarajevo, news arrived that Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic had made Kusturica a present of a house on the Montenegrin coast. Many of the patrons of the Majestic were incensed, and some wondered if Kusturica was thinking about his parents, both of whom were still in the city under attack. Everyone looked in the direction of Sidran, the only close friend of Kusturica's among them.

After a long silence, Sidran said: "What a fool; he got a house but lost a city!"

(The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL)Russia-friendly incumbent Milos Zeman will face pro-Europe challenger Jiri Drahos in a runoff for the Czech presidency after the two were the top vote-getters in the first round of the national election.

With nearly all the ballots counted on January 13, Zeman had 38.6 percent of the vote, with Drahos, a scientist, taking 26.6 percent. The third-place finisher had 10.2 percent.

Since no candidate took more than 50 percent in the first round, Zeman and Drahos will meet in the runoff scheduled for January 26-27.

At least three of the also-ran candidates expressed support for Drahos in the second round, and a poll conducted by Czech Television gave the challenger a 48.5 percent to 44 percent lead over Zeman.

As president, Zeman has divided the Central European country of 10.5 million with his pro-Russian stance and his support for closer ties with China. He's also become known for strong antimigrant rhetoric.

"I invite all those who want to vote for me to come to the polling stations in round two, too, and bring your friends, your lovers, and their mistresses," the boisterous Zeman told supporters at his Prague campaign headquarters.

"I congratulate Jiri Drahos for this beautiful second place," he said.

The president in the Czech Republic has limited executive power. But he does select the prime minister and appoints Central Bank members. The president picks Constitutional Court judges as well with the approval of parliaments upper house.

The 73-year-old Zeman was first elected in 2013 when the Czech Republic held its first direct presidential vote. The victory returned the former left-leaning prime minister to power.

When he voted in Prague on January 12, Zeman was confronted by a topless female activist with "Zeman, Putin's slut" scrawled across her chest, a reference to Zeman's close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The woman was later identified as Angelina Dash, a member of the international radical feminist group Femen that originated in Ukraine.

Drahos, 68, the former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, is seen as a pro-European liberal.

A political newcomer with no political-party affiliation, he has said he wants the values of "truth, reason, and decency" to win.

He says he is worried about the rise of extremism and populism. A professor of chemistry, he headed the academy from 2009 until last year.

After the first round, Drahos urged all those "who want a change" to cast ballots in the runoff.

"The final is still ahead of us, and that's what matters," he said.

The French AFP news agency quoted analyst Jiri Pehe as saying that "Zeman will have a huge problem in the second round."

"It is clear that the other candidates who have dropped out of the race, for example, Pavel Fischer, Marek Hilser, and Michal Horacek, will vote Jiri Drahos in Round 2," Pehe said.

Fischer, Horacek, and Hilser -- who had a total of 28 percent of the vote -- all voiced support for Drahos heading into the second round.

Voter turnout for the two-day first-round election was put at 61.88 percent among the country's 8.4 million registered voters.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, BBC, and CT 24An Iranian oil tanker that has been on fire and drifting in the East China Sea since last week has experienced several more explosions, hampering efforts to put out the fire and rescue 31 missing crew members, Chinese state media reported.

Japan's Coast Guard said on January 12 that the ship has drifted away from the Chinese coast near Shanghai, where it caught fire in a collision with a freighter, and is now located in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone .

The ship, which has been ablaze for almost a week since the collision on January 6, is now about 286 kilometers northwest of the Japanese island of Amami Oshima, part of the Ryukyu chain that includes Okinawa, the coast guard said.

There have been continuous explosions onboard the ship, China's official Xinhua news agency said late on January 12, citing China's Ministry of Transport.

"If it had not been for an explosion this morning, maybe the fire would have been extinguished by now," said Hadi Haghshenas, deputy director for Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, in an interview on January 12 with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

The tanker Sanchi, owned by Iran's top oil shipping operator National Iranian Tanker Co, was carrying almost 1 million barrels of condensate, an ultra-light, highly flammable and explosive fuel, to South Korea.

It collided with the freighter CF Crystal that was carrying grain from the United States about 184 kilometers off China's coast near Shanghai.

Haghshenas said two fire emergency consultants from the Netherlands and Germany have been hired "who are now at the scene giving advice to the Chinese."

Fourteen ships are carrying out emergency response work, including one from Japan and two from South Korea, China's transport ministry said.

The Sanchi had a crew of 32 sailors at the time of the collision. The body of a mariner suspected to be from the ship was recovered on January 8 and sent to Shanghai for identification.

The rest of the crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remains missing.

Twelve Iranian rescue workers had been brought to Shanghai to help and will join rescue work soon, Lu Kang, a spokesman from China's foreign ministry, told a regular briefing.

Iranian officials have criticized China's rescue efforts, but the Chinese transport ministry has insisted that "terrible" weather conditions and toxic gases from the burning oil have been hindering operations.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that Beijing has put "a high degree of emphasis on the rescue work" and maintains "a welcoming and open attitude towards other countries coming to participate."

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

U.S. forces killed 10 insurgents in a compound in eastern Afghanistan in an air strike that was triggered by an insider attack on U.S. and Afghan soldiers, the U.S. military said on January 12.

U.S. Navy Captain Tom Gresback said the insurgents baited a coalition team, inviting them to a security shura meeting in the compound in the eastern province of Nangarhar on January 11. The coalition sent an Afghan militia leader, a U.S. service member, and an interpreter.

When the meeting ended, Gresback said the Taliban-linked insurgents opened fire, killing the militia leader and wounding the American service member and the interpreter. The Taliban quickly claimed credit for the attack.

The Taliban said the attack was carried out by two insurgents disguised as local militiamen. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press the attackers had infiltrated the local force months earlier.

In Afghanistan, local militias are often paid by the United States to act as partners with U.S. troops in operations in remote regions.

Gresback said that after the wounded were moved to safety, a coalition air strike targeted the compound, killing 10 insurgents. The Taliban and local militia said as many as 13 fighters were killed in the air strike.

The incident occurred in Mohmand Valley, in Afghanistan's remote Achin district of Nangarhar province.

The incident was the lastest in a series of insider attacks against U.S. forces, including an attack in Achin district in June in which an Afghan commando opened fire, killing three U.S. personnel and wounding another.

U.S. and Afghan forces have been battling not only the Taliban but an affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group in the region.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Iran has lifted restrictions on the messaging app Telegram, the state news agency IRNA reported on January 13.

The popular service had been blocked during recent public protests, the most serious nationwide unrest in the Islamic republic since 2009.

"An informed source announced that the filtering of the Telegram messenger has been ended and it is being used by users," IRNA reported.

The AP news agency said it had spoken with residents in several cities, including Shiraz, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Rasht, and Oromieh, all of whom confirmed that they had access to the app.

Earlier this month, Iran shut down Telegram and the picture-sharing app Instagram, claiming protesters were using them to spread unrest.

At least 22 people were killed and 1,000 people arrested in the antigovernment protests that began in late December, sparked at first over rising consumer prices.

As the protests subsided, Tehran last week lifted restrictions on Instagram.

Many Iranians access Telegram using virtual private networks and other tools to bypass government filtering of the Internet, residents said.

But officials said hundreds of companies using the app for their marketing and sales had been hard-hit by the social-media restrictions, and President Hassan Rohani was quoted as saying about 100,000 people had lost their jobs.

Iran continues to impose restrictions on the Internet and social media, with Facebook and Twitter still blocked.

Based on reporting by AP and ReutersPakistan's army chief has told a top U.S. general that his nation feels "betrayed" by U.S. criticism that it is not doing enough to fight terrorism, which has prompted Washington to suspend military aid for Islamabad.

The Pakistani military in a statement on January 12 said that General Qamar Javed Bajwa told U.S. Central Command chief General Joseph Votel in a phone conversaton this week that the "entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over U.S. recent statements despite decades of cooperation."

Bajwa told Votel that Pakistan will not seek to restore U.S. military aid, but it does "expect honorable recognition of our contributions, sacrifices and unwavering resolve in the fight against terrorism," the statement said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on January 1 accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and said the United States would suspend around $2 billion a year in military aid until Islamabad moves decisively against Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network militants who he said have found safe haven within Pakistan's borders.

During their conversation, Votel sought to reassure Bajwa, Pakistan's army statement said, saying the United States is not contemplating any "unilateral action inside Pakistan" to go after the militants.

"The general said that U.S. values Pakistan's role [in the] war on terror and expects that on-going turbulence [will be] a temporary phase," the statement said.

Bajwa told Votel that despite being made a "scapegoat" by the United States because it has failed to win its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan will continue its antiterrorism efforts as well as support for peace efforts in Afghanistan, the statement said.

U.S. Central Command did not comment on the conversation, but said the U.S. military is in "continuous communication" with Pakistan's military.

Tensions between the United States and Pakistan have soared over the U.S. accusations and withdrawal of aid, which infuriated Pakistan's leaders and prompted street protests.

Islamabad says the United States does not respect or appreciate the sacrifices Pakistan has made in its decade-long fight against terrorism, which it says has cost tens of billions of dollars and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers and civilians.

The U.S. aid suspension was announced days after Trump tweeted on January 1 that the United States had "foolishly" given Pakistan $33 billion in aid over 15 years and was rewarded with "nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools."

"They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" Trump said.

Since Trump's move, the Pentagon has sought to smooth relations with the Pakistani military.

"We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider and might lead to a positive path forward," U.S. Central Command spokesman Air Force Colonel John Thomas said on January 12.

Votel's reported assurances that the United States will take no unilateral action inside Pakistan comes after years of tensions over U.S. drone strikes targeting militants residing in the country.

In 2016, a U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Taliban at the time, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, prompting protests from Islamabad that the strike violated its sovereignty.

In 2011, a secret American raid in the military garrison city of Abbottabad killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York that prompted the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and the 16-year war to defeat the Taliban there.

Since Trump took office, there have been several drone strikes in Pakistan's border region, but they have not so far gone deeper into Pakistani territory.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Imprisoned in a subterranean cell in an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists for more than nine months, Anatoly Polyakov didn't know whether it was day or night and used hunger pangs to keep time for him.

You have no idea what time it is, but you start to salivate when you sense they should bring food soon, says Polyakov, who says he not only lost 40 kilograms during his captivity but nearly the ability to speak as he struggled to cling to his "humanity," as he describes it.

Polyakov, a successful businessman originally from the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk, arrived in the separatist-controlled Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in the spring of 2015 on a humanitarian mission.

He helped transfer seriously ill children out of the conflict zone and negotiated a prisoner exchange before being snatched off the street and imprisoned by pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk region.

Freed in 2016, Polyakov decided not to return to Russia and instead went to Kyiv to advocate for the rights of former Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).

He has helped craft draft legislation to ensure the returned Ukrainian POWs are guaranteed medical and psychological care as well as other benefits after they come home.

The bill, he says, has the backing of President Petro Poroshenko plus key members of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and a vote is expected on it in the near future.

On December 27, the biggest prisoner swap since the conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in 2014 took place, with 74 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians exchanged for 238 separatists.

When the exchange took place, I was so happy. I called relatives, I had tears of joy. At the same time there were bitter tears as well, because I understood that our boys are still being held there, recounts Polyakov.

By his count, 3,136 Ukrainians -- a near 50-50 mix of soldiers and civilians -- have been interned in what he calls the "death camps" of the so-called "people's republics" in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk that are controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

But he says only some 150 are still being held, mainly in Donetsk.

Polyakov's own ordeal began on March 15, 2015 after holding negotiations with separatist leaders in the city of Luhansk.

He was attacked on the street by masked men, quickly handcuffed and hooded before being bustled into a car. Torn clothing attests to the struggle he put up.

Of my clothes, I was left with a ripped sweater and torn military pants. Nothing more, Polyakov told RFE/RL's Russian Service in a recent interview.

Polyakov, who says he was targeted for his pro-Ukrainian views, ended up in a makeshift isolation cell somewhere in the Luhansk area.

There was no daylight, no fresh air, and no way to maintain my personal hygiene. My skin took on a gray color, like the walls in the cell, recounts Polyakov.

I moved about the cell like a shadow, thin, with a full beard and long, shaggy hair. The fighters called me the dungeon man."

Fresh air was a luxury in short supply in the cramped cell.

There was a haze in the cell. It was unbearably hot, between 35-40 degrees Celsius. I would lay on the floor up against the door to get a bit of fresh air, he says.

Barely fed, Polyakov fixated on food.

"At night you dream of food, and youre ready to eat anything to kill the hunger," he explains. "Its difficult to remain a human under such conditions.

In January 2016, Polyakov was freed. While relieved, he still struggled.

When I was freed from captivity I had all types of medical problems. I had lost 25 kilograms -- at the time I was freed I weighed 40 kilograms  and started making animal sounds like a dog barking, explains Polyakov.

Imagine all these animal sounds coming out of you and theres nothing you can do to stop it. Believe me this was a very difficult period. I had to constantly cover my face and excuse myself when talking to someone, explaining that it wasnt contagious."

Polyakov says he's been treated for the trauma he experienced, but stresses he is far from "cured."

Today, two years after my release, I feel much better. The reasons for why I was making the animal sounds was explained. Ive been treated, but I havent been cured. I still have to go to hospital for treatment every six months. I have to pay for everything, he says.

Polyakov says his struggle to secure proper care spurred him on to advocate for the rights of returning Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).

Of course, there should be long-term medical as well as psychological support for those freed, and not just one-time assistance," he says. "Physical and mental difficulties tend to arise in the third month [after release], sometimes after half a year, occasionally after a year. They fall into depression, experiencing a really difficult emotional time.

Polyakov, who now heads the Ukrainian Association of War Prisoners, says he was swayed to stay in Ukraine after his experience.

"After captivity, all those who survived that hell have become my family, he explains. I consider myself a person with a Ukrainian heart and a Russian soul.

Polyakov says the legislation would enshrine the right of former POWs to receive a wide array of services and rights, including protection from any confessions made while in captivity as well as a vow to bring to justice those who tortured them.

Polyakov says he's worked on the bill with other POW advocates for nearly two years, and he considers it therapeutic.

I cant say that Ive fully adapted to civilian life. The only thing that gives me strength and energizes me is working on the POW status bill. That law is my rehabilitation.

Read original story in RussianA United Nations panel in a new report has concluded that Iran violated a UN arms embargo by directly or indirectly providing missiles and drones to Shi'ite rebels in Yemen, backing up accusations made repeatedly by the United States.

According to excerpts of the report obtained by diplomats and media on January 12, experts on the UN panel traveled to Saudi Arabia in November and December and examined remnants of missiles fired by Yemen's Huthi rebels in those months as well as in May and July.

The panel said it came to the conclusion that Iran had manufactured the weapons the Yemeni rebels fired at Saudi Arabia, which leads an Arab coalition fighting on the side of the government against the rebels in Yemen's civil war.

The panel said it found that design features of the missile debris were "consistent with those of the Iranian-designed and manufactured Qiam-1 missile" and "almost certainly produced by the same manufacturer."

The drones were "virtually identical in design" to that of an Iranian-made UAV manufactured by Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industries, said the report.

Moreover, the drones and missiles "were introduced into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo" imposed by the UN in 2015, the report says.

"As a result, the panel finds that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in non-compliance with [the embargo] in that it failed to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to the Huthi-Saleh alliance," the report said.

The panel added that one of the rebel missile attacks which targeted Riyadh's international airport "changed the tenor of the conflict and has the potential to turn a local conflict into a broader regional one."

Iran backs the Huthis in their three-year civil war against the government, but it has denied supplying the rebels with arms.

The United States has repeatedly charged that Iran is supplying the rebels with ballistic missiles in violation of UN resolutions, and has demanded that the UN Security Council take action to enforce the embargo and penalize Iran.

During a security council meeting on December 19, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley called the Huthis' repeated firing of missiles at targets in Saudi Arabia "a flashing red siren" demanding action at the UN.

Russia, however, has opposed taking any action on the issue.

The 79-page UN panel report paints a picture of devastation caused by the war in Yemen, which many view as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and casts blame on both sides.

"After nearly three years of conflict, Yemen as a state has all but ceased to exist," the report said, detailing how the war has caused misery among the 28 million citizens of the Arab world's poorest nation.

The UN has said more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in fighting and air strikes, more than 7 million are on the brink of famine, and over 19 million don't know where their next meal is coming from.

Meanwhile, medical infrastructure has collapsed, and a cholera outbreak has affected 1 million people, the UN report said.

The report said the panel saw "no evidence" that either side took measures "to mitigate the devastating impact" of attacks on civilians.

With reporting by AP and AFP

American man arrested arriving at US border with $1.2 million in Mexican marijuana

Phoenix, Arizona  An American man has been arrested after trying to cross the US border from Mexico. The man, who authorities identified only as a 55-year-old resident of Phoenix, was arrested after a search of his mobile home found more than 2,500 pounds of marijuana hidden in various compartments.

The mobile home was inspected by canines, who alerted to the presence of drugs. Upon entering the unit, border patrol officials discovered 120 packages of marijuana.

According to Customs and Border Protection, the man was attempting to cross the Lukeville port of entry. He was taken into custody and handed over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office.

The drugs had a value of more than $1.2 million USD.CFE implements 300 percent price hike in Baja California, threatening companies, jobs

Tijuana, Baja California  Closure of companies, loss of jobs and increase in prices are expected with the new CFE rate hike of 200 to 300 percent for the industrial sector of Baja California.

The National Chamber of the Industrial Transformation (Canacintra), the Industrial Association of Mesa de la Otay (AIMO) and the Association of the Maquiladora and Export Industry (Index), voiced this concern at a recent press conference.

One company hit was Jacuzzi de Mexico who in December 2017 paid 668,949 peso for electricity. In January, their electric use was billed at nearly 1.3 million peso even though its light consumption was lower, said the president of Canacintra Tijuana, Marcello Hinojosa Jimenez.

This issue is not exclusive to the industrial sector because in the end the increases in electricity rates are going to affect the goods and services that you consume every day, he said.

In addition to causing business closures, paralyzing new investments, mass layoffs, unemployment and insecurity, these are increases that only the inhabitants of Baja California suffer, he added.

He said the hikes are because the states electricity grid is not connected to the rest of the country, and since December 2017, the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has defined a new model for electricity tariffs.

Arguing that the new scheme takes into account the cost of each segment of the value chain of the electricity industry, so that the industrial sector and in general all CFE users have to suffer from the fact that the national electricity sector does not reduce your production costs by implementing new technologies, he said.

The president of AIMO, Salvador Diaz Gonzalez, says he could resort to filing injunctions, although the process is complicated.

Increases in gasoline, increases in electricity and what we are experiencing right now with negotiations with our neighbor from the North? Obviously that puts us in a more worrisome scheme to make our state look like a competitive state for foreign investment, he explained.

Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, head of Index, said more than 600 companies and 300,000 jobs were at risk by the rate hike and urged those responsible to reconsider.

CFE has to see the consequences of that decision and the CRE also needs to talk otherwise there will be an escalation of consumer prices, he reiterated.

The industrialists commented that although CFE is not the only electricity supplier, the new competitors offer savings of 10 percent and the investment to make the switch is not profitable.

Company Aluminum of Baja California was also hit with a substantial increase from December to January when their electric bill rose from 2,410,193 pesos to 4.3 million peso. As with Jacuzzi de Mexico, the company showed their electric usage was less with the increased bill.

State business leaders are seeking a meeting with CRE director Guillermo Garcia Alcocer to better understand how the new rates were established. They are also considering legal action.Presidential candidate Jose Meade gives speech on Mexicos crime

Mexico City, Mexico  The pre-candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the Presidency of Mexico, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena, warned in a recent speech that with criminals, there should be no dialogue only the language of the law.

Insecurity is fought with better coordination, criminals do not recognize the boundaries between states, the law should not recognize them either. Fight crime with better coordination, with better investigation and fight crime with a deep conviction: the streets are for citizens and prisons for criminals, said the candidate in a speech given in the capital of Coahuila.

Meade Kuribrena said that it is inadmissible to negotiate with those who have hurt the tranquility of the Mexican people. We hear different voices and different proposals, there are those who say that we have to dialogue with criminals. I ask you, do we talk with the criminals? We do not! Do we talk with rapists? We do not! Do we talk with the kidnappers? We do not!

The candidate of the PRI asked the public to carefully analyze the profiles of those who seek the Presidency of Mexico, to contrast their trajectory and experience.Secretary of economy says Mexico will never pay for wall

Mexico City, Mexico  Mexicos secretary of economy said that the country will never pay for the border wall, an issue that became clear since the beginning of the renegotiation of NAFTA. He added that President Donald Trump confused the gains around the treaty.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Secretary of Economy, said that Mexico will never pay for the border wall, thus it became clear since the beginning of the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Mexico will never pay for the wall, never. President Trump makes an association of ideas with the profits that we get from the FTA, Im going to pay the wall, but hes a bit confused because the surpluses or trade deficits are between individuals, they are not public resources,  said Guajardo.

Neither the issue of the wall nor the financing are part of this discussion, he added.

The secretarys statements are made after US President Donald Trump said that the NAFTA renegotiations could give his country a mechanism for Mexico to pay for the border wall.

They (Mexico) can pay indirectly through NAFTA, the president said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. We make a good deal with NAFTA and, say, Im going to take a small percentage of that money thats going to go straight to the wall. Guess? Mexico pays.

Trump also assured that he will be flexible with the negotiation dates and that they could resume after the presidential elections in Mexico.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached in the renegotiation of the treaty. I look with optimism on the possibility of reaching an agreement that benefits the three member countries, he said.

Pena Nieto declared that the renegotiation of the agreement will be a central theme of foreign policy in 2018. He noted that, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, Canada, the United States and Mexico they will remain close partners.Last month, Cleveland CycleWerks India did the opening puja at their plant in Pune. The American motorcycle brand, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio, is all set to enter India. Before they launch their motorcycles, they have announced their dealer network for India.

In the first phase, there will be 8 dealers, who have been appointed in the following cities of India  Bangalore (Karnataka), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Kochi (Kerala), Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Salem (Tamil Nadu).

Of the 8, 6 of them are based in South of India, while 1 in Maharashtra and 1 in Madhya Pradesh. There are no dealerships for North or East of India as of now. More dealerships will be opened in the second phase, at a later date.

Cleveland Cyclewerks India, the Indian arm of the American motorcycle brand, is expected to be launching 2 of its sub-250cc offerings first. These are Cleveland Ace and the Cleveland Misfit are retro styled products and are powered by single cylinder engines, which come along with modest power figures. Cleveland plans to capture the market by selling retro-themed products at a competitive price by increasing localization.

The Cleveland Ace is targeted at the youngsters aspiring to have a motorbike with a retro-styled look. In its international version, it draws its power from a 229.5 cc air-cooled single cylinder engine, churning out 14.5 PS & 16.5 Nm of torque. Cleveland claims that the Ace can do around 30 km to a litre, while cruising at speeds of around 110 kmph. There is also a premium variant, called the Ace Deluxe which comes with inverted front forks, aluminium wheels, wide handlebars, a slightly raised fender, dual-surface tyres, and a flat seat.

With the Misfit, Cleveland plans to attract those customers who want a 250 cc American motorcycle at an affordable price-point in India. The Misfit, which carries a look of a sporty commuter, is powered by a 223 cc single-cylinder engine which produces 16.3 PS & 18 Nm of torque.

At the front, one finds an 18-inch steel wheel mated to a 315 mm disc for braking duties, while on the rear; one finds a 16-inch steel wheel, mated to a 220 mm disc. As the Misfit comes along with added features like a twin-pod instrument cluster, gold-finished upside down forks, the pricing is expected to be higher than that or the Ace.

With these two, Cleveland aims to compete with the likes of Bajaj Avenger and Royal Enfield. Price will be revealed at the time of launch. Expect competitive pricing.One afternoon, at a restaurant in rural Texas, Roger Hodge asked his waitress whether there were any local spots he had to see. She knew just the one  an abandoned insane asylum in the town of Wichita Falls. When Hodge asked whether he needed to worry about trespassing, her reply was festive: We dont care about that in Texas!

The identity of Texas, and Texans, rests at the center of Hodges appealing and unusual new book, Texas Blood. Hodge, a nonfiction veteran and now an editor at the Intercept, is no interloper. He grew up in west Texas and reminds his waitress that in their shared home state, trespassing is a good way to get shot.

Hodges ancestors first moved to Texas in 1854, and while he left the state for college and never entirely came back, he still visits frequently, bringing his children from New York so they can see their grandparents, experience the harsh and striking landscape, and learn to shoot (deer, not trespassers).

During one of those visits, Hodge has an epiphany: Standing in a place where seven generations of my family have gazed over the same hills and valleys, I realized that my knowledge of the lives of my forebears and their contemporaries, their motivations and their passions, was pathetically thin.

By writing and reporting Texas Blood, Hodge aims to fix that. His book aspires to the tradition of Joan Didion on California and Ian Frazier on the Great Plains, and it mostly succeeds. Texas comes with a thick overgrowth of symbol and myth: rodeos, oil rigs, the Alamo. Hodge sets it all aside. Hes not interested in chipper rise of Texas histories, nor in odes to the Texan character  two genres favored by writers who, in Hodges nice and knifing phrase, play the role of professional Texan.

Hodges desire to counter this tradition does wonders for the scope of his book, which toggles between his family and the states forgotten history: Spanish missionaries, French pirates, borderlands outlaws and a huge variety of Indian tribes  not just Apaches and Comanches but the Jumano, the Bobole and more.

Still, it can make the individual chapters a bit slow. A book like this always benefits from some connective tissue. (Think of Fraziers friendly voice or Didions cutting details.) Hodge writes carefully and elegantly, but sometimes his book bogs down under a mix of meandering prose and maximalist detail; in a few stretches there are so many asides they stop feeling like asides.

Some readers will see this as a welcome (and deliberate) break from much of todays nonfiction, where long-form headlines and trade-book subtitles promise easy payoffs (How A Became B; What C Says About D). But other readers will reject it, or at the very least will be tempted to approach it like one of those grand old guidebooks the Federal Writers Project made for the (then 48) states, rich but browsable.

Even the browsers will find that as Texas Blood moves along, it gets better at balancing its narrative. Sometimes the momentum comes from Hodges quest for family history. He goes to Missouri in search of the farm where his ancestors may have lived, pre-Texas, and its one of the many times he deftly undercuts the sentimentality that can overpower a book like this. I lingered in the field for a time, he writes, and tried to feel the weight of nearly two centuries of history on that land. All I could imagine was the weight of 182 years worth of cow s.

Sometimes the momentum comes from travel writing. Hodge excels at describing Deep Red America, not just flyover country but far-from-the-interstate country. He captures a town like Presidio, Texas, honestly but not condescendingly. Its a place with a few rundown chains, some abandoned buildings, and very little concern for disguising or decorating its appearances. Desert towns, Hodge writes, wear everything out in the open.

Texas Blood also includes some political journalism, in a dispatch from the border, and some literary criticism, in a dive into the legacy of Cormac McCarthy. But the book always loops back to Texas. Hodge spent years on this project, digging into archives, interrogating relatives, and putting thousands and thousands of miles on rentals. After finishing the book, youll wonder whether the states Enterprise locations have posted a copy of his author photo under the decree: Do not rent.

All that effort has produced a book that will be beloved by Texans and fascinating to anyone else who wants to understand why the strange geographical category of state still matters in our ostensibly globalized age.

In fact, I finished the book thinking not of Texas but everywhere else. Its hard to see a revival of the Federal Writers Project. (Just imagine Ted Cruzs grandstanding response.) And that means the cataloging of our territories and states will have to come from obsessives like Hodge. How wonderful it would be to have not only a Texas Blood but a California Blood, then a Pennsylvania Blood, then a Puerto Rico Blood, slowly shading in the vast and mysterious American map.

Craig Fehrman is writing a book about presidents and their books. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

Texas Blood

Seven Generations Among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers, and Smugglers of the Borderlands

By Roger D. Hodge

(Knopf; 353 pages; $28.95)San Francisco police are asking for the publics help finding a man suspected in the shooting death of an activist last fall.

Anthony Torres, known by the gender non-conforming alter ego Bubbles, was shot and killed on the corner of Larkin and Myrtle streets in the Polk Gulch neighborhood on Sept. 9.

Homicide investigators with the San Francisco Police Department on Friday identified a suspect as 30-year-old San Francisco resident Hieu Trung Nguyen. The agency issued a $15 million warrant for his arrest.

Police had said a preliminary investigation suggested it was not a hate crime, but at the time of Torres death, friends said they were concerned he was killed because of his identity.

Torres created the Bubbles persona after moving to San Francisco from Phoenix about two decades ago. It included wearing blond wigs, dresses, heavy makeup and oversize sunglasses.

Torres was active in the Bay Area club scene and regularly performed as a DJ at house parties, civil rights marches and other events.

Torres attorney, Jim Reilly, said friends and family of the victim were sharing what information they had about the suspect and were eager for a break in the case.

I think this greatly enhances the chances of him being picked up, Reilly said.

Nguyen should be considered armed and dangerous, according to police. Anyone with information that can help the investigation can call the departments 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the message with SFPD.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJournoSacramento is itching for a Hollywood makeover.

More Midwestern than coastal cosmopolitan, Sacramento often receives little positive recognition despite being the capital city of America's most populous state.

But fresh excitement for the city has cropped up thanks to the success of the Sacramento-based "Lady Bird." The movie follows a teenager navigating her last days of high school and recently won two Golden Globe awards.

With national attention now raining down on Sacramento, city officials are working to woo more film crews to the area.

"It's the opportunity to leverage the attention and bring more filmmaking to Sacramento," Visit Sacramento CEO Mike Testa said. "We are getting a lot of attention from that one film."

The state's capital is no stranger to the screen  scenes from "American Beauty" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" were filmed there, along with parts of TV series such as "Big Love"  but it lacks a reputation for being a moviemaking hub.

But this may be changing. Testa said Sacramento has a unique filming advantage over more iconic American cities in that it can be a stand-in for any middle-American location.

"San Francisco is hard to be anything but San Francisco," he said. "There's a diverse landscape here that fits into a lot of different movies."

And it's cheap too. The Sacramento Film Commission only charges $100 for a monthly film permit compared to the $300 daily permits for big-budget filming in San Francisco. The commission also works with police on road closures to aid filmmakers.

But more importantly, hotels and restaurants are less expensive than those of San Francisco or Los Angeles, which can help tip the scales for producers trying to stay within budget, said Film Commissioner Lucy Steffens.

"Films are often dictated by budget," she said.

To attract more film crews to the area, Steffens said she has been visiting production companies in Santa Monica and trade shows to meet with producers and directors.

"We have been very active in the L.A. area," she said. "We try to go where the meeting centers are."

Testa said "Lady Bird" had a major economic impact on Sacramento, generating approximately $50,000 of business each day of filming based on money spent on restaurants, hotels, rental cars, commercial retail and other factors, a phenomenon he would like to repeat.

Due to hit theaters in March, the Clint Eastwood movie "15:17 To Paris" is partially set in Sacramento. The movie follows the three American servicemen who foiled a 2015 terrorist attack on a train from Amsterdam to Paris.

Two of the three servicemen grew up in the Sacramento area, and Testa said he's optimistic "15:17 To Paris" will continue to heap more cinematic attention to the city.JOHANNESBURG  Africans were shocked on Friday to find President Trump had finally taken an interest in their continent. But it wasnt what people had hoped for.

Using vulgar language, Trump on Thursday questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa rather than places like Norway in rejecting a bipartisan immigration deal. On Friday he denied using that language.

The African Union continental body said it was frankly alarmed by Trumps comments.

Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said.

Some African governments found themselves in an awkward position. As top recipients of U.S. aid, some hesitated to jeopardize it by criticizing Trump, especially as his administration has sought to slash foreign assistance.

Unless it was specifically said about South Sudan, we have nothing to say, said South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny.

But Botswanas government called Trumps comment reprehensible and racist, saying the U.S. ambassador had been summoned to clarify whether the country was regarded so poorly after years of cordial relations.

South Africas ruling African National Congress called Trumps comments extremely offensive, while opposition leader Mmusi Maimane said the hatred of Obamas roots now extends to an entire continent. Ugandas state minister for international relations, Henry Okello Oryem, called the remarks unfortunate and regrettable.

African media outlets and the continents young, increasingly connected population were not shy, with some tweeting sleek photos of African landscapes and urban areas with the hashtag of the word.

Well, that is the perfect definition of racism. That is all I have to say, Kenyan entrepreneur Wangui Muraguri said.

Trumps comments were shocking and shameful and Im sorry, but theres no other word one can use but racist, said a spokesman for the U.N. human rights office, Rupert Colville.

Many on the worlds second most populous continent reached for their smartphones, long-practiced in defending it from easy stereotypes. Though 40 percent of the worlds poor live in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Monetary Fund, the region also has billionaires, reality shows and a growing middle class.

Trump has expressed negative opinions about the continent in the past.

Every penny of the $7 billion going to Africa as per Obama will be stolen - corruption is rampant! he tweeted in 2013.

Cara Anna is an Associated Press writer.One of the first images taken by the Discovery Channel Telescope was of the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. The image was obtained April-May 2012.

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is relatively close to Earth  about 30 million light-years away. It is visible in the northern constellation Canes Venatici, just southeast of the Big Dipper.

More properly known as M51 or NGC 5194, the galaxy is noted as "one of the brightest and most picturesque" ones that Earthlings can see, according to NASA. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) calls it one of "astronomy's galactic darlings."

Among astrophysicists, one of the Whirlpool's highlights is the abundance of supernovas (star explosions) that have been recorded there in recent years. It also is noted for its closeness to companion galaxy NGC 5195, which may be affecting the structure of the Whirlpool itself.

'Spiral nebula'

M51 was first catalogued by Charles Messier in 1773 while the astronomer was plotting objects in the sky that could confuse comet-hunters. "M51" is a reference to "Messier 51," one of about 110 entries now plotted in his Catalogue of Nebulas and Star Clusters. (The companion NGC 5195 was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Mechain, who the University of Manitoba describes as a close friend to Messier.)

It would take about 70 years to learn more about the fuzzy object's structure, however. It was first discerned by William Parsons, using a 72-inch reflector telescope in 1845. "His drawing of the spiral galaxy M51 is a classic work of mid-19th-century astronomy," said Encyclopedia Britannica of Parsons' observations.

Parsons' discovery was the first so-called "spiral nebula" ever discovered, and in the five years following he found 14 more of these objects, according to the STScI. It was unclear for decades if these objects were a part of the Milky Way Galaxy or things that were independent of that.

It wasn't until Edwin Hubble used Cepheid variable stars to chart cosmic distances in M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) in the 1920s that astronomers understood they were actually distant galaxies.

The Whirlpool galaxy (M51) before (left) and after (right) the eruption of supernova SN 2011dh in May 2011. The image on the left was taken in 2009, and on the right July 8th, 2011. (Image credit: Conrad Jung)

Supernova bonanza

There's been a veritable cornucopia of supernovas in the Whirlpool in recent years. Skywatchers recorded supernovas in 1994, 2005 and 2011.

"Three supernovas in 17 years is a lot for single galaxy, and reasons for the supernova surge in M51 are being debated," noted the NASA website Astronomy Picture of the Day in 2011, without elaborating on the possible explanations.

The latest supernova, called SN 2011dh, was at its brightest in June 2011 before slipping back into obscurity. After the event, astronomers scoured older pictures to see if they could find the source of the explosion. They narrowed their search to a yellow supergiant star (visible in Hubble Space Telescope pictures) that was there before the explosion, and appears to be missing afterwards.

While most yellow supergiants aren't expected to go supernova when they finish out their lives, the team said it's possible that the star was actually a binary star. The other star would have been a bluer, hotter star that was close enough to pull some of the yellow supergiant's mass away. Given enough time, this would have destabilized the star and caused the explosion, astronomers said.

The blue star wasn't spotted in Hubble photos, but astronomers added that it is likely best visible in ultraviolet light  a band of light that Hubble does not look at.

"The present results reveal the necessity and importance of further studying the evolution and explosion of binary stars," said Melina Bersten of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Japan, who led the team, in a statement. "I look forward to the observation that will confirm our prediction."

Close encounter of the galactic kind

The Whirlpool's arms are one of the more prominent observed in spiral galaxies, STScI noted. The group said this could be because of what they termed a "close encounter" with its companion galaxy, NGC 5195.

"As NGC 5195 drifts by, its gravitational muscle pumps up waves within the Whirlpool's pancake-shaped disk. The waves are like ripples in a pond generated when a rock is thrown in the water," STScI stated.

"When the waves pass through orbiting gas clouds within the disk, they squeeze the gaseous material along each arm's inner edge. The dark dusty material looks like gathering storm clouds. These dense clouds collapse, creating a wake of star birth."

Over time, the biggest stars would then radiate away the surrounding gas, leaving behind blue star clusters that are easily visible in the Whirlpool's arms, STScI added. More generally, the fact that the galaxy is so close by allows astronomers to look at its structure and way it forms stars, with the aim of extrapolating that understanding to other galaxies.

Recent Whirlpool galaxy finds

In 2015, NASA released an image of the Whirlpool galaxy that the Chandra X-Ray Observatory captured over 250 hours of observation time. The space telescope observed 500 X-ray sources in the galaxy's region, racking up about five times the number of sources observed in previous studies. At least 10 of these sources are believed to come from black holes.

With the rise of inexpensive and powerful camera equipment, the Whirlpool is becoming a popular target for amateur astronomers. Space.com has examples of photos taken by amateurs in 2011 and 2015.A Secret Mission is Born

United Launch Alliance/Jeff Spotts

On Jan. 12, 2018, the U.S. spy satellite NROL-47 launched into space atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. See video of the launch here! See photos from the stunning launch here. This Photo: The liftoff moment for NROL-47 as a secret mission is born.

Liftoff!

United Launch Alliance/Jeff Spotts

The Delta IV rocket carrying NROL-47 lifted off at 2:11 p.m. PST (5:11 p.m. EST/2211 GMT) after two days of delays due to weather and technical issues. ULA launched the mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

NROL-47: The Logo

U.S. National Reconnaissance Office

Here's a close look at the NRO's mission emblem for the NROL-47 mission. "It depicts a battle between good and evil and signifies dedication to mission, military expertise and camaraderie," NRO officials wrote in a description of the image. "Mali Nunquam Praevalebunt" is Latin for "Evil will never prevail" and represents NRO's commitment to national security."

A Spy Satellite Ascends

ULA

This distant view shows the Delta IV rocket carrying NROL-47 as it ascends into the afternoon sky from its seaside pad at Vandenberg.

Next Stop Space

ULA

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket topped with the NROL-47 payload rises off the pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on Jan. 12, 2018.

NROL-47 Spy Satellite Payload Assembly

United Launch Alliance

The classified NROL-47 spy satellite, encapsulated in its protective payload fairing, is seen before being attached to its Delta IV rocket for a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Ready to Fly

Jeff Spotts/ULA

A Delta IV rocket stands ready to launch the NROL-47 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-6.

Mobile Service Tower Rollback: NROL-47

Jeff Spotts/ULA

The Mobile Service Tower is rolled back from a Delta IV rocket at Space Launch Complex-6. The Delta IV Med+ (5,2) rocket will launch the NROL-47 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Rocket in Twilight

Jeff Spotts/ULA

The glow of twilight offers a stunning backdrop for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket carrying NROL-47.

Lit for Launch

Jeff Spotts/ULA

Floodlights illuminate the Delta IV rocket ahead of the NROL-47 launch on Jan. 12, 2018.

NROl-47: The Poster

United Launch Alliance

The mission poster for the ULA Delta IV rocket mission launching the classified NROL-47 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.Ames Research Center is one of the oldest facilities currently operated by NASA. Lying just south of San Francisco, in the heart of Silicon Valley, Ames boasts a wealth of research projects. It is one of 10 NASA field centers.

"Ames Research Center  contributes to virtually every major NASA mission and initiative," the Ames website states.

History of Ames

Ames grew out of Moffett Field, which was originally conceived of as a base for the Navy's rigid airships in 1931. Local communities donated 100 acres for the base, while the government purchased an additional 750 acres, according to Elizabeth Muenger in the book "Searching the Horizon: A History of Ames Research Center, 1940-1976." At the time, the Navy had two such ships, the Akron and the Macon.

In 1939, Congress authorized a second laboratory for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA, to be developed at Moffett. (The first was Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, which became Langley Research Center.) The Navy still hoped to develop rigid airships in the future, and requested that any NACA buildings be located outside the mooring circles. In December 1939, the Army gave NACA the use of 62 acres of land. The agency purchased another 40 acres from local farmers and began surveying building locations.

Ground was broken at Moffett Field, California, in 1939, and operations began in early 1941. In 1944, NACA named the facility in honor of Joseph S. Ames, leading aerodynamicist, former president of Johns Hopkins University, and one of the founding members of NACA.

From the start, Ames was bent toward urgent research in aircraft structures. Some of its original facilities include multiple wind tunnels used to test and refine aircraft and guided missiles; today, the facilities serve similar purposes for satellites. The Air Force passed Moffett Airfield to NASA in 1994, when the military base closed.

"Wind tunnels are central to Ames' history," says Ames' historical website. "Of particular note are three tunnels later designated key national resources."

The largest of the three, the Unitary Plan Wind tunnel, has tested almost all NASA crewed space vehicles, including the space shuttle, and is the only one still in use today. In 1985, the 11-acre wind tunnel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"The Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel is significant because it represents the continual development of superior technical aeronautical research facilities after the end of the Second World War," Harry Butowsky, then of the National Park Service, said on the nomination form.

"These research facilities formed the foundation upon which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would draw in 1958 to launch the American effort to land a man on the moon."

In 1958, Ames became part of the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ames provided input to the fledgling agency's top priority, the lunar program, testing and refining the re-entry capsules and thermal protection in the Center's new Arc Jet Complex and hypervelocity ranges. The arc jets later contributed to thermal protection for all of NASA's crewed programs, including the space shuttle, as well as planetary missions like the Galileo satellite to Jupiter.

"The complex will continue to be central to the research and development of materials suitable for heatshield applications," the website says.

In the 1950s, Moffitt Field's Hangar One, one of the world's largest freestanding structures, was designated a Historic American Engineering Record; in 2008, the 8-acre structure was listed as one of the most endangered historic places. In 2014, NASA leased the management of Hangar One and Moffett airfield to Planetary Ventures, a subsidiary of Google, for 60 years. Restoration of the hangar by Google is expected to be complete in 2025.

"We're looking to be as efficient as possible, but it's hard to say (when we'll be done). All our schedules are subject to change," Anthony LaMarca told the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board in 2017, a local newspaper reported. LaMarca is the project manager for Planetary Ventures. "By the time we get through all these steps, the skin will be done by 2025. That's quite a ways out."

The hangars were included as part of the U.S. Naval Air Station, Sunnyvale Historic District, also known as the Shenandoah Plaza, when the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

In 2017, several Ames facilities were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Ames Administration building, the Aviation Systems Division's flight simulation and guidance laboratory, the Arc Jet Complex, and the NASA Ames Wind Tunnel Historic District.

The team developing the landing system for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory tested the deployment of an early parachute design in mid-October 2007 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center. (Image credit: NASA)

The here and now

NASA Ames Research Center has grown over the past seven decades. Today, it has approximately 2,500 on-site employees and contractors spread across 500 acres.

Ames emerged as the leading builder of flight simulators in the 1960s, with a wide range of simulators, equipment and facilities developed by the park to improve pilot workloads, cockpit design and safety. In particular, the Vertical Motion Simulator still enables testing of a variety of aircraft.

Ames also has a life science program. The agency boasts various centrifuges, two of which are unique to the agency, as well as genome facilities. Future Flight Central remains a sophisticated facility for basic research on movement into and around airports.

In the 1990s, Ames expanded its research to new realms. Nanotechnology laboratories aim to help reduce mass in space while increasing capability, while astrobiology facilities include a world-renowned astrochemistry laboratory to simulate deep space, a bio-mat greenhouse laboratory to study Earth's earliest living organisms, and bio-signature labs.

Ames is also investigating exoplanets. The center provides scientific and management leadership of NASA's Kepler mission, which has discovered over 6,500 exoplanets and exoplanet candidates. The Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE) is a laboratory testbed for potential instruments to help NASA directly image exoplanets in the future.

The agency lists eight core competencies on its website that it says helps it to contribute to virtually every NASA mission. They are:

Entry systems

Advanced computing & IT systems

Aerosciences

Air Traffic Management

Astrobiology and Life Sciences

Cost-Effective Space Missions

Intelligent/Adaptive Systems

Space and Earth Science

Ames is active on several NASA missions. It serves as a partner for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the world's largest airborne astronomical observatory, as well as for the International Space Station and Mars Science Laboratory and the Curiosity rover currently operating on the Red Planet. It is also a partner on the New Horizons mission, which flew by Pluto in 2015 and is on its way to rendezvous with a distant Kuiper-belt object.

Visiting Ames

While the massive research center itself is closed to the public, the nearby visitor center is open to all. With an exterior resembling a melting marshmallow, the visitor center has a self-guided walkthrough that discusses the research at Ames.

Current exhibits include Science on a Sphere, Ames Spacecraft missions, a moon rock, a Mercury Redstone 1a capsule used in the last unmanned test flight before Mercury 7, a wind-tunnel model of SOFIA, a Kepler display, and a walk-through model of the International Space Center on Living and Working in Space. The center offers videos of varying lengths.

While individuals and small groups are welcome to drop in, groups of ten or more require reservations.

The centers hours are: 10 a.m.  4 p.m., Tuesday  Friday; noon  4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. The visitor center is closed Mondays and federal holidays. To contact the visitor center, call (650) 604-6497.

Additional resources

Follow Nola Taylor Redd at @NolaTRedd, Facebook, or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+.A SpaceX Dragon capsule departs the International Space Station on Jan. 13, 2018 to return 4,100 lbs. (1,860 kilograms) of science gear to Earth and end a monthlong delivery mission.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship left the International Space Station and returned to Earth Saturday (Jan. 13), wrapping up a nearly month-long delivery mission for NASA that also marked the spacecraft's second trip to space.

The uncrewed Dragon supply ship detached from the space station's robotic arm at 4:58 a.m. EST (0958 GMT) and began firing thrusters for its return to Earth. The space capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California to be retrieved by SpaceX, the company announced at 10:39 a.m. EST (1539 GMT). [See photos of the Dragon cargo ship's mission]

"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing the second resupply mission to and from the @Space_Station with a flight-proven commercial spacecraft," SpaceX representatives said in a Twitter update.

See more

Dragon is carrying nearly 4,100 lbs. (1,860 kilograms) of cargo to Earth, much of it science gear from human and animal research, and other experiments. That gear includes hardware from an experiment by space manufacturing company Made In Space to 3d-print ZBLAN glass fiber optic wire in space, and a group of live mice from NASA's Rodent Research 6 study to develop medications that address muscle loss in space., NASA officials said.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Dragon mission on Dec. 15, with the capsule arriving at the International Space Station on Dec. 17. The mission, SpaceX's 13th resupply flight for NASA, delivered 4,800 lbs. (2,177 kilograms) of supplies and gear for astronauts.

In addition to delivering cargo, the mission marked a milestone for SpaceX's rocket reusability program. Both the Dragon capsule and its Falcon 9 booster made their second trips to space on this flight. The Falcon 9 booster's first stage previously launched a different Dragon capsule to the space station in June 2017. The Dragon capsule on this flight, meanwhile, previously visited the space station in April 2015.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:49 a.m. EST to include the successful splashdown of the Dragon capsule.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.



This was written and directed by Glen Morgan. I enjoyed this episode, mainly just watching Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) work together and recapture that magic  not to mention just how kickass Scully is. It was nice to almost have one of the Lone Gunmen back too. I also really loved how bravely they go for it as far as current events and the Russian/Trump debacle. However, its hard to really ignore all the pretty serious plotholes in the episode.Its hard to beat any episode that opens with the Ramones and California Sun. I loved how the assassins in the car looked like the Lone Gunmen  nice bait and switch. We see Mulder and Scully asleep on his couch when his phone suddenly sparks to life and its Langley (Dean Haglund)! He asks if hes dead and then says if he is, they know that he knows. The shootout that follows as the assassins attack is fantastically choreographed.Mulder tells Scully to call it in from a landline  and hes determined not to hand over the phone. He asks Scully if shes sure that Langley is dead. When she said that she hadnt actually seen the body, I was hopeful, because, as we know, if theres no body, they probably arent dead! It turns out that Langley is dead though Scully thinks the call was a warning about the assassins, but Mulder points out it wasnt a warning, Langley just wanted to know if he was dead.Mulder and Scully are immediately on alert when jeeps pull up far too quickly to have responded to her call. Scully reaches out to Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) who tells them to just surrender. Its still unclear whether they can trust him. They are ultimately taken  by Russians. Commander Al (Andre Roshkov) tells them that it turns out Americans are fine losing the cold war as long as they can make money off it  and who else do we know with Russian ties who is all about making money??? Nice jab, show!Mulder and Scully manage to fight their way out and take off through the forest where Skinner picks them up. He tells them that the Russians are essentially hired mercenaries working for the American government and they answer to the executive branch  which he later points out doesnt think much of the FBI these days Scully asks Skinner if Langley is dead. Skinner tells them that hes buried in Arlington, but evades Scullys actual question.Scully and Mulder head to the cemetery and make some interesting discoveries about the Lone Gunmens graves. They find Byers, Frohike, and Langleys tombstones and the clues lead them to Ronald Palukas grave  Deep Throat. They find a memory medallion under the cross on his tombstone before they are attacked by the remaining assassin. Mulder knocks him out  but doesnt check to see if he is dead or otherwise incapacitate him  so of course, he shows up later at another very inconvenient moment.Mulder and Scully wait for Skinner in the NSA parking garage. Skinner tries to explain to them that the world is different  there are a lot more agencies now, all vying for information, power, and favor. Scully tells him they were attacked and need his help. Neither is really comfortable trusting Skinner, however.Skinner tells him that if they want access to the X-Files, theyve all been put online. Mulder is looking for Project Blarney and Titanpointe. Skinner tells them that they were gone and the X-Files were too important to just leave, so he had them reopened and given back to the FBI, but because theyre online, every agency has access to them. Mulder is not happy.Once they access the files, the Project Blarney and Titanpointe files are gone. However, they have a lead to go to Dr Hamblyn (Sandrine Holt). She tells them that 15 years ago, they came to her and Langley and told them that they could live forever  by having their consciousnesses uploaded to their simulation. Over two weeks they had their brains scanned. The plan was for one of them to reach out if they got there first and it wasnt what was promised. And thats when the assassin shows up and kills Hamblyn just as shes showing them how to use the sim card modification to contact Langley. This time, Mulder does kill the assassin.Theres an adorable scene between Mulder and Scully in a diner as Mulder works on the sim card and Scully tries to grab some sleep  and avoid shooting the waitress. They make contact with Langley, and at first, he says the simulation is heaven  the Ramones are there, and they arent fighting! But he quickly tells them that it really isnt heaven  theres no choice or diversity. You can dream but not have dreams. Hes basically a slave working for the elites. Steve Jobs is there too  and also a slave. Its not what they were in life. He begs them to kill him.Scully and Mulder infiltrate the Titanpointe Building in Manhattan. I loved them pretending that Scully had Mulder as her prisoner  and he was a Hannibal Lector-level danger! I also loved her flirting her way in  and Mulder gagging over it! The two are ambushed in the stairwell, and Mulder is taken prisoner.Mulder is taken to Erika Price (Barbara Hershey). She tells him that she was disappointed in him after their first meeting, but hes moving up in her estimation. She tells him again that life on earth is about to be crushed. The simulation is necessary to their evolution. One wonders what happened to their space colony  is this it? She actually finds it extraordinary that only one person out of so many in the simulation was able to figure out that it was a simulation. And then the one person  out of billions  that that person reached out to was Mulder.Mulder asks her if she would upload him and Scully if he agreed to kill his father. Mulder is clearly trying to play her. He tells her that he wants to believe, but he wants to see the server. Price tells him it doesnt look like anything  whats the point. Mulder tells her its the closest hell get to seeing God. She agrees, but Mulder sees Scullys shadow and creates a distraction while Scully gets into the server and destroys it. Of course, she doesnt actually destroy the hard drives, she just shuts it down  another pretty major plothole. Mulder is pretty happy to get his phone backWhen the two come back with the FBI in tow, naturally, everything is gone. Have the achieved anything? It seems unlikely. The two go back to Mulders. The episode loops back on itself  a rather nice reflection on them having really gotten nowhere  but I did love them taking up the same positions on the couch. Theres one final message from Langley  they know. And then we see that the assassin is now also in the simulationIts hard to know exactly where to place this episode. Given that Price is in it, it must be a mytharc episode, but it also feels like a Lone Gunmen episode. I did really enjoy the Mulder/Scully dynamic in this one, but is that enough to make the reboot really matter? What did you think of the episode? Did it feel like there were plotholes to you, or can you plug some of them up for me? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!P lanning your summer escape?

From hidden water holes in the Pacific Islands to isles off the coast of Colombia and an island inhabited by swimming pigs, these are the locales where you can find some of the bluest waters in the world.

1. Cala Macarelleta, Menorca, Spain

Shutterstock

On the south western side of Menorca, this bay is a stunning mix of turquoise water and white sand beaches. The waters are shallow and clear which makes it a perfect swimming spot for families and you can usually get return flights for around 60.

2. Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

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While New Zealand is on the opposite side of the world, once you get there youll see magic around every corner.

This little slice of paradise is called the Abel Tasman National Park, close to Nelson at the top of the South Island, it covers 231 square kilometres of land where you can go for walks and kayak through the pristine waters. Note: if youre kayaking, watch out for the seals. They love to jump up on your kayak and hitch a ride.

3. Exuma, Bahamas

Shutterstock

No visit to the Bahamas is complete without a stop at Exuma, a.k.a the pig beach. The district of Exuma is an archipelago of 365 islands, located just south of Nassau and only 40 minutes from Florida, USA. And the pigs have their own island and can often be found swimming in the lush waters.

4. Maldives

Shutterstock

The Maldives has become the go-to destination for cashed-up honeymooners of recent years with every man and his new bride staying in an over-water bungalow, gramming the sun setting over the ocean.

But what makes the Maldives so spectacular are the waters that surround the islands. Located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are composed of 26 atolls and over 1,000 coral islands. Snorkelling is a must-do during your stay in the Maldives.

5. Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Laura Hampson

Hands down one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Croatias Plitvice Lakes can be visited at any time during the year  summer for warm weather, autumn for the changing leaves, winter for the snow-topped trees and spring for gorgeous blooms. But one thing stays consistent, the water is crystal blue all year round.

6. Belize

Shutterstock

On the eastern coast of Central America you will find Belize, and its many beautiful blue beaches. Offshore you will find the massive Belize Barrier Reed, dotted with hundreds of low-lying islands and home to rich marine life. While there, you need to visit the one blue hole to rule them all, Belizes Great Blue Hole - a giant submarine sinkhole that is 318 metres across and 124 metres deep.

7. Five Flower Lake, JiuhaiGou, China

Shutterstock

Chinas Five Flower Lake is part of the Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area which is a world heritage site. The crystal clear blue waters show many ancient tree trunks that have fallen and now lie under the surface.

8. Arkoudaki beach near Lakka, Paxos, Ionian islands, Greece

Shutterstock

While a trip to any of the Greek Islands will give you shimmering waters, the island of Paxos is one of the most stunning. Paxos Arkoudaki beach is small, secluded and rocky, and you have to follow a path to get down to it. Perfect if you dont like sharing a beach with hundreds of other sun worshippers.

9. Lagos in Ponta da Piedade, Algarve region, Portugal

Shutterstock

No trip to the Algarve region of Portugal is complete without a swim in Lagos. With beaches stretching along the coast, youll find golden sands and clear water for as far as the eye can see - and you can get relatively cheap flights to Faro from London, to which Lagos is a short bus ride away.

10. Lake Attersee, Austria

Laura Hampson

Just outside of Salzburg (of Sound of Music fame) you will find Lake Attersee. Quintessentially Austrian, the lake is dotted with old-timey houses and in the summer fills with families coming for a swim on its shores. Make sure you go for a walk around the perimeter of the lake to find some hidden swimming spots.

11. Sua Ocean Trench, Upolu, Samoa

Shutterstock

Throughout all of the pacific islands you will find gorgeous, tropical waters but perhaps none so Instagram-worthy as Samoas Sua Ocean Trench. You need to climb down a ladder to reach the 30 metre deep swimming hole and bask in the beauty of it all.

12. Peyto Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

Shutterstock

It feels like all of our friends are currently in Thailand, Japan or Canada  with Banff National Park being the must-see attraction of the moment. A highlight of Banff is Peyto Lake, a glacier-fed lake which was named after trail guide Bill Peyto.

The lake is an incredulous 2.8 kilometres long and is best seen from Bow Summit  for the iconic picture.

13. Blue Hole, Vanuatu

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The Nanda Blue Hole (also known as Jackie's Blue Hole) is one of the most spectacular blue holes in Vanuatu. Located among the pacific islands, Vanuatus island of Santo is where you can find most of the nations blue holes. The Nanda Blue Hole, a lagoon and natural spring, is complete with a rope swing for thrill seekers.

14. Broome, Australia

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While the west coast of Australia is the least-visited, its arguably the most beautiful. Less populated with more serene landscape and beaches, youll find bright blue waters in beaches near Broome. And with Qantas offering direct flights from London to Perth from April, visiting Western Australia has never been easier.

15. Lake Kayangan, Coron, Palawan Philippines

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Only accessible by a steep 10-minute climb, the waters of Lake Kayangan are nestled into the mountain walls. While the area can get quite busy, the water is like no other.

16. Thailand

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Thailand is filled with gorgeous waters but perhaps none so much as the islands off Phuket: Koh Tao and Koh Samui. Tourist havens, these islands will let you experience the party side of Phuket with a relaxing beach holiday thrown in the mix.

17. Islas del Rosario, Cartagena, Colombia

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Also referred to as the Corales Islas del Rosario, it is an archipelago located off the coast of Colombia and one of 46 Natural National Parks in Colombia. Think gorgeous beaches, fresh seafood and endless sun.

18. Island of Havelock on Andaman and Nicobar islands, India

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Known for its snorkelling and scuba diving, Havelock Island is the most popular of the Andaman Islands. If donning an oxygen tank isnt your thing, then try a glass-bottomed boat to show you the incredible marine life.

19. Zanzibar, Tanzania

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Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. With just five main roads, Zanzibar would definitely be an off-the-beaten-track experience but the powder white beaches, barrier reefs and the UNESCO World heritage site of Stone Town make it a must-visit.

20. Seychelles

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Before the Maldives, there were the Seychelles. The Seychelles are an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa and home to numerous beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves.

21. St. John Island, US Virgin Islands

ShutterstockT wo men tending to a broken-down car were each forced to have a leg amputated after being struck by a passing vehicle.

The victims, both in their 40s, were at the side of the A406 North Circular flyover above Redbridge Roundabout in east London on Tuesday evening when they were injured.

The Met said a silver BMW 330 Sport collided with a Vauxhall Vectra, which in turn careered into the men as they stood by their vehicle.

Neither is in a life-threatening condition but police said their injuries were "extremely serious" and led to both men having a leg amputated.

A Scotland Yard spokesman was unable to confirm the identity of this car.

The two occupants of the Vauxhall were not injured.

The BMW stopped at the scene, however the male driver fled on foot before police arrived.

A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injuries by dangerous driving.A 19-year-old has been given an eight-year custodial sentence after trying to import explosives from the dark web in an attempt to kill his father.

Gurtej Singh Randhawa was arrested by the National Crime Agency's armed operations unit in May 2017 after taking delivery of a package he thought was a remote-controlled IED.

Officers from the NCA had replaced the package ordered by Mr Randhawa with an inert dummy item before arresting him in May last year.

Birmingham Crown Court was told Mr Randhawa ordered the device after his mother discovered he was having a relationship with a girl she disapproved of.

Gurtej Singh Randhawa, 19, collecting a package he believed to be a remote-controlled IED / PA

The court was also told the A-Level student, a former pupil at Wolverhampton Grammar School, had accepted an offer to study medicine at Liverpool University.

Mr Randhawa of Grove Lane, Wolverhampton, was detained after testing the device and pleaded guilty to attempting to import explosives.

He was later found guilty of maliciously possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury.

Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Randhawa: "You are plainly highly intelligent and capable of determined manipulation.

"You told sustained lies to your girlfriend and her family about your own parents, particularly your father.

"I have no doubt that this offence was motivated by your desire to live with your girlfriend and attend university together.

"How the major changes in your life that you wished for were to be achieved, included endangering the life of your father by setting off an explosion in his car.

"This was an offence of astonishing audacity.T he US embassy in London has hit back at US President Donald Trump after he claimed the move to a new location in Battersea was a "bad deal".

It emerged on Friday President Trump had abandoned plans to visit the UK for the opening of the new 750 million US embassy reportedly because of fears of mass protests when he arrives in London.

But Mr Trump blamed the cancelled visit on th "off location" of the new embassy, which is moving from Grosvenor Square in Mayfair to Nine Elms, south of the Thames.

He falsely claimed the embassy was sold for "peanuts" in a poor deal negotiated by his predecessor Obama's administration.

On Friday evening, a US embassy spokesman hit back at the President' claims and said the plan to finance the project was developed in 2007, at a time when George W. Bush was in the White House.

Grand opening: the new US embassy is located south of the river / AFP/Getty Images

"The US chancery in Grosvenor Square had aged beyond its ability to be improved to current security and life safety standards without extensive investment in infrastructure that would require appropriated dollars," he said.

"In 2007, the department developed a plan to finance a new embassy project through a property swap for existing US government property in London.

"This solution allowed construction of a new chancery that meets all security standards, yet used no taxpayer dollars to fund the project."

Donald Trump won't travel to UK to open US embassy

The spokesman said the budget was approximately one billion dollars (730 million) and includes the site purchase, design, and construction costs.

He added: "The project has been executed within the established budget. The search for a new embassy site in London considered more than 50 sites.

"A multi-disciplinary team of professionals considered over 170 criteria, to include physical security requirements, and determined that the Nine Elms site was the best overall location for the US government.

"The new embassy in Nine Elms is one of the most secure, hi-tech, and environmentally-friendly embassies the United States has ever built.

"We are strongly committed in the special relationship between our two countries and we are confident the new embassy will provide the necessary platform to continue our cooperation."

Mr Trump's tweet which sparked the row read: "Reason I cancelled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts,' only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars.

"Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!"

Sadiq Khan said the US president had "got the message" from Londoners and would have been met by "mass peaceful protests" if he went ahead with plans to open the new embassy.

His comments sparked criticism from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who accused the Mayor of London of endangering the so-called "special relationship".

There was initially confusion as Downing Street was unable to say whether the Foreign Secretary was speaking for the Government when he said Mr Khan and Jeremy Corbyn were putting the "crucial relationship at risk".

A Number 10 source said: "Boris expresses himself in his own inimitable way, but we agree that any risk to the crucial US-UK relationship is not in our country's best interests."

US embassy saga: Map shows distance between embassy sites in London

A Downing Street spokesman said Mrs May would tell Mr Trump he is welcome in London.

Asked about the PM's views on south London after the president described the embassy's new site as an "off location", the Number 10 spokesman said: "I think Vauxhall is a vibrant and important part of London and home to many businesses. Obviously Apple are moving their headquarters there."

The spokesman added: "A state visit (invitation) has been extended and accepted and we will confirm the details in due course.

Donald Trump waxwork outside the new US Embassy, London 1 /9 Donald Trump waxwork outside the new US Embassy, London People take selfies with the Madame Tussauds wax figure of US President Donald Trump outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London, after Mr Trump confirmed he will not travel to the UK to open the new building - and hit out at the location of the 1.2 billion dollar (886 million) project PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA

"No date was confirmed for any visit, the one you are referring to now.

"The opening of the US embassy is a matter for the US."

Mr Trump's announcement followed speculation that he would formally open the embassy at a ceremony in February. The new building will open for business on January 16.

Mrs May controversially extended the offer of a state visit, officially on behalf of the Queen, when she became the first world leader to meet Mr Trump in the White House following his inauguration last year.

Since then, however, the president has indicated he does not want to take up the invitation if he is going to face mass demonstrations and it had been expected he could make a low-key working visit rather than a trip which involved all the trappings of a state occasion.T he African Union has demanded that Donald Trump apologises after he reportedly called nations on the continent s***holes.

The group, which represents 55 member states throughout the continent, expressed its shock, dismay and outrage, saying the US leader misunderstood Africans.

The president made the alleged remark in a meeting on immigration on Thursday. Mr Trump denied using the language reported.

He tweeted on Friday that the language he used at the private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration legislation had been "tough".

Mr Trump added that the words he reportedly said were "not the language used".

In statement, the African Union said: "[Mr Trumps] remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

Reporters try to quiz Trump over reported Haiti immigrant remarks

And it added: "While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current Administration.

"There is a serious need for dialogue between the US Administration and the African countries."

The union also demanded that Mr Trump formally retracts the statement and delivers "an apology not only to the Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe."

It comes after Mr Trumps alleged outburst led to an outcry, with the president being blasted as ignorant and racist.

Donald Trump: African leaders have called for him to apologise / AP

He is said to have made the controversial remark during a meeting with lawmakers over suggestions that the US restore temporary protected status for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.

Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here? the president reportedly responded, according to the Washington Post.

Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out, CNN reported that Mr Trump told people in the meeting.

Haiti said on Friday that it vehemently condemns Mr Trumps comments.

Either the president has been misinformed or he is miseducated, added Haitis US Ambassador Paul Altidor.

Congressman Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Mr Trumps comments are further proof that his Make America Great Again agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda.

And Congresswoman Mia Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, insisted Mr Trump should apologise to both the American people and the nations he so wantonly maligned.

She said his unkind, divisive, elitist comments fly in the face of our nations values.

The presidents comments are ignorant, racist with a complete disregard for the human dignity of the Haitian people, said Jack Davidson, executive director of the American Haitian Foundation.T he Queen came perilously close to being assassinated by a teenage fanatic during a 1981 trip to New Zealand, a new report has claimed.

New Zealand magazine Stuff claims to have uncovered the story of then-17-year-old Christopher John Lewis, who is claimed to have fired his .22 rifle at the British monarch as she stood next to husband Prince Philip in an open-top Rolls Royce.

Lewis is said to have developed an "obsession" with the royal family, with claims emerging that he also plotted to kill the Queen's son Prince Charles.

The report goes on to claim New Zealand officials deliberately concealed the assassination plot from the media in order to disguise the security blunder and avoid jeopardising future royal visits.

Newly uncovered police job sheets are said to show Lewis's initial charge - attempted treason - was downgraded to possession and discharge of a weapon in a public place.

Former Dunedin detective sergeant Tom Lewis (no relation to the killer), told Stuff: "You will never get a true file on that...it was reactivated, regurgitated, bits pulled off it, other false bits put on it...They were in damage control so many times."

Murray Hanan, Lewis's former lawyer, said: "The fact an attempted assassination of the Queen had taken place in New Zealand...was just too politically hot to handle.

"I think the government took the view that he is a bit nutty and has had a hard upbringing so it won't be too harsh."

During police interviews, Lewis claimed he had been instructed to kill the Queen by an anonymous Englishman known to him as "the Snowman".L ocals and tourists alike were left terrified in Hawaii after a false alarm sent directly to their phones warned them: "This is not a drill."

An "emergency alert" sent to people all over the US island state on Saturday night read: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

Reports on social media claim sirens sounded across the island as panicking residents sought to establish what was happening.

A spokesman for the Hawaii EMergency Managment Agency soon told NBC News there was "no missile threat to Hawaii".

Local Democratic politician Tulsi Gabbard told the news network the mobile alert was a false alarm.

The U.S. military's Pacific command said on Saturday there was no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii after a message was sent in error to Hawaii residents' mobile phones.Best British Single

Rag n Bone Man - Human

J Hus - Did you see

Clean Bandit ft Zara Larson - Symphony

Liam Payne - Strip it Down

Calvin Harris - Feels

Dua Lipa - New Rules

Ed Sheehan - Shape of You

Jazz Jones ft Raya - Like You Know Me

Jonas Blue - Mama

Little Mix - Touch

Best British Female

Dua Lipa

Jessie Ware

Kate Tempest

Laura Marling

Paloma Faith

Best British Male

Ed Sheehan

Liam Gallagher

Rag n Bone Man

Loyle Carner

Stormzy

British Group

Wolf Alice

Gorrilaz

London Grammar

The XX

Royal Blood

Breakthrough Act

Dave

Dua Lipa

J Hus

Loyle Carner

Sampha

Best British Album of the year

Stormzy - Gang Signs and Prayer

Rag n Bone Man - Human

Dua Lipa - Dua Lipa

J Hus - Common Sense

Ed Sheeran - Divide

Best British Video

Anne-Marie - Ciao Adios

Calvin Harris - Feels

Clean Bandit ft Zara Larson - Symphony

Dua Lipa - New Rules

Ed Sheehan - Shape of You

Harry Styles - Sign of the Times

Jonas Blue - Mama

Liam Payne - Strip that Down

Little Mix - Touch

Zayn Malik ft Taylor Swift - Live Forever

Best International Female Artist

Alicia Keys

Bjork

Lorde

Pink

Taylor Swift

Best International Male Artist

Beck

Childish Gambino

DJ Khaled

Drake

Kendrick Lamar

Best International Group

Arcade Fire

Foo Fighters

Haim

The Killers

LCD SoundsystemM usic has been a prevalent form of time-mapping for centuries, a moment or memory can be pinpointed by a single song.

It is often youll hear someone talking about music in a nostalgic sense, theyll frequently declare it something they used to listen to when they were younger.

Here are five bands which spanned my formative years that are still making music today:

1. The Killers

Mr Brightside American rockers The Killers first splashed on to the scene with album Hot Fuss in the early 2000s, starting out with a kiss which ended up leaving Mr Brightside with over 66 million streams to date, an amount that has enabled the song to spend more weeks in the Official Singles Chart Top 100 than any other song.

Somebody Told Me, Human and When You Were Young also saw success in the charts at the time. Fronted by Brandon Flowers, the band have drifted between genres dabbling in dance, pop, electric but are still deemed rock at their core.

Pledging to stamp themselves as the American U2, their 2017 release of Wonderful Wonderful saw them work with Irish producer Garett Jacknife Lee, who had worked with the Bono-fronted band previously. Something clearly worked as the band tasted their first experience of a number one spot with the 2017 release.

2. Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

Although not technically a band, but often renowned for collaborating with one, Dancing in the Dark legend Bruce Springsteen made his debut in the industry as a New Jersey working-class-rooted young man.

Now famously known as The Boss, Springsteen began to enjoy success off the back of his third studio album, Born To Run, which peaked at number three with its flawless guitar riffs, impeccable story-telling and a reach for the all-American dream.

Springsteens true breakout moment came off the back of 80s release of Born in the USA. The album included hit track Born in the USA, which, although widely-misinterpreted as an anthemic declaration of a patriotic love for the States, exposed the flaws of the American dream.

Dancing in the Dark followed a similar wave of success as a single from the album, with more self-conscious, dark lyrics penned in an upbeat fashion, a trend that was soon to define The Boss.

His 2014 album High Hopes saw him dominate the charts with his tenth UK number one, putting him alongside The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2 and Jay-Z for the most chart-topping albums. Springsteen has since seen success in his Broadway show, with fans declaring him the American poet of the time.

3. Green Day

1980s punk-rockers, Green Day, revived the punk vibe from the 70s and presented it to an all-new audience.

Their third album, Dookie, which included what is now alluded to as a cult classic, Basket Case, sold over 10 million copies, paving the way for hardcore, metal and alternative music.

Their imprint on the musical timeline later saw them win a Grammy for 2004 album American Idiot, which kicked off an aggressive rock-opera era.

The band, fronted by Billie Joel Armstrong, became more ambitious releasing three albums back to back, appropriately titled Uno!, Dos! and Tre! Their hard work soon saw them claim their spot in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

Their 2016 release of Revolution Radio stole the UK number one spot. The band has since released a compilation of their greatest hits throughout the years.

4. Coldplay

The 90s-formed British rock band changed their name several times, from Pectoralz to Starfish, before deciding on their iconic name, inspired a book of collected poems.

Fronted by Chris Martin, Coldplay has sold over 90 million albums worldwide to date.

The English rockers dropped first album Parachutes in 2000, which peaked at number one in the UK and later went on to become eight-times platinum.

Parachutes brought renowned singles Yellow and Trouble, which shot to success and later became benchmarks for the group.

Their 2005 release of X&Y, their third studio album, and home to their iconic crooner Fix You, became one of the best selling albums of the year. Coldplay since collaborated with Beyonce on Hymn for the Weekend, which has over 800 million Youtube hits and more recently with The Chainsmokers on Something Just Like This, which has reached a staggering 900 million views.

5. Busted

Last to make the list is everyones favourite wedding crashers who gave us a glimpse into the year 3000.

The Essex trio hashed out two studio albums in their early career, Busted and A Present For Everyone, before splitting. Their early efforts featured popular singles, Thunderbirds, Year 3000, When I Crashed The Wedding and What I Go to School For. As a collective they have sold over five million albums worldwide and claimed two Brit Awards. Remaining members James Bourne and Matt Willis joined Mcfly to create a supergroup as McBusted in 2014.Countries & Areas

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At precinct 18 investigations into the assault committed by Eugen Stan in 2016, the sub-commissioner tasked with building the case did not observe the provisions on the criminal investigation of Ministry of the Interior staff, and those regarding the recording and settlement of criminal cases handled by police units under the authority of the Prosecution Office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal or other subordinated prosecution offices.

The police investigation into Stan's most recent sexual assault of January 5, 2018 was also riddled with flaws, as the on-site investigation was not properly coordinated and the images caught on camera in the block of apartments where the offence took place have not been checked in detail, thus nixing the possibility to collect biological evidence at the site, while other officers did a sloppy job, failing to monitor the site of the crime until the arrival of the investigation team.The document also includes a "Plan of measures to improve the mechanism for the police officers' behavioral assessment and insight". The report cites the understaffing of the Romanian Police and massive departures from the system (over 11,300 between 2016 - 2017 alone), that have affected the human resources management system, so that some 30 percent of the management positions are currently vacant.The measures proposed to address the issue include the filling of the managerial positions by contest, hiring outside experts, admission to police post-high school education and systematic action for getting to know the police staff hired from external sources and the students seeking to graduate as police officers.The document admits that knowledge about the staff is currently at a basic level and is likely to affect the due identification of particular aspects that could influence the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the officers, noting that the specialized structures of the Ministry of the Interior tasked with acquiring insight into the personnel and the police officers' superiors need to cooperate tighter.The report recommends also the submission of proposals to amend Law No. 360/2002 on the police officer's statute by introducing regulations on the institution's authorization to submit the police officer - with the latter's assent - to the assessment of behavior in simulations, as part of the job-filling procedure or if suspicions arise regarding the respective officer's integrity and professional probity.The refusal to take the behavior test may result in the exclusion from the job-filling procedure or in putting on 'awaiting posting order' until the end of the disciplinary investigation / psychological assessment.The police officer who did not take the simulation behavior test for reasons attributable to him shall be fired in 3 months after being put on awaiting posting orders.Other proposals include in-house regulations for other cases that might occur, where the assessment procedure is mandatory, such as the start of a criminal or of a disciplinary investigation, a security incident, certain contraventions.The role of the direct superiors is also due to increase as they are the persons with legal and moral authority who permanently interact with the staff under their orders, so as to identify abnormal, deviant behavior or behavior that does not comply with the status and profession of policeman.A technical solution is suggested for creating a directory platform with all disciplinary / criminal and behavioral insighting procedures, a register with all complaints filed against a particular police officer and the procedures initiated against the latter, as well as the systematic reporting to the hierarchical superiors of the investigation progress and the measures instructed in the case.

AGERPRES .Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Laszlo Kover said on Saturday in Turda that the response to Prime Minister Mihai Tudose's recent statements on the subject of the Szekely Land must be in a calm, peaceful and tolerant tone.

The Hungarians have come under harsh attacks following the statements of Romania's Prime Minister. We must not respond in the same tone, but with calm, in a spirit of peace and tolerance. We have national communities living here, on this territory and in other parts of Europe. We must be aware that these national communities represent a resource, a potential for the development of the countries where they live. We rely on each other, these national communities rely on each other and act together for the development of their countries and of their regions. If we don't confront each other but instead work together, we will be able to be in Central and Eastern Europe a power that cannot be ignored by either the East or the West, Laszlo Kover told the religious events organized by the Unitarian Church in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the proclamation of the Edict of Religious Freedom adopted at Turda on January 28, 1568.

Among the participants in the event were Hungary's Minister of Human Resources Zoltan Balog, chairman of the Hungarian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Zsolt Nemeth, Secretary of State for Religious Affairs Victor Opaschi, national leader of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor and bishops of the historic Churches of Transylvania.

AGERPRES .The professional performance of police officer Eugen Stan - who is accused of having sexually assaulted two children in an elevator on January 5 - was substandard, but he was under the protection of his direct superior, chief commissioner Rene Emanuel Vornicu, head of the Bucharest Traffic Supervision Service - Sectors 1, 2 and 6, a situation which had caused dissatisfaction among the other police officers, states a report of the Romanian Police General Inspectorate (IGPR) released on Friday by the government.

Citing the accused officer's substandard professional performance which was favored by the leniency of his direct superior, chief commissioner Rene Emanuel Vornicu, the report states that the latter was superficial in planning the work schedule of police officer Eugen Stan, whose activity was actually directly connected to the schedule and priorities of his boss Rene Emanuel Vornicu.

Chief commissioner Vornicu also did not seek to investigate the potential issues of his subordinate despite incoming complaints about Eugen Stan's previous sexual offences.The government released on Friday evening on its website IGPR's fact-finding report following verifications into the case of police officer Eugen Stan; the document also includes the measures adopted by the Romanian Police in the fallout of the incident.

AGERPRES .One of the more welcomed outcomes of the paring back of the US State Department bureaucracy is the elimination of scores of "status quo enthusiasts." Since the end of World War II, the State Department's ranks have been populated by foreign service officers and career diplomats who have championed the international status quo. These minions of Foggy Bottom received encouragement for their protective stance on post-World War II and Cold War in President George H. W. Bush's speech on September 11, 1990, which was titled, "Toward a New World Order." Under the "new world order," regional and global security concerns would supplant democratic independence movements. The immediate effect of this "order" was brutal crackdowns on secession in the periphery of the former Soviet Union, including Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, as well as in Somalia, the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Turkey, Sudan, and Ethiopia. However, in Yugoslavia, which the United States and European Union wanted to see dissolved, secessionists in seven constituent states were encouraged to secede from the federation. That resulted in the bloodiest military conflicts in Europe since World War II.

Leaders of secessionist groups visiting Washington were traditionally shunned by the State Department. These hapless would-be presidents and prime ministers would be lucky to meet with a low-ranking State Department employee. However, if their independence movements were championed by the Central Intelligence Agency, they would get red carpet treatment. Such was the case with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's favorite Balkans "toy boy," Hashim Thaci, the leader of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army and now President of the Republic of Kosovo, which was carved out of Serbia but is still unrecognized by many of the world's most important nations, including China and Russia.

Today, one of the most-commonly seen words in State Department Country Desk reports is "secession." In the past, State Department senior bureaucrats would be raising this development with the Secretary of State as a major threat to US interests. The CIA would then be instructed to remedy the situation by providing intelligence support to the countries where secessionist activity was a rising problem. "Support" would range from intelligence assistance to full-blown military aid.

As the United States recedes from the "world's only superpower" status, to the chagrin of neoconservatives who are pouring into the Donald Trump administration in order to right the capsizing ship-of-state, secessionist activity is seen from the streets of Catalonia, which recently re-elected a pro-independence parliament, to virtual city-states in Mexico, which are increasingly going it alone to offset the breakdown in federal security and law enforcement support.

In the secessionist-minded Republika Srpska, a restive constituent region of the Bosnia-Herzegovina federation, Serbian nationalists have held a banned "Day of the Republic" celebration in the regional capital of Banja Luka. Srpska President Milorad Dodik has demanded more autonomy for his region, declaring there were two Serbian states, Serbia and Republika Srpska. Present at the banned event in Banja Luka were Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, and former Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. Joining them was Anatoly Bibilov, the President of the Republic of the Republic of South Ossetiathe State of Alania, a region that broke away from the Republic of Georgia and received recognition from Russia, Nicaragua, Nauru, Venezuela, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

To the consternation of Eurocrats in Brussels and in the Balkans, also in attendance was Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and his wife, the heirs presumptive to the throne of the former Yugoslavia, and Johann Gudenus, the chairman of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), which makes up half of the governing coalition of Austria. Dodik awarded a Republika Srpska medal to Austrian Vice-Chancellor Hans Christian Strache, the leader of the FPO faction in the Austrian government. In the past, such an international outpouring of support for a secessionist-minded republic would have resulted in a flurry of diplomatic protests and demarches from the State Department.

After a recent election returned a coalition of pro-independence Catalonian parties to a majority of 70 seats in the Catalonian 135-seat parliament, the neofascist Madrid government of Mariano Rajoy has been put into a quandary. The Catalonian parliament has re-elected former Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont, who was removed by Rajoy after an October 1, 2017 referendum that favored independence. Puigdemont, who is in self-exile in Belgium, where he has the support of the powerful Flemish pro-independence party, faces arrest by the Madrid regime if he returns to Catalonia. The thuggish reaction by the Rajoy regime has engendered sympathy for the Catalonian cause in other secessionist-minded regions of Spain, including the Basque region, Valencia, and Galicia, and around the world. The Castillian imperialists who govern Spain imprisoned several members of the Catalonian government in a Madrid prison after Rajoy imposed direct rule on Catalonia.

The case of Catalonia has resulted in popular blowback against Spain from other parts of Europe, including Scotland, which is demanding a second referendum on independence upon Britain's exit from the European Union.

Taking a cue from the Madrid government, Nigerian authorities recently arrested Cameroonian Anglophone secessionist movement leader Sessekou Julius Ayuk Tabe, along with some of his aides, in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. The arrests came after Cameroon accused Nigeria of harboring supporters of the breakaway region of Ambazonia on the Nigerian side of the border. French-speaking Cameroon considers the English-speaking secessionist movement to be a "terrorist" organization, the usual appellation assigned by Third World dictatorships to pro-democracy groups and movements. Nigeria has called those in the southern part of the country who want the restoration of Biafra, a nation that enjoyed a brief period of independence in the late 1960s. The Nigerian military eventually crushed the rebellion by the mainly Christian Ibos, who dominated the breakaway republic.

The newly-inaugurated president of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, was received with full diplomatic honors on his first trip abroad to neighboring Djibouti. What makes this newsworthy is that no country has formally recognized Somaliland's self-declared independence from Somalia, even though the country has been independent for 19 years. Somaliland, which has its own currency and issues its own passports, maintains an effective government as compared to that of Somalia's. In the past, Djibouti's full honors for the Somaliland president would have resulted in a curt diplomatic note from the US embassy in Djibouti for extending de facto recognition of Somaliland.

In Mexico, the town of Tancitaro, which lies deep within the drug cartel-controlled state of Michoacan, has decided to establish a de facto city-state. The "avocado capital of the world" is now governed by a "Junta," backed by wealthy avocado growers who have hired their own security force to contend with the narco-gangs. Similar quasi-city states have been established in Monterrey, where local businesses have taken over security duties from corrupt police, and Ciudad Nezahualcootl (or "Neza"), outside of Mexico City, where the local leftist administration has established its control over the local police, monitoring their every activity for corruption or human rights abuses.

The Algerian government has decided, after years of opposition, to acceding to some of the demands of the minority Berber Kabylie Independence Movement. Amazigh, the Berber language, is now an official language of Algeria. Algeria now celebrates January 12 as Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year. An Amazigh language academy is now planned in Algeria. In the past, the US State Department, influenced by US oil and gas firms active in southern Algeria, would have been aghast at concessions by the Algerian government to Berber nationalists. In what worries Spain, Amazigh is now the third most widely spoken language in Catalonia, after Spanish and Catalan. The Amazigh flag is often seen being waved with the Catalonian flag at independence rallies in Barcelona. There are common roots between the Catalans and Berbers and this has resulted in Amazigh support for Catalonia's independence and vice versa. Although many Amazigh speakers in Catalonia are Muslims, religion is a non-issue. The Catalan-Amazigh relationship pre-dates Christianity and Islam. The unity between the Catalan and Amazigh people are similar to the pan-Celtic pro-autonomy or independence solidarity between the peoples of Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, and Galicia. Eventual Celtic and Catalan-Amazigh political unions cannot be ruled out.

In India, some "scheduled tribes," the name assigned by the government to indigenous tribal groups, are examining historical documents between British colonial officials and their own past leaders and are discovering they have every right to independence from India. Indian police recently arrested for "sedition" the 83-year old Ramo Birua, an 83-year-old from a village in Jharkhand state, because he called for the raising of the flag of an independent Kolhan state. Birua and his followers cited the rule imposed in 1837 by the British Agent for Kolhan region, Sir Thomas Wilkinson. The "Wilkinson Rule" stipulated that the existing civil and criminal laws of tribal states would be recognized by the British authorities. India's independence did nothing to change the Wilkinson Rule, thus, "scheduled tribes" across India, including the Karbi and Bodo of Assam, the Hmars of Mizoram, and the Bettada of Karnataka, have a legal right to go their own way. In the case of Mr. Birua, he claims his tribe's right to sovereignty is ensured by British Queen Elizabeth II, as the heir to Queen Victoria, the British monarch whose royal imprimatur was conferred upon the Wilkinson Rule.

Even within the United States, there is talk of "autonomy" by states from federal intrusions. Colorado is prepared to fight the Trump administration's stated crack down on marijuana sales. In Colorado and other states that have legalized marijuana, Democratic and Republican officials are prepared to fight the Drug Enforcement Administration in any moves against their legalized medical and recreational marijuana industries. The same applies to federal authority to conduct offshore oil exploration and drilling. California, which has also declared its independence from Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, is standing opposed to drilling in its Pacific waters. Florida successfully persuaded Trump to exempt it from the drilling order, however, Virginia, North Carolina, and other states are seeking similar exemptions. Other matters that are driving states' rights rebellions against Washington are in the areas of immigration, federal land use, engine emissions standards, voting rights, health care, and public education. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, abandoned by Washington after repeated hurricane disasters, are subtly re-evaluating their previous opposition to independence.

The demise of neo-colonialist busybody diplomats at the State Department has ushered a "global spring," where both active and long-dormant independence movements are seeing glimmers of hope for their own nation-states.After tweeting BBC panel show Would I Lie to You every week asking why only one woman?, Ruby Keane of Stockings comedy and Cambridge Footlights has finally had a response, kicking off an explosive Twitter thread.

Her weekly enquiry riled Claude Littner of The Apprentice earlier today who snapped back in the very early hours of the morning saying, Why only bald 1 man? Why only 1 Welshman? ..

Why only 1 bald man? Why only 1 Welshman? .. https://t.co/T23oFmpPrj  Claude Littner (@claudelittner) January 13, 2018

Keane replied ah yes the three genders: men, bald men and Welsh men, adding shortly after, and because women make up 50% of the population. Anyway thanks for retweeting me to your 68k followers and raising awareness of sexism in comedy. Littner was on hand again replying, maybe you are just not a funny comedian, and find it convenient to bring sexism into it!

and because women make up 50% of the population. anyway thanks for retweeting me to your 68k followers and raising awareness of sexism in comedy x https://t.co/aJV6130TCi  Ruby Keane (@rubykeane13) January 13, 2018

Comedian and Cambridge graduate Ken Cheng entered the fray saying Keane would run circles around him on WILTY and suggesting that Littner was intimidated by her.

Keanes Stockings comedy comrades also quickly weighed in to shut down Mr Littners comments.

Emma Plowright tweeted that the bald man pay gap is the real issue we are all ignoring here and Ania Magliano-Wright added in jest that bald men and welsh men frequently face discrimination in comedy. She also commented in private that I probably shouldnt have expected anything less from a man whose book is titled single minded. She continued that Its a fine line between just wanting to slam them and make them look like an idiot, and trying to be patient and explain. I did a mix of both but clearly neither were going to work, so I just thought better to illuminate that these problems still exist.

Although people could easily criticise us for getting into online debates with keyboard warriors who will never change their opinion, it can be a useful thing to do. Keane also highlighted the importance of simply drawing attention to the issue.

Littners latest tweet to a member of the group was a personal attack addressed to Magliano-Wright, calling her a naive and silly woman.

Commenting on the UK's comedy scene in general, Keane remarked that it is indeed 'swarming with sexism and misogyny. She implied that comedy at Cambridge is blessed in comparison.

As President of the Cambridge Footlights she sent the following email to the societys mailing List a few days ago. In 2017, Footlights made history but not for the usual reasons. We had two sold-out Lady Smokers, two sold-out BME Smokers, the cast/crew of the International Tour Show was gender-balanced, the Footlights Committee is gender-balanced, and the president and vice-president are both state-educated women. Im not saying gender inequality in comedy is solved, because it's not. But considering that just 3 years ago, I auditioned for my first Smoker in front of 8 white men, its nice to see some progress.

And this progress is not an attempt to take over from men, or take any opportunities away from them. Its about creating more space, so there can be equal opportunities for all genders. And it matters because it affects everyone, not just women. If people from a variety of backgrounds feel encouraged to get involved in comedy if they want to, then we have more voices, more angles, and better comedy.

People have said that this is a 'golden age' for women in Cambridge comedy, but thats not good enough because golden ages end. The idea that gender equality has peaked is scary because it implies it could just go downhill again once we all graduate. So if youre in first year or second year, or youre hanging around for a while, please please go out of your way to make sure this isnt a golden age, but the new norm.Alliance of Pro-Life Students (ALS), a national pro-life student group, has rescinded its claim that Cambridge Universitys womens officer Lola Olufemi had infringed upon freedom of speech by refusing to meet with Cambridge Students for Life (CSFL) members.

ALS claim was part of evidence for a government enquiry into freedom of speech on university campuses, and was included in a document on parliaments national website. The document details other incidents in universities across the UK, which have resulted in an increasing amount of hostility on campus towards the freedom of speech of pro-life students.

The original version of the document included the claim that Olufemi had refused to meet the Cambridge pro-life society, which was supposedly based on information from CSFL. The document read: Since September 2017 the womens officer, despite it being her occupation to advocate for female students on campus, will not meet with the female leader of Cambridge Students for Life, for any reason at all, simply because Any association between us would compromise my own moral values.

However, CSFL have since rejected this claim, stating that the information had been given without their awareness. The claim has since been blanked out on ALS document.

ALS nevertheless provides evidence of censorship in Cambridge University from other years, claiming that the Student Union Womens Campaign stole leaflets, put up flyers, talked to Life Society committee members under misleading conditions, and accused them of homophobia at the Freshers Fayre in 2014. Other universities mentioned in the document include Oxford University, Kings College London and Glasgow University.A Niverville councillor says he believes if the town of Niverville is going to continue to grow and prosper, they must start looking at ways to improve and beautify the towns main street.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/1/2018 (1331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Niverville councillor says he believes if the town of Niverville is going to continue to grow and prosper, they must start looking at ways to improve and beautify the towns main street.

"Currently when somebody approaches Niverville the first thing they see is a little bit of commercial, a little bit of industry followed by cemeteries and schools, and then into the business section," Niverville councillor Nathan Dueck said.

"Our goal for Main Street as Niverville grows is to create a more continuous flow through it, so it seems like you are driving into and through a nice small town."

Redevelopment of Nivervilles Main Street is one of several issues that will now be studied by the towns new business development committee, which was officially formed at a Niverville council meeting on Tuesday morning.

The committee will be made up of Niverville Chamber of Commerce president Mel Buhler and the chambers executive director Dawn Harris, as well as Niverville councillor Chris Wiebe and Niverville Economic Development Officer Eric King.

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"We want to beautify the street and create more ways for people to walk between the buildings, because if there is a big gap between businesses there is less chance people are going to want to walk it rather than drive it," Dueck said.

"We can look at options like planting trees, putting in proper roadways, closing off certain roadways, or looking at the whole overall concept of Main Street whether it is creating roundabouts, boulevards or bike paths," Dueck said.

Dueck added that along with Main Street redevelopment the new committee will also focus on the growth of Nivervilles manufacturing and industry, and other issues such as ways to boost tourism and ways to get hotels to set up shop in Niverville.

The committee also hopes to set up a business mentor program that would assist new entrepreneurs looking to set up businesses in the community.

Niverville Chamber of Commerce president Mel Buhler said he agrees that Main Street redevelopment should be a focus of the brand new committee that he will now sit on.

"We are thrilled by the idea of making changes to Main Street," Buhler said. "Its been a goal of both the chamber and council for years."Linda Cantellos smoky-eye look as seen at an Armani show. Photo: Courtesy of Armani Beauty

Let the official beauty record stand: Makeup artist Linda Cantello is the inventor of the smoky eye. Since creating the look with Tom Ford during his Gucci days, Cantello has worked with Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. She is now Armani Beautys international makeup artist and has a hand in creating formulas with the brand. Below, she talks to the Cut about how to do a smoky eye, Instagram beauty, and Hillary Clinton.

So youre the original creator of the smoky eye.

Its true! I always tell my family that will be on my grave.

How did you invent it?

It was the second show Tom Ford did for Gucci in the 90s. We had decided that we wanted a messed-up, Julie Christieish look. Up until that point, the beauty looks had been very constructed. If it was a dark eye, there was a defined bit in the corner and the lid. But we blended it all in as though she had been wearing it. It was bringing sex back. It became a signature of Toms. Its evolved, but its still one of the sexiest eye looks to do.

How did it come to be called a smoky eye?

I honestly dont know. Back then, it was just called the Gucci look.

I was in China a few years ago, and there was a guy there who claimed he invented the smoky eye. Its systematic now. I see some things that are smoky eyes that are so removed from my philosophy. They are smoky, but they just are not what it was.

What are the hallmarks of a true smoky eye, in your opinion?

There should be no demarcation. I hate the separation between one shade and another. The models would always turn up late, so we never had time, so blending together everything was birthed from that.

I am such an anti-makeup artist. There are tons of tutorials now by people who arent makeup artists teaching you how to do it. I hate rules. I think a smoky eye should look sensual. It shouldnt look as though youve been punched. It should emphasize without any definable lines. It also doesnt have to be black. It can be gray, navy, or blue  so long as there is an indefinable smoosh to the eye. It should take about two to three minutes to do, thats all. Everyones eyes are different! Its what looks good for you.

I know you dont believe in rules. But with the thousands of smoky-eye tutorials out there, what is your advice?

Smoky eyes suit all women. Not everyone can wear a lip, but everyone can wear eyeliner, which is what a smoky eye starts from. It embraces so many shapes, and everyone wants to look sexy.

Start with a black pencil and figure out your shape. How do you get definition? Do you need more underneath? Do you need more in the inner corner? Really take the pencil and just play. Start first in getting it as close to the lashes, and then elongate it or come down a bit.

Once youve got your shape with the pencil, use a liquid eye shadow and fill it out. It doesnt have to be perfect. You can do it with powders, too, but powders are harder to shape and can look dirty. If you blend away too much product, it doesnt look clean. You can also use a subtle shimmer to give it a bit of texture. If it looks too matte, it can look a bit hard.

Linda Cantello. Photo: Courtesy of Armani Beauty

Youve said before that every woman may not be beautiful, but every woman can be sexy.

I believe that. A lot of women are intimidated because they think you have to be beautiful. The fact is, every woman can look sexy or sensual. Its about pulling something out  that feel-good feature.

Thats the only rule in beauty: that you feel good about yourself. As long as you feel good, people will think you look fantastic. Makeup is about empowerment, rather than a mask.

Thats why I get so crazy when I see heavy-handed tutorials. Its taking women back in time. Beauty should be about liberating women, giving them products that help them and make it easy for them. Anything that gives a woman confidence empowers women. It should be to please her, rather than anybody else.

You dont think the people in the heavy-handed YouTube tutorials feel empowered?

No. I think the type of woman who wears lots of makeup is the antithesis of empowered. Theyre slaves to the system and not thinking about what looks good on them. They might look beautiful, but thats in a picture thats retouched.

Makeup doesnt have to be heavy-handed to look different and transformational. Using it should make you feel better about yourself. You shouldnt think, When I wake up, I cant go anywhere or face anybody.

But makeup is extremely psychological. Years and years ago, Orlando [Pita] and I were on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and we did one of those makeover-type things. It was on a woman with really long hair, and she had the same look since the 60s because thats how she looked when she met her husband. Orlando cut her hair. I changed her makeup. Her husband hated the way she looked after. It was horrible. She cried. She looked way better in our eyes. But its all relative. I have my own taste. But I cant impose it on other people.

Photo: Courtesy of Armani Beauty

How can someone use makeup to be empowering, rather than a mask?

Thats the whole psychological question. When I was a kid in the 60s, I used to wear so much makeup. Now, I dont wear any. I could wear makeup if I wanted to. But now, Im a much more confident person. What struck me when Hillary Clinton conceded is that she didnt have to wear any makeup. I thought it was so telling.

Why dont you wear makeup?

I got up at 6 this morning. I dont want people to judge me and think, Her makeup looks bad. Its like a perfumer who doesnt wear perfume. If I go out, Ill wear makeup. If Im going shopping or going to work, I dont. Good makeup takes time. It takes time to do no-makeup makeup.

If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.Mark Wahlberg. Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

After becoming the subject of backlash for the major discrepancy between his and Michelle Williamss pay for All The Money in the World reshoots, Mark Wahlberg has announced that he is donating $1.5 million  the full amount he received  in Michelle Williamss name. Deadline reports that the money will go toward the Times Up Legal Defense Fund, which advocates for underprivileged women who have experienced sexual harassment and retaliation.

In November 2017, director Ridley Scott decided to remove Kevin Spacey from All the Money in the World, just weeks before the films release, after Spacey was publicly accused of sexual assault by more than ten men. Christopher Plummer took over Spaceys role and all of the actors were called back to reshoot Spaceys scenes, for which they were compensated. Wahlberg received $1.5 million, while Williams was paid $80 per diem  less than one percent of Wahlbergs earnings.

This morning, Wahlberg issued the following statement: Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All The Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation. I 100% support the fight for fair pay and Im donating the $1.5 million to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name.

William Morris Endeavor, the agency that reps Wahlberg, Williams, and Scott, announced in a statement of its own that it would be donating an additional $500,000 to Times Up.

The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a position of influence have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap, the statement reads. In recognition of the pay discrepancy on All The Money in the World reshoots, WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month. Its crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution.

Update, January 14: In a statement provided to Vulture, Williams expressed gratitude to Wahlberg and his agency for their sizable donation. Today isnt about me. My fellow actresses stood by me and stood up for me, my activist friends taught me to use my voice, and the most powerful men in charge, they listened and they acted, she said. If we truly envision an equal world, it takes equal effort and sacrifice. Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment. Anthony Rapp, for all the shoulders you stood on, now we stand on yours.Jaye Lynn Hadley (L) and Justin Cox (R) both face charges in the severe beating of the woman's 5-year-old child, who remains in critical condition in hospital. (Isle of Wight County Sheriff's Office)

Abused 5-Year-Old on Life Support With Shoe-Shaped Bruising, Mom and Boyfriend Charged

A critically injured 5-year-old boy is on life support, and his mother and boyfriend are facing charges after police found shoe prints on the youngsters bruised body.

According to NBC-CBS affiliate Valley News Live, authorities responded to a call on Monday, Jan. 8, in Isle Wight County, Virginia, over an unresponsive child.

Deputies reportedly arrived at the scene to discover the 5-year-old boy not breathing.

Significant bruising was discovered by medical personnel on the childs lower back and buttocks, including bruises in the shape of a shoe.

The boy was airlifted in critical condition to a hospital in Norfolk.

According to court documents, the boys 32-year-old mother, Jaye Hadley, admitted to police that she beat her son with a shoe.

Valley News Live reported that she also admitted to hitting her sons head against the floor. And she claimed he fell into a wall.

Records show that investigators on the scene noted that there was a hole in the wall.

Hadley, reportedly a former teacher at a child development center, and her boyfriend Justin Cox, 33, are in custody with no bail.

Hadley faces charges of felony child abuse and aggravated malicious wounding, the Daily Press reported. Cox faces charges of child neglect.

The boy is said to have sustained permanent brain damage and remains in hospital in critical condition.

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Corvette ChaseIraqi forces, backed by the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units), fire artillery from a position near the ISIS group's stronghold of Hawija, during an operation to recapture the town from the jihadists on Oct. 4, 2017. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

As China Increases Arms Exports, More Weapons End up in the Hands of Terrorists and Dictators

The Communist regimes military-industrial complex arms rebels and pariah states worldwide

Despite the countrys burgeoning military budget, China has not fought a war since 1979. But that hasnt stopped Chinese weapons from seeing extensive use in conflict zones across multiple continentsand in the hands of the worlds most notorious terrorists and dictatorships.

A recent report compiling three years of research has indicated that as the United States, Russia, and other countries battle the ISIS terrorist group, the biggest proportion of their arsenal originates in Chinese weapons factories. Fully 43 percent of arms captured from ISIS were Chinese-made, compared to 1.8 percent of American origin.

The report, published by the UK-based Conflict Armament Research, said that its findings mirror broad trends in the global market for Warsaw Pact-calibre materiel. China predominates as a producer.

China, still one of the worlds weapons importers, is fighting to get a bigger share of the export market. According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Chinese armament sales went from 3.8 percent of the global total to 6.2 percent between 2011 and 2016, overtaking France as the third-largest weapons exporter.

Russia and the United States still predominate in overall military exports, accounting for over half of the worlds total. But where the two perennial rivals mostly supply their respective allies and client states, Beijing supplies anyone willing to pay.

Low-End Market

For decades, Chinese armaments have been based heavily on if not directly copied from Soviet or Russian hardware. And while Chinese designs have made great improvements in recent years, they are far from being serious competitors to Russian or Western equipment.

Chinas clients thus tend to be either nations unable to afford Russian or U.S. prices, or groups and regimes that are otherwise subject to international sanctions, a phenomenon that could explain the large proportion of Chinese-made weapons in ISIS hands.

Last year, the Chinese regime donated around $300 million worth of police weapons to the Philippines, where thousands of people have been summarily executed ostensibly as part of president Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs. Beijing has also been supplying Venezuela with anti-riot equipment to help suppress dissent caused by the South American nations failed attempts at autarkic socialism. Scattered reports even suggest that North Koreas military modernizations and its ballistic missile program has received assistance from factions in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) despite Chinas officially cooling relations with Pyongyang.

China has had a history of providing cheap weaponry to any and all regimes. In 1993, the government of Rwanda purchased enough machetes from China to arm a third of the male population; the next year, over 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi ethnicity, were murdered over the course of about 100 days in the infamous Rwandan Genocide.

From 1975 to 1979, the communist Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia killed or starved to death a quarter of the countrys population. The Khmer Rouge received extensive technical and material aid from China, despite the fact that 200,000 Chinese-Cambodians were murdered.

In 1979, Vietnamese forces attacked and toppled the Khmer Rouge. In response, China launched a short-lived invasion of Vietnam, also a communist state but in the Soviet Unions ideological camp, to punish it for bringing down Beijings ally.

State-Backed Gun-Runners

In November 2015, an insider who worked as a general engineer in a Chinese state-run defense firm gave an interview with the overseas Chinese-language radio broadcaster Sound of Hope, describing how a combination of corruption and support from the CCP facilitated illicit weapons deals between Chinese suppliers and foreign rebel groups.

Take for example Somalia; the CCP has an embassy there, the insider, whose identity was not disclosed for safety reasons, said. They know which forces are the governments and which are the rebels and do business with the bosses. When the bosses need something, the embassy finds out and reports the matter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which tells the Ministry of Defense, which in turn contacts the export companies.

The way the equipment is delivered depends on the client. In the case of Somali rebels or pirates, the Chinese party will opt for a transaction at sea. The Chinese navys southern fleet will dispatch ships to transport the goods, because the Southern Fleet can use this as a means of expanding its influence in the South China Sea as well as the Indo-Pacific oceans, and also because international waters are a convenient location for making the trade.

The insider also described how Chinese firms would ship arms across the Chinese border into Afghanistan to be sold to militants. The Chinese border sentries would be given orders in advance from higher Party authorities to let the shipments through.

Money made in these transactions is remitted to offshore bank accounts controlled by Chinese military officers. This money does not go to the [Chinese] military regions accounts, the insider said, but will be stored by the export company CEO in, say, an account with HSBC. Only a few generals know where the money went.

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What is MS-13?A child psychologist has recommended that children under the age of 12 should be banned from using social media. (Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images)

Children Under 12 Should Not Be on Social Media, Says Child Psychologist

A leading child psychologist in Australia says parents need to be strict on their childrens social media use in the wake of the tragic death of a teenage girl that has attracted widespread attention to the issue of online bullying.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg told the ABC that children under the age of 12 should be banned from using social media.

It is as simple as that  yet I go to primary schools right across Australia and the principals are pulling their hair out because the parents arent enforcing this, Carr-Gregg said.

You have got up to 60 percent to 70 percent of primary school kids on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat and they simply do not have the neurological maturity to manage their digital footprint, he said.

We have to get that message through to parents, we have to educate them, and at the moment we are not doing enough.

If you're being bullied, or know someone who is, here are 6 tips we hope will help. ? #bullying #cyberbullying pic.twitter.com/D52gD4mGIs  AntiBullyingAlliance (@ABAonline) January 5, 2018

Carr-Greggs told the national broadcaster that his heart goes out to the Everett family, whose daughter Amy  affectionately known as Dolly  committed suicide after being bullied online.

The family held a memorial service in the Northern Territory town of Katherine on Friday. Dolly died on Jan. 3.

Media coverage of her death has been both national and international, and the tragedy has touched millions of hearts  well beyond those who knew her.

Eight years ago, Dolly featured in a Christmas campaign for iconic Australian hat maker, Akubra, who released a statement on the teenagers death that supported the hashtags #stopbullyingnow #doitfordolly #justbekind.

Dolly's Father on a Crusade: She has become the young face of a cruel culture and today Amy Dolly Everett's broken father launched a personal crusade to stop cyber-bullies from taking one more life. @alexhart7 #Dolly #7News pic.twitter.com/PkvrWlxcQk  7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) January 12, 2018

Dolly has now become the face of an anti-bullying campaign in Australia.

Carr-Gregg told the ABC that being persistently victimized on or off-line was one of the risk factors for teenage suicide.

The worst occurs just as a child enters their teenage years.

We know that the peak of bullying in Australia occurs around transition  so moving from primary to secondary school and we know there are some children whose emotional empathy is not well developed, said Carr-Gregg.

Their threshold for tolerance of difference is very, very low and a result if you are different in some way, you are going to get picked on, he said.

It is not that it gives them joy, it is just something they do because they do not know what else to do.

Carr-Gregg said Australias bullying crisis is not going to be easily solved.

What we need to be as parents is preventative, he said and added that their needed to be a more unified approach at a school level in dealing with the issue.

The Everetts have starting the Dollys Dream foundation which aims to raise awareness of bullying, depression, anxiety and youth suicide.

From NTD.tv

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High School Students Surprise Sweetest Janitor With New Work Boots for ChristmasHuman Remains in Wooded Area Identified as Missing Woman Keila Freeman, Husband Faces Murder Charge

Murder charges have been brought against the husband of a missing Tennessee woman whose remains were found just before Christmas and identified Wednesday Jan. 10, NBC reported.

The discovery of a body on Dec. 19, 2017, in a wooded area not far from the home of 29-year-old Keila Freeman was a break in the case, which had grown cold since the woman was last seen in September 2016 at her house in Memphis.

Randall Freeman, the murder suspect, has been in prison since shortly after the womans disappearance in what police say is a related arson charge.

The man allegedly threw a flaming object into the home of a family of five a few days after Freeman went missing.

Neighbor Alfreda Taylor told WMC-TV reporters she saw Freeman in her driveway the night before she disappeared.

We justshe was on her phone and I just kinda waved at her, Taylor told WMC-TV. But, I didnt get much response.

The victims husband reportedly told police that he last saw his wife when she arrived home in the early hours of the morning, but he said after pulling into the garage she did not come inside.

According to a WMC-TV report detectives were initially treating the disappearance as a missing persons investigation, but a homicide team had also been called in due to irregularities in the case.

There are some things that are suspicious, which is why were working it the way we are because things werent initially adding up, Colonel Marcus Worthy of the Memphis police told reporters.

According to a police affidavit obtained by WMC-TV, Randall Freeman contacted the womans mother the next morning to inquire as to her whereabouts. But investigators found that while the car keys were still in the ignition of her car, her purse was inside the house on the coffee table.

It is reported that the Shelby County Medical Examiners Office identified Keila Freemans remains Wednesday.

A press release from the Shelby County District Attorneys office said Keila Freemans remains were found on Dec. 19, 2017 in a wooded area not far from her home.

Police have not revealed what led them to the location of Freemans body.

Her husband now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with Freemans death.

Its just a really heartbreaking situation all the way around, Freemans friend and sorority sister Ebonie Reed told WMC-TV. That was her husband and someone she loved and trust with her life.

No further information has been released.

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Firefighter Going Over 100 mph Before Deadly CrashKiller Gang MS-13 Now Has a Presence in Australia

Transnational street gang MS-13 has a presence in Australia, say U.S. authorities who this week indicted 17 alleged members of the gang.

New Yorks Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said that a seven-month long investigation into the violent drug gang has further exposed its international reach.

This massive multi-agency investigation laid bare the global size, complexity, and brutality of MS-13, and these indictments strike a heavy blow to the gangs operations on Long Island, Singas said in a statement put out by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Based on the evidence acquired during the investigation, MS-13 has affiliates operating around the world in places such as Mexico, Colombia, South Korea, France, Australia, Peru, Egypt, Ecuador and Cuba.

We were surprised to see some of those countries, she said, reported SBS.

The investigation definitely revealed MS-13 has expanded its reach internationally.

To any member of #MS13 listening, I have a message for you. We will find you, we will arrest you, we will jail you, we will throw you the hell out of the country -President Trump Long Island, New York pic.twitter.com/5jlJHqjGcu  Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) January 12, 2018

Considered the worlds most dangerous street gang, MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13) originated in the 1980s in Los Angeles. Most of its members are of Central American ethnicity, principally from El Salvador.

It is believed to have a presence in 40 US states and have 10,000 members.

Singas said 17 alleged members and associates of MS-13 have been indicted by a grand jury on various charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking.

These alleged gang members have terrorized vulnerable immigrant communities, trafficked deadly heroin into our neighborhoods, and this coalition of more than 22 agencies nationwide will continue to be unrelenting in our efforts to dismantle MS-13, said Singas.

CHILLING: A teenage girl who sought to avenge the death of her boyfriend pleaded guilty to a brutal MS-13 gang-related murder. She confessed to the gruesome killing by describing to police that she had stabbed the victim 13 times. DETAILS: https://t.co/53CnPEhlvJ pic.twitter.com/1upyXnJ2Xp  FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) January 11, 2018

William F. Sweeney, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI New York Field Office said that the case is part of a bigger and extremely important multi-agency push to rid Long Island of MS-13, where the gang has been behind the killing of nearly 30 people.

MS-13 members kill for no reason, but we are not going to let it continue, said Sweeney.

The DEA said that the case began as a narcotic trafficking investigation. During the probe the MS-13 gangs proclivity for violence was quickly realized, and the investigation adapted accordingly, it said. The DEA added that heroin and cocaine trafficking were profitable to the gang and necessary for their existence.

From NTD.tv

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What is MS-13?Las Vegas Gunmans Girlfriend Handled His Ammo, Helped Him Load Magazine, New Documents Say

The girlfriend of the alleged Las Vegas shooter told authorities that they would probably find her fingerprints on Stephen Paddocks bullets and magazines because she helped him load ammo into cartridges, the Las Vegas Journal reported, citing search warrants unsealed on Friday, Jan. 12.

Her casino players card was found in the suspected gunmans hotel room, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Paddock is suspected of killing 58 people and injuring hundreds attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 before taking his own life.

A search warrant dated Oct. 3 showed that investigators believed there was no evidence of criminal involvement by Danley, Fox News reported. Authorities noted, however, that they did not rule out the possibility.

Three months before the shooting, Paddock sent emails discussing buying bump stocks, which can make semiautomatic rifles fire hundreds of rounds a minute, the unsealed documents show. Bump stocks believed to be used in the massacre were found in the 32nd-floor hotel room from which Paddock fired.

The details suggesting the attack may have been planned months in advance were part of more than 300 pages of search warrants and affidavits unsealed by a federal judge in Nevada on Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times, one of several publications that sought release of the documents.

The unsealed documents, however, do not provide a motive for the killings, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Paddock shot and killed himself before police arrived at his hotel room the night of the shootings.

In the days after the shootings, authorities called Danley a person of interest. Her attorney has said she had no inkling of Paddocks plans.

Documents posted online by the Review-Journal showed that FBI agents sought information from Microsoft and Facebook regarding the accounts held by Paddock and Danley.

Microsoft and Facebook did not immediately respond to emails and calls from Reuters on Friday night.

An unsealed search warrant shows that an email sent July 6, 2017, from an account linked to Paddock to an address that he may also have controlled, discusses the use of bump stocks for a thrill, according to an affidavit posted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The emails also mentioned trying out an AR-style rifle before purchasing one.

The Los Angeles Times reported that investigators are not sure why Paddock would send emails between accounts he controlled, or whether one was controlled by another person, which would mean, investigators need to determine who was communicating with him about weapons that were used in the attack, one of the warrants said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD.tv

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The Origins of AntifaTwo-week old Bella Osterman (L) was turned in by a woman, but authorities are still searching for the father, Cordney Osterman (R) who police say forcefully took the girl from her home. (Detroit Police Department)

Missing Baby in Detroit Found Safe, Suspect Still at Large

A missing 2-week-old girl from Detroit, Michigan, that was taken by her father, prompting an Amber Alert on Saturday morning, Jan. 13, has been found safe.

A tweet by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children confirmed that the Amber Alert was canceled.

The infant, Bella Osterman, was turned in by a woman at about 8:30 a.m. the same morning

Apparently, a family member received a call to meet him and the child was turned over, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in an interview with reporters posted live on the police departments Facebook page.

Authorities are still searching for the father, who police say has a history violent crime and forcefully took the girl from her home.

The baby appeared unharmed, police said, but is still undergoing a medical evaluation.

Detroit police said that the girl was abducted from her home by her father, Cordney Osterman, in the 3300 block of Garfield Street, WDIV-TV reported.

Cordney demanded entry into the home to see his child at around 1:35 a.m. on Saturday. But after Bellas mother refused, he forced himself into the home, police said. He took Bella and ran away.

2-week old infant taken from her home by Suspect Cordney Osterman. If anyone knows of their whereabouts or has information pertaining to this crime, please call Detroit Police at 596-2250 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up. #Detroit pic.twitter.com/SARmGbvBVO  Detroit Police Dept. (@detroitpolice) January 13, 2018

A police statement published on WDIV-TV describing the suspect reads: Cordney Osterman is 23-year-old black male, light complexion, medium build with black hair, black eyes, beard and mustache. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, black sweatpants and burgundy shoes. Cordney is the biological father of Bella.

Anyone who has seen Cordney Osterman is asked to call the Detroit Polices Seventh Precinct at 313-596-5700, 313-596-2250 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up.

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What is MS-13?Former Prairie Middle School teacher Brian Vasquez was charged in August last year for sexually abusing multiple girls between 2013 and 2017. (Aurora Police Department)

Three School Leaders Charged for Failing to Report Suspected Sexual Abuse of Child by Teacher

A 14-year-old Colorado student who told school leaders she had been sexually assaulted by a teacher was suspended, and forced to apologize to the accused teacher and hug him, according to a Wednesday, Jan. 10 indictment.

The school leaders, named as Principal David Gonzales, Vice Principal Adrienne AJ MacIntosh, and counselor Cheryl Somers-Wegienka, are facing a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse or neglect.

When the teenage student at Prairie Middle School told school officials in 2013 that a social studies teacher, Brian Vasquez, had sexually abused her that year, the staff decided to launch their own investigation into the accusations instead of telling local police, the Aurora Sentinel reported.

The school-led investigation included questioning the girl while Vasquez was in the room.

The trio of school officials allegedly told the unnamed girl that her claims could damage Vasquezs family and career, and that he was a valued teacher. After that, she retracted the accusations and was eventually suspended for lying.

Vice Principal MacIntosh claims she has no recollection of the student (referred to as CV or child victim in the indictment) reporting the alleged assault.

MacIntosh further claimed that she could not remember her involvement in any aspect of the disciplinary process resulting in CVs suspension from school, even when presented with official documentation from the school district bearing her signature, and confirming her presence the meeting with CV, states the indictment, obtained by the Aurora Sentinel.

Former social studies teacher Vasquez was first charged in August last year for sexually abusing multiple girls between 2013 and 2017.

At the time, Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said at a news conference, We believe there may be additional victims either at the current school where this teacher is employed or past schools where he was previously employed, Fox 31 reported.

The 34-year-old has a history of molesting his students and faces 37 counts relating to sexual contact and sexual communication with teenage girls, including raping a 15-year-old student in 2016 and 2017 and exchanging graphic images with a 15-year-old in 2015.

If true, the recent indictment could explain why he had not been caught earlierit appears that school leaders were helping him conceal his actions.

Cherry Creek Schools Communications Director Abbe Smith sent a statement to KMGH-TV about the indictments that read: We are aware of the indictments. The two individuals who are employed with Cherry Creek Schools, Prairie Middle School Principal David Gonzales and Assistant Principal A.J. MacIntosh, have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the court proceedings. We will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and the District Attorneys Office.

Somers, who is named in the legal proceedings, no longer works for the district.

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What is MS-13?Toddler Overdoses Twice in Three Months, Woman Arrested

It was the second time since October that the same toddler ended up in a hospital for overdosing on prescription medication.

First responders rushed to a North Palm Beach, Florida, home on Thursday, Jan. 12, after a woman called 911 saying a 19-month-old swallowed two painkillers and seemed to be overdosing.

Crews revived the baby with multiple doses of Narcan and transported the child to Jupiter Medical Center. The child was then transferred to St. Marys Medical Centers neonatal intensive care unit, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The woman, Jeanette Homan, 43, was arrested for child neglect with great bodily harm, and perjury. Information on her relationship with the toddler wasnt released.

Homan called 911 reporting a dispute between her and another person, who wasnt named. She initially said the other person threw a bottle of buprenorphine, a narcotic pain reliever. But she then changed her story, saying she may have dropped one or two of the pills.

Upon searching the home, authorities found an open medicine bottle and pills scattered on a dresser, where they could have been reached by the child.

Jupiter Medical Center staff told Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office deputies that the child had overdosed in October, after reportedly swallowing two 1-milligram pills of clonazepam, a tranquilizer used to treat seizures and panic disorder.

Back then, Homan told the hospital staff she dropped the pills at night. She took the child to a hospital when she noticed the baby couldnt walk at about 11 a.m., about three hours after the child swallowed the pills.

Homan was held at the Palm Beach County Jail on Saturday on a $51,000 bond.

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How doctors in China turn into murderersU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at a briefing on leaks of classified material threatening national security at the Justice Department in Washington on Aug. 4, 2017. (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas)

US Indicts Co-President of Uranium Shipping Company Over Alleged Bribery of Russian Official

The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the former co-president of a Maryland-based transportation company for his alleged role in the bribery of a Russian official connected to Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation.

The American company, whose name was withheld by the DOJ, specializes in the transportation of nuclear materials in the United States and around the world.

The indictment, which was unsealed by the DOJ on Jan. 12, charges Mark Lambert with 11 counts. The DOJ currently has an unusually high amount of sealed indictments filed in districts across the United States, an estimated 9,000 since October last year.

One of the charges is that Lambert conspired to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA). The alleged conspiracy involved payments to Russian official Vadim Mikerin in return for lucrative contracts.

Mikerin worked for JSC Techsnabexport, a subsidiary of Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation and the sole supplier and exporter of Russian Federation uranium and uranium enrichment services to nuclear power companies worldwide.

Mikerin had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering involving violations of the FCPA in June 2015, and is currently serving a sentence of 48 months in prison.

According to the DOJ the alleged bribery started as early as 2009 and continued until October 2014.

This time frame matches earlier reporting that the Russian government had compromised an American uranium transportation firm.

The Hill had reported on Oct. 18, 2017, that as early as 2009 Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks.

It is unclear if the trucking firm in question is the same as the one now charged by the DOJ.

Uranium One Deal

The Russian efforts at the time were part of a larger bribery scheme uncovered by the FBI, and took place at the same time as the Obama administration evaluated giving approval for Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation to gain a majority stake in Canadian mining company Uranium One.

The FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putins atomic energy business inside the United States, The Hill reported based on government documents and interviews in its October article.

A radioactive warning sign hangs on fencing around the Anfields Shootaring Canyon Uranium Mill on Oct. 27, 2017 outside Ticaboo, Utah. Anfield is in partnership with the Russian firm Uranium One, and bought the mill from Uranium One in 2015. (George Frey/Getty Images)

Uranium One at the time controlled 20 percent of the uranium supply licensed for mining in the United States.

By giving Russia control over a significant portion of American uranium supplies, the deal created a potential national security risk.

Despite the assurances of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Congress that the uranium mined by Uranium One would not leave the United States, it did.

NRC memos reviewed by The Hill show that uranium transfers to Canada as well as Europe were approved by the Obama administration. From either destination, it could have made its way to other countries, potentially including adversaries of the United States in pursuit of nuclear weapons.

It is possible the Maryland transportation company was involved in the transports, this cannot be confirmed at this time however.

DOJ Investigation Into Uranium One

Last month it was made public that DOJ prosecutors requested information from FBI agents about the investigation they conducted into the Uranium One deal.

Because uranium, when enriched, is a key component for nuclear weapons, the deal required a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS).

The State Department is part of CFIUS and was required to give its approval for the deal. At the time of the review and the approval given by the State Department, Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of state.

President Barack Obama meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18, 2012, during the G20 leaders Summit. (ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/AFP/GettyImages)

While the deal was under review, the Clinton Foundation received millions in payments linked to Uranium One.

Uranium Ones chairman used his family foundation to make four donations to the Clinton Foundation, totaling $2.35 million, The New York Times reported in a 2015 expose.

At the same time that the security review was being conducted, Bill Clinton received a speaking fee of $500,000 from a Kremlin-linked investment bank.

In 2006, the Clinton Foundation had already received a $31.3 million donation from Canadian billionaire Frank Giustra, owner of mining company UrAsia, which merged with another mining company in 2007 to become Uranium One.

Giustra still serves on the board of directors of the Clinton Foundation.A woman came across a young wombat strolling up the pathway of a street in suburban Canberra. (Wikimedia Commons)

Wandering Wombat Surprises Woman in Australian Capital

Wombats are considered reclusive creatures. They mostly move at night and avoid people as much as possible. Except for one in Canberra, the bush capital of Australia.

Canberra resident Jolene Laverty got a surprise on Saturday morning when she found a young wombat strolling up the pathway of a street.

She took of a video of the little marsupial  who didnt like being followed too much  and posted it on twitter.

Laverty said the swaggering wombat wasnt happy with the paparazzi following him!

She said the furry herbivore growled a bit as well.

The less than a half-a-minute video attracted plenty of attention in the Twittersphere.

Just out for a stroll. Nothing to look at here, obviously! tweeted one person.

Never saw anything throw a do not even try me vibe while being so adorable! said another.

How many times does a wombat have to tell a bloke with a camera to back off? commented another person.

Clonk had broken bones and willow bad lungs now better pic.twitter.com/41ZLIc9yY6  wombat hospital (@CedarWom) January 11, 2018

Wombats are nocturnal animals and typically stay in or near their burrows in mountain, forest or grassland areas.

When needed, a wombat can run up to 25 mph (40 kph).

There are three species of Wombats in Australia, all of which are protected across the country, except in the state of Victoria.

From NTD.tv

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Kayaker Rescues Iguana Swimming Miles From ShoreA woman walks through the snow the morning after a massive winter storm in Boston, Mass. on Jan. 5, 2018. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Winter Storm Hunter About to Send Most of the US Into the Deep Freeze

Hopefully, everyone has finished clearing the snow which piled up during Winter Storm Grayson, because Graysons big brother, Winter Storm Hunter, is fast approaching.

Hunter looks to be even bigger than Grayson, bringing freezing rain, then snow, then even colder temperatures than what we experienced after Grayson passed.

Hunter is coming from Canada, across the Northwest and Northern Great Plains, before rolling across the Northeast later in the weekend.

One benefit of Hunters path is that there will be no storm surge, so the coast wont see the kind of flooding brought by the bomb cyclone earlier this month.

A storm system is bringing a shot for snow and ice to many areas today and tomorrow. Make sure to head to https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP for the latest on what to expect weather-wise where you are and where you're going. pic.twitter.com/dE39QfUiur  NWS (@NWS) January 12, 2018

But after the rain, ice and snow to be dumped by Hunter on much of the eastern and parts of southern United States, temperatures are expected to plunge as a mass of bitterly cold Arctic air moves in.

Temperatures are expected to plummet to 12 degrees in Chicago, for instance, and to freezing or below as far south as Kentucky and Arkansas.

Can you find today's cold front? Here's the 24h temp change. This cold front will track east with rain ahead of it and #snow and #freezingrain behind it for next few days. https://t.co/cZGq8ZhLAT pic.twitter.com/7Ubo6rrzUf  NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) January 11, 2018

#Winter weather is now occurring across the TN and OH Valleys and into the Upper Great Lakes behind a strong cold front, with rain ahead of the front. This front will shift east through tomorrow bringing #ice and #snow. https://t.co/cZGq8ZhLAT pic.twitter.com/wzMiT3xG5O  NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) January 12, 2018

Winter weather warnings are in effect from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi Valley, to the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, and all the way to New England, Weather.com reports.

Freezing rain and snow are already falling in Missouri, eastern Arkansas, west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, northern Louisiana and western Kentucky. Many roads are coated in ice, and power outages have been reported in Indiana and Kentucky.

This is I-55 northbound at Church Road in @DeSotoCountyMS. Please limit driving to emergencies in areas affected by #winterwx. Visit https://t.co/Z4mP4uFh2b for the latest roadway information in your area. pic.twitter.com/GO14uwtxNi  Mike Tagert (@MikeTagert) January 12, 2018

Over 11 million people are under a watch, warning or advisory for expected snow and ice this week. Get the latest detailed forecast for your location at https://t.co/Z3FIg0XW6X.  pic.twitter.com/Bfayok8aI6  NWS (@NWS) January 10, 2018

More Winter Woes for the Northeast

The Northeast, which was hit especially hard by Graysons Bomb Cyclone effects, is in for another freezeand maybe more rising water woes, as well.

Right now, New England is experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures, ranging from the low 50s to the low 60s, according to the National Weather Service.

When Hunter first hits, it could come as rain, melting even more of the snow which accumulated after Grayson. That water wont have anywhere to go because the soil will be too frozen to absorb it. This could cause flooding in low-lying areasand when the frigid air hits all that water, the Northeast could find itself covered in glacier-like sheets of ice.

From NTD.tv

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Boiling water turns to snowEagle Materials, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of heavy construction materials, light building materials, and materials used for oil and natural gas extraction. It operates through the following segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, Recycled Paperboard, and Oil and Gas Proppants. The Cement segment deals with the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of portland cement. The Concrete and Aggregates segment involves mixing cement, sand, gravel, or crushed stone and water to form concrete, which is then sold and distributed to construction contractors. The Gypsum Wallboard segment mines and extracts natural gypsum rock, which is used in the manufacture of gypsum wallboard. The Recycled Paperboard segment processes paper fiber, water, and paper chemicals to form recycled paperboards, then sell them to gypsum wallboard manufacturers. The Oil and Gas Proppants segment produces frac sand used in oil and natural gas exploration, and provides transloading and storage for well servicing companies. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

Read MoreInterXion Holding N.V. provides carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data center services in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The company enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms, Internet service providers, and other customers. Its data centers acts as content, cloud, and connectivity hubs that facilitate the processing, storage, sharing, and distribution of data between its customers. The company offers colocation services, including space and power to deploy IT infrastructure in its data centers; a range of output voltages and currents; connectivity services that enable its customers to connect their IT infrastructure to exchange traffic and access cloud platforms; and systems monitoring, systems management, engineering support, and data backup and storage services, as well as installs and manages physical connections running from its customers' equipment to the equipment of its telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, Internet exchange customers, and other customers. It provides its services to telecom operators, Internet service providers, and content delivery networks; content and cloud providers; and enterprises through direct sales forces, as well as through tradeshows, networking events, and industry seminars. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 51 carrier and cloud neutral colocation data centers in 13 metropolitan areas in 11 countries. The company is also involved in real estate management/holding businesses. InterXion Holding N.V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands.

Read MoreHousekeeper harassment leads Phuket police to warn on correct behaviour

PHUKET: The actions of an Omani tourist staying in Patong has led to police putting out a warning on how tourists should behave while on holiday in Phukets main entertainment hub and other areas of the island.

crimetourismpolicepatongsex

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Saturday 13 January 2018, 10:41AM

Police have put out a warning after a tourist from Oman harassed a housekeeper at the hotel where he was staying. Photo: The Phuket News / file

Patong Police confirmed to The Phuket News yesterday (Jan 12) that an Omani tourist was charged with harassment after a hotel housekeeper reported him for harassing her at his hotel room on Jan 3.

Lt Col Theerasak Boongsaeng of the Patong Police said, On January 3 we charged an Omani male, 55, with harassment after a 25-year-old woman reported to us that he had inappropriately tried to touch her while she was cleaning his hotel room, said Lt Col Theerasak.

The female member of staff was cleaning the mans room when he came in and started talking to her, he the invited her to go out with him to eat.

When she refused, he walked closer to her like he was about to hug her. When he did this the member of staff became scared and cried out for help. Other members of staff quickly went to the room. The Omani male then walked out of the room, he explained.

The owner of hotel does not agree with the behaviour of this tourist and asked for us to intervene.

The man was made to pay the member of staff B30,000 in compensation and to apologise for his actions, Col Theerasak.

Lt Col Theerasak declined to give the name of the victim or the tourist to The Phuket News, I think it is better not to name the victim or the suspect, this will prevent them being affected by the incident. It is a sensitive case, he said.

I dont want this to happen to women. In this case the housekeeper was just doing her job. She has a husband and child.

Tourists must be reminded that harassment is not acceptable in any instant. If they commit such incidents they will face charges. Please respect our country and our women, Col Theerasak added.Bombardier Inc. says it is considering the sale of a parcel of land adjacent to Downsview Park that houses an aircraft assembly plant employing 3,500 workers. But a city councillor is warning of a fight over any move that she says would violate a federal promise.

Bombardier spokesperson Olivier Marcil said Friday that the Montreal based aerospace giant is exploring its options with potential buyers for its 375-acre site that includes an airport runway and a production facility for jets and the turboprop Q400.

Marcil said some of the production could potentially be moved to Pearson International Airport, although a decision on if and where to relocate has not been made.

Bombardier has not received a firm offer for the property but has been in discussions, he said, adding that the company has reached out to stakeholders including the city to inform them of its plans.

The consideration is part of Bombardiers five-year turnaround strategy that involves an examination of assets around the world, with the Downsview site of significant value.

The companys aerospace division is a separate arm of the same company that has repeatedly missed delivery deadlines on Torontos new streetcars.

Downsview, north of the downtown core is a rapidly developing area that offers highway access and proximity to the citys expanding rapid transit network.

Marcil also said the industrial site could ultimately be rezoned for mixed use including residential, creating a win-win for all stakeholders.

Mayor John Torys office is aware of Bombardiers plans to shift production away from Downsview, said a spokesperson. We have been in discussions with the provincial and federal governments as to how to protect  and even grow  jobs at Downsview and protect public investments made there over the years, Don Peat said in an email.

But in an undated letter sent to Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare, Councillor Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre) said the 35-acre parcel occupied by Bombardiers facility, is designated as Employment Land under the citys Official Plan and that wont change.

Speaking on behalf of our municipality, it is our intention for it to remain so, she wrote.

It is regrettable that after so many millions of public dollars have been spent on the creation of an Aerospace Hub on the Downsview Lands, that the lead member of the group will walk away from the site and all of our investments, says the letter obtained by the Star.

Augimeri said the city will hold the federal government to its promise that the federally managed and owned park and associated lands will be protected in perpetuity and held in the public trust.

If any plans by Bombardier emerge in violation of this promise, we will fight them, the letter reads.

In an interview, the city councillor said she had been approached by an undisclosed developer who said Bombardier had discussed selling the property for residential development for up to $900 million.

Two years ago, the province and federal governments gave Centennial College $44.2 million toward a $78-million aerospace campus at Downsview that is currently under construction. It was part of an aerospace hub that was touted for its potential to create thousands of jobs in the next 20 years.

Although it owns about 375 acres at Downsview, Bombardier only uses about 35 of those for its manufacturing and testing. Its 7,000-foot runway is seldom used.

Liberal MP Michael Levitt (York Centre) said a move from Bombardiers historic presence at Downsview is concerning, particularly as the nearby community has many underemployed priority neighbourhoods.

Should a sale take place, Im going to fight to ensure theres a full and comprehensive public consultation on any future development regarding the Downsview lands. Its critical for this community, he said.

Its a disappointing turn of events. Hopefully we can make sure theres opportunities ahead, said Levitt.

Bombardier has been a presence at Downsview since 1992 when it bought the De Havilland operation there, which was owned by Boeing at the time and had been operating on the Toronto property since 1928.

Canada Lands, the crown agency in charge of redeveloping and managing former government properties, owns 500 adjacent acres, including 290 acres of green space, at Downsview Park.

Read more about:Whos that girl?

For Andrea Bolley, its the question that indubitably swoops up and down the local party scene, particularly among novices.

Seeing her dart through it  dressed in the long frock coats she favours, and a countenance that throbs with the guise of a latter-day Lauren Bacall  its clear, however, that she doesnt exactly fit the dictionary definition of girl. Nor does it square when she casually drops mentions of long-gone hot spots, like Bemelmans and Prego. But, where the usual suspect can  and does  outplay all and any millennial comers? On the dance floor of life.

Rug-cutting like no one else, she is the secret sauce, some might say, to shindigs, galas and launches in this town  a foil to the dreary, frozen-smiled socialites one routinely sees around, as well as the hashtag-mad, too-trite newer kids. Something that even Drake, yes, Drake!  Torontos unofficial mayor  noticed when he saw her dancing at a party, and since has made her part of his squad, one might say. Its not every day that you see a white woman of a certain age pop into his social media stream, as was the case when he included her in an Instagram Story he posted a few months ago.

Who are you? Bolley, somewhat shy off the dance floor, recalls Drake asking when she crossed paths with him at the opening of his restaurant Frings on King St. W. in 2015. She was making her moves, feeling the music, when he started taking a photo of her and then told her to come join him in his booth.

He was, like, cmon up, she continues, summing up the moment. I said no. He said, You have to! He took my purse and jacket. Asked me what Im drinking. I said vodka and tonic. He said, Same as me! Jada Pinkett Smith was there too.

Naturally, Bolley was also one of Drakes guests at an exclusive pre-opening party for his even newer eatery, Pick 6ix, just this week.

Its not the first time that she has been singled out by a visiting luminary, drawn in by her boogie. That was her again, making like a whirling dervish with Christian Louboutin  yes, the shoe designer  when he came to town for a retrospective of his work a few years ago, and went to an after-party at Soho House.

During the most recent TIFF, those of us lucky enough to be in the room with the one and only Grace Jones at a party held in her honour at the Broadview Hotel couldnt help but notice when the disco diva waved Bolley over to her cordoned-off area.

She handed me a glass of Champagne, Bolley recalled when we sat down to talk recently.

She cant stop the beat (to paraphrase Hairspray), but how did she find it?

An artist by day  an abstract painter  she says she wasnt much of a dancer growing up in Guelph (dad was a violinist, and she mostly listened to classical music), but years later, something stuck. There was something about being in the studio by myself, every day. . . she starts to say.

Was it a reaction to the solitary life? That and something else: I had recently separated . . . and I tried to get friends to go dancing. They said, No, Andrea, you cant go dancing. You cant go to clubs. Youre not young enough. But I went anyways.

In those days, it was mostly to the Orbit Room, the soulful upper-level place on College St.  a place she still heads to sometimes. I would dance in the corner, and the DJ would notice me, and say, You have to come to my next event. And on it went. Its how I got to know so many DJs.

Talk to Bolley long enough and it also turns into a shimmy through the social life of the city over several decades. Many of the great characters she knew are sadly gone  often with no one to take their place. Take the dapper, Dante-quoting restaurateur Michael Carlevale, who owned the Yorkville society canteen Prego  for years, the most famous restaurateur in Toronto.

He was one of her dearest, as she describes their meeting. I used to save up enough money to get a glass of wine, and maybe a bowl of pasta. It was my treat. I would walk over to Yorkville, and go at 2 oclock, when lunch was winding down . . . wait a little bit. Then he would cook for all his staff  I would be watching. He once came to up to me, Ive seen you here every Friday! Come and sit with us. He became my family . . . supported my artwork.

Likewise, her closest friend, Robert Gage. The colourful society coiffeur  who used to man the manes of women like Barbara Amiel and Melanie Munk in this town  died almost one year ago, and it still occupies a hole in her heart.

Its mind-boggling, she says, remembering the day he died. He called me that morning  I was in Bermuda, he was on the train.

Gage and Bolley had a habit of talking on the phone about 10 times a day, and had a set date, in recent years, of doing a call at 6 p.m. during the cocktail hour. He would pour his drink, and I would pour mine . . . and I would say: Tell me everything.

Given these losses, its all the more reason to dance, dance, dance while were here . . . no?

I dont twerk, she quips, going on to confirm that she does like everything else to move to: Hip-hop. Soul. Reggae. Euro-pop. Everything except heavy metal.

Asked if theres still someone left on her wish list for a dance, shes got a ready answer: Mick Jagger.

Our conversation then tilts to the psychology of hoofing. I say Ive long thought that peoples true, cant-hide personalities come out on dance floor. That is to say, things can be cloaked with words when youre talking to them . . . but not with dancing.

Bolley agrees: Yes . . . their eye-contact . . . their confidence.

Asked, finally, if theres a connection to how she dances and she paints, Bolley says this: Theres definitely music in how I paint. Its like what the athlete calls getting in the zone  when Im painting, its like Im in the painting. And when Im dancing, Im in the music.

Read more about:Canadians will be roaming the planet at the Sundance Film Festival  and also going to the dogs.

Four Canuck features  two documentaries and two dramas  are scheduled to premiere at Sundance 2018, which runs Jan. 18 to 28 in Park City, Utah, but theyre not visions of Canada as a country.

They look at problems and fears outside our national borders, which is sort of a natural thing for Canadians to do, says Sundance director John Cooper, in an interview from Los Angeles as he prepares to travel to Utah.

(Canada) is a country of observers . . . They have a real curiosity about the world outside of them and how it pertains to them, a more global view. I wouldnt shy away from that; Id be proud of that, actually.

Anotes Ark, directed by Matthieu Rytz, premiering in the world cinema documentary competition, visits the Pacific atoll of Kiribati, which is steadily sinking beneath rising waves caused by global warming and other human-caused environmental damage.

The Oslo Diaries, another doc premiering in the same competition, is an Israel/Canada co-production directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan. It investigates the untold story of secret efforts to broker a Middle East peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians in 1992.

Canadian fiction at Sundance is also grounded in global reality. In the world cinema dramatic competition, theres Un Traductor (A Translator), co-directed by Cuban-Canadian brothers Rodrigo and Sebastian Barriuso. Its based on the true story of a Russian literature prof at the University of Havana, played by Rodrigo Santoro. In the 1980s, he was ordered by the Cuban government to translate for child victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, who had been relocated to the island from the former Soviet Union.

Then theres Summer of 84, which is straight out of the nightmare fears of everybody, no matter where theyre from. Co-directed by Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann Whissell, the Quebec trio behind Turbo Kid, this Vancouver-shot Canada/U.S. co-production is a horror film premiering in Sundances Midnight program. Set in an American waterfront retreat called Ipswich Bay, its a story about a 15-year-old conspiracy theorist and his pals who set out to catch a serial killer who is terrorizing their town.

Carolle Brabant, the executive director of Telefilm Canada, the national funding and promotion, agrees that Canadians have a unique worldview.

I believe that Canada is increasingly taking its place not only in telling Canadian stories, but also in telling stories from around the world with a Canadian sensibility, she says via email.

Diversity is now part of our DNA. Our millennial children are the creators of today and their interests are indeed random and eclectic. Thats what makes our cinema so beautiful.

Our DNA seems to be part canine, as well. Sundance 2018 will also see the world premiere of the virtual reality installation Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes. Its a VR making-of film, created by Montreal duo Felix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphael at their company Felix & Paul Studios, about the whimsical stop-motion animation Isle of Dogs by American filmmaker Wes Anderson. The eagerly anticipated film features the voices of Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and more.

The (VR) experience shrinks the viewer down to the size of the stop-motion animated puppets while simultaneously giving a glimpse at the behind-the-scenes environment as the animation is created, Lajeunesse says via email. The experience not only gives you the unique opportunity to meet the characters face-to-face, but it also gives you an understanding of the unique and curious way that big and small and fast and slow all combine to create the magic of stop-motion animation.

Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes has another distinction. Its the first time Sundance has premiered a making-of film about a movie that is itself about to premiere at a different festival: Andersons full Isle of Dogs, which is about a boys quest for his lost pooch, is set to open the Berlin fest on Feb. 15. (Its scheduled for a March 23 commercial release.)

I just love this VR piece, Cooper says. Im dying for this movie!

Hed hoped to snag Isle of Dogs for Sundance, but Anderson lives in Europe and doesnt like to fly, so Berlin had the edge.

Were giving people a taste, Cooper says of the VR exhibit. Were supporting Berlin by promoting their opening-night film!

Canadian filmmakers used to have the reputation of embracing unusual people and subjects  weird was the frequently used adjective  and the seven Canuck shorts premiering at Sundance seem to uphold that tradition.

The offerings include For Nonna Anna by Luis De Filippis, a TIFF 2017 premiere about a transgender girl bonding with her grandmother; My Dead Dads Porno Tapes by Charlie Tyrell, about a sons trawl through his late fathers porn stash; and Manivald, an animation by Chintis Lundgren about a love triangle between foxes and wolves  the animal kind, not human.

The Slamdance Film Festival, Sundances crosstown rival running Jan.19-25, will also host a slew of Canuck pics  two features and six shorts.

The features are both about unusual romances: Pascal Plantes punker love pairing Fake Tattoos and Drew Lints M/M, which the program calls a dark fixation of assumed identity.

Several of the Canuck shorts have sex and gender themes: Do I Have Boobs Now?, directed by Milena Salazar and Joella Cabalu, follows a transgender activists fight against social media censorship; The Things You Think I'm Thinking, by Sherren Lee, chronicles a date between a male burn survivor and amputee with a regularly abled man; and Slap Happy, by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dustin Mancinelli, about a kinky couples attempt to square their sexual fantasies with their crumbling relationship.

Theres a free-spirited feel to the Canadian slates at Sundance and Slamdance this year, and that seems to appeal to programmers at both fests, says Telefilms Brabant.

Both Sundance and Slamdance love bold (edgy) topics and we have a knack for meeting the preferences of their programmers. When we look at the production of short films in Canada we are continually overwhelmed by the quality.

Canadas Top Ten: You dont have to travel to Utah to see great Canadian features and shorts. TIFF is showcasing them at its 17th annual Canadas Top Ten Film Festival, running Jan. 12 to 21 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. In alphabetical order, the features screening, many of them with directors and talent in the house, are: Adventures In Public School (Kyle Rideout); Allure (Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez); Ava (Sadaf Foroughi); Les Affames (Robin Aubert); The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (Simon Lavoie); LukLukI (Wayne Wapeemukwa); Never Steady, Never Still (Kathleen Hepburn); Our People Will Be Healed (Alanis Obomsawin); Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (Catherine Bainbridge); and Unarmed Verses (Charles Officer). More details at tiff.net.

Peter Howell is the Stars movie critic. His column usually runs Fridays.MONTREALConcordia University launched an investigation this week into the toxic and abusive culture that allegedly flourished in a creative writing program that has churned out many top Canadian authors.

Specific allegations of inappropriate relationships, groping, harassment and assault have been around for several years, discussed in tones ranging from hushed to strident, according to interviews the Star conducted this week with 11 former students.

On Friday, the Concordia Association for Students in English, a student association, said in a statement that professors who have been named online have had their courses reassigned and books written by the faculty members were removed from a display window in the library.

A university spokesperson would not confirm that information, but did say that an external investigator had been assigned to conduct a probe into the allegations.

Read more:

Concordia University president announces new measures amid sexual misconduct allegations at the school

Concordia University head disturbed by sexual misconduct allegations

The problems became known to a wider public audience in an online essay by Concordia graduate Mike Spry, who said he was part of a culture of cronyism, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault, can be traced back to the mid-1980s.

That is when the marriage of poet and Concordia professor Robert Allen ended and a toxic culture in the creative writing program was born, according to Stephen Henighan, a writer and Guelph University professor who studied under Allen from 1984 until 1986 and taught at Concordia in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Newly single, Allen, who died in 2006, began accompanying his students to Montreals bars after classes. Rumours began circulating that he was sleeping with young women in the program.

One of Allens proteges in the late 1990s  and now one of this countrys most successful authors  two-time Giller Prize nominee Heather ONeill, said he groped her.

I remember thinking, how could I have got into a situation where I let that happen, ONeill said in an interview. I was angry with myself.

Speaking to the Montreal Review of Books shortly before his death, Allen credited the force and ferment of the citys literary scene for his own late career success. He spoke proudly of writers and poets reading and performing at bars and clubs every night of the week  as if this was where writers earned their chops.

In Montreal right now its halcyon days for a writer. For this writer, anyway, he said.

Allen did help ONeill publish her first manuscript of poems in 1998, under the title, Two Eyes Are You Sleeping. But to this day, she does not include it in her list of published work.

I have never been able to feel pride about it because it resulted in the sexual harassment, she said. It just undermines your own sense of yourself as an intellectual and an artist, that youre suddenly objectified.

In the ensuing two decades, the world has changed greatly. Attitudes, language, policies and laws have advanced to protect against unwanted sexual advances. Boundaries have been erected, and no quite definitely means no, though too many still dont listen.

But the stories being told this week suggest a corrosive pocket within Concordias creative writing program has somehow endured.

In announcing the investigation  which the university confirmed will be conducted by an external investigator  and a review of the creative writing department, Concordia president Alan Shepard refused to say whether any university employees had been suspended or reprimanded in connection with the allegations. And none has been publicly identified by the university or their accusers.

Shepard also claimed to have been in the dark about any of the alleged wrongdoing: I wasnt aware and if I had been aware I would have acted sooner.

Many others did know. Allegations of an inappropriate relationship and assault were made against one professor by Toronto poet and former student Emma Healey in an essay published on The Hairpin website in October 2014.

In response, some students submitted a letter to Concordias English department in February 2015 regarding Healeys essay.

The letter said students felt uncomfortable and unsafe attending literary events because of the involvement of the professors at the centre of that community. It also asked the school to issue a statement clarifying appropriate boundaries in teacher-student relations.

The 2015 letter was managed at the appropriate level at that time. The department did meet with students and took action, said Mary-Jo Barr, a Concordia spokesperson. For reasons of privacy and confidentiality, we cant provide more specifics.

For some, the reaction points to a broader culture within the literary community, particularly in light of a similar scandal at the University of British Columbia involving the firing of author Stephen Galloway in June 2016 after allegations of sexual misconduct brought by a number of female students.

In that case, some of Canadas top writers  most notably Margaret Atwood  rallied to Galloways side, saying he had been denied a fair hearing against his accusers.

Concordia isnt an aberration; its the norm, author and UBC graduate Anna Maxymiw wrote on Twitter, revealing that she was among Galloways accusers.

This weeks revelations at Concordia are no surprise for Julie McIsaac. The former student also tried to complain about a case of harassment involving a male member of the Concordia faculty when she said she was informed that the school had no formal policies in place, though such relationships were discouraged.

She said she was advised to go to the police if the behaviour continued. But she made him aware that she had sought outside assistance about the situation and she never heard from him again.

McIsaac said in an interview that even there were a number of valuable opportunities available to her as aspiring young writer at Concordia, the road to a literary life in the Montreal program was fraught with hazards: conversations with faculty that shifted to the bar and ended in blind drunkenness; the offers of a hand-up from an established writer that turned into an unwanted hand on the leg.

You think youve found a mentor and then its like, Oh, wait . . . , McIsaac said. The interest is in sex. Its not in the ideas or the writing.

Read more about:The Ontario government has launched an operation to relocate an endangered herd of caribou off the remote island on which they have been systematically hunted down by recently arrived wolves.

The operation, which began on Saturday and is described by government officials as a delicate dance, involves rounding up the remaining caribou off Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior and transporting them by helicopter to the nearby Slate Islands.

Officials with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said they hope the relocation will allow the herd a chance to rebuild, adding the desire is to see the animals one day return to Michipicoten.

Read more:

First Nation concerned government delays putting threatened caribou at further risk

Opinion | Theres still time to save Lake Superior's threatened caribou

No one can seem to agree on the extent of the damage to the caribou population, with community members, government officials and ministry researchers all offering different estimates about the size of the remaining herd. All agreed, however, that intervention was necessary.

Michipicoten First Nation Chief Patricia Tangie, who has argued that the government waited too long to take action, also called on intangible forces in order to protect the animals she feels are vital to the community.

We request assistance from the spirit world for the protection of the caribou and the longevity of those relatives so that future generations can see them, she said, adding she and other residents performed a pipe ceremony the day before the move in order to seek the animals permission for the relocation.

Trouble began for the Michipicoten caribou in late 2013 or early 2014 when the waters around the island froze over, creating a rarely formed ice bridge to the mainland. Four wolves took advantage of the conditions and trekked 15 kilometres to the island, where they found a thriving herd of nearly 700 caribou.

Today, government officials estimate the herd has dwindled to about 100, a figure disputed by Tangie who pegs the number between 20 and 30.

Ministry officials have visited the island to collar wolves and study their interaction with the caribou, an approach that Tangie criticized as she pushed for more direct action to save the herd.

The long-sought government move, which will take place over the next few days, is a complex affair involving four helicopters and several ministry officials and researchers.

One capture helicopter will hover metres above the ground to herd and target caribou, according to a protocol for the move obtained by The Canadian Press. Officials will focus on rounding up healthy, mostly female animals, but hope to include at least one bull.

One of the members of the capture crew will lean out of the chopper with a specialized net gun and fire a basket at the caribou with the hopes that the netting hits the back of the animal.

If placed correctly, the animals legs will rapidly tangle in the net, the protocol reads.

A small team including a veterinarian and handler will tie the caribous legs together, put on earplugs and place a blindfold over its eyes in a bid to keep it calm.

A blindfold really calms them down. Its like having a puppy, theyll put their head in your lap, said Art Rodgers, a research scientist working with the ministry on the move.

The veterinarian will examine the caribou and if its healthy, take hair, blood and fecal samples and then fit it with a tracking collar. Caribou will be placed in bags with just their heads sticking out and then sedated.

Two caribou at a time will then be moved inside a transport helicopter for the trip to the Slate Islands, which should take from 45 minutes to an hour.

On the other end, the veterinarian will reverse the sedation and monitor the caribou as it recovers.

The animals will then be left to roam in an area free from predators, where it is hoped they will mate with other caribou on the Slate Islands and repopulate the herd.

The move is not without controversy among those who pushed hardest for it. The ministry rejected a request to allow an observer from the First Nation to ride along during the relocation, citing health and safety for both humans and caribou.

We are limiting the number of people on the flights ... to reduce stresses on the animals, to leave room if transportation needs change for the animals, to limit weight and fuel consumption, said ministry spokeswoman Jolanta Kowalski. The only people allowed on the flights are those with a direct role in the operation.GANDER, N.L.A man from New York has been arrested after police say a Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plane was forced to land in Gander, N.L., due to the passengers unruly behaviour.

RCMP say the flight from New York was en route to Zurich, Switzerland, when it was diverted to Gander International Airport early on Saturday morning.

Police say a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged under the Aeronautics Act.

They say the man has been taken into custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Correction  January 15, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly referred to Swissair. In fact, Swissair, Switzerlands former national airline ceased operations back in 2002.Tom Churchill lived a life of hidden woe.

The 67-year-old Toronto investment manager, father and husband had suffered an inner depression since puberty.

It looked successful from the outside, Churchill says of his life.

But for most of the time I felt hopeless, I felt that not only I but all the people in my life would be better off if I were dead.

Then, in August of 2015, a miracle happened  magnetic magic in the form of depression-fighting technology being offered at Torontos Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Known as Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation  rTMS  it was used to alter haywire circuitry in Churchills brain and lift his burden of sadness for the first time in half a century.

It was a 20-day round of treatments, and on the ninth day I walked out and the world had transformed, says Churchill, tears welling in his eyes.

Its as if before that day, everything I saw had jagged edges like a serrated knife and all of a sudden, everything had its own (proper) edges.

While rTMS has been in use since 1996, its effectiveness and scope are being magnified through large-scale studies led by CAMH scientists.

This research is part of an ambitious transformation of CAMH into one of the worlds foremost mental health facilities, says president and CEO Dr. Catherine Zahn.

That physical, clinical and scientific project will be aided immensely by Thursdays announcement of a staggering $100-million donation to CAMH, by far the largest ever made to a mental health facility in Canada. The anonymous endowment will be dedicated to research and to the recruitment of scientists from around the globe.

Dr. Trevor Young, dean of the University of Torontos medical school, says the donation will elevate the centres already vaunted international stature.

CAMH is already one of the leading mental health institutions in the world under Catherines leadership because its very strong in both research and patient care, Young said in an email interview.

When I think of the other leading institutions, in London, Los Angeles, Boston and Tokyo, they are all incredibly strong in research but not all of them focus on clinical care they way CAMH does. A gift of this proportion will make a huge impact on CAMHs research programs.

Last year the centre, with some 3,000 staff, treated more than 34,000 patients and saw almost 7,000 troubled souls enter its emergency room. The centre treats a wide range of mental health and addiction problems, which often appear concurrently in the patients they see.

Some 27.5 per cent of people admitted to the centre suffer from substance abuse, 15.3 per cent from bipolar conditions, 14.3 per cent from depressions, 3.9 per cent from personality disorders and 32.6 per cent from schizophrenia.

With 500 beds, the centres hospital facilities are among the citys largest, rivalling other big teaching facilities like St. Michaels and Sunnybrook.

Zahn says the physical transformation, which has come in at a little over $1 billion so far, will take another 10 years to complete. She also says that shes been in persistent battles for funding and approvals since she took the centres helm.

But Zahn views the architectural metamorphosis as metaphor  one that represents recovery over maintenance, openness over isolation and an emerging acceptance of mental ailments into the mainstream of modern medicine.

A 1910 map of the citys western outskirts hangs on the wall in Zahns CAMH office. On that map some sepia-toned housing developments are seen, having sprung up in the Queen St. W. area during the early part of last century.

But even earlier drawings show how isolated the original institution on that site was, Zahn says.

Its all bare, but the asylum is there.

That would be the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1850, far removed from populated areas of a young Toronto.

Patients there were forced to labour on the asylums adjacent farm and lived in overcrowded conditions almost from the day the facility opened. Generally men also did construction and maintenance work, and women did sewing and washed clothes.

The asylum was isolated further by a brick wall that was erected by patients in the 1850s. Today parts of the original walls still stand, and are protected as heritage structures.

So with the city building up around it there was still this amazing force field that didnt allow the world to be in or people to get out, Zahn says of the fence.

And I think its just such an amazing metaphor for what has changed now.

The idea that mental illnesses were dangerous and shameful things  walled-in conditions to be hidden away and forgotten  was widely ingrained until recent decades.

Indeed, the centres albatross address  999 Queen St. W.  was a common shorthand and source for derisive humour among many city residents, right up through the 1970s.

That notorious street number, for what was then known as the Queen Street Mental Health Centre, was changed to 1001 Queen in 1979 in a nod to the more enlightened attitude toward mental illness that was beginning to emerge.

But that enlightenment has a long way to go even now, concedes Zahn.

Helping to edge it along, however, has been one of her key goals since 2009, when she took the CAMH reins.

Its been a multipronged approach, perhaps the key element being a continued redevelopment of the centre, which broke ground three years before her tenure under Dr. Paul Garfinkel. Garfinkel led CAMH for more than a decade before Zahn.

By the 1970s, evolving policies of patient care led to the demolition of the original Provincial Insane Asylum building in 1975. Scientists by then were also getting a much better understanding of the brains functions.

In 1992, the Vivian Rakoff Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Centre opened at CAMH, Canadas first PET centre dedicated to medical imaging research into mental illness.

In 1997 the provincial Health Services Restructuring Commission announced it would amalgamate the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Addiction Research Foundation, Donwood Institute and Queen Street Mental Health Centre. It promoted a shift from hospital-based to community-based mental health services.

In 2001, the centre announced plans to transform what was essentially a foreboding fortress into an urban village.

It would be woven into its west-end neighbourhood by pushing new roadways through the closed-off complex and trading out homely and intimidating architecture for a host of sleek, modern structures.

That redevelopment is now well into the third of four planned phases. This one is completing the replacement of the brutalist concrete buildings along the centres Queen St. frontage with far more inviting structures.

The eastern building, with an airy glass wall facing Queen St., will house people recovering from complex, long-term illnesses like schizophrenia and intractable depression. It will also hold a performance auditorium and a public courtyard, accessible to the street and leading to a park at the centres northeastern corner.

The western building will serve as the centres emergency department and acute-care facility and will look more like a conventional modern hospital.

There will also be retail units such as coffee shops along the street in front of each building.

The redevelopment along Queen St. takes on that character of being part of the world, says Zahn. Those old buildings essentially formed the fourth side of the wall that surrounded us. That front wall is gone.

And one of Zahns main hopes is that the physical transformation will encourage broader public acceptance and greater government funding for a wider range of psychiatric conditions.

While some illnesses, like anxiety and depression, now attract ample health-care support, others are still starved of acceptance and financial and legal backing.

People who have especially complex mental illnesses, illnesses that cause psychosis, still do not enjoy the rights of most of us, she says.

She says, for example, that health care for people with complex ailments like schizophrenia is severely underfunded.

Zahn, who was born in rural Ohio, is a neurologist who was previously an executive and physician at the University Health Network. Shes lived more than four decades in this country, earned her MD at the University of Toronto, and has been awarded the Order of Canada.

On her Twitter account, she describes herself as a Neurologist. Mom. Optimist. Mental health champion. Book and film-lover.

If I leave behind any legacy, I hope its that mental health and the mental health-care system be part of the (regular) health-care system, she says. That theyre not held to the side behind a wall  that mental health be pivotal, not marginal in health care.

Part of her strategy is to recruit top-flight researchers and to launch cutting-edge clinical and scientific centres at CAMH. So far that plan has seen significant success, with researchers from Harvard University and other top neurological centres across the globe having come to CAMH over the past years.

And they dont just come because of the good weather in Toronto, says Zahn. They come because were creating something that is exciting.

Zahn points, as an example, to the Slaight Centre for Youth in Transition, which opened three years ago as the first facility in the world dedicated exclusively to diagnosing and treating young people experiencing their first psychotic episodes.

The centre has developed standardized assessment and care protocols for ailments like schizophrenia and has brought wait times for appointments and diagnosis down from months to an average of one week.

Quick diagnosis and treatments for psychotic illnesses not only bring greater peace of mind for patients and their families, but lead to much better outcomes in fighting the diseases, Zahn says.

In September, CAMH also announced the creation of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, which will employ artificial intelligence and big data computation to plumb the workings of the human brain.

Every day were creating zillions of pieces of information, Zahn says. We can collect demographic data, data on the condition of individuals, their psychiatric functioning, their mental functioning, their functional outcomes and the medications they are on.

The new computer centre will crunch this information, seeking connections that could lead to a better understanding of neurological illnesses.

Zahns team recruited Dr. Sean Hill, from the international Blue Brain initiative in Switzerland  a collaboration between IBM and the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne  to run the new centre.

In July, CAMH announced another prestigious catch when it named Harvard Medical School scientist Neil Vasdev as its chief radiochemist

Vasdev had previously worked at CAMH before he was lured to Boston in 2011 to create a new radiochemistry centre at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

In Toronto, Vasdev will lead a team of researchers looking for new radioactive tracer chemicals that can  among other things  be attached to drugs, making them visible to PET scanners as they work in the brain.

Were absolute world leaders in this, says Zahn, noting that almost half the brain tracers already in use were created at the centre.

Another of CAMHs cutting-edge facilities is the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention, where Churchill was treated.

For decades, Tom Churchill had battled his profound depression. Through sheer force of will, he hid it from all but his parents, siblings, wife and a few close friends.

It was an act for sure, says Churchill. I made a point right from the beginning of not letting other people know about my depression. He even managed to keep it from his three children until they were adults.

At some level I was afraid of the stigma, but at another level I just didnt want to be the kind of person that walks into the room and everybody says oh no, Toms here. 

While alcohol could keep the depression at bay, and often did, no drug or psychotherapy could fully dislodge it, says Churchill, who is now retired.

The rTMS system that finally banished his personal black dog targets a segment of the brain know as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex where many depressions are known to reside.

Patients sit in dentist-like chairs in one of one of a half-dozen of the centres rTMS suites. Magnetic fields are sent through their skulls and into their brains via coil units that can be placed by a flexible arm directly above the targeted brain area.

Those magnetic fields end up inducing an electrical field within the brain and they cause neurons to fire, says Dr. Daniel Blumberger, medical head of the Temerty facility.

And what we do is we change the pattern with which the neurons fire and (thus) change the functioning of the circuits within the brain, Blumberger says.

Like electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, rTMS can normalize the brain circuits that are misfiring in depressive patients, he says. Unlike ECT  which sends direct, seizure-causing electric currents into the organ  patients need not be anesthetized for the gentler, magnetic procedure. As well, the more targeted rTMS does not cause as much disruption to the rest of the brain, avoiding some of the cognitive issues associated with its electroconvulsive cousin.

Thus, Blumberger says, rTMS would be preferable to the harsher electric therapy, which still carries a taint (think One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest) despite its proven effectiveness.

The therapy is given in multiple sessions over a six-week course, with significant remissions lasting an average of four to six months. Churchill, who has undergone five rTMS courses, has had remissions lasting as long as eight months.

The problem, however, is the magnetic procedure fully works on only 30 per cent of patients  most of whom have failed to respond to first-line drug therapies.

Were studying new ways to deliver the treatment and how to improve it, says Blumberger, who aims to push positive rTMS response numbers up to 60 per cent or beyond.

The vast majority of the treatments we provide are in the context of clinical research trials. Were kind of leading the change thats happening in the world.

A happy clientele means a patient base more willing to participate in the large-scale studies that could effect such change, says Zahn.

And thats where the gleaming new buildings and clinical improvements at CAMH will help enormously, she says.

Indeed, Churchills experience at CAMH encouraged him to bull through an experimental therapy as part of a recent study, even though it made his depression worse.

I did it for two reasons, he says. One, because my experience with rTMS had been so positive, and if it hadnt been for CAMH I wouldnt have had that. And two, I felt like I should just give back a little bit. I thought maybe theyre going to learn something.

Under Zahn, the centre has increased efforts to expand its operations to communities across Ontario.

Outside of its own hospital and emergency room facility, CAMH personnel are instrumental in providing mental health and addiction care in towns, cities and Indigenous communities around the province, Zahn says.

To combat the opioid crisis, the centre has trained and dispatched more than 100 staff to screen and educate patients and has preached the philosophy of harm reduction, rather than abstinence.

Zahn refers to the transforming CAMH grounds as a campus, partly to reflect the new, open nature of the facility with its green spaces and squares. But the facility of the U of T-affiliated hospital also plays host to some 3,000 medical, nursing and social work students a year, who train there as part of their course load.

In the end, however, all the changes shes helped to lead are aimed primarily at the patients the centre will serve.

What I want people to know is that people with mental illness are citizens and human beings, she says.

And they deserve respectful places that are created to help them heal, not to hide them from society.

PHASE 1: 2005-2008

1. These structures represent the first phase of the CAMH redevelopment project. They house the centres Addiction and Mood & Anxiety programs. They include bedrooms with private bathrooms and sedate communal areas.

PHASE 2: 2010-2012

2. The Bell Gateway Centre: This building is known as the centres front door. Its graceful atrium lobby leads to a spiritual centre, a state-of-the-art gym, physiotherapy facilities and a cafe run by patients.

3. The Doctors Association Building has several levels of parking as well as heating facilities for all of the Phase 2 structures. There are also laundry facilities, client assessment spaces and meeting rooms.

4. The Integrated Wellness Centre houses youth and geriatric programs. The youth facilities, the first of their kind in Canada, include 12 beds for patients ages 14-18. The geriatric side has 48 beds and extensive outpatient facilities.

5. 100 Lower Ossington, the first non-CAMH building on the campus. The eight-storey building includes 179 apartment units, many low-rent.

PHASE 3: 2014-2020

6. The McCain Complex Care and Recovery Centre will be the signature building of the transformation. Its inner courtyard will be open to the public and lead to a new park (see #10). The building will house people recovering from acute mental ailments as well as an auditorium and library that will both be open to the public. CAMHs brain stimulation centre will also find a new home here.

7. This building is slated for demolition, with Stokes St. then being pushed through to Shaw St. through an opening in the brick wall. Parts of the wall date back to the 1850s. The brick wall, which still surrounds centre property on the west, east and southern sides, includes a pair of work sheds.

8. The new Crisis and Critical Care building will serve patients with acute mental health and addiction issues and house a round-the-clock emergency department.

PHASE 4

9. This unfunded phase of development is expected to take at least another decade to complete and will replace much of the remaining 1960s stock of dreary buildings that housed the centre for nearly half a century.

New centre to use data, AI to fight mental illness

How can a person avoid a mental health crisis?

The answer is very likely hidden in the billions of bits of electronic data the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has collected on its patients over the years.

Sean Hill will try to find it.

Hill, who was recruited from the prestigious Blue Brain project in Switzerland in September, is the inaugural director of CAMHs Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics.

And he and his team will employ Big Data-crunching computation and artificial intelligence to sift through patient records seeking answers to such vital neurological questions.

CAMH has implemented a fully electronic medical records system, and that just explodes the amount of data that becomes available, Hill says. And then when you pay attention to gathering the data and integrating it, then you have the opportunity to ask questions that you never could before.

For example, Hill says, a data-crunching search through records detailing patient activity, sleep, nutrition and mood patterns might reveal triggers to various psychiatric conditions.

We might see how all of that can contribute to helping maintain mental health, he says. And also (it might) identify when would be opportune moments to intervene before something becomes a crisis.

The centre, which opens this spring, will use its own cluster of computers as well as off-site supercomputers to mine the data. It will also collaborate with similar centres across the globe to advance brain science, Hill says.

The core of it is really making sure that the (CAMH) scientists  can search and access and analyze the large quantities of data.

In Switzerland, Hills work with the Blue Brain project  a collaboration between IBM and the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne  created detailed models of brain circuitry.

A New Jersey native who earned his doctorate in Switzerland, Hill says the determination of CAMH president Dr. Catherine Zahn to make the centre a world leader in mental health research was a key reason he came to Toronto.

Radiochemist returns to his GTA roots

Neil Vasdev is coming home.

Home from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital  where he held prestigious positions at two of the top health research facilities on earth for the past six years.

But in the end, the Oakville natives July decision to come back to CAMH  where he worked from 2004 to 2011  as the centres chief radiochemist was a simple one.

Really it is an honour returning to CAMH and the University of Toronto, especially  having roots here, Vasdev says. I would say the decision to return was quite easy, knowing I would have so much support from CAMH leadership.

Vasdev, who holds the new Canada Research Chair in Radiochemistry and Nuclear Medicine at U of T, will also serve as associate director of CAMHs Research Imaging Centre.

That centre has been a world leader in the development of the radio-tracer chemicals that allow scientists to see the workings of drugs in the brain, and other neuroprocesses. Its produced more than half the radio-tracers now in global use.

One of the most notable things about the Research Imaging Centre and CAMH in particular is the exceptional scientific track record theyve had over the past three decades.

Vasdev, who was still using his Boston cellphone during a recent interview, was recruited there in 2011 to set up and run Massachusetts Generals new radiochemistry centre. He began his return engagement at CAMH in November but was still settling in at the centre this month.

Vasdev earned a PhD in chemistry from Hamiltons McMaster University and was an associate radiology professor at Harvard during his time in the U.S.

Radio tracers can be attached to drugs without changing their chemical properties. They then make the drugs visible to positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brain.

Vasdev says researchers can then determine which parts of the organ the drugs are affecting, the duration of that impact and other factors.

He will help build CAMHs new Azrieli Centre for Neuro-Radiochemistry on College St.As NASA engineers and math wizards anguished in the movie Hidden Figures over how to get astronaut John Glenn back from space once theyd launched him into it in 1962, there came a moment of epiphany.

The challenge was to adjust the trajectory of Glenns orbiting space capsule for safe re-entry through the Earths atmosphere. There was apparently no formula to do so. Until a potential solution was found not in the new math of a nascent computer generation, but in the old.

What about Eulers Method? somebody asks.

Thats ancient, a character replies (though the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler actually lived in the 18th century).

Yes, but it works!

For former MP Peggy Nash, the vignette and its lesson have relevance today.

While questions of how to address and end sexual harassment continue to roil Parliament Hill and workplaces everywhere, Nash finds at least some answers already on the record and working where they have been tried.

She should know. She helped write them.

As a negotiator for the Canadian Auto Workers a quarter-century ago  and eventually the first woman in North America to lead negotiations with a Big Three automaker  Nash helped break new ground in addressing workplace harassment.

She first bargained harassment training in the auto industry in gosh, I think it was 93, she said in an interview.

We insisted that everybody have training, all of our members and company supervision, that everybody had to have training so that there would be no excuses about what is and what isnt harassment, and there would be no excuses about the procedure.

The message was sent, she said, that this is something that the head of the union and the head of the companies were standing behind and saying, Were going to deal with this. 

The unions attention turned to issues of workplace safety after the 1989 Montreal Massacre of women engineering students, she said. The CAW held conferences on violence against women. And it decided to use its bargaining power to address it in collective agreements.

To the unions credit, male leaders made this a priority, recalled Nash, currently a distinguished visiting professor in the faculties of arts and community services at Ryerson University.

Before she was twice elected to the Commons with the NDP, Nash worked as a ticket agent and union activist with the Canadian Airline Employees Association. When that union merged with the CAW in 1985, she became an assistant to national president Bob White, then his successor, Buzz Hargrove.

The second aspect of any anti-harassment initiative must be recourse for those who have been victimized and Nash helped, back in 1993, to win ground-breaking Womens Advocate positions in workplaces.

That initiative provided women with a specially trained, easy-to-contact female colleague to whom they could privately turn if facing domestic abuse or harassment on the job.

To see the silence broken and the problem acknowledged was amazing, Nash told the Stars Michele Landsberg at the time. So many women have agonized alone; now theres legitimacy to seeking help.

Unifor, the CAWs modern iteration (and a union of which Star employees are members), continues to consider the Womens Advocate program one of the best tools to prevent violence against women and workplace harassment.

We pioneered it in the auto sector, Nash said. Now, we have it in over 100 collective agreements.

There are perhaps analogies to be drawn between the Parliament Hill of 2018, where women are still under-represented, and the male-dominated auto plants of 25 years ago.

We realized that sending a woman into a non-traditional job in a mostly male environment, without doing some preparation, is virtually setting her up, Nash said back then.

A recent survey by The Canadian Press of female MPs found that nearly 60 per cent of respondents said they had personally been the target of sexual misconduct while in office, including inappropriate or unwanted remarks, gestures or text messages of a sexual nature.

And if thats the level of workplace torment aimed at MPs the situation is almost surely worse for women working in less-powerful staff positions.

In the wake of that survey, Green Leader Elizabeth May said young female staffers, often ambitious and eager to gain a professional foothold, are most vulnerable to the political version of Hollywoods casting couch.

NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen called on male MPs to help change the culture and ensure safe workplaces.

Overwhelmingly, the stories that I encounter . . . the instigator is a male, he told CP. So asking women to carry this load as well  Why dont you come forward? Why dont you do this? Why dont you take this risk?  while owning none of the responsibility ourselves is ridiculous.

Last November, the Liberal government introduced legislation to help prevent and better respond to sexual harassment and violence against federal employees, including those on Parliament Hill.

Bill C-65 would replace the patchwork of laws and policies to create a clear process for dealing with complaints and put the onus on employers to respond to allegations and protect their employees.

Nash knows first-hand that the parliamentary ecosystem is a place with many elements which combine to create vulnerability for sexual misconduct or harassment.

People are away from home, for the most part, she said. It can be a lonely existence there. There is a phenomenal amount of socializing. You could go to receptions and different events on and off the Hill every night of the week.

Theres lots of alcohol. And people with a certain amount of power. Overwhelmingly men.

So a light should have gone on a long time ago that said, Wait a minute, hey, maybe this is a situation we need to keep an eye on and create some structure for. 

In any case where there are power imbalances, you need to anticipate there will be problems, she said.

Lauren Dobson-Hughes told The Canadian Press that when she was a 25-year-old NDP staffer in 2007 a much older MP suddenly kissed her in front of at least 20 people  and no one reacted.

You take your cues from people around you who are in positions of power, and if they dont think thats weird, if that didnt even momentarily give them a second glance, then (you think), Maybe the problem is me then,  she said.

She said Parliament Hill runs on a steady supply of cheap young labour, usually female, and sexual misconduct is rampant.

Nash said the intense partisanship at play can create pressure to remain silence out of a skewed sense of loyalty, she said. If you complain are you damaging your party?

Its long overdue for the leaders of the parties to insist that all of their caucus members and all of the staff working for their caucus members get full training in harassment.

I wouldnt just assume that because an MP is an MP that they would know how to deal with a harassment complaint or not engage in harassment themselves.

Besides, she said, these things dont go away, they fester. So youre better to shine the light on it as quickly as you can. Speed is important. Confidentiality is important. Impartiality is important.

There is renewed incentive since the seismic upheaval of the Weinstein Effect to face up to and address what remains a widespread workplace problem.

And like those NASA engineers, at least as portrayed in the acclaimed movie, some solutions  like those Peggy Nash helped design  are already written down waiting to be applied.

It isnt even rocket science.SANTA ANA, Calif.Authorities on Friday arrested a friend in the killing of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student whose body was found buried in a shallow grave at a California park.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach was taken into custody for investigation of homicide after DNA evidence linked him to the death of college sophomore Blaze Bernstein, Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes said.

Woodward was the last person to see Bernstein alive, Barnes said.

Woodward was interviewed by investigators after Bernstein was reported missing by his parents on Jan. 3.

A sheriffs investigator wrote in court filings that Woodward appeared nervous, had scratched hands and dirt under his fingernails, and avoided touching doors with his hands while leaving the sheriffs office building.

Bernstein was home visiting his family in Lake Forest during winter break when Woodward picked him up on Jan. 2 and drove with him to several places before winding up at a park.

Woodward told investigators that he left the park after Bernstein went out and didnt return or respond to social media messages.

The two knew each other from high school, Barnes said.

He said investigators were still trying to determine a motive and would not release details of the crime, which he called a murder.

Prosecutors said they would review evidence as they determine what charges to file. Barnes said Woodward had asked for a lawyer.

It was not immediately possible to reach Woodward in custody, where he listed his occupation as Nerf games, according to the jails website.

Authorities searched for Bernstein for nearly a week with assistance from drone pilots and found his body on Tuesday after recent rains partially exposed it.

The death of Bernstein rocked the community of Lake Forest, 80 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles. Hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil to remember him.

It was the only homicide reported in Lake Forest in at least the past four years, according to authorities.

Bernstein had attended Orange County School of the Arts for creative writing. He was recently chosen to edit a culinary magazine at the University of Pennsylvania.

His parents urged community members to keep his memory alive by working to improve the world.

With his death, a beautiful light has been extinguished and we encourage you to continue to shine his light, through acts of loving kindness, the family said in a statement read by attorney Annee Della Donna.

This story has been corrected to Woodward appeared nervous during police interview, not Bernstein.PARKERS CROSSROADS, Tenn.James A. Jones saw enough cars stranded along the icy highway to know it was time to pull over as a winter storm blasted parts of Tennessee and Kentucky with sleet, freezing rain and snow Friday.

Jones counted 25 cars stuck by the road as he drove from Memphis to McMinnville, Tenn., about 450 kilometres away. He decided not to risk it any longer and took a break in the West Tennessee town of Parkers Crossroads.

Its rough riding, he said. If you was in the wrecker business, youd be making some money today.

The winter storm, which began with an icy mix before turning to snow, forced schools and businesses to close in Tennessee and Kentucky. Ice that coated broad swaths of the South snarled traffic.

Read more:

Winter storm dumps snow on U.S. South, could strengthen into bomb cyclone

Bitter cold disrupts life on Canadian, U.S. east coast after winter storm brought snow, hurricane-force winds

Winter storm pummels Atlantic Canada, eastern U.S., with high winds, snow, record cold

Throughout the day, highway patrol troopers and road crews dealt with multiple crashes involving truck and cars along Interstate 40 between Memphis and Nashville. At least two tractor-trailers jackknifed and blocked Tennessee interstates.

Heavy snow made visibility difficult and a mixture of snow, ice and sand used to dry out the roads became a slushy mess and made for hazardous driving. Accidents on the busy interstate led to long lines of parked vehicles as drivers waited for crews to clear the highway.

Memphis police responded to more than 100 crashes. In Mississippi, a tractor-trailer overturned after crashing on icy Interstate 55, causing traffic delays.

In Tennessee, Kim Ruehl and Mercedes Volk waited out the storm at a fast-food restaurant in Parkers Crossroads with their 3-year-old daughter, Quinn, who snacked on a cheeseburger and milk.

They were heading from Asheville, N.C., to Fort Smith, Ark., to research a book. They stayed overnight in Nashville and were hoping to drive west through the storm in their Mini Cooper. They pulled off Interstate 40 because of the dangerous driving conditions.

The windshield wipers froze and the road just got real bad, Ruehl said.

They werent expecting such bad conditions, but they left early from Nashville anyway.

An hour into our drive, I was like, we should have stayed in Nashville, Volk said.

In Kentucky, truck stop employee Paige Harville said traffic was much lighter than usual early Friday along Interstate 24 at Paducah.

Theres not much of it, she said. Like nothing.

In nearby Mayfield in western Kentucky, postal workers arrived at work to find their delivery vehicles iced over. They had to de-ice the trucks before they could unlock them. Letter carrier Corey Asher was ready for treacherous conditions as he started his route.

The snow covers up the sleet and ice, so where you think you might have solid footing you may not, he said. So your steps have to be choppy today. You have to be real diligent about where you walk, and use hand rails.

Winter storm warnings were posted for the western halves of Tennessee and Kentucky as unseasonably warm weather in recent days gave way to winter conditions.

In western Kentucky, roads were covered with layers of ice. On top of that was about three tenths of an inch of sleet, National Weather Service meteorologist Robin Smith said.

Dont go out unless you absolutely have to, Smith warned.

Winds up to 56 kilometres per hour further complicated driving. By early afternoon, much of western Kentucky had three to eight centimetres of snow. Parts of West Tennessee had eight to 10 centimetres.

Meanwhile, forecasters predicted five to 12 centimetres of snow in the Louisville and Lexington areas of Kentucky as temperatures dropped.

In West Virginia, floodwaters were blamed for the death of a woman who police say was driving in high water when she lost control and went into a creek. Her body was recovered from the sunken car.

Many school districts in Kentucky and Tennessee called off classes Friday. Several colleges and universities in both states also cancelled classes, including at Vanderbilt University, Murray State University and Western Kentucky University.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam closed state offices Friday in West and Middle Tennessee because of the winter weather. And Kentucky House and Senate leaders called off Fridays legislative session.

Read more about:BEIJINGRescuers on Saturday recovered the bodies of two crew members of an Iranian oil tanker thats been on fire since colliding with a freighter last week in the East China Sea.

The bodies were found on the lifeboat deck of the Sanchi on Saturday morning, state broadcaster CCTV said. Rescuers stayed aboard less than 30 minutes but were able to recover the ships data and video recordings, it said.

The network said rescuers were prevented from entering the crew living quarters by temperatures as high as 89 C.

Read more:

China suspends firefighting, rescue efforts after explosion on oil tanker that collided with freighter

China says Iranian oil tanker still burning, at risk of exploding after collision

Crew of 32 missing after oil tanker and freighter collide off China coast

Footage of the rescue showed parts of the Sanchi still aflame, its hull and superstructure completely stripped of paint. Authorities were concerned the ship could explode and sink but there was no word on Saturday on such a possibility.

The cause of the collision remains unclear. One body was recovered from the sea earlier this week, leaving 29 crew members still unaccounted for. The crew was all Iranian expect for two Bangladeshis.

Thirteen ships, including one from South Korea and two from Japan, were engaged in the rescue and cleanup effort Saturday, spraying foam in an effort to extinguish the fire. The tanker was carrying a cargo of nearly 1 million barrels of condensate, a type of gassy, ultralight oil that readily evaporates or burns off in a fire, reducing the chance of a major oil spill.

Intense flames, bad weather and poor visibility have all hampered rescue efforts.

The Chinese freighter CF Crystal that collided with the Panamanian-registered tanker had 21 crew members, who all were reported safe.

Read more about:DAKAR, SENEGALA Daesh offshoot is claiming it carried out the attack in Niger that killed four U.S. soldiers and four Nigerien troops in October and sparked questions about U.S. military involvement in West Africas vast Sahel region.

The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported Friday that Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi with the self-professed Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, affiliate claimed responsibility for the Oct. 4 ambush about 200 kilometres north of Nigers capital, Niamey. The news agency has carried messages from the affiliate before, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites.

The U.S. Africa Command has been investigating the October attack, which also wounded two U.S. and eight Nigerien troops, and a final report is expected to be released this month.

Read more:

Mourners remember soldier at centre of Trump fight during Fort Lauderdale funeral

Somebody screwed up here: Why did Trump take 12 days to address the deaths of four soldiers, and why did he attack Obama?

Trump did disrespect my son: Mother backs report of presidents horrible call to soldiers widow

A 12-member Army special forces unit had been accompanying 30 Nigerien forces when they were attacked in a densely wooded area by as many as 50 militants travelling by vehicle and carrying small arms and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The Pentagon has declined to release details about the commando teams exact mission. U.S. officials have said the joint U.S.-Niger patrol had been asked to assist a second American commando team hunting for a senior Daesh member. The team had been asked to go to a location where the insurgent had last been seen.

After completing that mission, the troops stopped in a village to get food and water, then left. The U.S. military believes someone in the village may have tipped off the attackers.

The U.S. has approximately 800 troops in Niger, and U.S. special operations forces have been working with Nigers forces in a growing effort in recent years, helping them to improve their abilities to fight extremists.

Multiple military efforts exist against extremist groups, including Boko Haram and Al Qaeda affiliates, that roam the vast Sahel, the sprawling, largely barren zone south of the Sahara desert. The growing fight includes Frances largest overseas military operation, a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali and a five-nation regional force called the G5 Sahel that launched last year.

Officials have pointed out the danger and difficulty of hunting down an enemy in region the size of Europe.

The Mauritanian news agency on Friday also reported that the extremists claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday on a French military convoy, and for a series of attacks in Niger and border areas with Mali and Burkina Faso.

Read more about:BEIJINGOn a bitterly cold morning this month, Wang Fuman, 8, set out for school as he usually did, walking 4.5 kilometres through mountains and streams until he reached the warmth of his third-grade classroom.

When Fuman arrived two hours later, his classmates erupted in laughter. The freezing temperatures had covered his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes with frost, making him look like a snowman. His cheeks were chapped and bright red.

Fumans teacher at the Zhuanshanbao primary school, in the southern province of Yunnan, snapped a photograph and posted it on WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. Soon, the boy became an internet sensation, hailed by commenters as a symbol of the raw determination of rural residents, who make up about 43 per cent of Chinas population.

The state-run media called him frost boy and ice boy.

Heartwarming, one user wrote on Weibo, a microblogging site. Please dont forget your original dreams.

Some called him a national hero.

Some people see beauty and hope in his simple and honest face, one newspaper wrote. From this little man, foreigners far away will see the great effort and strength of the Chinese nation.

But the photo of Fuman shined a light on the plight of the tens of millions of left-behind children who grow up in impoverished rural areas largely on their own after their parents leave to work in big cities. The social fabric that once held together the Chinese countryside is falling apart as millions of workers move away to chase dreams of prosperity.

Many left-behind children like Fuman live with their grandparents. They face a variety of obstacles, including malnutrition, dilapidated homes and poor access to transportation. Scores of rural schools have been shut in recent years, forcing many children to travel long distances to attend classes.

Those difficulties contribute to high dropout rates among rural children, a crisis that is hurting Chinas ability to train a highly skilled workforce.

There are so many similar incidents of hardship for left-behind children in China every day, said Kam Wing Chan, a professor at the University of Washington who studies Chinas rural-urban divide.

Chan said the government could keep families together by helping them move together to large cities. But many cities impose strict rules on who qualifies for benefits like education and health care, in effect treating rural migrants as second-class citizens.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to eliminate extreme poverty by 2020, but it will not be easy. Many families live in isolated areas cut off from modern roads, schools and hospitals. While urban areas are growing rapidly richer, about 500 million Chinese, or about 40 per cent of the population, live on less than $5.50 per day, according to the World Bank.

Fumans story drew many uplifting comments online, but it also provoked some cynicism about Chinas efforts to eliminate poverty.

We cant solve poverty, one Weibo user wrote, but we can praise poverty.

Photos of Fumans hands, swollen and blistered, also circulated on social media. Internet users praised his penmanship and noted the image of his hands also showed a near-perfect score on an exam.

Students at Fumans school told state news outlets that they lacked clothing to stay warm, and that it was common for their hair to freeze during their long commutes.

Fumans story prompted an influx of donations to the school and youth charities totalling at least $330,000. Local officials said they would start a program to provide winter clothes to impoverished children in the region.

In an interview with the state broadcaster China Central Television, Fuman recounted his daily journey to school. On the day that his teacher took the photo, he said, he had forgotten his hat and gloves.

Fuman and his older sister live with their grandmother, who is ill, his father, Wang Gangkui, said by telephone Saturday. The childrens grandfather is in prison, he said.

Wang often works as a construction worker in Kunming, about 250 miles away from Fumans home in Ludian County. Fumans mother left the family two years ago, Wang said. He said he had to work far away because the family was heavily in debt.

All the other villagers look down upon us, he said.

Wang said he hoped for a brighter future for his children.

I worry about them all the time, he said. I hope they both can make it to college and find a stable job.

Fuman told the Chinese network CCTV that he hoped to go to a university in Beijing and become a police officer or a scientist.

Even though Im now an internet sensation, he said, I shouldnt be proud.

Read more about:TEHRAN, IRANIran said Saturday it wont accept any changes to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the accord in a few months if European allies did not fix its terrible flaws.

In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Foreign Ministry said Iran will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in future, adding that it will not take any action beyond its commitments.

It also said Iran would not allow the deal to be linked to other issues, after Trump suggested that the sanctions relief under the deal be tied to Iran limiting its long-range ballistic missile program.

Read more:

Opinion | Tony Burman: The Canadian case for building bridges with Iran

Trump gives Iran nuclear deal last chance, calls on European allies to fix terrible flaws in pact

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Trump on Friday extended the waivers of key economic sanctions that were lifted under the agreement limiting Irans nuclear program. But he said he would work with European allies to remove so-called sunset clauses that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear activities in the next decade.

He paired Fridays concession with other, targeted sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses and ballistic missile development. The Treasury Departments action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.

The Iranian statement said the targeting of one of the officials, judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, crossed all behavioural red lines of the international community. It said the sanctions are against international law and go against U.S. commitments, saying they would bring a strong reaction from Iran.

The 2015 nuclear accord, reached after months of painstaking negotiations with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly criticized the accord, while Iran has accused the U.S. of failing to comply with it. The next sanctions waivers are due in May.

Read more about:Wage hike hurts injured workers, advocates say, Jan. 8

I just finished reading your article about the WSIBs practice of deeming (where injured workers benefits are clawed back once they are deemed able to work, even at jobs far below their former income) and how the minimum-wage bump will result in lower benefits.

Its funny how something that is supposed to help people is actually hurting them. I feel for (injured worker) Anna Maria Grillo and the suffering she is going through. It is all too common in the world of the WSIB. I was 45 when I was injured at work. I also have a permanent injury with several restrictions.

The WSIB doesnt care. Its all about getting you back to work, which is great, but putting you back to work or through therapy when you are still hurt exacerbates the situation.

A lot of injured workers have permanent injuries and restrictions but are forced to try to find work. There is no company out there that will hire anyone with restrictions due to injury. As soon as you tell them you were injured, they never call you again.

Some injured workers have tried to apply for the Canada Pension Plan disability benefits, but you must be deemed unable to work. As long as WSIB says you can work, youre stuck in the middle and end up with nothing  forced to live below the poverty line.

Most people arent able to pay the bills and, after a few years, lose their house and every other thing they worked hard for.

WSIB needs to realize what permanent restrictions and permanent injuries are. It basically means you not able to work and they should help you accordingly.

Hendrika Brown, Windsor, Ont.

Our thanks to Sara Mojtehedzadeh for bringing to light the very real cuts that injured workers will be facing due to the provincial governments inaction. The Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG) has been raising the repercussions of deeming with government officials since its implementation in the early 1990s. And when the government brought forth Bill 148, we again raised the matter with officials in both Premier Kathleen Wynne and Labour Minister Kevin Flynns offices.

As president, I also raised the matter with both Wynne and Flynn privately. Their decision was to do nothing and let WSIB implement its phased-in approach. When injured workers vent to their MPPs offices next year and the year after about the cuts theyre seeing to their benefits, those MPPs can thank Wynne and Flynn for their inaction.

Injured workers will remember the governments inaction on this file when they go to vote in June. The premier and her labour minister had a choice. They chose to stand silently by and watch as hundreds of unemployed injured workers get their benefits cut further based on a phantom job with fictitious wages.

Willy Noiles, president, ONIWG, St. Catharines, Ont.

This article was a heartbreaking, accurate depiction and reflection of the way the WSIB typically treats injured workers. It needs to stop and is why we launched the Workers Comp is a Right campaign last September.

We have three demands: end deeming, listen to our doctors instead of WSIB staff doctors, and stop using pre-existing conditions to reduce benefits for injured workers.

Everyone working in Ontario is at risk of becoming affected like this should they get injured at their job.

The premier and the minister of labour are both claiming outrage over bullying bosses who ignore the new Fairworkplaces legislation. This seems hypocritical considering their government has allowed WSIB to bully workers who were injured on the job.

Heidi MacFarland, Mississauga

The Kathleen Wynne government must end the compensation boards practice of deeming and all politicians must oppose deeming.

This archaic practice pushes workers injured or made ill on the job further into poverty.

With the minimum wage increasing, as it should, these injured workers will lose compensation, whether they are re-employed or not.

Our provincial governments have shamefully embraced this policy for more than 30 years.

Christine Nugent, Barrie District Injured Workers GroupThe rapper's bourbon brand plans to raise up to $30 million through an initial public offering sometime after the first quarter of 2018.

Rapper Drake and spirits producer Brent Hocking look to raise up to $30 million through an initial public offering of their Virginia Black whiskey.

According to a Thursday, Jan. 11, statement, the $5-per-share Reg A+ offering is expected to commence following the end of the first quarter. It plans to use the proceeds to fund an expansion effort, sales and marketing, working capital and other general corporate purposes.

According to a representative of Virginia Black and bookrunner TriPoint Global Equities LLC, the company has been funded to date by the partners and founders. Virginia Black has not decided on an exchange or if it will trade, the representative said, noting the company is weighing "the best path to create shareholder value."

TriPoint Global Equities is the lead managing selling agent and bookrunner for the IPO, which will use TriPoint's Banq electronic investment banking platform. Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP is providing Virginia Black with legal counsel, the representative said.

TriPoint recently served as lead manager and sole bookrunner on a $24 million Reg A+ IPO in October for Fatburger parent Fat Brands Inc. (FAT) - Get FAT Brands Inc. Report and the $12 million Reg A+ IPO of lifestyle-focused Level Brands Inc. in November. The latter company, headed by chairman emeritus and model Kathy Ireland, trades on the NYSE American as LEVB.

Under Title IV of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, U.S. or Canadian companies can raise up to $50 million over 12 months through Reg A+ IPOs, which have an expedited review process and are exempt from Securities and Exchange Commission and state securities law registration.

The Virginia Black representative pointed out that the Jobs Act has no quiet period, so the announcement of the IPO as soon as possible "allows potential customers who were not familiar with the brand to become aware of the product and become a customer and allows Drake's fans who were not aware he had a liquor company to become a customer too."

The exact timing of the offering depends on market conditions, the filing process and a Securities and Exchange Commission review.

According to its website and the statement, Virginia Black is a high-rye bourbon that mixes two-, three- and four-year-old bourbons. The whiskey, which sells for $35 to $40 online, is available in 45 states as well as Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.

The company representative said Virginia Black sources its bourbon from MGP Ingredients Inc. (MGPI). MGP distills spirits for third parties in Lawrenceburg, Ind.

Virginia Black launched in September 2016 and has sold 60,000 cases to date, the representative said. It has production capacity for 350,000 cases, the company said.

Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, first broke into the spotlight with his role as Jimmy Brooks on "Degrassi: The Next Generation." He has released four studio albums, all of which have gone at least double platinum in the U.S. His second release, 2011's "Take Care," won the Grammy Award for best rap album.

Aside from Virginia Black, Drake also started lifestyle brand October's Very Own, record label OVO Sound and the Ovo Fest music festival.

Hocking, a onetime Bank of America Corp. (BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Reportmortgage loan merchant, previously created DeLeon tequila in 2009. Diageo plc (DEO) - Get Diageo plc Sponsored ADR Report acquired the brand in January 2014 in a joint venture with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Combs Wine & Spirits for undisclosed terms.

Virginia Black is distributed by Proximo Spirits Inc., a Jersey City, N.J., company that also distributes Jose Cuervo tequila, Bushmills Irish whiskey, Kraken rum, Boodles gin and Hangar 1 vodka, among other spirits.

The whiskey looks to capitalize on what has been a healthy market for so-called brown spirits -- citing data from the Distilled Spirits Council, the statement pointed to a 6.8% increase in American whiskey volume in 2016 as well as revenue of $3.1 billion, up 7.7%.

The strong growth has spurred a recent string of American whiskey dealmaking, as well as attracting high-profile figures such as Under Armour Inc. (UAA) - Get Under Armour, Inc. Class A Report founder and CEO Kevin Plank.

Most recently, Jose Cuervo owner Becle SAB de CV -- Proximo's parent -- in December agreed to pay $205 million for Hood River Distillers Inc.'s Pendleton Whiskey.

In July, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE acquired Washington's Woodinville Whiskey Co. for undisclosed terms.

Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ) - Get Constellation Brands, Inc. Class A Report announced in January 2017 that it had invested in Virginia whiskey maker Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. LLC. The investment followed Constellation's investment, announced in October 2016, in Kentucky's Bardstown Bourbon Co. Both minority investments had undisclosed terms.

Constellation on Oct. 5, 2016, also acquired High West Holdings LLC for $137 million net of cash.

Read More on Constellation:A New Strategy for Constellation Brands

Remy Cointreau SA in January 2017 closed a purchase of Seattle-based Westland Distillery for undisclosed terms. (Cointreau also announced an investment in Domaine des Hautes Glaces, a whiskey maker in the French Alps.)

Days after the Westland announcement in December 2016, Pernod Ricard SA took a majority stake in West Virginia bourbon maker Smooth Ambler Spirits Co.

The planned IPO for Virginia Black also comes roughly seven months after Diageo agreed to pay up to $1 billion for Casamigos Spirits Co., a tequila company co-founded by George Clooney. Clooney, nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber (the husband of model Cindy Crawford) and developer Mike Meldman founded Casamigos in 2013, and it sold 120,000 cases in 2016.

Constellation Brands is a holding in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer and the AAP team buy or sell STZ? Learn more now.

More of What's Trending on TheStreet:Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) - Get BRK.A Report (BRK.B) - Get BRK.B Report has entered 2018 with more than $100 billion in cash on hand, mainly in treasuries, Chief Executive Warren Buffett said on Tuesday, meaning the Oracle of Omaha has about $80 billion for acquisitions.

"Net, we're buying," Buffett said on CNBC. "We're basically buyers over time. There could be conditions under which we're sellers. For one thing, the money keeps coming so we basically keep buying," he continued.

The Omaha, Neb.-based company with a market capitalization of about $510 billion is a collection of businesses that range from food to insurance, manufacturing and utilities.

"The businesses benefit from best-in-class managements, unmatched balance sheet strength, and many of the companies have strong brands, scale or low-cost competitive advantages," J.P. Morgan analyst Sarah DeWitt wrote in a Dec. 15, 2017 research note.

The Berkshire chairman appears interested in investment opportunities, particularly bolt-on acquisitions, Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan told TheStreet. A bolt-on acquisition refers to the purchase of a company that merges into a division of the acquiring entity.

Electronic components distributor TTI Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, made a bolt-on acquisition just before the new year, buying South Korean semiconductors supplier Changnam INT Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. The purchase allows TTI to expand its presence in the South Korean market.

Over the last 12 months, Berkshire made 27 transactions, according to FactSet Research Systems Inc. Some of the transactions included the purchase of a 38.6% minority stake in Pilot Travel Centers LLC, owner of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain; Berkshire subsidiary Marmon Engineered Components Co. acquired PRISM Plastics, which manufactures injection molded plastic components, for an undisclosed sum; and, Clayton Homes Inc., another Berkshire subsidiary, acquired Harris Doyle Homes Inc. for an unknown price.

More of What's Trending on TheStreet:

Berkshire has laid out six criteria for acquiring a business. It must be a large purchase, at least $50 million of before-tax earnings. The company must have demonstrated consistent earning power and have businesses earning good returns on equity while employing little or no debt. It also must be a simple business -- Buffett noted that "if there's lots of technology, we won't understand it" -- and management must be in place. Lastly, there has to be an offering price. Berkshire said it will not engage in unfriendly takeovers.

"If Berkshire is able to acquire a large business in an all-cash deal, we would typically expect a transaction to be immediately accretive to Berkshire's [earnings per share]," Barclays' Gelb said.

Using Berkshire's acquisition criteria, Bryan Adams, director of FactSet M&A, screened for companies that could be likely acquisition targets, even though attempting to read the mind of an Oracle can be a dubious task.

In July 2017, Adams identified eight companies that meet Buffett's standards, including L'Oreal SA (LRLCY) which has been identified by The Deal as a takeover target.

The other acquisition targets Adams mentioned were Adidas AG (ADDYY) , BlackRock Inc. (BLK) - Get BlackRock, Inc. Report , Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) - Get Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Class A Report , Henkel AG & Co. (HENKY) , Nike Inc. (NKE) - Get NIKE, Inc. (NKE) Report , Public Storage (PSA) - Get Public Storage Report and SAP SE (SAPGF) -- none of which The Deal has identified as M&A targets.

Actelion Ltd. was on Adams' initial 12-company list but eliminated because it was too expensive on a relative basis as were Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) - Get Charles Schwab Corporation Report Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) - Get Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) Report and VMware Inc. (VMW) - Get VMware, Inc. Class A Report , he said. Notably, Actelion was acquired by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Report in a $30 billion all-cash deal.

For the time being, however, Buffett told CNBC that he doesn't have his sights set on any particular acquisition.

But whenever Buffett decides to step away as CEO of Berkshire, the new CEO may begin selling, instead of buying.

"Upon Buffett's departure, the new CEO would be very likely to consider divestment of non-core, relatively unprofitable or underperforming portfolio companies," said Shanahan.

For example, McLane Co., a wholesale distributor of groceries and other items, generates close to $20 billion in annual revenues, but its earnings of about $500 million are negligible, Shanahan added.

To be sure, Buffett has not indicated that he's leaving imminently as the Oracle noted that he is in "remarkably good health."Lowe's Cos. Inc. (LOW) - Get Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) Report shares spiked up 5% Friday afternoon on a report that newbie activist investor D.E. Shaw & Co., a private equity fund, is planning to agitate for change at the retail home improvement giant.

According to Bloomberg, citing sources, the investor has built up an activist stake in Lowe's and plans to agitate for change. The campaign will put new pressure on Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock.

D.E. Shaw recently hired former Elliott Management portfolio manager Quentin Koffey to lead its activist investing team.

It recently reported a 5.1% passive stake in Babcock & Wilcox (BW), which recently reached a settlement to install three dissident directors with another activist buyout shop, Vintage Capital.

Koffey led D.E. Shaw's recent efforts to press EQT Corp. (EQT) - Get EQT Corporation Report to separate its upstream and midstream businesses. The fund's campaign at EQT came after established activist fund Jana Partners sought unsuccessfully to break up EQT's $6.7 billion acquisition of rival natural gas producer Rice Energy Inc. Jana Partners is also pressing for EQT to break up its upstream and midstream businesses.

Lowe's, which has an $82 billion market capitalization, would by far be the most significant activist campaign D.E. Shaw has ever undertaken.

Lowe's shares were trading late Friday at $100.82, up 5.27% on the news. In November, Lowe's posted same-store sales growth of 5.7% and earnings of $1.05 per share, both exceeding Wall Street forecasts.

A spokesman for D.E. Shaw declined to comment.

For more coverage like this, sign up for the Activist Daily.Albany

Following an outcry from prison-reform advocates and a flurry of news reports, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said he was suspending an initiative that sharply limited the content of care packages that inmates can receive in state prisons.

Reform advocates said the program, in which friends and families of inmates had to send items through private vendors, was too restrictive and would cut off contact between prisoners and their families.

The policy, which was already in place at three prisons and slated to be phased in statewide, was touted as a way to combat contraband because all of the items would have been pre-selected and generally sent in tamper-proof packages from the vendors, which serve prisons nationwide.

Cuomo announced the reversal Friday afternoon on Twitter, saying, I am directing the Dept. of Corrections to rescind its flawed pilot program that restricted shipment of books & care packages to inmates. Concerns from families need to be addressed, while we redouble efforts to fight prison contraband.

A few minutes later Thomas Mailey, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, sent an email saying the program was suspended.

As part of a multi-faceted plan to address the flow of contraband, the Department recently launched a pilot secure vendor program in three of its facilities, similar to ones already in place in nearly 30 other states. However, concerns have been raised by families of inmates regarding the availability and price of products under this program, concerns we do not take lightly. To that end, the Governor has directed the Department to suspend this pilot program until these concerns are addressed, Mailey said in the email.

He added, In the meantime, we will redouble our efforts on the other parts of our multi-faceted plan to eliminate contraband and increase safety in our prison system.

Advocates said they were gratified that the Cuomo administration was listening to their concerns and paying attention to several stories about the initiative including one online at timesunion.com.

They also cautioned that they were unsure if a modified version of the plan lay ahead.

It obviously demonstrates that there were fundamental flaws in what was being proposed, said Jack Beck, who runs the Prisoner Visiting project at the Correctional Association of New York, a group that advocates for better prison conditions. Without the pressure (from families and media stories) I dont think this would have happened.

He remained wary, explaining that his group wants to know the initiative is buried once and for all.

Advocates said inserting a third-party vendor made for a less-direct connection between inmates and families, which can help convicts get through their sentences and adapt to a crime-free life once they are released.

Packages that a mother or daughters hands have never touched are sterile and less meaningful, Caroline Hsu, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said in an email. When you are in prison, a cookie is never just a cookie, it is a lifeline if it comes with love.

Forcing people in prison and their families to buy from pre-selected vendors results in price-gouging, creates anger and fosters hopelessness in already volatile prisons, Tina Luongo, The Legal Aid Societys attorney-in-charge of the criminal defense practice, added in an email.

The policy had been in effect at three prisons: Green Haven, Greene and Taconic.

DOCCS had contracted with six vendors that serve the prison industry: E-Ford Commissary; Access Securepak; Union Supply; JL Marcus; Walkenhorst; and Music by Mail.

The last one, Music by Mail, was added after activists including members of Books Through Bars volunteer group had complained that the plan would sharply limit the kind of reading material that inmates could get. Music by Mail has a substantial inventory of books that can be ordered and sent to inmates.

Books Through Bars donates books to prisoners who request them. The group said they were "cautiously" welcoming news of the suspension.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The vendors also carried food items ranging from cookies and candies to Spam and instant coffee. Advocates noted that a fair number of inmates rely on care packages for their meals instead of consuming prison fare which is light on items like fresh fruits and vegetables.

Still in place are the measures that DOCCS has instituted to crack down on contraband.

More for you News State policy on care packages to inmates draws protests

Those moves include the use of more sensitive metal detectors, increased numbers of dogs that can sniff out drugs and piloting the use of body cameras.

The agency is also hiring outside investigators and banning products with canned lids that can be fashioned into weapons.

Additionally, DOCCS recently required prison employees to bring items such as their lunches in clear see-through plastic bags.

The added scrutiny follows the June 2015 escape of two inmates from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

Convicted killers David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped through an inactive steam pipe underneath the prison. The escape triggered a massive search and created a national spectacle.

Matt was eventually shot and killed while Sweat was shot, injured and returned to prison. The escape, authorities said, was aided by tools that had been hidden in pieces of frozen meat brought into the prison as well as tools smuggled by a correction officer.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTUTipperary County Council may have to look at at Public Private Partnership to develop houses and get people off the housing list, according to Cllr Michael O'Meara.

Welcoming an upturn in dealing with ghost estates, he told Nenagh MDC that if people can come back and live in rural Ireland it will be a positive thing.

He was commenting after the MDC had agreed to amend the Nenagh Town and Evironment Development Plan 2013 to allow for the development of Stereame.

The council plans a cmapus-style development on the site but says it wants to make sure the zoning is right.

Social housing will be an element, planner Sonja Reidy told Cllr Hughie McGrath who asked that the council talk to housing agencies to develop housing.

We can't build unless we have a landbank, and I believe we are limited enough around the town, he said. We need to get back to where we were before and build houses, said Cllr McGrathLAS VEGAS  Riding in a self-driving cab is a completely uneventful experience  but thats by design.

For all the headlines about self-driving cars that have dominated the news for the last few years, not many people have actually ridden in one. So Navya and Aptiv, two companies that have been working on autonomous cars for a long time, brought their vehicles to CES to show the public what the future of transportation could actually feel like.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Both companies showed off autonomous taxi cabs: Navyas taxi, called Autonom Cab, and Aptivs self-driving Lyft. I took a ride in both of them to see what hailing a cab could look like in a few years (or perhaps longer).



MORE: Tom's Guide CES 2018 Awards

Riding in the Autonom Cab was like being chauffeured around by a teen taking drivers ed.

Navyas Autonom Cab felt like the more futuristic of the two. Its the first self-driving car to run autonomously from the beginning, so it doesnt have a steering wheel. Instead, there are three seats facing each other on both sides of the car cabin. On the left side of the car is a touchscreen panel where you can watch movies, or find other ways to entertain yourself. On the right side is the door.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Aptivs Lyft rides were BMW 5 Series sedans retrofitted with LIDAR, radar and vision sensors in addition to GPS. Because the sedans have a steering wheel, a human being is required by Nevada law to be able to take control of it. A button on the steering wheel is repurposed to activate autonomous mode when you press it.

Both companies demoed how hailing a self-driving ride would work with an app. No surprise: Calling an autonomous car is the exact same process as requesting a regular one. But the rides themselves were completely different.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Navyas Autonom Cab covered a predetermined course, about three and a half blocks around downtown Las Vegas. Navya and its partner Keolis have been operating an autonomous shuttle around downtown Vegas for a few months now, which made news when it was involved in an accident on its first day running. (That accident was not the shuttle's fault, but it was unfortunate timing.)

While I felt every bit of the technology that went into making the Autonom Cab, the self-driving Lyft was notable in how totally unremarkable the drive was.

The shuttle will always follow a preset route, but the cab can take people wherever they want to go, which is a far more challenging prospect.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Riding in the Autonom Cab was like being chauffeured around by a teen taking drivers ed. The car braked sharply at stop signs, and creeped slowly through intersections, even at green lights.

The Autonom Cab can reach speeds of 55 mph, but will average 30 mph on city streets. It was an extremely cool experience, especially seeing the cabs sensors at work when the vehicle made a right turn, and a bicyclist entered the intersection at the same time. The cab slammed on the brakes and wouldnt start moving again until the cyclist (who was gaping at the car with no driver inside) had cleared the intersection.

While I felt every bit of the technology that went into making the Autonom Cab, the self-driving Lyft was notable in how totally unremarkable the drive was. As we cruised the streets surrounding the Las Vegas Convention Center side and turned onto Las Vegas Boulevard, it felt like being driven around by my mom, who is a normal but slightly-more-cautious-than-average driver.

The car changed lanes like a human being would, and it braked smoothly, unlike Navyas cab. It always seemed to know when a stoplight was up ahead, thanks to transceivers that the city of Las Vegas allowed Aptiv to place on the lights, which communicate with its cars.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The only sign that this car was driving itself was a giant dashboard display showing the sensors at work, with outlines of cars and blue dots to signify people moving. Oh, that and a loud announcement over the car speakers every time the person behind the wheel activated the car's autonomous mode.

Like Navyas cab, the autonomous Lyft had a tablet designed for entertaining backseat passengers (although the one I rode in didnt show anything). Its not hard to imagine a future where your self-driving car whisks you to work while you answer emails or catch up on the news in the backseat.

But there are plenty of challenges for self-driving cars to tackle before that future becomes a reality. Autonomous vehicles have to deal with unexpected but common road conditions, like bad weather and bad drivers. A self-driving car still cant adapt to police directing traffic when a stoplight malfunctions. And tech companies have to navigate the complex state laws around self-driving cars.

You wont be able to hail a self-driving Lyft or Autonom Cab in your city anytime soon. Aptiv user experience designer Nandita Mangal, who guided my Lyft carpool, said that self-driving cabs will most likely start rolling out in 2030.

That seems like a long time to wait, but theres too much at stake to rush autonomous cars onto the road. The future may be just around the corner in some respects, but the demos I saw at CES prove theres still a ways to go.In case it isnt obvious by now, the Consumer Electronics Show attracted just about every automaker that has a vested interest in future mobility. Honda was in attendance at the event, where it announced plans through Honda Xcelerator to bring together a consortium of tech startups with the goal of developing new technologies that are geared towards future mobility. Included in this list of startups are BRAIQ, DeepMap, DynaOptics, EXO Technologies, Tactual Labs, and WayRay.

Hondas goal in partnering with BRAIQ is to one day personalise its own Adaptive Cruise Control system to improve trust in autonomous driving technology

Each of the six startups brings something different to the table. BRAIQ, for example, is a company that focuses on developing technologies for the autonomous vehicle space, specifically through the collection of biometric information that it can analyze to add what it describes as a layer of emotional intelligence on top of artificial intelligence. Hondas goal in partnering with BRAIQ is to one day personalise its own Adaptive Cruise Control system to improve trust in autonomous driving technology. For its part, DynaOptics service revolves around state-of-the-art optic lenses. The Singapore-based startup is known for its free-form optic lenses that work better than traditional lenses in certain specifications. Hondas tapping into that ability to improve its own light-to-camera sensors.

Hondas goal of improving its own GPS service is a big reason why its bringing startups DeepMaps and EXO Technologies into the fold. DeepMaps is based in California, and it provides high-definition (HD) maps and real-time localization as a service to autonomous vehicles. As it is, the company is building a cloud-based, scalable platform that can create 3D HD maps for autonomous cars equipped with Level 4 and Level 5 autonomy. Meanwhile, Israel-based EXO Technologies provides its own brand of GPS solutions that focus on improving in-car navigation among autonomous vehicles. These two partnerships fall in line with Hondas plan to take its GPS service to a level that can be used by autonomous vehicles.

PRISMa technology is capable of wrapping a free-form object in accurate in-air, skeletal, and contact sensing and construct the human hand and body in 3D

Another startup, Tactual Labs, has been brought into the fold by Honda because of the startups PRISMa technology. This tech feature is capable of wrapping a free-form object in accurate in-air, skeletal, and contact sensing and construct the human hand and body in 3D. Hondas collaboration with the Toronto-based company is tied into its plan to create a new and smarter user interface that can provide drivers increased functionality while inside their cars or aboard their motorcycles.

Then theres WayRay, a Swiss developer of a holographic augmented reality (AR) navigation system for cars, giving us an idea of Honda Xcelerators plans with this partnership. One of WayRays calling cards is its Holographic AR, a display device that can turn a cars windshield into a window of information thats capable of displaying multicolored virtual objects. The tech is compact in size, but it is capable of creating a fully-featured, non-wearable augmented reality infotainment system that can serve multiple functions, including detection of road obstacles and pedestrians, displaying points of interest, or alerting the driver to hazards. In other words, Honda wants to go Minority Report on all of us.

References

Read more Honda news.

Read more CES news.

Read more technology news.It can be done in 10 or 11 hrs, via Milan and Nice/Lyon (or Milan + Geneva + Culoz + Lyon), as you could see just looking at a train timetable (which you would surely do if you are considering buying a Eurail pass, no? I hope you didn't think a pass would enable you to jump on any train you wanted!).

So yes, you can do it in a Eurail pass "day", but if you do, you will have to pay extra for reservations on Frecce (10) and TGV trains (10-20), so it is quite possible that you could have paid less buying individual tickets about 3 months in advance (seat reservations being included). In addition, as there are limited places on high-speed trains for Eurail passholders, if you need to take a specific departure, you CAN find yourself having to buy an individual ticket in any case, and if this is on or near the date of travel, at a much higher price than you would have paid buying in advance.

I hope you have calculated the prices of all trips buying individual tickets, before deciding whether to purchase a Eurail pass - and using the websites of the train operators involved (Italian and French Railways, so - http://www.sncf.com/en/services/tickets-bookings), NOT the calculator provided by Eurail, which always compares with the top price for each trip, and not advance-purchase prices.

Edited: 3 years agoDont do a stopover. Weve flown to Australia from the US East Coast several times and once I thought it might be a good idea to stop overnight in LA on the way to Sydney. It turned out to be a big mistake. We spent a lot of time collecting our bags upon arrival at LAX and getting to our airport-area hotel. There was no time to do any sightseeing and it wasnt the most restful sleep as we had to think about getting to the airport the next day. The next day, we had to deal with the hassles of TSA again. In retrospect, I wished we had just flown straight to Sydney and had that extra day in Australia. I never made that mistake again.

If you are set on doing a stopover, do it for at least 2-3 days.

Edited: 3 years agoThank you all for your replies.

As LOstris suggested, here is my itinerary.

April 14th- arrive in Sydney

15th- Sydney

16th- Sydney

17th- Sydney

18th- Sydney

19th- fly to Uluru/Ayeres Rock

20th- Uluru

21st- Uluru

22nd- fly to Airlie Beach

23rd- Sail the Whitsundays

24th- Sail the Whitsundays

25th- Airlie Beach

26th- Airlie Beach

27th- fly to Brisbane

28th- fly home

A side note:

I plan on visiting the Blue Mountains as well but only doing a day trip, not staying the night.

The only reason why we are flying to Brisbane is to be able to take a one way straight flight home to California.

I really want to see the Whitsundays which is why we chose to go there instead of Port Douglas and Cairnes.

I would have loved to fit in Melbourne to our itinerary as well so we can see Great Ocean Road but I didn't find the space in our 16 days.Dear Experts,

Myself and my wife have planned following from 28th April to 8th May. We have already reserved tickets. I have made iternary as follows and please suggest. I have put few queries in front of dates. Please help with your valuable inputs.

28th April - Travel to Melbourne

29th April - Melbourne city tour - Stadium, Eureka Tower, Ghost Tour (assuming not so scary :-D )

Query: Anything else can we cover?

30th April - Great Ocean Road day trip

1st May - Philip island parade tour (in 2nd half).

Query: Can we club 29th City tour with this day to save on one day?

2nd May - Fly to GC and in 2nd half - SkyPoint Observation Deck Admission

3rd May - Gold Coast Theme Park Pass : Movie World, Sea World and Wet n Wild

4th May - Gold Coast Helicopter Flight and Jet Boat Ride

5th May - Travel to Sydney from gold coast

6th May - Blue Mountains Day Trip Including Sydney Olympic Park, Featherdale Wildlife Park and Scenic World

7th May - SEA LIFE Aquarium, Sydney Tower Eye, WILD LIFE Zoo and Madame Tussauds, Harbour bridge, opera Concert and beach visit

Query: Can we cover this on one day and few places on 5th May also ?

Query: I understand that Wild life ZOO is different from Tarango Zoo. Which one is preferable?

Query: We have not yet included Bondi to Coogee beach walk. Is this must visit - and do we require one more day for this?

Query: Where we can get to see Kangaroos :-)

8th May - Travel back from Sydney

Query: I hope climate will be good in last week of April and 1st Week of May in Melbourne, GC and Sydney for above iternary

Please help with queries and suggest improvements, if any.

Edited: 3 years agoWe are a couple in our late 50s visiting Australia in a couple of weeks time. (So excited!j First stop Perth for 10 days - visiting family, exploring, plus a couple of nights in Margaret River, 2nd stop Melbourne for a few days and hiring a car to do the GOR over 3 days ....last stop Sydney for 6 days/7 nights....

We thought wed see the highlights and also factor in some chill time (as we are conscious of how hot it will be and dont intend to hire a car in Sydney unless we are convinced otherwise) and, despite the heat - enjoy some sun, good food etc. etc before returning to a potentially cold and dreary UK at the end of Feb. However, need advice on must see sights and best place to base ourselves.

We are considering staying in 2 different hotels, or apartments. Perhaps one more central for the Sydney sights and the other near the beaches, Coogee? Bondi? Mannly? Or further if theres a good recommendation. A friend has suggested staying in one of the suburbs for the first bit as the train service is so efficient to get into the centre and it would be more cost effective. Our priorities are good location, good transit to the centre, access to cafes and great food, comfortable bed, air con is a must (but staying more central may be the best option?)...and we would like at least 3 days by the beach preferably with a pool (Coogee probably fits that bill). Were also considering visiting the Blue mountains as normally we love hiking and outdoors - but have slightly gone off the idea due to the weather and bush fire potential....

Any advice would be gladly received! In anticipation......We booked our private transfers through the hotels that we were departing from. Reasoning being that we then had someone to go to in the event of any issues/no-shows etc (as it happened there were no issues at all and this may have been unnecessary given the generally good level of transportation around CR).

When double checking prices we also found that the hotels were no more expensive (but as mentioned in a thread on tours this is probably because the shuttle operators pay the hotel a commission rather than the guests).Hi folks, i was searching for the requirements and price details of tourist visa to Vietnam.

I have seen VOA is valid over there for Indians. But some blogs said there is not.

Could someone clear my doubts? So I can plan further with my new trip.

1. E-visa is valid on vietnam?

2. How much USD should i pay for visa (maximum 1 week)

3. Any documents needed for this?

4. Should i prepare something regards with visa in India, before the trip?Good Day TripAdvisor Expert!!!

I & 3 girlfriend aged 50+ will travel Hokkaido. Japan for the very first time and we do not have any idea about Hokkaido/Sapporo? btw what is the different between Hokkaido & Sapporo.

We want to have Winter & Spring feeling so we devide to go on 26/April/18 to 2/May/18

Not sure if the timing right 

Can you help us .. what kind of ACCOMMONDATION convenient with all amenities, reasonable rate. Why I ask for reasonable rate? because all of us are Homemaker, we kinda on budget.

We will arrive CHITOSE Airport. What kind of transport is less expensive to travel to our destination.

Last but not least, do we need Winter clothing during that period?

PLEASE HELP. We appreciate your kind in-put. Thank you in Advance.

MayGod Bless you and family >One last question - if I miss my 14:09 train, can I just show the JR Pass and get on the 14:19 without going to the station ticket office?

Once you're past the turnstiles, you've already boarded your train from the legal standpoint, so you don't need to go to a ticket office. In fact, you may board the train going completely other direction than stated in your ticket  you'd just have to pay the difference going through the exit turnstiles. It is considered a bad manner to do so if you have a reserved ticket, though, as you essentially rob someone of their seat, so if you miss a train with a reserved seat, a good form would be to to to the office and cancel the reservation. If you don't have one, though, feel free to board any unreserved car.There are two Classic Harbor line tours that ALSO circumnavigates the whole of the island of Manhattan:

the AIAANY architecture tour ($78) and the Around Manhattan Brunch Cruise ($108). The first leaves at 1.30 tomorrow and the second one is NOT available on the 13th.

It is a much smaller boat than the Circle Line. It's inside, though the large plate glass windows can be slid open on warmer days. We did this in April 2016 on a beautiful day with the windows wide open. Going all the way around Manhattan is amazing (we did the Circle Line version of the complete circumnavigation on our 1994 trip and loved it too).

We also went on another Classic Harbor Line tour at night in December 2016 (jazz and champagne). The windows needed to be kept shut that evening, but the views were gorgeous.

If the AIAANYC tour is the one you're planning on going on, and given the clouds are clearing for the afternoon, I'd go for it! Also, there's 21 seats left on the tour as of now, so that means there's space to spread out!!

Good luck.-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

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Guwahati : In a bid to accelerate women empowerment and pushing to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Beti Bachao Beti Padhao mission, the BJP-led Assam government on Friday had distributed 1000 scooties to the girl students who secured top positions in the Higher Secondary Leaving Certificate examination, 2017.





During a distribution ceremonial function held at the auditorium of Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and state Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had distributed the non-gear scooties to the girl students.





It may be noted that starting the scheme of giving free scooty to the girl students in recognition to their good results in the higher secondary examinations was one of the budget promises of the state government.





Fulfilling the budget promise, Sonowal handed over allotment certificates along with keys to the girl students in the city today in presence of Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.





Speaking on the occasion the Assam CM said that ever since has the new dispensation been in power, quality has become the only criterion for getting government jobs and other government incentives.





He also said that his government has been striving hard to sustain the atmosphere and make quality the only tool for selecting the beneficiaries into the fold of government programmes.





Sonowal said that the state government is committed to quality higher education and through education the much deserved qualitative changes will be brought about in the society.





The governments decision to introduce Gunotsav in the education system was primarily done to bring in qualitative changes in education, Sonowal said.





Sonowal requested the education department to include sapling plantation as an essential component of Gunotsav to complement the state governments efforts of adding life to bio-diversity in the state.





He also asked the recipients of scooties to use them (scooties) as a medium or launch pad to scale high in their career.





Sonowal advised the students to work hard and stay with the positive people and avoid negative companies.





He also said that he felt happy to have launched the scheme on a day synchronising with the National Youth Day, the birth anniversary of Swami Vevekananda today.





Swami Vivekanada a youth icon has tremendous influence on the youths and he called upon the young generation of the state to emulate the mission and vision of Swamiji for a robust country based on the tenets of humanism, Sonowal said.





Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while speaking on the occasion said that the idea of giving free scooties in recognition to the merits of the girl students is a small gesture of the states governments efforts towards women empowerment.





He also said though this year the state government has decided to give free scooties to 1000 students, next year the number of beneficiaries would be increased to 5000.





Considering the problem of many students belonging to below poverty line in getting admission in the higher secondary and degree level, the state government has decided to give free text books and waive off the admission fees for them, Sarma said.





It may also be noted that those students who opted for cash instead of scooties were given Rs 35000 as a part of the programme.





Principal Secretary to Higher Education Ajay Tiwari, adviser to education department Prof Mihir Kanti Choudhury, principal of Cotton University Prof Bhabesh Goswami, director higher education Babulal Sharma and host of other

dignitaries, teachers and students were present on the occasion.



Utalii College is one of the best training centers in Africa with the main courses in Travel and Hotel Management. It has opened its doors in 1975 which means that for almost fifty years it provides people with qualitative education. Find out about Utalii College fee structure and provided courses in the following article.

Utalii College historical background

Utalii College opened its doors almost fifty years ago, and has given specialized higher education to more than 60,000 lucky graduates not only from Africa, but from the whole world. The educational institution was founded in 1975 under the Hotels and Restaurants Act, which was later replaced by the Tourism Act.

Read also: Laikipia University. All the Needed Information to Become a Student

Utalii College is an honorable member of African EUHOFA association, thanks to its constant aspiration to improve and modernize quality of their education.

Utalii College educational courses

If you want to become a student at Utalii College, choose a preferential course and gain the highest quality education in Tourism and Hotel Management.

Utalii College fee structure

At the moment, the structure lokk in tis way:

Degree courses

You are able to choose either Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management or Bachelor of Arts in Travel and Tourism Management. Sounds interesting and you would like to know fee structure of Utalii college degree courses? Get ready to pay 12,000 per course unit for a Bachelor Degree. There are also other fees, that future student will have to pay per semester:

1,000 - registration process; 1,000 - library fee; 5,000 - annual fee for computer/lab works 500 - fee for production of your personal ID card; 5,000 - medical emergency fee; 2,000 - activity charges; 500 - examination charges (per unit); 1,000 - Union fee for every student; 6,900 - transportation charges. This Kenya Utalii College fee structure is optional.

Utalii College is one of the best educational institutions in Africa

Diploma Courses

Want to get a diploma in Hotel Management and Travel and Tourism Management? Then try to become a student and graduate from Utalii College. First of all, find out about Kenya Utalii College fee structure for diploma courses. Feel free to contact the administration of the college with the help of the following contacts.

Utalii College contacts

To contact the main campus in Nairobi, by the telephone - +254 733 600 584; +254 722 205 492; + 254 722 205 491; via e-mail - info@utalii.co.ke; or visit the administration on your own at - Off Thika Road, P.O Box 31052-00600 Nairobi.

If you live in Mombasa or near the city, you can contact the Mombasa Campus via e-mail - mombasacampus@utalii.co.ke; via telephone - +254 20 249 9248; +254 772 247 605; or at Mombasa Trade Center (MTC), Former Ambalal Hse Opp Electricity Hse, 4th Floor, North Wing, P.O Box 90662  80100, MOMBASA.

For Kisumu citizens - official telephone number - +254 706-847 278; send an e-mail via - ksmcampus@utalii.ac.ke; or visit them at - NAKUMAT Mega City Mall, Mezzanine floor Nairobi Rd, Kisumu, P.O.BOX 19470-40123, Kisumu.

Utalii College. One of the buildings of the Utalii College

Certificate Courses

Want to spend only from half a year to year and a half and become a real professional in Travel Operations, Tour Guiding and Administration, Food Production, Housekeeping and Laundry, Front Office? Then certificate courses are just for you. To be able to study at Utalii College certificate courses you will have to be from 18 to 30 years old. To be able to find information about fees or requirements, please, visit the college's official web site or contact them via listed contacts.

Short Courses

Short courses last only for three month in Housekeeping and Laundry Techniques, Laundry and Dry Cleaning Technologies cost from 30,000 to 40,000 KSH per whole education period. The necessary list of documents and age are the same as for all the other courses.

So, if you want to study at one of the best colleges in Kenya and become a professional in Hotel and Tourism Management, Utalii College is the right choice.

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Deputy President William Ruto's outrider has died in an accident

- The Police outrider lost control of his motorbike on Wangari Mathaai road

- The motorcade was heading to Githunguri in Kiambu county for a funeral

A police outrider in Deputy President William Rutos motorcade died on Saturday, January 13 after he lost control of his motorbike

The officer lost control, hit a street light pole and fell down, sustaining serious head injuries as he rode ahead of the DP on Wangari Mathaai road in Nairobi

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

The deceased, Constable Kasmel Ndege, a General Service Unit (GSU) attached to the Presidential Escort, was riding a BMW motorcycle registration number GK B815Q.

READ ALSO: South Africa's VP and Raila's buddy commits to work closely with Jubilee

A file photo of Deputy President William Ruto. Photo: William Ruto/Facebook

READ ALSO: The challenge is immense but together we will conquer - George Weah's response to Uhuru Kenyatta

The head of the Traffics Government Vehicle Accident Investigations (GVAIS) said that the officer died on the spot

The body was taken to Chiromo mortuary while the motorcycle was taken to the Highridge Presidential Escort Unit for inspection

The Deputy President's motorcade was traveling to Githunguri, Kiambu County, where he is attending a burial ceremony.

READ ALSO: Igathe should not have asked for Sonko's TRUST. Sonko is NOT a Girl - Mutahi Ngunyi

Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta are usually escorted by police motorbikes when on official duties around the country.

The escort team of the Deputy President is drawn from the elite presidential escort that escorts them when on official duties around the country.

TUKO.co.ke is following up the news to bring you more details of the accident.

ALSO WATCH: Kenyans call on government to end Kenya Power's monopoly

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Miguna Miguna has claimed that a section of Opposition coalition NASA principals are holding night meetings with Jubilee Party leaders

- The former Raila Odinga advisor contends that the meetings are aimed at scuttling the Opposition

- He affirmed that the former Prime Minister's planned swearing in ceremony as the People's President is still on course

Controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna has claimed that Jubilee Party agents are holding secret meetings with Opposition coalition NASA principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula.

In a series of tweets published on his official Twitter account on Saturday, January 13, the self-proclaimed National Resistance Movement (NRM) General contended that the fresh move by Jubilee is aimed at scuttling NASA's plans to swear-in Raila Odinga as the People's President.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Stand-off looming among NASA leaders over Raila swearing in

Opposition coalition NASA co-principals Wetang'ula and Kalonzo. It has been alleged that they are secretly meeting Jubilee agents. Photo: THE BIG ISSUE

READ ALSO: Raila's swearing-in is increasingly becoming a big joke - Boni Khalwale

Miguna, however, insisted that the swearing in ceremony planned for later this month is still on course, asserting that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto were not validly elected.

READ ALSO: Forget swearing-in and support Mudavadi instead, NASA MP tells Raila

Raila's swearing plans have in the past faced critical hurdles, with reports indicating that key Opposition leaders within NASA are opposed to the move.

Last Tuesday, Ford Kenya MP Richard Onyonka remarked that he recognizes the presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta.

READ ALSO: US does not care about Raila's legacy, only its business interests in Kenya - Millie Odhiambo

The Kitutu Chache South lawmaker, who is also Wetangula's Deputy Party leader further rejected NASA's push to swear in Raila and Kalonzo.

'As an MP, I have issues with the way the election was handled but I can't say Uhuru is not Kenya's leader. I have no problem since he was sworn in,' he said in a statement.

Kenyans accuse NTSA of incompetence and corruption and want it disbanded on TUKO TV

Source: Kenya Breaking News TodayThere was a rush for Pfizer vaccines at a couple of sites today, as the roll out of that vacKathmandu, Nepal: Cold wave continued to take its toll in several Tarai districts even though the cold of this winter season has affected the normal life in other parts of the country. As on Monday, at least 12 people have lost their lives due to the deadly cold. Even though most of the Terai districts are affected with the tedious cold, the number of death toll is high in Saptari district. According to the media reports, nine people have lost their lives in Saptari alone while remaining three died in Rautahat district.





As mercury has continuously been dipping and the efforts made by the different sectors on the name of serving the people do not seem effective, it is likely that the number of death toll would be multi folds in days to come. Hundreds of people have already fall sick and some of them are out of excess of proper medication. People, particularly the children and the elderly coming from the poor and disadvantaged communities have suffered most from the cold. People in the financially backward settlements in Terai districts seem to have had to spend the nights around wood-fire in lack of proper winter clothes. Though the reports of people succumbing to cold wave have started to make headlines, proper attentions are not given yet from the concerned agencies to save the lives of the people.





The tremendous cold has not only caused deaths but also badly affected the normal lives in the Terai districts triggering multiple effects in the communities. As number of school coming students declined, most of the community schools are closed affecting the educational activities. Economical activities have also come down automatically as vehicular movements and flights are halted, market places are closed and the people are becoming unable even to conduct their daily activities. More two minors have lost their lives due to smoke inhalation at Itahari sub-metropolis-6 of Sunari district.





Smoke emitted by a sawdust burning stove had not only caused deaths of two children of a single family but also the parents have fall sick critically due to the smoke-inhalation injuries. The situation is even worse in the residents who had lost their homes in the floods of last rainy season in Saptari district. The deprived families, who have remained homeless due to the floods, have been spending whole the nights around wood-fire in lack of proper shelter and winter clothes.





As the cold season was not come accidently but come early, the concerned government agencies should have given proper attention previously to manage the things worrisome situations. President Bidya Devi Bhandari expressed her grief and sorrow at the loss of lives in the Tarai districts due to cold urging the government to provide relief for the affected people. We would like to salute to the head of state for the generosity shown through the statement.



Ukrainian police stopped the activities of 172 organized crime groups and exposed 13 gangs of bandits last year.

The relevant information was published on the website of the National Police of Ukraine.

"This is the result of painstaking work of the officers of the departments of criminal investigation, cyber security, counteraction to drug related crimes, economic security. The number of crimes solved in 2017 is 1.7 times as much as in 2016. In addition, last year the police exposed 13 gangs of bandits, which the highest index for the past five years," the National Police noted.

Moreover, the Ukrainian law enforcement officers solved 1,953 crimes committed by members of organized crime groups. In particular, police officers found 665 persons who committed such crimes.

olRussian-backed militants launched ten attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in Donbas in last day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

As noted, in Luhansk direction, the enemy used 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, weapons on infantry combat vehicles and antiaircraft mounts to shell Ukrainian strongholds near Troitske (69km west of Luhansk). Illegal armed formations also opened fire from 82mm mortars and infantry weapons on the defenders of Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk). ATO troops outside Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk) and Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk) came under small arms fire.

In Donetsk direction, militants violated ceasefire near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) and Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), using 120mm mortars. Ukrainian positions came under grenade launcher, heavy machine gun and small arms fire near Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk).

As the ATO Headquarters press center reported, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded over the past day.

olOver the past day, Russian-backed militants violated ceasefire in Donetsk and Luhansk directions, using the weapons banned under the Minsk agreements. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson Dmytro Hutsuliak said this at a press briefing on Saturday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Russian-backed militants continue to violate ceasefire in ATO area in eastern Ukraine, particularly by using the weapons banned under the Minsk agreements. Fortunately, no Ukrainian servicemen were killed over the past day. However, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of the enemy shelling near Troitske [69km west of Luhansk] and Katerynivka [64km west of Luhansk], he said.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson added that the wounded soldiers had been taken to military and mobile hospitals. Their health state is of moderate severity.

olThe mission of the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) and European Union experts started to work in the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine in order to identify the SFS needs in the field of information technologies.

In particular, that involves a study of the IT development in the SFS, analysis of the situation regarding the procurement of telecommunications solutions, infrastructure and equipment to support the operation of IoT technologies along with the information exchange between the SFS, the Ministry of Finance and the State Treasury, the press service of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine reports.

"A significant part of the strategic initiatives of the SFS development by 2020 is devoted to IT. Taking this into account, the assistance of international experts in this area is very important and useful, because through such missions we receive not only international experience and technical assistance, but also a definite plan of reforms and cooperation in this field," Myroslav Prodan, acting SFS Commissioner said during the working meeting with the mission experts.

According to him, the SFS is ready for active cooperation with international experts in the field of IT development. In 2017, the implementation of a number of projects on the development of electronic services has already begun with the relevant legislation having been adopted.

"We already have positive results regarding the implementation of electronic services. Thanks to them, the corruption component in the work of our employees has significantly decreased. I am convinced that only with IT services we will be able to create favorable business climate and equal conditions for doing business," said Prodan.

According to the SFS Commissioner, in 2018, the efforts of the SFS employees will be concentrated on completing the projects launched in2017. Thus, one of such project is the automated One-Stop-Shop system that functions at the customs. From February 2018, in accordance with the current legislation, all customs declarations will be processed on this principle.

In addition, in 2018, the SFS will work to ensure the full-function operation of the Taxpayer's e-cabinet, implement the e-audit mechanism, automated HR management and corruption risks analysis systems, launch a fully automated document management system, as well as to improve the risk analysis and on- line processes monitoring system at checkpoints.

"Currently, we have started projects with a legislative basis, we have human and material resources, support of international experts. These are the best conditions for development. I am confident that in such a format we will be able to implement all plans and ideas, and 2018 will be one of the most successful years for the service," Prodan emphasized.

Following the results of the initial assessment of the situation in the SFS, the mission will identify the SFS IT needs and propose an appropriate reform and cooperation plan.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) was established in 1995 by the Resolution of the UN General Assembly to provide services in the field of procurement, construction and implementation of projects.

UNOPS operates in more than 140 UN member countries, provides services of managing programs and projects in any area covered by the UN mandate with humanitarian and development goals.

The UNOPS experts visit to Ukraine is part of the EU PFM support program for Ukraine with a total amount of financial assistance being 55 million euros.The Ukrainian delegation led by Chairman of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine Serhiy Savchuk participated in the Legislators Forum in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on the eve of the opening of the eighth session of the IRENA Assembly.

"More than 60 parliamentarians from 30 countries, including Ukraine, discussed effective legislative ways to accelerate the development of renewable energy. The Ukrainian delegation also confirmed the important role of lawmakers in the development of the domestic clean energy market," reads the statement of the press service of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine.

The forum participants also discussed the search for ways to increase the share of renewable energy sources for implementation of the nationally determined contributions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions as part of the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

As noted, Ukraine has been already working in this direction. A mechanism has been developed to encourage energy intensive enterprises to use carbon tax funds for implementation of energy efficiency and clean energy projects. In particular, the introduction of the energy management systems in the industry will promote energy efficiency in Ukraine and, as a result, strengthen the countrys energy independence.

olThe Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF) issued a call for applications for the Defenders of Ukraine Fund for projects to assist Ukraine war veterans.

This was announced by the Defence Ministry of Ukraine, the Government portal reports.

Thanks to the generous support of donors during the Gala Reception for Invictus Team Ukraine, the UCC will be able to support projects that work for the benefit of Ukraines wounded soldiers and veterans, stated Paul Grod, National President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

According to Victor Hetmanczuk, President of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, the Defenders of Ukraine Fund will provide meaningful support to many organizations whose vital projects are providing much-needed help to Ukraines wounded warriors.

"Ukraines Armed Forces are defending their homeland against a foreign invader. They are Ukraines finest sons and daughters and they deserve our admiration, respect and support," Hetmanczuk said.

Applications are being sought for projects which benefit of Ukraines wounded soldiers and veterans. The Fund was established thanks to the generosity of donors for the UCCs Gala Reception in Honour of Ukraines Invictus Team. Applications are due on February 15, 2018.

olLanguage is something that we generally take for granted. We seldom wait to think about the origins of the words that we use in our daily conversations or the reason why we use certain words and the phrases the way we do. The world houses thousands of languages that all have interesting attributes and facts behind them. We bring to you 12 of the coolest linguistic facts from languages around the world.

1. Piraha is a Brazilian language that can be whistled, hummed, or encoded in music.

The Amazonian rainforests house a tribe of indigenous people known as the Piraha. Their language, Piraha, is one of the last surviving dialects of the Mura language, the language of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Even though the language is one of the simplest languages phonologically, there are certain things about the language that would just blow your mind.

The Piraha language contains one of the smallest phoneme inventories which means that there are very few sound variations in the language. The language also does not contain any words to refer to colors. It just has two words for light and dark.

Another unique feature of the language is that it can be hummed and whistled and can be understood without the use of any physical words. Moreover, according to Daniel Everett a researcher working on the language, vowels and consonants can be removed entirely from the language, and yet the meaning can be communicated to other people through variations in pitch, rhythm, and stress. The tone you use determines the meaning that you wish to convey! The Piraha mothers have been known to teach the language to the kids by singing the same tunes over and over again.(source)

2. There is a language in Africa that only uses five distinct clicking sounds to make up the entire language.

Africa has a number of languages that just consist of click sounds! Known as Khoisan languages, clicks function as normal consonants in these languages. Clicks are distinctive sounds that are made in the mouth via a suction mechanism. This leads to a sharp popping or smacking sound when the tongue touches the roof of the mouth.

Most of these languages consist of just four clicking sounds that can be used to represent the majority of the consonants. Some southern languages use a fifth click, the kiss sound.

Clicks are the initial sounds in about 70% of the words that are part of the Khoisan vocabulary. They offer a bit of dramatic effect during conversations. The uniqueness of these languages has given rise to speculations that maybe the sounds have some kind of special meanings attached to them. But experts believe that that is not the case.(source)

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3. The English language consists of words, known as contronyms, that are their own opposites. For example, the word cleave has two meanings, i.e. to cut apart and to bind together which are opposites of each other.

Contronym is a word that has multiple meanings in which two of the meanings are completely opposite of each other. Such words are also known as autantonyms or contranyms. The English language has numerous examples of contronyms. The contronyms might have originated when two different words with different etymologies converged to form a single word or when a single word acquired different and opposite meanings over a span of time. Some contronyms that are commonly used in the English language include dust (verb) which stands for both to remove dust and to sprinkle with soil or dust; enjoin (verb) which stands for both to prescribe and to forbid; and ravel (verb) which stands for both to tangle and to disentangle threads or fibers.

Apart from English, contronyms can be found in other languages as well. In Latin, sacer stands for both sacred as well as accursed. Also, the Romanian verb a inchiria means to rent as well as to let.(source)

4. Papua New Guinea has over 850 living languages.

Papua New Guinea has over 850 languages that are spoken by the tribes residing there. Mind it, these are not dialects. These are whole languages making Papua New Guinea the most linguistically diverse place on earth. They even have a sign language, Papua New Guinean Sign Language, as one of the four official languages with the other three being Tok Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu. Even though English is an official language, it is spoken by only 12% of the population.(source)

5. The word cliche was originally an onomatopoeia. It came from the sound that old printing presses made while making copies.

Onomatopoeia refers to words that describe or mimic the sound that it describes. For example, the sound of a clock can be expressed as tick-tock in English. The origin of the word cliche was also onomatopoeic.

Cliche originated from the French language. The word was used in reference to printing where it referred to a block that reproduced words or images that would be used repeatedly later during printing. It originated from the clicking sound that the printing machine made while making copies.(source)

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6. Basque is a language isolate. This means that the language is not related to any other known living language even though it is spoken in the region between France and Spain.

Basque is a language native to the people who reside in the Basque country, a region that lies between the borders of France and Spain on the Atlantic coast. Whats unique about the language is that linguistically, Basque is not related to any language of Europe nor to any other known living language that exists in the world.

Basque is the last remaining language among numerous languages that were spoken in southwestern Europe before the region was Romanized in the 2nd century BCE. According to some statistics, Basque speakers can be found in other parts of Europe as well as the Americas. These speakers are majorly bilingual and are said to be approaching a million in the 21st century.(source)

7. Hebrew died as a spoken, native language around 200 CE. It was later revived on 13 October 1881 in Paris when a man named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his friends agreed to exclusively speak Hebrew in their conversations.

The Biblical language Hebrew was spoken some 3,000-3,500 years ago. Once upon a time, it was a language spoken by many. But after the Bar Kohba War of 135 CE, Hebrew slowly started declining as a native, spoken language, even though it was still used for writing for many centuries thereafter.

It was on October 13th, 1881 that the language was once again revived by a group of friends. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his friends made a pact to only converse in Hebrew. The credit goes to Eliezer for reviving the language after so many years. Eliezer started learning Hebrew when he was just three years old. When Jewish nationalism gained popularity in 19th century Europe, Eliezer became fascinated with Zionism. He also became acquainted with the concept that speaking a common language is a criterion to define a nation worthy of national rights. This gave Eliezer the idea that reviving the Hebrew language would help to unify Jews worldwide.

Eliezer has had a major contribution to the establishment of the Committee of the Hebrew Language which later became the Academy of the Hebrew Language. He also wrote the first Modern Hebrew dictionary.

As of today, Hebrew is spoken by more than 5 million people as their native language and is the national language of the State of Israel.(source)

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8. Mbabaram is an extinct Australian language in which the word for dog is dog. There is no relation between these words, and this is a pure coincidence.

Mbabaram was the traditional language of the Mbabaram tribe and is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language. The language is quite famous in linguistic circles because of a striking similarity that it has with an English word.

R. M. W. Dixon, author for Searching for Aboriginal Languages: Memoirs of a Field Worker and a researcher of the language, began studying the language by extracting a few nouns. One of the nouns was the word for dog. He discovered that the Mbabaram word for dog was in fact dog, and it was pronounced almost identical to the English word. But this is a pure coincidence. There is no relationship between the two languages.(source)

9. Before the English-speaking community was introduced to the fruit, the color orange was referred to as geoluhread which stood for red-yellow in Old English.

There was no orange color in English before the English-speaking people came to know of the existence of the fruit orange. The word is known to be a derivative of a Dravidian language, possibly Tamil, and it was passed through numerous other languages such as Sanskrit and Old French. Finally, it reached the English language. The earliest recorded use of the word orange in English was in the 13th century when it referred to the fruit. It was only in the 16th century that the word was used to refer to the color.

Before the fruit was introduced to English speakers, the color orange was known as geoluhread. It meant red-yellow in Old English.(source)

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10. People who communicate via American Sign Language can have accents just as they would in a spoken language.

A research at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that people who converse via American Sign Language (ASL) have an accent of their own similar to people who speak the language. There was a comparison made between the ASL used by people in Philadelphia and the standard ASL. It was found that many of the words were exceptionally different when compared with standard ASL guidelines. The Philadelphia sign language was found to resemble French more than standard ASL.

People who use sign language have accents that vary depending on their age, ethnicity, and whether they are able to somewhat hear or are completely deaf. It has also been observed that the speed in which they deliver the conversation also differs. People using sign language in New York are fast talkers whereas those in Ohio were slow and relaxed. Moreover, people belonging to the southern states of United States tend to touch their lower face and chest when they communicate with sign language, and that has become a distinct regional accent.(source)

11. The English language has an order in which adjectives go and it sounds wrong if the adjectives are not in that order. For example: loose red top vs. red loose top.

Lets say it is a warm sunny day and you were roaming outside with your friends wearing a red loose top. Does the sentence sound wrong to you? Should it be loose red top instead of red loose top? It should be, shouldnt it?

There is a code that governs the order in which English speakers use adjectives in their sentences. Nobody is taught the order. It is mostly based on the intuition that makes the sentence sound wrong if the adjectives are used in the wrong order.

Such problems generally arise when the border between adjectives for size and color disappears. Linguists have determined a code for such instances that goes as follows: general opinion, then specific opinion, then size, then shape, then age, then color, then provenance, then material (GSSSACPM). Studies have shown and confirmed that GSSSACPM is consistent in most of the instances of written English. In 2003, Stephanie Wulff used a computer program to go through thousands of texts and found out that 78% of the strings of adjectives followed the GSSSACPM code.

So, now, you decide whether this is a cool informative fact or an informative cool fact?(source)

12. The word plumbing originates from the Latin word for lead, plumbum, which is what most pipes were made of at the time.

The concept of plumbing has been prevalent since the ancient Roman, Greek, Indian, Persian, and Chinese civilizations. These civilizations had public baths and they needed to offer flowing water and wastewater removal systems in the baths. They used pipes that were made of lead.

The scientific name for the element lead is plumbum and its symbol is Pb. This is where the word plumbing came from. The word plumber also originated during this time.(source)



Kathmandu, Nepal: Withstanding to the widespread protests demanding provincial capitals in the preferred districts of some leaders, the government has planned not to fix the provincial capitals and leave the task for the provincial assemblies. As strike and protests are intensified in different districts including Dhankuta, Dipayal, Birjung, Jumla demanding provincial capitals, the government has made the plan not to fix the provincial capitals to avoid potential tensions.





However, the government has to fix the places to hold the first meeting of the provincial assembly. As per the constitutional provisions, the heads of the provinces and the provincial capitals has to be fixed by the incumbent government even though the leftist alliance has protested to accomplish the governments task.

Article 288 (2) of the constitution states --the capital of a province shall be as decided by a two-thirds majority of the members of the concerned Provincial Assembly. However the article has also stated that the government can fix temporary capitals to conduct the business of provinces until the provincial capitals are decided by the assemblies concerned.





The government held several rounds of formal and informal meetings with different stake holders including the political parties to seek consensus on fixing the provincial capitals and to appoint the governors.





But the leftist alliance had not only protested the governments plan to accomplish the twin tasks but also backed to the protesters in many districts demanding provincial capitals in the preferred districts. The leaders of the main opposition CPN UML, which has emerged as the largest party in the recent elections, are forefront in the strike launched demanding provincial capitals in their preferred districts.





As the UML had refrained even from providing any suggestion to the government, it has been mulling a plan to recommend names of governors form the upcoming cabinet meeting.





As the president has to appoint the governors in the recommendation of the government, it is likely that the issue of appointing the governors would face the similar fate of the ordinance related to the formation of the national assembly as the UML has already said that their elected members of the provincial assembly would not take oath of office and secrecy from the governors appointed by the incumbent government.



"We inform that a report by Ukraine's Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons regarding possible economic activity, such as sales, in temporarily occupied territory of Crimea by German companies DHL Express, Adidas, Puma has been attached to materials of a pre-trial investigation handled by the SBU Security Service's main department for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Now investigative actions are under way," the SBU said in a comment to Krym.Realii.

Read alsoUkraine's ministry lists int'l car brands violating sanctions over CrimeaThe agency said that details of the pre-trial investigation were not to be disclosed under Article 222 "Inadmissibility of Disclosure of Information of Pre-Trial Investigation" of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Earlier the prosecutors of the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea said that the SBU would check the ministry's report as for the said companies' operation in occupied Crimea. The ministry raised the question on December 6, 2017, and mentioned addresses of the companies' retail outlets on the Russian-annexed peninsula.

Earlier, in response to Deutsche Welle's request as for DHL Express's activity in Crimea, the company's press service explained that the operation of its global postal and logistics network is strictly subject to trade legislation. Neither Adidas nor Puma provided public comments regarding the issue.The video shows sea-sweepers Cherkasy and Chernihiv, as well as the Zaporizhia submarine and a rescue tug Kremenets.

It can be seen that over the years of annexation, the Ukrainian ships have become dilapidated and they are in bad condition. Some of them have rust and shabby paint.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on January 11, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could hand over to Ukraine warships and aircraft from the occupied Crimea.

Read alsoUkraine General says Putin's "peacemaking" efforts sham"Using this opportunity, I'd like to say we are ready to continue this process: we are ready to return Ukrainian military ships that are still in Crimea, we are ready to hand over aviation equipment and armored vehicles. However, it [the military equipment] is such a wreck. But it's none of our business. This is the condition it actually was in. And naturally, nobody has ever serviced it all these years," Putin said at a meeting with editors-in-chief from Russian printed media and news agencies in Moscow on Thursday, January 11.

After the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Russia began to transfer captured equipment to Ukraine, but the transfer was suspended after Russia had invaded eastern Ukraine.

On April 15, 2014, the-then Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said that the Russian Defense Ministry suspended the transfer of weapons and military equipment from the occupied Crimea to Ukraine. At that time, 389 armored vehicles were transferred, including eight helicopters and three warships.

On July 5, Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow had suspended the transfer until "complete termination of hostilities by Ukrainian forces".

To date, 17 ships, boats and ships have remained in Crimea, including 11 warships, with the large landing ship Kostyantyn Olshansky among them, the Slavutych command vessel, anti-submarine corvettes Ternopil and Lutsk, sea-sweepers Cherkasy and Chernihiv, the Zaporizhia submarine, a rescue tug Kremenets, and other vessels.The June 2017 attack, delivered through a mock ransomware virus dubbed NotPetya, wiped data from the computers of banks, energy firms, senior government officials and an airport, The Washington Post wrote.

Read alsoSBU exposes Russian origin of recent cyberattacks on governmental, infrastructural information systemsThe GRU military spy agency created NotPetya, the CIA concluded with "high confidence" in November, according to classified reports cited by U.S. intelligence officials.

The CIA declined to comment.

Ukraine has been a significant target of GRU cyberattacks coinciding with Russia's annexation of Crimea and aggression elsewhere. The NotPetya assault was launched on Ukraine's Constitution Day, a public holiday.

The virus also affected computer systems in Denmark, India and the United States, but more than half of those victimized were in Ukraine.

The attacks reflect Russia's mounting aggression in cyberspace as part of a larger "hybrid warfare" doctrine that marries traditional military means with cyber-tools to achieve its goal of regional dominance. "It's a pattern of more bold, aggressive action," said Robert Hannigan, former head of Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency.

The hackers used what is known as a "watering hole" attack. They infected a website to which they knew their targets would navigate  in this case, a Ukrainian site that delivered updates for tax and accounting software programs.

It's a tactic that Russian government hackers also have used to compromise industrial control system networks. The goal here was "the disruption of Ukraine's financial system," said Jake Williams, founder of the cybersecurity firm Rendition Infosec.

In a twist, the attackers used malware that appeared to be ransomware  a technique that encrypts victims' data and decrypts it only if a ransom is paid, to make it appear as though criminal hackers or some group other than a nation state were the culprits.Last year, about 2,300 administrative protocols were also drawn up for violation of the order of entry/exit into/from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of 2018, over 30 such persons have already been exposed.

Read alsoUkraine's security service probing possible work of Adidas, Puma, DHL in occupied CrimeaAccording to monitoring results, as of today, more than 810 people have been identified as those who could visit Crimea.

The border service recalled that, in accordance with the law, if the foreigners violate the rules of crossing the administrative border with Crimea, they are not allowed to enter Ukraine and a decision is made to ban entry to Ukraine.

In addition, the State Border Guard Service draws the attention of citizens of Ukraine and other states to the fact that violation of the order of entry into the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea through the border checkpoints closed by the Government of Ukraine, depending on the circumstances, provides for criminal (Article 322-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and administrative (Article 204-1 and Article 204-2 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses) responsibilities.Russian annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, triggering economic sanctions by the European Union and the United States and a tense stand-off in the region, as reported by Reuters.

The U.S. said in December it planned to provide Ukraine with "enhanced defensive capabilities", which officials said included Javelin anti-tank missiles.

Read alsoRussia to deploy S-400 missile systems in occupied Crimea for "protection from Ukraine"  Russian mediaMoscow's latest deployment represents the second division armed with S-400 air defense systems on the peninsula, after the first in the spring of 2017 near the port town of Feodosia.

The new division will be based next to the town of Sevastopol and will control the airspace over the border with Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported.

The new air defense system, designed to defend Russia's borders, can be turned into combat mode in less than five minutes, Interfax news agency quoted Viktor Sevostyanov, a commander with Russia's air forces, as saying.

Russia's defense ministry says the S-400 systems, known as "Triumph", can bring down airborne targets at a range of 400 kilometers and ballistic missiles at a range of 60 kilometers.

They were first introduced to the Russian military's arsenal in 2007, the ministry said.The militants were most active after dark. They resorted to shelling of the Ukrainian positions, using banned mortars, infantry fighting vehicles and grenade launchers.

Read alsoUkraine Def. Ministry speaks of condition of latest WIAsIn the Luhansk sector, the enemy had been shelling the Ukrainian fortified positions near the village of Troyitske for about two hours in the evening, using 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, infantry fighting vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun. For more than two and a half hours, with short breaks, the illegal armed formations had been firing 82mm mortars and infantry weapons on the defenders of the village of Luhanske, as well as small arms near the villages of Katerynivka and Stanytsia Luhanska.

In the Donetsk sector, the occupiers used 120mm mortars against the Ukrainian fortified positions near the villages of Vodiane and Shyrokyne. Moreover, the Ukrainian positions near the town of Avdiyivka came under fire from grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns and small arms.

"Despite the fact that the criminal actions of Russian invaders threatened the lives and health of our servicemen, the Ukrainian defenders were forced to fire back in five cases," the ATO HQ said."The Russian occupation troops continue to flagrantly violate the ceasefire agreements for the New Year and Christmas holidays and shell the Ukrainian fortified positions, using banned weapons. Today, the invaders used artillery systems for the first time since the truce," the ATO HQ said in an evening update.

Read alsoUkraine reports 2 WIAs amid 10 enemy attacks in last dayIn the Luhansk sector, the Ukrainian positions near the village of Novoluhanske came under fire from small arms and 82mm mortars.

In the Mariupol sector, the occupiers had been shelling the Ukrainian fortified positions near the village of Vodiane for almost an hour, using grenade launchers, 120mm mortars and 122mm artillery systems. Here, the invaders launched more than two dozen shells. In the same area, the illegal armed formations fired heavy mortars near the village of Pavlopil.

"In other areas of our defense, the aggressor resorted to shelling our positions from 120mm mortars and grenade launchers near Butivka coal mine, as well as from small arms and 82mm mortars near the village of Kamianka. In addition, the enemy violated the ceasefire near the village of Verkhniotoretske by using grenade launchers of various types and small arms," the report says.This happened in the northeast of Hama Governorate, where fierce battles have been taking place between rebels and government troops.

Read alsoSBU: Ukrainian military shoots down Russian drone in DonbasThe image shared by Conflict Intelligence Team on Facebook shows a fragment of a wing of the downed drone.

Conflict Intelligence Team says it might be a Russian-made Forpost-type drone. Under a contract dated 2011 for the supply of Forpost ("Outpost") UAVs, the cost of one set consisting of three UAVs with a ground station was RUR 900 million (or about US$15.9 million at the current forex rate).

It also says that a similar UAV was downed by Ukraine's Dnipro-1 Battalion in Donbas in 2015.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian troops on January 10, 2018, downed a second enemy UAV since the introduction of the New Year and Christmas ceasefire in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, late in December 2017.

UNIAN memo. NGO Conflict Intelligence Team was launched by Russian blogger Ruslan Leviev in May 2014 to investigate reports on military activity in Ukraine and Syria.As leading U.S. Congressmen are considering pressing for more sanctions against the Cambodian government over a crackdown on human rights and democracy, some Cambodian-Americans are concerned that further sanctions may not be applied.

Tung Yap, a Cambodian-American in Virginia, told VOA Khmer that companies who did not cooperate with the withdrawal of tax exemptions from Cambodian goods could face penalties.

They take these issues seriously and if the announce [sanctions], I see that people will reduce their purchases of goods from Cambodia, he said.

Saray Yuorn, a Cambodian-American from Tacoma, said congress had the power to restrict goods imports from Cambodia and that he personally would not use Cambodian products as he sees it as supporting violations of human rights and democracy.

Fairly speaking, we cannot buy and use goods made from the sweat and blood of the workers to wear. Thats just like we are wearing the blood of the workers, he said.

He added that he felt sympathy with workers who could be impacted by any economic sanctions against Cambodia.

U.S. congressmen in recent weeks held a hearing to assess new ways of applying sanctions on the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen over its crackdown on the opposition, media and civil society.

In the hearing, led by Ted Yoho, a Republican representing Florida, new measures including targeting officials, corporations, freezing assets and placing prohibitions on garment imports were discussed.

Brad Sherman (D-Cal), said it was time that Washington approached American businesses and the European Union and Japan.

If we decide to forego the special access to the U.S. market that any company buying garments from Cambodia can immediately void this contract, and so we can put that in the matter of law.

Schanley Kuch, a Cambodian resident of Maryland, blamed the Cambodian government if the Western countries imposed sanctions.

The US and EU, they dont want to stir up things or create conflict ...So the pressure from the U.S. And E.U. This time is a very important and practical one, he said.

In a letter to the Cambodian labor minister, Ith Sam Heng, U.S. retail giant Walmart warned that its investment in Cambodia depends on a strong business environment.

Stability, predictability and rule of law from a cornerstone of our business engagement around the world and allow us to make long-term commitments and investments in a market, Scott Price, executive vice president of Walmart, told Sam Heng in the letter, dated December 6.

As we are held to this high standard, we respectfully ask that your government continue to improve working conditions for Cambodia factory workers and treat our government and civil society with fairness, in accordance with international standards and norms.

Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said there would be serious implications of any economic action against Cambodia.

So other countries cannot replace [the US and EU] especially China that has a long and good relationship with the government. It does not import Cambodian goods at all, but just imports raw materials to Cambodia and produces things for export only, he said.Kathmandu, Nepal: The two major communist parties of Nepal- CPN UML and the CPN Maoist Center, which had forged electoral alliance in the recently held parliamentary and federal elections with the declaration to unify the both the parties, have now faced challenge of power sharing.





Even though both the parties had agreed to go into a merger with 60:40 percent shares respectively, sharing the post of Prime Minister and Chairman of to be unified Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has pushed into backpedal the entire process to unify the party immediately.





Backdoor negotiations among the chairmen duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal are intensified with view to finalize tentative framework of unification before the formation of new government, but no tangible progress is made yet, thanks to the differences on power sharing among the top leaderships.





The Party Unification Coordination Committee (PUCC) formed comprising senior leaders from the two parties has also been failing even to chalk out the procedures that need to be adopted while unifying both the parties, thanks to the differences on power sharing among the top level leaders.





The committee members have offered to sort out the issue of leadership, organization and ideological issues in line with a common election manifesto unveiled by the two parties during the parliamentary and provincial elections.





While unveiling the common election manifesto, both the parties had agreed to share the post of Chairman and Prime Minister in rotational basis. However, it is said that UML Chairman Oli is not willing now to rotate premierships with Dahal. Interestingly, some UML leaders have also been objecting even to offer the chairmanship of the unified party to Dahal triggering complications to unify the party.



On several occasions the European Union has criticized Cambodia over its crackdown on political opposition to Prime Minister Hun Sens government, with Brussels routinely mentioning the preferential trade agreement, Everything But Arms, as leverage.

Hun Sens government has dissolved the main opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was due to pose a serious challenge to his more than 30-year rule at elections in July. Its leader, Kem Sokha, has been jailed on questionable treason charges and more than 100 CNRP politicians have been barred from politics for five years after they refused offers to defect.

These moves, coming alongside stricter controls on civil society organizations, news media outlets critical of the government, and reports of grassroots-level surveillance and intimidation, have caused a crisis in Cambodias diplomatic relations with the U.S. and E.U.

EBA, a non-tariff trade scheme, allows a select number of developing countries to import products into the E.U. free of customs duties, and is crucial to Cambodian garment production, a key economic sector.

In an internal memo to Hun Sen leaked last month, Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak briefed the strongman prime minister on the benefits Cambodia is enjoying under the EBA scheme: avoiding paying $676 million in tariff fees on its $6.2 billion exports to the E.U market in 2016.



Hun Sen was advised by Sorasak to launch a lobby campaign with friendly countries holding E.U. membership to keep Cambodia in the EBA scheme, which supported the employment of some 400,000 garment workers last year.



The E.U. and the U.S. have declared they will nix funding for Cambodias National Election Committee, and Washington has imposed visa restrictions on senior officials.



The European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution recently to call for the E.U. to consider temporarily suspending its EBA scheme with Cambodia if Phnom Penh continues to ignore the blocs call for a course reversal in the governments elimination of the CNRP.



Removal of EBA concessions would have a significant impact on the garment sector, said Stephen Higgins, co-founder of the consultancy firm Mekong Strategic Partners.



The very large wage increases in recent years have impacted the competitiveness of the industry in Cambodia, Higgins said, and removal of EBA concessions would likely be enough to force a large number of factories to close.



Since the 2013 election, with the oppositions dramatically increasing support, the Cambodian government has intervened to broker and oversee the surge in the minimum wage for the garment industry and other benefits required in payment from employers.



It is very important for Cambodias garment sector as one area of its competitiveness to remain under the EBA scheme since it has offered incentives to potential buyers to place order from Cambodia, said Kaing Monika, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC).



Without the EBA, Cambodia will lose a certain level of competitiveness in the EU market because the import duties that [the international brands and buyers will have to pay] will make Cambodian products more expensive, Monika said in an email.



But this might not represent the end of Cambodia's ability to compete. There would still be instances or certain types of products that mean Cambodia would continue to be able to compete and survive, as in the case of the American market, where we so far have to compete head-to-head on a level playing field against Vietnam.

Long Shot



I still hope that the EBA won't be withdrawn or suspended, Monika said.



Plus, the route to EBA suspension is a long road that requires complicated procedures throughout many layers of E.U. bureaucracy, which has led many to believe it may not happen.



The E.U. itself is also consumed with its own transition following the Brexit vote and the rise of the alt-right movement, distracting them from taking action against a relatively marginal player in Asean, said Bradley Jansen Murg, a political scientist at Seattle Pacific University.



I believe targeted sanctions, following the American approach, are more likely - and also a much more effective approach, Murg said, adding that the aid cuts would give China, Cambodias closest ally, an advantage.



Murg added: China could easily step in and fill the gap as it steps up the Belt and Road Initiative.

Nothing to Worry About



In an annual conference this week to conclude a review of the Commerce Ministrys regulatory work in 2017, Sorasak, the commerce minister, confirmed that any action would not be a problem for Cambodias non-tariff trade status in 2018, since orders have already been placed.



Theres nothing to worry about, Sorasak told reporters on the sidelines of the conference on Wednesday.



Sek Sophal, a researcher at the Ritsumeikan Center for Asia Pacific Studies (RCAPS) in Japan, said the timeframe of Cambodias political crackdown  less than one year to the 2018 parliamentary election  and the predictable absence of collaboration from the Kingdoms fellow Asean members, China, and Russia, would fail or reduce the effectiveness of sanctions.



What the ruling party want is to ensure that it will remain in power after the 2018 election, Sophal said. There may be some kind of political negotiation in the post-election period; that could be concessions leading to an improved state of [the political] situation.



The fact that the European Parliament used the term temporary withdrawal gave a signal that the European countries remain optimistic that there could be a foreseeable solution to the current polarization, he added.



E.U. representatives in Cambodia could not be reached for comment for this story.



Difficult Optimism



Cambodia is among the 49 developing countries worldwide to receive EBA status from the European Union, alongside fellow Southeast Asian nations such as Laos, Myanmar, and East Timor.



But, analysts said, the future of the E.U.s EBA decision relies largely on the status of Cambodias bilateral ties with the 28-nation bloc, which remain bleak.



While not nearly as severe as the downturn in US-Cambodian relations, we can expect to see similar issues arise in E.U.-Cambodian relations. In the short term, it would be difficult for anyone to say they are optimistic about the near-term development of the relationship, Murg of the Seattle Pacific University said.Reactions to President Donald Trump's use of a vulgar slur to explain his opposition to Haitian and African migration to the United States were continuing to circulate Saturday.

Trump stunned lawmakers Thursday in a White House meeting on immigration when, according to multiple reports and confirmation from attendees, he asked, "Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here?"

Ninety-five percent of Haitians are black, as are the vast majority of Africans.

Trump said the United States should allow in more people from places such as Norway, whose population is mostly white.

Trump took to Twitter on Friday to deny using the vulgar term, which is slang for an extremely dirty or shabby place and includes a synonym for excrement. He said his language was "tough," but denied using the vulgarity.

Since then, reactions to his remark have continued to come via Twitter and statements to the media. Trump's former presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, noted that Friday was the anniversary of a devastating earthquake in Haiti, from which the island has never fully recovered.

"The anniversary of the devastating earthquake 8 years ago is a day to remember the tragedy, honor the resilient people of Haiti, & affirm America's commitment to helping our neighbors. Instead, we're subjected to Trump's ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn't look like him," she tweeted Friday.

FILE - Former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Al FILE - Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is seen during an interview in New York, March 2, 2016. Albright says the United States "will need all the help we can get to repair the damage he [Donald Trump] is doing to our country's international reputation and interests." FILE - Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is seen during an interview in New York, March 2, 2016. Albright says the United States "will need all the help we can get to repair the damage he [Donald Trump] is doing to our country's international reputation and interests."

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright tweeted Friday, "I hope our next president will rehire all the diplomats who have resigned over Trump's racist words and harmful actions. We will need all the help we can get to repair the damage he is doing to our country's international reputation and interests."

'No change in our dedication'

And the U.S. Embassy in South Africa tweeted Friday that "the U.S. deeply respects the people of Africa & values partnerships w/them. There has been no change in our dedication to partners & friends across the Continent."

Also Friday, the U.N. human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, called the comments racist, but he added that the episode was "not just a story about vulgar language. It's about opening the door wider to humanity's worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and destroy the lives of many people."

The African Union said Friday that it was "frankly alarmed" by the president's reported statement. AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told The Associated Press, "Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice."

"This is particularly surprising," she added, "as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity."

The U.S. State Department said Friday that American diplomats in Haiti and in Botswana had been summoned by government officials to discuss the remarks.

FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, speaks to the Utah S FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, pictured in Salt Lake City, Feb. 23, 2017, said President Donald Trump's remarks on immigration from Haiti and Africa were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values." FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, pictured in Salt Lake City, Feb. 23, 2017, said President Donald Trump's remarks on immigration from Haiti and Africa were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values."

U.S. Republican Representative Mia Love of Utah, whose family came from Haiti, said the president's comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values. This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation."

Love called on Trump to apologize to the people of Haiti.

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, said in an interview, "It's incomprehensible that these words came out of the mouth of the president of the United States of America, a country that was founded on being free from discrimination and treating people fairly and having people come here, the land of the free. ... This is a president that has had a sordid, terrible history of making racist statements."

Ros-Lehtinen also tweeted that Trump's "calling #Haiti a 's**thole country' ignores the contributions thousands of Haitians have made to our #SoFla community and nation. Language like that shouldn't be heard in locker rooms and it shouldn't be heard in the White House."

'Ashamed' of Trump's position

Minnesota state Representative Ilhan Omar, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party who in 2016 became the first Somali-American elected to a state legislative office in the United States, released a statement saying, "I am not ashamed of the country where I was born. I am not ashamed to call myself an American now. I am a proud immigrant, refugee, Minnesotan and a proud State Legislator.



"But make no mistake, I am ashamed, disturbed, and outraged that the leader of the United States can't see beyond his own embarrassing privilege to embrace the diversity that has made this country great for generations."

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said he wanted more details "regarding the president's comments."

"Part of what makes America so special is that we welcome the best and brightest in the world, regardless of their country of origin," Hatch added.

U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, tweeted late Thursday, "My ancestors came from countries not nearly as prosperous as the one we live in today. I'm glad that they were welcomed here."

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, said in a tweet, "Immigrants from countries across the globe  including and especially those from Haiti and all parts of Africa  have helped build this country. They should be welcomed and celebrated, not demeaned and insulted.''

FILE - Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., speaks during FILE - Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., shown during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Nov. 14, 2017, said, "President Trump's comments are yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views." FILE - Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., shown during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Nov. 14, 2017, said, "President Trump's comments are yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views."

U.S. Representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, a Democrat who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "President Trump's comments are yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views. It also reinforces the concerns that we hear every day, that the president's slogan 'Make America Great Again' is really code for 'Make America White Again.' "

The White House released a statement Thursday that defended the president's views, without referencing his specific comments.

"Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation. He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway."

VOA correspondents Cindy Saine, Steve Herman and Michael Bowman contributed to this report.At least one civilian was killed and several police officers were wounded Saturday in an attack on a convoy by suspected al-Shabab Islamists in eastern Kenya, the Interior Ministry said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said the attack occurred when a convoy of buses under police protection was traveling from Lamu County on the northern Kenyan coast near Somalia to Mombasa city in the south.

Njoka said "a gang of suspected al-Shabab terrorists" carried out the attack, which destroyed the two police escort vehicles. Regional police chief Larry Kieng said the attackers fired rocket launchers at the police vehicles, engulfing them in flames.

The area in which the attack took place has been hit frequently in recent years by al-Shabab militants, who are associated with al-Qaida, a Sunni Islamist group co-founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden.

The Kenyan government has been trying to stop the wave of attacks by al-Shabab fighters, who say they are seeking revenge for Kenya's deployment of troops to Somalia in 2011 as part of an African Union force.

Al-Shabab is also fighting to oust the internationally supported Somali government as it regularly carries out attacks neighboring Kenya.

Al-Shabab's most deadly attack in Kenya occurred in April 2015, when gunmen raided a university in the town of Garissa and killed 148 people, mostly students.The death toll resulting from mudslides that devastated a California town has climbed to 18 as rescue crews continued to search Saturday for seven people who are still missing, amid diminishing hope that survivors would be found.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office issued a plea to the public to provide information about the missing people, while acknowledging that finding survivors would be a "miracle."

As rescuers continued to dig through mud, rocks and flattened homes, Sheriff Bill Brown said crews found the 18th victim, 87-year-old Joseph Bleckel, in his Romero Canyon-area home late Friday morning.

The number of missing has fluctuated widely after heavy rains unleashed a fury of devastation. Many of the 43 people unaccounted for have since been determined to be safe. The number of missing now stands at seven.

Most of the 9,000 residents of Montecito, located north of Los Angeles, remain under orders to stay out of town as gas and electricity were expected to be shut off Saturday for repairs. Sheriff Brown said those who did not evacuate what is known as the public safety exclusion zone, which incorporates most of the town, would be subject to arrest.

A search and rescue dog is guided through properti A search and rescue dog is guided through properties after a mudslide in Montecito, California, Jan. 12, 2018. A search and rescue dog is guided through properties after a mudslide in Montecito, California, Jan. 12, 2018.

"It's martial law here, basically," said Sarah Ettman, whose home was undamaged. But with the anticipated loss of utilities and sewage running into a nearby creek, "you have to leave," she said.

The catastrophe struck on Tuesday after heavy downpours drenched the area near Montecito, where vegetation that normally would have soaked up heavy rainfall had been stripped a month ago by the largest wildfire in California's recorded history.

Flash floods swept down hillsides, unleashing torrents of mud, and uprooted trees and boulders into the valley below.

Some 2,100 local, state and federal officials are involved in search and recovery efforts, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.Czech President Milos Zeman has won the first round in the nation's presidential election, and now must face Jiri Drahos, the former head of the country's Academy of Sciences, in a runoff vote in two weeks.

Eight candidates were hoping to unseat the current controversy-courting 73-year-old leader, who is seeking another five-year term.

With 95 percent of ballots counted by the Czech Statistics Office, and a 61-percent turnout, Zeman was leading with 39.3 percent of the vote, followed by Drahos with 26.3 percent. A former diplomat, Pavel Fischer, placed third with 10.1 percent.

None of the other candidates seeking the largely ceremonial post received a majority of first-round votes, which makes it possible for Drahos to advance to the second round.

Presidential candidate Jiri Drahos, accompanied by Presidential candidate Jiri Drahos, accompanied by his wife Eva, arrives to address the media after the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential elections in Prague, Czech Republic, Jan. 13, 2018. Presidential candidate Jiri Drahos, accompanied by his wife Eva, arrives to address the media after the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential elections in Prague, Czech Republic, Jan. 13, 2018.

Zeman was elected to the largely ceremonial post in 2013 during the country's first direct presidential vote, a victory that returned the former left-leaning prime minister to power.

In office, he has become known for strong anti-migrant rhetoric that won him support from the populist far-right. He has divided the nation with his pro-Russian stance and his support for closer ties with China.

Zeman was one of the few European leaders to endorse Donald Trump's bid for the White House. He flew the European Union flag at Prague Castle, but later used every opportunity to attack the 28-nation bloc.

This looks hopeful, he told reporters.

The run-off election will be held January 26 and January 27.SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS - For Illinois farmer Garry Niemeyer, its a slow time of year, spent indoors fixing equipment, not outdoors tending his fields, which now lie empty.

All of his corn and soybeans were harvested in what has turned out to be a good year.

This is the largest amount of corn weve had ever, he said.

And this bounty is not limited to Niemeyers farm. It can be seen throughout the United States.

Were talking 14 billion bushels of corn, Niemeyer told VOA. Thats a lot of production.

WATCH: Awash in Corn, Soybeans, US Farmers Focus on Trade Deals

Piles of corn, soybeans

That production is easy to see at nearby elevators, where large piles of corn under white plastic wrap extend into the sky. There is more corn and soybeans than existing storage facilities can hold.

You can drive by just about any elevator out here in the country and see some pretty large piles of corn that are covered outside of the bins, said Mark Gebhards, executive director of Governmental Affairs and Commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau. That is a direct result of a lot of carry-over from last year; i.e., we need to move this and create market demand to get the product moving.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports record harvests of corn and soybeans in the United States in 2017, with stocks overflowing at elevators and storage bins across the country.

In Illinois, Gebhards notes that up to half of the states corn supply, and even more soybeans, will eventually reach foreign shores.

Usually we say every other row of beans is going into the export market, Gebhards said.

But Niemeyer wants even more of his crop to find a market overseas.

We have overproduced for our domestic market, he told VOA. Our profits will lie in the amount of exports we are able to secure in the future.

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, cente FILE - Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, center, addresses the media with Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the close of the third round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada. FILE - Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, center, addresses the media with Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the close of the third round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada.

?The NAFTA question

Which is why the Illinois farmer is looking for some indication from U.S. President Donald Trump on the current efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

NAFTA is huge, Niemeyer said. NAFTA consumes $43 billion worth of our crops and livestock and other things we exported out of this country in 2016.

Niemeyer is pleased with Trumps efforts to roll back environmental regulations and institute tax reform. But there was little hint of NAFTAs fate during Trumps Jan. 8 speech to the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

If anything was maybe left as an area of concern, its still whats going to happen to that trade agreement, said Gebhards, who warns the U.S. withdrawing from NAFTA could impact prices.

On the livestock side, its estimated you would see $18 per hog or $71 per cow if we were to withdraw. Its estimated that we would see potentially a $0.30 per bushel decrease in the corn price and $0.15 on the soybean side.

Prices are a factor growers like Niemeyer maintain a close watch on.

(The) price of corn is about $3.30 a bushel, so $3 corn, its hard to make anything work, even with a large yield, which, Niemeyer said, is why many farmers are holding on to what they have.

Everybodys sitting still, thats the reason you arent seeing much corn move right today because the price has done absolutely nothing, he said.

FILE - A farmer uses a combine to harvest his soyb FILE - A farmer uses a combine to harvest his soybean field Oct. 21, 2014, in Loami, Ill. FILE - A farmer uses a combine to harvest his soybean field Oct. 21, 2014, in Loami, Ill.

Niemeyer wants a final NAFTA agreement soon, so negotiators can focus on new trade agreements that could help create more demand, improve prices and ultimately move the supply that has piled up in the U.S.

Gebhards said the world is watching the negotiations for clues on how reliable the U.S. is as a trading partner under Trump.

Its a short term issue for us not to lose ground as we try to renegotiate NAFTA, Gebhards said. But I think the long term is what kind of a signal do you send as a reliable trading partner to the rest of the world that if you enter into this agreement with the United States you know that you will be able to get that product that youve agreed to buy.

Trump has recently suggested a deadline extension for modernizing NAFTA, which means the uncertainty for farmers like Niemeyer could extend into March or April, when he is preparing to put a new crop in the ground.Rescuers in California have started making a second pass through areas hit by deadly mudslides earlier this week, searching for survivors in the disaster already known to have killed 17 people.



On Friday, the estimated number of missing people was down to five, after an estimate of 43 on Thursday. Santa Barbara County spokeswoman Amber Anderson told reporters some 1,250 emergency workers were at work Friday, slogging through soupy mud and uncertain footing to search for anyone who is trapped.



The searchers are using all-terrain vehicles and helicopters, but downed power lines and blocked roads are complicating their efforts.

This photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fi This photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows the U.S. Highway 101 at the Olive Mill Road overpass flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek in Montecito, Calif., Jan. 9, 2018. This photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows the U.S. Highway 101 at the Olive Mill Road overpass flooded with runoff water from Montecito Creek in Montecito, Calif., Jan. 9, 2018.

Tuesday's mudslides in Santa Barbara County were the result of wildfires followed by a heavy storm that sent rivers of debris streaming down steep hillsides. As much as 13 centimeters of rain fell in some places. One piece of video from Tuesday shows a car being carried along a curvy, downward-sloping street, engulfed by mud on all sides.



The 17 victims range in age from 3 to 89, all residents of the scenic coastal community northwest of Los Angeles.



On Thursday, Santa Barbara sheriff Bill Brown said of the missing, "We are certainly searching for a miracle right now."



The mudslide areas are under mandatory evacuation orders for at least a week, but the sheriff has cautioned residents to plan to be away for a full two weeks. Brown apologized for the inconvenience, but he called the area "a very active rescue and recovery and repair zone right now."

Thomas fire contained

Meanwhile, the Thomas fire that denuded Santa Barbara's hillsides  the largest wildfire in California's recorded history  was finally, on Friday, reported 100 percent contained. The fire started more than a month ago.



The December wildfires burned away hectares of brush and vegetation that normally would have soaked up heavy rainfall in the hills north of Los Angeles.Riot police used tear gas on protesters in Athens, Greece, on Friday, as thousands of people gathered in the streets to demonstrate against a new austerity bill coming up for a vote Monday.

The police deployed tear gas when a small group of demonstrators tried to enter the parliament building. No arrests or injuries were reported.

The bill, which has triggered demonstrations all week in the Greek capital, is expected to be one of the last major packages of cuts before the end of Greece's EU bailout package in August. It would limit workers rights to strike and speed up property foreclosures.

Fridays strike involved a disruption in Athens public transport. On Monday, the protest is expected to continue with a work stoppage by air traffic controllers from noon to 3 p.m. local time. The public transport strike is expected to continue, along with stoppages by hospital workers.

The General Confederation of Greek Workers union (GSEE) said the bill deals a killing blow to to workers, pensioners and the unemployed ... effectively eliminating even constitutionally safeguarded rights, such as the right to strike, according to the French news agency AFP.

Since the bailout, Greeces economic prospects have improved, increasing the countrys chances of functioning effectively without its EU safety net for the first time in nine years.Iran has warned Washington the nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers is not renegotiable.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that Iran will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in the future and it will not take any action beyond its commitments.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that U.S. President Donald Trumps announcement Friday that he is willing to approve new sanctions on Iran is a desperate attempt to undermine a solid multilateral agreement.

Sanctions waived

Trump stopped short for a third time of re-imposing harsh sanctions intended to push Tehran to give up its nuclear weapons research.

He said he was waiving the sanctions for the last time in order to give Congress and European allies 120 days to improve the agreement or face U.S. abandonment of the pact.

The presidents proposals to fix the deals disastrous flaws include Irans agreement to open all sites immediately to international inspectors and an assurance from Tehran that it will never develop a nuclear weapon.

According to the White House, any new Iran deal would have to cover Irans ballistic missiles and limit its nuclear breakout period indefinitely.

In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately, Trump said in a statement.

Red lines crossed

Additionally, the Treasury Department imposed new measures that target Iranian businesses and individuals for human rights abuses. They were imposed on 14 Iranian entities and individuals, the most prominent of whom is the head of the countrys judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani. The department has linked Larijani to the commission of serious human rights abuses against Iranian people.

Irans foreign ministry said The Trump regimes hostile action [against Larijani]  crossed all red lines of conduct in the international community and is a violation of international law and will surely be answered by a serious reaction of the Islamic Republic.

The cyber unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the Trump administration maintains has stifled social media networks that demonstrators can use to communicate, was also blacklisted.

Diplomacy Works, a pressure group founded by former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry to defend the 2015 deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, gave a biting evaluation of Trumps move, saying  ... the presidents plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending.

A Trump administration official said the sanctions are part of a broader effort to counter Irans reckless and destabilizing behavior, including actions related to the crackdown on protesters, at least 21 of whom have been killed this month.

The United States will not stand by while the Iranian regime continues to engage in human rights abuses and injustice, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. We are targeting the head of Iranian regime, including the head of Irans judiciary for the appalling treatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned only for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest of their government.

By law, the administration must certify to Congress every 90 days whether Iran is complying with a 2015 agreement it signed with the international community to limit its nuclear program.Kathmandu, Nepal: The allegation labeled to the office bearers of the Election Commission (EC) of embellishing billions of rupees during the recently concluded three tiers of elections is being settled through backdoor negotiations with the office bearers of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Office of the Auditor General (OAG).





As the office bearers of the three constitutional bodies- EC, CIAA and the OAG have repeatedly been holding meetings without specifying any specific agendas, it is predicted that there would have an attempt to cover-up the alleged embezzlement.





As the meeting with the CIAA and the OAG was dragged into controversies, the EC has also hold a meeting with the office bearers of the Public Service Commission (PSC) including the CIAA and the OAG on the name of continuing the tradition of having meeting among the constitutional bodies.





The meeting among the constitutional bodies would not be a matter of suspicion because such a meeting used to be held in the past as well. But meetings held immediately after elections has left space to be suspicions.



GENEVA - A survey by three leading U.N. agencies - the U.N. refugee agency, U.N. Childrens Fund and World Food Program - finds that more than three-quarters of the more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon are living below the poverty line of less than $4 per day.

After nearly seven years of war, the U.N. survey finds Syrian refugees in Lebanon are poorer and finding it ever more difficult to make ends meet. It also shows refugee households on average spend $98 per person per month. Nearly half that sum goes toward food.

The U.N. agencies that conducted the survey report most of the refugees need to borrow money for food, to cover health expenses and pay rent. It says almost nine out of every 10 refugees end up in debt.

U.N. refugee agency spokesman William Spindler says that makes refugees vulnerable.

Obtaining legal residency continues to be a challenge, leaving refugees exposed to an increased risk of arrest, hindering their ability to register their marriages and making it more difficult for them to find daily labor, send their children to school or access health care, Spindler said.

Spindler told VOA the precarious situation facing Syrian refugees is pushing them into adopting negative coping mechanisms, such as early marriage and child labor.

Many families cannot afford to make ends meet without the support of the wages earned by children. One thing that is particularly worrying is the fact that some employers prefer to hire children because they pay them lower wages than adults, he said.

Spindler said the impoverished Syrian refugees in Lebanon are increasingly dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. Unfortunately, he said, aid agencies are suffering from a serious funding shortfall. He noted that $2.7 billion is required to meet humanitarian needs in Lebanon this year.Edgar Ray Killen, a 1960s Ku Klux Klan leader who was convicted decades later in the Mississippi Burning slayings of three civil rights workers, has died in prison at the age of 92, the states corrections department announced.

Killen was serving three consecutive 20-year terms for manslaughter when he died at 9 p.m. Thursday inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. An autopsy was pending, but no foul play was suspected, the statement Friday said.

His conviction came 41 years to the day after James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, all in their 20s, were ambushed and killed by Klansmen.

Freedom Summer

The three Freedom Summer workers had been investigating the burning of a black church near Philadelphia, Mississippi. A deputy sheriff in Philadelphia had arrested them on a traffic charge, then released them after alerting a mob. Mississippis then-governor claimed their disappearance was a hoax, and segregationist Sen. Jim Eastland told President Lyndon Johnson it was a publicity stunt before their bodies were dug up.

The slayings shocked the nation, helped spur passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and were dramatized in the 1988 movie Mississippi Burning. The movie title came from the name of the FBI investigation.

Killen, a part-time preacher and lumber mill operator, was 80 when a Neshoba County jury of nine white people and three black people convicted him of three counts of manslaughter on June 21, 2005, despite his assertions that he was innocent. Prosecutors said Killen masterminded the slayings, then went elsewhere so he would have an alibi.

Convicted of lesser charge

Killen was the only person ever to face state murder charges, and even then, it was the lesser charge of manslaughter that put him in state prison.

It wasnt even murder. It was manslaughter, David Goodman, Andrews younger brother, observed Friday.

His life spanned a period in this country where members of the Ku Klux Klan like him were able to believe they had a right to take other peoples lives, and thats a form of terrorism, Goodman said. Many took black lives with impunity.

On June 29, 1964, the FBI began distributing these On June 29, 1964, the FBI began distributing these pictures of civil rights workers, from left, Michael Schwerner, 24, of New York, James Chaney, 21, from Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman, 20, of New York, who disappeared near Philadelphia, Miss., June 21, 1964. On June 29, 1964, the FBI began distributing these pictures of civil rights workers, from left, Michael Schwerner, 24, of New York, James Chaney, 21, from Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman, 20, of New York, who disappeared near Philadelphia, Miss., June 21, 1964.

Schwerner, a white New Yorker, moved to Mississippi in early 1964 to work on black voter registration and other projects. Chaney was a black Mississippian who befriended him. Andrew Goodman, another white New Yorker, underwent civil-rights training in Ohio and arrived in Mississippi a day before he, Schwerner and Chaney were killed. Investigators searching for their bodies found bodies of other black men who had been killed in Mississippi, including two who were brutalized before being dumped in the Mississippi River.

Culture of violence

Schwerners widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, said on the day Killen was convicted that the slayings were part of a larger problem of violence in Mississippi against black people and others who challenged the segregationist status quo.

Preacher Killen did not act in a vacuum and the members of the Klan who were members of the police department and the sheriffs department and the highway patrol didnt act in a vacuum, she said.

FILE - Edgar Ray Killen, shown in a 1964 photo. A FILE - Edgar Ray Killen, shown in a 1964 photo. According to testimony in the 2005 murder trial, Killen served as a kleagle, or organizer, of the Klan in Neshoba County and helped set up a klavern, or local Klan group, in a nearby county. FILE - Edgar Ray Killen, shown in a 1964 photo. According to testimony in the 2005 murder trial, Killen served as a kleagle, or organizer, of the Klan in Neshoba County and helped set up a klavern, or local Klan group, in a nearby county.

Goodman said Friday that Killens passing is a reminder that issues of racism and white nationalism remain today. He pointed to the violent rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, as an example.

Killen wouldnt say much about the killings during a 2014 interview with The Associated Press inside the penitentiary. He said he remained a segregationist who did not believe in racial equality, but contended he harbored no ill will toward black people. Killen said he never had talked about the events that landed him behind bars, and never would.

Long a suspect in the 1964 slayings, Killen had made a livelihood from farming, operating his sawmill and preaching to a small congregation at Smyrna Baptist Church in Union, south of Philadelphia, Mississippi.

According to FBI files and court transcripts from a 1967 federal conspiracy trial, Killen did most of the planning in the ambush killings of the civil rights workers.

Nineteen men, including Killen, were indicted on federal charges in the 1967 case. Seven were convicted of violating the victims civil rights. None served more than six years.

Killens federal case ended with a hung jury after one juror said she couldnt convict a preacher. During his state trial in 2005, witnesses testified that on June 21, 1964, Killen went to Meridian to round up carloads of Klansmen to ambush Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, telling some of the Klan members to bring plastic or rubber gloves. Witnesses said Killen then went to a Philadelphia funeral home as an alibi while the fatal attack occurred.

The three bodies were found 44 days later, buried in a red-clay dam in rural Neshoba County.

In February 2010, Killen sued the FBI, claiming the government used a mafia hit man to pistol-whip and intimidate witnesses for information in the case. The federal lawsuit sought millions of dollars in damages and a declaration that his rights were violated when the FBI allegedly used a gangster known as The Grim Reaper during the investigation. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

In the AP interview, Killen repeated his contention that he was not a criminal, but a political prisoner. He spoke of his many friends, Sen. Eastland among them. Of one thing he was certain: I could have beat that thing if Id had the mental ability.

When she learned of Killens death, Chaneys sister, the Rev. Julia Chaney Moss, said her first thought was that God has been kind to him. And for that I am grateful.

My last thought on this is just that I only wish peace and blessings for all the families as well as the families of the perpetrators, she said.U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller is requesting a May 14 trial date for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his associate, Richard Gates, on charges of money laundering, tax fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent working on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

The date was included in court papers filed Friday by the Mueller team, which is investigating allegations of ties between Russia and the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

The Mueller team is expected to formally request the court date January 16 at a status conference, which is meant to keep the judge apprised of progress in the case.

Earlier, the team said it had found more than 590,000 relevant items in its investigation, including financial records, records from vendors identified in Manafort's and Gates' indictment, emails and corporate records. They have highlighted 2,200 documents that the federal government has deemed "hot," or especially important, items.

Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges on which they were indicted in October. Both are under house arrest because they are considered flight risks. Manafort's bond has been set at $10 million and Gates' at $5 million.

The two were indicted after the Mueller probe unearthed evidence that Manafort served as a lobbyist for a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, two former Trump associates, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former foreign policy campaign aide George Papadopoulos, have pleaded guilty of lying to investigators.DETROIT - General Motors Co is seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car  one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal  to enter the automaker's first commercial ride-sharing fleet in 2019, executives said.

For passengers who cannot open doors, the Cruise AV  a rebranded version of GM's Chevrolet Bolt EV  has even been designed to perform that task. It will have other accommodations for hearing and visually impaired customers.

This will be one of the first self-driving vehicles in commercial passenger service and among the first to do away with manual controls for steering, brakes and throttle. What is the driver's seat in the Bolt EV will become the front left passenger seat in the Cruise AV, GM said.

Company President Dan Ammann told reporters GM had filed on Thursday for government approval to deploy the "first production-ready vehicle designed from the start without a steering wheel, pedals or other unnecessary manual controls."

GM is part of a growing throng of vehicle manufacturers, technology companies and tech startups seeking to develop so-called robo-taxis over the next three years in North America, Europe and Asia. Most of those companies have one or more partners.

On Friday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed GM had petitioned for approval to operate up to 2,500 vehicles without steering wheels or human drivers.

"Safety is the [Transportation] department's top priority. The department will review this petition and give it careful consideration," the agency said in a statement.

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday it will partner with delivery service Postmates Inc as the automaker starts testing ways to transport people, food and packages this spring in its self-driving cars, which are being developed by Ford's Argo unit.

Other companies, from Uber Technologies Inc to Alphabet Inc's Waymo, have been testing self-driving vehicle prototypes in limited ride-sharing applications, but have been less explicit than GM in announcing plans for commercial robo-taxi services.

GM executives said the automaker has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to allow 16 alterations to existing vehicle safety rules  such as having an airbag in what would normally be the driver's seat, but without a steering wheel  to enable the deployment of the Cruise AV.

The automaker would then need to obtain similar approval from individual U.S. states. GM executives said seven U.S. states already allow the alterations sought by the automaker.

In other states  including those that stipulate a car must have a licensed human driver  GM will work with regulators to change or get a waiver from existing rules.

The company declined to identify the first states in which it plans to launch the vehicle or say when it would begin testing.

GM wants to control its own self-driving fleet partly because of the tremendous revenue potential it sees in selling related services, from e-commerce to infotainment, to consumers riding in those vehicles.

At a Nov. 30 briefing in San Francisco, GM's Ammann told investors the lifetime revenue generation of one of its self-driving cars could eventually be "several hundred thousands of dollars." That compares with the $30,000 on average that GM collects today for one of its vehicles, mostly derived from the initial sale.

GM's Cruise AV is equipped with the automaker's fourth-generation self-driving software and hardware, including 21 radars, 16 cameras and five lidars  sensing devices that use laser light to help autonomous cars "see" nearby objects and obstacles.

The Cruise AV will be able to operate in hands-free mode only in premapped urban areas.

GM's prototype self-driving vehicles have been developed in San Francisco by Cruise Automation, the onetime startup that GM acquired in March 2016 for a reported $1 billion.RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina Republican legislative leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to block enforcement of an order throwing out the states congressional map and directing a redraw almost immediately.

The lawmakers attorneys filed a motion with Chief Justice John Roberts seeking delay of the lower court judges directive that the General Assembly draw a replacement map by Jan. 24.

The three-judge panel that issued Tuesdays ruling concluding the boundaries were an illegal partisan gerrymander also said it would hire a redistricting expert to make its own alternate map in case the GOP-controlled legislature doesnt draw a map or draws lines that still look unlawful.

Supreme Court Roberts Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

?Wait for other decisions

In the emergency motion to the Supreme Court, GOP lawyer Paul Clement argued that requiring a redraw less than three weeks before candidate filing begins for the Feb. 12 midterm elections would create uncertainty among voters and potential candidates.

Clement also said it doesnt make sense for North Carolina to redraw its 2016 maps before the Supreme Court resolves similar partisan gerrymandering cases from Maryland and Wisconsin, whose outcomes could affect the final result in North Carolinas case.

Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments last fall in the Wisconsin case, which involved state legislative districts, and are expected to issue a ruling by early summer. The Supreme Court has never declared that the constitutional rights of voters can be violated by redistricting plans that entrench one partys control to the detriment of the other party.

It makes no sense whatsoever to force North Carolina to immediately remedy a purported partisan gerrymandering violation and commence its 2018 election cycle under a new court-imposed map before this court can even decide whether and under what circumstances such claims may be adjudicated, Clement told Roberts, who receives appeals from North Carolina.

In a similar case in Pennsylvania, a divided three-judge panel Wednesday rejected partisan gerrymandering claims involving the states congressional districts.

Discriminatory partisan objective

In North Carolina, the lower court panel determined that the Republican map, approved by the legislature in February 2016, was marked by invidious partisanship that violated the U.S. Constitution. The evidence showed the plan achieved the General Assemblys discriminatory partisan objective, U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn wrote in the cases chief opinion.

At the time the maps were approved, Republican leaders said retaining the partys 10-3 seat advantage in the states congressional delegation was one of its mapping criteria. The GOP won 10 seats in November 2016.

In his arguments on behalf of the GOP legislators who approved the maps, Clement wrote that the lower court has used an entirely novel legal theory to hopelessly disrupt North Carolinas upcoming congressional elections.

The Republican lawyers had already asked the three-judge panel to order a delay of its decision by Thursday, but jumped to the Supreme Court on Friday when the judges didnt act quickly.

Republicans have now requested a Supreme Court decision by Jan. 22. Late Friday, Roberts asked for a response by next Wednesday to the delay request from the election advocacy groups and Democratic voters who sued over the congressional map.

The advocates say voters have waited too long for legal boundaries and a new map is needed for 2018 elections. Republicans initially approved district maps in 2011, but another three-judge panel struck down two districts five years later, identifying them as illegal racial gerrymanders. That prompted the creation of a new map, the one now before the courts.Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello has criticized the U.S. federal governments response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the U.S. territory in September, leaving many in Puerto Rico without power and other basic services that still have not been restored.

Rossello spoke Friday at a political gathering in the U.S. state of Florida, where thousands of Puerto Ricans have fled since Maria. He used the occasion to advocate for Puerto Rican statehood and to call on Puerto Ricans on the mainland to use their vote to support the island.

In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Melanie Oliveras Gonz In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Melanie Oliveras Gonzalez stands on the porch of her house, behind a handful of electric cables knocked down by the winds of Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico. In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Melanie Oliveras Gonzalez stands on the porch of her house, behind a handful of electric cables knocked down by the winds of Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico.

?Citizens, but not equal

One hundred years of U.S. citizenship, but not quite equal, Rossello said, noting that people on Puerto Rico are considered U.S. citizens, but do not have the same voting rights as people in the mainland United States.

He also said the fact that Puerto Rico has gone five months without the aid it needs to restore power and clean water, while similarly hit Florida and Texas have bounced back, highlights the imbalance.

It is completely unacceptable, it is inhuman, and you have to ask yourself if this would happen in any other state. The answer is no. The reality is, this would only happen in Puerto Rico, because we are treated as second-class citizens, he told reporters.

He urged the Puerto Ricans who have moved to Florida to seize their power to vote, so that everyone in Congress knows that if you turn your back on the people of Puerto Rico ... there will be consequences.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Puerto Rico FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Oct. 19, 2017. FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Oct. 19, 2017.

Rossello was seen as a supporter of President Donald Trump after the presidential election, but his position has changed since Hurricane Maria.

He has been particularly critical of the U.S. tax law signed a few weeks ago. The law could put Puerto Rican companies at a disadvantage with mainland U.S. companies because they will be treated as offshore firms and subject to higher taxes.

Voting bloc

Rossello urged Puerto Ricans to vote in the 2018 midterm elections, opposing those politicians who have not been supportive of Puerto Rico. He noted the political power that Cuban-Americans have developed by voting as a bloc and urged Puerto Ricans to organize in the same way.

If they can do it, he said, why cant we do it?

He called the notion a great opportunity for all Puerto Ricans, for those who are as outraged at the lack of rights as I am.

While the number of Puerto Ricans who have come to nearby Florida since the storm is unclear, the University of Florida estimates that the number is around 50,000, based on school enrollments and requests for state aid.

Florida Governor Rick Scott puts the estimate at 300,000, based on the number of people who have flown into Floridas major airports.

Florida pledges help

Scott, who was also in attendance at Fridays news conference in Orlando, announced the state is offering $1 million to help Hurricane Maria refugees in Florida find employment. He said since September, the states career services agencies have helped more than 7,600 Puerto Ricans find jobs.

He also said he is asking local housing officials and community leaders to help in the effort to find housing for refugees.

Rossello also reacted publicly to Trumps recent vulgar remarks about immigrants from Africa and Haiti. He said, It is surreal that this was said by the president. The United States is the greatest nation in the world, but we need to act like it.A Saudi Arabian construction giant says it "remains a private sector company," but admits that "some of the shareholders may have agreed to a settlement," allowing for the transfer of some shares to the government "against outstanding debts."

The Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) said in a statement that it sees the move as a "positive step."

SBG Chairman Bakr Bin Laden has been detained in Saudi Arabia's crackdown on corruption. Dozens of princes and other elite businessmen were swept up in the arrests late last year ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi officials say they are negotiating with the detainees to collect as much as $100 billion for state coffers.

SBG was established in 1931 by Mohammed Binladin. The company grew quickly after the Kingdom contracted the firm in the 1950s to work on mosques in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In 1964, SBG was commissioned to do the re-cladding on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

In recent years, however, SBG has encountered some difficulties and has laid off thousands of employees.

SBG belongs to the family of the former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, killed in Pakistan in 2011 by U.S. special forces.

African National Congress (ANC) supporters booed President Jacob Zuma on Saturday during a political party event in the southeastern city of East London.

Zuma, who arrive after the event started, attended the gathering in support of Cyril Ramaphosa, the new leader of the ANC, South Africas ruling party.

Ramaphosa told the audience the ANC must unite and the political groups must address the dysfunction in its ranks.

The BBC reported Ramaphosa, who was elected to replace Zuma as party leader, said the ANC had become "deeply divided through factionalism, patronage and corruption.

His speech focused on the countrys corruption and economy.

He urged "the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous and equitable society.

Zuma did not address ANC supporters, yet he was booed when cameras showed him.

The president has seen a decline in public support during his second term, amid a weakening economy and allegations of corruption.

Supporters of the ANC wave a flag during the party Supporters of the ANC wave a flag during the party's 106th anniversary celebrations, in East London, South Africa, Jan. 13, 2018. Supporters of the ANC wave a flag during the party's 106th anniversary celebrations, in East London, South Africa, Jan. 13, 2018.

While the president was being booed, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, also at the meeting, was received with welcoming cheers.

Last month, the ruling ANC elected Ramaphosa as party leader to replace Zuma, who stepped down amid corruption allegations, but will remain South Africa's president until nationwide elections are held in 2019.

Zuma had announced on Tuesday a corruption probe into the highest levels of the state, after parliament indicated it would move to impeach him.

On December 13, a South African court ruled that a commission be set up within 30 days to carry out such an inquiry.

"The allegations that the state has been wrestled out of the hands of its real owner, the people of South Africa, is of paramount importance and are therefore deserving of finality and certainty," Zuma said in a statement, the French news agency reported, adding, "I have decided to appoint a commission of inquiry.GENEVA - The United Nations is calling for the permanent re-opening of all of Yemens sea ports to allow vital, life-saving humanitarian and commercial cargo to enter.

The Saudi-led coalition partially lifted its blockade of Yemens sea ports on December 20. Since then, the U.N. reports 13 vessels have delivered food and much needed fuel to the war-torn country through the Red Sea ports of Hudaydah and Saleef.

The U.N. welcomes this as a constructive step. But, the spokesman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, says it is not enough. He noted Yemen imports about 90 percent of its staple food and nearly all its fuel and medicine.

We call on the Coalition to continue allowing vessels into the Red Sea ports, and also for the Houthis (Iran-backed rebel group) to desist from threatening this vital access route. The steady flow of imports is a lifeline for millions of vulnerable Yemeni people, Laerke said.

FILE - A girl scavenges at a garbage dump in a str FILE - A girl scavenges at a garbage dump in a street in Sana'a, Yemen, Jul. 26, 2017. FILE - A girl scavenges at a garbage dump in a street in Sana'a, Yemen, Jul. 26, 2017.

Saudi Arabia imposed a total blockade on Yemens air and sea ports on November 6 in retaliation for a Houthi ballistic missile attack near the capitals Riyadh airport.

The United Nations considers Yemen one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. It says 22 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, with nearly eight million on the brink of famine. Laerke told VOA the Yemen crisis is a manmade disaster.

When we talk about 22 million people, that is almost the entirety of the population. Then, it is critical, I think, to understand that it is manmade and we need a political solution and we welcome any and all efforts to find such a solution. In the meantime  it is critical that these ports are kept open, Laerke said.

The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemens conflict in support of the countrys government in March 2015. Since then, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed and over 40,000 injured. The U.N. and other human rights groups blame most of these casualties on the coalitions aerial and ground campaign against the Houthi rebels.

ISTANBUL - In the latest tit for tat between NATO allies Turkey and the United States, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory urging the country's citizens to reconsider visiting the U.S., citing security concerns.

"We observe an increasing number of terror plots and acts of violence in the U.S.," said the Foreign Ministry on its website. The advisory listed a series of incidents that have occurred since 2016, including at Ohio State University, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in Florida, the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Minnesota and a church in Texas.

The Foreign Ministry also warned of the danger of vehicles ramming pedestrians and armed terrorists launching attacks, saying these incidents might occur in city centers, cultural activity areas, metro stations, public buildings, prayer centers and even on school campuses.

The travel advisory cited the risk posed by far right and racist groups, and it urged Turkish citizens to take precautionary measures.

Similar U.S. advisory

The advisory mirrors one issued Friday by the State Department in which U.S. officials urge Americans to reconsider traveling to Turkey. The warning, in part, cited two specific risks, "terrorism and arbitrary detentions." The advisory included a long list of towns and cities to avoid in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish region, where an insurgency along the Syrian border is ongoing.

FILE - U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen a FILE - U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pa., U.S. July 10, 2017. FILE - U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pa., U.S. July 10, 2017.

Several U.S. citizens are currently detained in Turkey under a state of emergency. They are accused of links to U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and is blamed for a 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. He denies involvement. The U.S. has refused Turkish demands for his extradition.

On Thursday, Ankara-based U.S. Charge d'Affaires Philip Kosnett was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to receive an official protest over the categorization of Turkey as a country with an increased security risk, along with Sudan, Pakistan and Guatemala.

"These are not good things," Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday. "Creating the perception that Turkey is an insecure country will harm Turkey-U.S. relations."

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, on a trip to Los Angeles on Friday, said the U.S. travel advisory was "unnecessary."

The diplomatic dispute came after the two NATO allies resolved a dispute over visas.

Issuance suspended

Last year, Washington suspended the issuance of nearly all visas in Turkey, in response to the detention of two of its local employees. Ankara retaliated with similar measures. The dispute was resolved in December following intense diplomatic talks, with Washington saying it had received guarantees for its local employees regarding any future investigations against them.

Bilateral relations are also strained over other issues. They include U.S. support of a Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, which Ankara accuses of being linked to an insurgency in Turkey. On Tuesday, Kosnett received an official protest about U.S. military support to the YPG.

On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Turkey would not extradite any suspects to the United States until Gulen was sent back.

"We have given the United States 12 terrorists so far, but they have not given us back the one we want. They made up excuses from thin air," Erdogan said at a meeting at the presidential palace."If you're not giving him to us, then sorry, but from now on whenever you ask us for another terrorist, for as long as I hold office, you will not get them."

FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sec FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second left, flanked by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, second right, and Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin, speaks to reporters in Istanbul, Jan. 5, 2018. Erdogan slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions, saying the U.S. justice system poses a danger for the world. FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second left, flanked by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, second right, and Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin, speaks to reporters in Istanbul, Jan. 5, 2018. Erdogan slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions, saying the U.S. justice system poses a danger for the world.

January's conviction in New York of Turkish state banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran has added to the tensions. Erdogan alleged the conviction was part of a conspiracy by the FBI and CIA against him and his government.

Despite the diplomatic dust-ups and increasingly angry rhetoric from Ankara, analysts predict self-interest will contain the current tensions.

"The relations keep getting worse and worse, but I don't think we are at a breaking point," said political columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website. "We know all this is going down very badly in Washington, but Washington has bases in Turkey, Washington has strategic listening posts in Turkey, Washington has logistical military infrastructure in Turkey, so it has to balance these things out, and this is what Ankara is banking on."The on-again, off-again decision process over the future of almost 800,000 undocumented youth in the United States swung wildly between Thursday and Friday, with one of the top Republicans in Congress calling a reportedly expletive-laden comment by President Donald Trump disparaging some immigrants home countries unfortunate and unhelpful.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan joined politicians from both parties who were critical of the president following a remark by Trump during a meeting to discuss immigration policy at the White House on Thursday, in which the president allegedly referred to Haiti and African nations as s---hole countries.

WATCH: Trump Under Fire From Countries He Reportedly Called 'S---holes'

While Trump denied the widely reported comment in a tweet, Senator Dick Durbin, one of the top-ranking Democrats and a longtime supporter of immigration reform, said he personally heard the presidents comment, and that Trump had repeatedly used hate-filled, vile and racist words.

No one is denying, however, that Trump rejected an immigration deal brought to him by six bipartisan senators that addressed not only the now-ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), but also the diversity lottery and temporary protected status programs, funding for border security, and some aspects of the family-based migration system.

The deal was a nonstarter for conservative senators at the meeting and also for Trump.

This is like throwing gasoline to the fire, said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, located next to Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, in reference to Trumps reported profane language.

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, speaks to Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, speaks to students of Year Up Chicago, a yearlong job-training program for low-income young adults, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, speaks to students of Year Up Chicago, a yearlong job-training program for low-income young adults, Jan. 12, 2018, in Chicago.

?A week to get it done

Next Friday is the deadline for Congress to pass a national budget, something many Democrats, whose votes are needed, have said they will not do unless there is a fix for DACA. Absent a budget, the federal government will have to shut down.

Durbin said Friday he had hoped for White House approval of the bipartisan deal. Without it, heres what were going to do. Were going to prepare our bipartisan agreement for introduction into the Senate next week. If the Republican leadership has a better alternative, bring it forward. If they dont, for goodness sake, give us a vote.

He said he would be working the phones, begging his colleagues in both parties to support the measure.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Friday, The confusion of the last week has clouded the debate, but what is clear is that we must insist upon a clean DREAM Act, which is supported overwhelmingly by the American people, has bipartisan support in Congress and must be enacted in January. She said, The bipartisan Senate proposal put forward by Senators Graham and Durbin recognizes the importance of protecting our DREAMers.

But Trump, meanwhile, was disparaging the plan on Twitter as a "big step backwards."

The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards. Wall was not properly funded, Chain & Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

....countries which are doing badly. I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs. I want to fund our military, not do a Dem defund....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

In a statement Friday, conservative Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue had a different take on the previous days meeting.

What he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest. We, along with the president, are committed to solving an issue many in Congress have failed to deliver on for decades, the statement said.

What now?

In a statement Friday, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), which held events to help DACA applicants process their paperwork, said, It is unacceptable that the president of the United States would attack a bipartisan effort with his racist, xenophobic, and ill-informed language and beliefs.

One of the over-arching questions as the Jan. 19 vote on the federal budget approaches is which components of immigration reform and border security will be included.

NAKASEC joined other groups in calling for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act to be attached to the federal budget vote next Friday, in lieu of a massive reform bill that would include cuts to other aspects of the U.S. immigration system.

The DREAM Act must not be used to implement a family ban by altering the current family sponsorship system, cancel the diversity visa program or allocate our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to building a wall, the statement read.

Each of these issues has been discussed as components -- in some cases referred to as bargaining chips -- of a broader reform package.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in restricting immigration levels. Republican lawmakers introduced legislation in 2017 that would cut or eliminate some long-standing parts of the U.S. immigration system, but none of the bills passed.

The White House has also led a nearly yearlong campaign to reduce the number of refugees to the United States, as part of broader immigration-restriction efforts.

Cristina Jimenez speaks to demonstrators urging th Cristina Jimenez speaks to demonstrators urging the Democratic Party to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program outside the office of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Los Angeles, Jan. 3, 2018. California has the largest number of people who are affected by the program. Cristina Jimenez speaks to demonstrators urging the Democratic Party to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program outside the office of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Los Angeles, Jan. 3, 2018. California has the largest number of people who are affected by the program.

The turmult comes after a court ruling earlier this week that buoyed the hopes of advocates for the DACA program, which Trump rescinded in September. As VOA reported Wednesday, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to again process DACA renewal applications.

But recipients may not see any benefits soon, or at all. The ruling applies only to those who had been enrolled in DACA before Trump rescinded the program and does not apply to first-time applicants. Moreover, the Trump administration has already announced its intention to appeal.WASHINGTON - On Friday, President Donald Trump waived economic sanctions on Iran, the third time hes issued a sanctions waiver under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.

The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, restricted Irans controversial nuclear program in exchange for broad relief from international sanctions.

While the United States, the United Nations and the European Union have lifted most nuclear-related sanctions, unilaterally imposed U.S. sanctions going back decades remain in place. These restrictions were levied because of Irans human rights violations, support of terrorism, and pursuit of a ballistic missile program.

Sorting out the myriad sanctions requires a team of lawyers, said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Its a maze, in many ways, Vatanka said.

Here is the status of key sanctions on Iran, based largely on a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, as well as those with the Treasury and State departments:

In this Jan. 22, 2014 photo, a gas flare burns in FILE - A gas flare burns in a gas refinery in South Pars gas field, on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, in Asalouyeh, Iran, Jan. 22, 2014. FILE - A gas flare burns in a gas refinery in South Pars gas field, on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, in Asalouyeh, Iran, Jan. 22, 2014.

?What sanctions relief Iran has received under the nuclear deal

As part of the deal, the U.S. agreed to waive several key Iran sanctions laws and revoke related presidential executive orders.

The U.S. waived all provisions of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), a 1996 law that imposed sanctions on foreign investment in Irans energy sector. Among other things, the sweeping legislation mandated penalties on persons and entities that invested more than $20 million in one year in Irans energy sector.

The U.S. waived the Iran sanctions provisions of the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Among its other stipulations, the law targeted foreign banks that conducted transactions with Irans central bank.

The U.S. waived all provisions of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (ITRSHR) of 2012 except for those that applied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates. The law had imposed sanctions on companies that provided insurance or reinsurance services for Irans national oil company and national tanker company.

The U.S. waived the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act (IFCA), a 2012 law that penalized companies that did business with Irans energy, shipbuilding and shipping sectors, exported precious metals to Iran, and allowed Iran to deal in U.S. banknotes.

The president revoked a 2012 presidential executive order that slapped sanctions on companies that purchased oil from Iran, conducted transactions with its national oil company or helped Iran buy previous metals and U.S. banknotes.

The president revoked a 2013 executive order that punished companies that do business with Irans automotive sector, expanded penalties on sales of precious metals to Iran, and prohibited regional banks that conduct business in the Iranian currency from holding U.S. bank accounts.

Also, the U.S. released Iranian assets frozen because of Irans nuclear deal. The CRS report puts the figure around $1.7 billion.

FILE - Iranian merchants wait for customers at a c FILE - Iranian merchants wait for customers at a carpet market in Tehran's old main bazaar, in Iran, Aug. 10, 2015. Anger and frustration over the economy has been the main fuel for the surprise eruption of protests that began Dec. 28, 2017. FILE - Iranian merchants wait for customers at a carpet market in Tehran's old main bazaar, in Iran, Aug. 10, 2015. Anger and frustration over the economy has been the main fuel for the surprise eruption of protests that began Dec. 28, 2017.

?What sanctions remain in place

The 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the Iran nuclear deal left intact sanctions on Irans development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as well as Irans arms exports and imports.

U.S. and EU sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its affiliates and commanders remain in place.

The Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992 remain intact. The act imposes penalties on companies that provide Iran with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technology or advanced conventional weaponry.

Under JCPOA, the U.S. relaxed a ban on imports of Iranian luxury goods, such as carpets and caviar, but most U.S. restrictions on trade with and investment with Iran remain in place, according to the CRS report.

A ban on U.S. financial institutions doing business with Iranian banks remains in place.

The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISDA) of 2010 and a related executive order punishing Iranian human rights violators have survived the nuclear deal.

The legislation allows the Treasury Secretary to imposes travel bans and other sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities accused of human rights violations and other abuses. The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it had designated 14 Iranian individuals and entities under the executive order.

More than $3.7 billion worth of Iranian assets, blocked because of Irans human rights record, support for terrorism and missile technology, remain frozen, according to the Congressional Research Service report.The African Union Mission to Washington says United States president Donald Trump, who called Haiti and Africa shithole countries, should withdraw the remarks, which dishonor the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

In a statement, the A.U Mission said it condemned the remarks in the strongest terms and wants a retraction of the comments and an apology to not only to the Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe.

The African Union Mission wishes to express its infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate comment made by Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, which remarks dishonor the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

While expressing out shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current administration. There is a serious need for dialogue between the US administration and African countries.

The AU Mission said the African Union, through its member states, values the strategic partnership with the United States.

This relationship should be from the point of equality and mutual respect based on accepted international principles of respect of basic human dignity for all.

Various African leaders have summoned United States ambassadors in their countries for a full explanation of Trumps remarks. These nations include Botswanas Ian Khama, who condemned the remarks saying they were unacceptable.

Trump reportedly made the remark as Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, was explaining the outlines of an agreement reached by six bipartisan senators that would protect nearly 800,000 young immigrants from deportation as well as bolster border security, according to the Washington Post.

"Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here," the president asked, as was first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by CNN television. The crude term means dirty and impoverished.JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe was sacked as president illegally and the international community must help remove the military government that has taken power or risk the country descending into chaos, an exiled Mugabe loyalist said on Friday.

Mugabe, 93, stood down last November, a week after the army and his former political allies turned against him, ending nearly four decades of rule marred by allegations of corruption, human rights abuses and economic negligence.

His former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, whose sacking prompted the military takeover that forced Mugabe out, was sworn in as president and the general who led the de facto coup, Constantino Chiwenga, was installed as his deputy.

Mugabes resignation came in the form of a written statement and he has not spoken since.

The president was alleged to have resigned. There is no evidence, Jonathan Moyo, a cabinet minister under Mugabe, told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location, in one of the first detailed accounts from a Mugabe supporter since the coup.

It is completely unsustainable for anyone to say Mugabe resigned voluntarily when we know the army took over all institutions of the state and confined him to his residence. You have to be applying a Banana Republic model to say he resigned.

Moyo was the fiercely combative mouthpiece for a faction in the ruling ZANU-PF party that opposed Mnangagwa and backed Mugabes 52-year old wife, Grace, to succeed him.

Mugabes departure brought tens of thousands of jubilant Zimbabweans onto the streets and was widely cheered by leaders in Africa and the West.

But Moyo said the international community, including the African Union and the United Nations, was making a huge mistake if it legitimized a government that came to power via a coup.

This is a military government. You cannot send the arsonists to be the fire brigade, he said.

He said the public was currently living in unprecedented fear of the former soldiers who have taken political office but eventually the masses would not stand for an illegal regime.

FLOODGATES TO CONFLICT

If you dont intervene when there has been such an outrageous, brazen attack on a constitutional order, you are simply opening the floodgates to conflict, he said.

If they dont act, just as the sun will rise tomorrow, Zimbabwe will be another Somalia. There will be bloodshed.

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. But in response to earlier criticisms leveled by Moyo, government spokesman George Charamba said on Thursday the issue of legitimacy or illegitimacy did not arise.

He pointed to large demonstrations in November calling for Mugabes departure and across the political spectrum support for his replacement by a new administration.

So really this is a bitter, bitter defeated politician, Charamba said.

Many of Mugabes political allies were either arrested by the military in a series of spectacular raids in the early hours of Nov. 15 or they fled into neighboring countries.

Moyo said he narrowly escaped with his life.

This was not Mickey Mouse stuff. There was heavy gunfire for 15 minutes. They shot stun grenades in the house. I was there with my wife and children, Moyo said, adding that he has since fled to another country over fears for his safety.

They still have aspirations to harm me.

Grace Mugabes accelerating presidential ambitions contributed to Mnangagwa and the military taking action to prevent her taking over from her ailing husband.

Moyo, a figure reviled in much of Zimbabwe for his often brutal verbal assaults on detractors, says he has no regrets.

I will never, ever accept the proposition that those who use violence have outsmarted me, he said.

I would rather be hated for standing for my principles and believing in the rule of law than be feared that if people dont agree with me I will unleash the tanks.The U.N. human rights office has sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's vulgar comments on migrants from Africa and Haiti, calling them shocking and shameful.

Trump's reportedly crude outburst against migrants from the African continent and Haiti have set off a firestorm of global rebuke. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. Human Rights Office, calls Trump's remarks clearly racist.

"You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 's---holes' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome. The positive comment on Norway makes the underlying sentiment very clear," Colville said.

Recalling Trump's earlier comments vilifying Mexicans who cross the border as "rapists" and Trump's re-tweeting of anti-Muslim propaganda from a far-right British group, Colville says policy proposals targeting entire groups on grounds of nationality or religion goes against universal values.

"This is not just a story about vulgar language," he said. "It is about opening the door to humanity's worst side. It is about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and even destroy the lives of many people."

Colville warns that comments by a major political figure, such as the president of the United States, can have damaging and dangerous consequences.

Trump's remarks were made at a meeting of Congressional leaders working on a bipartisan immigration deal to allow some 800,000 so-called Dreamers to remain in the United States.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has previously said the future of the Dreamers should not be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate restrictive immigration measures. The young people are human beings, not commodities, he said.The on-again, off-again decision process over the future of almost 800,000 undocumented youth in the United States swung wildly between Thursday and Friday, with one of the top Republicans in Congress calling a reportedly expletive-laden comment by President Donald Trump disparaging some immigrants home countries unfortunate and unhelpful.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan joined politicians from both parties who were critical of the president following a remark by Trump during a meeting to discuss immigration policy at the White House on Thursday, in which the president allegedly referred to Haiti and African nations as s---hole countries.

WATCH: Trump Under Fire From Countries He Reportedly Called 'S---holes'

While Trump denied the widely reported comment in a tweet, Senator Dick Durbin, one of the top-ranking Democrats and a longtime supporter of immigration reform, said he personally heard the presidents comment, and that Trump had repeatedly used hate-filled, vile and racist words.

No one is denying, however, that Trump rejected an immigration deal brought to him by six bipartisan senators that addressed not only the now-ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), but also the diversity lottery and temporary protected status programs, funding for border security, and some aspects of the family-based migration system.

The deal was a nonstarter for conservative senators at the meeting and also for Trump.

This is like throwing gasoline to the fire, said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, located next to Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, in reference to Trumps reported profane language.

A week to get it done

Next Friday is the deadline for Congress to pass a national budget, something many Democrats, whose votes are needed, have said they will not do unless there is a fix for DACA. Absent a budget, the federal government will have to shut down.

Durbin said Friday he had hoped for White House approval of the bipartisan deal. Without it, heres what were going to do. Were going to prepare our bipartisan agreement for introduction into the Senate next week. If the Republican leadership has a better alternative, bring it forward. If they dont, for goodness sake, give us a vote.

He said he would be working the phones, begging his colleagues in both parties to support the measure.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Friday, The confusion of the last week has clouded the debate, but what is clear is that we must insist upon a clean DREAM Act, which is supported overwhelmingly by the American people, has bipartisan support in Congress and must be enacted in January. She said, The bipartisan Senate proposal put forward by Senators Graham and Durbin recognizes the importance of protecting our DREAMers.

But Trump, meanwhile, was disparaging the plan on Twitter as a "big step backwards."

In a statement Friday, conservative Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue had a different take on the previous days meeting.

What he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest. We, along with the president, are committed to solving an issue many in Congress have failed to deliver on for decades, the statement said.

What now?

In a statement Friday, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), which held events to help DACA applicants process their paperwork, said, It is unacceptable that the president of the United States would attack a bipartisan effort with his racist, xenophobic, and ill-informed language and beliefs.

One of the over-arching questions as the Jan. 19 vote on the federal budget approaches is which components of immigration reform and border security will be included.

NAKASEC joined other groups in calling for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act to be attached to the federal budget vote next Friday, in lieu of a massive reform bill that would include cuts to other aspects of the U.S. immigration system.

The DREAM Act must not be used to implement a family ban by altering the current family sponsorship system, cancel the diversity visa program or allocate our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to building a wall, the statement read.

Each of these issues has been discussed as components -- in some cases referred to as bargaining chips -- of a broader reform package.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in restricting immigration levels. Republican lawmakers introduced legislation in 2017 that would cut or eliminate some long-standing parts of the U.S. immigration system, but none of the bills passed.

The White House has also led a nearly yearlong campaign to reduce the number of refugees to the United States, as part of broader immigration-restriction efforts.

The turmult comes after a court ruling earlier this week that buoyed the hopes of advocates for the DACA program, which Trump rescinded in September. As VOA reported Wednesday, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to again process DACA renewal applications.

But recipients may not see any benefits soon, or at all. The ruling applies only to those who had been enrolled in DACA before Trump rescinded the program and does not apply to first-time applicants. Moreover, the Trump administration has already announced its intention to appeal.President Donald Trump's vulgar comments to U.S. lawmakers explaining his opposition to Haitian and African migrants has sparked outrage and condemnation at home and abroad.

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville called the comments racist. "It's about opening the door wider to humanity's worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and destroy the lives of many people," he said.

Trump reportedly said migrants from Africa come from "s---hole countries," a remark Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois confirmed that Trump used during a meeting on immigration.

Friday, the African Union Mission in Washington issued a statement expressing "infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate statement" made by Trump.

"The African Union Mission condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology to not only to the Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe," the group said.

The mission said there is a "serious need for dialogue between the U.S. administration and the African countries" to address the administration's "huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people."

The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, said Trump's remarks were "extremely offensive."

Raoul Peck, a Haitian-born director and former Haitian minister of culture, said he was "shocked, appalled and outraged" by Trump's remark.

"The responsibility of being the president of this great country is not a game nor a reality show," Peck tweeted. "It demands basic education, basic insight, a dose of humanity and some intelligence. Mr Trump does not and cannot pass any of these grades."

U.S. diplomats summoned

State Department officials said Friday that American diplomats in Haiti and in Botswana had been summoned by government officials to explain the remarks. Botswana issued a formal statement, seeking clarification on whether the United States truly regards the African country in the derogatory way reported.

Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., Paul G. Altidor, also condemned Trump's remarks.

"In the spirit of the people of Haiti we feel in the statements, if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people," Altidor said in a written statement.

The State Department confirmed Friday that U.S. Ambassador to Panama John Feeley had stepped down, saying his resignation was in the works for some time. Reuters said Feeley wrote in his resignation letter that he could no longer serve under Trump in an apolitical fashion.

Asked about the ambassador's letter Friday, Undersecretary Steve Goldstein told reporters, "Everyone has a line they cannot cross. If that was his line, he was right to resign."

Goldstein said career U.S. diplomats care deeply about the people in the countries they serve. He added that Foreign Service officers continue their work as usual, though he acknowledged that job might be a little harder today after the controversy surrounding Trump's comments.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who spoke to new civil services employees on Friday, did not directly address the president's comments.

U.S. lawmakers speak out

In Congress, Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana and fellow Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York said Friday that they planned to introduce a censure resolution next week to allow lawmakers to "speak with one voice" and "condemn President Trump for his racist statements."

Earlier in the day, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin told a forum that he found the president's remarks "unfortunate and unhelpful" and said the U.S. should support the contributions of immigrants.

On Thursday, U.S. Republican Representative Mia Love, whose family came from Haiti, said the president's comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values," and she called on Trump to apologize.

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida said it was "incomprehensible" a U.S. president would utter such remarks.

Minnesota state Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who in 2016 became the first Somali-American elected to a state legislative office in the United States, said she was "disturbed" by the president's words.

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican, tweeted late Thursday, "My ancestors came from countries not nearly as prosperous as the one we live in today. I'm glad that they were welcomed here."

The White House released a statement Thursday that defended the president's views, without referencing his specific comments.

"Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation. He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway."

VOA correspondents Margaret Besheer, Steve Herman, Michael Bowman and Katherine Gypson contributed to this report.American artists chose Rome over Paris in the immediate postwar years

By Peter Benson Miller

After world war two, Rome lured several American artists whose work became more abstract as they assimilated into the citys creative community. Piero Dorazio, the internationally-minded Italian artist, recalled that Americans were no longer going to Paris  that had been in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1950s, Rome was full of artists.

The image of Rome as a second Paris and an important catalyst for a postwar avant-garde was broadcast in 1952 by an article in Life, Americans in Italy, which declared that artists from all over the US have swarmed the hillsides and made Rome the rival of Paris as art headquarters. The city provoked unexpected innovative pictorial approaches: Though inspired by the same historic scenes, which their predecessors recorded with realistic vigor, the artists of today have presented, in highly personal abstract styles, a poetic new view of ancient Italy.

To be sure, Rome is rarely perceived as a catalyst in the same period that New York generated Jackson Pollocks breakthrough all-over drip paintings. Nonetheless, the international mix of artists and partisan politics in Rome combined to mark the careers of several American artists.

The Roman art world was enmeshed in a web of political allegiances, which Life caricatured in an earlier article published in 1949. After years of Fascism, which isolated the city from the rest of world, Italian artists, often banding together in associations, such as Il Fronte Nuovo delle Arti, attempted to renew the avant-garde and establish productive links with artistic movements elsewhere. Their efforts faltered in 1948, when Palmiro Togliatti, head of the Partito Communista Italiano (PCI), denounced an exhibition of abstract paintings in Bologna as monstrous things. This broadside created major faults in the Italian art world, essentially forbidding Communist artists from painting in an abstract idiom.

Philip Guston spent a year at the American Academy in Rome in 1948-49. In an annual report, academy director Laurance Roberts noted that in painting [Guston] produced little, but on his return to America he was able to sort out and translate onto canvas his experiences and impressions. Roberts intimates that Gustons subsequent output resulted from his experience in Europe, more than it did from his attentiveness to developments in New York.

This period was one of transition for Guston; a photograph of the artist in his studio at the academy pictures him standing in front of a painting that might be the unfinished Tormentors, a painting that he revised repeatedly as he pared down his figurative language.

Conrad Marca-Relli, Moonlight, c. 1947, oil and collage on canvas.

The Italian-American artist Conrad Marca-Relli also saw his work shift from figurative to abstract after he opted for Rome over Paris in 1947. He noticed an odd thing was happening. I found it impossible to continue painting the streets and piazzas I was doing while in New York. I was in Rome for about a year. My work had changed, it was much more abstract.

Art historian Adrian Duran cautions against reducing postwar Italian painting into a Manichean battle between the two stylistic categories of realism and abstraction. Despite Togliattis strictures, Italian artists navigated between the two modes, which remained fluid, and attempted to reconcile them. Duran proposes a model of simultaneity and oscillation, rather than singularity or binarist mutual exclusivity. Pietro Consagra, for example, a sculptor and a militant for the PCI, attempted to remain true to the ideals of the party while continuing to pursue his exploration of abstract forms. According to his friend Ugo Pirro, Consagra believed that a revolutionary party should promote a revolutionary art.

These ideological tensions permeated even the relative calm of the American Academy in Rome where Guston was not alone in experimenting with abstraction. Italian-American artist and former G.I. Salvatore Scarpitta worked in a studio for three years after the war. Accused of getting a little too involved in Italian internal politics, he was asked to vacate his studio at the Academy. He was guilty only of trying to solidify his standing with left-leaning friends, who were suspicious of him simply because of his American passport.

Philip Guston in his studio, American Academy in Rome, 1948. Photograph by Herman Cherry.

Salvatore Meo, too, found himself pigeonholed for being American. Art critic Cesare Vivaldi remembered an occasion in which the Italian painter Giulio Turcato, having mistaken Meo for a reactionary American, harassed him with sarcastic and polemical barbs.

While these artists pursued abstraction on shaky ground, within a matrix of conflicting loyalties, Scarpitta, despite his difficulties, remembers a porous, fluid atmosphere of exchange. The American Academy was a survival space. On the outside, or shall we say on the inside, was Italy, humanity, politics, the competition, let's say competition; and that's where I began with the abstract movement in Italy. The Communist Party didn't like our attitude toward art, but accepted us because we had a certain crescendo, a certain popularity. We also made friends among leaders of the Communist Party who were not that sectarian about their approach to art.

Dorazio was part of a group of younger Italian artists who banded together as Forma 1, publishing a manifesto in 1947 declaring that they were formalists and Marxists convinced that the terms Marxism and formalism are not irreconcilable. They proposed to mediate between abstraction and realism.

Guston, who met Dorazio in 1948, was no stranger to art in the service of leftist social and political agendas. His enthusiasm for the Mexican muralists was tied up in the activities of the Los Angeles branch of the John Reed Club, a Marxist study group, which encouraged artists to abandon the idea that art can exist for arts sake. The fragmentary motifs in Tormentors  echoes of shoe soles, two by fours, the hoods worn by the Ku Klux Klan  hark back to earlier figurative paintings depicting social and political injustice. In the year before he came to Rome, Guston painted Porch II, in which he broke down figures and compressed pictorial space to convey the horror of the Nazi death camps. In Rome, Guston continued this process of dismantling, stripping away the form and piling on paint, obscuring or erasing shapes with gestural brushstrokes.

The cultural historian Mary Louise Pratt offers a useful framework to explain the complexity of American experience in Rome after the war. She has coined the term contact zones to describe social spaces where cultures meet, inform each other in uneven ways, and where they clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power. A contact zone allows for interaction, so that cultural boundaries can be broken and transgressed. We might consider postwar Rome a contact zone in which, despite mutual admiration, Americans and Italians faced off and exchanged ideas in a relationship shaped by postwar reconstruction and the Cold War. The move to abstraction betrays signs of transculturation, one of the strategies identified by Pratt in the contact zone. First defined by Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1947, transculturation describes the process whereby members of subordinated or marginal groups select and invent from materials transmitted by a dominant metropolitan culture.

Inured to the artistic hegemony of New York, we usually assume that the transmission of abstraction must have flowed only in one direction across the Atlantic. Yet, despite its newfound superpower status after the war and the growing authority of its modern art, the United States remained a cultural upstart with respect to the august traditions of old Europe. Guston, an admirer of Piero della Francesca and Giorgio de Chirico, arrived in Rome in awe of Italys cultural preeminence. Impressed by the way in which Dorazio and others reconciled their commitment to Marxism with their ongoing exploration of abstraction, Guston may have recognised there a way to create a similar balance in his own work.

Nicholas Carone, Untitled, 1948, oil on canvas. Courtesy Christian Carone.

Nicholas Carone lived in Rome from 1947 to 1951 thanks to a deferred Rome Prize and a Fulbright scholarship, and set up a studio on Via Margutta, where his closest neighbour was Italian sculptor Pericle Fazzini. There, Carone attempted to assimilate in abstract paintings the techniques and processes of the artists he befriended in Rome:

Well, I lived not as an American; I lived with the Italians. I wasn't just a tourist. I set up a studio and lived there. I associated with most of the Italian artists. I knew them all: Afro [Basaldella] and Mirko [Basaldella] and [Renato] Guttuso.

He had his first show in Rome sponsored by these Italian artists. Guttuso wrote the preface for the accompanying catalogue. Carone later underlined the benefits of that aesthetic climate, working with the Italian painters, and his attentiveness to their fluid, non-doctrinaire strategies. In championing Carones abstract work, Guttuso, the most prominent artist to remain faithful to the party line, broke ranks with PCI diktats. In his text, Guttuso insisted that all the paintings in the exhibition were profoundly Italian in character.

In restoring Rome to its rightful place as an artistic centre after the war, we can begin to unpack a more complete picture of the productive exchanges between American and Italian artists and their enduring impact on abstraction in both countries.

Published in the November 2017 edition of Wanted in Rome magazine. This is a shortened version of a recent talk at the American Academy in Rome by Peter Benson Miller, the Andrew Heiskell Arts Director at the American Academy in Rome, www.aarome.org.Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

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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.He may have been named after an iconic character in the Star Wars film franchise, but this Chewbacca was much smaller and a whole lot slower.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/1/2018 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He may have been named after an iconic character in the Star Wars film franchise, but this Chewbacca was much smaller and a whole lot slower.

Chewbacca, a male sloth housed in the Assiniboine Park Zoos Toucan Ridge, was found dead a week ago, the zoo said on Friday. Known by zoo staff as Chewy, the sloth was 25.

Charlene Berkvens, an associate zoo veterinarian, said staff found the animal dead in its enclosure before the facility opened on Jan. 5.

"We were all quite surprised to see him pass away so suddenly," Berkvens said Friday.

"He was eating and moving around fine the day before. He wasnt sick for some time, like other animals are before they die.

"It was a shock."

Sloths are mammals native to Central and South America and spend their lives in the trees in tropical rainforests, only coming down to the ground once a week or so to relieve themselves.

Their slow metabolisms means they sleep up to 20 hours a day.

Chewbacca was a Linnes two-toed sloth, native to South America.

According to its records, Chewbacca came to the Winnipeg zoo from Guyana in 1999, aged somewhere between four and six years old.

"He was fully grown when he arrived," Berkvens said.

"I dont know whether it was because he was a sloth or not, but we always treated him like an old guy.

"Maybe it was because he had been here longer than most of the people here now."

She said sloths live about 20 to 30 years in the wild.

Chewbacca moved around a bit during his days in Winnipeg, spending time in the former Tropical House (now named Toucan Ridge) and the Down Under exhibit (built on the former Aunt Sallys Farm location).

"He was our last sloth," Berkvens said.

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"There was a female brought in two years ago, but she passed away not long after she got here... I imagine the zoo will be interested in getting another."

She said an initial autopsy has been done, and the zoo is waiting the results of lab tests to assess the cause of death.

Berkvens said shell miss Chewy.

"He was a really gentle guy," she said.

"He had a very laid-back personality  even for a sloth. Other sloths can be nervous, but he really liked being hand-fed."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.caHey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/1/2018 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press Files Mayoral candidate Paula Havixbeck says Winnipeg firefighters union president Alex Forrest lied to Winnipeg taxpayers in 2014 after she revealed that the city was paying his salary.

Former city councilor Paula Havixbeck says she'd like to see firefighters union president Alex Forrest apologize, claiming he lied to Winnipeg taxpayers in September 2014 after she went public that the city was paying his salary.

During her bid for mayor in the 2014 municipal election, Havixbeck put out a press release claiming the presidents of four civic unions were paid by taxpayers. That started a fight with the city's union leaders who all claimed she was mistaken.

Forrest, one of the leaders singled out by Havixbeck, flatly denied the claim in a United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg (UFFW) press release at the time.

"As per Collective Agreement the United Firefighters of Winnipeg reimburses the City of Winnipeg for a replacement firefighter for President Alex Forrest when he is doing work as Union President. This is paid to the city annually. There will be no further comments on this issue because it is merely an attempt by Paula Havixbeck to acquire publicity for her campaign," read the press release.

In an interview with the Free Press at the time, Forrest claimed the union had historically reimbursed the city through a complicated process, but it was streamlined in the most recent collective bargaining agreement. In addition, he said he believed Havixbeck's accusations were politically motivated and prompted by his union's decision to endorse another candidate for mayor.

However, a city spokesman confirmed Thursday it's believed the city was paying 100 per cent of Forrest's salary between 1997 and 2013 without any compensation from the UFFW, and without a written agreement between the two parties. Beginning in March 2014, that deal was renegotiated so the city paid 60 per cent of Forrest's salary.

"I'm not surprised (by this news), because I knew the truth back then. It's just disappointing that there was nothing available to disprove what he was saying at the time. I wish I had made more of an effort at that time to disprove it. It was a lie and I knew it was," Havixbeck said Friday.

"They (a couple UFFW members) berated me and belittled me on social media. I feel like there was a lot of negativity at that time that I really didn't deserve. It sort of affected what went on during the election."

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Alex Forrest, president of United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said in a 2014 interview with the Free Press that he believed Havixbeck's accusations were politically motivated and prompted by his union's decision to endorse another candidate for mayor.

A city spokesman has previously confirmed to the Free Press that the all other public unions  aside from the UFFW  reimburse the city at the end of each year for their presidents' salary.

While Forrest would not agree to a phone interview Friday, he did provide a short statement by text message.

"I will say I understand why Paula (Havixbeck) would want to get on board with this story as a way to get her back to some level of political relevance just months before the election. As the last time we saw Paula she received less than one per cent of the vote in the 2014 mayor race," the statement read.

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"With Paula's injection into this issue, it shows again how these attacks upon the firefighters of Winnipeg are politically motivated."

When asked whether she believes the city when it says it's unable to track down any information on how much money it paid Forrest in salary between 1997 and 2013, Havixbeck said that information would be easy to find.

"They can find it, but they don't want to find it. It's covering something up. It would be a very simple procedure for the finance department...I don't know why that cannot be produced in 20 minutes," she said.

"These things all add up. This might look small in the grand scheme of things, but these sorts of expenses all add up."

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpeThe Lions Club of Winnipeg said Friday its doing everything possible to mitigate or offset entirely huge rent increases low-income Lions Place tenants are facing.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/1/2018 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Lions Club of Winnipeg said Friday its doing everything possible to mitigate or offset entirely huge rent increases low-income Lions Place tenants are facing.

"A misconception has been created," Lions Housing Centres board past-president Stuart Plant said Friday. "We recognize its a huge financial hit for these residents."

The provincial NDP raised the alarm Tuesday, after residents of the building at 610 Portage Ave. had letters slipped under their doors on Dec. 28. The letters notified low-income residents the $169 monthly subsidy theyve been receiving would end July 31.

Along with a requested $10-a-month increase to market-value rent, tenants faced a jump from $607 to $786 a month, starting Aug. 1  when a 35-year deal expires in which the province and Ottawa covered the non-profit organizations mortgage.

"We recognize the notices had gone out to our residents at Lions Place. It left the impression we would leave the residents to fend for themselves," Plant said. "We met with Manitoba Housing this (Friday) morning," he said. "We are actively pursuing other funding models. I dont want to get into specifics."

Families Minister Scott Fielding pointed out Friday that Lions Place is not a Manitoba Housing facility and the province has no responsibility for the building.

Nevertheless, Fielding said: "My staff continues to work with Lions Place to help them prepare for the end of their operating agreement in August. The goal of such operating agreements was to result in organizations being self-sufficient at the completion of their mortgage, and Manitoba Housing staff continues to work with groups to help them plan for the transition as their mortgages end.

"Once Lions Place pays off its mortgage, we would expect the board decides to take advantage of this extra cash flow and maintain the arrangement to subsidize tenants, as part of its mandate to serve seniors," Fielding said. "If a tenant has any financial difficulty as a result of any changes Lions Place chooses to make, they can apply for tenancy at a Manitoba Housing property or another not-for-profit facility, as well as apply for assistance programs such as Rent Assist."

Plant would not comment on how staff had delivered the notices to the seniors, who told a news conference on Tuesday how shocked they were by a potential rent increase many cannot pay.

Plant acknowledged the Lions Housing Centre is meeting with governments, and is aware the issue has been raised whether that level of rent is needed once the mortgage is done.

"We have a mandate with respect to an affordable seniors housing vision. Well be revealing how well be mitigating their situation," Plant said. "The absolute solution would be to offset" all of the rent increase for the low-income residents.

Fielding noted: "We hope that if Lions decides to change the focus of their building in the future, they would wait to change the rent structure only after a subsidized senior moves out of a suite, not to the whole building at once."

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Plant said the local Lions intend to continue to operate Lions Place as theyve done for the past 35 years.

Meanwhile, the province said Friday there is no change in the situation with members of the former Waterhen Lake First Nation, who have been facing an eviction notice since last summer from their Manitoba Housing units in Portage la Prairie.

They left Waterhen (now known as Skownan First Nation, 280 kilometres north of Winnipeg) in the 1990s in a dispute with the then-band council and were given housing in Portage la Prairie, where theyve been living without paying rent.

The federal government has been discussing with the residents the possibility of creating a new reserve somewhere in Manitoba, but no update on those talks was available Friday.

Said Fielding: "While dialogue is ongoing and progress is being made between the federal government and the residents group in Portage, the province continues to await updates and discuss ways to resolve the situation."

nick.martin@freepress.mb.caOTTAWA  Winnipegs heavily armed police unit regularly responds to suicide threats, traffic issues and even matters involving panhandlers, which is raising questions about how the tactical team is used.

This article was published 13/1/2018 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Winnipegs heavily armed police unit regularly responds to suicide threats, traffic issues and even matters involving panhandlers, which is raising questions about how the tactical team is used.

A recent study by University of Winnipeg researchers reveals the Winnipeg Police Service barely tracks the types of calls its Tactical Support Team (TST) responds to, making it almost impossible to compare how often it is deployed for high-risk situations, versus more mundane calls for service.

"SWAT teams are being used for all kinds of instances that are not even close to the most dangerous or the most violent," said Kevin Walby, an associate professor of criminal justice, who co-authored a study on Canadian police forces in the journal Critical Criminology last fall.

"If these kinds of trends that weve found go unchecked, then theres no real stopping the SWAT team being used for almost anything that police do."

Walby and his honours student Brendan Roziere combed through 540 pages of documentation released through access-to-information laws and found Winnipegs tactical team frequently responds to mental-health issues, which experts worry could further antagonize people in distress.

"The public understands that these are units that would be called into, say, hostage situations or active shooters," Roziere said. "But the reality is that this unit is actually deploying to quite mundane policing activities."

However, Winnipeg police say they intentionally integrate tactical officers into regular police work, and call them as needed for high-risk situations. But its hard to tell how many calls fit in either category, some five years after two independent reports called out the unit for flimsy record-keeping.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Winnipeg Police Tactical Support Team includes 37 officers who work in four nine-member shifts. Documents indicate that TST officers were deployed nearly 3,400 times in 2016.

For instance, TST records suggest the units calls jumped almost sixfold between 2013 and 2016. But the researchers are certain thats due to inconsistent data collection rather than a dramatic rise in calls.

Roziere said that makes it hard for Winnipeggers to scrutinize how police use their resources, including purchasing armoured vehicles.

"Its hard to dispute what the police are saying when theyre the ones that hold all that data."

The documents obtained indicate Winnipeg tactical officers were deployed just under 500 times in 2013, and nearly 3,400 times in 2016. Meanwhile, an operation review in 2012 said the unit responded to nearly 2,000 calls in 2012.

"It seems to me there would have to be a significant problem with their own data-collection policies, for them to be involved in as many incidents," said Roziere, who also analyzed data from Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver police, as well as Ontarios provincial force.

"The Winnipeg police seem to use their units more often than the other cities that weve looked at."

Winnipeg Insp. John Lutz said the tactical support unit intentionally attends a mix of calls.

"Theyre police officers first, and theyre on the street a lot when theyre not training," said Lutz, who oversees the team along with other specialized divisions.

Some 37 officers staff the unit, including a co-ordinator who can be called out to operational duties. They work in four shifts of nine members, typically covering the hours from 7 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.

"There are high-risk incidents in this city, but theyre not all the time. So when theyre not doing those, (tactical officers) are making good use of the time, and having good, productive value for the taxpayer," said Lutz, who added officers almost always wear body armour, but can use different body language and less threatening equipment for low-risk calls.

Yet Walby said this approach is hindered by "haphazard" data collection, where its unclear whether the unit had classified an incident as a routine call or a high-risk threat.

"Whats the threshold? Whats the line going to be? There has to be some kind of criteria to deploy this level of force," Walby said.

"These are life-and-death decisions to use the SWAT team or not. So Id expect pretty rigorous document preparation and storage around these things, in case there was some kind of investigation or inquiry."

Two 2013 operational reviews of the Winnipeg police recommended the tactical team track its annual workload and operation success, in order to assess its cost and staffing. WPS spokeswoman Ally Siatecki says the force has opted not to produce monthly or annual reports.

"We have the ability to run that data if we require it, but we dont run and keep that data on a regular basis as a practice," she wrote.

Sam Alvaro, a part-time criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, said tactical teams have been responding to non-emergency calls for decades, making it hard to assess their use.

"Until you get a good idea of what those guys are doing, it does look a bit like a dogs breakfast," Alvaro said.

He said cities often only confront whether tactical teams are being used appropriately when theres an abuse of power or a controversial death.

"When it comes to the police, there always needs to be transparency. And its extremely unfortunate, because theyre always under the microscope, but at the end of the day they provide a vital function and they do need to be transparent with us."

Walby said hes concerned Canadian police forces could soon resemble American ones, where SWAT teams there have ballooned in size and in usage over the past decade.

Surveys by American researchers such as Peter Kraska have suggested a self-perpetuating logic to tactical teams, where they report to lower-risk incidents to keep busy during days with limited calls, and eventually end up spending most of their time on routine incidents.

"What were asking for is some kind of clear criteria or threshold, when the SWAT team is going to be used," Walby said. "Because it seems like theres been this kind of creep, where theyre being used in all kinds of (routine) instances."

Roziere warned Canada could follow the U.S. if it doesnt have an open conversation about how often the units should be deployed, especially amid falling crime rates.

"We cant really say its not a possibility, that our police forces wouldnt go down that route, we already see police more buying vehicles," he said, referring to the $343,000 armoured rescue vehicle purchased in summer 2016.

But Alvaro cautioned against applying U.S. trends to Canada.

For one, Canadian forces arent buying large vehicles from the military in the same way that the U.S. army has offloaded equipment and tanks used in the Iraq war. The Winnipeg study also seems to suggest the number of Canadian officers working in SWAT teams has remained largely stable since Alvaro examined data from the late 1990s for a similar study, despite an uptick in calls.

When it comes to the police, there always needs to be transparency. And its extremely unfortunate, because theyre always under the microscope, but at the end of the day they provide a vital function and they do need to be transparent with us  Sam Alvaro, criminology professor at the University of Ottawa

"I think its great that we have a discussion. Im a little bit concerned about Canadian-izing an American problem," he said.

Jeffrey Ian Ross, a criminologist at the University of Baltimore, has done extensive research on Canadian and American criminal-justice systems. He said Americans have far more access to data and more robust debate about how their police operate.

For example, the U.S. governments Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics database details large police forces by budget, officer demographics and specialized units like SWAT or tactical teams.

Ross said Americans might also be more interested in SWAT units because they already account for more visible calls and budget than Canadian forces.

"Citizens and their representatives are worried about the use of these tactical units for a variety of reasons, from the civil-liberties issues... to spending."

Lutz said the WPS intentionally labels the unit the Tactical Support Team, because it plays a supporting role to regular police and units like the drug or bomb squads.

RYAN THORPE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Insp. John Lutz oversees the tactical team and says theyre police officers first, and theyre on the street a lot when theyre not training.

He said having the team respond to low-risk calls prevents them from constantly feeling in a high-adrenaline environment, so they can better assess risks.

"It does keep our members sort of grounded and balanced. Part of that is we do a lot of community relations; (we) reach out, speak to the public, meet with the kids, that sort of thing," Lutz said.

"The media and movies sensationalize everything to the nth degree," he said. "Like all our police members, our tactical-team are members of the community here, too."

But Roziere said that approach could backfire. American studies by Kraska show tactical units hold elite status within police forces, and that regular officers see them as role models for how to go about policing.

"It, in fact, can do the opposite, and encourage street-level officers to adopt a potentially more aggressive approach when they respond to those same types of calls."

The Winnipeg researchers said theyre most concerned by the high number of mental health calls that SWAT teams are assigned, though they cautioned the data seems unreliable.

According to the data, TST logged less than 20 suicide threats and well-being checks in 2013, and nearly 3,000 of them in 2016. He said some would explain a SWAT-team response, such as when someone is brandishing a weapon, but others seem more minor.

Lutz said supervisors choose whether to send a regular or tactical officer to a mental health crisis, and that officers weigh the risks when they arrive, in terms of how much equipment they carry and how they communicate.

"We weigh these situations as they come in, and we evaluate our response when we look at the details," Lutz said. "Sometimes these incidents have escalated since a (911) call was made. So they just generally approach them with due caution all the time, and evaluate when they get there."

He said officers always try to de-escalate tense scenarios, and are quick to call the crisis-negotiation unit when someones in imminent danger.

"Were in the business of helping people, and we just try to do that as safely as we can."

Chris Summerville, executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, says the black or camouflage uniforms tactical team officers wear can agitate someone in a fragile mental state.

But groups helping with mental-health training for Winnipeg police worry the officers need more hands-on instruction.

"It takes patience; it takes time," said Chris Summerville, executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society.

Hes spent a decade training police officers about mental health, most recently with role-playing exercises in Winnipeg.

While he lauds the police for taking on the initiative to train all its 1,450 officers, he said the training amounts to just an hour.

"Its not that I am upset with the Winnipeg Police Service, Im concerned about the effectiveness and thoroughness of the training."

But WPS says that's only one part of officers' mental-health training, which is integrated into general instruction on vehicle and taser use, safety as well as communication. "As well, recruits receive over 16 hours of dedicated mental health training," wrote Const. Jay Murray. Summerville said the hardest part is reversing the very reflexes police officers use to do their job.

"Typically, youre more authoritarian, more demanding, more able to control," he said. "Officers have a very, very difficult time moving from the tactical mindset and training to the mental-health position."

For example, standing with legs apart and hands on hips and maintaining piercing eye contact can help subdue a criminal, but escalate someone with paranoia. Voices from a walkie-talkie can confuse someone with schizophrenia. People in deep confusion need police to continually repeat instructions, without them taking on a hostile tone.

Summerville says those reflexes are likely even more pronounced among tactical officers, and that even the black or camouflage uniforms they wear can agitate someone in a fragile mental state.

"The more military gear you have on you, the potential is more of a negative situation."

Tara Brousseau Snider, head of the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba, said officers need to know how to communicate with people in distress, and not assume that everyones violent.

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She said officers must protect themselves, but that often times an agitated person will calm down if their emotions are being acknowledged.

"They need to be able to talk to the individual," she said. "As soon as make that connection, thats where you see the escalation: empathy, compassion is what helps when someone is in crisis, stressful as it may be."

Summerville said the most effective thing for police officers is to meet people who have had suicidal ideation, bouts of depression or eating disorders.

He worries that the most violent cases reported by media could influence the decision on whether to send a tactical team to a person in distress.

"We know peoples perceptions of people with mental illness are laden with myths. And just because youre a police officer doesnt mean you dont bring some of those myths with you."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.caI cannot get the flu. Its out of the question. Ill do something else, but not that.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/1/2018 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

I cannot get the flu. Its out of the question. Ill do something else, but not that.

Its not that Im so busy and important that the world will stop revolving if Im out of commission for a few days. In a pinch, my husband can eat canned soup or peanut butter out of the jar. We can have cat litter delivered to the front door.

And its not that I cant endure illness or discomfort. Nobody loves these things, but I can get through bronchitis or a sprained ankle given rest, medicine and a licence to complain.

Influenza is different, because Im afraid of it. If you have it, no offence, but Im afraid of you, too.

Flu is serious business. A friend whose Christmas holiday was derailed when she got so sick she had to be quarantined is recovering, but the doctor warned her to expect a lingering cough for weeks.

Over the weekend in Dallas, Methodist Hospitals emergency room became so swamped with flu patients it had to close its doors to all but the most desperately ill patients. To date, 11 people have died of influenza in Dallas County this season, which typically runs from October to April.

California hospitals, their emergency rooms jammed, are asking flu patients to seek help elsewhere. In Ireland, struggling with a worrisome strain called "Australian flu," some churches have instigated a handshake ban. A health-care chain in New York is barring visitors younger than 14 to slow the spread of flu both into and out of its facilities.

So, yes, theres reason to worry: flu is easy to catch, hard to get rid of and it hits you like a sack of wet concrete. Getting vaccinated is a no-brainer for reducing the odds, but it cant guarantee your protection.

Theres a reason writers of dystopian fiction love flu pandemics as a handy literary device for removing a major chunk of the human population and whittling the cast down to a manageable ensemble of trauma-ridden survivors.

That said, I dont expect to die of the flu. Yes, it can kill, but most people recover. And at our house, we have come to a prosaic acceptance that sickness sometimes strikes healthy people for no discernible reason. The only option is to cope with it as best you can.

No, the fear isnt of dying. Its of feeling like Im dying.

The last time I had bona fide influenza  the real deal, which is like but not equivalent to a sinus infection, bronchitis or a really severe cold  was several years back. It was awful: fever, shivering chills, a sense that my entire skeleton was aching.

I went for days without ingesting anything but a handful of microwaved popcorn and a shot of vodka. Reading, talking on the phone, answering the door required too much energy. I holed up in a pile of blankets like an injured woodchuck in an underground den, passively watching bad movies on a tablet.

Unpleasant, yes, but the worst symptom  does this sound crazy?  was in my head: a bleak sense of despair as paralyzing as clinical depression. It was impervious to logic  I thought I would never get well, that it didnt matter whether I did or not, that there was no source of joy or pleasure I could imagine.

"You feel terrible," my sad, numb, nearly-paralyzed brain told me. "Youll never feel better. This is your new reality."

The fact that all this was objectively untrue just made it worse. It made me feel unhinged. That feeling  that angst  scared me. It still does.

As it turns out, this is an actual thing, a not-uncommon symptom of flu and other serious illnesses. Medical journals call it "sickness behaviour," a cluster of mental adaptations that some researchers believe is actually meant to help us recover more quickly.

As the medical thinking goes (in grossly simplified terms, which are the only kind I can grasp), trying to jump heroically out of bed and do the laundry or take out the trash might delay your physical recovery. Your immune system, which you cannot will into submission, spurs the release of proteins  cytokines  that induce a bundle of sensations to make you feel not just sick, but purely wretched. You feel joyless, lethargic and entirely unmotivated to take the garbage out.

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Its a "highly organized strategy to fight infection," according to one medical journal. And its not lost on researchers that the "sickness behaviour" that keeps you quiet and bedridden feels a great deal like a deep, hopeless, terminal mental funk. Some scientists, in fact, think that severe depression may be a haywire response to this physically beneficial infection-fighting process.

Good to know (our human bodies are just a gosh-darn marvel, arent they?), but Im not sure the knowledge would help if I actually caught influenza again. I can stand being sick, but I dont know if Im tough enough for another bout of "sickness behaviour."

So please, Im asking you nicely: its not that I dont like you, or that were not friends, or that I think my personal cooties are any cleaner than yours.

But if you think youre coming down with the flu, do us all a favour: keep your distance. Stay home. Sip hot tea and binge-watch something that doesnt strain your mental apparatus.

Remember that you really will feel better. And try to believe it.

Jacquielynn Floyd is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News.W&Ms Bradford to become Virginias deputy secretary of education

Fran Bradford at work Bradford talks education with outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe and Graham Bryant '13 during one of W&M's annual Road to Richmond excursions, in which students play the role of lobbyists in Virginias General Assembly Building for the day. Bradford is leaving the university to become Deputy Secretary of Education in Governor-elect Ralph Northam's administration. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

Fran Bradford is passionate in her views of what higher education in Virginia should look like.It would make sure people have access to education at whatever level is supportive of their goals and make sure that folks in Virginia have jobs when theyre done, she said. Im a big believer in higher education having a role in creating citizens who contribute as well.Bradford, for the past 14 years William & Marys respected and beloved associate vice president for government relations, will take that vision far beyond the borders of the university beginning Monday.Following Ralph Northams election in November as governor of Virginia, Bradford received a call from his transition team. After much deliberation, she accepted the governor-elects offer to become deputy secretary of education, focusing on higher education.The decision was not easy.Bradford loved being responsible for the university's federal and state government relations and being W&Ms contact with Virginias executive branch, legislative branch and state agencies, as well as congressional member offices.There also were the relationships she made at the university. She cherished them all, especially her rapport with President Taylor Reveley and Henry Broaddus, vice president of strategic initiatives.The feeling was mutual.Reveley recently described Bradford as one of William & Marys preeminent champions for more than 14 years.She was extraordinarily effective in describing our realities and presenting our views to elected officials and their staff in Richmond and Washington, he said.Broaddus added, Nobody is a better intermediary between the equally idiosyncratic worlds of higher education and state government than Fran is, and nobody cares more about the two working together for the public good.Broaddus said Bradford was unique in that she made herself an integrated campus figure, speaking to classes, working with student interns and learning the interests and concerns of faculty. Its part of the reason he believes she was an ideal choice for the post.Her intimate understanding of William & Mary and her extensive experience as a member of our community equips this administration on day one with a higher-education insider of the highest order, he said.Bradford will work under newly appointed Secretary of Education Atif Qarni and alongside incumbent Deputy Secretary Holly Coy, whose focus will remain K-12.I look forward to seeing what new heights Virginias education system is able to reach in the next four years with [this] team, Northam said in announcing the appointments late last month.She is one of two people with W&M connections that Northam picked to join his administration. Matt Strickler  a 2007 graduate of the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy at William & Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science  was appointed secretary of natural resources.Bradford served as deputy secretary of education during the final three months of now-Senator Mark Warners governorship in 2006. It influenced her decision in a positive manner.I had a great experience there, she said. It gave me at least enough of a taste so I knew that I didnt want to run away from this amazing opportunity.Bradford has a kind twinkle-in-the-eye demeanor that Broaddus said camouflages killer political instincts.Sometimes what Fran has done behind the scenes to avert bad outcomes has been as important to William & Mary  and to all of public higher education in Virginia  as what she has accomplished in support of more favorable outcomes, he said.On Jan. 19, the university community is invited to a farewell event from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Great Hall of the Sir Christopher Wren Building to, Reveley said, celebrate Fran in her new role as deputy secretary and know that the Commonwealth will benefit from her knowledge of higher education and her tireless commitment to its excellence.The president said that William & Mary will miss Bradford personally and professionally.Again, the feeling is mutual.William & Mary is a really amazing place in large part because of the students, the people and the faculty, said Bradford, who called her greatest achievement at the university just getting to learn about the institution itself and hopefully contributing to some of the good things that happened at William & Mary over the past 15 years.A report issued by Brazils Justice Ministry on December 8 reveals that the countrys prison population more than doubled between 2005 and June of 2016, reaching a total of more than 720,000. This figure places Brazil in the infamous position of the worlds third largest incarcerator, despite its having only the fifth largest population. Shockingly, of those imprisoned, 40 percent are being held without any conviction whatsoever.

The countrys prison population in absolute numbers is smaller only than that of the United States, with 2.2 million prisoners, and Chinawith seven times Brazils populationwith 1.6 million prisoners. The incarceration rate is also the third highest, at 343 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, also behind the US (at 666) and Russia (455). At the same time, the report also reveals that Brazil has the worlds third largest rate of overcrowding, with prisons jammed to 197 percent overcapacity, trailing behind only the fascistic Duterte regime in the Philippines (316 percent) and neighboring Peru (230 percent).

Significantly, the last three years alone have seen 100,000 people thrown into the dungeons created by Brazils system of social apartheid.

The unbearable situation created by these conditions exploded once again with a New Years Eve prison rebellion in the western state of Goias that ended with nine dead, including two by decapitation. This has become a veritable holiday tradition, after multiple New Years revolts in 2017 and 2014 ended in dozens of deaths and decapitations.

Parallel to prison massacres, Brazilian federal troops have occupied the capitals of four statesRio Grande do Norte, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. Their actions, which have included house-to-house searches, are conducted outside of civilian control and are answerable only to military tribunals. In each case, governors have issued Public Emergency decrees giving the federal troops impunity, while withholding the wages of civil servants and state police, prompting them to stay in their quarters.

The return of state Military Police to the streets after deals have been reached with the state governments has not resulted in any of these cases in a withdrawal of federal troops. On the contrary, a decree issued on December 29 by President Michel Temer provides for their deployment at least until July, at which point Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul will have completed a year under federal military intervention.

Against this backdrop of prison mayhem and military repression, the most significant political event has been the suspension by the Supreme Court of Temers presidential Christmas Pardon, under the pretext that it would facilitate the evasion of justice by businessmen and politicians convicted by the ever-widening Lava-Jato investigation into a bribes-and-kickbacks scheme in major infrastructure projects.

After the decree was unveiled on December 22, the charge was led by federal prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, a self-absorbed anti-corruption crusader, who stated that the pardonwhich would reduce sentences by up to 80 percentwould undercut his teams ability to blackmail the accused into turning state informants.

Dallagnol boasts of being heir to the Clean Hands Italian anti-corruption operations, never bothering to consider that the key political result of that operation was the entry into government of the fascistic Northern League.

Dallagnol was followed by the Temer-appointed Attorney-general Raquel Dodge, who asked Supreme Court President Carmen Lucia Rocha to suspend the decree on the grounds that the President has no unhindered power to extend pardons, otherwise he would take over the power of courts and liquidate sentences ... extinguishing the pillars of the Brazilian Constitutional Republic. Temers decree would also send a message against the Constitution in a time of rejection of systemic corruption. Rocha accepted the argument, adding her own opinion that a pardon cannot be a prize to the criminal nor implicate tolerance for crime.

The right-wing language employed to suspend the decree until February, at the end of the Supreme Court recess, does not take into consideration, remarkably, that the measure has been applied by a plurality of Brazilian presidents stretching back to the 1950s, and had become increasingly embracing since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985. The application of the presidential pardon must be reviewed in every case by local courts, which may rule that individual prisoners are not eligible for a pardon.

In defending the measure, the government has claimed that Justice Ministry data shows that, on top of the 40 percent of prisoners who were not convicted, a staggering 80,000or 20 percent of those have been convictedare in jail for simple theft, and would be eligible for pardon after court review, which is restricted to non-violent, non-threatening crimes and requires good behavior and collaboration with authorities. Significantly, presidential pardons in Brazil cannot be applied in any circumstance to so-called heinous crimes, which according to Brazilian law encompass drug trafficking, which accounts for 36 percent of convictions.

A February 2017 report by O Globo newspaper, in the aftermath of the January 2017 prison massacres, has found that the so-called Drugs Law signed by former Workers Party (PT) president Lula da Silva in 2006 has made the percentage of prisoners incarcerated for drug-related offenses soar from 8.7 percent in 2006 to the cited 36 percent.

Even so, since 1997 presidential decrees have become ever more encompassing, with maximum sentencing for eligibility increasing from six to 12 years and the minimum time served falling from from one-third to one-fourth of the original sentence. The pardon has also been extended to include the elderly and mothers with small children.

The attacks on the 2017 pardon by Dallagnol and Dodge, backed by the press and the majority of pundits, take issue with its exclusion of a maximum penalty limit to become eligible for sentence review, and the reduction of minimum time served to one-fifth of the original sentence, as well as the possibility of pardon of fines together with prison sentences and the non-exclusion of crimes of corruptionwhich, not being classified as heinous crimes, were never before excluded from the annual decrees. Temer ignored the recommendation to exclude corruption from the pardon by the technical body charged with drafting the decree, the National Crime and Prison Council (CNPCP).

In fact, the president and the majority of the council had resigned on January 25, 2017 in protest over Temer naming of the far-right lawyer Alexandre de Moraes as Justice Minister and his declaration that fighting crime required less studies and more guns. As a result, the CNPCP took a sharp turn to the right.

The former CNPCP President Alamiro Velludo came forward on December 29 to declare to Folha de S. Paulo there is a punishing climate stoked by Lava-Jato, and those who came out against the decree are the repressive organs, which I find dangerous.

Nonetheless, a report by a Folha de S. Paulo columnist from December 29 and another by the specialized Law website ConsultorJuridico arrive at the same conclusion: of the 50 politicians and businessmen convicted by Lava-Jato, only 33 are currently serving sentences and only one has served the one-fifth of sentence minimum necessary to be eligible for a pardon.

The support of Supreme Courts president Carmen Rocha and the press for the self-serving narrative of Lava-Jato prosecutor Dallagnol signal the advanced state of decay of democratic forms of rule in Brazil, where the supposed fight against corruption is being employed ever more openly to justify increasing the powers of the state and attacking fundamental rights.

This turn to the right is being carried out with the full complicity of Brazils pseudo-left. In Congress, the first questioning of the decree came from the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), a broad party that includes in its ranks both Morenoite and Pabloite tendencies.

PSOLs senior representative in the Lower House, Chico Alencar from Rio de Janeiro, announced on December 27 a draft law to limit the powers of the president to issue pardons. At the same time the Morenoite Spanish-language website La Izquierda Diario reported in true yellow press fashion: Christmas Gift: Temer issues pardon that benefits those convicted of corruption.

As for the fate of the hundreds of thousands of workers and youth facing horrifying abuse and violence inside Brazils vast prison system, this is a matter of complete indifference for these so-called lefts, whose politics reflect the interests of more privileged layers of the Brazilian upper middle class.Aluminerie de Becancour Inc., a joint venture of two of the worlds largest aluminum producers, locked out 1,030 workers at its Becancour, Quebec aluminum smelter early Thursday morning.

Management imposed the lockout shortly after the workers rejected, by a massive majority of more than 80 percent, what the company described as its final offera proposal for a concessions-laden contract.

The second largest aluminum smelter in North America, with an annual output of 450,000 metric tonnes, Aluminerie de Becancour (ABI) is 75 percent owned by Alcoa and 25 percent owned by Rio Tinto Alcan.

Alcoa has said that the workers will remain locked out of the plant until further notice and that management will continue to operate one of the smelters three potlines.

Workers affiliated with United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9700 are currently picketing the ABI smelter, which is located about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. According to a union official, about a hundred workers breached security Thursday morning, entered the plant and staged a brief sit-in inside the cafeteria. Management has hired private security guards to intimidate workers and prevent any disruption of production.

Negotiations started last September on an agreement to replace the five-year contract that was to expire November 22. On the day the contract expired, workers rejected ABIs contract proposals and gave the union leadership a powerful 97 percent strike mandate. But the USW refused to launch strike action, insisting that a negotiated settlement was possible and signalled its readiness to accept concessions.

Talks broke off only in late December after ABI negotiators tabled their so-called final offer. After that offer was decisively rejected by the rank-and-file this week, the USW urged the company to resume negotiations. But instead it locked out the workers, in what the union termed a bodyblow, imposed without warning in the middle of the night.

The union has not publicly outlined ABIs contract demands in full, but it has been revealed that management is seeking to force through sweeping pension cuts.

Initially, ABI demanded that more recent hires be forced into a defined-contribution pension plan, creating a two-tier pension system. Under defined-contribution plans workers have no guaranteed minimum pension benefit on retirement and bear all of the financial risk on the investment of the monies set aside for their retirement.

Apparently, in its final offer, the company went even further, seeking to impose a new, entirely worker-funded pension plan without any distinction according to seniority.

ABI is also demanding concessions on seniority rights, particularly in respect to staffing. The joint venture currently employs about 400 younger or low-seniority workers. This includes students who are paid almost $10 per hour less than regular workers.

As the contract deadline approached, the company successfully petitioned the Tribunal administratif du travail (Quebec Labor Board) for an injunction ordering workers to stop or refrain from slowing the plants activities. That injunction was still in effect this week when management imposed its lockout.

Alcoa and Rio Tinto are both huge transnational corporations. They made vast profits from the resources boom of the first decade of this century, while using their global reach to drive down labour costs through a relentless push for speed-up, worker concessions, and tax breaks.

Now they are citing increased corporate competition to demand even bigger worker givebacks.

While ABI has not publicly threatened to close the smelter, which was opened in 1986, it has suggested that its future is at risk. Management urged workers to accept its final offer so as to ensure the sustainability of the smelter in the future.

The lockout will have a major impact on the local economy, as ABI is the largest private employer in the Mauricie and Centre-du-Quebec regions, and its economic activity supports many jobs indirectly.

The USW has for decades pursued a corporatist, pro-company policy, accepting job cuts and concessions in the name of assuring employers international competitiveness and saving Canadian, Quebec and American jobs.

The union is now manoeuvring to shut down the ABI workers anti-concessions struggle. While deploring the lockout, USW Local 9700 President Clement Masse, declared, Our position has not changed. Our door is always open to negotiate in good faith, to ensure the smooth running of this factory.

The USW in Quebec is closely allied with the big business Parti Quebecois. In both Canada and the US the USW bureaucracy is closely collaborating with the Trudeau Liberal government and the Trump administration in the NAFTA renegotiation, hoping to use it to fashion protectionist steel and aluminum tariffs that target European, Chinese, and other overseas workers. In this the USW is continuing its long association with Trumps billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who made a fortune, working with the USW apparatus to reorganize the steel industry at the expense of workers jobs, wages and pensions.

To successfully prosecute the struggle to defend their pensions, other social rights and jobs, the ABI workers need to take their struggle out of the hands of the USW and appeal to aluminum and other workers in Canada and internationally for a joint struggle against all concessions and job cuts.Asia

Contract sanitation workers in Bihar demand permanency

Over 200 striking contract sanitation workers demonstrated outside Munger municipal corporation offices in Patna last Friday to demand full time jobs and higher wages. The workers are not directly employed by the corporation but through the Nagar Nigam non-government organisation. They walked out on strike on January 5 and have also demanded fixed salary rates and on-time payment of their wages.

The Bihar state government and local councils have systematically outsourced thousands of public sector jobs in recent years in order to slash costs and relieve themselves of having to pay pensions and other requirements for full time workers.

An estimated 10,000 state sector jobs, including in health, education, urban development, education and social welfare, as well as manual labour work, have been outsourced.

Pakistan: Karachi school teachers attacked by police again

On January 4, All Sindh Primary Teachers Association (ASPTA), Primary Teachers Association (PTA) and New Teachers Action Committee (NTAC) members were attacked by police during their eleventh consecutive day of demonstrations outside the Karachi Press Club. The unions represent about 70,000 teachers in Sindh.

The police used batons, tear gas and water cannons when the teachers again attempted to march to the chief ministers house. It was the third assault in less than a week.

ASPTA members want permanency for contract teachers and teachers who have been evaluated prior to being appointed to primary, secondary and high schools. They have rejected the governments offer to re-evaluate these teachers by the National Testing Service (NTS) saying they are already qualified. PTA members want the government to honour a promise given in 2014 to promote them to Grade 16. NTAC members want payment of overdue wages for teachers appointed in 2012, an issue they have protested over for more than five years.

After the January 4 police attack, the Sindh chief minister said that he had agreed to some of the teachers demands. It is not clear, however, if he has made any directives to that effect.

According to his announcement, 21,000 NTS qualified teachers would be made permanent, and 12,000 teachers promoted to Grade 16. The situation facing NTAC teachers is not clear. The government has repeatedly reneged on similar promises after the teachers union directed their members to end strikes and demonstrations.

Pakistan: Gilgit-Baltistan workers demand permanent employment

About 2,000 contingent workers (casual and short-term employees) for Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) provincial government departments demonstrated on January 9 to demand they be immediately hired as full time employees. The sit-down protest, which was held at Etihad Chowk, involved workers from as many as 28 departments.

According to the GB Contingent Employees Association, there are about 5,000 contingent workers employed by the government. The union has accused the government of violating the minimum wage laws and said that some workers are only paid 1,000 rupees ($US9.03) a month. Workers told the media that the protests would continue until their demands are met.

Islamabad teachers continue class boycott

Teachers employed on a daily-wage basis in government-run educational institutes in the Islamabad Capital Territory are continuing industrial action and protests for permanent jobs and a pay rise. The action, which began on January 1, is part of a long running, eight-month campaign. The teachers want their monthly pay lifted from 12,500 rupees ($US112.88) to 25,000 rupees, following increases applied to workers in other directorates.

At least 2,200 daily-wage teachers are employed by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE). The protests, which also involved daily-wage teachers in government colleges, were held on Wednesday outside the FDE and the National Press Club.

Peshawar sub-engineers fight for full time jobs and promotions

Over 930 sub-engineers in Peshawar employed in government departments walked out on Tuesday to demand permanency and promotions.

The All Sub-Engineers Association members said they would remain on strike until January 15. They have also threatened to step up protest action, including a sit-down demonstration outside the residence of Imran Khan, whose party heads the provincial government, and at other locations. The sub-engineers said the provincial government previously claimed that the workers would be promoted but had reneged on these promises.

Sri Lankan nurses on strike

Around 150 nurses from the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (SJGH) remain on strike after walking out on January 3 over a newly introduced Fingerprint Attendance System. The striking nurses, who are members of the Public Services United Nurses Association, have defied a court order from the hospital management and refused to work until the fingerprint machine is removed.

The strike, which has brought the hospital to a standstill, has won wide support from nurses across Sri Lanka. On Thursday, nurses from the Colombo National Hospital and Eye Hospital decided to take sick leave protest action in support of the striking SJGH nurses.

Bangladesh: Teachers union calls off hunger strike

A six-day hunger strike by non-Monthly Pay Order (MPO) teachers and staff was called off by their union on Friday after an empty promise from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that the protesters demand would be fulfilled.

The Federation of Teachers and Employees of Non-MPO Educational Institutions estimates that there are over 5,200, non-MPO education institutions, employing around 80,000 teachers. Most of these teachers are working without any pay, some for more than a decade.

Over a hundred teachers from non-MPO schools, colleges, madrasas and technical educational institutions began a sit-in protest and then a hunger strike on December 31. By last Friday, 115 teachers had become ill and required medical treatment.

The teachers were demanding employment under the Monthly Pay Order category. The MPO is the government's share in the payroll of non-government education institutions.

Philippines: University workers protest over pay

Workers at the Ateneo de Manila University carried their campaign for wage increases onto the streets of Quezon City last week. Nearly 250 members of the Ateneo Employees and Workers Union have been waiting for negotiations over pay and other issues to be concluded for six months.

University authorities have refused to increase their budget for employee pay and benefits over the equivalent of 4.72 percent of the total of the 70 percent increase in tuition fees, the minimum required by law.

Anger over the deadlock in the 20172019 collective bargaining agreement, and the fact the union says no agreement can be mediated through the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, led the workers to organise the January 3 lunchtime demonstration.

The protesting workers said that the university could afford to make a decent pay offer. The employers extra amount for pay and benefits amounted to 8.77 million pesos ($US174, 226) over two years. The university had net incomes of P350 million, P382 million and P415 million in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Australia and the Pacific

New South Wales power workers vote for industrial action

Workers at Ausgrid, the partly privatised NSW energy distribution network company, have voted overwhelmingly for a campaign of industrial action for new enterprise agreements.

The agreements, which cover close to 3,000 workers in four unions, expired in December 2014. Negotiations since then have failed to produce another agreement, meaning the companys owners have been able to achieve a protracted wage freeze.

The proposed industrial action, which includes work stoppages of up to eight hours and 30 different work bans including on overtime and call-outs, could begin as early as the second week in February.

The unions are seeking a 3 percent annual pay increase and changes to the current classification system, which they claim does not recognise skills or contain a satisfactory progression for promotions. The company has offered just 7 percent over three years with a one-off payment to each employee as a sop to sell the deal.

Ausgrid was partly privatised by the NSW state Liberal government in 2016, with only 46 percent remaining in government hands. The power unions facilitated the sell-off, and the privatisation of other parts of the states electricity assets, by sabotaging, and then closing down, all industrial action by workers opposing the move. The unions also played a critical role in assisting the government to slash hundreds of jobs across other state-owned electricity companies.

Griffin Coal maintenance strike continues

A protracted strike by 70 maintenance workers at Griffin Coal mine in Collie, Western Australia is continuing after the company rejected the basis for a settlement put together by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) last month.

The workers walked out almost four months ago after rejecting a proposed enterprise deal struck by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the company after 12 months of negotiations. That agreement cut pay by 8 percentfrom $139,301 a year, based on 42-hour working week, to $128,000 for a 49-hour weekand imposed detrimental changes to shift allowances.

Last month, the Fair Work Commission proposed that the rates offered by Griffin Coal remain except for when employees are placed on a 12-hour roster for more than 21 days. The recommendation was accepted by the AMWU but the company decided the cuts did not go far enough.

The AMWU from the outset has isolated the striking workers, refusing to organise any industrial action by other sections of its membership in support.

In November, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) rammed through a new enterprise work agreement (EBA) covering production workers at the mine that slashed employee earnings by 35 percent. This sell-out acted to strengthen the hand of the company against the striking maintenance workers.

Esso workers continue picketing Longford gas plant

Around 200 workers previously employed to maintain Esso Australias onshore and offshore oil and gas operations in Victoria are continuing an around-the-clock protest outside the Longford gas plant in Gippsland, Victoria. The so-called community picket has been ongoing for more than 200 days.

The protest by Australian Workers Union, Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union members has had no impact on production. Police and security guards are escorting replacement workers in and out of the plant daily.

The dispute began after EssoExxon-Mobils Australian armawarded a five-year maintenance contract to UGL, an engineering and mining company, last February.

UGL told workers that they would not be offered employment unless they signed up with a subsidiary MTCT on much lower wagesbetween 15 and 35 percent lessand changes to rosters that would see workers working two weeks on and two weeks off.

While the workers are determined to defend their wages and conditions the unions have left the workers completely isolated. The unions principal concern is that they are not being included in the new agreement with UGL.

Fiji: Protest in Nadi over locked out airport workers

The Fiji Trades Union Congress has called a protest today in Nadi over the lockout of 170 Air Terminal Service (ATS) workers since December 16. Initially 250 were locked out, but some have returned to work. ATS has employed 150 short-term scabs to replace the locked out workers, who include baggage handlers, check-in staff, engineers and caterers.

Government and military leaders have demanded that ATS employees return to work on managements terms. This includes signing a declaration saying that a walkout to attend a shareholders meeting was wrong and to apologise and accept disciplinary action. The workers own 49 percent of ATS through an Employees Trust, but have no say in its operations. The majority is owned by the Fiji Government. Workers suffer poor conditions and have had their pay frozen for 11 years. The total workforce of ATS is 639.

The ATS and the Federated Airlines Staff Association are reportedly awaiting a decision by the Ministry of Employment on whether to mediate the dispute. On Wednesday, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama denounced the upcoming protest rally as a political ploy by the opposition parties ahead of this years election.

Papua New Guinea weather service workers strike

Workers at Papua New Guineas National Weather Service (NWS) began strike action on January 5. Their union, the National Weather Service Working Committee, said that the Department of Transport had assured workers in December that discrepancies over salaries would be resolved. This has not occurred.

Transport Secretary Roy Mumu threatened the NWS workers on Wednesday, telling the media the strike was illegal because there had been no secret ballot before notice was given last month.

The workers grievances have been unresolved for nine years. In 2016, the Department of Personnel Management awarded back-pay of over K300,000 (US$92,890) to 63 NWS workers, but this has not been paid. The indefinite strike affects meteorological services and industries such as shipping and aviation.Strikes by workers in Germanys automotive, steel and electronics industries were expanded on Thursday and Friday. Since the beginning of the week, 340,000 employees have participated in short walkouts, protest rallies and demonstrations.

Anger over social inequality and threatened layoffs, such as at Siemens, and many other companies is on the rise, and at the strike rallies it is pervasive and plain to see.

The IG Metall trade union is increasingly concerned about the unrest in the plants. While their officials deliver radical sounding speeches at strike rallies and accuse the companies of greed for profits and inhumane behavior, the union is already indicating its willingness to cooperate with management and is preparing a sell-out.

At the latest round of bargaining in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg on Thursday, the IG Metall delegation signaled its readiness to compromise on the issue of working hours. The head of the employers group Sudwest Metall, Stefan Wolf, evaluated IG Metalls actions after the talks in Boblingen, commenting, At least the trade union signaled a readiness for the first time to talk about the issue of volume on the question of working time.

The financial daily Handelsblatt made clear what this meant. This suggests that the flexibilisation of working time demanded by IG Metall will go in both directions. This would mean that the trade union demand for workers to have the right to reduce working hours to 28 hours per week for a period of two years with a partial offsetting of wages would be transformed into its opposite.

While many workers would like to secure a temporary reduction in the workweek due to the increased speed-up, IG Metall is indicating its willingness to abandon the 35-hour workweek and agree to flexibility of working hours to 40 or more.

To date, quotas of 13 percent and 18 percent have been in place to regulate the number of workers who can work up to 40 hours per week. IG Metall has now signaled it will consent to relaxing the regulation, according to Handelsblatt. The employers are still miles away from our ideas on the issue of working time, said IG Metalls Baden-Wurttemberg leader, Roman Zitzelsberger, However, in todays negotiations, especially on the issue of time sovereignty, movement in the direction of the workers was visible, and this can be constructively worked on, the newspaper wrote.

On the radio station Deutschlandfunk, IG Metall leader Hofmann made clear his attitude when he called for a restrained presence and expressed the hope that the talks could be brought to a good result for all sides without any further escalation.

Under no circumstances do the trade unions want to allow the strikes and protests to escape the narrow confines of the collective bargaining framework and be transformed into a broad mobilisation against mass layoffs, which have already been announced and initiated by many companies.

The IG Metall leadership is not only concerned with the interests of Germanys exporters, with whom they have developed a close partnership. Their main focus is instead the government crisis and the preparations for a new installment of the grand coalition. IG Metall leader Joerg Hofmann and other officials are Social Democratic Party (SPD) members and support the formation of a coalition between Germanys conservative parties and the SPD. They want to prevent the formation of the new government from taking place under conditions of a mass strike.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) firmly rejects such reactionary policies and advances the diametrically opposed standpoint. The SGP calls for the current warning strikes to be expanded and made the prelude to a broad political mobilisation against the conspiracy taking place in Berlin in the form of secret talks on a new coalition government. The political parties have been negotiating for months behind the backs of the population to form a government that will carry out a sharp shift to the right in foreign and domestic policy.

IG Metall considers its main task to be maintaining control of the emerging radicalisation throughout industry and suppressing it. The union is closely tied to the SPD, whose Hartz laws and Agenda 2010 dramatically intensified levels of exploitation and contributed to the miserable working conditions in the factories against which the strikes are directed. It is impossible to achieve serious wage demands and improvements in working hours while at the same time supporting a party responsible for attacks on wages and social services and calling for a military build-up and attacks on democratic rights.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei therefore calls on workers in the metal and electronics industries to take control of the struggle into their own hands. New organisations of struggle, action committees controlled by rank-and-file workers, are necessary for this. These committees must fight for the broadest possible mobilisation of workers throughout Germany, Europe and internationally.

The defence of wages, jobs and past social gains requires an international perspective. In their war against the working class, the transnational corporations and banks pursue an international strategy. The working class must therefore develop an international strategy for the class struggle to defend its interests. The action committees must establish connections with workers throughout Germany, Europe and globally so as to support each others struggles.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei is ready to support any serious initiative to expand the strikes and develop them internationally.California officials have identified the suspect in the case of University of Pennsylvania sophomore Blaze Bernstein, who went missing during his winter break and was found dead earlier this week.

During a press conference Friday evening, the Orange County Sheriffs Department named Bernsteins high school friend Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, as the suspect in the case.

Woodward, of Newport Beach, California, was arrested at about 1:15 p.m. Friday on suspicion of homicide, according to Undersheriff Don Barnes. He told reporters a motive for the crime is unknown and that the investigation is ongoing.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward was named a suspect in the murder of his high school friend

Barnes said the Bernstein family allowed authorities access to Blazes social media accounts, including Snapchat, which led investigators to Woodward.

Woodward was interview by investigators and said they were meeting another friend at Borrego Park in Lake Forest, California, where Bernsteins body was eventually found in a shallow grave according to Barnes.

He allegedly told investigators that upon arriving at the park, Blaze walked off by himself and that an hour later Woodward could not find him. Woodward claimed he left the park but returned an hour later to attempt to locate Blaze. When he did not, he told police he left.

Based on inconsistencies in [Woodwards account], our investigators focused on this individual in the homicide of Blaze, Barnes said, adding Woodward has been under surveillance for some time before his arrest on Friday.

Blaze Bernstein

How well they were friends in high school we do not know, Barnes said. We dont know why they were at the park. There was a reference to a third person by Woodward [but] we suspect he was acting alone.

Barnes said Woodward and Blaze had driven to multiple locations before arriving at Borrego Park. While he would not divulge details as to where the two stopped, Barnes said Woodward has been cooperating with police, although he has not confessed to the crime.

How Bernstein died will not be released until the autopsy report is finalized. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told reporters charges were still pending for Woodward, but they could be filed as early as Tuesday.

Story continues

The parents of Blaze Bernstein, Jeanne Pepper and Gideon Bernstein.

The attorney for the Bernstein family made a statement on their behalf on Friday, saying, We will continue to search for justice for Blaze and his family.

 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.

Our words cannot express how grateful our family is for their community for expressing their love and support during this past very difficult week, the statement read.

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When news of Woodwards arrest came, a Twitter account from an account purported to be the account of Blazes mother, Jeanne Pepper, tweeted an emotional statement.

Finally. My thoughts are: Revenge is empty. It will never bring back my son, she wrote. My only hopes are that he will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone else again and that something meaningful can come from the senseless act of Blazes murder. Now Do Good for Blaze Bernstein.

Bernstein was found dead on Tuesday around 2 p.m. in the brush along the perimeter of the park.

His family had reported him missing on Jan. 3 after he didnt make a dental appointment. He was home from college on winter break and was scheduled to return to school that coming Sunday.

 For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard.

[His family] had seen him the evening before and they had dinner together and they all went their respective ways for the evening, Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriffs Department, told PEOPLE.

The parents shared in the morning they thought he was just sleeping in, and in the afternoon he missed his dental appointment and that is when they started to become concerned and they reached out to us shortly after that, she said.

Bernsteins father, Gideon, told reporters on Friday that his son had just become the managing editor of Penn Appetit, a food magazine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was very excited about that, Gideon said, according to the Orange County Register. He was working on that over the winter break and showed us the magazine they just published, which he significantly contributed to.

Gideon said his son intended to declare a major in psychology with a minor in chemistry, pursuing it with a pre-med focus.

Nineteen years old, says Braun. It is just so sad.Investigators have yet to name a possible person of interest in the suspected homicide of California pre-med student Blaze Bernstein, whose dead body was found earlier this week. But a search warrant affidavit reportedly shows that the last person to see the 19-year-old alive at one point seemed nervous and was breathing heavy, talking fast and visibly shaking while speaking to investigators.

Multiple news reports citing the affidavit, which is now sealed, claim the unidentified friend told investigators he dropped off Bernstein in Borrego Park in Lake Forest, California, shortly before midnight on Jan. 2.

The document, obtained by the Orange County Register, alleges the friend had small scratches and abrasions on his hands two days later, when investigators returned to speak with him at the park. There was also dirt under his fingernails.

The Southern California News Group reports that, according to investigators statements in the affidavit, the friend explained away the scrapes on his hands by saying he was a member of a fight club.

The dirt got under his nails, he allegedly said, when he fell into a dirt puddle during a scuffle. It was at this point that detectives noted his nerves, according to the Register.

In addition, authorities state in the affidavit that the friend, a former high school classmate of Bernsteins, said he went to see his girlfriend after dropping Bernstein off at the park, the Register reports. But in one interview he allegedly could not remember her last name or where she lived.

The affidavit reportedly claims Bernsteins friend avoided touching any doors on his way out of sheriffs headquarters following one interview, opening doors with his hands in his jacket pockets, according to News Group.

The affidavit noted the the friends account of what happened stayed fairly consistent after he agreed to be interviewed at the headquarters.

Carrie Braun, an Orange County Sheriffs Department spokeswoman, declined to discuss the affidavit with PEOPLE on Friday but did say there were no updates on the investigation.

Story continues

 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.

Blaze Bernnstein

Bernsteins family reported him missing on Jan. 3 after he didnt make a dental appointment, authorities have said. He was home from the University of Pennsylvania on winter break and was scheduled to return to school the following Sunday.

The Register, again citing the affidavit, reports that the friend said he had met up with Bernstein to catch up the night of Jan. 2 after the two were messaging each other. According to the friend, Bernstein then said they were going to meet another high school friend in the park, the affidavit states.

The friend said he drove them over and waited in the car while Bernstein went into the park, according to the affidavit.

The friend allegedly told police he waited for about an hour before heading to his girlfriends house in Tustin, California, around 1 a.m. on Jan. 3. He said they returned to the park later to look for Blaze, about 3:40 a.m., the paper reports.

The friend also allegedly told police Bernstein complained about his grades in school and seemed depressed but never said anything about wanting to hurt himself.

According to the Los Angeles Times, law enforcement sources said they collected DNA evidence from the body and the scene, hoping it leads them to the killer. Three search warrants have been obtained in the investigation, the Times reports.

 For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard.

From left: Blaze Bernstein's parents, Jeanne Pepper and Gideon Bernstein at a news conference on Wednesday, after their son's body was found

Authorities have not commented on how Bernstein was killed and a cause of death has not been released, though Braun said, based off what they found at the scene, they believe it was a homicide.

Detectives think Bernstein died the night he vanished. His family reportedly lived within minutes of the park where his body was found on Tuesday afternoon.

Bernsteins parents spoke to reporters earlier this week, after their sons body was discovered.

Blaze was a brilliant, colorful, and charismatic man who shined light on all of the lives of the people and communities he touched. Needless to say, our family is devastated by the news, Gideon Bernstein said on Wednesday, alongside wife Jeanne Pepper.

We  like so many of you around the world  love Blaze and wanted nothing more than his safe return, Gideon said.James Francos The Disaster Artist is on a hot streak this awards season, but its actor-director  currently in the hot seat over inappropriate behavior allegations  skipped the Critics Choice Awards ceremony.

Despite triumphing in one of the earliest categories of the evening, the 39-year-old was not present at Thursdays ceremony, where he took the statuette for Best Actor in a Comedy for his work in the Tommy Wiseau biopic.

Vice Principals star Walton Goggins was on hand to present the award during the broadcasts one-hour preshow, which streamed online prior to the main show. Amid a smattering of applause following Francos victory, Goggins informed attendees that Franco was not present.

Bits of Francos performance as Wiseau in The Disaster Artist, however, did appear in a montage at the top of the shows telecast.

Earlier Thursday, five women accused Franco  also currently starring in the HBO series The Deuce  of inappropriate behavior via a Los Angeles Times expose.

I was talking to him, all of a sudden his penis was out, actress Violet Paley told the publication of an encounter with the actor. I got really nervous, and I said, Can we do this later? He was kind of nudging my head down, and I just didnt want him to hate me, so I did it.

In a subsequent interview with TIME, Paley said she sent Franco an email to express her discomfort with the situation, though she said he never responded. Instead, months later, he reportedly called her to tell her to tell her he was a changed man.

I wish he had originally replied to my email and met with me and just listened. I wish he made a promise to change, she said. When the allegations against Louis C.K. came out  and they were disgusting  he acknowledged what he did. It would give me some comfort if he were to say, What happened was true and Im sorry.

Francos lawyer told the Times the allegations were not accurate, a sentiment Franco echoed on a pair of talk show appearances this week.

The Deuce co-creator David Simon later released a statement regarding the Franco allegations.

Im still reading it the same as everyone else, trying to discern what is or isnt there, he said. Personally I can only speak knowledgeably to The Deuce. Ive checked with all my fellow producers and other personnel. We have no complainant or complaint or any awareness of any incident of concern involving Mr. Franco. Nor has HBO been approached with any complaint. In our experience, he was entirely professional as an actor, director, and producer.Former President Barack Obama, David Letterman (Photo: Netflix)

The irony is all too obvious that David Lettermans new Netflix interview with former President Barack Obama started streaming the morning after President Trump called people he doesnt want to let into America citizens of shithole countries. Its not the vulgarity so much as the mindset revealed by that phrase that makes many of us shudder, and listening to a different president talk for about an hour about Americas best instincts is a relief, for a little while.

Lettermans new show  a six-episode, monthly project titled My Next Guest Needs No Introduction  takes place in front of an audience, no band for music, no desk, less an opening monologue than a few opening remarks. Letterman and his guest sit across from each other in easy chairs. Dave is late-period-Dave, wry, amused, and relatively relaxed. Here, Obama is very much the same. (Only Letterman has a beard, though, about which Obama makes a few jokes.) The interview starts off seriously, with a discussion of the divisions that have opened up in the country during the past year. Obama observes, If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than if you listen to NPR  and you know the former president is speaking in front of a self-selecting, New York City audience because the applause and derisive laughter start after Obama says Fox News, thus proving his point. Make no mistake, this is a lovefest: After responding to a question in which Obama explains his approach to the economy after taking office, Letterman jokes, To hear you describe this in a way I can understand just makes me so happy youre still the president.

They discuss civil rights and racism, with Letterman inserting footage of an interview hed done with congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis to illustrate a few points. (Without naming Trump explicitly, Lewis refers to the current president as a threat not only to the country but to the planet.) But theres room for a lot of lighter subjects, such as Obama describing what it was like to drop daughter Malia off at college  lots of self-deprecating anecdotes about being a doting but dopey dad.

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Its not a great interview, but its a cozy one. The conversation has the easy intimacy that can occur when two famous, successful men have reached points in their lives when they can be slightly less guarded. As the credits roll, Netflix plays a brief clip revealing that Lettermans next guest will be George Clooney. Warning: More beard jokes will be made.

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman is streaming now on Netflix.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:The 'Taken' star appeared on 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.'

Liam Neeson doesn't run with the royal family or Prince Harry's fiancee, Meghan Markle.

In November, a report claimed that the 65-year-old Irish star had met Markle at a Hillary Irish fundraiser in New York City and a photo even surfaced that was purportedly of the two actors posing together.

However, on Thursday's episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Neeson insisted, "I never met Meghan Markle."

The Taken star added that he's also never been introduced to Harry either, but he has met his father, Prince Charles, "a couple of times." Neeson said he was most impressed with Charles' wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, because she showed up to an event at Buckingham Palace "with a cigarette and a glass of red wine."

Further recalling Camilla's grand entrance, Neeson added, "I thought, 'I like you.'"

Taraji P. Henson was also on WWHL, and quipped, "We would have been BFFs from that moment on."

Neeson's ex-girlfriend, Helen Mirren, has met Harry and gushed over him and his brother, Prince William, while on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday. "They're both unbelievably charming, very straightforward, very charming, and a great credit to their father, [Prince Charles]," she said in praise of the princes.

Mirren also noted that while she does know Harry, she will not be attending his wedding in May.

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Prince William Reveals Prince Harry Hasn't Asked Him to Be His Best Man in Royal Wedding... Yet!Mark Wahlberg has pledged to donate $2 million to the anti-sexual harassment campaign Times Up. The move comes in response to public outcry over the wage disparity on the reshoots of All the Money in the World.

In November, All the Money in the World director Ridley Scott made an unprecedented move to reshoot scenes featuring Kevin Spacey after the actor was accused of sexual misconduct. The process of replacing Spacey with Christopher Plummer was successfully completed a month before the films release,

Last week, USA Today reported that Wahlberg had received $1.5 million for the reshoots, whereas his castmate, Michelle Williams, received less than $1,000. USA Today added that Wahlberg would not approve Plummers casting until his salary demand was met.

Williams, however, offered to do the reshoots for free. I said Id be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me, Williams previously told USA Today. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort.

In a statement announcing the donation, Wahlberg said, Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All the Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation. I 100 percent support the fight for fair pay and Im donating the $1.5 million to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund. He added that the donation will be made in Williams name.

Additionally, WME, the talent agency which represents both Wahlberg and Williams, is making a $500,000 donation to Times Up.

The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a position of influence have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap, WME said. In recognition of the pay discrepancy on the All the Money in the World reshoots, WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month. Its crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution.The Washington Post reported Thursday that President Donald Trump, while in a meeting with bipartisan lawmakers about immigration reform, referred to El Salvador, Haiti, and a handful of African nations as shole countries, questioning why the United States couldnt receive more immigrants from places like Norway.

CNN anchors slammed Trump as racist, and late night hosts took a similar tack Thursday night.

Stephen Colbert repudiated Trump, stating that those countries couldnt be sholes  for one, Donald Trump isnt their president.

After calling out Trump for posting a misleading tweet about a Quinnipiac University poll that actually reflected poorly on the president rather than positively  as Trump attempted to make it seem  Jimmy Kimmel blasted the president for his comments.

Before I share what specifically he said, Id like you to keep in mind, this is an actual quote from the actual president of the United States, he said. The news report of the comments reported in the Washington Post received boos from the audience.

Listen, Kimmel said, Im sure the fact the countries he described as sholes are mostly populated by people of color and the immigrants he wants from Norway are not is a coincidence because if it wasnt, it would mean we voted for a racist, like a real one, and wed have to get pitchforks and chase him out of the White House.

The only silver lining, and this is a small silver lining, is that we got to hear Wolf Blitzer say this all day, Kimmel joked, as a reel of Blitzer saying shole, with the expletive replaced by just the letter s, played.

What an shole, Kimmel finished.

Seth Meyers took the opportunity to introduce a new segment called Seth Has to Walk Away for a Minute, leaving his desk after recapping Trumps comments and standing a few paces away, mumbling things like At what pointat what point do you just have some common decency, some human emotion.

Story continues

Meyers also touched on the comments in his Closer Look segment.

To be fair, maybe he meant it as a compliment, Meyers said. After all, Trump does all his best tweets when hes sitting on the shole.

Watch the clips below.

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Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!Parents of Blaze Bernstein, the University of Pennsylvania sophomore found dead on Tuesday after being reported missing on Jan. 3, have spoken out in an emotional statement after identifying their 19-year-old sons body.

Blaze was a brilliant, colorful, and charismatic man who shined light on all of the lives of the people and communities he touched. Needless to say, our family is devastated by the news, Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper said on Wednesday during a press conference in Lake Forest, California.

We  like so many of you around the world  love Blaze and wanted nothing more than his safe return, Blazes grieving father said.

We want to thank all of you who so generously gave of your hearts, time, and energy to help us in the search for Blaze over this past week. As this investigation moves from search and rescue to a homicide investigation, we ask for your continued support in providing tips and information to the Orange County Sheriffs Department, he continued.

Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriffs Department, would not confirm to PEOPLE how the pre-med student was killed or what the condition of his body was when it was discovered in Borrego Park in Lake Forest.

An autopsy was to be performed on Wednesday.

Authorities are absolutely killing themselves to bring justice to this family, Braun said.

The Bernstein family had reported Blaze missing after he didnt make a dental appointment. His parents told police they thought their son was just sleeping in, Braun said. Blaze was home from college on winter break and was scheduled to return to school that coming Sunday.

Though officials extensively searched Borrego Park for days, Tuesdays heavy rainfall in the Southern California area ultimately made Blazes body more readily seen by investigators, according to Braun.

 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.

Story continues

Our family sends you all of our endless love and thanks for what you have done, Gideon told reporters before tearfully saying, We have had people do random acts of kindness and so many friends and family who have reached out to us. Its unbelievable what you people have done for us and our son in his memory.

We ask that you, like my father wouldve done for me, do something that can perpetuate Blazes memory, this young, bright soul, the father of three said.

With his arm wrapped around his wife, Gideon concluded: This woman has been my rock this past week and our children are so strong and we just want to see resolution.

Braun said investigators learned that Blaze was either picked up or met a friend at Borrego Park around 11 p.m. on Jan. 2 and they got separated somehow and the friend told our investigators that Blaze walked off and he didnt return, and that was the last time the friend said he saw him.

The friend told investigators Bernstein was heading in the direction of nearby Whiting Ranch Park when he was last seen, Braun said. The friend allegedly drove off at one point and came back to look for Bernstein but couldnt find him.

It is still unclear if Bernstein had plans to meet someone else in the park.

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On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people gathered at Borrego Park in Lake Forest for a candlelight vigil in Blazes memory.

Meanwhile, on the Philadelphia campus of Blazes Ivy League university, students also held a candlelight vigil.

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In a statement, obtained by ABC News, Dr. Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, vice provost for university life at Penn, said, I came to know Blaze, and I grieve his passing as I do all student deaths.

I realize these losses have the potential to affect many, many members of our Penn family, she said, adding that a support session will take place Thursday.

The Penn I love and cherish is vibrant, caring, and compassionate. Hug your friends and roommates. Practice self-care and empathy. Celebrate who and what you have on this special campus. Find unity and strength, together, she said.

The family asks that contributions be made to the Blaze Bernstein Memorial Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County. Donations will be given to the Orangewood Foundation and other organizations that help children and families in need.On Thursday, before being sentenced to 23 years in prison in the 2015 poisoning death of her ex-boyfriends mother, a 24-year-old New York woman insisted she was innocent of the crime of which shed been convicted three months earlier.

According to multiple news reports, Kaitlyn Conley was found guilty in November of first-degree manslaughter in the death of 60-year-old Mary Louise Yoder, a Whitesboro, New York, chiropractor who was also her boss.

The Post-Standard and local TV station WKTV report that Conley spoke during her sentencing in Oneida County, New York, Court on Thursday, saying: With all respect to the justice system, Im innocent.

In addition to her prison term, Conley will be under five years post-release supervision, according to WKTV.

Prosecutors argued Conley poisoned Yoder, for whom she had worked for four years, as revenge against Yoders son, Adam, the Post-Standard reported. Yoder died in July 2015.

Mary Yoder

Conley had known Adam since 2011 and the two had dated off and on before Yoders death, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. But their relationship was turbulent, and Conleys defense reportedly contended Adam was abusive and controlling.

At Thursdays sentencing, two of Yoders daughters, Liana Hegde and Tamaryn Yoder, asked the judge to give Conley the maximum sentence, according to the Post-Standard.

My mothers heart stopped beating because of this defendant, Tamaryn said. I ask the court for the maximum sentence.

Hedge said Conley has never shown remorse for her actions, and that because of her personal and professional ties to the family, she was present in their lives as Yoder was ill and dying: She wanted to be there and see it happen.

Conleys first trial ended in a hung jury in May, and she is appealing her conviction. She was first charged in June 2016.

Jurors at her second trial found Conley not guilty on a more serious charge of second-degree murder.

 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.

Story continues

Kaitlyn Conley

Her attorney reportedly said after, of the manslaughter conviction, You have to still prove that she poisoned [Yoder], okay? If she didnt poison her with the intent to kill, wheres the evidence that she poisoned her with the intent to commit serious physical injury?

Conleys defense argued at her second trial that Adam was to blame and that the evidence against her was circumstantial and she was a pawn of a cover-up, according to the Post-Standard.

William Yoder, Marys husband, and Adam also asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed on Conley.

 For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard.

[Conley] had a fight with my son  and then murdered his mother, William reportedly said in court.

However, another of Mary Yoders sisters, Janine King, reportedly told the judge she believes Conley is innocent.

Conleys sisters said much the same as King when they spoke out in an interview with Syracuse.com in November.

The Oneida County Prosecutors Office did not respond to PEOPLEs requests for comment. Conleys attorney could not immediately be reached.The Los Angeles Police Department has opened an investigation into allegations of a 2005 sexual assault by actor Steven Seagal. There is an open investigation, a spokesperson for the LAPD told Deadline. Other than the date of the alleged assault, the spokesperson declined to provide details or the name of the alleged victim.

The investigation comes after numerous actresses have come forward with allegations that Seagal sexually harassed them  and a month after an extra told the LAPD that he raped her back in 1993.

Regina Simmons, then an 18-year-old extra on his film On Deadly Ground, filed a police report last month saying the actor raped her at a party at his house in 1993. And Dutch model Faviola Dadis has told the LAPD that Seagal sexually assaulted her during an audition in 2002. California ended its statute of limitations on rape a year ago, but only for cases that happened since January 1, 2017.

Several actresses including Jenny McCarthy, Portia di Rossi, Eva LaRue and Juliana Margulies, have come forward with allegations that Seagal sexually harassed them, though none claimed that he sexually assaulted them.

A spokesman for Seagal could not be reached for comment.

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Hollywood Christmas Parade Street Closures SetWhite House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insulted MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson, sniped at CNNs Jim Acosta and insisted that President Donald Trump did not tweet an inaccurate statement condemning FISA after watching Fox & Friends this morning.

Attempting to explain away what Jackson described as Trumps two confusing and contradictory FISA tweets this morning, Huckabee Sanders said, I think the premise of your question is completely ridiculous and shows the lack of knowledge that you have on this process. Sanders then said the president supports the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments act but has concerns. It wasnt confusing to me. Im sorry if it was for you.

Watch the exchange below.

At 7:33 am ET, Trump tweeted that the controversial FISA ACT may have been used to badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration, an odd missive that seemed to ignore the foreign part of FISA. Less than two hours later, Trump tweeted a seeming about face, saying that todays FISA vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart! (See the tweets below).

When CNNs Jim Acosta asked Huckabee Sanders whether there was a cause and effect between Trumps initial tweet and a Fox & Friends segment featuring the anti-FISA Andrew Napolitano, Huckabee Sanders sniped, Im sure youre disappointed hes not watching CNN.

Responded Acosta, I think he watches a lot of CNN, if you dont mind me saying. To which Sanders snarked, I dont think thats true. Your numbers would be higher.

Theyre actually better than theyve been in a long time, said Acosta.

And no, Huckabee Sanders said, Trumps tweet was not a Fox & Friends talking point. The president, she said, has been following the topic and wanted to put something out.

Story continues

Heres what he put out:

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And here is Huckabee Sanders response to Jackson:

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Related stories

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The type of imported rice will be of premium quality, not grown in Indonesia, so it will not harm local farmers and rice production, Lukita said on January 12.



The countrys current rice stocks were estimated at about 950,000 tonnes, most of which is low-grade rice to be distributed as aid for low-income people. Meanwhile, the rice stocks for commercial purposes were only 11,000 tonnes.



Previously, Indonesia Vice President Jusuf Kalla had called on the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) to consider importing rice to bring down domestic prices.



According to the National Strategic Food Prices Information Centre (PIHPSN), the medium-quality rice is currently fetched at 14,100 IDR, or 1 USD, per kg.



The rice prices varied among regions. West Papua reported the highest price of 14,250 IDR per kg while the lowest price of over 9,700 IDR per kg was found in West Nusa Tanggara.- Source from Vietnamplus.Photo credit: Getty

From Country Living

Planning the seating chart for any wedding is complicated. Add in members of multiple royal families, politicians, and celebrities, and it's enough to give a the bride- and groom-to-be hives.

But according to royal expert Alastair Bruce, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry do not have to play fourth dimensional chess to figure out the seating chart-they should worry first and foremost about their own preferences for their upcoming nuptials. "It's very much a matter for the bride and the groom," he told me, while speaking about the upcoming documentary The Coronation, which airs on the Smithsonian Channel here in the U.S. on January 14.

"The thing about Prince Harry is that he's not seen to be in the direct line of succession, and therefore the pressure on him to invite the long list of people, who had to be asked to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is not present," he continued.

The size of the wedding venue, St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, will also certainly influence the guest list. While Westminster Abbey could accommodate the approximately 1,900 people invited to Will and Kate's wedding, St. George's Chapel reportedly has a capacity of 800.

Prince Harry and Markle will also have the help of the ultimate wedding planning team: The Lord Chamberlain's Office. This department within the royal household, which organizes ceremonies, will help Prince Harry through the process of deciding who sits where. "They will assist him. They know the layout of St. George's Chapel, and they will guide him," says Bruce.

As is tradition, the family of the groom will likely be seated on the right and the family of the bride be on the left, when looking at the altar, Bruce says, and while close family will be in the choir, the majority of the couple's friends will not.

For those unfamiliar with the layout of the chapel, "the choir is closer to the altar and the nave is the bit further down toward where the bride would come in and out," Bruce explained.

Story continues

It's a layout that should be familiar to most involved, says Bruce. "It is after all a wedding, and weddings happen to all sorts of people at every station of life."

What is different about these nuptials, says the protocol expert, is what happens after-when Markle becomes a member of the firm. "The thing that's special here is that Meghan will be marrying into a family that is very affected by what happened in 1953," says Bruce, referring to the year of the Queen's coronation. "In a sense every member of the family is obligated to support the head of state to whom they're related, and of course [Meghan's] going to have to pick up that when she becomes a member of the royal family."

The Coronation airs Sunday, January 14 at 8/7 central on the Smithsonian Channel.

You Might Also LikePhoto credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Cosmopolitan

Well, here's something close to a happy ending!

Deadline reports that Mark Wahlberg, who was reportedly paid 1,500 times what Michelle Williams was paid for All The Money In The World reshoots, has pledged to donate 1.5 million to #TimesUp to help provide subsidized legal support to those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace.

Wahlberg said in a statement: Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All The Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation. I 100% support the fight for fair pay and Im donating the $1.5 million to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name.

Late last week reports surfaced that Williams was paid an $80 per diem for her work on the reshoots for the film, totaling less than $1,000. According to USA Today's sources, Wahlberg negotiated a $1.5 million fee. (The reshoots were in response to director Ridley Scott replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer.)



Celebrities flooded Twitter with outraged tweets over the obvious injustice:

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WME, the talent agency which reps both actors and Scott said they would also donate $500,000 to #TimesUp.

Said WME in a statement: The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a poition of influence have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap. In recognition of the pay discrepancy on All The Money In The World reshoots, WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Times Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month. Its crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution.

You Might Also LikeFor the first time ever, videographers gained access to the Crown Jewels to film them and also spoke to Queen Elizabeth II for the upcoming documentary The Coronation.

The queen not only granted permission for the jewels to be seen and captured for the show, but she also watched footage of her own coronation (which took place back in 1953)which she had never done before. As she looked at the footage from 65 years ago, the queen shared her insight into what it was like to actually wear the heavy Imperial State Crown with royal family reporter Alastair Bruce.

"You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break and it (the crown) would fall off," she said while smiling. "So there are some disadvantages to crowns but otherwise they're quite important things."

She also revealed that riding in an enormous golden carriage was less fun than you'd expect.

"Horrible. Its only sprung on leather, not very comfortable, she said. "We could only go at a walking pace. The horses couldn't possibly go any faster. It's so heavy."

Bruce watched the footage alongside Queen Elizabeth, but he does more than just reportinghe's also one of the queen's officers of arms, and he's such an expert in the semiotics (the language of symbols) of the nation that the Buckingham Palace often calls him for input and advice. Bruce spoke to InStyle about talking with Queen Elizabeth and his theory about why she might be choosing to speak publicly on this right now.

"I think partly because it is the 65th anniversary year ... " he said. "Now why do I think it's happening now, I have no idea. I think that the queen must understand that, as we do as producers, that it's been 65 years since we've had a coronation and the British public have been aware of the Crown Jewels, but think they've become the best known and least understood symbols of the country as a result of that amount of time not being in use, and maybe that's what led her to do it now."

Story continues

Despite this, Bruce was happy to shed light on exactly how momentous an occasion it must have been for the queen, calling it a "pretty challenging day for her as a 25-year-old."

"There is a tradition in the English coronation that if you have a monarch who slips or drops something or anything like thatin fact, Richard II's slipper fell off when he was being carried back to bed because he had fallen asleep during the ceremony, and everyone saw that as a bad omen. That sort of pressure that you mustn't make an error, for the first time being filmed and televised to the world," he said.

"This is a huge challenge, I would imagine, for anybody to perform without fault through a medieval ceremony that has unbelievable symbolism and meaning. [While] wearing regaliathat was designed for your forebear King Charles IIin 1661, including a crown that is five pounds in weight.:I just want you to imagine laying out five pounds of sugar bags and putting that on your head, but imagine it's a hat that is made to be too big for you. Can you imagine having that sort of pressure on you? I think it must have been a hell of a day for her."

RELATED: Queen Elizabeth Opens Up About One "Horrible" Aspect of Her Coronation

Despite the intense pressure that must have been on her at the time, Bruce said Queen Elizabeth spoke of the coronation with lightness and clarity.

"She talks very cleanly and with a clarity of memory that was a delight. She's also got a wonderful sense of humor in a way without in any form undermining the story or the symbols or what the coronation is about," he said. "I think she's very humble toward the role that she holds, and that makes her unwilling to be too ponderous or to dwell in anything other than a delightfully light way."

Tune into the full documentary The Coronation, which airs in the U.S. on the Smithsonian Channel, Sunday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. It was made in partnership with the BBC and Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is part of the Royal Collection Season, a collaboration between the BBC and Royal Collection Trust.While flu is typically thought to be most risky for the very young and very old, this years flu season has seen a rise in young, seemingly healthy people dying. (Photo: Getty Images)

The flu has taken the lives of a 20-year-old Arizona mom, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania fitness enthusiast, and a 51-year-old Massachusetts mother of two in recent weeks. A simple runny nose and light cough are known to take the lives of children under 2, but healthy young adults are dying during this years flu season.

Experts say this season is more severe than in past years. Several factors are contributing to the rising flu death tolls sweeping the nation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the flu is widespread everywhere in the U.S. except for Hawaii and the District of Columbia. Hospitals are having a harder time treating patients with the flu, mainly because the H3N2 virus is the dominant circulating strain. It hits humans harder than other strains  and scientists dont know why, according to a recent analysis in The Atlantic.

Vaccines developed for this years strain are only 10 percent effective against the H3N2 virus, also commonly known as the Australian flu. Although researchers were able to predict ahead of time the strain of this years season, the chicken eggs in which vaccines are created can pick up mutations that look a little different than the H3N2 affecting humans  making the vaccine less effective. However, this does not mean it is obsolete. The vaccine can still protect against other strains of flu such as the H1N1 and B viruses, and it provides at least some immunity to H3N2. The CDC advises to still get the shot.

Puerto Ricos Hurricane Maria aftermath is contributing to flu season deaths as well. The islands production of IV bags and medical equipment was halted because of the power blackout Puerto Rico is still facing, five months after the storm. Hospitals go through hundreds of IV bags a day to replenish fluids for patients and to administer drugs such as antibiotics and painkillers. As more patients are treated for flu, hospitals across the nation are scrambling for these supplies and have resorted to other measures.

Story continues

If we cant support patients coming in emergency rooms who have the flu, more people are going to die, predicts Deborah Pasko, director of medication safety and quality at the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. I see it as a crisis, she told the Associated Press.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



There are very few things that the POTUS can do to surprise the world now.

By Lola Jacobs

There are very few things that the POTUS can do to surprise the world now. The entirety of the presidency (almost a year, now) has been quite reflective of his beliefs which are, most often, in direct opposition to general opinion. But overt statements of xenophobia are still disturbing as proven by the latest Trump scandal. The statement, many agree, is characteristic of him for all of its impulsivity but still difficult to stomach when examining foreign affairs.

In a private White House meeting on Thursday (Jan. 11), President Donald Trump reportedly remarked that Haiti and African nations are sh*thole countries. The reaction was prompted by a request for protection of immigrants from Haiti, African nations, and El Salvador as part of a bipartisan immigration plan. Why are we having all these people from sh*thole countries come here? he reportedly asked. Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.

Journalist Yamiche Alcindor spoke directly with Haitis ambassador to the U.S., Paul Altidor. Appearing on MSNBC, Alcindor told Rachel Maddow, Haiti is taking formal steps to let President Trump know they are upset.

Alcindor further discussed the frustrations of a perplexed Altidor who brought up the history of Haitian relations with the U.S. Volunteers from the country fought alongside the U.S. in the Revolutionary War.

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In the Oval meeting, Trump went on to suggest that the country should be negotiating the entry of more immigrants from places like Norway whose prime minister he met with on Wednesday (Jan. 10).

Apparently, President Trumps reaction to the upcoming deal left Congress members from both parties in shock, if not for the statement itself, then for the flippancy with which he declared it. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois spoke on his bewilderment, calling the language used, heartbreaking.

The statement echoes one reportedly made last year about Haitians having AIDS and Nigerians over-occupying America, never returning to their huts.

Story continues

When word got out, Trump rose to his own defense immediately, tweeting: The language used by me in the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. Later in the morning (Jan. 12), he deflected the blame, tweeting: Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

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Late last year, Trumps administration put an end to a temporary residency program given to Haitian immigrants, permitting 60,000 Haitian citizens to live and work in the U.S. safely after a magnitude-7 earthquake in 2010. This does nothing for the proof of his wonderful relationship with Haiti, unfortunately.

Although he has repeatedly hammered into the heads of the people that hes no racist or xenophobe, hes uttered slurs since his election and his supporters have done the same. Many have pleaded the POTUS case, too, suggesting repeatedly that his election was not about racism but, wasnt it? It marked the vulnerability exhibited by whites when a black man stepped in to lead the free world for eight years. Post-racial got too close for comfort. And the speeding car left its drivers behind.

Officials from Kenya, South Africa, Nepal, and Mexico all had a few words for Trump, proving that the acknowledgment of human rights has not seized to exist in any place but the White House.

If nothing else, this is a confirmation of the POTUS transparency.

This post Haitis Ambassador To The U.S. Responds To Donald Trumps Controversial Statements first appeared on Vibe.Ellen DeGeneres father Elliot died this week at the age of 92, the television show host announced on Thursday. But just as she was coming to terms with her loss, DeGeneres spotted a beautiful sight in the sky.

DeGeneres told her studio audience that her dad, a former insurance salesman, had a good, long life and had always managed to live exactly how he wanted. Her family had been preparing for some time for his death.

Before he died, DeGeneres said that she spoke with her father and was able to say goodbye to him. After the chat, she said she was leaving the Warner Brother Studios building. Then, she looked back and saw a rainbow shining above her studio.

This looks photoshopped, she said, as she showed her audience a photo of the rainbow. This is what I saw after I talked to my dad and he died 10 minutes later after that. Pretty amazing.

I got a rainbow before he died, she said.

Ellen DeGeneres said she spotted this rainbow in the sky right after speaking to her dad for the last time. (Photo: The Ellen Show / YouTube)

DeGeneres told her audience that her dad was a very funny man who gave her and her brother Vance DeGeneres their sense of humor. He was also apparently a very religious person  he never went to the doctor or took medicine because of his beliefs as a Christian Scientist.

DeGeneres, who is originally from Louisiana, remembered that growing up, her dad only took her on one family vacation. The family ended up touring the Warner Bros. studio lot in California  the same place where DeGeneres now tapes her show.

Ellen DeGeneres paid a tribute to her late father on her show this Thursday. (Photo: The Ellen Show / YouTube)

The television host said that her dad was very proud of all shed accomplished and loved her show.

He was a kind man, very accepting man. There was not one bone of judgment in his body, she said.

Also on HuffPost

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Porcelain Doll

Baby Ellen was such a doll -- just look at those curls!

A Star In The Making

Scheming up ideas for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" from an early age.

Don't Worry, I've Got This

Confident, spunky and fun -- we love that Ellen's not afraid to show off her true personality.

PJ Twins

Who wouldn't love to have a slumber party with Ryan Gosling and Ellen?

Fifteen-Love

Is Ellen training to be the next U.S. Open champion?

Don't Test Her Swag

Comedian, talk show host and model? Ellen rocked it at the Richie Rich Spring 2011 fashion show.

Trick Or Treat?

Snooki's poof ain't got nothing on Ellen's 2010 Halloween costume. We love her creative ideas!

Love Birds

We love how happy and in love Portia and Ellen always look. Not to mention how well they coordinate their outfits.

Oscar Baby

Pregnant? No -- that's just Ellen's Oscar baby at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Ole!

Even in a sombrero, Ellen looks good!

Keepin' It Simple

Her vegan diet and campaign to stop animal cruelty led her to be named PETA's 2009 Woman of the Year. Work it, girl!

Multitasking Genius

Sit-ups while holding the Olympic torch? What a woman!

It's A Man, It's A Plane...

... No, it's just Ellen dressed as Spider-Man while presenting at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.

Peace For All

What better way to show off a cause that you support than on your tee?

Studious Duds

Ellen shows everyone that reading can be  and is  cool. You tell 'em, girl!

Happily Ever After

We couldn't think of a more perfect couple!

Domestic Miss

Who needs a janitor when Ellen DeGeneres is at the Grammy Awards?

Swan Lake

Story continues

Bjork, is that you? No, it's Ellen at the 53rd Annual Emmy Awards.

Musical Future?

If her talk show doesn't work out, we're sure Ellen can land a gig in a folk band. We love that she's rocking a vest!

Fore!

We want to play a round of golf with these two! Where do we sign up?

Preparing For The Runway?

Ellen in platform heels? We never thought we'd see the day!

Favourite Daytime TV Host

We're not surprised she took home honors at the 2012 People's Choice Awards. Ellen, don't ever change!

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.

We're only two weeks into 2018 but it's impossible to talk about books in the new year without hearing three words: fire and fury.

Since an excerpt published in New York Magazine on Jan 3., the country has been buzzing about columnist and non-fiction author Michael Wolff's latest book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

SEE ALSO: Why 'Fire and Fury' could mark the end of the road for Trump

The book is a searing deep dive into Donald Trump's presidency as seen from Trump's own White House staff, most notably Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon (who, since the publication of Fire and Fury, has been disavowed by the Trump campaign and ousted from Breitbart News) and former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh.

But whether Wolff is dragging his subjects, like when Michael Wolff tries to explain a theory of why Donald Trump might try to court Vladimir Putin:

or roasting Donald Trump's hair

one thing becomes abundantly clear about Fire and Fury: nothing and no one is safe from a Michael Wolff's shady, shady pen.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we chat about Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury. Join us in the episode above as we chat about what this book says about the Donald Trump presidency, how do we separate fact vs. fiction in this book given Michael Wolff's somewhat dubious fact-checking methods, and what to make of the president's response to Fire and Fury.

And as always, we close the show with recommendations:

Peter recommends The Mighty Boosh, a BBC Three comedy. "It's just the weirdest and most surreal show, that's slightly problematic sometimes. All that said, though, it's a delightful show because it has my two favorite comedians: Rich Fulture and Matt Berry. It's fun. It's on Hulu."

Heather recommends "The Liars Club" by Mary Karr. "Mary Karr is perfect, she's never made a mistake, much like Michael Wolff. This published in '96 or '97, and it kicked off the era of memoir writing. This was like the original good memoir."

MJ recommends author Matt De La Pena's essay for Time "Why We Shouldn't Shield Children From Darkness." "The essay is just so movign about how we need to support children through darkness and the incredible, heartbreaking moments that he's expereicend when he's gotten to see a child expressing true emotion and grappling with that." He also recommends RnB singer Jessie Reyez. "Her songs just got me all up in my feelings."

And if you're looking for even more book news, don't forget to follow MashReads on Facebook and Twitter.Robert Farley

Security, Asia

Beijing's next super weapon?

By 2020, China Could Have Hypersonic Missiles to Sink U.S. Aircraft Carriers

In November, China tested what may become the worlds first operational hypersonic weapon. While Chinese progress in this area surprises no one, the first operational deployment of the weapon will add another weapon to Chinas growing antiaccess toolkit, posing a dilemma for U.S. military planners in the Pacific.

What China Tested

Over the past decade China has conducted several tests of potential hypersonic weapons. This new system, however, appears to be a prototype for a deployable capability. As reported by Ankit Panda of the Diplomat, the first test of the DF-17 ballistic missile took place on November 1, 2017, and the second test on November 15. A hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) detached from the missile during the reentry phase and flew approximately 1,400 kilometers to a target.

The DF-17 appears to be a modified version of a previous Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) missile. It may be possible for the PLARF to modify other, longer-range missiles already in its inventory to carry the HGV. The system can almost certainly deliver either nuclear or conventional payloads, depending on strategic and operational necessity.

Recommended: Stealth vs. North Koreas Air Defenses: Who Wins?

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Recommended: 5 Places World War III Could Start in 2018

U.S. analysts dont expect the vehicle to enter service until 2020, but by that point the PLARF may have significantly expanded the means through which it can deploy and deliver an HGV. Longer-range missiles would both expand Chinas reach farther into the Pacific and make it more difficult for the United States to attack launch points, by enabling bases deep within the Chinese interior.

What Do Hypersonics Do?

While hypersonic cruise missiles exist, the new Chinese HGV deploys from a ballistic missile, then glides to a target on a flight path much different (and much less predictable) than that of a traditional ballistic missile. The glide path is lower and slower than a normal ballistic-missile payload, although still generally higher and faster than a traditional cruise missile. The HGV may have maneuverable characteristics during its terminal phase, which would allow it to strike mobile targets such as aircraft carriers. In the initial launch phase, the HGV closely resembles a ballistic missile, which can complicate tense strategic situations in which the use of nuclear weapons may be in question.

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What Strategic Effect Can This Have?

The point of deploying an operational hypersonic system is to undermine currently existing ballistic-missile defense systems. To the extent that South Korea, Japan and, most importantly, the United States depend on such defenses, hypersonics disrupt defensive planning. HGVs travel at extremely high speeds, at relatively low altitudes and on difficult-to-predict trajectories. This makes it difficult for either antiballistic-missile defense systems or traditional surface-to-air missile systems to defeat the weapons on approach. As Antony Dong Wong suggests, HGVs could also directly attack U.S. and allied missile-defense systems, making the entire defensive network more vulnerable to attack.

Of course, the ability of modern missile-defense systems to defeat a volley of ballistic missiles launched in anger remains in deep question. In this sense, hypersonics are an answer to a problem that may not even exist. But when we consider the potential for hypersonic weapons to operate in concert with the rest of Chinas A2/AD system, the true value becomes clear. Along with an array of high-accuracy ballistic missiles, cruise missiles deployed from air, sea, land and subsurface launchers, and submarines, China is developing a layered system intended to make it difficult for the United States to even conceive of undertaking high-intensity war.

It remains to be seen how widely China will deploy these weapons. We lack good data on the relative costs of producing and maintaining HGVs and their payloads. HGVs are just as dependent as traditional cruise missiles and ballistic missiles on good targeting data, meaning that they are not miracle weapons. The United States has nonkinetic (primarily electronic) ways of interfering with targeting and communication, complicating the task that HGVs are intended to fulfill.

Conclusion

It is no surprise that China has made significant progress on a hypersonic vehicle. China has worked hard to develop weapons that can keep pace, and even exceed, the most advanced U.S. defensive systems. Hypersonics represent one more tool in Chinas system of antiaccess systems. Indeed, they give China the ability to reach out and touch U.S. aircraft carriers and bases at farther distances than previously contemplated. The United States can strike back with its own systems, of course, but on balance the U.S. military demands access, while the Chinese military wins by denying that access.

Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to the National Interest, is author of The Battleship Book. He serves as a senior lecturer at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. His work includes military doctrine, national security and maritime affairs. He blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money, Information Dissemination and the Diplomat.

Image: Department of Defense

Read full articlePresident Donald Trump referred to Haiti and other nations as shithole countries during immigration talks with lawmakers on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Trump reportedly said about Haiti in addition to El Salvador and African nations. He reportedly singled out Haiti further in his remarks, asking Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.

Trumps slur was widely condemned by Democratic lawmakers, along with some Republican lawmakers. Many called the remarks racist including a United Nations human rights official.

On Friday, Trump denied the comments, tweeting that his language was tough but that he did not use the words attributed to him in news reports. I never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country, Trump added.

Heres what you need to know about Haiti, which is indeed impoverished, rocked by natural disasters, and a frequently beset by political upheaval. But it also has a rich culture and has played an important role in American history.

Haitis history

Christopher Columbus landed on the island (now called Hispaniola) in 1492, and during colonization, most of the native population was wiped out. In 1697, the western third of the island was given to the French, who prospered from the export of sugar, coffee, cacao and more. Most of the agricultural work was done by slaves brought from Western Africa, who made up the majority of the population.

The Haitian Revolution, a series uprisings occurring between 1791 and 1804 by both freed men and slaves, ended French colonial rule. However the legacy of poverty from slavery shapes the island even to this day.

In 1825 Haiti was forced to pay France an independence debt of 150 million gold francs, under the threat of invasion, which The Guardian notes was ten times the fledgling black nations total annual revenues.

Haiti helped with the American Revolution

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Nearly 500 free black men from Haiti recruited by a French admiral participated in the 1779 Siege of Savannah, fighting with colonists against British. They were known as the Chasseurs Volontaires, and they were recruited with the hope that by serving in the military theyd be recognized as citizens of the French empire, according to Ozy. The siege failed and the Chasseurs were ultimately exiled.

Haitis troubled economy

Haitis economy has lagged due to the legacy of slavery, poverty, natural disasters, corruption, U.S. occupation, and political turmoil. In 2016 Haitis GPD per capita was $1,800. It is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, according to the CIAs World Factbook, with 60% of the population living below the poverty line.

Haitian immigration to the U.S.

There were 676,000 Haitian immigrants living in the U.S. in 2015up from 587,000 in 2010. Around 58,000 Haitians remained in the U.S. after the 2010 earthquake through temporary protected status (TPS), a policy rescinded by the Trump administration in 2017 that required them to leave the U.S. by July 2019.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security established the Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) in 2014. The program will allow certain eligible Haitians with already approved family-based immigrant visa petitions an opportunity to enter the United States up to two years in advance of their visa eligibility dates, according to the State Department. Through this, approximately 5,000 Haitians are eligible to legally immigrate to the U.S. annually.

Haitis response to Trumps remarks

Haiti denounced Trumps remarks in a statement from President Jovenel Moises administration. The Haitian government condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks which, if proven, reflect a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States, the statement read.

Haitis 2010 earthquake

Trumps comments came just a day before the Jan. 12 anniversary of the calamitous 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing hundreds of thousands of people.(Note language that may offend some readers)

By Ed Stoddard and Chris Mfula

JOHANNESBURG/LUSAKA (Reuters) - African politicians and diplomats labelled U.S. President Donald Trump a racist on Friday after he was reported to have described some immigrants from Africa and Haiti as coming from "shithole" countries.

Trump reportedly made the remarks at a White House meeting on immigration on Thursday and a U.S. senator who attended the gathering said on Friday that the president used "vile, vulgar" language, including repeatedly using the word "shithole."

Trump denied on Friday using such derogatory language, but he was widely condemned in many African countries and in Haiti and El Salvador, and by international rights organisations.

"Ours is not a shithole country and neither is Haiti or any other country in distress," Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of South Africa's ruling African National Congress told reporters at a news conference in East London.

"We would not deign to make comments as derogatory as that about any country that has any kind of socio-economic or other difficulties," Duarte said, adding that much like their African counterparts, millions of U.S. citizens were affected by problems such as unemployment.

Botswana's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador in protest and called the comments "highly irresponsible, reprehensible and racist."

In a statement it said it had asked the U.S. government, through its ambassador, to "clarify" if the derogatory remark also applied to Botswana given that there were Botswana nationals living in the United States and others who wished to go there.

Senegal's foreign ministry also called in the U.S. ambassador in Dakar to demonstrate its displeasure, a U.S. State Department official said.

The African Union (AU), an organisation which promotes cooperation on the continent, said it was alarmed by Trump's "very racist" comments.

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"Given the historical reality of how African Americans arrived in the United States as slaves, and the United States being the biggest example of how a nation has been built by migration - for a statement like that to come is particularly upsetting," AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said.

The AU's mission in Washington expressed its "infuriation, disappointment and outrage" at the comment and demanded a retraction as well as an apology.

In Haiti, on the eighth anniversary of a devastating earthquake that killed about 220,000 people, the government also summoned the top U.S. diplomat for an explanation, while the Haitian ambassador to Washington called for an apology.

"Haitians don't deserve such treatment," said Ambassador Paul Altidor. "Haitians should not be seen as a bunch of immigrants who come to the United States to exploit U.S. resources."

Special status given to about 59,000 Haitian immigrants, that has protected them from deportation following the 2010 earthquake, will end next year following a Trump administration ruling last month.

El Salvador, also facing an end to protected status for its 200,000 citizens living in the United States, sent a formal letter of protest to the U.S. government over the comments.

El Salvador's foreign ministry said the U.S. president had "implicitly" accepted the use of "harsh terms detrimental to the dignity of El Salvador and other countries."

'HARSH AND OFFENSIVE'

Since taking office a year ago, Trump has pursued controversial policies aimed at curbing immigration into the United States as part of a hard-line "America First" agenda.

Trump said on Twitter on Friday he merely used "tough" language when discussing a new immigration bill with a group of U.S. senators.

He said the bill was a step backwards because it would force the United States "to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly".

The Trump administration has spoken little about how it wants to engage with African countries, focusing its foreign policy instead on issues like North Korea and Islamic State.

On the streets of Lusaka, capital of the southern African country of Zambia, Trump's reported remark reinforced long-held views about the U.S. leader.

"Trump has always been a racist, only a racist can use such foul language," said Nancy Mulenga, a student at the University of Zambia.

Retired Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselasse, who won his first 10,000 Olympic gold medal in the U.S. city of Atlanta in 1996, told Reuters Trump's comments did not reflect the views of all Americans.

The United Nations human rights office said it had no doubt Trump's remarks were "racist," while the Vatican newspaper branded them as "particularly harsh and offensive."

"You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes', whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome," said U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard in East London, Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa, Eric Beech, Arshad Mohammed and Warren Strobel in Washington; Writing by Alexander Winning in Johannesburg and Mary Milliken in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff and James Dalgleish)The African Union, representing all 55 nations in the continent, has demanded that Donald Trump apologise for his alleged sh**hole countries remarks.

In a blistering statement, the unions diplomatic mission in Washington also accused Mr Trump of dishonouring America by supposedly using foul language to describe Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations during a discussion about immigration.

The Washington Mission of the African Union said the US President didnt just need to apologise to Africans, he should be saying sorry to all people of African descent, all over the world.

It added to the pressure on Mr Trump by issuing a statement saying: The African Union Mission wishes to express its infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate comment made by Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, which remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.

"The African Union Mission condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology not only to Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe."

The Washington Missions demands follows earlier statements issued by the African Union from its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in which the organisation reportedly made clear its alarm at Mr Trumps very racist comments.

Spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo was quoted as saying: Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, [Mr Trumps] statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice.

This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.

We believe that a statement like this hurts our shared global values on diversity, human rights and reciprocal understanding."

The African Union demand for an apology is likely to add to the intense pressure on Mr Trump following reports of what he said in the White House on Thursday during a discussion about immigration.

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After being presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, Mr Trump reportedly demanded: Why are we having all these people from sh**hole countries come here?

He was also said to have added the suggestion that the US should admit people from Norway instead.

Mr Trump did not initially challenge the comments, but after they were heavily criticised by diplomats, rival politicians and members of his own party, he took to Twitter to deny he had ever used the phrase sh**hole countries.

This, however, provoked a stinging rebuke from Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who insisted he had been present at the meeting and heard the president using such foul language.

Mr Durbin said: The President started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly.

In the course of his comments he said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist ... I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak.

Mr Durbin added: When the question was raised about Haitians for example he said Haitians, do we need more Haitians?

And then he went on to describe the immigration from Africa that was being protected in this bipartisan measure. Thats when he used these vile and vulgar comments, calling the nations they come from sh**holes - the exact word used by the President not just once, but repeatedly.

Mr Durbin said he told Mr Trump the word chain migration  used by opponents of immigration to describe people sponsoring family members to join them in the US - was painful for many African-Americans whose ancestors had arrived in the US as slaves.

According to the senator, the presidents response was simply to respond: Thats a good line.

In his tweeted denial, Mr Trump said: The language used by me at the meeting was tough, but this [sh**hole] was not the language used.

He insisted he had never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country, and added: Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!

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On Friday, however, at the end of a ceremony in which he signed a proclamation in honour of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, reporters asked Mr Trump if he was going to apologise, with veteran black journalist April Ryan enquiring: Mr. President, are you a racist?"

Mr Trump ignored the questions and Ms Ryan, with whom he has previously had some notable interactions.

During a press conference last February, Mr Trump asked her if she would set up a meeting for him with members of the Congressional Black Caucus.CES 2018 had more than its fair share of wacky items and compelling gadgets, but one of the biggest trends to emerge, once again, from the popular tech expo was voice-enabled devices.

Countless Alexa- and Google Assistant-enabled devices littered the showroom floors. A number of speakers highlighted Alexa integration. For instance, Polk Audio showed off the first Alexa-enabled home theater soundbar, but there were also Alexa-enabled computers, smartphones, washers, dryers, refrigerators, light switches, and smoke alarms.

Google (GOOG, GOOGL), meanwhile, went all out in its own splashy way, spending loads of money on a big outdoor CES booth and wrapping the Las Vegas Monorail in Google Assistant ads that screamed, Hey Google. There were also Google Assistant-enabled TVs, soundbars, and Smart Displays more or less speakers with displays built-in. Samsung (SSNLF) came a distant third, promising at CES that all of its devices and appliances would have its Bixby digital assistant built-in by 2020.

Photo: Telegraph

Voice-assistants are here to stay

Some of those devices made sense, yet many more  an Alexa-enabled mirror or Google Assistant smart lock, for instance  seemed more like mere marketing ploys to take advantage of the latest technological trends. But taken as a whole, they were a stark reminder that voice-controlled devices and appliances will play a large role in our lives in the coming years. More than 5 billion consumer devices supporting digital assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant will be in use in 2018, with almost 3 billion more added by 2021, according to IHS Markit. Of those devices, 39 million will be smart speakers, up from 27 million units shipped in 2017.

The reality is, eventually, nearly everything is going to be voice controlled, said Victoria Petrock, an analyst for the digital firm eMarketer.

Alexa will continue to have the edge in the short-term. According to eMarketer, Amazon Echo will account for 67.9% of the voice-enabled speaker market in 2018, with Google Home trailing far behind at 25.1%. Next year, Amazons market share is expected to dip 4%  yielding some market share to Google Home  but not enough to budge the needle.

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The big question is to what extent are all these different assistants going to be able to talk to each other in the home? said Petrock.

As it now stands, voice assistants dont interact with one another. Thats fine if you only fill your home with Alexa-enabled devices or Google Assistant-enabled devices, but your experience quickly breaks down if you buy devices from both camps. But lets face it: with our hectic day-to-day, theres realistically only room for one digital assistant in our lives. Who wants to switch back and forth?

How Amazon Alexa cornered the market

Unlike Apple (AAPL), which keeps Siri mostly under lock and key, Amazon (AMZN) early on opened up access to Alexa so outside companies and developers could develop functions for it, even integrate it into their own devices. It was a risky business move, but ultimately one that yielded Alexas impressive current market share. And as is Amazon tradition, it sells Echo speakers at-cost, slashing prices whenever possible to get as many Echo speakers into homes as quickly as possible. Head over to Amazon.com, for instance, and youll find a deal on its homepage offering $20 off if you buy three Echo Dot speakers.

Whats less clear is how the smart home will evolve in the medium-to-long term. Will one voice assistant end up ruling them all through an exhaustive selection of supported devices from third-parties, or will a company or outside consortium figure out a way for all the disparate devices to ultimately play nice? Thats a question not even Alexa or Google Assistant have a sassy comeback for.



JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

More from JP:

Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedInAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, have donated $33 million to a scholarship fund for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children  the biggest grant in the organizations history.

TheDream.US is the largest scholarship program in the country for participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA), who are often called Dreamers. The scholarship helps Dreamers who might otherwise be unable to afford college. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal grants or loans, and they are precluded from state aid and in-state tuition rates in many states.

Bezos  whose net worth is $108 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index  is now the worlds richest person. His donation will fund college scholarships for 1,000 DACA recipients, TheDream.US said Friday.

My dad came to the U.S. when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, Jeff Bezos said in a statement Friday. He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination  and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware  my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways. MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help todays Dreamers by funding these scholarships.

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The donation comes as Congress tries to negotiate a bipartisan solution for DACA recipients after the Trump Administration ended the program last year. The White House said Thursday that no deal has been reached yet.

Candy Marshall, president of TheDream.US, called Bezos donation a magnificent gift.

It is a shot in the arm for Dreamer students at a time when some are questioning whether they should be in the United States at all, she said in a statement. We would invite anyone who questions the value of Dreamers to please come meet some of our students.

The deadlines to apply for the two types of scholarships offered by TheDream.US are Jan. 23 and March 1.Dave Majumdar

Politics, Europe

Steam rises from the chimneys of a thermal power plant behind the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in Moscow

Andranik Migranyan discussed the topic today at the Center for the National Interest.

Here's What's in Store for U.S.-Russia Relations

Is there any way to resolve the deadlock over Ukraine? From Moscows perspective, force might be the only feasible way to break the current impasse in Ukraine, according to Andranik Migranyan, a professor of international politics at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which is run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Migranyan made clear that this is his personal view. He suggested that this turn of events may be more probable under the Trump Administration, which, unlike the Obama Administration, has opted to approve supplying Ukraine with lethal arms.

Only the use of force, nothing else can solve the problem, Migranyan told an audience at the Center for the National Interest during a lunchtime panel on January 11.

According to Migranyanwho is well connected at the highest levels of the Russian governmentthe dominant view among the Moscow elite is that the Minsk agreements are not working. Kiev has no intention of honoring its part of the bargain and the problem is only exacerbated by Washingtons decision to arm the Ukrainian government. Thus, for Russia, escalation of the conflict might be the only real option.

Russia, as Migranyan pointed out, has much higher stakes in Ukraine than the United States does. Ukrainebecause of its geographic locationis strategically vital to Russia. Moreover, the Russia and Ukraine have cultural, ethnic, economic, linguistic and religious ties that go back centuries. Migranyan further noted that Russian civilization itself emerged from the Kievan Rus, the heart of which lay in what is now an independent Ukraine. Ukraine is an existential problem for Russia and Russia will never let Ukraine to be part of NATO or any other bloc, Migranyan said. Ukraine is in the heart of Russia.

According to him, there are three preconditions that must be met for there to be peace in Ukraine. The first is Ukraine will not be part of any alliance structure that is hostile to Moscow. The second is that Kiev must allow increased autonomy for its regions. The third is that Russian speakers in Ukraine must be allowed to learn and speak Russianand learn about their culture despite the protestation of Ukrainian nationalists.

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Russia, according to Migranyan, would prefer to see to Ukraine maintain its territorial integritywith the exception of Crimea. That is why Russia purposefully reined in separatist forces that were operating in the Donbas region, Migranyan said. Indeed, if the Russians had allowed it, those rebel forces could have seized territory much further south in regions where there is a heavy concentration of Russian-speakers.

Indeed, there were ready-made governmental structures already in place that the Moscow-backed rebels could have exploited, but Russia did not exploit those in 2014. Russia could choose to once again escalate the conflict as the United States starts to supply weapons to Ukraine. Ukraine is not an existential problem for the United States, Ukraine is a existential problem for Russia, Migranyan said. [E]very conflict on every level will be lost by the United States because Russia will be ready in its backyard to use every opportunity in order to protect its vital position over there.

If Moscows position in Ukraine is seriously threatened, Russia could openly intervene. The supply of lethal armsan escalation of the conflictcan push Moscow to openly to intervene to decide this problem which is long lasting and not decided in a radical way which was not done in 2014, Migranyan said.

Inevitably, this will lead to even greater tensions with the United Stateswhich will increase pressure on Moscow. As Washington places more pressure on Russia, Moscow will inevitably resist. Moreover, such a move will force Moscow to turn further towards China in an attempt to push back against Washington. Indeed, in Migranyans view, Moscow is approaching a point of no return where it will seek to enter into a full-blown military alliance with China.

Migranyan asserts that as the United States comes into conflict with China, Russia will become evermore influential. The Chinese, in Migranyans view, understand that they need Russia to have a chance at challenging the United States as the dominant power. As such, China will likely prop up Russia because it cannot allow its strategic ally to collapse in the face of American pressure since Beijing cannot stand up to the United States alone.

I cant exclude, even if this pressure will be increased, China will understand that Russia is not fighting for its survival, Migranyan said. This is existential problem for China. Otherwise a broken Russiaremoved awayleft China one-on-one against the United States. That whys in the Chinese existential interest to support Russia.

In Migranyans view, a Sino-Russian alliance would be far more powerful than the United States alone. However, Russia will pay a price for allying with ChinaMoscow could find itself in a junior position in any such partnership. China is not a charity, Migranyan said. Everything has its price.

If the United States persists in continuing to exert ever-greater military and economic pressure on Russia, it will face the consequences down the line in the form of a new Eurasia bloc that will challenge its dominance, Migranyan said. Thus, Migranyan suggests that Washington should consider its moves carefully with regard to Russia to prevent such an outcome. This could be a tragic event, really, to push Russia into a military and political alliance with China during the final confrontation, Migranyan said. This will end up catastrophically for everybody.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar.

Image: Reuters

Read full articleLauren Cooper first started to notice something was awry with her daughter Molly when she was seven months old, in 2003, and was unable to bear any weight on her legs. Alarmed, she and her husband Kevin Allen took her to a slew of doctors and neurologists, but a diagnosis evaded them. Finally, Cooper found something on the internet called Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder found mainly in girls with symptoms that matched her daughters. Molly not only tested positive for the syndrome, which affects language, breathing, coordination, and can produce seizures, but had one of the more severe mutations.

I had a pretty good idea of what was going to be in the future for us, Lauren Cooper recalled in an interview with TIME. At thirteen months, I knew that she was gonna need ever-expanding care.

That care has been paid for by the Childrens Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which not only covers Molly and her two siblings but also subsidizes all of her medical supplies. But despite bipartisan support, the future of the federal and state program has been put on hold as Congress squabbles over how to pay for an extension. Thats put additional stress on families who rely on CHIP to keep their children healthy.

Today, Molly, now 14, is unable to walk or talk, and is fed through a gastrostomy tube. She suffers from seizures, and got septic shock last summer after scoliosis surgery. Although Lauren and Kevin, who live in Washington, D.C., went on to have two other children, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Rory, they altered their careers to fit their daughters needs; both are self employed, because it makes it easier to rush to the emergency room when Molly has a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes. (Kevin is an editorial photographer and Lauren runs her own cake-making company).

CHIP enabled the family to simultaneously keep Molly at home and remain financially stable, says Cooper. It completely changed our lives, Cooper said of program. We were able to get things for Molly we could never have before, because everything is covered.

Story continues

Implemented in 1997, CHIP uses a combination of federal and state funding to insure children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid, but are not necessarily covered under private insurance. The program, which covered 8.9 million children across all 50 states and the District of Columbia in fiscal year 2016, according to the Kaiser Foundation, has become a financial lifeline, not only for families like the Allens, who face exorbitant medical costs by chance, but for working class families with healthy children. But its future could be in jeopardy.

CHIP is essentially funded by money the federal government provides to the states, so Congress has to greenlight the spending through reauthorization. The program had been on a five-year reauthorization cycle, but in 2015, Congress reauthorized it for two years instead. Funding lapsed on September 30. Although Congress approved $2.85 billion in December to fund the program through March 31, a plan for funding a more permanent reauthorization has yet to reach a consensus.

Its definitely something that weighs on my mind every single day. I dont feel secure, said Cooper. Ive never even thought about [the possibility of losing funding] before. It always just seemed like something that was really well received. It was just something I didnt think Id worry about.

CHIP started as a bipartisan initiative, spearheaded by the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy and co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch  who now chairs the finance committee, which ultimately determines funding mechanisms for the program  and has retained support on both sides of the aisle. The disagreements have stemmed from where the funding should come from; in November, for instance, House Democrats largely opposed a bill that would have reauthorized the program for five years, because the funding came from a portion of the Affordable Care Act that would otherwise subsidize public health programs. On Thursday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that reauthorizing CHIP for 10 years would ultimately reduce the deficit by $6 billion over the next decade, largely because of unrelated changes in the tax reform bill President Trump signed. Consequently, Congressional aides on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate finance committee  which have jurisdiction over funding mechanisms  have expressed optimism about reauthorization.

In light of the latest analysis from CBO  largely due to the repeal of the individual mandate  Chairman Hatch is reviewing options with committee members to determine how best to move forward to ensure a long-term CHIP extension occurs before January 19, Katie Niederee, Press Secretary for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, wrote in an e-mail to TIME. Chairman Hatch believes it is time to stop holding CHIP hostage and get this important program extended to ensure the families who rely on it get the care they need.

But for families reliant on the program who are unfamiliar with Congressional budgetary processes, they are simply bewildered and anxious.

The more time has gone on and the more they drag their feet on it, the closer we get to feeling like they wont be funding it, said Heather Richter, a Colorado mother with three children on CHIP whose son Ari, 5, has Type 1 diabetes. The people  us, we dont know. Were just the ones getting caught up in this and having to wait around on people to make decisions.

No states have halted the program yet, because leftover funds have enabled continuity, although some states have sent letters to recipients of the program warning insurance could lapse. (The Richters have received three of those). But on Jan. 5, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said funds for the program would actually begin to dry up in some states starting Jan. 19, although the center did not specify the exact states that would be impacted.

Parents are bracing themselves for the worst. Cooper says she has begun hoarding some of Mollys supplies in case there is a lapse in coverage, and reusing supplies that are only intended for one-time use, like formula basins or feeding tube bags. Its not like i can go to the grocery store or go to the pharmacy and buy them. They are all prescribed, super-expensive things, she explained. The family can apply for a Medicaid waiver for Molly should the program lapse, but there is no way to predict how long the wait will be.

Even though Richter received a call from Hatch assuring her CHIP would remain intact, shes still on the edge of her seat. She is finishing her training to be a medical assistant, and if CHIP funding lapses, all of her familys extra income would go towards her sons medical supplies.

His exact words [to me] were its not easy to move an entire government body, Richter said of her phone call with the Senator. I dont know why theyve waited until the very last minute to figure this out, and who knows what he means by that.

President Donald Trump reportedly singled out Haiti, El Salvador and parts of Africa as shithole countries during a rant about immigration Thursday. Those places arent happy

Trumps comments came during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House held to reach a bipartisan immigration deal, according to the Washington Post, which broke the news. Sources familiar with the meeting told the Post that the president was amenable to more immigrants from Norway and Asia, whom he says help the country economically, but wondered aloud why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

According to the Post, Trump also said, Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.

On Friday morning Trump posted a series of tweets about the immigration deal in which he appeared to deny he said shithole countries.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made  a big setback for DACA! he wrote.

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In a second tweet, sent around two hours after the first, Trump said that he never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country and that he never uttered the phrase take them out.

Trump also claimed that the accusation was made up by members of the Democratic Party. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians, he added. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

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However, the White House on Thursday did not deny the Posts report about Trumps language.

A spokesman for the United Nations said Friday that Trumps reported words were racist.

There is no other word one can use but racist This isnt just a story about vulgar language, its about opening the door to humanitys worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia, United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes, whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome.

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Heres how Trumps alleged shithole countries are responding to the remarks:

Haiti

CBS News reports that the Haitian government promptly summoned charge daffairs Robin Diallo, the top U.S. diplomat in the country, to respond to the comments.

Former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe tweeted, SHAME ON TRUMP! The world is witnessing a new low today with this #ShitholeNations remark! totally unacceptable! uncalled for moreover it shows a lack a respect and IGNORANCE never seen before in the recent history of the US by any President! Enough is enough!!

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The Haitian government said in a statement these insulting and reprehensible statements in no way reflect the virtues of wisdom, restraint and discernment that must be cultivated by any high political authority, according to the Associated Press, adding that the comment reflects a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States.

Other Haitians took to social media to share pictures of their nations beautiful beaches to make a point about the presidents alleged remarks.

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El Salvador

Hugo Martinez, El Salvadors foreign minister, tweeted calling on the U.S. government to confirm or deny Trumps statements. In subsequent tweets, he noted that a number of individuals who helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina were from El Salvador and saying that he feels proud to be Salvadoran.

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Jean Manes, the U.S. envoy to El Salvador, tweeted that the United States values the friendship and the relationship with the Salvadoran people. Manes added that she has had the privilege to travel around this beautiful country and meet thousands of Salvadorans, and that it is an honor to live and work there.

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African Union

The African Union responded to the reported remarks by pointing out many Africans arrived in the U.S. as slaves.

Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice, Ebba Kalondo, a spokesperson for the 55-nation African Union, told the Associated Press. This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.

Leanne Manas, a news anchor for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, tweeted Friday morning, Good morning from the greatest most beautiful shithole country in the world!!!

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Somali information minister Abdirahman Omar Osman told CNN, If its real, it doesnt need a response. Those comments do not deserve a response.

Mmusi Maimane, the leader of South Africas opposition Democratic Alliance party, described Trumps comments as abhorrent on Twitter. His tweet continued: He confirms a patronizing view of Africa and promotes a racist agenda. Africa/U.S. relations will take strain from this, with a leader who has failed to reconcile humanity. The hatred of Obamas roots now extends to an entire continent.President Donald Trumps shithole countries comments ricocheted around the world, spurring criticism from U.S. allies, rebuttals from Americans with roots in those countries and condemnation from some in his own party.

Lost in the furor over his shithole comment is the argument that Trump was making at the time.

The White House held the meeting to discuss a bipartisan immigration deal that would help undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who got relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, foreign nationals who fled manmade and natural disasters and received temporary protected status (TPS) in the U.S. and immigrants seeking to come to the U.S. through a diversity lottery.

Thats a lot to unpack, so well walk through these one at a time. But heres the short version: If you are upset about Trump calling African nations shithole countries and disparaging Haitians, you probably wont like what he was proposing either.

(Note: Trump denies using the exact phrase shithole countries, though Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who was in the meeting, confirmed Friday morning that he said it repeatedly.)

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TPS

As part of a harsher approach to immigration, the Trump Administration has sought to end TPS, or temporary protected status, for several groups of people who have been living in the United States for years:

 200,000 people who fled El Salvador during a deadly civil war in 1990 and after a catastrophic earthquake in 2001,

 58,000 people who fled Haiti after a deadly 2010 earthquake,

 57,000 people who fled Honduras after a devastating hurricane in 1999, and

 2,500 people who fled Nicaragua after the same hurricane

As the name implies, TPS was originally designed to allow refugees to stay in the U.S. for a short time, and it has to be renewed every 18 months. But since conditions have often not improved and ending the protection could pose a political risk, past administrations have typically done so.

Story continues

That means some of these residents  who do not have a special pathway to becoming U.S. citizens  have lived here for decades, sometimes marrying U.S. citizens and raising American-born children.

Trumps revocation of temporary protected status for these four countries, not all of which have been finalized, put all of them at risk of immediate deportation, which in some cases could mean breaking up families.

The bipartisan group working on an immigration bill to present to Trump were looking for a way to help those people remain in the U.S. Thats where the second part comes in.

Diversity Visa program

Another element of Trumps stricter approach to immigration has been his proposal to end the Diversity Visa Lottery program, also known as the green card lottery. Under the program, the State Department offers 50,000 visas each year to immigrants from parts of the world where relatively few people have recently immigrated from.

Trump blamed a New York City attack in November on the lottery program, arguing that it was helping to import Europes problems and that the U.S. should instead move to a merit-based immigration system.

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Trump has also criticized the program as a Democrat Lottery System, though it was created in a bill passed on a bipartisan basis by Congress and signed into law by a Republican president in 1990. The U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service have both found no evidence that the program leads to terrorism.

Nevertheless, both Democrats and Republicans have sought to do away with the program in recent years. A bipartisan 2013 bill would have ended the green card lottery while making broader changes to immigration policy, but it was blocked by House Republicans who argued it was not tough enough.

Not everyone wants to end it, however. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have sought to ensure that immigration could continue in some form from African countries that have benefited from the green card lottery in recent years.

Thats where the compromise came in. The bipartisan group recommended taking some of the diversity visa lottery slots for immigrants and instead giving them to people who had been covered under temporary protected status.

According to accounts of the meeting, thats when Trump proposed removing Haitians from the plan.

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During the discussion of the green card lottery, Trump repeated his criticism of the program, arguing that African immigrants were coming from shithole countries.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? he said, according to a Washington Post account.

DACA

The underlying reason the White House was even having the meeting was the looming end of DACA, which benefits the so-called Dreamers  people brought to the U.S. as children illegally.

The Obama-era program has shielded more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation, but the Trump Administration announced in September that it would begin phasing DACA out.

Though DACA will ultimately end in March, each month thousands of recipients have been put at risk of deportation as their status has lapsed, potentially forcing them to leave school or quit jobs as well.

Recent polls have found overwhelming support for allowing Dreamers to remain in the country  one from the Washington Post and ABC in September found 86% support for allowing DACA recipients to stay.

Some Democrats want a so-called clean vote on legislation for Dreamers, meaning it would have no other provisions. The Trump Administration has insisted it be paired with other measures on border security, including funding for a wall on the border with Mexico.

The bipartisan proposal presented to Trump would have given Dreamers a path to legal citizenship, authorized funds for a border wall and other security, made some changes to family migration policy and reallocated some of the 50,000 green card lottery slots to people who lost temporary protected status.

Trumps shithole countries and take them out remarks upset that delicate balance, however, potentially making it harder for either side to come to a compromise. And if he is adamant about changing those parts of the deal, it may be even harder.MANILA (Reuters) - An active volcano in central Philippines spewed ash into the air on Saturday, prompting the country's disaster agency to order the immediate evacuation of residents in nearby villages. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it was closely monitoring the Mayon volcano in Albay province, which last erupted in 2014. Mayon's most destructive eruption was in February 1841, when lava flows buried a town and killed 1,200 people. The volcano, known for its near-perfect cone shape, is on the lowest alert level despite a "phreatic or steam-driven eruption", meaning people are not allowed to stay within a six-kilometer "permanent danger zone", Phivolcs said. This also suggests there is no imminent major eruption, but the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said it had ordered the evacuation of residents for the safety of their health due to expected ashfall. It was not immediately clear how many residents had to leave the danger zone. Those within the slope of the volcano, but outside the danger zone, were told to take precautionary measures against possible roof collapses due to accumulated ash and rainwater. "The volcano's abnormal behaviour began late last year and it seems due for another one," Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum said. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; editing by Alexander Smith)Dave Majumdar

Security, Middle East

A Russian Pantsir-S1 missile and artillery weapon system fires during a demonstration at the international military-technical forum

The next revolution in military affairs?

Who Attacked a Russian Military Base with a 'Swarm' Strike?

Russia is pointing fingers in all directions as it attempts to decipher who, exactly, attacked the Khmeimim air base and Tartus naval base in Syria by deploying a massed flight of what appear to have been home-made GPS-guided drones. The coordinated attack marks the first time that drones have been used en masseand may well mark a dangerous new moment in the history of technology and warfare.

None of the thirteen bomb-laden drones made it to their targetsthe Russians repelled the makeshift unmanned strike aircraft either by using anti-aircraft missiles or by intercepting them with electronic warfare to take them under direct control. In addition, Russian television is showing extensive footage of Russian attacks on the village of Muazzara from whence the drones were fired.

Moscow seems to believe that Syrian-based insurgent groups had foreign help, including satellite guidance. Indeed, Moscow has implied that the United States, Turkey and Ukraine are involved in the attacks. In the case of Turkey, however, the Kremlin quickly backtracked. During a meeting with news editors in Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin explicitly said that Turkey was not involved and did not directly finger Washington. According to Putin, Those were provocations aimed at disrupting the earlier agreements, in the first place. Secondly, it was about our relations with our partnersTurkey and Iran. It was also an attempt to destroy those relations.We have a perfect understanding of that and will act in solidarity.

It is impossible to develop such drones in an improvised manner, Maj. Gen. Alexander Novikov, head of the Russian General Staff's Office for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Development, told reporters on Jan. 11. They were developed and operated by experts with special skills acquired in countries that produce and apply systems with UAVs.

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The Russian Defense Ministry does not dispute the fact that much of the hardware used to construct the fixed-wing droneswhich have a range of roughly 60 miles and carried 10 bomblets eachis commercially available. Moscow, however, is suggesting that the manner in which the aircraft were designed, built and launchednot to mention their specialized munitionsserves as a potent indication that the group that launched the attack had outside assistance.

In order to produce these drones, such components as engine, servo units, and electrical batteries could be bought on the market, Novikov said. However, assembly and use of these components in the joint system are a complicated engineer task demanding special training, scientific knowledge, and practical experience of producing these aircraft.

Further, Moscow argues that the software needed for coordinated launch efforts and precise targeting of the Russian bases would have required specialized navigational dataprecise beyond what is available freely on the internet. Special software is required for using fire means of the drones, Novikov said. Insurgents needed to receive sharp coordinates of targets and take into account numerous parameters as altitude, flight speed as well as wind direction and speed in order to reach necessary strike effectiveness.

The bottom line is that insurgent groups have technical capabilities far beyond anyone expectedand the Kremlin is unwilling to accept that insurgents could have developed such a capability independently. Such lethal devices require special expertise, practical skills and operating experience in the sphere, Novikov said. The fact that terrorists have received assembly technology and programming technology is the evidence that this threat stretches far beyond the Syrian borders.

The Russians apparently know that the attack was launched from Muazzara, in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Moreover, the Russians apparently know which group was responsible for the attacklikely Ahrar-Ash-Sham. However, the Russians did not back off from an earlier implicit accusation that the United States had a hand in the attack. It is a strange coincidence that during a UAV attack on the Russian military facilities in Syria, a US Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was cruising for more than four hours over the Mediterranean Sea at an altitude of 7,000 meters, a Russian Defense Ministry source told the TASS news agency on Jan. 9.

More recently, the Russians have implied that Ukraine might have had a connection to the attack. One should pay attention to munitions carried by the drones, Novikov said. These are 400g improvised explosive devices with fragmentations (small metal balls). The effective area of such munitions is up to 50m. Each drone carried ten munitions. Preliminary researches have showed that the PETN, which is more powerful than RDX, was used as explosive basis in munitions. The PETN is produces by a number of countries, including Ukraine at the Shostkinsky Chemical Plant. This explosive material cannot be produced in an improvised manner or extracted from other munitions.

Olga Oliker, senior adviser and director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The National Interest that some of the Russian accusations seem excessive. I would also point out that Russias statements run counter to the idea that Turkey, Russia, and the US want to be effective about deconfliction and crisis management in Syria, Oliker said. One hopes that in a crisis, all parties assume that the other(s) is(are) not trying to start/escalate conflict, and because of that, the system fails safe and doesnt escalate. So even if you wonder if the other guy is helping the group that just attacked you, you dont immediately start with a public accusation. If the Russiansor Americans, or anyone elseis looking for opportunities to accuse the other party, the chances that the system fails dangerous go up.

Meanwhile, even if the Russians have some valid concerns about how the attackers obtained their weaponry, Moscows strategy of casting accusations in all directions is in part retaliation for what the Kremlin considers to be unfounded assertions made against it. I would speculate that there was something about the precision of the targeting that made them think that the attackers had help of some sort, Oliker said. And, I think, a certain amount of general paranoia feeds this, too and as the U.S., Turkey, and Russia all support different parties in the Syria war, if any of the three is attacked by a Syrian group, they may naturally wonder if that groups outside sponsor was somehow involved. More cynically, I suspect there may also be a perception that the Americansand Ukrainiansaccuse Russia of spuriousin their narrativethings, so turnabout is fair play. But it does seem a bit like grasping at straws at this point.

A number of western analysts believe that Moscow may be underestimating the sophistication and technical expertise of modern insurgent groupsor conversely overestimating the difficulty of acquiring the technology to launch such an attack. The Pentagon predicted such a threat earlier in its Joint Operating Environment 2035: The Joint Force in a Contested and Disordered World document.

It is actually surprising that this sort of drone attack has not already happened more often, George Beebe is director for intelligence and national security at the Center for the National Interestformerly director of Central Intelligence Agencys Russia analysistold The National Interest. The technology is widely available commercially, and contrary to Russian assertions, the technical expertise required to mount this kind of attack is not particularly sophisticated and is fairly widespread. The U.S. made drone strikes a key part of its counter-terrorist operations at a time when few countries could match our capability, but we did so with seemingly little regard for what would happen when our state adversaries and non-state actors inevitably began getting their hands on the technology. The attack in Syria is a preview of what might soon be pointed at the U.S.

Unmanned systems expert Samuel Bendett, a researcher at the Center for Naval Analyses, agreed with that assessment. Unmanned aircraft technology is proliferating rapidly and is no longer confined to military and intelligence circles. Not anyonebut sophisticated UAV education and knowledge is spreading and more and more people are starting to get access to what was once very classified and proprietary data, including technologies that enable UAV flight and operation, Bendett said. Making a UAV frame is not that complicated.

So while the Kremlin might claim that terrorist groups are not capable of building weapons of such sophistication, the world has entered a brave new era where almost anyone has access to devastating weapons. The threat will only continue to grow.

In that sense, Novikov is exactly on target, so to speak. Such lethal drones can be applied by terrorists in any country, targeting not only military objects, Novikov said. To eliminate such threats, it is important to start addressing it today, and organize cooperation of all interested sides at international level.

And indeed, it will take a coordinated global response to prevent these weapons from spreading further. The Syria attack may simply have been the start of a dangerous new era.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar.

Image: Reuters

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Read full articleHONOLULU, Hawaii  People in Hawaii received alerts Saturday morning warning of an approaching missile and instructing people to seek shelter, but authorities quickly declared the messages were sent in error.

BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII, read a mobile push notification delivered around 8 a.m. local time. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. In hotels, guests heard a similar message over intercoms as others were interrupted while watching TV.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and Honolulu Department of Emergency Management assured Twitter followers there was no missile threat to the state shortly afterward.

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Authorities confirmed there was no impending threat within 5 to 10 minutes of the alert, after contacting the states civil defense, Cpl. L. Miller of Honolulu Police Departments Kahuku substation told HuffPost. But why it took so long to notify the public is still unclear.

If the alert was real, the sirens wouldve went off at the same time, Miller said, adding that people would have around 15 minutes to take cover.

A correction was not sent to mobile phones, however, until around 38 minutes after the initial alert.

There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. False Alarm, it read.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and congresspeople from the state, including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) and Sens. Brian Schatz (D) and Mazie Hirono (D), all posted messages to social media to quell fears, calling the alert a false alarm.

The alert forced the U.S. Pacific Command, which is headquartered in Honolulu, to ensure the world via Twitter it was sent in error.

I know first-hand how todays false alarm affected all of us here in Hawaii, and I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused, Hawaii Gov. David Ige said in a statement released hours after the incident. I, too, am extremely upset about this and am doing everything I can do to immediately improve our emergency management systems, procedures and staffing.

Story continues

In a previous statement, Ige said that although he was thankful the alert was only a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system.

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Minutes after the message was broadcast across the islands, Rep. Gabbard told CNN that the people of Hawaii just got a taste of the stark reality of what we face here of a potential nuclear strike on Hawaii.

This is a real threat facing Hawaii, she added.

Gov. Ige told CNN that the alert was mistakenly sent after an employee pushed the wrong button.

It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button, Ige said. The false alert was broadcast statewide to residents cell phones, and on TV and radio.

Vern Miyagi, the administrator of Hawaiis Emergency Management Agency, took responsibility for the scare during a press conference with Ige.

Its my responsibility, so this would be my fault, Miyagi said. Well take action to prevent this from ever happening again.

Five hours after the false alert was corrected, Iges office issued a timeline detailing what happened and how officials responded:

At 8:05 a.m., the Emergency Management Agency initiated a routine internal test as employees changed shifts. Two minutes later, the warning test was triggered statewide.

At 8:10 a.m., the U.S. Pacific Command verified with Maj. Gen. Joe Logan, the state adjutant general, that there was no missile launch and the Honolulu Police Department was notified of the false alarm.

At 8:20 a.m., the EMA alerted the public of the false alarm via Facebook and Twitter and Ige soon followed suit.

At 8:45 a.m., 40 minutes after EMA employees changed shifts and initiated the itnernal test, EMA sent out an official alert notifying residents of the false alarm. This alert was sent out to residents phones, as well as radio and TV broadcasts.

In response to the false alert, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency will require two people to sign off on alerts before they are broadcast, according to Iges office.

The agency has also installed a cancellation command that can be automatically triggered within seconds if an error alert is accidentally broadcast.

All emergency warning drills are suspended until EMA completes a full analysis of Saturdays mishap.

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In the remote town of Haleiwa, more than 30 miles from Pearl Harbor on the island Oahu, residents were confused and afraid when they received the alert.

Some residents pulled over in their cars to alert pedestrians to take cover.

Vanessa Denino, 28, was on the southeast side of Oahu visiting her boyfriend and his family in a suburban area when the mobile notifications were sent. Although they didnt hear sirens or any commotion outside, the group moved away from windows in the home and turned to the internet to figure out what was happening.

We were really scared, she said. It was a really scary time.

Jamile Qureshi, who lives on the north shore of Oahu, was at the beach with a handful of people including his wife and 5-month-old when everyones phones started dinging in unison.

We just started freaking out and running, he said. Qureshi, 40, and his wife put their infant and their dog in the car along with water and a few essentials before speeding over to his parents home nearby.

Both Qureshi and Denino noted that there were few, if any, bomb shelters in the area and that homes are generally constructed without basements.

Chris Wall, a 33-year-old graduate student at the University of Hawaii, had just left his home in Honolulu to go bodysurfing at a beach on the islands east side when he received the alert. He immediately turned the car around and sped back to his wife and newborn child.

Once home, the couple began filling water bottles and latching windows shut. They tried to call 911 but the phone wouldnt ring, Wall said. Eventually they saw a social media post from Rep. Gabbard indicating it was a false alarm.

It was just complete panic, with neighbors running around looking for insight, looking for cover, Wall told HuffPost. Babies crying. Just pandemonium.

Wall added that state officials need to sort out what went wrong and ensure it doesnt happen again.

Thirty-eight minutes is just unacceptable, he said, referring to the time that went by between the initial alert and the correction. Im sure that people were put in serious danger.

The Federal Communications Commission said it was launching a full investigation.

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Hawaii House of Representatives Speaker Scott Saiki blasted emergency agencies, saying that they put in place to protect Hawaii residents had failed miserably.

I am deeply troubled by this misstep that could have had dire consequences. Measures must be taken to avoid further incidents that cause wholesale alert and chaos today, he said in a statement to ABC News. Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations.

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Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Picture the tearful parents moving their children to college in any sappy coming-of-age movie. Now, imagine one of those parents is the former leader of the free world, and you've got a pretty accurate picture of what Barack Obama was like while moving daughter Malia Obama into her freshman dorm at Harvard last fall.

During an appearance on the first episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, David Letterman's new Netflix show, the former POTUS described how he was so distraught at the idea of saying goodbye to his firstborn that he could barely help at all with the move-in.

"I was basically useless. Everyone had seen me crying and misting up for basically the previous three weeks, so Malia, who's very thoughtful, she goes, Dad, you know, I've got this lamp in this box, could you put the desk lamp together?' I said, 'Sure.' It should have taken five minutes or three minutes, and it had one of those little tools. It only had, like, four parts, and I'm just sitting there, toiling at this thing for half an hour," Obama said, according to Time. As if IKEA furniture wasn't already hard enough to put together! "Meanwhile, Michelle has finished scrubbing and she's organizing closets, and I was just pretty pathetic."

Although Obama went on to compare dropping Malia off at Harvard to having "open-heart surgery," he said that technology has helped make the transition a little easier. The doting dad admitted that he and his 19-year-old text almost every single day, and that Malia is sure to include plenty of heart emojis in her texts to her dad. Aww!

Obama previously opened up about what a hard time he had saying goodbye to Malia during a public appearance in September. "I was proud that I did not cry in front of her," he said. "But on the way back, the Secret Service was off looking straight ahead, pretending they weren't hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough."

Basically, the odds are extremely high that this sappy dad will attempt to persuade 16-year-old Sasha to pick a college much closer to home when it's her turn to leave the nest.Chanel Model: Kaia Gerber

Photographer: Karl Lagerfeld

(Photo: Courtesy of Chanel)

See all of the best Spring 2018 fashion campaigns, hot off the presses from Chanel, DVF, Vera Wang and more.

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Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.Ottawa (AFP) - Canada hopes the upcoming G7 summit it is hosting will serve as a springboard for fresh ideas on key issues including climate change, the global economy and security, the lead organizer told AFP.

"The G7 serves well as a proving or testing ground for discussions that could eventually go into the G20 or the United Nations or international financial institutions," Peter Boehm, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's G7 representative, said in an interview with AFP.

"The beauty of these summits is that there is informal dialogue between leaders," said Boehm, who has participated in several past summits.

Canada assumed the G7 presidency at the start of January and will host the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States in the picturesque resort village of La Malbaie on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River from June 8-9.

The agenda for the 44th Group of Seven industrialized nations summit includes advancing gender equality and women's empowerment, the implementation of the Paris climate agreement, and the global economy.

Boehm said the discussion on climate change will "inevitably include energy and renewable forms of energy" and "more broadly the resilience of coastal communities."

"We've seen a very bad hurricane season," he noted. "Many of the islands affected by these terrible hurricanes have lost their tourism economies."

Protectionism and trade tensions between the major powers will also be a hot topic, Boehm said.

- Protests expected -

US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and his insistence on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are likely to come up again, after fueling tensions at the last summit in Italy.

And the topic of gender equality will thread through the entire summit, after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against now-disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein prompted hundreds of women to speak out on sexual misconduct by powerful men.

Story continues

Under the Italian presidency, the G7 established a "road map" for gender equality.

"The issue of gender equality is one of the key themes of our presidency and in fact it is an overarching or transversal theme that we will be looking at when we discuss economic and financial issues, peace security issues, environmental issues and the like," Boehm said.

"We will be looking at everything through the gender equality lense."

G7 summits -- and those of the G8 before Russia was kicked out of the group over its annexation of Crimea -- are routinely decried as increasingly irrelevant and have been marred by violent protests.

But Boehm rejects such criticism, saying: "There is value in (the meetings) and I think the leaders see that."

The G7 nations' "shared basic values" are often crucial in finding common ground, he said, noting that "decisions are taken by consensus."

Organizers are bracing for angry protests after the "rather violent protests for the G20 last August" in Germany, Boehm said.

Federal and Quebec provincial police as well as the military will provide security.

"Peaceful protests will be allowed as close as possible to where the leaders are," Boehm said.Paris (AFP) - France launched a champagne box-sized mini satellite into Earth orbit on Friday to study a mysterious, juvenile planet system in our Milky Way galaxy, mission controllers said.

Weighing in at 3.5 kilogrammes (7.7 pounds), the PicSat satellite was hoisted into space by an Indian PSLV rocket, and placed into orbit at an altitude of 505 kilometres (314 miles), according to the Paris Observatory, involved in the project.

PicSat's target is the massive star Beta Pictoris, some 60 light years from Earth in the southern constellation of Pictor (The Painter's Easel), and its planet Beta Pictoris b -- a gassy giant.

From Earth orbit, it will seek to learn more about the faraway planet by observing the next time it transits its host star, appearing as a dot on the bright surface as seen from our perspective.

This once-in-18-year transit is expected some time in 2018.

By measuring how much light a planet blocks out as it transits its star, astronomers can glean details about its size and the composition of its atmosphere.

PicSat comes equipped with a telescope for observation, and solar panels to power all its systems.

Discovered in 1984, Beta Pictoris has a mass about 1.8 times that of our Sun.

It is young in astronomical terms -- only about 20 million years old compared to the Sun's 4.5 billion years.

It is surrounded by a huge disc of gas and dust -- the materials from which planets, asteroids and comets are formed -- making it an ideal subject for studying the mechanism by which solar systems evolve.

Beta Pictoris b is about 16 times larger and 3,000 times more massive than Earth, with eight-hour days. It orbits its star at a distance eight times that of Earth to the Sun.

In 2014, scientists said the planet spins at a breakneck speed of some 25 kilometres per second (90,000 kph or 56,000 miles per hour).

Built at the Paris Observatory's LESIA laboratory, with European backing, PicSat has a total budget of 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million).The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) criticized its own military personnel for being paralyzed by peace as China ramped up preparations for war.

This week, a PLA Daily report blasted its own soldiers for refusing to face the possibility of war, blaming the recent period of peace for paralyzing the current generation of troops, reported the Global Times, a newspaper produced by the ruling Communist party.

"War is not far from us. Regional situations around China are complex and unstable, and dangers are hiding under the peace. China cannot afford a military failure, so we must be fully aware of potential crisis and be prepared for battle at all times," the official PLA newspaper read.

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2017-12-20T062106Z_1_LYNXMPEDBJ0DL_RTROPTP_4_HONGKONG-PROPERTY-PLA

Reuters

On Thursday, President Xi Jinping called for the military to demonstrate heroism and a fighting spirit to safeguard the Communist partys interests at the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, reported Xinhua News Agency.

That same day, the official military news site warned its soldiers to prepare for imminent threats and to avoid complacency as it began intense training to ready the country for battle.

Don't miss: Was Penn State Student Blaze Bernstein Killed? California Police Launch Homicide Investigation

This follows the enormous military assembly on January 3 at which President Xi Jinping told his troops not to fear hardship or death and issued instructions to its forces to begin real combat training for all three branches of the military: the army, the navy and the air force.

Since Xis speech, Chinas most advanced military aircraft have been conducting extreme exercises, according to the Global Times. The exercises, at home and abroad, have included air combat training with a J-20 stealth fighter jet, a Y-20 transport aircraft and an H-6K bomber.

Story continues

Xu Guangyu, a retired general, said the likelihood that China would be forced to engage in military conflict has increased over the past few years.

"In regions like the Korea Peninsula, China-India border area and the Taiwan Straits, the PLA needs to be prepared for all possibilities. Our overseas interests in regions like Africa and the Middle East are also under threat due to local instability, he said.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekBy Yawen Chen and Ryan Woo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's imports from North Korea plunged in December to their lowest level in dollar terms since at least the start of 2014, with trade curbed by U.N. sanctions aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Imports from North Korea slumped 81.6 percent year-on-year to $54.34 million, Chinese customs spokesman Huang Songping said in a briefing in Beijing on Friday. That's the smallest monthly value since at least January 2014.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed signs that China, North Korea's main economic partner, was "sharply reducing" trade with its neighbor.

"This action supports the United States-led global effort to apply maximum pressure until the North Korean regime ends its illicit programs, changes its behavior and moves toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the White House said.

The United Nations began imposing sanctions on North Korea in 2006, but tougher measures were invoked in 2017 as tensions flared anew over the country's nuclear and missile programmes.

The penalties that came into force on Sept. 5 last year banned countries from buying coal, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood from North Korea.

In November, China imported no iron ore, coal or lead from North Korea, the second full month of the U.N. trade sanctions.

"In terms of how big of an impact it (falling trade) had on North Korea, there was definitely impact because some of their products could only go to China while others could only be imported from China," said Chen Fengying, an economics expert at state-backed China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"You have to understand it was the most tense period for bilateral ties, and foreign relations determine trade relations."

China, the main source of North Korea's fuel, did not export any gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil to its neighbour in November.

China's exports to North Korea in December declined 23.4 percent from a year earlier to $260 million, Huang told reporters.

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Compared with a month earlier, exports fell 9.7 percent.

In November, China stopped exporting oil products to North Korea, after the U.N. Security Council that month imposed new caps on trade with North Korea, including limiting oil product shipments.

For 2017, China's imports from North Korea dropped 33 percent to $1.72 billion, the lowest value in at least four years.

However, exports to the country rose 8.3 percent to $3.34 billion. The value was the highest since 2014.

Non-commodities that China exports to North Korea included electronics, plastic products and garments.

Chinese customs will formally release data for trade with North Korea in the second half of the month, along with a breakdown by product.

(Reporting by Yawen Chen, Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo, additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Shri Navaratnam and Susan Thomas)A conservative commentator got called out for perpetuating a stereotype that has long hurt Asian immigrants during a CNN discussion Thursday night about President Donald Trumps reported labeling of Haiti and African nations as shithole countries.

Carrie Sheffield attempted to argue that Trump isnt as anti-immigrant or racist as those comments suggested.

The president said he would welcome immigrants from Asia so he is open to accepting people from other countries. Sheffield said, referencing information from a White House official.

Fellow panelist Keith Boykin, a liberal commentator, fired back at her, noting how highlighting Asian immigrants in contrast to others reinforces a myth about them.

This is not good because its playing into the stereotype of the model minority, Boykin said.

The idea of Asians as the good immigrants  wealthier, better educated and higher skilled  is a harmful stereotype that pits Asians against other communities of color, often only to the benefit of white people. The model minority myth keeps serious issues in the Asian-American community, which is majority immigrant, from being addressed and ignores the diversity of experiences within the group.

A December 2016 report from the Center for American Progress shows the wealth gap among Asian-Americans is great, larger even than that among white Americans. And data averages hide the particular needs and histories of immigrants from different Asian countries.

It doesnt really make sense to compare recent Chinese, Korean or Pakistani immigrants who are working in tech and engineering jobs to people who came as refugees in the 1980s and their working-class descendants, Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, told The Washington Post at the time the report was issued.

The model minority stereotype has consequences. Asian-Americans constitute around 13 percent of the population in New York City and have the highest poverty rate there, according to a 2015 report. Yet from 2002 to 2014, they received a mere 1.4 percent of the citys social service funds.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia on Friday put into action a military unit aimed at combating illegal armed groups that have begun to seize areas once controlled by Marxist FARC rebels in strategic drug-trafficking territory in the south of the Andean nation. The so-called Hercules task force, the largest military unit activated in two decades, will have 9,000 troops with the mission of regaining control of a broad region bordering the Pacific Ocean and Ecuador. In southern Narino province, which concentrates the majority of coca leaf crops - the raw material that makes cocaine - there are hundreds of former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who decided not to adhere to the peace accord signed late in 2016. Scores of crime gangs and right-wing paramilitary groups jostle with the dissident FARC for control of the drug trafficking routes to the Pacific. "The FARC has ceased to exist, now all this deployment, all our force must be directed against these organizations that still threaten the tranquility of the country," President Juan Manuel Santos said at the launch ceremony in the city of Tumaco. Military control of the area, which will be accompanied by investment to reduce poverty and coca eradication and substitution programs, is essential to guarantee a stable peace with the FARC and prevent other armed groups from strengthening, Santos said. Santos, who leaves office in August after two terms, signed a peace agreement with the FARC in 2016 after four years of negotiations in Cuba. The FARC is now a political party with a presidential candidate for the May elections. The task force will include officials from the army, the police, the air force and the navy, Santos said. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Helen Murphy; Editing by Susan Thomas)By Fiston Mahamba GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Congolese troops began a military offensive in the eastern city of Beni on Saturday against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel armed group blamed for an attack that killed 15 United Nations peacekeepers last month. The operation is part of a joint effort by Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda against the group after the suspected ADF attack on a base manned by Tanzanian peacekeeping troops. That attack, which also killed five Congolese soldiers and wounded another 53 peacekeepers, came amid a rising wave of violence in the mineral-rich, ethnically volatile area. "Since this morning, we have launched a general offensive against the ADF phenomena," General Marcel Mbangu, commander in charge of Congo's North Kivu province, told a new conference. "This is, for us, the final offensive. We will fight them until the end, until we have secured our territory," he added. Residents reported the sounds of gunfire and explosions in Beni on Saturday. Rival militia groups control parts of eastern Congo long after the official end of a 1998-2003 war in which millions of people died, mostly from hunger and disease. A surge in militia violence across the country, which followed President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down when his mandate expired just over a year ago, has raised fears Congo could slide into all-out war again. The Islamist ADF has long been active along the Congo-Uganda border and has been blamed for a spate of massacres. Last month Uganda launched air strikes and artillery attacks on ADF positions on its side. (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Ros Russell)Washington (AFP) - US lawmakers will resort to passing a short-term federal spending deal next week to avoid an embarrassing government shutdown, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday, as prospects for a long-term 2018 agreement dimmed.

A move to extend temporary funding beyond the January 19 deadline would be the fourth such extension, known as a "continuing resolution," since September, and would signal that the country's two warring political parties might be too far apart on budget issues and immigration to strike a bipartisan agreement this year.

"We will have to do something short term," Ryan told a political forum in his native Wisconsin, when asked whether Congress would be able to reach a deal before government lights go out next Friday at midnight.

But the top Republican in Congress stressed he did not believe lawmakers will allow federal operations to stop.

"No I don't think there will be" a shutdown, Ryan said.

Republicans have accused Democrats of slow-walking the budget process in a bid to strengthen their hand in negotiations on the sensitive issue of immigration.

Democratic leaders say they want an immigration deal to be attached to a broader budget package.

Lawmakers and the White House have sought to craft a compromise that tightens border security including funding a wall on the border with Mexico and limits other entry programs like the green card visa lottery in exchange for shielding young immigrants from deportation.

Nearly 800,000 people who came to the US illegally as children were protected under the Obama administration, but Trump will scrap the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on March 5 unless Congress legislates a fix.

But after a tense White House meeting with lawmakers during which Trump was accused of using a racist slur, the negotiations took a sharp downward turn.

"Because of the Democrats not being interested in life and safety, DACA has now taken a big step backwards," Trump tweeted.

Story continues

"The Dems will threaten 'shutdown,' but what they are really doing is shutting down our military, at a time we need it most."

Congressional negotiators have spent weeks battling over top lines for military and domestic spending, with Republicans and Democrats alike warning that failure to strike a deal would harm US military readiness and capability.

Lawmakers are also looking to finalize an $80 billion disaster relief bill, the largest of its kind, and re-authorize a child health insurance program.(WASHINGTON)  The White House disputed a claim by GOP Sen. Jeff Flakes spokesman that a group of bipartisan senators had reached a deal on legislation to protect younger immigrants brought to the country illegally on Thursday afternoon.

There has not been a deal reached yet, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said during a press briefing.

The group including the Arizona Republican, top Senate Democrat Dick Durbin and other pro-immigration senators has been working for months in hopes of securing legislation to extend Obama-era protections called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA .

The group was on track to address border security and other issues such as preferential treatment for family members of immigrants already in the U.S. Details were not immediately available on what the bargainers had agreed to.

Sen. Flakes bipartisan group  the only bipartisan group that has been negotiating a DACA fix  has struck a deal, Flake spokesman Jason Samuels had said earlier. The next step is taking it to the White House.Congress and the White House spent much of this week trying to fix the problem President Donald Trump created in September when he abruptly canceled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that provides renewable two-year deportation protections and work permits to undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as youths.

But even if Congress and the White House fail to hash out a deal to protect Dreamers, as the young immigrants are known, DACA could remain in effect through 2020, and possibly into a new administration.

DACA could outlast Trump because Dreamers and their advocates arent solely relying on Congress to help them. Theyre also fighting Trumps move in the courts, where they won a key victory Tuesday night: a national injunction blocking Trump from phasing out DACA.

The injunction could make it much harder than the White House thought to make DACA go away. And although U.S. District Judge William Alsups ruling doesnt allow new DACA applications, it lets people who hold the protections keep renewing them past the March 5 deadline set by the Trump administration. If litigation drags on for several months, as it likely will, DACA might remain in effect through 2020, and possibly into a new administration.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Gloria Mendoza participates in a protest in support of a standalone Dream Act in New York on Jan. 10. (Photo: Lucas Jackson / Reuters)

Its entirely possible to see that some people will still have DACA permits on Election Day in 2020, Michael Kagan, a law professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, told HuffPost. Im not predicting that. But it is now possible that people will be able to renew DACA permits later this year and some of those permits may still be valid in November 2020.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court could invalidate the injunction. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who plans to appeal the district courts decision, will face an uphill battle trying to convince the appeals court that the U.S. government needs to start canceling DACA work authorizations before the courts decide the lawsuits, according to Stephen Legomsky, the former chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The program has hummed along for five years without any legal challenge.

Story continues

Theres no irreparable harm and theres no urgency, Legomsky told HuffPost. The administration is going to be hard-pressed to come up with a reason to stay the injunction during the long period of time this case will be pending  If Congress does not enact a Dream Act, I think its possible that people could renew DACA into the next administration.

Litigation wouldnt have to drag on long for that to happen, provided the injunction remains standing. If the Supreme Court hasnt decided the case by next January and Congress hasnt passed some version of the Dream Act, the two-year DACA renewals will start extending into the next presidential term. If Trump were to lose his re-election bid, DACA could wind up outlasting him  even if those challenging the cancellation of DACA ultimately lose in court.

Up until now, the case before Alsup has plodded along slowly, partly because of a dispute over what documents to include for evidence in the case. Alsup has ruled the Trump administration must turn over all memos and emails that informed the decision to kill the program  a prospect that would offer a unique window into communications between the White House and the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

Lawyers for the administration appealed the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the records amount to executive deliberations that dont have to be disclosed to the court. They won temporary protection from having to give up the documents, but the issue remains unresolved. That question must be answered before the discovery period  when parties in a lawsuit disclose evidence to one another  can end, so the case can move to trial.

And Alsups injunction ruling says those challenging the Trump administration are likely to win on their claim that canceling DACA was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or not otherwise in accordance with the law.

If Alsup rules against the White House at trial, the government will almost surely appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and appeal again if that court decides against them. The case is likely to wind up before the Supreme Court. Each of those steps takes time. All the while, provided the injunction is left standing, DACA recipients will be able to keep renewing their status for another two-year period.

Its also possible that a different set of consolidated lawsuits filed in New York to challenge the end of DACA could result in a separate injunction.

Those cases  brought by a DACA recipient, and a coalition of 15 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia  make many of the same allegations found in the California lawsuit. The Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to seek public comment or provide enough notice when it canceled DACA, the lawsuits say. And they accuse Trump of acting with the goal of discriminating against Mexicans  racial animus, in legalese  which would violate DACA recipients constitutional right to equal protection before the law.

It remains to be seen how Alsups injunction will affect the tense negotiations in Washington. With DACA left hanging by a thread in the courts, some analysts suspect the injunction could make some Congress members cool on Dream Act legislation.

Lawmakers who were not keen to do anything for the Dreamers now have an additional excuse not to do it, Muzaffar Chischti, who directs the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institutes office at New York University, told HuffPost. They could say, Lets see how it now takes its course in the courts.



Others say the injunction wrests away, if only tenuously, the leverage Trump took when he canceled the program back in September.

I believe its good as well for proponents of a permanent fix, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said in an interview about the injunction in his case to preserve DACA. It gives them the leverage to fight back against those who are trying to load up a measure to fix DACA with things that have nothing to do with DACA and have very little sense or value ... This is a chance for everyone to say, DACA is demonstrating its staying power. Lets get this resolved.

Also on HuffPost

April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: Everythings coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. Its like a big mess. Blah. Its like vomit.

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": Were going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go."

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": Were rounding em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And theyre going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesnt sound nice. But not everything is nice.

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely."

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back  some will come back, the best, through a process.

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we dont. We either have a country or we dont. We have borders or we dont have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": Theyre going to go, and were going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... Theyre going to go, and then come back and come back legally.

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied  and every politician who has denied them  to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we dont have a country.

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldnt be in the country. They only come in the country legally.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The president insists that the deal is not sufficient, and demanded a merit based system of immigration and funding for a border wall with Mexico

Protesters rally in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as Dream Act, near the Trump Tower in New York on 5 October 2017. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump cast doubt on Friday that he and Congress would soon reach a deal to protect 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation, saying that a bipartisan plan presented to the White House was a big step backwards.

On Thursday, a group of Republican and Democratic senators took a bipartisan plan to the president, raising those hopes that he would agree to continue Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), a program started by Barack Obama. A day earlier, a federal judge had blocked the presidents attempt to end the program outright this March.

Who are the Dreamers?

Dreamers are young immigrants who would qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (Daca) program, enacted under Barack Obama in 2012. Most people in the program entered the US as children and have lived in the US for years undocumented. Daca gave them temporary protection from deportation and work permits. Daca was only available to people younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, who arrived in the US before turning 16 and lived there continuously since June 2007. Most Dreamers are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and the largest numbers live in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Donald Trump cancelled the program in September but has also said repeatedly he wants Congress to develop a program to help the population.

What will happen to the Dreamers?

Under the Trump administration, new applications under Daca will no longer be accepted. For those currently in the program, their legal status and other Daca-related permits (such as to work and attend college) will begin expiring in March 2018  unless Congress passes legislation allowing a new channel for temporary or permanent legal immigration status  and Dreamers will all lose their status by March 2020.



Technically, as their statuses lapse they could be deported and sent back to countries many have no familiarity with. It is still unclear whether this would happen. Fear had been rising in the run-up to last weeks announcement. Those with work permits expiring between 5 September 2017 and 5 March 2018 will be allowed to apply for renewal by 5 October.

Story continues

What does this week's ruling by Judge William Alsup mean?

In his ruling, Alsup ordered the Trump administration to restart the program, allowing Daca recipients who already qualify for the program to submit applications for renewal.

However, he said the federal government did not have to process new applications from people who had not previously received protection under the program.

When the Trump administration ended the Daca program, it allowed Daca recipients whose legal status expired on or before 5 March to renew their legal status. Roughly 22,000 recipients failed to successfully renew their legal status for various reasons.

Legal experts and immigration advocates are advising Daca recipients not to file for renewal until the administration provides more information about how it intends to comply with the ruling.

These next days and weeks are going to create a lot of confusion on the legal front, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which has filed a separate lawsuit against the Trump administrations termination of Daca.

But on Friday morning Trump demanded funding for a border wall with Mexico, an end to so-called chain migration of family-sponsored visas and an end to any lottery system of entry.

The so-called bipartisan Daca deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards, he tweeted on Friday. Wall was not properly funded, chain [and] lottery were made worse.

He added, without evidence, that such measures would mean USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly, a remark that echoed his first campaign claims deriding people from Mexico.

The potential deal was orchestrated by six senators, including three Republicans  Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake and Cory Gardner  and three Democrats  Dick Durbin, Michael Bennet and Bob Menendez. In a statement released Thursday, the senators said that they have been working for four months to address the presidents concerns, and that they reached an agreement in principle.

Flake said Thursday that border barriers do not need to be a physical wall, but rather more of a fence with surveillance, guards and technological security.

Also on Thursday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that although there was no final deal, we still think we can get there.

But the president insisted on Friday that the terms he saw were not sufficient. He said he wants a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs.

He then blamed Democrats for threatening a government shutdown over the budget and immigration talks. The White House recently requested $18bn in funding for a border wall, but Democrats have strongly opposed paying for a brick-and-mortar border wall that would add to the 653 miles of border barriers that already exist.

He also denied calling several countries in Central America and Africa shitholes, as several newspapers reported late Thursday, and which for over 12 hours the White House did not deny.This Stranger Things fan will forever treasure her high school senior photos.

In October, California student Damaris Fregoso cheekily asked actor David Harbour  aka police chief Jim Hopper in Netflixs sci-fi horror  how many retweets shed require for him to take part in the shoot:

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Harbour spotted the 17-year-olds tweet and replied, but with some cheeky conditions of his own attached:

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The idea of me in a small size sweatshirt of some high school, holding a trombone with this poor girl trying to take her high school photos seriously, I just thought that was so funny, Harbour later told ThisIsInsider.com about why he replied.

The post soon garnered thousands of likes, with Noah Schnapp (who plays Will Byers in the show) giving Fregosos cause a helping hand:

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Fregoso, who attends Orestimba High School in Newman, soon hit her hoped-for tally  and Harbour vowed to fulfill his promise:

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Three months after Fregosos initial tweet, Harbour made her dream come true when the pair posed for the snaps at Netflixs Los Angeles HQ earlier this week.

Harbour shared the photos, in which hes playing a trombone and wearing an Orestimba High School sweatshirt (as per his conditions), to Instagram on Friday:

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Voted most likely to hijack someones high school senior photos 24 years later, Harbour wrote. Fregoso also shared some of the images on Twitter:

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Well this is certainly something I didnt think would actually happen! Fregoso wrote in a subsequent Instagram post. David is such a sweet dude!

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Photographer Tommy Garcia said he enjoyed taking the pictures:

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Damaris school, meanwhile, appeared proud of its student:

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The shoot also went down well on Twitter:

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Damaris later thanked everyone who retweeted her original post:

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I feel strange to have my photos be the talk of the town, she told HuffPost. But im glad I could share them with everyone who helped make this happen!Everyone experiences hardships from time to time  whether it be friendship drama, boyfriend scandals, or job-related challenges. In order to help you navigate these troubled waters, The Morning Breath has generously donated time every week to help their viewers overcome any predicament  big or small.

On the docket for this weeks Dear Breathers, a boyfriends cheating cover-up affects three people, and a new stepmom makes relations with dad difficult.

First up for this weeks Dear Breathers, a fan writes in inquiring about a boyfriend she met in a new city and some questions about his faithfulness. Living in a new city, Jane Doe has it brought to her attention by her boyfriends roommate that he has cheated on her with another girl and the roommate walked in on the two having sex. Vehemently denying the allegations, the boyfriend blames the confusion on cultural differences and insists that a kiss goodbye on the cheek is all that happened. Only problem is hes from San Francisco. Meanwhile, the accused girl denies intercourse took place, but she does send screenshots to the girlfriend of her boyfriend inviting this girl over. Oye.

When faced with the screenshots, the boyfriend now says his roommate is the one who sent the text message, and Jane Doe is now flummoxed on who to believe among her new friends.

Claudia Oshrys advice is to move on quickly. Cut these idiots out, you dont even know them, find new people in this new city. This is obviously a psychotic trio of people who definitely all have sex with each other.

Sister Jackie advises a getaway ASAP. You need to run away as fast as you can.

In other words, the only person you can trust is yourself.

Next up, the next Chutney Windham writes into TMB wondering what to do about her new stepmother, who is only four years older than her. A grown adult with her own husband, the writer asks the Oshry sisters how to proceed in a relationship with her father and his new family after theres been an obvious shift in relationships.

Story continues

While attending her fathers wedding recently, the writer mentions that she was not asked to be included in any family photos while her stepmothers daughter was asked to be in plenty. Standing on the sidelines can hurt.

Months have passed and shes lost touch with her father but is uninterested in pursuing a relationship with his new wife and family. Is this the end?

Not at all, says Claudia. You cant cut your dad out.

Jackie advises that she vent her frustration to her husband and definitely include her dad in her life, because cutting out a family member is a regret just waiting to happen.

Take the high road, be the bigger person and just talk s**t about this woman to your husband and to us, says Jackie.

Time heals all wounds. In hindsight, the wedding photo conundrum might not be such a big deal, because there are far more important things in life. You should definitely try to mend fences with your dad, but I think trash talking her wont get you anywhere. Hes obviously chosen this new life with her, closes Jackie.

If you want a chance for Claudia and Jackie to answer your life questions live on-air, email DearBreathers@gmail.com.Two African American members of congress have announced they are boycotting Donald Trumps State of the Union in protest at his unbelievable remarks in which he allegedly described Haiti and African nations as s***hole countries.

Democrats Maxine Waters and John Lewis said they would not attend the speech, technically the Presidents first State of the Union, as controversy grew over his alleged remarks, which many said were racist and vulgar.

Why would I take my time to go and sit and listen to a liar? said Ms Waters, a California congresswoman.

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Someone who lies in the face of facts, someone who can change their tune day in and day out. What does he have to say that I would be interested in?

Speaking in MSNBC, Ms Waters said she had not attended Mr Trumps inauguration or his first speech to the joint houses of congress last year.

I dont trust him, I dont appreciate him and I wouldnt waste my time listening to what he has to say, she said. He does not deserve my attention.

Earlier, 77-year-old Mr Lewis, a veteran of the civil rights struggle, said he would also not be attending the speech, scheduled for January 30. He said he believed being racist must be in Mr Trumps DNA.

Its frightening to have someone in the office of the President in 2018 speaking the way that hes speaking, said Mr Lewis, who was among those who marched with Dr Martin Luther King during the 1960s.

I cannot in all good conscience be in a room with what he has said about so many Americans. I just cannot do it. I wouldn't be honest with myself.

The development means that at least three Democratic politicians will not be attending the event, when the President is supposed to outline his plans for the coming year.

Previously, congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon said he would be staying away.

Story continues

Rather than listening to yet another destructive and divisive speech by Trump, I will not attend this years annual address to Congress, he said in a statement.

Instead, like I did during Trumps inauguration, I will be working here at home listening to Oregonians about what they think about the State of the Union.

Many Democrats planning different ways to protest during Mr Trumps remarks. Female Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have said they will wear all black in solidarity with victims of sexual misconduct and the #MeToo movement.

It has also been reported some Democrats are likely to invite sexual assault survivors as their guests.

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Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View.As an organizer and advocate that works with Black immigrant communities and the daughter of Black immigrants, let me be clear: President Trumps statement calling Haiti and African nations shithole countries is racist.

The President is racist.

Unfortunately, it is all too believable that this is how the President speaks in private, because his public policies have been driven by racism and hatred since day one. This is about far more than just vulgar language. It is about Trumps vicious policies that treat immigrants and people of color as less than human.

Trumps racism has clearly driven his policy decisions during his first year in office  from his Muslim ban and his despicable treatment of DREAMers to his ruthless ramp-up of immigration raids and the callous termination of protections for Haitians and Salvadorans who fled natural disaster and violence.

President Trump has demonstrated time and time again that he is mentally incapable of imagining the humanity of anyone who looks different from him or hails from a different nation  unless that is a predominately white nation, like Norway. In which case, they help his Make America White Agenda much easier.

But it is not enough for our nations leaders, on both sides of the aisle, to denounce Trumps words. Now is the time for action.

At this moment, our lawmakers are negotiating for a solution for DREAMers. Democratic legislators who like to count themselves as part of the Resistance must recognize that their actions will speak louder than anything out of the presidents mouth.

As an immigrant justice advocate, I of course want legal status for everyone trying to make it in this country. However, we cannot sacrifice one group of immigrants for another. Many of the concessions that leading Democrats seem willing to make  from cutting diversity visas to chipping away at family visas  would be made on the backs of Black immigrants, people from Africa and the Caribbean who deserve these policies to remain intact as some of the few legal tools they have to immigrate to this country.

If Democrats concede to Republican demands and allow DREAM Act negotiations to backdoor in policies that harm Black immigrants and their families, they will be just as complicit as the President. Just because they dont use Trumps vulgar language does not mean that history  or their constituents  will forgive them for furthering his racist agenda.

I call on Democrats to use their leverage to fight for a clean DREAM Act and to reject Trumps racist agenda  not only in word, but in deed.Wallace C. Gregson

Security, Asia

A concrete border is seen as a South Korean soldier stands guard at the truce village of Panmunjom

And the United States needs to step up to the plate to prevent it.

Don't Be Fooled: North Korea Still Wants to Conquer South Korea

Delegations from North and South Korea met for the first time in two years at the Truce Village in Panmunjom. Reports indicate that agreement was reached for the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) to send a delegation composed of athletes, a martial arts demonstration team, high-level officials, supporters and journalists to the Olympics in Pyeongchang. This was considered a benevolent North Korean gesture. Both sides agreed to hold military talks to reduce tensions at some indefinite date. Family reunions were discussed, but discussion of nuclear weapons was angrily rejected. Chinas Xinhua News Agency, citing official North Korean press statements, said that an early national reunification is the goal of peace offer made by Pyongyang to Seoul, as officials of both countries started their first high-level meeting Tuesday. Given that no surrender offer was made, one must assume that North Korea envisions reunification on its own terms.

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Even this discussion required an accommodation by South Korea and the United States, only to be rebuffed when the nuclear issue was raised. Rescheduling the U.S-ROK exercise to a time after the Winter Olympics was not, by itself, that significant. But the perception that this was done as an unrequited concession to gain North Koreas attendance at these talks in the DMZ is significant. North Koreas angry rejection of any nuclear discussion reinforced the perception of concession. The report that both Koreas did agree to future talks on tension reduction establishes another new normal. North Korea is changing the operations of our alliance with South Korea. These are precedents we will see again.

Story continues

What Kim wants finally becomes clear. Its not limited to regime survival: hes a particularly brutal autocratand this type of ruler must keep moving forward and conquering new demons. Compromise or settling for some status quo is not possibleit would be his head. He seeks Korean unification on his terms. It would fulfill the Kim family destiny. Now he is backed by the potential of North Korean weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Kim regime demonstrated both will and skill in their use of WMDs with the careful deployment of a VX nerve agent in the airport of Kuala Lumpur in February 2017. Add nuclear and missile capability and its obvious that profound changes in regional politics are the result. North Koreas ability to coerce others, especially South Korea and Japan, increases exponentially.

China, perceiving its own set of lousy options regarding North Korea, will pressure them only so far. Even the UN gave countries hosting North Korean laborers two years to expel themhardly a part of severe sanctions. This two-year grace period is a great excuse for China to move even more slowly. More important perhaps is that Chinas national narrative includes saving North Korea from the American invasion in 1950. Maos son is buried there in a martyrs cemetery. Chinas national interests require a viable North Korea, not a democratic country, on its border. Their frustration with the Kim family does not extend to seeing the North Korean regime fail. On the other hand, China is likely not discomfited by the thought of an end to U.S. military presence in a future Korea. China is again enticing major South Korean corporations to do business in China. Making China-South Korea economic ties increasingly important will affect relations.

Among our allies, South Korea and Japan have their own bone-deep historical and territorial issues. Days after Japan mulls the F-35B aircraft for its ships, Korea does the same. Sensitive nationalism in both countries creates many vulnerabilities which can be exploited by those seeking to diminish U.S. alliances.

The United States is growing a trust deficit with our allies. There are many causesincluding campaign rhetoric that questioned their value, our sudden withdrawal from our own extensively negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership and withdrawal from other international agreementsthat our allies wished us to maintain. What is a defense alliance if not an international agreement? Those who wish to sow discord charge that Americas word cannot be trusted from one administration to another. Now, North Koreas most recent capability demonstrations cause us to respond directly to North Korea and its leadership with almost nothing said or done about the welfare of our allies most directly affected: South Korea and Japan.

Any nation that allied with another must deal with the conflicting fears of abandonment on one hand and entrapment on the other. Certainly, Korea and Japan do not wish the United States to abandon them to face the greater military powers and economies of Asia alone. Yet neither do they wish to be trapped by a major conflict where they would absorb most of the damage. The more we make this about the United States versus North Korea, and only that, the more we devalue our allies and our alliances and the more we raise both fearsabandonment and entrapment.

Urgent work is needed to reverse these adverse trends. Alliances must be about far more than military matters, or they are doomed to fail. In an alliance, the military component is the hard shell within which both national and alliance life grows. Tremendous economic growth in Korea and Japan following World War II, and the democratization in Korea, while alliance military forces maintained the hard shell, shows this well. The shell is necessary, but not sufficient: the growth within the shell is the purpose. We must show in meaningful and demonstrative ways that our economic, business, political, cultural, educational, trade, aid and other ties are strong, getting stronger, and highly valued.

In todays shell, the security and military realm, we must make this as much or more about defense of allies and friends as it is about our homeland security. We must double down on deterrence and vastly enhance both our capabilities and capacities in air and missile defense, undersea warfare, cyber defense and offense, and the protection of space-based capabilities.

Most important, the United States must become, again, the visible vocal, and ever-present champion of the values of human rights, free society and self-government. Of course, were not perfect, but we are still the ideal for those living under authoritarian rulers. When we speak louder about these things it really bothers dictators. Spreading the word about freedom and democracyand backing it upis more powerful in this contest than any new missile.

Wallace C. Gregson, a retired Marine and former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (200911), is currently senior advisor at Avascent International and senior director for China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters

Read full articleThe Telegraph

The neatly arranged office toys and management guru books were still on the desk from the previous government official. But their Taliban replacement had added his own executive touches, including one of the movement's white religious banners and a captured M4 carbine once used by an Afghan commando.The president of the United States is racist. Yes, Don Lemon went there last night with that line as the opening statement of his show, CNN Tonight, and boy, did he cause a storm.

Now, Lemons controversial declaration did not come unwarranted; it came after the Washington Post reported Donald Trump called several countries, including Haiti and Nigeria, sh****le countries. In an Oval Office meeting about a bipartisan immigration on Thursday, the president allegedly grew frustrated with lawmakers when discussing immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. Why are we having all these people from sh****le countries come here, Trump reportedly said. The president then allegedly suggested the United States could instead have immigrants from other countries, such as Norway.

Lemon then gave his opinions on the meeting and the alleged use of the word. The internet blew up with varying responses to the CNN host calling the president racist. To Trump supporters, Lemon had no right to make assumptions about the president; to the Trump haters, Lemon is a hero.

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Celebrities also weighed in giving their outspoken opinions on Trumps alleged comments. Unsurprisingly, they were not in support, many even backed up Lemons declaration.

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And as you can imagine, late night talk show hosts had a field day with the news.

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Trump has since denied making those comments via Twitter. Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust.

However, Democratic Whip and Illinois senator, Dick Durbin, was in the room during the meeting and confirmed the report. In a press conference this morning, Sen. Durbin said the president, said things which were hurtful, vile, and racist. Youve seen the comments in the press. Ive not read one of them that was inaccurate.

Story continues

Well, you know where the internet stands. How do you feel about the comments and the responses?

Watch: Fury ignites over the Michelle Williams-Mark Wahlberg pay gap

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:Donald Trump has denied that he used the term shithole countries to describe Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations in a White House meeting about immigration.

Seeking to limit the fallout from the reported comments that triggered outrage around the world, the US President described his language as tough but denied using a vulgar slur.

However, asked if he was a racist, the US leader stormed out of the White Houses Roosevelt Room where he had been attending a Martin Luther King Jr Day event.

The question was posed by American Urban Radio Networks White House Correspondent and CNN contributor April Ryan, who initially asked if he was going to give an apology for the statement yesterday?

She followed up with: Mr President, are you a racist?

He did not answer as he hurriedly left the room.

Mr Trump has been widely criticised for the comments he reportedly made during a discussion about immigration from African nations.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? he said, according to the Washington Post, after being presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from those countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal.

He added that the US should admit more people from places like Norway.

Mr Trump did not initially challenge the comments, which were heavily criticised by diplomats and both rival politicians and members of his own party.

He later took to Twitter to deny that he had used the phrase.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, he wrote, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, an Obama-era action that gives people brought to the US illegally as children the temporary right to live, study and work in America.

He added: What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made  a big setback for DACA!

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A separate tweet said that he never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.

Story continues

He claimed his comments had been made up by his Democratic rivals, adding: I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

But Dick Durbin, a top Democratic senator, said Mr Trump repeatedly said these hate-filled things. The White House has not denied the Presidents use of racially-tinged rhetoric, either.

Mr Durbin added: The president erupted several times with questions, and in the course of his comments, said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist.

I use those words advisably. I understand how powerful they are. But I cannot believe that in the history of the White House and in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.

He said: Youve seen the comments in the press. Ive not read one of them thats inaccurate.

Rupert Colville, a UN human rights spokesman, called Mr Trumps offensive remarks about Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations racist, saying there is no other word you can use.

Mr Trumps reported comments have also forced his own diplomats to go on the defensive.

The US deeply respects the people of #Africa & values partnerships w/ them. There has been no change in our dedication to partners & friends across the Continent, the US embassy in South Africa tweeted following the reports. We remain committed to working together to realise the promise of a more prosperous 21st century Africa.

The USs most senior official in Haiti was also reportedly summoned to meet with countrys president Jovenel Moise, to explain Mr Trumps remarks.

Former Haitian President Laurent Lamothe said the world is witnessing a new low today and called the US leaders remarks totally unacceptable!

It shows a lack of respect and ignorance never seen before in the recent history of the US by any President, Mr Lamothe tweeted.

Republican Congresswoman Mia Love, the nations first Haitian-American representative, said the presidents remarks were unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nations values.

This behaviour is unacceptable from the leader of our nation, Ms Love said in a statement. My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with.

Mr Trumps administration announced last year that it would end the Temporary Protected Status designation for Haiti by July 2019  a move that could force tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants to either leave the US or live in the shadows.

TPS is offered to legal US residents and undocumented immigrants when war, natural disaster, an epidemic or other extraordinary conditions temporarily make return to their native country unsafe. It protects individuals from deportation and authorises them to work in the US.

This week, the Trump administration also announced that TPS protections for nearly 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador would end in 2019.

Responding to Mr Trumps reported comments, El Salvadors Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez tweeted about Salvadoran contributions to the US, saying a good part of those who helped rebuild New Orleans after Katrina were Salvadoran. I feel proud to be Salvadoran.

Former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, currently president of the International Rescue Committee, said the Trump Administration (is) leading a race to the bottom on refugees and immigrants that is a betrayal of Americas future as well as of its history.Dave Majumdar

Security,

Who cares about the F-35.

F-14 Tomcat: The Navy Fighter It Wishes It Could Bring Back from the Dead

The Navys F/A-XX program could be used to fill the services air superiority gapwhich has essentially been left open since the F-14s retirement and the demise of the NATF and A/F-X programs. But the problem is that the Navy is pursuing the F/A-XX as a multirole Super Hornet replacement rather than an air superiority-oriented machine. The danger in its development is that it suboptimizes the fighter role in the quest for a hybrid fighter/attack jet, the Hudson Institute report notes. This would leave the Joint Force without a carrier-based sixth generation air superiority fighter.

While the requirement for a carrier-based long-range strike capability is a frequent subject of discussion around Washington, the U.S. Navys need for improved air superiority capabilities is often neglected.

The service has not had a dedicated air-to-air combat aircraft since it retired the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006. But even the Tomcat was adapted into a strike aircraft during its last years in service after the Soviet threat evaporated. Now, as new threats to the carrier emerge and adversaries start to field new fighters that can challenge the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), attention is starting to shift back to this oft-neglected Navy missionespecially in the Western Pacific.

(This first appeared in 2016.)

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Another type of new aircraft required is an air superiority fighter, states a recent Hudson Institute report titled Sharpening the Spear: The Carrier, the Joint Force, and High-End Conflict , which is written by The National Interest contributors Seth Cropsey, Bryan McGrath and Timothy A. Walton. Given the projection of the Joint Forces increased demand for carrier-based fighter support, this capability is critical.

Story continues

The report notes that both the Super Hornet and the F-35C are severely challenged by new enemy fifth-generation fighter aircraft such as the Russian-built Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA and Chengdu J-20. Indeed, certain current adversary aircraft like the Russian Su-30SM, Su-35S and the Chinese J-11D and J-15 pose a serious threat to the Super Hornet fleet. Its a view that shared by many industry officials, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and even U.S. Marine Corps aviators. Both F/A-18E/Fs and F-35Cs will face significant deficiencies against supercruising, long-range, high-altitude, stealthy, large missile capacity adversary aircraft, such as the T-50, J-20, and follow-on aircraft , the authors note. These aircraft will be capable of effectively engaging current and projected U.S. carrier aircraft and penetrating defenses to engage high value units, such as AEW aircraft, ASW aircraft, and tankers. Already, the F/A-18E/F faces a severe speed disadvantage against Chinese J-11 aircraft, which can fire longer range missiles at a higher kinematic advantage outside of the range of U.S. AIM-120 missiles. 

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Nor does the F-35Cwhich suffers from severely reduced acceleration compared to even the less than stellar performance of other JSF variantshelp matters. Similarly, the F-35C is optimized as an attack fighter, resulting in a medium-altitude flight profile, and its current ability to only carry two AIM- 120 missiles internally [until Block 3] limits its capability under complex electromagnetic conditions, the authors wrote. As an interim measure, the Navy and Air Force should significantly accelerate the F-35Cs Block 5 upgrade to enable the aircraft to carry six AIM-120 missiles internally.

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The F-35C was never designed to be an air superiority fighter. Indeed, naval planners in the mid-1990s wanted the JSF to be a strike-oriented aircraft with only a 6.5G airframe load limit with very limited air-to-air capability, according to one retired U.S. Navy official. Indeed, some naval planners at the time had discussed retiring the F-14 in favor of keeping the Grumman A-6 Intruder in service. During this period, many officials believed air combat to be a relic of the past in the post-Cold War era. They anticipated most future conflicts to be air-to-ground oriented in those years immediately following the Soviet collapse. Together with a lack of funding, thats probably why the Navy never proceeded with its Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) or A/F-X follow-on program.

The Navys F/A-XX program could be used to fill the services air superiority gapwhich has essentially been left open since the F-14s retirement and the demise of the NATF and A/F-X programs. But the problem is that the Navy is pursuing the F/A-XX as a multirole Super Hornet replacement rather than an air superiority-oriented machine. The danger in its development is that it suboptimizes the fighter role in the quest for a hybrid fighter/attack jet, the Hudson Institute report notes. This would leave the Joint Force without a carrier-based sixth generation air superiority fighter.

As the Navys current director of air warfare, Rear Adm. Mike Manazir, has stated in the past , the authors also note that such an aircraft could feature large passive and active sensor arrays, relatively high cruising speed (albeit not necessarily acceleration), could hold a large internal weapons bay capable of launching numerous missiles, and could have space to adopt future technologies, such as HPM [high-powered microwaves] and lasers. This air superiority asset would contribute to Outer Air Battle integrated air and missile defense requirements and would be capable of countering enemy weapons, aircraft, and sensor and targeting nodes at a distance.

Outer Air Battle, of course, refers to a Navy concept from the 1980s to fend off a concerted attack by hordes of Soviet Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers, Oscar-class (Project 949A Antey) nuclear-powered guided missile submarines and surface action groups lead by warships like the Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisersas now deputy defense secretary Bob Work [he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security at the time] described to me in 2013. These Soviet assets would have launched their arsenals of anti-ship cruise missiles from multiple points of the compass.

As Work described it, the Navy was relatively confident it could sink the Oscars and surface ships before they could launch their missiles. They were far less confident about their ability to take out the Tu-22Ms before they could get into launch position. The Tomcats, under Outer Air Battle, would try to kill the archersthe Backfiresbefore they could shoot and attempt to eliminate any cruise missiles that they launched. But, Work notes, no one knows how well it would have worked during a shooting war with the Soviet Unionand its a good thing we never got to find out. But with Chinas emerging anti-access/area denial strategy, the threat is back.

While the F/A-XX and the Air Forces F-X are in their infancy, it has become clear that they will be different aircraft designs that will probably share common technologies. The Navy does seem to be focusing on a more defensive F-14 like concept while the Air Force is looking for a more offensively oriented air superiority platform that could replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. As you'll see over the coming years, the differences between the primary mission and the likely threats will drive significant differences between the F/A-XX and F-X programs as well as legacy systems like the F-22 and F-35, one senior defense official told me.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar .

Read full articleGetty Images for SiriusXM

A former top Republican says that President Donald Trumps comments about Haiti and African countries being s***holes is a clear sign that the commander in chief is racist.

Michael Steele, who served as the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on MSNBC that enough is enough, and that Mr Trumps comments prove the point.

At this point, the evidence is incontrovertible, its right there, Mr Steele said when asked about Mr Trumps reported comments.

Mr Trump reportedly asked a group of Congressional leaders why the United States should accept immigrants from Haiti or African countries, saying that those places are all s***holes.

The comments came as the leaders met in the Oval Office to discuss potential immigration overhauls, and how to help places like Haiti  which remains devastated nearly eight years after a massive hurricane severely damaged the area and led the US to offer support to victims.

Mr Trump, for his part, has denied using that specific language during the meeting. He instead indicated that he was really tough when discussing the aide proposals.

He proceeded to say that the meeting proposals were a big setback for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which he himself put in jeopardy by saying he would allow the program to expire unless Congress is able to strike a deal to save it.

Allowing DACA to expire will throw the futures of roughly 800,000 young people who came to the United States when they were children into question. Many of those who have applied and received DACA status have since been able to better integrate into US society, getting college degrees, buying homes, and starting businesses.

But, letting DACA slip could jeopardize all of that, and leave those individuals open to deportation.Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Four South American ex-presidents are among more than 170,000 people who signed a petition supporting former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bid for another term as Brazil's president, despite his corruption conviction.

US film-maker Oliver Stone also signed the online petition supporting Lula, whose electoral aspirations are at risk of being blocked.

The petition on change.org, titled "Election without Lula is fraud," comes ahead of a January 24 court ruling on his appeal of a nine-and-a-half-year jail sentence issued last July.

Former presidents Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, Jose Mujica of Uruguay, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Ernesto Samper of Colombia are among the personalities who have signed the document.

It calls the scheduling of the appeal date "purely an act of persecution" against Lula as his support "grows in the polls."

Lula was Brazil's first democratically elected leftist and was credited with helping lift 30 million Brazilians out of poverty.

He was hugely popular during his 2003-2010 two-term presidency, but his reputation was damaged by steep economic decline under his handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff who was impeached in 2016 for breaking budget rules.

A court convicted Lula in connection with Brazil's "Car Wash" graft probe, which began with a seemingly run-of-the-mill money laundering investigation but which led investigators to a web of corruption involving much of the country's political and economic elite.

The appeal court's ruling could decide whether Lula can take part in October 2018 presidential elections in which he is currently the frontrunner.

While Lula could find ways to appeal further, a ruling against him would throw the presidential race into further uncertainty.

Lula, 72, also faces six other corruption cases. He claims that a "diabolical pact" has been struck between prosecutors, federal police and the media to prevent his return to the presidency.

Story continues

He has said he was convicted "without proof" by a judge who found that he received a luxury beachside apartment and $1.1 million in cash from one of Brazil's biggest construction companies, OAS.

Lula has remained free pending the appeal.

In August, Brazilian lawmakers tossed out a corruption charge against the current president, center-right leader Michel Temer.Two notorious genetic mutations linked with breast cancer may not impact how long a woman will survive, a new study has found. The paper, which only looked at women diagnosed under the age of 40, was published Thursday in The Lancet Oncology.

The BRCA mutation may be most famous for its association with Angelina Jolie, who announced she carried the BRCA1 mutation in 2013 in a New York Times opinion piece. Jolie surgically removed and reconstructed her breasts as a preventive measure after learning her BRCA status.

For this study, researchers followed more than 2,700 women recruited from more than a hundred British hospitals for nearly a decade. After analyzing their DNA for the mutations, they checked in around the two-, five- and 10-year anniversary of each womans diagnosis to see if she were still alive. According to the paper, this is the largest study of its kind to look at breast cancer outcomes based on a womans BRCA mutation status.

Trending: Who Is Tomi Lahren? Fox News Contributor Faces Backlash For Shithole Countries Comments

This new study found that even after 10 years, women with BRCA mutations had equally high odds of surviving. For women with a mutation whose breast tumors were also triple-negativewhich refers to the lack of three specific characteristics seen in a breast tumortheir odds of long-term survival was the same, too. (This makes sense, as some treatment seem to be more effective on cancers if the person carries the BRCA1 mutation.)

About 97 percent of women survived for more than two years after their diagnosis, while more than 83 percent and more than 70 percent survived for five and 10 years post-diagnosis, respectively. That lines up fairly well with data from the United States; about 89 percent of women with breast cancer survive for five years or more, according to the National Cancer Institute. About 12 percent of women are diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life.

Story continues

Jolie critics choice

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for The Critics' Choice Awards

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Cancer geneticist and study author Dr. Diana Eccles told NBC News that her findings suggest that women who have been diagnosed dont necessarily need to follow Jolies lead and get double mastectomies if theyre getting other treatment. (Outside experts echoed that perspective to the BBC.)

These results dont mean the BRCA mutations arent important; they still increase the risk of getting breast and ovarian cancers in the first place, for example.

The study ended in 2008, and in the last 10 years several new treatments have been released to the market. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the agency was expanding its approval for a drug called Lynparza to treat breast cancer in people who were BRCA carriers. It is the first time any drug has been approved to treat certain patients with metastatic breast cancer who have a BRCA gene mutation, the agency said in a statement released to the media.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekKristin Johnston has long loved Taco Bell. So, when pregnancy cravings brought her and the popular restaurant even closer, she decided to honor the eatery in an extra special way.

I felt inspired to have my maternity shoot at one of my favorite places, a place that I can turn to anytime I get a craving or just dont have the energy to cook dinner  a place that many of us have a fondness for in our hearts  TACO BELL, Johnston wrote in a post on her blog, Strollers and Stilettos, with a fitting title: Taco Belle Baby.

Johnston, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia, decided to hold her maternity photo shoot at a local Taco Bell, and unveiled the photos in the blog post.

In the shots, Johnston is shown posing in front of the restaurant, smiling for shots inside near the menu and even eating a meal at one of the tables. In her blog post, Johnston wrote that rather than doing a more traditional shoot, she wanted something spicier.

Have you seen the most beautiful maternity photos on Pinterest? You know, the ones with the mom-to-be looking so glamorous and ethereal, standing majestically on a mountain in a flowing gown, or on the beach with an awe-inspiring sunset in the background? she wrote.

I guess you could say that I wanted something a little different, something spicier  and that showed me in my natural state.

Johnston told Cosmopolitan that she did not ask permission to use the local Taco Bell as scenery for her photo shoot, but said that employees were very helpful and accommodating.

There were hundreds of people who drove by and saw us out front, Johnston told the magazine. We got some strange looks, but mostly everyone laughed and gave us a thumbs up as they drove past!

Pregnant Wife Incorporates Deployed Air Force Husband in Beautiful Maternity Shoot

Johnston gave birth to her Taco Belle Baby earlier this month and named her baby boy, Teddy  she said she stopped by Taco Bell on her way home from the hospital.

As for her husband, Johnston said he loved the photos just as much as everyone else did.

He cant wait to get one in a frame for his desk at work when he returns from paternity leave, she told Cosmopolitan.Tehran (AFP) - Even with President Donald Trump continuing to waive nuclear sanctions, Iran's economy remains hobbled by US restrictions but some diplomats in Tehran remain quietly confident for the future.

The real problem in Iran right now, everyone in the international business community agrees, is uncertainty.

That was not helped by Trump's announcement on Friday that he would waive nuclear-related sanctions, but only once more and that Europe must work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw".

"No one has any idea what's going on. Trump has introduced so many layers of uncertainty," a Western trade official in Tehran told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"That's not necessarily negative. Things could actually improve if Trump pulls out of the deal. The Europeans could stay and the EU could provide protections for its industries against US sanctions," he said.

"Or things could get even worse. We just don't know."

On the surface, Trump's vitriolic stance appears disastrous for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which lifted many sanctions in exchange for curbs to the country's nuclear programme.

Even as he confirmed the waiver of nuclear sanctions on Friday, Trump added yet more sanctions related to human rights and Iran's missile programme, adding to a vast web of restrictions that have scared off many Western companies.

Major foreign banks have been particularly cautious of re-entering Iran, dreading a repeat of the record-breaking $8.9 billion penalty levelled on France's BNP Paribas for breaching US sanctions on Iran and other countries.

There seems little hope of hitting the government target of $50 billion in foreign investment per year, with the government saying less than $3.4 billion was achieved in 2016.

- 'Deals in complete silence' -

But European diplomats say a lot is happening behind the scenes.

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Deals for things like industrial equipment, solar parks and dairy farms have been quietly building over the past two years.

"I'm still cautiously optimistic," said a European diplomat.

"Many firms have invested so much they can't pull out. They will find a way to make it work whatever Trump does."

The big difference under Trump is secrecy.

"Deals are going on in complete silence. There's no advantage to discussing it. Many have interests in the US or an American investor. They don't want to make themselves a target," said the Western trade official.

Some bigger firms -- particularly the French -- have been less coy.

French energy giant Total signed a $5 billion gas deal in June, while carmakers Peugeot and Renault have already reopened production lines.

Italy pointedly announced a $6 billion credit line for development projects just days before Trump's latest attack on the deal.

"The divide between Europe and the US is widening. It's been more than a year that President Trump is trying to undermine this deal but he's basically failing," said Farid Dehdilani, international affairs advisor for the Iranian Privatisation Organisation.

- 'Nothing is happening' -

Nonetheless, the initial excitement that accompanied the nuclear deal has evaporated.

"I was working in the stock market when the deal was signed, and we were so excited and hopeful, but when I check with friends in brokerages now, nothing is happening," said Tehran-based economic analyst Navid Kalhor.

"The only sectors that get any interest are commodities: oil, mining, petrochemicals. But oil money cannot solve all our problems," he said.

Iran's return to international oil markets helped propel its economic growth rate to more than 12 percent last year, but unemployment remains huge and the energy sector can only create few jobs at a time.

"Look at the protests -- ordinary people are not optimistic about the future," said Kalhor, referring to the deadly unrest that rocked dozens of Iranian cities over the new year, sparked by anger over unemployment and poor governance.

"We need better and more reliable trade partners, and more access to international markets. We are mostly borrowing money rather than attracting investment. This can cause more problems in future when we have to service our debts. It's a vicious circle," he added.

The problem, many Iranians are quick to emphasise, does not lie just with Trump.

Years of mismanagement and corruption would make Iran a tricky investment destination even without US antagonism.

"We have to facilitate foreign investment by eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy: the three or four months needed to get permits, for instance," said Dehdilani.

"In the end, the success of the nuclear deal relies on Iranians."Guatemala City (AFP) - Police in Guatemala arrested a ruling party lawmaker Saturday for involvement in plotting a 2015 killing of journalists.

Julio Juarez, of the FCN-Nacion party, was arrested near his home in San Bernardino, Suchitepequez, south of the capital.

He is suspected of having masterminded the killings, a spokeswoman for prosecutors said.

In December, the 37-year-old lawmaker made a US list of alleged human rights abusers and people engaging in corruption around the world.

The two killings took place March 10, 2015 in Mazatenango.

Prosecutors with a UN agency already had linked him to the crime last year.

"I have not done anything. And all this will be cleared up," Juarez told local media.

About 6,000 people are killed each year in Guatemala, with about half the crimes linked to drug trafficking and gangs.Residents of Hawaii - informed for 38 minutes that they were under attack from a ballistic missile - were forced to make desperate decisions about how to spend what people believed might be their last moments alive.

As relief turned to fury after it was confirmed the warning sent to peoples mobiles phones by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency was an error, stories emerged of people trying to contact their loved ones, rushing to take shelter or trying to protect their children. People said they could not understand why it had taken so long to correct the mistake.

My friend in Hawaii got the alert and had to quickly choose between which members of his family he would spend his last moments on Earth with because they were ALL too far apart from each other. He had to make the difficult choice of going immediately to his youngest children, Gene Park wrote on Twitter.

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Mr Park, who works for the Washington Post and lives in the nations capital, shared a post from his friend which read: Right now, Im in tears, pulled over on Bishop Street. Just five minutes before warning, I dropped my oldest at the airport and drove to Nimitz Zippys. There I found out about the threat and had to decide whether to shelter there, drive to my two younger children at home, go back to the airport or go to be with my wife at work.

Video recorded from the University of Hawaii showed crowds of people running in panic after the warning was sent out early on Saturday morning.

Governor David Ige, said on CNN that the warning had been sent in error during a change in shift. He said an investigation was underway.

I was awakened by the alert like everyone else here in the state of Hawaii. It was unfortunate and regrettable. We will be looking at how we can improve the procedures so it doesnt happen again.

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CNN journalist Jake Tapper wrote that he knew someone in Hawaii who had been crying in closet texting goodbyes to loved ones, husband shielding their baby. He added: Sounds traumatic. Hang in there, folks.

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Sara Donchey, a journalist from Texas, posted that she was in Hawaii when she also got the warning.

This was my phone when I woke up just now. Im in Honolulu, #Hawaii and my family is on the North Shore, she wrote.

They were hiding in the garage. My mom and sister were crying. It was a false alarm, but betting a lot of people are shaken.

She added: Also, my husband was on a plane that had just departed #Hawaii when we got the missile alert. Ive been wondering if he and others flying were made aware. Hes on a flight with spotty or no internet service & I havent been able to reach him.

The emergency alert, which was sent to cellphones just before 8.10am, said in capital letters: Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there was threat about 10 minutes later. But a revised push alert stating there was no threat did not go out for almost 40 minutes.

The incident prompted the Pentagon and the US Pacific Command to issue the same statement, that they had detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii.

US President Donald Trump, who is in Florida, was briefed on the false alert. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said it was purely a state exercise.

Reuters said Richard Ing, a Honolulu-based lawyer, was doing a construction project at home when his wife told him about the alert. They later were told it was a false alarm.

I thought to myself, it must be someone's last day at work or someone got extremely upset at a superior and basically did this as a practical joke, he said.

But I think it's a very serious problem if it wasn't that, or even it was, it shows that we have problems in the system that can cause major disruption and panic and anxiety among people in Hawaii.

The false alarm came against the backdrop of nuclear tension between the US and North Korea, with both Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un swapping insults.

North Korea, which has been increasing the number of missile tests, has threatened to unleash his countrys growing missile weapon capability against the US territory of Guam or US states, while Mr Trump has threatened to totally destroy the country.

The state last year reinstated a Second World War-style missile warning system amid fears of an attack by North Korea. The sirens did not sound when the erroneous text alert was issued.The US militarys Pacific Command said there was no threat to Hawaii after an official message was sent to residents mobile phones, warning them of an imminent ballistic missile attack.

Against a backdrop of increased tension with North Korea which has said its missiles can reach the US, a message was sent in block capitals: Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.

The text was sent out by the national Emergency Alert System, designed to allow the US government to warn Americans within 10 minutes of authorities learning of a threat.

State governor David Ige said it was sent when an employee pushed the wrong button during a shift change, CNN reported, and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) later said on Twitter: NO missile threat to Hawaii.

US President Donald Trump was briefed about the incident, as a number of people complained that the authorities had been slow to tell the public there was no threat.

The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.

HEMA said it was investigating what had happened.

What happened today is totally inexcusable, added senator Brian Schatz. The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.

He added: There is nothing more important to Hawaii than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.

The state last year reinstated a Second World War-style missile warning system amid fears of an attack by North Korea. The sirens did not sound when the erroneous text alert was issued.

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Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic congresswoman for Hawaii, said she had spoken to officials to confirm there was no threat.

Hawaii  this is a false alarm, she tweeted. There is no incoming missile to Hawaii. I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile.

The missile alert caused panic among Hawaiians, who rushed for shelter and called family members to say goodbye before it became clear it was a false alarm.

Story continues

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Many complained they were not told the alert was a false alarm for more than half an hour after the initial warning was issued.

Carla Herreria, a journalist in north Hawaii community of Haleiwa, said she texted everyone in my family that I loved them en-route to a place to hid with other family members.

I saw civilian cars pulling over to alert other pedestrians to take cover, she wrote on Twitter. The alert may have been a mistake, but it caused chaos and mass fear for island residents. And it lasted for more than 30 minutes before the state corrected the mistake.

Jamie Malapit, owner of a Honolulu hair salon, texted his clients that he was cancelling their appointments and was closing his shop for the day after receiving the erroneous alert.

He said he was still in bed when the phone started going off like crazy. He thought it was a tsunami warning at first.

I woke up and saw missile warning and thought no way. I thought No, this is not happening today, Mr Malapit said.

He was still a little freaked out and feeling paranoid even after hearing it was a false alarm.

I went from panic to semi-panic and Are we sure? he added.

Hawaii last year brought back sirens which had not been tested since the Cold War in response to an escalating war of words between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Experts believe a North Korean missile could take just 20 minutes to reach Hawaii, leaving people with little time to react.By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Speaking for the first time about her coronation 65 years ago, Britain's Queen Elizabeth has revealed how uncomfortable riding in her golden carriage to the ceremony was and how wearing the Imperial State Crown risked "breaking your neck".

Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, was crowned queen on June 2, 1953 at London's Westminster Abbey, in a ancient, grand service whose origins date back 1,000 years.

In a very rare, personal account for a BBC documentary to be aired on Sunday, she speaks candidly about the occasion and some of the Crown Jewels which play a symbolic role in the ceremony.

"Horrible," she said of the ride in the four-tonne carriage from Buckingham Palace to the abbey where English monarchs have been crowned since 1066. "It's only sprung on leather, not very comfortable."

Elizabeth, now 91, was just 25 when she became queen on the death of her father George VI in 1952, with the coronation taking place the following year.

"It's the sort of I suppose the beginning of one's life really as a sovereign," she said. "It is sort of a pageant of chivalry and old-fashioned way of doing things really. I've seen one coronation (her father's in 1937) and been the recipient in the other, which is pretty remarkable."

Giving her personal recollection, the queen also reveals how she had struggled with her coronation dress, which was embroided in silk with pearls, and gold and silver thread.

"I remember one moment when I was going against the pile of the carpet and I couldn't move at all," she said.

The documentary also features informal footage taken behind the scenes, including images of son and heir Prince Charles, then aged four, and his younger sister Anne playing underneath the queen's long robe.

"Not what they're meant to do," the queen quips.

"DISADVANTAGES TO CROWNS"

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Charles has previously revealed how his mother had practised wearing the 2.2 kg (4.9 lb) St Edward's Crown while he was being bathed.

Elizabeth wore two crowns for the occasion: the St Edward's Crown, which she has never worn since, and the diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown which she wears at formal occasions such as the opening of parliament when she delivers a speech outlining the government's legislative plans.

"You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break and it (the crown) would fall off," she said smiling. "So there are some disadvantages to crowns but otherwise they're quite important things."

The documentary shows her peering inquisitively and then grinning as she taps at pearls hanging on the 1 kg (2.3 lb) crown, two of which are said to have been bought by her Tudor namesake Queen Elizabeth I.

"They were meant to be Queen Elizabeth's earrings," she said. "They don't look very happy now. Most pearls like to be living creatures so they've just been hanging out here for years which is rather sad."

Elizabeth has never given a formal interview during her long reign and Coronation expert Alastair Bruce, whom the queen spoke to for the programme, said their 1-1/2-hour interaction had been a "conversation".

"You don't ask the queen a direct question, so you pose a comment that the queen then responds to," he told reporters.

He said he had the impression the queen was probably not fond of the heavy crown and was "very practical" in her treatment of the crown jewels.

He cited how during their conversation the crown had been slightly out of the queen's reach so he asked the crown jeweller to help move the table it was on a bit closer.

Instead, the queen herself pulls the table towards her.

Bruce said: "If you look very closely, the table suddenly just goes 'woomf' and the crown 'woomf' and the crown jeweller is left there with nothing and she says 'well you know, it's my crown.'"

(Editing by Stephen Addison)The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a $500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defence contractor Rafael, military chief Bipin Rawat said Friday.

India recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the country this week.

Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with premier Narendra Modi's pet 'Make in India' initiative.

"They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results," Rawat said.

"That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal)."

Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India's operational capabilities in the interim.

"So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? It's through the Spike.

"Rather than going whole hog we are in the discussion with the government" to fill in the gap he said.

"We can possibly look at a lesser number to meet the gap."

India has been investing tens of billions of dollars in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and Pakistan.

Israel is a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year.

In April last year the two countries signed a military deal worth nearly $2 billion which includes the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

But Modi has said he wants to end India's status as the world's number one defence importer and to have 70 percent of hardware manufactured domestically by the turn of the decade.ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump's latest decision on a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers undermined the solid multilateral agreement.

Trump said on Friday he would waive nuclear sanctions against Iran for the last time to give Washington and its European allies a chance to fix the "terrible flaws" of the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Trump's policy & today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29. JCPOA (the nuclear deal) is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, U.S. must bring itself into full compliance - just like Iran," Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Twitter account.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)When James Franco denied sexual misconduct allegations in an interview with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night, Violet Paley started crying.

I was just like: Well, now no one is going to believe me,' she told TIME on Thursday.

Paley, 23, first spoke out about her experience with Franco on Twitter after she saw footage of him wearing a Times Up pin as he accepted the Golden Globe for Best Actor  Musical or Comedy on Sunday night.

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Paley was among five women to accuse The Disaster Artist star of sexually inappropriate behavior in a Los Angeles Times report published Thursday. Francos attorney denied all allegations against him to the Times. His attorney and spokesperson did not immediately respond to TIMEs request for comment.

Paley told TIME that she met Franco through a mutual friend in 2016 and that he took an interest in her writing. She said he was initially a good friend and mentor, then the relationship became romantic. In April of that year, Paley visited Franco on a student film set of an adaptation of William Faulkners A Rose for Emily, Paleys favorite short story. Paley said she thought the two would hang out on set, but instead Franco came out to her car and asked her to drive to a different location. Once they parked, Paley said Franco pressured her to perform oral sex on him.

I felt really off about it, and I got really upset I just thought I was being dramatic, she said. I knew I felt weird about it.

Francos attorney told the Times that Paleys allegations were not accurate.

Franco and Paleys relationship continued after the alleged incident, but they stopped seeing each other a few months later.

The pair then fell out of touch, but a week after the New York Times reported on multiple allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, Paley emailed Franco to express her discomfort with what she said happened in the car. (Paley shared the email with TIME.) She said Franco never responded to her email, but he called her months later to tell her he was a changed man and that he was wrong to be in a sexual relationship with her while she was recovering from substance abuse.

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He appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday night, where he again denied the allegations but said he would take knocks to empower women to speak up about their experiences.

In this handout photo provided by NBCUniversal, James Franco, with Tommy Wiseau and Dave Franco, accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture  Musical or Comedy for The Disaster Artist during the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California

Paley said Francos response is upsetting. Hes saying that he cares about these women speaking out. Its such bullst, she said. He lied on TV on two different late-night shows, making me  who doesnt have a platform at all  look like a psychopath.

Franco told Colbert on Tuesday night that if theres restitution to be made, I will make it. Paley said that Franco hasnt reached out to her since she spoke up, and she has not tried to contact him.

Paley said coming forward has been difficult. Shes received a barrage of criticism on social media, including death threats. She deleted the Twitter app off of her phone and made her Instagram account private, though more women have privately reached out to her with allegations against Franco.

Im fine most of the time, but sometimes Im regretful and wish I hadnt said anything. Sometimes I just want to leave L.A., says Paley, a writer and filmmaker, but I think its still worth it because of that feeling of knowing that youre helping someone else and standing up for what you know is right. She said it would be validating if prominent Hollywood women spoke out against Franco, but what she really wants is for Franco to take responsibility.

I wish he had originally replied to my email and met with me and just listened. I wish he made a promise to change, she said. When the allegations against Louis C.K. came out  and they were disgusting  he acknowledged what he did. It would give me some comfort if he were to say, What happened was true and Im sorry.'John Feeley, the U.S. ambassador to Panama, has written and submitted a letter of resignation, saying he is leaving the office on principle and no longer feels comfortable serving in the Trump administration.

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The U.S. State Department has confirmed that Feeley is indeed leaving his post on March 9, adding that he has opted to "retire for personal reasons."

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"John Feeley, the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, has informed the White House, the Department of State, and the Government of Panama of his decision to retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 of this year," State Department spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala told Newsweek.

While some have speculated that Feeley's decision was influenced by Trump's comments, a senior State Department official separately told Newsweek that was not the case.

"Ambassador Feeley...informed leadership of his decision on December 27, 2017," the official said.

freeley-500-347x433

U.S. Panama Embassy Website

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In Feeley's letter, he said he could no longer faithfully serve the president.

"As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies," he wrote, according to an excerpt of the letter read to Reuters. "My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come."

The news of Feeley's resignation came just a day after President Donald Trump reportedly referred to a number of countries as "shitholes" during a discussion about immigration legislation in the White House.

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"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump reportedly said during a meeting with both Democrats and Republicans. The White House released a statement immediately following The Washington Post's report, notably not denying that the president made these comments.

Most popular: Who Is Tomi Lahren? Fox News Contributor Faces Backlash For Shithole Countries Comments

However, on Friday morning Trump vaguely denied ever calling Haiti, El Salvador and a number of African countries "shitholes." He tweeted: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!"

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Feeley will be departing the State Department after nearly 30 years of service. He was nominated to the ambassadorship by President Barack Obama in July 2015 and was sworn into the post on January 15, 2016. Before assuming his current position, Feeley served as principal deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs from 2012 to 2015. From 2009 to 2012, he was stationed in Mexico, where he worked as deputy chief of mission and charge daffaires at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Feeley has also been outspoken on LGBTQ rights and in 2014 addressed the difficulties LGBTQ advocates face in South America.

"It is the cultural heritage of machismo, which is a bad thing in many ways, Feeley said. [It is] not just in the manifestation of anti-LGBT attitudes.

Feeley was also a vocal supporter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Wally Brewster, whose appointment generated a backlash because Brewster is married to a man.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekBy John Walcott and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks between North and South Korea ahead of next month's Winter Olympics have eased fears of war over Pyongyang's development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States - at least for now. But North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has shown no sign of willingness to give in to U.S. demands and negotiate away a weapons program he sees as vital to his survival, so any reduction in tensions could prove shortlived. Rhetoric on all sides may have moderated as a result of the first round of intra-Korean talks in more than two years on Tuesday, but U.S. officials say hawks in President Donald Trump's administration, up to and including Trump himself, remain pessimistic that they will lead anywhere. In recent days, in a series of media leaks, U.S. officials have spoken of the president's willingness to consider a limited preemptive strike on North Korea to change Kim's mindset, despite the risk of touching off a war. But there are divisions within the administration. National security adviser H.R. McMaster has been the most vocal of Trump's aides arguing for a more active military approach, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the military leadership have urged caution, stressing the need to exhaust diplomatic options, according to five officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. A White House National Security Council official said the administration was "constantly developing a range of options, both military and non-military" but declined to address any differences between senior aides. The Pentagon declined comment on internal discussions, though one spokesman said Mattis had stressed in public that the effort to confront the North Korean crisis was diplomatically led. The State Department referred to Tillersons statements on the need to pursue diplomacy backed by strong military options. According to the narrative put forth by those advocating a tougher response, a strike could be limited to a single target with the aim of making Kim see reason, not to topple his government, something North Korea's neighbor and only major ally, China, would not countenance, the officials said. "Trump is convinced the only thing Kim understands and respects is a punch in the face, which he thinks no previous administration has had the guts to do," one U.S. official said. "At a minimum, he thinks that warning the Chinese about a preemptive strike would motivate Beijing to force Kim to shut down the programs that threaten the U.S.," the official said. It remains unclear whether these disclosures by people close to the internal deliberations were simply psychological warfare aimed at sowing strategy-changing fear within the North Korean leadership or reflected Trump's serious intent.However, the administration's debate on whether to put greater emphasis on strike plans has slowed because of the North-South contacts and February's Winter Olympics to be hosted by South Korea. Pyongyang said it would send a delegation. Some U.S. officials have suggested that North Korea was using diplomatic overtures to try to drive a wedge between Washington and ally Seoul and did not intend to engage seriously. The South and the United States are technically still at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. A new dawn: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Ar8lUu 'WHO KNOWS WHERE IT LEADS?' Trump's public response to the intra-Korean meeting has been mostly positive though at times tinged with skepticism. "Who knows where it leads?" he told reporters on Wednesday after discussing the talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a long-time advocate of dialogue with Pyongyang and whose capital Seoul could be devastated in any major conflict. Trump, who has exchanged insults and threats with Kim in recent months, was quoted on Thursday as telling the Wall Street Journal in an interview: "I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un." Trump offered no details and asked whether he had spoken with Kim, said: "I don't want to comment on it. I'm not saying I have or I haven't." The administration had been due to hold a Cabinet-level meeting this week to sharpen its economic and military options for dealing with North Korea. But officials say this discussion has been postponed until after the Paralympic Games, which follow the Olympics and end in March, given the intra-Korean talks and a planned 20-country meeting on North Korea hosted by Canada next week. The Vancouver meeting, aimed at increasing the U.S.-led pressure campaign against Pyongyang, was announced by Washington just after North Korea's last intercontinental ballistic missile test in late November. One U.S. official said one option would be to bomb a North Korean missile or nuclear facility based on a "high confidence" intelligence assessment that North Korea planned another test. Such a strike could be triggered by evidence that North Korea was fueling an ICBM, the official said. Another option would be a retaliatory strike on an ICBM or nuclear site after a test, another official said. The officials said McMaster has argued that if China were assured that a strike would be limited to one target and not the beginning of a campaign to overthrow Kim, an all-out war could be avoided. Chinese political experts said China was opposed to even limited strikes. However, Zhao Tong, a North Korea expert at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing, said China's attitude might change if North Korea launched a nuclear-tipped ICBM into the Pacific Ocean or fired missiles toward Guam. China sees the Trump administration's discussion of military options as a psychological game to force Beijing and Moscow to maintain pressure on Pyongyang, but they were making crisis preparations just in case, Zhao said. "Even if Trump is not really serious about a military strike, there is always the risk of miscalculation or an over-reaction from North Korea," Zhao said. A South Korean official said Seoul believed the chance of a U.S. strike was still low. "President Trump is aware of the consequences. He's been advised by a lot of agencies and departments of the damage it would cause and the number of victims," the official said. The prevailing view at the State Department is that military action is not worth the huge risk, a senior U.S. official said. However, the official said, "there are military options that could achieve benefits we consider in our national interest at a cost we are willing to bear." The consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies is Kim is convinced Washington seeks to overthrow him and only a nuclear arsenal can deter that. A Japanese ruling party lawmaker said he did not believe the Korean talks could narrow the gap between North Korea's demand for recognition as a nuclear-armed state and the U.S. refusal to accept that. "It may be dangerous after the Olympics," the lawmaker said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick, John Walcott and Phil Stewart in Washington,; Josh Smith, Hyonghee Shin and Soyoung Kim in Seoul, Christian Shepherd in Beijing and Nobohiro Kubo and Linda Sieg in Tokyo; editing by Grant McCool)Pristina (AFP) - Kosovo has asked Cyprus to extradite an Israeli man suspected of being the brains behind an international organ trafficking gang.

The suspect, named as Moshe Harel by local press, is accused of organising more than 30 illegal kidney removals and transplants at a clinic near Kosovo's capital Pristina, the prosecutor's office said.

"I will do my utmost so that this person, who, in addition to criminal offences has harmed the international image of Kosovo, is brought to justice for these acts," said Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri on Facebook.

Police announced his arrest in Cyprus last week.

Harel has been hunted by the authorities for almost a decade for exploiting victims, often recruited from poor areas in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, by promising 15,000 euros ($18,000) for their organs.

Recipients, mainly Israelis, would pay up to 100,000 euros for the transplant.

The organ trafficking network came to light in 2008 after a Turkish man collapsed at Pristina airport after having a kidney removed.

Police raided the Medicus clinic, which shut following the scandal.

In 2013, an EU-led court in Kosovo sentenced five Kosovan doctors to up to eight years in prison for organ trafficking in the country.

Donors, whose organs were illegally removed, were left without proper medical care and treated "like waste," prosecutors said at the time of the trial.

But the Supreme Court of Kosovo annulled the verdict in 2016 and ordered a new trial, which is ongoing.

The indictment named Harel as the trafficking network's mastermind, while Turkish doctor Yusuf Ercin Sonmez -- labelled by Kosovo media as the "Turkish Frankenstein" and still on the run -- was suspected of performing the transplants at the clinic.Chicago (AFP) - A Ku Klux Klan leader convicted in the infamous killings of three civil rights workers memorialized in the film "Mississippi Burning," has died in prison, officials said Friday.

Edgar Ray Killen was serving a 60-year prison sentence for spearheading the 1964 slayings of the men who were in the southern US state as part of a drive to register black voters.

The case galvanized public opinion against segregation and helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It also inspired the Oscar-winning 1988 film "Mississippi Burning."

Officials said the 92-year-old Killen died late Thursday.

"The cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy. However, no foul play is suspected," the Mississippi Department of Corrections said in a statement.

Killen was accused of orchestrating the shocking murders of the three political workers -- two white men and one black man.

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner initially went missing after being arrested by local police and then released.

The sheriff's deputy who arrested them informed Klansmen of their detainment, and Killen then orchestrated a KKK mob to attack the men.

The three men were initially considered missing, and the FBI joined in the search to find them.

Weeks later, their buried bodies were discovered at a farm, shot at point-blank range. Chaney, the only African American among them, had been badly beaten.

Killen had escaped punishment for almost four decades, his initial trial ending in a hung jury.

He had been living as a part-time preacher and lumber mill operator, but was also an organizer in the KKK who had established a local group.

The case was reopened in 2005, and Killen was convicted and sent to prison. He was the only one of the culprits to be convicted of murder charges.Last February, following the Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, Moby posted on social media claiming to have insider information on connections between the Trump administration and Russia. The producer/DJ said that after talking to friends in DC, he had allegedly learned that the Fusion GPS dossier was 100% real and that the Russian government was blackmailing the president. Now, in a new interview with WFPK in Louisville, Kentucky, Moby has doubled down on his claims.A teen MS-13 gang member tortured and stabbed another girl to death in Virginia because she thought the girl was responsible for her boyfriends death, she told interrogators.

Eighteen-year-old Venus Romero Iraheta initially claimed she hadnt killed 15-year-old Damaris Reyes Rivas, but pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree murder, abduction and criminal street gang participation, FOX5 DC reported.

In an interrogation video taken on February 14a month after Rivas was murderedIraheta confessed to the crime, the outlet said.

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Iraheta blamed the girl for the death of her boyfriend Christian Sosa Rivas, who was also part of the MS-13 gang, she told interrogators.

Reyes Rivas was taken to a park in Fairfax County, Virginia, where a group of MS-13 gang members were waiting, FOX5 DC reported.

Iraheta and gang members there made the victim walk through snow without shoes or a shirt, and Iraheta sliced off a tattoo Sosa Rivas had given to Reyes Rivas on her hand before stabbing her in the stomach, according to the outlet.

Youre going to remember me until the day we see each other in hell. Dont forget my name, Iraheta recalled telling Reyes Rivas, the outlet reported.

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Iraheta then stabbed the girl in the stomach around a dozen times before stabbing her in the neck, she told interrogators.

I killed her, she told interrogators. I dont remember how many times I stabbed her in the stomach.

Thirteen. Something like that, she added.

Iraheta is one of 10 people arrested in connection with Reyes Rivass murder, according to FOX5 DC. She could face life in prison plus 20 years, the outlet reported.

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When interrogators asked Iraheta if she was bothered by the murder, she shook her head, the outlet said.

Story continues

MS-13 gained widespread attention last summer, when President Donald Trump gave a speech focusing on his plans to dismantle the transnational group.

The plan focus[ed] on heavy policing of immigrants and an overall crackdown on illegal immigration.

Prior to Trumps speech, the state of Texas released a threat assessment that maintained the group was one of the states most dangerous gangs.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekA breast cancer drug has received FDA approval to treat a condition that Angelina Jolie made famous. (Photo: Getty Images)

The FDA has approved a new treatment for women with breast cancer caused by the BRCA mutation, which Angelina Jolie famously attributed to her preventive double mastectomy.

According to a press release by the Food and Drug Administration, the drug Lynparza was approved for patients whose breast cancer has metastasized and who carry a mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The genes purpose is to repair damaged DNA and keep cells healthy; however, when they dont function properly, the odds of developing breast or ovarian cancer increase significantly.

Jolie, 42, raised public awareness for BRCA genes with her decision to remove both breasts, a process she detailed in a 2013 New York Times op-ed titled My Medical Choice.

Explaining that she carried a faulty gene inherited from her mother, who died of cancer at age 56, Jolie wrote, My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

Describing the eight-hour procedure to remove breast tissue as a scene out of a science-fiction film, Jolie wrote of the aftermath, On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.

Angelina Jolie said that Brad Pitt was her rock during her preventive double mastectomy. (Photo: Getty Images)

Jolie also shared how the experience brought her and Brad Pitt closer together at the time. I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.

Story continues

She added, I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

Jolies viral essay triggered a worldwide phenomenon called the Angelina Jolie effect, leading to enormous interest in hereditary breast cancer/genetic testing, which scientists directly attributed to the actress. This reported a 2.5-fold increase in referrals of UK women with family histories of breast cancer 34 months following Ms. Jolies revelation, wrote researchers in the journal Breast Cancer Research. And a Harvard study found that two weeks after Jolies essay was published, there was a 64 percent increase in testing rates.

Angelina Jolie made her first post-mastectomy appearance at Brad Pitts World War Z premiere in 2015. (Photo: Getty Images)

Two years later, Jolie shared her decision to remove her ovaries and her fallopian tubes in a New York Times essay titled Diary of a Surgery, a procedure that forced her into menopause. I had been planning this for some time. It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe, wrote Jolie.

Sharing that her doctor was concerned about elevated inflammatory markers that signified early cancer, Jolie wrote, I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful.

Although the actress tested negative for cancer, the fear prompted her to undergo a second preventive procedure. I did not do this solely because I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation, and I want other women to hear this, she warned. A positive BRCA test does not mean a leap to surgery. I have spoken to many doctors, surgeons and naturopaths. There are other options. Some women take birth control pills or rely on alternative medicines combined with frequent checks. There is more than one way to deal with any health issue. The most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally.

Celebrities have a surprising influence on public health. For example, according to two studies conducted by San Diego State University, Charlie Sheens 2015 disclosure that he was HIV-positive triggered increased sales of HIV home tests and internet searches for the disease.

However, its important for people to weigh their diagnoses individually. The Harvard study found that mastectomy rates didnt increase due to the Angelina Jolie effect, and in fact they declined by 3 percent. Wrote the researchers, This suggests those who received the genetic test had a low risk of carrying the mutation in the first place.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un may have led an isolated, unhappy childhood, despite inheriting absolute control over the elusive state, his father's former bodyguard has revealed.

From 1978 to 1988, Lee Young Guk reportedly had insider access to one of the world's most secretive ruling families, serving as personal bodyguard to Kim Jong Il before he took power in 1994. After one failed attempt and a five-year stay in a prison camp, Lee said he successfully defected sometime around 2000, and since then has revealed some unique perspectives on all three generations of North Korea's ruling dynasty, including its latest and youngest leader.

Related: Kim Jong Un is becoming North Korea's most powerful leader, and he's not old enough to be U.S. president

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"He was stressed and had no one to play with his own age," Lee told ABC News in an interview conducted in October and released Friday. "There were only adults, who educated and played with him."

"His personality was explosive" he added. "When he was angry, he acted without considering the consequences."

GettyImages-104499288

JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images

Kim Jong Un was believed to have been born on January 7, 1984, his actual birth date remained unclear and Lee claimed to have observed him "many times" when he was 6 or 7, according to the ABC News report. While on the surface, Kim's public image appeared stoic and even warm as compared to his father and grandfather before him, Lee said the millennial leader who now commands a nuclear arsenal and missiles said capable of striking the U.S. was prone to fits of rage as a young boy.

Story continues

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"He was quick-tempered," Lee told ABC News. "He doesnt care about what others think. He doesnt feel sorry for other people. He does whatever he wants. He would yell at the ladies. He was like that."

Lee also claimed that Kim Jong Un's older half-brother Kim Jong Nam was treated better than his younger sibling by their father. While Kim Jong Il was groomed for the North Korean throne under his own father's wings for decades, Kim Jong Un had relatively few years to prepare for the role. This has led to speculation that Kim Jong Nam was initially chosen for the part, but rejected after being caught trying to visit Disneyland Tokyo in 2001. He was killed last February in an apparent poisoning plot many believed to have been orchestrated by his half-brother.

Some experts, such as North Korean Leadership Watch blog founder Michael Madden, have disputed that Kim Jong Nam was favored for the country's leadership. Fellow 38 North project contributor James Person, research director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, explained that Kim Jong Il was also believed to have separated the boys in fear of his own father.

"Kim Jong Il kept his children apart. Reportedly, Kim Jong Un had never even met Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother executed in Malaysia last year," Person told Newsweek.

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"Part of the reason for the secrecy was to keep word of Kim Jong Ils children with various consorts secret from his father, Kim Il Sung, who strongly disapproved of some of these relationships," he added.

GettyImages-903985816

KCNA/KNS/STR/AFP/Getty Images

Lee, whose escape from North Korea has been dated 1999, 2000 or 2002 in various outlets, told ABC News that Kim's isolation affected Kim's personality. As a leader, Kim has proved just as brutal or even more so than his predecessors by purging a number of older, elite officials. He also has opened himself up more to North Koreans, becoming the first leader to show off his wife and often engaging with lower-ranking personnel.

Neither of these traits has endeared him to President Donald Trump, who has increased U.S. military pressure and rolled out heavy sanctions against Kim's already struggling economy. The two men have resorted to nuclear threats and personal insults, but a burgeoning peace process initiated by Kim's New Year's speech has raised cautious hopes for a de-escalation on the Korean Peninsula, where a mid-20th century has never technically ended.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAn Ohio teacher has been ordered to undergo training after telling a black student he might be lynched if he didnt get on task.

Renee Thole, a white social studies teacher at predominantly white Mason Middle School who made the comments to the 13-year-old male student in December, wont be disciplined, but has been reprimanded and will be required to attend cultural proficiency training, the Mason City School District said Thursday.

The boys mother, Tanisha Agee-Bell, said she was shocked when her son, Nathan, told her about the teachers comment. She said the teen had been reluctant to tell her at first because he challenged the teachers comments as racist and didnt want to get in trouble, according to local station WLWT-TV.

He was in class and the teacher told him that if he didnt get on task his friends are going to form an angry mob and lynch you, Agee-Bell told ABC News. When she said that, he said back to her, Thats racist. She approached him and said, Why do you think thats racist? I would never do anything to hurt you.

Agee-Bell complained to school officials, who began investigating.

Thole admitted she made the comment and immediately recognized she had done something wrong, school district spokeswoman Tracey Carson told ABC News.

Agee-Bell said Thole told her she made the comment out of frustration with Nathans classroom performance.

I told her, Next time youre frustrated are you going to call him a n*****? the mom told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Thole reportedly apologized to her class for the lynching remark. She said she meant no harm and didnt think about the racially tinged history behind the word, according to WXIX-TV.

More than 3,440 African-Americans were lynched in the United States from 1882 to the height of the civil rights movement, according to the NAACP.

Nathan is no longer in her class. Thole, however, is still teaching, and that angers Agee-Bell.

For me, thats enough for her, as a social studies teacher especially, to be removed from the classroom, Agee-Bell said. I dont know if shes racist, but I know that what she said is racist.

Story continues

The school district released this statement on Wednesday:

Growing Greatness Together is our districts vision. But, we have not arrived. We have work to do. Sometimes we mess up. Clearly, that was the case here. And, even though this teacher did not set out to hurt a child - clearly that happened too. It was amazing that this young black man was brave enough to confront his teacher when the incident happened. We have seen an uptick in the number of racially and culturally insensitive comments in our schools and community. Sometimes these are said out of genuine ignorance. For example, some students contend that they are not being offensive if they say n***a vs. the n-word. As a district, we want to be very clear. We are not OK normalizing racial slurs. Anyone who does so faces disciplinary action. Our district will continue to invest in training and resources on culturally proficient practices for administrators, educators and classified staff members that lift up our districts values.

A petition on Change.org asks that Thole be fired.

Also on HuffPost

Bullying

Even kids who share the same identity -- be it racial or gender -- can be guilty of bullying and discrimination against each other. Ontario's Ministry of Education defines bullying as "a form of repeated, persistent, and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem, or reputation."

Cyberbullying

Social media can be a platform for bullying to continue even after school is out. Cyberbullying occurs when young people take malicious actions online. through chat rooms, email, social sites and instant messaging.

Stock Answer To 'What Are You?'

"You don't need to go into full confessional mode, but have fun with it, if that helps. Or be perfectly honest," author Jonathan R. Miller said. Miller writes e-books with multi-ethnic characters and themes. You don't have to talk about all the nuances of your family tree every time you're asked about your background, he said. That can be exhausting. Find something that works for you personally.

Real Answer To 'What Are You?'

"I like the word 'mixed' because it's a messy word, and in my experience growing up mixed is exactly that," Miller said. He suggests that it's important to allow yourself to truly wrestle with questions of identity in environments you consider safe.

A Friend To Confide In

If you are struggling with your identity, you don't have to tell the whole world, but confide in a friend that you trust. Having someone to confide in is important. "If you can, find someone who you can talk to about your most honest, ever-evolving, often-messy answer to the question, 'What am I?'" Miller said.

If You Can't Speak, Write

"Maybe you don't have anyone trustworthy to talk to honestly about your experiences. Write about them. It helped me, sometimes, to get those out," Miller said. It may not make a lot of sense initially and it might feel uncomfortably personal, but write. Keep a journal, write short stories and rename the characters, try your hand at poetry -- whatever feels best.

Let Your Identity Be An Open Question

"You are likely being told at different times, more or less, to hurry up and get off the fence, pick a side and get on with it," Miller said. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be unsure of who you are, even if your peers seem to have their acts together, he said. Teenage years are discovery years. Miller also quoted author Rainer Maria Rilke: "'Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. ... Live in the question.' That's good advice. Difficult to follow, but good."

Embrace The Chameleon

When it comes to mixed heritage, "you don't have to be 'both' or 'other' or 'all of the above' all of the time. Sometimes the only way to figure out what you are is to choose one thing and be it for a while," Miller said. Explore how it feels to fully embrace a single aspect of your identity, for short period of time. See "what stick and what slides off." It's simply learning, Miller said.

Don't Be Afraid To Abandon The Labels Altogether

"I can't tell you how many multi-racial people I've met who have chosen a single race or ignored race entirely and been perfectly content with the decision. A biracial friend of mine used to tell me, 'I'm black and white, yes, but I'm black. Period,'" Miller said. He said he knows many people have chosen to identify with only one aspect of their multi-background, while others have embraced the blend.

Get Involved In Life

Find creative ways to occupy your time, Miller said. Join a group or do an activity (with others) where you are empowered to be who you are, instead of having to act how others think you need to be in order to fit in.

Be Proud Of Who You Are

Take pride in your ethnic (culture, color or religion) heritage. You have no control over your heritage, and you can't change that fact that this is who you are. So embrace it and learn as much as you can. "You may feel like it would be an insult to your heritage to embrace one aspect of yourself above the others, but trust me, it wouldn't be. This is important: it is not your job to uphold, with perfect equity and grace, all of the elements that went into your making," Miller said.

Have A Ready Defense Against The Identity Police

"Often they're the 'gatekeepers' that decide whether you're 'in' or 'out.' But what you can do is have a ready answer for the 'charges' they level against you. Whether you use humour, earnestness, or self-righteous anger, it helps to have your defense lined up and ready," Miller said. Sometimes people think all the "members" of their cultural or ethnic community must behave, dress and think a certain way. But as an individual, you can do whatever you want and find your own identity.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Adam Rippon may be headed to the Olympics, but theres one aspect of the gig he wont be participating in.

The 28-year-old figure skater, who on Jan. 7 became the first openly gay man to qualify for the Winter Games, has no plans to visit the White House, as Team USA members have traditionally done after the Olympics.

I wont go because I dont think somebody like me would be welcome there, Rippon, a native of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, told the BBC. I know what its like to go into a room and feel like youre not wanted there.

As an Olympic athlete, Rippon sees it as his duty to be a role model. Accepting an invitation from President Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-LGBTQ platform, would be disingenuous, he said.

I think its really important that we stand up for what we believe in, and we speak out against things that we think are wrong and unjust, he said.

He added, If I talked to people the way that President Trump talks to people, my mom would kick my ass.

Rippon isnt the only U.S. athlete who has vowed to decline a post-Olympics invitation to the White House. Freeskier Gus Kenworthy, who will find out later this month if hes made the U.S. ski team, told Time magazine that he would also opt out, noting that he has no interest in faking support for the president.

Lindsey Vonn, who is also hoping to qualify for the U.S. ski team, similarly said she would not go if invited to the White House.

I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president, she told CNN last month. I want to represent our country well, and I dont think there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Islamabad (AFP) - US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel has assured the head of Pakistan's army that Washington "is not contemplating any unilateral action" inside the country, a statement from the Pakistani military said Friday.

Votel, who spoke to General Qamar Javed Bajwa by telephone "over the week", also said that the "on-going turbulence" around a tweet by Donald Trump suspending aid to the country was "a temporary phase", according to the statement.

The statement came after Trump froze up to $1.9 billion in funding to Pakistan, in a move designed to force its military and intelligence apparatus to halt its support for the Afghan Taliban and other Islamist groups.

The move, first announced by Trump in a New Year's Day tweet, sparked indignation in Pakistan, which has long denied the US accusations of militant support, and accused Washington of dismissing the sacrifices it has made in the war on extremism.

It also ignited speculation that the US could resume drone strikes or launch operations along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where militant groups once operated with impunity.

The Pakistani military said both Votel and an unnamed US senator phoned Bajwa to discuss security cooperation "over the week".

"The General said that US values Pakistan's role towards war on terror and expected that on-going turbulence remains a temporary phase", the statement said.

Votel also told Bajwa the "US is not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan", it continued.

For his part Bajwa told Votel that the "entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed" over the US statements, but insisted Pakistan would continue to support peace efforts in the region despite being made a "scapegoat".

He also said that Pakistan would not seek to unfreeze the funding, but does "expect honourable recognition of our contributions, sacrifices and unwavering resolve in fight against terrorism".

Story continues

Spokesman Colonel John Thomas said Centcom is in "continuous communication" with the Pakistan military, including recurring conversations between Votel and Bajwa.

"We value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider that might lead to a positive path forward," Thomas told AFP.

Trump has been less charitable towards Pakistan.

"They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" he wrote in his New Year's Day tweet, referring to Pakistan.

Officials said the administration had frozen payments from the "coalition support fund" set aside to reimburse Pakistani spending on counter-terror operations, worth $900 million.

Also in question is almost $1 billion of US military equipment that has allowed Pakistan access to advanced military technology.MANILA (Reuters) - Dozens of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals have been arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of extortion of money from people in China via a telecoms scam, police said on Saturday. Philippine police apprehended the suspects involved in voice phishing operations in two separate raids, one in San Vicente town in the northern province of Ilocos Sur and another in Las Pinas in the Philippine capital Manila. Philippine TV station ABS-CBN reported that as many as 153 people were arrested, but Reuters could not immediately confirm this number. The suspects were posing as policemen, prosecutors or judges, and telling their victims they were involved in some irregularities. "The victims are told they are facing charges or being investigated, that their cellphone number is involved," Senior Inspector Artemio Cinco Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police anti-cybercrime group, told ABS-CBN. The victims were asked to transfer money to the fraudsters' bank accounts in order to avoid questioning, he said. ABS-CBN showed footages of the raid in Ilocos Sur where improvised phone booths were found, and the arrests. Similar operations have been uncovered in recent years in the Philippines and elsewhere, including Cambodia and Indonesia, leading to the arrest of thousands of suspects. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; editing by Clelia Oziel)Criticism that Pope Francis is failing to tackle allegations of abuse, in the wake of scandals in both countries, is likely to overshadow his week-long visit



Pope Francis in St Peters Basilica at the Vatican. Activists in Chile have promised to protest every day of his visit. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP

Pope Francis leaves Rome this weekend for a tour of Chile and Peru amid renewed accusations that he is failing to tackle allegations of clerical sexual abuse after scandals in both countries.



The visit comes as the pope seeks to shore up the Catholic church faith against the loss of followers in two of South Americas most conservative nations.

During the week-long visit, the pope will also travel to the Amazon city of Puerto Maldonado in Peru, where he will meet indigenous leaders and is expected to expand on the environmental message of his 2015 encyclical on climate change .

But the tour is likely to be overshadowed by the issue of sexual abuse within the church.

Earlier this week, the Vatican took over a Peru-based Catholic sect whose founder has been accused of sexual and psychological abuse. Meanwhile, in Chile  where the pope arrives on Monday  activists have promised protest every day of the visit over his 2015 appointment of a bishop accused of covering up for one of the countrys most notorious paedophiles.



On Wednesday, the Vatican said it had appointed a commissioner to oversee the lay Catholic movement Sodalitium of Christian Life, weeks after Peruvian prosecutors announced they were seeking the arrest on charges of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, of the groups founder, Luis Fernando Figari, and five other members.

The Pope had shown particular attention to the gravity of the information, the statement added.

But Pedro Salinas, an author and former Sodalitium member who first unveiled the abuse allegations, called it a sensationalist manoeuvre ahead of the trip.

A banner reading Welcome Pope Francis ahead of the papal visit, in Temuco, Chile, on 10 January. Photograph: Reuters

Figari moved to Rome in 2010, years after allegations of abuse in the group first emerged, and the Vatican only opened an investigation in 2016. Its another symptom of the disdain and apathy with which the supreme pontiff approaches the principal ill which afflicts the Catholic church, Salinas said.

Story continues

Victims groups in Chile and Peru have invited prominent campaigners against child abuse within the Catholic Church to join them during the pontiffs visit.

Among them is Peter Saunders, founder of UK-based Napac which supports victims of abuse, and a former member of the Vaticans commission examining the issue of clerical sex abuse.

Saunders said he had been invited to stand in solidarity with the people of Osorno, where outrage has focussed on Pope Franciss 2015 appointment of Juan Barros as local bishop  despite accusations that Barros turned a blind eye to abuse against minors by a paedophile priest called Fernando Karadima.

Karadima was forced to retire by the Vatican 2011 after an internal inquiry found him guilty of sexually abusing minors.

Once again the Vatican  under pressure from survivors and civil authorities  is being forced to show some willingness to take action, said Saunders, who was dismissed from the Holy Sees inquiry into the issue in 2016.

Its not good enough. The church should fully pledge to hand over everything it has on this man and the many other alleged criminals lurking in its ranks  or living under Vatican protection, he adds.

Local activists say that their requests to meet with the Pope had gone unanswered.

The church should be a place you can openly trust, and not an institution in which the shepherds eat the lambs, said one protest leader, Juan Carlos Claret.

On the eve of the trip, vandals attacked five churches with firebombs in the Chilean capital of Santiago and warned in a leaflet addressing the pope that the next bombs will be in your cassock.

Elsewhere in Chile,Francis is likely to face a rough reception from indigenous Mapuche who are demanding the withdrawal of all churches from their ancestral lands.



John Paul II asked for forgiveness from the Mapuche for all the atrocities that were committed during the conquest and colonial period, said Jorge Hueque, a spokesman for the Mapuche parliament.



But the Catholic church has never made any attempt to return the lands that they took from us or make any type of retribution, he said.

Bishop Juan Barros faced protests while attended a religious service in Chile in 2015. Photograph: Reuters

Pope Francis can expect a friendlier reception in Peru with an encounter with more than 1,000 indigenous Amazonians in Puerto Maldonado, the capital of the jungle Madre de Dios region.

Julio Cusurichi, the president of the Native Federation of the Madre de Dios River, said that the visit of a world leader as an opportunity to highlight their fight to preserve the rainforest and thus combat climate change.

Contact (with the church) has not always been good for us, the indigenous, but in the current circumstances we must join forces against the overwhelming push for extractive industries, said Cusurichi, the 2007 winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

He said he believed the Pope would support their push to obtain land titles in a region which lost more than 200 sq km of forest last year alone due to illegal gold mining, agriculture and roads used for logging.

The apostolic bishop for Puerto Maldonado, Monsenor David Martinez, said the pope had made a point of visiting the Amazon, because he understood the importance of the region in the fight against climate change.

Francis intends to publicly spend time with people who are still seen as second and third class citizens , Martinez added.

On his last day in Chile, Pope Francis will meet two victims of the dictatorship of the late Augusto Pinochet.

In Peru, Gisela Ortiz, who leads a group of family members of victims of the 1990s government of Alberto Fujimori  who was recently pardoned  said they hoped for a similar gesture of solidarity.Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis is expected to defend persecuted indigenous people during a trip to Chile and Peru next week that also aims to boost a flagging local Catholic church hit by child sex scandals.

The Argentine's 22nd trip abroad and sixth to Latin America will see him address everything from climate change threats to the mining industry, but the uneasy political situation in both countries will require an extra-soft approach.

Chile is in transition after the presidential victory of billionaire Sebastian Pinera, who tapped into a deeply conservative tranche of society upset at his centre-left predecessor's support for gay marriage and abortion.

Francis will sit down with outgoing President Michelle Bachelet, before also -- more informally -- meeting Pinera, who takes over in March.

He will also have a private meeting with two victims of the regime of the late dictator Augusto Pinochet.

For its part, Peru has been shaken by protests after the highly controversial release this month of former president Alberto Fujimori after serving less than half of a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses.

The decision to pardon him was made by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who is accused of lying to cover up ties to a Brazilian company that has admitted to wide-scale corruption.

Peru has also been in the headlines following the Vatican's decision this week to take control of a Catholic movement whose founder is accused of the sexual and psychological abuse of minors.

Francis has been slammed by victim support groups for allowing Luis Fernando Figari to retire quietly in Rome.

There is no official meeting with victims scheduled, though the pope may meet some away from the media gaze.

- Soft spot for the Amazon -

The highlight of his January 15 to 21 trip will be lunch meetings with representatives of indigenous peoples.

In Temuco, Francis will chat with Mapuche natives -- some seven percent of the Chilean population -- who inhabited a vast territory before the arrival of Spanish colonists in 1541, and have long protested the loss of ancestral lands.

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Not all will be pleased to see him: a radicalised group of activists in the Auracania region has taken to torching farms and lumber trucks as well as setting fire to churches.

In Puerto Maldonado, a small trading centre of the Amazon rainforest in southeastern Peru, Francis will be welcomed by some 3,500 indigenous people from areas stretching into Bolivia and Brazil.

The environmentally-conscious pope has a soft spot for the Amazon and will hold a special assembly of bishops from the region next year in a bid to support indigenous people and turn the spotlight on one of the world's green "lungs".

- Wake-up call -

It will not all be crowd-pleasing masses: the local churches "need a shock" to shake them out of a complacent attitude to the sexual abuse scandals that have hounded the Catholic church for decades, a close aide to the pope told AFP.

Francis will also take the opportunity of closed-door meetings with local clerics to call on them to do more to help foster his vision for an open, merciful and socially-engaged church.

"Under Pinochet's dictatorship, the church was seen as a reference point for the protection of human rights," said Chile's ambassador to the Holy See, Mariano Fernandez Amunategui.

"Today the names of bishops are less known, secularisation has reduced their role," he said.

While the number of Catholics in Peru hovers between 85 and 90 percent of the population, in Chile it dropped from 70 percent to 67 percent between 2006 and 2014, while the number of atheists rose to 22 percent.

The trip promises to be physically demanding, with 81-year old Francis hopping on 10 flights to travel over 30,000 kilometres through hot and humid climates.

It will also take the pontiff down memory lane.

The Argentine studied in Chile during his youth and has invited a Chilean Jesuit friend to accompany him on this visit.WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump on Friday denied using certain language as fury spread over his comments about immigration during a private meeting with lawmakers. But neither he nor the White House denied the most controversial of his comments: using the word shithole to describe countries in Africa and saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

During an Oval Office meeting on Thursday, Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and shithole countries in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, Trump insisted in a series of Friday morning tweets. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made  a big setback for DACA.

But Sen. Dick Durbin, the only Democrat in the room, disputed the presidents account.

He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly, Durbin said,

Durbin added, When the question was asked about Haitians  he said, Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?'

Trump took particular issue with the characterization of his comments on Haiti.

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems, Trump wrote. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!

The Trump administration announced late last year that it would end a temporary residency permit program that allowed nearly 60,000 citizens from Haiti to live and work in the United States following a devastating 2010 earthquake. The Washington Post said that during the meeting he said immigrants from Haiti should be left out of any new agreement approved by Congress.

Trumps contemptuous blanket description of African countries startled lawmakers in the meeting and immediately revived charges that the president is racist. The White House on Thursday did not deny his remark but issued a statement saying Trump supports immigration policies that welcome those who can contribute to our society.

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Trumps comments came as two senators presented details of a bipartisan compromise that would extend protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants  and also strengthen border protections, as Trump has insisted.

The lawmakers had hoped Trump would back their accord, an agreement among six senators evenly split among Republicans and Democrats, ending a monthslong, bitter dispute over protecting the dreamers. But the White House later rejected it, plunging the issue back into uncertainty just eight days before a deadline that threatens a government shutdown.

Durbin of Illinois, the Senate s No. 2 Democrat, explained that as part of that deal, a lottery for visas that has benefited people from Africa and other nations would be ended, the sources said, though there could be another way for them to apply. Durbin said people who would be allowed to stay in the U.S. included those who had fled here after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti.

As for immigrants from Africa, the president suggested that instead, the U.S. should allow more entrants from countries like Norway. Trump met this week with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

Asked about the remarks Thursday, White House spokesman Raj Shah did not deny them.

Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people, he said.

Trumps remarks were remarkable even by the standards of a president who has been accused of racism by his foes and who has routinely smashed through public decorum that his modern predecessors have generally embraced.

Trump has inaccurately claimed that Barack Obama, the nations first black president, wasnt born in the United States. He has said Mexican immigrants were bringing crime and were rapists. He said there were very fine people on both sides after violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, left one counter-protester dead.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said, President Trumps comments are racist and a disgrace. But it wasnt just Democrats objecting.

Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said Trumps comments were unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nations values. She said, This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation and called on Trump to apologize to the American people and the nations he so wantonly maligned.

Trump has called himself the least racist person that youve ever met.President Donald Trump on Friday denied labeling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations shithole countries during an Oval Office meeting with senators on immigration, despite accounts of three people briefed on the conversation.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used, Trump said in a Twitter posting on Friday morning, using an acronym for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program protecting some individuals who immigrated to the U.S. as children from deportation.

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Trump made the apparent denial despite the fact that the White House didnt dispute the quotations after they were widely reported on Thursday. Asked about the account, White House spokesman Raj Shah said certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people. The White House didnt immediately respond Friday to a request for comment about whether Trump was specifically denying using the term shithole countries.

Trumps remarks prompted criticisms from around the world, including some of those countries named. The African Union said it was frankly alarmed by the comments, according to the Associated Press. An opposition lawmaker in Ghana called upon developing nations to boycott the U.S. until Trump leaves office. The United Nations human rights office in Geneva called the remarks shocking, shameful, Agence France Presse reported in a tweet.

U.S. Criticism

The language was also condemned by lawmakers in the U.S.  mostly Democrats but including at least one prominent Republican.

If the reports are true, he should take them back. I disagree with them completely, Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, told Fox News Friday. We have very good legal immigration in our state.

Trumps remarks were made in a meeting with lawmakers who suggested restoring protections for people from those countries as part of a broader bipartisan agreement on immigration issues, the three people said. The Washington Post first reported Trumps comments.

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Shah went on to list the White Houses demands for an agreement that would protect undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children and stressed that the president favors merit-based immigration.

Big Step Backwards

The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards, Trump said in a series of tweets Friday. He criticized lack of funding for a border wall between U.S. and Mexico, provisions he said would worsen chain migration and the diversity visa lottery and that the U.S. would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly.

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I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level, Trump continued. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs.

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The president made the comments on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti, killing as many as 300,000 people. On Thursday, Haitian President Jovenel Moise demanded a meeting with the top American diplomat in the country, Charge dAffaires Robin Diallo, according to State Department officials. Moise was expected to lodge a formal protest. Michele Sison has been confirmed as the new U.S. ambassador, but has not yet arrived.

Protests in Haiti?

The officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a diplomatic matter, are concerned that the episode may provoke protests in Haiti because commemorations have been planned to mark the anniversary.

In the U.S., strong criticism followed initial reports of the Oval Office episode, with most though not all of it coming from Democrats.

Read: Trump Says Hes Canceling His London Trip Because Obama Chose a Bad Spot for the New U.S. Embassy

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who wasnt in the meeting, in a tweet called the presidents remarks, Breathtakingly offensive. Worse, its ignorant of American ideals.

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, said the presidents statement reinforces the concerns that we hear every day, that the Presidents slogan Make America Great Again is really code for Make America White Again. 

Unkind, Divisive

In the strongest reaction from a Republican, Representative Mia Love of Utah, a child of Haitian immigrants, demanded an apology and said the presidents remarks were unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nations values.

My parents, Love said, came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with.

Senators Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, were among the lawmakers who met with Trump at the White House to present a deal that a small group of lawmakers had reached on immigration issues.

About a half dozen lawmakers were in the meeting, which also included Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, legislative director Marc Short and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to one person briefed on the meeting.

Restoring Protections

The lawmakers discussed restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, the Post reported, which for nearly three decades have been granted to help people who are temporarily unable to return to their countries because of armed conflict, disasters or other conditions. The administration announced this week that it would end the protection for people from El Salvador in 2019.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Trump said, according to the Post, which quoted two people briefed on the meeting. Trump then suggested the U.S. should instead accept more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday.

Trump was reported in December to have made similarly disparaging comments last year about people who had received U.S. visas in 2017. He said that people from Haiti all have AIDS while people from Nigeria would never go back to their huts, the New York Times said.

Shah said in an email that Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation. He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway.Photo: Getty Images

Police in Vancouver, Wash., are asking the public for assistance in finding the owner of an urn containing cremated human remains donated to a local Goodwill. Authorities believe it was donated by mistake.

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Vancouver Police seeking assistance to locate anyone associated with an urn with cremated remains inside that was donated at a local Goodwill, wrote authorities in a tweet published Wednesday.

The urn was found by an employee early on Jan. 7, according to KIRO 7. The urn is a wooden box with two Ms on the front as well as the name Michelle Miller. Anyone with information should contact the Vancouver Police Department at 360-487-7404.

In another recent case, a woman in Plymouth, Mass., named Priscilla Bailey bought a heart-shaped decoration from a thrift store for $2.99. She realized later it appeared to contain cremated remains.

Its beautiful, said Baileys daughter, Kat Bartlett. It must have a story, so thats my goal is to find out that weve figured out where this  and who it belongs to.

The thrift store where Bailey bought it, Savers, told ABC News that the majority of donations to the store come from the local community and surrounding area.

Bailey put the word out on social media to try to find the owner of the ornament. Until then, it hangs over her sink. There it sits, she said, my spooky little friend.

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The debate over the 2016 election will continue to rage for years to come, I have no doubt, but one thing we can now say for sure: Those who defended, deflected, rationalized or overlooked candidate Donald Trumps completely obvious racism were wrong. Further, in being wrong, Republicans are now going to overcompensate for the present moment by doubling down on the monstrosity that is Trumps presidency, most recently demonstrated by his remark Thursday referring to nonwhite countries as shitholes.

The result is a presidency whose end is being hastened by its namesake, and a Republican Party staving off the inevitable long enough to extract as much as it can while it can. In short, the GOP is playing a very short game.

The Republicans know more than we do about Trumps overseas financial ties and campaign operatives possibly conspiring with Russian agents to move the electorate against Hillary Clinton. Slowly but surely, special counsel Robert Mueller is reaching into Trumps inner circle, even raising the prospect of interviewing the president himself. It stands to reason the Republicans knew in December that none of this can endure. If they were going to deliver tax cuts to their mega-donors, it had to be a rush job, even if that meant vaporizing norms, violating traditions and losing control of the House.

Trending: After Trump Tax Break Pfizer Ends Funding For Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Research And Gives Billions to Investors

Their understanding doesnt stop there. The Republicans know the presidents mental fitness is worth questioning, but were able to deny that fact until Michael Wolff spoiled things with the publication of Fire and Fury. Making matters worse was Trump's insistence on holding televised discussions Wednesday with Congressional Democrats in order to prove he's a "very stable genius." House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy kept him on course by practically screeching to remind him a clean bill on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is not in the GOP's interest. Steven Bannon, too, might have been signaling his awareness of end times, when he told Wolff that Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russian agents was "unpatriotic." What do you do when the president's fugue state threatens to bring it all down? Accuse his eldest son of treason.

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01_12_18_DonaldTrump

Mark Wilson/Getty

Bannons in good company. According to Axios, more than half a dozen of the more skilled White House staff are contemplating imminent departures. Many leaving are quite fearful about the next chapter of the Trump presidency. As the next chapter looms large, the president is increasingly isolated himselfliterally. He holes up daily for hours in his residence at the White House, calling people (who in turn leak those calls to the press), watching Fox and tweeting.

Don't miss: Government Shutdown Wont Stop Military Funding, Despite What Trump Says; Heres What Will Happen

The more Americans see of Trump, the less they like. CNN's Ronald Brownstein argued the Republicans "have already placed the bets most likely to determine their fate in November's midterm election. Washington Monthlys Marty Longman put a finer point on it : The Republicans are looking to achieve as much as they can while they have their majorities rather than trimming their sails in the effort to maintain their majorities.

This presidency is entering a kind of political hospice care, in which Trump's attorneys reportedly lie to him to prevent him from firing Mueller, thus hastening their client's demise, while the Republicans focus on keeping the presidency alive long enough to maximize the value of their inheritance.

Again, it's a very short game, and very high risks. Perhaps the Republicans believe they can ask for forgiveness later. But this confidence depends on two things: Trump and the Democrats willingness to impeach him.

Most popular: Martin Luther King's Son Slams Trump for 'Scripted' Proclamation Honoring Father After President Described Developing Countries as 'Shitholes'

It is January, and we haveas of right nowa years worth of reasons to impeach, and another year to go before the midterms. It stands to reason we are going to see many more turning points a la shithole countries. It looks like 2018 is lost for the Republicans. If 2019 is the year of impeachment in the House, that's means 2020 will be lost too. 2024 is a long time from now, but that might be the price the Republicans pay for choosing to smash and grab.

John Stoehr is a fellow at the Yale Journalism Initiative, a contributing writer for the Washington Monthly, an essayist for the New Haven Register and a U.S. News & World Report contributing editor.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPaul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign manager, leaves a courthouse in Washington in November - AP

A Russian oligarch and Putin ally is suing Donald Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort for misappropriating almost $19 million invested in Ukrainian telecoms companies.

A company connected to Oleg Deripaska is taking Mr Manafor to court after their long-running business relationship surfaced amid the Russia collusion investigation.

The lawsuit was filed in a New York court on Wednesday by Surf Horizon Limited, a Cyprus firm linked in corporate filings to Mr Deripaska, a metals and energy tycoon who is close to president Vladimir Putin.

It stems from a deal a decade ago when Surf Horizon gave Manafort and his former partner Rick Gates $18.9 million to invest in a Ukrainian TV and Internet company called Black Sea Cable. It also paid the men $7.35 million in management fees.

But rather than investing the full sum in Black Sea Cable, the pair treated the money as their personal piggy banks and siphoned off millions of dollars, according to the suit.

Vladimir Putin meets with Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Hamburg in July Credit: Evan Vucci/AP

A 2014 lawsuit brought by Surf Horizon in the Cayman Islands to trace the funds, which had flowed through a web of offshore companies, showed that some of the $18.9 million went to firms controlled by Manafort and Gates, the complaint said.

Surf Horizon is seeking more than $26 million in damages for the alleged fraud.

The new lawsuit refers several times to an indictment brought against Manafort and Mr Gates in October by Robert Mueller, the head of an investigation of the Trump campaign's interactions with Russian officials during the 2016 election. The men are accused of laundering millions of dollars and failing to register as foreign agents in the United States.

Manafort masterminded a campaign for Viktor Yanukovych, the president of Ukraine who was ousted by protests in 2014 after he shunned an association agreement with the European Union in favour of a $15 billion bailout from Mr Putin.

Manafort reportedly offered Mr Deripaska private briefings during Trump's campaign.

Story continues

He had previously signed a $10 million annual contract with the oligarch in 2006 to lobby Russian interests in Washington, including the interests of Mr Putin's government, according to an Associated Press report in March.

Mr Deripaska filed a defamation suit against the Associated Press that was thrown out by a judge in October.

We are surprised by this filing, said Jason Maloni, president of public relations firm JadeRoq and a spokesman for Manafort. This is a commercial matter which we thought had been addressed and resolved years ago. We will respond, if we must do so, in the appropriate manner.The federal government didnt do things right from the beginning, the mayor told Time magazine. (Photo: JIM WATSON via Getty Images)

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz remains one of the most vocal critics of the federal governments response to Hurricane Marias devastation in Puerto Rico.

In an interview with Time magazine, published Thursday, Cruz addressed the Trump administrations lack of role in recovery efforts after the storm devastated the U.S. territory in September.

The federal government didnt do things right from the beginning, the mayor told the magazine. President Trump insulted the Puerto Rican people over and over and over. You know that Carly Simon song, Youre so vain, you probably think this song is about you? He probably thought that Maria was about him.

But it wasnt about him, it wasnt about politics; it was about saving lives, she continued. FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] was asking Puerto Ricans to go online and register for support. For heavens sake, we have no electricity. FEMA kept asking for memos, as if this were the first disaster that they had ever encountered. I finally lost my patience and stopped being politically correct. And I just shouted out an SOS to the world: Were dying here! That didnt make me a lot of friends in the federal government, but thats my duty.

In the weeks following the storms landfall in Puerto Rico, Cruz publicly asked FEMA to prioritize lives over bureaucracy. The decision to call out the Trump administration sparked a headline-grabbing Twitter feud with the president, who said she was nasty and that the people of Puerto Rico wanted everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.

In October, the mayor told HuffPost she felt it was unthinkable the federal government could not bring enough supplies to meet the needs of hurricane survivors.

It may be easy to try to disregard us, Cruz said. It may be easy because were a U.S. territory and a colony of the United States. But we are people, dammit, and I dont care what the political status is.

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Cruz Soto also slammed Trumps October visit to Puerto Rico, nearly two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. She criticized the president for tossing paper towels to storm survivors in need of supplies, after the storm left millions of Puerto Ricans without power and limited access to drinking water.

During the visit, Trump also downplayed the islands devastation during a press conference, saying it was not a real catastrophe like Katrina in reference to the death toll at the time, 16. Since then, the figure has quadrupled, amid reports from media outlets whove looked into the accuracy of the official death count and found that the number dead as a result of the storm is likely more than 1,000.

Last week, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello announced the formation of a task force that would investigate the death count. Nearly 20 percent of the island of Puerto Rico is without power as of Thursday, according to government data.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor has said he will pursue extradition for corruption suspects living abroad as part of a two-month-old crackdown that has already netted princes and tycoons. Evidence is being collected against "fugitives" in order to issue indictments against them and request that foreign governments return them to the kingdom, Saud al-Muajab told Arrajol magazine in an interview published on Thursday. It was not clear how many people are being targeted, or in which countries. Saudi security forces have rounded up dozens of members of the political and business elite, holding them in Riyadhs opulent Ritz Carlton hotel on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The move was billed as a war on rampant corruption but also widely seen by analysts as helping Prince Mohammed consolidate his grip on power after ousting his cousin as heir to the throne in the summer. Saudi officials are negotiating settlements with detainees, saying they aim to claw back some $100 billion of funds that rightfully belong to the state. Muajab said last month that most detainees had agreed to settlements in order to avoid prosecution while the rest could be held for several more months. He told Arrajol that those who end up in court will be permitted to hire lawyers to defend them during the investigation and trial phases. (Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)In the debut episode of Skullduggery  a Yahoo News podcast and video series focused on Washington scandals in the Trump era and their impact on todays politics  co-hosts Daniel Klaidman and Michael Isikoff discuss the 20th anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a story they famously covered for Newsweek. Their first guest is former United States attorney general Eric Holder, who talks about where he was when the Lewinsky scandal broke, his thoughts on Robert Muellers investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election and he even jokes about being Oprahs running mate in 2020.

To subscribe to the Skullduggery podcast click here (or find the show wherever you listen to podcasts). You can also watch a video version of the podcast by downloading the Newsroom app.

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_____

Read more from Yahoo News:The Merriam-Webster Twitter account has made no secret about the way that they feel about President Donald Trumps actions, whether its his word usage or his spelling choices.

Now, following the controversy that the President is facing after the Washington Post reported that he called Haiti, El Salvador, and various African countries shithole countries while discussing immigration policy, has earned some shade from the dictionary that the users spreading it feel is well-deserved.

After the President made his remark, he was met with criticism from many of his peers, including Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who told CBS Miami that the statements of the president are reprehensible, theyre racist, theyre totally incorrect.

It appears that Merriam-Webster could be co-signing Ros-Lehtinens statement with their Friday Word of the Day, which is, fittingly, reprehensible, which they define as worth of or deserving reprehension, blame, or censure.Though such was not the case during his lifetime, its uncontroversial today to note that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American hero of the civil rights movement, a hero whose birth will be celebrated by Americans on Monday, Jan. 15, with the national Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. More than perhaps any other American, King has come to represent peace  which is just one reason why this image of him brought to his knees in Chicago is so shocking. The story behind the image makes it all the more so.

Though Kings early, more famous efforts for the civil rights movement were concentrated in the American South, from the Montgomery bus boycotts in the late 1950s to his work in Mississippi with the Freedom Riders, this photograph was not taken there. Instead, it dates to a period during which he experienced discrimination that was, in some ways, worse  after his shift to focus on Northern cities after the Voting Rights Act was signed on Aug. 6, 1965.

The tipping point for the shift? The explosion in Watts really captured the attention of Dr. King, says James R. Ralph Jr., professor of history at Middlebury College and an author of The Chicago Freedom Movement: Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North.

Yet Chicago seemed like a logical starting point for his efforts in the North, as King later wrote, because, It is reasonable to believe that if the problems of Chicago, the nations second largest city, can be solved, they can be solved everywhere. To raise awareness of poor living conditions for the citys African Americans, he himself moved into an apartment in Chicagos West Side neighborhood of Lawndale. We dont have wall-to-wall carpeting to worry about, but we have wall-to-wall rats and roaches, the Chicago Tribune reported King saying shortly after he moved in on Jan. 26, 1966. King called for the unconditional surrender of forces dedicated to the creation and maintenance of slums.

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The Chicago campaign  the slogan for which was, at one point, simply End Slums  became known as the Chicago Freedom Movement, a collaboration between Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Chicagos Coordinating Council of Community Organizations. One of its leaders was James Bevel, who had been an architect of the Childrens Crusade that was part of the May 1963 March on Birmingham. That summer in Chicago, two marches helped get the word out about what local civil rights activists were fighting for.

On July 10, 1966, more than 30,000 braved the 98-degree heat wave to hear King speak at a rally at Soldier Field. We are here because were tired of living in rat-infested slums, he said. We are tired of having to pay a median rent of $97 a month in Lawndale for four rooms while whites in South Deering pay $73 a month for five rooms We are tired of being lynched physically in Mississippi, and we are tired of being lynched spiritually and economically in the North.

Then the crowd followed King to City Hall, where he taped a list of demands to an entrance way. They included increasing the supply of housing options for low and middle-income families, rehabbing public housing amenities, and Federal supervision of the nondiscriminatory granting of loans by banks and savings institutions.

A few weeks later came a second march  the occasion for one of his most famous quotes from that campaign, as well as the shocking image seen above.

On Aug. 5, 1966, in Marquette Park, where King was planning to lead a march to a realtors office to demand properties be sold to everyone regardless of their race, he got swarmed by about 700 white protesters hurling bricks, bottles and rocks. One of those rocks hit King, and his aides rushed to shield him, as the photo shows.

The blow knocked King to one knee and he thrust out an arm to break the fall, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time. He remained in this kneeling position, head bent, for a few seconds until his head cleared.

Afterward, King told reporters, Ive been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as Im seeing in Chicago.

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The virulence of that hatred can be surprising in light of the fact that many African Americans had migrated North, to cities like Chicago, to flee the South. From the perspective of civil rights activists, Ralph argues, You can argue it was easier to identify the visible problems and laws that were disenfranchising people in the South. In the North, it was more muddied, more difficult to find a single thread you can pull out.

King expressed that idea when he looked at the hostility from the perspective of whites. As long as the struggle was down in Alabama and Mississippi, they could look afar and think about it and say how terrible people are, he wrote later in his autobiography. When they discovered brotherhood had to be a reality in Chicago and that brotherhood extended to next door, then those latent hostilities came out.

These fair housing demonstrations gradually started to take place in other nearby cities, such as Louisville and Milwaukee. The Chicago activists even got street gang members to serve as marshals at the 1966 open housing marches in an effort to redirect their energies. Among the campaigns other accomplishments were efforts to organize tenant unions, so residents could stand up to landlords about things like peeling lead-based paint on their walls, and the launch of Jesse Jacksons career, as he helped run the Windy Citys chapter of a campaign to combat discriminatory hiring practices.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law on April 11, 1968, one week after Kings death. Yet some experts see the Chicago campaigns effectiveness as mixed, because the problems that the activists tried to combat there have not gone away.

Did that legislation equalize opportunities? No, but it was an important step, and fair housing groups that had been working before then now had congressional backing, as Ralph puts it. Did it end the slums? No, so [the movement] was not successful that regard. But there were substantial strides taken forward. Peter Ling, a Martin Luther King biographer, has called the Chicago campaign the civil rights leaders most relevant campaign for todays world.

As Claybourne Carson, editor of the King Papers, put it in his foreword to The Chicago Freedom Movement, the fact that these problems still exist are not Kings fault. It is also, he wrote, the failure of those of us who have outlived him.BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian state media on Friday cited field commanders as saying Turkey helped anti-government rebels launch a counter attack against the Syrian army and its allies in the northwest this week, underlining recent regional tensions over the fighting. "Field commanders confirmed to the SANA correspondent that terrorists from the Turkistan Islamic Party with the direct support, direction and planning of the Turkish regime, brought most of their forces... to start their attack," said SANA, the state news agency. It added that the rebels had used Turkish vehicles. There was no immediate Turkish reaction to the allegations. Turkey has been a major backer of Syrian rebels but has recently been working with Damascus's allies Iran and Russia in meetings with the stated aim of reducing violence. Rebel groups launched a counter attack in Idlib on Wednesday after a rapid push by the army and its allies towards the Abu al-Duhur airbase. A military media unit run by the government's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and a Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Friday the army had recaptured several villages taken in the rebel counter attack. Turkey has criticized the army's assault in Idlib, located in northwest Syria in the rebels' biggest remaining stronghold, saying on Friday it would cause a new wave of migration. Idlib borders Turkey. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)President Donald Trump has come under fire this week after reportedly asking lawmakers on Thursday why the United States would accept more people from shithole countries  which he defined as Haiti, El Salvador and parts of Africa  during a meeting in the Oval Office about a potential immigration deal.

While the Presidents vulgar phrasing may be unprecedented, his question comes with a long history. At various times in the past, Americas immigration system has openly favored some countries over others, with the system set up to specifically keep out immigrants from countries that are doing badly, as Trump put it in a follow-up tweet, often for reasons that were based on prejudice.

Mae Ngai, an immigration historian at Columbia University, spoke to TIME about the historical context behind Trumps comment.

TIME: The Presidents reported comments suggested that he would want the immigration system to favor potential immigrants from some countries and make things harder for those from other places. Has the U.S. ever done something like that, singling out specific shithole countries?

NGAI: In the 19th century, we had virtually open borders. Laborers from Europe, they all just came. The only exception was the Chinese, who came for the same reason that European laborers did in the late 19th century  but because of racism, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion law in 1882. The Chinese were the first and only group to be singled out by name for exclusion. Weve now singled out countries under the Muslim ban, but until that time, the Chinese held that dubious distinction. [The Exclusion Act] was repealed in 1943 during World War II, because China was a war ally of the U.S., but it was a foreign policy measure. They set a quota of 105 [people] per year, so that shows that they didnt want more Chinese immigrants.

Why was China targeted?

It was a racialization of economic competition. They came over for the Gold Rush. They came over to work. Everyone in California, practically, was a migrant, except for the indigenous people and people of Spanish descent who had been there for hundreds of years. The political nativism against the Chinese was based on a racist theory that the Chinese were slaves. [Nativists] thought having slaves would depress the rights and wages of free workers. They were using it [slave] as a racial epithet. The Chinese suffered not only exclusion but violence, discrimination, harassment throughout the period of exclusion. But these Chinese werent slaves; they were voluntary immigrants like everyone else.

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How did things change during the great wave of immigration at the turn of the 20th century?

There was high immigration from Europe, especially from Southern Europe, like Italy or Greece, and also Eastern Europe; Poland, Russia, Hungary. There was a nativist movement against these immigrants, who were almost entirely low-skilled workers who came and fueled the industrial revolution. The industrialization of the U.S. was done by these workers. About 25 million people came during this period, and there was a lot of debate similar to what you hear today, things said about Italians similar to what Trump says about Mexicans  theyre criminals; they steal American jobs.

In 1924, Congress passed the National Origins Act quotas, which restricted immigration to 15% of what it had been before World War I. So only 150,000 were let in a year, whereas it had been a million a year just coming naturally before the war. So for the first time, you had numerical limits, and they distributed that number according to racial favorites. Great Britain had a huge quota, as did Germany, but Italy and Hungary, had tiny, tiny quotas, and that was an attempt to stop that immigration. Theres always been this history of favoring some over others.

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And the 1965 Immigration Act was another milestone.

There was no numerical quota on a western-hemisphere country until 1965. In 1965, when national origin quotas had been repealed, Congress replaced it with a system of so-called equal quotas. Every country gets the same number, so it was supposed to get rid of racial favoritism. But should Mexico have the same limit as Belgium? So even though we have high levels of migration from non-European countries, in another sense its very unfair. The long waits for a green card that people talk about are only for about four countries  Mexico, India, China, the Philippines. Within those quotas, you have preferences. So the family preferences are adult married children or adult siblings of American citizens, thats what Trump thinks is chain migration. People bring family members over. Thats how his mother came over, because she had a sister here.

We have a system now that on the surface is fair, but in reality its unfair. That law, the 1965 Immigration Act, was a Civil Rights-Era act, and it was very much in a civil rights mindset. In the U.S., civil rights means you treat every individual equally. This was morphed into treat every country equally, but not all countries are equal, so in practice it became a way to limit immigration from certain countries.

The countries that are now at the center of the discussion havent really come up yet. Whats behind recent migration from African nations to the U.S.?

African migration was low even after 65 because the big African migration was slavery. But in terms of modern African migration, that only increased after 1990 with the so-called diversity lottery. In 1990, Congress added 50,000 a year as a diversity category, and that was actually meant to bring in more white people. It was meant for countries that had low immigration. They wanted more Europeans where there had not been that many, because Europe was prospering. People dont migrate when their countries are doing really well. One of the unintended consequences of the diversity lottery is that Africans used it. You didnt have to have a relation in the U.S., so people come from Nigeria or Ghana; theres actually a middle class of very skilled professionals and technical people in those countries.

Have U.S. attitudes towards countries changed if their residents experienced a natural disaster or are caught in a political conflict?

We have a refugee law that was passed in 1980, when there was a lot of pressure on the U.S. to accept more refugees internationally. Before 1980, we had no official refugee policy. [The U.S.] had a Cold War policy, so in the 50s, they brought in thousands of people from Hungary during the Hungarian uprising, then it was Cuba, then it was the Indochinese countries after the war. But Haitians who were fleeing the Duvalier regime were interdicted at sea and sent back because [the U.S.] said they werent refugees, though they obviously were, but it was a U.S-backed military regime  and it was racist. So we had an ad hoc system which favored only people from Communist countries.

Then in 1980, after pressure from human-rights movements around the world, we adopted a refugee policy that uses the international standard of what defines a political asylee and a refugee. A refugee could be from a natural disaster or war, or asylum refers to people who have a reasonable fear of persecution if they return to their home country based on their political beliefs or religion. Thats 50,000 a year, and the president can raise it or lower it, so thats why we have, in recent years, people who have come from Sudan and Somalia and Burma.

Migration is a global phenomenon. Its as old as human industry, so when states try to stop it or control it or regulate it, it invariably creates a whole host of other problems.US President Donald Trumps former chief strategist Steve Bannon is being advised by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as he prepares to face investigators probing Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. William Burck, the co-managing partner of Quinn's Washington DC office, is helping Bannon prepare for an interview with the House Intelligence Committee next week, according to the Daily Beast, which first reported the hire. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the representation but said Burck was advising Bannon only in relation to the House committee interview and his time on the presidential campaign. The representation does not extend to special counsel Robert Muellers probe or to Bannons transition to government and his White House service, the person said. Burck, a leading white-collar and government investigations lawyer, is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and federal prosecutor who worked in the West Wing under President George W Bush. He is also reportedly representing White House counsel Don McGahn and former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus in relation to the Russia investigation. He joined Quinn from Weil Gotshal & Manges in 2012. Bannon has faced heavy criticism over his comments calling a meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr, Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner in June 2016 'treasonous' in the new Michael Wolff book on the Trump administration. The president responded by attacking Bannon and calling him Sloppy Steve, which Bannon followed by walking back some of his earlier remarks.U.S. President Donald Trumps long-planned state visit to the United Kingdom has been put on hold yet again after the administration feared the President would not receive the warm welcome in London he desired, the Guardian reports.

Trump was scheduled to visit London on an official state trip next month, when he was expected to formally open a new $1 billion U.S. embassy complex in Nine Elms, southwest London. Instead, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected christen the 12-story, 518,000-square foot embassy, described as a state of the art fortress, as a date for Trumps trip remains unresolved.

The state visit has been repeatedly postponed since British Prime Minister Theresa May extended an invitation just days after Trumps inauguration in Jan. 2017. Since then, British MPs have dropped plans for Trump to address parliament, and political opposition in the U.K. has only grown over the first year of Trumps administration. Trump tested the strength of the special relationship in Nov., retweeting unverified videos from a far-right British nationalist account and prompting London Mayor Sadiq Khan to call for the invitation to be rescinded.

Trump himself offered a different reason for the trips suspension, tweeting on Thursday night, refusing to cut [the] ribbon at the costly new embassy and blaming President Obama for selling off perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for peanuts.'

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In fact, U.S. diplomats had discussed relocating the U.S. embassy from Mayfair, in central London, as far back as 2003 amid concerns that the property was not sufficiently equipped to handle new security threats. The embassy had been housed in Grosvenor Square since 1938, while its last building, designed by modernist Finnish American modernist architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1960, was granted a historical protection listing in 2009, limiting possible renovations and well as its potential resale value. The building was put up for sale in Oct. 2008, eight days before Obama won his first presidential election, and was sold for an undisclosed sum to Qatari Diar Real Estate in 2009, which won approval to turn the iconic building into a hotel.

The new embassy in Nine Elms was initially projected to be finished under the Obama Administration in late 2016, but security and construction delays set back the opening date. And while Congress did pay for increased security measures at the new location, it did not appropriate funds for the design or relocation as Trump suggested, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Instead, the new complex was funded through the sale of other real estate holdings, including the Mayfair building, which was appraised at $623 million in 2016.

The new building project is being funded entirely by the proceeds of the sale of other U.S. Government properties in London, not through appropriated funds, then U.S. Ambassador Matthew Barzun wrote in 2014. This has always been the plan.Donald Trump accused FBI agent Peter Strzok of treason in a Wall Street Journal interview published Thursday. Strzok was pulled from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation in December, following the discovery of text messages where Strzok called Trump an idiot in an exchange with FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

A man is tweeting to his lover that if [Hillary Clinton] loses, well essentially do the insurance policy. Well go to phase two and well get this guy out of office, Trump told the newspaper, presenting his version of Strzoks text messages.

This is the FBI were talking about  that is treason, the president said. That is a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act.

In a 2016 text, Strzok wrote to Page: I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration ... that theres no way he gets elected. But Im afraid we cant take that risk. Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before youre 40.

The Wall Street Journal reported in December that Strzoks insurance policy likely referred to an aggressive investigation into possible collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. His intention, the paper said, was to respond to a colleague who believed the agency could relax its investigation since it seemed inevitable that Clinton would win.

Strzoks lawyer Aitan Goelman told the newspaper that it is beyond reckless for the president of the United States to accuse Pete Strzok, a man who has devoted his entire adult life to defending this country, of treason. It should surprise no one that the president has both the facts and the law wrong.

The crime of treason is defined in the Constitution as levying war against the nation or aiding enemies to hurt the U.S.; criticizing a presidential candidate falls outside these parameters. As David A. Graham of The Atlantic pointed out in December, While the Justice Department has a clear code of ethics, it does not preclude employees from holding political views or expressing them to acquaintances in their private lives.

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Strzok was also the lead in the investigation into Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. His texts have been used by Trump and supporters to make a case that the Mueller investigation hasnt been objective.

Muellers office has said that Strzok was removed from the team as soon as the texts surfaced, and that Page had already moved on. Strzok was reassigned within the FBI.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he could have a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but refused to say if the two had spoken.

"I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-Un," Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

"I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised."

The paper reported that Trump would not say whether contacts had already been initiated between the two foes.

Washington and Pyongyang are in a standoff over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, which could be used to target the United States and her allies.

Trump has repeatedly insulted the North Korean leader, describing him as mad and a "rocket man."

Asked if he had spoken to Kim, Trump said "I don't want to comment on it. I'm not saying I have or haven't. I just don't want to comment."

Trump suggested his variable position on individuals was part of a broader strategy.

But it was not clear how his remarks fit with his self-described policy of "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang.

- US, Canada host talks next week -

Next week, the United States and Canada are to host a meeting on the nuclear standoff with North Korea in Vancouver, bringing together friendly powers from around the world.

Washington plans to use Tuesday's meeting to discuss the idea of stopping and inspecting suspect ships bound for North Korea, a senior official said.

State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would be looking for help developing "practical mechanisms" to pressure Pyongyang.

"We will be discussing maritime interdiction," Hook said, raising the idea of an naval embargo to help enforce the already draconian UN sanctions on Kim's regime.

Some countries, even friends of the United States, may be concerned that such methods could increase military tensions or be interpreted as an act of war by the isolated North.

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But Hook said the idea was one of many being explored, and that the allies invited to Vancouver would be consulted.

"We will be discussing with our partners and allies the kind of steps that we can take on maritime interdiction and also to be cutting, disrupting funding and disrupting resources," he said.

"And maritime interdiction helps us to disrupt resources."

- China, Russia not invited -

The countries invited to send representatives to Vancouver are the so-called "Sending Powers," those that contributed troops or aid to the UN war effort in 1950s Korea.

As such, North Korea's neighbors China and Russia are not invited, and many have questioned the utility of a conference where such influential regional players are absent.

But Hook said Washington remained in contact with China about enforcing the sanctions and pressuring Kim, and that both Beijing and Moscow would be briefed after the talks.

"China is working with us," he said. "This is not an alternative to everything that we are doing. This ministerial will enhance and strengthen all of the efforts under way.

"China has the same policy goal, in terms of ensuring that North Korea does not become a nuclear weapon state and acquire the means to deliver a nuclear warhead."President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Donald Trump has been accused of lying about referring to Central American and African nations as shithole countries amid a furious backlash over his reported comments during an immigration meeting.

The President is accused of using the slur during a meeting with lawmakers, apparently asking: Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? and Why do we need more Haitians?.

Trump appeared to deny using the term later in tweet. He also denied making derogatory remarks about Haitians.

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But Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the meeting, insisted that Trump did indeed use racist language.

Mr Durbin said: In the course of his comments said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist.

I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.

To no surprise the President started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said those things. And he said them repeatedly.

Congressional Black Caucus leader Cedric Richmond said that Trumps comments are proof that his Make America Great Again slogan really means Make America White Again.

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Richmond said in a statement: President Trumps comments are yet another confirmation of his racially insensitive and ignorant views. It also reinforces the concerns that we hear every day, that the Presidents slogan Make America Great Again is really code for Make America White Again.

Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that we can negotiate in good faith with a person who holds such vile and reprehensible beliefs.

A UN human rights official also branded the outburst racist.

Spokesperson Rupert Coleville said: If confirmed these are shocking and shameful comments from the President of the United States.

There is not other word you can use but racist.

The White House did not deny his remark outright, but issued a statement saying Mr Trump supports immigration policies that welcome those who can contribute to our society.

Mr Trumps reported remarks were remarkable even by the standards of a president who has been accused by his foes of racist attitudes and has routinely smashed through public decorum that his modern predecessors have generally embraced.

He has claimed without evidence that Barack Obama, the nations first black president, was not born in the US; said Mexican immigrants were bringing crime and were rapists; and claimed there were very fine people on both sides after violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, left a counter-protester dead.President Donald Trump signed a proclamation honoring Martin Luther King Jr.s life and civil rights work on Friday, just a day after reportedly making racist remarks toward Haiti and African countries.

During the signing, Trump, joined by HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Kings nephew Isaac Newton Farris in the White House, praised Kings faith and love for humanity while urging Americans to walk in his legacy.

Today we celebrate Dr. King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear that no matter what the color of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created equal by God, Trump said of the civil rights leader. While Dr. King is no longer with us, his words and vision only grow stronger through time. Today, we mourn his loss, we celebrate his legacy and we pledge to fight for his dream of equality, freedom, justice and peace.

Before signing, Trump wished a congratulations to [King] and to everybody. As he smiled and greeted those standing beside him, reporters erupted with questions about his statement on African and Haitian immigrants.

Mr. President, are you a racist? April Ryan of American Urban Radio Network asked. Mr. President, will you respond to these serious questions about your statement, sir?

Trump ignored all questions and exited the Roosevelt room.

On Thursday, Trump held an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers during which he referred to African nations and Haiti as shithole countries, as first reported by The Washington Post. He also rejected the idea of restoring protections for immigrants from those countries, suggesting that those from nations like Norway would be more welcome in the U.S.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Trump said. NBC News, BuzzFeed and CNN confirmed the reports.

Trump has since denied that he made the remarks via Twitter.

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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has since gone on the record to confirm the president made these remarks.

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The comments, which occurred on the eve of the anniversary of Haitis devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, are the latest in the presidents history of racial controversies.

In August, Trump defended white supremacists involved in the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally by calling them very fine people. Prior to his presidency, the longtime businessman was accused of discriminating against black applicants attempting to rent his properties and black employees of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

Watch Trumps full speech below.

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Also on HuffPost

Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Rico residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan on Oct. 3.

Trump reacts as he sits in a truck on March 23 while welcoming truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting at the White House regarding health care.

Trump registers his surprise as he realizes 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 ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines, on Nov. 13.

Trump, along with first lady Melania Trump, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, put their hands on an illuminated globe during the inauguration ceremony of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 21.

Trump looks up toward the solar eclipse while standing on the Truman Balcony at the White House on Aug. 21.

Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May are pictured ahead of a photo opportunity of leaders as they arrive for a NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on May 25.

Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing, China, on Nov. 10.

Trump holds up a pen after signing the HBCU executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 28.

Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wait for reporters to enter the room before their meeting in the Oval Office on March 17.

Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7.

Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio to the White House on Sept. 15. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the White House lawn, was invited to work for a day along the National Park Service staff.

Trump and Putin shake hands as they take part in a family photo at the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10.

Trump jokes with French President Emmanuel Macron about their handshakes at the start of the NATO summit at their new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on May 25.

Trump holds a mechanical tool as he attends a Made in America roundtable in the East Room of the White House on July 19.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.North Korea and South Korea have begun their first substantial dialogue in more than two years, following more than half a century of animosity and a particularly tense year for the nuclear crisis on their shared East Asian peninsula. For the fragile peace talks to succeed, however, experts said two very unpredictable world leaders must change course.

President Donald Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un's 2017 war of words shocked the international community as the U.S. ramped up military exercises and North Korea achieved groundbreaking, explosive progress on its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program.

As South Korea's main ally and a major power in the Pacific, however, the U.S. has a key role to play in the ongoing talks. And, if the U.S. and North Korea are to engage directly and effectively, North Korea monitoring project 38 North co-founder Joel Wit said these verbal assaults would have to come to an end.

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"President Trump, aside from expressing a willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un, should stop his personal insults of Kim Jong Un, and we should demand the same of the North Koreans," Wit, a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a former State Department official, said Thursday during a conference call hosted by 38 North.

"They should be told, in no uncertain terms, 'You shouldnt be hurling insults at President Trump, if he isnt insulting you,'" he added.

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KCNA/KNS/SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

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Trump offered a more diplomatic tone in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Thursday, stating that "I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un." However, the two leaders and their countries have rarely expressed anything but enmity toward each another. Since the two nations last openly fought during the 1950s Korean War, which never officially ended, Cold War foes the U.S. and North Korea have regularly traded angry rhetoric toward one another. Yet 2017 was different for at least a couple of reasons.

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The stakes of a potential conflict have never been higher as North Korea launched its first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), tested a massive hydrogen bomb and declared itself a nuclear state. Building on the militarized, authoritarian framework established by his father and grandfather before him, Kim achieved these goals despite increasingly tough economic sanctions and Trump's vows to never let the U.S. fall under North Korea's missile trajectory.

The dueling threats have also taken on a new tone under Trump, who quickly became the first U.S. president to carry out international and personal attacks on social media. Kim and his advisers were believed by some analysts to carefully follow Trump's daily barrage of tweets. As North Korea's state-run media showed, the country's leadership has taken these remarks literally, as well as others in which Trump suggested he would attack with "fire and fury" to "totally destroy" North Korea.

In the same New Year's address in which he reached out to his southern rival, Kim warned the U.S. that he had a nuclear button at his desk and was always at the ready. Just as South Korea began to make good on the peace offer, Trump responded by warning he had a "bigger and much more powerful" nuclear button and that his button actually "works." Surprisingly, North Korea did not respond, something which could be a positive sign for the upcoming negotiations.

"Under normal circumstances, you might have expected the North Koreans to reply to that angrily, as a threat, et cetera. Nothing! And, in fact, North-South [talks] moved ahead," Robert Carlin, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and a former chief of the State Department's Northeast Asia Division in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, said during the 38 North call.

"So, at least for the moment, I think the two sidesand certainly Pyongyanghave decided the best thing to do is not to get sidetracked but to move ahead," he added.

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Korea Pool/Getty Images

With the two rival Koreas committed to talks at the Panmunjom truce village located at the world's most heavily fortified border, however, the U.S. would likely have to do more than hold its tongue to get involved. North Korea has always defended its development and possession of nuclear weapons by claiming they were necessary to deter a potential U.S. attack, pointing to Washington's long history of interventions, invasions and other adventures abroad.

Trump has already reportedly agreed to suspend joint military drills with Pacific allies South Korea and Japan for the length of the upcoming Winter Olympics that served as the initial basis for inter-Korean talks. But Wit suggested the U.S. further delay the exercises, reduce their size and remove "what is seen as a nuclear component to them."

None of this, he emphasized, would hinder the U.S.'s ability to defend Seoul and it could give Washington ammunition to eventually ask for a halt to North Korea's missile and nuclear tests, which it so far has refused to put on the table, despite Trump's strategy of "maximum pressure."

"We have to recognize that this is a window of opportunity and well have to think about positive steps to take to reinforce that window," Wit said. "And unfortunately, I think the impulse is, as I said earlier, that pressure works, 'Lets dial it up.'"

"And if thats the case, we may be making a serious miscalculation. And the window may peter out and then were just left with maximum pressure again."

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAs Iranians take to the streets and the international community looks on nervously, President Trump is facing a crucial turning point on Iran.

Last October, he took a decisive step back from the nuclear agreement, which he has famously branded the worst deal ever.

This week, for the first time since then, the President must decide whether to continue both certifying the deal and waiving sanctions against Tehran.

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The time has come for Trump to hold Iran to account. However, the task is complex. The process extends far beyond the end of this week. It will require Trump to create a unity of purpose both at home and abroad that has so far been lacking. But it can and must be done.

The first challenge for the President is to turn the existing nuclear agreement from a decade-long arrangement into a permanent deal, removing the so-called sunset clause.

The second is to see the deal curb Irans ballistic missile development, which also poses a serious threat to regional stability. Such changes will give real purpose to a deal which currently guarantees nothing.

The Obama administration hoped that by signing a deeply flawed agreement and waiving crippling economic sanctions, it could bring Iran in from the cold, and strengthen the regimes moderates on the way to bringing stability to the wider region.

This plan has clearly and demonstrably failed. Since Washington and five fellow Western powers signed the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran has increasingly sown chaos in the region.

Tehrans fingerprints are all over the Middle Easts bloodiest conflicts from Syria to Yemen and beyond. Unencumbered by sanctions, Tehran continues to spread terror across the region.

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Meanwhile, the Iranian people have once again taken to the streets in wide scale protest against the Islamic Republics authoritarian rulers, who have not hesitated to brutally suppress their voice.

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The crux of these public demonstrations is a disillusionment over continued price rises and economic hardship at home, while vital resources are funnelled towards bankrolling President Assad, Hezbollah, Houthi rebels and others to fight wars abroad.

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MEHDI MARIZAD/AFP/Getty

The demonstrations have been a reminder that large swathes of the Iranian public are increasingly frustrated by a regime that seeks to isolate them from the international community and damaging economic progress, thereby depriving the people of a future.

Some have argued that forgoing the nuclear deal at this juncture, would risk playing into the hands of Iranian rulers only too eager to portray America as the enemy and the very catalyst of civil unrest.

Decertifying the agreement now and a renewal of sanctions would make it easy for the ayatollahs to further condemn popular protest as the work of the Great Satan. It could prove a setback for those in Iran who so desperately want engagement with the West.

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Nevertheless, the Trump administration could present an alternative way of forgoing the nuclear deal in its current form while supporting the Iranian peoples struggle for a more progressive future for Iran. Such an outcome will require a long term plan.

The Senate resolution 368 tabled by Senator Ed Royce and scheduled for vote next week not only expresses solidarity with the legitimate protests of the Iranian people and seeks international consensus on condemning the Iranian regimes human rights violations, but it calls on the US to introduce targeting sanctions to hold the regime to account.

The collaboration of the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker and Senator Ben Cardin, the most senior Democrat on the Committee, on the Corker-Cardin proposal is another such example. Both of these initiatives illustrate the important role Congress can play in helping the administration to create a bipartisan consensus at home, which is essential if the US is to persuade her allies to amend a deal which they continue to champion.

Support from both sides of the aisle to alter meaningfully the nuclear agreement would be a persuasive statement to the international community. The united voice of Republicans and Democrats would give confidence that President Trumps opposition to the deal is rooted in very real, grave concerns, rather than political interest.

And there are two clear and important alterations to the agreement, which a Corker-Cardin compromise can secure.

Having said that, Iran has already shown itself to be a bad actor in the process and if they wont commit to renegotiating the agreement, then the US position must be to resort to stronger action to hold the regime to account.

Holding Iran to account and halting its nuclear program has long been a priority for the West. Washington must continue to take a leading role in this process.

There is now a real opportunity to collaborate with parties from both sides of the political spectrum, in order to make this reality and garner support from the international community. As President Trump approaches the first anniversary of taking office, he has the chance to build a lasting legacy of stability in the Middle East.

But it will take patience and determination far beyond this weeks deliberations.

Jack Rosen is President of the American Jewish Congress.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPresident Donald Trump leads a prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room at the White House: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Donald Trump has suggested he has a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader he previously threatened to totally destroy over the country's increasingly serious nuclear threats.

I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, Mr Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised.

North Korea has repeatedly threatened to turn the US into darkness and ashes using the nuclear weapons they are developing at a surprisingly rapid rate. Though Mr Trump once said he would be honoured to meet Mr Kim, he has increasingly responded to Pyongyang's threats with bombastic statements of his own.

Last week, after Mr Kim spoke of having a nuclear button on his desk during a public address, Mr Trump responded by tweeting that he, too, had a nuclear button  and that was much bigger and more powerful than Mr Kim's.

Mr Trump attempted to explain the aggressive tweets on Thursday, telling the Journal: Youll see that a lot with me, and then all of the sudden somebodys my best friend. I could give you 20 examples. You could give me 30. Im a very flexible person.

Despite his previous, inflammatory rhetoric, Mr Trumps comments seem to suggest a newfound willingness to engage with the North Korean leader  something he has previously chided Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for suggesting.

Asked if he had spoken with Mr Kim, the President said cryptically: I dont want to comment on it. Im not saying I have or havent. I just dont want to comment.

North Korea recently sat down with South Korea for their first diplomatic talks since 2015. While they reached no consensus on Pyongyangs nuclear programme, the two countries did agree to have North Korea participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

On a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the talks, Mr Trump suggested he was open to discussion between the US and North Korea as well. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the President would consider the idea at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances.

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At the same time, US troops are reportedly training in the kind of tunnel warfare  and buying the specific kinds of gear  necessary to wage war in North Korea. Multiple outlets have also reported that the Trump administration is debating the possibility of pursuing a bloody nose strategy  a first, targeted strike to deter North Korea from proceeding with its weapons testing.

South Korea said Mr Trump denied perusing a "bloody nose" strategy in his call with Mr Moon this week.The U.S. ambassador to Panama has resigned from his post after deciding he cannot work under President Donald Trump any longer.

Feelys decision to resign from his ambassadorship came before Trump was reported to have called Haiti, El Salvador and parts of Africa shithole countries during a meeting about immigration on Thursday, Reuters reports. Trump has denied using the term shithole, although the White House did not deny the Washington Posts report on the comment.

According to part of Feelys resignation letter, obtained by Reuters, the senior diplomat left his position because he felt he couldnt work for Trump anymore.

I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies, Feely said in the letter. My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come.

The State Department confirmed to Reuters that Feely will retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 of this year.

Trumps stance toward Latin America and immigration in general has been a hardline approach. The administration announced earlier this week that some 200,000 Salvadorans living and working in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status will have to leave the country by Sept. 9, 2019 or apply for another legal status.

Feely is regarded as an expert on Latin American affairs, Reuters reports, and has served in high-ranking positions in the State Department that deals with the region.A U.S. attack on North Korea would be countered by indoctrinated soldiers fighting with religious fervor on behalf of their leader, Kim Jong Un, who has developed a cult following, a retired South Korean general said.

Related: North Korea Says "Live Long" Kim Jong Un Six Years Into His Rule

"I try to explain to the Americans: If we have to go into North Korea, it is not going to be like going into Iraq or Afghanistan. Its not going to be like toppling [ex-Iraqi President Saddam] Hussein, retired Lieutenant General In-Bum Chun said at a London think tank event Wednesday. This would be more like trying to get rid of Allah.

Trending: Trump Isn't Alone: Five Racist Quotes From Modern U.S. Presidents

Chun, who stopped serving 18 months ago and lives 35 miles from the border with North Korea, explained that even soldiers who defect have an innate belief in their system which is close to ridiculous."

Beginning at age 14, all North Koreans receive 100 hours of training annually on shooting a weapon, firing a rocket-propelled grenade, throwing a grenade, making a tent and other survival skills, according to Chun.

North Korea is militarized far beyond the [West's] imagination," he said.

Don't miss: North Korea's Kim Jong Un 'Had No One to Play With' As a Child, Former Family Guard Says

The Norths air force of about 1,000 fighter jets, while is out of date, could launch kamikaze-style attacks, said Chun, who served in South Korea's military for nearly 40 years.

If attacked, North Koreans would stay loyal to Kim for the near future, he said.

"They have a system where five to 10 families are organized into a group, and if a single person from that group misbehaves, the entire five or 10 families go to the gulag or are executed, so everybody spies on everybody else, Chun said. It is a great mechanism for keeping people under control.

Most popular: How Many Times Has Trump Cheated on His Wives? Here's What We Know

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Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have escalated since the rogue regimes latest launch in late November of an intercontinental ballistic missile reportedly capable of reaching anywhere in the U.S. mainland.

President Trump on Thursday told The Wall Street Journal, I probably have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un, suggesting he may be newly open to diplomacy.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAfter Donald Trump tweeted that he wouldnt show up for the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in London, an eerily similar presidential figure came to stand outside the building on Friday.

Madame Tussauds waxwork museum took matters into its own hands by placing a wax statue of Trump near the building, complete with unfriendly glare and extra-long red tie.

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Construction workers and tourists posed with the faux POTUS, who remained surprisingly silent about this awkward turn of events.

See more photos of the wax Trumps visit to the new embassy below.

A model of President Donald Trump from Madame Tussauds waxwork attractions stands outside the new U.S. Embassy in London on Jan. 12, 2018.

People take photographs of the wax figure.

Uncanny.

Also on HuffPost

Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Rico residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan on Oct. 3.

Trump reacts as he sits in a truck on March 23 while welcoming truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting at the White House regarding health care.

Trump registers his surprise as he realizes 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 ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines, on Nov. 13.

Trump, along with first lady Melania Trump, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, put their hands on an illuminated globe during the inauguration ceremony of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 21.

Trump looks up toward the solar eclipse while standing on the Truman Balcony at the White House on Aug. 21.

Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May are pictured ahead of a photo opportunity of leaders as they arrive for a NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on May 25.

Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing, China, on Nov. 10.

Trump holds up a pen after signing the HBCU executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 28.

Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wait for reporters to enter the room before their meeting in the Oval Office on March 17.

Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7.

Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio to the White House on Sept. 15. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the White House lawn, was invited to work for a day along the National Park Service staff.

Trump and Putin shake hands as they take part in a family photo at the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10.

Trump jokes with French President Emmanuel Macron about their handshakes at the start of the NATO summit at their new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on May 25.

Trump holds a mechanical tool as he attends a Made in America roundtable in the East Room of the White House on July 19.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Not too long ago, there was great scene on the television show The Americans wherein a Russian spy, fearful that the FBI was about to bust in the door and unearth the extent of his illicit activity, pressed a button that completely fried all of the electronics in his makeshift command and control center. While such plot devices are common in Hollywood, a bombshell report from Bloomberg relays that Uber employed a similar strategy in an effort to thwart law enforcement officials from gathering any evidence regarding the ridesharing companys own illicit activity.

Uber of course didnt physically destroy any of their own electronics, but when the appropriate signal was made, machines were frozen and Uber employees were logged off of connected computers, thus making it impossible for police to collect any incriminating evidence.

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In one example cited in the story, an Uber office in Montreal was about to be raided by local authorities on the belief that the company was violating a slew of tax regulations.

Bloomberg details what happened next:

Managers on-site knew what to do, say people with knowledge of the event. Like managers at Ubers hundreds of offices abroad, theyd been trained to page a number that alerted specially trained staff at company headquarters in San Francisco. When the call came in, staffers quickly remotely logged off every computer in the Montreal office, making it practically impossible for the authorities to retrieve the company records theyd obtained a warrant to collect. The investigators left without any evidence.

Indeed, with the remote shut down in effect, employees were unable to log back into their machines even with the ostensibly proper credentials as the requisite passwords had been changed remotely.

As crazy as it sounds, this behavior is somewhat shocking even by Ubers standards. Remember, Uber is the same company that almost found itself kicked out of the App Store after Apple discovered that the company implemented software capable of tracking iPhones even after the app had been deleted from a device.

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As for Ubers makeshift self-destruct software, Bloomberg reveals that the program was unofficially called Ripley and that it was used multiple times at Uber offices all across the globe as part of a concerted effort to keep the company one step ahead of investigators.

The Uber HQ team overseeing Ripley could remotely change passwords and otherwise lock up data on company-owned smartphones, laptops, and desktops as well as shut down the devices, the report further adds.

In the interest of fairness, some Uber employees who spoke to Bloomberg explained that the system was necessary because police outside the U.S. didnt always come with warrants or relied on broad orders to conduct fishing expeditions.

That may very well be true, but given Ubers long and illustrious history of questionable behavior, its hard to give the company the benefit of the doubt at this point. Indeed, Bloomberg details that Uber at one point contemplated developing a piece of software that would present a dummy version of a typical login screen to police or other unwanted eyes, the people say.

While no such software was ever created, it does tend to illustrate the lengths to which Uber was willing to go to cover its tracks.

You can read a whole lot more in the full report over here.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.comWashington (AFP) - The US ambassador to the Netherlands is to meet Dutch Muslims after his arrival was clouded by his claim that the country is troubled by Islamist violence and no-go zones.

Dutch-born former Republican congressman Pete Hoekstra was President Donald Trump's pick to represent the United States in The Hague, despite his controversial theories.

Trouble erupted Wednesday when the new envoy refused to answer questions from Dutch reporters about his claims that Dutch Muslims had engaged in "burning cars and politicians."

On Thursday, the State Department said the US administration does not stand by these allegations, nor does it believe as Hoekstra apparently does in Muslim controlled "no-go zones."

But Hoekstra will not be withdrawn. Instead, he is going to try to explain his previous statements, made on US television in 2015, to the Dutch media and local communities.

"The Ambassador made mistakes in 2015, made comments that should not have been made," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Steve Goldstein told reporters.

"He recognizes that, he apologized in December. He is doing an interview tomorrow," he continued.

"He is honored to be the Ambassador. He's been received well by the Dutch government, and we hope that he can be received well by the people of the Netherlands."

Asked whether the State Department agreed with Hoekstra's comments on the security situation and the place of Muslims in Dutch society, Goldstein said it did not.

"Those comments were not the position of the State Department and you will never hear those words from this podium or in any form," he said.

When he was asked why Hoekstra had not, himself, simply withdrawn the allegations, Goldstein said: "I appreciate that PR advice ... I share your view by the way."

On Wednesday, despite being repeatedly asked at a heated news conference at his residence in The Hague, Hoekstra refused to say whether he still stood by his views.

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Angry Dutch reporters asked him several times whether he still believed there were "no-go areas" in The Netherlands, and to identify which politicians had been burned.

In a clip from the 2015 event, reportedly sponsored by the far-right David Horowitz Freedom Center, Hoekstra appears on a panel discussing the spread of radical Islam.

- 'Fake News' -

"The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos, chaos in the Netherlands, there are cars being burned, there are politicians that are being burned," he says.

The film caused a stir in The Netherlands last month when during an interview with the NOS public broadcaster, Hoekstra denied ever making the comments, saying it was "fake news."

But when the clip was played for him, the Dutch-born ambassador then denied accusing his interviewer on camera just moments before of "fake news."

In a Twitter message on December 23, Hoekstra said: "I made certain remarks in 2015 and regret the exchange during the Nieuwsuur interview. Please accept my apology."

A former representative for Michigan for 18 years in the US Congress, Hoekstra was born in the northern Dutch city of Groningen before his parents emigrated when he was just three.

He takes up the post as US envoy left vacant for two years, and as immigration is set to again be a hot-button issue in the Dutch local elections due on March 21.

"The Ambassador did not answer some of the questions that were asked of him. He recognizes that," Goldstein said.

"He is going to do a long-form interview tomorrow, that is the plan, with a Dutch outlet," he added.

"And he also plans over the weekend to be available within many of the communities in in the capital, including Muslim communities."The Trump administration was ecstatic with Walmart on Thursday, and for good reason.

The retail juggernaut announced it would raise its minimum starting wage to $11 per hour, hand out between $200 and $1,000 in bonuses to current employees and expand its parental leave benefits. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in a press release made it crystal clear why he had made the decision: Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.

The administration held Walmarts announcement up as proof that the money the newly signed tax law hands over to corporations was already trickling down into the pockets of American workers. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders celebrated the company decision, while President Donald Trumps daughter Ivanka tweeted, Thanks to the passage of historic tax cuts, American workers and their families are winning!

Trump himself shared a video on Twitter of Fox Business discussing the news and declared, Great news, as a result of our TAX CUTS & JOBS ACT!

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The media largely credited Republicans as well.

Trumps Tax Bill Prompts Walmart To Raise Starting Wage, Give $1,000 Bonuses To Some Employees, Newsweek declared in its headline. CNBC started off their story by stating, Walmarts workers will soon reap the benefits of the recent tax law changes.

Ever since Congress overhauled the U.S. tax code last month, a number of companies have announced bonuses and raises, pointing to the dropping corporate tax rate as the main reason why. The verdict is starting to come in, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said earlier this month. Many folks are pleasantly surprised, that this is the first time Congress and Washington D.C. has done something to make their life better.

But citing a brand new tax law as the predominant reason for Walmarts decision downplays the basic economic forces the company has been grappling with for years.

In 2015, back when Barack Obama was still president and tax law was little more than a Paul Ryan fantasy, Walmart similarly announced that it had decided to raise its baseline wage to $9 per hour almost immediately, and to $10 per hour the year after that. At the time, McMillon, Walmarts CEO, had no qualms about suggesting the broader economy was a main reason for the change. Its great to see the job market getting better, and the market works, so were adjusting to that market, he told CNBC.

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In 2016, CNN cited the increasingly competitive labor market and a low unemployment rate  which makes finding and retaining workers more difficult  as the primary reasons Walmart was increasing wages and benefits.

Those trends have not only continued through 2018, but intensified. Advocates and tax policy experts alike said on Thursday that it was shocking that the countrys largest employer hadnt raised wages earlier.

Investors Business Daily reported as much last October. Shortly before that, Target, one of Walmarts largest competitors, made the decision to increase its minimum wage to $11 per hour and to $15 per hour by 2020, causing Wall Street analysts and Walmart investors to worry Walmart would try to keep up. Around the same time, the article said, Autozones CEO had said that wage pressure resulting from close to 4 percent unemployment was growing significantly more than I have experienced in my nearly 23 years of AutoZone.

In addition, 18 states were poised to raise their minimum wages on New Years Day. As a result, several states including California, Massachusetts and Washington now boast minimum wages at or above Walmarts $11 mark for large companies. And by this time next year, at least four more states will join them  with an additional half-dozen or so scooting above (and in some cases significantly above) Walmarts previously set $10-per-hour floor as well, according to National Conference of State Legislatures website.

Add all of that together, and tax policy experts and worker advocates couldnt help but note that Walmarts Thursday announcement tying the decision to the tax law rang more than a little disingenuous  a savvy and well-timed public relations move more than anything else.

Walmart didnt respond to a request for comment for this article.

I have to think that some part of that is political, said Ann C. Hodges, a professor at the University of Richmond who specializes in labor and employment law. You want the tax cut to have political support  this one and future ones. Telling people they are going to get more money in their pockets as a result is exactly how you gin it up, she said.

Perhaps, like McMillon implied, the tax law helped accelerate the implementation of otherwise inevitable wage increases. But Gregg Polsky, a tax professor at the University of Georgia, argued that even in a scenario in which the tax law did allow businesses to make major new investments, not nearly enough time has passed yet to translate that into higher wages.

I think of this very much as correlation with the tax bill and not causation, said Anastasia Christman, a research director at the National Employment Law Project.

The labor market may have been pushing Walmart to raise wages to get and retain quality employees, Christman said. But, she continued, If you can instead make yourself look like you are bringing this theory of trickle-down economics to fruition, why not put out a press release?

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.During a meeting of bipartisan senators at the White House on Thursday, Donald Trump reportedly called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations s***hole countries. The comments were the latest in a long history of racist remarks by Trump.

In 2017, as president, he came under fire for saying there were "many fine people" on both sides of the Charlottesville protest which included white supremacists. But his campaign was accused of being rooted in racism from the start; calling Mexicans rapists, battling parents of a Muslim soldier killed during war, supporting violence against minority protesters at his rally and vehemently supporting a wall between the United States and Mexico.

Trumps comments this week saw a plethora of pundits calling him a racist. Anderson Cooper said Trumps comments werent racial or racially charged, they were racist. Jimmy Kimmel expressed his disbelief over Trumps statements saying it was unfathomable it is that hes running our country.

Republican Rep. Mia Love fired back at Trumps comments as well saying, The President comments are unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nations values. This behaviour is unacceptable from the leader of our nation. My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with. Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton honoured the people of Haiti and called out Trumps ignorant, racist views.

A lot of people were furious with Trumps comments, but not everyone was outraged. Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren asked, If they arent s***hole countries, why dont their citizens stay there?

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The Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro said the problem with Trumps remarks was that he used a curse word and that he said it behind closed doors unlike Joe Biden, while Conservative pundit Ann Coulter said that s***hole countries should be given respect by being called s***hole nations.

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Conservative host Tucker Carlson defended Trumps s***hole statements saying, Those places are dangerous, they're dirty, they're corrupt, and they're poor, and that's the main reason those immigrants are trying to come here.

White supremacist leader David Duke called Trumps comments the perfect truth saying he should act on it.

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In response to the right-wing defences of Trumps statement, people have slammed them on Twitter. Jesse McLaren rhetorically asked Lahren Is South Dakota a s***hole because you came out of it?

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One Twitter user made a meme featuring Ann Coulter holding a sign saying Im a miserable person who peddles hate to make money off of dumb republicans.

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In the day following Trumps explosive remarks, the United States ambassador to Panama has quit. Hes had reporters shout at him, are you racist? and the UN has condemned his comments as racist.

Trump has denied using the word s***ole in the meeting, however Dick Durbin has claimed he used it repeatedly.This is whats wrong with the upsetting new change to Medicaid

In order to help states do more with less money, on Thursday the Trump administration sent guidelines to states that would allow them to impose work requirements on people who get Medicaid, the health care program thats jointly funded by federal and state governments for low income and disabled people. Each state runs its own Medicaid program and there are ten states considering instituting the work requirement, meaning that someone would have to prove that they have a job, or at least are in school, are a caregiver, volunteer, or participate in other approved community engagement, according to the Washington Post. Elderly, disabled, pregnant people, along with kids, would be excluded.

The problem? Most people on Medicaid already work, which means the administration obviously hasnt done its homework on the matter. It would also eliminate people who are currently eligible but cant work.

The head of the Center for Medicare & Medical Services, Seema Verma, issued the guidelines on Thursday and then tweeted that the new guidelines would improve Medicaid enrollee health outcomes by incentivizing community engagement. She said in a call with reporters on Thursday, according to WNYC, that this is about helping people rise out of poverty. However, studies show that access to essential health care actually helps people hold down a job, whereas not having health care makes it harder for people to keep a job. Research mostly shows that most Medicaid recipients, much like people who use food benefits or welfare, which is a pretty imprecise term, already work. So why is the move so popular among lawmakers?

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Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin have already filed applications to impose work requirements on its residents. Since so many people with Medicaid already work, and there could be exemptions, for example, for people with substance abuse issues who are in rehab to be considered involved in community engagement, its not clear how many people would be affected. But it is a clear sign that lawmakers are very interested in purging the rolls, so to speak, of people who are getting essential health care benefits through Medicaid in the name of trimming federal and state budgets. They also have some pretense that people who receive health care benefits from the government will all of a sudden be lifted out of poverty with one part-time job or volunteer work.

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Kansas and Maine both boasted great success after imposing work requirements for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) beneficiaries. In Kansas, around 13,000 people stopped getting benefits, according to one study. But just like with health care, a lot of people who receive benefits already work, and the states didnt account for the fact that people dont usually get food benefits forever. Basically, a large percentage of that 13,000 people might have gone off the benefits program anyway.

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According to the Washington Post, about 80 percent of Republicans and a majority of Democrats favor work benefits, while those that oppose it believe that health care and food are rights that all Americans should enjoy. The idea that work should be tied to welfare is a very American one, that favors personal responsibility. It became really popular under President Bill Clinton when he used it to overhaul the Arkansas Medicaid program and then applied it to federal programs.

But a lot of people get left behind when you impose work requirements. Not everyone who needs and receives assistance is fundamentally lazy.

Our benefits system needs to be reformed, for sure, but not by disqualifying people based on some false assumption that everyone can work, or that work pays all the bills, or that poverty isnt a lot more complex than just not having a job.

The New York Times tells the the story of a 38-year-old man in Arkansas who was kicked off of SNAP because of work requirements. He works as a part-time security guard after a long recovery from a surgery that removed a tumor in his spine. He has Medicaid, but lost SNAP benefits because he wasnt able to work the required 20 hours a week. The man, who earns $10 an hour as a security guard, told the newspaper, I went from being able to eat vegetables to eating Hamburger Helper every day. I think most people want to work, but I also know a lot of people work when its not necessarily in their healths best interest.

Its also just not easy for everyone to find work, and it has nothing to do with wanting a job or wanting to be stuck in a cycle of poverty. Mandy Davis, a social worker at the Jericho Way homeless shelter in Arkansas, noted in the New York Times, Low-income people often face numerous roadblocks in finding work. Some have criminal records. Others lack a cellphone or reliable transportation. Middle-class America believes in work because we do it ourselves. But we have resources, an education, transportation, a supportive family.

Its very easy to scoff about getting a job, but it is easier for so many more people  even single, able-bodied people that the new requirements are supposed to help  than others to even get part-time employment that would help them meet some of the proposed requirements. Again, this is health care were talking about, so running an experiment about what happens when you make people work for benefits isnt low stakes at all. It could be life or death for some people. If anything, it sends a message that if you cant work, you dont deserve help, which is a really warped message to send into the world.

Once again, the Trump administration has rolled back another protection that the Obama administration had defended without, apparently, really considering the current research or consequences. Its discouraging that lawmakers on both sides seem to agree that expanded tax benefits for wealthy people are more important than expanded budgets for helping poor people and people in poverty live their best lives, too. What would happen if we actually started to give to the most needy instead of taking things away from them?The New Yorker is taking on President Donald Trump after he asked why the U.S. would welcome immigrants from shithole places like Haiti and African countries during a bipartisan Oval Office meeting on Thursday.

In the Hole, by artist Anthony Russo, responds to the presidents comment, which has been decried as racist by the United Nations, with a stark illustration for the magazines cover in its Jan. 22 issue.

On a field of white, the presidents yellowish sweep of hair is just visible from the depths of a black hole:

(Photo: Anthony Russo / The New Yorker)

On Thursday, Trump sparked widespread criticism after he reportedly questioned why the U.S. should restore protections for immigrants from Haiti and parts of Africa.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? the president said, sources told The Washington Post. We should have more people from places like Norway, he added.

The New York Times, NBC News, BuzzFeed and CNN confirmed reports of the comment. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) went on record to say he was in the room when it was made.

He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly, Durbin said.

The White House did not deny the presidents phrasing in a statement issued Thursday. Trump strongly denied the derogatory remark against Haiti over Twitter the next day, but neither he nor the White House mentioned his attitude toward African nations.

Lawmakers were in the Oval Office to discuss a plan to help Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children who are nicknamed after the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program that protected them from deportation.

Trump ended DACA in September, but has said he wants to help Dreamers in exchange for progress on his proposed border wall.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misspelled Russos last name and misidentified Russo as the artist behind a New Yorker cover depicting James Comey being dragged off a plane by Jeff Sessions, which was illustrated by Barry Blitt.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Iran rejected on Saturday US President Donald Trump's ultimatum to fix the "terrible flaws" in the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers, saying it will not accept any changes to it.

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In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Foreign Ministry said Iran "will not accept any change in the deal, neither now nor in future," adding that it will "not take any action beyond its commitments."

It also said Iran would not allow the deal to be linked to other issues, after Trump suggested that the sanctions relief under the deal be tied to Iran limiting its long-range ballistic missile program.

Iranian President Rouhani; US President Trump (Photo: AFP, Getty Images)

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stressed Friday the nuclear deal was not renegotiable. "Trump's policy and todays announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29. JCPOA is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance - just like Iran," Zarif said in a tweet.

Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif (Photo: AFP)

Trump gave the Iran nuclear deal a final reprieve on Friday but warned European allies and Congress they had to work with him to fix the disastrous flaws in the pact or face a US exit.

Trump said he would waive sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the international deal for the last time unless his conditions were met.

While Trump approved the sanctions waiver, the Treasury Department announced new, targeted sanctions against 14 entities and people, including the head of Irans judiciary, Sadeq Amoli Larijani, a close ally of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian statement said the targeting of one of the officials, judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, "crossed all behavioral red lines of the international community." It said the sanctions are against international law and go against US commitments, saying they would bring a "strong reaction" from Iran.

Russia, meanwhile, considers Trump's comments on the nuclear deal with Iran to be "extremely negative," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in remarks carried by RIA state news agency on Saturday.

The ultimatum puts pressure on Europeans - key backers and parties to the 2015 international agreement to curb Irans nuclear program  to satisfy Trump, who wants the pact strengthened with a separate agreement within 120 days.

Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said in a statement. Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw.

Trump, who has sharply criticized the deal reached during Democrat Barack Obamas presidency, had privately chafed at having to once again waive sanctions on a country he sees as a rising threat in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

This is a last chance, Trump said, pushing for a separate agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately.

The EU said in a statement it had taken note of Trumps decision and would assess its implications.

Underscoring the difficulty now facing Europeans, a European diplomat, speaking under condition of anonymity, said: Its going to be complicated to save the deal after this.

Trump now will work with European partners on a follow-on agreement that enshrines certain triggers that the Iranian regime cannot exceed related to ballistic missiles, said senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the decision.

One senior administration official said Trump would be open to remaining in a modified deal if it were made permanent.

I hereby call on key European countries to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people, Trump said in the statement.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said significant progress had been made on bipartisan congressional legislation to address the flaws in the agreement without violating US commitments.

Several conditions

Trump laid out several conditions to keep the United States in the deal. Iran must allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors, he said, and sunset provisions imposing limits on Irans nuclear program must not expire. Trump said US law must tie long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs together, making any missile testing by Iran subject to severe sanctions.

The president wants Congress to modify a law that reviews US participation in the nuclear deal to include trigger points that, if violated, would lead to the United States reimposing its sanctions, the official said.

This would not entail negotiations with Iran, the official said, but rather would be the result of talks between the United States and its European allies. Work already has begun on this front, the official said.

Analyst Richard Nephew said whether Trumps conditions could be met depended on whether he wants a face-saving way to live with the nuclear deal with the political cover of tough-sounding US legislation, or whether he really wants the deal rewritten.

Nephew, a former White House and State Department Iran sanctions expert, said legislation could be drafted that might appear to assuage Trumps concerns, but that getting Iran to agree to allow unfettered international inspections or to no time limits on the nuclear deals restrictions was impossible.

Trump has argued behind the scenes that the nuclear deal makes the United States look weak, a senior US official said.

A decision to withhold a waiver would have effectively ended the deal between Iran, the United States, China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and the European Union. The other parties to the agreement would have been unlikely to join the United States in reimposing sanctions.

Hailed by Obama as key to stopping Iran from building a nuclear bomb, the deal lifted economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear program but Trump has argued that Obama negotiated a bad deal.

Pressure from Europe

Britain, France and Germany called on Trump on Thursday to uphold the pact.

Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and that it will stick to the accord as long as the other signatories respect it, but will shred the deal if Washington pulls out.

Two EU diplomats said EU foreign ministers will discuss what to do now at their next regular meeting, scheduled for January 22 in Brussels.

The US Congress requires the president to decide periodically whether to certify Irans compliance with the deal and issue a waiver to allow US sanctions to remain suspended.

Trump in October chose not to certify compliance and warned he might ultimately terminate the accord. He accused Iran of not living up to the spirit of the agreement even though the International Atomic Energy Agency says Tehran is complying.

Hard-liners on Iran in the US Congress have called for the reimposition of the suspended sanctions and an end to the nuclear deal, while some liberal Democrats want to pass legislation that would make it harder for Trump to pull Washington out without congressional consent.

Trump and his top advisers have been negotiating with US lawmakers on Capitol Hill to try to change sanctions legislation so that Trump does not face a deadline on whether to recertify Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days.The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, urged Gaza residents on Saturday not to allow Hamas to take advantage of them.

"Hamas claims the protests at the strip border are not violent, but sends youth armed with hand grenades there," Mordechai wrote in a Facebook post in Arabic.

"In recent weeks, 11 Palestinians have been killed and dozens others wounded. Don't allow Hamas to take advantage of you. It is hiding behind you, and you're paying the price," he added.Tunisian authorities have arrested four men on suspicion of throwing Molotov cocktails at a synagogue on the island of Djerba three days ago, causing light damage to the structure.

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The Tunisian Interior Ministry said the suspects were not religiously motivated, but rather trying to "create chaos" amid the anti-government protests in the country.

Two Molotov cocktails were hurled at a small synagogue in Djerba late Tuesday, setting fire to the building.

Damage caused to synagogue

The Molotov cocktails were thrown from the roof into the yard of the synagogue, which is located in al-Hara al-Kabira ("the Big Quarter"). The firebombs hit palm tree leavesapparently leftovers from Sukkotwhich caught on fire.

A reporter at the scene told the AP the synagogue was empty and the fire was quickly extinguished.

Some damage was caused to the structure but no one was hurt, the head of the local Jewish community, Perez Trabelsi, told Reuters on Wednesday.

While the violent protests over price hikes that engulfed Tunisia did not reach Djerba, locals said the assailants had exploited the fact that there was a reduced security presence as police were busy combating anti-government protests elsewhere in the North African state.

Mainly Muslim Tunisia has a Jewish minority of fewer than 1,100 people, many of them (300-500) in Djerba. Jews have lived in Tunisia for over 2,000 years and Djerba is home to Africa's oldest synagogue, El Ghriba, which was hit by al Qaeda-linked militants in 2002 in a truck bomb attack that killed 21 people including Western tourists.Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Remarks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

2018/01/13

Q: On January 13 Beijing Time, the United States issued a statement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). What is your comment?

A: We have taken note of the relevant statement, especially the part about continuing suspending sanctions against Iran in the nuclear area on the part of the United States. We have also heeded that the international community universally support the JCPOA and fully recognize the efforts made by Iran to implement it.

The Chinese side always firmly supports the JCPOA. We believe that the JCPOA is an important outcome of multilateralism and a model of resolving international hot-spot issues through political and diplomatic means. Ensuring the thorough implementation of the JCPOA is of great significance to upholding the peace and stability of the Middle East region and the international non-proliferation regime and serves the fundamental interests of all relevant parties.

As the JCPOA has not come by easily, all relevant parties should cherish it. Under the current circumstances, we hope that all relevant parties can bear the larger picture and long-term interests in mind, properly handle differences and continue implementing the JCPOA in a comprehensive and effective manner with strong political will.

I also would like to stress that China is always opposed to the unilateral sanctions imposed by relevant countries on other countries in accordance with their domestic laws. This position is consistent and clear-cut.Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani condemned Saturday Israel's decision to advance the construction of new settler homes and to approve hundreds more.

"This is a rebellion against international law. A unilateral diplomatic behavior that conveys lack of belief in the two-state solution or peaceful resolutions," Momani said.

"Israeli construction in the settlements... constitutes a direct threat to the peace process," he added.Islamist movement Hamas said Saturday it would not participate in a meeting of Palestinian leaders to debate responses to the controversial US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The decision not to take part in the meeting to begin late Sunday is a further setback to failing reconciliation efforts between leading Palestinian factions.

"We have taken the decision not to participate in the meeting of the (Palestinian) Central Council in Ramallah," Hamas said in a statement, however stressing its "commitment to the unity of our people".

"The conditions under which the committee will be held will not enable it to carry out a comprehensive and responsible political review, and will prevent decisions that reach the level of our aspirations."

Islamic Jihad has also announced it would not take part.Retired judge Eliyahu Winograd passed away on Saturday at the age of 91.

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Winograd, who headed the commission to investigate the Second Lebanon War, also served as the president of the Tel Aviv District Court and briefly as a justice in the Supreme Court.

The Gideon Fisher & Co. law firm announced his passing. "Dr. Eliyahu Winograd, whom we had the privilege of having as a partner in our firm and who for many years helped nurture young generations of lawyers ... was one of a kind. We will miss him dearly. May he rest in peace," the firm said in a statement.

Dr. Eliyahu Winograd (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Winograd was born in Tel Aviv in December 1926. He went to high school at the Mizrachi Teachers' Training College in Jerusalem and later studied at the Tel Aviv Law and Economics School. He served in the IDF from 1948-1950 and was released in the rank of lieutenant after completing his service as the head of the General Staff's Legal Department.

He was certified as a lawyer in July 1952 and worked at the Yizhar Harari and Co. law firm until 1960. From 1960 to 1963 he served as the chief assistant to the Tel Aviv District Attorney. From April 1963 to 1972 he led a law firm of his own.

Winograd was appointed as a judge at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court in December 1972, and in May of 1977 he was appointed as a judge at the district court in the city. In 1983, he received a PhD in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1987, Winograd served as an acting judge at the Supreme Court. From January 1989 until early 1996, he served as the president of the Tel Aviv District Court, following which he retired.

After his retirement from the bench, Winograd served as a arbitrator and held many public positions. In September 2006 he was selected to chair a committee to investigate the Second Lebanon War. The committee pointed to many failures in the conduct of both the political and military echelons, but did not lay blame on any one individual.

The Winograd Committee (Photo: Amit Shabi)

Winograd also chaired many other committees, including one investigating the Air Force cable accident; a committee examining the issue of exchanging remains of Shayetet commandos killed in Lebanon; a public committee to examine university students tuition fees; a public committee on pension funds; a public committee that examined the chain of events and available information on captured IDF soldier Ron Arad; a committee examining whether to strip Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai, who was convicted of sexual misconduct, of his rank; and a committee on the IDF censor's authority.

He also co-chaired a committee examining the issue of blood donations from the Ethiopian community in Israel.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel honored him with the title of "Knight of Good Government."

He also wrote several books on judicial manners.MOSCOW - A new round of US sanctions expected against Moscow is an attempt to influence Russia's domestic affairs ahead of a presidential election, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Washington is expected to impose fresh penalties against Russia as soon as early February for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential vote. Russia has repeatedly denied this.

Moscow expects the United to present two anti-Russian reports with the sanctions, Ryabkov told Tass news agency.

One of the reports will likely extend the number of Russian officials and companies on the sanctions list, while the other will analyze whether sanctions so far have proved to be effective, Ryabkov said.Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant warned Saturday that if Hamas in Gaza "takes it one step too farwe'll take them and everyone around them down."

Speaking at a cultural event in Hadera, Galant added that "Hamas is not launching a (military) campaign because it knows our abilities. The terror organization and its leader, Yahya Sinwar, don't care about their peopleonly themselves."

Addressing the Syrian civil war, Galant said President Bashar Assad "is the angel of death for the Syrian people."Handwritten pages from Albert Einstein 's theory of relativity, letters to his lovers and other parts of his archive stored in Jerusalem are to be exhibited for the first time in Taiwan, China and Japan.

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Some 75 artifacts will go on display in Taipei beginning Friday as part of the exhibit "Albert Einstein: Life in Four Dimensions," Jerusalem's Hebrew University said Thursday.

They will remain on display at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall through April 8 before moving on to China and Japan.

Albert Einstein (Photo: AP)

The Jerusalem university is home to the world's largest Einstein collection

The pieces on display will include "his 1921 Nobel Prize, handwritten pages from the theory of relativity, letters exchanged with Sigmund Freud, family members and lovers, and the physicist's own vinyl record collection," the university said.

A university spokeswoman told AFP that "nearly everything presented is original except for Einstein's century-old pipe, which is too fragile to send. We sent a copy."

Part of the journey for the historic and highly valuable material included an armored truck, a police escort and a dummy car to "throw off potential thieves," the university said.

While certain artifacts have been exhibited in places including Washington and Los Angeles, the upcoming exhibits mark the first time such a large number of pieces have been sent abroad, the spokeswoman said.

Einstein served as a non-resident governor of Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

When the German-born physicist died in 1955, he left the institution his archives, making it the owner of the world's most extensive collection of his documents.

He also once turned down an offer to become Israel's president.

In October, a note that Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo briefly describing his theory on happy living sold at auction in Jerusalem for $1.56 million.A fisherman from the Gaza Strip was shot dead by the Egyptian army overnight for unclear reasons, Palestinian officials said Saturday, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident.

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Medical sources in Gaza said that Abdullah Zeidan, 33, from the Shati refugee camp, was shot in the chest by Egyptian forces near the naval border with Egypt in the south of the coastal enclave.

He was taken to hospital but died early Saturday morning.

Zeidan's funeral (Photo: AFP)

Gaza's interior ministry said an initial investigation indicated "the Palestinian fishing boat did not cross the Egyptian (maritime) border" and remained in the Palestinian waters of the town of Rafah.

"We call on the Egyptian authorities to open an urgent investigation into this incident," spokesman Iyad al-Bozum said in a statement.

Abdullah Zeidan

The Hamas terror group, which dominates Gaza, condemned the "unjustified" attack.

Egyptian officials did not immediately comment.

The head of the fishing union in Gaza announced a halt in fishing until Sunday evening in protest at the killing.

Fishermen from Gaza have often brought in catch from Egyptian territory to sidestep restrictions imposed by Israel's naval blockade of the enclave.

Gaza fishermen say that the limited fishing zone imposed by Israel is not big enough to meet demand of the coastal strip's 2 million people.

Egyptian forces, meanwhile, have in the past opened fire at Palestinians trying to smuggle weapons and other items from the Sinai Peninsula into the strip.Hundreds of Palestinians rioted at the entrance to the village of Nabi Salih near Ramallah on Saturday afternoon.

The rioters threw stones at IDF troops and the nearby road and shouted slogans against Israel.

As part of its efforts to disperse the rioters, the IDF declared the area a closed military zone. Despite this, Joint List MK Ayman Odeh was allowed to enter the village.Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog told a Saudi-owned online newspaper that Riyadh has a big role to play in reviving the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In an interview with the London-based Arabic website Elaph, Herzog said, we must help Saudi Arabia revive the peace process with the Palestinians.

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Today we are in the most difficult situation between the two peoples, he stressed, there is a loss of hope on our side and a blocked path for the Palestinians. When the road is a dead end, unilateral steps begin to come to the fore. I suggest to everyone to beware of (this potentiality) and call on everyone to be more rational.

Herzog also praised Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman , describing him as one of the great revolutionaries of the Middle East.

Opposition leader Herzog (Photo: Avi Moalem)

The Israeli parliamentarian was the third high-ranking official to be interviewed by Elaph in recent weeks, in what appears to be tentative feelers towards creating overt ties between the Israeli government and The House of Saud, which share an interest in combating Iranian influence in the region. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot gave the first interview to Elaph, during which he proposed exchanging intelligence with the Saudis. Shortly thereafter, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz formally invited bin Salman to visit Israel.

Suleiman al-Oqeliy, a Saudi political analyst, noted that Israel is beginning to openly acknowledge the powerful political role the Sunni Muslim kingdom plays in Middle East, as well as its strategic importance. Saudi Arabia has a special place in the global economy and Israelis are seeking to attain peace with Saudi Arabia in order to make peace with the whole area, he explained to The Media Line.

In his interview, Herzog said Riyadh should be given a central role in future arrangements regarding Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint for religious tensions located atop the Temple Mount, Judaisms holiest site, which is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.

In this respect, al-Oqeliy warned of attempts by Israel to sabotage diplomatic relations between the Saudi and Jordanian kingdoms. Israelis have been spreading lies and rumors about Amman in their local media, he claimed, adding that Israel was trying to take revenge against Jordan after it expelled the Israeli ambassador following a shooting incident at the Embassy in Amman late last year.

Saudi Arabia and the whole world recognize Jordans important role in monitoring Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Any reference to Saudi Arabia having special status regarding these holy sites is like separating us from our Jordanian brothers, al-Oqeliy concluded.

Saudi King Salman with Crowne Prince Mohammad bin Salman (Photo: MCT)

Yihya al-Saoud, the head of the Palestine Committee in the Jordanian parliament, told The Media Line that he agrees with some of Herzogs remarks, namely that the current extremist Israeli government must be replaced in order to achieve peace. However, he strongly condemned denying Jordans role in monitoring the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Nobody can ignore our role in Jerusalem in protecting, not only the Islamic holy sites, but also Christian sites, al-Saoud asserted. Herzogs statements about Jerusalem were intended to drive a wedge between Jordan and its sister country Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli opposition leader also invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to present his vision of peace to the Israeli parliament, saying this could be based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Nabeel Amro, a former PA information minister, similarly contended that the main obstacle to peace is Prime Minister Benjamijn Netanyahu, who has been empowered by the current American bias towards Israel.

Israel recognizes the very important role of Saudi Arabia in the region, he emphasized to The Media Line, but since it wont accept the Saudi position on the peace process, it would be hard to have ties with the kingdom.

Article written by Dima Abumaria.Yair Netanyahu cancelled his participation in a state visit to India with his father Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday. Yair was earlier approved to join the trip and the recent media storm over a recording of him talking and jesting with a friend, the son of a major tycoon, at a Tel Aviv strip club is believed to be the reason behind the cancellation.The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.Pristina - Kosovo on Saturday requested the extradition of an Israeli national arrested last week in Cyprus on suspicion of operating an international network of organ trafficking.

According to the prosecutor's office, the Israeli national, whom the local press has identified as Moshe Harel, is suspected of having organized more than 30 kidney transplants that were made illegally in the Medicus clinic, near Pristina, closed in 2008 when the scandal broke.

Moshe Harel is also charged in Tel Aviv, along with six other Israelis, for allegedly belonging to an international network of organ trafficking and illegal transplants in Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka and Turkey.Hundreds of Palestinian protesters have been rioting since Saturday afternoon at the entrance to the village of Nabi Saleh, near Halamish, in the central West Bank.

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Rioters threw stones at IDF forces and at the nearby road and chanted anti-Israel slogans. The IDF responded with riot control measures, firing tear gas canisters into the mob.

The army declared the slopes of the village a closed military zone, but said it had allowed MK Ayman Odeh from the joint list to enter the area.

Ayman Odeh, who came to participate in the demonstration, said in a video released from the scene: "This is part of the demonstrations by the heroic Palestinian people against the criminal occupation. These demonstrations will continue and will not until the occupation ends."

MK Odeh (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Odeh then commended a group of Jewish left-wing activists that came to support the protesters, saying their support is important because they understand the ramifications of the occupation.

"The small village of Nabi Saleh has become a symbol of the Palestinian people through the public struggle in which men and women participate and men and women are detained," he added. "This is a just struggle against the criminal occupation."

Nabi Saleh started making headlines recently when two residents of the village, Nur and Ahed Tamimi , were filmed assaulting IDF soldiers stationed there. The soldiers were documented being attacked while they maintained their composure and refrained from responding.

Tensions have been mounting recently with US President Donald Trump's r ecognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move which further strained relations between Israel and the Palestinians and effectively quashed any chance of a US-led peace process.

Tensions rise, vandalism hikes

Meanwhile, a Yesh Din researcher said he documented on Saturday a group of about 50 Israelis who had come down from the direction of the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar to the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara and damaged about 100 olive trees belonging to the town's residents.

Some of the perpetrators were masked.

(Photo: Zacharia Sadeh/Rabbis for Human Rights)

According to Yesh Din, soldiers that arrived at the scene did not try to prevent the vandalism.

The IDF contradicted Yesh Din's claims, saying the soldiers dispersed the perpetrators, of which there were about 30.More than a thousand Ashdod residents carrying signs "against religious coercion" protested Saturday evening in front of the local municipality against the city's increasingly stringent policy of enforcement towards businesses operating on Shabbat.

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Earlier, dozens protested at the "Big Fashion" shopping center where city inspectors issued citations to open businesses.

Ashdod residents protest stringent Shabbat enforcement

Over the last few weeks, ahead of the Knesset approval of the supermarkets Bill , the Ashdod municipality, pressured by ultra-orthodox elements, decided to increase the enforcement against businesses operating on Shabbat.

Every week, on orders from the mayor Yechiel Lasry, city inspectors distribute citations to open businesses at local shopping centers.

In past years, enforcement was sporadic and unorganized. However, the city's policy changed recently and it is believed that it is a result of pressure by ultra-orthodox residents who make up a quarter of the city's population.

The national dialogue surrounding the Supermarkets Law was also a factor and local rabbis turned to the mayor asking him to enforce the (current) law against businesses operating on Shabbat. Local residents allege that Haredim have threatened the mayor that they will not support him in the next elections if he does not oblige.

Protesters are demanding that the mayor cease the enforcement as has been the case until recently.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday. The two leaders discussed issues facing the Middle East including the Iran nuclear agreement.

Netanyahu said: "It would be wise to heed the words of US President Donald Trump and if we want to keep the Iran deal, it must be fixed."

Netanyahu also said that the nations of the free world must condemn the Iranian regime's crimes including attempts to acquire nuclear weaponry, ballistic missile development against UN resolutions, support of terror, its aggressive stance in the region and its brutal crackdown on its citizensAs in previous weeks, thousands of Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest government corruption. They began marching from Habima Square towards the Rothschild 30 Tower, home of natural gas tycoon Kobi Maimon, carrying signs and chanting "The country is ours, not Netanyahu's," "Corrupt government, corrupt tycoons."Turkey's president vowed to oust Kurdish militants from Afrin, northern Syria, on Saturday as Syrian rebels also said they are bracing for such an operation.

Speaking in the eastern province of Elazig, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the People's Protection Units, or YPG, that Turkey will intervene if the "terrorists in Afrin do not surrender."

His remarks came as Turkey's military shelled Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled enclave along Syria's frontier with Turkey, saying it was responding to harassment by the YPG, according to the Turkish station NTV.

Turkey regularly shells Afrin but Saturday's assault was particularly intensive and lasted more than two hours, said YPG spokesman Rojhat Roj.Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv's Habima Square on Saturday evening to protest against government corruption in general and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular for the 60th week in a row.

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Waving banners, flags and signs, protesters were heard shouting slogans against the prime minister, such as "the people decided that Bibi (Netanyahu) has no purpose," "Our country and not Netanyahu's," "Corruption is going to be broken," and "a corrupt government of corrupt tycoons."

Their signs read "Brothers in the war against the corrupt," "Oh my country, my homeland, you are going to be a fief," and "Another such Attorney General and we are lost," referring to the repeated claim that AG Avichai Mandelblit is purposefully delaying the investigation against Netanyahu.

(Photo: Yaron Brener)

On the margins of the demonstration, clashes broke out with a group of counter-protesters and supporters Netanyahu, who carried signs saying "coup attempt," and "left=disaster."

Some of the demonstrators shouted at the supporters of the prime minister, suggesting they "go to the Pussycat (a famous Tel Aviv strip club) with Yair (Netanyahu)." Netanyahu's supporters responded by calling them "racist sourpusses."

Things turned violent for a moment when, at the edge of the demonstration, one of the counter-demonstrators tried to get close to the protesters and was shoved away by the police.

The police then kept the two sides separate throughout the night.

Clashes at Tel Aviv protest (: , )

X

The demonstrators promised that after the speeches they would march to 30 Rothschild Boulevard, "to visit Kobi Maimon and his son."

The son of Kobi Maimon, Nir, was recorded on a tape with Yair Netanyahu, the premier's son, in which Yair is heard telling Maimon that he has to "hook him up" with 400 NIS, which he later said was for soliciting a prostitute.

"Bro, my father cut a great deal for your father. Fought for it in the Knesset, bro," Yair is heard telling Maimon. "My father set you up with $20 billion, and you can't even hook me up with a show for NIS 400?" he added, laughing.

Eldad Yaniv, one of the initiators of the protest, called on the Israeli public to "have hope and do not settle for Netanyahu's departure, but rather demand a new contract with the politicians.

"Tell (Education Minister Naftali) Bennett and (Finance Minister Moshe) KahlonShame on you for keeping silent."

Counter-protesters (Photo: Yaron Brener)

The director of the Israel Women's Network, Attorney Michal Gera Margaliot, spoke about the recently-published recording of Yair Netanyahu, in which he is heard making disparaging remarks towards women, and hinted that his behavior could be explained with the example set for him by his father.

This is the prime minister's son. The same prime minister who publicly supported Nathan Eshel , a sexual harasser. The same prime minister who for nine years has not bothered to say anything about promoting women, and who never employed a woman for a senior position. Not even one. The same prime minister who never promoted laws for 51 percent of the population," she slammed.

"We waited for him to say that it is serious and wrong, that women are human beings and not a consumer product. We waited but nothing was said.

"Instead of supporting the law to incriminate prostitution consumers and promoting it, you want to pass a law prohibiting the publication of the next embarrassing recording.

"This is the year in which millions of women will stop keeping silent. We deserve better. Let us have a prime minister who acknowledges us and is committed to our well-being."

(Photo: Yaron Brener)

"From a small demonstration, we have become a national tsunami," the demonstration's organizers wrote on Facebook hours before it took place.

"Come and demonstrate with us every Saturday night against the corruption that threatens this country, and against the mafia laws they are trying to pass in the Knesset in order to perpetuate government corruption.

"Get out of your seat, get out of the house and come and demonstrate for the future of the country and the future of our children!"On Saturday night, Israeli Air Force planes attacked a terrorist target in southern Rafah near the Gaza-Egypt border.

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According to the Palestinians, the target was a smuggling tunnel on the border of the strip.

"The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for everything happening in and out of the Gaza Strip," the IDF spokesman said, commenting on the attack.

IAF F-15 Falcon (Photo: Reuters)

The attack was in the area between Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings. Several terror tunnels have been dug and consequently blown up by the IDF, some of them even notorious for aiding in the abduction of Gilad Shalit to the tunnel that caused the launching of Operation Protective Edge.

Earlier, it was reported that the Kerem Shalom crossing will not open Sunday following an IDF situation assessment. The defense establishment has not yet provided further details on the reason for the closure of the crossing.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj.-Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, briefed the Palestinian Authority on the matter.

The decision is unusual because rockets have not been launched into Israel in recent days, and the scope of protests and riots on the Gaza border has also been diminishing.

Kerem Shalom crossing (Photo: AFP)

It was only two days ago when Mordechai called the Gaza Strip "a failing territory," blaming the harsh leaving conditions there on Hamas' mismanagement and reliance on smuggling through illegal underground tunnels.

"This is mainly a problem for Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, but the State of Israel is very much affected by this," he said at the time. "If Hamas demilitarizes, abandons its tunnels and arms smuggling, and reaches a compromise on the issue of POWs and MIAs, Gaza could be turned into a very large economic opportunity.

"It is possible to invest there in infrastructure and make it very successful. A failed economy can create terror and war. A stable economy can postpone and not require a war and confrontation, and this is another component of the IDF's concept of security."

COGAT Mordechai (Photo: Chaim Tzach)

On Friday, at the Gaza-Egypt border, a fisherman from the Gaza Strip was shot dead by the Egyptian army overnight for unclear reasons.

Medical sources in Gaza said that Abdullah Zeidan, 33, from the Shati refugee camp, was shot in the chest by Egyptian forces near the naval border with Egypt in the south of the coastal enclave.

He was taken to hospital but died early Saturday morning.

Gaza's interior ministry said an initial investigation indicated "the Palestinian fishing boat did not cross the Egyptian (maritime) border" and remained in the Palestinian waters of the town of Rafah.

"We call on the Egyptian authorities to open an urgent investigation into this incident," spokesman Iyad al-Bozum said in a statement.

Egyptian officials have yet to comment.Health authorities voice their concern over the recent dog influenza epidemic which swept the United States. According to the reports, over 46 states have reported flu-like symptoms, prompting dog owners to vaccinate or isolate their canines in order to prevent then flue from spreading even further.

What is Dog Influenza?

Dog Influenza or canine flu is an infectious disease caused by the H3N8 virus (Influenza Type A). Historically speaking, the first instance of this disease has been discovered in 2004 in Florida.

Similar to the human version, dog influenza has a multi-vectored transmission from airborne, dog to dog or entering into contact with various contaminated objects.

What Are the Symptoms of Dog Influenza?

Dog influenza has an incubation period of a few days and, depending on its forms; the symptoms can last for at least ten days or more. The tell-tale signs of dog flu are sneezing, coughing, runny nose, anorexia (depending on the severity), fever if it turns into pneumonia and a malaise.

If your dog displays any of these symptoms, you should consider taking it to the vet as soon as possible.

Disease Prevention

According to the vets, the best dog flu prevention method is to stay away from places where other dogs might be, especially during the epidemic. Dog parks and boarding houses are perfect breeding ground for the flu virus.

The flu vaccine is another way of making sure that your dog doesnt catch the flu. However, if your canine presents dog influenza-related symptoms, your vet might prescribe antibiotics along with cough suppressants. Additional tests might be ordered in order to establish the exact viral strain.

Conclusion

For the time being, the vets cautioned the general population to stay away from doggie boarding houses and crowded dog parts in order to minimize the chance of contagion.

Image source: PixabayMany people are worried that the move to open up the border and remove the mandatory stay home notice will lead to high infections, hospit...Syrian state media says Turkey helped rebel attack

A Turkish military armoured vehicle guards on the border line located opposite the Syrian town of Atimah, Idlib province, in this picture taken from Reyhanli, Hatay province, Turkey .

Reuters, Beirut :

Syrian state media on Friday cited field commanders as saying Turkey helped anti-government rebels launch a counter attack against the Syrian army and its allies in the northwest this week, underlining recent regional tensions over the fighting.

"Field commanders confirmed to the SANA correspondent that terrorists from the Turkistan Islamic Party with the direct support, direction and planning of the Turkish regime, brought most of their forces... to start their attack," said SANA, the state news agency.

It added that the rebels had used Turkish vehicles. There was no immediate Turkish reaction to the allegations.

Turkey has been a major backer of Syrian rebels but has recently been working with Damascus's allies Iran and Russia in meetings with the stated aim of reducing violence. Rebel groups launched a counter attack in Idlib on Wednesday after a rapid push by the army and its allies towards the Abu al-Duhur airbase.

A military media unit run by the government's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and a Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Friday the army had recaptured several villages taken in the rebel counter attack.

Turkey has criticized the army's assault in Idlib, located in northwest Syria in the rebels' biggest remaining stronghold, saying on Friday it would cause a new wave of migration. Idlib borders Turkey.

Meanwhile, Rebels launched a counter attack against Syrian government forces and their allies in Idlib province on Thursday, trying to roll back an advance that is fuelling tension with neighboring Turkey.

Fighting raged in Idlib, where a government offensive helped by Iran-backed militia has gathered pace in the last two weeks, according to rebels and a military media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is fighting on the Syrian government side.

Idlib province is the biggest chunk of Syria still held by rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, with a population swollen by Syrians who have fled government advances in other parts of the country. Assad has defeated rebels in many parts of western Syria with critical help from Russia and Iran.Feroza Begum Chinu MP distributing educational materials to poor students marking the 4th founding anniversary of Udvas, an NGO at Rangamati Shishu Niketon School premises on Friday.Brazil pledges to forge on with reforms after S&P downgrade

AFP, Sao Paulo :

Brazil vowed Thursday to push on with economic reforms after the international credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded its long-term credit rating because of "slower-than-expected" changes by President Michel Temer's government.

"The government reiterates its commitment" to forge on with measures such as a reform of pensions in an effort "to guarantee the sustainable growth of the Brazilian economy and long-term fiscal balance," the finance ministry said in a statement.

S&P earlier announced it was downgrading Brazil's credit standing further into junk status, at BB- because of its disappointing efforts to "correct structural fiscal slippage and rising debt levels on a timely basis."

There was also uncertainty from Brazilian presidential elections later this year, in which Temer was not standing.

The agency kept Brazil's short-term rating at B.

S&P said there was "less than one-in-three likelihood" of it changing its long-term rating, either up or down, over the coming year.

"This reflects Brazil's comparative external and monetary policy strengths that help offset significant fiscal weakness, an economy with growth prospects lower than peers, and our view that effectiveness of policymaking across branches of government has weakened," it said.

It noted "lack of support" among Brazilian politicians for stronger fiscal measures, and expressed pessimism that whoever ends up leading the country after elections would have the "significant political capital" needed to pass reforms.

"While the economy has stabilized, we see slow growth and fiscal weaknesses as key credit constraints," the ratings agency said.

The finance ministry said the S&P downgrade showed the "need and urgency" for reforms to be approved by Brazil's Congress, notably the pensions system.

Brazil's economy is projected to grow two percent this year, according to an annual report by the United Nations-backed Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) released last month.

While unspectacular, that is far better than the 0.2 percent expected for 2017, or the two years of Brazil's worst-ever recession preceding that.

The government's own projections are slightly more optimistic: three percent in 2018 and 1.1 percent in 2017.



Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing the International Bengali Literature Conference in Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city on Saturday. BSS photoSalman Khan receives death threats from gangsters of Mumbai, Jodhpur

Salman Khan was in Jodhpur recently for the hearing of the blackbuck poaching case. The actor was accused of poaching in the year 1998 and since then has been involved in the ongoing case. Salman, who is one of the biggest stars of Bollywood received a death threat from a gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is said to hail from the community that worships the blackbuck, just a day after he returned from Jodhpur. Bishnoi was quoted saying, "Salman Khan will be killed here, in Jodhpur... Then he will come to know about our real identity." After the incident, Salman and his team thought the actor was at least safe after returning to Mumbai from Jodhpur, but it did not last for long.

On Monday, a senior officer informed the Superstar that three men in Mumbai wanted to kill him when at the same time a group of vandals was creating ruckus near the location where Salman was shooting.

Several police officers entered the sets of Race 3 where Salman was shooting after they got a report of a few men carrying arms entering the location to harm the actor.

Salman was rushed to Galaxy Apartments and has been asked to stay low key. Following the incident, Salman has been given additional security by the police. A source from the sets of Race 3 said "The police arrived at the Race 3 set in Film City and told Salman and producer Ramesh Taurani that the shoot had to be stopped immediately as the actor needed to head home as soon as possible. Salman was escorted in another car by six cops, while his own car was driven back to his residence by another group of cops."

The producer of Race 3, Ramesh Taurani told Mumbai Mirror, "There are additional bouncers, guards and personnel to safeguard Salman and the unit at all times." Well, we hope the superstar stays safe!



Our winters have also become seasons for acute gas crisis

FOR the past decade our winter months have become the months for acute gas crisis across the capital. Once more, many areas in the city, including Mohammadpur, Bosila, Adabar, West Agargaon, Shewrapara, Kazipara, Kafrul, West Dhanmondi, Lalbag, Sobhanbag, Indira Road, Tanti Bazar, Shakharibazar, Kamrangirchar, Uttara, Dakhinkhan, Uttarkhan, South Banasree and Moghbazar, have been hit by the same crisis for the last couple of days. The crisis has forced residents of these areas to use alternative means to cook or buy prepared food. Moreover, the adverse effects of the ongoing gas crisis have spread out beyond the kitchens and have hit restaurants, CNG filling stations and industrial areas.







Though the public grudge is evidently understandable, but the reparative measures to respond to it, is still fairly inadequate and unclear. As mentioned before, it is usually in winter when gas shortage in Bangladesh is felt due to high consumption in the domestic sector, and also it's in winter when transmission and supply is hampered due to blockage created for climactic reasons and complex technical issues. Based on previous winter experiences this should have been predicted beforehand. Maintenance of supply lines too, should be more regular and not come about when lines are jammed. Additionally, illegal and unauthorised supply channels should be immediately identified and stopped.







Long term solutions like exploring untapped offshore sources, setup newer and alternate pipelines, increase in supply and etc are time consuming resolutions, but the continuing acute shortage needs to be effectively handled with temporary supply arrangements. Regrettably, authorities concerned have fallen short of expedient coping strategies to deal with the continuing crisis.





However, in the face of severe constraints, one is expected to act promptly by prioritising tasks as according to their levels of importance. Meaning, the gas supplied to the industrial sector will have to be accordingly balanced with the domestic sector's supply. It's up to the authorities to decide how to strike this balance between the two. But that striking the balance will have to be made quickly, in order to avoid further unexpected dilemmas.





According to experts, domestic gas lines are not supposed to be supplied with natural piped gas as it is depleting fast. But an alternative to this solution could not be introduced either. Though potentially liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is an option, but in terms of costs, it's nearly three times the price of normal gas. Its price has to be significantly reduced so to make it affordable to the people falling under our low income segment.

Government seems to be indifferent to address this seasonal crisis at the cost of increased public sufferings. It must stop.





Create jobs, stop human trafficking

THE Malaysian Immigration Department on Friday detained a Bangladeshi in Alam Megah area of Shah Alam city [27 km from Kuala Lumpur] for running a human trafficking syndicate. Quoting Immigrations' Director-General Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, the media reported that a 49-year-old Malaysian national was also arrested in this connection.





'Abang Bangla, 43, whose real name is Abdur Rauf, has been smuggling people into Malaysia for the past eight months. Fifty other Bangladeshis, aged between 20 and 45, were arrested in another raid in Shah Alam. These people had travelled from Dhaka to Indonesian capital Jakarta and then took a boat to enter Malaysia illegally,' the media quoted him as saying.







It is not the first time. Bangladeshi film director Ananya Mamun along with his associate Miraz was detained in Kuala Lumpur on December 25 on charge of human trafficking. On December 18, the Malaysian authorities rescued 59 Bangladeshi human trafficking victims raiding two places in Desa Petaling, Kualampur.







It is learnt that, the syndicates charge between RM15,000 and RM20,000 [TK 3,15000 -4,20,000] for each person to bypass the authorities, including Immigration and the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka. But who cannot pay such amount of money; they take other way to migrate. At least 800 Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees were killed since 2011 in overburdened trawlers and boat capsizing in the Bay of Bengal while they tried to migrate to Malaysia on a perilous 2000-mile journey. Most shocking is that, several Bangladeshis youths who went to Malaysia for education have also become victims of human trafficking.







Bangladeshi people are also reportedly trafficked to different countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Lebanon and Liberia for work through some members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies-allegedly linked with the trafficking syndicates. Last year, Bangladesh was downgraded in the US 'trafficking in persons' report for not making enough efforts to combat the menace terming it as largest source of boat migrants to Europe. A United Nations report said more than 2,700 people died last year attempting to cross the Mediterranean with Bangladeshis top of the list of people rescued. London-based The Independent last May reported that Bangladeshis nationals make up the single largest group of illegal migrants to European shores. Trafficking to India from Bangladesh is also frequent.







Obviously, these sorts of news would not bring any honour for the country. Bangladesh presently becomes a source and transit place for men, women, and children - both boys and girls - subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. There is no way but to take tough action against the international trafficking syndicates.







At the same time, government must take stringent action to ensure safe migration to foreign countries while remittance is very much needed for our economy. Side by side, it needs to arrange a sufficient number of jobs in local markets. It is hard to understand, why so many Bangladeshis would be victims of human trafficking syndicates to get a poor-salary job, when country is trying to get status of middle income country by 2021.Rohingya man killed over family enmity in Cox's Bazar: Killer held

Staff Reporter :

After death of four Rohingya men of a family in fire, a Rakhine migrated man was killed by an youth over the prior family enmity centering previous murder in Ukhiya upazila of Cox's Bazar district on Saturday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Mamotaz Ahmed, 35, police said.

Ukihya Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Abul Khayer said, "One Arifullah stuck the head of Mamotaz with a sharp knife at Kutupalong Lombasiya Rohingya camp around 1:30pm as part of the revenge for the death of his brother in Rakhine State of Myanmar district about two years ago. After murder, Arifullah came to Bangladesh based on information that Mamotaz was hiding in Cox's Bazar district. In the afternoon, Arifullah hit Mamotaz with the sharp knife after finding him in the Rohingya camp."

People rushed Mamotaz to Ukhiya Health Complex where the on-duty doctor declared him dead instantly, the police official said.

We have arrested Arifullah on charge of killing, the OC said. He is being interrogated in this connection, according to him. The body has been sent to the Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

On Friday, four members of a Rohingya family, including three children, were killed in a fire caused by candle at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia upazila.3 AL candidates buy tickets

BNP to nominate Tabith

Staff Reporter :

Three nomination aspirants for the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor post for the upcoming by-polls bought nomination papers from the ruling Awami League on Saturday as the party started to sell nomination papers on the day.

AL leaders Rasel Asheki and Adom Tamiji Huq collected the nomination papers from the party President Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi political office yesterday.

On the other hand, representatives of Md. Atiqul Islam, a former President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), collected the nomination paper in the afternoon.

AL will declare its mayor candidate on January 16.

Reliable sources said that the ruling AL is likely to nominate Atiqul Islam, a former BGMEA president, as its candidate.

Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia presided over the party's Standing Committee Meeting held at Chairperson's Gulshan office last night to finalise the mayor candidate for the DNCC by-polls.

Meeting sources said that the BNP decided to pick party National Executive Committee Member Tabith Awal for the post, who also ran against AL contender Annisul Huq in the previous election. The sources said that Tabith Awal got green signal from the party chief and has already done most ground work like printing manifesto, posters and leaflets.

The by-election to the DNCC mayoral post will be held on February 26. Elections in the 36 new Wards, which have been included in DNCC and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), will also be held on the same day.

Election Commission on Tuesday announced the schedules of by-polls of DNCC.

Candidates may submit their nomination papers by January 18. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on January 21 and 22 while the last day of withdrawal of candidature is January 29.

DNCC will also pick-up 18 new councillors for 18 new Wards of both Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations, and six women councillors for Dhaka North.

The CEC said that there are 29,48,510 voters in DNCC while the number of voters of 18 new Wards of DSCC is 4,77,410. The mayor post of DNCC fell vacant with the death of Annisul Huq on November 30.

On December 1, the Local Government Division officially declared the post vacant.Akheri Munajat today - to be in Bangla for first time

Md Joynal Abedin Khan :

The offering of Akheri Munajat (concluding prayers) and Hedayati Boyan (main guidance sermon) will be in Bangla language today in the first phase of the Biswa Ijtema.

Several lakh devotees from home and some 4,473 foreign devotees from 88 countries are participating in the religious event to seek Allah's Divine Mercy on the bank of Turag River at Tongi on the outskirts of the capital city Dhaka around 11:00am today (Sunday), he said.

Hafez Maulana Mohammad Zubaer of Kakrail's Markaz will lead the Akheri Munajat in Bangla at the first phase of Biswa Ijtema which began after Fazr prayers on Friday morning with religious sermon (Aam Boyan).

The decision of using Bangla at concluding prayers was taken at a meeting of the Tablig Jamaat Murabbis (scholars) on Friday night, Tablig Jamaat's senior leader Md Gias Uddin told The New Nation on Saturday evening.

"Senior Islamic scholar of Kakrail mosque Hafez Maulana Mohammad Zubaer will lead the Akheri Munajat this time. Moreover, Maulana Abdul Matin of Bangladesh will deliver the Hedayati Boyan in Bangla, prior to the Akheri Munajat after Fazr prayers", said Md Gias Uddin.

Meanwhile, Saleh Uddin Ahmed, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of traffic division of Gazipur, said vehicular movement would remain suspended between Bhogra Bypass and Tongi Bridge on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, Majukhan bridge and Station Road on the Kaliganj-Tongi Road, and Kamarpara Bridge and Munnu Textile Mills on the Kamarpara road from early morning of the days when the Akheri Munajat of the two phases would be held.

There will be special transports of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to carry the air travellers to and from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

No water transport will be allowed to ply between Kamarpara bridge to Tongi bridge till January 22.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up ahead of today's Akheri Munajat. Around 6,000 uniformed and plainclothes police and members of RAB and intelligence agencies have been deployed in and around the Ijtema ground to ensure security of the devotees.

Earlier, eight-tier security measure has been taken with deployment of 7,000 policemen and about 250 RAB members to avert any untoward incident during the Ijtema.

Some 15 watch towers and 41 close circuit camera televisions have been set up in and around the Ijtema ground alongside deployment of bomb disposal units and dog squads to ensure foolproof security of the Biswa Ijtema.

Fifty medical teams and 14 ambulances are providing health care services to the devotees during the three-day congregation.

SM Rahat Hasnat, Information Officer of Gazipur City Corporation, said they were expecting that around 40 lakh local and foreign devotees would join the Akheri Munajat.

A high official of Bangladesh Railway said they would operate special trains during the Akheri Munajat of the first and second phases of Ijtema.

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is also running special buses.

The second phase of Biswa Ijtema will begin on January 19 at the same venue and will end with Akheri Munajat on January 21.

Tablig Jamaat has been organising the Ijtema on this venue since 1967. However, the Ijtema is held in two phases since 2011 to ease the accommodation crisis.Gas crisis acute in Dhaka, Ctg

Anisul Islam Noor :

The residents of Dhaka city, its adjoining areas and Chittagong have been suffering in cooking and preparing food due to severe fall of gas pressure in supply lines which continued for around 10 to 12 hours a day.

Leaders of different rights groups and experts said, authorities of Titas gas are taking full charge from the consumers at the end of the month though they cannot supply enough gas in the lines.

Talking with The New Nation, Energy expert Professor Shamsul Alam, who is also energy adviser of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said that he had already asked the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to take necessary actions for ensuring consumers rights.

"It totally unethical and violation of consumers rights that Titas gas is taking full bills of gas at the end of the month but not supplying gas in the cooking hours, he said.

Titas gas supply officials said, gas supply has been disrupted in the households of some areas because of sudden fall of gas pressure in the supply lines due to acute cold weather.

Due to the low pressure of gas, especially in the first half of the day, the city residents cannot prepare breakfast and lunch, to the utter inconvenience of the people.

The residents are complaining for not getting enough gas pressure to cook in last two weeks from old Dhaka, Malibag, Rampura, New Eskaton, Razabazar, Kathalbagan, Baksybazar, Farmgate, Indira Road, Jatrabari, Gendaria and parts of Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Kalabagan, Khilgaon, Bashabo, Banasree, Badda, Gulshan and Uttara.

Khuhely Begum, a resident of the city's old town said that she has to prepare breakfast for her family by 6:30am and wait until 3:30pm for preparing lunch as the burners got virtually no gas supplies during the period.

Elderly people and children are suffering the most as the warm water they needed could not be provided for lack of gas, she said.

She also expressed her disgust for the government's latest move to raise the price of natural gas when it failed to ensure uninterrupted supply.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Managing Director Mir Mashiur Rahman on Saturday told The New Nation that the country's largest gas distribution company supplies 1,600 mmcf per day to 1,650 mmcf against a demand for 2,000 mmcf per day. Recent cold wave has further worsened the situation, he said.

Director Operation Engineer Ali Ashraf told the reporters that gas consumption has increased by about 20 percent due to cold weather.

Residents of Gazipur, Narayanganj, Tangail, Comilla and Chittagong are also reported that they were experiencing severe short supply of gas.

Now approximately three million domestic users consume around 300 mmcfd gas in the country, sources said.

Officials of the gas distribution utilities attributed the shortage to increased demand and rapid fall in temperature. Business bodies, however, claimed that they are getting better gas supplies at factories and CNG filling stations than previous years as the government suspended gas supplies to the fertiliser factories before winter set in towards the end of December to increase the supplies to the industrial units and CNG stations.

Out of six fertiliser factories, the government suspended gas supplies to four, which increased gas supplies by more than 100 mmcfd.

Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversation Workshop Owners' Association General Secretary Farhan Noor said that they are still experiencing shortage of gas supplies but the magnitude of sufferings was lesser than previous years.

The country's demand for natural gas was more than 3,700 million cubic feet per day while Petrobangla, the state-run Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation, could supply less than 2,700 mmcfd.30 more Madrasa teachers fall sick on 5th day

An ailing teacher being taken to nearby hospital as Ebtedayee Madrasa teacher continuing hunger strike unto death on 5th day in front of Jatiya Press Club demanding for nationalization of their service. This photo was taken on Saturday.

Staff Reporter :

The agitating teachers of Ebtedayee madrasas are yet to get any assurance from the government although their indefinite hunger strike in front of the Jatiya Press Club entered the 5th day on Saturday.

At least 30 more teachers fell sick on the 5th day of the strike demanding nationalization of their institutions under Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board.

Thus a total of about 130 demonstrating teachers, who have been observing hunger strike unto death, fell sick in five days.

Of them, 15 have been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. Many of them received primary treatment on the strike place.

Bahalul Ahmed Fahim, a teacher of a madrasa, told The New Nation on Saturday that they have been imparting knowledge to thousands of students across the country. But remuneration and other benefits are poor.

"It is impossible to maintain our family with very poor salary. So, we have no second option for us without continuing hunger strike until we receive clear assurance," he said.

Kazi Ruhul Amin Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa Teachers' Association told The New Nation that the demonstrating teachers vowed that they would not go home without any fruitful result about nationalization of their institutions.

He also urged the government to press home their demand as early as possible.

"This is our logical demand. We want to build a healthy nation imparting education. But how will we do that if we are in severe problem? He asked.

"We are teaching like the primary school teachers. The government increased the salaries and allowances of the primary school teachers. Then why should we be deprived? He said.

Kazi Ruhul Amin Chowdhury said, "We have submitted two separate memorandums to the Education Ministry and the Finance Ministry to realise our demands. But we are yet to get any response from any quarter."

We can`t continue to be losers and be free

To live with lies and feel insecure is not freedom. We have to show our collective courage and character to secure freedom for all. Unfortunately, we are failing for lack of united determination and failing miserably.





The people's constitution lost its balance for democracy to survive. We have to worry about how much democracy is left for the people and how soon it will vanish altogether.





The damage to the independence of the judiciary is a matter of grave concern as it will hurt us all. When justice is lost, everything is lost. Without independence of the judiciary the government loses its soul also.





The judiciary is the cornerstone of democracy and good governance. It is the independent judiciary that enforces our rights as guaranteed under the Constitution. The independence of the judiciary is mandated by the Constitution as a basic structure not to be abandoned. Yet, the soul of democracy has been throttled.





Democratic leaders like AK Fazlul Haq and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy never entered into collision with the independence of the judiciary knowing how essential it is for good governance based on the principles of the rule of law and justice under the law. No just government denies justice to its people.





The government was successful in getting the lower court rules accepted by the Supreme Court under an extreme situation of impropriety. The government is happy for the success of its easy show of power. Now the lower judiciary has come virtually under the control of the law ministry. The Law Minister has rightly denounced the need of a separate secretariat for the Supreme Court.





Had there been no void in political leadership they would have known that by undermining the judiciary the government has made itself weaker and messier. The judiciary will cease to be much of a force as a check against the people's suffering for abuse of law and misuse of power by the government functionaries. There will be more freedom for more corruption in more places.





It is called the bureaucratic ways of running the government. The nature of which is akin to a martial law in civilian clothes.

There is no effective parliament. No possibility of free election. The judiciary's power to interfere has diminished. Everybody has to live in fear of arbitrary police power. The politicians will be led but not lead. This is a situation that cannot be called democracy representing the people's power.





In the original Constitution under Article 116 the power of control including that of posting, promotion, grant of leave and discipline of the lower judiciary was vested in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court alone. But now by framing the new rules and getting them accepted by the Supreme Court these powers are vested in the President who will exercise such powers in consultation with the Supreme Court. For doing this, the government relied on the changed Article 116 brought in by a martial law government.





But the Supreme Court still has the power of superintendence and control over the lower judiciary under Article 109 of the Constitution. But all depends on how the Article is interpreted by the Supreme Court.





It took some 35 years to pass the law to comply with the constitutional obligation of separating the judiciary from the executive by an army backed caretaker government in the year 2007.







Unfortunately, no political government was willing to tolerate an independent judiciary. A bureaucratic government must have a compliant judiciary.





It is not relevant to the government that if the election time caretaker government could be rejected on the ground of it being violative of a basic structure of the Constitution, then how interfering with the independence of the judiciary can be justified?





To the manipulators of the government, convenience is everything, contradiction means nothing.





The next general election will be the crucial test for the expression of the people's sovereignty. The right to vote freely is the sovereign right of the sovereign people. It is through free election that people choose their government and the government enjoys public trust. There is no pride in the fear of free election.Heirs are in confusion

Gulam Rabbani :

The High Court (HC) ruled in a judgement that after the death of a person, the money deposited in his/her accounts would go to their heirs instead of nominees about two years ago. But the sufferers are not getting the benefit of the judgement as the certified copy does not come out yet.

In the mean time the Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a circular directing all financial institutions to pay deposited money to the nominee or nominees after the death of a single or joint account holders.

According to the circular, the deposited money could be paid to a single or multiple nominees mentioned in the account after the demise of the depositor or depositors. It also said the depositors could choose new nominees in place of the old ones at any time.

Later, the BB issued more circular on the issue citing same statement which have thrown the sufferers in a confusing situation.

Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said, "It was an important judgement. The judgement has been given against the traditional rule. As per rule, a nominee will receive the money after the death of an account holder. It is a fundamental right of an account holder to select nominee. So, the full judgement should come out as soon as possible. Then we will see what is really in the judgement."

On April 3, 2016, the High Court ruled that after the death of a person, the money deposited in his/her accounts would go to their heirs instead of nominees. After making a rule absolute, the HC bench comprising Justice Naima Haider and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury said that as per the law the nominee is a trustee and agent only. The deposited money of the dead people will have to be divided among the heirs as per the Mohammedan Law, the court added.

After the verdict, Senior Supreme Court lawyer Advocate M I Farooqui, counsel for the petitioners, told the journalists that the nominees were not owners of the deposited money at all. The deposited money has to be divided among the heirs as per provision of the Mohammedan law, he added.

Farooqui said that former Deputy Director of the Bangladesh Bank Shohidul Haque kept Tk 30 lakh in his account. But, after his death, his second wife Bilkis Ara Bequm, who is the nominee of the account, claimed the money and tried to withdraw it from the account. But three heirs of Shohidul Haque namely Munjurul Hoque and his two sisters Zamila Sultana and Zakia Sultana, all of them successors of Shohidul's first family, filed a case with the trial court seeking their portion from the deposited money, claming that they are the legal successors of Shohidul Haque. The trial court, on September 3 in 2014, rejected their petition and said that the nominee would withdraw the money from the account.

Later, the trio filed miss appeal with the Dhaka's Additional District Judges Court against the Joint District Court order. The additional district judge court, on March 3 in 2015, rejected the miss appeal upholding the Joint District Judge Court order. Later, the trio moved with the High Court by filing a civil revision against the trial court order in June last year.

In response to the civil revision, the HC on June 15 last year issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain as to why the trial court order rejecting the petition of successors should not be set aside. After a hearing on the rule, the HC bench gave the verdict, paving way for the successors to become the legal owners of the deposited money of their predecessor.

Though the High Court delivered the verdict one year and nine months ago, the certified copy of the verdict does not come out yet. Advocate Sadekur Rahman, one of the counselors of the case, on Saturday told The New Nation that they have not received yet the certified copy of the case.

"It is not possible for someone to claim the judgement's result without receiving the certified copy," added Sadekur.

In the same day of delivering judgement of nominee case, the Supreme Court (SC) had ruled that its judges must sign the judgments or orders in normal cases promptly and within six months of delivering them in exceptional cases.

"A judge should dispose of promptly the business of the court, including avoiding inordinate delay in delivering judgments/orders  a judgment shall be signed not later than six months of the date of delivery of judgment in exceptional cases," the SC observed in a judgement.

Sources said, sufferers like the petitioners are also deprived from the result of the judgement as the certified copy is not coming out.

Most of these cases originated from second marriages of the account holders, specially freedom fighters. Sharmin Shahida, a victim of the situation said that her Freedom Fighter father, also Sonali Bank Employee married for second time only six month before retirement. And he nominated his second wife for the deposited money by depriving his first wife and her children.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a circular on April 19, in 2017 directing all financial institutions to pay deposited money to the nominee or nominees after the death of a single or joint account holders.



Pol uncertainty looms

Economists fear unabated money laundering, fall in growth

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

Economists fear that a political uncertainty in the run up to next general election may result in a massive money-laundering and capital flight and this may in turn cause another round destabilization in the economy, lowering investment, business activity and growth.

Giving reactions to the Prime Minister's address to the nation on Friday in which she said the next general election will be held as per constitution, they said unless the government reaches understanding on election time government, political crisis will invariably hit the country. It happened also during the run up to last election causing huge money laundering and capital flight.

They apprehend the situation is very likely to replicate if a similar crisis hits the country again.

"We expect the election will be held peaceful manner with participation of all parties after reaching a consensus over election time government. But if a crisis arises again it would take a serious toll on the national economy," Dr Zahid Hussain, World Bank's lead economist in Bangladesh, told The New Nation yesterday.

He said political unrest earlier caused greater damage to Bangladesh's economy lowering GDP growth. It makes vulnerable exports, trade logistics service, small and medium enterprises, investment and day-to-day labourers. "These sectors may hit hard again due to a possible flare up of political unrest," he added.

According to a WB Study, Bangladesh economy suffered a loss of $1.4 billion because of election-related political unrest in 2013 when the nation's two main political parties fought over general elections.

Dr Zahid Hussain further said political uncertainty puts the economy at risk of capital flight. Disturbing political situations always encourage them for capital flight. They are taking out their money due to unfavourable political and investment climate.

Illegal capital flow mainly takes place through trade misinvoicing in import and export.

"The election slated for the fag end of 2018 could be one of the biggest challenge for Bangladesh economy if fresh political turmoil returns. It could push down the GDP growth," he warned.

Bangladesh's economic growth hit 7.28 percent last fiscal and the poverty rate came down to 22 percent from 41 percent in 2005.

"Money laundering usually picks up just ahead of an election year. Large amount of money was being taken out instead of being invested at home due to political uncertainty," said former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin.

He said a staggering $9.66 billion had been siphoned off Bangladesh in 2013 alone, a sum that 35 times higher than 2012 figures. Similarly, the 2008 figures of money laundering were 60 times higher than that of 2007.

"Money laundering picked up in that periods because of election years," he added

"An improved political environment and better investment climate in the country could curb this illegal outflow of capital," said Dr Mohammed Farashuddin.

"Performance of key economic sectors usually experience a slow down during an election year. It also creates an occasion for sending dirty money aboard. It happens due to weak enforcement of law during the election year," Dr Ahsan H Mansoor, a leading economist of the country, told The New Nation.

He said influential political leaders and businessmen who made fortune during the tenure of incumbent government would find various techniques to drain our their illicit income abroad pushing up the money laundering. "Political uncertainty will have to be removed to prevent illicit capital flight," he observed.

Unrecorded capital flow from Bangladesh stood $61.63 billion between 2005 and 2014, riding mostly on misinvoicing, according to a report of Global Financial Integrity (GFI).

Dr Ahsan H Mansoor also noted that sectors key to the economy, including manufacturing, service, retail and finance, are at a risk of experiencing slow down in investments as investors wait for the elections season to pass.

So, 2018 might be rough year for the economy when elections being a concern, he added.

The economists urged all political parties to reach a consensus over the election time government immediately to avert a fresh political confrontation to help maintaining economic growth over seven per cent as well as welfare of the people.



ABCNews.com(WASHINGTON) -- As President Donald Trumps words are being widely condemned, some legal experts believe that the s---hole remark could also impact his case for the travel ban.



But given his previous call for a Muslim ban and other public statements, other experts arent sure this latest comment makes much legal difference.



Attorneys fighting the presidents executive action restricting travel in court, connected the presidents latest comment to what they says is a racist ideology.



The travel ban is a de facto quota  a return to a discredited national origin quota system that was in our law until Congress wisely abolished it in 1965, said Peter Margulies, professor at Roger Williams School of Law. Yesterdays alleged statement couldnt have been a clearer example of what Congress wanted to abolish.



According to Margulies, the latest travel ban should be struck down in court on statutory grounds as a violation of a 1965 immigration law prohibiting discrimination based on national origin.



In other words, Trumps comments further clarified what was already unlawful about the ban, he said.



On Thursday during a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform in the Oval Office, the president asked those in the room why they would want people from Haiti, Africa and other "s---hole countries" coming into the United States, according to multiple sources either briefed on or familiar with the discussion.



Trump denied that he used "derogatory" language about Haitians, but did not specifically address the comments.



The president has interjected race and ethnicity into the making of immigration policy in a way this country hasnt seen since the 1920s, said Hiroshi Motomura, professor at UCLA School of Law and author of two award-winning books on immigration law and policy.



"Yesterdays statement makes it more reasonable for courts to decide that the travel ban can be struck down as unlawful  beyond the presidents authority under immigration statutes, and as unconstitutional  without necessarily intruding on the national security authority of a president who exercises that authority in a nondiscriminatory and rational way. said Motomura.



The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in December that the travel ban, currently in its third iteration, could go into effect while the lower courts continued to hear appeals in the cases.



Later that month, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a Hawaii district court injunction against travel ban 3.0, agreeing with the lower court that the policy violates federal immigration law and exceeds the authority of the executive branch.



But the ban remained in effect, pending the final U.S. Supreme Court review.



Another appeal that was heard in the 4th Circuit is still awaiting a ruling.



Yale Law School professor Peter Schuck said he thinks the Court will be very reluctant to take into account informal comments made in a closed political bargaining session a year after the ban was imposed and not relating to Muslims.



Schuck believes Trumps call for a Muslim ban was more legally fraught than his alleged "s---hole" comment, and so he cant see the courts focusing on this particular languages as being important, as odious as it is.



Similarly, Josh Blackman, a constitutional law expert at George Mason University School of Law, said "I don't think these statements, as odious as they are, have any bearing on this case."



As a general matter, I think the president statements are fair game, but in the context of foreign policy judges have to be deferential to the president, he added.



Meanwhile, Neal Kaytal, who is the lead lawyer in the Hawaii travel ban challenge, and had a brief due at the Supreme Court on Friday, took to Twitter in the wake of Trumps comment.



Past immigration decisions have been made by Presidents who have not harbored this sort of animus. It is a daunting, and un-American, thing to have a President who not only says such vile comments, but acts on them, he told ABC News when asked if he could expand on his tweet. Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project, who litigated the 4th Circuit appeal, said the s---hole comment was more fuel on the fire.



I think its further confirmation that prejudice and racism underlie a lot of the president's approach to foreign policy, he said.



The Department of Justice, which is responsible for defending the presidents policies in court, did not provide a comment on the matter.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Pranab due today

UNB, Dhaka :

Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee arrives here on Sunday to attend a number of programmes, including the closing session of the 'International Bengali Literature Conference' in the city.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will welcome Pranab at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport upon his arrival by a Jet Airways flight in the afternoon, an official told UNB.

Pranab's daughter Sharmista Mukherjee, among others, will accompany the former Indian

President during his Bangladesh visit. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the three-day literature conference on Saturday at Bangla Academy while Pranab will be present at the closing ceremony of the conference on Monday as the chief guest.

He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban on Monday and will have lunch there together.

Pranab will also visit Bangabandhu Museum to pay respects to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Monday morning.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith will host a dinner on the same day in honor of Pranab. Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla will host a reception to the former Indian President on Sunday.A fisherman found Jubal Alexanders headless body May 3, 2016, his right leg propped up against the steering wheel of his black Chevrolet pickup, which was parked near a county boat ramp at Austin Bayou about 10 miles from the INEOS plant where he worked.Leading construction giant Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has asserted that it remains a private sector company owned by its shareholders amid reports that some of them may transfer their shares to the government as part of a financial settlement with authorities.

The clarification comes after some media outlets suggested that the Saudi government has taken over SBG, which has worked on dozens of mega-projects throughout past decades.

SBG can also confirm that contracted work with the government, which remains a large part of its activities, are ongoing. This includes the projects currently operating in the two holy mosques and the Zamzam rehabilitation project, which began months ago and is expected to end before Ramadan 2018, the company said on Saturday.

Based on information available to the management, some of the shareholders may have agreed a settlement that involves transferring some SBG shares to the goverment of Saudi Arabia against outstanding dues, it stated.

SBG sees this as a positive step and is currently restructuring its governance and executive management team to meet its commitment toward all stakeholders, said the company in a statement.

Restructuring efforts started two years ago with the objective of separating ownership from management in accordance with best governance standards, it stated.

To support these efforts, a five-member supervisory committee has been constituted. It comprises three independent members - Dr Abdulrehman Hamad Al Harkan, Dr Khaled Hamza Nahas and Khaled Mohammed Al Khowaiter - and two members from the shareholders group, Yahia Mohammed Binladin and Abdullah Mohammed Binladin, said the company in the statement.

The committee will restructure the group and empower the new executive management to lead the projects and overcome the current challenges, leading the company to be profitable again, it added.-TradeArabia News ServiceThe UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has warned health care practitioners and community members about the risks involved in using silicone injections, which are falsely promoted as approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Injections used to enhance the size of buttocks, breasts and other parts of the body can lead to serious injuries and irreversible deformities, cautioned the ministry.

In the Circular No. 216 of 2017 sent to the directors of the medical districts, public and private hospitals, doctors, pharmacists and assistant pharmacists, and directors of public and private pharmacies, Mohap recommends ensuring the safety of these products before using them.

The FDA has made it clear that the only approved use for silicon injections is the silicon oil used in intraocular injection for some limited indications.

Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri, Mohaps assistant undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing, said that since 2008 the UAE has been one of the leading countries in the region and the world in enacting legislations and imposing strict controls for the registration of medical devices such as silicone injections, as part of its strategy to provide a vital legislative framework, good governance and quality regulatory services for the health sector.

He pointed out that the process is not limited to the marketing authorization in terms of ensuring necessary validation from the internationally approved assessment centers, including the FDA, and ensuring necessary trials have been done and confirming standards of quality,.

The Ministry also obligates manufacturers and suppliers to submit periodic reports on the safety and post marketing surveillance reports, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry, which are in line with the best international standards, he added.

Dr Al Amiri pointed out that the FDA has issued a warning to consumers and healthcare workers about serious injuries and deformities that could result from the use of injectable silicone or products marketed to fill the skin to enhance the size of the buttocks, breasts and other parts of the body.

The FDA has confirmed that it has significant concerns about unsafe silicone injections that are marketed for body sculpting by unauthorized persons, with serious effects sometimes caused by silicon. The FDA has intervened to take action against perpetrators who promote these products and has also informed the public of the risks, which can include permanent deformities and even death.

Dr Al Amiri said the FDA recognizes proven medical observations  such as the increased risk of cancerous white blood cells forming in women who have undergone injection  and acknowledges that there are other medical doubts about the effects of different adverse effects.

He called upon the public not to pay attention to misleading advertisements which promote cosmetic injections in the houses and ignore advertisements claiming special cosmetic injections, unless the advertisement is licensed by the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the UAE.

According to him, most promises made by ads published on social networking sites are unrealistic and are not based on medical facts.

"Cosmetic operations need to be supervised by doctors, specialists and surgeons and not by beauty center staff, and must be conducted only under the supervision of medical professionals," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceHuawei, a leading global ICT and network energy solutions provider, said one of its technical experts will be a keynote speaker at the Solar Utilities Network (SUN) which is being hosted during the 11th edition of the Gulf Industry Fair, a leading business-to-business industrial show, which opens in Bahrain next month.

The annual industrial event is being held from February 6 to 8 under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

It provides a unique one-stop-shop approach for the elements of industrial development across the aluminium, energy and environment protection, industrial metals, industrial processes and manufacturing, logistics and industrial facilities, security and safety and training for industry, said the event organiser Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE).

Dr Toufic Hawat, the chief technology advisor to Huawei Smart PV Business Mena region, will outline smart technology options for solar power plants at SUN.

Sponsored by Bahrain Solar Association and Bahrain Industrial Association, the event will take place on February 7, while registration is now open for the forum, said the HCE statement.

Huawei aims to develop a network for the exchange of expertise and knowledge for those in the solar and renewable energy sectors.

At the upcoming event, Dr Hawat will address Huaweis innovative FusionSolar Smart PV Solution. His topic Smart Utility-Scale PV Plant Solution will highlight Huaweis global leadership in that space, said the company in a statement.

As chief technology advisor to Huawei Smart PV, Dr Hawat has been responsible for a portfolio of design and development of solar energy projects delivering 500 MW plants, including a pipeline of more than 4.4 GW of solar PV (photovoltaic) plants.

A leading authority in his field, Dr Hawat has published 45 international papers on solar measurements, system control and instrumentation as well as authoring studies on the impact on the atmosphere and natural resources.

After less than four years of development, Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution has built a reputable position in the market with 20.5 GW of global inverter shipment in 2016, it stated.

According to global consultancy firm IHS Markit, Huawei was ranked Number One globally in inverter shipment for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016.

Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution views power plants as products that can be delivered to customers. From power plant construction to operation and maintenance (O&M), Huawei optimises and innovates throughout the entire process, and integrates digital information technology, internet technology, and PV technology, to optimise initial investments, reduce O&M costs, raise energy yield, and increase ROI (return on investment).

"Huawei puts forward the FusionSolar Smart PV Solution in line with innovative concepts such as simple, full-digital, and automatic global O&M, to ultimately help plant owners and customers maximise their RO," remarked Dr Hawat.

Ahmed Suleiman, HCE exhibitions director, said: As the GCC region looks towards using solar and renewable energy in public and private environments, cost efficiency is vital to encourage the transition to renewable energy."

"The participation of Dr Hawat and Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution at the SUN Forum is a very important contribution from leading industry experts with a proven track record in improving energy yields from PV power," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceUS President Donald Trump said he is extending sanctions relief for Iran one last time so Europe and the US can fix the nuclear deal's "terrible flaws, reported BBC.



Trump decided on Friday to continue to waive economic sanctions related to the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, leaving the deal intact for now, but issued new sanctions against 14 people and entities involved with the countrys ballistic missile programs and a crackdown on government protesters.



The ultimatum puts pressure on Europeans - key backers and parties to the 2015 international agreement to curb Irans nuclear program  to satisfy Trump, who wants the pact strengthened with a separate agreement within 120 days, stated the report.



Trump has repeatedly denounced the nuclear agreement negotiated by his predecessor and in October declined to certify that its in the interests of the US. But he has so far stopped short of pulling the country out of it altogether.



Trump said this would be the last time he issues a waiver to maintain the accord, and he bluntly put the onus on European nations to agree to changes.



Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said in a statement issued Friday.



This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the US will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately, he warned.



The Trump administration has accused Iran of fomenting instability and violence across the Mideast, and the presidents decision gives the White House and Congress more time to forge legislation punishing the country for that behavior without directly ending the nuclear accord that Iran reached with the U.S. and five other world powers.



We are targeting the Iranian regime, including the head of Irans judiciary, for its appalling mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and for censoring its own people as they stand up in protest against their government, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.



We are also targeting Irans ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities, which it continues to prioritize over the economic well-being of the Iranian people, he added.



People the US sanctioned on Friday include Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of Irans judiciary whose brother, Ali Larijani, leads Irans parliament. Rajaee Shahr Prison and its director, Gholamreza Ziaei, also were included on the sanctions list.



According to the Treasury statement, many Iranians who recently protested against their government are imprisoned at Rajaee Shahr, a facility where prisoners participating in hunger strikes are denied medical care and where there are reported incidents of sexual abuse and unlawful executions, stated the Bloomberg report.



Trumps decision to again waive the sanctions related to the 2015 accord was recommended by his entire national security team, including National Security Adviser HR McMaster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.



Specifically, Trump had until Friday to decide whether to continue waiving 2012 sanctions that cut off Irans central bank from the global financial system, with a host of other, similar deadlines following over the next week.



Letting the waivers lapse would have violated the 2015 agreement that Iran reached with world powers in exchange for curbing its nuclear program, said the report.



US allies including the UK and France have repeatedly defended the agreement and said Iran continues to comply with the accord and they, too, intend to do so.



Instead of backing out of the nuclear deal, Trump has previously said he was giving lawmakers a chance to amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, the 2015 bill that was passed as a way to impose a degree of congressional oversight over the agreement, it added.Edward Scolnick is a core investigator at the Broad Institute, the former founding director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute, and former head of research and development at Merck Research Laboratories.

Education and early career [ edit ]

Scolnick earned a BA in 1961 from Harvard University and an MD in 1965 from Harvard Medical School.[1] After medical school, he joined the Public Health Service to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.[2] During his 15 years at the NIH's National Cancer Institute, Scolnick discovered the RAS oncogene that is involved in the critical signaling pathway that shifts an otherwise normal cell into the aggressive cells known as tumor cells. His work helped establish the concept of blocking signaling pathways as fundamental to cancer biology and drug discovery.[citation needed]

Merck [ edit ]

Scolnick joined Merck in 1982 as executive director of virus and cell biology, after being recruited from the National Institutes of Health. He was head of Research at Merck Research Laboratories from 1985 until he stepped down in 2002.[3] While at Merck, he was involved in the development and introduction of 29 new medications and vaccines.[4]

He was a key figure in the development and marketing of Vioxx, which was pulled from the market after it was discovered that the drug caused a dangerously high risk of myocardial infarction.[4] Legal claims resulting from this has cost Merck billions. During the 5 years it was available in the US, more than 38,000 deaths were related to Vioxx use, and up to 25 million Americans had taken the drug.[5] In the subsequent investigations, it was revealed that it was likely that Merck knew about the adverse effects of the drug, and Scolnick had dismissed them in order to push the drug to market before Bayer's Celebrex.[6][7]

Later career [ edit ]

Scolnick began as the founding director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute in 2007. In early 2012, Scolnick stepped down as director and became the Stanley Centers chief scientist, being succeeded by Steven Hyman.

He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also appointed to the Board of Visitors at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. MIT awards the "Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience" in his honor.[8]

Walmart is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the US, the company told Business Insider on Thursday afternoon, after reports of abrupt store closings began to emerge.

The closings will impact about 9,400 employees, a Walmart official said.

In some cases, employees were not told their store had closed before showing up to work on Thursday. Those employees learned their store would be closing when they found the store's doors locked and a notice announcing the closing, Sam's Club workers told Business Insider. At some stores, employees were turned away by police officers.

Ten of the affected stores will be turned into e-commerce distribution centers, and employees of those stores will have the opportunity to reapply for positions at those locations, a Walmart official said.

The remaining stores will stay open for several weeks before closing permanently. All of the affected stores were scrubbed from the Sam's Club website on Thursday morning.

Sam's Club CEO John Furner notified employees of the closures in a company-wide email sent Thursday.

"After a thorough review, it became clear we had built clubs in some locations that impacted other clubs, and where population had not grown as anticipated," Furner said in the email. "We will be closing some clubs, and we notified them today. We'll convert some of them into eCommerce fulfillment centers  to better serve the growing number of members shopping with us online and continue scaling the SamsClub.com business."

Sam's Club membership fees  which cost $45 annually  will be refunded to customers affected by the closings, a Walmart official said.

The closings came on the same day Walmart announced plans to raise starting hourly wages to $11, expand employee benefits, and offer workers bonuses of up to $1,000.New Delhi, (IANS): The India-Israel relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said on Friday, referring to New Delhis vote against US President Donald Trumps decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital.



The question is if it will influence our relationship or if it can influence the relationship, Carmon said in response to a question ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to India starting Sunday.



I think the relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN here and there, he said.



Last month, India joined the overwhelming Assembly majority to vote for the resolution that demanded that the US comply with Security Council decisions against changing the status of Jerusalem.



Carmon, however, maintained that there was a lot of importance in the votes in the UN and said that these have always been on the joint agenda between India and Israel.



Sometimes it is India that comes to Israel with a request and sometimes Israel comes to India with a request, he said.



We cannot always fulfil those requests. That is why we are two countries, two members of the UN.



The Ambassador mentioned Israels support to the Indian candidate for the International Court of Justice, Judge Dalveer Bhandari, last year.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERESrinagar, (IANS): Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of the city here on Saturday to prevent separatist-called protests against civilian killings during gunfights between security forces and militants.



Prohibitory orders were imposed in Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M.R.Gunj and Safakadal in old Srinagar and Maisuma and Kralkhud in uptown areas by the Srinagar District Magistrate.



Essential services, government employees, bank staff, students appearing for examinations and the invigilation staff for such exams are exempted from the restrictions, the police said.



The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL)  a separatist conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik called for valley-wide shutdown and protests.



Authorities placed Umer Farooq under house arrest in his Nigeen residence on the outskirts, while Geelani continued to remain under house arrest in his uptown Hyderpora residence.



Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been made to maintain law and order at sensitive places in the city.



Educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools are closed in the Kashmir Valley due to winter vacations.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HEREJammu, Jan 13 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari said on Saturday that the army should concentrate on its own job and not meddle with the states education system.

The ministers remark came a day after Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat said the students in the schools of Jammu and Kashmir were being taught two maps  one of India and the other of J&K.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function, Bukhari said on Saturday: Rather than meddling with the education sector, the army should concentrate on its own duty.

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The minister expressed displeasure, saying that everyone was trying to pass comments on the education sector and this was not acceptable.

He said dealing with the education sector should be left to those who were assigned the responsibility to do so.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, ahead of the Army Day, General Rawat said the education system in Jammu and Kashmir needed to be overhauled to check radicalisation, and also called for checks on madrasas and mosques.

By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

Yesterdays event of four Supreme court judges addressing the media-the event which was termed rather historic by many-has caught a lot of amount of attention from media as well as from the general public. But the same event has also resulted in creating chaos in the judicial fraternity spread among Indian courts at various levels. The basic question which has come forward is: Has the event opened the gates of total chaos in the judiciary of the country? And many judges believe the answer is yes.

Judiciary guidelines issued by Department of Justice (DOJ) do not allow the sitting judges of any lower court to hold any press conference or comment to the media. Moreover, the guidelines also mandate the sitting judges to not go to any public functions as a guest or speaker. All the lower court judges have to seek permission from their respective high courts if they are willing to participate in the functions, and the participation depends on the high courts nod.

Support TwoCircles



This is only at the lower court. Sitting judges at the higher courts cannot even be present on these occasions at any cost. The laws were made to limit the judiciary at a respective bar, said one of the judges appointed in one of the lower courts of Bihar in a conversation with TwoCircles.net.

There is a fair chance that when Justice Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph came before the media on Friday, they would have thought of the repercussions and questions that will rise against them.

The four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country, Justice J Chelameswar, the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court of India, said on Friday.

But the judges appointed in the lower courts of the country are worried and speculate that the judges wouldnt have thought of the whole legal set up spread in the country. Now if the sitting judges of the Supreme Court can hold a press conference, it can be a lot easier for a low-rank judge like the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to hold a press conference against any districts magistrate or any regulatory body. There will be a total anarchy in the system, said the judge from Bihar.

The major concern of the SC judges is that they have alleged a sort of monarchy in bench allotment in Supreme Court and have written to the Chief Justice Dipak Misra regarding the same two months back. One of the judges from Delhi told TwoCircles.net, There are several benches in the apex court which have been involved in making money, and the debate around working of such benches does not come out easily.

The major concern of the four judges who held the press conference was the fact that CJI was allocating important socio-political cases to such benches who are long alleged to be involved in making money, said the judge from Delhi on the condition of anonymity.

There have been instances when cases with far-reaching consequences for the nation and institution has been assigned by the Chief Justice of this court selectively to the benches of their preferences without any rational basis for such assignments. This must be guarded against at all costs, the four judges said on Friday.

The term bench hunting or forum shopping is famous in the Indian justice system. The term is used when a particular litigant-with the help of a lawyer-tries to manage his case hearing by a particular judge who may give the litigant a favourable decision. In December 2014, Supreme Court of India raised serious objection to the bench hunting citing that the trend may eventually end peoples faith in the Indian justice system.

In March 2014, senior Supreme Court lawyer Dushyant Dave came into the courtroom of the then Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and said that the practice of bench hunting was in the practice in the apex court too, forcing CJI to initiate a probe against the same. This was the first time when the general public came to know the existence of possible corruption in the premises of Supreme Court also, which has been regarded as one of the most pious legal institutes in the country. Dave was elected as president of Supreme Court bar association later that year.

If our sources to be believed, the major concern behind four sitting judges conducting press conference is the process of bench hunting, which apparently still exists in the apex court as well.

Many believe that four sitting judges should have gone to the President of India before taking such unprecedented step, but a large section of the society still believes that going to the president would not have made much difference as the President holds very little rights to interfere or convene into such matters.

N Santosh Hegde, the former Supreme Court justice and former Solicitor General of India, told PTI yesterday, For some reason or the other, their cause is justified, (but) relief they are seeking is wrong  going to the media? No. Judiciary was always considered as a family. Family disputes are never taken to the streets.

I feel very sad about it. I am sure they (the four judges) are hurt with many things which ought not to have happened. But for heavens sake, what they did was wrong. I dont think this damage can ever be repaired, PTI quoted Hegde.

Other judges believe differently. What they did is correctthey showed that liberal value is still left in the judiciary, they must have thought of all the abuses and comments arising from their action, said one of the judges posted in a lower court in Uttar Pradesh.

It is the not the first time when the Judges have come forward before the media. Justice CS Karnan of the Madras High Court held a press conference in his chamber alleging caste-based harassment against him that was being done by some judges of the same court. In January 2017, Justice Karnan wrote to Prime Minister naming 20 people of Supreme Court and High Courts that were possibly involved in corruption. On May 8, 2017, Karnan sentenced CJI JS Khehar and seven other judges of Supreme Court five-year of rigorous imprisonment after holding them under SC/ST Atrocities act 1989 and amendment act of 2015. However, Supreme Court charged Karnan six months of imprisonment of very next day. Justice Karnan walked out of the jail on Thursday this week.

Activists and social workers have alleged that why the Supreme Court judges did not come forward when Justice Karnan was constantly raising the issue of casteism since 2011. The judges at the Supreme Court might not have any response to this, but Prof Mahendra Pratap Singh at Law College at BHU answers, The points raised by Justice Karnan are worrisome, but that is a totally different case. Karnan was raising the issue of caste-based discrimination, but here what we are seeing that the judge is going against the policies and principles over which the judiciary is based.

For Singh, four judges of the Supreme Court-who are also part of the collegium along with the CJI Dipak Misra-did nothing wrong by coming before the media. Why do judges tend to behave like Gods? There should be some accountability. I welcome their effort of coming to the media exposing the corruption and communalism in the judiciary, said Prof Singh. Such steps will bring more transparency in the judiciary rather than creating problems, he added.

The issue started in November 2017 when the CJI -as the master of the roster-declared that it is the prerogative of the CJI to decide which case has to be heard by which judge. This followed a debate led by senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan who was the petitioner in Medical College case in which Dipak Misra was named in the FIR. The CJIs ruling annulled the Chelameswars order when he demanded to constitute a five-bench committee to hear the case against Misra. On their Friday briefing, four judges said that CJI is just first among the equal, nothing more or nothing less.

You can see that many people have now started abusing the four judges, and apparently batting for Dipak Misra. Misra is known to have links with RSS and BJP, and he has been assigning political cases, like that of Amit Shah, to the benches on an arbitrary basis, making the accuseds escape easy. So the ones hereby saving Dipak Misra are indirectly exposing his links with the ruling party or RSS, said a judge based in a Delhi court.

Karl Marx had once said: Every fight either ends in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes. Members of the Indian judiciary we spoke to believe that the four judges, who are already in the light of questioning since Friday, should come forward to curb the corrupt practices in Indian judiciary at every level. Otherwise, the long tussle between the Government and Judiciary will obviously take a toll on the latter.It comes as second nature to upload our family snaps on Social media. Been on a family holiday? Upload the pics to Facebook. Enjoying a day out? It goes straight on Instagram. A couple of clicks and you have shared photos of your children without even thinking about it.

Sharing family life

We live in a digital age where we choose to share most of our family life online. We mark milestones and events by posting photos that previously would have been kept in a photo album at home. First tooth? First steps? The very first day of school all shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat with the rest of the world.

But what happens when in the oversharing age of parenting (sharenting) that your children withdraw their consent? When they no longer give their permission to be featured on their parents profiles?

Consent

The result of a recent Italian family court case has seen the court ruled against a Mother who is now no longer able to share photos, posts or even mention her sixteen-year-old son on social media. If she ignores the ban, then she will be landed with a high ten thousand euro fine. She must also remove any old posts/photos of her son and if she refuses? She will have a monetary penalty imposed.

It seems that the youngsters unhappiness with his mothers oversharing came to a head during his parents divorce.

In Italian law, the reference and subject of the photo is the one that owns the copyright, hence, in this case, the teenage boy. The ruling of the case is one of the first of its kind seeing the defendant landed with such a large fine if she does not adhere to its ruling.

A lawyer Giuseppe Croari told the website Euronews.com the boys mother violated Facebooks terms of service by posting photos of her son who has the copyright of that data.

However, are we all in fact guilty of this?

The Facebook terms that users agree to are;

Not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone elses rights or otherwise violates the law.

According to experts, the European news site goes on to say that it is more common for parental rights over posting photos to be questioned during divorce proceedings in Italy.

The victim told the family court that he did not want his photo on his parents social media profiles during divorce trial.

In November a judge from Italy said that either parent cannot post photos of their children if they are underage and the other parent does not agree. It isnt just Italy that are beginning to take note of the need for evolving laws regarding children and social media. The law in France is extremely harsh and violating a childs privacy could lead to a 45,000-euro fine and a years imprisonment.

This Italian court case could be the first of many, and it leads to many new questions that previous generations have not necessarily have had to face. It may raise important questions such as childrens privacy violations and do parents really have the right to sharent?Rep. Martha McSally. R-Arizona is the third person to run for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake. Her opponents are former State Sen. Kelli Ward, who failed to unseat Sen. John McCain, and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a man in his 80s whose career as a law enforcement officer was, mildly speaking, controversial. So far the race is neck and neck, though McSally represents the best hope Republicans have of retaining the Senate seat and avoiding another Alabama-style debacle.

A compelling personal story as the first female fighter pilot

McSally has a compelling personal story as the first female Fighter Pilot to fly combat missions in the A-10. She also successfully fought a defense department rule that compelled female service members to wear Islamic robes over their uniforms while in Saudi Arabia. Thus, she checks off two boxes as a warrior against terrorism and one against sexism. She should appeal to women voters. She has a great line in her campaign video: Grow a pair of ovaries.

Trump loyalist

In her campaign kickoff video, McSally makes sure to tie herself to President Trump, including footage of him praising her. While Trump won Arizona by just four percentage points during the 2016 election, Trump supporters are a crucial voting bloc that she will have to win over if she is to beat Ward and Arpaio during the primaries.

McSally a conventional conservative

A look at McSallys political positions suggests that she is a conventional, Reagan conservative. She is anti-abortion, pro-defense (naturally), and anti-illegal immigration. She is, on the other hand, a big proponent of solar energy, a growing industry in the sun drenched Arizona.

What are her chances?

Arpaios entry into the race was actually good news for McSally. The scenario has the former sheriff splitting the populist vote with Kelli Ward, giving McSally enough room to go over the top in the primaries. Unlike Alabama, Arizona has a winner take all rule. If McSally wins with 34 percent of the vote in the primaries, she is the Republican nominee, no runoff required.

She is also counting on the support of not only President Trump but ailing Senator and a former pilot himself John McCain. Her chances of winning the general election in red state Arizona are considered excellent.

Just as a side note, McSally leaves behind a House seat that will have to be defended against a Democratic drive to take over the lower body. Her district is considered leans Republican, but holding onto the seat is not considered a slam dunk. Much will depend on the quality of the candidates and whether 2018 shapes up as a wave election or not.Chi McBride takes the Hawaii Five-O force and faithful Friday night viewers of the drama on a riveting personal ride in the January 12, Episode 13 for Season 8, O ka mea ua hala, ua hala ia (What Is Gone Is Gone). This is hardly the first time that the talented and utterly believable actor has delivered a tour de force performance on Hawaii Five-O, but this journey transcends experienced police protocol, and becomes deeply connected to Lou Grover's most personal crisis, and Chi McBride brings home the message of preventing suicide to the very last frame.

From leisure to life in the balance

It is supposed to be a rare, somewhat leisurely day for Hawaii Five-O as the story opens. Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) and Tani Rey (Meaghan Rath) are out paddle boarding talking about the history and bonds of Hawaii Five-O. Steve is defending that Hawaii will always be home before the leisure pace becomes a race, which Tani takes again. A call from Will Grover comes, about a suspect wanted for pushing his wife to her death from their high-rise apartment, who is now threatening to take his life. Lou is sharing some fatherly advice with his son, Will (Chosen Jacobs) about the importance of simply listening to the woman in his life. An alert comes in about a car with a particular license plate, and lo and behold, the captain and his son literally roll right up on the target.

Lou instructs his son to call Steve, and stay in the car, and this time, Will listens. At first, Lous only objective is to get the suspect out of the car, without his weapon, so that justice can proceed. Keeping a potential suicide victim talking is the first course in proper protocol. The more the suspect, Brad Woodward (Devon Sawa) shares, the more Lou feels inclined to believe him, and he tells Steve to have the team investigate all they can about the death of his wife.

Initially, the scene seems to tell a cut-and-dry story of Brad's guilt. Only his DNA is under the fingernails of his wife, and neighbors are staying mum about hearing anything. Junior (Beulah Koale) takes the initiative to pull the footage from a bank ATM across the street, which might prove whether Brad was at the apartment or not at the wife's time of death.

Sure enough, it shows he was long gone by the time she leaped to her fate, clearing him of murder. The crisis, however, is far from over, because Brad is clinging to his gun.

Haunting mistakes

McGarrett stands firm for the captain when Keegan (Kenric Green) pushes to take over, insisting that Grover is becoming too vulnerable once he holsters his weapon, and moves to get inside the car. As Woodward unfolds a tortured story of love and the misstep of never sharing his wife's struggle with deep depression, and her never being willing to seek professional help, Lou is mentally taken back to the case that transformed his life, and brought him to the island. Woodward did love his wife, but he came to the end of his rope.

Back in Chicago, Lou was negotiating with a tormented father, holding his helpless, two-year-old son, Christian. Before Lou could get himself close to the father, he shot himself and the child. The pain of the senseless loss seared itself into Grovers very being. He could not let go, and he could not forgive himself.

The most powerful scenes depict Lous plunge into darkness, trying to drink the memory away, and contemplating his own suicide. He almost succeeds. He cries desperately to his wife, Renee (Michelle Hurd), Why did you change my safe? in wrenching, emotional moments. He plots to succeed one day when she makes a grocery run, pointing the pistol at his chest but interrupted when he hears a noise from the kitchen.

His son broke a dish, not being at school as his dad had thought. That delightful, unexpected revelation gave Captain Grover hope again. He convinces Woodward that he can find hope and help, too, getting through one day, then another, and he at last surrenders the gun.

The trauma of his own experience convinced Lou that he could never move on in Chicago, and he transitioned to the warmer place on the island. Any Hawaii Five-O fan who remembers Chi McBride's performances from Boston Public, or through his pursuit of his former friend and nemesis, Clay Maxwell (Mykelti Williamson), for the murder of his wife in seasons 5 and 6 of Hawaii Five-O will be transported by this transcendent performance.

There is a tense moment when the unknowing father of the deceased wife decides to take his own justice, almost killing everyone handling the crisis. The most touching moment comes when dad, Grover, tells his son that you did more than you know after a day never to be forgotten.

Chi McBride offers a public service announcement for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at the close of the episode. Help is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).South Africa, Saturday, January 11, 2018, activists from the Economic Freedom Fighters political party terrified shoppers with protests in the up-market suburbs of Sandton, Menlyn Park and East Rand in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas.

They were protesting against the H&M stores following the so-called 'racist' hoodie showing a young black model wearing a hoodie that had the words, "Coolest monkey in the jungle," printed on it. They trashed the stores which are now closed.

EFF trash H&M stores in Menlyn Park, Sandton and East Rand, photos courtesy @smichaelguthrie pic.twitter.com/8f5N3ozUXm  Jane Flowers (@zimkwacha) January 13, 2018

H&M's ad which was labeled racist emerged on Twitter second week of January

Across the world, there was a lot of debate as to whether the hoodie was actually racist as many people pointed out that children of all races are often called 'little monkeys.' Other Twitterati suggested that those who automatically associate the word 'monkey' with black are probably the racist ones. On the other side of the fence, there was a lot of outrage expressed.

Surprisingly, the mother of the black child who modeled the hoodie told people to "get over it."

The mother of the little boy modeling H&M's 'Coolest Monkey' hoodie doesnt understand why everyone is outraged: "this is one of hundreds of outfits my son has modeled. Stop crying wolf all the time, [its] an unnecessary issue here. Get over it.." pic.twitter.com/wkumIqXkdw  Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 10, 2018

EFF trash H&M, shots reported fired

Well, it seems the EFF has made a point of proving where they stand on the issue.

According to a report by News24, "REZA Crime Network have reported shots fired at the East Rand H&M."

SHOTS FIRED : H&M EAST RAND MALL. AVOID AREA!!!  REZA (@crimeairnetwork) January 13, 2018

Other reports on Twitter confirmed the violent raid on the H&M outlets.

South Africa: The H&M stores were trashed at Sandton City and Menlyn Park this morning as the EFF members protested a recent 'racist advert'. 13-01-2018 pic.twitter.com/SunYcHiKZv  Rowan Van Dijk (@Lastkombo) January 13, 2018

Twitter responds to trashed H&M stores in South Africa

South Africans were quick to reignite the race debate over the controversial advert by H&M, and the raid on the H&M stores by the Economic Freedom Fighters.

User @dylanmalebye posted, "I'm not condoning the violence. But what do mean H&M SA has nothing to do with this? H&M is a global brand. An act of racism is not bound by borders. It affects the whole world. With that logic its as if only black people in UK were affected. Come on.."

I'm not condoning the violence. But what do mean H&M SA has nothing to do with this? H&M is a global brand. An act of racism is not bound by borders. It affects the whole world. With that logic its as if only black people in UK were affected. Come on...   IG: dylanmalebye (@Malebye_DK) January 13, 2018

Meanwhile, another user wrote,"What happens if H&M pulls out of South Africa.

Will the EFF compensate employees for loss of income?"

What happens if H&M pulls out of South Africa. Will the EFF compensate employees for loss of income?  TheColouredZimbo (@_BeardGod) January 13, 2018

Others totally supported the move by the EFF. "Every single racist institution is will be visited by the red brigade to ensure there are consequences to any denigration of the black race! #EFFprotest against H&M is not the last one," threatened @MbuyiseniNdlozi, whose Twitter profile says he is a spokesman for EFF.

The EFF and racism in South Africa

The EFF has always stood for redistribution of wealth in South Africa, and most people understand the need to address inequality. Their leader is controversial ex-rapper, Julius (Juju) Malema, who broke away from the African National Congress some years ago after they ousted him.

He first really made headlines after releasing his song that said,"Kill the Boers," a term in South Africa for white people, particularly of Dutch or Afrikaans ancestry. His party has had other shocking things to say about South African whites, despite Nelson Mandela's conciliatory Truth Commission.

In 2016, leading News Outlet The Citizen reported that Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, National Chairperson of the EFF was looking into the behavior of one of its members.

It was alleged that EFF member Thabo Mabotja posted up on Facebook, All white people must be hacked and killed. ENCA News reported that Julius Malema distanced himself from that member.

Julius Malema is a bit of an enigma, calling on Afrikaaners to join the party at times, and at others saying horrid things about white South Africans.

He can be engaging and charming and unleash a raging oratory the next time you hear him. Speaking to Radio Jacaranda a few years back, he insisted he does not really want to push the "Whites into the sea," but that people must understand the political maturity of his followers.

The EFF organization "draws inspiration from the broad MarxistLeninist tradition and Fanonian schools of thought in their analyses of the state, imperialism, culture and class contradictions in every society." according to one of its declarations.Azerbaijan supports Turkey on every issue through foreign and security cooperation, the new Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey, Khazar Ibrahim, said in an interview to Daily Sabah. As Sabah writes in the article Azerbaijani envoy Ibrahim: Baku stands firmly with Ankara on all regional issues, quoting the Ambassador as saying, "Turkey is not only a brotherly and strategic country for Azerbaijan, but it's definitely a regional powerhouse and hopefully a future global power. Azerbaijan stands very firmly next to Turkey on regional issues."

Recounting the recent extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the Jerusalem crisis, the Azerbaijani envoy said: "President [Ilham] Aliyev immediately came to Istanbul, stood next to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and delivered his speech filled with support for Turkey. We support Turkey on every issue through our foreign and security cooperation...If you look at recent developments both in the region and globally, there are not two other nations standing next to each other on every single issue. It's absolutely unique. I can't recall any single issue Turkey and Azerbaijan even had slight differences on."

The Azerbaijani ambassador also honored Turkey's extension of support on the Karabakh conflict, which he called "Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan."

"The Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan claiming up to 20 percent of our territories is not only an issue for us but the region. It doesn't allow full regional cooperation and undermines security. It's also a global issue. The region is so pivotal for global interests that it affects every other global issue...As far as the Turkish role here is concerned, the position of Turkey is exactly the policies being conducted today. Turkey has one clear-cut position on the issue. It says the conflict should be resolved justly based on the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, which demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories.The second thing is that Turkey is actively pursuing this policy everywhere, be it in the OIC or the U.N.: Everywhere. We see the active pursuit of this clear-cut position by Turkey."

In spite of having commended Turkey's brotherly ties with his country and staunch support on every single issue, the Azerbaijani envoy insisted that the support for the Karabakh crisis is thoroughly in line with international laws. "Many people falsely think internationally that Turkey supports Azerbaijan only because the two countries are brothers. That's true. We are brothers, but people forget that Turkey quite rightly makes decisions or delivers its policies based on international law. It strictly sticks to international laws. It's often neglected. Turkey plays a huge role as a responsible international player," he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan. Baku and Yerevan have feuded over the Nagorno-Karabakh region since Armenian separatists seized the territory in a war that claimed some 30,000 lives in the early 1990s and ended in a frail 1994 truce. Efforts to negotiate a settlement have failed so far.

"Personally, no. It is not satisfactory," the Azerbaijani envoy said when asked about the tourism figures and the level of cultural ties between the people of the two countries. Explaining that the number of Azerbaijani tourists visiting Turkey is much more than the other way around, Ibrahim said Turks should explore the renowned Azerbaijani music, culture and history. "We have to do more to encourage more Turks to come and enjoy these things," the envoy said. Calling on Turkish citizens to visit Azerbaijan and learn about its culture, the envoy also had a message to Turkish and Azerbaijani airlines: "Lower the prices [laughing]. That would allow tourism to flourish even more."

Diplomatic and political ties between Ankara and Baku are good. Economic relations and the bilateral trade volume, though, have yet to live up to expectations. "During the meeting of the supreme council in Baku, both presidents highlighted the issue that a $2.5 billion trade volume is not enough given the nature of our relations," the envoy said. Recalling his president's direct order with regard to the projected economic figures, Ibrahim said: "In fact, they already put a first figure in front of us. That's a direct order for me as ambassador from the president. The first goal is to reach at least $5 billion as soon as possible." Stressing that a $2.5 billion trade turnover does not exactly reflect superior economic cooperation between the countries, the envoy said the two countries have investments in each other's economies. "If you look at the figures in terms of investments, you see an absolutely different picture. The Azerbaijani company SOCAR's [the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic] investments alone will reach up to $20 billion this year. That's a huge number. Plus, currently up to 40,000 local Turkish employees work on SOCAR projects. That's also huge across Turkey."German Social Democratic (SPD) leaders appealed to party members on Friday to swallow their doubts and endorse an overnight deal to renew a grand coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives for another four years. The deal eased months of uncertainty that has undermined Germanys role as the European Unions pivotal power as the bloc confronts major challenges including Brexit, euro zone reform and immigration, and raised questions about Merkels future.

The world will not wait for us, a weary-looking Merkel said on Friday morning after 25 hours of talks, which yielded a deal opening the way to formal negotiations on the details. As Reuters writes in an article "German Social Democratic leaders beg members to back deal with Merkel", some in the wary SPD rank-and-file said the deal lacked sufficient concessions to the centre-left party, which after four years of sometimes awkward coalition with Merkel suffered its worst election result last September since 1933. Christian Democratic lawmakers greeted their leader with a round of applause when she outlined the deal, which pledged closer cooperation with France to strengthen the euro zone and a crackdown on arms sales to countries in conflict zones. But SPD leaders will have a harder time convincing members to approve the deal at a Jan. 21 party congress and again in a postal vote at the conclusion of formal coalition negotiations. The SPD got its way in many areas, senior SPD parliamentarian Hubertus Heil told public broadcaster RBB in what is likely to be the first of many such entreaties to rank-and-file over the coming week.

SPD chairman Martin Schulz was addressing them when, standing alongside Merkel, he told reporters that the outline deal would preserve and strengthen Germanys welfare state for future generations. From the kindergarten to the school, to the university and the workplace and then on into old age and care homes, we want to strengthen respect, opportunity and solidarity, and bring these systems up to date, he said.

Germany is unfamiliar with the long negotiations that mark coalition building in many neighbouring countries. The dominance of the SPD and the conservatives long ensured smooth government transition. But elections last September saw the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany, which upset the arithmetic. A weakened Merkel turned to the SPD after the collapse in November of talks on a three-way coalition of the conservatives, environmentalist Greens and pro-business Free Democrats.

As Europes largest economy and pre-eminent mover and shaker, Germany is crucial to the regions fortunes. Berlins partners eagerly await a new government to help drive forward Brexit talks, euro zone reform and EU diplomatic initiatives.

France, which is pressing for a common euro zone budget to deflect external economic shocks, described the agreement as important for the stability and future of Franco-German relations, but especially Europe.

On the domestic front, the proposals reflected the strength of the economy. They foresaw tax relief for citizens of 10 billion euros over the three years to 2021 as well as extra spending on home-building, education and research.

The Finance Ministry said Germany had posted a budget surplus of 5.3 billion euros last year, adding the next government would have 45 billion euros worth of financial wiggle room in the legislative period to 2021. Officials said the surplus would be fed into a refugee reserve fund. Over a million migrants, many fleeing conflict in the Middle East, have come to Germany since mid-2015. On foreign policy, the document proposed limits on arms exports and an immediate end to arms sales to countries involved in the Yemen conflict - a move apparently targeted at Saudi Arabia, a major buyer of German weaponry.United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. FRANCIS W. SUGHRUE, Petitioner - Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, STATE OF FLORIDA, ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondents - Appellees. No. 16-17748 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before JULIE CARNES, JILL PRYOR and HULL, Circuit Judges.

Francis Sughrue, a Florida inmate proceeding pro se, appeals the district court's dismissal of his 28 U.S.C.  2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus as impermissibly second or successive. After careful review, we affirm.

I.

Following his 1990 state criminal convictions, Sughrue filed a  2254 petition to challenge them. The district court denied his petition on the merits and we affirmed. See Sughrue v. Butler, 190 F.3d 542 (11th Cir. 1999) (unpublished table decision). Sughrue subsequently filed the instant  2254 petition in the district court. The district court referred the petition to a magistrate judge, who issued a report finding that Sughrue's petition was successive, noting that his previous petition challenged the legality of the same state court judgment and was denied on the merits. The magistrate judge therefore recommended that Sughrue's petition be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Sughrue objected to the report and recommendation. He argued that several of his claims relied on newly discovered evidence of fraud upon the state court, making his petition proper under 28 U.S.C.  2244(b)(2)(B)which excepts from dismissal certain claims in a second or successive habeas petition based on newly discovered evidenceand Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)which lists fraud as grounds for relief from a final judgment. The district court overruled Sughrue's objections, adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, and dismissed the petition. Sughrue appealed.

II.

Subject to two exceptions, [a] claim presented in a second or successive habeas corpus application under section 2254  shall be dismissed. 28 U.S.C.  2244(b)(1). This dismissal requirement is inapplicable if the petitioner either shows that the claim relies on a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable, or demonstrates that the factual predicate for the claim could not have been discovered previously through the exercise of due diligence and that those facts, if proven and viewed in light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that, but for constitutional error, no reasonable factfinder would have found the [petitioner] guilty of the underlying offense. Id.  2244(b)(2). Even if one of these exceptions applies, however, a petitioner must first move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application before the district court may consider it. Id.  2244(b)(3)(A).

We review de novo a district court's conclusion that a  2254 petition is second or successive such that the petitioner must first seek authorization in this Court to file it. Stewart v. United States, 646 F.3d 856, 858 (11th Cir. 2011).

III.

We agree with the district court that Sughrue's  2254 petition was second or successive such that he was required to seek authorization from this Court before filing it in the district court, which he did not do. As the district court concluded, both Sughrue's initial and instant  2254 petitions challenged the same 1990 state court judgment of conviction. His instant petition is therefore successive. See Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U.S. 320, 338-39 (2010) (explaining that a  2254 petition addressing a state court judgment that already has been challenged via an initial  2254 petition is successive). Sughrue contends that several of his claims are based on newly discovered evidence and thus qualify under one of the two exceptions to  2244(b)'s dismissal requirement, but even if this is true, the statute requires him to seek authorization from this Court before filing such a petition in the district court, and Sughrue failed to do so.

Sughrue maintains in the alternative that his petition could properly be considered a motion for relief from judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). Even assuming for purposes of this opinion that the claims in his petition theoretically could be brought via a Rule 60(b) motion, the district court's dismissal was correct. A Rule 60(b) motion based on fraud must be made  no more than a year after the entry of the judgment or order or the date of the proceeding. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(c)(1). Because the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure apply only to federal district court proceedings, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 1, the only judgment or order Sughrue could attack under Rule 60(b) is the district court's denial of his initial  2254 proceeding, which was entered nearly ten years ago. Thus, Sughrue's instant petition, even if properly construed as a Rule 60(b) motion, was untimely under Rule 60(c)(1).

For these reasons, the district court correctly dismissed Sughrue's petition.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. Sughrue's motion for appointment of counsel for substitute briefing and oral argument therefore is DENIED AS MOOT.

. Sughrue is not required to have a certificate of appealability to litigate his appeal. See Hubbard v. Campbell, 379 F.3d 1245, 1247 (11th Cir. 2004).

. We therefore need not address any of the merits arguments Sughrue advances in his brief.

PER CURIAM:Sanat Kushkumbayev, Deputy Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KazISS), revealed what problems will be raised next week during President Nursultan Nazarbayev and U.S. President Donald J. Trump at the White House.

The key goal is to propel Kazakhstan-U.S. cooperation to the level of expanded strategic partnership, the expert said, APA reports citing Kazinform,

"The U.S. has been our long-standing strategic partner since the early days of our independence. In January, we will celebrate 26 years of Kazakhstan-U.S. diplomatic relations. The U.S. is a major trade and investment partner of Kazakhstan. From the political perspective, we cooperate on solution and promotion of regional and global security, he said.

Kushkumbayev noted that the meeting will focus on the situation in Afghanistan, the Syrian conflict, relations with Russia in terms of Eurasian integration of the U.S.

He added that Kazakhstan's stance on non-proliferation will also be in the center of negotiations at the White House.China on Saturday pledged to continue playing a constructive role in maintaining and implementing the Iran nuclear deal, after U.S. President Donald Trump set an ultimatum to fix disastrous flaws in a deal, Reuters reports.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by phone that implementation of the deal had not been derailed but would face some new complicating factors, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Continuing to implement the nuclear deal was the responsibility of all parties concerned and the common wish of the international community, Wang was quoted as saying during the call, which took place on a visit to Rwanda.Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels have been sent to waters off the Korean Peninsula since late last year in their first involvement in efforts to crack down on North Korea's attempts to evade international sanctions, government sources said, Nikkei Asian Review reported.

Following a request from the U.S. military in December, MSDF ships have been deployed to areas including the Yellow Sea to monitor whether refined oil is being transferred from foreign ships to North Korea vessels in violation of U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs, they said.

The Japanese government may report on that effort to an international meeting of foreign ministers on North Korean issues to be held in Vancouver, Canada, on Tuesday.The second battalion of S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems was put on combat duty in Russia's southwestern the Crimean Peninsula near the city of Sevastopol, Sputnik reported on Saturday.

The relevant order was handed over by the commander of the 4th Air and Air Defense Army, Lt. Gen. Viktor Sevostyanov, to a commander of the air defense regiment.

The S-400 battalion has been deployed and started monitoring the airspace.

According to Sevostyanov, the deployment of forces would contribute to the security of Crimea and the major part of the Krasnodar Territory, after the first battalion of the advanced missile systems was deployed near the city of Feodosia in January 2017.

The S-400 systems put on combat duty in 2018 would primarily protect the airspace over the border with Ukraine, a Crimean security source told Sputnik.Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov congratulated Chechen and Russian journalists on the Russian Press day. He wrote his greeting in the Chechen social network Mylistory.

First of all, he stressed that he treats journalists with great respect, since it is a very prestigious, difficult and responsible profession, which requires  only high professional skills, exceptional objectivity and principles.On Saturday, December 13, employees of newspapers and magazines, television and radio companies, news agencies and online publications celebrate the Day of Russian Press.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev congratulated journalists on this holiday: "Journalistic requiers talent and hard work. You have to have your own position and bear responsibility for every wor... After all, you tell people about what is happening in the country and the world, successes and achievements, hopes of people. The most important thing is that thanks to your reports, articles and journalistic investigations problems of particular person are resolved," his congratulatory telegram, published by the government website, says.

Medvedev also thanked workers of Russian press for their dedication to their work and the fact that their really care about.

He stressed that while having different points of view, true journalists are always true to their professional duty - "to be honest and objective."

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in his congratulations that this professional holiday unites tens of thousands of Moscow journalists.

"You set high standards for high-quality press. In many ways you form the face of modern Russian journalism. Your news and reports, interviews and articles help to change our beloved Moscow for the better," he said.

In addition, Sergey Sobyanin wished media workers strong health, prosperity and new creative successes, and also expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation between Moscow government and journalistic community.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a possible military operation in Syria's Afrin, aiming to eliminate a "terrorist corridor" on Turkey's southern border, Sputnik reports.

The Turkish army opened artillery fire on the Kurdish militia positions in the Syrian city of Afrin, the Hurriyet newspaper reported. According to the newspaper, the Turkish Armed Forces fired 10 shots from the territory of the Reyhanli district in the country's province of Hatay.

Following the military operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a possible military operation in Syria's Afrin on January 13, adding that Turkey will clear its border of "terrorists."Strengthening of cooperation with neighboring countries in the Asian region, including Pakistan, is one of the key vectors of neutral Turkmenistans foreign policy, said the countrys President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a government meeting, AzerNews reported.

The Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported that President Berdimuhamedov also spoke about the high level of interstate relations, dynamically developing on a multilateral basis and through authoritative international and regional organizations.The acting head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasilyev, congratulated the media workers of Dagestan on the Russian Press Day.

He stressed that Dagestani media work objectively, despite the problems that they face in the republic every day, and this is their most important feature.

Vladimir Vasiliev also expressed confidence that the republic's journalists will continue to produce only high-quality content in the future, thanking them for their contribution to the stability of life in Dagestan including inter-ethnic consensus.The State-owned Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) has been accused of overcharging cars going in and out of airports, collecting VN551 billion from October, 2012, to the end of 2015.. Photo zing.vn

HA NOI  The Government Inspectorate (GI) recently issued a report on wrongdoings at the State-owned Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) involving VN6.3 trillion (US$280.3 million) and 7.2ha of land.

The report looked into ACVs compliance with laws and policies on the management and usage of capital and assets, and during the equitisation, divestment, and restructuring of the group.

The Government watchdog acknowledged ACVs efforts in recent years to upgrade aviation infrastructure  airports, aprons, and runways  to match development demands. However, multiple incidents of misconduct, including in land management, asset valuation, tax declaration, and fee collection were found. The inspection agency has asked the Ministry of Transport and ACV to handle those involved in these offences.

In 2014-2015, ACV signed 803 lease contracts for a total area of 120,221 sq.m of its airport land, all without going through the public bidding process, and collected VN701.1 billion ($31.19 million).

At the time ACV was converting to a joint-stock company, so it could no longer enjoy the free use of State land as before and must choose a form of land allocation with collection of land use levies or land lease. However, the group failed to complete procedures to hand back more than 2,888ha of land as well as not signing yearly leases for 197ha of land.

This cost the State budget VN330 billion in land tax. The main cause, according to the inspectorate, was due to the airports irresponsibility and lax management- and failure to co-ordinate with local authorities to define airport land boundaries.

Currently, 11 airports under ACVs management have still not obtained land-use rights for 7,225ha from local authorities.

Regarding equitisation and divestment, the inspectorate concluded that, from July 1 in 2014 to December 31 in 2015, during asset valuation, ACV did not account for the value of airfields that it claimed were no longer under its ownership.

However, post-equitisation, the airports corporation still continued to use, monitor, and subtract the depreciation (VN903 billion, or $40.18 million) of these assets as its business expenses. The group also excluded the taxiway E6 of the international airport at a Nang. This move was considered a violation of regulations, and ACV will need to pay an additional VN692 billion ($30.79 million) in business tax.

The Government Inspectorate also said that the equitisation process in ACV was slow, adding that failed negotiations with potential strategic stakeholders, caused its financial struggles to remain unsolved for a long time.

Previously, the aviation group was also accused of overcharging cars going in and out of airports, collecting VN551 billion from October, 2012, to the end of 2015. The inspectorate said while this practice brought more revenues to the ACV and the State budget, it was a serious violation of legal provisions, causing losses to customers.

However, Le Manh Hung, ACVs general director, said the charge was totally fair and accurately calculated, and the group was still collecting the fees as usual. It also said it had submitted reports to relevant State agencies to explain its reasonings.

The Government has asked the transport ministry to work with the finance ministry to submit plans to address the wrongful charging of fees, among other violations of ACV, by the end of March.

From the end of the inspection until now, ACV has handled financial violations of more than VN1.16 billion ($51.53 million).

Airports Corporation of Viet Nam, established in 2012 as a 100 per cent State-owned company, has undergone restructuring to become a joint-stock corporation with the State being the controlling shareholder (above 95 per cent) in 2015. With charter capital hitting VN21.78 trillion, it is the largest aviation operator in Viet Nam and manages all civil airports in the country.  VNSUnited States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CARLINGTON CRUICKSHANK, Defendant-Appellant. No. 17-10758 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before MARCUS, WILSON and JORDAN, Circuit Judges.

Carlington Cruickshank appeals his convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  960(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 46 U.S.C.  70503(a), 70506(a) and (b), and one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel, in violation of 18 U.S.C.  2, 21 U.S.C.  960(b)(1)(B)(ii), and 46 U.S.C.  70503(a), 70506(a). On appeal, Cruickshank argues that: (1) the district court erred in denying him a minor-role reduction under U.S.S.G.  3B1.2(b) because he was less culpable than his co-conspirator and other participants in the conspiracy; and (2) the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA) is unconstitutional, an issue the government says is barred under the law-of-the-case doctrine. After careful review, we affirm.

In reviewing a district court's use of the Guidelines, we review purely legal questions de novo and the district court's factual findings for clear error. United States v. White, 335 F.3d 1314, 1317 (11th Cir. 2003). A district court's determination of whether a defendant qualifies for a minor role adjustment under the Guidelines is a finding of fact that will be reviewed only for clear error. United States v. De Varon, 175 F.3d 930, 934 (11th Cir. 1999) (en banc). We review de novo the application of the law-of-the-case doctrine. United States v. Bobo, 419 F.3d 1264, 1267 (11th Cir.2005).

Harmless error analysis is also applied to sentencing cases, and remand is unnecessary if the party defending the sentence persuades the appellate court that the district court would have imposed the same sentence absent the erroneous factor. United States v. Williams, 503 U.S. 193, 203 (1992). Where the district court properly imposes the statutory minimum sentence, any alleged error in the Guidelines calculations is harmless and need not be addressed. United States v. Raad, 406 F.3d 1322, 1323 n.1 (11th Cir. 2005); United States v. Jackson, 613 F.3d 1305, 1310 n.7 (11th Cir. 2010).

First, we are unpersuaded by Cruickshank's argument that the district court erred in denying him a minor-role reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G.  3B1.2(b). The Sentencing Guidelines provide a mitigating role adjustment based on the defendant's role in the offense. See U.S.S.G.  3B1.2. Specifically, a defendant may receive a two-level reduction if he was a minor participant in the criminal activity. See  3B1.2(b). A minor participant is one who is less culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as minimal. Id., comment. (n.5). The proponent of the downward adjustment  always bears the burden of proving a mitigating role in the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. De Varon, 175 F.3d at 939. In determining a defendant's role in an offense, a district court's decision must clearly resolve[ ] any disputed factual issues. Id. (emphasis omitted). As long as the district court's decision is supported by the record, the sentencing judge need not make specific subsidiary factual findings regarding the defendant's role in the offense. Id.

In De Varon, we established a two-part test to determine whether a defendant qualifies for a minor-role adjustment. See id. at 940. First, the district court must measure the defendant's role against the relevant conduct for which [he] has been held accountable. Id. at 945. When the relevant conduct attributed to a defendant [at sentencing] is identical to his actual conduct, he cannot prove that he is entitled to a minor-role adjustment simply by pointing to some broader scheme for which he was not held accountable. United States v. Alvarez-Coria, 447 F.3d 1340, 1343 (11th Cir. 2006). Second, the district court may also measure the defendant's role against the other participants, to the extent that they are discernable, in [the] relevant conduct. De Varon, 175 F.3d at 945.

To conduct this inquiry, we've held that the conduct of participants in any larger criminal conspiracy is irrelevant. Id. at 944. Rather, the district court should (1) look to other participants only to the extent that they are identifiable or discernable from the evidence, and (2) consider only those participants who were involved in the relevant conduct attributed to the defendant. Id. We've advised that [a] defendant is not automatically entitled to a minor role adjustment merely because [he] was somewhat less culpable than the other discernable participants. United States v. Bernal-Benitez, 594 F.3d 1303, 1320-21 (11th Cir. 2010) (emphasis omitted). Additionally, we have warned that [t]he fact that a defendant's role may be less than that of other participants engaged in the relevant conduct may not be dispositive of role in the offense, since it is possible that none [of the participants] are minor or minimal participants. De Varon, 175 F.3d at 944. Amendment 794 to the Sentencing Guidelines embraced the approach we took in De Varon, and incorporated many of the same factors delineated in De Varon. United States v. Cruickshank, 837 F.3d 1182, 1193-94 (11th Cir. 2016) (Cruickshank I).

Here, the district court did not clearly err in denying Cruickshank a two-level minor-role reduction. For starters, because the district court properly imposed the statutory minimum sentence, Cruickshank's alleged error in the Guidelines calculations is harmless and we need not address it. See Raad, 406 F.3d at 1323 n.1; Jackson, 613 F.3d at 1310 n.7. But even if we were to address his claim on the merits, the record reveals that Cruickshank has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that (1) his actual conduct was any different from the relevant conduct for which he was held accountable at sentencing, or (2) he was less culpable than most other participants in his relative conduct. See De Varon, 175 F.3d at 939, 945.

As the record shows, Cruickshank played an important or essential role in his relevant conduct for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and possession with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine -- he was the crewmember in charge of the vessel's GPS system and navigation. See id. at 942-43. Moreover, the only other discernable participant involved in the venture was his co-conspirator, Carlos Acosta. See id. at 944. As for Cruickshank's argument that he was less culpable than those individuals involved in the venture, but who were not on the vessel, it is irrelevant -- the conduct of other participants in a larger criminal conspiracy has no bearing on Cruickshank's role in transporting the drugs, and the individuals who he identifies in his brief were not involved in the relevant conduct attributable to him. Id. at 944.

To the extent Cruickshank challenges certain factual findings by the district court, including that Acosta was not a mere messenger and did not obtain the crew, the court was not required to make those subsidiary factual findings. See id. at 940. Regardless, the record supports the district court's finding that Acosta did not obtain the boat crew; rather, another person, named Kevin, gathered the crew. In addition, while Cruickshank may disagree with the district court's conclusion that Acosta was a mere messenger, the district court recognized all of the relevant facts on which Cruickshank relied in concluding that Acosta was not a mere messenger. The district court also clearly resolved disputed factual issues, and concluded that, based on the totality of the circumstances, Cruickshank was the authority figure on the boat, since he provided the route, handled the vessel, spoke with the Coast Guard, and claimed nationality for the vessel. On this record, the fact that Cruickshank may not have engaged in the planning or organizing to the same extent as Acosta is not dispositive of Cruickshank's role in the offense; indeed, neither Cruickshank nor Acosta were considered minor participants. Id. at 944.

As for Cruickshank's argument that the MDLEA violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and exceeds Congress's Article I powers, we reject this argument based on the law-of-the-case doctrine. Under the law-of-the-case doctrine, district and appellate courts are generally bound to follow a prior appellate decision in the same case. Thomas v. United States, 572 F.3d 1300, 1303 (2009); see also Westbrook v. Zant, 743 F.2d 764, 768 (11th Cir. 1984) ([T]he law of the case doctrine invokes the rule that findings of fact and conclusions of law by an appellate court are generally binding in all subsequent proceedings in the same case in the trial court or on a later appeal. (quotation omitted)). In general, the law-of-the-case doctrine operates to preclude a reexamination of issues decided upon appeal, either by the district court on remand or by the appellate court itself upon a subsequent appeal. Westbrook, 743 F.2d at 768 (quotation omitted). We've recognized three exceptions to the law-of-the-case doctrine, in cases where: (1) the evidence on a subsequent trial was substantially different, (2) controlling authority has since made a contrary decision of the law applicable to the issue, or (3) the previous decision was clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice. Id. at 768-69.

We agree with the government that the law-of-the-case doctrine precludes us from considering Cruickshank's constitutional challenges to the MDLEA. In Cruickshank's first appeal to this Court, we rejected all four of the constitutional challenges he again raises here. See Cruickshank I, 837 F.3d at 1188, 1192 (rejecting his arguments, among others, that the MDLEA violated Article I of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution). Our holdings in Cruickshank I became law of the case. See Thomas, 572 F.3d at 1303. Further, Cruickshank did not put forth any different evidence on remand from our prior decision, nor was there any change in controlling authority between his two sentencing hearings, nor were our holdings in Cruickshank I clearly erroneous. Because we've already held that all of Cruickshank's constitutional challenges to the MDLEA were without merit, and he has not established that any of the exceptions to the law-of-the-case doctrine apply, his appeal on these issues are foreclosed. See Westbrook, 743 F.2d at 768. Accordingly, we affirm Cruickshank's conviction and sentence.

AFFIRMED.

PER CURIAM:HA NOI  Information and Communications Minister Truong Minh Tuan acknowledged on Thursday that social network site Facebook has co-operated with the Government of Viet Nam in dealing with defamation of the nation.

He also said he was glad to see the initial implementation of smoother, faster and more direct control mechanisms over Facebook use in Southeast Asia in general and Viet Nam in particular.

His comments were made while receiving Damian Yeo, Facebooks Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for Asia-Pacific region in Ha Noi.

Tuan stressed that Viet Nam was particularly concerned about information that slandered the Government, and asked that Facebook put in place more efficient safeguards to ensure prevention and removal of such illegal content.

He expressed regret that many harmful and illegal videos or posts already blocked or removed by Google and YouTube at the Ministrys request were still appearing on Facebook.

He asked Facebook to continue co-operating with his ministry and the Vietnamese Government to eliminate them.

He said the Government of Viet Nam was committed to expanding Facebook and other social networks for the causes of spreading goodwill and peace, and promoting development in Viet Nam.

Yeo consented to Tuans requests, and affirmed that Viet Nam was a strategic market for Facebook in Southeast Asia.

He pledged to work closely with responsible Vietnamese agencies to develop a separate communication channel in 2018, focusing on reviewing and dealing with harmful social network content on a global scale, towards fostering a healthy internet environment.

The channel would be dedicated to handling requests and feedback from the MIC on fake accounts, spam, pornography, and violent or slanderous content.

Facebooks representatives will continue meeting with Vietnamese authorities to identify causes and solutions to effectively prevent and remove defamatory content, Yeo said,

Tuan welcomed Yeos idea of a separate channel and assigned the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Authority as the main agency to co-operate with Facebook.

In 2017 alone, Facebook eliminated more than 670 of 5,000 fake accounts spreading defamatory, obscene materials and hate speech against Viet Nam, Tuan said.

"This means the remaining 4,330 Facebook accounts are yet to be dealt with, and these are still putting up malicious content and false information, violating Vietnamese law," he said.

Tuan emphasised that "since such content is clearly inciting violence and dissension to undermine national solidarity, they are a threat to security".

According to the Ministry, nearly 67 million Vietnamese people have internet access and 53 million are frequent users of Facebook and other social networks.  VNSHA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung urged the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to focus on restructuring and improving business efficiency in 2018.

Dung at PetroVietnams conference to implement 2018 tasks held on Friday appreciated the efforts of PetroVietnam to achieve higher-than-target results in 2017 despite significant impact from low oil prices in the global market.

The most difficult time of PetroVietnam is gradually over. Now, resources should be focused on restructuring the management system from the parent company to the affiliates to streamline and enhance operation and restructuring investments to prevent losses and enhance efficiency, Dung said. At the same time, PetroVietnam must hasten the application of industry 4.0 technologies to move towards sustainable development.

Dung asked PetroVietnam to effectively implement the oil and gas industry development strategy by 2025 with a vision to 2035.

He said the government would support the company in implementing major oil and gas projects.

Dung urged PetroVietnam to speed up major projects that were making slow progress, such as the expansion of Dung Quat Oil Refinery, Nghi Son Oil Refinery, Petrochemical Complex in the southern region, Block B- O Mon gas pipeline, and Vung Ang A, Thai Binh 2, Long Phu 1 and Song Hau 1 thermoelectricity plants.

Five inefficient projects must be handled thoroughly, including inh Vu polyester plant, Dung Quat shipyard and three bio-fuel plants, Dung said.

PetroVietnam general director Nguyen Vu Truong Son said the company targeted to produce 22.83 million tonnes of oil in 2018, adding the group would hasten exploration this year to increase oil reserves.

In addition to this, PetroVietnam will closely monitor the fluctuations in global oil prices for timely measures to cope with the volatility.

PetroVietnams production output reached 25.41 million tonnes in 2017, 1.6 million tonnes higher than the target.

Its 2017 revenue reached VN498 trillion (US$21.85 billion), exceeding the target by 13.8 per cent and rising by 10 per cent over 2016, while its pre-tax profit was VN31.9 trillion, 92 per cent higher than the target.

The group contributed VN97.5 trillion to the State budget last year, 30.8 per cent higher than the target.  VNSTHAI NGUYEN  The nations mechanical sector need radical reform despite its recent progress in quality and output, experts and policymakers agree.

The consensus was expressed during a scientific workshop on future development of the mechanical sector held on Thursday in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, a location famous for rich minerals and robust mining activities.

The workshop reaffirmed the mechanical sectors critical role in the countrys modernisation and industrialisation efforts, and sought to identify obstacles and weaknesses hindering its growth.

Participants also discussed appropriate policies to unleash the sectors full potential.

According to reports by the mechanical sectors business association and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in 2006-2015, total output grew 342 per cent and the sector has constantly managed to account for 31-32 per cent of the countrys GDP.

Currently, there are some 14,800 businesses in the sector, mostly small-scale. Just 12 businesses employ more than 5,000 people and 116 have more than 1,000 workers. Nearly 100 businesses have a charter capital of over VN 500 billion (US$22.05 million).

Several achievements

Experts said that in general, the sector has registered several achievements, with many businesses now capable of designing, making, and integrating fully automated assembly lines, or being able to produce road and marine vehicles, in addition to several improvements in metallurgy and metal casting.

Several industries have been established, including manufacture and assembly of steel structures, shipbuilding, manufacture and assembly of automobiles and motorcycles, manufacture of engines and agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, spare parts and household goods.

However, experts warned that mechanical plants were still operating at a Industry 2.0 level while the world is getting well into the fourth industrial revolution, making it hard for sector to create infrastructure for the countrys ambition of achieving autonomy in energy, traffic, and construction.

Furthermore, several of Viet Nams mechanical products are not competitive and face high risk of losing out in the domestic market, while the sectors exports are already floundering.

This situation is compounded by Viet Nams participation in the global market chain, leaving much room for improvement. At present, country is only entrusted with job orders by international companies.

With just three of 12 pilot projects aiming to effect significant upgrades having begun implementation, and all three still struggling, the targets of the sector being able to supply 45-50 per cent of the domestic demand and export 30 per cent of its output look very unlikely.

ao Phan Long, general secretary of the association of mechanical businesses, ask the government to review all of the branches that it has been supporting and axe underperformers. He also asked for more support, both in terms of finance, land use and technical assistance, for those investing in high technology and manufacturing competitive products that can replace imported ones.

The association also called on the Government for tax policies and technical barriers to create a fair investment and business environment between domestic and FDI enterprises.

The Ministry agreed with several of the associations proposals, adding that emphasis should be placed on buying and transferring modern technologies and production methods, and developing a credit package for the mechanical sector and supporting industries.  VNSFunding shortages and foreign language deficiencies have hindered the nations efforts to strengthen information security in the digital era, experts say. Photo vietnamnet.vn

HA NOI  Funding shortages and foreign language deficiencies have hindered the nations efforts to strengthen information security in the digital era, experts say.

At a conference held in the capital city yesterday, they reviewed progress made by Project 99, a seven-year (2014-2020) project aiming to develop human resources to ensure information security (InfoSec) in the country.

Held by the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Training and Education, the conference attracted the participation of businesses working in the InfoSec sector, universities and colleges.

The conference heard that 91 InfoSec lecturers, including 63 doctorate and 18 masters degree holders have been trained overseas in 11 countries. 100 InfoSec post-graduates, as well as 853 engineers and bachelors degree holders have graduated and found employment. In State agencies, 4,600 InfoSec staff members have attended short-term training programmes to enhance their knowledge and capacities.

Nguyen Huy Dung, deputy head of the Information Security Department, said the biggest challenge in implementing the project was a shortage of funds. In the 2014-2017 period, the project received just VN100 billion, about one-fifth of the approved budget of VN 470 billion (US$20.73 million).

Lack of foreign knowledge fluency and professional knowledge among InfoSec trainers and teachers was also a problem, making it unlikely that the project would meet its target of sending 1,500 InfoSec experts abroad for short-term training in internationally renowned institutions.

A representative of BKAV Corp said that there was high demand for InfoSec training, especially in information sensitive areas such as banking, finance and transportation. Project 99 needs to take this into account and call for private sector involvement to ensure that Infosec training is efficient and yields practical results.

Most participants from ministries, universities and businesses agreed that in the current context, in-country short-term training using international curriculum and foreign lecturers/instructors should be prioritised. Capable Vietnamese businesses should also be invited to participate, since InfoSec training is something many foreign institutions would be reluctant to transfer to another country, they said.

Deputy Minister of Information and Security, Phan Tam, has asked the projects steering committee to use the feedback and submit a revised plan to the Prime Minister. He said the report must state clearly the projects impacts to date and what it has to do in the future. VNSHCM CITY  Japanese companies in Viet Nam are seeking more personnel, especially at the managerial level, as investment from Japan has risen greatly in recent years.

Japan ranked first in total investment in Viet Nam last year among 115 countries and territories, with US$9.11 billion, accounting for 25.4 per cent of the countrys foreign investment capital, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Agency.

The website japan.vietnamworks.com has nearly 300 job openings, including assistant director, translators, front-end developers and ICT sale managers at Japanese companies operating in the country. The salaries for the positions range from US$300 to $4,000 a month.

The CareerLink website has nearly 600 job openings for Japanese companies nationwide.

A report from the Navigos Group released recently said that recruitment demand for mid- and high-level personnel for Japanese enterprises last year was mostly in the manufacturing and information technology sectors.

The Navigos Group, a leading recruitment company in Viet Nam, includes VietnamWorks, an online recruitment portal; Navigos Search, an executive search firm; and PRIMUS, a career platform for senior-level candidates.

According to Navigos Search, Japanese companies are facing competition from other foreign companies in attracting and retaining personnel.

According to statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency at the Ministry of Planning and Investment, 125 countries and territories had investment projects operating in Viet Nam as of December last year.

The report forecasts that Japanese companies in the manufacturing sector will continue to have demand for mid- and high-level personnel due to the emergence of new industrial parks and large investments from Japanese manufacturing companies in the countrys northern region in 2018.

In the countrys southern region, the recruitment demand for the IT industry and services industry is forecast to grow, according to the report.

In the retail sector, mergers and acquisitions continue to occur, especially among large corporations from Japan and Thailand that have invested in Vietnamese businesses that have well-known brands.

These deals have opened up new jobs in business development and have created new opportunities for Vietnamese employees to approach a more professional working style and management.

However, despite the opportunities, Vietnamese candidates face certain difficulties in adapting to the corporate culture and working style, according to the Navigos report.

At a forum held last December 14 by the Saigon Times Group in co-operation with ManpowerGroup Viet Nam, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue, head of the human resource division at Japanese company AEON Viet Nam Co Ltd, said that recruiting employees in the retail sector was difficult because many people do not work on weekends or holidays, especially during the Tet holiday, and many companies must compete for candidates as the sector has boomed. VNSA NANG  State Budget allocation for some infrastructure construction is among preferential policies and regulations that the Prime Minister has approved for the a Nang Hi-Tech Park in a new decision.

oan Hung Anh, deputy head of the parks management board, said that the PMs approval would smooth the way for a Nang to call on more key investors to invest in hi-tech industries that the city has planned in the Master Plan until 2030, with vision to 2050.

The decision, in general, would facilitate domestic and foreign investment inflow in the hi-tech park, he said.

Under the decision, the Government will allocate State Budget funds for projects aiming to complete technical infrastructure in the park by 2020.

The Government will also raise Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds for a Nang to develop public utilities projects at the park and to establish technology research and application centres as well as hi-tech business incubators.

a Nang will use funds from the local budget to complete investment and project proposals.

Anh said the decision, which takes effect next month, would be a magnet for global insdustrial firms and producers, offering flexible land rent, land clearance, income tax and import tax policies including land rent exemption for the first three years of operation.

He said the decision would also be a legal base for the city to build its own support and priority mechanisms and create more room for businesses to grow in a Nang.

Tax preferentials

Under the decision, investors in traffic, technical infrastructure and public works, or special investment projects will enjoy land-rent exemption for the entire duration of their investment period in the park.

Other incentives offered to investors include a 10 per cent tax rate for 15 years, a four-year tax exemption and a 50 per cent cut in income tax for the following nine years.

Investors with projects valued at more than VN3 trillion (US$133 million) will enjoy a 10 per cent tax rate for 30 years.

The decision also states that businesses will have to pay no import tax on materials and equipment that are not available in Viet Nam for the first five years of operation.

The park will also offer investors land-rent exemption for the initial construction period of infrastructure, while special listed projects will enjoy land rent exemption for 19 years.

The 1,100ha park in Hoa Vang District, 20km west of the city, is envisioned as a hub for green and hi-tech investors, and one of three major national multi-functional hi-tech park in the country after HCM City and Ha Noi.

The first phase of development, covering 300ha, has been completed. Work on the second phase, estimated to cost VN363 billion ($16 million), has begun.

The park is situated near the a Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway to connect with the Chan May Economic Zone in Thua Thien-Hue, the Chu Lai Economic Open Zone in Quang Nam and Dung Quat Economic Zone in Quang Ngai Province.

According to head of the parks management board, Phung Tan Viet, the park has attracted six projects  two Japanese and four domestic investors - worth $180 million.

The two Japanese investors  Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology Inc and Niwa Foundry, have already begun operating their plants, which have a combined investment of $62 million.

In 2015, Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology Inc inaugurated its first plant outside Japan on a 30-hectare plot in the park with a capacity of 50,000 digital directional valves per month for the Asia-Pacific region.

The same year, an investment licence was granted to the Danapha Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Companys first nano-technology and biotech project with an investment capital of VN1.5 trillion ($67 million).

In 2016, the park granted an investment certificate to the U&I Logistics Joint Stock Company for a logistics project with a total registered capital of $14 million.

Last year, local firm QCM Technology Company, which has an embedded software system development project, also decided to invest $5 million in seafood processing, agriculture and forestry production.

According to recent reports, a Nang has thus far attracted a total of 546 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth more than $3 billion. VNSHA NOI The Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) has helped improve the quality of meals for workers as it makes the issue part of the collective bargaining between employers and employees.

In February, 2016, VGCL adopted resolution 07C/NQ-BCH which says during collective bargaining, trade unions in companies or districts must ask employers to improve meals for workers, ensuring that each costs at least VN15,000 (US66 cents).

Trade unions will also sue directors of companies if workers are seriously affected by food poisoning.

The resolution is aimed to tackle poor quality meals and poor quality food and processing conditions that lead to food poisoning.

Lao ong (Labour) newspaper early this week reported that about 27,000 companies nationwide provided meals for workers, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of companies with established trade unions.

In about 19,500 companies, workers are provided meals worth at least VN15,000 each.

Last year, nearly 1,200 collective bargaining deals were made that helped increase funding for workers meals.

Nguyen Ngoc Mai, a worker at Long Bien Investment Joint Stocks Company in Ha Noi, said that the meals it provided its workers costs VN30,000 and included rice, meat, soup, fruit - and yogurt or cake for desert.

The dishes are frequently changed. The meals make me full. They are delicious, Mai said, adding that meals were part of the collective agreement between employer and employees.

Last year, Toyota Ltd Company in Nomurra Industrial Zone in Hai Phong increased funding for meals to VN20,000 from VN18,000.

The company established a group consisting of representatives from trade unions, employees and the management board to oversee food and cooking conditions on a daily basis.

According to the Trade Union Organisation in Hai Phong Economic Zone, companies are providing meals for workers at an average cost of VN22.400 per meal. Better meals are seen at companies in inh Vu Industrial Zone produced for an average of VN26.200 per meal and Cau Kien Industrial Zone VN 25.200 per meal. However, meals for workers in o Son Industrial Zone are only VN 17.400 each.

Instead of providing meals, about 10 per cent of the companies in Hai Phong give workers a meal allowance.

Le Thi Hai Au, Trade Union President of March 29 Garment Joint Stocks Company in central a Nang said that for years the company provided meals that cost at least VN15,000.

It is difficult for cheap meals to meet regulations on food safety and hygiene. Unqualified meals can cause negative impacts on both workers and company, she said, emphasising that caring about workers meals was necessary and should be given priority.

Kieu Ngoc Hoa, Trade Union President of Samsung Electronics HCMCEC Complex, said the company collected workers opinions on meals and had established a Work Safety Board to examine the origin and quality of food provided for workers. Another board examined kitchens and food processing.

The allowance for workers meals at the company is increased every two years, Hoa said.

This year, each meal cost VN 28,000, Hoa said, adding that good meals not only made workers healthy, but helped them work effectively and happily so they wanted to stay at the company.  VNSHA NOI  A jury in Viet Nam yesterday granted awards to five outstanding female scientists for their research in the field of materials science and life science last year.

The five scientists were associate professor Nguyen Thi Hoai, head of the Pharmacy Faculty at the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy; PhD Tran Thi Ngoc Dung, head of the Environmental Technology Division at the Institute of Environmental Technology; PhD Tran Phuong Thao, lecturer in the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Faculty at the Ha Noi University of Pharmacy, PhD Hoang Thi ong Quy, lecturer of the Science and Materials Science Faculty at the HCM City University of Natural Sciences and PhD Nguyen Thi Le Thu, lecturer in Materials Science at HCM City University of Science and Technology.

Hoai and Dung, recognised as the two outstanding scientists of the year, received awards of VN50 million (US$2,200) each. The award is given annually to Vietnamese female research scientists who have made long-term contribution to the countrys science.

Thao, Quy and Thu were recognised as young potential scientists, and received scholarships of VN150 million ($6,600) each to continue their work to create benefit for the community.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Valery Gaucherand, general director of LOreal Viet Nam, said that the discoveries by the five outstanding Vietnamese women scientists were changing the world and the Vietnamese community.

Their discoveries are offering new solutions and answering vital questions. Their ground breaking innovation is advancing entire fields of research and even opening new ones, he said. They are proving time and time again that women in science have the power to change the world, he said.

Professor Chau Van Minh, president of the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology and president of the LOreal - UNESCO Women in Science jury, said he believed that the scientists would inspire more young women to follow their path.

Female scientists typically work more strenuously than male ones, especially in the context of scarce funds and equipment in Viet Nam, said Associate professor Nguyen Thi Hoai, one of the five outstanding scientists.

I want to recommend that young scientists target career-defining achievements. Research will bring you success, and success will bring you more and more passion, said Hoai.

The LOreal-UNESCO For Women in Science initiative began 19 years ago to support and recognise accomplished women researchers, to encourage more young women to enter the profession and to assist them once their careers are in progress. The programme has been held for Vietnamese women since 2009. VNSUnited States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. EDWARD WILBERT HARRIS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE OF FLORIDA, Respondents-Appellees. No. 16-13276 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before TJOFLAT, WILSON, and FAY, Circuit Judges.

Edward Harris, a Florida prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C.  2254, which challenged his conviction for one count of escape under Fla. Stat.  944.40. On appeal, he argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to discuss the law regarding confinement status and how it applied to the facts of his case prior to his entry of a guilty plea. He argues that, because he was on work release at the time of his conviction, he was not considered confined under Florida law, and, therefore, he could not have been guilty of escape. The State of Florida argues that Harris failed to exhaust this claim in state court.

We may affirm the denial of a habeas petition on any ground supported by the record. Trotter v. Sec'y, Dep't of Corr., 535 F.3d 1286, 1291 (11th Cir. 2008). We review de novo whether a petitioner exhausted his claims in state court. Fox v. Kelso, 911 F.2d 563, 568 (11th Cir. 1990).

Before bringing a habeas action in federal court, a petitioner must exhaust all state court remedies that are available for challenging his conviction, either on direct appeal or in a state post-conviction motion. 28 U.S.C.  2254(b), (c). To satisfy the exhaustion requirement, a petitioner must fairly present federal claims to the state courts to give those courts an opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights. Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 364, 365, 115 S. Ct. 887, 888 (1995) (internal quotation mark omitted). Specifically, a habeas petitioner must have presented his claims to the state court such that a reasonable reader would understand each claim's particular legal basis and specific factual foundation. McNair v. Campbell, 416 F.3d 1291, 1302 (11th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation mark omitted). As such, a petitioner must do more than scatter some makeshift needles in the haystack of the state court record. Id. at 1303.

A party does not fairly present a claim if he presents the claim in state court for the first time in a procedural context in which the merits will not ordinarily be considered. See Castille v. Peoples, 489 U.S. 346, 351, 109 S. Ct. 1056, 1060 (1989). Further, the state court must have had an opportunity to apply controlling legal principles to the facts bearing upon [petitioner's] constitutional claim. Kelley v. Sec'y, Dep't of Corr., 377 F.3d 1317, 1344 (11th Cir. 2004).

A party cannot raise a new claim for the first time in an appeal from a post-conviction motion in a Florida appellate court. Mendoza v. State, 87 So. 3d 644, 660 (Fla. 2011) (per curiam). An argument is cognizable on appeal in Florida only when the contention before the appeals court is the same specific contention asserted as legal ground for the objection, exception, or motion in the trial court. Hutchinson v. State, 17 So. 3d 696, 703 n.5 (Fla. 2009) (per curiam); Steinhorst v. State, 412 So. 2d 332, 338 (Fla. 1982) (per curiam).

Here, Harris's ineffective assistance of counsel claim before the Florida trial court consisted of two alleged errors by his counsel: A failure to advise[ ] the Defendant on the law regarding his defense [seemingly referring to coercion] and the State's burden of overcoming that defense at trial, and a failure to advise[ the Defendant] of his right to file a motion for judgment of acquittal. Before this court, however, Harris now argues only one point: his attorney never informed him that Florida work release status does not count as confinement under the escape statute. He did not make this argument to the Florida trial court; he first mentioned such a theory in his optional brief to the Florida appellate court.

Thus, as it was raised for the first time on appeal, Harris's confinement argument was not cognizable in Florida courts. Because Harris deprived the Florida courts from being able to apply the law to the facts of his claim, and because he raised the argument for the first and only time in a procedural context in which the merits are not normally considered, Harris did not fairly present his claim to the Florida courts. Therefore, Harris has not satisfied the exhaustion requirement.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. Additionally, Harris has procedurally defaulted on his claim. See Bailey v. Nagle, 172 F.3d 1299, 1303 (11th Cir. 1999) (per curiam) (noting that a party procedurally defaults on a claim when a party presents an unexhausted claim, and it is obvious that the unexhausted claim would now be procedurally barred due to a state-law procedural default). Motions for post-judgment relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 must be filed within two years of when the criminal judgment and sentence become final, subject to three exceptions, none of which apply here. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(b). The judgment and sentence here became final in 2009. Because Harris failed to exhaust the claim he presents on appeal, and the limitations period on Rule 3.850 motions has passed, the claim is now procedurally barred.

PER CURIAM:United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ROBERT BOONE, a/k/a Big Rob, a/k/a Unc, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-4078 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before TRAXLER, KEENAN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Lynne Louise Reid, L. L. REID LAW, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Appellant. Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Robert Boone appeals his convictions and 360-month sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(i), 846, 851 (2012); and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  1956(a)(1), (h) (2012). Boone's counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there are no meritorious issues for appeal but questioning whether Boone's sentence was substantively reasonable. Boone has filed a supplemental Anders brief arguing that his plea was involuntary, that the district court erred by increasing his mandatory minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C.  851, that his career offender designation was improper, and that the district court miscalculated his criminal history. We affirm.

Boone did not attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the district court, and thus we review the adequacy of the Rule 11 hearing for plain error. United States v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 517, 527 (4th Cir. 2002). To establish plain error, an appellant must demonstrate that an error (1) was made, (2) is plain (i.e., clear or obvious), and (3) affects substantial rights. Even if an appellant satisfies these elements, we may exercise our discretion to correct the error only if it seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings. United States v. Strieper, 666 F.3d 288, 295 (4th Cir. 2012) (citation, alteration, and internal quotation marks omitted). Because we detect no error, let alone plain error, in the district court's Rule 11 plea colloquy, we affirm Boone's convictions.

We turn next to Boone's sentence, which we review for both procedural and substantive reasonableness under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007). We must ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as improperly calculating the Sentencing Guidelines range. Id. at 51. Because Boone did not challenge the district court's calculation of his advisory Guidelines range at sentencing, we review his claims of procedural reasonableness only for plain error. See United States v. Lynn, 592 F.3d 572, 577 (4th Cir. 2010).

We consider a sentence's substantive reasonableness under the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance from the Guidelines range. Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. We presume that a sentence within a properly calculated Guidelines range is substantively reasonable. United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014). A defendant can rebut this presumption only by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against the 18 U.S.C.  3553(a) (2012) factors. Id.

After reviewing the presentence report and sentencing transcript, we conclude that Boone's sentence is both procedurally and substantively reasonable. The district court properly calculated the advisory Guidelines range, discussed the applicable  3553(a) factors, and sufficiently explained its reasons for imposing the sentence Boone received. In addition, Boone has not made the showing necessary to rebut the presumption of reasonableness accorded his within-Guidelines sentence.

In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment. This court requires that counsel inform Boone, in writing, of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Boone requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel's motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Boone.

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

PER CURIAM:MSU Students Celebrate MLK Jr. Day of Service

By WestKyStar & MSU Staff

MURRAY, KY - In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Murray State is hosting several events Janurary 1415, including the annual MLK Jr. Day of Service, with the overarching theme of Living the Dream: Embracing Inclusive Excellence.This event exemplifies one of the key components of our Community Pledge and that is, creating an atmosphere of positive engagement, said SG Carthell, senior director of diversity initiatives at Murray State. My hope is that we will see an outpouring of support for Dr. Kings legacy and his principles of service to our communities.A candlelight march and vigil will take place Sunday, Jan. 14. All who wish to attend are encouraged to line up for the march at 5:30 pm outside Pogue Library. The march will begin at 5:45 pm with those in attendance making their way to Elizabeth College and the MLK Jr. monument at that time. The evening will also include reflections and a reading of Luthers I Have a Dream speech.Then, on January 15, the MLK Jr. Day of Service Community Project will begin with an item collection for the campus/community-wide Bring Back Initiative. Students are encouraged to consider bringing back items for donation upon returning from winter break. All donated items will support local service agencies.Collection for the Bring Back Initiative takes place from 8 to 10:15 am in the Curris Centers Banquet Room 1. Items collected from the community project will then be sorted from 10:15 am to noon before being delivered to local nonprofit organizations.In addition to the community project, the Community Breakfast & Keynote will begin at 8:30 am in the banquet room. Those wishing to attend are encouraged to RSVP using the university calendar or via email by January 11. The breakfast will feature a keynote presentation from Rev. Donna Hawkins, 77, 79, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Paducah and graduate of Murray State.For more information about events and activities during the 2018 MLK Jr. Day of Service or to RSVP for the Community Breakfast & Keynote, please contact the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 270-809-6836 or msu.oma@murraystate.edu.Marks, LaToya Ometress

LaToya Ometress Marks, age 44, of Paducah, formerly of Cairo, IL, passed away Sunday, January 7, 2018, 8:30 a.m., at her residence.

She was a member of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church. She was a graduate of Meridian High School, attended Shawnee Community College, and worked as a caregiver.

She is survived by two brothers, Michael Marks of Peoria, Il and Tyran Marks of Cario, IL; three sisters, Frances Lee of Cairo, IL, Phyllis Nichols of Peoria, Il and Stacey Marks of Paducah; several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James Coolidge Marks and Lorean Younger Marks, two brothers and two sisters.

Funeral services are scheduled for Monday, January 15, 2018, 12 Noon at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church with Reverend Anthony Daniels officiating. Burial will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Friends may also call on the family at the church on Monday from 10:00 a.m., until the funeral hour.

Condolences may be left on line at pettusrowlandfh.com.

Pettus-Rowland Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.Hisense A2:

I ended up with a crippled brand new smart phone, asking me to make her healthy again. It was working but had a ROM installed that was full of bugs. Things worked, but nothing worked great and belied the fact that the phone has great hardware specs. In fact the phone is solid hardware wise but software wise it sucks

The e-ink screen was very dark, very ghostly aftereffects and slow. Several internal settings, such as app managemnt did not work. That I am sure was on purpose to stop people from deleting their added crap apps

Then I discovered something after extensive search on Chinese sites for the Hisense A2. The ROM on the phone (I was working on,) was not the ROM that came from the factory and was not any of the updates from Hisense.this means that we had a after market trashy supplier install their ROM and or Firmware to be more specific and they did a slappy crappy job of it.I am sure it was to install their apks and damn to the customer

Therefore, I did my homework:

Hisense Forum site below link

http://fans.hisense.com/search.php?mod=forum&searchid=43&orderby=lastpost&ascdesc=desc&searchsubmit=yes&kw=A2

Best Rom to reset device with below link

http://fans.hisense.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=123020&highlight=A2%2BL1261

There are bunches of links, but the two I give above ended up leading me to the information necessary to re-flash the Hisense A2 with a ROM that will allow updates to come from the main headquarters. The phone has updated 3 times since installing the ROM and it has become better and better each update.I watched carefully, for if it messed up the phone, I would have rolled back to the last good update

By the way! I do not give a rats ass if you flash your phone. I am giving you the basics to salvage what is a good phone. As with everything in the world, you are responsible for your actions, if you are not able to tie your shoes and chew gum at the same time.then maybe flashing a ROM is not for you?

This phone is a book reader and has a true e-ink screen on the back. It also has a Amoled front screen and it will become my book reader to read nightly to my sweetie pie. She loves me to read to her and since she stole my other book reader for her personal use  , as she travels the Metro in Moscow. I needed to find something else to read from, for my eye protection

Specs:

Device type: Smartphone Design: Classic Released: 2017 r. DualSIM: SIM card size: Micro Sim / Nano Sim GSM: 850 900 1800 1900 HSDPA: 900 2100 HSPA+ LTE: 800 1800 2100 2600 Other: CDMA 800 EvDO Dimensions (H/L/W): 157 x 76.8 x 8.4 mm, vol. 101.3 cm Display: OLED Color (16M) 1080x1920px (5.5) 401ppi Second display: LCD 540x960px (5.17) Touch screen: Weight: 188 g Battery: Li-Ion 3090 mAh Non-removable battery: Built-in memory: 64 GB Memory card: MicroSD RAM Memory: 4 GB OS: Android 6.0 Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 CPU #1 Type: ARM Cortex A53 CPU #1 freq.: 1400.0 MHz (4-core) CPU #2 Type: ARM Cortex A53 CPU #2 freq.: 1100.0 MHz (4-core) GPU Type: Qualcomm Adreno 505

ROM basics and flashing:

Software Name: A2-T card upgrade ROM

Software version: L1261.6.06.06.00

Release time: 2017.05.22 release)(updates will install up through january 2018)

Version Description:

1. Add WeChat read chat function

2. Optimize the weather cover display logic

3 remote control to optimize the matching strategy to speed up the matching speed.

4. Optimize a key cleaning function, can release more memory.

5. Reduce some applications such as Launcher memory footprint

6. Change the pocket mode policy to add a vibration rule

7. increase the front screen wallpaper

8. Optimize front screen TP firmware

9. Optimize Launcher reaction speed

10. Optimized mute volume setting bar display

11. By default, the Show application icon when notification function is disabled

12. Front and rear screen unified input method configuration

13. Optimize ink screen settings menu

14. Optimize the screen back light adjustment mechanism

15. Add call cover function.

Upgrade method: Use T card to upgrade

T card upgrade method: (Other words SD Card)

1. The upgrade will clear all non-factory preset user information in the phone, please save the important data in advance.

2. Make sure the battery is charged enough. It is recommended that you have at least 50% battery capacity to prevent power failure during the upgrade process, which will cause the upgrade to fail.

3. Prepare a TF card, TF card first formatted into FAT format;

4. Download the product software version (usually compressed package, and divided into multiple compressed sub-packets) compressed package decompression, the resulting file named A2.bin copied to the TF card root directory;

5. The TF card into the phone, the battery into the phone. Confirm the battery power is greater than 50%, if the battery is low, please charge;

6. At the same time hold down the volume + and volume - two side keys hold, and then press the power button, the phone will automatically enter the T card upgrade mode to upgrade, if the phone did not enter the T card upgrade mode, shut down After repeating this operation.

7. Wait for about 5 minutes to complete the upgrade, will prompt upgrade success.

8. According to the prompt after the upgrade is successful restart, if you do not have this prompt, then press the power button for more than 20 seconds reboot, upgrade the boot time required for a long time is several times the normal boot time, please be patient. Extract ROM password: 55933 once downloaded from link above.it is a RAR file

I am posting this information to give the buyers of this phone recently a fighting chance at have a great phone. It will still take some studying on your part. My suggestion is to look at any and all links you can find about the Hisense A2 and study

I saw a ton of comments from people on European sites, complaining about the phones and the software. This is what happens when a phone has been discontinued and someone grabs the leftovers to alter and sell for their benefit, out of the country that it was designed for. Hisense has now released the Hisense A2 Pro and it is a better phone yet, just make sure you get it from a reputable source.as with everything in this world

I found my book reader and then found that I had a fantastic smart phone underneath that book reader.and since it was discontinued, it was dirt cheap

WtRUnited States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. JOHN R. ZSIGRAY, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. COUNTY COMMISSION OF LEWIS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA; LEWIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; JAMES H. MCATEE, Defendants - Appellees. No. 17-1292 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and AGEE and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. William B. Summers, SUMMERS & ASSOCIATES, Parkersburg, West Virginia, for Appellant. Sylvester A. Hill, Jr., CIPRIANI & WERNER, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.

John R. Zsigray appeals the district court's order dismissing his 42 U.S.C.  1983 (2012) action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). We affirm.

Zsigray alleged in his complaint that, as he was leaving a courthouse in Lewis County, West Virginia, Defendant McAtee, a security officer, grabbed him and shoved him against a wall. Zsigray asserted that McAtee's actions were unjustified and violated both his federal constitutional rights and state law. Notably, Zsigray stated several times in his complaint that a video recording of the incident supported his version of the facts.

The district court granted the Defendants' motion to dismiss. The court reviewed the video and described it in considerable detail in its order. The court observed that, contrary to the allegations in the complaint, Zsigray and McAtee had no semblance of a physical altercation. The court's conclusion that McAtee failed to state a claim for relief was based primarily on its review of the video.

Zsigray contends on appeal that the district court erred by considering the video when it ruled on the motion to dismiss. However, in reviewing a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, we are not confined to the four corners of the complaint. United States ex rel. Oberg v. Pennsylvania Higher Educ. Assistance Agency, 745 F.3d 131, 136 (4th Cir. 2014). We may also consider [materials] incorporated into the complaint by reference  so long as they are integral to the complaint and authentic. Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We review de novo a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). Woods v. City of Greensboro, 855 F.3d 639, 646 (4th Cir. 2017).

We hold that the district court's consideration of the video was permissible. The video, to which Zsigray referred several times to authenticate his version of events, was integral to the complaint. Further, the authenticity of the video was not in question.

We therefore affirm. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before us and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

PER CURIAM:Russia's floating power plant meets construction standards

11 January 2018

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Russian State Expert Examination Board (Glavgosexpertiza) has announced that the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov meets construction standards. The authority said on 9 December it had approved the project in Russia's northernmost city of Pevek that is being funded by Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power plant operator subsidiary of Rosatom.

The Akademik Lomonosov (Image: Rosenergoatom)

Currently moored at the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Akademik Lomonosov houses two 35 MW KLT-40S nuclear reactors, similar to those used in Russia's nuclear-powered ice breakers.

"Having examined the materials submitted, Glavgosexpertiza has reached the conclusion that the design documentation and the results of engineering surveys on the facility comply with technical regulations and other established requirements," Glavgosexpertiza and Rosenergoatom said in identical statements. "The project's design documentation concurs with previously conducted engineering surveys," they added. Glavgosexpertiza has also "determined that the estimated cost of the project is sound", they said.

Russia's "unified energy system" covers about 15% of its territory and the use of nuclear energy is the "most optimal way" to provide heat and energy to remote areas, which occupy about half of the territory of the Russian Federation, they said.

The keel of Academik Lomonosov was laid in April 2007 at Sevmash in Severodvinsk, but in August 2008 Rosatom cancelled the contract - apparently due to the military workload at Sevmash - and transferred it to the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, which has experience in building nuclear icebreakers. New keel-laying took place in May 2009 and the 21,500 tonne hull - 144 metres long, 30 m wide - was launched at the end of June 2010. The two 35 MWe KLT-40S reactors were installed in October 2013.

Ships carrying cargo to support Akademik Lomonosov arrived at the port of Pevek, in the Chukotka district of Russia, in October last year. The plant is to be towed to Murmansk in May, be loaded with fuel in October and commissioned in November next year.

The plant is intended to replace the outgoing capacity of the Bilibino nuclear power plant in the Chukotka district. The first Bilibino unit is scheduled to be shut down in 2019 and the whole plant will be shut down in 2021.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topicsUnited States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ANTHONY MARTELL SANDERS, Defendant-Appellant. No. 17-1354 Decided: January 12, 2018

Before: COLE, Chief Judge; SILER and COOK, Circuit Judges.

Anthony Martell Sanders, a convicted felon, sold heroin to a confidential source on two occasions in August 2016. Each time, federal agents witnessed Sanders sell the drugs from his vehicle which he then parked in front of a Grand Rapids residence where he stayed several nights each week. Id. Agents executed a search warrant for Sanders's vehicle and the residence. In the glove compartment and center console of the vehicle, agents recovered a loaded 9mm pistol along with 9mm ammunition, a key to the residence, and two bags containing marijuana. In the residence, they discovered another 9mm handgun, several rounds of ammunition, heroin, and digital scales. Agents found the handgun in the back bedroom where Sanders slept, and they located the drugs in the kitchen. Sanders admitted to owning the weapons for protection but denied any involvement with the narcotics.

Sanders was indicted on two counts: (1) felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 USC  922(g)(1), and (2) possession of heroin with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1) and pled guilty to the first count. In exchange, the United States dismissed the heroin charge. Id. The district court sentenced him to a term of 60 months' imprisonment, which was below his Guidelines range of 70-87 months. Sanders now appeals this sentence, claiming that the district court improperly applied a four-level enhancement and based his Guidelines range on the wrong offense level. We reject these arguments and affirm Sanders's sentence.

In determining the Guidelines range, the district court increased the offense level by four because Sanders possessed the firearms in connection with the heroinanother felony offense. See USSG  2K2.1(b)(6)(B). Sanders argues that the district court erred in finding a substantial nexus between his firearms and the heroin. He denies any connection to the heroin discovered at the residence and claims that the government failed to meet its burden of proof that his firearms facilitated or had the potential of facilitating the alleged heroin trafficking. Sanders contends that mere proximity is not enough, and that he shared the residence with a roommate whose testimony was unreliable because she had a motive to lie. Lastly, Sanders argues that no heroin was found in his car and that the drugs in the house were of a small quantity consistent with personal use rather than distribution. Id. The district court found otherwise, and we review that finding for clear error. See United States v. Taylor, 648 F.3d 417, 431-32 (6th Cir. 2011).

Federal agents twice observed Sanders sell heroin from his vehicle. They recovered heroin at Sanders's residence, and they found handguns both in his vehicle and in the residence. Although he denied selling heroin, Sanders admitted to owning both firearms prior to the dates when the drug sales were observed. [A] sufficient connection is established if it reasonably appears that the firearms found on the premises controlled or owned by a defendant and in his actual or constructive possession are to be used to protect the drugs or otherwise facilitate a drug transaction. United States v. Ennenga, 263 F.3d 499, 503 (6th Cir. 2001). To convict Sanders on the heroin charge, the government would have needed to prove drug distribution beyond a reasonable doubt. By contrast, at sentencing, a district court only needs a preponderance of the evidence. It makes no difference what crime [a] defendant was initially charged with, or whether he was convicted of that crime. United States v. Suggs, 423 F. App'x 502, 505 (6th Cir. 2011) (citing USSG  2K2.1 n.14(C)). As we have held, the  2K2.1(b)(6)(B) enhancement applies whenever a firearm is found in close proximity to drugs, drug-manufacturing materials, or drug paraphernalia  such an expansive interpretation [ ] does not require that the gun be used by a dealer to sell drugs. United States v. Sweet, 776 F.3d 447, 450 (6th Cir. 2015). Therefore, the district court properly applied the four-level enhancement under USSG  2K2.1(b)(6)(B).

Sanders also argues that the district court miscalculated his base offense level when it classified his 2011 Michigan assault conviction as a crime of violence. Sanders was previously convicted of violating Mich. Comp. Laws  750.84, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. At sentencing in this case, the district court held that M.C.L.  750.84 was a crime of violence. And, under USSG  2K2.1(a)(3), the base offense level is 22 for a defendant who unlawfully possesses a semiautomatic firearm capable of accepting a large capacity magazineas Sanders didsubsequent to sustaining one felony conviction of  a crime of violence. Since the time of sentencing in this case, we have expressly held that M.C.L  750.84 qualifies categorically as a crime of violence for sentencing purposes. See Raybon v. United States, 867 F.3d 625 (6th Cir. 2017). Accordingly, the district court properly calculated Sanders's base offense level when it applied USSG  2K2.1(a)(3) in light of his 2011 Michigan conviction for assault.

AFFIRMED.

SILER, Circuit Judge.Michael Luongo in The New York Times:

DEARBORN, Mich.  Nabil Mousas first solo art exhibition was a joyous occasion, but it still brought tears to his eyes when he introduced his husband to the audience. Mr. Mousa was born in Syria and immigrated to the United States with his conservative Christian parents. In 2000, when he came out, they soon cut off contact and disowned him. Now, he was melding his two identities  gay and Arab  in a show of paintings here. And what was more surprising was where his work was being displayed: the Arab American National Museum, which was focusing for the first time on a gay artists exploration of discrimination. Mr. Mousa, 51, is among a small but growing number of L.G.B.T. artists of Arab descent incorporating their sexual identity into their work. In doing so, they confront their own apprehensions, along with censorship and surveillance in the Arab world, and what educators and curators say is a reluctance by some institutions in the United States to exhibit their work on its artistic rather than political merit.

In American Landscape: An Exploration of Art & Humanity, on view through April 8, Mr. Mousas gay identity is clearly recognizable in a large work that replaces an American flags field of stars with the Human Rights Campaigns bold = symbol. A montage about ending religious bigotry is embedded in another piece. Mr. Mousa said he manipulated the American flag to address the hypocrisy in our constitution, where they talk about every man is created under God, equal to others. But when you really look at it, people like me who are gay or people of color, we are substandard. Arab details seem more clandestine: Richly decorated arabesques peek though thick, muddy brown paint that veils their underlying beauty. A single color  orange  pervades the work as a visual metaphor for the fear experienced by Arab-Americans in a post-Sept. 11 world, used in the coded terror warning system introduced by the George W. Bush administration.

More here.Leah Shaya in London Magazine:

Sue Hubbards Rainsongs has a unique and beautiful emotive quality that shines through its delicately constructed prose in a love-letter to Ireland, memory and parenthood, taking advantage of its mature narrator to speak with resonance and depth. In a contemporary world of instant connections, Rainsongs returns to an age just prior to the boom of social media  2007  in an exploration of what it means to be truly alone.

Rainsongs is a book filled with characters who are alone, by circumstance and by choice. Martha Cassidy has lost her husband and only son; twice-divorced Eugene Riordan and farm devotee Paddy OConnell eschew relationships, finding they are happier living on their own. Accounts of community, large families, childhood friendships, are all recalled, dreamlike, from a distant past. Permanent loneliness haunts the narrative as a threat, but it is from solitude that the most beautifully haunting and thoughtful reflections in the book arise. Whenever Hubbards varyingly anthropophobic characters do enter a social setting, such as Eugenes New Years Eve party, Brendans funeral, or the various local pubs, bars and restaurants, other people in the crowd are sketched accurately but unflatteringly, reduced to their worst.

However, as the supplies in Marthas cupboard dwindle at the beginning of each chapter, the unsustainability of hermitage becomes clear.

More here. And here is a video of Sue Hubbard speaking about her book:Richard Seymour in Jacobin:

Churchill was the progeny of high aristocracy, the son of Chancellor Lord Randolph Churchill, a boy who would have been destined for high office whatever he did. It is important to note that the young Churchill was not an outright reactionary. A member of the Conservative Party, he considered himself Liberal in all but name, his attitudes  secular, pro-free trade, pro-democracy, and in favor of some mild ameliorations for the working class  reflecting the ideologies of a Whiggish Liberalism that was even then in decline. (The single exception to this affiliation was that he rejected the idea of Irish Home Rule.)

But to be a Liberal at this time was in no way incommensurate with imperialism, racism, antisemitism, support for eugenics, and patriarchal disdain for Suffragism. As Candice Millard suggests in Hero of the Empire, her history of Churchills derring-do in the Boer War, he was a politician raised in, and formed by, the British Empire. Churchill reached adulthood with an advanced sense of his own potential greatness, as someone who prized his reputation for courage in the face of death. The British Empire had offered millions of people willing to travel halfway across the world to rule over people they knew next to nothing about the chance for that kind of adventure. Across an empire enfolding 450 million in its death grip, revolts and struggles were appearing in southern Africa, Egypt, and Ireland. Millard writes:

To Churchill, such far-flung conflicts offered an irresistible opportunity for personal glory and advancement. When he entered the British army and finally became a soldier, with the real possibility of dying in combat, Churchills enthusiasm for war did not waver. On the contrary, he had written to his mother that he looked forward to battle not so much in spite of as because of the risks I run.

Churchill succeeded in proving himself a man by those imperial standards, fighting in India and Sudan, helping the Spanish suppress Cubas freedom fighters, and, after a brief South African parliamentary career, fighting in the Second Boer War. This experience primed Churchill to seek similar solutions to domestic trouble. When he joined the 1906 Liberal administration, he advocated aggressively authoritarian measures to curb social disobedience. Churchills promotion to home secretary four years later came at a time of still-rising political turmoil in the United Kingdom: Irish struggles for Home Rule, Suffragism, strike waves. Churchill opposed them all violently.

More here.Chico, Calif. -- A Durham student's recent brain tumor diagnosis brings together his local community Friday night.

17-year-old Brandon Gasper was recently diagnosed with stage one pilocytic astrocytoma.



He was getting tested last summer for growth hormones when some of the tests revealed Brandon had a brain tumor.

"It sits on his optic chiasm which is the nerve that controls your eyes. It also displaces his pitutary gland," said Kendra Moss, Brandon's mother.

Without assistance, Brandon would have a hard time growing and wouldn't start puberty.

"When I was reading the report to read there was a mass, I was in shock, disbelief," said Moss.

From there, Brandon underwent brain surgery, but his tumor was unable to be removed because of the fragile position it is in.

"We started seeing pediatric neuro-oncology, they had a tumor board and they had a plan for him to start chemotherapy," said Moss.

Brandon's family takes him to UCSF for treatment.

"We have a lot of co-pays right now, TRICARE, military insurance for him," said Moss.

But despite this difficult diagnosis, Brandon's family and friends choose to focus on the positive by hosting "Hawaii Strong." The lasagna-feed benefit at Tackle Box Deli in Chico helped raise money for Brandon's treatment.

Brandon grew up in Hawaii while his parents were stationed at the United States Marine Corps Base.

"Everywhere he goes he always has a smile on his face, he's always cracking jokes," said Hunter Polk, a friend of Brandon's.

"It's huge to have that backbone not just from Durham, but from Chico to support Brandon through these tough times," said Shane Scott, a friend of Brandon's.

Brandon is a member of the Durham High Future Farmers of America, also known as the FFA chapter.

"What he found in it was comradery, a brotherhood. All of his friends became his siblings and rallied behind him in his hardest time," said Emmalea Wilkinson, Brandon's FAA advisor.

FAA inspires young people to get into the agricultural lifestyle and teaches them about good values.

"It makes rough days a lot easier. Knowing I have the community behind me is really cool," said Brandon.

If you would like to help out Brandon's treatment expenses, you can do so by clicking here.

DALLAS (AP) - The father of a 3-year-old girl whose body was found near their suburban Dallas home less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage has been indicted on a capital murder charge.

Dallas County court records show 37-year-old Wesley Mathews also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence. He is already charged with felony injury to a child.

Police say Mathews told investigators that Sherin Mathews choked on her milk.

Mathews is being held at the Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond. His wife, 35-year-old Sini Mathews, is being held on a charge of abandoning a child.

An attorney for Wesley Mathews did not immediately return a call for comment.When you enter any hospital for an emergency or surgery, you sign a bunch of forms prior to them treating you or a loved one. One of the things you consent to is to be treated with biologics, which is a code word for a wide range of products including vaccines. So if your regular physician has in the chart a standing order (even if you dont know they wrote it) you could be given a vaccine against your will or knowledge. Informed patients may write No vaccines on any admittance form, but what happens if there are contradictory standing orders from your physician? Who would be accountable if they vaccinate an unconscious patient who had objected in writing? Truthfully, probably no one.

By routinize, Tan clarified that it meant the practitioner, or someone on staff, can have a conversation about the need for boosters or other adult vaccines. However, the caveat in the details is that it means your personal physician can write in your medical charts a standing order, which can then be done against your knowledge or will in any hospital setting.

According to Dr. L.J. Tan from IAC, Our challenge is adult immunization rates are very poor. Standing Orders allow a practice to routinize administration of vaccines, Tan said.

Demonstrators explained the problem is that Standing Orders is a form of collusion and corruption to push pharmaceutical interests, spreading it out across the country via the kind of workshops held in Boston. In other words, they are going straight to health departments and doctor practices to show them how to increase adult immunizations rates via on file Standing Orders to vaccinate according to the CDC adult schedule (flu, shingles, boosters). The move essentially shuts down public knowledge and discourse on the subject by going around state legislators or open forums for discussion.

If IAC sounds familiar it is because they are the group that boasted how they used their listserv to get Vaxxed banned from Tribeca Film Festival.

At a recent event held in Boston, a small group of demonstrators stood outside the Westin Copley hotel where the Take A Stand: Use Standing Orders to Improve Adult Immunization Rates workshop was taking place. The workshop is described as a unique national program being conducted for a limited time by the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), supported by a sponsorship from Pfizer.

State and local health departments, along with large medical practices, are poised to increase adult immunization rates by implementing policies and procedures that support a program known as Standing Orders.

Note: On Thursday, Mary Romaniec moderated a panel for Vaccine Choice Massachusetts featuring Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the movie The Pathological Optimist . One of the topics covered during the Q&A was standing orders. We're running Mary's article again to revisit this important topic. By Mary Romaniec

I first heard about this program when Boston area nurses notified me their offices received a flyer via fax for the four-hour workshop. They were the demonstrators at the hotel, one of whom recognized her office colleagues as they headed into the event. According to them, there is very real potential harm from Standing Orders as they have witnessed or knew about patients who were vaccinated while unconscious.

I text messaged a state representative to ask if he knew the event was going on just across town, and he messaged back he knew nothing about it nor was there anything on the docket that covered adult immunization rates. Now perhaps the reason why state legislators are not involved in any discussion on the Standing Orders program is because it falls under the umbrella and in the jurisdiction of Public Health solely. Clearly they are not currently involved with the CDC vaccine schedule for infants except to regulate how personal beliefs, medical and religious waivers are determined as a school requirement.

But look what happened in West Virginia when state lawmakers had no say when the State Health Department moved to mandate vaccines for school admittance. Legislators were not involved, and therefore neither was public discourse. On the extreme end for discourse was Californias foray into vaccine mandates via SB277 and the huge public outcry which exposed pharmaceutical nepotism at the highest levels.

Is it just the adults that are the target?

There is not a shred of doubt other states are looking at the debacle that happened in California as an example of what they want to avoid, taking cue from the seamless nature of the process by going through the State health departments. To be clear, even though Standing Orders is geared to increasing adult immunization rates, nothing within it defines how children will be excluded from a similar program. HPV and flu shots could easily become a standing order from a pediatrician for a minor. With health records now electronic, the ramifications of a standing order program have yet to be fully understood or realized.

In a private conversation with a Public Health Pediatrician, he lamented what former Texas Governor Rick Perry did when he mandated HPV for school aged children. As the pediatrician explained, the move spotlighted HPV nationally for greater scrutiny, which then led to public outcry and pushback. Perry reneged on the mandate after the outcry, but the damage to Public Health was done, according to the pediatrician. Instead he would have preferred a more nuanced approach, to keep it as a conversation between health professionals and their patients, so that the public would not be squeamish about HPV: enter Standing Orders to routinize the conversation.

Avoiding public discussion

The concept of health departments mandating health policy is nothing new. What is new is how the vaccine schedule is increasing along with public awareness of potential harm from any and all of them.

At another Massachusetts health event sponsored by area hospitals, a crowd of 300 or so medical professionals and community leaders gathered to hear how a comprehensive health initiative was improving the quality of health in the county. Conspicuously missing from the 73 page handout and hour long presentation was any mention of increasing immunization rates. In its place were the words access to fresh produce.

It was confusing to witness the push for increasing vaccine rates potentially coming from State Health Departments (albeit not publicly), in contrast to how the local communities have identified nutrition as a better answer. Then again, it could be that a public forum with the word immunizations would stigmatize the whole program, which brings it back to what the pediatrician pointed out. The more the public knows about and discusses how vaccine politics encroach in our lives, the greater the pushback.

So then from their perspective it may be better to avoid publicly talking about immunization rates, and instead just implement the backdoor approach: Standing Orders.

Mary Romaniec is a reporter who lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of Victory over Autism: Practical Steps and Wisdom toward Recovery for the Whole Family. She writes, speaks and advocates for families of special needs children.







http://www.ageofautism.com/2016/07/adult-immunization-rates-are-targeted-through-standing-orders.htmlIt was with dismay that I read the commentary on vaccine mandates for health care workers. This is not a new or PC tactic. Many health care facilities have required its employees to get the flu shot for years. As health care institutions and providers of care to our most vulnerable, we have a duty to provide the safest environment in which they obtain their evaluation and treatment. ... (click for more)

After the first week of college football, no less than 10 of the nations teams fans chanted on Saturday Were No. 1, but in Tennessee the distinction only applies to COVID. According to the CDC, the state of Tennessee is reporting 790 infections per 100,000 citizens which is the highest in the nation. South Carolina, where COVID is now 719 per 100K, is No. 2. This means that ... (click for more)Those vulnerable to frigid temperatures can seek shelter at the Parker High School gym on Sunday and Monday before it moves to Boutwell Auditorium on Tuesday and Wednesday, city officials announced in a statement.

The City of Birmingham partnered with Birmingham City Schools to make the station happen at Parker High. The warming station will be open at both locations from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) will be offering free rides to the warming stations. Pre-made sandwiches, soup, chili and pre-packages snacks will be needed.

The warming station was the result of a collaborative effort to find a place to shelter those most vulnerable to the cold. The city usually sets up its station at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) or the Boutwell. On Friday, officials learned that both venues were booked for events, making the locations unavailable during a time when temperatures are expected to plummet into the 20s.

Multiple organizations made extra space in their shelters to accommodate the homeless for Friday and Saturday night. Mayor Randall Woodfin made numerous calls throughout Friday to find an alternate location in downtown Birmingham. Don Lupo, director of the office of citizens assistance, said Parker High School became the solution.

"We never gave up in finding a location to assist those in need,'' Lupo said. "When you never give up on an idea, especially when the idea is pure and good, good things happen to those who wait. Mayor Woodfin joins me in thanking One Roof, Birmingham City Schools, the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority and so many others for helping to protect citizens from the cold."

City officials will continue to monitor temperatures throughout the week.The fate of a Confederate monument in downtown Birmingham won't be decided for months.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo has scheduled a hearing for April 13 on a state lawsuit challenging the city's decision to shroud the stone obelisk in plywood.

The judge's decision comes after the state attorney general's office and the city filed a document agreeing to certain facts about the case. That includes the history of the 113-year-old memorial and its location in a downtown park.

The city built a plywood structure to hide inscriptions on the base of the monument amid national protests over Confederate memorials. The state filed suit claiming the move violates a new state law that bars the removal or alteration of historic monuments.

The plywood structure can remain until the hearing.A young Georgia man is behind bars in Macon County, charged in a 2016 horrific DUI crash that left five people dead.

Luis Angel Duque, 23, was arrested by U.S Marshals in Virginia and then extradited to Alabama, said Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson. Deputies, he said, quickly went to where Duque was being held in the Rockingham County Jail in Harrisonburg to retrieve him.

"I thought that was very important,'' Brunson said. "These families need closure, and they need justice."

The crash happened March 19, 2016 and Duque was only person out of six people in two vehicles to survive. It was about 7 p.m. that Saturday when Duque's Ford Edge collided with a 2002 Mazda Tribute on U.S. 80 near Macon County 24. The collision caused the Ford to catch fire and the Mazda to leave the roadway and overturn.

All five of the fatality victims were pronounced dead on the scene.

Among those killed were two of Duque's passengers - Luciano Tovar, 25, and Jorge Banda, 29, both of Georgia. Duque was hospitalized for his injuries.

All three people in the Mazda died: driver Curtis Jay McCurdy, 31, of Opelika; and passengers Kyla Yarbrough, 26, and Michele Smith, 36, both of Tuskegee.

A Macon County grand jury on Sept. 13, 2017, issued a five-count indictment charging him with manslaughter, which is a felony. That indictment, made public this week following his Dec. 28 arrest in Virginia, said he was driving under the influence of alcohol when the deadly crash happened.

A court date has not yet been set for Duque.Officials with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund on Friday filed a notice in court saying they are appealing Wednesday's dismissal of the group's lawsuit challenging Alabama's voter ID laws.

U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ordered the lawsuit filed by Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama NAACP and individual plaintiffs against the State of Alabama be dismissed.

"We are deeply disappointed by the judge's ruling dismissing our case before trial," said LDF President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill. "Over the course of two years, we have developed a sound case demonstrating that Alabama's voter ID law is racially discriminatory. We had hoped to present our full case at trial next month."

The group filed the notice of appeal on Friday.

The lawsuit specifically targeted House Bill 19 of 2011, which requires absentee and in-person voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a regular ballot.

In Wednesday's court order, Coogler said it is easy to get a photo ID in Alabama and claimed the current laws do not prevent anyone from voting.

Attorney General Steve Marshall was also supportive of the decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

"Today's decision to dismiss the lawsuit is without a doubt the right decision," Marshall said. "Alabama's voter identification law is one of the broadest in the nation with procedures in place to allow anyone who does not have a photo ID to obtain one."

Ifill said LDF is considering other options.

"We have no intention of abandoning our commitment to protecting the rights of African-American voters in Alabama, and we are considering our next steps."Downtown Huntsville Inc. held its annual awards breakfast on Friday in the atrium of Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center.

A full house recognized and honored projects and events over the past year in downtown.

Chad Emerson, president and CEO of Downtown Huntsville Inc., addressed the audience about the importance of having a vibrant downtown but also making sure that vibrancy expands to all corners of the city.

Emerson also pointed out that Downtown Huntsville Inc. had supporters beyond the downtown area. As an example, the presenting sponsor of the awards breakfast was Alabama A&M University, which is located in north Huntsville.

"I think we all recognize we need a strong city as a whole and that includes a strong downtown," Emerson told the audience. "That includes a strong south Huntsville. That includes a strong Hampton Cove and a strong all parts of the city - north, south, east, west. But downtown is where we gather. That's where we typically gather for celebrations. That's where we gather to memorialize. That's where we gather to engage in public meetings. So thank you to all the people across the city and the region for supporting Downtown Huntsville Inc."

Emerson presented three awards at the breakfast.

The first went to David Johnston as 2018 Downtown Advocate of the Year. Johnston is the owner of Downtown Self Storage at Jefferson Street and Clinton Avenue. The facility, while continuing to provide storage, has also become a haven for retail business incubators that's become known as the Clinton Row Project on the street level.

"David has been doing downtown redevelopment and downtown advocacy for a long, long time," Emerson said. "But what's been really exciting is David's support in this newest effort, including the Clinton Row Project. That was a really out-of-the-box thing to do. We won an International Downtown Award because of that. That type of stuff only happens when you have partners with open minds and embrace creativity."

Awards were also presented for Downtown Project of the Year and Downtown Event of the Year. The winners were selected through an online poll on AL.com.

Preservation Company was voted Downtown Project of the Year. Other nominees included Honest Roasters Coffee, Keegan's, Bryant Bank, Scout & Molly's, Church Street Purveyor, 104 Jefferson redevelopment and 315 Franklin redevelopment.

"Jason Butler and his family and team have created one of the most unique venues on Meridian (Street) near Lincoln Mill," Emerson said. "It's actually the old commissary for the mill. It's a fantastic place."

Twickenham Fest was the AL.com reader's choice for Downtown Event of the Year. Other nominees were Battle of the Buffalo, Hama Con, Pro Bono Brews, Hunt + Gather and Von Brewski.

"Twickenham Fest, I've really come to appreciate since I've been here," Emerson said. "For what it is with the classical music, it's one of the very best for what it is anywhere in the country. The talent they bring in is astounding. And we've been super excited to work with them over the last few years."

David Downey, president and CEO of the International Downtown Association, was the keynote speaker.Alabama may have yet another chance to see snow in the next few days.

Is it a sure thing? No. But confidence is rising that at least some part of the state could see snow or a wintry mix starting late Monday into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

There will be two chances for snow, the second one being more substantial than the first.

The first will be a chance for a few flurries in north Alabama on Sunday afternoon and evening. Forecasters at the weather service in Huntsville don't think there will be enough to accumulate.

Then another arctic cold front is forecast to move across the state starting on Monday night, bringing yet another blast of frigid air.

There may be enough moisture to work with to generate snow, according to the National Weather Service.

And this round of winter precipitation may affect more of the state, from north Alabama into parts of south Alabama.

Parts of south Alabama could see a wintry mix, but it could be cold enough for all snow across parts of central and north Alabama.

"There are still several days to go before a lot of fine-tuning can be done in terms of timing and snowfall amounts," said forecasters in Huntsville on Saturday morning.

The weather service in Birmingham said "concern was growing" about the potential for snow just behind the front on Tuesday.

It's still too early to say for sure it will snow, and projected accumulations, but an inch will be possible for central and north Alabama "and anything that falls will stick to every surface," because of the cold temperatures already in place, the weather service said.

No accumulations are expected in south Alabama, according to the weather service in Mobile.

A big concern is that temperatures in north and parts of central Alabama will be very cold when the precipitation gets here, and the weather service said it will be "more than cold enough for significant impacts to roadways."

And temperatures behind the front could stay at or below freezing on Wednesday for parts of north and north-central Alabama, keeping whatever's on the ground in place into Thursday.

On Thursday temperatures are expected to begin to warm some, with highs reaching the 40s and 50s across the state.A Shoals man has been sentenced to federal prison for having more than 13,000 child pornography images, including depictions of infants and toddlers being raped, the Department of Justice announced today.

Boerckel

Christopher Joseph Boerckel, a 27-year-old from Sheffield, is sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, according to the DOJ.

U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor also sentenced Boerckel to serve 20 years of supervised release after the prison term. Boerckel must report to prison Feb. 7.

"This defendant possessed thousands of horrific images of adults forcing sex acts on children and babies, innocents completely unable to defend themselves," U.S. Attorney Jay Town said in a news release. "Anyone possessing these images ensures that those children continue to be victimized. Judge Proctor's sentence rightfully reflects the severity of this case and our efforts reflect our pledge to fully prosecute these atrocious behaviors."

Law enforcement seized computers and hard drives during searches of Boerckel's home in March 2015, according to his plea agreement. An Alabama Department of Revenue review of Boerckel's computer hard drives showed that hundreds of the images were stored on a drop box saved to "the cloud," so investigators could not determine if the images had been accessed in Lauderdale County or Colbert County.

Authorities found 13,183 images of child pornography, the DOJ said.

The FBI, Alabama Department of Revenue and Florence Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Keim prosecuted.Across north Alabama, prosecutors and defense attorneys are gearing up for whats expected to be a busy year for high-profile trials. The accused Craigslist kitten killer from Athens, an ex-husband charged with gunning down his former wife at her Decatur bakery and an already-convicted murderer in the Shoals are among those expected to go to trial in 2018. Heres a list of cases around Huntsville, Decatur, Athens and the Shoals that could make headlines this year.

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Bread truck driver charged in death of fleeing teen

A Madison man is expected to face trial this year in the fatal shooting of Mustafa Bearfield Jr., a 16-year-old who police said was fleeing the scene of a bread truck break-in. Jonathan Wayne Scotts manslaughter trial is scheduled for May 14 in Madison County Circuit Court.

The 51-year-old Scott was on his bread delivery route in Huntsville when Bearfield broke into the vehicle, according to police. As Bearfield  who was unarmed  ran from the truck with stolen items, Scott fired at the teen, police said.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled March 24. If convicted, Scott faces up to 20 years in prison.

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3 of 4 suspects in slaying of paraplegic man

Three suspects could go to trial this year for the death of Markia Kendall, a paraplegic man who was gunned down during a home invasion in Huntsville. Kendall was fatally shot while he laid in bed and his children also were in the house. Cordell Derrick, Trolando Watkins and Latransezon Malloy are charged with capital murder in the Jan. 25, 2015 home invasion. "The defendants demanded money and drugs from Mr. Kendall, eventually obtaining (cash) and pills," court records state.

The victim's mother Debra Tharpe has told AL.com Kendall died in his 13-year-old daughter's arms.

A fourth suspect, Artavious Crutcher, pleaded guilty to murder in 2017, accepting a 25-year prison sentence.

First up on the Madison County Circuit Court trial docket for 2018 is Derrick on March 26. Watkins is set for trial April 30. Malloy, whose previous trial ended in a mistrial last year, hasnt yet been scheduled for a new court date. If convicted, the suspects face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Child scalding suspects

A Limestone County mother and her boyfriend are expected to go to trial in the attempted murder of two children who were seriously burned by scalding water in 2015. Amanda Marie Reyer and her boyfriend, Derrick Lynn Defoe, are charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree domestic violence and two counts of aggravated child abuse.

The victims are Reyer's 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. The little girl was in critical condition and treated for second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of her body in June 2015. The boy suffered similar burns to his legs and buttocks.

Reyer is scheduled for trial April 30 in Limestone County Circuit Court. A plea docket hearing is April 11. Defoes case isnt yet scheduled for trial. If convicted, they face up to life in prison.

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Robberies, shootings, killings and 4 young suspects

Prosecutors hope to bring closure to the victims, families and community that were devastated by a string of robberies, shootings and killings in Decatur that spanned several days in May 2015. One of the four young suspects are on Morgan County Circuit Court dockets for capital murder trials this year.

Cortez Mitchell is charged along with brothers Joseph and Cedric Cowan. A fourth suspect, Amani Goodwin has pleaded guilty. The four were charged in the random killings of Joshua Davis and Antonio Hernandez-Lopez. The suspects also are charged with multiple counts of robbery and shooting into homes.

"They seemed to just be going around thinking they were having a good time," Decatur police Capt. Nadis Carlisle told reporters during a news conference to announce the arrests on May 17, 2015.

First up on the dockets is 19-year-old Mitchell Feb. 5. His case is on the Feb. 1 settlement docket. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Trial dates havent yet been set for the Cowan brothers.

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Domestic-violence suspect charged in bakery shooting

Nearly three years after Kay Stevens was gunned down at her Decatur bakery, her ex-husband is expected to face a capital murder trial. Roger Stevens is on the Oct. 22 Morgan County Circuit Court docket.

He is accused of killing Kay Stevens just two days after their divorce was finalized. The victim's sister, who witnessed the fatal shooting, said Roger Stevens claimed Kay had gotten everything in the divorce. The sisters co-owned The Corner Bakery on Somerville Road. They were working Nov. 14, 2015 when Roger Stevens showed up with a gun.

By the time authorities arrived to take Kay Stevens to Huntsville Hospital, where she eventually died, Roger Stevens had fled the scene. Hours later, he was found outside his workplace, Premier Transportation, in nearby Limestone County. He was barricaded inside his tractor-trailer.

Prosecutors have said they won't seek the death penalty. Roger Stevens faces life in prison without parole, if convicted.

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Convicted killer 'Pop-A-Molly'

A convicted murderer already serving a 55-year-sentence for a South Carolina slaying is expected to face trial in a 2013 Alabama killing. Known as "Pop-A-Molly," 26-year-old Justin Bulter, is charged with capital murder in the death of Eric Watkins, a 32-year-old Shoals man. The case is set for trial Feb. 12 in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.

Watkins body was found in his vehicle off Chisolm Road in Florence on Nov. 10, 2013. Police havent publicly identified a motive.

Butler was convicted of murder in South Carolina in June 2016. Butler and an accomplice were charged with shooting two brothers over a car purchase in Lexington County, South Carolina. One of the brothers, 29-year-old Tycus Metricus Toland died.

In Alabama, prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, Butler could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. A pretrial hearing is Jan. 30.

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Accused child killer

A Franklin County man is expected to face trial this year in the death of his former girlfriend's 22-month-old daughter. Shannon Dale Gargis is accused of grabbing Serenity Irene Renfroe by the throat and throwing her against a couch in 2016. Gargis' capital murder case is on the April 2 Franklin County Circuit Court docket.

Gargis was living with Serenitys mother, Hailey Rose Renfroe, when the child was killed. The child died as a result of blunt force trauma.

The childs mother also was arrested and charged with child abuse for leaving her daughter with a man she knew to be physically abusive, authorities have said. The mother pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.com

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Suspects in 60-year-old aunt's murder

A Marshall County couple is expected to face a jury this year for the strangling death of the wifes 60-year-old aunt, whose body was dumped in Etowah County. Murder suspects Elizabeth and Curtis Austin are on the Aug. 13 Marshall County Circuit Court docket.

The victim Judith McElroy Carranza was reported missing April 1, 2015. Her body was discovered about a week later in a remote area of Etowah Countys Aurora community.

The Austins were nabbed by law enforcement in Panama City Beach, Florida after fleeing the scene. If convicted of murder, each faces up to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

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Accused Craigslist kitten killer

Ronald Golden, an Athens man accused of buying kittens from Craigslist to torture and kill them, was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

He was expected to go to trial in February after multiple continuances. But, prosecutors agreed to a defense motion asking the court to find Golden not guilty for mental reasons.

Golden was charged with 22 counts of felony first-degree cruelty to a cat. He would name the kittens before throwing them to the floor, breaking their necks or stomping them to death because he was "angry at the world," Athens police Chief Floyd Johnson told reporters when the suspect was arrested more than three years ago.

Limestone County Circuit Judge Robert Baker will set a hearing this year to determine Golden's future.

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Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.com

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Accused girlfriend killer

Murder suspect Timothy Warhurst pleaded guilty before his scheduled January trial in the death of his girlfriend, whose body was driven 100 miles away for burial in a shallow grave. Wanda Ivey's body was found in June 2016 in Warhurst's truck when Jackson County sheriff's deputies saw him digging in the woods, authorities have said. Warhurst is accused of killing Ivey at his Tuscumbia home, then driving her body to Scottsboro. The case was prosecuted by the Colbert County District Attorney's Office.

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Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.comA group of supporters of failed GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore are calling for the censure of longtime Senator Richard Shelby, according to reports in Politico.

A group of Moore backers submitted a resolution to the Alabama Republican Party executive committee arguing for the public reprimand, saying Shelby's failure to back Moore - and his own statements that he cast a write-in vote - hurt the Republican-backed candidate.

The resolution comes after a pro-Moore group, Courageous Conservatives PAC, ran its own anti-Shelby robocalls last month.

"Sen. Richard Shelby stabbed President Trump and conservatives in the back," one of the calls said. "Tell Shelby you'll never forget his disloyalty to President Trump and the Republican Party for his treasonous actions. Tell Shelby he's betrayed his trust to Alabamians and he should resign his office. Call now."

The anti-Shelby robocall campaign was funded by Dallas investor Christopher Ekstrom. In an interview with Politico, Ekstrom likened Alabama's six-term Senator to Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, both outspoken Trump critics.

"We no longer have Bob Corker to kick around, we no longer have Jeff Flake to kick around, but we do have Richard Shelby to kick around up and down the street until he gets out," Ekstrom said.

Shelby publicly said he would not support Moore after allegations the former Chief Justice had improper sexual contact with teenage girls in the 1970s. Shelby did not vote for Democrat Doug Jones, the eventual winner of the Dec. 12 election, but said he wrote in the name of a "distinguished Republican," despite a warning from the Alabama Republican Party that its members should support the nominee.

Shelby's statements about Moore were used in a robocall urging support for Doug Jones, something cited in the resolution to the state GOP.

Shelby's office provided Politico with a statement on the push by Moore backers.

"It is unfortunate to hear that instead of unifying the party ahead of its important 2018 election cycle, people within the Alabama GOP are making a shortsighted attempt to divide the party over Sen. Shelby's noble stance," spokeswoman Blair Taylor said.

Update Jan. 13, 2:46 p.m.: Story updated to clarify GOP resolution in Alabama does not call for resignation of Sen. Shelby and that the Senator did not endorse a write-in campaign but did cast a write-in vote himself.A Mobile police officer injured Friday morning shot himself in the leg while fighting off a dog attack, police officials said Friday afternoon.

"We do know that it is a self-inflicted wound," Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said Friday afternoon. The injury was not severe, he said, confirming reports that at least one dog had been killed in the fight.

Battiste said the incident occurred as police were conducting Operation Winter Storm, a sweep for people with outstanding drug warrants. Overall, Battiste said, police had made 11 arrests so far in conjunction with the campaign.

Officers had gone to a house in a neighborhood north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. outside downtown, when they were attacked by one or more pit bulls.

Battiste said police would investigate to see if proper procedures had been followed. "In this case the officer felt like his life was threatened," he said of the injured officer.

Battiste said that no arrests were made at the residence at that time, but confirmed that several other dogs were taken away by animal control.Two days after Christmas, John Higby, 89, was fatally shot in broad daylight in the parking lot of a Dauphin Street shopping center. On Friday, Mobile police announced an arrest in the case.

Police say Gregory O'Neal Hackett 28, will be charged with two counts of capital murder in the case. Alabama law allows for multiple capital counts for a single death, based on the circumstances.

"It is a truly a great relief for us as a department to be able to bring justice to a family," Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said Friday afternoon. "To bring some semblance of closure to a family who had such a loss particularly at the time of the year that it occurred."

Battiste said Higby's family had been told a short while earlier that a suspect had been taken into custody.

The case was disturbing because of its brazen and apparently random nature, and the only lead revealed by police was a slim one: Brief video clips showing two men walking between nearby apartment buildings at about the same time. The two were seen at a distance and their faces were not visible.

However, Battiste said the video had helped. "As a result of the video footage we were able to get some people to come forward, again, the community stepped forward to help us at that point," he said.

Battise said he believed Hackett was one of the men seen in the video; he declined to say whether he expected to make more arrests, but also did not rule out the possibility. In general, he said, it was still early in the investigation and police did not want to undermine the process by revealing too much.

As he was escorted from police headquarters for transport to Mobile County Metro Jail, Hackett made a few remarks that were low and difficult to decipher. But he appeared to deny the allegation, saying that he felt sorry for Higby's family, whoever had killed him.

An obituary identified Higby as a Bay Minette native and longtime Mobile resident who'd worked for the Gulf Mobile & Ohio and Illinois Central Gulf Railroad for 37 years before retiring.Civilians bear the brunt of conflict as Indian forces blow up houses as part of their offensive against rebel fighters.

Shopian, Indian-administered Kashmir  As he walks through the ruins of his home, Abdul Ahad Bhat keeps returning to his cow. He sidesteps the rubble of the fallen ceiling, points at the burned out frames of the windows, and feels with his fingers the bullet holes on the walls, but it is the image of his dead cow that seems to symbolise for him the destruction of his home in Batmurran village in southern Indian-administered Kashmir.

My brother and I carried the burned-out carcasses of our two cows on a tractor and we could see the remains of the calves inside them, he says. They were both seven months pregnant. Of everything that burned here, that haunts me the most. The calves had burned inside their mothers wombs.

Bhat lost his home and his cow on December 19 in a gunfight between the Indian armed forces and rebel fighters in Batmurran village in Shopian district.

Bhats four neighbours also lost their homes in the same gunfight and together they joined the fate of uncounted families rendered homeless in the frequent gun battles in the disputed region.

Between talking about his cow, 66-year-old Bhat, a butcher by profession, speaks about the lifetime of hard work through which he had made this new house two years ago. He says he wanted to gift his family a strong house, one that would last.

But it couldnt even last a few hours, he says, standing amid the utensils and debris of what used to be their kitchen. Years of work and savings blown up in two blasts. And now we are homeless, seven people living in a room in a neighbours house.

At least two rebel fighters and a civilian woman were killed in the gun battle while five houses along with two shops, a car and a motorbike were destroyed.

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According to the officials in the region, over 210 rebel fighters have been killed in gunfights by the Indian forces in during the past year  the highest since 2010.

The Himalayan region claimed in full by both India and Pakistan erupted in deadly protests after a popular Kashmiri rebel commander Burhan Wani was killed by Indian security forces in 2016.

Thousands of civilians have been injured, many of them blinded by pellet guns fired by the security forces, drawing criticisms from human rights organisations.

India has stationed nearly half a million security forces to fight an armed rebellion that erupted in the late 1980s. In recent years, however, the armed resistance has given way to often deadly street protests.

Last year saw a record number of gun battles as Indian forces launched Operation All Out amid a spurt in violence.

People rendered homeless

In most of these gun battles, the Indian armed forces, including the local police and its special counterinsurgency wing, have prior intelligence inputs about the presence of rebel fighters down to the specific house.

When the militants are in hiding in small houses in villages, it becomes easy for us to just blow up the houses and kill the militants inside rather than engage in a drawn out gun-fight Rajesh Yadav, the spokesperson of CRPF

They lay cordon around the house and empty out the houses around it before the operation begins by generally blowing up the houses they suspect for the presence of rebels.

When the militants are in hiding in small houses in villages, it becomes easy for us to just blow up the houses and kill the militants inside rather than engage in a drawn out gunfight, the spokesperson of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rajesh Yadav, told Al Jazeera.

Why waste time and expose our soldiers to the possibility of casualty during a gunfight when a few IEDs can take care of the whole thing.

While the explosives kill the rebels easily, they render people homeless. There are no specific figures on the total number of houses destroyed by the use of explosives as both police and the civil administration have failed to compile data. The gunbattle in Batmurran on December 19 left at least 34 people homeless.

Mohammad Yaqoob Bhat has still not come to terms with the destruction of his house in the Batmurran village. An employee in the regions Information Department, Yaqoob and his five family members now live nearby with his sister.

We come here sometimes, I, my wife, my children and we look at our house from a distance. We cry for a while and then we return. What else can we do? he asked.

The only thing that survived from his home, Yaqoob says, was a kanger  the Kashmiri firepot to keep warm in the winters. He carried it with him this icy December afternoon.

For 30 years I have been working. Except for the marriage of one of my daughters, I had put everything in this house. A geyser one month, then a power backup system after saving for months, a beautiful cupboard in the kitchen, computer for my children. And it is all gone.

No hope of compensation

No one from the government has come yet, they say, and if it werent for the neighbours, they would be living on the streets.

None of the houses burned down in Batmurran had any insurance, their owners told Al Jazeera. Their efforts to find shelter and reconstruct their houses now depends on the compensation from the state government and the money raised by their neighbours and relatives.

Six members of Ali Mohammad Sheikhs family and his wifes parents, whose house was also burned in the Batmurran gunfight, stay in a two-room shed of a neighbour.

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The neighbours collected money for us to buy some ration and medicine, and they opened their houses for us. Nothing from the government so far, one of the men in Batmurran says.

The regional administration says that it takes time to process the compensation for the families rendered homeless.

We do compensate the families who lose their houses in these gunfights but we need a report from the police and intelligence department clarifying that the house owners were not involved in giving shelter to the militants. That takes a little time  two months I would say, Aijaz Ashraf, Deputy Commissioner of Shopian district, told Al Jazeera. If the families have given shelter to militants then there is no compensation.

Ashraf said that a completely destroyed pukka (concrete) house gets a compensation of seven lakh Indian rupees ($11,000) while a damaged kaccha (mud and brick) house receives around four lakh Indian rupees ($6,300). If the house is partially damaged, he said, then the compensation is calculated accordingly.

Ashraf however, refused to comment on specific cases like Batmurran or give the exact number of houses destroyed over the last year in his district, but said that they had released funds for several burned houses over the past year.

Theft of valuables

An hour away from Batmurran, through vast apple orchards stripped bare by the winter, 26-year-old Ajaz Ahmad sits in his shop in Kellar market in Shopian district where he sells cheap plastic shoes.

Ahmad lost his home in Bamnoo village in the adjoining Pulwama district during a gunfight in July last year. For six months, Ahmad said that he along with his mother, two brothers, and a sister  have been living in a single room in a neighbours house. In another room in the same house, his uncle lives with his wife who suffers from cancer; their house too was blown up.

The neighbours have four room, they gave us two. If it werent for them, we dont know what we would do, Ahmad says. But six months is too long to live at someones house. I feel a sense of shame every evening going in there.

Deputy Commissioner of Pulwama district, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, told Al Jazeera that the administration had provided compensation to the people who had lost their homes in gunfights, including the five families in Bamnoo village.

They can say whatever they want. Why don't they complain to the police then? I have no information about any such incidents Munir Khan, the Inspector General of Police in Kashmir region

On the ground, however, the victims say that none of them have received compensation yet.

We have been going to the offices. They say they will give the compensation soon. We keep telling them that we have sisters and mothers and we have no money except to eat two meals a day. But who listens to the weak? Ahmad says, sitting amid the shoes and slippers in his shop. We wait.

Many people allege theft of their valuables and belongings during the gun battles, something, they say they find hard to prove.

The Indian forces drove us out and took position in our home during the gun battle and they stole my 20000 rupees ($300). I had saved the money by sewing clothes for over a year, 21-year-old Sakeena Bano, a resident of Arwani village in Anantnag district, told Al Jazeera.

Sakeena says she wanted to buy a motorised machine with the money she had saved by working eight hours every day.

When I returned, they had pulled out the lock of the steel trunk where I used to keep my money, said Sakeena referring to the security forces who had camped inside her house during the gun battle.

Her family said that some utensils and the little gold they had been gathering for their daughters marriage are also missing. Sakeenas neighbours, who lost their house, too complained of theft by the armed forces.

According to the people, their cash, gold, clothes, utensils, beddings, and in one case a generator, were stolen from their homes. Bhat, the butcher, who lost his home and his cow in Batmurran village, found all the knives missing from the butcher shop near his home.

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Last month I had brought the knives for 10,000 rupees ($150). They took even the knives, Bhat told Al Jazeera.

The Inspector General of Police in Kashmir region, Munir Khan, while speaking to Al Jazeera, rubbished civilian claims.

They can say whatever they want. Why dont they complain to the police then? I have no information about any such incidents, Khan said.

The people say that they dont register First Information Reports (formal police complaint) with the police out of fear, adding they see little point in complaining to the police when they believe that the police, along with the Indian paramilitary and army, were part of the theft.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior police official accepted that thefts happen and defended it by calling it war booty.

These people are sympathisers of militants. They give them shelter, night after night. Why should we not take away their things after killing the militants?Oprah, Democrats have turned their lonely eyes to you.

Still smarting from somehow forfeiting the White House to a popular TV celebrity, bruised and bemused Democrats are longing, it seems, for another popular TV celebrity to win it back soon.

So, the chatter about President Oprah has begun in earnest and could, in time, gather inexorable momentum. Its fitting that a forgettable evening devoted to celebrating ephemeral stardom may be remembered for launching Oprah 2020.

That Oprah accepted a trinket named after a staunchly Republican film director was an unacknowledged footnote to her acceptance speech that prompted giddy Democrats in Hollywood and beyond, including Meryl Streep, to begin to dream the impossible dream.

To be sure, Oprahs fluent address at the Golden Globe ceremony earlier this week was an antidote to the daily and depressing digest of crass, illiterate musings of a president who re-affirmed his signature repugnancy by lamenting that the US welcomes too many black immigrants from shitholes in Africa and Haiti, and not enough from lily-white Norway.

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Still, the juxtaposition of an eloquent, African American female TV star contesting the presidency against a decrepit, white, male TV star has now taken on even more political potency and it could prove irresistible to Democrats thirsting to deliver a decisive and ever so satisfying comeuppance to Mr Grab them by the p**** just over the political horizon.

The clash of TV titans would make, of course, for compelling viewing too. Oprah and Trump  two household brand names who leveraged a keen understanding of the visceral allure of television into fame and fortune  facing off in a gripping series to secure Americas most treasured and illusive rose.

Imagine the celestial-bound ratings. Television executives surely do. The same US cable news executives who happily enabled an avowed, but endearingly brash, racists ascendency to the Oval Office are, no doubt, slobbering at the prospect of an Oprah vs Trump showdown on the Potomac.

The appetising ingredients of the ultimate reality-TV extravaganza are within tantalising reach. Combine two billionaire cultural icons with marquee-sized personalities and the combustible mixture of race, politics and gender. Then, package the choreographed Punch and Judy show during prime-time across America for month after glorious month. Its tantamount to a cable news executives wet dream.

And the same cable news executives will, once again, camouflage their myopic glee over the prospective battle of the megastars behind sober-sounding tripe about serving the public interest and responsible journalism.

Trump greeted news of Oprahs nascent presidential ambitions with his trademark smirk, while reminding us that she had the Trump clan on her show not too long ago. He snorted that he would beat her soundly.

Undeterred, Oprah signalled, via surrogates on and off TV, her brewing desire to become president, despite demurring in the past that she possessed the resume to be the head of a television network, not the head of state.

Apparently and, not surprisingly, her reservations quietly evaporated soon after Trumps shocking victory.

Oprah has the money, the telegenic talent, a devoted constituency and a stock, inspirational rags-to-riches backstory. With caveats, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton employed the same shopworn playbook to become commander-in-chief.

If you want to become president tomorrow, you better be a TV star today.

The popular, largely, but not exclusively, chauvinist critique is that Oprah lacks the knowledge and governing experience to assume the presidency and that her potential candidacy is, in the pernicious age of Trump, further evidence of the dangerous degradation of US politics.

The inherent implication is that the degradation of American political and civic discourse that has given populist rise to President Trump and the disquieting notion  in elite commentariat quarters  of President Oprah, is a relatively new phenomenon. It isnt.

Noam Chomsky has long and persuasively explained that neo-liberal policies practised and championed by elites along Americas razor-narrow political and media spectrum, have, by design, hoarded wealth and power among ruling oligarchs. Dismissed, denigrated and disenfranchised, the US electorate holds existing discredited political institutions in contempt.

In this cynical, self-serving context, the emergence of so-called populists who seek to harness the pervasive anger and discontent for parochial political dividends is a natural consequence.

Oprah would likely position herself as the anti-Trump by simply exporting the kinder, gentler, charitable personality she has cultivated throughout her lengthy and fabulously successful career on TV into the political arena.

An accomplished actress, Oprah would also be adept at fulfilling the institutional prerequisite of any president to act presidential when the situation and the times demand it. In this regard, at least, Oprah has oodles of performing experience and know-how.

By these measures, Oprah would, undeniably, make for a formidable political adversary and candidate who could certainly attract broad, enthusiastic support throughout America, perhaps including from her loyal fans, Michelle Obama and her husband.

Oprahs detractors, who claim that the presidency is a serious job reserved for serious people, not only pine for a return to a time and place in US politics that no longer exists, but have clearly forgotten two presidents who ought to disabuse anyone of this nostalgic poppycock: Ronald Reagan and George W Bush.

The stubborn fact remains: If you want to become president tomorrow, you better be a TV star today.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Group of African ambassadors to the UN condemn xenophobic comment by US president and call for retraction.

The African group of ambassadors to the United Nations has demanded an apology from Donald Trump, after the US president reportedly aimed a racist remark at some Caribbean nations and Africa.

Trump criticised immigration to his country from El Salvador, Haiti and the African continent, by calling the group shithole countries at a meeting with Congress members at the White House on Thursday, according to US media.

The African Union mission to the UN is extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks attributed to the US president as widely reported by the media, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Ghanas ambassador to the UN, said on Friday.

The group has demanded a retraction and apology from Trump.

According to US media reports, citing people with knowledge of the conversation, Trump asked during a conversation about immigration: Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?

Trump suggested the US should instead focus its immigrant entry policy on countries such as Norway.

Following an emergency session of the African diplomats, Pobee added that the group is concerned at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration towards Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of colour.

The ambassadors reaction comes after the 55-nation African Union said it was frankly alarmed.

Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said on Friday.

Global outrage

Trumps latest comments have sparked global outrage and have been widely condemned as racist and extremely offensive.

Al Jazeeras Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said: The calls for the president to apologise for his remarks are intensifying inside and outside the US, but for now, that apology does not appear likely.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman with the UN human rights office, earlier slammed Trumps vulgar language.

You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as shitholes  Im sorry, but theres no other word one can use but racist, Colville said.

Trump denied the racist remarks, tweeting on Friday that the language he used was tough, but this was not the language used, as he called for a merit-based system of immigration and people who take our country to the next level.

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings  unfortunately, no trust!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

He later tweeted that he has never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously a very poor and troubled country.

The Republican president has also privately defended his remarks, saying he was only expressing what many people think but will not say about immigrants from economically depressed countries, the Associated Press reported.

Democrats have dismissed Trumps denial of the offensive comments, with Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, disputing Trumps account.

He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly, Durbin told reporters on Friday.

Members of his own Republican party have also distanced themselves from Trumps comments.

It is incomprehensible that these words came out of the mouth of the president of the United States of America, a country that was founded on being free from discrimination, said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican congresswoman.Several Catholic churches have been vandalised in Chile in advance of Pope Francis visit to the country next week.

Protesters have vandalised several Catholic churches in Chile in the face of Pope Francis visit to the country next week, and warned they will target the Catholic leader with a bomb.

Demonstrators used firebombs to attack four churches in the capital Santiago on Friday, leaving behind a note warning the pope: The next bomb will be in your robe, according to Latin American broadcaster Telesur.

Authorities have said they are investigating the incidents, which caused no injuries, though they have yet to make any arrests.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet described the attacks as very strange and said authorities had been unable to tie the incidents to a particular group so far, Telesur reported.

In a democracy, people can express themselves as long as its done in a pacifist way, she said, and called for a climate of respect during the popes upcoming visit.

Other pamphlets left by the attackers called for autonomy and resistance from Chiles indigenous Mapuche people, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Roughly two-thirds of Chiles 1.5 million Mapuches live in squalor in urban areas, and the remainder in poor rural communities. They are the countrys poorest and most marginalised segment of society.

Condemnation of attacks

Sebastian Pinera, Chiles president-elect, condemned the attacks in a statement on Twitter.

The hatred and intolerance cannot prevail above the respect and the rule of law, he said on Friday.

Pinera added that Chile would receive the pope with joy and peace.

Condeno los actos de violencia contra Iglesias de Penalolen, Estacion Central y Recoleta esta madrugada. El odio y la intolerancia no pueden primar por sobre el respeto y el Estado de Derecho. Recibamos al Papa Francisco con alegria y en paz.  Sebastian Pinera (@sebastianpinera) January 12, 2018

Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, is due to arrive in Chile on Monday.

He is scheduled to hold mass on Tuesday in a Santiago park, with hundreds of thousands of people predicted to attend.

His visit is expected to be met with protests on a range of issues, including the rights of Chiles indigenous people and an ongoing sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

The pontiff, born in Argentina, will also visit the Chilean cities of Temuco, where he is expected to meet Mapuches, and Iquique, before travelling to Peru.Syrian refugee was found guilty of an act of terror in 2016 after a riot on the Serbia-Hungary border in 2015.

Hungarian courts have extended the retrial of a Syrian refugee who was convicted of an act of terror after an altercation with police on the Hungary-Serbia border crossing in 2015.

The refugee, identified as Ahmed H, was give a 10-year prison sentence in November 2016 after a conviction based on Hungarys anti-terrorism law  which Amnesty International calls vague  for throwing stones at Hungarian police, using a megaphone to speak to the crowd of refugees on the border and allegedly helping to open a gate that allowed refugees to cross the frontier.

The trial will resume on March 14, with a verdict expected on March 19. The verdict was originally expected to be delivered on Friday.

Eda Seyhan, Amnesty Internationals campaigner on counter-terrorism in Europe, told Al Jazeera over the phone from Hungary that his conviction was an indicator of the anti-refugee stance of the Hungarian government.

Its important to note that these things are very mixed, the vilification of refugees and migrants and the ramping up of anti-terrorism laws, Seyhan said.

In June, an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying that not all evidence may have been considered in the first trial.

Ahmed H was attempting to help his elderly parents leave Syria and cross into the European Union through Hungarys border with Serbia at the Roszke crossing, near the Hungarian city of Szeged.

In videos of the incident, the refugee and father, who was residing in Cyprus with his family at the time of the crossing, is seen telling police with a microphone that the asylum seekers came in peace and would not hurt officers.

Eventually, Hungarian police responded with tear gas and a water cannon. Many of the asylum seekers then threw objects at police.

According to videos shown in court, Ahmed H admitted to throwing two stones. However, it is unclear whether the Hungarian court will consider stone-throwing to be an act of terror.

Much of the evidence being reviewed at the trial consists of video footage and witness testimony from police officers.

None of the witness statements substantiate the charge, Seyhan said.

Terrorist photo gallery

Hungarys ruling Fidesz party has maintained a hardline stance against refugees and migration since refugees began arriving in larger numbers in 2013 and 2014.

On Wednesday, the official Hungarian government Facebook page published a photo gallery of the events at Roszke that landed Ahmed H behind bars, entitled Ahmed H is a terrorist.

The images contained in the gallery show the accused speaking to police with a megaphone from behind a barricade, hand raised in the air. Ahmed H is also seen speaking to refugees on his side of the barricade.

Further images show the aftermath of clashes between the groups. Ahmed H is not seen in these photos. The accused is also seen walking into a courtroom, handcuffed and escorted by masked Hungarian guards.

This was how Ahmed was escorted into court over the last week during the three hearings of his retrial.

Pal Volner, the parliamentary secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Justice, has said that there is no doubt that a terrorist act can be found in Ahmed Hs actions, including his throwing of objects at police officers.

Indefinite detention

Andras Lederer, the information and advocacy officer at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), a human rights organisation and the only group that provides high-level legal advice to refugees for free, told Al Jazeera that refugees are facing a tough situation.

HHC is involved with several cases involving refugees, but not that of Ahmed H.

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In March 2017, Hungarian law was changed to only accept refugee applications at two locations on the border and only five a day, on working days Lederer explained. As such, 50 asylum applications are allowed to commence in Hungary every week, Lederer said.

The application process can take years, and courts can refer cases back to immigration officers, essentially restarting the process. All asylum seekers are detained until the process is completed, which essentially allows for indefinite detention, Lederer said.

According to Hungarian government figures through November, 1,216 asylum seekers were granted protection and 2,880 applications were rejected.

Hungary also blocked entry of or deported nearly 22,000 migrants in that same period.

Ahmed H is the only refugee during years of the crisis to be charged with an act of terror in Hungary under Fidesz leadership.Iranian foreign ministry says it will not accept any changes to nuclear deal after Trumps latest threat to withdraw.

Iran has said it will not accept any changes to the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, after US President Donald Trump threatened to pull out of the agreement unless its terrible flaws are fixed.

The Islamic Republics foreign ministry said in a statement that it would not move beyond its commitments to the existing agreement, to which Trump has extended the US commitment for another 120 days, Irans state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday.

Iran strongly announces that it will make no measure beyond its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commitments and will make no changes in the nuclear deal neither now nor in the future, the statement said.

The nuclear deal, formally known as the JCPOA, has eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran halting uranium enrichment. It was agreed upon by the United States under the administration of former President Barack Obama, Iran and five other countries in July 2015.

Trump announced on Friday that the US would keep the pact in place and waive sanctions against Iran for the last time, in order to secure agreement from the US European allies to fix its terrible flaws.

Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, he said in a statement.

Instead I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deals disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw, he added. This is the last chance. In absence of such an agreement [between the US and European powers], the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.

Critical components

Trump said four critical components must now be worked into the agreement: immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors, measures to ensure Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon, no policy expiration date, and no distinction between the Islamic Republics long-range missile and nuclear weapons programmes regarding the imposition of sanctions.

The US president is required to renew the existing deal every 120 days under American law.

Russias deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, condemned Washingtons comments as extremely negative, the Kremlin-backed Russian Information Agency (RIA) news agency reported on Saturday.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, accused Trump of desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, tweeting on Friday: JCPOA is not renegotiable: rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance  just like Iran.

European leaders had urged all parties to continue to fully implement this agreement ahead of Trumps announcement.

Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign policy chief, said earlier this week that the deal is working; it is delivering on its main goal, which means keeping the Iranian nuclear programme in check and under close surveillance.After some relief from the cold temperatures, another Arctic freeze is on its way to eastern parts of the US and Canada.

After days of extremely cold temperatures, Friday felt like spring in the northeastern part of the United States and eastern Canada.

Toronto registered 13 degrees Celsius, (14C above average), New York Citys Central Park had a reasonable 8C, and Washington, DC recorded a ridiculous 18C, (12C above normal). Given that last weekend it was about -10C with snow on the ground, this was a significant warming, and thaw.

After two weeks below freezing, the salt water Cape Cod Canal has a surface of chunky ice. Temperatures have regularly dropped below -15C at night in Massachusetts and Rhode Island since the end of last year. This is well below the freezing point of sea water, which is typically -2C. A coastguard boat was breaking ice in the Boston Harbour on Thursday.

The record-breaking Arctic freeze at the start of the year has frozen much of the Great Lakes surface. Rivers in the northeast flow with pancake ice on the surface; ice chunks are causing jams under bridges. The rapid thaw of snow with the falling of warm rain is now putting residents in New England under risk of flooding.

But the warmth and flood risk will be short-lived. Another wave of Arctic air is rapidly advancing from the Midwest.

Chicago had a warm 15C day on Thursday. Overnight the figure dropped to -5C, a temperature which was maintained on Friday. Saturday is likely to be no warmer than -8C.

The same thing happened in Toronto on Friday. In 18 hours, the temperature dropped 23 degrees Celsius, down to -12C, which was last seen less than a week ago. As this Arctic front marches eastwards again, winter weather warnings are in force from Kentucky to Maine.

Icy roads in Arkansas and Tennessee caused numerous vehicle collisions. Freezing rain in Pennsylvania and New York could bring down power lines, as well as slicken roads. Snow is expected to follow.

Snow was reported on Friday as far south as Louisiana.

Atlanta, Georgia felt the cold slap as well, as temperatures dropped from 14C to -2C.

Rochester, New York reported 10cm of snow overnight as the temperature fell from 15C to -7C.

Ultimately the rapid drop in temperature will be the most obvious change for the eastern parts of the US and Canada.

Sundays high, although in the sunshine, will be -9C in Toronto, -5C in Boston, -4C in New York City.Al Jazeera speaks to Pakistani activist Fouzia Saeed in wake of rape and murder case of girl, 7, that shocked Pakistan.

The rape and murder of a seven-year old girl named Zainab last week in the Pakistani city of Kasur prompted thousands to stage rallies to demand justice.

The anger and grief over the young girls fate was evident both on the streets and on social media, where large numbers used the #JusticeForZainab hashtag to call for action over what they said was not an isolated case.

In 2017, at least 12 similar incidents were reported in Kasur district alone, local media reported.

In the first half of last year, more than 1,750 cases of child abuse were reported across Pakistan according to the the non-profit Sahil child protection group. Of them, 65 percent occurred in Punjab province, where Kasur is located.

To understand the situation better, Al Jazeera spoke to Fouzia Saeed, a prominent Pakistani civil society activist who has worked for decades to end violence against women, prostitution, sexual harassment and rape in the country. In 1991, Saeed founded the first womens crisis centre in Pakistan.

The interview below has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Al Jazeera: What do you think of Zainabs case? Have you dealt with something like this before on a one-on-one basis?

Fouzia Saeed: I have been in so much pain about this whole issue for so long, because my pain does not depend on one incident. I have dealt with hundreds of cases like this and what disgusts me is the fact that how people in this society look to blame the victim and the family. Ive heard people asking questions like, Where were her (Zainabs) parents? Why were they not careful?

How hard is it to ask [instead], Why did the rapist commit that crime? Why did he kill a seven-year-old girl? Is it difficult to say that a man should not rape a little girl? People need to say it is a crime and not look for causes.

When talking about Zainab, people are saying her honour was taken away and not that she was raped and that that is a crime. Every crime against a woman in our society is deeply rooted in patriarchy, sadly  it is not rooted in circumstance.

In our country, people start their sentence with not believing the victim. They say, Why was she wearing revealing clothes? They also question the woman and say, This is what happens when women go out with their heads not covered. That is the line of their thinking.

Al Jazeera: How can this mindset change?

Saeed: A society creates myths that gives more power to the man. Some of these common myths say that if a woman is beaten up by her husband, she must have been the one who has the habit of talking back. This is called justifying violence.

In rape cases, most women in our society want to hide that they have been raped because the myth says if you are a chaste woman, you wont get raped.

We have to change the mindset by breaking the myths long-established myths. Year after year, every mother in this society lies to their daughter by repeating these myths. The first and foremost myth we need to break is that when you hear about rape, you are not going to blame the victim and you are not going find the reason as to why she was raped.

The second step is to shift the spotlight to the rapist than the victim and start asking questions like, Why did he rape? What punishment will he get for it? All the questions should be about the rapist.

Al Jazeera: It seems like more people are reacting and seeking justice to cases like Zainabs than before, especially in the poorer areas. Why do you think this is happening now?

Saeed: Let me take a step back and provide context to this. Yes, awareness has been raised and the civil society gets a lot of credit as they have worked hard for this.

The problem now lies in the fact that with that awareness, there should also be a parallel advancement in other areas, like law and order  for change to take place  just making the woman and children aware is not enough.

Al Jazeera: How has the role of religion been used, or abused, in this?

Saeed: Religion is used a lot when it comes to women. Nobody will say, The rapist was Muslim, why did he do that? But if a woman did not cover herself, she will be told that she is not religious enough.

People have abused religion a lot and this needs to be talked about.

Al Jazeera: Do you think the society, law and mindset will ever change?

Saeed: I absolutely believe that society will change  in fact, I think it is already changing.

We will one day be more powerful and women will be more persistent in seeking justice because they need to know that if if we take ourselves for granted, others will too.

It is a war, not a battle. We need to know our body, we need to become OK start living like regular human beings who have rights and a say in everything.

Most importantly, women should start giving information to their daughters and not go hush hush about it. It is about time now.Hundreds rally in occupied West Bank to demand Israel releases 16-year-old who was arrested a month ago with her mother.

Nabi Saleh, occupied West Bank  Israeli forces have fired tear gas as hundreds of Palestinians protested against the detention of a prominent teenage activist and her mother.

Ahed Tamimi, 16, was detained on December 19 in an overnight raid at her home in the village of Nabi Saleh after a video showing her hitting and slapping Israeli soldiers went viral. Shortly before, her 15-year-old cousin Mohammad was shot point-blank in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet, which left him in a medically induced coma for 72 hours.

Ahed was indicted on 12 charges earlier this month and could face up to 10 years in prison. Her mother, Nariman, and her 20-year-old cousin Nour were also detained shortly afterwards. Nour has since been released on bail.

On Saturday, Palestinians from various villages in the occupied West Bank gathered in Nabi Saleh to demand the release of Ahed and her mother, as well as protest against US President Donald Trumps move last month to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital.

However, Israeli forces stationed themselves at the entrance of Nabi Saleh an hour before the protest, preventing many foreign activists and journalists from entering the village while also turning away some Palestinians.

Two children hold up posters calling for Ahed Tamimis release [Jaclynn Ashly/Al Jazeera]

The demonstrators initially marched towards a hill adjacent to the illegal Halamish settlement, the construction of which has confiscated hundreds of hectares of Nabi Salehs land.

The protesters then moved on towards an Israeli checkpoint and military tower erected at the entrance of the village.

Israeli forces fired tear gas, causing gas inhalation to dozens of protesters. At least seven demonstrators were injured by rubber bullets, residents told Al Jazeera.

Nothing will stop us from resisting

Nabi Saleh has long held Friday protests against Israels occupation of the West Bank every Friday for years.

Bassem Tamimi, Aheds father who has spent four years in an Israeli prison, said the message of Saturdays demonstration was clear: Palestinians will not keep silent while living under occupation.

Ahed and Nariman are being held at Israels HaSharon prison in Israel. Owing to his previous imprisonment, Bassem is unable to obtain an Israeli permit to visit his daughter and wife in jail.

I have experienced prison. I know what its like; I know how they are feeling, he told Al Jazeera. But at the same time, I am proud of them.

Janna Jihad, 11, has been described as the youngest journalist in Palestine [Jaclynn Ashly/Al Jazeera]

Manal Tamimi, another member of the family of well-known activists who was shortly detained last month during another demonstration demanding the release of her relatives, said such protests were necessary to show Israel that nothing will stop us from demanding our rights.

According to Manal, who has been arrested several times over the years, Israeli authorities are attempting to dissuade other villages from adapting Nabi Salehs near-decade-long non-violent resistance.

Even if they arrest children and women in the village, we will continue to fight against this occupation, she told Al Jazeera.

We want to make it clear that as long as they are oppressing us, Palestinians will continue to join the resistance.

Among those demonstrating was also Janna Jihad, Aheds 11-year-old cousin who has been described as the youngest journalist in Palestine.

She told Al Jazeera that she misses Ahed, whom she described as her best friend.

Jihad said that Israels alleged targeting of children in Nabi Saleh was meant to break young Palestinians.

They know that we are the next generation that fights to save Palestine.Peru Dakar rally: Palaeontologists worry about geoglyphs

In Peru, palaeontologists and archaeologists have warned that the Dakar rally poses a serious risk to parts of the countrys unique geological fabric, one of the worlds largest geoglyphs.Qatar alerts the UN secretary-general to a second infringement of its airspace by the UAE as GCC crisis continues.

Qatar has filed a new complaint with the United Nations, reporting a second violation of its airspace by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) jet in recent weeks.

The military airlift, which was travelling from the UAE to Bahrain, entered the airspace of Qatar on the morning of January 3 without prior authorisation, Qatars foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatars UN representative, submitted a letter of complaint to Antonio Guterres, the organisations secretary-general, in light of UAEs repeated infringement upon Qatars sovereignty, the statement noted.

[The] threat to the safety of its [Qatars] borders and territories is evidence of the UAE authorities continuing their approach to violating international law, conventions, charters and international norms, it added.

The move follows Sheikha Alia Ahmeds sending of a separate letter to Guterres on Thursday in relation to a prior violation of Qatars airspace by the UAE on December 21 of last year.

The breach, which lasted for one minute, occurred at a height of 33,000 feet above Qatars exclusive economic zone.

That letter stated that the violation was in breach of international law, and took place in the context of irresponsible and provocative actions by the UAE against Qatar.

Qatars UN envoy said Doha would take all necessary measures required to defend its borders, airspace and national security in order to preserve its legitimate sovereign right in accordance with international laws if such violations were repeated.

The developments have come amid a blockade against Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, which has been in place since June 2017.

The group severed all diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Qatar has strongly denied the accusations, and is seeking international arbitration in an attempt to end the blockade.

Lulwah Al Khater, spokesperson for Qatars foreign ministry, announced Dohas pursuit of independent mediation on January 10, days after a UN investigation said the blockade was negatively impacting the people of the region.Monitor says 51 children among those killed in 15 days of Syrian and Russian air raids on rebel-held district.

The number of people killed in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta has reached 179 after a little over two weeks of government and Russian bombardment, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Government forces backed by Russian warplanes began a campaign to take the rebel-held district on December 29, relying mainly on artillery barrages and air attacks.

SOHR, which gathers details of casualties from a network of sources inside the country, said on Friday that those killed in the latest escalation in violence include 51 children and 38 women.

Watch SCD volunteers directly targeted by regime forces whilst carrying out their humanitarian rescue work in residential areas#Douma #SCDamascus (cs) pic.twitter.com/OcILh62g6w  Mahmood Adam (@Mahmoodadam21) January 12, 2018

Syrian activists on social media have been posting images said to be from Eastern Ghouta, which show children being pulled out dead or heavily wounded from mounds of rubble.

Al Jazeera has not independently verified the images or figures.

Eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege by pro-government forces since 2013, is home to close to 400,000 people.

The four-year siege has led to a major humanitarian crisis, with severe food and medicine shortages.

In November, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Jan Egeland called the situation in the area a man-made disaster and warned that many of its residents were acutely malnourished and close to dying.

Idlib exodus

The violence in Eastern Ghouta coincides with a government offensive in the northern province of Idlib where some estimates put the number of those who have fled fighting at 280,000.

Like in eastern Damascus, the Syrian government is trying to dislodge an array of rebel groups, but Idlib holds special significance for the opposition as one of its last remaining strongholds.

The region is located within one of the so-called de-escalation zones demarcated by Russia, Iran, and Turkey, where fighting was expected to cease.

Ankara has summoned Russian and Iranian diplomats over the fighting.

However, buoyed by victories elsewhere in the country and with momentum on its side, the Syrian government has pushed to reclaim the area.

Syrias Civil War has raged on since 2011, claiming close to half a million lives and sending millions to neighbouring countries and Europe as refugees.Police in the Canadian city of Toronto are investigating a possible hate crime after an 11-year-old Muslim girl was attacked by a man who allegedly tried to cut off her hijab twice on her way to school.

Sixth-grade student Khawlah Noman was walking with her younger brother on Friday near the Pauline Johnson Public School in Toronto when a man holding scissors came from behind and started cutting her headscarf, the victim said.

The girl turned and screamed, forcing the suspect to flee. But shortly after the first assault, the same man returned and continued cutting Nomans headscarf while grinning, before running away.

Sadly, someone insulted me by cutting my hijab two times, Noman, who was not hurt in the incident, told reporters. I felt really scared and confused because I didnt feel comfortable that people are doing this.

The hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion.

Police described the suspect as a medium-built Asian man in his 20s.

Not what Canada is

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack, along with other Canadian politicians.

My heart goes out to the young girl who was attacked, seemingly for her religion, he said during a speech in London, Ontario. I cant imagine how afraid she must have been. I want her and her family and her friends and community to know that that is not what Canada is.

Ontario Prime Minister Kathleen Wynne called the alleged assault a cowardly act of hatred, which has no place in the province.

This is not who we are, she wrote on Twitter.  We must stand firm in our support to this young girl who was assaulted simply for wearing a hijab.

This is a cowardly act of hatred, and it has no place in Ontario. This does not represent who we are. We must stand firm in our support of this young girl who was assaulted simply for wearing a hijab.  Kathleen Wynne (@Kathleen_Wynne) January 12, 2018

Islamophobia

Since 2013, hate crime has been on the rise in Canada. In 2016, there were 1,409 police-reported hate crimes, according to Canadas national statistical agency.

Muslims suffered 139 hate crimes in 2016 according to police data, 20 fewer than in 2015.

A gunman shot and killed six Muslim men at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City, the provincial capital, on January 29 last year. Several others were injured.

Incidents of Islamophobia have increased in Quebec in recent years. The full-face covering became a big issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election, especially in Quebec, where the majority of the population supported a ban on it at citizenship ceremonies.

In October last year, Quebec passed a contentious law banning face coverings, which was partly suspended two months later.

After the attack, Noman told local reporters that she was scared to walk to school.

Addressing her attacker, the girl said: What youre doing is really wrong, you should not act like this, and especially, Im a kid.Turkey's Violation of Human Rights Must Be Challenged

(AINA) -- When speaking about the Ottoman Empire and Turkey today, it is not their contribution to civilization that comes to mind. Instead it is human rights violations, confiscation of land and property, genocide and genocide denials that are most frequently discussed in the public discourse. Today's Turkey is still far from being ruled by democratic principles. Thousands of journalists, human rights activists, and opponents of the government are in jail or in exile. Osman Kavala is only one of these human rights defenders.

Osman Kavala and thousands more journalists, human rights defenders and opponents of the government are in jail because they have committed a crime. Their crime is longing for a different Turkey from Erdogan's Turkey. They wanted to have a democratic Turkey that confronts its history and respects human rights. Therefore, the international community should put all necessary pressure on the Turkish government and stand in solidarity with Osman Kavala and others who are working for a free Turkey.

It is very hard to speak about freedom of speech in Turkey because it doesn't exist. It is free in Turkey to worship and applaud Erdogan, but it is dangerous to criticize him. It is free in Turkey to sympathize with ISIS, but it's forbidden to write about it and the Turkish support of ISIS. The renowned Turkish journalist Can Dundar, who wrote and published photos of the Turkish government delivering weapons to ISIS in Syria, was threatened with death and forced into exile. He now lives in Germany.

It is free in Turkey to confiscate the land of the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek people. It is free to confiscate the land of St. Gabriel Monastery. But it's forbidden to question the Turkish government's stance towards Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and their support to Hamas and Hezbollah. It is free in Turkey to worship and applaud Erdogan, but it is dangerous to criticize him. Under such circumstances Turkey is not a place for critical thinking and free thought.An Alternative to Federal Infrastructure Investment

President Donald Trump has proposed a trillion-dollar plan for infrastructure investment. The plan calls for public-private partnerships in which the federal government invests several hundred billion dollars to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, with the bulk of the investment coming from the private sector. The Trump administration maintains that for many years the nation has underinvested in infrastructure, particularly in surface transportation, and that massive new investments are now required to rebuild and expand infrastructure. Trump argues that the injection of federal dollars into infrastructure development will jumpstart the economy and spur long-term economic growth. Most studies reveal that the current state of the nation's infrastructure is poor, to say the least, and that rebuilding infrastructure will be extremely costly. One estimate found that rebuilding the highway system alone will require nearly a trillion dollars in investment projects over the next two decades. However, it is not clear that the federal government should undertake this infrastructure investment, because the federal government has a poor track record of effectively managing and completing such projects. For example, a number of studies reveal that federal investments in surface transportation have been or continue to be allocated inefficiently, incurring costs that exceed benefits, and there are many studies showing how special interests steer federal dollars toward unworthy infrastructure projects.

In contrast to the federal government, state and local governments have a better track record for investing in infrastructure. Research shows that state and local governments invest more efficiently in highways and mass transit compared to the federal government. This is largely because state and local governments prioritize the most important transportation infrastructure projects and invest dollars in projects where benefits are likely to exceed the costs. When state governments invest in projects that do incur losses  e.g., privatization of the Indiana interstate highway  they are more likely to stem losses and reallocate funds to other, more crucial projects. A priori, it is not clear why state and local governments should allocate funds for infrastructure investments more efficiently than the federal government. Elected officials who make these investment decisions at the state and local levels are subject to the same interest group pressures that influence federal investments. Some scholars point to differences in the financing of infrastructure projects to explain the discrepancy. State and local governments are more likely to privatize and rely on public-private partnerships in building highways and mass transit projects, and states have better utilized innovative, effective techniques when implementing tolling and mileage-based user fees. By contrast, the federal government budget process is conducted in the absence of effective fiscal rules, such as those rules designed to reduce deficits. These rules, if they exist at all, are often circumvented and suspended. Deficits incurred in funding infrastructure projects are typically lumped together with the total deficits funded by borrowing. This means that misallocation and inefficiency in infrastructure investments are not offset by decreased funding for other programs. Those costs are passed along to citizens, who pay the taxes required to service debt. Often, elected officials and citizens are not even aware of these inefficiencies due to the lack of transparency and accountability in federal infrastructure investments. This problem is magnified by cost-sharing arrangements for infrastructure funded by matching federal and state grants. At the state and local levels, fiscal rules are more effective constraints on budgeting and fiscal policy. In every state and local government, fiscal rules mandate a balanced budget and limit debt, and in many states, those rules limit the growth in revenue and spending. A few states have fiscal rules that approximate rules that have proven to be effective in limiting debt in fiscally prudent Organization for Economic Co-operation countries. Colorado, for example, imposes a strict limit on the growth in revenue and spending at the state and local levels. Surplus revenue above that limit must be rebated to taxpayers. Citizen approval is required to increase taxes or debt through a referendum process. Although the fiscal rules in place at the state and local levels are frequently circumvented and weakened by elected officials in response to interest group pressure, they have still proven to be effective constraints on government budgets. Elected officials at the state and local levels should be required to make investment decisions as part of a budget process that's constrained by fiscal rules. Capital investments must be prioritized, along with other expenditures, to satisfy fiscal rules. When this occurs, elected officials and citizens are aware of the tradeoffs in allocating funds to infrastructure investment versus other programs. Any deficits incurred in funding infrastructure projects are offset with revenues that could have been used to provide other government services. As a result, there is greater transparency and accountability for these investment decisions at the state and local levels. Elected officials and their constituents are more aware of the opportunity costs incurred when infrastructure investments are misallocated or inefficient. When fiscal rules require voter approval for tax and borrowing, citizens have direct control over how their tax dollars are spent. Direct democracy results in more prudent fiscal policies in states such as Colorado, just as it does in Switzerland and other countries. I propose an alternative to Trump's plan for infrastructure investment. To address the debt crisis, the federal government should declare a moratorium on new investments in infrastructure. Expenditures for infrastructure, including expenditures from the Highway Trust Fund and the general fund, should be frozen at current levels. This would allow funding to complete current infrastructure projects, but eliminate funding for new or proposed projects. Funding and management for transportation infrastructure should then be transferred from the federal government to the states. All taxes, fees, and revenues now collected by the federal government to finance transportation infrastructure should be collected and retained by the states. The Highway Trust Fund should be eliminated. Any savings from these reforms should be earmarked for debt reduction. State and local governments should finance and manage the surface transportation system, free from federal laws and regulations. State and local governments should have the freedom to set the level of taxes and fees, and to determine how those revenues are expended to fund surface transportation systems. State and local governments could then set their own priorities in expending these funds for highways, interstates, and mass transit. They could also determine how those funds would be expended for maintenance, rebuilding, and new construction. Expenditures for transportation should become part of the budget process and subject to fiscal rules now in place in state and local governments. Barry Poulson (think@heartland.org) is emeritus professor of economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.It's been said that we have two major governing parties in this country: the Democrats and the Republicans. Each party has a different, broad-based approach to managing the country: the Democrats believe that government-created, taxpayer-funded programs  implemented from D.C.  are the best way to guide the country's fortunes, while Republicans feel that market-based, individually oriented solutions work to the best advantage of the nation.

But it's not true. Just the opposite: It's fundamentally false. The Democrats are concerned primarily with winning political battles first and governing the country to the population's benefit second. A look at some of today's higher-profile issues illustrates this quite clearly. And this is not a peculiarity limited only to present-day circumstances. The Democrats' approach to both yesterday's and tomorrow's major issues are equally persuasive as to their "governing" priorities.

Today's issues:

DACA and DREAMers  The Democrats pose as if this is the big humanitarian issue of our time. "Through no fault of their own," some 800,000 children were dragged across our border when their parents illegally immigrated to this country. The DREAMers, as they're so amusingly called, should not only be afforded amnesty and forgiveness according to the Democrats and allowed to stay in this country, but they should also be allowed to bring in their relatives as well (so-called chain migration). But President Trump wants funding for his border wall, a central tenet of his campaign, as a condition to any compromise regarding the DREAMers.

The Democrats don't really have humanitarian concerns, and thus they have no incentive or inclination to compromise. Their primary motivations are growing their voting base with low-income government-dependent immigrants whose offspring will become automatic Democratic voters a few years from now and the desire to simply make President Trump look bad, as a typical "heartless, cold" Republican. Anything that reduces illegal immigration (the wall) or lessens the future pool of Democratic voters (deporting the DREAMers or ending chain migration) will be opposed by the Democrats with a vengeance. The "public good" has nothing to do with anything. A political win for the Democrats is all that matters.

Tax Reform  The Democrats don't care about the actual financial benefits that lower corporate taxes will deliver to the economy (such as greater investment by companies in plants and equipment, leading directly to increased employment), nor do they care about how much the average middle-class family will benefit from the extra hundreds of dollars of disposable income per month. Democrats just want to further the cliche of rich Republicans getting huge undeserved tax breaks, while the average person suffers as a result. Democrats simply want to sully the Republicans' image in the eyes of the casually attentive voter.

Mueller and Collusion  The Democrats' only goal here is to make Trump look bad, undermine his legitimacy as president, and keep his approval numbers low in advance of future elections. The Democrats have no actual interest in the impact or influence foreign entities may have had on our voting process or on our electoral system. If they did, they would be just as interested in the fact that Hillary Clinton maintained an illicit email server that contained unauthorized classified information and was hacked by Russians. That is the very definition of reckless, illegal behavior by a candidate undermining the integrity of our election process.

But the Democrats aren't interested in the "integrity of our election process." They're interested in a political win, not in serving the public good.

Government Shutdown  This is merely an opportunity for Democrats to make Republicans look bad, knowing that the liberal media will always cast any 'shutdown' as being completely the fault of Republicans, regardless of the actual circumstances. Although both sides are well aware that essential funding continues even during a so-called "shutdown," Democrats will be quick to exploit an ignorant public with heart-wrenching advertisements of 90-year-old veterans on their once-in-a-lifetime trip to D.C. being turned away from the WWII Memorial or a small-town Boy Scout troop being unable to enter a national park. All of this is intentionally orchestrated by Democrats, all to make Republicans look bad. The "win" is all-important, after all, not the facts.

Those are just today's high-profile topics. One of yesterday's was Hurricane Katrina. The Democrats and the liberal media pounded President Bush incessantly for being insensitive to the plight of minorities for his supposed slow response to the crisis. The Democrats' primary concern was winning the battle of public perception by making a Republican look bad. They were successful. They "won." President Bush's presidency took a hit from which it never recovered, becoming yet another reason why a Republican presidential win in 2008 was so unlikely, regardless of who the Democratic candidate was.

Tomorrow's big issues may concern, for example, North Korea or Iran. Democrats will undoubtedly use those circumstances to pile on with very public criticism of President Trump's handling of the situation. Far from the old dictum of "politics stops at the water's edge," the Democrats will be more concerned with twisting a confrontation with North Korea or Iran into political advantage for themselves than they will be in helping forge a favorable bipartisan outcome for the good of our country.

To be perfectly honest, the Republicans are far from lily-white (am I allowed to use that term anymore?) when it comes to maneuvering the political chess pieces to their advantage.

The Democrats are first and foremost about winning. For them, governing comes in second  and too often, it's a distant second.At the core of these traitors' arguments is the belief that the people do not have the right to express their views through the electoral process.

We are witnessing a treasonous rebellion by leftist judges who are declaring the last election null and void.

Essentially, these courts are declaring that President Trump doesn't have the same authority as his predecessor and that the powers of the executive branch are constrained by what the judiciary thinks is good policy.

These judges assert that President Trump can't overrule the executive orders of his predecessor with his own executive orders. If that were the case, elections would be meaningless, since one president could effectively prevent the people from rejecting his position by voting for a candidate who disagreed with him.

We see this in the judge's ruling on DACA. Ignoring for a moment the fact that DACA was an unconstitutional usurpation of power by Obama, there is still a huge problem with a court effectively declaring that one president, Obama, can make edicts that other presidents can't change.

This is clearly not a claim by the court that some presidential rulings are infallible, dogmatic, and unchangeable, since we all know that if Bush had produced an executive order that violated the law by limiting legal immigration, the same judge would have ruled that Obama could overrule it.

Instead, what we're seeing is nothing less than a rebellion by judges who reject the idea that elections have consequences and believe they can impose their beliefs on the people. The judges are declaring that Democracy exists in the U.S. only to the extent that viewpoints that judges consider acceptable can result from an election.

It's a far cry from declaring that the Constitution limits certain actions by presidents to saying that the actions of presidents that the left likes have more legal weight than the actions of presidents that judges don't like do.

At the core of the #Resistance movement is the idea that America is more a tyranny than a representative republic. By saying elections are legitimate only so long as leftists approve of them, they are declaring that power flows not from the people, as declared by the Constitution, but from the unelected elites.

America cannot continue to exist as a free country if the ever changing opinions of leftists carry the same authority as the Constitution and the laws passed by the people's representatives in Congress.

Like all acts of open rebellion in America, these actions by judges are nothing less than a declaration that some people in America are worth less than others. This rebellion is the opposite of the American Revolution, which was waged to ensure that the people, not the aristocracy, held the reins of power and could have a major say in how their country was managed.

The reality is that when faced with a direct rejection of the principles upon which America is based, extreme measures are needed to stomp out the rebellion. In this case, judges who issue insane edicts must be impeached. It's time for the people to voice the truth that judges are not some "super" agents who override the authority of the people's representatives.

Sadly, the actions of these lower-court judges are simply a continuation of what we've seen for decades in the Supreme Court.

Historically, the idea that the Supreme Court has the right to stop the president and Congress from doing what the Court considers unconstitutional has been viewed with suspicion. It's not in the Constitution, and the people have never voted to endorse it.

However, as a matter of practicality, there needs to be some way to stop the legislature from violating the Constitution, and the Supreme Court has de facto become the Band-Aid used to cover that gap in the Constitution.

But historically, we've seen that the Court can be a rather poor source of guidance. From declaring that slavery was okay to saying that forcibly sterilizing the "unfit" is fine, the Court has demonstrated that it is a fallible and untrustworthy guide at best.

For decades, leftists have used judges to impose their whims on the people. From legalizing abortion to inventing a right to same-sex "marriage," leftists have used rebellious judges to transform America without having to win elections or actually convince the people that the leftist approach is good.

Leftists get away with this because the culture portrays judges as impartial agents who are interested only in ensuring that the laws passed by the Congress and enshrined in the Constitution are followed.

Yet we know that's not true, because the same leftists tell us so. They tell us the Constitution is a "living" document. That is saying in no uncertain terms that judges have the authority to redefine the Constitution based on the judge's biases without following the process the people accepted to modify the Constitution.

But if five judges, who are rich, mostly white, mostly male lawyers, can arbitrarily redefine the rights of Americans by unilaterally modifying the Constitution, we no longer live in a free society.

The current situation is worse in that the rebellion has spread to the lower courts. Due to the lethargy of the legal process, one federal judge can illegally stop the president from exercising his constitutional power for months or years.

It's time for honest Americans who believe in democracy, as witnessed by our acceptance of the legitimate authority that Obama had when he was president, to convince the culture that many judges are not apolitical honest actors.

It's time for Republicans to impeach judges who obviously overstep their authority. It's time for Congress to pass a law requiring that judges interpret the laws in light of the intent of the people who passed the law.

Perhaps we need a constitutional amendment to explicitly demand that judges not add their own spin to the laws of the land.

Or perhaps we need the Congress and the president to declare that only the Supreme Court can limit their actions. Lower courts can rule as they want, but only the Supreme Court can demand that the other branches change their actions. This would reduce the ability of the rebels to effectively kneecap our elected representatives through frivolous lawsuits supported by traitorous judges. Before the traitors could stop actions by Congress or the president they'd have to get the Supreme Court to agree, as opposed to the current situation, where one of the thousands of unelected federal judges can stop lawful actions by the president or Congress.

Whatever mechanism we use, the reality is that if we don't crush the rebellion in the judiciary we will lose all our freedoms and America may be headed toward an armed conflict.

This modern judicial rebellion seeks to impose its will on everyone. From demanding that Christians support same-sex "weddings" to demanding that Catholic nuns support abortion, the fascist judges are insisting that all bow their knee to our new masters.

The risk of eventual violence is much worse than it was in the case of the Civil War. In this new rebellion, there is no safe haven for the new "slaves," those whose rights are being stolen by traitors. There is no underground railroad for those who cherish their constitutional rights.

The chance for real violence becomes greatest when people are backed into a corner and told they must reject their own beliefs.

That's why it's imperative to take peaceful steps now to defuse the crisis.For over 30 years, I've been reading and re-reading Ayn Rand's books, both fiction and non-fiction, and I don't recall anything that suggests she was in favor of open borders. Furthermore, Ayn Rand died in 1982  she never witnessed the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the steady stream of terrorist massacres throughout the great, historical cities of Europe and on American soil, or the large-scale invasion of so-called "refugees" into Europe. Islam and immigration were not cultural or political issues during her lifetime.

After Ayn Rand's death, her heir, Leonard Peikoff, formed the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI). The most prominent of Objectivists followed Dr. Peikoff and are currently ensconced at the ARI today, advocating for open borders, seemingly in Ayn Rand's name.

Why is this of importance? Because most influential conservatives today have been greatly influenced by Ayn Rand's ideas, and so will future generations. And it would be disturbing if her legacy is being hijacked by what Milo Yiannopoulos calls "social justice warriors" (SJWs), just as the SJWs have hijacked the universities, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the corporate news media, sports, advertising, etc. Therefore, the question has to be asked: is Ayn Rand's name being fraudulently used to promote open borders? ARI Watch seems to believe so.

The most prominent establishment Objectivist after Leonard Peikoff may be Dr. Harry Binswanger. On his website, HBL, this is what he writes about immigration: "[t]his is a defense of a policy of absolutely open immigration, without border patrols, border police, border checks, or passports. After a phase-in period, entry into the U.S. would be unrestricted, unregulated, and unscreened, exactly as is entry into Connecticut from New York."

I don't know in what world Dr. Binswanger is living if he believes that anyone should be able to enter the U.S. without inspection. If Dr. Binswanger's ideas were implemented in the real world, it would be raining nonstop flights from third-world countries into America, and America's southern land border would be overflowing with populations from Central American countries. There would be complete chaos, such as in the hospitals as people from around the world immigrated for free medical treatment  but that would be just the beginning. If "unrestricted, unregulated, and unscreened" immigration would be allowed, in a matter of months, it would lead to widespread anarchy and crime.

Moreover, under what moral theory can Dr. Binswanger justify foreign nationals having the right to simply enter the United States without inspection? How could the United States be a sovereign nation with open borders? How could it survive? How could it even be considered a nation? Isn't President Trump correct when he says: "A nation without borders is not a nation"?

Dr. Binswanger is not the only advocate for open borders within the Ayn Rand Institute. Its chairman of the board, Dr. Yaron Brook, is also an open border advocate, and in his 11/05/2016 lecture, "Free Will and Free Borders," he actually advocates for foreign nationals to enter the United States illegally. After first stating (at the 10:40 mark) that "we have the dumbest, stupidest immigration laws in America today" and that "Donald Trump will probably even make them stupider," Dr. Brook, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Israeli background, states the following:

Walls don't actually prevent people from entering the country. They can dig under, they can go over, they can go around[.] ... Do you know that Mexicans now don't need a visa to enter Canada? Canada is allowing Mexicans to come to Canada with no visa? What does that mean? You buy an airplane ticket, which is less than paying a coyote, right? And you go to Canada, and you cross the border.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. Brook not only advocates for illegal immigration, but seems to worships it. At the 15:43 mark, he states the following:

People talk about anchor babies. ... Women who come to America to have a baby in America. Wow! Is my approach. Here's a pregnant woman willing to walk across a desert so that her child is born in freedom. That's an amazing choice[.] ... And we want to say: Oh no! Bad people! This is what America was supposed to be about. About taking your life seriously, pursuing happiness, pursuing freedom, making the most of your life. Now you might say they come here and they take welfare, and they just come to have babies in order to get the welfare. Really? It's just empirically not true[.] ... You're going to walk across the desert, you're going to risk your life, and your baby's life, to get a check from the government? I don't think so. Something else is driving you[.] ... Maybe when you get here, it is hard to find a job, because you know what? We've declared you illegal so it's really hard to find a job and you get on welfare for awhile.

Besides Dr. Brook having his facts wrong about welfare, I don't think Ayn Rand would say "wow" to any of this. I think there is a greater chance she would say "moochers" or "looters." I believe that as a patriotic American, Ayn Rand would have asked questions such as "What about the individual rights of the American citizens? What about their right to national security and safety? And why are productive Americans forced to pay for the medical expenses of illegal aliens? Based on what moral code?" Unfortunately, these questions were not asked or answered by Dr. Brook, nor by any other prominent Objectivist (see this tweet). In the end, we can only assert: "Not in Ayn Rand's name!"

Theo Willem is author of Promised You America and may be followed on Twitter.Connecting the Democrats' dots: Immigration reform, taxes, and votes

The immigration reform bill presented to the president by "the five white guys" was deemed to be an unserious effort that drastically favored liberals. At the same time (coincidentally), the media went nuts over the president allegedly saying, "Why do we have to take immigrants from these [s]-hole countries?"

The media overreaction to the alleged comment reached the level of derangement. CNN, MSNBC, and others lost their minds  to effect. It was all for show. If we look at the merits of immigration reform, it is clear that the president and Republicans, if they fall in line, have the winning hand. The American people may be inclined to show mercy to children brought here outside their own will. If they're in school or have joined the service or otherwise are not a drain on the economy, they can be given consideration regarding citizenship, but the premise that their extended family, to include those who did break the law by entering this country, is ludicrous. Illegal invaders need to get in the back of the queue. The wall summarily is a no-brainer. One would not leave their front door open and allow just anyone to come in the home. If you want to come here, do it legally, and make the case for why you should be invited in. The Raise Act is a good start. The Democrats are entirely to blame for our current circumstance. Our progressive tax system has created a two-tier (five-quintile) system  the upper 50% of income-earners in America who pay taxes and the lower 50% of income-earners who receive the lion's share of government's "safety net" spending. A vast majority of those who've come here illegally receive far more in net benefits than they contribute, in the form of taxes. Our federal government, states, and municipalities across America have debt that far exceeds their projected revenues. It costs $20,000 per year to teach a student in California. The equivalent cost in Utah is $6,700. Democrats have openly stated that they are importing immigrants for votes. Would Democrats be pro-immigrant, all other things being equal, if the immigrants voted Republican? I think not. Having said that, Republicans need to do a better job of educating legal immigrants and minorities on the merits of the Republican versus the Progressive system of government. More progress has been made, for all Americans, in the past twelve months than in the previous eight years. If you vote the way you voted in your country (that you left), don't be surprised if it turns into the s-hole that you left behind.A few weeks ago, I learned of the movie from reading a review by Professor Victor Davis Hanson :

On Wednesday, we went to see Darkest Hour , a movie about Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the U.K. in 1940. I assume that the movie will soon be available online, but we went the old-fashioned way: a big box of popcorn and a large screen.

Within days of Churchill taking office, all of what is now the European Union either would be in Hitler's hands or could be considered pro-Nazi "neutral." "Darkest Hour" gets its title from the understandable depression that had spread throughout the British government. Members of Churchill's new War Cabinet wanted to sue for peace. Chamberlain and senior conservative politician Edward Wood both considered Churchill unhinged for believing [that] Britain could survive. Both appeasers dreamed that thuggish Italian dictator Benito Mussolini might be persuaded to beg Hitler to call off his planned invasion of Great Britain. They dreamed [that] Mussolini could save a shred of English dignity through an arranged British surrender. Not Churchill.

The movie does have a bit of fantasy: the subway ride, when P.M. Churchill meets constituents who are in no mood to surrender or cut deals with Hitler. While it did not happen that way, the British willingness to fight and defend their homeland was no fantasy. It became clear when P.M. Churchill spoke to the Parliament.

Let me leave you with a few other impressions.

First, you will love Mrs. Churchill.

Second, I was reminded of recent examples of presidential leadership, from President Bush going against conventional wisdom and doing the surge in Iraq in 2007 to President Reagan overruling his diplomats and calling on "Mr. Gorbachev" to "tear down this wall."

Third, do you think the modern U.K. would recognize the fighting spirit of its great grandparents in 1940? I don't think so. That may be the most depressing part of the story.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.Joe Arpaio shaping up to be the Roy Moore of Arizona

Joe Arpaio is a former longtime sheriff in Arizona known for his tough policies against illegal aliens. Good for him! Now he is running for the Senate in Arizona. The loss of his race for re-election as sheriff doesn't seem like a logical stepping stone to run for the U.S. Senate.

Joe Arpaio is 85 years old. Forgive my age-ism, but the U.S. Senate is a game for the young  for people in their 60s and 70s, not their mid-80s. Even worse, Arpaio's entering the race looks nearly certain to hand the Senate seat to a RINO, or even worse, to a Democrat. Before Arpaio's entry, the leading contender was Kelli Ward, a conservative state senator endorsed by Mark Levin who ran against John McCain in the primary and lost. Ward is now running for the open seat created by Jeff Flake, a seat some might argue is open even while Flake is still in office. Ward's main opponent in the primary was, before Arpaio entered, Congresswoman Martha McSally, who has an impressive resume from before she went to Congress, as an Air Force pilot who fought Saudi rules requiring women to wear "traditional attire." However, McSally's record in the House of Representatives has not been as impressive. She gets an "F" rating from conservativereview.com. She voted for the military to admit transvestites; voted against ending Obama's amnesty for illegal aliens; voted to keep John Boehner speaker of the House; voted to give Planned Parenthood a raise; and voted for big, fat spending bills without a penny of cuts. Before Arpaio entered the race, Ward was leading McSally in the polls, but now Arpaio is splitting the conservative vote, and he is basically tied with McSally, with Ward in third. If Arpaio wins, the polarizing 85-year-old may hand the seat over to a Democrat. If he splits the conservative vote with Ward and McSally wins the primary, we will have either a Democrat or a RINO in the Senate. Arpaio has no business entering the race at his age. He's just acting as a spoiler who will hand the seat over to a liberal. Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.Officials said that this flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in recent years.

There are large outbreaks of the flu , despite widespread administration of the flu vaccine. How can this be?

The rate of flu hospitalizations  the number of people hospitalized with flu per 100,000  nearly doubled last week compared with the previous week. Last week it was 22.7 per 100,000 people; the week before that[, the] rate was 13.7. Officials feared that the flu vaccine may not work particularly well this season, but it appears to be faring slightly better than expected. Preliminary testing by the CDC suggests [that] the vaccine is probably more protective than it was in Australia during its 2017 winter. The Australian interim estimate suggested [that] the H3N2 component of the vaccine  and H3N2 was the main virus there during their most recent winter  was only about 10 percent effective. That means if 100 people got the flu shot and all were exposed to H3N2 viruses, only 10 would have been protected.

Or maybe it means that if 100 people didn't get the flu shot, only 10 would have been protected by natural immunity.

[T]his year is starting to look like a severe season, and maybe more severe than last year, which was also bad, said Dr. Dan Jernigan, head of CDC's influenza division.

These are the same CDC that stated that whites make worse fathers than blacks. How trustworthy can they be?

Jernigan said it looks more [as though] the H3N2 portion of the vaccine is performing here [as] it did last year, when it was 34 percent effective at preventing infection. Unfortunately, that's about on par for the flu shot's H3N2 component, which is the weak link of flu vaccine.

How can a vaccine be 34% effective? Either it works or it doesn't. When you see figures like 10% and 34% bandied around, it looks to me that when the vaccine "works," what is actually happening is that natural immunity is protecting people, and the vaccine is taking credit for it.

Apparently, even these relatively low numbers of 10% and 34% mean nothing. According to studies, when the vaccine is "most effective," 1% of the population catches the flu instead of 4%. What that means is that most people are already immune to the flu. And the difference between 1% and 4% is so small that it might be due to statistical variation, bias, or a correlation without causation. Perhaps people who get the flu shot are more healthy in general on average.

And there is a risk to getting the flu shot, including potential side-effects.

If this were a real vaccine, it would work most of the time. It doesn't. The only surprise is that every time there is a flu epidemic, the media keep pumping out articles saying how good the flu shot still is.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.Any recordings? Any proof that he said this? No matter. The media ran with it. Outrage and angst  and a bit of glee for the media talking heads since now they can actually say one of George Carlin's seven dirty words on air and not get in trouble for it.

Big media, still breathless after endlessly discussing and dissecting Michael Wolff's new book, have another shiny object to chase: President Trump's supposed comments on Haiti. In a meeting with lawmakers, the president was reported to say, "Why are we having all these people from [s---]-hole countries come here?"

President Trump corrected the record via Twitter, saying, "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems."

Whether Trump used the word "s-hole" or not is up in the air. What isn't difficult to dispute is that he is right about the status of Haiti, and some African countries, regardless of what word he chose to describe it.

Don't believe me? Let's ask the U.S. State Department. Their Bureau of Consular Affairs issued a Haiti travel advisory on January 10, 2018.

Here's a level 3 out of 4 travel alert, with 4 being "do not travel."

Reconsider travel to Haiti due to crime and civil unrest. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, is common. Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents or emergencies. Protests, tire-burning, and road blockages are frequent and often spontaneous.

Level 4 is reserved for such paradises as Syria and Iran, which might also fall under Trump's descriptive term "s-hole."

A number of African countries also fall into level 3 or 4, where travel should either be reconsidered or canceled. "This is the highest advisory level due to greater likelihood of life-threatening risks," fitting President Trump's description.

Mind you, the president didn't refer to Haitians. Instead, he spoke of the country, using the term he may or may not have actually used. But his intent was clear.

Allowing unfettered immigration from such countries floods the U.S. with people adding little value to America. Many are illiterate; don't speak English; are low-skilled; and end up being supported by American taxpayers, providing little or nothing in return  not to mention the gang members and other criminal elements.

That's very different from an immigrant engineer from Norway or New Zealand, productive and willing to assimilate, as did immigrants from early in the last century.

Value is important. In fact, it is a major initiative of government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. These are mandates that doctors and hospitals provide and demonstrate "value" in the care they provide.

Why not "value-based immigration"? That is the essence of merit-based immigration practiced by most developed countries in the world, but somehow it's anathema to open borders advocates of both political parties here in the U.S.

The president also opened the door as to why Haiti is an "s-hole." What role did the Clinton Foundation, now under federal investigation, play in fleecing Haiti and turning it into the "s-hole" that Trump described?

Lastly, President Trump, in a crude yet effective manner, changed the discussion from one of compassion for the poor of the world to one of practicality when it comes to who is moving to America and from where.

It's just like when he made comments in 2015 about Mexican illegal immigrants: "they're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." All of a sudden, the narrative shifted. Now the media had to disprove Trump's assertion, defending gang members and Kate Steinle's killer.

Trump is putting the left on its heels. Now the leftists will have to defend Haiti as not being a country of "crime and civil unrest," as the State Department describes it. Ditto for other countries flooding our borders with immigrants. Brilliant strategy.

The high-horse media, Democrats, and NeverTrump Republicans should spare us their outrage. Trump is speaking as the common man does. As his voters do. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Substance over style. Trump being Trump.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.But...was Mr. Trump right? Perhaps far more than his opponents would like to admit. Don't take my word for it  take the word of the liberal, globalist United Nations, which celebrated its annual "World Toilet Day" and named its " Toilet Heroes " last November 19.

When President Trump asked why the U.S. should accept immigrants from third-world nations he allegedly characterized as "s-holes," liberals ( and some neo-conservatives ) howled with outrage, branding the president a bigot and a racist.

Here are a few interesting statistics, straight from the U.N.:

- Around 60% of the global population  4.5 billion people  have either no toilet at home or one that doesn't safely manage excreta. -862 million people worldwide still practi[c]e open defecation. - 1.8 billion people use an unimproved source of drinking water with no protection against contamination from [feces]. - Globally, 80% of the wastewater generated by society flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. - Only 39% of the global population (2.9 billion people) use a safely[] managed sanitation service [] that is, excreta safely disposed of in situ or treated off-site. - Combined with safe water and good hygiene, improved sanitation could prevent around 842,000 deaths each year.

Wow! Sixty percent of the world's population has no effective toilet in the home? And we expect that these people are going to emigrate to the U.S. and become rocket scientists and nuclear engineers? Lots of luck with that.

"Open defecation" is, apparently, a pretty big problem in the third world  particularly in India. The liberal Washington Post, which excoriated Trump for his comments, reported on this last fall.

How about the places President Trump cited  Africa, Haiti, and Norway? According to the World Bank, open defecation is practiced by 55% of the population of Benin, 76% of the population of Eritrea, 42% of Liberia, and 44% of Madagascar. In Niger (where four U.S. troops died last fall), 71% defecate openly. Nineteen percent of the population of Haiti still practices open defecation, down from 38% in 2000.

And Norway? Zero percent.Trump's vulgarity masks an important truth about immigration

Another day, another pathetic episode of mainstream media meltdown. President Trump did the unthinkable. Once again, he dared to speak the truth: why should the United States be a dumping ground for millions of people from "s-hole" countries? And another undeniable truth? The majority of people arriving in America today are from third-world countries. Upon their arrival, most are unemployable, and they speak little to no English. Some are illiterate  they can't read, nor can they even write their own languages. In most major American cities, there are burgeoning immigrant enclaves populated by foreigners who have absolutely no intention of ever assimilating into the American culture. And while the Democrats and their leftist media enablers continue to feign outrage and indignation over Trump's spoken truism, one overarching fact remains: the U.S. immigration system is broken. It's been hopelessly broken for many decades and has spiraled out of control, since President Herbert Hoover proposed quotas for people wishing to immigrate to America. It was an Act of Congress, approved May 26, 1924, titled "An Act to limit the immigration of aliens into the United States." The legislation was for the specific purpose of limiting the number of aliens in the United States. Hoover was a Republican. One of his successors, Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, struggled with the influx of Mexican farm-workers and in 1950 set up the Commission on Migratory Labor to look into illegal migration of foreign workers into the U.S. In 1951, Truman signed legislation permitting a specified number of legal migrants to harvest crops in the U.S. It was Truman who said, "Everyone suffers from the presence of these illegal immigrants in the community." Both Hoover and Truman would be labeled heinous, bigoted racists or worse by current-day Democrats.

Truman's successor, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated "Operation Wetback" in a coordinated effort between the U.S. Border Patrol and the military to physically locate and then deport illegal aliens in 1954. It's estimated that 1.3 million illegals were deported or left voluntarily. The overwhelming majority of illegals returned to Mexico, most of whom were residing in the U.S. Southwest. Eisenhower said in his 1953 State of the Union address, "It is a manifest right of our [g]overnment to limit the number of immigrants our [n]ation can absorb. It is also a manifest right of our [g]overnment to set reasonable requirements on the character and the numbers of the people who come to share our land and our freedom." President Trump simply reiterated Eisenhower's words, in perhaps a more blunt, but certainly a truthful manner of speaking. What do Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, and Trump all have in common? The knowledge that unfettered illegal immigration is an overwhelming financial strain and a cumbersome burden on American society as a whole and that it cannot be sustained in perpetuity. In contrast to his immediate predecessors, candidate Donald Trump willingly embraced the issue of illegal immigration during his campaign. Furthermore, as president, Trump has vowed to resolve and finally fix the problematic issues of chain migration and lax government oversight of foreigners issued work visas; cap the number of qualified refugees; eliminate the "diversity" lottery; and end the DACA program, the unconstitutional amnesty program implemented by Barack Obama without the legislative approval of Congress. President Trump is also determined to oversee the building of a border wall between Mexico and the United States. No other president in modern history has attempted to take on such an enormous task. Instead, President Trump has been called numerous insulting and slanderous adjectives, in addition to beating back activist judges, who have attempted repeatedly to thwart his resolve to fix a broken immigration system. Maybe it's time to examine the immigration laws of other first-world countries and adopt a sensible national policy, modeling laws that are working in countries such as Australia. I've taken the time to research and study their immigration policies. One thing is for certain: the immigration laws in Australia are equitable and fair; the laws are strictly enforced; and, more importantly, there is no such thing as illegally immigrating to Australia. Legal immigration has a single purpose: to benefit the nation. The same can't be said in America."Looking back, I am shocked I said that," he told the newspaper. "It was a wrong statement. It was wrong."

U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Hoekstra apologized after claiming that there are parts of the Netherlands too dangerous to go to due to Muslim immigration.

It was wrong! Wrong!

Hoekstra made the remarks in question during a conference on terrorism hosted by the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center. He talked about the supposed "chaos" brought to Europe by immigrants from Islamic countries and repeated a baseless theory about so-called "no-go zones" that is popular in right-wing media. "With the influx of the Islamic community  and yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands. All right? There are no-go zones in France." In the interview with the Dutch newspaper, Hoekstra said that he couldn't recall what his remark was based on. "I mixed up countries. I was wrong. I can't recall how that could happen. I know: I was wrong," he said.

Did he mention that he was wrong?

"How many times do I have to say sorry?" he said.

Well, if Ambassador Hoekstra ever read 1984, he will remember the scene where Winston Smith is tortured until he will not merely confess that two plus two equals five, but believe it.

Ambassador Hoekstra is being asked to experience doublethink, to simultaneously believe and not believe what he is saying. For there are "no-go" zones in the Netherlands that are too dangerous for non-Islamic citizens to safely enter.

The government has released the list of 40 "no-go" zones, mostly Islamic. The Kolenkit area in Amsterdam is the number[-]one Muslim "problem district" in the country. The next three districts are in Rotterdam  Pendrecht, het Oude Noorden[,] and Bloemhof. The Ondiep district in Utrecht is in the fifth position, followed by Rivierenwijk (Deventer), Spangen (Rotterdam), Oude Westen (Rotterdam), Heechterp/ Schieringen (Leeuwarden)[,] and Noord-Oost (Maastricht). The Dutch public broadcaster NOS television reported that the Netherlands has become one of the major European suppliers of Islamic jihadists. According to NOS, about 100 Dutch Muslims are active as jihadists in Syria, and most have joined the notorious Jabhat al-Nusra group. In the district of Schilderswijk, about two kilomet[er]s from The Hague's city centre, an almost entirely Muslim population of some 5[,]000 residents surrounds the El Islam mosque. Dutch-born citizens are repeatedly attacked by foreigners in these zones. The perpetrators are often so sure of their impunity that they publish online videos of their crimes. [Labor] (PvdA) leader Diederik Samsom said in September 2011 in NRC Handelsblad that Moroccans have acquired "an ethnic monopoly" of certain forms of crime. Research done in 2014, found that more than 1[,]200 youth gangs are active in the Netherlands, and about 300 of these gangs are extremely violent. The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, who ordered the report, said the gangs were Moroccan youths.

It's ironic that with all the problems Islam is causing in the Netherlands, the Dutch media should be focused on getting our ambassador to apologize for pointing out the problem rather than on addressing it. The Dutch are so politically correct that they would rather be destroyed from within than offend the ones trying to eliminate them.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.In 1899, when famous arctic explorer Robert Peary reached Ellesmere Island, in Canada, he found the ruins of a hut erected by a previous arctic expedition in the islands northeastern shore. The hut was a three-room building built with long, wooden boards, and covered with tar paper, but such type of construction was notoriously difficult to keep warm during the freezing polar winters. Peary found the building utterly unfit for habitation, and so he had the building torn down and rebuilt several smaller quarters in its place. For the next thirty years, Pearys hutsnamed Fort Congerplayed an important role in several high arctic expeditions.

The original Fort Conger was built in 1881 by explorers of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition led by Lt. Adolphus Greely of the Fifth United States Cavalry. The crew was dropped on the island by the ship Proteus on August 11, 1881, with ample food and fuel to survive and explore comfortably for a year or so.

The remaining buildings of Fort Conger. Photo credit: JeffAmantea/Flickr

The crew built a large house using pre-fabricated sections and named it after U.S. Senator Omar D. Conger who had supported the expedition. Over the next two years, twenty-five men, including officers and Inuit lived and conducted scientific research and observation at Fort Conger. The weather played favorably allowing two crew members to achieve a new "farthest north" record off the north coast of Greenland. But the extraordinarily warm summer that year belied the harshness of the arctic, causing the crew to miscalculate the difficulties which their relief expeditions would face in reaching the island in subsequent years. A ship with new supplies was scheduled for the next year, but the weather and the ice forced it to turn around. A second ship sent in 1883 also failed to reach them. By the time the third rescue ship reached Fort Conger in 1884, only seven of the original twenty five were alive. The rest had succumbed to either starvation or hypothermia or drowning, while one was shot for repeatedly stealing food rations.

When Robert Peary reached Fort Conger 15 years later, he found the hut in chaotic abandon. Initially, Pearys party lived in the former Greelys house for shelter for one and a half years, but when his supply vessel failed to reach Fort Conger, Peary implemented his emergency plan for sheltering the party in smaller huts built with the lumber of the Greely house and other scavenged pieces of wood. Peary, who was familiar with the Inuits building techniques, constructed three smaller huts, partially buried in the ground and connected with each other by tunnels. Unlike Greelys house that was frozen cold in winter, Peary used six layers of protection consisting of tar paper, double wooden walls filled with silt and gravel, and various types of paper and asbestos found in Greelys house. In addition, the party banked the structures with earth and turf, and then covered it with snow.

Peary returned to Fort Conger twiceonce in 1905 and again in 1908. Other explorers too, including Edward Shackleton, used Fort Conger as a base from 1915 through 1935.

Fort Conger still stands today, although its longevity has been threatened by degradation to the wooden structures, bank erosion, and inorganic contamination. In recognition of the sites enduring importance, Pearys huts were declared Classified Federal Heritage Buildings.

The original Greelys house.

Greely Relief Expedition at Fort Conger on August 1881. Photo credit: National Museum of the US Navy/Flickr

Fort Conger today. Photo credit: Cory Trepanier/Flickr

Aerial view of Fort Congers extant remains in 2003. At the center are the three Peary huts and berm outlining Pearys winter tent with the foundation of the Greely house at bottom left. Photo credit: T. Christie(ANSA) - Rome, January 12 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni on Friday chided the 5-Star Movement (M5S) administration in Rome for allegedly not showing "the maximum efficiency" in coping with a string of woes - prompting Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi to say she needed powers similar to those wielded by other European mayors to deal with problems properly, rather than hearing the premier's "election chatter".

The anti-establishment group also told Gentiloni he should stick to being premier and not campaign for his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) ahead of the March 4 general election.

Gentiloni said that Mayor Virginia Raggi's M5S administration "has not shown maximum efficiency".

He said "this city cannot simply be governed by facing a string of emergencies that emerge every week..with which even the most efficient administration would struggle.

"And I don't think we are in a situation where we can have maximum efficiency".

The government "is there for" Rome and the central government is working with the municipal administration despite "suspicions", Gentiloni said. "We are the government and we can only have a spirit of collaboration on Rome even though this time the help was greeted by suspicious reluctance," he said. He said the government "appreciates the effort to give the city a long-term approach and urges everyone to have for Rome the universal ambition that this city deserves". Rome is in the midst of a trash crisis, the latest in a string of woes to hit the administration led by Raggi.

It has also been hit by appointments probes, poor public transport and urban blight.

Raggi was elected in a landslide in June 2016 to become Rome's first woman mayor and her administration has been seen as a test bed for the M5S's ambitions to lead Italy.

In response to Gentiloni's perceived criticism, Raggi said that "in order to govern this city you need the powers all Europe's major capitals have, and not chat ahead of the general election". She said "we're in the election campaign, therefore the principle that those who shout the loudest wins is back, those who offend and attack their opponents, ignoring programmes. "Today it is the turn of Gentiloni against Raggi".

Raggi said "I have asked the premier several times for the executive to finally work to enact the law that set up Roma Capitale in 2010.

"The government has never replied.

"In general, I avoid rows but I don't like lies.

"If Gentiloni is really in good faith, as appears, he should work on the enacting decrees of the Roma Capitale law.

"That is the real long-term perspective".

Raggi went on: "Over the last few months, as he well knows, there has been fruitful collaboration with some ministers, not 'hyped' on the TV and in newspapers, which has led to good results for the citizens.

"I hope that we can set aside rows motivated only by election mania".

Meanwhile M5S Rome Council Whip Paolo Ferrara said the premier should stick to his job and not engage in the electoral campaign. Ferrara said on Facebook: "Gentiloni should stick to being premier, not (taking part in) the election campaign. "Their (Gentiloni's Democratic Party, PD) efficiency in governing is the 13 billion euros of debt (Raggi) inherited. "Gentiloni's statements are disgraceful." "The efficiency he talks about is by chance that shown in the past decades by PD governments? "The efficiency that led Rome to have 13 billion euros in debt? "The premier should stop waging an electoral campaign.

"Indeed, he shouldn't waste time and should appoint a debt commissioner for Rome"Shabana shot for the series in London, where she bonded with the entire cast.

Next Of Kin, a drama series on British television, which airs this week, is creating ripples across the UK with its heart-rending portrayal of a pertinent dilemma. The show presents the issues faced by the Muslim Asian community in Great Britain, as it is besieged by acts of terrorism.

Shabana Azmi has a pivotal role in the series. She says, Its a six-part drama series about a family falling apart when a young member of the family disappears. I play Archie Punjabis mother, Mrs Shirani, who grows from being a conventional Asian to accepting change.

Shabana shot for the series in London, where she bonded with the entire cast. I vastly enjoyed being on my own for three months in London. The unit was lovely. Archie and I got along like a house on fire. Jack Davenport, who plays my son-in-law kept me regaled throughout, she smiles.

Shabana even shares a Bollywood moment with Davenport in the first episode. She chuckles, Its a spontaneous moment in the episode. Jack was only too willing to oblige. I know I have two left feet, but Ive been at this wedding in Delhi of a very close friends daughter. I have learnt to thrown caution to the winds and become the belle of the ball. For all you know, Farah Khan may be preparing a solo number for me.

Shabana loved the Next Of Kin experience. It was the first time Jack was in a project full of Asians, in which he was the odd man out. He kept joking about having to pay for the sins of colonisation by carrying bags of his Asian wife and mother-in-law! The director Justin Chadwick was also terrific to work with, she adds.The raids were initiated on Saturday morning in nine premises in Chennai and at the Jorbagh residence in south Delhi.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said, 'There are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.' (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at ten premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, including the residence of his father and Congress leader P Chidambaram in Delhi, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The raids were initiated early on Saturday morning in nine premises in Chennai and at the Jorbagh residence of senior Chidambaram in south Delhi, official sources said.

Those searched include a chartered accountant linked to Karti, his personal assistant and Karti's residence at Thousand Lights area in Chennai, they said.

The sources said certain "incriminating" documents have been seized during the raids.

P Chidambaram termed the raids against his son "a comedy of errors" and claimed the officers were left "embarrassed" and "apologetic" as they could not find anything at his house.

He was speaking to media outside his Jorbagh residence in Delhi.

The central probe agency had, on December 1, 2017, conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

"Since they had the search warrant, I did not raise any objections to the search but I said I will record my protest that there is no FIR in respect of the scheduled crime registered by any investigating agency including the CBI. There are obviously no proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," P Chidambaram told reporters.

However, ED sources said their action is based on the FIR registered by the agency and the CBI in the case that has not been quashed by the court.

The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The agency had said it is investigating the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister (P Chidambaram)".

Also read: ED raids Karti Chidambaram's houses in Delhi, Chennai in Aircel-Maxis case



The ED also alleged that Karti has "disposed of" a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company "to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013".

It charged that Karti had "also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment" under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then finance minister even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval. However, approval was not obtained from CCEA," it alleged.

Karti is also being probed by the ED in an another money laundering case pertaining to the INX media deal.

He has been asked to appear by the agency on January 16 in this case.General Rawat said the deal was scrapped after DRDO offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with PM's 'Make in India' initiative.

General Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India's operational capabilities in the interim. (Photo: Representational | AP)

New Delhi: The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a USD 500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defence contractor Rafael, Army chief Bipin Rawat has said.

New Delhi recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India this week.

General Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.

"They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results," General Rawat said.

"That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal), " he added.

Read: Ahead of Israeli PM's visit, India cancels USD 500 mn defence deal

General Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India's operational capabilities in the interim.

"So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? It's through the Spike. Rather than going whole hog we are in the discussion with the government" to fill in the gap, he said.

"We can possibly look at a lesser number to meet the gap," he added.

India has been investing tens of billions of dollars in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter China and Pakistan.

Israel is a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of USD 1 billion of military equipment each year.

In April 217, the two countries signed a military deal worth nearly USD 2 billion which includes the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

But PM Modi has said he wants to end India's status as the world's number one defence importer and to have 70 percent of hardware manufactured domestically by the turn of the decade.Assets worth more than Rs 61 crore were seized by the department over the week from multiple lockers located in the private vault in Delhi.

The assets allegedly belong to some high net worth individuals from Delhi like a builder, a gutka trader and some businessmen based in the national capital. (Photo: Representational | PTI)

New Delhi: A total of Rs 85.2 crore in cash, bullion and jewellery have been seized by the Income Tax Department after it searched a private vault in Delhi as part of its anti-black money drive.

A fresh seizure of over Rs 23 crore in gold jewellery, biscuits, precious stones and cash was made Friday by the sleuths of the investigation wing from the vault, official sources said.

Assets worth more than Rs 61 crore were seized by the department over the week from multiple lockers located in the private vault in the South Extension area of Delhi.

Sources privy to the operation said out of the total Rs 85.2 crore stash seized, Rs 8 crore is in cash (mostly Rs 2000 notes) while the rest is bullion, jewellery, diamonds and other precious stones.

The assets allegedly belong to some high net worth (HNIs) individuals from Delhi like a builder, a gutka trader and some businessmen based in the national capital.

They said that the department has initiated proceedings for tax evasion and under the benami assets law against the illegal vault holders.

The case pertains to black money detected post demonetisation and some others being probed under the new anti-benami law.

The lockers have been opened now and unaccounted assets seized, a senior official said.

The assesses did not allegedly declare these assets to the taxman and concealed them in these vaults.

Private lockers or vaults, that operate like normal bank lockers, are illegal and not recognised under the law.RJD leaders advocate Chittaranjan Sinha says the court is likely to hear his petitions on January 19.

On Sept 30, 2013, Lalu Yadav was held guilty in another case of illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from the Chaibasa treasury and sentenced to jail for five years. (Photo: ANI Twitter/File)

Ranchi: RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav moved the Jharkhand High Court on Friday in appeal against his conviction in a fodder scam case and also sought bail.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders advocate Chittaranjan Sinha said the court is likely to hear his petitions on January 19.

The special CBI court of Shiv Pal Singh had on January 6 handed down three-and-a-half-year prison sentence to Yadav in the case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994. This was the second of the five fodder scam cases against him.

On September 30, 2013, Yadav was held guilty in another case of illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from the Chaibasa treasury and sentenced to jail for five years. The RJD boss was on bail in this case when he was convicted and sentenced in the Deoghar case.

Apart from these two cases, he in an accused in three other cases of fodder scam estimated to have caused a loss of Rs 900 crore to the exchequer when he was the chief minister of undivided Bihar.The helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) 30 nautical miles off Mumbai.

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10:25 am, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: Debris of a Pawan Hans helicopter which went missing on Saturday morning was located by a Coast Guard ship around noon.

Four bodies were also recovered.

The helicopter with seven people, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) employees, had lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) 30 nautical miles off Mumbai.

Large scale Indian Coast Guard (ISG) sear and rescue operation is underway.

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10:25 am, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board, official sources told news agency PTI.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am, the sources said.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  Rules will be followed if and when a Chinese entity conducts research in Benham Rise, government officials said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Malacanang did not confirm or deny granting a Chinese think tank's request to study the waters off the eastern parts of Luzon, where Benham Rise is, and Mindanao  as alleged by opposition lawmaker Gary Alejano.

Alejano in a Facebook post on Friday said the project area includes resource-rich Benham Rise, which the government calls Philippine Rise. President Rodrigo Duterte renamed it in May 2017 after Chinese survey ships were spotted there in March.

WATCH: Things to know about Benham Rise

When asked about Alejano's statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said he will have to "check the details."

"But what I can assure Congressman Alejano and the Filipino people, we have the same rules for all the countries. We have to follow the law," he said.

The United Nations has declared that Benham Rise, an undersea plateau 135 miles off the coast of Aurora province, is part of the Philippines' extended continental shelf where the country has the sole right to its resources.

International maritime law requires foreign researchers to share their findings with the host country  should they be allowed to explore an area.

Foreign research teams must include Filipino scientists in their work in the Philippines and in areas where the country has sovereign rights. It is the DFA that grants permits.

"There's nothing suspicious about approval or disapproval of scientific research. Whether they are Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolians, Singaporeans, etc, if they comply they will [be approved] if they do not comply they will not [be approved]," Cayetano said.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Saturday echoed Cayetano's statement, saying the government can allow other countries to explore Philippine waters if they meet the requirements.

"For as long as we consent, it will be legal," he said in a press briefing in Cebu City.

Alejano on Friday said the DFA granted permit to the Institute of Oceanology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and will be joined by the University of the Philippines - Marine Science Institute (UP-MIS).

He expressed concern the Philippines might not be given equal access to information as "China was only forced to collaborate with UP-MIS for the sake of getting the permit."

"All things considered, allowing a Chinese national think tank to conduct a so-called scientific research over Philippine waters, even with participation of Filipinos, is careless and absurd," he added.

The DFA earlier revealed that China applied for a permit twice to conduct research in Benham Rise since 2015, but these were all rejected as there were no Filipino scientists in the proposed exploration.Observers are of the view that the ongoing state-wide review tour of chief minister is aimed at boosting his image.

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars cavalcade was on Friday pelted with stones while he was on his way to a village in Buxar as part of his state-wide Vikas Samiksha Yatra.

The chief minister was unharmed but two security personnel received injuries in the attack allegedly carried out by angry mahadalits who wanted him to visit their village.

Sources claimed that a group of villagers wanted the chief minister to see the condition of amenities in Nandar village but their request was turned down, which lead to a disagreement.

The incident was downplayed by leaders of the ruling JD(U) but the Opposition RJD alleged that it reflected the simmering discontent among people.

RJD MLA Shakti Singh Yadav said, The ruling party must take the issue seriously as it seems that backward classes are feeling neglected. The attack also shows growing public anger against the state governments failed policies and promises. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has been on a state-wide tour since December 12 to take stock of state government's development schemes.

After the attack on his convoy, Mr Kumar who went on to address a public meeting in Dumraon block where he said, "Some people feel disturbed over my commitment to progress of the state. They try to mislead and provoke others but people should not get perturbed over such minor happenings".

"I don't sit in the state capital and give orders. I move around and interact with people but there are a few people who don't like this," said Mr Kumar.

This is not the first time when the chief minister has faced a protest during his review tour. Earlier this month, some youths waved black flags at his public meeting in Saharsa district.

Observers are of the view that the ongoing state-wide review tour of chief minister is aimed at boosting his image. They said, "His gains during elections will depend only on the success of his seven resolves".

The seven resolves of the government include providing clean drinking water, continuous electricity, toilet in every home, unemployment benefits for youths, better access to higher education, women empowerment and lanes and by-lanes in villages.According to researchers, Mitochondria in the white blood cells secrete a web of DNA fibres that raises the alarm.

Washington DC: A previously unknown warning system that contributes to the body's immune system has been discovered.

According to the Linkoping University researchers, Mitochondria in the white blood cells secrete a web of DNA fibres that raises the alarm.

The results may lead to increased knowledge about autoinflammatory diseases and cancer.

White blood cells are major components of the body's immune defence, and the research group has shown that several types of these cells react against small DNA fragments that are similar to the DNA from bacteria and viruses.

The white blood cells spray out a web consisting of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) strands. Mitochondria are present in all cells and normally produce the energy needed by the cell, by burning sugar and fat to form water and carbon dioxide.

The web that the mitochondria release sends signals to the surrounding cells that the body is under attack, and cause other white blood cells to release a signal substance known as "interferon type 1". This substance helps the immune system to combat the infection.

"We show that the white blood cells in the immune system can release mtDNA outside the cells in an active process in response to infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses. The discovery raises the possibility of further studies in which we will try to reduce the release of mtDNA, and in this way reduce the inflammation that it causes", explained researcher Bjorn Ingelsson.

Other types of web formed by white blood cells in the immune system (known as "neutrophils") have been previously known. These cells release meshes coated with antibacterial proteins. However, the formation of the newly discovered mtDNA webs differs fundamentally from that of the other types of web. The researchers have shown that the mtDNA webs are activated within a couple of minutes, which is faster than the neutrophil-based meshes. The latter also lack the signal function that the mtDNA webs have. Further, the mtDNA webs survive in the blood longer before being dissolved.

High levels of interferon type 1, the signal substance activated by the mtDNA webs, occur in several autoimmune diseases and several types of cancer. The researchers believe that it may be possible to quantify the secreted mtDNA molecules and interpret the warning signals, and in this way understand these diseases better.

The results have been published in the scientific journal PNAS.Both of them were found guilty of manslaughter but neither was in the dock to hear the verdicts after refusing to leave their prison cells.

CCTV footage showed them later burning their clothes in a park to hide the evidence. (Representational Image)

Two 19-year-olds, Alex Macdonald and Charlie While, bludgeoned a homeless Romanian man to death with a meat cleaver and fence post then burnt their clothes to hide the evidence.

Both of them were found guilty of manslaughter but neither was in the dock to hear the verdicts after refusing to leave their prison cells.

According to reports, Macdonald beat the 21-year-old up to 20 times with the piece of wood while White struck him six or seven times with the cleaver.

However, White claimed Macdonald later confessed to being the one who killed the Romanian, saying he repeatedly hit him 'cos it was funny'.

CCTV footage showed them later burning their clothes in a park to hide the evidence.

Macdonald also sought to blame a third defendant, 20-year-old Jimmy Buckley.

He told the jury at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent that Buckley confessed to 'finishing off' Sirbu.

However, before their trial got underway Buckley was deemed mentally unfit to enter a plea to murder. The jury therefore found he 'did the act' as opposed to guilt. All three will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Both Macdonald and White have previous convictions for violence and admitted they were wanted by police for failing to comply with court orders at the time of the murder.

Sirbu's battered and lifeless body was discovered in the Loose Valley Conservation Area of Maidstone Kent, by a dog walker on the morning of May 7 last year.

He had been living rough in a tent for about two weeks before he was brutally killed.

He suffered 28 injuries in total, including multiple head, facial and ribs fractures.26-year-old travel blogger Ankita Kumars wanderlust is taking her on unforgettable journeys across the world.

Twenty-six-year-old Ankita Kumars travel tales are awe-inspiring. From being a shy, small-town teenager who was afraid to even step out of her home to buy a toothbrush, to going away on a four month solo trip to South America, this travel blogger with an impressive following on Instagram has sure come a long way.

Just back from her exhilarating trip to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia, Ankita talks about why she chose to go there. People are usually scared of travelling to these countries, especially Columbia, owing to the drug scene and violence, but thats where the thrill lies for me, shares Ankita.

Once I was in South America, I realised how wrong labels can be. I found the warmest people there. I paintballed in Pablo Escobars mansion, swam alongside eagle rays and manta rays, petted iguanas, and did a three-day survival camp in the Amazon rainforest, shares Ankita.

Describing the camp, Ankita says, We had to fetch water from the river or drink from water-bearing plants. We built a shelter when it was raining heavily and had to survive a night without a fire because everything was too wet. I could hear jaguars and alligators, it was spooky! We even had to catch our own fish and eat live bugs because that was our only source of protein. She adds, The rest of the trip was also great. I didnt get mugged or harassed. I took adequate precautions like leaving my passport back in the hostel, never talking on the phone on the streets, etc.

Recounting how it all began, Ankita says, My father was born and brought up in Hyderabad, my mothers a Telugite and we lived in Rourkela, a small town in Odisha. One of my fondest memories of Hyderabad is from last year, when we flew kites in the Secunderabad Club with my cousins. But it was largely a very cocooned life for me until I turned 17 and went to Bengaluru to study. Thats when I started travelling to near-by places.

She adds, I was having a difficult time with my job at a production house and wanted to get away. After I met someone who had returned from Vietnam, I decided that I wanted to go too, by myself. I had saved up enough to go away for a month but I knew my parents wouldnt be comfortable with it, so I lied that Id be going with friends! In retrospect, Id say I shouldnt have done that and wouldnt encourage anybody to do so. Try to convince them instead. I had no idea what I was doing. I went there with no knowledge of how to even get a new sim card or that I needed an international card for transactions. But this trip opened my eyes and I fell in love. Then, there was no looking back and I covered many other countries.

So how does she manage the finances? Ankita freelances as a filmmaker and gets some of her trips sponsored! On one of my travels, I met Rohith, a biker who had ridden all across Europe for six months, and got almost everything sponsored for him. He advised me to start writing to companies and I did. So my Peru trip, for example, was completely funded by an adventure company. My travel website is also picking up now, says Ankita, whose next project is very exciting.

Three other travellers and I are converting a van into a caravan and travelling the North Eastern states. Were painting the van ourselves and we plan to pick up a chef along the way, to convert it into a food truck for a day, and if we meet a musician, we may host gigs on the streets, she smiles.

Her favourite country in South America is Peru, says Ankita. I experienced a very spiritual connection with the place. Just a short while into the climb of a mountain next to Machu Picchu, I found myself crying, filled with emotion. It was a beautiful experience, she says, reminiscing how the clouds at Machu Picchu seemed to engulf them, as if to protect them from the world. This made me want to visit the mountains in India. I am sure to feel this kind of emotion there too, it is my country after all! she says as she signs off.Probe reveals that the accused met the complainant on Monday, and Kharbanda allegedly invited her to his room.

In her plaint, the woman charged that Kharbanda supposedly tried to sedate her and molested her. (Photo:PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police has arrested a 25-year-old non-resident Indian on Wednesday for allegedly molesting a US national at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri last week.

The accused, identified as Anmol Singh Kharbanda, was guest at Hotel Taj Diplomatic Enclave where he met the 52-year-old woman, also a guest.

Probe reveals that the accused met the complainant on Monday, and Kharbanda allegedly invited her to his room. In her plaint, the woman charged that Kharbanda supposedly tried to sedate her and molested her.

Additional commiss-ioner of police (New Delhi) B.K. Singh said they introduced themselves to each other in the evening and the incident happened around 10pm.

Kharbanda, who has come from US where he works in California, had drinks with the woman in his room. She has alleged that he tried to grab her and molested her besides offering some laced drinks, said additional commissioner of police (New Delhi) B.K. Singh.

The police said that the matter was reported on Wednesday, two days after the alleged incident. She told us that a day after the incident, she checked out and moved to Gurgaon where she checked into another hotel and later revisited Delhi to report the matter to us, said Mr Singh. Based on her statement, we registered a case of molestation and causing hurt by means of poison at Chanakyapuri police station. Her statement was recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code after which Kharbanda was arrested, said Mr Singh.The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu at 10.25 am, with 5 ONGC employees and 2 pilots on board.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being press into service. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Mumbai: Two senior officers of ONGC are feared to have been killed along with three others in a helicopter crash off Mumbai on Saturday.

A Pawan Hans helicopter, which was heading to ONGC's north field with seven people on board, went missing off the Mumbai coast, official sources said.

Speaking on the matter, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Navy & Coast Guard are on their job. I am also going to Mumbai to coordinate things.I will discuss it with Defence Minister. She is also cooperating and has instructed Navy and Coast Guard to look into the issue extensively".

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 am, with five ONGC employees and two pilots on board, they said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am, the sources said. Search operations are on, they added.

The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i is also being pressed into service.

The Indian Coast Guard has tweeted about the identification recovered from the debris.

Two bodies out of four recovered at sea near debris of ill feted @ONGC_ Aircraft identified by the cards in wallet @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/yG8dQ0t6Nx  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) January 13, 2018City collector will hand over around 52,000 sq mt plot near Mankhurd to the state by next month for the construction of the new prison.

The construction of the new prison was proposed by the Maharashtra government in 2014 to tackle overcrowding in the existing prisons in and around Mumbai. (File picture of the Bombay High Court)

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court that it has finally completed formalities to acquire land for a new prison complex in Mumbai, four years after it made the proposal.

As per an affidavit submitted in the high court on Friday by the Maharashtra government, the city collector will hand over around 52,000 sq mt plot at Mandale village near Mankhurd to the state by next month for the construction of the new prison.

The construction of the new prison was proposed by the Maharashtra government in 2014 to tackle overcrowding in the existing prisons in and around Mumbai.

As per the affidavit, the state home department, the revenue department, and other stakeholders met on January 3.

All formalities were completed during the meeting and the state revenue minister directed the city collector to hand over the 52,000 sq mt plot within a month's time.

Appearing for the state, advocate Anil Sakhre informed the court that the Public Works Department had also been directed to appoint an architect and prepare the plan and estimates for the new construction.

In the meantime, Sakhre said, the state had already begun constructing "eight new barracks at the Yerwada Central Jail premises in Pune since the prison has sufficient space" for the same.

"All new construction at the Yerwada premises and the proposed site in Mankhurd will be done in line with the suggestions of the state's prison reforms committee," Sakhre said.

The affidavit was filed in compliance with a previous order of the high court.

In February 2017, a bench led by Justice AS Oka had directed the Maharashtra government to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge and experts as members to conduct a "scientific study on setting up a model prison with necessary infrastructure and steps to reduce overcrowding in jails."

Following the court's order at the time, the state had conducted an inspection, which revealed that the Arthur road jail in Mumbai and the Yerwada jail were severely overcrowded.

It had also revealed that the prisons across the state did not have adequate number of toilets and bathrooms, and that the male inmates often had to bathe in the open. In the women's cell too, there were inadequate number of toilets and bathrooms.

The inspection report had also said that these toilets were ill-maintained and dirty.

In the affidavit submitted on Friday, the state said that the central prisons in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Nagpur required around 200 additional toilets, bathrooms, and bathing platforms.

"We are carrying out repair work at the existing toilets and bathrooms. We will soon allocate funds for construction of new toilets and bathrooms too," Sakhre said.

The court has now directed the state to submit by February 12 a chart detailing all repair and construction work that is proposed or currently being undertaken, the cost for the same, and the time that will be taken to complete all such work.In its third year, the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup 2018 will see 75 talukas from 24 districts participate.

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that Maharashtra would be drought free by 2019 because of measures undertaken by the state government and NGOs like Bollywood actor Aamir Khans Paani Foundation, in the irrigation and water conservation sector. He was speaking at the launch of the actors Satyamev Jayate Water Cup 2018 to laud efforts for water-conservation in the state.

On behalf of his foundation, Aamir revealed that the competition would be held in 75 talukas from 24 districts in the state. Senior industrialists like Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Mukesh Ambani, the president of the Jain Seva Sangh, Mr Shantilal Mutha and state minister Jaikumar Raval were present at the launch of the Water Cup at Sahyadri guest house.

Mr Fadnavis explained the concept and importance of the Jalyukta Shivar scheme. He said that water conservation and rejuvenation of natural water fronts work is more important than irrigation projects as it also increases the level of underground water.

This is the third year of the competition and Aamir has been travelling across hundreds of villages in the state spreading awareness and training villagers in water conservation methods. The Tata Trust, and the Reliance Foundation are helping in this project.

The Paani Foundation is training the people of the villages on how to develop and protect water resources as well as providing help for projects. Villagers are working on their own initiative and the government is also helping through various schemes.Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded that an inquiry should be conducted into the death of CBI judge Loya.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday called the Supreme Court judges press conference as very shocking. He alleged that attempts are being made to make the judiciary dumb and deaf. The government should not interfere in the functioning of the judiciary, the Sena chief said.

Hailing the four judges who expressed their reservation on certain issues in the judiciary, Mr Thackeray said that they might have to face some action. But the action should not be biased, he told reporters at Sena Bhavan.

Taking a dig at BJP, Mr Thackeray said that winning polls does not mean running the government. The common people are asking whether one should trust judiciary or not. There are attempts to make the judiciary dumb and deaf. But the government should not take the judiciary for granted, he said.

Mr Thackeray demanded that an inquiry should be conducted in the death of CBI judge Loya who was handling the Soharabuddin encounter case. If things are clear then there should not be any fear. An inquiry should be conducted into the matter, he said.

The Sena chief questioned the Presidents Sunday visit to Mumbai to a Vipashyana centre in suburban Gorai. Why is the President coming to the Mumbai? What is the programme? he asked.

The four senior-most SC judges  Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M.B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph  had on Friday said that the situation in the top court was not in order and many less than desirable things have taken place.

Unless this institution is preserved, democracy will not survive in this country, they had said. Justice Chelameswar, the second senior judge after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra had said, sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order, and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months. He said the four judges had written a letter to the CJI some time back, raising important issues facing the apex court judiciary.Our foreign office seems to have adopted it to hide the complete absence of strategic clarity.

The official spokesman of the ministry of external affairs does not have an easy job, and I should know because I have done that job myself when I was in the Indian Foreign Service. He or she has to often try and convincingly explain foreign policy decisions that are ab initio inexplicable. On December 26, 2017, national security adviser Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Lt. Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua (retd) met at an undisclosed destination in Bangkok, as part of, what was described as operational level talks.

Not surprisingly, Raveesh Kumar, the spokesman, was asked about this meeting, and how it had taken place when we have publicly said that terror and talks cannot go together. It was not an easy question to answer, and certainly, Mr Kumar was not the maker of the policy that had put him in this predicament. His response, however, took the diplomatic cake as far as words without meanings go: We have said terror and talks cannot go together, he pronounced, but talks on terror can definitely go ahead.

This statement must rank as a classic of self-contradictory assertion. It accepted that talks will not be resumed so long as terrorism from across the border ceases. But simultaneously, it asserted that talks can happen on the issue of terrorism. Since terrorism is the reason why we put talks with Pakistan on hold, what does a statement mean when it says that terrorism will be the reason why talks can definitely go ahead?

Since I am reluctant to attribute a complete lack of strategic clarity to the MEA, I am inclined to believe that the statement it put out represents one of the best examples of the philosophical ambivalence of Hindu metaphysics, wherein empirical reality exists as maya at one level, and does not at another level wherein all is subsumed in the attribute-less omnipresence of Brahman. What appears as real is unreal; what appears to be unreal is actually the real. The universe is a conjurers play, where contradictions that seem to exist are an invention of the mind. All binaries are false and all binaries are true. Everything depends on the vision of the observer; negation is assertion, and assertion is negation. Opposites are subsumed in a larger unity, known only to the one who knows, but opaque to the mundane world. In such a philosophical vision, talks with Pakistan do not happen even when they happen, and happen even when the official policy remains that they cannot happen!

Or, perhaps, our foreign office has borrowed the sublime notion of syadavada of Jain philosophy. In support of such a carefully thought-out doctrine of relativity, Jainism cites the parable of seven blind men examining an elephant, and depending on what part they are in touch with, arriving at a different conclusion of what it is. At a philosophical level this revolt against absolutism is enshrined in the saptabhangi or seven step theory whose purpose is to establish that only a singular assertion of reality can be deceptive. The seven possibilities are: maybe it is; maybe it is not; maybe, it is, and it is not; maybe it is inexpressible; maybe, it is and is inexpressible; maybe, it is not and is inexpressible; maybe, it is and is not and is inexpressible.

Jainism formulated this remarkable doctrine to counter dogmatism. Our foreign office seems to have adopted it to hide the complete absence of strategic clarity. The saptabhangi for our foreign policy with Pakistan is: talks with Pakistan cannot happen; talks with Pakistan can happen; talks with Pakistan cannot happen unless Pakistan agrees to stop its sponsorship of terrorism; talks with Pakistan can happen because Pakistan will not stop its sponsorship of terrorism; if NSAs of the two countries  arguably the most influential interlocutors from either side  meet, they met, but talks did not happen; if talks did not happen, then presumably they visited Bangkok coincidentally at the same time to take a respite from the cold of Delhi and Islamabad; talks, until terrorism stops have no meaning, but NSAs can meet to see if talks can have meaning.

The fact of the matter is that our foreign policy with Pakistan is replete with unpardonable contradictions, and zig-zags in policy formulations that would leave even our most insightful metaphysicians stumped. The reason for this is the absence of strategic policy, and a resort to a never-ending series of ad hoc steps. If we need to review our earlier policy of suspending the formal dialogue process with Pakistan, we should do so in a carefully calibrated manner. Engagement has its own dividends, provided it is carried out in a way that is anticipated and planned for. On the other hand, if our policy remains one of no talks unless Pakistan sponsored terrorism ceases  or at least reduces  then talks without talks in the manner in which our NSAs met in Bangkok makes a mockery of that decision. While the US can play a key role in putting pressure on Pakistan on its nexus with terrorism, a country of the prowess and size of India cannot expect others to do for it what it refuses to do itself.

It appears that the only policy we have to our western neighbour is the absence of policy, both in the short and mid-term, and to lurch along from one event to another, alternating mindless bravado at one level and surreptitious talks at another. Can we expect our foreign office to devise a strategic framework to deal with Pakistan, taking into account its internal situation, the level of ceasefire violations, the need for engagement, the importance of people-to-people contacts, the value of humanitarian gestures, the geo-political imperatives, including the role of China, and developments in Afghanistan, while retaining a firm riposte to Pakistan sponsored terrorism?

Given our track record thus far, it seems a tall order. Until then, our hapless foreign office spokesman will have no option but to forget foreign policy and adopt the wondrous ambivalences of philosophy.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 12)  President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he signed an Executive Order (EO) that would let him control the travels of officials under the Executive branch.

"I just signed an Executive Order banning travel. You let me know first and I will read, I need to know what you are going for," Duterte said in a speech during the birthday celebration of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in Davao del Norte.

Duterte added those wanting to go on trips have to submit an itinerary and a memo detailing the objectives of the junkets.

He warned of firing officials who have gone on more than a dozen trips.

"They go out every convocation, convention, pow wow, seminar, labas nang labas. And for those who have traveled more than 12, you have to go. Hindi na ako bilib diyan sa most of the time nag-ibang bansa [I'm not impressed by those who go out of the country very often]," he added.

Other details of the EO have yet to be revealed, but the President said it did not include the Congress and the judiciary.

The President said the measure is part of his crackdown on corrupt government officials.

"It's part of the campaign against corruption. Not only done with malice but those who just want to spend money of government for nothing," he said.

The move follows Duterte's firing of Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chair Terry Ridon last December, and Philippine Maritime Industry Authority chief Marcial Amaro III early January for supposedly having excessive junkets.

On January 3, the Palace released a memorandum containing guidelines that should be followed by all offices under the Executive department, government-owned and -controlled corporations, and financial institutions.

RELATED: Palace releases guidelines for foreign travel of gov't employees, officialsRonald Reagans wife regularly consulted a Californian syndicated horoscope columnist.

WHATEVER people might think about Imran Khans words and antics, nobody can deny that he brings a lot of colour and macho swagger to politics.

By making bizarre accusations against rivals, he succeeds in putting them on the defensive while deflecting any criticism of his own course of action. And, like Trump, he shrugs off attacks from the tiny minority of liberal, secular critics who quaintly seek the truth in our political discourse.

And so the PTI circus rolls on from one triumph to the next, lights ablaze and trumpets blaring. In fact, its the only show in town, with other parties and politicians providing the chief showman with a series of easy targets.

Nawaz Sharif is hit with the charge that he handed over state secrets to the Americans. Proof? Thats a 20th century concept with no relevance to contemporary Pakistani politics.

With just a few months to go until the general elections, you would think Imran Khan would be burnishing his party manifesto, and highlighting the achievements of his party in KP province. Far from it: judging from media coverage, the whole country is fixated on the Great Khans marriage proposal to his spiritual guide.

Frankly, I couldnt care less about who Imran Khan marries: what happens between two consenting adults should be strictly their business.

However, the fact that a national leader, and a serious contender for the countrys most powerful civilian job, should need the crutch of a resident soothsayer is disturbing.

According to breathless media coverage, it was the lady in question who advised Khan to go to the mountain resort of Nathiagali while the Panamagate trial was going on. But do we really want a Prime Minister who is so gullible? However, Khan is not alone in his superstitions: according to reports doing the rounds at the time, Nawaz Sharif sought guidance from a pir known as Dewana Baba in Mansehra.

We are informed through a report in Dawn from a couple of years ago that Asif Zardari probably managed to complete his term in office thanks to the powers of Pir Ejaz. Apart from this major triumph, he also claims that he was instrumental in enabling Zardari to access the $60 million sitting in Switzerland, and frozen by the authorities pending an investigation.

And lets not forget the goats: apparently, one animal was slaughtered every day for the duration of the Zardari presidency.

The same gent had advised the PPP head honcho to stay near the sea to ward off the evil eye, as well as other supernatural attacks launched by his enemies.

During her second stint as Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto was reported to seek guidance from Dewana Baba, Nawaz Sharifs seer. Youd think that after Sharifs unceremonious departure, BB would have seen the light. No chance: once bitten by the oracle bug, the victim seeks to guard his spiritual flanks against attacks from the dark side.

It is often insecure leaders who seek the advice of oracles and seers. Lacking confidence in their own decision-making powers, they look to higher powers to guide them. And once you start believing in jinns, you need to counter hostile spirits with your own unseen troops.

But as we know all too well, soothsayers often get it terribly wrong. Just look at what happened to Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan ex-president: there he was, solidly entrenched with well over a year to go in his term of office, when he suddenly called for an early election. Overnight  and much to everyones surprise  a fractious opposition coalesced into an effective election machine, and defeated Rajapakse.

It later emerged that he had been advised by his resident oracle that the alignment of his stars predicted victory if he were to call the election a year earlier than they were due. Big mistake. When asked to explain what went wrong, the soothsayer replied that he had guided Rajapakse to victory twice before, and two out of three wasnt a bad record.

In fact, while we pretend to be impervious to such superstitious rubbish, we surreptitiously glance at the horoscope columns in the newspapers to see what the stars say.

Many supposedly rational leaders have sought spiritual help in gaining an edge over their rivals. Ronald Reagans wife regularly consulted a Californian syndicated horoscope columnist.

Mankind has always looked for help to ward off the terrors of the night when spirits stalk the land, and ghouls and zombies await the unwary. Most belief systems make mention of them in one form or another.

So in this wider context, does it matter that the man who would be prime minister believes in this mumbo-jumbo? Actually, yes.

Many years ago, Imran Khan rubbished Darwins theory of evolution, overlooking the mass of accumulated evidence that supports it. Is this the man who will give us a naya Pakistan?

By arrangement with DawnThe social media site wants people to see more stuff from friends, family and other people they are likely to know and connect with.

Facebook until recently has been laser-focused on keeping users glued to the service by offering 'engaging' but low-value material.

Facebook users are expected to see fewer posts from publishers, businesses and celebrities they follow. Instead, the social media site wants people to see more stuff from friends, family and other people they are likely to know and connect with, it is something the company feels has been lost in the sea of videos and news stories.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been doing a bit of soul-searching about the negative effects his company may be having on society and its users psyches. Now its his personal goal for 2018 to fix the site and weed out hate, abuse, meddling by malicious nation states, while also making it more meaningful and less depressing for users. Zuckerberg says that the company currently makes too many errors enforcing our policies and preventing the misuse of our tools.

The company also faces pressure from regulators in the U.S. and abroad, and a growing backlash from academics, lawmakers and investors about the ways in which social media may be leaving us depressed, isolated, bombarded by online trolls and addicted to our phones.

This is a huge shift for Facebook, which until recently has been laser-focused on keeping users glued to the service by offering a bevy of notifications and engaging but low-value material.

The company has been doing well so it can afford to shift its focus a bit away from quarterly profit gains and metrics like user engagement that get advertisers salivating. Zuckerberg already signalled this would happen late last year, when he said the companys planned investments in preventing abuse would hurt profitability.

While the changes could hurt Facebooks business in the short term, happier users could make for better profits over the long term. At least, thats what the company hopes.

Many news organizations, bloggers and businesses have grown reliant on Facebook to spread information  articles, videos, infomercials  to their followers without paying for ads. The changes could jeopardize that route to their audiences, though some speculate it could be a ploy to force these companies to buy more Facebook ads.

Admitting that its changes will likely reduce the time people spend on Facebook less was a big deal for the company. Video, especially, has been a big focus for the social media giant  and videos have been especially good at keeping users around. This latest move, however, will de-emphasize videos too.

While its too early to tell what users will do, theres little reason not to trust Facebook on this particular question.The changes come as the company faces criticism that social media can make people feel depressed and isolated.

There will be fewer posts from brands, pages and media companies and more from people. (Photo: Pexels)

Facebook is tweaking what people see to make their time on it more meaningful in a move that could hurt publishers and news organisations that rely on it to spread their content.

Facebook has said before that it will emphasise personal connections over business pages and celebrities that people follow. But the latest move represents a major shift, one intended to highlight the posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.

The company says people will likely spend less time on Facebook as a result. The changes come as the company faces criticism that social media can make people feel depressed and isolated. There will be fewer posts from brands, pages and media companies and more from people. There will be fewer videos, which Facebook considers passive.

Thats because even if people read such content on Facebook, they dont necessarily comment or interact with it in other ways. The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post Thursday.

We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long-term measures of happiness and health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos -- even if theyre entertaining or informative -- may not be as good.

The move to highlight posts that Facebook considers meaningful and reduce the emphasis on others could shrink the social media giants role as a major news source for many people. The move will not affect advertisements  users will continue to see the same ads they have before, meaningful or not. But businesses that use Facebook to connect with their customers without paying for ads will also feel the pain.

Facebook has long been criticised for creating filter bubbles, the echo chambers of friends and like-minded people whose views are reinforced by their friends posts on the platform. The company says thats similar to how people make friends and interact with each other offline. Facebook says its research shows that users are exposed to more divergent views on its platform than they would be otherwise.

This is difficult to verify independently since the company is cautious about providing data to outsiders. The changes come after a tough year for Facebook that included congressional hearings on how Russia used it to influence the 2016 US elections. Former executives and Facebook investors have spoken out about how it and other social media sites might be hurting rather than helping society and users psyches.

Last week, Zuckerberg said his personal challenge for 2018 (something hes done every year since 2009), will be to fix Facebook.

Facebook has a lot of work to do  whether its protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent, he wrote. He said it wasnt possible to prevent all mistakes or abuses, but that Facebook was making too many errors in enforcing its policies and preventing misuse.Trump tweeted a denial, saying he used tough language at the immigration reform meeting, but not 'sh**hole.'

'I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level,' Trump said in another tweet.

Washington/Namibia: US President Donald Trump tweeted a denial Friday after he was quoted as describing African and other states as "shithole countries," amid an international furor over the remarks.

Trump, who reportedly made the comment during a meeting with legislators Thursday on immigration reform, drew charges of racism.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said, people briefed on the meeting told The Washington Post.

The New York Times later reported the same comment, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the meeting.

"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," Trump tweeted early Friday.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

The reference was to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields from deportation nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Thursday's meeting was to discuss a compromise under which DACA would be preserved but a visa lottery and a policy allowing legal immigrants to bring family members into the country would be ended.

"I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level," Trump said in another tweet.

....countries which are doing badly. I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs. I want to fund our military, not do a Dem defund....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

"I want safety and security for our people," he added, criticizing the proposed bipartisan deal.

"USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly," Trump tweeted.

The Post and the Times said Trump's vulgar remark Thursday was in reference to African countries and Haiti. The Post included El Salvador on its list.

Trump suggested the United States should instead welcome immigrants from places like Norway, whose prime minister met with Trump on Wednesday.

United Nations rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said "there is no other word one can use but 'racist'" to describe Trump's remarks.

"You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome," Colville told reporters in Geneva.

Democratic congressman Luis Gutierrez called Trump "a racist who does not share the values enshrined in our Constitution."

Also read: Why do we have immigrants from sh**hole countries coming here: Trump

Africans reacted angrily Friday after Donald Trump reportedly referred to their nations as "shithole countries", with many lashing the US president for racism and ignorance.

The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks while the southern African state of Botswana hauled in the US ambassador to complain.

The comment "truly flies in the face of accepted behaviour and practice," said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki.

"This is even more hurtful given the historical reality of just how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, and also terribly surprising as the United States remains a massively positive example as just how migration can give birth to a nation," Kalondo said.

The comments were "clearly" racist, Kalondo said, but stressed the US was "much stronger than the sum total of one man."

Botswana summoned the US ambassador to the country to "clarify if Botswana is regarded as a 'shithole' country", according to a foreign ministry statement which called Trump's comments "irresponsible, reprehensible and racist".

This is not the first time Trump has rubbed Africans up the wrong way -- he was widely derided last year after he twice referred to Namibia as "Nambia".

On social media, users across the continent on Friday posted images of modern skylines and beautiful nature from their countries with the ironic hashtag "shithole."

Many Africans reminded the US of its historic role in the continent's woes.

"President Trump, One day, I'll take you to a 'shithole' country called Ghana," wrote Ghanaian Edmond Prime Sarpong on Facebook.

"First stop would be Osu Castle, Elmina Castle, and the over 40 Forts that detained about 30 million slaves, beaten and shipped out like sardine cans and then I will tell you the history of Africa and why people like you made that a 'shithole' continent."

Prominent Kenyan commentator Patrick Gathara, said that Trump's words were nothing new from a "racist and ignorant" administration, nor from the West at large.

"This is no different from what Hollywood and Western media have been saying about Africa for decades. We have consistently been portrayed as shitty people from shitty countries," he said.

Some acknowledged problems in their countries, but blamed this on their poor leaders as well as western nations such as the US.

"Please don't confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent... Our motherland is the most blessed continent that has been raped by imperialists in collaboration with our shitty misleaders for generations," wrote Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi on Twitter.

Please dont confuse the #shithole leaders we Africans elect with our beautiful continent. Our leaders are shit like dotard Trump. Our motherland is the most blessed continent that has been raped by imperialists in collaboration with our shitty misleaders for generations. pic.twitter.com/hJVYYo0VlC  Boniface Mwangi (@bonifacemwangi) January 12, 2018

In South Africa, the ruling party declared "ours is not a shithole country" and described Trump as "extremely offensive".

"It is not as if the United States doesn't have difficulties. There are millions of unemployed people in the US, millions of people who don't have health care services or access to education and we would not deign to make comments as derogatory as that," said Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC).

Nigerians however did not hold back, with many on Twitter saying their country was a "shithole", but that it was "our shithole" to criticise.

Even war-torn South Sudan weighed in, with President Salva Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny slamming the comments as "outrageous".

However Juba businesswoman Jenny Jore, 31,said that Trump's remarks were "on point". "It is thanks to our African leaders that we are insulted that way," she said.

Trump's latest comments also provided ample fodder for talkshow hosts.

South African comedian Trevor Noah, star of "The Daily Show", described himself as an offended citizen of "South Shithole" and also called Trump out for racism, especially for saying he preferred immigrants from Norway.

"He didn't just name a white country, he named the whitest -- so white they wear moon-screen," he said.Police described the assailant as an Asian male of about 20, wearing a black hoodie and glasses; nearly 6 feet tall and with a medium build.

'He tried cutting (off) my hijab two times; I felt really scared and confused, I didn't feel comfortable that people are doing this,' the victim said later. (Photo: Representational)

Ottawa: An 11-year-old girl was assaulted in Toronto on Friday by a man who twice tried to cut off her hijab with scissors and then fled, police said.

The girl said that she was walking to school with her younger brother when the man came at her with scissors.

"He tried cutting (off) my hijab two times," she said. "I felt really scared and confused. I didn't feel comfortable that people are doing this."

Police described the assailant as an Asian male wearing a black hoodie and glasses. He was said to be about 20, nearly six feet tall and with a medium build.

Authorities are investigating the incident, which occurred at about 9 am (1400 GMT) near the Pauline Johnson school in Toronto's east side, police spokeswoman Katrina Arrogante said.

Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu told a press conference that Noman had turned and confronted her assailant, making loud noises to scare him off and then she ran away with her little brother in tow.

Afterward, according to Sidhu, the girl noticed a 12-inch cut from the bottom up on the back of her hijab.

She and her brother joined a group of other students also walking to school, for safety, but the siblings became separated from the group and from each other at an intersection crossing.

At that moment, less than 10 minutes after the first assault, the same man suddenly returned. Smiling, he allegedly tried again to cut off her hijab, before fleeing.

"This is a cowardly act of hatred. It does not represent who we are (as Canadians)," Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a Twitter message.

"We must stand firm in our support of this young girl who was assaulted simply for wearing a hijab," she said.

The school serves nearly 300 kindergarten to grade six students "of diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds," according to the local school board.

More than two-thirds speak a language other than English at home.Undercover officers replaced a car bomb he ordered online with a harmless dummy device before it was delivered.

'You are plainly highly intelligent and capable of determined manipulation. You told sustained lies to your girlfriend and her family about your own parents, particularly your father,' the judge told Randhawa. (Photo: Twitter/@NCA_UK)

London: An Indian-origin teenager has been sentenced to eight years in jail by a UK court for trying to buy explosives online to kill his conservative Sikh father who did not approve of his white girlfriend.

Gurtej Singh Randhawa was arrested in May 2017 after undercover officers from the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) replaced a car bomb he ordered online with a harmless dummy device before it was delivered.

The 19-year-old was convicted of maliciously possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury at Birmingham Crown Court in November 2017 and was handed the custodial sentence by the court on Friday.

"I have no doubt that this offence was motivated by your desire to live with your girlfriend and attend university together. How the major changes in your life that you wished for were to be achieved included endangering the life of your father by setting off an explosion in his car. This was an offence of astonishing audacity," Justice Cheema-Grubb told Randhawa during the sentencing hearing.

"You are plainly highly intelligent and capable of determined manipulation. You told sustained lies to your girlfriend and her family about your own parents, particularly your father," the judge noted.

Randhawa paid for the bomb using crypto-currency and arranged for its delivery to an address away from his home.

His trial was told how he had ordered the device after his mother discovered he was in a relationship with a girl she disapproved of.

The court was also told that the former pupil from Wolverhampton Grammar School had accepted an offer to study medicine at Liverpool University.

Randhawa had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to import explosives but was found guilty of the more serious charge of maliciously possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury.

"The explosive device Randhawa sought to purchase online had the potential to cause serious damage and kill many people if he had been successful in using it," said the NCA's Tim Gregory.

"He was not involved in an organised crime group or linked to terrorism, but is clearly an individual who poses a significant risk to the community. Identifying people like Randhawa who seek to access illegal firearms and weapons is a priority for the NCA and we will not stop in our efforts to make sure they are arrested and held accountable for their actions," he said.

Randhawa had tried to buy a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), a remote-detonated explosive device, from the so-called dark web of hidden sites on the internet.

NCA officers replaced the package with a dummy and allowed it to be delivered to the address in Wolverhampton provided by Randhawa and watched him test it before swooping in to arrest him.

Two women aged 45 and 18 were also arrested at the same time by the NCA Armed Operations Unit but were later released with no further action.

(Gutesa/Shutterstock.com) (Gutesa/Shutterstock.com)

It is often thought that it is backpackers and students who face being underpaid and exploited by employers in Australia, but cases are emerging of people working in professional industries also being hard done by.In the latest case highlighted by the Fair Work Ombudsman a temporary visa holder who worked as a full time financial advisor in Melbourne was underpaid by more than $14,000 as she was incorrectly deemed to be on commission only.Under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2010 the temporary visa holder was entitled to receive a minimum of $21.77 per hour but for some weeks she received no pay at all.After the Fair Work Ombudsman informed the business that the award did not contain provisions for commission only payments, the outstanding wages were paid.In other cases in Melbourne a retail manager, also in Melbourne, was back paid $19,000 in termination entitlements, including accrued annual leave and long service leave, as prescribed by the General Retail Award 2010 and a full time retail worker received $9,117 in unpaid wages and leave entitlements following termination of their employment.Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James also warned that anyone who feels they are not being paid correctly should challenge their employer, however, one case has shown that they often feel reluctant to do so.A child care operator has just been fined $85,000 by a judge for underpaying workers. Mahomet's Academy for Kids which provides before school, after school and vacation childcare services at three sites in Melbourne has been the subject of numerous complaints.The Fair Work Ombudsman has received underpayment allegations from Mahomet's employees dating back to 2009 and it is the second time the Agency has secured penalties against Vivien Mahomet for underpaying her staff.In 2014, Mahomet was penalised $19,980 for underpaying five other childcare workers a total of more than $16,000. Handing down the latest penalty, Judge Philip Burchardt found that there was a need to impose a penalty that deterred Mahomet from continuing to breach the law.'A person who is the subject of a penalty finding in 2014 who continues to contravene in the fashion that the respondent did requires a sharp lesson to make her appreciate more clearly than thus far has apparently been the case what her legal obligations are. This is all the more the case given that she still operates three childcare centres,' he added.ampk said: You need to meet the GTE requirements as per PAM 3 and they are all interpreted differently. Click to expand...

ampk said: Depending on your intentions the descriptive word Girlfriend may not be your best choice of word. Click to expand...

ampk said: What passport does she hold and what country does she live? Click to expand...

CCMS said: Many overseas posts insist that visa applicants have access to their own funds, regardless of any financial support they may be receiving in Australia. Click to expand...

We have tried to cite our reasons for her coming to stay. The holiday is only intended for 1 week and she will be meeting my family while we also go around some tourist sites and she gets to know Australia.I agree that was poorly worded on my behalf, in the application and my letter I do not refer to her with the word Girlfriend haha, it was more just what came to mind when I was posting this.She is from the Philippines and holds a Philippines passport.She will be able to access her own funds and will provide copies of her own payslips and bank statement. Though the hope is if granted I will be covering her expenses.In the letter (and in visa application) we do reference that is only a short holiday and that she would be coming to see Australia, go around some tourist attractions, meet my family, and just spend some time here.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque could be charged with graft if he continues to criticize the Court of Appeals' decision to set former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes free, a lawyer said Saturday.

"It's unethical and may subject him to a graft complaint for using undue and improper pressure and influence upon other public officials," Ferdinand Topacio said in a press briefing.

He is one of the lawyers of Reyes, accused of masterminding the murder of journalist-environmentalist Gerry Ortega, slain in broad daylight in 2011.

Reyes walked free on January 5 after the appellate court ruled there is no basis to hold him for trial.

Read more: Ex-Palawan governor in Gerry Ortega slay walks free

Roque has slammed the ruling and said the government will exert all legal options to reverse it.

Roque and Solicitor General Jose Calida said the Supreme Court had already ruled on the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, to find probable cause and pursue the trial.

They questioned the Court of Appeals' right to counter such a decision.

Roque, who also served as legal counsel in the Ortega family's case against Reyes, said he was given permission to comment on the case in his personal capacity as a former prosecutor.

Topacio said it is the prosecution that must be blamed for presenting weak evidence.

He called Roque's statements "mental dishonesty to the highest level."

He said Roque should choose between staying as presidential spokesperson or going back to practicing law instead.

"Please Secretary Roque, save the mental dishonesty when you go back to private practice....Don't use the President for this. Please," Topacio said.

Roque said Topacio is entitled to his own opinion but he has the President's consent to comment on the case.

"I never hid the fact I was previously counsel for the Ortega family. And I even asked for the expressed consent of the President before I commented on the case," Roque said in a press briefing on Saturday.

Ortega is just one of many journalist slays in the Philippines, which remains one of the deadliest countries for media persons. He had reported on the alleged widespread corruption in the provincial government and misuse of funds in Palawan, which later became part of the Malampaya fund scam.

CNN Philippines' Eimor Santos contributed to this report.As she left work Dec. 1, a hospital employee saw someone she took for a transient sitting on a curb just outside the door, a dog next to him.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13)  Three Supreme Court justices are set to face a House panel to testify on the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

House Justice Committee chair Rey Umali said Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, and Samuel Martires will shed light on the allegations against Sereno, as the committee resumes its hearing on Monday, January 15.

Sereno is facing a complaint based on four grounds for impeachment: culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption, and other high crimes.

Umali said Bersamin will answer questions on resolutions supposedly issued by Sereno without en banc approval.

While Peralta will discuss Sereno's alleged manipulation of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) and the rules and procedures of the Supreme Court.

Among the grounds for impeachment filed against Sereno was her alleged exclusion of Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza on the JBC shortlist, even though he already had the needed votes.

Martires, Umali said, will talk about the delay in the release of retirement benefits of judges and justices.

"These are important kasi again, this will somehow substantiate 'yung mga aspect ng transgression ng collegial nature ng Supreme Court. (These) will help strengthen the position of the prosecution if they would support what has been said," Umali said.

Umali said his committee also invited Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who begged off from attending the hearing due to lack of personal knowledge on the issues against Sereno.

READ: Justice Carpio refuses to testify in Sereno impeachment hearing

The Justice committee will study whether it will accept Carpio's refusal to attend the hearing.

Meanwhile, impeachment complainant Larry Gadon expressed confidence that the House of Representatives will impeach Sereno.

"Naghahamon na nga ako ng pustahan eh...Right now, I can take the bet...The testimony of justices themselves, sobrang tibay. Maliwanag na maliwanag ang culpable violation ng Constitution," Gadon said.

[Translation: I'm already betting...Right now, I can take the bet...The testimony of justices themselves are really solid. Her culpable violation of the Constitution is very clear.]

A member of the Justice Committee, ABS Party-list Representative Eugene De Vera said aside from the justice's testimonies, it is also important to assess the motive behind why some justices turned against Sereno.

"Hindi ko naman tatanggalin din yung pag-iisip na baka masama lang ang loob o dahil na-bypass sila...Baka kaya sila nag-a-appear ngayon, pwedeng to get back at the Chief Justice," De Vera said.

[Translation: I can't dismiss the thought that maybe they just have bad blood or because they were bypassed...Maybe they are appearing now just to get back at the Chief Justice.]

Associate Justices Noel Tijam, Teresita de Castro, and Francis Jardeleza, and retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion testified against Sereno in the impeachment hearings last year.

Sereno has denied all allegations against her.

Umali said the House Justice Committee hopes to finish the impeachment hearings against Sereno by the end of February.